Ch. 50 The market

Dean woke up startled by his own mind, he had finally figured it out! He looked at the angel softly snoring at his side, gave him a kiss on the forehead and silently got out of bed.

The house was dimly lit by the moonlight as it was the middle of the night after all. The rain had stopped a while ago and now the silvery light shone freely without the veil of clouds. He went to the study and turned on the desk lamp, Dean was ready to reveal the secrets held by the manuscript that just hours ago was mocking him. He tested his theory on the first paragraph and it worked well so he went on with it, only stopping to feed some wood into the fireplace. It was the last one of the batch and it always made him proud to finish them before the expected deadline.

Jo started her morning routine, she made coffee and had a cup while putting together the list of things needed to be done through the day. The market. With today's breakfast they'll be out of eggs and oranges. Krissy had to take care of the laundry, it was a consuming task and she won't be able to go with her, so she was asking Dean.

Krissy entered the kitchen, poured herself a cup of coffee, added some milk and sat at the table. "Good morning Miss Jo" she said while chewing a piece of toast. Jo was glad the girl got so accustomed to her presence she was that relaxed around her.

"Good morning Krissy, it's Jo, how many times… Did you open the ground floor windows?" The house needed to get aired now that finally the rain gave them a break.

"Yes, all but the one at Mister Dean's office, he told me not to" the girl said, pushing some butter on her next toast.

"Dean's already in the study?" It was too early, and she had been in the kitchen the whole time and he never showed up, he surely pulled an all-nighter and now he was probably starving… Jo sighed and went to him. She was right, he was wearing pajama pants and an open sweater with no shirt under it, and though she didn't like it, she sure understood the way he always gave himself to the work he loved, even when it took so much from him.

"Good morning Dean, you sure look fine today" she kissed his forehead. He smiled cockily at her in confusion "Don't I always?"

She chuckled "Yes, you do. How long have you been up?"

He pensively scratched his stubbed chin "I don't know, a few hours…"

"Yeah, I bet… Go get dressed so we can leave for the market"

Dean bit his lip, there was no way he was stopping now. "Why don't you go with Krissy?" It wasn't a question and she knew it.

"She is busy today. Anyway, yesterday you said you'll come with me" she was a bit miffed and more than a little worried she actually would have to go alone.

"Well, I can't right now, I'm busy too" Even when he understood perfectly fine her urgency he was getting irritated with her nagging because, let's face it, he was a bit tired.

"That's exactly why you should go out with me, you're not even dressed and you're already buried in books, when was the last time you stepped in the sunlight?" Dean wasn't being reasonable so now, even if there were no dogs there she wasn't giving up so easily.

Castiel entered the room in a haze, looking around till he spotted Dean on the desk "Dean…? Oh, here you are… Hi Jo!"

She looked at him and laughed a little covering her mouth. "Good morning Castiel. Flannel and a jacket, that's a new fashion trend?"

Cas looked their matching outfits and chuckled. Dean though humpfed in annoyance. "Fine. I'll get dressed, but I can't go with you to the market, I'm finally going somewhere with this, I won't leave this house till I'm done with it"

"But you promised, you know I can't go alone…"

Cas felt her voice had no trace of the former amused bantering, she was serious and anxious. His morning was free and he needed some new brushes and stuff so he figured he could use a walk. "I'll go with you, It's been a while since I went there and I need some supplies"

Dean smiled at him gratefully and Jo tilted her head utterly surprised. "I…but…"

Clearly, as she never saw that one coming, Dean just took advantage of that. "Great, all settled then, we'll get dressed now. Castiel, do you prefer to have breakfast in the bedroom or could we have it in here please?"

Cas was utterly amused how winning this argument with Jo made Dean that more loose and relaxed in the blink of an eye. Of course, he could still ask them to have breakfast in the bedroom just to see Dean pout again, but not today. "Please set everything in here, we'll be down in a minute"

Dean smiled smugly at Jo and now she was the one pouting. Cas held his hand and took him back to their bedroom.

Half an hour later they were on their way to the market. It wasn't too far from the house and most everything was delivered once paid for, so Cas was a bit curious to know why she was so reticent to do this particular chore by herself. When they got to the main town square, instead of turning right towards the Council building as he usually did, they went left to get to the shopping street.

From the moment they left the house she walked by his side keeping a respectful distance, but once they traversed the archway at the beginning of the shopping spree she was nervously fussing with the handle of the small basket she had brought with her to carry whatever they'll buy. Cas recognized the gesture, he had seen it many times before. "Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"I wouldn't dream to ask you that" She was always so correctly behaved, but though she tried for a fake smile her eyes were pleading for it to happen. Something there was upsetting her badly, so he took the basket away from her, gently held her elbow and continued walking. She tensed for a moment but when passing by one of the guards she just glued to his side, hugging his elbow instead. They stayed like that while she guided him through the different shops, purchasing everything needed.

Cas enjoyed the experience, taking in the architecture and all the different people walking the market. He had been there many times before but now he had no reason to hurry, so he paid more attention to everything else besides the shops. There were angels, demons, slaves, old people and children, all coming and going ... the market had a special kind of life on its own he was just now discovering.

Jo quickly got used to his proximity and soon she was talking and laughing with him. Whenever someone recognized Cas and greeted him he would just nod his head and keep on walking, he was having a good time with her by his side and didn't want to break the spell. Casually commenting on that made him the receiver of one of Jo's soft smiles, the kind she only gave to Dean, warming him up inside.

After purchasing the various items needed at the house, some notebooks and pencils Dean requested, some brushes, paint and special paper, Cas told her he needed hand cream, the one with almond oil she gave him last time, so they went to the apothecary. He got the hand cream, some of that herbal lotion that made Dean's skin soft as silk, lip balm, and a bottle of lubricant since they were running out of it. The pharmacist offered him a mint-scented one and Cas took it. He was about to pay when Jo lightly tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. She had her eyes fixed on the floor, her cheeks were pink and her voice was barely above a whisper. "Maybe you should take the coconut lubricant you got last time, or any other except the minty one… I think Dean will enjoy any of those better" It was an odd request, especially coming from the sister of his lover, but he was sure she had her reasons to ask something like that so he just got another one.

A little while later, once they had finished shopping and were heading home, Cas couldn't hold himself anymore and just asked her why she dreaded going to the market alone.

Jo blushed a bit. "I'm scared of dhs..." she shamefully whispered while lowering her head.

"What? I didn't quite catch what you said"

She sighed and lifted her head a little. "Dogs. The guards have them and I can' t stand them, and they smell my fear and it just gets worse..."

"Why is it you don't like them?" Because it was just weird, he knew she liked animals, she was always feeding stray cats in the garden so they'll stay away from the bird fountain, so what could be the problem with dogs?

"I had a master who used dogs to punish me... I never got used to that..." Her left hand was rubbing her right forearm, her eyes were glued to the floor, and if she kept biting her lip she would break her own skin.

Ten and there Cas saw one of her ghosts looming over her. Dogs. It was unthinkable how someone could have ever been that cruel to her. "I'm sorry if I made you remember something unpleasant, it wasn't my intention"

She regaled him a comforting smile and just kept on walking. "Its fine, it's over now. You're kind to us but not every master treats their slaves like you do... I've been through a lot, Dean too... we're very lucky to have you"

They've been through a lot... they already told him that some time ago, that's why they always look out for each other, fighting those ghosts together. He never asked all of their stories, he knew so little of their past. "Jo, who's Sammy?"

She couldn't help to lift her head and widen her eyes, schooling her expression quickly, trying to play dumb. "You mean mister Samandriel?"

Cas lifted his eyebrow in disbelief so she sighed and looked at him, into his eyes, all pleadingly and... sad maybe?

"I will only tell you if you order it from me but Castiel, please, you should ask Dean about him" They walked quietly for a moment before she spoke again. "Is he having bad dreams?"

Now was Cas' time to sigh in defeat. "Yes. And it kills me I can't help him"

Jo then fought a battle between her loyalty to Dean and her need to protect him, even from himself. She had seen him lose hope again and again and it broke her heart every time. "I don't know if anybody can help him with that... all we can do is comfort him and wait... but till he knows for sure it'll keep eating on him... I've said too much. Please ask him about this, maybe it could be good for him to talk to you..."

They went silent then, each lost in their own mind. Cas got nothing clear out of this, nothing but more questions were arising. Only when they got to the house they realized they kept their arms intertwined all the way, walking impossibly close to each other. And it felt nice.

"I had fun today. Next time Dean's busy you just come to me"

"Thank you Castiel, I will. I had fun too"

Jo took the basket from him and walked towards the kitchen. Castiel instead went to find his love, who lifted his head and smiled the moment he walked through the study's door.

"Thank you for keeping Jo company, I really appreciate that"

"Nonsense, it was a pleasure" Cas kissed him. Some other time they'll discuss his past but not now, not this moment. "Have you made any progress?"

Cas saw Dean's tired eyes illuminating with joy when he explained all about the book he was working on, and how something he said last night led his mind in a new direction.