Chapter 4

Dean waited impatiently in the interrogation room with Charlie, trying not to pace. After what seemed like ages, the door finally opened and in walked Castiel, escorted by a junior officer.

"Thanks for coming in, Cas," Dean said, reaching out to shake his hand.

"No problem," Cas replied, shaking Dean's hand and then taking Charlie's.

"Go ahead and have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair across the table from him and seating himself in the chair next to Charlie. "You've already met me, but I guess I'll introduce myself again. I'm Officer Winchester and this is my partner Officer Bradbury."

"Pleased to meet you," Cas said, nodding his head at Charlie.

"As I'm sure you were told on the phone, we called you in here because you are a witness to the events that took place yesterday with the armed assailant at your shop and we'd like to get your statement," Dean continued. "We'd also like to ask you a few questions about the conversation you had with the man before he pulled out his gun."

"Ask anything you'd like," Cas said.

"Let's start with your witness statement. In your own words, can you tell us what happened at the shop yesterday?"

"Well, you, Officer Winchester, had just left the shop when the man came in and started questioning me about the whereabouts of my brother, Raphael. I told him I didn't know anything, so he threatened me and reached for his gun. That's when you came back in with your own gun and asked him to put his down. He fired a shot at you and ran out the door, so you chased him. I didn't follow, so I don't know what happened next."

Dean didn't miss the fact that Cas had excellent eye contact the whole time—right up until that last sentence.

"Do you know anything that might help us find Raphael?" Charlie asked. "He was involved in a shooting recently and now he's on the run. He's really dangerous, so anything you know that could help us bring him in would be greatly appreciated."

Cas sighed. "I haven't spoken to Raphael in years."

"You said you're brothers, right?" Dean asked. "Both of you are sons of Mayor Chuck Shurley?"

"Adopted sons, but yes," Cas answered, almost reluctantly.

"You don't sound too thrilled to be related to either of them. Is that why your last name is different?" Dean asked.

Cas nodded.

"Do you know anything about your brother that might be useful? Old habits? Old friends he might still be in touch with?"

"Well he's probably still in touch with our brother Michael who used to run the gang. He's in prison now, though, so he wouldn't be able to hide him, but that doesn't mean he can't give him suggestions."

"Well it's worth a shot to talk to him," Charlie said.

"Absolutely," Dean agreed.


Dean caught Cas by the elbow at the front doors of the police station as he was leaving.

"Hey, Cas, wait up."

Castiel looked down at Dean's hand on his arm before looking up at him quizzically. "Yes, Dean?"

Dean glanced around to make sure no one was within ear-shot before leaning in slightly and lowering his voice. "Off the record, I was just wondering, do you know anything about the winged vigilante?" Dean was 99% sure Cas was the vigilante, but he needed to watch his reaction to this question before he could be 100%. Cas looked surprised and then avoided eye-contact like he'd done in the interrogation room.

"I can't tell you anything about the winged vigilante," he said.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked.

He pulled his arm away from Dean and stepped toward the doors, still avoiding eye contact. "I have to go."

Dean let him go, but he hadn't missed the fact that he'd said "I can't tell you" instead of "I don't know".


But of course when he voiced his suspicions to Sam, Charlie, and his best friend Benny when they all went out for drinks that night, they just laughed.

"You think that sweet little bookshop owner has an alternate ego as a winged vigilante that flies around the city fighting crime?" Sam asked with a chuckle.

"He's not little," Dean said defensively. "He just looks little to you because you're a giant."

"In the interrogation room, it seemed to me that he wanted nothing to do with his family. He certainly didn't seem like he wanted to fly around in spandex stopping them and others from doing crime," Charlie said.

"Well isn't he as likely as anyone?" Dean asked. "Really, could you imagine anyone flying around the city in spandex? And if he's ashamed of his family, maybe he does this to get them off the streets so they'll stop embarrassing him."

"I guess you have a point there, brother," Benny said in his southern drawl. "But I still think you need a bit more proof than that. If being ashamed of your family is enough reason to suspect someone of being a superhero, then half the town should be a suspect."

"Fine, believe whatever you want. I still think it's him," Dean said, taking another swig of his beer.

The conversation moved on to other things, but Dean was distracted, still thinking about Cas and the vigilante. No matter what anybody else believed, he was sure it was him. It was the only way to explain how odd Cas had acted when he'd brought up the vigilante and how the vigilante had acted when he'd said he recognized his voice. Which reminded him of the fact that they had the same fucking voice. Not to mention those piercing blue eyes and messy black hair like he'd just rolled out of bed. How could Cas not be the vigilante?

Sam stopped him as he was leaving. "Hey man, are you alright?" he asked. "You've been a little off all night."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dean answered. "I just…I can't get that idea about Cas and the vigilante out of my head."

Sam shook his head in disbelief. "Why is this theory so important to you?"

Dean paused, not knowing how to answer that. "It just is," he said.

"Ok well, I'm just worried about you. You were shot recently, which can be really traumatic even if it didn't injure you, and now you're hell bent on finding out the identity of this vigilante."

"Don't worry, Sammy. I'm fine," Dean insisted.

"I sure hope so."

"Alright enough with the chick-flick moment. See ya later, bitch."

Sam smiled as Dean walked out the door. "Jerk."