The sands are a strip of tan stretching along miles of the coast. The flat surface of beach dotted sparsely with tourists wearing summer clothes and residents in light jackets walking their dogs. The breeze is constant as is the sharp salt tang in the air and the rushing sounds of rippling waves. Kite flying to attract air elemental sylphs has Dean and Sam on the beach the next morning.
After two hours, Sam is already thinking they should have brought sunscreen with them because he swears he can see his brother's skin burning under the winter sun. Dad always said that Dean took after his mom, burn and freckle, while Sam and Dad tanned easily. The beginning of February, and it's about 80 degrees; the sun is bright, waves and seagulls drown out traffic noises, and there's no one else stationary on the shoreline this Friday morning.
"We've been on worse hunts," Sam grins over at his older little brother and is rewarded by one of Dean's face-splitting toothy grins. Sam wonders when those looks of sheer enjoyment became so rare. He hadn't realized he'd missed them.
When it's time to take a lunch break, Sam makes a pit stop in a souvenir shop long enough to pick up a baseball cap for Dean. It's tough to be the responsible big brother all the time, Sam thinks, as he notices that Dean's nose and cheeks are pretty burned. Maybe he should have gotten sunscreen lotion, too. He sees too that the sun is already streaking his brother's hair blond, which means his own is probably gaining copper highlights. Now if they just didn't have dark circles under their eyes, they might look healthier.
Dean catches his eye across the pizza parlor's table. "Quit fussing," the other Winchester hisses, his face scrunched up like an angry tiger cub, emerald eyes glint under bangs flattened by the hat.
Last night was another broken night of rest; Dean's nightmares wake him screaming at one point, and Sam is looking forward to moving out of the hotel before they end up thrown out. Cas sat beside Dean after the interruption, murmuring so softly that Sam couldn't hear what was being said. And while Dean usually talks about having Cas stare at him while he's sleeping as creepy, Cas was a sentinel sitting on the edge of the Dean's bed literally watching over him when Sam woke around sunrise.
After breakfast, Cas said he was going to handle the housing arrangements and took off. He is supposed to be joining the brothers at this restaurant during lunch. It was also Cas's idea to try kite flying to see if they could lure the fairy back into contact with Dean. Cas said it did not have to be the exact spot, just the general vicinity. The plan, if she appears, is vague. Capture and force her to do as they ask, and Dean's angry eyes say no matter what it takes. The backpacks the brothers carried hold fine silver chains to bind the fairy if she appears.
When Cas shows up at the restaurant it's with keys to a big Padre Island home on a fingertip lot on the main channel to the Intercoastal Waterway leading to the Gulf of Mexico. As they drive over the bridge, Dean and Sam interrogate the angel about how he has managed to secure a two-storied, modern, sunny, fully-furnished home with a pool and a dock with a bayliner boat. The place is fully-furnished, like the people are still living there, towels, bedding, even kitchen items and food.
"Are we going to get arrested for squatting?" Sam asks as they explore the 4,000 square foot home. Cas makes a humming noise, and he has a ghost of a smile on his face. "Well?"
"We are borrowing the house, Sam. I met Mr. and Mrs. Moore, an older couple, at a lovely church this morning." Cas is calmly sitting on the living room couch recounting his meeting. "Very penitent older couple. Childless. Some areas of their past they feel they should atone for. They just decided to go on a cruise around the world and asked me to please use their home while they were gone. They made arrangements with their bank to continue paying utilities." He sounds smug. "I believe you'll find that they have cable television and internet. And there's a phone."
"Did you whammy a nice old couple, Cas?" Dean demands. He's pretty sure that's not a very angelic way for Cas to use his mojo.
"They are very penitent," Cas repeats. "And newly devout . Did you see it has four bedrooms? You two can stay in separate rooms. Sam will be able to sleep better. All three of these upstairs bedrooms are for guests, and the Moore's have never had any. It should work very nicely for us. What time is Charlie's flight arriving again?"
Dean tilts his head at Castiel, drilling into him with emerald eyes that look too old for his face. He recognizes this as an attempt to change the subject, and he blames himself for having corrupted an angel. "Did you make them an offer they couldn't refuse. Cas? And what are you being such a Chatty Cathy for, anyway?"
Sam answers the question when Cas doesn't. "He's doing the nervous talk thing. I don't think I've ever seen him do it before either." Sam narrows his hazel eyes at the angel. "Are you sure we can stay here safely? No being arrested?"
Cas says everything will be fine as he has a notarized letter from the Moores permitting him to stay here along with his god sons. "As for safely … I think we will use invisible ink to draw the wardings, but we can make it as safe as possible."
Sam snorts at that answer, but goes out to the Impala and brings in their bags and supplies. He and Dean choose the two rooms overlooking the back that have a connecting balcony. The front bedroom is a suite, and they think Charlie will appreciate that it has its own bathroom. They set to work drawing wards and sigils, devil traps, and salting all the doors and windows.
"We'll get Charlie to make his paperwork in the name of Cas Moore," Dean adds. "Tell people he's their nephew or something. And I think this home environment should help soothe any worries the Child Protective Services people have." Sam realizes from that how worried Dean still is about the tests he is facing.
Besides the house, the Moores have left a newer Audi sedan for them to use, and against Dean's protests, Sam pulls the Impala into one of the empty bays of the three-car garage. "This is less conspicuous," Sam explains as he goes to pick up Charlie, leaving Dean and Cas in the kitchen. Sam offers to pick up dinner, and gives Dean a surprised look when he says he'll cook.
"What?" Dean looks indignant at his brother's concerned frown. "I can cook." Dean starts going through the refrigerator and pantry, looking for ingredients for something to prove his claim. Cas takes off his overcoat and suit jacket, then begins to roll up his shirt sleeves like he's going to help. Sam hopes the house doesn't burn down while he's out.
Later when Sam introduces them, the Winchesters are amused by the interactions of their friends, the angel and the hacker. Charlie circles around Cas – inspecting his tousled hair and impossibly blue eyes, looking intrigued and scared. Castiel stands stoically following her movement like a bird watching an insect.
"You know I have to rethink my entire philosophy if you're real?" Charlie accuses the angel.
Castiel blinks. "You assisted in the fight against Leviathan, yet you are stumbling over the idea of an angel? That seems less than logical."
Charlie's face lights up. "He's Spock! Oh, that's perfect because regular you would make a great Captain Kirk, Dean." Charlie was happy to see that Dean didn't look as worried as he did when she left earlier that week and that he and Sam were working together to find the sylph who de-aged them.
Dean finishes up dinner preparations and surprisingly appetizing smells are wafting from the kitchen. "That's a pretty good way to think of him, Charlie. He's smart, logical, and an alien who doesn't understand human illogical behavior." Dean smiles at his friends. "You nailed it."
Sam snorts, thinking he should have seen that a long time ago. Cas just looks puzzled.
"What's for dinner, anyway?" Sam's stomach starts growling loudly enough to make him blush. He is amazed when his brother says it's chicken carbonara.
"You gonna join us, Cas? I made it in your honor. What with you being the godfather and all." Dean teases, and Cas is the only one of them that doesn't laugh.
Dinner passes peacefully, as do the next couple days. The boys go out hunting the fairy as Charlie builds Cas an identity on paper, carefully inserting everything from birth to education in various databanks. Castiel Moore has advanced degrees in history and religious studies. He is a licensed minister and a missionary. The boys begrudgingly agree that he needs a driver's license.
"This card doesn't mean you get to drive, Cas. Especially not baby." Dean wants this crystal clear.
Charlie turns down Dean and Sam's request that she stick around and become a female family member, snorting at the suggestion that she could portray herself as Cas's wife. "He's not my type," Charlie says. "And I'm pretty sure there's plenty of people who think he should smite me on sight."