Chapter 3 - The Changeling
"I'm sorry, Cas, but we've made up our minds," Frank said. "Jody and I want to stay here with Robbie, at least until Christmas."
"Unless you really need us," Jody added. "But it seems like you've got this one pretty well figured out, and you probably won't need the extra firepower on an undercover job. If you need us for anything, though, one of you can come and get us. OK?"
Cas nodded. He understood. Truthfully, he didn't feel they would be needed in Paris. He'd spoken to Dean on the phone and received the report that the brothers had arranged an outing to the bar in Paris where members of Les Rebelles Blancs hung out. He'd already decided that he would accompany them, so there would be no need for anyone else. And Frank and Jody had had a terrible scare when Robbie had been kidnapped. It was understandable that they should want to make sure that they were with the boy now. Frank had stated that they were going to personally escort Robbie to school every day, and God help anyone who tried anything. He and Jody had weapons, and they had Bobby and Cas on Speed Dial. That would have to be enough.
Gail was sitting with Barry on the couch. She was holding both of his hands in hers, and she said something that made him throw his head back and laugh. As soon as the Angels had gotten back to the bunker, there had been hugs all around, and as soon as Gail had seen Barry alive and well, she had burst into tears.
Barry still had no idea what had happened to him, and nobody was talking about it. He assumed he'd just been knocked unconscious by Lucifer, and no one was rushing to tell him otherwise. So, he had been a little puzzled by Gail's reaction. But when he'd heard about her ordeal, Barry believed he understood why she was so emotional. So he'd taken her over to the couch and sat her down, comforting her. It did Cas's heart good to see that. Barry was a wonderful friend to them both, and Cas was so glad he was alive.
Tommy and Chuck were playing Go Fish with Robbie, and both men were cheating like crazy so the boy would win every game. Robbie had been over the moon when the Angels had returned, and he'd hugged Gail so tightly when she'd first sat down that she'd had to ask Frank to pry him off of her. Robbie had been very aware of the gravity of the situation they'd been in, and he knew that if it hadn't been for his Aunt Gail, he might not even be alive to go to school tomorrow.
Robbie was happy now. He looked at his Mom and Dad, and his other two Dads, and his Uncles Cas and Chuck, and Aunt Gail. And then all of a sudden, he knew things about them, things he had no earthly business knowing. He knew that his Mom had been thinking about having another kid, and so had his Dad, but neither one of them had talked to the other one about it. His Dad Tommy had an engagement ring for his Dad Barry, and he was going to give it to him at Christmas. in front of everybody, at Uncle Cas and Aunt Gail's house. His Uncle Cas and his Aunt Gail were going to have a huge Christmas at their place, with lots of presents. Robbie couldn't wait for that. And his Uncle Chuck was thinking about a red-haired woman, but he was thinking about himself and that lady with no clothes on in bed, and Robbie knew that kind of stuff was still too grown up for him, so he looked away. He also knew that Grandpa God hadn't come to visit because he was sad, and Robbie hoped he would cheer up soon.
"Well, we'd better get back," Cas said, coming into the living room area. Gail and Chuck stood and said their goodbyes, and the trio winked back to Paris.
"So what are all the up-and-coming white supremacists wearing these days, anyway?" Gail joked nervously.
She and Cas had just come back to their room from a strategy session with Sam and Dean. Chuck had been there, too, and the three Angels had filled the Winchesters in on all the events that had happened back home. The brothers were thrilled that everything was all right now, but they expressed regret that they hadn't been there to help. Cas had thanked them, but he secretly thought it was just as well that they hadn't been. He'd had enough people to worry about, as it was. But he admitted to them that he could use a lesson or two on vampires, and they'd agreed to sit down with him and Gail once this mission was over and go over the various ways to kill or incapacitate one. Chuck had said that he might want to avail himself of this information too, and Dean had almost made a smart remark that Chuck should just check the Supernatural books he'd written. But then Dean looked at Gail, and he held his tongue. He knew it upset her when he took potshots at Chuck, and from everything he'd heard about today's experiences, it sounded like Chuck had really stepped up to the plate. So maybe it was time to finally let that go.
After the five of them had finished their conversation, Sam and Dean wanted to go and get something to eat. "If we're going to have to hang out with a bunch of Nazis tonight, I want to have something in my stomach to throw up, later," Sam had quipped.
Chuck wanted to go to Desiree's hotel, of course, to see if she was still there. He'd ended up telling Cas and Sam and Dean about her, but only in vague, general terms. The Winchesters had shrugged. Good for Chuck. But they also wondered exactly what he was doing here in the first place. They didn't really need him. Cas had insisted on coming along to the bar tonight, but Chuck wasn't going to. So, what was he even doing here?
Then Cas answered their question when he looked at Chuck and said, "So you'll be back here to keep Gail company while we go to the bar as we discussed, right?"
So that was it: Chuck was here to be Gail's protector when Cas was undercover.
Babysitter was more like it, Gail thought, and she was not pleased. "Look, I can understand why I'm not coming to the bar with you guys, but I don't need to be babysat, either," she had berated Cas.
"I don't see it that way," Cas said, shaking his head. "I need to make sure you're safe while I can't be here."
"Am I or am I not a grown woman?" Gail had retorted, raising her voice.
"A grown woman who was just rescued from Jason and Lucifer," Cas pointed out.
Gail was seething. In a way, he was right, but: "You rescued Chuck and Bobby, too!" she yelled. "I'm supposed to be your equal partner! I guess I'm good enough to have sex with, but I'm not good enough to be trusted to handle things on my own!"
Sam, Dean and Chuck had winced. That was harsh.
"Come on, Gail," Dean had said soothingly. "Cas just wants to make sure you're OK."
"I notice he doesn't assign babysitters to any of you," she fumed.
"That's because we don't keep getting kidnapped by Lucifer," Dean shot back.
Gail opened her mouth to sass him, but then she closed it with a snap. They'd been having pretty much this same argument right before she'd taken Frank and Jody back to the States, and she realized that he was pretty much just as right now as he'd been then. Cas hadn't wanted her at the bunker, she'd gone anyway, and she'd ended up in peril again. She needed to figure out how to better defend herself against their enemies, or else she should check her attitude.
She'd looked at Cas then. He was frowning, looking back and forth between her and Dean. Cas couldn't decide which of them he thought was more wrong in this case. He didn't really like the way that Dean was talking to Gail. It wasn't Gail's fault that she had been taken by Lucifer, and he wasn't upset with her for having brought Frank and Jody to the bunker. He actually blamed himself for that; he could have taken them, if he'd just thought of it when he'd first left. But what he didn't like from Gail was her being angry with him when he was only trying to keep her safe. But he didn't want to argue with her about it in front of their friends. So he'd taken her hand and told the brothers he'd meet them back at Sam and Dean's room in a couple of hours.
Then he and Gail were back in their room, and she'd made her innocent quip, not realizing that Cas was upset with her now. He looked at her, pursing his lips. She'd gone to the window to look outside, but when there was no reaction to her comment forthcoming from him, she turned back around.
Cas was standing there, staring at her. "Do you really think I don't regard you as an equal partner?" he asked her coolly.
Gail was uncomfortable now. His gaze was penetrating, and she could tell that he was very upset. "No, Cas, I didn't really mean that," she told him. "I was just angry. Not that you would know what that's like," she added teasingly.
But he didn't smile, even though part of him wanted to. Cas had a point to make now. "I regard you as an equal partner in every way," he told her. "But I don't think you realize how vulnerable you are, and I also don't think you realize how it affects me every time you're in danger. Perhaps you should think about that."
Now she felt awful. What was her problem, anyway? Gail knew very well how scared Cas got when she was being threatened. Why did she get so mad at him for worrying about her safety, anyway? She honestly didn't know.
"I think you owe me an apology," he said stiffly, still staring at her.
Wow. He WAS upset, Gail thought. She hadn't seen him like this in quite a while. She moved away from the window, approaching where he stood, but he held up his hand. "You can apologize to me from there," Cas told her. His tone was still cool. "I wouldn't want you to think I was looking to have sex."
Gail's heart sank. The instant she'd said that, she had wanted to take it back. "I'm sorry, Cas," she said softly. "I should never have said that. I just hate the idea of having to be watched every minute, like I'm a child, or something. You know how independent I am."
His expression softened a bit. "I know you are, Gail. But I need to know that you are safe when I can't be with you."
"I know, and I'm being really stupid, aren't I?" she replied. "I'm really sorry, Cas. Please forgive me."
He looked at her a moment longer, and then he opened his arms. "Come here, please," he said, and she rushed forward. He embraced her and said, "I don't need to forgive you, Gail. I just need to love you and take care of you. And your getting angry with me isn't going to prevent me from doing either."
Gail looked up at him. "So, bottom line: I guess I'll have to teach Chuck how to play cards, if he doesn't already know. Is that what you're saying?"
Now Cas did smile; he just couldn't help it. "Yes, that's what I'm saying," he told her.
Gail nodded. She could live with that. Actually, she didn't know why she had gotten so mad at him in the first place. If she weren't an Angel, she'd swear that she was hormonal, sometimes.
"OK, Cas. I love you," she said.
"I love you too, and that's why I do the things I do. That's why I do everything that I do," Cas told her seriously, looking into her eyes.
"I know," she said. Then she couldn't stand it any longer, so she smiled mischievously. "I believe we've just had a fight. Do you want to stay a little bit mad at me, so we can see how hot we are together?"
Cas continued to look at her. He was puzzled now. No wonder Dean said that women were difficult to understand at times. But she was offering him the opportunity to end the argument now, and Dean had also advised Cas that the woman was the one who decided when the fight was over. Still, her earlier comment about having sex bothered him a bit. Surely, after all this time, she didn't think that was the most important thing to him, did she?
He raised an eyebrow to her. "I wouldn't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you," he said primly.
Gail stretched up and kissed him on the corner of his mouth. "Maybe I"M taking advantage of YOU," she said quietly.
His hands tightened around her waist, but he still didn't react, so Gail kissed him on the lips. "Are you still angry with me?" she asked him. "Yes," he answered shortly. She kissed his mouth again. "Really?" she asked him. She kissed him once more, and this time she poked her tongue out and licked his lips.
Cas couldn't take it anymore. "No," he told her. "I was just trying to pretend as if I were." He kissed her now, and his tongue pried her lips open. Then he broke the kiss. "For the record, I think we can be very hot without disagreeing," he told her. "I can show you, if you'd like."
She smiled. "I would like that."
Cas picked her up and carried her to the bed. He laid on top of her and continued to kiss her with his tongue. He started to pull her clothes off with one hand, caressing her bare skin with the other. He was undressing her quickly, and his caresses became more firm. Then he undid his pants, and she could see that he was already excited. He took her hand and put it on himself.
"Am I being too aggressive?" he asked her, kissing her neck. He was already starting to move against her hand, and now his hand was between her legs, and he was stroking her. She had opened her legs to him without even realizing it. He had her really excited now, too. He was being aggressive, and she was liking it.
"No, just aggressive enough, I think," Gail said, and she made one of her little noises in response to what he was doing with his hand.
"Good," Cas responded. He took off his pants quickly and slid into her, keeping his hand where it was, stroking her as he pushed in and out of her.
"Does that feel all right?" he asked.
"Oh, Cas, it's so good," she told him.
He smiled, pushing a bit harder now. "Is it hot?"
"Yes," she answered, answering his smile. "It always is." His fingers sped up, and so did his body, and she began to cry out. As soon as she did that, he withdrew from her and moved his body down, putting his mouth on her, and she shouted out his name. He kissed and licked her there as she writhed, telling him how much she loved him, how good he was, and how good he made her feel. Then, as she began to calm down, he opened her legs wider and re-entered her, pushing hard into her. She wrapped her legs around him and he moaned into her ear. Gail cried out again, and he could feel her spasms underneath him. Cas made a low sound, telling her how he loved her, and then he was still.
They lay there panting for a moment, and Cas said, "I don't ever want to leave here."
"Paris?" she quipped, and he raised his head to look at her. "No," he said earnestly, and she started to kiss his face gently. "You can leave, as long as you promise to always come back," she told him.
"Now, where on earth would I ever go, without you?" he said lightly.
She raised an eyebrow to him, but he laughed softly and rolled off of her, pulling her to him. His arms went around her and he kissed her gently on the forehead. "They may be repugnant, vile people, but they're humans, Gail," Cas assured her. "You have nothing to fear." Here he had been, concerned for her safety, and she had been worried about his. She was so sweet.
Gail nodded. He was right, of course. Cas and Dean and Sam would be just fine. They could take care of themselves. Unlike her, it seemed. She sighed. Until she proved that she could defend herself a little better, Gail supposed she did deserve to have a babysitter.
Cas heard her sigh, and now he was thinking about relenting on his position. She was obviously insulted that he felt she needed to be watched over every minute. But there was no reason to believe that anyone knew where they were, was there? Was he overreacting, perhaps?
He had been about to tell her his thoughts when she kissed his chest and said, "I appreciate your caring about my safety, sweetie. Believe me, I do. In fact, when we have time, I'd like to do some more training, and become a better fighter. And I'd better find out more about vampires, and how to deal with them. Jason nearly made a snack out of me back there." She shivered for a moment. "Chuck really did bail me out, there. He claims he's a coward, but I don't agree."
Cas's blood ran cold. She had just reminded him of why he'd been so nervous for her to be alone in the first place. All he would need was to get back from the bar and find Jason here, feeding on her. And it wouldn't matter how many sigils or pentagrams they painted around the room, nor would her blade help her in that situation. So he said nothing, just held her tighter.
They talked some more, and they made love again, and then it was time for Cas to get dressed and leave. He showered quickly, and put on black pants, a black shirt, and a charcoal blazer. He transferred his blade into the inside pocket of his blazer and looked at Gail, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, watching him dress.
He gave her a faint smile. "I thought, if I was going to be a bad guy, I might as well dress all in black," he told her.
"Well, I just hope there aren't too many female white supremacists there, because you look amazing, as usual," Gail quipped.
Cas looked at her warmly. He knew what she was doing. She was trying to keep his spirits up. Cas was not looking forward to the role he was going to have to play, nor to meeting the types of people that he and the Winchesters would have to ingratiate themselves to.
He opened his arms. "Come here, please."
She hopped off the bed and walked into his embrace. Then she sniffed. "You even smell good," Gail told him. "I never thought I would envy a bunch of Nazis."
Cas kissed her. "I appreciate you using your humour," he said, giving her a squeeze.
She shrugged, smiling. "Hey, you're lucky Frank isn't here anymore. I can only imagine what he'd be saying right about now."
There was a knock on the door. "That must be Chuck," Cas said. He kissed her on the forehead and went to answer the door.
But it was Sam and Dean. "Let's get this over with," Dean said, striding into their room. He had an edge to his voice. It was a shame, really; this would be his kind of night, if he didn't have to hang with a bunch of Nazis.
"Chuck's not here yet," Cas told him. He looked at his watch. What was keeping him?
"Go ahead, you guys. I'm sure he'll be here in a minute," Gail said.
Cas looked at her uncertainly. "I'll call him on Angel Radio and tell him to get a move on," she said, kissing Cas on the cheek. "Go, go." She shooed them out the door.
She sat back down on the bed after they left. The room was very quiet all of a sudden. She thought about putting the TV on, but the French was too fast for her to follow. She should have brought a book, or something. Now she wished that Chuck was here. Hopefully, he would show up soon, or she was going to have a really boring night ahead of her.
Fifteen minutes passed, then twenty, and still no Chuck. Suddenly, the phone on the nightstand rang. He was calling to tell her that he was running late. She smiled. He must have gotten together with Desiree, and he was having a hard time tearing himself away from her. She could relate. In fact, maybe she'd tell him to take his time. She may be bored, but she was fine, and Chuck deserved a night like that.
Gail picked up the receiver. "I know, Chuck," she said into it. "Take your time."
But it was Cas, and he did not sound happy. "What do you mean?" he asked her. "Chuck isn't there yet?"
Gail frowned. She hoped Cas wasn't going to be too angry at Chuck. She would just have to calm him down when he got back. "No, he's not," she told Cas, "but I'm fine. Just a little bored. How's it going there?"
"Quiet, so far," he told her. "I just wanted to make sure that Chuck had arrived. I've called him on Angel Radio, but I'm not getting any response."
"Maybe he's got it shut off. If he's with this woman, well...we know how that can get, sometimes," she said mildly.
"Yes, but he promised me he would be there," Cas fumed.
"What's the matter, Cas?" she asked him. "Why are you so worried?"
His brow furrowed. He didn't know, exactly. He just had a bad feeling about her sitting there, all alone. Where the hell was Chuck, anyway?
Chuck was tied up at the moment. Literally. Rowena had knotted a couple of enchanted scarves at his wrists and tied them to the bedposts. They weren't tied very tightly, but Chuck was hardly trying to escape. He was under the influence of her spell now, and she was on top of him, caressing his body. They'd already had sex twice, taking the edge off, and she had told him to take it easy now. She would let him know when they were going to go again.
Chuck was intoxicated by the spell, but he was also excited by what she was saying to him, not to mention what she was doing to him. He'd had a secret wish for years to be dominated in bed, and Desiree was fulfilling that need nicely. But he had to cooperate, she'd told him. She wanted to know more about him now, and about his friends, and about what they were doing here in Paris.
So he'd spilled his guts, dreamily telling her about the mission to get the Tablets. "They didn't really need me tonight," he told her, "so I came here to see you." But then, his forehead wrinkled. Wasn't there something else that he was supposed to be doing? His thoughts were hazy, and now she was touching him intimately again, making him even more confused.
"You don't know where the Tablet is, then?" Rowena asked him softly.
"No, that's what Sam, Dean and Cas are going to the bar to find out," Chuck said. Cas. It was something about Cas...
Rowena frowned. Well, that wasn't very helpful. But she was still undecided about what she wanted to accomplish here. At least she had a compliant Angel at her disposal now. And Chuck was so easy. It hadn't taken much to get him talking; he had been so starved for physical affection that she hadn't had to try too hard with him.
But he was feeling upset now. "I think I have to get back to the hotel," he told her. "There's something important I forgot to do."
"Shhhh," she hushed him, putting her hand over his mouth. "You're not going anywhere, Chuck."
Rowena lowered herself onto him and began to move, and by the time she untied his wrists so that he could grab her by her hips, Chuck had forgotten about everything except the way she was making him feel right now.
"I don't like it," Cas said to Sam and Dean. He had hung up the phone from talking to Gail, and now he felt very uneasy. "Why isn't Chuck there? Why isn't he answering me?"
Sam shrugged. "He found a willing woman, and it's been quite a while for him. Do the math, Cas."
Cas was seething. "That doesn't mean he should shirk his duty."
"Says the guy who turned off Angel Radio, and made Bobby call us on the phone," Dean said pointedly, taking a sip of his beer.
Cas looked at him, expressionless. Perhaps Dean thought he was being funny, but Castiel was not amused. He was about to say so when the tour guide for the catacombs, Etienne, walked into the bar, accompanied by two other men. He spotted Sam and Dean at the bar, and made a beeline for them.
"Hey," Dean said to him. "How's it going?"
Etienne introduced the men he had come in with, and Dean introduced Cas. "These guys think like we do," Etienne said to his friends, indicating the brothers.
"You're all Americans?" Gregoire asked them, sitting on the stool beside Cas.
"Yes," Cas said. He pulled out his wallet and took out some money, putting it down on the bar. "The next round is on me. Sam and Dean told me we might find some like-minded men here."
"What do you mean by 'like-minded'?" Kurt said, sitting on the other side of Etienne.
"What do you think I mean?" Cas said coldly.
"Cool it, Cas," Dean said, draining his bottle of beer. He looked at Kurt, smirking. "Sorry. He doesn't always play well with others."
"Yeah, he nearly got us thrown out of our clubhouse, back home," Sam said, picking up the thread. "They think his ideas are too radical, and that's really saying something."
"Radical? How so?" Etienne asked, with raised eyebrows.
Cas frowned. "I don't think I should say. We just met."
"I told you, he's OK," Dean said to Cas, nodding towards Etienne.
Cas looked at the bartender. "Let's get a table," he said. The men got up from the bar and walked to a table. Cas raised a finger and motioned to the table, and the waitress came to serve them there. Once she'd delivered their drinks and moved away, Cas sat back in his chair, looking at Etienne and his friends. "Our club back home is big on talk, but they lack the courage and conviction to act on our beliefs. We've come here to Europe seeking a group that believes in action, over empty words," he told them.
"The Third Reich wasn't built in a day, Cas," Sam said to him, taking a gulp of beer to wash away the bad taste in his mouth.
"I know that, but at least they took action. They were on their way to achieving a goal, but they made some fatal errors," Cas said emphatically.
Etienne and his friends were impressed. "I've often said the same thing," the tour guide said, lifting his glass to Cas in salutation. "That's what I said to our leader, anyway, and he happens to agree. But we need some more dedicated volunteers."
"I'd like to meet this man," Cas said with a grim smile.
"So would we," Dean said, and Sam nodded in agreement.
Etienne and his friends looked at each other. So far, these guys seemed all right, but they couldn't rush to judgement. With what their group was planning, they couldn't be too careful.
"Let's have another couple of drinks, and we'll talk about it," Etienne said to them.
Cas was still thinking about Gail, though. And it didn't make him feel any better when he sent her a message on their frequency, asking if Chuck had shown up yet, and she messaged back that he had not. He stood abruptly from the table and walked to the mens' room.
He had been just about to enter a stall and pop over to the hotel when Kurt entered the washroom.
"What are you doing here?" Cas said sharply.
"What do you think I'm doing here?" Kurt retorted. "Same as you. I'm here to take a leak."
"Well then, do it, and leave," Cas said rudely. "I don't like anybody watching me."
"What's your problem?" Kurt said, rolling his eyes. He walked over to the urinal, eyeing Cas, who stood his ground. He waited until Kurt finished. Then once Kurt left the washroom, giving Cas a strange look as he left, Cas went into a stall and winked himself to the hotel.
"That friend of yours is weird." Kurt told Sam and Dean what had happened in the mens' room, and the brothers exchanged knowing glances. Cas had a bee in his bonnet about Gail being left alone, and they were pretty sure they knew why he wanted to be alone in the bathroom.
"Yeah, he's a little crazy, but he's dedicated to the cause," Sam said, shrugging. "Hey, does anybody want to play pool?"
Cas's sudden appearance startled Gail, but not as much as it probably should have. She'd finally given in and turned on the TV, more so for the company than anything else.
She got off the bed and went to him. "Lucky my secret lover just left," she joked. "What's going on, Cas?"
"I'm going to kick Chuck's ass, that's what's going on," Cas told her angrily. His jaw was set.
"Look at you. Only one hour with Nazis, and you're already talking rough," she quipped.
"I want you to come back to the bar with me," he told her.
Gail tilted her head. "How do you think those guys are going to feel about my showing up there?"
Cas was frowning. "I don't care. Your safety is more important," he said. "Just be prepared for what you might see and hear. And please be prepared for the way I'm going to have to act."
"I remember Egypt, Cas," she said, nodding.
"This will be worse," he told her grimly. Oh, goodie, she thought. She sighed and took his hand.
Cas winked them to the alleyway beside the bar, and they walked around and went in the front door. He led Gail to the table where they had been sitting. Sam and Gregoire were playing pool, and Dean was talking to Etienne and Kurt. Dean spied Gail, and he rolled his eyes. What the hell was Cas thinking, bringing her here?
"Who's this?" Etienne asked Cas, looking at Gail.
"She's my wife," Cas replied.
"Your wife?" Kurt echoed. "Well, what's she doing here?"
"They're newlyweds," Dean said scornfully. "They go everywhere together."
Kurt sneered. "Is that so? Well, maybe you'd be more comfortable at the tea room down the street," he said to Cas. He got up and walked over to the pool table, swearing under his breath.
Cas sat down and pulled Gail onto his lap. "What's his problem?" he asked Etienne.
Etienne was scrutinizing Gail's face. "We don't get too many women," he said. "They don't tend to be very...understanding, when it comes to our activities."
"She understands what I want her to understand," Cas said arrogantly. "Isn't that right, sweetie?" He gave her a squeeze.
Dean just barely restrained himself from wincing. Wow. Was Cas ever living dangerously now. If the Nazis didn't kill him, Gail surely would.
Gail's stomach clenched, but she mentally gritted her teeth and said, "My husband's the boss. Whatever he says, goes."
"Is that right?" Etienne said, eyebrows raised. "You don't hear that from too many women these days."
"That's the way it's supposed to be," Gail remarked, with a small shrug. "We had vows of obedience and subservience in our wedding ceremony."
Cas smiled, giving her another squeeze. "Is that so?" Etienne said again, sitting back in his chair and regarding the two.
"Yes. She knows her place," Cas replied, hoping that Gail would forgive him later. If she didn't kill him first, that was.
Etienne was impressed. He called over to Kurt and Gregoire, telling them to come back to the table. Then he asked Cas and Gail to repeat what they had just said to his friends. Sam drifted over as well, and when Cas told the white supremacists about Gail's supposed obedience and subservience, the Winchesters had to fight hard to keep straight faces.
The other men heartily approved. "We could use more women like you in our own group, for several reasons," Etienne said to Gail.
"Yeah, I'll bet it's a regular bratwurst-fest in there," Sam quipped, and Gail's lips twitched furiously. She didn't know if she was supposed to laugh now, or not. Was she supposed to ask Cas's permission, or something? How far were they taking this masquerade, anyway?
But all of the men laughed, and Etienne said, "We need some more drinks here."
Then Gail found out how far they were taking things. Cas had left his money on the table when he'd gone to get her, and he handed her a few bills now. "Fetch us some drinks, will you, Sarah?" he said to her. "Thanks, Baby."
Dean started to plan Cas's funeral while Gail took the money from Cas's hand and got off his lap. She looked at the men with an unreadable expression on her face and asked, "What do all of you gentlemen want?"
Once Gail had left to go to the bar, Gregoire asked Cas, "You just leave your money on the table?"
Cas shrugged. "I trust everyone here." He gestured around the table, and then added, "Besides..." He opened up his blazer and showed them his blade. "People who try to mess with me only do so once." He smiled coldly.
Gail brought the drinks back, two at a time. She served Cas and Etienne first, and as she leaned over Etienne's shoulder to put his glass down in front of him, she noticed him staring at her chest. Great. Both a Nazi, AND a pig. She glanced up at Cas, whose expression had gone very dark. He'd obviously noticed, too. But he said nothing, and Gail went back to the bar to get the other drinks.
After everyone was served, Gail asked Cas, "Can I get something, too?"
"Of course you can, honey," he said magnanimously. "You don't have to ask me that. Although I love it that you do," he added. "Don't get out of the habit."
Gail turned back to the bar as the men smirked, and she clenched her hands into fists for a moment. Means to an end, she told herself. She knew that Cas was only playing his role, but he was playing it a little too well.
She got the biggest, tallest glass they had, and asked the bartender for a double rye and ginger ale. If she had to sit there and listen to racist, misogynist nonsense all night, she might as well have a giant drink in front of her.
She came back to the table, and Cas pulled her onto his lap again. At least that was one consolation. She got to sit here like this with him. He had one arm around her waist and he was using the other one to drink, and to gesture as the talk between the men turned to race, and politics.
"Do you have as much of a problem with the 'bougnoule' in the States as we do here?" Etienne asked them.
The Winchesters were blank, but Cas gave Gail's leg a squeeze. Normally, that was a feeling that she would have enjoyed, but in this case, that had been his way of reacting to the various racial epithets that their new "friends" had been using. She was going to have to tell him to switch legs soon, though, or put his hand somewhere else, or she was going to have a bruise tomorrow.
That had been an especially offensive one, Cas thought, although they had all been bad. The more these men had to drink, the freer they spoke. The term that Etienne had used was a French word for non-white foreigners, particularly Arabs, and it was highly pejorative. It was very difficult for Cas to sit here and listen to the mens' racist rhetoric, and even more difficult for him to parrot the same kind of garbage back at them.
But he had a role to play, so he said, "Yes. They come to our country, and they build their mosques, and they claim to be peace-loving. But none of them speak English, they're rude, and they commit terrorist acts against us."
"Then the slant eyes come and take all of our jobs, and buy up all our industries," Dean added. "They undercut our prices, and so you can't even buy a decent American-made car any more. Then they have about ten kids each, and they overrun the country."
"The exact same thing happens here," Gregoire complained. "But the French people are too passive. They just let them move in and take over. I'm French myself, but I don't think we should just put up with it. Damn Frogs; they give us all a bad name."
"And don't even get me started about the Yids," Kurt added. "Hitler had the right idea about them. But our group has some plans - " He stopped suddenly when Etienne gave him a sharp look.
"Let's not get into that right now," Etienne rebuked his friend. They were out in public, and they had just met these people. They talked a good game, but it was a little too soon to be letting them in on Operation White Power.
Kurt shrugged, taking a swig of beer. He thought that their new friends were ideal recruits for the group, even the woman. But Etienne was the second-in-command, so he stood down.
"Don't look now, but an ape just walked in," Gregoire said. "Boy, is he ever in the wrong place."
Oh, God, Gail thought. She was still reeling from what Kurt had said about Hitler, and now a black man had walked into the bar. The only advantage she herself had was that as a mere woman, she was just expected to sit and listen to the men, occasionally nod her approval of what they were saying, and serve them drinks. It wasn't pleasant, but at least she didn't have to use any of those words herself.
But now, the men they were sitting with were glaring at the man who had just entered the bar, and she could see that there was going to be trouble.
"Burr-head walks into a bar," Etienne said, smirking.
"That sounds like the beginning of a joke," Cas said lightly. But Gail could feel his thigh muscles tense underneath her.
Cas was looking at their companions' faces, and he could also sense that there was going to be a problem. But how were they going to handle it?
Henri could feel all of their eyes on him the second he entered the bar. He'd debated with himself whether he should come in here or not. He'd been following these men for a few months now, trying to gain intel on what he was sure was something big that they were planning. But he was doing it entirely on his own. The police thought he was a crackpot. Les Rebelles Blancs had been busted up for years, they'd told him. There may still be the occasional white supremacist here and there, they'd said, but there was no organized movement in Paris any more. Henri was an alarmist, and the police had other things to worry about.
So they had dismissed him, but Henri just couldn't let it go. His grandfather had proudly served for the Canadian Army back in the Second World War, and he had told Henri some stories in the years before he'd died that had never left the boy's mind. What the Nazis had done back then, not to mention what they would have done had the Allied forces not stopped them, could never be allowed to happen again. Bigotry and racism were insidious, his grandfather had told him. The Nazis had primarily persecuted Jews, but they had been prejudiced against all minorities, and they wouldn't have hesitated to eliminate black people either, in their quest for the Master Race.
"It's like that old saying, Henry," his Grandpa had said. "First they came after the Jews, and I said nothing, because I wasn't a Jew. But then they came after the Asians, and then the Catholics, and then, they came after me. Or something like that. You know what I mean."
Yes, Henri had known. And by the time his Gramps had been on his deathbed and had thought that Henry might finally be old enough to know what had actually happened to his grandmother, Henri knew that his Grandpa was right. Groups like that could never be allowed to flourish. So Henri had finished school, he had worked a public service job for many years, and he had invested every spare penny he had in the meantime. He had invested very wisely, and he had been able to retire at a relatively young age. Then, he had more time to devote to his true calling: finding and stamping out racist groups and activities. Admittedly, he had not actually achieved anything of substance yet, but Henri persevered. Ever since he had seen a couple of items about Les Rebelles Blancs in the paper, Henri had been concentrating his investigative efforts on the suspected members that he had been able to track down. And he had been tailing these three for some time now. The fact that these particular men met regularly at this particular bar had been of interest to Henri for a while. So he'd decided to risk entering the bar, even though he knew the way that men of that ilk would feel about someone of his particular skin colour.
Henri passed their table on his way to the bar, disturbed that they were sitting there with four other people. His ear to the ground had picked up rumours that their group were actively recruiting for some grand gesture they were hoping to make, and Henri believed that their numbers were already far greater than the police suspected.
He ordered a beer at the bar and watched the occupants of the table in the mirror behind the bar as he waited for his drink. They were all still staring at him, though they remained seated for the moment.
Henri had been surprised to see the woman. Though he was sure they must have a few females in their ranks, in his experience, they did not usually fraternize with the men in bars. Although now that he looked more closely at the couple, he could see that the man's arm was wrapped tightly around the girl's waist, and that she didn't seem to be speaking. So, it was one of those types of relationships. Perhaps he should get the woman away from those guys and ask her to join up with him, or at least, ask her for some information. She was obviously an oppressee, rather than an oppressor.
But she was also on the wrong side, so she was fair game. Henri stayed at the bar, taking a sip of his beer. He could hear them talking just fine from here, and he wasn't an idiot. One black man against six male Nazis? He wouldn't like his chances. He would just continue to watch them in the mirror, thanks.
Etienne, Kurt and Gregoire were angry. How dare this guy just walk into their bar and order a drink, like he had a right to be here? Like he thought he belonged? Yes, it wasn't a private bar per se, but everyone knew that it wasn't smart to come in here if you weren't white.
"Damn coons," Kurt said loudly, making sure that their unwanted visitor could hear. "Somebody needs to call pest control."
"Better still, just get a boat and ship them all back to Africa," Gregoire chimed in.
Henri said nothing, continuing to sip his beer. So far, this was nothing he couldn't handle. He'd been hearing stuff like that all his life.
Sam, Dean and Cas were all tense now, looking at each other without trying to be too obvious about it. That guy at the bar was nuts. Why didn't he just leave? If the Nazi guys attacked him, they would have no choice but to intervene, but then, what would that do to the cover they'd been so carefully cultivating?
Gail couldn't stand the tension any more. She hopped off of Cas's lap. "I'm ready for another drink," she said pertly. "Anyone else?"
"Only if HE doesn't touch it," Kurt said, sliding his beer glass across the table to her.
"He won't, I promise," she said, and she turned her back on the men and walked over to the bar.
"Please leave," Gail said quietly to the man as she was waiting for the drinks.
"Why should I?" Henri said to her, although he knew very well. He was trying to figure out from her expression and her inflection whether she was speaking from hatred, or from concern for his safety. Just the fact that she'd said "Please" had intrigued him.
"Really?" she said incredulously. Crap. That had been a little louder then she'd intended.
"Is that jig giving you a hard time?" Etienne called out to her. He looked at Cas, as if expecting him to do something. Cas turned around to look at the bar, but it didn't appear as if the man was even looking at Gail, much less giving her a hard time. What exactly was Etienne expecting him to do here?
Gail wondered the same thing. But if anyone were to be the one to confront this man, she would much rather it be Cas than one, or all, of the Nazis. There was only one way she could think of to force the issue, before Cas's tablemates forced it for them.
"I'm really sorry about this," she said quietly to the man. Then she moved closer to him and splashed her drink on herself. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "Watch what you're doing!"
Henri looked at her, puzzled. She had clearly done that on purpose, but she had also apologized to him. What was this girl playing at?
Cas rose from his seat and rushed over to the bar. "What's going on here?" he said sharply. He looked at Gail. "What did he do?"
"He spilled my drink all over me!" she told Cas.
"No, I didn't," Henri protested. "She spilled it on herself."
Cas believed him, but he also knew that Gail would have had a reason for doing what she did. "Oh, right," he said scornfully. "She spilled it on herself." Then, it dawned on him. Gail had wanted Cas to be the one to confront this man, rather than the white supremacists. The question was, what should he do now? The men would be expecting him to respond somehow, but what was the appropriate response in this situation?
"Apologize to her," Cas growled.
"I won't," Henri said calmly. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Cas sighed inwardly. He was going to have to do a lot of penance for this. He punched the man in the face.
Henri went down, and Cas bent down to grab him by the shirt front. "Please get out of here, now," he said quietly to the man. "I can't guarantee your safety." Cas picked Henri up off the floor and shoved him against the bar. "Apologize!" he shouted.
Henri looked at Gail. "I'm very sorry, Miss," he said to her.
Cas released Henri, and Henri decided he'd better do what the couple were advising. But now, he was wondering about them. True white supremacists wouldn't be apologizing and talking about his "safety". Which side were they really on?
Henri walked out of the bar and walked around the corner, standing in the alleyway. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, touching his face where the man had punched him. Funny, he had gone down, but his face hardly hurt at all, not like it should have, with a punch like that. He leaned against the side of the building. He could wait for a while.
Etienne and his friends were smiling now. When Cas returned to the table, Gregoire gave him a thumbs-up, and Etienne rose from his chair. He walked around the table and clapped Cas on the shoulder. "Way to go, Cas," he said. "Your next drink is on me. In fact, I'll even get it myself."
He moved off to the bar as Kurt said, "It's too bad he didn't give you any more lip. I would have loved to see that knife come out."
Cas looked at him coolly. "Don't be stupid," he said. "Do you think I want to go to jail? I don't commit my crimes in public."
"Put it this way," Dean chimed in, "if there are any witnesses to what we do, they aren't witnesses for long." He took a big gulp of his beer to take the edge off his nerves. He'd been prepared for anything, but he was very glad the situation hadn't escalated.
Sam's nerves had been on edge, too. He had to hand it to Gail. Being taller than everyone else at the table, he had been looking at the bar from a slightly different angle, and he had seen Gail essentially pour the drink all over herself. Sam had put two and two together pretty quick. Atta girl, he'd thought.
"That's one hell of a husband you've got there," Etienne said to Gail.
She was wiping herself with a handful of napkins, waiting for a fresh drink. "I think so, too," she said.
"Let me help you," Etienne said. He grabbed some more napkins and moved closer to her.
Gail looked up at him, raising an eyebrow to him. "I wouldn't, if I were you," she said. "Cas is a very jealous man." She flashed him a smile that she hoped looked genuine. "But thanks, anyway."
Sam had seen that exchange, too. Lucky Cas's back was to the bar. After they gained access to the headquarters and got the Tablet, Sam would tell Cas, and then Cas could kill the guy. But, first things first.
They drank and talked for a bit longer, and then Gail manufactured a yawn. "I'm sorry, fellas, but I'm going to have to call it a night," she told them. She got off Cas's lap. "Do you want me to call a cab?" she asked him.
"No, I'll bring you home," he said. He downed his drink and stood.
"Ahh, let her take a cab," Kurt said. "We're having a good time here."
Cas shook his head. "I'm on my honeymoon, and I've looked at your ugly faces for long enough." He smiled to show them that he was joking, and he took Gail's hand. "Call over to the hotel tomorrow morning, if you want to get together, boys." Then he and Gail exited the bar.
Sam and Dean exchanged glances as the other men laughed at Cas's remarks. Must be nice. They wished they could just walk out on these guys, too. But they supposed they'd better suck it up a bit longer. Maybe if these guys got a little bit drunker, they would extend an invitation to their clubhouse.
"Who's up for a game?" Dean asked, nodding to the pool table.
"I need a shower," Gail announced as soon as they walked into their room. She made a face. "For several reasons."
"I'll go next," Cas told her. "I feel the same way."
She grabbed her bag and took it with her into the washroom, and a short while later, she came out wearing a nightshirt. Then Gail sat on the bed while Cas moved towards the washroom. He glanced at her as he did so. She wasn't looking at him; she was waving her hands over her clothes, cleaning them. Cas sighed, and went to take his shower.
When he came out, he was dressed only in his shorts. "Would you mind cleaning my clothes too, please?" he asked her.
"Of course. That's what us women are for, right?" she said coolly, reaching her arm out for the bundle of clothes he held.
Cas's heart sank into his stomach. He'd known that this was going to be bad. Just how bad, remained to be seen. "You know I don't think that way," he told her quietly. "I thought you understood that I was just playing a role."
"I don't know if I do understand, Cas. I only understand what you want me to understand, right?" she retorted.
Her hand was still extended towards him to receive the clothes, and he moved forward and took it in his, dropping his clothes on the floor. "Please forgive me, Gail," Cas said to her. "I was only talking like that because I thought that was what they wanted to hear."
"I'm sure it was what they wanted to hear," she replied mildly. "They seemed to like you a lot."
He frowned. "I don't like myself very much right now, though." He looked down beside her. "May I sit, please?"
Gail moved over, waving to the edge of the bed beside her. Cas sat down and looked into her eyes, still holding her hand. "I didn't mean anything I said to those men," Cas said in a serious tone.
"OK, Cas," she said. "Here, give me your clothes and I'll clean them. I want that Nazi stink out of this room." She let go of his hands and he bent down to give her the bundle of clothing. She did her thing, then took both sets of clothes, hers and his, and put them away. She had decided to unpack their bags while he was in the shower, as it appeared that they would have to be here longer than they'd hoped.
Cas was watching her quietly. He knew by now that when she said "OK" like that, things were frequently not okay. He waited until she was done, and then he said, "Please come here, Gail. I think we need to talk some more."
Gail sighed. She guessed he was right about that. She was doing that passive-aggressive thing again, and it wasn't healthy, nor was it productive. She needed to be honest with him about her feelings.
She came back to the bed and sat down next to him. "What can I do to make it up to you?" Cas asked her. "What can I say?"
Gail shook her head. "Nothing, sweetie. I know you're just pretending. It's just really hard to have to act like the 'little woman'. Do you know what I mean by that?" she asked him.
Cas was puzzled. "But, you are much smaller than any of us," he said.
She laughed and touched his face. "Thanks, I needed that," she told him. "Now, THAT'S who you really are."
He smiled and re-took her hand, kissing the palm tenderly. "This is the only way I ever want to be with you," he told her. "Even if it means leaving you alone. I will not subject you to those men again." He frowned. "I wish I could avoid them, as well."
"I can imagine," she said to him. "Yes, it's tough for me to act like a mindless little thing without a backbone, but it must be even tougher for you to act like a racist ass. Sam and Dean, too. I guess we kind of bailed on them, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I hope that man that you hit is OK."
Cas winced. "I hated having to do that. But I didn't see an alternative. I didn't want those men to get involved. You were very clever to do what you did."
She took his hand and looked at it. "I didn't want them to get involved, either," she told him. "That's why I did it. They would have done a lot worse than just punch him. Does it hurt a lot?"
He grimaced. "You get used to it, unfortunately. I actually pulled it, at the last minute. I didn't want to hurt that poor man. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I suppose."
"Well, those jerks certainly like you now," Gail said, making a face again.
"I don't care about that," he said firmly. "I only care that YOU like me. If you still do."
She smiled. "Yes, I do. And I love you, too."
Now he smiled. "I love you," he told her. He brought her hand up to his lips and turned it over, gently kissing each knuckle. The gesture was sweet, sexy, and incredibly intimate, all at the same time.
Gail sighed happily. "Do the other hand, and then give me a kiss," she said to him, then she added teasingly, "If it's my place to say that, of course."
Cas continued to smile. He took her other hand and did as she had requested, then he pulled her gently into his arms. "Your place is here, or anywhere else you say it should be," he said. Then he kissed her on the mouth, wrapping his arms around her. "But I hope that you'll decide it's always here."
She broke the kiss and looked at him mischievously. "I'd kind of like it to be underneath you, right now," she said, lifting an eyebrow to him.
He was confused for a split second, and then he understood. She was telling him she had forgiven him. "That can be arranged," Cas said, and he kissed her again, using his tongue this time. He pulled her nightshirt off over her head and caressed her body.
"I love you more than anyone, or anything," Cas told her. "Please remember that, no matter what I might have to say when I'm playing a role. But when I'm with you, I only want to speak of my love and devotion to you, with my mouth, and my tongue."
He was killing her now. "Oh, now you're just doing that on purpose, aren't you?" she asked him softly.
Cas smiled again. "Well, maybe just a little." He was kissing her neck now, and lightly touching her breasts. "Is it all right if I use my tongue for that purpose now?" he asked her.
"If you don't, I'll have to get a divorce," she joked.
He kissed her on the mouth, and she gave him her tongue. He scooped her up and laid her back on the pillows, and then he moved down her body and made love to her with his tongue. She touched the back of his head as he licked her gently, and then she cried out his name as he pulled her closer to his mouth. She held his head there, telling him how good it was, and how much she loved him. Cas smiled. These were the kinds of words he wanted them to exchange.
When she was still, he moved on top of her and slid into her, telling her how much he loved her. Then he pushed forward, faster and faster, as she caressed his body. He lowered himself to kiss her on the lips, and then he felt the warm rush of loving her, when she gave him her tongue in return.
Cas and Gail continued to kiss for a while afterwards. "That's about the best use of your mouth and tongue I've seen in a while," she teased him softly.
"I was hoping you would say that," he said, smiling. Then he kissed her again.
"You know, the only good part tonight was that I got to sit on your lap all night," Gail told him. She kissed him again.
"We definitely agree on that," he remarked.
He was about to kiss her again when his cell phone rang. He glanced up at the nightstand.
Gail sighed. "You'd better get it. Remember what happened the last time."
Cas nodded. He rolled off of her and reached for the phone.
It was Dean. "You suck," he told Cas. "You and your wife. Both of you."
Cas smiled. "Hello, Dean. I would tell you I regret leaving you and Sam there, but I shouldn't lie."
Gail smirked as Dean said, "Ha ha. Very funny. Thanks for sticking us with those guys. We had to sit there and listen to their racist b.s. for two more rounds, and the only reason we're out of there now is because we told them we had jet lag."
Cas had the phone on speaker now, and he had put it on the bed so Gail could hear, too.
"Sorry, Dean, I just wanted to get out of there and take a shower," Gail said into the phone now.
"I know what you two wanted to get out of there and do," Dean grumbled, "so don't give me that."
"Hey, if you want a honeymoon, get married," she said, shrugging.
"Why are you calling, Dean?" Cas asked him. "Simply to complain?"
Dean sighed. "No. Those guys want to take us to a shooting range tomorrow."
Cas perked up. "Did they disclose the location of their headquarters?"
"No, I think they want to date us for a bit longer before they completely trust us," Sam piped up. Dean had put his phone on speaker, as well.
Cas sighed. "All right. Did they say a time?"
"We're supposed to call them after breakfast," Dean told him. "You guys should meet us in the restaurant about 8."
"I'll be there, but Gail won't be," Cas told the Winchesters. "I don't want her subjected to them anymore."
"You may want to rethink that position," Sam said. "Those guys really liked Gail. Etienne specifically said he wanted her to come."
Cas's jaw clenched. "I'll bet he did," he said. "Regardless, she doesn't want to go, nor do I want her there."
"He told us he wants her to go to their headquarters to help the other women prepare for their Hallowe'en party," Dean said. "If she says yes, then we'll have an in."
Gail rolled her eyes. It figured. But she could hardly refuse. They needed to get into that place to get the Tablet.
"OK, guys, I'll come," she told them. "But I don't know if they want to put a gun in my hand; I may just slip and make one of them a woman, too."
"That's the spirit, Gail," Sam said. She could hear the grin in his voice.
The couple said their goodbyes to the brothers, and Cas hung up the phone and put it back on the nightstand. He looked at Gail.
"I'm sorry," he said to her.
"Why? It's not your fault," she said in response. Then she put her hand on his thigh and gave it a soft squeeze. "But I appreciate your saying that. Now get back in here, please. I'm getting chilly."
Cas got back under the covers and pulled her to him. "I can't believe it's nearly Hallowe'en already," Gail said, kissing him on the cheek.
"I know," he replied thoughtfully. "But even though we're forced to deal with men like that right now, searching for a Tablet that will help defeat the Devil, the fall is my favourite season." He kissed her on the forehead. "It's the season that I met you."
She smiled. That was true. "And look at the circumstances we met under. Same stuff, different year. It's always something with us, isn't it? Oy vey." Then she giggled. "Oops, I'd better not say THAT tomorrow."
Cas gave her a peculiar look, and she shrugged. "Hey, Frank would've thought that was hilarious. Remind me to call him and tell him that joke. That is, if I don't go to jail tomorrow for shooting the man parts off of a Nazi."
Cas's lips twitched. "We would never let that happen. Well, you going to jail, anyway," he told her. "Besides, Interpol would probably give you a medal for doing that." Then his expression turned serious. "If I don't just kill them all myself, that is. I've seen the way Etienne has been looking at you."
She gave him a half-shrug. "When he tried to approach me at the bar, I told him that you were a very jealous man, and that he had better not."
Cas frowned, and his body tensed. "What do you mean, he tried to approach you?" he asked her.
Crap. She thought he'd seen; otherwise, she wouldn't have mentioned it. There had been no harm done, and they had enough to worry about right now. So she told him about the incident, stressing that it had been very innocuous. But she had the feeling that she would have to keep an eye on Etienne. If he came on to her when he was sober, she would have to set him straight, and fast.
Cas didn't like it. Perhaps he and Gail should not have adopted the roles that they had tonight. He didn't want those white supremacist men to be looking at Gail like an object, someone who existed simply to look cute and to serve men. He would have to be very vigilant now. He held her tighter, caressing her gently.
"Tablet or no Tablet, if he attempts anything, I will deal with him," Cas told her.
Gail smiled. "Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're defending my honour?"
Cas pretended to consider. "Possibly, but I'll never tire of hearing it, anyway," he said. He looked at her face. "Please remember how you feel about me right now, when we have to assume our roles again tomorrow."
"I'll try, but it's going to be difficult when I have to leave at least half of my brain cells back here at the hotel," she said. Then she started to kiss his chest. "Care to remind me how you and I really feel about each other?"
"Yes, I would," he said, smiling. "I can give you as many reminders as you need." He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the feeling of what she was doing. Then he pulled her body on top of his, so that she could kiss him on the mouth.
She could feel that he was excited, so she sat up and guided him into her. His hands went to her hips, and he caressed her there for a moment. Then his hands tightened on her and he began to move her up and down, pushing up to meet her each time.
"I love you," Cas said. His breath was becoming ragged, but he wanted to tell her that, before he lost his words altogether. "You feel so wonderful."
Gail smiled. "Yes, I do," she told him. She knew that wasn't quite what he meant, but she did feel wonderful, and she wanted him to know it.
"Do you?" Cas breathed. He removed one of his hands from her hip and began to stroke her with his fingers, still moving her up and down with the other hand. "And how about now?"
She began to whimper, and he smiled. That was the reaction he'd been hoping to get from her. He wanted her to feel as wonderful as he was feeling right now.
"Cas!" she cried out, and he groaned loudly at the same time. He could feel her reacting to what he was doing, and her reaction excited him so much that he couldn't hold back any longer.
She lay on top of him and he pulled the covers over them, wrapping his arms around her.
"I think I'll just stay here like this all night," Gail sighed contentedly.
"That would be fine with me," Cas said softly.
She smiled. "You're lucky I don't sleep. You'd never get me off you, then."
"I'm trying to see a downside to that," he replied, and she laughed. But then, eventually, she kissed him softly on the lips and said, "OK, let me up. I'll get you the remote."
"Are you sure?" Cas asked her, opening his arms so that she could move.
"Yes, I'm sure," Gail said, sitting up and leaning over to get it. "We can't make love all the time."
"I can," Castiel replied seriously. He sat up, too.
She smiled at him, handing him the remote. "I actually believe you could," she said. "And, believe me, that's good to know. But let's take a break anyway, just for a short while."
He studied her face. "Are you still angry with me?" he asked her warily.
"No, I'm not, sweetie. I just feel like watching some TV," she responded. Then, when he continued to look at her, Gail added, "Have you ever known me to keep my anger with you a secret?" She raised an eyebrow to him, waggling it comically.
Cas laughed. "You are the greatest blessing I have ever received," he told her. He touched her cheek gently with his, nuzzling her. Then he kissed her softly on the lips. "Every night when we lay together, I thank our Father for bringing you to me, and then I thank you, for deciding to stay."
Gail smiled warmly at him. What a sweet thing for him to say. "I love you, Cas. I do the same thing," she said. Then, because she was who she was, she added, "Just don't forget how thankful you are, when you and the Nazis are ordering me around."
Cas looked distressed. "Please don't joke about that, Gail. I feel badly enough about it as it is. I regret affecting that persona, especially now that we have to bring you with us. Please believe me."
"I do believe you, Cas," she replied. "Oh well, I'm a big girl. I'll just have to suck it up. There is one thing I was wondering about, though. You called me 'Sarah' when we were with those men. Why? You know that was the name that Lucifer gave me."
Cas looked thoughtful. "I don't know. really. For some reason, I didn't want them to use your true name. The same mouths that speak those words of hate shouldn't be speaking your name."
Gail smiled. That was sweet, too. "But, why Sarah? Since that was the name that Lucifer had given me, I thought that you were going for some symbolism there."
Cas was startled by that. He didn't know why he had called her Sarah; that was simply the first name that had come to mind. But she was right; that was the name that Lucifer had given her when he had tried to take her away from Castiel, and from her friends. And that had also been her name in the vision that Lucifer had given Castiel about what his life would have been like if he had met her at the time of Creation. Had Cas ever shared that particular story with her? He didn't think he had, so he did so now, and now Gail was the one who looked thoughtful. Then she smiled.
"Well, even though I would have loved being with you for that long, I'm glad I'm not Sarah," Gail said. "She seems very kind, and very understanding, but she also seems like a real pushover."
"She was sensitive to the feelings of others," Cas said diplomatically. "But, as you can plainly see, I'm not interested in being with a version of you that's different from who you really are."
Wow. He was being sweeter than sugar now, Gail thought. He must feel really bad about how he'd behaved at the bar. And he was likely just putting some in the bank for the way he would have to treat her tomorrow, too. But Gail had no doubt that he really meant what he was saying. It kind of amused her that he'd felt compelled to defend even a fictional version of her, though.
"But, you could have a point," Cas continued. "The name of Sarah denotes a passive person, a follower, who avoids confrontations."
"Well, we all know that's certainly not me," Gail quipped. "You, more than anyone. Hmm. Now I wonder what 'Gail' means. I guess I'd better not ask Frank or Dean that question, though. I'm sure I wouldn't like the answer." She smiled.
"'Gail' denotes someone who's lively, with grace, beauty, and intelligence," Cas answered quickly. "She never gives up, and she will always voice her opinion. It is advised that you must listen to her, because she is not just important in your life, she is a necessity." His lips were twitching now.
She tilted her head. "Angels aren't supposed to lie, are they? You're totally making that up!" she accused him, but she was still smiling.
"Only that last part, and it was only an embellishment," Cas told her. "What I said initially is absolutely true."
"How do you know?" she asked him, intrigued. "Where did that definition come from?"
"I Googled it," he told her.
"You did? When?"
"The day after I met you," he confessed.
Gail shook her head slowly. "You're unbelievable," she told him.
"No," he replied, "just in love. That's all I am."
She launched herself into his arms and he dropped the remote on the floor, wrapping his arms around her. "I didn't want to watch TV, anyway," Cas remarked, and he kissed her. She opened her mouth for him immediately, and their tongues met.
When Gail got out of bed in the morning to take her shower, she saw the remote on the floor and she picked it up, smiling. She looked back at Cas, who was sitting up in bed, looking at her with love in his eyes.
"TV is overrated, anyway," Gail said as she placed the remote on the nightstand. Then she padded off to the shower as Cas smiled widely.
