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Castiel heard someone saying his name but he could barely pay attention. He watched with a sort of tunnel vision, only able to see Dean haul the man up by his collar as if it was no problem at all. The mechanic/teacher yanked him towards the door, his teeth gritted angrily and his face slightly red.

"Castiel!" Jo said, shaking his arm insistently.

He finally looked over at her, his eyes still wide.

"Are you okay? Did that guy hurt you?"

Castiel shook his head.

"I'm fine. He just grabbed me and said some things. Dean got to him pretty fast." He said, glancing over his shoulder to see the door slamming shut.

Ellen followed them, most likely making sure that Dean didn't kill the guy.

"Come here." Jo said, pulling him behind the bar and handing him a glass of water.

He didn't realize that he was shaking slightly until he started drinking.

"Dean told us you were leaving. Why'd you come back in?" she asked over the loud noise of the crowd that started up again.

"I had to get his help. My car won't start." He answered.

"Again?" she sighed, shaking her head.

He shrugged and leaned against the counter as he drank the water slowly.

"Cas." He turned as soon as he heard the voice and saw Dean standing there looking calmed down and concerned.

Ellen was directly behind him looking at Castiel as well.

"Are you okay?" Dean questioned, looking him over.

"I'm all right. Thank you, that man was far too close for comfort." He said gratefully, putting the water glass down.

"He was more than just a little too close." Dean said, stepping closer. "Why did you come back in? I thought you were leaving."

He flushed, embarrassed now that he had to ask Dean for help especially since he'd just helped him.

"I needed to find you." Castiel explained. "My car isn't starting and I need your help."

The mechanic stared at him for a moment before huffing out a laugh and shaking his head.

"C'mon, Cas. Let's go take a look." he said, gesturing to the parking lot.

Castiel waved goodbye to Jo, who looked shocked at something, before following Dean through the crowd to the door. The whole way, the older male was looking around with a threatening look, as if daring anyone to mess with Castiel again. No one would bother again, having seen the state of the man's bleeding face when he dared to touch the teenager. When they stepped out into the cool night air, Dean looked over at Castiel. He ducked his head, walking towards his car with Dean following him, not wanting to show that he was flushing in the overhead lights of the parking lot. When they got to the junker, Dean stepped forward and held his hand out for the keys. He handed them over and he reached in, starting the car only to get the same result. He got back out and opened the hood of the car, peering in.

"Any ideas?" Castiel asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants.

Dean looked up at him and nodded, carefully backing away from the car so that he wouldn't hit his head.

"You need a new car." He said with utter seriousness.

Castiel blanked and his eyes widened.

"It-it's dead?" he asked, sorting through how he would tell his parents and Gabriel that the car was dead.

Would they make him walk across town to the school? Would Gabriel be angry with him? Would he have to ensure that he did perfectly on his car in auto shop only to give it to his older brother as penance for breaking the car?

Suddenly a smile broke across Dean's face and he let out a chuckle, closing the hood.

"I'm kidding, but in all seriousness, this car sucks. All you need is a new battery. Luckily for you, I have one in my car along with tools to change it. Sammy always used to kill his car battery in record time so I always carry one around." he assured him.

Castiel sighed with relief.

"Unfortunately my car is around the back of the restaurant so I have to pull it around." Dean said, pulling out his own keys as he handed Castiel's back to him.

"I'll stay here while you go get it." he nodded, stepping closer to the car.

Dean looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not leaving a kid alone in the parking lot of a bar when you were already confronted by a drunk pervert already. You're coming with me." he corrected him, gesturing for him to follow.

Castiel frowned, tempted to refuse simply on the basis of Dean's commanding tone.

"I'm not a kid." He shot back as he followed him towards the restaurant.

He winced, hating how petulant he sounded when he said it in total opposition to the point he was trying to make. Dean laughed and Castiel flushed for an entirely different reason.

"You're only seven years older than me, Dean."

Dean turned and grinned at him, his own hands in his jacket pockets as he walked backwards.

"Cas my brother is three years older than you and I still call him a kid. You have no hope." He teased.

Castiel huffed and sped up, stepping towards him faster as he drew himself up to his full, quite tall height. He wasn't as tall as Dean but he wasn't short either.

"I haven't been a kid for a very long time. I am quite mature for my age and I have an intellect well beyond my peers. I would have graduated high school early were it not for my parents insisting on me having a normal high school experience as my brothers and sister did. I can name every bone in the human body as well as the muscles, parts of the brain, and the organs. I know where every pressure point is in the body and, if necessary, I can put a person through quite a bit of pain. If I'd had the time to process what was happening, I'd been able to take that perverted drunk man down with just a bit of pressure on his brachial and carotid points that would have him crumpled on the ground begging for mercy. I learned to do such things at ten years old when I was forced to deal with my quite active and physically intimidating older brothers." He ranted, feeling particularly defensive and wanting to prove to the other man that he was not a kid.

For some reason, it was very important that he not seem childish to Dean. When he finally saw the surprise on Dean's face, he realized everything that he'd said and who he said it to. His cheeks went even redder as he staggered in his steps.

"I am very sorry, Dean. That was inappropriate of me to talk to you that way." he said, looking down at the ground.

He'd never ever talked to a teacher like that. He always gave them the respect that he felt was right but then again, Dean didn't really feel like a teacher to him. He expected the older male to berate him and even leave him behind. He didn't expect for Dean to laugh and slow down to walk in step with him.

"You really know all the bones in the body?"

Castiel looked up at him with wide eyes, nodding slowly in confirmation. Dean whistled as if he was impressed.

"You want to be a scientist or something?" he asked.

"I want to be a doctor, a surgeon. I want to be the youngest cardiothoracic surgeon to ever revolutionize a new surgical procedure as well as win a Lasker Award for contribution to medical science." He admitted.

Dean looked at him with an impressed look.

"I don't know what half of those things mean but its sounds pretty impressive, Cas."

Castiel smiled slightly as they reached the Impala.

"In my family it's hard to be impressive. Everyone has something amazing that they've done so it's just a reputation that everyone in the Novak family has to live up to. Gabriel is the only one who refuses to live up because he just doesn't want to."

Dean shook his head.

"You're already impressive, Cas."

Castiel looked at him with wide eyes as he unlocked the Impala and opened the driver's door before unlocking the rest of the doors. Dean made to get in but then glanced up at him.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he said, gesturing to the passenger seat.

Castiel inhaled deeply, reaching for the handle as he remembered what Anna said. Dean was very protective of his car and only allowed a few people in.

'Quit standing here, Cas. He's going to think you're strange if he doesn't already.'

Castiel opened the door and slowly climbed in, settling back on the leather seat and closing the door before he realized that he'd called himself by Dean's nickname for him. He shook his head before inhaling deeply, the smell of motor oil, whiskey, leather, and aftershave filling his senses. It smelled just like Dean on the rare occasions that he got close enough to identify the scent. Before they started moving, Dean leaned over and reached down towards Cas's feet.

"What are you doing?" Castiel asked curiously, watching as he picked up a basket from the floorboard.

"Music." Dean answered simply, grinning up at him before digging through the tapes.

"You have cassette tapes?" he questioned, raising his eyebrow.

Dean narrowed his eyes.

"A little lesson in your education, you don't ruin pretty cars with new stereos. It sullies the original set up of the car and throws it all off balance. No CD players, no iPod hookups. You use tapes or you never get to claim to love your car like you should." He lectured, popping a tape into the radio.

Castiel nodded with a fake solemnity on his face, not realizing that his entire body was turned towards Dean.

"Yes sir." He replied, keeping the amusement out of his voice.

Dean shook his head, fighting a smile.

"And the sarcasm isn't necessary."

Castiel couldn't help the smirk that turned one corner of his mouth up.

"This coming from the man who uses sarcasm in seventy percent of his conversations." He said daringly.

Dean barked out a laugh, slapping the steering wheel as the music started and he backed out of the parking space.

"Touché."

The sound of drumbeats and guitar riffs filled the car as Dean slowly pulled around the building.

"You know who this is?" he asked, trying to make conversation as he noticed Castiel tapping his fingers against his leg.

Cas looked down at his hand before glancing over at him.

"I don't know the name of the band nor can I recall the name of the track. My brother, Luke, listens to classic rock quite often so I recognize the song." He answered.

Dean nodded, smiling slightly.

"Kashmir, Led Zeppelin." He informed Cas.

Castiel nodded as well, recognizing the name and committing it to memory.

"You wore a Led Zeppelin shirt last week." He remembered.

Dean looked over at him with surprise as Castiel cursed himself for remembering and admitting to knowing the specific detail.

"Yeah, I wear old t-shirts a lot when I don't want my better shirts to get ruined." He said, pulling up to Cas's car and stopping.

They climbed out and Dean walked around to the Impala trunk, opening it.

"My question is…" he said, digging through the car as Castiel walked around to watch him. "… how do you have a name like Castiel and a brother named Gabriel, but then another brother named Luke? Isn't that a bit too normal?"

Castiel smiled, letting out a soft chuckle as Dean handed him a tool box.

"His name is Lucifer but we call him Luke." He explained.

Dean pulled out a heavy car battery, turning to Cas with raised eyebrows.

"I agree that Luke is better." He decided.

"That is how he feels. He's insisted on being called by the shortened version of his name since he was quite yong." Castiel said, watching as Dean opened the hood of his car again and set the battery on the ground.

He reached for the toolbox and set it on top of the engine. Castiel stood to the side, watching as he picked through the tools.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked, glancing up at him.

Castiel was taken aback by the question, shrugging.

"Staying out of the way?" he questioned with uncertainty.

"No sir. You're learning this stuff and you're going to watch and help out." Dean said, jerking his head to beckon him over.

Castiel stumbled forward and held several tools that Dean handed him.

"This is the battery." He said, pointing at the large black box with cables connected to it. "Sometimes you can just jump start it but we'll go ahead and switch it out."

"Is it difficult?" Cas questioned curiously.

"Nah it's easy. I'm not rebuilding the engine or anything." He said, shrugging.

Castiel glanced over at him as he worked on removing the battery, taking tools from his hands every once in a while.

"You've had to rebuild an engine before?"

Dean froze for a moment, his eyes fixed on the battery. He hesitated before nodding slowly.

"Yeah my Impala got messed up pretty bad."

Castiel remained quiet for a moment, watching as he twisted the cables to remove them from the bad battery.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

Dean looked up at him, taken aback by his apology.

"For what?" he asked, his voice as quiet as Castiel's in the silent parking lot.

The younger male shrugged, taking the tool when he handed it off.

"Your car is very important to you, perhaps one of your most valued possessions and you're protective of it. I can't imagine that it was easy to see something that you are attached to damaged so badly." He said, more than a hint of sadness in his voice as he looked down at the tools in his hands.

He felt Dean's eyes on him but he couldn't bring himself to look up at him.

"What about you?" the older male finally said.

Castiel glanced up with confusion.

"Oh I've never rebuilt an engine." He said.

Dean shook his head with a slight smile.

"Sorry, back to the nicknames. You said you'd never had anyone call you Cas before. No one ever thought to shorten your name before?" he asked, turning back to the car battery.

Castiel was relieved at the change in subject, his shoulders losing their tension.

"I've been nicknamed before but Cas is the first one that I've actually liked." He answered.

Dean looked up, switching out the tools again. Castiel tried not to shiver when his warm, calloused hand brushed against his own hand.

"What's the nickname that you hate?" he asked.

Castiel huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Cassie. Everyone insists on calling me by that name. My friends, my family… everyone. They know that I dislike it but they won't stop." He said, frustration evident in his voice.

"I understand. People used to call me Dean-o and I hated it." Dean nodded.

After a few moments, he looked up at Cas.

"Your girlfriend call you Cassie?" he asked.

Castiel's head snapped up and his eyes were wide.

"I-I don't… I don't have a girlfriend." He stammered.

Dean looked surprised.

"Oh, uh… sorry. I thought… I've seen you with a redhead at the school a lot." He said, his cheeks turning pink as he removed the battery from the car and moved it to the ground, setting it down.

"That's just Charlie." Castiel said, shaking his head as Dean picked up the new battery.

He nodded and Cas glanced around, feeling awkward for some reason.

"She likes girls." The words fell out of his mouth before he could help it.

Castiel turned red and his eyes widened. He was horrified with himself. He knew that Charlie wasn't shy about her sexual orientation but he would hate it if someone else blurted it out so carelessly even if the whole world knew about it. Dean looked up at him with a surprised look.

"Oh, that's… nice." He said, not knowing what else to say.

Cas nodded, glancing around as Dean turned back to the car.

"So there aren't any others you've got your eye on? I mean, I know there are bound to be some pretty girls around the school." Dean said casually.

Castiel squinted at him.

"I wouldn't know." He said simply, once again not in control of his own words.

Dean nodded, no surprise on his face.

"Yeah I was warned about you. They told me that you would be very focused and possibly unhappy that you were stuck in my class. You turned out to be less angry than I thought." Dean said. "I guess on your track to be the youngest cardiothoracic surgeon to win a Lasker you don't really have time for girls, huh?"

Castiel was growing frustrated and angry at the way that Dean was talking about him like he was an emotionally stunted brat with an ego problem.

"No, I guess I don't really have time for females at my school." He snapped.

Dean looked up, surprised by the sudden hostility in his tone.

"Hey… I didn't mean…"

"I'm too busy being attracted to men to really look twice at women. I'm sorry to disappoint." He said, dropping the tools into the box.

Dean looked stunned and apologetic at the same time.

"Cas I…"

Castiel shook his head, cutting him off.

"Forget it." He said, looking down as he felt himself calming and regretting what he said. "If this is too much trouble, just leave it and I'll get my sister to pick me up. I can get it towed out of the parking lot tomorrow."

Dean sighed and pulled the tools out of Castiel's hands, dropping them in the box.

"I'm actually almost done."

Castiel nodded, stepping away from the car and walking around it.

"Thank you for doing this. I'll just wait in the car until you're done. I think I've had enough education for today."

He felt like he was being childish but he couldn't bring himself to stay behind. He got into the car and slunk down into the seat as far as he could. Several minutes later, the hood thumped closed and he looked up to see Dean holding the toolbox and picking up the battery. The older male looked through the windshield and gave him thumbs up with one hand. Castiel stuck the keys into the ignition and turned them. The car started instantly and he sighed with relief, mostly for the ability to get out of the awkward situation that he found himself in.

Dean looked like he wanted to come around and say something but something stopped him. He hesitated, looking up at Castiel before he turned to his car and placed the dead car battery and the tools back in the trunk. Castiel watched every move, looking as he climbed into the driver's seat of his car and shot him one last look before pulling out from in front of him. Cas shifted the car into drive, hesitating before pulling out and driving towards the exit of the parking lot.

Dean's shoulders were hunched as he walked into the small apartment. He dropped his keys on the table and reached for the answering machine, pressing play.

"You have three new messages." The automated voice announced.

He dropped onto the couch and bent over, rubbing his hands through his hair.

"Hey Dean, just wanted to tell you I got the check. Thanks for sending it. I know it's not easy for you to do this and you know that I'm gonna pay you back one day." Dean glanced over at the machine as his brother's voice floated out of it. "Jess can't wait to see you again. She really enjoys when we visit you or you visit us. I think we might come there for Thanksgiving and Christmas, if that's all right. Jess's parents are going on extended holiday to Europe with her dad's retirement bonus. Let me know if that's okay with you. I'll talk to you later."

Dean reached over as the message ended.

"To delete this message, press one. To save this mes… message saved. Next message."

He leaned back again.

"Hello Mr. Winchester. This is the billing department at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. I just wanted to let you know that the next bill is due on the first of this next month. If you cannot pay the agreed upon amount, we suggest that you come in to renegotiate your payment plan. Call 785-505-2922 if you have any questions."

"To dele… message deleted. Next message."

Dean reached for the remote to turn on the TV when he froze at the next voice on the line.

"Hey Dean-o."

His blood ran cold as he looked over at the machine.

"I, uh… I need you to come get me. I'm in some trouble." John Winchester's voice said over the line. "I'm in Kansas City… at the county jail. You may need to bring some bail money."

Dean felt his heart drop and he stood, dropping the remote as he pulled out his phone and walked back towards the door.

"Hello?" Sam answered as he walked towards the parking lot.

"I know where Dad is. I'm going to get him." he said simply.

"Oh… where is he?" his little brother asked warily.

"Kansas City… county jail." Dean said, slamming his car door closed once he climbed into it.

Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!

Just to let you know, the chapters are going to be a little bit shorter now.