A/N: Some cursing, but not a ton
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. Trust me, it's a disappoint that haunts me on a daily basis. Spoilers up to about season 7 episode 21; if you haven't watched up to there, you have been warned. Also, I do not own any Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, including *"Tuesday's Gone," which was the song I had in mind while writing this (in my mind that would be the song playing while they are sitting in the car for this. Not sure why, that's just what I imagine).
"Dammit!" snarled Dean. "Will all of this traffic never go away?" He flopped back in the driver's seat with an irritated huff.
Sam nodded. "I know, right? I mean, it looks like someone barely even scraped the other car's bumper, and now the whole road is backed up!"
Something shifts in the back seat and the brothers look back at it to determine what the cause of the motion is.
Dean yelled "God! What the Hell, man?!" at the same time Sam exclaimed "Stop doing that, Castiel!"
"Good to see you, too." Castiel smoothed an invisible wrinkle out of his trench coat.
Sam sighed. "Sorry. It's just startling, you always appearing like that."
Castiel nodded. "Understood." He smiled. "But I came to keep you guys company." He held out his right pointer finger, saying "Pull it."
Sam and Dean stiffened, eyes widening.
"Don't, Cass!" yelled Sam.
"No, Castiel," Dean added. "We can't let you blow out a hundred car lights!"
Castiel gave a small pout. He settled back in his seat. He remained there quietly for a minute, thinking.
Grateful that every tail light and headlight in the surrounding 20 mile radius would not be exploding, Dean exhaled and flipped on the radio. A Lynyrd Skynyrd song played softly, filling the cabin of the Impala with the sound of light voices and strumming guitars.*
Castiel smiled suddenly and disappeared. Before the hunters could even notice he was missing, he had returned. "How about a game?" He leaned forward, presenting a checkers game board and a plastic baggy containing black and white game pieces.
Sam looked back with a weary groan. "Look, Cass… we've had a long day of hunting psychotic spirits and, really we'd just like to rest."
"But we can't get to a hotel because of all this traffic," grumbled Dean.
Castiel nodded. "I understand." He commanded the game to return to where he had retrieved it from. He rests his elbows on the backs of the front seats. "And you really want to go to a hotel and rest."
Sam exhaled in relief, glad that he had finally gotten through to the angel. "Yes. That's all."
"Very well then."
Before the brothers could so much as blink, the highway and cars around them disappeared and they were suddenly parked in the car lot outside of a hotel, beneath a light pole.
Dean shot up in his seat. "What the-?!"
Together, he and Sam turned to look at their friend as he sat in the middle of the back seat with a content smile on his face.
"There you go, friends. Now you can rest."
A vein in Dean's temple twitched as he fought to control himself. "Cas-ti-el," he growled, sounding out the angel's name.
"Yes, Dean?"
"What the Hell were you thinking? Even if it is dark out, you can't just zap us off the highway when we are surrounded by witnesses!"
The smile faded from Castiel's lips. A perplexed frown replaced it. "I find this all very confusing. I thought you wanted to go somewhere to rest."
Sam took over for Dean, whose face had grown red; fearing that his older brother would say something to upset the angel and cause him to dump them in the middle of Antarctica or something.
"Look, we just wanted to drive- the normal way- someplace where we could rest up. No jokes, no games, and certainly no zapping."
Castiel moved his head to send them back to the highway; before he could, Sam shouted "Don't!"
Castiel blinked, staring at the man.
"You can't send us back there! You might land us on top of another car or something." He ran a hand through his hair. "Just… leave us here. And no more angel tricks, okay?"
Castiel nodded. "I understand."
"Do you?" inquired Dean forcefully.
"Yes."
Sam and Dean took a moment to stare at him, then at each other. Finally, Dean reached over and pulled his keys out of the ignition. The radio and engine fell silent in unison.
"Since we're here, we might as well get a room," Dean commented, climbing out.
The other men followed suit.
Even though his gut told him it was a bad idea, Dean squinted up at the light lamp over their heads and said, "Seriously, man? You literally placed us under a spotlight. We'll be lucky if no one saw your little magic trick.
Castiel grinned. Before the Winchesters could stop him, he snapped his fingers.
The bulb exploded and the light went out, plunging the three men into darkness.
Dean silently grits his teeth.
Castiel giggled. "Was it funny that time?" he asked.
The angel felt two pairs of eyes glaring at him.
"No!"