Three days later, Dean, Adam, and Castiel were sitting in an office in Lawrence, staring into each others eyes. They didn't know what to say to each other, as they had just been sat down in a room together. Castiel squinted his crystal blue eyes at the older man in front of him. He seemed to have a smug air to him, masking a nervous one. He knew that Johnny Jackson only did duets with his younger brother Kenny, so it was granted that he was nervous. Adam was just sitting there as his brother stared at the man across from them. He just rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue to get their attention.
"Johnny, Misha, fait attention, les garçon" he said teasingly. He'd picked up French with all of the Louisiana and Quebec concerts they'd done over the last three years. He found it to be a fun language, and the perfect language for teasing.
Dean and Castiel finally broke their stare, turning to Adam. Dean resisted the urge to punch his brother's shoulder, instead glaring at him. Castiel tilted his head in confusion.
"I do not understand." he muttered. Was it another language? He'd only ever learned English, his parents never teaching him foreign languages. It sounded like Canadian French, but he wasn't certain.
"Français, mon ami nouveau." Adam told him, just to confuse him more.
"What my idiot brother said was 'pay attention, boys' and 'French, my new friend'." Dean translated. Adam had been teaching himself French, and he was pretty fluent by this point.
"Oh." Castiel muttered. French. He was right. Good.
"Anyway, are we just gonna sit here and do jack, or are we going to pick a song?" Adam asked, leaning back in his chair. "I suggest something by Alan Jackson or Kenny Chesney."
"Kenny, those are solo artists. There are three of us." Castiel reminded him. "My opinion is some sort of band, like Rascal Flatts."
"You're all giving good ideas, but I have the ultimate: Alabama." Dean chimed in. Both other men nodded in approval.
"Mountain Music?" Adam spitballed, but Dean shook his head.
"Song of the South?" Castiel suggested, which Dean also shot down.
"Actually, scratch Alabama. I have the perfect song. Life's a Dance." Dean amended. "You two know it?"
Adam and Castiel nodded. "Yeah." they said at the same time.
"It is a good choice. But we would have to split it into parts to optimize our chances of being heard and sharing our distinct vocal talents. Johnny, you are a tenor, Kenny, you are a mezzo-soprano, and I am an alto." Castiel commented.
Adam snorted. "Mezzo-soprano my ass. I'm a soprano." he laughed. "And anyway, I shot first verse."
"Ah, but there are only two verses." Dean reminded him. "How are we gonna cut it so we sing alone and together?"
Castiel tapped his chin in thought. "If I am correct, the order is as follows: verse, chorus, verse, thrice repetition of chorus." he said. "One could sing first verse, one first chorus, one second verse, and the three of us singing the proceeding three choruses."
Dean and Adam nodded in approval.
"Great idea, Misha." Adam grinned. "Still call first."
"Have fun with that, demon child." Dean chuckled. "Just to make it so we go down octaves every new singer, I'll go second verse and Misha can do the chorus."
"I can do that." Castiel nodded.
The discussion of melodies and harmonies continued for a good hour and a half before Mary and Naomi entered the room. They looked like they had something serious to say, so the trio turned to face them.
"Now boys," Mary began, "we thought that, since you're going to be singing together, you could.. get to know each other."
Dean and Adam groaned. 'Get to know each other' meant sharing real names and shit like that. They never liked doing that. On the opposite, Castiel seemed all for it. He liked sharing things about himself with new duet partners.
"Now, we expect you to know a few things new about each other by the end of the day." Naomi said strictly. With that, the managers left the room. The trio turned back to face each other.
Adam spoke up first. "Well, first off, I'm Adam. Adam Winchester. That's Dean." he introduced, jabbing a thumb in Dean's direction.
"I am Castiel di Angelo." Castiel informed them. His eyes were wide, though, as if in shock. "Dean Winchester? The Lawrence High musical lead for years running?" he asked.
Dean nodded with a smirk. "The one and only. You go to the school?"
Castiel shook his head. "My siblings did, but I did not." he said, side-stepping telling them why. "But they came home with stories of your roles. Peter Pan in freshman year, Danny Zucko in sophomore, Prince Eric in junior, and Aladdin in senior. They said you were amazing."
"Wait, is your brother Lucifer di Angelo?" Dean asked. "He was our main set builder."
Castiel nodded. "He and Michael are the oldest, followed by Gabriel, then Anael. She prefers Anna, however." he said.
"Quite a few siblings." Adam commented. "We just have each other and Sam."
"Sam? Is he your brother?" Castiel asked. "Or sister?"
Adam and Dean snorted.
"We might call him Samantha, but he's our brother. Middle kid." Adam told him.
Castiel gave a small smile at that. Sibling teasing was how he acquired his only nickname to date: Cassie. That was from Gabriel, the 'class clown' of the family.
The next few hours flew by in what seemed like minutes. They had learned quite a bit about each other, including the house fire that nearly killed the Winchester's mother, and the mugging that nearly killed their father. It was such a sad history.
Castiel had shared stories of growing up with his Aunt Naomi, his manager. His parents, Charles and Rebecca, had died in a car crash when he was still a baby, not but six months old. He had no memories of them, but Lucifer and Michael did, blaming Castiel for their deaths.
What also came out was ages of the singers and their siblings. Castiel's family was like this: Lucifer and Michael were 36, Gabriel was 35, Anael was 32, and Castiel was 31. The Winchesters were a bit more sparsely spread. Dean was 36, Sam was 32, and Adam was 24. Dean was 12 when Adam was born. He never thought Mom and Dad would have any more kids, but then Adam came along. A similar situation had happened with the di Angelo family. Lucifer and Michael, five years old at the time, were upset Mom and Dad had brought home another little squirmy baby. Anael was enough, at a year old. Gabriel was his own bag of gummy worms at four.
Finally, Mary and Naomi returned for their clients, as they knew everyone was falling asleep by this point. It was four in the morning, and the boys all had autograph signings at the high school in the morning. It was part of the start of the publicity for the duet.
Mary poked her boys awake, as they had fallen asleep on their arms. "Adam, Dean, wake up my boys." she whispered. She managed to rouse Adam, who was a light sleeper. Adam proceeded to wake Dean up by flicking his ear. Dean almost immediately jerked awake and blinked.
Castiel had been awake, so Naomi gestured for him to follow her. They would be returning home for the next few nights, meaning Castiel would have to suck it up and not freak out.
Mary took her boys back to the house they had moved into after the fire. It was a nice place, but not the home Dean liked. He missed the old house, even now, 32 years later. The boys took off their shoes and headed up to their rooms, crashing almost immediately.
Castiel was curled in a ball on his old bed, trying not to cry. He never liked this house, not after Aunt Naomi had come to live with them. Aunt Naomi had out him through hell, making him her own personal cleaner. Never let him get an education, and had his siblings teach him. It's why he can't do math very well.