"You killed Calliope?" Castiel sighed. "The other muses are going to revolt. I had an argument with Melpomene once, she can be truly vindictive."

Sam pushed his chair back from the table and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I had a feeling. We'll be on the lookout for strange disappearances or deaths related to artists, singers, performances. Kind of a big net to cast, but it's not like this is the worst we've dealt with."

"She was after the writer of a high school musical?" Cas narrowed his eyes. "She usually goes for creators of much larger-scale productions. She'd been after Stanley Kubrick for years when she finally caught up with him during post-production for Eyes Wide Shut. Why would she go after such an unknown?"

Sam and Dean exchanged glances. Dean looked around the bunker uncomfortably, fidgeting with the back of the chair he was standing behind.

"The girl was, um," he started, "Y'know the, um -"

Sam rolled his eyes. "She was writing a musical based on Chuck's Supernatural books."

Cas raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Well, I can see why Calliope would be interested in that. I originally thought she might be behind Chuck's disappearance, but when I confronted her she had an airtight alibi."

Dean looked confused. "You never told us you thought a muse might have ganked Chuck."

"I was fairly busy at the time, if you'll recall, Dean. I didn't have a lot of time to look into Chuck's disappearance, but she was the first person I thought of and I happened to be in a position to confront her easily. Once I'd determined it wasn't her, there was no reason to tell you."

"Right," Dean said, sitting down in the chair he'd been manhandling. "So anyhow, yeah, the kids were putting on a Supernatural show. It was... weird. Just like dealing with anything to do with Chuck's books is weird. But this time, it was extra-weird thanks to the all-girl cast and the singing. Plus the second act."

"What happened in the second act?" Cas asked.

Sam laughed. "Well, the girl who wrote it was frustrated that Chuck left off the story where he did, so she made up her own version of what might have happened next. Which involved... you know, I never really got all the details? But they definitely sent us into outer space."

"That would be... weird, yes." Cas agreed, nodding slowly.

Dean snorted. "Yeah, this chick had all kinds of crazy ideas about the series. She was kinda obsessed with all this 'subtext' she was convinced Chuck put into the series."

"But how could Chuck have written any subtext into the books?" Cas looked confused. "They were true stories, he was simply transcribing them as a prophet."

"See?" Dean threw his hands up, then looked at Sam pointedly. "That's what I said. There's nothing in those books that implies..." Dean caught himself, flustered. "Anything. They don't imply anything about anything."

Cas's gaze shifted from one brother to the other, taking in how Dean's eyes had widened, how he didn't know where to look now, how Sam's face had soured as he clearly thought Dean was avoiding something. They clearly weren't telling him everything. "What did she think Chuck was implying?"

"Nothing!" Dean said forcefully. "Look, it doesn't matter, right? It was some... girl. In some high school. Who's read Chuck's books a few too many times." He smiled in a wholly unconvincing manner.

"She was into Destiel." Sam said quickly, trying not to smile but clearly failing.

Cas's eyes narrowed. "What's that?"

"It's... they... You take two names and you..." Dean was now looking determinedly at the table, picking at a bit of the wood grain.

"When two celebrities start dating, the press likes to put their names together," Sam explained, clearly enjoying himself, "Like, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie became Brangelina. Apparently these fangirls do the same for characters that they wish were together."

Cas still looked confused. "So Destiel refers to... me and Death?| That seems like a strange pairing."

Dean looked up suddenly, laughing. "Ha! Yes! That would be crazy, right? You and Death? And you know what's even crazier? You won't believe what it really means, it's hilarious."

"It's you and Dean," Sam cut in.

"Oh," Castiel said, blinking. His face broke out in a shaky smile. "Yes. Yes, that's... That's really funny, isn't it? Heh. How ridiculous," He shook his head. Dean made a "crazy, right?" gesture, and they both forced out a laugh. "See, that's very funny, because that could never happen given that you're heterosexual."

"Right!" Dean said, smiling at Sam, "Where do they even get this stuff? That could never happen because I'm -" he glanced at Cas, "I mean, you are, too. That makes it even crazier, right? Because I'm straight, and you're straight, and so we could never -"

Cas shook his head, still smiling. "Actually, human concepts of sexual orientation have little meaning to me as an angel, and no impact on my attractions."

Dean opened his mouth, but it took several seconds for him to find words. "Right. Right, of course! You're an angel. My bad!" He tried to keep the smile on his face. "But, I mean, you clearly like the ladies when you're in this vessel, right?"

Now Cas furrowed his brow, the forced levity forgotten in his confusion. "There have been several women to whom I've been attracted, but there have also been several men. Even humans can be attracted to multiple genders, why would you assume that an angel was not?"

"I... I... Right. My bad... again." Dean wasn't pretending to smile or laugh anymore. He looked as confused as Cas, in fact. "You just... You never mentioned being into any dudes, that's all." He seemed to recover a bit, raising his eyebrows. "That's cool. Nothing wrong with that." Dean swallowed, suddenly finding the woodgrain on the table once again fascinating. "Nothing wrong at all."

Sam stood up suddenly. "I just realized I need to go... do a... thing. Outside. I mean, away. Um, in the Impala. I'm going to go drive the Impala somewhere and not come back for like an hour or two. And you two," he pointed to both Dean and Cas, "had better get your shit together while I'm gone."

Cas watched Sam leaving, puzzled, then called after him, "What shit are we supposed to be getting together?"

Sam looked back from the door. "I dunno, maybe you can start with the fact that yeah, every word Chuck wrote is true. And yet."