This chapter spans 9x21 and 9x22. I try to do all I can to incorporate the actual storyline from the episode into the chapters I write but sometimes it begins to feel dull and dragging. If you are reading this and you haven't watched the episodes in question, please don't get angry at me if it doesn't make sense to you, I operate under the assumption that either my readers are familiar with the episode storyline or that they care more about the interactions between Dean and Cas and less about the plot.
That being said, I hope this chapter makes sense and that you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
And as always huge thanks to Rainbow Fruit loop for Betaing.
Merry Christmas!
…
Dean and Sam were finishing up a job in Chicago when Cas called about a possible lead on Metatron.
It had been two months since Dean's birthday and in all that time, Dean had seen the angel only a handful of times, and it was beginning to take its toll. If it hadn't been for the connection he still felt with the angel, Dean didn't know how he would have survived. As it was, he was itching to get his boyfriend back in his sights and his grasp - the emotions coming from the angel as of late had him worried as Castiel grew more and more stressed and exhausted. The six-hour drive from Chicago to Cas' hideout in Missouri seemed to stretch on for infinity.
It had been a lonely few months, and not just because of Castiel's absence. Kevin and Linda had left not long after Christmas explaining that, because the tablets were gone and Kevin was all but useless to them, they planned to leave for rest and healing. Dean and Sam had gotten them set up with as many protection spells and sigils as they could think of and left the prophet and his mother to their own devices.
Crowley too had gone. Off to stay with Jody and Alex, a young girl Jody had taken under her wing after she'd escaped a cultish vampire clan with whom she had been living most of her life after being kidnapped as a child. Crowley had begged to be allowed to tag along after he caught wind of the sheriff's plea for help and they'd relented, only to discover that the two had been in contact ever since the holidays and had bonded somewhat over mutual loss.
Dean still couldn't quite understand how Jody could forgive the guy who had tried to kill her, but then again, Cas had tried to kill him on more than one occasion, so perhaps he couldn't judge too harshly.
Regardless, the bunker now felt vast and empty. It used to be that all that was needed for a place to feel like home was his brother, himself, and the safety of the Impala, but somewhere along the line Dean had managed to eke out a little piece of home for himself. Unfortunately, it seemed almost everyone who'd once fit there was now gone.
They pulled up in front of a large complex and were greeted at the door by a young angel who stated in very formal tones that, "If you'll follow me, the commander will see you now."
"Commander?" Dean murmured to his brother as they followed the angel sentry in. The title didn't seem very Cas-like. But he held his tongue and made his way into the bowels of the bunker.
The operation seemed very…efficient, with phones and maps and people – angels – milling about, working hard. Dean had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that Castiel was in charge of all this. As they neared the office, Dean could sense the presence that was inside, and the angel who'd brought them barely had time for the curt "Sir" he greeted Castiel with, before Castiel had spun around and launched himself into Dean's arms.
"Hey." Dean greeted with a chuckle as he wrapped his arms around the angel. "I missed you too."
"It's been too long, Dean." Cas sighed, burying his face in the crook of Dean's neck and squeezing harder.
"Yeah, I know." Dean said softly, rubbing circles in the angel's back and closing his eyes, drinking in the feeling of having him here, physically, in his grasp.
They pulled away and shared a quick kiss that was far too short for either of their liking before Cas turned and pulled Sam into a tight hug, and Dean took the chance to have a look around the office. Surveillance photos all but covered a large cork-board on the far wall, but they were interspersed at intervals with pictures of himself and Sam and occasionally Kevin and Linda and Jody and even Crowley. Cas had gone a little overboard at Christmas with Sam's gift and the results stared back at him now. He smiled and ran his fingers over one of himself and Castiel that Sam had taken: Dean smiling at the camera while Cas kissed him on the cheek. As he looked over the pictures, he glanced down to find Brian the guinea pig rustling around in his cage, looking healthy and well cared for.
At least Cas wasn't totally alone here.
The angel who'd brought them lingered awkwardly in the doorway as Cas pulled back from his hug with Sam and turned to him.
"Umm, dismissed." Cas ordered uncomfortably and Dean had to smile at the waves of discomfort that radiated from the angel. "He can be a little stuffy." He explained once the angel had gone.
"So…Commander." Dean teased, a smile playing at his lips.
Sure enough Castiel grimaced at the title and a bitter feeling of distaste accompanied it. "Yeah," he confirmed with a shrug, "not my idea. They had no leader, and they insisted on following me."
"Yeah. No, we get it. You're a rock star." Dean smirked, having way too much fun teasing his boyfriend over his new found station.
"Bartholomew is dead." Cas explained. "Malachi was murdered by Gadreel, and with Metatron as powerful as he is now, I needed to do something."
Sam spoke up from where he was glancing out of the shutters that obscured the windows of his office. "So this war between the angels is really gonna happen, huh?"
"Not if I can find a diplomatic option for getting rid of Metatron." Cas answered.
"Good luck with that." Dean scoffed.
Cas glared, ire rising. "Dean, this angel-on-angel violence, it has to end. Someone has to say enough."
"And that someone is you?" Sam asked rhetorically.
"That brings me to why you're here. We have a prisoner. It's an angel from Metatron's inner circle. I need to know what they're planning, but so far, he's revealed nothing."
"So, you're done with the rough stuff, and you want us to be your goons?" Dean raised his eyebrows; surprised that Cas would ask him, considering what had happened the last time the angel had asked Dean to torture information out of someone.
Cas seemed to be uncomfortably aware of what he was asking of Dean.
"Well, you've had success at these situations before." He fixed Dean with his penetrating gaze. "If you don't want to do it, I understand."
Dean grinned - a chance to get back at one of Metatron's thugs for all the grief he'd put Castiel through? Fo continuing to keep Castiel away from Dean? Vindictive pleasure rose unbidden in his chest.
"Who says I don't want to do it?"
…
As it turned out 'Ezra' was about as far from Gadreel as it was possible to be where Metatron's minions were concerned. The angel was a certified idiot and Dean honestly felt a little bad for the guy.
Not really. He was a spineless patsy and Dean was all too happy to take him down.
"You're wasting your time. I have nothing to say." The prisoner proclaimed with false confidence.
Dean's grin was feral. "We disagree."
"There's no use torturing me. I am a trained commando. It won't work."
Dean's ire rose. He hadn't seen Cas in over a month, hadn't had any meaningful contact in even longer, and the feelings coming from the angel had been steadily declining ever since Christmas. Not to mention the events of his ill-fated birthday. He was tired, he was frustrated, and he was so fucking done with idiots trying to play with the big boys. Metatron was bad enough, but this guy?
"Wow. Well, you just asked me to dance." Before he even really knew what was happening, Dean had reached out with one hand and grabbed the angel by the chin, hefting an angel blade in the other.
"Dean!"
Sam's voice rang out from somewhere behind him and he stopped.
"Dean."
He turned and Sam gestured him over. Dean sent the prisoner a hard glare before moving over to the other side of the room.
"He won't be telling us anything dead." Sam reasoned. He threw a sidelong glance at the captive angel and then sent Dean a look that said he was about to try a new tactic and that he wanted Dean to play along.
Fine Sammy, Dean thought, we'll try it your way.
Fortunately, Sam's plan did yield results, like the fact that Metatron had a private, backdoor portal into heaven that moved around and that only he could control.
Unfortunately, someone got to Ezra before they could learn any more, and the angel was found dead in his cell.
"It's unbelievable." Sam commented later on as he and Dean sat in Castiel's office, "I mean, he was fine when we left him."
"I barely touched the guy." Dean added.
"Still shackled, no weapon." Sam continued, "It wasn't suicide."
"No." Castiel agreed, anger and pain seeping into Dean; anger at the thought of there being a traitor in his organization and pain at yet another death. "This was an angel kill."
"Okay." Dean said, standing and moving closer to Cas. "Well, I'm gonna say it. Maybe your operation's been hacked, you know? Metatron's got somebody on the inside." Dean didn't like suggesting it, but years of investigations had taught him to keep an open mind about all possibilities.
Cas sighed.
"I was sure everyone here was loyal. Finally united by a common cause."
Dean grimaced at the betrayal he could hear in the angel's voice and feel through the connection with his mind. He pulled Cas into a one-armed embrace.
"Well, that's the problem." he said, trying to make light of the situation as he planted a kiss on the angel's dark hair. "See, you don't think anybody's lying. I think everybody's lying. It's a gift." He pulled back, keeping one arm slung over Cas' shoulders and turned to Sam. "Let's do some nosin' around."
He clapped the angel on the back and walked off. Sam moved to follow but turned back.
"You know, Cas." The angel glanced up at the younger Winchester, eyes dulled by the news and the weight of a possible traitor, "I spent some time alone with Gadreel when Metatron had you and Dean was searching for you. I…I kind of got the sense that he feels…misunderstood. Like he has unfinished business."
"Sam, he is working with Metatron. Killing for Metatron. He cannot be trusted."
"Not to be too harsh, but so did you."
Cas looked away and Sam sighed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to dredge up unpleasant memories, but maybe Gadreel just wants what we want. The end this war, to save heaven, except that he's been duped by Metatron the way you were."
Cas looked thoughtful.
"So what do you propose?"
"Talk to him." the hunter suggested, "Reason with him. See if you can instil some doubt in his loyalty to Metatron."
…
Castiel looked up at the sound of footsteps. After speaking with Sam, he had taken the younger hunter's advice and arranged a meeting with Gadreel. Gadreel who was currently being escorted towards him by one of the angels from his organization. He stood to face him.
They spoke, Castiel pleading his case and Gadreel listening with more than an ounce of scepticism.
Unfortunately, before he could convince him otherwise, they were ambushed by assassins sent by Metatron and Gadreel was lost in the fray.
Dean was on him the minute he returned, fussing over him while Sam looked on amused.
"Are you alright? I felt fear. And adrenaline. Were you attacked? You were attacked, weren't you?"
Cas sighed and rested his hands on Dean's shoulders in an effort to calm him.
"Yes, we were attacked. And I am fine. Dean!" He slipped an echo of his true voice into the name, which was enough to shock the hunter out of his panic. "I am fine."
Dean stared a few seconds more before breathing and relaxing.
"I knew we shouldn't have trusted that guy." he murmured.
Cas shook his head.
"I do not believe he knew of the ambush."
Dean looked round with disbelief in his expression.
"Seriously?" His voice was so full of disdain that Cas was forced to glare at him.
Dean rolled his eyes and looked away.
"Whatever. So, what's the plan now?"
"Gadreel wishes for us to meet. Again."
Dean stood and faced Cas.
"You're not seriously gonna give him another chance!"
"Why not, Dean? How many second chances have I been given? Or Sam? Or you? If I am going to end this—this civil war between angels without further bloodshed, then I need to explore every option!"
Pain and anger and grief coursed through the bond from Cas, and Dean felt like an asshole as he looked, really looked at the state his partner was in. Cas was tired. He didn't even need a direct link with the guy's brain to know that much, he could see it in the bags under his eyes and the droop of his wings. He was exhausted. And he was worried. For his brothers and sisters, for the fate of his home and his race. And he was grieving for the loss of the home he remembered. And he was missing Dean.
Dean reached out and pulled the angel forward, wrapping his arms around him and holding him tightly.
I'm sorry Cas.
The thought seemed loud amongst the dull grey feelings and emotions that weighed down Castiel's mind, and the angel sighed and relaxed into Dean's embrace, burying his face in the familiar scent that he missed more than he thought possible.
Thank you Dean.
Castiel did end up meeting with Gadreel, and Sam and Dean headed back to the bunker so Cas could focus on his mission and, whenever he could, Cas would visit Dean in his dreams and that would have to be enough, for now.
…
A week after they had left Cas at his super secret headquarters in Missouri, Sam was startled awake by rock music blaring very, very loudly from somewhere very, very close. His heart leapt to attention and his gun was in his hand and cocked before he even had a chance to think, let alone determine who the hell was in his room.
Turns out it was Dean, who smirked and pulled his phone back, tapping it quiet.
"Nice reflexes." he complimented. "Better hair."
Sam stared groggily up at his big brother, brain still half asleep.
"What's wrong with you? I could have shot you." He glanced down at his watch and nearly groaned at the time. "Why aren't you sleeping? We got in like two hours ago."
They had been hunting, at Dean's insistence, nearly nonstop since Dean's birthday and Sam was beginning to feel the effects. Dean on the other hand didn't seem too perturbed.
"Not tired." he answered curtly. "And we got work to do, so put on your dancing shoes and let's boogie."
Sam groaned and fell back against his pillows as Dean exited. His big brother had been working himself to the bone trying to keep his mind off of Cas and his mission and the events of his birthday. According to Dean, the angel had been growing more and more stressed and exhausted as he built up his army of resisters against Metatron. Since his brother and the angel had undergone a mind meld or whatever the fuck had happened, Dean too had been pissy and not sleeping, quick to anger and moody as hell.
He'd also clammed up about what he'd revealed the morning he'd come stumbling, in the midst of a full panic attack, from his room the day of his birthday. No matter how much Sam pushed and questioned, Dean refused to talk about it any further. As far as he was concerned, the issue had been dealt with and no longer needed to be discussed.
Sam disagreed.
It was one thing for Dean to be dealing with being hurt by someone else, but dealing with something he'd done himself…Sam had been there for the fallout of what Dean had done in hell, the self-loathing and hatred that clung to him even now, years later. He needed to find a way to convince Dean that what had happened wasn't his fault. But with Cas gone and Dean spending every waking moment either hunting or looking for a hunt, and stubbornly refusing to listen to any of Sam's words on the subject, the atmosphere between the two brothers had been steadily declining.
He sighed. The sooner this war was over, the sooner Cas and Dean could go back to their ridiculously lovey-dovey relationship and the sooner Sam could have some peace and maybe, just maybe, he could work on helping to heal his emotionally traumatized brother.
Like that was ever likely to happen given the lives they lead.
When he finally got to the library, showered and working on a cup of coffee, Dean was already nearly packed.
"All right. What's up?" he asked.
Dean looked up from where he was stuffing cloths into his old, worn out duffle.
"I called Cas. He said there's something going down in Missouri."
Sam frowned.
"What kind of something?"
Dean shrugged.
"He said he couldn't talk about it over the phone."
"Why?" he asked wondering if it were possible for Dean's boyfriend to get any weirder.
Dean shook his head with a half-hearted look of exasperation on his face.
"Because he's a weird guy, okay? He's a weird, dorky little guy." A dopey smile graced Dean's features as he stared fondly into the distance. Sam had begun to shift awkwardly by the time Dean came back, clearing his throat as he shook himself out of his reverie, glaring at Sam who stood smirking at him. "But he happens to have an army of angels behind him, and, even though I hate to say it, if we're gonna take down Metatron, they might be useful."
So they went to meet Cas in Dixie, Missouri. It wasn't difficult to spot the scene, as the ice cream parlour in question had been all but annihilated.
As they neared, they were approached by a deputy who jumped the gun by addressing them as, "Agent Spears and Aguilera? FBI?"
Dean, with years of experience of just rolling with it under his belt, nodded. "Uh huh."
The deputy inclined her head curtly.
"Your partner said you'd be along."
Sam smiled.
"Thank you."
They entered and Dean spotted Cas who was speaking with the sheriff and found himself having to physically hold himself back from grabbing a hold of the angel. As it was, his fists shook with the effort of keeping himself from pushing him up against the wall and—
Cas cleared his throat and glared at Dean who blushed and put a damper on his not so clean thoughts
"Thank you for coming." The angel greeted, a light blush rising in his cheeks from the graphic image Dean's mind had just relayed to him.
Sam, frowning at the interaction and, feeling it better that he ignore it, turned to the angel.
"Spears and Aguilera?" He asked with his eyebrow raised.
Cas nodded.
"I've noticed your aliases are usually the names of popular musicians."
Dean wanted to say something, he really did, but the angel just looked so proud of the fact that he could now connect with the brothers through popular culture that he just couldn't.
"Wow." was all he said.
Cas either ignored or didn't catch on to the sarcasm dripping from Dean's tones and instead lead them over to the corpse.
"Come here. Take a look at this." he said as they gathered around a body bag sitting on a gurney. "Look. The other bodies are the same. Burnt-out husks."
"Okay, so what is this, some sort of mass smiting?" Dean asked.
Cas looked away.
"I don't know what this was. Never seen anything like it. Six humans died here. And one angel."
He led them over to another corpse, this one covered by a sheet on the floor.
"One of yours?" Sam asked as Cas crouched down to lift the sheet.
Cas nodded
"Was a good soldier. This attack... I knew he wanted a war, but this...This is abhorrent, even for him."
Dean sighed and reached out for the angel, pulling him in and pressing a kiss to the side of Cas' head, closing his eyes against the onslaught of misery and devastation that he could feel raging through the angel.
…
They made their way back to Cas' command centre where they were met with a female angel with a particularly earnest look in her eye. Dean didn't like her upon sight.
"Commander." she greeted
Dean rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Oh, it's just creepy."
"Sam, Dean, this is Hannah." Castiel introduced.
Dean vaguely recalled Cas speaking of Hannah on more than one occasion. She seemed to be his right hand.
"The Winchesters." she greeted, turning her slightly too wide eyes their way. "I've heard so much about you."
Dean smirked and pulled the angel in close. Perhaps with a little too much aggression.
"What can I say? Cas is a fan."
Cas pulled away and frowned at Dean as another angel in a red shirt stepped forward and took the box Cas held from his hands.
"I'll start to examine this evidence." he announced as he carried it off.
Sam began to protest but thought better of it. It didn't seem like rational argument would work against a crowd like this. Meanwhile, Hannah was addressing Cas.
"Sir, this morning, Josiah wasn't at roll call."
"Uh, roll call? You hold, uh, roll call?" It seemed Sam was as creeped out as Dean was by the operation.
"They like to hear me say their names." Cas explained.
A spike of jealousy shot through Dean at Cas' words and he couldn't help the snarky words that came out of his mouth.
"I thought I was the only one allowed to enjoy that."
Cas rolled his eyes at Dean and turned his attention back to Hannah who was still looking with wonder at him.
"No one's seen Josiah since Ezra was murdered. We think that—"
"You think Josiah's the killer, that he is the mole?" Sam interrupted.
"Well, who else?" Her question held no room for argument, and Sam and Dean made none. Hannah turned once more to Cas. "We searched the grounds, but he's vanished."
"Not without wings." Dean reasoned. "He's an angel, but he's still got to travel like he's human, which means he had to walk, drive—means he's gonna leave a trail."
Hannah huffed and crossed her arms, which Dean took as a challenge. They'd see whom Cas listened to more.
Sam moved to one of the available computers.
"All right." he said, settling down. "What was his vessel's name?"
"Sean Flynn from Omaha." Cas replied
A few clicks of the keyboard, and Sam had a picture of the vessel's driver's licence up on his screen.
"This the guy?"
Cas nodded.
"Yeah, that's him."
"All right." Sam continued typing, "Looks like someone just used his credit card at a Gas-n-Sip in Colorado."
Dean slapped the table and looked up at Hannah with a smug smile.
"And that's how we do things in the pros."
He looked over at Cas but the angel in the red shirt had already stolen his attention away.
"Commander. I have something. This phone's memory chip has a video time-stamped just before the explosion."
So apparently there were angels that could work technology. Dean felt his burst of pride deflate as everyone turned to watch the video.
A young man sat addressing the camera when a scream from off screen stole his attention. The camera panned round to reveal the dead angel they'd seen in the ice cream shop standing facing a young girl and carrying and angel blade. In one quick motion, he ripped open the jacket he wore to reveal sigils carved in his chest and, as he directed the blade to the centre of the sigils he cried out.
"I do this for Castiel!"
With a burst of heavenly light, the video cut off.
Dean stared after the video ended and the entire complex was silent, wondering what the hell he'd just seen.
"What the hell was that?" he asked when no explanation came to him.
Cas stood still beside him, nothing but blind shock coming from him.
"I don't know." He said softly, "I didn't…I would never ask an angel to sacrifice himself to kill innocents. I'm gonna be sick."
Dean turned to him and rested a hand gently on his shoulder, concern for the distraught angel growing.
"Cas," Sam said softly, "why would an angel blow up a Colonel Scoop's in your name?"
"That's not what he was doing." Hannah interjected, turning to the other angel. "Roll it back. There." Hannah pointed to a little girl sitting in one of the booths. "That was an angel. Esther. She's one of Metatron's."
"So, this was some kind of hit?" Sam reasoned.
Cas shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Well…I mean…well, you can't tell me you don't know." Dean hedged, realizing he was walking on thin ice when Cas turned betrayed eyes to him.
"You can't think I would allow something like this."
Dean huffed and shook his head.
"No, I know Cas. I know you try to be a good guy, okay? I do. But…what you got here, this is a freaking cult."
He stared at all the blank looks of devotion he could see in the eyes of the angels that surrounded him, not one seeming to posses the capacity to think for themselves. In some ways that was just as dangerous, if not more, than any radical revolutionary. This was the very reason angels like Raphael and Zachariah had been able to take over control in the first place.
But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Dean knew he'd stepped in it as anger and hurt surged hot through the connection.
"Dean." Castiel's voice echoed the feelings coming from his mind and Dean knew he ought to apologize. To assure the angel that it wasn't him Dean was placing the blame on. But instead, a petty need to plead his case in front of Castiel's followers rose in his chest accompanied by all the lingering feelings of anger and betrayal that he still clung to from Cas' actions so many years ago. For, while he had for the most part forgiven the angel for his part in the whole mess, it hadn't entirely erased the pain and anger Dean had felt at what had happened.
"And the last time you had this kind of juice, you did kill humans and angels, and you did nothing but lie to me and Sam about it the whole damn time!"
He regretted the words as soon as they had left his mouth but he couldn't seem to find it in him to apologize. Especially not in front of this crowd. So he just stood and stared at the look of pain and anger in the angel's eyes at his words and tried desperately to ignore the feelings accompanying them.
Sam stared between the two before he stepped forward and placed a hand gently on Dean's shoulder.
"Can we, uh, can we take this somewhere else, guys?"
They retired to Cas' office, Dean clinging stubbornly to his self-righteous anger and Cas still stony faced. The connection felt fuzzy, as though something was obscuring it. If Dean had asked, he would have found out it was Castiel using his grace to reign in his emotions.
"Will you stow the baggage, Dean?" Sam said with a pleading look in his eyes. "Look, we've got a case. Let's work it. Cas, did you know the angel in that video?"
Cas looked up at the younger Winchester, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Dean.
"Yes." he said and Dean's stomach gave a jolt at the flatness of his voice. It reminded him all too much of Cas' early days, before humanity had really gotten it's claws into him and opened him up. "His name was Oren. He was a new recruit. He worked in community outreach."
"And what does that mean?" Dean asked, figuring he should probably follow Sam's advice and concentrate on the case. It was easier than trying to sort out what was going on in his head.
Cas still didn't look at him as he answered his question.
"Some of my troops are stationed at a local hospital. They help where they can. Minor miracles. It's nothing that would gain attention."
And if Dean had thought he couldn't feel like anymore of an asshole, he realized how very wrong he was at Cas' words. Because he knew how much Cas wanted to help people. And he knew, was awed by, the angel's capacity for love and empathy, having felt it directed at himself on more than one occasion. Self-disgust and hatred flooded in as he realized just how petty he was being bringing up Cas' actions from so long ago. He knew how much Cas regretted what he'd done and how much it pained him to think about what he had become. And Dean had gone and thrown it back in his face just because…he didn't even know why he'd done it really, just that he didn't like the way everyone here – and especially that one Hannah – looked at Cas like he was the second coming. And he missed the angel, and he wasn't sleeping because Cas' visits to his dreams had dwindled down to nothing for what reason Dean wasn't sure and maybe Cas was just happier here, among his own kind and doing the good he always wanted to.
And Dean had just gone and insured that Cas wouldn't want to come back once this war with Metatron was over.
While Dean was stewing in his own destructive thoughts, Sam had continued.
"So, what was he doing in that video, with the stabbing?"
"The Enochian runes that were carved in his chest," Cas surmised, "I think that they were meant to focus energy. When he stabbed himself, it unleashed all that power."
"So, what about the girl? What happened to her?"
"If she was the target, if the blast was focused on her, then more likely than not, she was atomized. So, what do we do now?"
"Me and Sam will head to the hospital, see if we can find somebody who knew this...walking nuke." Dean suggested, trying to keep his voice, and emotions neutral. Just as Castiel was.
At Dean's words however, Cas' indignation flared.
"Hold on. These are my people. I can help."
"Well, that's sort of the problem." Dean reasoned, fighting to keep what he now identified as jealousy at Cas' followers in check, "I mean, the Manson girls aren't gonna give us a straight answer with Charlie in the room, so just hang back."
Cas' expression was stormy.
"So, I should just sit here?"
"Pretty much." He couldn't help the snarkiness that came out at those words
"No." Cas shot back, "If you don't want my help, then I will follow Josiah's trail to Colorado. I have to do something, Dean."
Dean sighed.
"All right, fine. But Sam's coming with you."
"What?" Sam asked, clearly not wanting to get in the middle of whatever this was
"Because you don't trust me?" Incredulity joined the hurt and anger already present in the angel's voice as he stepped forward, his eyes big and wide and blue and…
Dean shut off that line of thinking and smiled insincerely.
"To help."
Cas continued to stare unblinking at him and Dean kept stubbornly silent. He knew he should probably apologize, but the very thought of admitting he might be wrong was stopping his mouth.
So Sam and Cas left and Dean took off to the hospital, wondering all the while how his stupid mouth could have gotten him into so much shit in so short a time.