Author's note: This is a wacky fluff AU piece that I wrote last year when I was in a uncharacteristically fluffy mood and wanted to paint a picture of how life could turn OK out for the brothers and Cas after the Apocalypse is averted. It was written before Anna turned bad and for those of you who read my trilogy, I know I never hooked up Dean and my OC Lex, but again, this is AU and she's mentioned here for convenience sake. For those of you who haven't read it, all you have to know is Lex can sense supernatural stuff and gets a good vibe from Cas. Again, this is just a little piece of fun; I wasn't going to even bother posting it but Iron Angel twisted my arm ;-)

Team Not-So-Free Will

Summary: A year or so after the apocalypse is averted, Dean needs help from his brother and his best friend. Some things never change.

(Read Author's note first)

Sam lay awake in bed, a subtle smile shaping his lips as thoughts of the brunette in his Criminal Practice class filled his head. He had been slowly working up the nerve to ask her out for weeks now, still grappling with his fear of putting her in danger as he had Jessica five years ago. But the Apocalypse was over now, he rationalized. Lucifer had been destroyed almost a year ago, most of the topside demons fleeing as their Father had screamed his way to a spectacularly luminous death. Sam had been attending Northwestern U Law School for almost four months now and was already scoring top marks. Granted, he had enrolled under a fake name using fake transcripts, but apart from that he had been a model citizen. Not counting the B&E he had committed with Dean last month when he had agreed to help him with a poltergeist in nearby Iowa, of course. Or the preppy jock he'd KO'd for getting rough with his girlfriend in the quad. Or the car he'd boosted when Bobby had called to say he was getting married in eight hours and Sam had better get his ass to South Dakota in a suit or never show his face again. Or the fake credit card he'd bought his new laptop with.

Crap, he thought, the smile disappearing. What was he thinking? As much as he wanted to respond to her friendly smiles and lingering glances, he would leave the brunette alone.

He huffed to himself but his exaggerated pout was interrupted by a noise from downstairs. It was just a soft, faint click but Sam's hunting instincts had not lessened in his pursuit of peace. That was someone picking the lock on his front door. He jumped out of bed, reaching for the silver knife under his pillow and sprinting down the hallway. He heard a light snoring from the door at the top of the stairs, indicating his houseguest was still fast asleep. He continued to the top of the stairs and peered down into his living room.

The downstairs was pitch dark and he refrained from turning a light on, figuring he had the home advantage of knowing his way around. He crept down silently, using his ears to try and locate the possible intruder. A sudden light shone from the direction of the kitchen as he heard the fridge open.

WTF?

He stole over to the kitchen doorway and peered through to see a man bent over searching his sparse fridge shelves. The figure stood up and shook his head.

"Seriously, Sam? Still no beer?" Dean griped without turning around as he settled for a Coke instead. "And put that knife away, dude, before you poke someone's eye out."

"Dean," Sam whined with a frustrated sigh, flicking the kitchen light on. "When are you gonna start knocking? One of these days I'm gonna whack you on the head just to make a point."

Dean snorted, twisting the cap off his soda. "With what, geekboy, a friggin' book?"

Sam rolled his eyes, unoffended by the comment. In truth, he was always glad to see his brother. "What are you doing here, man?"

Dean leaned his back against the counter. "I need your help. Lex is missing."

"Again?" Sam fought back another eyeroll. "What happened?"

"We were on a hunt in Rockford…"

He stopped when Cas walked into the room wearing nothing but blue flannel pajama bottoms, his hair sticking up in every direction possible. "What's going on?" the groggy angel asked through a yawn.

Sam brought him up to speed. "Dean lost Lex."

"Again?"

"Hmph," Dean eloquently voiced his indignation at the implication, turning the attention to the angel. "What're you doing here, Cas?" he deflected. "Anna kick you out again?"

"She didn't kick me out," Cas defended.

"Yeah, you just love the floral décor in Sammy's spare room soooooo much," Dean laughed.

"It was merely suggested that I come and visit your brother for the night," Cas said evenly.

The elder Winchester wasn't letting his friend off the hook that easily. "That's what, the third time in three months? You really need to learn how to keep your woman happy, dude. You know, I could give you some pointers on that."

Cas threw him a scowl. "I thought we agreed you would no longer bring up the subject of your history with Anna and I would refrain from pointing out that your girlfriend feels 'tingly' whenever I get close to her."

Dean was grudgingly impressed with Cas's insinuating pronunciation of the word 'tingly'. He was really getting the hang of human social graces and idiosyncrasies. He just might manage to eke out a semi-normal life as a near-human after all.

"I was just sayin' that I know a thing or two about taking care of a woman."

Cas snorted. "Right. Is that why you keep losing yours?"

Dean huffed. "I didn't lose her; she was checking out a lead on a Minwraith and I'm just not sure where she is right now."

"Dude, that's lost." Sam sighed, grabbing a shirt off the back of the couch.

Cas tried to flatten his unruly hair. "Would I be using the correct term if I said your girlfriend is somewhat high maintenance?" he asked Dean.

"Yep," Dean grinned at the angel. "Wouldn't have it any other way." Suddenly Cas was wearing Jimmy's old suit and the familiar beige trench coat. The elder Winchester looked around as Sam pulled on a pair of jeans also.

"This is so awesome," he beamed at them. "We can all go. It'll be just like old times. Team Free Will - on the hunt again."

"Aren't you forgetting your girlfriend is in danger, Dean?" Sam chided, deciding he was definitely not going to call the brunette from his Criminal Practice class. Maybe relationships were more trouble than they were worth after all. Team Free Will, my ass. Casual sex was definitely the way to go.

His brother waved a dismissive hand at his concern. "She's always in trouble. Besides, Minwraiths hang onto their victims for like a week before they try to suck their brains out." He turned to his friend, who was still trying to flatten his hair. It seemed the instant dressing still worked on clothes but not the coif. "So what did you do this time to wind up in Sam's doghouse, Cas?"

Cas shrugged. "I was merely taking Sam's advice. It's his fault."

"No you don't," Sam argued. "You can't lay this on me. I told you to do something special for her to mark her one-year-as-a-human-again anniversary."

"That's what I did," Cas defended. "I took her on a trip."

"No, you angel-transported her to Bora Bora."

"Exactly. A trip."

Sam sighed. It was clear the angel had no clue what his mistake was. "Dude," he explained, "She had to – no she chose to - give up all her powers and become a hundred percent completely human so she could be with you. You, on the other hand, got to keep a few of yours. You know she doesn't like having that rubbed in her face."

"I didn't…"

"It was her human anniversary, moron!" Sam raised his hands in mild frustration. "You were supposed to buy plane tickets." He shook his head. How did these two clueless chuckleheads manage to have great girls madly in love with them and he couldn't get past a second date?

A long sigh escaped the man in the trench coat. "These things were simpler as an angel."

Dean nudged the angel and raised his eyebrows suggestively as they moved towards the front door. "Yeah, but I'm willing to bet they were a lot less fun."

Cas grinned his reluctant agreement. "Oh, I call shotgun."

"No way!" Sam exclaimed. "Not a chance."

Cas didn't back down. "I'm older. I should get the front." With that he disappeared.

Sam yanked on his second boot with a look of shock on his face. "Oh Hell no!" he seethed as he charged down the walk towards the Impala. "I'm gonna yank that scrawny angel ass of his out of my seat…"

Dean smiled, locking Sam's door before clicking it gently closed. He almost hummed to himself as he strolled down the walk, ignoring the escalating ruckus at the car. In general, he realized, his life was pretty good. Who'd have known Dean Winchester would ever think that?

*** THE END***

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