Author's Note:
I really appreciated the comments on chapter 9, especially since some of you were mystified about the hunt, and some of you are on the exact same wavelength I am!
Also, because a few people have asked lately, my Tumblr is SupernaturallyImagined, and I do accept prompts!
Thanks to SPN Mum, Le'letha, LordOfTheSuperwhomerlockians, Altamiya, 1983Sarah, What You See in the Shadows, and ncsupnatfan for their reviews on chapter 9!
Chapter 10 - I Wanna Shelter You
Sitting in the passenger's seat of the Impala, speeding down the highway with the windows down and listening to an ancient Led Zepplin tape that was practically worn out while Dean drove was one of the most reassuring experiences Sam had had in the past few months. For a while, at least, it seemed like everything could be just as it always was. Just two brothers in their father's car, hunting down the things that go bump in the night.
Although, in fairness, there was plenty about the drive that was surreal enough to be weird. Castiel, sitting in the backseat, occasionally commenting on the song playing by indicating certain movies that the song had been featured in. That was bizarre both because they even had an angel in the backseat, not to mention an angel that actually knew anything about American pop culture. Dean was having fun with it though, throwing out random movie quotes and cracking up when Castiel would reply with the correct movie after a mere second, not requiring any time to think about it. There was also just the knowledge that Dean was a demon that made everything a little bit more unusual, and going off towards a hunt that didn't make any sense was a lot less common for them now than it had been in the past.
Still, driving down the highway with such familiar company and such familiar music was a special treat in and of itself, no matter what else was going on. Kansas wasn't an especially scenic state, but it was better than some of their long drives through states like Texas, and Sam could appreciate the appeal of nice calm farm land.
They weren't very far down the highway before the Led Zepplin tape started protesting being plaid for the millionth time. After the third time the old and worn tape had warbled because of the thoroughly worn out tape on the cassette, Sam had finally convinced Dean to swap it out for the Huey Lewis tape buried at the bottom of the box of cassettes.
"I don't even like this crap," Dean muttered, tapping his left foot to the beat regardless. "Why do we have this tape again?"
"I think Caleb gave it to me," Sam replied, thinking back. "For my, I dunno, fourteenth birthday? It was whatever year you got so drunk you shot a tree during a party."
"Heh, yeah, you would have been fourteen. God, how do you even remember that?" Dean shook his head, chuckling to himself. "Do you remember how pissed Dad was? I thought he was going to kill me."
Sam spared a moment to be grateful they were even in a place where either of them could reference their father without Dean shutting down. "It wasn't that bad," he reassured his brother, pausing when Dean threw him a skeptical look. "Was that the time he made you scrub the interior of the car with a toothbrush?"
"No, that was before. Remember when I accidentally lost one of the machetes and the local sheriff's deputy found it behind the diner?" Dean winced at the memory.
Sam laughed out loud. "Wasn't that a town of like two hundred people? I think that incident made it to the paper!"
"It did. Dad saved a copy to show Pastor Jim. I think that was the first time I ever saw him laugh," Dean remembered, smiling slightly at that particular memory.
"For such a friendly guy, he always did seem really stern," Sam agreed. "Especially when you carved your name into the back of one of his pews."
Dean winced. "Yeah, not my finest moment. Almost as bad as the time Dad caught me cleaning the guns while I was drunk."
Sam rolled his eyes. "I remember that. Weren't you like sixteen? You weren't even supposed to touch the weapons while he was gone unless there was an emergency."
"Hey, I thought I was being helpful!" Dean protested, smiling. "Would've actually been helpful too if I hadn't been cleaning them out with lemonade."
Sam laughed, shaking his head. "I think the shotgun was sticky for a few weeks."
Castiel tilted his head slightly. "I had not realized that you were such a reckless youth, Dean."
Dean made a scoffing sound. "I wasn't that bad. I was just a teenager with a lot of steam to blow off. Besides, it wasn't like Sam never did anything stupid! You almost set a library on fire once!"
"Oh no," Sam protested, "You're not blaming that on me! That was entirely your fault and you know it."
"You're the one who knocked the lighter into the stack of magazines," Dean pointed out.
"You're the one who tried to light up a cigarette in a library!" Sam reminded him, incredulous. "Totally not my fault. Not to mention I was the one who put the fire out in the first place."
"Well, smoking was never good for my health," Dean admitted, chuckling.
"I very nearly decimated a third of a South American forest in my youth," Castiel offered, seeming chagrined.
"I'm going to need a little more context there, Cas," Sam asked, corner of his mouth twitching upwards "I thought your first time to Earth was when you first came to us."
"First time in a vessel," Castiel corrected. "Most angels avoid Earth, but some like to stretch and will walk among our Father's creations. Nature is particularly beautiful in the undeveloped parts of South America."
"And you almost took out a forest how exactly?" Dean prompted, eyebrows raised.
Castiel hesitated. "In human terms, I suppose you could say I was tripped. I sort of fell and caused an earthquake. I only managed to lessen my forceful impact enough to prevent the trees from being felled."
"How the hell does an angel trip into a forest?" Dean asked, clearly amused.
There was a pregnant pause, then Castiel admitted, "It was Balthazar, attempting to be humorous."
Dean and Sam both made noises of understanding, but didn't pursue the topic. It may have been a few years, but some subjects were still sensitive.
"Well, good job not creating a Chrysler Building sized hole in the ground," Dean joked, attempting to create some levity.
Castiel's expression lit up. "That is my true size!" He exclaimed. "I remember sharing that detail with you many years ago. Given how faulty human memory can be, I am honored that you remembered."
Dean flushed and scratched his neck awkwardly. "You're welcome? I guess. It's not a big deal."
Sam grinned broadly as Dean turned the music up in an attempt to dissuade more conversation.
About an hour into the trip, Sam had his daily adrenaline surge when he had to reclaim Dean's attention after some idiot in an older looking mini van nearly sideswiped the Impala.
"YOU BASTARD!" Dean yelled out the window at the car growing steadily smaller in the rearview mirror.
"Dean!" Sam grabbed his shoulder, pulling his brother away from the window and back towards the steering wheel. He wasn't exactly surprised, but it still gave him a shock of horror and dread whenever Dean's eyes flashed black. "Just calm down, okay? They didn't actually hit the car."
"Freaking soccer moms in their stupid ass mini vans!" Dean spat, looking furious. "That bitch almost took out the whole left side of the car! Don't tell me to calm down." He kept raging under his breath for a minute, muttering to himself, eyes still black.
"Dean," Sam interrupted him, keeping his tone even. "This is the kind of thing we're trying to prevent, okay? Remember, you're trusting me to pull you back."
Blowing out all his air, Dean paused for a moment before breathing in deeply and nodding, his eyes flashing back to normal. Glancing at Sam, he nodded once. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Sam said wryly, relaxing back against the passenger's seat. "Stopping you from annihilating middle aged women is kind of what I'm here for." He grinned when Dean made a face at him.
"In fairness," Dean added after a pause, smirking at his brother, "I would have been pissed if somebody hit my Baby even before I was a demon." He made a menacing face as an example, then wiggling his eyebrows and grinned.
"I believe that to be a true statement," Castiel interjected, nodding seriously.
Sam snorted. "Even if someone did hit it, you'd fix it. You've built this thing up from practically nothing way more times than should be safe." That was actually something Sam was very proud of his brother for. There were some things he never gave up on, which was an admirable trait.
"That's because I'm awesome," Dean replied, patting the dashboard lovingly.
"Is the Impala at all sentient?" Castiel asked curiously, eyeing the tape deck in speculation.
"No...?" Sam dragged out the syllable, shooting Castiel a confused look. "Why do you ask?"
"I was wondering if the film The Love Bug was purely fictional, or if automobiles were actually alive." Castiel explained casually.
Dean glanced at Sam in confusion as the younger Winchester started laughing. "What's he talking about?" Dean asked.
"How've you never seen The Love Bug?" Sam asked incredulously. "I saw it when I was in..." He realized how that sentence was about to end, and changed it halfway through to avoid mentioning his school years. "When I was younger," he hastily amended. "It's about that race car that's alive and can drive itself and all that."
"Oh, you mean Herbie!" Dean suddenly recalled, eyes widening with sudden remembrance "I went to see the Lindsey Lohan one with some chick."
Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother, smirking when Dean rolled his eyes.
"Don't knock Lindsey Lohan!" Dean protested.
"The film Mean Girls seems to be amusing," Castiel added from the back.
Dean and Sam both turned in their seats to stare at Castiel. "Dude," Dean said incredulously, "Metatron has seen Mean Girls?"
"Yes..." Castiel replied, looking wary. "Is that significant?"
"It's freaking hilarious is what it is," Dean scoffed, turning his gaze back to the road.
Sam rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Just please tell me we're not having a quote-along for the rest of the drive," he begged in a mocking voice.
"C'mon, Sammy!" Dean teased. "I would've thought that'd be right up your alley!"
"I've only seen it once, Dean," Sam reminded him. "You'd have to pick a movie I know better."
"Like what, High School Musical?" Dean snickered, mimicking primping his hair in a mockery of the motion Sam sometimes did to smooth it out if it was tangled.
"Okay, when I'm glued to the motel bed with the flu and you steal the freaking remote, I am not responsible for what I see on the television," Sam protested, glaring at his brother. It really had been a nasty week for him, and Dean had taken great joy in setting the television on something ridiculous, then setting the remote out of reach. For as good as his brother was at caring for him when he wasn't feeling well, he still never passed up on a chance to screw with Sam.
"The music of that film had a certain appeal," Castiel added thoughtfully.
There was another pause, then Dean and Sam were both staring at the angel again. "You're kidding right?" Dean asked, one eyebrow raised.
"No. Apparently there are three of them," Castiel continued, clearly oblivious to the source of the joke.
Dean grinned broadly, laughing when he saw the expression on Sam's face. "C'mon, dude, it's a little funny."
"It's kind of creepy," Sam countered, but he looked amused too.
"Well," Dean started, pausing slightly and smirking into the rear view mirror at Castiel. "We are all in this together."
There was a beat, during which Sam made a scoffing noise, then Castiel replied, "I understood that reference."