Dean had let Castiel have the rest of the pie. He was too absorbed in thought and worrying about Sam to eat anything else. Castiel, still relatively new to being human, was able to tell that something was wrong with Dean. Naturally, though, he tilted his head and gave him an inquiring look.
"Cas, shut up."
"I didn't say anything."
"I'm just worried about Sam and I don't know what to do with you. You know you're gonna have to take it easy with that arm."
"It doesn't hurt anymore," Castiel lied.
"Yeah, sure, and that face you made while eating the pie was my foot up your ass. Face it, Cas, you need to learn self-defense. But seeing how your arm's broken, you're gonna have to learn the vocabulary first." Reciting exorcisms and doing spells was always Sam's thing, but Dean would be damned if he was going to let Cas tag along and get himself hurt.
"Okay, Dean." Castiel gave a grin of submission.
They packed up and went back to Bobby's house.
Dean had gotten Castiel halfway through the Rituale Romanum exorcism spell before he'd gotten a migraine and went to take a nap. Castiel kept pacing in the kitchen and reciting what he had learned so far.
Then his mind wandered back to Sam and his grace. Crowley and Bela had been there to take Sam. They had been there right after Castiel lost his grace.
This is no coincidence. Crowley and Bela have Sam. If we assume they also have my grace, why do they need them both? What is their plan?
Castiel put the paper back on the table and noticed a row of keys hanging on the wall, with one heavy brass key badly charred.
This must have been left after the demons attacked Bobby and destroyed his house. Dean still misses him.
Castiel turned to see Dean fast asleep on the couch.
Bobby was their home. That was why Dean chose to rebuild his house. He didn't want to let go of his one safe haven. He didn't want to let go of Bobby.
Castiel took the charred key and went downstairs, following his instinct. And his instinct turned out to be right. The demon-proof room was still there, also badly charred. Castiel was about to put the key in the lock when he realized it had been completely melted from the fire that had consumed the house a few years ago. He bent and squinted his eyes to get a closer look.
These scratchings...It's like something has been trying to get inside...
"Cas?" Dean had woken up and was calling for him. Castiel, suddenly feeling like he was trespassing, ran up the stairs. He had no sooner closed the door to the basement and turned around than Dean had gotten up and seen him at the end of the hallway.
"Cas, what are you doing?"
Castiel looked at him nervously. Dean shrugged it off, he figured Cas had enough to deal with without being annoyed by Dean watching his every move.
"How far are you on the memorization?"
Castiel breathed a sigh of relief and went back to the kitchen to recite it for Dean.
"...te rogamus, audi nos." Castiel finished the verse.
"Good one." Dean yawned and scratched the back of his head, tossing the paper to the side. "Now how's about we get some food? I'm starving." Dean looked at the clock. 1:38 looked back at him. "Damn, I didn't think it was that late. Cas, can you make something?"
Castiel looked around in apparent disbelief. He had just discovered the wonders of food around twenty-four hours ago. Did Dean really expect him to whip up a meal?
"Um..."
"Cas, let me teach you about this machine." Dean got up and pointed to a metallic box on top of another metallic box. "It's called a toaster. Put bread in the slots on top, push the lever down, and when it comes back up, take the bread out and spread some butter on it and eat it."
"Okay, Dean."
"Cas, I'm going upstairs. Bring me two of them, okay?"
"Okay, Dean."
Castiel was up for the challenge. He followed Dean's instrutions to the letter, so when he brought up the two slices of toast, he was utterly bewildered by Dean's laughing.
"Cas, you don't need to spread butter all over the slice of bread."
"You told me to spread it on the cooked bread."
"Yeah, Cas, but next time, only on one side of the toast." Dean looked at Castiel and saw that he was disappointed with himself. Dean put a hand on his shoulder and reassured him. "Cas, you're new to this. I can't- I shouldn't expect you to get things perfect all the time."
Then Castiel looked up at Dean with those blue eyes that never failed to make Dean feel like he was exposing his soul to him. Dean offered a friendly smile and sat on the end of the bed. Castiel had already eaten, so he sat next to him, making Dean slightly uncomfortable. Dean edged over a little bit, suddenly noticing that Castiel was looking at him like Sam used to.
Like he trusted him unquestioningly and would follow him through the jaws of death.
Dean felt proud of this for little more than a second before he felt unworthy. How many times had he let Cas down? Betrayed him? How he had just let Sam down by not being able to find him?
Dean wasn't worthy of the look Cas was giving him.
"Cas, I'll fix up a bed for you tomorrow. I'll sleep on the couch again and you can sleep here."
Dean went downstairs.
Castiel laid back on the bed and instantly fell into a dreamless sleep.