Chapter Twenty-Four
"So who is it we're waiting for?" Gabe asked, face smooshed into his hand like he was dying from boredom, in-between shovelling his mouth full of sweets and candy.
"My friend and my brother from back home," Dean supplied, eyes flickering over to Anna across the table who had been unusually quiet, stuck behind her phone which provided an omniscient glow across her features making her seem ghoulish and unsavoury.
"Younger brother?"
"Yeah, I only have one – Sam."
"Right," Gabe said, apparently having exhausted that conversation. "What age is he?" Apparently not.
"He's four years younger than me," he said absently as he pulled out his phone. "They're here," he informed the others as he stood to go and let them in.
Jo greeted him with a hug and Sam followed suit, they made some small talk 'how are you's' and that sort of thing on the way back to the common room which was to become Team Free-Cas Headquarters. "Jo, Sam, this is Anna and Gabe." Dean hated these introductions, they always seemed so awkward and strange, especially in social situations, nine times out of ten, if he was introduced to a bunch of people at once he forgot their names almost instantly anyway. But he supposed it was necessary in this case, they had to know eachother and stay close, but they didn't have much time to bond, he wanted to give everyone whatever information he could and get down to brass tacks.
So he filled them in with anything they needed to know, leaving out parts about his own feelings for the guy and specifics about what Michael had done to Cas, only pieces of how it had happened and what was happening now, "and we need to find a way to get him out of it."
They nodded, processing everything in their own ways. Jo knew it all already, but Anna and Sam seemed appalled and Gabe was finally silent. "So, anyone have any ideas off the bat?" Dean asked sheepishly, hoping someone would just have the solution and they could move onto the next stage swiftly. But of course, he wasn't stupid enough to think that would happen.
"I guess we have to be crafty, like you said. Beat him at his own game," Anna said thoughtfully.
"I wouldn't mind taking a swing at the guy," Jo mumbled, almost to herself. Dean raised an eyebrow, "my thoughts exactly. But coming at him like that will just get all of his little cronies on your tail."
Sam was watching Gabe a little distantly as the other guy started eating again, but he had his squinty-face-of-deep-concentration on, so he could only assume he was more focused on finding a solution.
Dean clasped his hands together, he'd been wracking his brain for ideas for weeks now, but had come up with squat that he thought wouldn't do more harm than good. That was why he needed these guys, he needed a fresh perspective. And ideally some people with a few more brain cells than he had.
"Can't we just report him to the police or something?"
"He'd only let his evidence of Cas cheating exams go public and he would get kicked out of the school system, probably banned from sitting exams under those boards again, and then were would he be?"
"Well he'd be free at least."
"I guess… let's call that plan B."
"We don't even have a plan A yet."
"Better get cracking then," Dean snapped.
"What about recording him in the act and using it to blackmail him?" Gabe offered eventually.
"Cas already did that, it's what got him deeper into this mess in the first place."
"Can we use the show?" Sam said quietly after a long time of being silent.
"Huh?"
"Well, you said his show has a pretty big fan base, right? So what if we used those fans to help Cas; like they do on those public appeals for charities and different causes?"
Dean pursed his lips as he considered that, he was right in a manner of speaking, "yeah, but how?"
"I don't know… if he told everyone live on air that he was in an abusive relationship, but didn't reveal who, word would spread pretty quickly – and since no one knows who he is on the show, it wouldn't affect him in real life. And then when everyone knew about it, he could shame Michael publically to the whole school – teachers and students and everyone."
Dean shook his head, "no, that'd get him in the same mess as it would if we called the cops."
Sam made a face, "I'm not saying that has to be the whole plan – just a layer of it. We could do something to Michael too. Destroy his evidence, or mess with his status or something, you know?"
Anna clicked her fingers, "I know someone who could do that!"
"Do… what?" Dean asked cautiously.
"Hack into his files, wipe his hard drive or whatever. And I mean, he must keep all of his stuff here, right? Because he stays here over the holidays and stuff, he doesn't go home, so he must live here full time."
"So we destroy his evidence, what if he has people lined up to testify?"
"The only legit source he could have would be that teacher that caught Cas, right? And if Cas still has the tape he used to blackmail him in the first place, we can just use that as a weight to keep him quiet."
"I guess…"
Gabe had noticed Sam staring at him and slid a candy-bar across the table to him with a smirk, Sam smiled back and Dean glowered. But he quickly snapped himself back to his last train of thought.
"Michael seems to build his relationships with the staff and abuse the privileges," Jo pondered aloud, "maybe we can exploit that, get a few of them on our side if we find out who he really pressures. If he keeps stuff about them on his hard drive we can find out who he takes advantage of the most and try to get them on our side with the promise of cutting his bind on them."
It seemed mutually agreed around the table that the plan was definitely coming together, and they all shared that sense of accomplishment that came with their cunning scheme.
"What about all of his lackies then? The people who do the legwork."
"Well I'm sure they only leech off of him because of his power around the school, once we start to take away his relationships with the staff, most of the student body will see how weak his is and stop hiding how much they hate him, everyone will turn on him once he's weak."
Dean smiled for a moment, enjoying the idea that they might actually be capable of doing all of this, "Anna, can you talk to your friend then; get her to access his files and find out what he has on staff and students?"
"Of course," she said with a devious grin.
"And when the time is right, we can erase it all. Just wipe his power." A smile grew on all of their faces, Sam and Gabe's slightly chocolaty, but intact nonetheless.
"Guys, we could actually do this."
"We will, and we will enjoy fucking Michael's shit up," Gabe said with a smirk.
Dean's smile faded slightly as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he drifted from the conversation to pull it out and check it. "Speak of the Devil…" he mumbled mostly to himself, seeing Cas' name pop up on the screen which was cracked from years of wear and tear; serving as proof that he was manly and did things, like fixing cars and climbing trees and other such dangerous things that might end in a scared phone. His finger's navigated the buttons with some lazy expertise that came from having the same phone for the majority of his teenaged life.
'Come meet me.
I need to talk to you.
I'm at the park.'
Dean grinned a little, which Jo obviously noticed as she poked him in the stomach. He looked up, pouting slightly, and swatted her hand away. "I think I can safely assume that's him texting you?" she asked with a smug little face.
"Yeah, it's him. He wants me to go meet up with him."
Jo leaned over to read the text and then made an exasperated face at him, "so what are you still doing here?" Dean looked at the others who had seemed to have sectioned off in their own conversation's since he had phased out, his eyes lingered cautiously on Gabe and Sammy who seemed to be discussing their hair by the way that they kept swishing it as they got more excited by the conversation. "I can take Sammy back, it's fine. We're done here guys, right?" Her voice grew louder for the last part as she addressed everyone and they all seemed to agree. Jo turned back to him with a soft smile, "go on, lover-boy."
He raised a finger, warning her, "don't call me that."
"Yeah, yeah, tough-guy, I'm so scared," she teased and he started to stand. Jo caught his hand and he turned to her again, "are you going to tell him about all this."
"I guess I'll have to eventually anyway." He paused, mulling it over for a brief moment, "but maybe not yet."
She nodded and smiled, "have fun. I'll look after Sam."
As he grabbed his stuff and left the building, Dean wondered what Jo's idea of him and Cas 'having fun' actually was. That being said, he was feeling pretty good. Making headway on 'the Cas situation', as it seemed to be referred to, was helping him get over how the confession had changed his perspective of him. He found himself walking at a pretty brisk pace, eager to see Cas again and just get to hear that voice. And he'd been worried for so long that hearing it again would bring back those same feelings of change and regret he had been drowned in the last time they'd spoken. And with Christmas coming up fast, he just needed to mend this bridge before the term ended.
Even if Cas had no suspicions of Dean's previous change of heart in regards to their relationship. Whatever it was.
His eyes searched eagerly through the dusk as he entered the park. It was abandoned as far as he could see. The sun was almost completely below the horizon making the treeline less of a silhouette and more of a looming presence encasing him. He chewed on his lip and started up the path hoping his friend would be somewhere nearby waiting for him.
He caught the flicker of a flame not so far off, and as he got closer he could see someone crouched in front of it, with their back to him. About Cas' size he guessed, so it was obviously him. He smiled, feeling that familiar rush that came with laying eyes on Cas and knowing he would speak soon with those gravelly tones and stare at him with those deep blue eyes. He found himself longing for it sometimes, just wishing he could remember the intricacies that made the man who he was, those perfect imperfections that he could never quite call to mind when alone, no matter how hard he tried.
"Cas," he said with a smile, and warmth in his voice only rivalled by the fire burning before them.
The figure swung around to face him, staying crouched, "not quite."
There was a sharp blow to the back of Dean's head, and he felt himself falling.
Falling.
Falling.