Title: Puzzle Pieces
Chapter: 1
Pairings/characters: Dean/Castiel, Dean, (possibly others?)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Genre: Romance/AU
Summary: AU after season 5. Dean finally realizes Castiel's feelings for him, and struggles to discover his own feelings. (Sorry. I suck at summaries.)
Dean was surprised, though not ungrateful, when Castiel returned after Sam and Adam were trapped in the cage. No, Lucifer and Michael were trapped in the cage. Phrasing it that way made him feel a bit better, though not much. Lucifer deserved it; and hell, Michael was a dick anyway, so he deserved it too.
But Castiel was back, and he revived Bobby. So that was something, right? He'd only lost his two brothers in the fight. He still had Bobby and Cas. Except that Cas had to return to Heaven. "Only for a little while," the angel had insisted.
Bobby, on the other hand, gave Dean a "Good job, son," and returned home, with the promise to keep in touch.
In short, Dean lost everything in that battle. He was left with a couple phone calls with Bobby, an angel that may or may not show up in the next decade, and a promise to Sam that he didn't really want to keep. But he would. Eventually. It had only been twenty-four hours. Sam wouldn't fault him for grieving. He didn't need to show up on Lisa's doorstep a wreck anyway.
The next day, Sam and Adam returned. Nearly gave Dean a heart attack, and Adam too for that matter. Sam had been expecting the salt thrown at him, holy water in the face and cut his arm with a silver knife routine, but Adam hadn't. After Dean swore that he would've made good on his promise within the next few days, Sam stuck around with him, Lisa never the wiser. Adam decided to return home, saying something about how he "knew dealing with family was hell, but damn, guys!"
A week later, Castiel popped into the cheap hotel room the brothers were staying in, bearing news from the other side of Heaven. He said that Gabriel's life had been restored as well, and they had come to the agreement that he would keep an eye on things there, while Cas handled things on earth. After an awkward pause, Cas requested if he could "join the latest ventures."
It was nearly three months later, and the hunts weren't coming any slower. In fact, Sam and Dean had split up several times to cover more cases. Dean had thought demon activity would be far down since the big battle, but it was like the demons were finally let off their leash. Demons were showing up in places they'd never been native to, and crossroad demons were getting more business than ever.
After chopping off several vampire heads, Dean ended up in a dingy bar down the street from his hotel. Cas was resting back in the hotel room, having taken more of a beating. Dean glared at the beer bottle in his hands, trying to figure out the night. He had been way off his game that night, which was mostly the reason Cas had taken such a beating. Dena just couldn't keep his focus. Whether he was worried about Sam, taking care of some angry spirits a few cities away, or just the constant question filling all their minds: When would the high demon activity stop?
Dean drained the last of the beer and slammed the bottle down, signaling to the bartender for another. Stupid angel. Always having to fight his own battles and jumping in to save Dean's ass too. Dean could've handled it… Possibly not very well, but he could've handled it. Now Cas was back in the room, resting from the mere effort it took to heal all of his own wounds, and Dean's as well, because Cas was just stubborn like that and wouldn't listen to Dean when he said that his broken arm could heal like a normal human's.
"Hey, Buddy! Get the hell away from her!" An angry cry made Dean look around. Two men and a woman were standing not far from him. The dark haired man was holding the girl by the arm, and she looked like she was near tears. The other man had his hands clenched at his sides, eyes narrowed under the dark blonde hair.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" the dark haired man yelled at the blonde.
Dean didn't hear the man's response over the woman's scream. The dark haired man released the woman's arm when the other man lunged at him. He threw up his now free arm to block the punch, driving his knee into the blonde's stomach.
"Stop it! Just stop!" The woman cried hysterically as the men continued throwing punches at each other. The woman tried to get closer to them, to break up the fight, apparently, but Dean jumped up and grabbed her arm. She screamed, trying to pull away from him.
"It's alright," Dean said in what he hoped was a comforting tone. "Not trying to hurt you. But those two will if you get too close."
The woman nodded, letting Dean lead her blindly to the barstool beside his, never taking her eyes from the fight. She gasped, covered her mouth, and screamed several more times before enough people jumped in to break up the fight that it finally stopped.
"Taylor, are you alright?" the woman asked in a shaky voice when the blonde approached them.
Taylor smiled despite the bloody lip and bruised jaw. "Fine. Did he hurt you?"
The woman shook her head, then looked around at Dean as though she'd just remembered he was there. "Um, this man pulled me away after you attacked him," she said. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"
"Dean," he said, and then offered Taylor a weak smile. "Nice right hook, by the way."
Taylor laughed. "Thanks," he muttered. He glanced back at the woman. "I'll go call a cab for us, alright? I'll be right back. Will you be okay here with, uh, Dean?"
The woman glanced sideways at Dean, and he gave Taylor an encouraging smile. "Yeah man. I'll watch out for her." Taylor nodded stiffly, and turned to walk outside.
"Thank you. My name is Melissa, by the way," the woman said with a smile that looked more than a little friendly. She was pretty; gorgeous, actually. But he wasn't gonna go there. Not tonight, and not with her.
"Nice to meet you," Dean said.
"You hanging around here much longer?" Melissa asked.
Dean shook his head. "Nah. As soon as your boyfriend comes back in for you, I'm probably gonna head out," he said, testing the waters. He knew she would probably he wasn't her boyfriend, but he wanted to know exactly what he was.
"He's not my boyfriend," she said, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean shrugged casually away from the touch. "Really. He's just a good friend."
Dean nodded. But he knew the look on that 'friend's face far too well. "I expected him to be family, if not your significant other," Dean said casually.
"Why?" Melissa asked, looking confused.
"In my experience, people will only protect you like that if they're your family, or they really love you," Dean said, shrugging. "It's always been family that did that for me. My brother's gone through hell for me, and I've done the same for him." Melissa stared at Dean for a long moment.
"Melissa," Taylor said, coming back inside and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You ready to go?"
Melissa tore her eyes away from Dean to look at Taylor, as though she was just seeing him for the first time. "Um, yeah," she said quickly. She stood, and turned back to Dean for a moment. "Thanks, Dean."
Dean nodded to her with a smile, laughing under his breath after they'd walked out. He pulled out his wallet, threw a few bills on the counter and walked out after them.
When he arrived back at the hotel, Cas was sitting on the bed closest to the window with the hotel phone pressed to his ear and the little hotel Bible sitting on the bed beside him. "Things went well. There were not very many at the nest… Yes… Will you set out in the morning? …Yes. We will not be leaving early… Goodbye, Sam."
"How'd the ghost hunt go?" Dean asked, walking to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
"Sam sustained no injuries," Cas said. "He will be leaving at dawn to meet us here. Are you feeling better?"
Dean spat out the water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Yeah. Not even a scratch from earlier," he said. He bent his once-broken arm back and forth experimentally. "Good as new. Thanks, Cas."
"Of course," Cas said, not looking up from the hotel Bible he was flipping through.
Dean changed into a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt and lay down on the other bed, turning to face away from Cas. The stupid reading lamp was too bright. "Good night, Dean." And just like that, his own words from the bar returned unbidden to his mind as he drifted to sleep.
People will only protect you like that if they're your family, or they really love you.