Castiel and Dean are now heading for the wilderness. Both are too busy with the preparation to even think about how it will be for two strangers to spend an entire week together alone.


Still October, not too far from New York City.

(Castiel POV)

"We have these, they're last year's model but who cares." Castiel looked at the boots Dean was holding and even if his life depended on it, he could not distinguish the difference between them and This year's model on the shelf. Cas tried them on and decided to take them, if Dean recommended them it was enough for him.

An hour later Cas had acquired a stack of clothes and other items on the counter, Dean came up behind him and placed a cap on his head, "This too." He laughed while walking around to the other side of the counter to ring up Cas' purchase. He reached up and removed the cap and stared at it, "Orange?" He smiled and shook his head as Dean nodded, "It's hunting season, you don't want to be mistaken for a deer would you?" That actually made a lot of sense; Cas tossed it on top of the pile.

After he paid—less than he anticipated—Dean started to put everything into the backpack that was part of the purchase. "I can just keep it here, you can change tomorrow before we head out." He lifted his brow a little and Cas nodded.

"Sure, but uh, won't we need food and stuff?" Dean chuckled, "Of course. I've taken care of that already, but is there anything in particular you want? I need to get a few things in the morning."

Cas scrunched his nose a little and looked at Dean, "No, I, I can't think of anything. I trust your judgment. I don't have any allergies and I'm not a picky eater. Do you need any money for my share?" Cas reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet but Dean lifted his hand and signaled for him to stop, "Don't worry about it right now, we can figure it out later."

Dean glanced up at the clock on the wall, "I'm closing in a few, if you want we can go to the pub down the road and talk about it?" Castiel gave it a quick thought before he nodded slowly, "I guess we can do that." Suddenly he remembered the laptop, "Oh! I have your laptop, it's working fine now." He moved back towards the door and picked up the backpack up from the floor where he'd left it when he came in, "I even managed to save all you documents and pictures."

Dean grabbed it and gave him a bright smile, "That's so cool, I thought it was a lost cause. Nothing was working." He peeked into the backpack, "I'll just take it upstairs, you can wait outside, or you could come up, if you want."

It was a question but Cas pretended not to notice. He had a long way back home and still had to pack up what wasn't in the bag Dean had stowed behind the counter, a quick drink was really all he had time for. "I, I'll be outside."

Dean was obviously a regular at the pub. He seemed to know every person in there and Cas felt a little lost. He sat down on a stool at the bar and waited for Dean to join him. The guy was now talking with a few older men at a table. He turned and waved, motioning for Cas to come over.

He pulled out a chair for Cas, "My dad, John, and uh, my sort of uncle, Bobby, guys, this is Cas."

Soon after introductions Cas found himself with a bottle of beer in hand and listening to the conversation going on around him. He and Dean didn't get time to talk about the trip before Cas had to leave to catch the train. He excused himself, Dean looked up with a pained expression and apologized, Cas threw his hands out, "No big deal Dean, you probably know what to get anyway, just call me if—"

Dean got up and walked with Cas to the door. "We can always get stuff on the way there too, it is a long drive. I am sorry Cas, it was thoughtless of me not to pay attention to you, I promi—" Cas waved him off, "Don't worry about it, it's fine. I kind of like being a little invisible."

(Dean POV)

When Castiel came over the next morning he had left the trench-coat at home. He was wearing a short leather jacket over a pair of stonewashed blue jeans, Dean almost, almost, whistled in approval. Cas looked good, really, really good. The blue jeans looked even better on him than the black ones did yesterday. And now, without the trench-coat to limit his viewing pleasure, Dean could check the guy's ass out. He couldn't complain.

Cas had brought along another duffle with more clothes and other necessities. Dean helped him repack it into the backpack before tucking it into the trunk of his car. He noticed Cas had brought a laptop, he scrunched his face, "I don't know if you'll get any use from that." Castiel shrugged his shoulders, "I, I didn't even know if you had electricity, I, uh, forgot to ask." He smiled shyly, "It's just, I, I don't, I've never, I don't know."

Dean patted him on the shoulder, "We have power, just no internet." He hesitated, "You weren't planning to work while we're there were you?" Castiel shook his head, "No, I just, I have games and music, and," he rolled his eyes and blushed a little, "I was so clueless on what to bring. I feel like a fool."

Dean shook his head, "You're not a fool Cas, of course you didn't know. I wasn't very helpful either, I'm sorry." He put the laptop back in the pack and reached out for the plastic bag in Cas' hand, "What's that?"

Cas blushed again, "Uh, I, I didn't know," he held up the bag, "I brought this." Dean looked in the bag and grinned, lifting out the bottle of Jack Daniels, "Wow, my favorite brand, how'd you guess?" Cas shifted a little, "I just picked one. There's also two bottles of wine."

Dean took the bottles and stuffed them into the pack too, "I'm not big on wine but I bought some beer." He closed the trunk and gestured for Cas to get in the car. "Okay, let's get this show on the road."

He got in and turned the ignition and instantly the car was filled with the sound of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant song bursting through the silence. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to blow your eardrums," Dean appologized as he hurried to turn the volume down. Cas seemed a little startled but he smiled, "It's okay, I kind of like them." He leaned back in his seat, "I'm not picky on music either."

During the four hour drive they barely exchanged a word. The loud music prevented it for the most part, but Dean felt that there wasn't a need to talk so much either. He sang along with the songs, earning a chuckle from Castiel ever so often. Half way there they stopped to get gas and take a leak. Dean bought some chips and a couple of root beers before they got back on the road.

A few hours later Dean pulled off the highway and into a clearing off to the side of the road. "We've got to walk from here, uh, it's a bit of a hike."

Castiel followed Dean's lead and climbed out of the car and made his way to the trunk. He waited till it was open before reaching towards his backpack but Dean stopped him, "Don't worry about that right now," he said as he put on a smaller pack, "Our neighbors have a four-wheeler I can borrow to come back and get the heavy stuff."

Cas looked at him, a little confused, "So we don't have to carry anything?" He glanced at the trunk, Dean looked at him, "What?" Cas met his eyes, "Can I, uh, can I bring the new jacket? It's a little chilly and this one isn't warm enough," tugging on the hem of his jacket. Dean let out a laugh, "Of course. I'm sorry." He tugged out Cas' jacket and handed it over, "You want the boots too? It's nice and dry right now so your sneakers should be alright though."

Cas stuck with his sneakers and shrugged his new jacket on, and then they were off through the woods. Cas following Dean, who was following a well worn trail. Nearly an hour later Dean turned off onto another path, Cas followed, up ahead was a rather decent sized cottage. Cas could only stop and stare, "Is this—" "No," Dean cut him off with a smile, "This is the neighbors, give me minute, I'll be right back, wait here."

He walked around the cottage and towards the shed out back and poked for the hidden key; the Winchester's and the Harvelle's had a long standing deal about looking after each others' properties. Dean was always allowed to borrow the ATV whenever he needed it. He was a little surprised that the house was empty, they were usually present almost every weekend.

He didn't ponder too long on it, rolling out the four-wheeler and closing up the shed before driving back around to Castiel.

"Hop on!" He took of the backpack and handed it to Cas and patted the seat behind him, "We'll be there in a few minutes."

(Castiel's POV)

Castiel had to hold on to Dean for dear life. He may have been exaggerating, but the ride was bumpy and Dean apparently wasn't slowing down for anything. It was a terrifying five minutes; Castiel didn't even think about the fact that he'd been plastered to Dean's back with his arms wrapped tightly around the guy's waist. When they finally stopped Cas let go and quickly climbed off and stood on wobbly legs.

He glanced around and before him stood a tiny, brown cottage with a covered front porch with a well worn in rocking chair and some fishing gear. It was surrounded by trees on its three other sides and between the trees Cas could see the shimmer of something, water, probably a lake.

Dean had parked and climbed off and started heading towards the cottage, he turned to Cas with a slightly devious smile, "You okay? That was quite a ride." Castiel just nodded and began to follow, "I'm fine. Now. Except I think my life flashed before my eyes at one point." Dean laughed as he unlocked the door and pushed it open, "Welcome to my humble abode." Gesturing widely and ushering Cas inside.

They entered into a tiny hall with a hat stand, which was covered with various jackets and coats. Directly ahead was a small kitchen which Cas quickly peeked at before turning his attention elsewhere, finding a rather decent sized living room. It held a big fireplace with logs all ready set, just needing to be lit. A small dining table sat beneath a window, not one of the three chairs matched, they were all different shapes and colors; on the far wall stood a bookshelf and a small chest of drawers, near those sat an old, worn sofa with a coffee table.

Dean squeezed by Cas and knelt down on the floor in front of the fireplace, "I'm going to make a nice fire before I head back to the car, don't want you to freeze to death." He waved a hand towards the door next to the fireplace, "there's the bedroom and bathroom. I can take the top bunk."

Castiel walked over and looked inside; each bed was wide enough for at least two people, two short people. He ventured in and sat down on the bottom bunk, it felt comfortable enough but he worried he'd bump his head during the night. He climbed in and maneuvered himself around, his head pressed against the—was it a headboard on bunk beds?—and his feet touched the other end before he could even fully stretch out. Dean was taller than him so if he could sleep here he should be okay.

He got back up and headed to the bathroom, it was dark so he searched the wall for the light switch. The light flickered a little before staying on and revealed the tiniest bathroom Cas had ever seen. It smelt a little musty but looked clean. It held a sink, which had an old, cracked mirror hanging over it, a toilet, and a shower. Beneath the sink was a shelf that held a stack of towels.

Done with his exploring—inside at least—he headed back to the living room and watched Dean work on the fire.

"It's nice, cozy even. But uh, the beds are a little short, don't you think?" Dean turned and smiled, "I know, but my great-grandfather didn't know that most people were, are, taller than he was."

Castiel looked around the room, "so it's really old?" He moved towards the sofa and sat down, "when was it built?"

Dean thought for a moment, "In the early thirties. Both my grandfather and my dad have fixed it up over the years." He got up and made his way to the sofa and sat down next to Cas. "Grandad added the running water, Dad added the solar panel," he sighed, "We don't have a lot of power from it though. It can only heat up enough hot water for one shower a day so be prepared to rough it a bit." They shared a smile.

The fire was popping and cracking, it didn't take long for the room to reach a decent temperature. Cas took off his jacket and hung it over the back of one of the chairs. "It is cozy. I think, I think I can relax here." He watched as Dean got up and stretched.

"I'm going to get the rest of our stuff. Make yourself at home, get comfy. I'll be back before you know it." He tossed the small backpack to Cas, "Toilet paper and a couple of beers. There's a sandwich in there too, if you're hungry, but I'm gonna cook when I get back so..."

Once Dean was gone, even waiting for the ATV sounds to fade, Cas explored the rest of the cabin. The bookshelf was full of old, dusty books. Cas picked at a few of them, old classics were in random order and placed along side hunting and fishing guides. Fighting off the urge to rearrange and order the books Cas moved on to the kitchen and began going through the cabinets and drawers.

There was some canned foods in the cabinet over the stove, there was also a bag of rice and bread sticks. He found a bottle of olive oil and canola oil on the counter, along with a few jars of different spices.

The cutlery drawer made him stop short once he pulled it open. It was full, filled to just about the rim with one, one of a kind silverware. Of all the various knives, forks, and spoons, only two—two—matched. Two matching forks out of the entire collection; he soon found that was the running theme with the dishes and cups. Nothing matched, he kind of liked it.

The fridge was empty except for one lone beer can so he quickly added to the cans in the backpack; only to realize it wasn't cool, it was unplugged. He plugged it in and then grabbed his jacket; he'd wait for Dean on the porch.

He took a seat in the rocking chair, letting the sun's rays assist in warming him up. He didn't know how the week was going to go but he had a good feeling about it.

If it was nothing more than a friendly gesture on Dean's part, that was okay, he was ready to let himself believe that. He wanted it to be more, in his mind it was, but he pushed those thoughts away. Just being here with Dean felt nice and he was going to do his best to relax and make it memorable.