Chapter Nineteen: Don't Stop Looking (High Rankin Remix) ((Alex Roots))

Brick roads were not fun to drive over. Especially for long periods of time.

But Dean was determined not to leave his baby behind. So once they left the highway and started retracing their steps to Balthazar's club at the edge of the city, they pressed right on, over the black bricks that they followed the first time. They'd already wasted far too much time in Dean's opinion anyway. After the redhead had hinted enough at who they needed to see, she had quickly disappeared. Dean didn't even see her go. He turned his head for a second because Castiel came to the door to look for him, and when he turned back, she was gone.

By the time he helped Castiel pry Gabriel from one of the economy dryers- Dean was starting to think the archangel had a death wish or something- Crowley and Lilith were done fighting. They'd trashed the office, throwing things at each other, but the blonde demon eventually told them where they could possibly find Lucifer. There was a hotel he liked to frequent on the far edge of town, and it was possible he could be staying there again. It wasn't as sure a bet as Dean would like, but it was the closest they had.

The two places were also on complete opposite sides of the city. And as much as Dean wanted to go bust in and get his brother back from Lucifer, he knew they'd need whatever help they could get. So after leaving the Laundromat, they checked into the nearest hotel for the night, while Dean filled the angels and demon in about his plan to find this weapon. All the while Crowley complained about Dean's habit of putting lines of salt across all the doors and windows of hotel rooms they stayed in to keep evil things out. Crowley, being a demon, was also trapped INSIDE. Dean had just grinned.

He just considered them lucky that his fake credit cards worked in Purgatory as well.

Dean had to admit, he felt a lot better the next morning. He was still worried about Sam, that would never ease, but he was a bit calmer about it. Not by much, but enough. He had a place, he had a plan, and he had some help. He even managed to get some sleep and food. His Hunter mindset was taking over, rising to the challenge of keeping him calm under pressure.

It didn't do anything for the rage he felt upon seeing Balthazar again.

The group started out that morning, and by making minimal stops along the way, they'd gotten to the club by early evening, before dark. That would give them a little time to talk to Balthazar before all the demons and supernatural creatures came in for the night. The club was already opened when they arrived, although the music wasn't as loud yet. There were a few guests mulling about, mostly the sparse humans that populated Purgatory for some reason or another. There were a few people on the dance floor, moving to the beat, but most of the present guests were at the bar.

"Now this is my kinda mission," Gabriel grinned broadly, as they stepped inside. It stood to figure that this place would be right up the archangel's alley.

Dean rolled his eyes. He turned to Crowley. "Keep him out of too much trouble. I gotta go talk to the owner."

Crowley rolled his eyes, knowing he'd just been given an impossible task. But he followed Gabriel into the club, as the archangel had wandered off the first chance he'd gotten. The hunter nudged Castiel in the side, getting the angel's attention.

"You can go with them if you want." He wasn't pushing or anything. It's not like he didn't want Castiel and Balthazar in the same room if he could help it. Of course not.

Castiel only gave one of his little half- smiles. "I'll stay with you. Crowley can keep track of Gabriel. Someone needs to keep you out of trouble."

Dean blinked, gaping at the angel. "Cas, that might've been the closest thing to a joke I've heard from you. I'm impressed."

"I suppose you've been a bad influence," an easy voice said from behind Dean's shoulder. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Balthazar. Just the annoying bastard I was looking for."

"I knew you couldn't resist for long," the blonde angel teased. He sipped idly at his drink. "I see your little ragtag adventure group has grown a bit. But I thought you were looking for a tall human."

"Sam has been kidnapped," Castiel replied. "That's why we've come to see you."

Balthazar arched a brow. "I wouldn't know anything about a kidnapping, Cassy. Sorry to disappoint."

Dean didn't miss the way Balthazar gave Castiel the once- over. Again. He stepped closer to the trench coated angel. "No, but I hear on good authority that you can help us with something. A weapon."

He smirked. "That's a little more my area of expertise. What are you looking for?"

"I'm… not really sure. She didn't tell me the specifics. But we're going up against Lucifer, and she said you knew about a weapon that would help use the angels' power to fight him."

Balthazar leaned against the edge of the bar, considering the pair with a thoughtful hum. "You're going to take on Lucifer?"

Dean nodded. "He's got my brother."

"Well, that IS quite the predicament, isn't it? I'll tell you what. Let me go see what I can look up, and you two go have a drink or something. Hell, have a dance. The archangel and the demon seem to be having fun."

The three looked toward the dance floor, where Gabriel was trying unsuccessfully to get Crowley to dance along to the thudding techno beat. He was grinning though, and only grabbed the shorter man's arm when he got too close, spinning him around.

"I don't dance," Dean replied automatically. Castiel only looked toward the dance floor curiously.

"Sure you don't," the blonde offered a smug smile, patting Castiel on the shoulder as he moved past the bar and up the stairs that led to the small apartment they'd stayed at the last time they were here.

The pair sat at the bar. Dean was going to take up the offer of a drink at least. He'd had far too little to drink for all the madness he'd been subjected to on this trip. He placed dance clubs run by smug angels fairly high up on the list. Slightly under the devil kidnapping his baby brother though. The fact that those things were on his list at all was a testament to how weird their lives were. He definitely needed to drink more.

Castiel sipped at his Pepsi beside him. He was turned in the other direction, eyes locked on the people dancing. More people were coming in as it got later, and the floor was filling up. Gabriel and Crowley kept mostly to the edge of the crowd, keeping the bar in their sights.

Dean grinned at the angel. "You could go out there, y'know."

Castiel blinked, eyes going a bit wide as he turned to the hunter. "I don't know how to dance."

He shrugged. "I'm sure Gabe would teach you. He's doing a good enough job."

For being an archangel from Heaven, Gabriel was very good at normal human things. He was at complete ease in the crowd, comfortable and confident in his movements. He swayed and swiveled his hips in time to the beat, despite Crowley's near- refusal to join him. It didn't seem to bother him in the least, and he just danced around the demon, grinning like he was having the time of his life.

The dark- haired man hummed, considering this. Dean decided to give him another push.

"You should. You've been staring at the dance floor both times we've been here. Think of it as understanding human behavior."

This seemed to be the last of the convincing he needed. He finished his drink, setting the empty glass on the bar. He cast Dean one more look, as if to be sure he wouldn't mind. When Dean answered with a grin, nodding to the floor, he got up from his seat, hesitantly wandering over toward his brother.

Dean chuckled, watching the angel try to say something to the other two, yelling to be heard over the music. Gabriel's face brightened immediately, and he nodded, pulling the younger angel closer. Crowley just laughed, giving them a wave before leaving the floor. He wandered over to the bar, taking Castiel's spot beside the human.

"Good timing," he grinned, waving down the bartender to order a scotch. "Give it a few more minutes and Gabe would've been forcibly moving me."

"Cas's been staring at it like a lost puppy, so I figured he might as well give it a shot."

"Not the only thing he's been staring at like that," Crowley muttered, sipping his drink as it arrived.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Dean probably would have pushed further, but he was slightly distracted, staring at the dance floor. Gabriel was trying to show Castiel how to circle his hips. It didn't work at first; the angel was too stiff and the motion came off laughably jerky. Gabriel just laughed, telling the other angel something that there was no hope of hearing from his place at the bar. He could guess it was something about moving with the beat, since the archangel then gave his own example, working his hips to the beat coming from the speakers. Castiel tried again, gnawing at his lip in concentration. It still lacked the fluidity of his brother, but it didn't look like he was in pain this time.

"…ven't heard a word I've said, have you?"

Dean blinked, breaking his gaze from the dancing pair to Crowley. "Whazzit?"

The demon rolled his eyes with a snort. "You're practically salivating."

Dean felt his face warm. "What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, mate. At least dumber than usual. You and the angel. You're already sleeping together, so why not just stop trying to deny it?"

"There's nothing going on. Cas just stays with me cuz he's not used to sleeping…"

"And he didn't kiss you senseless when he thought you were going back to Earth?" the demon smirked. Gabriel told him about that, but he wished he'd been there to see it in person. "Don't tell me you forgot about that?"

To be completely honest, he'd pushed it to the back of his mind. It had shocked him, there was no doubt about that, but there hadn't been time to dwell on it. Not with Sam being snatched up and all the running to find out where Lucifer had taken him. Also it was just awkward to think about. He wasn't ready to admit to things he'd learned from that particular experience. The most important being that if Lucifer hadn't shown up, he would have started to return that kiss, even if everyone was watching.

He didn't answer. Instead, he turned his attention back to the dance floor. Both angels were moving to the beat now, spinning around on the floor. It was obvious that Castiel was still unsure of himself, but he was following along well enough. He was starting to get the hang of just flowing with the beat, and occasionally he would mimic whatever Gabriel was doing, moving his shoulders and circling his hips.

The hunter's face got even hotter, his eyes trained on the other's hips. There were a few other things he wasn't up to admitting about the angel.

"So what are you going to do?" Crowley asked him. If he smirked any more, the expression might not fit on his face any longer.

"I dunno," Dean replied simply, eyes still locked on the scene in front of him.

"Well you'd better decide fast, lover boy. Because if you don't hit that, I might."

Dean choked on his beer. He coughed as it burned his throat, staring at the demon in shock. "What the hell, man? What about Gabe?"

Crowley smirked. "Oh, he's welcome too, of course."

"Planning threesomes without me?" Balthazar leaned against the bar from the employee side, giving a low whistle as he caught sight of the two angels dancing. "Wow, who knew Cassy could move like that?"

"What the hell, guys?" Dean snapped, suddenly irritable. Why did everyone want to get a piece of his angel all of a sudden?

Oh good, possessiveness. This wasn't going to be awkward or anything. Dean could have smacked himself.

Balthazar chuckled. "Oh, calm down, no one's going to steal him from you."

Dean decided pointedly to ignore that. "What'd you find out on the weapon?"

"Ah, straight to the point. I like that." Balthazar poured himself a drink from the bar. "I don't know who you talked to, but she did know what she was talking about. It's a sword. And it'll do exactly as she said. Amplifying your angels' powers might give you enough of a boost to actually do some damage, if you can manage to get close enough to land a hit."

"Leave that to me. Where is it?" Dean didn't really know much about swords. He preferred shotguns. But he knew how to use a knife, and he figured they couldn't be that different in the long run.

"Currently, it's in possession of another angel."

He frowned. "Will they let us use it?"

"I'm working on contacting him. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's making deals," he smirked smugly, folding his arms across the bar. "I've asked him to meet with me tomorrow. We should be able to come to some sort of agreement."

"And if we can't?"

Balthazar tipped his drink back, finishing it off. "Then we steal the damned thing."

Dean shrugged, looking at Crowley. The demon seemed pleased. He turned his attention back to the dance floor, where Castiel was definitely getting the hang of the motions.

"I like those odds."

00000000000000

There were way too many people to even attempt staying in Balthazar's living room again. There was a hotel a couple of blocks down, so Crowley went in to get them checked in. Sometimes a demon in your group was helpful, getting them into demon- run hotels. Balthazar agreed to meet them at the club in the late morning. Crowley tossed Dean a keycard with a grin, before he and Gabriel went off to their own room.

Dean hoped it was far, far away from his own.

The room was a single, which didn't really bother him. He knew Castiel would just wind up sliding into bed with him at some point in the night anyway, and at least this way they were saving some money.

Still, it was a little awkward this time. After everything that happened lately, things were bound to seem different. Watching the angel at Balthazar's club had put all sorts of wrong images in his head about other ways those dancing moves could be used. He really didn't think those should be drifting through his mind when said angel was sleeping curled up against his side.

There was also that whole stunt Castiel had pulled at Chuck's. Dean still didn't want to talk about that one, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. Why would Castiel do something like that?

He had a feeling Gabriel had something to do with it.

He made up his mind early the next morning. He had to at least ask about it. Before Crowley and Gabriel wandered in, and before they had to meet Balthazar. He was going to regret this, he knew it.

Castiel was curled over a cup of coffee from the room's complimentary coffeemaker. The thought that Cas wasn't a morning person was funny to him for some reason.

"Hey, Cas, can I talk to you about something?"

The angel arched a brow at him. Dean wanting to talk about something wasn't a usual occurrence.

"It's about what happened at Chuck's place… right before Luci popped in."

"Oh." Castiel looked at his coffee. If Dean didn't know any better, he'd swear that the angel's face suddenly looked flushed.

"Yeah, so… what was that about, exactly?"

"I acted on an impulse. I spoke with Gabriel on the matter, and he suggested I leave you with a 'lasting impression' before it was too late."

Dean frowned. "So, what, you were just gonna throw that ton of bricks at me, and then hop back off to Heaven?"

"I wasn't throwing any bricks, Dean…"

He sighed. "Figure of speech."

"Oh."

"Still, that's just not something you do to a person before you run off and never see them again."

Castiel frowned. "That was exactly why I did it. I knew I wouldn't get another chance, and-"

He cut himself off, glaring at his coffee cup as if it had personally offended him. Dean arched a brow.

"And?"

"And I wanted to know what it was like," the angel mumbled finally.

"So you just wanted to know what kissing was like?" He couldn't tell if he was relieved or upset. If Castiel just wanted to have a kiss before he was a badass angel again, Dean could deal with that a lot easier than his friend having a crush on him.

"Of course not," he looked up at the hunter again, scowling. "I wanted to know what it was like… with you…"

And they were back to awkward.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen, Cas…"

"I had assumed I wouldn't have to explain it. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable." Blue eyes were back on the coffee. It was almost weirder than the constant staring.

"I just… there's too much to think about right now, okay? Between this, and Luci, and Sam… I can't right now. I'm not mad or anything, it's just something I'm not really ready to deal with at this point."

That was probably the girliest thing he'd said in awhile. He made a face. Castiel just nodded quietly, accepting.

There was a knock at the door before he could say any more. Gabriel's voice came from beyond it, much too cheerful.

"Get decent you guys, I brought breakfast!"