There was a knock at the door, it woke me, I was caught off guard because I hadn't realized I was asleep. I opened my eyes and saw Dean still asleep on his side in front of me; our hands were in each other. I lifted his hand to my lips and gave it a small kiss before I made my way out of the bed. Judging by the light flooding in the room I would say it was almost noon. I grabbed my white boxers from the floor as I rubbed my eyes, sleeping was something I'd have to get used to if it was going to continue. I slipped my boxers on and walked over to the door just as another know fell on the door. I heard Dean move around in bed as I opened the door to see a very awake Sam.
"Um… mornin' Cas, um how was your visit to Heaven? Dean told me that's where you went, were you able to find anything out?" Sam made his way to the small table and opened up his laptop as I reached for a shirt on the floor. I pulled the faded black shirt that I pulled off of Dean last night, the smell from it made me smile. Sam was in the kitchenette now looking through the small refrigerator; he saw the untouched sandwich sitting on the counter and gave me a puzzling look but then just smiled.
"Um, my trip went a little different than I had originally expected. I spoke with Joshua and he explained how I am a liability to my garrison and so I will not be able to listen in on their frequency but that is all that they have taken away."
"A liability?" Sam was confused
"Yes, because the relationship between Dean and I is now a lot different from what they anticipated they are doing it as a precaution. But I don't mind it, not having to listen to everything that is going on in Heaven is refreshing."
"So now you sleep?" Sam again giving me a questioning look.
"I just found that out for myself as well. It seems that because I am no longer directly in contact with Heaven means I don't need to be awake at all times."
Sam looked over at the bed where Dean laid rustling in the covers as he began to wake up.
I went over to Dean and picked up his jeans from the floor and handed them to him as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Good Morning Dean." I said as I kissed the top of his head. He smiles at me still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Mornin' Cas." He sees Sammy and understands why I brought him his pair of jeans.
"Mornin' Sammy, find anything?" Dean and Sam were working on a case where there was a haunted house where the occupants were being viciously murdered. The police were closely involved; this was the second family to be murdered after they've moved into the neighborhood.
"At first it seemed that all the signs were pointing to a vengeful spirit but the more I look into the house itself it seems that were dealing with a ghoul."
"Damn it, are you sure Sammy?" I could hear the strain in Dean's voice as remembered the last time the faced a ghoul. Dean slipped on his pants and looked at me with a serious look on his face, I could see that he was feeling the emotions of what happened when they first discovered their half-brother Adam and how he never got a chance to see the real Adam until he was resurrected for the soul purpose of taking Dean's place as Michael's vessel.
I was brought back to one of the things Dean did share with me during the nights when we just talked until he was too tired to talk anymore.
"I just hate that I was always second rate to my dad. It pisses me of that I'm a grown man and it still upsets me that he was there to take Adam to ball games and teach him things purely out of fun and not because you needed it to survive."
Dean's voice was soft; for fear of it cracking as he spoke about the strained relationship he had with his father. From everything that I've heard from Dean about John Winchester he was a very good man but had a lot of trouble showing it to his family. I will never hate John Winchester, even after all the things I've heard said about him I have also heard the good and have seen it myself. Unfortunately John was unable to get past his idea of revenge against the yellow eyed demon Azazel. Dean summed it up best for me cause he knew that he was very similar to his father in more ways than he'd like to admit. He looked at me with his eyes glistening in what little light was in the hotel room at almost midnight and said.
"Surviving a lonely childhood, a stinking war... only to get married and have his wife taken by a demon... and later killed by one himself. That man got a bum rap around every turn. But you know what? He kept going. And in the end, he did a hell of a lot more good than he did bad."
I know Dean had a great deal of respect for his dad as do I for he gave me the man in my arms and he gave me happiness, and for that I could never truly hate the man as so many people would. I just let Dean get everything off his chest because he was opening himself up to me and I loved everything, the good as well as the bad.
I snapped back to what was happening in the now and realized that Dean and Sam were both looking at the computer screen as Sam filled us in on why he believed we were dealing with a ghoul.
"Check this out… It seems that its working alone and isn't like the last…" closed his mouth quickly not bringing up Adam or his mom.
"…They're working alone and it seems to be targeting single parents that move it. This isn't the first time its happened to this house that's why everyone thinks it's just a haunted house."
Sam quickly recovered from the slip and realized that he began to rant.
"So how is this bastard doing in single handed? I know that those bitches like to hunt in at least pairs."
"That's why people aren't getting it right. I have a theory."
There was a silence as I made my way over to the table and took a seat next to Dean. I placed my hands on his thigh and gave him a smile as he looked at me with eyes that said he was already drained, he took my hand in his and lifted it to his lips.
"So… do you want to hear it?" Sam broke the silence and looked away from his older brother who was showing affection which was not something one would associate Dean with.
"Of course Sam." I said I dropped my hands back into my lap, Dean didn't seem happy with it and scooped my hand back in his and held it in his on his thigh, I did not protest.
"Well I think that the reason they're targeting single parents who move in is because the ghoul lures the child away from the parents and then takes the form of the child and then lures the parent using the disguise as bait."
"I hate these things." Dean had a sound of disgust in his voice as Sam explained his theory.
"Do you know where its dwelling is?" I asked giving Dean's had a squeeze.
"That's what I found first that lead me to suspecting a ghoul behind these attacks. The thing is this has been going on for decades, just not as frequent in the past because it only happens with single parent families and there are a lot more of those these days but if you look as far back as eighty years you can see that this house has always had a history. There is an old cemetery that is about thirty yards away from the house, and according to the local library's archive there was a crypt for unclaimed corpses."
"Wow this just keeps getting better and better, so how are we ganking this bitch?" Dean sounded on edge and from everything Sam had just explained about this specific ghoul was it was understandable.
" I say we go see if we can find this crypt and cut their head off if we find it by nightfall."
"Alright sounds like a plan Sammy, but me and Cas should get ready then we will get something to eat, and head out to the house." Dean had stood up and started picking up the clothes thrown all over the floor smiling, knowing that this was evidence that what happened last night wasn't a dream.
Sam took his cue and packed up the things he showed Dean and I into his messenger bag and make his way out the door assuring us he'd be back in an hour.
