"Cas, God dammit, I said don't look!"
"But I've never been able to experience this before-"
"Cas, humans don't do this, so freaking turn around!"
"I apologize…"
Sam sniggered to himself from where he sat on the couch, his laptop balancing on his stomach. He glanced over to his left, where he could see the bathroom door slightly ajar down the hall, and Castiel was standing in the gap, his cuffed arm held out behind him, while Dean did his 'business'. The angel looked a bit disappointed, which made Sam feel a bit weird as he remembered what Gabriel had told him. He sighed, rubbing his face, then turned back to his laptop.
"Hey, Bobby, found anything?" he asked the older hunter, who was sitting at his desk, face stuck in an even older book. He had returned not long after the incident Gabriel gratefully handed over to Sam, making him look like a creep with the porn and candy. The man grunted, not saying anything else, which most likely meant 'no'. The youngest Winchester sighed, and began clicking in and out of pages, searching for anything on how to break a Trickster's spell- if that was even possible.
"Please, for the love of God, tell me you found something," Dean's irritated voice came from the front of the living room, Castiel frowning beside him.
"Do not use my father's name in vain, Dean."
"Oh my GOD, shut up."
The angel's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything else. Bobby rolled his eyes, finally looking up from the book.
"One: No I haven't found anything. Two: Shuddap, ya idjits. You're both arguing like an old married couple."
That sure got Dean to shut his mouth. Although, it didn't make the glare go away. Castiel fidgeted in the silence. Sam sighed.
"How 'bout we all take a break, get some sleep, and start again in the morning?"
Dean immediately froze. "N-No, me and Cas can continue researching!" he stuttered, body stiff. Sam and Bobby exchanged curious glances, then peered back at the two.
"Uh… Whatever floats yer boat, kid," Bobby said slowly, standing up with a grunt. He left down the hall, to his room. Sam pushed his laptop off of himself, stood up and stretched, then turned to head up the stairs. He nodded to his brother.
"See you guys in the morning."
Dean gave his little brother a slight nod, watched him disappear up the stairs, then let out a defeated sigh when he and Cas were alone. He rubbed his face. The angel blinked at Dean, looking concerned.
"Is everything all right, Dean?" he asked seriously. The hunter frowned at the man he was cuffed to.
"Oh yeah, I'm just great! Earlier today I was woke graciously to the goddamn Trickster hand-cuffing me to a freaking virgin angel!" He glared at Cas. "I'm just peachy!" Castiel stared at Dean for several moments, quiet. The eldest Winchester suddenly wondered if he had hurt his feelings, when the angel finally spoke.
"…That… Was sarcasm."
Dean's left eye twitched, and he held himself back, trying ever so hard not to strangle the man next to him. "Of course it was!" he snapped. "And the best part of it is that I'm hand-cuffed to a complete idiot of an angel, that can barely tell what sarcasm is- and is so utterly and completely gullible!" Dean panted, trembling from his rant. Suddenly, the hurt was clearly visible in Castiel's eyes, and the angel turned away from Dean, lowering his gaze. The hunter instantly regretted his words.
"L-Look, C-Cas, I didn't mean that... I just-"
"I understand perfectly, Dean," Castiel cut him off, voice lacking any emotion, expression completely blank as the angel stared at the floor. Dean didn't like that look. It was a look that didn't suit Cas at all. Well, the angel had wore it for a long time when they first met, but had relaxed into a more… human being.
"Seriously, I didn't mean it. I was angry-"
Castiel cut him off again. "Dean."
He didn't say anything else, but the forcefulness in his voice made Dean's throat go dry. The angel finally looked at him, and Dean was the one to tear his eyes away. He couldn't look into those bright, pain-filled blue eyes. It was too awful. And the worst part was that Dean couldn't hide away. They were stuck like this, so he was forced to endure the awkward and heart wrenching silence that went on for a few hours while they researched.
The thing Dean feared the most was sleeping. How is he going to sleep? That'd be way too uncomfortable, even for Cas. Maybe he could just not sleep? Cas didn't have to sleep, so maybe Dean wouldn't need to?
"That's so stupid," he muttered under his breath, irritated with himself for being that foolish. Like that could happen. Cas glanced over at Dean from the book he was reading. They were sitting next to each other, of course, since they couldn't even get five feet away from one another.
"What was that?" the angel suddenly said, snapping Dean from his thoughts.
"Huh? Oh- Uh, um, nothing… Just something in this article…" he mumbled, turning back to Sam's laptop, that was on his lap. Castiel nodded slowly, but didn't press any further. Dean gulped. This was too awkward, and he was getting really tired.
* * * * *
When Sam left upstairs, he wasn't all that surprised to find that familiar shape lying on his bed when he opened his bedroom door. He was surprised, however, when he found that familiar shape lying on his bed reading his father's journal. He tensed, growing angry.
"What are you doing with that?" he growled, reaching out to take it, but Gabriel swerved away, out of Sam's reach, still reading with his back to the human.
"Hold on, I just got to a really good part," he whispered, and Sam stood straight, crossing his arms to glare down at the Trickster. He grinned, and began reading aloud, " 'May 2. Sammy is twelve years old today. He's a handful. Spends all of his time on the computer, unless he's arguing with me. I can't understand him, and he doesn't try to understand me. Typical father-son trouble-' "
"Where did you get that?" he muttered, cutting him off. He's read that journal a thousand times. He knew what was coming after that. Gabriel ignored him.
" '-but it feels worse because neither one of us can talk about what happened to his mother. He wants to be in one place, live a normal life…' " Gabriel stopped, noticing Sam was trembling as he glanced over his shoulder. He sighed, and shut the journal, holding it out to the hunter as he turned around to face him. "Sorry- I get curious." He shrugged as Sam snatched it away from him, glaring at the archangel.
"Well you don't need to read it out loud. I already know everything inside that journal."
They stood there for a few moments, in silence- Sam just standing there, clutching the journal tightly in his hands, Gabriel sitting cross-legged on the youngest Winchester's bed, a Hershy bar in his right hand.
"That journal is really sad," Gabriel murmured after several minutes. Sam didn't snap a snarky remark, or scream at him, only tightened his grip on the journal. He nodded slightly, afraid that if he said anything, his voice would break. Instead, Gabriel sighed, stretched, and jumped off the bed. "Well, I best be on my-" He froze, golden eyes suddenly vacant. Sam narrowed his eyes, peering at the Trickster curiously. Suddenly, Gabe was back, blinking. "Well, crap. Looks like my project isn't going well…" Sam frowned.
"What? You mean Dean and Cas? What happened?"
"Seems like Deano is an idiot, and hurt lil' Cassie's feelings!" Gabriel pouted. Sam rolled his eyes.
"Should we- er… I – do something?" Sam asked, tipping his head to the side. Gabriel shook his head, placing his hands on his hips.
"You've got a lot to learn 'bout romance, kiddo," he chuckled. "First things first- Don't interfere."
"But you're the one who meddled! You friggin' hand-cuffed them to each other!" Sam frowned at the archangel, who sniggered.
"But I'm the one helping the idiots, so I'm an exception." Before Sam could retort, Gabriel continued, "Rule number two: Let the master handle everything." He winked and smirked at the taller man, then chuckled to himself when he noticed the blush form on Sam's cheeks. Sam quickly turned away crossly, frowning at the door.
"Oh, jeez, just go, already, MASTER!" he grumbled sarcastically. Gabriel let out a fake giggle, and pretended to fan himself with his hand.
"Oh, Sammy, I get so tingly when you get all forceful like that~"
"GET OUT."
