Author's Notes: Not my best, but just a thought that was floating around. With the hellatus ending and more spoilers coming out about the show, I just felt like I had to post something before withdrawl overtook me in the last two weeks. Hope you enjoy!
Summary: Maybe Dean and Cas were just too damn happy to have Sam back to really care about this latest turn of events.
Yeah, and…?
They'd been back hunting for months, Dean's fears and Sam's forgotten year left behind in Bobby's basements, when it happened.
Dean was knocked back into the wall hard enough to stun him a moment, and a moment was all the demon needed to gain the upper hand.
'Shit, shit, shit', Dean cursed in his head and tried to brace himself against the pain. He grit his teeth and his vision whited-out the way it did when some major heavy-weight stepped into the fray. Not being able to see for a moment, Dean thought maybe had passed out. Or he was dead. Again.
But he opened his eyes and heaved a grateful sigh at the angel standing across from him.
"Thanks, Cas. Really saved my bacon there." Dean spoke distractedly to the angel, already getting up and dusting himself off. His mind was already back to it's usual state after a fight. 'Where's Sam? Find Sam. Is Sammy okay?', that it took him a moment to register the emotion on Castiel's face. Emotion period was strange enough, but surprise? Fear? That was almost unheard of, especially since he'd been 're-angeled' after Lucifer.
"Cas?" Dean tried again, but Castiel only spared him a glance, shaking his head before returning his gaze to just over Dean's shoulder.
Something in Dean screamed at him not to look because whatever he found was gonna be bad. But since ignoring something bad had never made it go away in any Winchester experience, he turned anyway.
His brother stood unharmed, looking at Dean with relief that the older one was alright too.
At least, Dean thought he was looking at him, he couldn't be sure. Sam's eyes were completely black. Dean was almost sure that Sam had no clue. He was only now piecing together that Cas probably hadn't saved him after all.
Strangely, Dean found that he wasn't afraid or angry or even that surprised. After fighting all your life for your little brother's survival and soul, what was a change in eye color in the big scheme of things?
Pointedly ignoring the stone-still angel behind him, Dean walked up to Sam, sloshing through the demon guts. He hesitated only a second and only because he wasn't sure how to tell Sam yet.
"Good job, Sammy."
Sam looked a little confused, but just assumed he was talking about the entire fight and muttered something close to the denial of that name that Dean longed to hear from his petulant little brother. Smiling, heart strangely light in view of the circumstances, Dean reached up to lock an arm around Sam's neck. The taller one tolerated it a moment and then easily shrugged his brother off. Dean noted Sam was smiling despite himself and watched as his eyes turned back to the hazel he was familiar with.
Jerking his head towards the door, Dean gestured for Sam to follow him to the car. He was hoping to avoid Cas falling over the wrong words before he'd worked out how to have this discussion with Sam, but his brother never could ignore anyone he thought he owed.
He turned only briefly, to Dean's relief, and looked at Cas.
"Thank you, Cas."
The words were far weightier than Dean would have expected from the previous moments of near levity. Sam thought Cas had saved his brother and he wasn't going to let that go even with Dean trying to pretty much pull him out of the warehouse.
Sam turned back to Dean and playfully sprinted a bit ahead of him like they were kids racing for the front seat and Dean heaved a sigh of relief. Crisis averted…next one in probably an hour or so. Shaking his head at their lives and starting after Sam, Dean didn't break stride, but he didn't miss the cautious smile or sigh in the voice behind him either.
"You're welcome, Sam."
Whaddya know? Only Sammy could get an angel to look at coal black eyes and not immediately be set to smite. Maybe he and Cas were just too used to the life they'd led over the last few years to be all that surprised. Maybe they were a little jaded to world-changing revelations…
Maybe they were just too damn relieved to have Sam back and whatever this portended, whatever was next, just didn't compare to that.