The next morning, they acted like there was no compromising position, no conflict, nothing. Castiel climbed out the window with his bag, and Dean slipped out the door and grabbed coffee from the breakfast bar. There was no acknowledgement that yes, last night was fun but you need to die now. There was just silence.
They both found it a bit heartbreaking.
Of course neither one actually killed the other that day, and once again their room got double-booked together. It's like it wasn't a coincidence, because they had planned that if they checked in and the hotel said it was the last room, they would say that maybe, if a man of a certain description came in, they would be willing to share. The manager was always confused, but hey the costumer is always right. They were probably a clandestine gay couple or something.
They never did anything besides goof around, but their attachment grew. Eventually Dean found himself admitting that it wouldn't be possible to kill Cas- as he was now referring to the assassin- as long as he didn't shoot first.
"Cas," he said, muting Jeopardy momentarily.
"Yes, Dean?"
"I'm not sure I want to kill you anymore. You're too nice." Dean shut his mouth quickly. He knew Cas kept a pistol on him at all times, and this would be the perfect moment to shoot and not ask questions.
Castiel's face twisted awkwardly. "You know," he slowly enunciated, "I'm not sure I want to either. But this is part of something bigger. I had to pull you out of those gangs by hunting you, but my... "employer" still needs you to serve your purpose. You still have to die. Preferably at my hands. I don't know what to do."
Dean switched the sound back on. doo doo doodoo doo dooo dooooo doo doo doo dodooo dododododo came the music, echoing Castiel's final words. Dean felt like this was a statement he didn't know how to being responding to, so he just said, "I'm sorry" in a somewhat surly way and locked himself in the bathroom. Maybe Castiel could shoot him in there, but he wouldn't.
And since he wouldn't, they had a problem.
Gabriel, however, finally had a solution to his problem. Sam would be hidden within the gang that had targeted him in the first place, his name would change, and a crime scene could be set up to cover up his death.
But how to break it to not so little Sammy that he was a target... that would take some thought. He was aware of the city's violence, but his brother had always kept him out of it. In fact, Jess had just been an accident...
Wait. Jessica Moore was killed by the demons, but there had been a bounty set on her head before that Gabriel realized. Something rang in his head that this was bigger, this was something leading to the top.
And Gabriel wanted no part of it. He had to kill Sam "Wesson," he had to. There was no way out if Sam was alive.
But what was life anyway? What did Gabriel have anyway? His "brothers" for the most part, meant nothing. His dog could be adopted. His job was killing people, most of whom he now realized even with his fault-finding abilities didn't deserve it. All he had was this friendship and his real brothers, Castiel and Balthazar. He'd practically raised the two, being one of the oldest angels, and Balthazar even seemed to take after him a little bit- funny, outgoing, and just a bit vicious. But Castiel was the one he should talk to: quick-witted, calm, clever, and understanding. If there was a way out, they would find it as they often had when pranking Michael.
He knew where to look. But before he left his residence on Sam's couch, Sam stopped him with a hand.
"Are you going to look for Dean again?" His face looked hopefully, but his eyes looked worried. Gabriel recalled that he was probably almost all the friends Sam had.
"Yes," he lied. Well, it wasn't a complete deceit, as Castiel was tracking Dean. But his primary goal was to find Cassie and recruit his mind to help. He did his best to look innocently concerned, suggesting"Maybe you should stay here? Inside your apartment."
"Well, if you say so..." Sam looked like he regretting bothering Gabriel by existing.
"Look kiddo..." Gabriel sighed "Look, your brother would want you safe right? That's why he left. And as your new family, I think you should stay here. You'll be safest here."
Something flickered across Sam's face, but Gabriel turned and left. He still might need to kill this boy.
