"It's good to see you, Dean," Sam mumbled into his big brother's shoulder. Dean's arms tightened in response before he stepped back.
"Back at you, Sammy. You look...freaking great, actually."
Sam ducked his head for a second, glancing over his jumpsuit. "You and your boyfriend play prisoner and warden?" The grin on Sam's face at his own joke convinced Dean to play along.
"No, do you and yours?" Dean shoved Sam's shoulder playfully. "Oh, it's not really role-playing if you actually are what you're dressed up as, is it?"
"Oh what an original joke, Dean. I've never heard that one before." Sam shoved Dean back hard enough for Dean to stumble and fall onto one of the hard plastic visitor's chairs. Both brothers blushed at Dean's wince-and-smirk. After an awkward silence, interrupted by the guard's irate 'no touching!', Sam changed the subject. "I didn't know you were coming here today."
"It was a spontaneous decision," Dean said. Sam nodded like he understood, but something was obviously bothering his brother. Any time Dean had ever seen Sam before, it was a scheduled visit. Mostly that was because Sam liked to think he could control what Dean knew about him by controlling the appointment times, but Dean had never once tried to surprise him with a visit. Not that Sam blamed him for that. He had been a mess.
"That's unusual," Sam replied carefully. They stared at each other long enough Sam decided to grab another chair and sit across from his brother so he didn't feel like he was looming.
"Just stuff Jo said. And there's this guy..."
"That dork in your American Wars class?"
"How-? Freaking Jo!" Dean growled and rolled his eyes. Sam watched the theatrics with a critical eye. The true meaning of Dean was always found in the subtext, between the lines. He was made up of unsaid words and misdirected emotion.
"Don't be mad at her. She called me the other day because I knew she was going to see your first class. If she knew it was a thing, she would have told me not to let you know I know." Sam knew his grin was the kind of smug that usually got him a punch in the arm, but Dean had to restrain himself because the guard was looking right at them.
"Bitch."
"Jerk."
"If I keep seeing him, I could get fired, dude." Dean rested his elbow on his knee and rubbed his forehead between his eyebrows.
"It's been, like, three days, dude. That's not worth your can't wait until he graduates or something?" Even though Dean was nodding, Sam knew it wasn't really in agreement. He decided to wait for Dean's rebuttal. It didn't take long.
"He's just so fucking smart, ok? And his humor is so dry, sometimes I can't tell when he's being serious, but that makes it fun. And he has perfect attendance for all of his college career- he has three degrees already, Sammy- and he just goes with what I want in the sack. No judgement, and let me tell you I have some weird-"
"Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop right there." The slop Sam ate at lunch was threatening to come back on him. No one wanted that.
Dean's smug grin mirrored Sam's from earlier. "Seriously, man. I don't have many people, but he just seems to fit."
"Look man, you have to figure out which one you want to take a chance on. If you guys get found out and you get fired, you'll have 'student-fucker' on your personnel file forever."
"I don't think that's the technical term," Dean sighed. Sam watched Dean deflate. His own body sagged in sympathy for his only family that mattered and who deserved everything.
"I'm just saying...think it through. Reconcile yourself with the consequences. Plan it out, whatever you decide, in order to minimize the damage."
"Time's up," the warden called from the Visitor Room's doors.
"You heading back tonight?" Sam asked, voice small.
"Nah, I think I'm going to stay the night, do a little sight seeing tomorrow. Maybe swing by here to shout obscenities through the fence." Dean tried to sound nonchalant, but his heart constricted a little at the sparkle of hope in Sam's eyes as they hugged good bye. That chubby twelve-year-old was still in there somewhere, Dean just knew it.
He was already pulling his cell phone out of his pocket when Dean unlocked the door to his motel room. 159 bucks a night apparently got him a dusty comforter with a family of cockroaches for company and nothing but snow on the ancient TV set. Cas' number flashed on the screen as he made the call, but only two and a half rings sounded before he heard the automated voicemail prompt. "Hey Cas, just calling to let you know I'll be out of town until probably the day after tomorrow. More family stuff, but I think it's going to be a good visit. Call me back when you get this. If you want. Bye."
Gabriel's voicemail didn't get a message. Dean thought that might be a little strange.
He spent the rest of his night eating take out from the diner across the street, reading a few Stephen King novels a former guest had left in one of the night stands, and staring at his cell. After the fourth phantom vibration, Dean decided to try calling Cas again. The same voicemail prompt played, this time after three and a half rings. "Hey Cas, I hope everything is ok with you. If you call me back tonight we can try some of that freaky phone sex stuff I've heard about. I'll see you later. Bye."
When Dean was finally able to drift into a fitful doze around 2 am, his phone hadn't yet made a single sound.
"...we can try some of that freaky phone sex stuff I've heard about. I'll see you later. Bye." Castiel hit delete on Dean's second voicemail, but hesitated when the "are you sure you want to delete this message?" menu popped up.
"You sure about this, bro?" Gabriel asked. Castiel twitched at the unintentional symmetry, but answered his brother with the affirmative. His phone, however, knew he wasn't sure.
Neither Cas nor Gabriel knew what Zachariah's end game was, but he had made an offer too good to refuse. "You could bury him, Cas," Balthazar murmured from Cas' other side.
"I could, but what purpose would it serve? Zachariah and I have a deal. I do not wish to burden Dean with the fallout," Cas replied.
"So it's settled then?" Zachariah nearly shouted from across the table. "You'll end things with Winchester?"
"As long as you fulfill your end of our bargain, I will fulfill mine." Absolute zero could not approach the cold in Castiel's tone. Dean would forgive him, once he could explain himself. This was for the greater good.
Zachariah giggled maniacally as he and Castiel shook hands. Apprehension slithered down Castiel's back, but Dean had obviously been through so much. He deserved some good, and all the better that the black mark be on Castiel's soul instead of Dean's.
"You would have been better off making a deal with the devil himself," Balthazar observed. Gabriel nodded his agreement emphatically. Cas couldn't help but silently agree.
A/N: I am sorry about the long wait! College started up and I had to really concentrate on my coursework to avoid negative consequences like failing out and having to sell my body under freeway bridges. I have the next couple of chapters planned out and am almost on winter break, so I'll have more time to devote to writing.
Thank you to everyone who messaged me and/or reviewed this story. It's nice to know its progress was missed, at least a little.