Chapter 4

It's on a rainy day stuck in a motel room that Dean and Sam have an epiphany. Well, Dean has an epiphany and Sam rides through it with him.

"I can't believe Lucifer has been free for how long now and we still aren't even one step closer to fucking killing him," Dean mutters, flicking through channels, happy that there's still not any news on how a country has blown up or something, a sure sign of Lucifer having got his vessel.

Sam deflates, probably feeling as guilty as Dean does, "Yeah, well there's not exactly loads of lore on how to kill Lucifer. It's not like that happens every week."

"Suppose you're right," Dean murmurs, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Yeah," Sam sighs but perks up somewhat, "But we've been down this road before, we've faced the impossible, thought that there was no way out and we managed to change it all around. If we can do it all those times before we can do it now."

"Yeah, but Azazel and Lilith, they're walks in the park compared to this Sam, we're talking about Lucifer, not just some high powered demon," Dean points out.

"Yeah," Sam exhales slowly, "But like I said, we found a way to kill them and we're going to do the same for Lucifer. I mean, we have to, what with it being all over the prophecies that you're the one to do it."

Dean frowns because he really doesn't like thinking about that fact, about how his future is apparently out of his control, even if it's something that Dean wants to happen. What if he doesn't do it? What if he fails?

Sam doesn't seem to notice Dean's internal panic as he continues on the conversation, his shoulders drooping, "It's only different with Lucifer because we don't have any starting point on how to kill him. With the others, like yellow eyes, we had a starting point, somewhere where we could go from, something to aim for."

"Wait, that's it," Dean's eyes widen, wanting to punch himself in the face for being so fucking blind and stupid.

"What's it?" Sam asks with a frown.

"The colt," Dean says slowly.

Sam's eyes widen too in understanding and he actually stands up in what can only be excitement and relief all rolled into one, "The colt!"

"Why the hell did we not think of this before?" Dean growls.

"Because we're obviously idiots," Sam grimaces and yeah, Dean agrees with him on that one.

"It could work right, the colt is meant to kill anything and that's got to include Lucifer, surely?" Dean asks, trying very hard not to get excited about this but the more he thinks about this the more he feels like this idea could actually work, that if they found the colt they could actually kill the Devil.

"I don't know, maybe?" Sam shrugs, trying to be nonchalant but his eyes are shining and he's practically hopping from one foot to the other.

"Right," Dean mutters, bringing out his phone, nearly dropping it in all the excitement.

"What are you doing?" Sam asks with a frown.

"Calling Cas," Dean says, hearing the phone ringing, "Come on Cas, answer the freaking phone."

Sam stands patiently, well, not patiently at all but he has the decency to keep quiet.

"Dean?" Castiel asks and Dean, like the girl that he is, actually feels his heart lurch at just hearing the angel's voice. Jesus, Dean needs to sort himself out.

"Cas, we're at the same motel as before, can you come, we think we have an idea on how to fucking kill the Devil," Dean says with a grin, Sam smiling back with a small quirk of the corner of his lips.

After y'know, Dean has just said he might have a way to stop the fucking apocalypse he kind of expects Cas to rejoice down the phone or at least appear right next to him with a smile on his face or something but he's rewarded with silence. Okay, not what Dean's expecting at all.

"Cas, you coming or what?" Dean demands after a few moments of even more silence that feels like freaking hours and even Sam is frowning, wondering what the hell is going on.

"Yes, I'll be there in a moment," Castiel says and then freaking hangs up the phone.

"And goodbye to you too," Dean mutters, looking around the room and expecting Cas to appear within a second like he always does. Dean's eyebrows furrow as they wait, and then wait some more. It can only be up to a minute but when you expect Cas to appear straight away, a minute is a really fucking long time.

Castiel finally appears, standing right next to Dean, their arms brushing like always. Dean looks at him and Cas just stares back with a small confused frown on his face. Dean waits for Cas to, y'know, speak but instead he just stares for some more and Dean tries his very hardest not to focus on Cas' blue eyes focused on him, or those pink lips and how they would feel against his, how it would feel to kiss someone whose stubble would brush against your own.

Dean gulps away the awkward thoughts and asks slowly, "Cas?"

Castiel's eyes widen and he looks down from Dean and asks quietly, "What are your thoughts on defeating Lucifer?"

Dean grins, "The colt."

"That could kill him right?" Sam asks and even though there is a hint of apprehension in his eyes, he's still smiling because so far this is the closest they've gotten to finding a way of killing Lucifer. If this works, they could actually do it, they could actually end all of this.

Castiel stays silent for a while and Dean can feel his impatience grow and grow because he needs to know right now and the more Cas considers it, the more likely it means that their idea isn't going to work.

"Well?" Dean asks, wanting to hear an answer, ready for the worst, ready for Cas to shut the idea down completely.

"It," Castiel says slowly, "could kill him, I'm not sure."

"But it's worth looking into right?" Sam asks, practically jumping up and down.

"Do you know where the colt is?" Castiel asks and it's only then that Dean realises there's something off about him, more so than usual. He seems more tired than the last time he'd saw him and his voice, well, his voice is off too, like he's swallowed even more gravel.

"No, the last we heard was that Lilith had it but we can ask around, capture a few demons but this time we'll make sure it's not a trap," Sam nods, obviously not noticing the change in Cas but Dean supposes he wouldn't seeing as he doesn't spend the whole time studying Cas whenever he's around like Dean does.

"Do not go after any demons without me. I may not be able to smite them but I would prefer to be there, I do have my angel blade after all," Castiel mutters and yeah, there is something definitely strange about Cas' voice, the way it hitches slightly every now and then.

"Hey man, you okay?" Dean asks with a frown.

"I'm fine," Castiel says but his voice still sounds strange and Dean just knows he's lying for some reason and that does not sit well with Dean.

"You sure? Your throat is croakier than normal," Dean persists.

Castiel doesn't say anything, just frowns at him slightly, his eyebrows furrowing as he just stares at Dean. His eyes slide from Dean's eyes to lips then back to his eyes again. Oddly, he looks like he's trying to solve some kind of puzzle.

"Cas?" Dean asks softly, stepping forward to the angel slightly.

"I," Castiel sighs, averting his gaze, "just killed Zachariah."

"What?!" Dean shouts, feeling his heart plummet at the thought of Cas having to fight Zachariah, especially when he doesn't have all his angel juice. Dean doesn't give a fuck that he'd managed to kill him, just the idea of Cas being in a fight that could have killed him is enough to want to make him puke.

"He found me, I don't know how and he asked where to find you. I refused of course, we fought and I killed him," Castiel says tiredly, still not looking at him.

"You're okay though right?" Dean asks, feeling his heart thrum hard against his chest.

"Yes, most of my injuries to my vessel have healed, although my throat still hasn't completed its healing yet," Cas says, like the fact that he is fucking hurt doesn't even matter.

"Fuck Cas," Dean breathes out and grabs Cas' arm, trying not to tug at him too hard because he doesn't want to hurt him any more than he already is. Thankfully, Cas follows his lead and sits on the edge of the bed, although he looks slightly confused as to why Dean's dragged him there.

"What the fuck did he do to you?" Dean growls, wishing he'd been there to rip the dick's heart out.

"It's not of import," Castiel shakes his head which only pisses Dean off even further.

"Yes it is, what do you mean your throat hasn't healed yet?" Dean demands, looking over every inch of Cas to see any injury and not seeing one but his heart still hasn't slowed down and he is well aware that he is fucking panicking. Dean settles back to Cas' face, staring into his eyes as he waits for a reply, afraid of what Cas will say.

Castiel sighs, "He broke some of the tendons but they are healing."

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Dean shouts because Cas, his Cas had been fucking hurt and he hadn't said a word about it, masked it away as Dean fucking talked about colts and all the while Cas had just had his fucking tendons in his throat torn apart.

"I was intending to tell you of Zachariah's death when it was appropriate," Cas says, totally not getting what Dean is so pissed off about.

"No, I mean, tell us that you'd just been fucking attacked and you were hurt."

Castiel stares at him, looking like he still doesn't understand why Dean is so panicked, "Because they are healing Dean, my vessel is practically back to its usual state now."

"Well, you're staying here until you're fully healed," Dean decides because no way is he letting Cas go out there with angels on his ass when he's not fully recovered. Hell, if Dean had his way he wouldn't let Cas out of his sight at all if the guy didn't have full power and angels were after him.

"Dean," Castiel sighs, probably ready to argue back but Dean's not having any of it.

Dean sits on the bed opposite of Cas, fighting the urge to shake his stupid angel to knock some sense into him, "Cas, you're our friend, you're supposed to tell us when you're hurt so we can help you."

"Friend?" Castiel asks slowly with wide eyes.

"Yeah, you dumbass, you fucking died to help us, that more than qualifies you to be our friend." Dean rolls his eyes, but his body is tense because does Cas really not think they're friends? Is Dean really that shit at being someone's friend? Well, in all fairness, it's not like he's had much practice.

"I've never had friends before," Castiel says with a small, awe like smile and just the thought of being alive for thousands of years and never having a friend? Well, that right there is the most fucked up, saddest thing that Dean has ever heard.

"Yeah, well now you do so get used to it," Dean smiles as Cas does the same, his body relaxing onto the bed. Dean suddenly really wants to clasp Cas' face in his hands and tell him that he's always going to have Dean no matter what. But he knows that's crossing some sort of line and Cas wouldn't like it, he doesn't want to know that Dean likes him like that. Ugh, liking your angel that's emotionally inept is hard.

Castiel's eyes light up and he rummages into his pocket, pulling out an angel blade and handing it over to Dean.

"Cas?" Dean asks, still taking the blade but not really knowing what Cas expects him to do with it. What, is he supposed to keep a hold of it while Cas recharges or what?

"It's Zachariah's blade, you should keep it. It can kill angels and demons," Castiel smiles a secret smile and it almost looks like he's having some kind of inner joke but that makes no sense so Dean ignores it, "You might need it someday."

"Oh," Dean smiles, looking down at the blade and thinks about how much trust Cas must have for him if he is willing to pass over the one thing that could kill Cas instantly, "Thanks Cas."

"You're welcome Dean," Castiel smiles back sincerely and its times like these that Dean just want to pull him into a freaking bear hug and never let go but that would be weird so instead he settles for a compliment because friends can do compliments without showing their inner gay.

"I can't believe you killed Zachariah, even with all your powers cut off."

Castiel smiles tightly and looks down and Dean realises that maybe Cas doesn't want to talk about how he'd killed one of his brother's even if said brother was a complete and utter dick.

"You're a fucking badass you know that," Dean grins and Cas looks back up, eyes shining again and he's fucking smiling and okay, maybe he doesn't want to talk about his dead brother but he laps up compliments like a fucking sponge.

Sam coughs loudly from the dining table and shit, Dean had kind of forgotten that he was there. Dean turns around and gives Sam a pointed look and Sam just shrugs with a massive grin on his face and goes back to his stupid laptop. God, his brother is annoying.

"So," Dean turns back to Cas, "What do you want to do in your few hours off?"

"It won't take hours to heal Dean, in fact it's practically healed already," Castiel points out.

"What, you have some better place to be or something?" Dean asks, trying very hard not to be offended.

Castiel's eyes widen, "What? No, that's not what I said."

"Good," Dean nods, grabbing the remote from Castiel's side and passing it to him, "You're in charge of the TV for the next few hours, put whatever shit you want on and I'll try my best not to complain."

Castiel stares at the remote like it's a freaking alien or something before pointing it at the television and flicking through the channels before leaving it on some kind of weird documentary about nature or some shit. Still, Dean doesn't say anything, just purses his lips shut and settles back on Sam's bed. His gaze returns to Cas though, who is still perched on Dean's bed, still as a statue.

"Cas, relax, put your feet up," Dean rolls his eyes, gesturing for Cas to lie down.

Castiel stares at him, then down at his feet and slowly but surely he seems to get what Dean is saying and lifts his legs onto the bed and settles against the headboard.

"Better?" Dean asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yes," Castiel says, flicking his eyes to Dean, "I should really be hunting for my Father."

"It can freaking wait a few hours Cas, you need to properly heal first," Dean grunts.

"Fine," Castiel says, going back to staring at the television.

"You know, if your daddy was the one to have put me and Sam on that plane he has a weird fucking sense of humour," Dean says conversationally.

"How do you mean?" Castiel's eyebrows furrow.

"He means," Sam says with a grin, "He's terrified of planes."

"Shut up Sam," Dean retorts.

"He hunts monsters for a living and is more than ready to go after Lucifer but when you put him on a plane he freaks out like a little girl," Sam teases.

"You're such an annoying giant fucker," Dean grunts, picking up a pillow and throwing it at Sam's face who shrieks before pulling out his bitch face.

Castiel's lips quirk upwards as he stares at Dean but then they are quickly pressed together when Dean frowns.

"Are you laughing at me Cas because you can get a pillow to the face too you know," Dean warns, holding up a pillow ready for battle.

"Of course I am not laughing at you Dean," Castiel says, eyes too wide and innocent to actually mean he's innocent.

"If you wasn't injured right now I would fucking tackle you to the floor," Dean grumbles and then grimaces as he realises what he's just said and how it could be totally taken the wrong way. Sam snorts then splutters into full blown laughter. Castiel looks from one brother to the other, probably wondering what's so freaking funny. Dean just glowers, throwing a second pillow at Sam's face.

"Hey!" Sam shouts.

"Shut up Sam, Cas is trying to watch the TV," Dean shouts and Sam thankfully shuts up and goes back to whatever he was doing on his laptop. Cas doesn't say anything and just turns his attention to watching the television. Even Dean can see that he's smiling though and probably at Dean's expense.

Okay, Sam and Cas are officially as bad and annoying as each other.

The fuckers.