A/N: First off, this is a REALLY short chapter. It's sort of a filler- the next one will be up later tonight or sometime tomorrow, and it's going to be a BIG one, guys.
Heh. Remember how I promised smut and shocking revelations in this chapter? You get one of the above...sorry...but you get the other in the next chapter, I SWEAR.
Enjoy! Review! (I'll love you forever if ya do) Follow me on tumblr! (Emmarowene-fandom-queen)
.
.
"Hey Sam, what—" A blonde woman appeared in the doorway, freezing when she saw Dean and Cas. "Oh, hey, Dean. We weren't expecting you back for a while. I thought Sam and Bobby told you to stop bringing random guys home," she teased, looking at Cas with a tight-lipped smile.
Castiel glared at Dean.
"It's cool, Jess," Sam laughed, "This is Castiel. We all grew up in Lawrence together."
"Really?" Jess asked with a more genuine smile in Castiel's direction. "How come I've never heard about you before now?"
Beside Castiel, Dean shifted uncomfortably. After Cas left for Eden, Dean refused to talk about the angel, and he banned the rest of the family from bringing him up as well.
Castiel sensed this, or guessed as much, and quickly diverted the subject. "You're Sam's fiancé?"
"That I am," she smiled, looking up at Sam.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Castiel offered her his hand, giving her what he hoped was an endearing smile. "Dean told me much about you on the way here."
"Nice to meet you too," she turned to Dean, winking, "He's cute, Dean."
"We're not—Why does everybody think—" Dean sputtered.
"Really? This is still going on?" Sam sighed, pursing his lips and glancing between Dean and Cas judgmentally. He turned to Jess, "These two were the epitome of sexual tension for years."
"Hey!" Dean protested.
Cas fidgeted, his wings rippling in the space between planes, the only evidence of his discomfort being a slight fluttering sound.
"Wait, are you an angel?" Jess asked, eyes widening.
Cas nodded. "I am."
"Wow. That's…I've never spoken to one before; it's an honor, really. I have so many questions. Aren't you supposed to have wings?"
"He does," Dean answered, "He can, like, tuck them away or some shit."
"Can we see them?" Sam asked with a hopeful smile, getting as excited at the prospect as his fiancé.
"If you want to see wings, I'd ask Samandriel," Castiel smiled. "His are more conventional."
"Who's Samandrel? And besides, It'd be cool to see your wings, dude," Sam beamed, practically bouncing with excitement. "Since we've been friends for forever."
"Later," Cas promised, "Mine currently aren't…in peak physical condition."
"Shit," Dean jumped, remembering Cas' injuries, "Uh, we were attacked on the way here and Cas took an arrow to the wing," he explained. "You good, Cas?"
The angel nodded, waving Dean's concern away dismissively.
"You were attacked?" Sam asked, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear and glancing worriedly between Dean and Cas. "By who?"
"By demons. Lucifer's demons, most likely."
"What?"
"It was an ambush—they were after the King—"
"The King?! Dean, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh, yeah. The King and Queen are waiting outside with three guards."
"What?!"
.
"What the hell?" a gruff, scowling man demanded, riding up. "Why the hell is there an angel and a bunch of filthy yahoos on my property?"
"You're Bobby Singer," Chuck guessed, riding forward. Samandriel moved to follow, but Chuck reassured him with a gesture.
"Yeah," the man grunted, as is offended by their very presence, "Who're you?"
"You may find this hard to believe, but, uh…I'm King Shurley."
"My ass."
Chuck nodded good-naturedly. "This is Queen Becky, and my guards—Victor and Ash, and the Angel Samandriel."
"Howdy, Bobby," Ash called, waving.
Bobby squinted at him. "You're one of Ellen's boys, ain't yah?"
"Sure am," Ash nodded. "Ellen says hi, by the way."
Chuck continued. "My other angel, Castiel, just went inside with Dean, looking for you—he said we should probably wait here while he explained the situation."
"Castiel, huh?" Bobby grunted, looking them over thoughtfully, "Might as well come on, then. Stable's around back."
.
Sam, Jess, and Dean all jumped at the sound of the door slamming open.
"Wanna tell me why the King was loitering in my driveway, boy?" Bobby asked, storming in. He acknowledged Cas with a nod and a "good to see ya again, Castiel."
"Also," Bobby began, Chuck and the rest of the group entering behind them, "why ain't you at the border?"
"There is a perfectly good answer to both those questions, Bobby, just calm down."
"I am calm. Well?" Bobby asked, prompting Dean to continue.
"I was at the border, and a runner came with news that Lucifer was riding to Eden with an army of two to three hundred demons—" Sam's eyebrows shot up and Bobby ran a hand across his beard. "—so I rode straight for Eden, but then I couldn't get an audience with the King, so I met with the Vigilante—"
"Woah, really?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. And then he took me to meet with the King and Michael—the chief of Eden's city guard—and we discussed tactics, and we decided it was best to get the King out of the city, so I offered up your place—sorry Bobby, figured it'd be safest—and yeah. Here we are."
Bobby took a deep breath. "Yeah. Well I don't see I have much of a choice, but my place's as good as any for you to stay, your highness, though I can't promise accommodations like you're used to. We'll get some extra guards, too."
"We're going to need whatever hunters you got, Bobby—I'm headed back to Eden tomorrow, and Michael needs as much help as he can get against Lucifer's demons. Apparently the city reserves aren't exactly equipped to handle the situation."
Bobby scratched at his beard. "I reckon we've got about a hundred hunters stationed here in the city, another hundred less than a day's ride away. I can get a hundred for you by tomorrow afternoon, another hundred in a couple days. When's Lucifer set to reach Eden?"
"A week."
"You going to come with, Sammy?" Dean asked, glancing between Sam and Jessica.
Sam looked at Jess pleadingly.
"I understand," Jess smiled sadly, "You have to."
"I'll have to head back in now, start gathering up the hunters," Bobby said, thinking out loud, "If they're going to be ready to go by tomorrow." Bobby collapsed into a chair and sulked, retreating into his own thoughts.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Sam asked Dean suddenly, "what's he like? The vigilante?"
"Like the stories say," Dean shrugged, glancing at Castiel. "Dark and mysterious and powerful, with these massive wings that are soft and black—"
"Soft?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh, I mean—you know what I mean."
"Dean doesn't know what he's talking about," Ash snorted, "the angel's actually a total weirdo, when you get to know him."
Cas elbowed him in the ribs.
"You know him, then?"
"Yeah, Ash and Victor are his men—they volunteered to help protect the King. I don't think the vigilante trusted Michael's angels to do the job, you know? Uh, no offense, Cas, Alfie. There was just some serious tension between the two."
"There's tension between Michael and everyone he meets," Castiel grumbled, seemingly startled when all eyes turned to him.
Chuck snorted.
Sam seemed to remember whose company they were in. "Shit, sorry, we're being totally rude. Does anybody want anything to drink? Uh…you highness? I was going to go get some water from out back. We have fruit, too. Hang on," he said, standing up.
Castiel slipped out of the room after him.
.
"Sam," Castiel said. Sam jumped, cursing, and spun to face the angel.
"Dude. You're really quiet, do you know that?"
"Apologies," Cas said with a small smile.
"Don't worry about it," Same gave him a vaguely amused smile, "Look, man, it really is good to see you. I'm glad you and Dean finally settled your differences or whatever."
"I'm glad too. I'd love to talk, Sam, but as Dean mentioned earlier, I injured my wing in the battle earlier—"
"Oh, crap, that's right! Um, do you need a doctor or something?"
"No, nothing like that. But I do need a place to wash them in peace. Is the pond still-?"
"Yeah. That way—it's not far. Just beyond those trees."
"Thank you, Sam. If Dean or anyone else asks, tell them I'll just be an hour or so."
"Will do."
.
Cas walked in the direction Sam pointed, vaguely remembering the way from his last trip to Bobby's.
He rolled his shoulders, trying to ignore the itch that was stretching all the way up his injured wing.
Things were going about as well as he'd expected. Castiel trusted that Chuck would be safe at Bobby's, no matter what happened in Eden. The ambush on the road was unfortunate, but hopefully it was an isolated incident. When he got back to Eden, he'd have to meet with his more covert contacts—find out if Lucifer had spies in the city and who they were. And then he would get rid of them.
Cas' discomfort grew unbearable and he pulled his wings out to scratch at the area around the wound. Stupid painted feathers. Stupid disguises.
Getting back to Eden was going to be...complicated. Dean didn't know Cas was planning on returning with him, didn't know why—and if the hunter was still half as protective as he'd been when they were children, Dean wouldn't just let his best friend (ex-best friend? Comrade? Acquaintance? Romantic interest? What even were they to each other anymore?) leave the safety of Sioux Falls.
He should probably just tell Dean the truth, then. He had to, eventually.
Later.
Cas reached a large grouping of trees, and he knew just behind it lie—yes, there it was.
He stepped between the trees, leaves crunching under his boots and a gentle breeze caressing his hair. Emerging, he stood before a large pond—beautiful and serene, with clear water the color of his eyes and a white washed shore of smooth rocks of varying sizes.
Tall, narrow trees circled two thirds of the pond, blocking the view of it from the road and from Bobby's.
He paused where the grass gave way to mud and rocks, bending over to take off his boots and socks. His shirt came off next—it would make the grooming much easier, and it's not like there was anyone around to see. He abandoned all of his other personal belongings as well—the small leather purse he wore at his hip, the three daggers he'd stashed at strategic points on his body. He kept his pendant, though. He never took it off if he could help it, even if it seemed kind of pointless now.
Gingerly, he began making his way out onto the rocks, toward one in particular—a smooth, flat grey rock as long as a tree that extended to the middle of the pond. He jumped nimbly from rock to rock, trying to avoid stepping in the mud with his bare feet. When one of the rocks wobbled, his wings flared out to help him catch his balance.
He grinned to himself and finally reached the long rock. When he'd visited Bobby's the first time, they'd spent an entire day swimming here. Dean had taken Sam's hand on one side and Castiel's on the other, and they'd run down the length of the rock, leaping into the water when they'd reached the other end.
It was deeper than it looked, Cas remembered as he walked carefully down to the far end of the rock, its warm surface warm beneath his feet. He let one leg dangle into the water, the other tucked beneath his knee, and leaned his weight on one elbow so his wing was halfway submerged in the cold water.
His eyes fell shut and a soft sigh escaped his lips at the cool sensation encompassing the lower half of his injured wing. He swished it around a bit, feeling the water shift and flow around his strained muscles.
Opening his eyes, Castiel looked out over the water. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed this. The simple, elegant serenity of nature. He'd been in the city so long—he'd forgotten how beautiful the rest of the world could be.
Nature. The open sky, trees, grass, and clean water. It was all beautiful.
He reached around and started running his hands through the waterlogged feathers, brushing out clumps of wet paint.
He kept at it for a while, grooming and thinking, until his right wing was almost free of paint. Cas hadn't meant to groom the whole thing, just enough that it wouldn't be an irritation, but it felt good to be clean, so he kept going. If he had to, he could just keep his wings hidden until they made it back to Eden.
Of course, a small voice at the back of his mind said, he wouldn't have to hide if he just told Dean the truth. Maybe the time for secrets really was over.
Because what would happen after the war with Lucifer, assuming he survived? Now Chuck knew the truth. All of his friends at the Roadhouse knew the truth. And recently, he'd been wondering…Eden was clean now. Its citizens were learning to stand up for themselves. Was the vigilante even needed anymore? And could Castiel go back to the way things were before? Without this? Without Dean?
He thought he already knew the answer to that.
Noticing the pain was mostly gone now that his wings were free to heal properly, Castiel lifted his wing out of the water to examine the wound and shook it out.
Someone cleared their throat loudly behind him.