Chapter Sixteen: Evil and a Heathen ((Franz Ferdinand))

Castiel had returned later that night, while Gabriel and Crowley wandered off to finish what they'd started in the car. Dean definitely didn't want to think about that one. Sam just kept chuckling.

His car, dammit! They'd almost started screwing in his car! He had rules against that sort of thing! Most of the time, HE wouldn't even risk something like that. He'd done it before, of course, but that was only after exhausting his other resources. So if he wasn't getting any action in that car, no one was. Not to mention the mental scarring he'd suffered in catching them like that. He shuddered.

He told Sam all of this, ranting to his brother as they sat on opposite ends of their little fire. Sam just grinned as if the righteous karma was swooping down and serving Dean his punishment for all the times Sam had come back to their hotel room only to find it occupied very busily. It really wasn't any fun being kicked out of his own room for hours at a time.

Besides, it wasn't even really his car.

Eventually Dean calmed down. This had more to do with him getting tired than actually letting the subject go. It was getting dark. They'd all had enough strenuous activity to knock them out early- some more than others, Dean thought wryly. But he didn't want to sleep until Castiel came back. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself. They were still fighting, after all.

The angel returned, looking no worse for wear, a few hours after he'd stormed off. Sam was flipping through a book he'd found in the Impala's glove compartment. That had to be Chuck's doing, not something Dean had in his own car. It was a Sam book, not a Dean book. Gabriel and Crowley were still… out. Dean was half- asleep, wrapped in one of the old army blankets from the trunk and staring at the fire.

Their eyes met across the fire when Dean looked up. Castiel didn't look angry anymore. Well, Dean supposed, as not- angry as Castiel ever looked. The angel was the first to break the stare, which was odd. Usually it was Dean that had to look away, weirded out by the angel's constant gaze. Dean blinked, tilting his head in a way that was vaguely reminiscent of the angel himself.

Castiel rubbed at his arm, toying with the bandages there. He looked almost nervous. He'd taken to rolling up the tattered sleeve of the trench coat, since the ripped edges tended to catch on everything. Dean thought it looked dumb with one sleeve rolled up, but he didn't say anything. Castiel would look weirder without the coat at this point, so he'd deal with a little ridiculousness on the angel's part.

They didn't speak. They were still fighting. Dean shrugged, lying down and pulling the blanket closer around him. He was asleep before too much longer, only slightly unnerved by how Castiel kept staring at him.

He woke up not too much later, judging by the exhaustion he still felt running through him. It was still dark, and the fire was out for the night. Something warm was pressed against his side.

Dean frowned in the darkness, sitting up a bit. "That's not fair, Cas."

The movement and the noise woke Castiel, who made a noise at having his sleep disturbed. He curled up. "What…?"

"You don't get to fight with me, then come over here and curl up with me like everything's okay," he hissed.

Castiel blinked his eyes open, bright blue unfocused. "Why not…?"

Dean couldn't really explain why. But he was still mad at the angel's words from earlier, and how no one seemed to be taking his side on this. And he was tired, so that only made the frustration worse. "Because that's not how it works. I'm still pissed off at you."

Castiel tilted his head sleepily, studying him as if he was examining a bug. Dean tried not to squirm. He was making a point here.

Finally the angel moved away, gathering up his blanket. "Fine," he snapped, getting to his feet.

Dean almost regretted it. Almost. But he was stubborn if nothing else. He watched Castiel move to the other side of the camp indignantly. After a moment's hesitation- and another look at Dean, before his eyes narrowed- he curled up again, beside a different lump of blankets. Dean assumed it was Gabriel. Castiel frowned, burying his face against the lump.

The camp was quiet after that. Dean drifted off to sleep once more, still feeling frustrated. He also felt slightly guilty. He turned over on his other side, his back to the others.

It was colder now. He wrapped the blankets tighter around himself.

He didn't sleep well that night. He couldn't seem to get comfortable enough. Granted, he was sleeping on the ground, but he'd done that a few times since they'd landed in Purgatory, and it hadn't been a problem. Still, he found himself tossing around every hour or two. He was glad they'd be back in the city by evening, so he could sleep in a bed.

Gabriel and Crowley were awake first. Dean was still trying to convince himself that he could go back to sleep when he heard their voices. He was half- tempted to throw something at them to shut them up, but that would require actual effort. It was too early for this.

"When do you suppose that happened?" Gabriel asked, before breaking out into a drawn- out yawn.

"No clue. I thought you said it was the other one."

"It was. You saw. When we came back last night."

"Well then obviously, something happened last night."

"You think?" Dean could almost hear Gabriel rolling his eyes.

"Don't get smart with me, angel," there was no bite to the words. "I'm not in charge of keeping track of your brother's tumultuous love life."

Oh. They were talking about Castiel. Gabriel was probably wondering why he woke up with his brother plastered to his side instead of Dean's. By then he was already past the point of falling back into sleep, focused enough to listen to their conversation. He sat up, rubbing his face.

"Mornin' sunshine!" Gabriel grinned.

Dean growled something in response. They were stopping at the first diner they saw for coffee, werewolves be damned.

"Wanna mind clearing something up for us?" the archangel continued amicably. "I was just wondering what the hell you did to my brother last night."

It was too early for this. "What'd I do?"

"That's what he's trying to figure out," Crowley offered helpfully.

He had to let the sleep clear from his mind before he realized that the pair were leaning against the side of the Impala, and not on the other side of the fire as he'd seen Castiel storm off to last night. This meant that there was only one person left.

"Sam?"

Gabriel crossed his arms. "This is impossible. You're worse than a drunk right now."

Dean looked over to the pile of blankets across from him. His brother had kicked most of the blanket off in his sleep, sprawled out on his back. There was a small, unassuming ball of blanket against his side. The older hunter scowled.

"Don't tell me the innocent angel is two- timing you," Crowley grinned.

"Would you just shut up?" Dean ground out, stretching back until his joints popped. It was definitely too early for this. "I'm not even sure we're keeping you around yet."

The demon shrugged the threat off. If he wasn't going to be allowed to stay, they'd have told him to left already. Not that he would have, either way. He had a plan to follow through on.

Dean got up, starting to fold up his blanket. "Someone wake them up. We need to get started soon. I want some goddamned coffee, and we need to go back to see Chuck."

"And just what are we gonna tell him?" the archangel frowned. "That you actually didn't kill Luci, so much as piss him off royally, and that we decided to keep the demon we were sent out to kill?"

The hunter shrugged. "I don't think we have to tell him anything."

"What are you getting at, Winchester?"

"I mean… So long as we don't waltz in there with your demon boyfriend in tow, who's to say he's not dead?"

Both of them gave him a look that told him exactly how stupid they thought this plan was. But they didn't really have any better ideas, so it was their best shot at the moment.

Dean started to pack the things they'd used in their camp. He pointedly didn't look in the direction of his brother and the sleeping angel. Gabriel sighed. This was cruel and unusual punishment, getting him up from his nice warm spot next to Crowley to go play peacemaker with his brother and his human crush. There was going to be hell to pay later.

He decided to wake Castiel up first. He didn't know what Sam's role in all this was, but he didn't want to have to explain the situation to the younger Winchester if he didn't have to. He wasn't all that certain what had gone on anyway. He'd been busy at the time.

Unfortunately, the point was moot, because he forgot one thing about his brother. He reacted violently when woken suddenly.

He shook the other angel by the shoulder. Castiel gasped, squirming as his eyes shot open. He flailed before he realized what was going on, slamming an arm into Sam's side and catching Gabriel across the face with the other. Sam was up in a second, bolting upright with a yell, wondering what was trying to kill him in his sleep now. The hunter lifestyle made sudden wakeups even worse.

Oh yes. Dean was going to get it later for this.

Sam nearly tackled the both of them before he figured out what was going on. He just stared at Gabriel.

Gabriel scowled at his brother, rubbing his cheek. "I'll be glad when you don't need to sleep anymore."

The younger hunter looked confused.

"Not you, Sasquatch. Cassy."

Then Sam seemed to notice the other angel, who wasn't curled up to his side anymore, but was still far too close to be normal. He stared at Castiel, trying to figure out why he sat there beside him, instead of invading Dean's personal space as he'd been doing since he'd met up with the pair.

"Um." He finally said, eloquently. Yeah, he was the genius in the family.

Gabriel shook his head, a fond grin soon replacing the frown. "Time to get started, kids. Operation: Road Trip is back in action, and if we don't get some coffee and greasy breakfast into your brother soon, he just might kill us all."

Sam glanced at Dean. He tilted his head. The bastard was actually considering it.

Castiel moved quickly, giving him his space. He looked slightly embarrassed, ducking his head as he began to fold his blanket. Sam vaguely wondered if he was picking up too many human traits so soon. Probably hanging out with Dean too much.

Which brought up the very good question of why Castiel had slept beside him instead of Dean. He could only think of one reason, and that was that his brother was being a stubborn idiot about their argument last night. He looked at Gabriel questioningly, nodding between their brothers. The archangel just shrugged.

Dean had packed everything back in the slightly dented trunk. He looked at them all expectantly, leaning against the driver's side of the car. He was ready to get this show on the road. Breakfast, and then trying to feed Chuck some bullshit story about Crowley. It wasn't going to be fun.

The rest of the party filed into the car quietly. Sam took his normal seat up front with his brother, while the angels and demon slid into the back. Dean started the car, muttering curses when it took more than once to get the engine to turn over. He slid a random tape into the player, not in any kind of mood for conversation. A harsh techno beat started up through the speakers.

"Alright! I win again!" Gabriel brightened, moving along to the beat, much to the annoyance of the two on either side of him.

Sam sighed. This was going to be a long trip.

Bobby was waiting for them at the gates when they arrived that afternoon. The guard looked over the bent front bumper and the dents along the side, arching a brow at Dean.

"Hellhounds."

Bobby nodded. That explained things pretty well.

There were four of them once again. Crowley was hiding out in a hotel just outside the city. After a few hours in the car with the Hunters and angels, he thought he got the best part of the deal.

Bobby led them all inside, leaving the car just past the gates, where they'd picked it up at the start of the mission. Dean looked more sullen than usual. Castiel was toying with a bandage on his arm. Gabriel stared at the floor, frowning. Only Sam looked normal, and he just looked like a long- suffering parent on a field trip. The older man just shook his head, guiding them back up the large staircase to Chuck's room.

Becky was waiting for them there, energetic as ever. She even hugged Sam, making the taller Hunter blush a bit. She started talking excitedly, asking them about the hunt, how everyone was, why did Castiel have one sleeve of his coat rolled up?

Luckily, Chuck popped in soon after, cutting her off before Dean snapped at her. There were the same bright flashes of light as before, and the smoke filled the large green room. When the smoke cleared, the dragon was sitting against the wall once more.

"What's up guys?"

Dean decided to do the talking. He was the better liar out of the brothers. "We took care of Crowley like you wanted."

The dragon's head tilted. "Did you?"

"Yeah. He won't be a problem for you." Technically it wasn't lying. He never said they killed him. And if he was fighting with them, then he wouldn't be a problem.

"No, I don't suppose he will…" Chuck replied distantly, as if lost in thought. "Although he might be a problem to the hotel staff, if you leave him by himself long enough."

Dean's eyes widened. "You-"

He chuckled. "C'mon Dean… visions, remember? I knew you wouldn't kill him before I even sent you out there. Gabriel wouldn't have let you anyway."

The archangel blinked, finally looking up from the floor.

"Wait, so if you knew we wouldn't do it, why'd you send us out there?" Sam frowned in confusion.

"Because you needed to be there," Chuck replied patiently. "You needed to find Crowley, so he could go with you. And Lucifer needed to see you both."

"You knew he was still alive?"

"Of course. It's not as if a little angel magic would kill the devil. If it did, they would've done it millennia ago."

"That's what I said!" Sam threw his arms up.

"So let me get this straight," Dean crossed his arms, stepping closer to the dragon. "You knew this mission was gonna fail, but you sent us out anyway? How much did you know? Did you know about the Hellhounds? The car crash that could've killed us all? Luci busting in and nearly taking us all out before Gabe mojoed us away?"

"I knew about all of it." Chuck tapped a claw against the marble floor. "That's kinda the thing about having visions. You see things like that."

"You sent us out there to get our asses kicked!" the older Winchester snapped. "You told us it was a simple demon hunt and we went in there blind!"

He shrugged. "You wouldn't have gone if I told you what was really going on."

"Still would've been helpful!"

"I knew you wouldn't get killed anyway. I saw you coming back. I also know that Crowley's going to show up in a few minutes, once he figures out the story won't fly. After that though, I'll have to tell you in a minute. I don't get everything at once."

"Great," Gabriel leaned against the wall. "So we'll just wait until you get your vision that tells us how to deal with Luci."

"It doesn't work like that, Gabe."

"Well, it's better than the alternative!"

Chuck sighed. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry I lied, really. I had to put you in the right place, and it was all I could think of. Just stay here tonight, and we can start making plans in the morning."

"You've been jerking us around since we got here," Dean growled. "We've had enough. You're gonna send us home."

"But Lucifer-"

"If you wanted our help, you should've just fucking told us! We're out, Chuck. Find someone else."

Castiel blinked out of his thoughts, staring at him. "Dean…"

"Not now, Cas." He was busy glaring at a dragon.

"Fine. Whatever," Chuck sighed. "I'll do the spell tomorrow. Happy?"

"It's a start," he shrugged. "Now, unless you need anything else, that DOESN'T involve fighting the freaking devil, then I'll just get out of your scales."

He turned on a heel, strolling away towards the door. Bobby was glaring at him, and Becky looked like he'd just kicked her puppy. He pushed the door open to leave when he ran into something.

Crowley fell back with an 'oof'. Dean blinked. "What the hell?"

"Sorry, wasn't anyone here a minute ago," the demon straightened his jacket, looking past him to the dragon taking up the far wall. "Am I interrupting?"

"We were done, actually." Dean replied.

Crowley wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. He grinned, pushing past the human with a thoughtful hum. "So this is the Chuck I hear sent a few humans to deal with me?"

"Hey Crowley."

"If it makes you feel any better, he knew we wouldn't kill you," Sam held up an index finger.

Crowley paced around the room, arms folded behind his back. The rest of the room's occupants watched him. When he reached the dragon's side, he tapped a finger along a few scales.

"What are you doing?" Castiel tilted his head.

Crowley didn't answer. Instead, he reared back, slamming a fist into the dragon's side. It went straight through, until he was shoulder- deep in Chuck's side.

Angel and human alike gaped. Everyone was silent.

Except Dean. "Holy shit!"