Title: Under the Influence of Djinn
Chapter: Sixteen
Summary: AU: The Djinn siblings created a terrible detailed nightmare for Dean out of revenge, nearly killing him, Lisa, and Ben. With Sam alive, Castiel missing, and Campbell cousins in tow, he tries to pull himself back together.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect in intended with this work of fan fiction.
Notes: Thank you for your patience! I'm going on vacation and will be back in about 10 days.

The woman by the car two spaces down had dark hair and a come-hither smile.

"Hey," she said. Her voice matched her expression, but Castiel didn't think she was a prostitute. Jo had been pointing them out to him so he'd learn what one generally looked like and wouldn't make the mistake of chatting one up again.

"Hello," he replied, tugging his bag from the backseat of Daphne's car. "It's a surprisingly warm evening for this time of year."

"You got that right." She slid her gaze down him and removed a bag from her vehicle, shouldering it. "You here on business?"

"Something of the sort. You?"

"Me, too." She moved towards him and held out her hand. He took it in his, getting a good whiff of a tantalizing perfume. "I'm Gwen. And you are?"

"You coming or not," he heard Jo yell out and glanced to his left to see her waving an arm. Daphne stood beside her.

"I should go," he told Gwen, though he was reluctant to move away from her. There was something compelling about her. He wanted to stand and talk with her.

"Sure."

From behind Gwen, around the curve of the building about seven doors from where Jo and Daphne stood, came a man's voice. "Come on, Gwennie. Quit picking up guys in the parking lot before we even have dinner. We're starving here."

She laughed as though embarrassed by that comment and jerked a thumb over her shoulder as she released his hand. "My cousin. He's a charmer." Gwen cleared her throat. "I don't pick up men in parking lots."

He gestured towards Jo and Daphne. "My friend and…friend." Castiel leaned slightly towards her. "I don't pick up men in parking lots either."

Her laugh was a genuine one. "Good one. Maybe I'll see you around."

"Perhaps."

Turning, she strode to where the man waited. Castiel studied her figure as she walked away. She was dressed rather like Jo was in jeans, boots, shirt, and heavy jacket. He appreciated the sway of her hips encased in denim. Slowly, he shut the car door and followed Jo and Daphne into their room.

"You know that woman," Jo asked as she opened the door. She flipped on the light. "Huh. Wow. Go Pacers."

The room was decorated in sports memorabilia for that particular team.

Daphne's eyes widened and her mouth opened. "Interesting style decision."

Castiel shoved the door shut with his foot. "You must have the same talent Dean does for choosing motels." He placed his bag on the round table beside Jo and Daphne's bags and put his hands in his coat pockets. He'd taken to wearing the tan coat over his lined hoodie to have an extra layer of warmth.

Being human had made him more aware of the differences in temperatures. A twenty degree difference could mean shivering or sweating and, for the most part, he'd stopped thinking in terms of 'the last time he was human' as this experience was too different. Apparently willingly falling from the angelic ranks and being kicked out made a world of difference.

"It was cheap," Jo explained with a shrug. "I wonder if every room is decorated with their stuff or if each room has it's own team?"

The room was clean, much cleaner than he'd expected. Daphne checked for bedbugs and roaches while Jo checked to see if the microwave worked. They discussed where to eat and if it'd be better to order pizza. None of them were truly hungry, but they ordered a small pizza anyway, Jo and Daphne both refusing to get anchovies and pineapple on it.

After eating and cleaning up, Castiel checked their cooler. The ice needed replenished and he half thought he might see that woman Gwen again. "I'm going to get ice," he said, reaching for the plastic bucket and letting himself out of the room. As he returned from filling the bucket, he heard a familiar voice.

"You guys remember the pie?"

That was Dean.

Castiel stepped around the corner and saw Dean silhouetted in the doorway to the room seven doors down from theirs, around the curve in the building. The man and woman from earlier (Gwen and her cousin) went in past Dean. They were carrying large sacks. He opened his mouth to call out, but Dean shut the door. Hurrying into the room, he tossed the bucket at the table. It slid across it, toppling over, the ice spilling out. A chunk of it went onto Jo's lap.

"Why are you throwing the ice bucket at me," Jo asked him, brushing ice chips onto the floor.

"He's here."

Daphne sat on the end of one bed. "Castiel?" She'd half changed into her pajamas while he'd been getting ice, having exchanged her jeans for loose pajama pants.

"He?" Jo stood and shook her shirt out. "You don't mean -"

"Dean, Jo. Dean is here. He's in the room seven doors down. He has a man and woman with him. I don't know who they are, but the woman is the one from the parking lot. She said the man was her cousin. He's hunting with a man and woman. He's here."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am."

"The woman…. You weren't flirting with Dean's girlfriend, were you?"

"No. I remember what Lisa looked like and that wasn't her. We should go now." But maybe they should give them time to eat. Dean could be grouchy when he was hungry and it might be better to prepare themselves a bit more. After all, they'd been traveling.

"I'll get dressed again." Daphne reached for her jeans.

"Wait." Jo shook her head. "It'll be enough that Dean sees me right away. He'll need a few minutes to process that before he meets you. More than a few minutes maybe. I'd say get dressed, but you'll wait here in the room. One of us will come get you."

Castiel watched Jo dig a fresh blouse out of her bag, then reach for her makeup kit and curling iron. "We should let them eat. Dean mentioned pie. If there's pie, we should give them some time. He'll be mellow after having pie." Not merely mellow, but happy. It was a simple thing that gave Dean pleasure: eating and savoring a good piece of pie. Castiel now understood that pleasure in a food, for ice cream made him happy, especially if it was rocky road.

"What, do you have cold feet now?" Opening a small compact, Jo began to apply eye makeup. "You were chomping at the bit to find Dean and now that we've, inexplicably, just run across him out of the blue, you want to wait an hour to see him?"

He refrained from saying it'd give her more time to primp and curl her hair despite it being the truth. She needed time to prepare herself for the meeting like he did. "Um….Yes?"

"All right. Okay. I'm going to freshen up a bit then. I'll be out in twenty, maybe thirty." Going into the bathroom, she closed the door, then opened it and poked her head out. "Anybody gotta pee first?" At the negative, she closed it again.

Daphne cleared her throat. "If you keep your back turned to the door I can change back into my jeans."

He didn't try to glimpse the slender length of her legs in the reflection from the television, busy instead thinking about everything he'd need to tell Dean. There was quite a bit of information that needed to be given.

"Did you know she'd need time to get ready to see him again? Okay, I'm dressed."

Castiel sat on the end of the bed. "No, but I suppose I should have figured she would. Dean and Jo have…unfinished personal business."

"Oh. You don't have to introduce me, you know." She sat beside him. "I'd understand if you don't want to." Her hands clasped together in her lap.

"Why wouldn't I?" He put his arm around her. "You've been a good part of my now human life and it's important to me that Dean meet you. I've never had a girlfriend and I look forward to his reaction to the news."

"I see." She smiled. "You're hoping to shock him."

"Perhaps a little," he admitted. "His previous reactions to some of my quirks were amusing after the fact."

A little over an hour later, they were ready. He wondered if Jo was as nervous as he was. His hands were shaking and he had the nervous trembling in the pit of his stomach. Castiel knocked on the door and tried hard to remember to breathe. He looked down at the ground, felt Jo's hand on his back.

"It'll be okay," she whispered, but he got the feeling the words were more for herself than for him.

The door opened.

"Castiel?"

The voice wasn't Dean's. The voice was Sam's.

Behind him, Jo gasped and he raised his gaze to see it was definitely Sam there, Sam who was supposed to be in the cage with Lucifer. He looked solid enough and real enough. Absently, Castiel thought Sam needed to have a haircut. "Sam," he asked.

"Did you say Cas?" Dean appeared, focusing on him for the barest fraction of a second before he noticed Jo behind him. "Jo." He made a convulsive movement towards her with one hand before snatching it back and curling it into a fist. "Cas?" He looked like he was going to be sick. "What did you do?"

"It's her, Dean. It's both of us. We're here." He couldn't help stretching out a hand to touch Sam's forearm. The skin there was warm and very real. "You're here. Sam…. Dean, is he…?"

"Uh-huh. Someone snatched him out before he was even really down there." His reply was distracted, attention still on Jo. "Jo?"

"Hey, Dean." Her voice was nearly a whisper.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" Castiel grabbed Sam to him, hugging him tight. "I've been worrying about you in the cage with Lucifer, hoping that Michael was doing the decent thing and protecting you and Adam, but I haven't really been too hopeful in that regard considering Michael's behavior in the recent past. It's so good to see you alive, Sam!"

Sam patted his back. "Good to see you, too. Um…you're hugging me, Castiel."

"I am." He released Sam, smiling. "And now I'm not. I'm very glad you're not trapped with two pissed off archangels in the cage for eternity."

"Not as much as I am."

The shock on both Dean and Sam's faces when they looked at Jo was no surprise to Castiel. It would be a shock for them to find her alive. They all fell into an awkward silence, broken only when Jo moved into place beside him and said with a tense yet hopeful turn to her lips, "I'll bet I'm about the last person you expected to see."

Something flickered in Sam's eyes. "Not exactly the last, but somewhere near there."

"You guys aren't nearly as surprised as I was to be alive." She shrugged. "It's a long story we have to tell you, but it's better told inside in private."

When the drills had been done and they were in the room, Dean circled them. "You raise her, Cas?"

"No." He looked around for Gwen and her cousin and decided they must have gone through the connecting door.

"Who did?"

"Raphael."

"Why? What's his game?"

"Her game."

Fear rippled across Dean's face. "Her," he repeated.

Why did that change of vessel frighten Dean? "Yes," Castiel confirmed. "Raphael burned through the male vessel and took the next one in line. Her game has nothing to do with you." He glanced at Sam. "Or with Sam. As far as I know."

"Balthazar didn't use some weapon of heaven to turn Raphael into salt?"

What was Dean talking about? "Who is Balthazar? What weapons of heaven do you mean?" He looked at Sam, hoping he'd clear that up, but he didn't. Sam pursed his lips and glanced away. "Dean? I don't know a Balthazar."

"He's an angel."

"There are many angels I don't know -"

"No, he was a friend of yours…." Dean shook his head. "You know what? Never mind. We'll go into that later. Tell me what happened."

Quickly, Castiel gave Dean the overview of the past year, from the battles to the torture and finally to the present. "Raphael raised Jo instead of Ellen as a part of my punishment. She's been helping me learn how to be human, adding to those lessons you gave me before." Throughout the explanation Jo remained silent, letting him give the details.

"Where's Raphael now?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but Dean held up a hand. "Jo's turn."

"Okay." She sank down into the nearest chair. "We escaped custody so to speak and I couldn't care any less where Raphael is as long as she's not here."

Dean crossed his arms. "You were in West Virginia." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement.

Jo glanced at Castiel. "How'd you know?"

"Dead angel outside a crappy motel with Castiel's technique all over the symbols in the room. We were there a few days after." He studied her, then pointed a finger at her. "You were the blond woman the clerk mentioned, the one who got the room." he snorted. "Now it's all coming together."

She stretched her legs out and crossed her ankles. "Nice to be remembered I guess. Yeah, I got us the room, let the guards assume I was stupid for wanting to leave Raphael's choice of motel. They totally bought it, too."

"They don't have a very good opinion of us."

"Obviously."

Dean grunted. "Why didn't either of you contact us? Especially you, Cas."

Jo pointed a finger at her temple. "Memory adjustments courtesy of our not so favorite archangel. Minds are like Swiss cheese in regard to the contact info for any hunters remotely connected to you. Hunters period. I ask a question now?"

"I guess."

"It's personal."

"Sure."

"Cas said you had a girlfriend before Raphael caught him. Is she-"

He never got to hear the rest of her question, for Dean sucked in a breath and looked away. "Didn't work out. Been done for about three months or so."

"Oh." She tucked her hair behind her ears and bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry."

"Happens."

The way he said the word gave a wealth of information. Dean was sad about it and hurting, but not grieving intensely for that loss. At least, not grieving anymore. Castiel cast another glance at the connecting door. It was cracked open a tiny bit. "Jo, would now be a good time?"

She looked up at him. "Sure, I guess, but you do the explaining."

"Of course."

"Good time for what," Dean asked.

Castiel smiled. "I'll be back in five minutes. This is exciting. I can't tell you how much." He hurried back to the room to get Daphne.

How could Jo be alive?

The question kept running through Dean's mind even after the story had been told. He'd put her aside as dead and now to find her alive and well made a funny little tremor start in his stomach. When she'd lain dying in that store in Carthage, he'd realized that their flirtatious moments were at an end and it had hurt, a pain deep inside him. He'd understood then that he'd never again see her knowing grin at one of his cheesy pickup lines or hear her delighted laughter when he said one she'd never heard before. He'd known that they'd never have the chance to be what they could be to each other because he'd waited too long to look at her that way. He'd know there was no more road on this earth for them walk along together.

That loss of her and Ellen had left a gaping hole inside him, one of several that had refused to be plugged up and covered over.

So he drank in the sight of her, re-memorized the lines and curves of her face, and felt a slice of tension slide from his body. Jo was back. He'd see her grins, hear her laughter, and maybe, someday soon, when the sting of letting the dream of Lisa go was gone, he could see if Jo wanted to make some good reality with him.

"What's exciting?" Dean asked that question as soon as Castiel left. "Why's he all goofy?" Goofy was definitely the word to describe it, too. Had whatever Raphael had done to make him human scrambled his brain or something?

Jo's smile turned both amused and enigmatic. "You'll see."

"He have a pet or something?" Sam sat down on the side of the bed closest to the table where Jo sat.

"Or something is more like it."

Castiel pushed the door open. He was slightly out of breath and towing a dark haired woman behind him. Drawing the woman forward, he put his arm around her. "Dean, this is Daphne."

Daphne's smile was nervous and uncertain as she held out her hand. "Hi, Dean. I've heard so much about you."

He shook her hand. "Daphne, huh?"

Castiel's grin seemed to widen. "She's my girlfriend."

He dropped Daphne's hand. "Sorry, your what?"

"My girlfriend."

"Excuse me?" Had he heard that right?

"Girlfriend."

"As in she's a girl and she's your friend?"

"No, as in she's my girlfriend." His hand raised, fingers tangling in Daphne's hair in a familiar fashion that lent a surreal edge to this meeting for Dean. "We kiss."

"Cas!" Daphne laughed and elbowed him lightly in the side.

"Well, we do. It's a fact."

"No." Dean tried to bend his mind around this new information.

"Yes," Castiel replied.

"Hell, no."

"Hell, yes," was his second reply.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Not at present."

Jo tapped her fingers on the table top. "He does kid, but you can sometimes tell when he's going to because he gets this twinkle in his eyes that sorta lets you know ahead of time. Not always though. He's gotten me good a couple times recently."

And the surreal just kept coming. Dean shook his head, attempting to clear out that sensation and failing. "No."

"Good for you, Cas. A girlfriend. Wow." Sam nodded and stood, coming over and reaching out to shake her hand. "Hi Daphne, I'm Sam. Pleasure to meet you."

She took his hand. "Sam. Sam Winchester? Aren't you supposed to be in Lucifer's cage?" Her head tilted slightly to one side, like Castiel used to do when he didn't understand something.

"I got out."

She smiled a shy smile. "I'm glad. The cage is a bad place."

While it didn't surprise Dean that she knew about it given that she was riding around with Castiel and Jo, the way she said it was strange, setting of tiny bells in his head. They weren't alarm bells, just a warning to be cautious around her.

"Daphne and I have talked about many things," Castiel explained. "The cage is one of them."

As if Daphne knew about Dean's thoughts, she stretched up a hand and grasped Castiel's, removing it from her hair. "Now that we've met, I should leave you to talk in private. I'm sure you all have a lot to cover and I'll be in the way right now. We'll have a chance to get to know each other later. Tonight should be just for you and Jo with them." Gently, Daphne pulled away from Castiel. She turned, placing a hand on his chest. "I'm going back to the room."

"But -"

"It's okay. I understand. You need to tell them a lot of things that I maybe shouldn't hear, things that could upset me if I know all of it. It's better if I give you privacy. Have your reunion and I'll be in the room when you get back."

Actually, Dean had to admire how smoothly Daphne managed to get Castiel to let her go. She made it almost seem like it had been Castiel's idea. Within a minute, she was gone and the door closed.

Sam cleared his throat. "So, Daphne…. She's -"

"Yup." Jo sat up in her chair. "They kiss and everything. Well, not everything."

Castiel took off his coat and dropped it on the end of one bed. "Dean, my relationship with Daphne is pure."

Dean leaned against the dresser and slanted a questioning glance towards Jo. "Pure? Didn't he just say a minute ago that they kiss?" He blinked. "I never thought I'd see the day."

She smirked and damned if it wasn't good to see that tiny little quirk of her lips again. "They do kiss. I've seen that, but I don't think there's been anything else going on. I left them alone for a few hours and came back to find them watching cartoons." Before he could question the nature of those cartoons, she added, "Not those kind."

"Please tell me they've at least seen each other naked."

"Umm…. We both saw his goodies, but as he was down with the flu and sliding towards delirious, it doesn't really count."

He pointed a stern finger at Castiel. "You need to think this through a little more."

"I have feelings for her that can't be denied."

Jo looked like she was trying not to snicker.

"Didn't you try to stop this," he demanded. He felt like everything he saw was in super sharp focus and if he'd had a hard time after the Djinn dream, this was surprisingly harder to deal with.

"Who am I to stand in the way of puppy love? Besides, it kept him off of me."

"He made a pass at you?"

"Not in so many words, no, but he was definitely…happy, shall we say?"

"I have urges," Castiel explained in a solemn voice. "Many urges these days."

"Urges. You have urges. He has urges. You hear that, Sam? Damn it, he has urges." Dean was having an urge right now to laugh in a manner some might call hysterical.

"I do hear, Dean. Loud and clear. He's having urges." Sam was apparently finding it as funny as Jo was, not bothering to hide his snicker that was normal, not hysterical.

"Right. How is it a freakin' broken angel can have a girlfriend and we've got bupkiss?" He shook his head. "I can't deal with this right now. I'm not dealing with this right now." Reaching for the remote, Dean moved to the bed and began scrolling through the channels as he stretched out against the pillows.

"Dean?" Jo glanced at the screen, then back at him.

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm watching Psych. There's a marathon on today."

"You're what?" She took a few steps towards the bed.

"Come on, Castiel. Let me introduce you to everyone else." Sam beckoned him and, with a nod, the two went into the other room.

Dean sighed. "I'm watching Psych. Psych, Jo. This with him and that girl," he waved a hand in the direction Castiel had gone, "I can't think about right now. It's unnatural. Castiel with a girlfriend. The apocalypse must still be going on because he freaked out a prostitute once instead of doing anything with her, yet he now has a girlfriend and they kiss. No. I am not dealing with this after a twelve hour drive and pie that was mediocre. And you. Don't get me started on you suddenly being alive again."

"So you're watching Psych instead."

"For now, yes."

She sat on the side of the bed. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Sure." Slowly, she slid up to sit beside him. "We'll take an hour and watch Psych. It'll all still be here after and I guess the guy who plays Shawn is sort of cute."

He transferred his scowl to her for a few seconds.

"What? We've been watching it on Saturdays. Castiel likes Gus."

Dean crooned along with the theme song, entirely unselfconscious in doing so. Jo had heard him sing before. Funny, he'd never sung in front of Lisa, yet in front of Jo he simply did it without a thought to how he sounded.

"How did you get started watching it," she asked.

"Marathon like this one."

They settled in to watch the episode and slowly, Dean felt like he could handle this new turn to events.