Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bargaining
The Men of Letters Bunker felt like more than just a place where he had his own room. Since Castiel moved in, it became the home Dean never had. If he indulged himself, he would've acknowledged - even if only to himself - that it wasn't the somewhere as much as it was the someone. But Dean didn't indulge; he had shit to do. And when that shit included protecting his family, he didn't do anything till it was done.
Cas was waiting for them in the war room, his usually peaceful expression surly and knotted.
"What's going on with the Prophet?" Castiel demanded.
He hadn't meant to be abrupt or pissed off. He spent the better part of the day bored and worried. He nearly teleported to them when Dean hadn't picked up the tenth call. Of course, Dean had reacted as if his concerns were somehow childish. As if he wasn't companion to two people who were constantly beset with supernatural conflicts! Two people who were - resolutely and helplessly - human!
Castiel stopped and curbed his temper. It wasn't helping.
He asked, "I mean, is Kevin okay?"
"He's going to college," Dean replied. "But don't worry, his mom has managed to get a bunch of teenagers to 'protect' him."
"You sound displeased."
"Hunter tweens Cas! They shouldn't be hunting, let alone protecting Kevin. He's got more baggage than anyone!" Dean reflected for a heartbeat. "Except us."
"You and Sam both hunted as teenagers," Castiel reminded him. "You saved many lives."
"You watched us when we were teenagers?" Sam asked.
"Not me personally, but angels did. They also saw you hunt as children, and you are both still alive."
"How many times have we died?" Dean asked.
"Sam has died – " Castiel began, but then he stopped. The brothers shared the general expression that he had come to know as 'don't actually answer that.'
"What we mean, Cas, is that our lives aren't what we want for these kids," Dean explained. "They should have the chance to be happy."
"You're not happy?" Castiel asked in a way that sounded vulnerable and hurt.
It made Sam feel like fleeing the room.
"I – didn't say that," Dean replied. His response burned out in the wake of Cas's blank stare. "I am happy now, but all the crap we've waded through? Cas, you of all people, you know. Would you inflict the pain and drama Sam and I had to live with on other people?"
This seemed to placate the angel. He replied, "I see your point."
"Okay, so how do we stop this?" Dean asked.
"You don't," Sam and Cas replied at the same time.
They gave each other looks of absolute surprise. They hardly ever agreed with one another, let alone spoken simultaneously.
"What?" Dean asked.
"You can't control the Prophet, unless you plan on using a curse, which is ill-advised," Cas said. "And without Crowley trying to kidnap him, he's not in as much danger as before."
"But he's still in some danger."
"Yeah but we're talking monsters now," said Sam. "They can't just possess people. Hell, some of them you see a mile coming."
"Seriously?" Dean asked. "What about Leviathan? Shape shifters? Last time we tangled with Eve, she brought out freaking dragons – "
"Eve is not Crowley," Cas interrupted.
"Obviously. They're both dead, who cares?" Dean asked.
"Crowley always had plans, missions. He wanted more power," Cas explained. "Eve marshaled her armies in retaliation. Why would she go after Kevin? Why would any monster?"
Sam and Dean had nothing to say.
"Honestly, the angels are more of a threat," Castiel continued. "Because of the Angel Tablet. If Kevin translates it, it can put Heaven at risk."
Sam said, "I thought you threw the tablet into the ocean or something."
"Not literally, but yes, the tablet is well-hidden and safe."
"Is that why your frat bro tried to ice you this morning?" Dean asked. "They want the tablet back?"
Cas replied, "I don't think so. They can't find the tablet, and with demons wiped off the face of the earth, the only others who know about its existence are the Prophet and you two."
"So they don't want the tablet back?" Sam asked.
"They do, but they'd rather have me dead," Cas stated. "The tablet is too well hidden to be found by humans, even you two. It's not a threat to them."
Sam threw Dean a concerned look, but his brother fixed his stare on Cas.
"Cas, where is it?"
"If I tell you, the angels will target you. The only thing keeping you safe is the secret," he replied. Before the two brothers dug in for a fight, he added, "They can sense your thoughts, visit your dreams. If I tell you, then you'll know, and they'll know."
"You're not worried they'll try to get to you through us?" Sam asked.
"You closed the Gates of Hell, Sam," Castiel responded. "Retribution from Naomi against your or Dean would be... unpopular. Not to mention wrong."
"Like she's cared about that before?" Dean spat.
"She has done some unpleasant things, but her justification and her intent for those acts always worked in her favor. In this case, it wouldn't."
"Freaking angels," Dean muttered.
Sam asked, "Did you figure out how they found you, Cas?"
"I am one of only a handful of angels on earth, and I outrank all but Metatron. So whenever I heal, or teleport, or use any of my powers, I - "
"You basically send up a spotlight whenever you use your powers, huh?" Dean asked, interrupting.
"Unless I am somewhere that has been shielded from them."
"Like the bunker?" Sam asked.
The angel nodded, yes.
"All right, then I think we can agree, you're on Angel Lock-down," Dean started. "No zapping around crap or anything. You stay right here."
The lights flickered. Sam backed away when he realized the cause was the angel, apoplectic and ready to burst.
"Or," Sam said, "we can just work on Cas being a little more human in the field."
"What?"
"You know, no healing, no zapping, no smiting... not unless he can get back here right away," Sam said. "He can come with us, work with us, he'll just have to load up and carry a gun."
"We are talking about his life," Dean shot at Sam. "You get that, right?"
"I'm right here, Dean," Cas said.
"Angel Lock-down is safer."
"Not for you and Sam."
"Damnit, Cas – "
Sam's cell phone rang, and he walked away to answer it in private.
"Dean, you can't expect me to hide here forever."
"I don't, we'll figure it out," Dean assured him.
"Sam has made a perfectly adequate proposal. I believe it will be effective for preventing – "
"Another assassination attempt on you?" Dean cut him off bitterly. "No, it's not good enough, Cas. I'm not losing you again."
"And what if I lose you?" the angel asked. "What if Naomi manages to convince angels to go after you to get to me? Or hasn't it occurred to you what will happen to me if you are killed?"
"Cas..." Dean started, unprepared for the question.
"You are not responsible for everything, and you need to be protected just as much as I do," the angel continued. "You don't hide when the people you love are in danger. Do you expect me to?"
Dean felt thoroughly cowed by this. He dropped his forehead on Cas's shoulder and embraced him in an awkward, yet pleasant, hug.
"'Course I don't," he said quietly.
Apart from the squabbling duo, Sam waited for the lover's quarrel to die down. He returned to the war room slowly and loudly.
"What's going on?" Dean asked.
"They really aren't kidding," Sam replied. "Krissy, Jo, and what's-his-name...?"
"Aiden," Dean suggested.
"Right, Aiden," Sam repeated. "I just got a call from a social worker named Daniel Coopers. He wants to meet with Sam and Dean Smith about Krissy and Aiden."
Dean's expression became equal parts confusion and annoyance. "Come again?"
"They've applied to be emancipated teenagers, and Sam and Dean Smith knew Krissy's dad from work before he died, as well as Victor, their foster father," he explained. His voice was stiff, as if he were narrating a particularly lame bedtime story.
"I don't understand," said Castiel.
"Sam and Dean Winchester, Leviathan version, went on a very public cross-country killing spree and were killed, so we had to start new identities," Sam began. "We did know Krissy's dad, till a vampire ripped out his throat."
"And Victor, their 'foster father,' was in cahoots with said vampire. He had their families killed so he could make his own little hunter Brady Bunch," Dean said.
"When the kids found out what he did, he blew his own brains out," Sam finished.
"I see the issue," Cas commented mildly. "What will you do?"
Sam shook his head. "We've a meeting with them tomorrow morning. I say we hit the road and figure it out on the way."
"Wait, what?" Dean stopped. "You said we'd talk to them?"
"Dean, they're going to run off to New Jersey anyway," Sam insisted. "We might as well help them do it legally."
"No way," Dean said. "I'll tank their recommendation if I have to."
"That seems very selfish," Cas said. "You said you wanted their lives to be better than yours. I doubt forcing them to utilize false identities or into hiding would achieve that particular goal."
Dean was too shocked by the idea of Sam and Cas agreeing with each other to respond.
Cas turned to Sam and asked, "Is that what will happen if they're not emancipated?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
Dean hated himself for disliking the Sam-Cas Agreement. They didn't have the best history, so should've been elated about them getting along. But he felt too betrayed to be happy. How could Sam do this to him? No, wait, how could Cas do this to him?
"Then we should help them," said Cas. Then had added, "And you will teach me how to drive."
"Later," Sam replied when he realized Dean's brain was too busy figuring out what just happened to speak. "Let's get packed."
