Yours is the cloth, mine is the hand that sews time
his is the force that lies within
Ours is the fire, all the warmth we can find
He is a feather in the wind
All of my love,
all of my love,
all of my love to you now…
Robert Plant sang the song the same way he had hundreds of times before, but this time, as Dean drove back to work, he couldn't help but think of Castiel. It had been two weeks since the first Hamburger Friday and the first time they'd had sex. The lunchtime event had proved to be a success and Castiel had thanked Dean enthusiastically several times for the idea. Now that they felt comfortable touching each other, it was hard to stop.
Dean smiled as he remembered his last trip to the factory. It had, in fact, been a legitimate visit to Xaphan, a few days ago, to attend a union meeting, but, as he had every other time, Dean stayed late waiting for Castiel to finish up.
"How about a tour?" Castiel asks, hesitantly.
They head out of Castiel's office and down to the factory floor. Dean's pulse is jumping a little, and though he knows he's following Castiel, he can't properly feel his legs move.
As they reach the bottom of the stairs, Cas turns around and pulls Dean into a deep kiss.
"I have been waiting for that, all day," he says softly against Dean's mouth.
A grin is Dean's answer and he grabs Castiel's hand, drawing him out on to the factory floor.
"I thought you were going to give me a tour, dude, so, come on," Dean tugged Castiel's hand.
Castiel takes a moment to orient himself, "Well, Dean, as you can see, here is the part of the factory where they paint the chassis. And this area, over here is where they…" Castiel trails off, head cocked to one side as he stares down a huge, iron machine.
"Do you have any idea what this machine does, Cas?"
Castiel just looks at Dean blankly for a moment before answering.
"No. Will we need to wear safety goggles if you fuck me on it?
They hadn't bothered with the safety goggles, in the end. But what they had ended up doing probably was against all occupational health and safety codes.
And it wasn't just at the factory; Dean now frequently felt the desire to be around Castiel. He collected up all of Castiel's smiles. Considered it a victory when he wheedled an agreement out of Castiel, to go to a baseball game. Granted, the other man had been thoroughly confused by what was happening on the field, but Dean held that close too. The knowledge that, even though Castiel didn't really like or understand the game, he had agreed to go just to spend more time with Dean.
They still talked business now and again, Castiel asking for Dean's opinion on certain matters and, in turn, giving Dean a broader perspective from the employer's side of the fence. Dean was still as passionate about workers' rights as ever and he was gradually convincing Castiel that happy, satisfied employees, who felt respected by their employer would be a valuable asset.
Dean pulled up outside the union's offices. Chuck, the receptionist, passed him a wad of phone messages as he passed by.
"Busy morning, Dean. I've put some heavy duty java on your desk already."
Dean smiled his thanks and shook his head at Chuck's turn of phrase. The man was an aspiring novelist, working his way through college. Dean suspected he was also working his way through a bottle of cheap whisky disguised as Diet Coke but he let it slide.
Dropping the phone messages on his desk, Dean lifted the Starbucks cup and took a long draw. Just as he was putting it down, his phone buzzed.
"Winchester," he said casually, recognising the tone as that of an internal call.
"Dean," a gruff voice said, "get your ass into my office ASAP," never one for formalities, Rufus Turner, Dean's boss, hung up before Dean could reply.
"Sure thing, Rufus," he said into the phone anyway.
Dean knocked on Rufus' office door and waited a moment before walking in. He settled himself in a chair and looked at his boss expectantly.
"You've been repping over at Xaphan Motors lately, right?" Rufus asked, his hands clasped on the desk in front of him.
Feeling his stomach flip ever so slightly, Dean aimed for casual, shrugging his shoulders, "Yeah, I've been there once or twice in the last month. They were considering some more lay-offs but I think we've worked something out."
"I'm not so sure of that, Dean. Word on the grapevine is that Gregory has already prepped pink slips for twenty more staff and is just waiting for the right time to announce it."
Shifting in his chair, Dean stopped himself from blurting out something like 'Cas would never do that," all too aware of how it would sound.
He measured his words carefully instead, "From my negotiations, I wouldn't have thought Castiel Gregory was headed that way. You could ask Anna, she seemed pretty happy with the outcome of our meeting a month or so ago."
Dean was trying for nonchalance, but suddenly wondered if Castiel had been playing with him all this time. He frowned.
Rufus didn't seem to notice, but avoided Dean's eye, "Yeah, well, that may be the case, but I need you to get over there today, try and get a handle on what's happening. Maybe we need another meeting with Gregory. And we definitely need to make our presence felt, if he is considering another round of lay-offs."
Dean nodded his assent and left Rufus' office. As soon as he was back in his own, Dean sank back, leaning against the door. He'd never known Rufus to be wrong. If he was passing this information on to Dean, it had to be reliable. A sick feeling in Dean's stomach stopped him from calling Castiel. Instead, he picked up his phone and dialled the number for Xaphan's factory floor.
"Xaphan Motors, Bobby Singer here."
"Bobby, Dean Winchester, how are things down there?"
There was a long moment of silence and Dean's heart clenched.
"I'm peachy keen, boy, but you didn't call me to chit-chat, what's up?"
Dammit. Bobby was too perceptive for his own good.
Dean swallowed and focussed on keeping a neutral tone, "Nothing, Bobby. Just checking in. Seeing if you've got any news, complaints, issues I might need to bring up with management?"
This time, Bobby's silence is loaded with the things he's not saying. Dean gets that sick feeling in his stomach again.
"Nope," Bobby finally says, "nothing to tell ya, Dean."
"Thanks, Bobby."
After hanging up, Dean taps the handset against the back of his neck, contemplating his next move.
Screw it. Dean dials another number.
"Hello, Anna."
"Dean," Anna's tone is level but not unfriendly, "how are you?"
"Not great, I was wondering if you'd heard anything from Cas about possible lay-offs at Xaphan."
Anna says nothing for a moment, then, "Have you spoken to Rufus?"
"Yeah, but he couldn't tell me anything for certain. Why, what do you know, Anna?"
"I'm sorry I didn't come to you first Dean, but I felt that you may not be as impartial as this issues requires. I know that you and Castiel have become…friends."
Dean flared up at this, what the hell was Anna playing at?
"So you went over my head to Rufus? You think I can't do my job now because Cas and I are friends?"
Anna sighed softly, "It may have been years since I've seen my brother, Dean, but I know when Castiel feels strongly about someone. About you. And I saw the way you were looking at him the first time you met."
Dean bristled at this, "Jesus Christ, Anna. Is this about me and you? Cos I'd rather you just took a swing at me than undermine my goddamn position!"
"This isn't about you and me, Dean," Anna's voice sounded tired but Dean could tell she wasn't lying, "maybe I was a bit…put out, at first, but I wish you and Castiel well, please believe me."
The room felt suddenly cold and Dean paced behind his desk, trying to phrase his next question.
"Look, Anna, I don't know how the hell we got to this point, but I need to know. What is going on at Xaphan? Is Castiel planning to fire some more staff and, if so, how do you know? No one down at the factory is talking," Dean tried to sound calm but he was white-knuckling it, hand gripping the back of his desk chair.
Because this is what Dean lives for. He lives for his family and the fight. The fight for the men and women he represents. Dean knows it's a pretty thankless task, and that the numbers are against him, but he will keep fighting until the last breath.
Even if it means fighting Castiel.
"I was at the factory, looking through some documentation for the upcoming contract negotiations, Castiel knew I was there," Anna said quickly, before Dean could say anything, "I looked in a completely unrelated folder by accident, but I couldn't help what I saw, Dean. Castiel is definitely terminating the employment of at least twenty Xaphan employees. I wasn't snooping, you have to believe me."
And Dean did. Anna might not be happy about his relationship with Castiel, but, from what he knew of her, she wouldn't lie to him about something like this. And how long had Dean known Cas? How well did he know him, really?
Dean couldn't say how he ended the call with Anna; he just sits in his desk chair for minutes, maybe a quarter of an hour before he moves again.
When he does, Dean picks up his keys, ignores Chuck at the front desk, walks out of the building and slides into the driver's seat of his car. As he turns the key in the ignition, Dean listens to Robert Plant sing mournfully for a moment before snapping the radio off.
All of my love,
all of my love,
all of my love to you now.
I get a little bit lonely, just a little, just a little,
just a little bit lonely, just a little bit lonely yeah…