Sooner or later someone will have to die, guys... Any suggestions or requests? Place your bets!
Chapter 34
With Adam back to his usual shape and news about Crestfallen Pines' horses cured of whatever curse the anunnaki key had accidentally released upon them, Team Free Will and Co. moved on with their less-than-standard life.
A few days later, after a splendid New Year's Eve supper (courtesy of the new kitchen appliances that Jessica had hand-picked herself, in order to defend her cookies' virtue), the Winchester brothers thought that it would be a nice gesture to take everyone out of the bunker for a party to have some fun. Therefore, they joined half of Lebanon in their 2018 celebration in the biggest barn around, specially decorated for the intended purpose and with tables full of snacks.
"No buzz for the minors, though," Dean decreed. "You kids stick to your soda fruity stuff."
If a couple of beers managed to pass under his nose, well, the hunter was none the wiser. Dean was certainly enjoying his time, drink-contesting against his angel in an obvious lost battle, and making Julia giggle like a little girl when he got to drag her to the rustic dance stage.
But things got awry a couple of hours after midnight, or at least they did from Castiel's perspective. An unknown woman, probably not from Lebanon (and really, not exactly her fault that she didn't know the Campbell brothers were both already spoken for), started flirting with the older hunter. And how beautiful she was to boot: voluptuous body, long dark hair and a sweet smile. There was something in her that painfully reminded Castiel of Lisa Braeden. Maybe that was the reason Dean was unconsciously leading her on, instead of cutting off her suggestive behaviour? The Righteous Man was smiling happily, joining her in jokes and laughs. It came to a point where the seraph couldn't stand it anymore and stormed off, unable to keep watching, his heart aching
"Cas?" he heard Dean calling him through the music and the noise in the barn. "Where are you going? Hey, wait! Cas!"
By the time Dean actually stood up and followed after him, the celestial warrior had already left.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was snowing softly. The chilly night breeze felt good on her face after the suffocating human warmth inside the barn. Inhaling deeply the fresh air and watching it become a white cloud leaving her mouth, Claire noticed that she wasn't the only one seeking a respite from the loud party.
"Hey there, Goggles of the Lord," she walked the few metres towards him, to the small secluded place under the eave of the barn. "Whatcha doing here?"
"I was getting dizzy with all the tiny blinking Christmas lights," Kevin answered, leaning on the wall, hands in the pockets of his anorak. "That, and the beer I totally wasn't drinking behind Dean's back was awful."
"That's why kids shouldn't drink," the huntress mocked him. "You should be a good boy, Kev. Don't make Nanny Dean bring out the paddle."
"Right. And you tell me this because it was Sprite the green bottle you were drinking, tigress," he retorted mischievously. "Absolutely a goody two-shoes, aren't you?"
Both teenagers snickered, their joy shy and tamed amongst the fluffy snowflakes that kept falling around them.
"How's Adam doing with his new X-ray vision?"
"I keep telling him to stop criss-crossing his eyes and buy some eye drops, or he'll get stuck like that forever."
"Boy, Alex's luck with guys really sucks," Claire sighed dramatically. "First a vampire, then a stinky mutant from another world, now a centaur... I'm kinda afraid of suggesting her to try a blind date. At this rate, who knows what else she'll catch?"
"Let's see if after his fumbled apology Adam succeeds in ever talking to her again without tripping over his words for half an hour," he joked without malice, "He's more embarrassed than a kid in his first day of elementary school."
After making innocent fun of their respective best friends, the chatting died. A minute or two of comfortable silence and furtive glances later, the young prophet fidgeted nervously.
"We should get back inside," he murmured.
"Why? Aren't you dizzy anymore?"
"Because it's cold," he looked at her intently. "And your lips are turning pale."
Claire held his gaze, standing her ground. The tip of her torgue traced almost timidly her lips.
"That's true," she whispered. "I could use some heat right now."
Kevin doubted what to do for a second. Then, very slowly in case he had misunderstood her invitation, he leaned his head to the girl until their lips brushed in a tentative caress.
"You're so cold," he determined, their white-cloud breaths mingling.
"I am," the huntress conceded.
Suddenly smashing their mouths together in a searing kiss, Claire took the reins of the situation and moved forward. She grabbed the boy and shoved him back against the wall, claiming dominance over him. Not that he minded, if his satisfied groan was anything to go by. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, one cupped the blonde's cheek and the other circled her waist, molding his body to hers.
"Claire…" he attempted to speak the moment she left his tongue alone. "Is this... is this another 'one-time thing', tigress?"
"I don't know," she confessed, her breathing ragged. "Ask me next time and we'll see."
Very certainly, the Prophet of the Lord had nothing to oppose that idea. Stroking her face, getting his fingers tangled in the long tresses of her hair, Kevin kissed her again. Claire learned the taste of his lips, the shape of his jaw beneath her fingertips, the crazy pulsing of blood in his neck.
Everything was going fine, until the sound of a door slamming on the woodwall shattered their little bubble of heat.
"Dammit, Cas! Wait a fucking minute!" an annoyed Dean Winchester was heard on the other side of the barn.
Their moment broken, the two youngsters separated. But unwilling to let the moment end in such crude note, Kevin quickly gripped the girl's hand before she could slip away.
"Look at that," he grinned. "Your lips are back to pink."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Castiel learned at a really bad time that loafers weren't the best choice of footwear when walking in the snow. If not for his angelic constitution, he would have face-planted on the ground already or risked frostbite on his poor toes.
"Cas!" Dean called the angel one last time before reaching out and grabbing his elbow to make him stop. "Why did you leave like that? What's wrong?"
The seraph inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself before tuming around and facing his human. He was already dreading the conversation that was about to follow, since he doubted that Dean would let him off the hook just like that.
"Nothing of import, Dean. I was merely feeling uncomfortable."
"Bullshit," the hunter replied, slightly worried. "For once we were having a nice time partying, and then one second to another you flip off as if someone had spat in your drink. What happened, man?"
"As I am telling you, I suddenly felt uncomfortable," Castiel insisted.
"Ok, fine," Dean accepted in a placating tone. "Can you tell me why?"
The angel averted his eyes, unsure, biting his tongue. He knew that his answer was not going to be well received by the hunter, but there was no escaping from this.
"It was the woman, Dean," he confessed, defeated. "The woman you were flirting with."
"Oh, Cas," Dean smirked, taking it as a joke. "What's wrong, Feathers? Were you feeling jealous?"
But his playful demeanour was met with a stone-faced warrior of God. Understanding slowly filled Dean's brain, causing his smile to drop.
"You're serious," he deadpanned, his voce echoing his hurt. "Despite what you said that time, barely a week ago. You actually think that I meant it when flirting with her just now."
"No, I do not think that you meant it right now," Castiel corrected him. "But I wonder what is going to happen when a time comes when you do mean it."
When, not if, the angel said. And Dean definitely noticed.
"So you think that I'm gonna cheat on you, that's it?" he scoffed.
"No, Dean!" Castiel denied, carding a hand through his hair in a frustrated gesture. "I do not believe that you are going to be unfaithful to me, not now nor ever, but... that is precisely the issue."
The very downcast look on those gorgeous blue eyes was the only thing stopping the hunter from turning away and leaving, probably to seek refuge somewhere he wouldn't be seen to lick his wounds like a stray animal. There was something else going on in the pigeon's brain and he needed to find out what.
"You know, Cas, normally fidelity makes people happy, not the opposite. Care to explain, if you please?"
"Dean, I…" the angel began in a beseeching tone. "I cannot shake off the feeling that I am not going to be enough."
"Enough for what?" the Winchester asked, frowning in confusion.
"Enough for you! I know... I know how difficult it has been for you to finally allow yourself a chance at happiness, Dean, specially with me. But I am not what you are accustomed to," Castiel opened his arms in an ample gesture, as if pointing at the whole of himself. "Every night, laying blissfully by your side, I have been witness to how much you lustful dreams have increased, as well as your 'private times' in the toilet. It is evident that your body has cravings that need to be satisfied, and it desires pleasures that I cannot provide you with."
While Castiel spilled his heart out, Dean just stood there in the snow, astonished by what he was hearing. How could the angel get it so wrong? Probably it was his own fault for not clearing up things before. Dammit, why was he always late in these matters? But no, it wasn't too late yet to fix them and put them straight.
"Cas, how the fuck can you get it always so damn wrong, buddy?" Dean almost chuckled.
"I am not wrong, Dean. The behavioural signals of your body are very clear."
"Oh, really. Do you even know how hot and bothered you make me when you use big, savvy words like that, angel?" the hunter spoke suggestively, walking closer to his lover. "Apparently not. Should we ditch the rest of the party and have some fun by ourselves, hmm?"
"That would be highly inappropriate, not to mention rude," Castiel opined, though swallowing hard at the Righteous Man's sultry advances.
This time Dean actually laughed. A dark, low and tempting laugh.
"It seems to me that one Castiel of the Lord has forgotten that he had my cock in his mouth," he whispered in the other's ear. "And that he, in his very first attempt at a blowjob, made me cum until I was left a shuddering mess."
"Dean…" Castiel whimpered, fighting his own urges of capturing Dean's sinful words with his lips. "You surely need more than a mouth."
"Well, not denying that eventually I'd like to go beyond that," Dean admitted. "But for the time being, I'm good. Cas, I'm gonna place all the cards on the table here, ok? As any hot-blooded man, I have a sex drive. And yeah, when I'm not getting any in a while my body acts up, but it doesn't automatically mean that I'm dissatisfied with you. Sure, I'm gonna miss squishy boobs and rounded hips, but... instead of thinking about what you can't provide that a random woman could, have you ever considered what you give me that nobody else would?"
Castiel looked at him doubtfully, as if he didn't believe there was anything exclusive he could do for him.
"Like what?"
"Like having someone there to hug through the night, just next to me," Dean spoke softly now. "And being the same person every night, too. Waking up in the morning and seeing you there, instead of a cold half-empty bed. Being able to make you smile, and you making me smile without even doing anything, just having you in front of my eyes. Arguing and then making up. Talking to you about anything, because you really know me, and not needing to hide the 90% of the person I am. Do you think I could this with that woman in the barn, Cas?"
"... No. If you talked to her about that, she would most likely believe that you were trying to mock her. Or that you are drunk, maybe. Perhaps even an insane psychopath."
"Yeah, not very flattering, right?"
Ultimately, the angel surrendered. Castiel's whole body slumped, his forehead falling to his lover's shoulder. He felt himself being cuddled between two strong arms, pressed against a warmth chest, a gentle kiss placed on his neck.
"There's no woman in the world I'd trade you for, Cas," Dean said tenderly.
"Not even for Daisy Duke?" the seraph couldn't help but to make sure. "I have encountered your threesome fantasy before, Dean."
"Dammit, Cas…"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Despite all of Dean's reassurances, when the next day the hunter perused again his conversation with the angel, he found himself a bit lost. The reason? He didn't actually had any real idea about how to 'go beyond' in the bedroom department. Sure, he obviously knew the basic mechanics, as in insert peg A into slot B, but nothing else.
Ok then, was time to take out the big guns.
"Sam, I need your help," he blurted out to his unsuspecting brother when he caught him alone in the storage, checking the inventory that Castiel and Jessica had assembled a while ago.
"With what?" Sam answered, not really paying attention to him, trying to locate who knew what item.
"I…" Dean rubbed his nape nervously. "It's about Cas. I need help with him."
"What?" now this managed to catch Sam's attention. "What's the matter? Are you two quarrelling again?"
"No, nothing like that, it's just…" the older hunter looked around haplessly. "Man, there's no way to ask this without making it weird, so I'm just gonna say it: it's about sex."
Next thing he knew, there was a trademark bitchface on his very annoyed sibling's face.
"Really, Dean? For a moment here I was worried that something bad happened with Cas, but it's only another one of your silly pranks?"
"No prank, Sam, I swear," Dean insisted earnestly, trying to convey how important this subject was to him. "Things with Cas are going pretty good, I think, but this… I'm completely out of my depth here, Sammy. I need help. Please."
Sam didn't seem very convinced at first, but seeing the almost desperate look on his brother's eyes, he eventually gave in.
"Alright, let's say that I believe you, which I still don't fully," Sam tested the waters carefully. "What do you expect me to help with?"
"You know, there's… This thing with Cas is new for me, ok? And it's not like we're at that point yet, but when we'll be… because I'm actually hoping for it to happen someday… I don't know how to do the deed, if you know what I mean."
The younger Winchester frowned harder, again doubting if his brother was trying to prank him or not.
"Are you telling me that you need the male-to-male version of the birds and the bees, Dean?"
"The hell, Sam? Of course not!" Dean sputtered, feeling heat rising to his cheeks. "I know what happens under the sheets. What I don't know is how it happens."
"How do you think...?"
"I mean," Dean hastily interrupted, "that I don't know the actual techniques of the fact, ok? How guys do it with other guys. I thought about watching some gay porn, perhaps, but fuck is that a bad idea if l ever had one, bad enough that I myself see it. We know all the stuff in porn is staged, it's not real."
At this explanation, Sam finally relaxed in understanding. His brother was very truly not trying to prank him.
"I see. Still, I don't get what you want me to do."
"Well, like... You're the good one at researching and stuff, aren't you?" Dean answered, as if stating the obvious. "Can you find me some decent info about it, please? A sorta DIY manual of gay sex, or a guide for dummies, something like that. I promise to read 'til the last page of whatever gay-sutra you get me, and won't complain if you unload a 900 pages brick on me."
Struggling to keep a chuckle from escaping his mouth, Sam took pity on his very adorable but also very distressed brother and nodded.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A week after that, Christmas season was over and it was spring-cleaning time. Since there were no new impending cases looming on the horizon everyone was put to work, despite the several protests from a few of the current younger bunker tenants that it was snowing outside, so spring was still far away.
"We're not your maids," Sam lectured them sternly, dry rag in hand to dust off the wood shelves in the library. "And you're certainly not little kids. You're long past the age of learning how to clean and pick up after yourselves."
Jessica, busy removing the decorations from the Christmas tree, couldn't help but snicker at her soulmate's self-righteous attitude. First, because she knew that the older Winchester had still been rescuing forgotten socks from under beds until Sam was 14; and second, because she was in on the secret of auto-cleaning spells and auto-maintenance setups that layered the whole bunker. It was no mystery how a place abandoned for more than fifty years had still been spotless when the brothers found it… but it was a mystery how none of the children had realized that yet.
"All ok, precious?" Sam asked her, arching an eyebrow.
"Oh, yes. All fine, puppy," she chuckled.
Luckily for the anunnaki channels, it wasn't like there was much to clean in their small bedrooms, and many of the other rooms in the bunker that barely got used didn't need a hardcore cleaning either.
"I found a spider in the electric storage. What do I do with it?" Jack showed up with a foul critter the size of his hand.
"OMFG, KILL IT WITH FIRE!"
"... Really, Kev? You take down the King of Hell but a spider gets the upper hand on you?"
"I don't do well with multiple-limbed crawlies, ok? Shut up!"
Thus the spider passed away to a better life, but the Prophet of the Lord was less than happy having to sweep the remaining ashes of its corpse.
With so many people around to help, by the middle of the afternoon the bunker was almost finished. Dean had one last wall of tiles in the war room to scrub with the sponge, next to the arch.
"You done there, kid?" he asked Jesse, who was beside him cleaning the machines.
"Yes. I've been very careful not to touch anything. Particularly the big red button that just screams 'Do not push'," the cambion joked, scrunching the dirty rag in his hands.
"That's a clever boy," Dean smiled. "Hey, pass me the bleach on your way to the kitchen, can you?"
Jesse nodded, looking over the map table where the cleaning supplies were, but he saw that Jacob was already there reaching for it. However, after grabbing the bottle, instead of coming closer the kitsune unscrewed the cap and...
"DEAN, WATCH OUT!"
Before knowing what was the danger, the hunter was shoved aside onto the floor. A few drops of something liquid fell on his jeans ankle, the acrid smell of bleach permeating the air. The cambion fell to his knees, hands covering his eyes and whining like a wounded animal.
"What are you doing, Jacob?! Are you insane?" Alex yelled, having seen everything from upstairs and running towards the demon hybrid. "Jesse! Jesse, stand up. We need to wash that immediately. Are you listening? C'mon, get up! I'll guide you to the showers, hurry! Do not rub it!"
The nurse's yelling alarmed everyone else, who came looking what was the ruckus about.
"Jesse?!" Julia called anguishly, running to the main hallway after his son.
"Dean, what happened?" Sam asked, helping him up.
"What happened? Oh, I'll tell you," the older Winchester snorted, looking furiously at the kitsune. "What happened is that this little shit tried to bleach out my eyes, but Jesse pushed me away and the poor kid took the burn for me."
"What? That's not... Jacob, please tell me it's not true," Sam pleaded. "Was it an accident?"
But the whelp didn't say a word, his silence condemning enough even without the squeezed bottle of bleach still in his hand. He didn't bother apologizing ether, didn't even seem to care that his intention failed and someone else suffered the consequences.
"Oh, Jacob..." Sam sighed and turned away from the boy, heavily disappointed. "You... you don't do this to others, no matter how much you hate someone. They can get hurt!"
"Jesse is half a demon, he'll be fine," the unapologetic kid rebuffed. "Probably would heal on his own even without the nurse's intervention."
"That's not the point! Amy wasn't like this. You shouldn't be like this."
At the mention of his dead mother, the kitsune growled in fury at him, a low and menacing sound.
"Ok, I've had it with you," Dean walked to his face. "I'm done with all your bullshit. Wanting to kill me for what I did is one thing, but throwing your crap over anyone else that happens to stand in your path is a different matter. You're leaving."
"You can't kick me out," Jacob calmly dared to object, his voice devoid of any real emotion. "You still need me for your wreck of a plan."
"And you'll play your part when the time comes, be sure of that. You're not getting away so easily. But nothing says that we need to put up with you until then," Dean snarled. "Go to your room and pack up. And this is the nice asking, don't expect me to say it twice."
The brat merely shrugged, like it didn't matter to him, and obeyed. The moment he disappeared in the main hallway, the rest of the astounded group turned to the hunter.
"Dean, are you sure of what you are doing?" Castiel inquired, squinting in doubt. "Where are you going to send him? It is true that we still have need of Jacob."
"Don't get your feathers in a twist," Dean grunted. "I've got an idea, ok? I'm not gonna just send him off wherever and lose track of him."
Things quieted down after that. Sam offered to finish scrubbing the last tile wall so Dean could go shower before doing whatever it was he planned to do, and he accepted. The hunter went to his bedroom, but before grabbing his towel and deadman's robe, he needed to make a call. Opening his contacts list, Dean pressed the one he wanted and waited.
"Hey, Kung Fu grip," he greeted wearily when a voice answered. "It's Dean Winchester here. Need to call in a favour. Yeah, and it's a fucking big one."
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
