A/N So, here's chapter two. I'd like to thank the people who reviewed the first chapter; I very much appreciate it. All feedback is welcome and helpful.
A young man crawled out from under Castiel's bed, trying to be quiet. He watched Castiel sleep for a few moments, before crossing to a desk. He started going through Castiel's papers, looking for anything useful. He'd been hoping for work papers or a journal, but all he found were charcoal drawings.
The drawings were beautiful, and he could appreciate Castiel's talent and the skill born from long hours of practice. Still, they weren't helpful. He gave up on the drawings on the desk and hunted through the drawers. Charcoal pencils. More drawings.
The man didn't notice that Shelly had stood up and was stretching. She studied him curiously and walked over Castiel toward him. Castiel woke up when Shelly stepped on his nose. He pushed her off and sat up. The man froze as Castiel stared at him.
Castiel blinked and rubbed his eyes. Was he imagining things? The man was still there.
"I'm not dreaming…"
The man was still frozen like a deer caught in headlights.
"Why are you in my room?" Castiel asked.
"Private investigator?" the man tried weakly, checking his pockets for an id that wasn't there.
Castiel studied him critically. "Highschool runaway?" he guessed.
The boy shifted nervously. "It wasn't like that."
"So tell me," Castiel said, sitting up straighter, "what was it like?"
"So, it's about my brother," the boy explained. "He- um-" He ran a hand through his long hair. "He vanished."
Castiel immediately remembered how it'd felt when Gabriel disappeared. He felt a rush of sympathy for this strange boy who'd broken into his house in the middle of the night because his brother had vanished.
"I have to find him," the boy continued, looking at Castiel with damp hazel eyes that made him look like a lost puppy.
"Can't the police find him?" Castiel asked, trying to look at the situation logically.
"They won't even try," the boy complained. "He's eighteen, and they think he just left. There were no signs of a struggle."
"So why do you think he didn't just decide to leave?" Castiel asked gently.
"Because he wouldn't," the boy insisted. "Dean wouldn't just leave. He can't have." He looked like he was about to start crying.
"Why don't you sit down," Castiel suggested. "Calm down. It'll be ok; we'll figure this out."
The boy sat down obediently and endeavored to calm himself. Castiel gave him a minute.
When he saw that the boy had calmed down reasonably he asked, "What is your name?"
"Sam," the boy said. "Sam Winchester."
"So, Sam Winchester, why are you here?" Castiel asked.
"When Dean disappeared, the police didn't think there were any leads. It's pathetic, but get this: all the places in the yard where you could see in the windows of my house had little piles of candy wrappers on the ground."
"Candy wrappers," Castiel said.
Sam nodded.
"Why would candy wrappers on the ground lead you to me?" Castiel asked. "I never eat candy."
"You don't," Sam said. "But someone who eats a lot of candy stands outside your windows for long periods of time. If you check outside, you'll find candy wrappers on the ground everywhere with a good view in the windows."
"Oh," Castiel said. "So you think whoever took Dean is watching me now?"
"It's all I've got," Sam said.
"It could be connected," Castiel said. "I don't see what that would tell us; this isn't really my field…"
"Do you s'pose we might be able to find my brother?" Sam asked. The expression in his eyes was rather desperate.
"I don't know," Castiel admitted. "But I think Michael can help you. I'll take you to see him in the morning."
"Who's Michael?" Sam asked.
"He's my older brother," Castiel explained. "He's better at this kind of thing than I am."
"Do we have to wait 'til morning?" Sam asked impatiently.
"Sam, it's two am," Castiel complained. "Michael's asleep, and we should be too. I'll show you to the guest bedroom."
Sam went along without protesting; now that Castiel pointed it out he realized he was tired. Twenty minutes later both boys were sound asleep.
He was watching through the open curtains of Sam's room, casually munching on a chocolate bar. Sam was curled up facing away from him, so there was no danger of Sam spotting him. Even if Sam woke up and turned around, the darkness could hide him pretty well.
I should've realized that Cassie would run to tell Michael, he thought. It's what he's always done before. He rolled his eyes. Castiel could be very annoying. At least he was predictable.
He walked around the house and entered through the side door. The lock was easy to pick. The cats didn't bother him; they'd seen him enough times before that they weren't worried. Jimmy tagged along behind him when he went upstairs to Castiel's bedroom.
Castiel's breathing was even, so he wasn't too worried about waking him. He sat down next to Castiel and looked at him fondly. He brushed the tangled black hair out of Castiel's eyes.
"G'night, Cassie," he said.
Castiel stirred a little, partially waking up. He turned toward him and caught his shirtsleeve. He mumbled something inarticulate that sounded like, "Gabriel."
He would've worried that Castiel would remember he was there in the morning, but Castiel would just think it was a dream. He'd had plenty of dreams very much like this over the years since Gabriel vanished.
He sat there, watching Castiel sleep, for long enough that Castiel's grip on his sleeve loosened, his hand dropping back onto the bed. He leaned down to whisper in Castiel's ear, "I miss you."
Then he got up and left the room, heading for the stairs. He was too worried about how Sam had traced him to Castiel to pay attention on the stairs, and the fourth stair down creaked loudly. He winced; Castiel wasn't a heavy sleeper, and this wouldn't be the first time he'd almost been caught.
Castiel woke up quickly, sitting up and breathing heavily like he'd been running. "Gabriel?!" he asked.
He heard Castiel call for him, and he thought for a moment that Castiel would come down the stairs and catch him.
"It was just a dream," Castiel said. The misery in his voice made Gabriel want to run back up there and comfort him, but he stayed silently in place.
Eventually Castiel fell back asleep, and Gabriel felt safe enough to go down the rest of the staircase, making sure this time that there were no creaks. He left the way he came, steps despondent.