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Dean groaned, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up properly. The room was quiet, save for Sam's light snores. He opened his eyes, blinking slowly. Wait, why was he lying on the couch..? He jumped up.
"Shit! Cas?"
"I'm right here."
Dean spun around to see Castiel standing by the window, staring outside. He rushed towards him.
"Hey, man! How are you feeling?" he asked, putting a hand on Cas' arm.
To his surprise, the angel moved away from the touch. "I'm fine, Dean."
Dean stared at him in confusion as Cas avoided his eyes. "Dude, what the-"
"Cas?"
Sam had apparently woken up after Dean's yell. "How are you, man?"
As Sam also neared them, Cas started to back away, looking uncomfortable.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean demanded, staring at him incredulously.
Sam frowned, looking from one to the other. "Am I missing something here? What the hell happened to you yesterday?"
Cas turned to him solemnly. "The war in Heaven is worse than ever. It is claiming more lives than anyone could have imagined."
"One of your brothers did this to you?" Sam asked, shocked.
Cas nodded. "He reached inside my chest and tried to rip out my grace. He almost succeeded, but he lost focus for one single moment. I managed to escape in that small moment. I was very lucky."
"That's why it took you such a long time to heal," Dean remarked, glancing at Cas' still blood-stained clothes and coat.
"Yes," Cas answered shortly.
It hadn't escaped Dean that the angel hadn't looked him in the eyes once.
"So now what? Are you going back?" Sam asked.
"I.. I don't know. It doesn't seem like the most clever thing to do since I am still very weak. I wouldn't be of any use in a battle right now," Cas answered doubtfully.
"Good. I think you should stay for a while," Dean said loudly.
Sam and Cas turned to him in surprise. Yeah, that got your attention.
"Dean, you know I have business to attend to in Heaven," Cas said coolly, although Dean could detect a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Yeah well, too bad for them. You almost got killed last night and I'll be fucked if I'm letting you go back any time soon," the eldest Winchester answered firmly.
"You do realise that you don't have any control over my staying or leaving, I could just leave when you aren't paying attention or when you're asleep -"
"Damn it Cas, you know what I mean," Dean snarled.
"I think Dean's right, Cas. I think you should take some time off, rest for a while," Sam butted in.
"See? It's a good idea," Dean exclaimed.
Cas looked from one Winchester to the other, his gaze lingering on one for a moment before settling on his shoes.
"I think.. you might be right," he then admitted.
"So you'll stay?" Dean pushed on.
"I'll stay."
"Good. You could help us hunt," Sam suggested, walking towards the bathroom and running his hand through his hair sleepily.
Now that the drama was over, he realised how tired he was. He decided a nice, long shower would help that.
Dean and Cas were left alone in the room. Cas turned away, walking the opposite direction of where Dean was standing.
"I don't know how much use I will be if I am to help you during your cases. I am weakened and not in full capability of my powers," he said quietly, still looking everywhere but Dean.
"That's okay, Cas. I'll – we'll teach you how to use weapons."
Cas nodded. Dean could only see the back of his head.
"Right, that's it. What the fuck is up with you, dude?" Dean snapped, not being able to take it any longer. "What the hell did I do?"
He saw Cas tense. "Nothing," the angel answered shortly.
"Yeah, spare me the crap. You're acting freakin' weird, man."
The hunter walked towards Cas, putting a hand on his shoulder. The angel tensed even more.
"Look at me, Cas," Dean urged.
After a while, Cas turned around slowly. His face was unreadable.
"What did I do, huh? Cut me some slack, dude. I'm not even awake for ten minutes and I've got a pissed angel in my motel room. Not to mention what happened yesterday, which I still don't fucking understand -"
Cas hissed slightly and suddenly he was standing a few feet away, glaring at the hunter. Dean froze in surprise, just staring.
"Cas, what the hell! You'd better start fuckin' explaining to me what your problem is!" Dean exclaimed, staring at the furious – and red? - angel in disbelief.
"Sometimes, Dean," Castiel growled, "you are so incredibly dense."
And with those last words, he was gone. Fucker's been spending way too much time with Sammy.
Really though, what the fuck? Something at the back of his mind told him that it probably had something to do with last night. Was it because Dean had seen Cas weak and hurt? He really had no clue.
"Hey, where's Cas?" asked Sam, fresh out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Well, apparently he still has enough mojo left to zap himself around," Dean answered vaguely.
Sam narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, then shrugged.
A few hours later, they were sitting at the local diner, having breakfast as Sam was typing away on his laptop.
"Dude, I think I've got a case," he said after Dean was done chatting up the waitress.
"Huh?" Dean said absent-mindedly, staring not-so-subtly at the waitress' behind.
"Dean!" Sam said, annoyed.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening. What is it?" Dean asked in defeat.
"So get this. Two weeks ago, this kid Chris Miller, five years old, went missing -"
"So?" Dean interrupted, already wanting to focus on the hot waitress again.
"So," Sam continued, annoyed. "He disappeared completely. No trace of him. While holding his mother's hand."
Dean finally glanced back up at Sam, who raised an eyebrow triumphantly.
"Shut up," the eldest Winchester muttered, grabbing the laptop and pulling it towards him.
"Five years ago, on exactly the same date, Emma James, four years old, went missing as well. She just vanished while sitting on her dad's lap. Five years before that, Lily Tyson. Six years old, disappeared while kissing her mother good night. You sensing a pattern here?" Sam said, taking a gulp of his coffee.
Dean nodded. "Yeah, sounds weird. We should check it out."
"Uh.." Sam hesitated, taking another gulp of coffee. "Is Cas coming?"
Dean's jaw tensed. "How the hell should I know, the bastard flew off himself -"
"I'm right here."
The brothers jumped as the angel suddenly appeared next to Sam.
"Damn it, Cas!" Dean hissed, ignoring the stares of the people around them.
"We've got a case. You coming?" Sam asked, getting right to the point.
Cas nodded.
"All right, good. We can leave as soon as we're done here," Sam said uncomfortably, sensing the extreme coolness between the two others.
"Where did you go, anyway?" Dean asked gruffly.
"That's none of your concern," Cas replied, still not looking at him.
"Guys.." Sam groaned. "What the hell is going on now-"
"That's it, I am sick of your attitude. You can just stay away until you start acting normal again, because right now, I don't fucking want you near me," Dean snapped then, standing up and leaving the diner.
Cas stared at the direction the hunter had walked off in for a long time.
"Awkward.." Sam muttered. "Uh.. you okay?"
Castiel nodded.
"Mind telling me what that was all about?" Sam tried.
Cas gave him a look that told him yes, he did mind.
"Right.. hey man, don't take this as a reason to leave. Dean can say whatever, but he wants you around. So do I. So just.. don't worry 'bout it."
Castiel stared at the door Dean had just left through, sighing. "Not worrying is impossible."
"Well, I don't know what happened, but you two need to be grown ups for once, dude. Talk to him," Sam sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I gotta tell you, if you two are going to be fighting like an old married couple the entire time, I'm not sure I want to be there."
Cas didn't reply.
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