TRIGGER WARNING: References to the past non-con
The weeks pass in a haze of visitors for Cas, and pining, for Dean. Cas realizes he's been sleeping a lot so he starts finding things to do. He takes to cooking and gardening. As for going out, he doesn't do it much. He likes Dean's yard, but he's antsy in large public places.
He gets a letter from Balthazar-very heartfelt, very sweet, and it reminds Castiel of how emotional Balthazar actually is. Balthazar wants to visit, but he's not allowed to leave the country. Castiel smiles softly. Next to Balthazar's deep, heartfelt apologies, it's starkly Balthazar.
Gabriel and Lucifer visit three months after their first. Again, Lucifer accuses Gabriel of subterfuge, but Gabriel made his plans right after he returned home the first time. They balance fighting just enough to give Castiel feelings of warm familiarity, but not enough to alarm him. Castiel marvels at how they've got it down to a science.
Dean's opened his house completely to Castiel's visitors. Although most of them are Dean's own friends, Castiel appreciates it.
Cas is in the kitchen cutting up vegetables with Lucifer while Dean and Gabriel sit on the couch in the living room. Dean loves watching Castiel cook. He can't cut as well as he used to. The slices aren't as thin and his motions aren't as fluid, but Dean is impressed that he's using a knife, that he's preparing food, that he's Cas. He watches Castiel's hands, healing nicely, a little clumsy and trembling but he's trying.
"You love my brother," Gabriel's pipsqueak voice says next to him.
"He's my best friend," Dean says. He's reminded of the conversation with Sam, months ago. So far Sam and Gabriel have been the only one to bring it up.
"Fuck you, man. You know what I mean. You fuck this up, my brothers and I are going to kill you. We're going to beyond kill you."
Dean swallows. If he denies anything, Gabriel will kill him right now.
"I'm not gonna tell Michael and Lucifer. Out of a favor to my little bro. But that just means, if anything happens, I will be that much more pissed. Do you understand?"
"Dinner," Lucifer calls from the kitchen. Neither he nor Castiel heard anything.
"Yep," Dean says, pasting on a smile. "Coming"
The next time Bobby visits, he seems rather grim. He doesn't say much about anything so Castiel, hoping to turn the topic to something he likes talking about, asks about the trial.
"Um, about that," Bobby begins, uncertain, "it's gonna be a bit more difficult than I thought. See, this bitch-Bela Talbot-she's picking up the scumbag's case. Now," he interjects as if Castiel had reacted, which he hadn't, "it just means things are gonna take a bit longer, but it's not gonna change a thing. She's just a dick who likes making stuff hard for people, kay?"
Castiel nods.
"We'll get him," Dean promises. Castiel forces a smile to reassure Dean and Bobby that he cares about the trial, that he's confident they'll win.
"That's my boy," Bobby beams, wrapping his arm around Cas.
Sam visits Cas on one of Dean's days off, so Dean decides to stop by the precinct. Cas and Sam always enjoy time with each other. Smiling fondly at the thought of his brother and his friend geeking out over some documentary, Dean knocks on Bobby's door. It takes a moment for him to answer, and when he does, he blocks the doorway.
"Hey, Bobby."
"Hey. What're you doing here?"
"Just thought I'd stop by. What's going on?" Dean tries to look in over Bobby's shoulder, but Bobby reminds strangely and resolutely in place.
"Nothing. Could you come by another time?
In the room, the remote control to Bobby's TV teeters off the edge of his desk and falls. A button must have been pressed by the impact, because the TV comes to life.
'Such a good angel, so obedient...'
Bobby pales, his eyes widen in shock, and Dean pushes his way into the room. He sees on the TV what Bobby tried to hide. Castiel, gagged as that monster thrusts behind him, supporting Castiel's slack, wilting body.
"What the fuck are you watching?"
"Dean, please-"
Dean can hardly keep standing. Bobby always tried to drink Cas under the table and lost. He'd push Cas into drinking contests-loser pays-and always, always lose despite trying his hardest, always winded up vomiting into a toilet the entire night, always had to pay. And Cas would always set books aside for Bobby, old mythology books, bad mysteries...
"Why the fuck are you watching this? That's Cas getting raped! What the fuck are you doing? Huh? Do you like watching it? Are you getting off to this?"
Dean continues rambling until Bobby punches him. The sharp crack of Bobby's fists knocks Dean sideways and over.
Yeah. Deserved that, Dean rubs his jaw.
"I'm watching that because I need to know the evidence, boy. If I let anything slip my mind..." and suddenly, Bobby's teary, and Dean feels worse than shit. "You think I like having to do this when it's photos of young women or hitchhikers or students? You think I like doing this when it's Cas? I'm doing this because I'm hoping-and I know I'm wrong-I'm hoping that if I get this monster locked up for life, I can finally sleep."
"I'm sorry."
An apology has never been more heartfelt or less effective.
"Yeah, well. Why don't you go home, OK?" Bobby swipes his eyes with his sleeves, and Dean knows his suggestion is a command.
Bobby handles all the cop stuff, the whole law and order thing, until he asks if Dean and Cas can meet with Chuck Shurley. They meet him, and he's the least intimidating man ever. When he spills coffee down his front-the lid just falls off, splashing coffee all over-Dean doesn't know how he can convince a jury of anything.
Sam hesitates to say what he knows about Bela Talbot.
"I've never met her. Heard some things but-they're campfire stories, you know? Rumors and stuff like that. Not important," He smiles weakly.
In Dean's mind, it confirms that they're screwed.
"She asked if we could plea bargain," Chuck says. "I laughed in her face."
Bobby, Dean, and Castiel are meeting with their lawyer. Castiel doubts that he laughed in her face. Chuck always freezes up and turns pale around Bela. But Castiel smiles weakly.
"It'll be a slaughter-sorry," Chuck apologizes, thinking that word would upset Castiel. Everyone watches what they say around Castiel and still manages to say the wrong thing. Castiel hates it, but he can't fault them for it. People had always been alien to him, he'd always tried to figure out the right way to respond to others, and he'd always failed. Now others are trying to figure out the right way to respond to him and failing. It's balance.
"Can't imagine anyone giving him mercy if they see the tapes," Chuck says.
Castiel looks up, alarmed. Bobby and Dean look stunned, too.
"We weren't gonna..." Dean says.
Castiel's eyes bulge. The tapes. The ever-present camera. He'd forgotten about it. It was just always there.
"We're not using the tapes," Bobby asserts.
"You...you saw th..." he can't get the words out without stuttering.
"Just us. No one else'll see him," Dean says, raking his fingers through Castiel's hair. Castiel is dazed, returning to his traumatized expression that he had days after being rescued.
"N...no one e...else."
"No one else," Bobby affirms.