THEN:
"The angels will let the seals break, so that Lucifer and Michael can fight. It is prophesised"
"maybe they wont want it to happen. How do we know unless we ask them?" Sam asked louder, growing frustrated. Cas' eyes glowed.
"because you're speaking to one now."
"Michael left Heaven a century ago, only a few angels know of his location. He is waiting until Lucifer is released before he arrives to fight the Deceiver."
"As a neutral being, I cannot take interest nor support either side of this apocalypse. However, it may be of interest to you to find a woman named Anna Milton. She could be of use." Before he could be further questioned, he disappeared into thin air.
The aftermath of Dean and Death's revelation was shocking. John took to Cas with even more distrust than before. He had always knew something was off, but this was even worse than he imagined. He eyed Dean with a newfound distrust too, as though his beliefs about Dean was shaken to the core.
"Why did you hide it?" he had asked Dean in the privacy of the kitchen.
"it wasn't my secret to tell" Dean had responded, cautious and protective of Cas.
"I'm your father! And he's a monster Dean!" John had yelled back. Dean took offense to that and snapped.
"HE'S MY FRIEND. AND REMEMBER – I DON'T REMEMBER YOU AS A FATHER." He didn't like to see the way John flinched at the accusation, but Dean was getting sick of being expected to suddenly love and adore his 'family'. He had memories of them, he did care – but it didn't suddenly negate his love for his other family, or his love for Castiel – platonic love, of course.
"Dean…" John was lost for words.
"I get that you want everything to miraculously be the same…but it isn't. I have memories of you and Sam, I care for you both but – it doesn't mean I agree with you. Cas has protected me, he cares for me and I won't listen to you disrespect him. Okay?" he forced.
John nodded reluctantly. "I don't want there to be any issues with us Deano, so I'll be nice to Cas" he teased out awkwardly. John clapped him on the back and left before the conversation became stilted.
As John left, Dean became aware of Cas' presence with a fluttering of wings. "Jheeze" he gasped out. "Cas man, you've gottta stop doing that!"
"sorry Dean" Cas looked appropriately chastised. "I heard your conversation with your father – you defended me."
"of course,"
"Why?"
"WHY? Jesus Cas, you're – you're family." It was the only thing he could think to say.
"Family…like Joey or Sam?" Cas's voice was stilted. Dean couldn't say yes because Cas wasn't like the – the way he felt for Joey, the way he was growing to feel for Sam wasn't comparable to his feeling's for Cas. Sure, he was still madly protective of him, but it was something else.
"Not like them, but still family." Cas' eyes lightened up, his smile was impish and cute. "Dean" he simply said, his response sending Dean's chest aflutter. Dean wasn't ready to explore this feeling – not when he had an apocalypse to deal with instead.
"So uh, are you coming with us to find the chick?" he asked. His question wasn't the right one as Cas' smile dimmed.
"No. I cannot" he was reluctant to share more than that.
"Why not?"
"When you meet her, I'm sure things will become apparent" Cas told him. "For now, I must go Dean. I require my brethren's help if we are to find Azazel. Remember Dean" he commanded, "if you need me, call my name."
"I will" Dean vowed. They shared a parting smile and then Cas was gone in an instant.
It wasn't difficult to find Anna Milton – it took a few minutes to hack into the system and find her address. Dean and the others couldn't find anything important or significant about Anna Milton. She was born in December 1985, the only daughter of Richard and Amy Milton and lived in north-western Ohio. It was decided that Dean would go to Ohio with John and Sam to check her out. Bobby wouldn't remain to find out as much information about Lilith and Azazel as possible, whilst Ellen and Jo would head back to the roadhouse to take care of business and send out feelers. The women had left earlier that day, Ellen complaining about the Roadhouse being destroyed if she left Ash to run it for much longer. She had hugged Dean tight and given him a kiss on his cheek – his heart ached painfully for his family.
As the men packed their bags and got ready to leave, Dean couldn't help but feel trepidation. The encounter with Death was a weird one – he suspected, no, he knew that Death knew about Dean's connection with Michael. Dean couldn't explain why he hadn't told anyone yet. It was – it was something he didn't want to divulge. He hadn't even told Cas yet, and Cas and he was – they were close. He suspected he didn't want to tell Sam because it would be acknowledging that they were both weird. Sam had a connection with demons and supernatural powers, Dean was talking to a eons old Archangel. John- that was another issue. He didn't want to tell John because he often got a gleam in his eye like he would do whatever was necessary. In his quest to avenge Mary, Dean suspected that John would do anything – up to, and including, taking care of his sons if they turned out to be demon bitches.
"Dean, ready to go?" he was brought out of his musings by John. He stood there at the door, duffle bag slung over his shoulder. "You alright kid?" he asked, watching the way Dean stared blankly at the wall, stuck in his head.
"Yeah. I'll be out in a second" he replied, throwing his jacket over his shoulder and finishing packing up his bag. John eyed him for another second before leaving hesitantly. Dean finished closing his bag, stood up and went to exit.
"Dean" he heard Bobby call. He turned to look at the old man. Bobby watched him for a few seconds, then beckoned him over. Dean headed towards him, raising an eyebrow.
"Everything okay old man?" he joked. Bobby didn't respond for a second, just watched him.
"…Bobby?" he asked once more.
"Listen Dean. I get that – that you've got your own secrets, that despite them boys being your blood they aint been your family for a long time. But we've got a demon to fight and an apocalypse to stop. Secrets aint good- you hear me?" In that instant, Dean knew Bobby suspected something. Maybe it was because Dean hid Castiel's nature from everyone – or maybe Bobby had noticed the way Dean blanked out, or the looks Death gave him.
Dean simply nodded. "I…I" he couldn't quite get the words out.
"Tell me this, are the secrets you're keeping gonna screw us over? Cos if so you know I gotta tell your daddy" he threatened.
"No Bobby! It's personal" it wasn't a lie, just not entirely the truth. "When I feel like I can tell everyone, I'll tell them. Until them, it's my business" responded gruffly. The car honked loudly, and Dean took that as his cue to go.
"It's not your business to tell Bobby" he stressed, pleading with the man. Bobby's eyes softened.
"it's not my business to tell" he smiled gently. Dean smiled in thanks, then left to get in the car.
Dean sat shotgun in the Impala, admiring her beauty once more. "I've missed you girl" he patted the dashboard fondly, smirking as Sam rolled his eyes.
"Dean! It's just a car" he whined, seated at the back.
"Just because you can't admire a proper car Samantha, doesn't mean you need to hate" Dean teased, enjoying the banter between the two brothers.
"I keep telling him, this car is a classic. It was by chance I bought this car, your mother originally wanted me to get a car entirely different" John laughed as he pulled the car out of park and begun the drive.
"Really?" Sam piped up.
"Well it's lucky you got this car then, she's special" Dean responded. John grinned at him before turning back to the motorway.
"The ride is about thirteen hours, maybe nine or ten if we can speed through the night. We should use the chance to make a plan" Sam said strategically, pulling his books out of his bag.
"Cool it nerd." All the years hadn't made a difference to how much of a nerd Sam was for books.
"Sure" he responded. "what's the game plan?"
"kill Azazel and Lilith and stop the apocalypse" John replied.
"wow. Great plan dad. Any…ideas?" Sam asked sarcastically, sharing a laugh with Dean.
"Maybe this Anna Milton can help. Any idea why Death told us to visit her boys?"
"None that I could find" Sam said. "I did a bit of research on her but couldn't find much. She seems like a normal woman. She's finishing up her studies, single child, never been in trouble. The only thing that's out the blue is her therapy."
"therapy? What for? also, how old is she? Is there a possibility she's one of these special kids?" John asked.
"Not that I can see. She's not the same age, so that's out of the question. But…she had intense therapy when she was about four years old. She would freak out, have moments of instability. I hacked her records – the therapist said she was inconsolable, that she said her dad would kill her. the police investigated the family but the Milton's checked out." Sam shrugged. "So, I don't have a solid idea why we're visiting her, but it should help right?"
"Yeah sure Sammy. We'll scope her and the parents out when we get there. We've got the others trying to track Azazel's whereabouts. When we can get a solid lead on him, we'll finish the sonofabitch" Dean vowed. John and Sam shared his sentiments, their faces grim with determination.
"Jesus, I can't wait for the day" John confessed in a moment of honesty. "He- he changed our lives. I can't wait to pay him back for that."
"Me neither. He's a threat"
"Have you spoken to your, erm, parents?" Sam asked, shooting a glance at John for his reaction.
"No I haven't. I should call them when we get to Ohio to inform them about everything" he suggested.
"Why not do it now? You have the time" John offered. Dean glanced quickly at Sam who shrugged minutely.
"Sure." Dean took out his phone and called his mom's phone.
"hello?"
"hey mom. How are things?"
"Hi Dean sweetie! Let me call your brother and father! BOYS. DEAN'S ON THE PHONE!"
"some thing's just don't change, do they?"
"what's that meant to mean?"
"Just that you're still the same"
"Well, an impending apocalypse won't change me from kicking your ass"
"HA…So, er, you heard about the apocalypse thing?"
"Oh yeah, I did! Funnily, not from my son!"
"Sorry mom" Dean glanced sideway's at John's reaction. His face remained the same, but did twitch. A look at Sam in the rearview mirror showed he also looked uncomfortable.
"So spill the beans!"
"So, we spoke to Death. Weird, huh?"
"what was he like?"
"creepy and sarcastic. He sent us to visit this chick named Anna Milton, she might be of use. He told us about the apocalypse, that Michael doesn't want to start it –"
"-that's a good sign right?"
"Yeah. So we're hopefully gonna kick their ass and that's one for Team Humanity."
"No hopefully about it. You're strong Dean"
"I know. You raised me to me" When Dean looked out of the passenger window at the passing sights it was easy to imagine his life before this. Where things weren't complicated with the threat of the end of the world or having two sets of parents and a new brother. It could just be another phone call with his mom.
"We miss you Dean"
"I miss you all too. How's Joey? How's dad?"
"they're all TAKING ANNOYINGLY LONG TO GET UP HERE!"
"Jheeze- tone it down mom. How are you?"
"I'm good sweetie, feeling much better now. Your father has me on bed rest, taking care of me."
"That's good."
"And how's Cas? How are things with you?"
"what's that meant to mean?"
"DEAN. You can hide from everyone, but im your mom."
" 's not the time. But I promise to -to"
"The thing about being a mom Dean is that you know what your child is telling you, even if they cant get the words out."
"Thanks" Dean choked out, glad she understood without him having to speak on it.
"They're finally here. Say hi!"
"Hey dad, hey Joe. How are you?"
"Hey son!" "Hey Dee! We miss you!"
"I miss you guys too! You keeping up your studying, and your hunting?"
"Of course. How's things with the Winchesters?" Joey asked.
"They're good. Settling in, you know."
"Are they there?"
"Yeah they are. So…"
"So we wont talk too much on the subject. But shit hit's the fan-" "SHUT UP JOEY!" "Sorry mom!"
"I know Joe. Shit hits the fan, I'll call you. I always do" he promised. "I'll call you soon. Love you mom, dad, Joey."
"We love you too!" "Cheesy" "Bye son".
Dean hung up the phone, feeling immensely better from speaking to his family.
"So how are they?" John asked awkwardly.
"Yeah they're good. Mom's doing better, she's healing which is good."
"that's nice" Sam piped up.
"Yeah it is. So they're taking a breather right now, I told them if we need them we'll call."
"Good. Good" John responded. Eager to change the subject, Dean spoke on the first thing he could.
"Hey Sam, do you remember how we used to play in the car? We etched our initials in the car right over here see?" he pointed at the place where the initials S.W and D.W were carved.
"Oh yeah!" Sam laughed, John joining in. "I remember being so happy when we did that"
"And I remember being furious that you carved up my beautiful car."
"If anything, we made her better" Dean defended. The three of them laughed in the car as they drove along the highway.