It were only Castiel's trained reflexes that prevented Dean from having to get a new shirt.
Bobby raised his shotgun, and the agent jumped, pulling it up as the shot rang out.
The shell buried itself in the ceiling, and Bobby punched him in the face. However, Castiel twisted around and managed to offset his balance.
He swiped Bobby's feet away from underneath the old hunter, and as he came back up, Castiel took him into a chokehold.
"Should've known" Bobby spat, struggling, but Castiel was too strong.
"Take it easy you two, would ya?" Dean asked, and the hunter's eyes flashed with anger as he looked at the demon once more. His anger made his efforts to get out even more frantic. He almost escaped before Castiel got hold of him again and, despite not wanting to do it, he chocked him harder.
When he heard Bobby gasping for breath, he said quietly, "I will let you go and you will stay calm. We will talk. I am stronger than you. Remember".
He felt the hunter nod and let go. Bobby immediately walked up to Dean, not even looking at the shotgun Castiel grabbed as soon as his hands were free.
His own was lying between Bobby and the trap, but he simply stepped over it, glaring at the demon.
Too quickly for the agent to do anything about it, he took out a flask of holy water and threw it into Dean's face.
"Big mistake" he said flatly as he did.
Castiel's stomach clenched when he saw the smoke and Dean wincing, his eyes turning black. It was the first time he had seen the demon hurt. And Dean had killed someone for him. Again.
Unless he wasn't telling the truth and had instead appeared to help their attackers.
It was a possibility. He had to consider it, even though he didn't want to.
He couldn't theorize. They had to talk. He opened his mouth to admonish Bobby and was surprised when the hunter turned around, his face betraying no emotions.
"I am calm. Don't worry, we're talking".
He didn't say anything until Castiel stood beside him.
"Who are you?"
Dean rolled his eyes.
"I'd have thought you'd remember me."
Bobby's eyes flashed dangerously.
"You are not Dean."
"What makes you sure? Ask Cas".
Bobby looked at the agent, raising an eyebrow.
Castiel was about to reply when he realized that he didn't have anything to say. He couldn't prove that this was Dean. He knew demons possessed people. They would be able to possess bodies to, naturally.
What if he had been lied to the whole time?
"Don't go doubting me now, man". Dean wagged a finger at him, his eyes still black, either unaware or not caring about the obvious discomfort this caused Bobby. "I already killed two guys for you". He paused. "That reminds me. Bobby, you should probably do something about the dead body in the next room."
The hunter stared at him suspiciously, but took Castiel's arm and dragged him to the door.
He could have twisted out of his grasp, but decided against it. Bobby obviously didn't trust him not to let Dean out while he was looking at the corpse – rightfully so, despite the possibility of Dean lying to him – and the agent simply shot the demon, who was standing in the trap looking bored, a look to assure him he would try to talk sense into Bobby.
Although why he should was another matter. What if this wasn't Dean Winchester, the former hunter who had sold his soul for his brother? What if this was some demon impersonating him and Castiel was helping him with the ritual? After all, "those who fight against darkness" could mean many things, and as an agent he had seen enough.
Bobby immediately went to the body. Castiel didn't recognize him, but that wasn't surprising. Just someone else Dean had considered better off dead than "being ridden by a demon". He swallowed.
There was a knife wound in his breast. Bobby looked up at him, frowning.
"Know what did this?"
"Dean's knife, probably" he replied, remembering Billy's death.
Bobby looked down at the corpse again.
"He has the knife?" When he realized Castiel didn't know what he was asking, he added, "That kills demons?"
He hadn't thought about it before, assuming that it was just another weapon hunters used, but nodded.
Bobby clenched his teeth and Castiel wondered if it was a proof for Dean's identity.
"What do you have to do with that demon?"
Castiel looked straight into the hunter's eyes.
"He sent me here. He wanted you to know about the murders – and to make sure you were safe."
He winced as if he had been slapped.
"Demons don't care".
"This one does" he argued.
Bobby eyed the corpse again, his hands balled into fists.
"He said "two guys". He kill anyone else?"
"A demon at a crime scene. I was there, and it attacked me. Dean arrived and saved me."
"Why?"
"I don't know".
Bobby chuckled humourlessly, and when he looked up, he looked older. He went back into the hallway wordlessly.
"The Impala" he demanded briskly when Castiel emerged behind him, "What's in its ashtray?"
Dean looked like he wanted to answer sarcastically, but as he stared in the hunter's face, Castiel saw a subtle change in his expression. The thin line that was his mouth relaxed, and he dropped his gaze.
When he looked up again, his eyes were green.
"Toy soldier" he replied angrily. "Sam crammed it in. Kept the damn thing every time I rebuilt her".
Bobby blinked, his hands now hanging limp at his sides. Castiel couldn't read his expression; there was pain there, and something like regret, but also – joy? It was difficult to tell.
"Dean?"
"I think we have established that I am Dean, yes".
The hunter ignored the sarcastic tone and answered, "Boy, you are – "
"A demon" Dean stated.
"You have the knife?"
Dean looked confused for a moment. Then he took a step back, his eye colour changing with a blink.
"And what if I did?"
Bobby was silent.
"Really? I come here to safe your asses and this is how you thank me?"
"It's what human you would have wanted" Bobby replied calmly.
"Human me is dead. Long gone".
The hunter flinched and Castiel resisted the impulse to lay a comforting hand on his arm. It wouldn't have been welcome.
"Let me out of here, we go our separate ways and you try not to get killed. Deal?"
"I don't make deals with demons."
"Can't say I blame you" Dean chuckled.
Bobby looked stricken. Maybe it was because of the deal Dean had made, but he took a step back and rubbed his face with his right hand. As he let it drop, Castiel saw that he was shaking.
"How about – " Bobby swallowed and began again. "I'm gonna need more info on the ritual. You'll have to stick around."
Dean shrugged. "I'll stay until you know everything I know".
Bobby extended a hand. "The knife".
"You really think I would give you something that could kill me?"
Bobby stared straight into the black orbs.
"Dean would".
Castiel saw the demon hesitate and was tempted to tell him not to do it. He realized that he was worried for him, which took him by surprise and prevented him from speaking out.
Dean took the knife out of his pocket and held it out to Bobby.
The hunter took it, and now, his hand was steady.
Castiel felt that he would raise it before he did and froze.
He had never frozen before, not when people had been in danger, not when a serial killer had had Balthazar at gunpoint.
But all he could do was watch, the only thought going round in his mind He's going to kill him.
Bobby was easy to strike, the knife pointed at Dean's heart –
His hand started shaking again and he dropped the knife.
"Damn it, boy" he grumbled. "I can't kill you".
Dean grinned.
"I was kinda counting on that. Now, would you?" He gestured towards the devil trap on the ceiling.
Bobby went to get a chair after picking up the knife and quickly climbed up, scratching away the paint.
Dean stepped out. "Thanks."
Boby grumbled something unintelligible and turned, walking down the stairs.
Castiel followed him with his eyes and turned to Dean.
"He's going to his study. And he needs a drink" the demon said matter-of-factly. "What happened to Alastair?"
Castiel was about to ask "Who?" but the expression on Dean's face stopped him. He was talking calmly, but was almost shaking with anger.
"We – we shot him with rock salt. Eventually he left the body."
"We'll have to get rid of them" Dean mused. "Wouldn't have thought you'd make it out alive".
"I know how to defend myself" Castiel replied indignantly.
Dean grinned. "Trust me, I saw. Putting Bobby into a chokehold – awesome". He winked.
Castiel didn't find any humour in the situation. He liked Bobby, and he thought the hunter had liked him too. Before he knew he'd lied to him and helped a demon. A demon that had saved his life, but still.
A nudge on his shoulder made him look up.
"Cheer up. We're still alive." Dean seemed to think about what he had just said, then added, "In a way".
He couldn't help the smile that spread over his face.
Dean grinned at him once more and then walked down the stairs, carefully avoiding the wards. The agent was impressed. He would have believed it impossible to escape Bobby's grasp.
Dean felt Castiel's gaze and explained without turning around, "I spent a lot of time here. I could get through these traps in my sleep."
"Except when you get stuck" he replied.
Dean didn't answer until they were almost at the door of the study, and then he pressed the words out, "I was in a hurry".
Castiel couldn't explain the warm feeling that spread through him at the demon's words.
Bobby was reading the manuscript again.
"Dean" he called. "Come here. Need your help".
Dean stepped forward, and Castiel noticed he turned his eyes back to green before coming to stand beside the hunter. He must still like Bobby, even after his time in Hell.
The hunter asked a question about an obscure word that Dean answered with an elaborate explanation that Castiel didn't really understand, but it was nice seeing them working together. It seemed comfortable, the way they looked at the manuscript, Dean making suggestions and Bobby shaking or nodding his head, or the other way round, both of them focused on the task.
The atmosphere only changed when Dean reached for the ritual and touched Bobby's hand that the hunter flinched and the demon took a step back.
Castiel could have sworn he looked hurt.
Bobby had noticed the look too and apparently was debating whether or not he should apologize when Dean continued talking like nothing had happened, although he kept his distance this time.
Castiel felt like he had no right to be here. He was intruding upon a private moment, Bobby and Dean becoming reacquainted, with all setbacks that were to be expected.
He left the room without either of them noticing. He wanted to call Balthazar when he realized the sun hadn't risen yet.
He decided he might as well start to clean up and began to search for the room the demons had broken into.
He found it quickly enough, a crack breaking the salt line on the windowsill, the trap broken.
There was salt in the kitchen and paint in the foyer; he collected both without either of them noticing him and made sure the house was protected.
Then he went to collect the bodies.
He carried Alastair's up the stairs first, leaving it in the hallway and fetching the other man. It wasn't easy, but he hadn't trained Martial Arts and gone to the gym for years for nothing.
"What shall we do with the bodies?" he asked, entering the study. Dean and Bobby had moved closer to each other again, and the demon held a glass of in his hand, which Castiel registered with a smile.
They looked up from their debate about a certain word.
"Almost forgot about those" Bobby said, "Let's get them – "
"They're in the hallway".
"You're not as scrawny as you look".
Castiel glared at Dean. "I'm an agent. I train. I can take care of myself."
"And of the bodies, apparently". Bobby stood up.
"I made sure the house was protected as well".
"We gotta take you on more hunts, Cas" the hunter said as he went into the hallway, and Dean shot him a look.
"You introduced yourself as Cas?"
"It might be my usual nickname".
"I saw the way you stared when I told you I was gonna call you that. It isn't".
With a cheeky grin, Dean walked past him. Castiel rolled his eyes and followed him.
Bobby was standing in front of the corpses.
"Bury or burn?" Dean inquired.
"Bury 'em in the yard" Bobby answered. "Burning them would attract attention ,and I'm not driving around with bodies in my trunk until I find a quiet spot".
Burying the bodies took very little time, since the hunter had a bulldozer.
When they returned to the house, sweaty but satisfied that no one would notice that they had hidden corpses in the Yard, Dean chuckled.
"What?" Castiel asked.
"You have – "
Instead of continuing, Dean motioned towards his cheek, and for a crazy second, Cas thought he would clean off the dirt that must obviously be there, but he simply waited until he did it himself and nodded.
"All gone. Now, back to the problem at hand."
Castiel walked beside him to the study.
"Come here, you idjits. End of the world, might as well know what's happening."
Dean and Cas sat down in front of the desk.
"The "fighting against evil" thing I get" Bobby began. "I'll put out the words that hunters should look after themselves. Course, they might just start killing anyone who takes down bad guys."
And they couldn't protect everyone. It was likely that they would complete the part of the ritual soon enough.
"What about the demon who's behind this?" Bobby asked, looking at Dean.
Dean sighed. "Word is, Alastair knows him. Other than that... They all just follow blindly. Promises of a golden world and all that. Demons are stupid".
"Lilith?"
Dean shook his head.
"Bitch who held my contract" he explained to Castiel. "Can't be here."
"You sure?"
"She's long gone".
There was only one way to interpret Dean's words and expression, and Castiel watched as a flash of satisfaction passed across Bobby's face.
"Any other big players out there?"
"It's not Crowley" Dean replied, "and I can't think of anyone else. Not many who have the brains to do it. Most are still waiting for Lucifer to rise".
"Lucifer exists?"
"They seem to think so. They are waiting for the day he escapes and kills Michael."
"About that..." Bobby trailed off, his eyes on the manuscript.
"No" Dean said firmly. "This isn't gonna start the Apocalypse. Even if they managed to break the first seal – "
He stopped and bit his lip before continuing, "Lilith was the last. The Apocalypse isn't going to happen".
Castiel hadn't understood everything Dean had said, but he had once more conformed that they didn't have to worry about the Apocalypse. If only they knew what the rest of the ritual entailed.
"What about the second paragraph? "Throwing a city into chaos", I believe" he said.
Bobby shrugged. "Could be anything, for all we know". He poured himself another glass, refilled Dean's automatically.
Then he said nothing as both of them looked at Castiel, and he nodded. They had buried bodies together, he wasn't above drinking whiskey with them, even though the sun was only just rising.
The burning was welcome in his throat.
"The sentence could mean anything" he said, looking at the whiskey swirling in his glass. "From riots over the infrastructure breaking down – "
"Doesn't even have to be that" Dean said. "We once saw a town where it was enough to put hookers and booze in there. Demon told me you only have to point humans the way and they'll walk into Hell with big smiles on their faces".
He wanted to ask whether he had met that demon in Hell, but decided against it. Instead, he said, "And you believe that?"
"I've seen it myself."
It was the first time he had mentioned being in Hell, being a demon since he and Bobby had started working on the manuscript, and the hunter grabbed the bottle for a refill.
It must be difficult for him. Castiel had met Dean when he was already a demon, but Bobby saw the boy he had brought up, the man he had considered one of the best hunters there had ever been, and what had become of him.
It was impressive that he even let him free. Castiel could only explain with the affection he held for Dean.
And, after he had watched them for hours, he had concluded that Dean still carried that same affection for the hunter. He would deny it, if his reluctance to explain why he wanted Castiel to warn him was anything to go by. But it was obvious that he still cared a lot for Bobby.
Seeing him with his adoptive father made Castiel realize how lucky he had been. If he had met any other demon at the crime scene, if he had run into the killer, he would be dead by now. And a normal demon wouldn't have bothered to rescue him.
Then again, he assumed not any demon had gone to Hell because he had sold his soul for his brother.
"You alright there, Cas?"
"I'm fine" he said, faking a cough to hide his embarrassment. He hadn't listened to a word that had been said in the last few minutes.
He stood up. "I just realized I have to call a colleague" he said. It was partly true; the sun had risen hours ago and Balthazar would be expecting his call. Castiel didn't know what to tell him, but he would think of something.
Balthazar didn't ask where he had been or what he had done, but there was something in his voice that told Castiel he would have to explain once he returned. Also, his colleague seemed to expect him sooner rather than later, so he reluctantly told him he was on his way and hung up.
"You have to leave?" Dean asked casually when he entered the study. Castiel didn't know why he felt the need to defend himself, but he did.
"I have to return eventually" he said. "I have to do my job".
"This is more important than your little job".
"I am a – "
"Stop it" Bobby interrupted. "Of course you gotta go back. Might be useful to hear how the investigation's going. Plus, if there are more murders – the press is gonna have a field day. And there's more than one way to "throw a town into chaos"".
Mass panic created by mass murder was certainly one of them. Castiel nodded.
Dean sighed and rolled his eyes, but he had the feeling it was more for show than anything else.
"Fine. You go, Agent Coop. We're gonna do useful stuff".
"I don't understand that reference" Castiel said, but Dean just laughed and said nothing.
It was easy to forget that he was a demon, Castiel decided as he packed his things. At times, he was angry, ferocious, didn't seem human, like when he backed him against the wall, warning him not to summon him again. But sitting next to Bobby, glass in his hand, laughing, he looked so incredibly human that it seemed incredible that he had gone through Hell.
Castiel didn't know what to make of Dean Winchester. He wasn't a typical demon, and he suspected that he hadn't been a typical human either. He was curious to know more about him, his relationship with his brother, but he wouldn't like the questions, Castiel was sure.
He went into the study to say goodbye. Bobby stood up and shook his hand.
"Don't be a stranger. Anything weird, you call, alright?"
He nodded. "You'll keep me informed?"
"Course. Owe you that much, don't I?"
Castiel might have been modest, but he was too honest to tell Bobby that he hadn't saved his life. They had saved each other, really; if the hunter hadn't dragged him down in the cellar, Alastair would have won eventually.
Dean was looking at Bobby.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean your agent did what you sent him for" Bobby said, and even though there was a slight trace of sarcasm in his voice and it was clear that, while he trusted Dean in a way, he was still wary because he was a demon, Castiel took it for what it was, the only thank you the former hunter would get. Dean understood too. He nodded.
Dean followed him out to his car, which surprised Castiel.
"Listen..." the demon said, the coughed. He looked anywhere but at Castiel, and he felt reminded of the morning – was it really only yesterday? – that Dean had appeared in his hotel room and asked him to warn the hunter. He'd looked equally uncomfortable.
"Thank you" he pressed out.
Castiel waited until he looked at him, his eyes black.
"I was doing my job" he said.
"Ganking demons and saving hunters is part of being a fed? I missed my calling".
"You know what I mean" Castiel replied and only then realized that they were teasing each other, in a way that seemed familiar even though they had known each other for little more than a week.
Dean cleared his throat. "Still, man – thanks."
"Don't mention it" he said softly. When he wanted to get in the car, Dean gripped his arm and turned him around, and suddenly they were standing very close to each other. Since Castiel had been accused of having no sense of personal space quite often in the past, he had made a point to keep a respectable distance from everyone at all times, and he felt distinctly that he shouldn't stand so close that he could count the shades of green in Dean's once more human eyes.
Dean noticed too, and took a step back.
"Listen, you need to be careful" he said bluntly. "Alastair escaped, so they know what you look like. And they might have me under surveillance, you never know. Salt a room before spending a night in it. Carry a bottle of holy water".
Castiel nodded.
"Also – " Dean fished something out of his pocket. When he put it into Castiel's hand, he saw that it was a necklace with one of the symbols he recognized from the books he'd read as a pendant.
"Keeps you from being possessed" Dean explained, and Castiel raised his hand to thank him.
In the next moment, he was wiping water out of his eyes.
"Had to make sure" Dean said, sounding cheerful.
"Bobby already checked" Castiel replied, blinking.
"Demons are sneaky. Put the necklace on".
Castiel felt silly as he arranged it so that he was wearing it underneath his shirt, but Dean was right. He had to be careful.
Once he had hidden it, feeling the coldness of the pendant against his skin, Dean fixed his tie.
"How do you manage to get that thing always so crooked?"
Castiel swallowed and found himself unable to answer.
He left without saying much, simply thanking Dean for the necklace again and the demon confirming Bobby's promise that they would call him in case of new developments.
The pendant felt heavy around his neck as he pulled away. For the first time, he wondered if he had got himself into something that was bigger than he could handle.
Author's note: Here's my birthday present to you and to myself.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
