Notes: ah ha! Set up for plot! Me gusta faces!
ship .me: You have no idea how much I want to add rage/meme/gifs to my stories as I write them. Tumblr and memebase have just ruined my whole existence. I can now only think in internet speak. The "now kiss" face has come up in my mind soooooo many times now, along with the me gusta face. XD
And a little shout out to those readers who favorite my story on the first chapter, not even knowing if the rest of the story will be crap. Hearts to you guys! So many hearts!
Disclaimer: Look around you simba. All that you see here...all that the light touches, does not belong to me.
Warnings: This story contains religious themes and undertones throughout the whole story. No offense is meant. It is simply one single view/opinion that someone may have. It doesn't necessarily have to be the authors actual opinion, so if possible I would like to ask for no flames and if you are truly offended then feel free to private message me to share your thoughts and you can skip this story.
CHAPTER 7
The first thing that Dean though as he woke up was wondering who had fallen into his bed that night. Whoever they were they felt like a freaking furnace with the heat they were giving off. It was damn cozy though. Then he remembered the night before…most of it anyway and blearily he opened his eyes to see that the heavy weight that was crushing his ribs was a content and awake Cas staring up at Dean from where he rested his head near the Captain's.
He smiled eagerly upon seeing Dean open his eyes as if he had been waiting all night for him to wake up again. It brought a gentle grin over Dean's features, "Hey, Cas," he murmured sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. That's when his mind finally caught up with the rest of the world.
Immedietely his eyes shot wide open and he sat up, almost dumping Cas on the floor, "Cas! Wha? What happened?!"
Cas didn't seemed the least bit perturbed by the sudden movement and just stretched like a cat along Dean's side, somehow managing to not fall off the side of the narrow couch they were sharing.
"Hello, Dean. What were you dreaming about?" He asked casually.
Dean was still trying to process his position and calm down from waking up beside his best friend, "Jeez, Cas. You get your freak on by watching other people sleep or something?"
Cas looked confused, "I was already a freak. I don't think watching others sleep is what triggers it."
"Um, right."
"What were you dreaming of though? I could see your eyes move in the REM cycle, so I know you did in fact dream. I'm most curious. I never sleep anymore myself. I sort of miss it, the dream part anyway. It is sad to me now to know that I can no longer have dreams. That's why I was curious about yours. I believe that all dreams say what they mean, but it just isn't in daytime language. That makes is so hard to know what we really want when we are awake."
He listened as Cas prattled on about dreaming as he started blinking slowly and Dean relaxed slightly, happy to see that Cas wasn't finding this as awkward as him. That's when he decided to glance around him to get his bearings. It was just his luck to see no one else there except the bar tender slowly gathering abandoned mugs….and then he spotted Sam, Gabriel and Balthazar standing at the foot of the couch staring down at them with blank expressions.
This time Dean did knock Cas to the floor in his scramble to get up, "Hey guys!…No, nuh-nuh-nothing happened. No, there was, uh, there was some drinking, and uh…some sleeping. And Cas was cold…yeah, cold. So there was, um, contact." Dean winced at his own word choice. The fact that Sam and Gabriel looked like they were each wearing "Oh yeah, sure" faces were not helping. Especially since Balthazar, the guy who only last night said he was going to trust Dean, was now saw Dean and his baby brother…in contact. Manly contact on a couch. Balthazars face was still holding it's blank expression, leaving Dean floundering as to how pissed off the middle Novak was.
And Dean's sorry attempts at explaining it were definitely not helping in the slightest. "I mean… We didn't, didn't you know…I mean, I would never! Not…not with Cas…"
Balthazar finally raised a judgmental eyebrow and looked over to where his little brother now wore a hurt face next to Dean. The Captain followed the gaze and also saw as Cas shrank back from Dean's side and moved over to Balthazar and Gabriel.
"Awww, Cassy-baby. Did the mean ol' Captain hurt your feelings?"Gabriel pouted as he wrapped his arms around his little brother, glaring mockingly at Dean. The pilot knew that Dean hadn't meant that at all. Dean was just incredibly bad at admitting to having feelings, Sam had told him so. He would just let Dean stew for a bit in his own guilt before he would step in and fix this little misunderstanding. If Cas could do anything well, it was bounce back.
He turned to Sam and Balthazar with his chin raised high as if smelling something offensive, "Come along my love and dear brothers! Our ride has arrived, and it's a huff! So we shall leave in it!" And he marched the others out of the bar, leaving a guilty Dean alone trying to dislodge his foot from his mouth.
"Cas," Dean called, but Cas was already gone. Turning angrily he kicked at the couch hard, only to stub his toe. Cursing he sat down at the bar where the bartender was drying out the semi-clean mugs with a semi-clean cloth.
Being ever the stereotypical and good bartender he noticed his frustrated customer and asked, "Rough night then?"
Dean snorted, "Nah, it was a great night until the sun came up."
The bartender chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"I don't suppose you have a menu?"asked Dean.
...
"A what?"
"So where's our hero?" asked Bobby as he and Meg met up with the others in the town square.
Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at them, "How much you guys wanna bet that he went home with that Becky girl? Got the real hero treatment, if you know what I mean."
Sam elbowed the pilot in the side and shrugged helplessly at the preacher when from off to the side he spotted Chuck slowly walking out from on of the side streets, hands in his pockets and eyes to the ground. His tragic posture put everyone on alert. Even Cas stood up a little straighter upon seeing the kind mechanic in such a mood.
"Chuck? You okay man?" asked Sam when the mechanic had come within hearing distance. He sighed heavily before pulling his head up to look at the crew. Each of them gasped as they saw his red rimmed eyes and pale face. He obviously had not gotten any sleep last night after the party had finally died down and they had never seen the man look so sober or somber before.
He took a shuddering breath before speaking, "No. I'm really not okay."
"What's the matter? Did Becky laugh?" joked Gabriel, but Chuck looked neither annoyed nor defensive at the comment, he just looked lost.
This time Bobby was the one to step forward, "What's wrong, son? Where have you been all night?"
"I was…I was in the graveyard. I saw all…all of them."
"All of who?" asked Balthazar.
Chuck's face turned stone cold. "All of the people that died because of me."The whole crew stepped back confused. Chuck's odd behavior and his appearance now was a complete 180 from the night before where he was happy, excited, and enjoying life as a hero.
Another stuttering breath Chuck continued, "These people rebelled because of my book and so many died because of it. I nev…never intended for my teachings to lead to violence. How can they call me a hero when I was the cause behind so much pain and suffering?"
None of them had an answer. Not one that he was looking for anyway. Bobby stepped forward, "Listen, boy. I know that whatever happened here wasn't your fault. You may have left the fuel out, but they were the ones who lit up the fire." Chuck looked up from his feet, new tears brimming on the edges of his eyes as Bobby continued, "A wise friend once told me that we live in a sorry universe. It's engineered to make conflict. I'm starting to see now that this sadly holds true most of the time. Now isn't the time to blame yourself. It time to do what you can to make it right."
Bobby glanced over to Castiel after he said this, nodding at the young man to let him know that he understood what he had said before. Cas nodded back solemnly. Chuck didn't notice any of this as he was going through some mental battle in his own head, eyes glued to his feet.
Meanwhile Meg nudged Sam's arm and gestured for him to hurry this on as they had a deadline to meet. Begrudginly Sam had to agree, and he stepped up to Chuck and rested a large hand on the smaller man's shoulder, "Chuck, I know that you are going to hate this, but we need you to play hero a little bit longer. Last night we organized a little ceremony for you while we move the goods out of town. They're expecting you to give a speech or something in the town square. Can…can you do that?"
Sam was fully expecting for Chuck to have some sort of breakdown at this point. The mechanic was bad enough with the idea of public speaking, but adding this on to whatever mental anguish he was going through right now, Sam was steeling himself for anything at this point.
But they were all surprised when Chuck nodded firmly, seemingly coming to some kind of decision in his head. His despairing look had been replaced by one of fury and determination. It made each member of the crew's eyes widen and exchange worried looks. However, they were unable to delve further into Chuck's inner turmoil because it was nearing the time when the transfer was to happen and they needed to get in place, so Sam took a lesson from Dean and decided to trust in the crew to do what they had to, even Chuck.
"Okay guys, here's what's going to happen. Meg and I are going to do the pick-up. Gabe is going back to the ship to be ready to take off in case things turn sour. Bobby, I want you to keep an eye on things here in the square while Chuck's doing his thing. Cas, can you and Balthazar act as our scouts and walk ahead of us as we move our stuff?"
Castiel nodded, happy to be included in the plan and to be of some use for once.
"What about Dean?" reminded Bobby.
Sam looked thoughtful for a moment and glanced over to Gabriel for direction. The pilot nodded, ready to back Sam up with any decision. "Dean…Dean knows about the event. He'll be there with Bobby. Any more questions?"
Everyone shook their heads. They knew their parts.
The candles in the room were little more than puddles now, only holding on to their flames by a single threat of wick left. The tea cups were long forgotten as the Companion and the man with her remained entangled in the bed, not even noticing their sweaty limbs and wrinkled sheets.
Anna lay up against Fess' chest as he stroked her long red hair slowly. It was one of those magical moments that Anna always remembered with fondness in her trade. The moments where she felt that she had made some sort of difference in someone's life, where she could know for sure that her art was far more than bedding rich men. Only hours ago Fess had been an awkward person, still holding on to the jitters of youth, but then he had laid with her with such confidence and power that all traces of the boy who trailed after his father had evaporated from his skin. She didn't get to see this transformation often, but it would never lose its magic.
"You're very quiet," she commented gently, as if a small tease.
He sighed and she felt his chest move under her, "I'm sorry. I just…I thought I would feel different after. Aren't I supposed to be a man now? I feel just as I ever have."
She turned to face him and ran a delicate hand over his collar bone, kneading at the skin below, "You were a man the moment you chose to do something for yourself and not for your father. When you moved into my embrace it was of your own resolve, I could see it in your eyes. If you have only done this for your father, then I'm not sure that I could have honestly said you were a man. The father makes the boy, not the man. You do that yourself."
Fess met her eyes.
Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door, "Fess! Fess Higgins! Get out here now!"
Don't you worry about Dean derping! I'll make it better, I promise!
Manly contact...
