The Profound Bond

by Serie11

Dean is an FBI agent from the SPN unit, who professionally hunt all over the USA. Everyone knows that angels exist, and Dean grudgingly acknowledges their existence. Until overnight, his world is turned upside down when a garrison of angels descend on the FBI headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. Extended summary, characters and warnings inside. Destiel

5. The Start of the Bond

Dean is so fucking done with werewolf problems.

Of course the next case Charlie pulls up is another wolf difficulty. Garth's arm still isn't healed enough to be out of a cast, and it probably will not be for another month, and then he'd have to stick to office work for another two months at least. Victor can walk on his ankle, but not far and not for long. It's going to take another month for him to be up to speed fully. Annie is resting from the shape shifter ordeal, so Dean wouldn't let her come along, no matter how much she complained or threatened. Until everyone is back up and kicking, Dean is stuck with three members down and two half teams that have to pair up.

Also, he had to deal with this shit last month.

Not his definition of fun.

They're in the south of New Mexico, have been for three days while they figured out where the werewolves were, if they had a plan and if they knew they're turning furry around the full moon. They'd figured out it had been an alpha couple turning others for their pack, and now there's no choice but to kill them all before anyone gets hurt.

Dean gets himself, Charlie and Ash ready to kill some werewolves. He had purposefully avoided telling Pamela about this trip, even though she probably already knows. If they'd spoken, she would have asked him to get more bits for her. He really doesn't want to know what they did with those.

They find where the werewolves would be gathering, after getting access to a security tape with footage and sound saying they would all meet up at an abandoned warehouse near the edge of town, and Dean makes sure that his teammates are prepared before leading them there. Why it's always a warehouse he'd not sure. Maybe the supernatural types are just attracted to them.

They separate inside the empty building, Charlie taking one direction, Ash the other and Dean moving straight ahead.

Remembering how Sam had the upper hand from the walkways in their last werewolf hunt, Dean looks around for a staircase so he can go up to the top, and spotting one, he runs up it for an overview of the entire room. The low moving shapes of the wolves are too fast for him to shoot without them stopping, but he can tell the others what he can see from up here.

The maze of the shelves was a pattern that Dean tries to remember as he watches his teammates and their adversaries.

"Ash, there's one coming up behind you." The invention of the walkie talkie was a gift from God.

"Dean what –" Ash's voice was cut off by the sound of a gun firing twice. "Whoa, dude, how did you know?"

"I'm up on the walkways."

"Nice idea Dean." Charlie cuts in. "Can you tell how many there are?"

"A few, eight to ten."

"Shit, it's only us."

"Don't let them surround you, and you'll be fine."

Seeing on of the werewolves stop and sniff the ground, Dean aims and fired. Without a sound it slowly slumps over on its side.

"Charlie, two coming up towards you from the front." Dean sees another one going on a predictable course, so he shoots at that one as well. He shoots again when he sees that it misses, and this time it falls.

"Well at least I'm getting some practise in,' Dean mutters.

Metal scrapes softly against metal, and Dean spun around. "Damnit."

The alpha and her mate are standing behind him, their eyes locked on Dean.

"Ah, hey guys. I wasn't the one to shoot your friends, no, not at all. I'm just going to back away now, please don't follow me or do follow me, whatever you want, I'm going to run now."

Dean times his first jump into running just as the alpha leaps at him. Ducking so she sails overhead and over the edge of the railings, Dean continues to run, shooting off rounds behind him as the werewolves continue to follow him, the only reason that they haven't caught up yet being that the twists and turns of the walkway are sharp and the walkway itself is narrow, and the werewolves are trying not to fall off.

The alpha is beneath him, jaws snapping as she jumps and tries to get back up on the walkway. Dean aims, tries for a shot that would kill her, and fires.

The yelp and thud sounds positive, and when Dean looks over the edge he sees the unmoving lump of fur that used to be the alpha.

The other werewolf chasing him lets out a few sharp yips, then a bark, and before Dean can do anything he's being tackled and pushed over the edge by an angry wolf.

For the second time in a month Dean finds himself trapped underneath the weight of a werewolf. I really have to stop doing this, he thinks as he stabs upwards with the silver short sword that he manages to get out. The male werewolf whines and rolls off him. Dean grunts as he stands. I'm gonna feel that tomorrow.

The werewolf charges him, and Dean slashes at it with the sword, his gun lost in the fall somewhere.

Getting a shallow wound along the side, the werewolf spins and growls at him, charging again. Dodging out of the way, Dean tries to look for an opening so he can stick the sword in its heart.

The eyes of the werewolf shine with unrestrained animal ferocity, and he launches himself at Dean before Dean can throw himself out of the way. Its claws drag through his upper left arm, and Dean yanks his body out of the path of the massive ball of furry hate. Shooting the female werewolf had probably been a bad idea. Their mates are notoriously protective, and now this werewolf is mad. Dean hears another three gunshots, and assumes that Charlie or Ash just dropped another one.

Ducking under another leap by the wolf is hard work, and Dean's fighting arm is torn to shreds. Hoping that one of his other team members would come and help is a sucky back-up plan, so he switches his sword to his left hand and aims for a throw.

The mark is off, only getting the werewolf's shoulder and making him, if possible, madder than he had been. Dean can't dodge the next set of claws that swipe towards his belly, and being disembowelled is not fun at all.

Falling down on his back, Dean closes his eyes, thinking, well this is how it ends, when suddenly there's a whimper and a thud, accompanied by several more thuds and the ceasing of gunfire.

Opening one of his eyes a crack to see why he isn't dead yet, he looks into ocean blue eyes hovering above him. Figures.

"Can't even let me die in peace, will ya?" Dean manages to croak out. Cas looks offended for a second.

"You are not going to die here Dean," the angel states, as if it's the most certain thing in the world.

Dean's about to croak out something about he is going to die if he doesn't have a miracle here when he realises angel. Cas places his hand on his upper arm, and nothing happens for a second while Cas furrows his brow in concentration.

Dean isn't ready for the white-hot burn of Cas's hand against his skin. He cries out, tries to move away, but instead feels himself frozen in place, with nothing he can do. Fire races down his spine to his injuries and he vaguely feels the uncomfortable sensation of his flesh knitting back together in under a second but all of his focus is on the brand burning itself into his shoulder.

Abruptly it's over, and Cas sits back on his heels, looking exhausted. Giving him a look that said 'don't go and get yourself killed while I'm not around,' Cas disappears with his trademark rustle of feathers.

"Dean?" Charlie shakes him awake. Dean realises he'd been unconscious. "Are you okay?" She hisses when she sees all of the blood that's soaking into Dean's shirt, but when she lifts it there was only smooth skin.

When he gets a confused look from Charlie he shrugs and pushes himself up on one elbow. "I think Cas healed me," he confesses, voice scraping roughly over his throat.

Charlie's eyes bug. "He healed you?" When Dean nods her eyes, if possible, get wider. "Dean you do realise that's miracle territory right there?"

"Yeah, well, he didn't look too happy about it."

"But still," Charlie breathes. "A miracle. Holy crap Dean."

Dean rolls his eyes. "Are all the werewolves dead?"

Charlie seems to come back to herself. "Yeah. Ash is getting them all into a pile so we can burn them."

"Use some of these cardboard boxes as fire starters."

Charlie nods and goes to help Ash.

Dean sits up and has to plant his hands on either side of his body for support. His head spins, and he has to blink a few times to clear his vision. "Whoa. That's weird."

Sitting with his head in his hands, Dean gathers himself. He has no idea what Cas just did to him, but he's currently sitting here with his head whirling, gut churning and vision blurring.

Charlie comes back, and Dean realises he has no idea how long he had been sitting there.

"Dean? Are you okay?"

"I think I'm kinda woozy. Did you and Ash clear up all of the werewolves?"

"Yeah, they're burning. We have to leave before someone shows up Dean."

"I don't think I can stand up."

Charlie grabs his arm and hauls him up. "Stop being a wuss. Come on."

Dean staggers, leaning on Charlie heavily, and she shoots him a concerned look. "I have no idea what Cas did to me, but I am out of it, seriously. It's like that time I got drunk and someone convinced me to smoke a few joints as well. It's an experience so bad that no matter what state I'm in I'll refuse to do it."

"Ah, off topic rambling, check. Are you sure you didn't just bash your head on the fall?"

"Yeah, I didn't."

"Because that's not confusing," Charlie mutters.

Ash is standing in front of the fire, looking at his watch and watching for the two of them. "Guys, what's taking… Dean? Ah, crap is that your blood?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, Cas patched me up."

"Patched… You mean he healed you?" Ash exclaims disbelievingly. "Dude, that's some hard core stuff."

"My reaction exactly," Charlie grunts. "Here, you help Dean. He's heavy."

Ash takes Dean, and helps him to the car. Dean feels wet stickiness against his cheek, and realises that Ash is bleeding.

"Ash, you hurt?" He mumbles. "You're bleeding all over me."

Ash grimaces. "Yeah, one of them got their claws in me before Charlie shot it."

Charlie drives the Impala back to where they're staying, and Dean tries to look more drunk than about to faint of blood loss. It seems to work since the person sitting behind the front desk doesn't give them a second look.

Charlie retrieves her first-aid supplies from her room and brings them back to where Ash and Dean are staying. Dean watches through lowered eyelids as she stitches Ash's chest up. "Lucky it missed your anti-possession tattoo," she remarks, tapping the tattoo on Ash's left side, just underneath where the werewolf's claws had tracked through him.

"Yeah, lucky." Dean shivers and his hand goes to his tattoo quickly, his hand resting over his heart so he can feel the smooth skin through his shirt.

Pouring disinfectant over the wound, Ash retreats to his bed where he lays down and is snoring after a minute. Charlie comes up to Dean, hovering over him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Dean sighs. "I think I just need to sleep this off. You didn't get any injuries did you?"

Charlie shakes her head. "Okay then, go to sleep. Come round in the morning, we can do a debrief, and get our asses back home."

Charlie doesn't look happy, but Dean gives her his best 'obey I am your leader' look, and she raises her eyebrows before walking around the room to check the wards, and locks the door when she leaves.

Dean sighs and gives in to the exhaustion lining his bones.

The sunlight pouring through the uncurtained window wakes him.

It's a rather foreign feeling. His dreams usually wake him a while before the sun rises, and for work he has to get up before dawn. Ash is still snoring on the bed next to him, and hasn't moved since Dean last saw him.

Checking the time, Dean startles when he realises that it's after eight. Charlie must be awake by now, but he's not sure why she hasn't come and woken them up.

Standing and stretching, Dean marvels at the fact that this is the best he's felt in a long time. He can't really put his finger on why exactly, until he realises something.

He isn't tired.

The bone weariness, eye scratchiness, dull headaches that had slowly become the norm over the last month are gone. He feels like his dreams had never become something that had plagued him, never kept him up so he went to work without sleep. He feels as though those four months with Alastair had never happened, and he's still young and innocent to the realities of the world, even though he styled himself knowledgeable.

It's something he hasn't experienced in a while, so of course it disorientates him at first. Standing up, he heads into the bathroom, where he decides to brush his teeth before getting into the shower.

Spitting into the sink, Dean frowns, trying to put his finger on the one thing that was ruining the best morning he'd had in a while. It took him a few seconds to narrow it down to his left shoulder. It takes him a few more seconds to remember that that was where Cas touched him to heal him.

Apprehensively, Dean brings his hand up and lifts the sleeve of his shirt.

When the hand shaped burn is revealed, he can't say he's all that surprised.

He stares at the brand, and knows instinctively that the outline of the handprint would fit Castiel's perfectly. Touching the brand feels like touching a burn, even though by itself it does not hurt, and Dean narrows his eyes at it. He doesn't know what it means, but when he shows the others, if they make one Touched by an Angel joke he's going to make them regret it.

Lowering his sleeve back over his shoulder gingerly, Dean lets out a breath of relief when it doesn't start protesting, but after a while it starts up the low discontented hum that it had before.

Letting the cool water of the shower run over it is nice, and Dean stands with his head under the water, allowing it to stream over him, washing away the blood, dirt and filth from the hunt and leaving him feeling brand new.

After he dries himself, he creeps out past the still snoring Ash and knocks softly on the door of Charlie's room. When there's no answer, Dean checks outside for the Impala. When he sees that she's gone he shakes his head.

"Let a girl near her once and she thinks that she can take her out for a spin whenever she pleases."

Making sure that he had some cash in his back pocket, Dean starts walking down to the nearest diner. It's probably where Charlie is, and he's starving for some food.

It takes him fifteen minutes to get there, and he sees Charlie in the window.

Hearing he chime of the bell as he enters the small restaurant, Dean crosses to sit opposite Charlie. The red haired woman looks up and seems surprised to see Dean.

"Did you walk all the way here?"

"Well someone stole my car, so what choice did I have?" Dean looks pointedly at Charlie before she sighs and hands the keys over.

"Sorry. I just didn't want to disturb you from sleeping, and I still had the keys and I was hungry."

"Yeah, well, don't do it again."

Charlie only had a cup of coffee in front of her, and when the waitress comes over to ask if they want any food, Dean and Charlie give her identical charming smiles.

"Yeah, some eggs and bacon if you have them, as well as some coffee, black?" The waitress nods and scribbles something down on her notebook. Her smile is much more real as she listens to Charlie and writes down a jam toast order.

"Dude she is so going to give you her number," Dean says. He thinks of stuttering sentences and brown hair and nervous smiles and wonders if he should give Charlie another number.

Charlie smiles. "Maybe."

Dean gets his meal and is half way through it before Charlie can finish one of her pieces of toast. "I am so hungry, and I have no idea why."

"Maybe it was Cas healing you. It probably used up what calories you had stored up, so you're body wants food to replenish them."

Dean snorts. "I don't care about the science behind it, I'm just glad he saved my ass. Oh, and remind me to tell you something later, when we're somewhere more private."

Charlie looks at him questioningly, but lets it lie. They eat their food in silence, Dean watching the other people in the bar, observing their lives. When the waitress comes, Dean grabs the tray and lifts the bill.

For the pretty lady.

There was a number underneath it, and Dean waves the piece of paper triumphantly in Charlie's face. "Told you she'd give you her number."

Charlie grabs the paper and puts the number into her phone, grinning at Dean when he tries to grab it back off her.

"Are you gonna call?"

"If we stick around for another day," Charlie shrugs, finishing her toast.

"Mine," Dean says as they walk out towards the Impala and opens the Impala's door with one hand. Charlie sighs but throws the keys to him, and Dean grins at the feel of the rumbling of his baby's engine. It only takes a few minutes to drive back to the motel, and Ash is up and on the computer when they get back. Dean throws a paper bag with a few hash browns in it at him.

"Thanks man. I was wondering where you two crazy kids had gone off to."

"Ash we're older than you."

"In years, maybe. But I will always have the," Ash takes a bite out of one of his hash browns and continues around a mouthful of potato. "Superior mind."

Dean rolls his eyes and Charlie snorts. "Hey, what was that thing you wanted to show me before? When you said we were in a public place?"

"Oh yeah." Now that the moment had come for Dean to show them the handprint he's strangely reluctant. It seems private, or something. Shaking the thought out of his head, Dean lifts his shirt sleeve to show Ash and Charlie the handprint.

Ash nearly chokes on the mouth full of potato he was swallowing, and Charlie's eyes widen before her face goes carefully blank. It was an expression Dean could recognise because he used it so often himself.

"Is that where Castiel touched you when he healed you?" She asks.

Dean nods, fighting the urge to run his fingers around the edge of the mark, to trace it lightly.

Charlie licks her lips. "Well I'm not sure what to say. What did he say about it?"

"I only noticed it this morning, and I haven't seen him since last night when he healed me. So I don't know."

Ash is silent in the background, still staring at the mark when Charlie speaks. "What does it mean Dean?"

Dean shakes his head, covering the burn again. "I don't know Charlie. I don't know."

Because they had gotten rid of the werewolf pack so quickly, Dean tells the other two they're going to stay in town for another day, looking meaningfully at Charlie, who sighs dramatically but leaves with her phone in her hand. Ash says that he's going to get some more sleep, and Dean isn't sure how Ash can sleep any more, but he manages, his snores filling the room.

Dean spends some time not really doing anything in particular on the laptop, surfing some news sites and answering his emails. He revels in the feeling of being awake, and leaving Ash to his dreams, walks outside. Breathing in the air, he starts walking. It's lunchtime and he's feeling hungrybefore he stops. Half of the stores have Christmas lights in them, and the other half are still stuck on Halloween decorations, even though they're only halfway through November. Dean shakes his head at both of them, thinking that one is too early and one is too late. He had brought his wallet, so decides to do a little early shopping. He doesn't find much, a fancy type of crossbow bolt for Annie's collection, and some new high tech looking headphones for Charlie and Ash. Charlie had told him once that you could never have too many headphones, and so Dean was taking that information and running with it. Hopefully they would like them for Christmas.

As he walks around he picks up any brochures that had to do with babies, children or pregnancy. Thinking he would send them all to Jess, he tucks them into a pocket, ignoring the strange looks he's getting from some people. He grabs some lunch, and sits down for twenty minutes to eat, watching the life move around him.

It's after two by the time that Dean makes it back to the hotel room. Charlie isn't back and Ash had left, probably to find something to do now that it was physically impossible for him to sleep anymore.

Dean spends the afternoon cleaning the weapons and wondering if Charlie's girl would be up for a quickie with a stranger or if she wants something more. Thinking that people who worked in diners would expect for their patrons to just be passing through, Dean thinks that Charlie has a good chance of getting laid.

When she doesn't come in that night, and Dean gets a text saying she'd see him in the morning, he smiles slightly.

Keeping her word, Charlie and Ash are ready to go in the morning. Dean had dreamt, he knew that much from his headache and churning gut, but he takes the blessings as they come, since he couldn't remember anything from them today.

Getting in the driver's side, Dean turns over the engine and waits until he hears both doors close before pressing his foot down on the accelerator and driving out of the car park, heading for Phoenix.

There's a mountain of paperwork on his desk.

Dean is wondering if it's possible to drown in it. If it is, then he's doomed.

Cas is looking out the window, and has been all morning. It's starting to get on Dean's nerves, and he's trying to ignore it, but it's just really hard when you look up and there is a person standing exactly where they had been standing ten minutes ago. It feels like time is standing still, and all of the paperwork that's piled up on Dean's desk after the werewolf pack that he hadn't done yet is not making this day go any faster.

Deciding to take a break from the millions of forms that he had to fill out, Dean stands and wanders over to Cas, standing next to him just so that he can brush his arm against Cas if he wants to.

The entire wall on this side is a window, to make it easier for the view and the sunlight to come through. Charlie's trying to get curtains to cover up the glare in the afternoons, but Dean is sure that since this was basically the all of the sunlight that the team gets when they aren't on a case, cutting it off would probably be a bad idea. Rufus apparently agrees with him, since he had shot down Charlie every time she had tried to ask.

"Cas? What cha looking at?"

Cas turns his head slightly, and his eyes slide across to study Dean instead of the skyline outside.

"I am observing all of the souls that are in this city. There are many – light, dark, horrible, beautiful. Humanity fascinates me Dean. How can you all live together when fundamentally you are so different?"

"You can do that?" Dean asks, stunned. "Look at all the souls?"

"It is what I see every day, normally. An angel has ways of seeing that humans do not Dean. We can see things that only some of you can grasp. That includes your souls. Well most souls. Most are easy to understand, to comprehend, to fathom. Yours is quite a different story."

When it doesn't look like Cas is going to go on, Dean asks him to continue. "What are you talking about?"

"Your soul is rather tattered, but it somehow manages to have a light that keeps on shining, no matter what. It is very beautiful, even though it has flaws. But I cannot read your soul, and I cannot understand what you mean sometimes. You are a mystery to me Dean Winchester. I cannot look at you and know you, like I do others. I cannot go through your mind, because it would be dangerous for you and I if I made a mistake and bought up the memories from which you hide. I cannot look at you and know what caused you have such a damaged soul, but yet have one that still shines so brightly. You are unknown to me Dean."

Dean has his eyebrows raised as he stares at Cas.

"Uhm," he says eloquently.

"If you wish to share what troubles you, then you may," the angel says softly.

Dean shuts off, standing up straighter. "There's nothing to talk about," he says stiffly. He would walk back to his desk, but he needs to ask Cas something.

"Cas? What happened back there? Between being disembowelled and the ridiculous searing white hot pain of you literally burning your handprint into my shoulder, I kind of missed the part where you explained everything."

Cas frowns slightly, more of a wrinkling of his brow than anything else. He moves forward and lifts the edge of Dean's shirt up before he can move away, and studies the brand before letting the sleeve fall back and leaning backwards with a small sigh.

"You most likely missed the part where I explained because I did not explain anything," he says in a complete deadpan, voice lowered somewhat.

Dean snorts. "Yeah I get that genius. This is the part where you do explain."

Cas casts a look around the office. "I will, but I request that you ask somewhere more private. I do not wish to discuss this here, where anyone can hear us."

"Okay then, but you still don't have a phone," Dean tells him, wondering what Cas would want to keep private from the others in the office, and the other angels.

Cas turns to face him, eyes full of frustration. "Pray to me Dean. Simply say my name, and talk as if I was in the same room to you. I will hear."

Dean scrunches his eyes up. "It's gonna take more than that to get me to start praying Cas. I haven't prayed in a long time, and I don't intend to start now."

"This is your problem Dean," Cas says, suddenly seeming to loom over him even though he was a few inches shorter than him. There's something sparking in his eyes, and Dean suddenly feels like he should be anywhere else but here, and he has a sudden desire to crawl in a hole somewhere and hide from that piercing blue gaze that sees too much already. "You have no faith."

Dean feels the world slow around them, and Cas is still staring at him. Dean is holding his breath, his lungs beginning to burn, but Cas isn't letting up and Dean can't look away and he has no idea how long they've been standing there, just looking at each other. Cas is peeling back his layers, trying to see into the heart of him, while Dean trying to comprehend who Cas is, what Cas is.

The angel looks away, and Dean takes a deep breath to ease his burning lungs. The angel returns to staring out the window, and Dean thinks that he isn't going to get anything else out of him today. Making his way back to his desk, Dean tries not to look at the angel or think about what just happened. He doesn't really succeed.

Cas keeps on glancing at him every now and again for several minutes while Dean tries to work under that gaze, refusing to look up and meet it.

Eventually Cas goes back to watching the souls of the city move and flow like the waves on a beach, like the tide in its cycle.

It's Dean that finds the next hunt.

Charlie might gripe and moan, but she can't fault him for this. It's in one of his many papers, and she blusters for a minute, checking her computer resources, seeing what he had already found.

She frowns as she watches Dean smirk slightly, looking over all his research on the wall of his apartment. He can't move it to the office since it isn't on a board, and he couldn't have constructed it at the office, because with the first hint of something going up Charlie would have pounced on it, and Dean had probably wanted to try and prove something, that his many subscriptions aren't for nothing. Just because she hadn't picked it up yet didn't mean that she wouldn't have. America is a big place, and she has to trawl through all of the information it produces every day, while also putting together any patterns that it produces, and overall, she likes to think she does well.

So Charlie, Annie, Ash, Rufus and Jo are all standing in Dean's apartment, and while it might be big enough for one person, having six people in there at once is beginning to make Charlie slightly claustrophobic.

She has her laptop open in front of her, and is currently checking all of Dean's research. When her FBI credentials take too long to get into some records, she simply breaks down their firewall with a smidge of code, not hacking thank you very much, so she can get to what she wants a lot faster.

Within half an hour of being at Dean's flat, she has all the necessary double checks done, and she nods to herself as she gives Dean's points for finding this one before her. It's slightly off putting even so.

It's been a while since Charlie hunted down her last vampire.

"Yep, it's all real info, I've checked."

Dean rolls his eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I have complete faith in you Dean," Charlie says. "I just thought it would be wise to double check everything, since we have someone doing it anyway back at the office."

"Charlie's right Winchester. But you did good here. Not just anyone would have picked up this pattern."

Dean smiles for half a second at Rufus's praise. Charlie puts her laptop away, now that all the tech stuff was out of the way. She probably wouldn't participate in this hunt, so she would let the people whose speciality it is to organise the logistics of it.

Walking into the kitchen, she opens a cupboard to find a glass so she can have a drink of water. She frowns as she finds three empty bottles of whiskey and two empty glass bottles that don't have any labels, but also smell of alcohol when she sniffs them. There are four unopened bottles and one open one that's nearly half gone.

Opening another cupboard she finds a number of shot glasses that look like they're more frequently used than the slightly dusty proper glasses behind them.

Charlie rinses one out and fills it before placing it on the counter and continuing with her snooping. The ice in the freezer is gone, and new ones are setting in the ice cube maker. There's hardly any food in the fridge, freezer or pantry. But wherever she looks she can find a full or conspicuously empty bottle, tucked away in a corner or hiding behind an appliance.

It's enough to make her stomach turn, and Charlie wonders for how long Dean has been trying to drown himself in a bottle. None of those she found had dust on them.

Picking up her drink she winds her way into the living room, just to see Cas appear behind Dean. Dean is looking at the map that he had on the wall and following the paths and highways with his eyes. Charlie catches the 'Hello Dean', and it makes her smile slightly. The others are gone, probably to go and prepare for the hunt, and Charlie watches silently in the shadow of the door as the angel and human interact.

Dean jumps and spins around, saying something she can't hear. Deciding not to focus on the conversation, she watches their body language instead. She watches how this is the most relaxed and informal she had ever seen any of the angels, let alone Castiel, who was the poster boy for following the rules. She watches as Dean completely misses her, something that he would normally never do. She watches them both lean in slightly, watches Dean's eyes flick down to Castiel's lips and thinks Oh Dean you got it bad.

She knows that something happened to Dean regarding his sexuality. She knows that it's not her place to pry, but seeing her friend put in the position where he clearly wants something but cannot physically make himself do it would wear on anyone's nerves.

She wonders what it was. Maybe someone touched him without his consent. Maybe he was brought up in a place where difference wasn't tolerated. Maybe he had a parent who wouldn't accept anyone or anything different.

Yes, that's probably it, she thinks. She's heard Dean talk about his mother, often in stilted sentences and almost never outside when they were alone and he was drunk. How she died when he was four, and how he had to protect his brother from there on out.

Charlie's never heard him say one word about his father.

When she had seen Sam's email address on an email Dean was sending, she had committed it to memory and had emailed Sam herself later that night, telling him that it was her. Since they knew each other from the crazy time when Dean had been missing, he responded almost right away. A few weeks of sending emails and she finally plucked up the courage to ask what went down with their father, since Dean never talks about him, only how their mother died when their house burnt down.

Sam had said that this was probably something she should talk about with Dean, but since he was emotionally constipated, he would give her a few starting points.

What she knew about John Winchester isn't enough to fill a page of writing. He had been a hunter, obsessed about Mary's death, and had always been convinced that something supernatural had been involved in it. Bobby had taken custody over the boys when Dean was 16 and Sam was 12 for a reason Sam wouldn't divulge, and he's still alive today, even though neither brother had heard from him in nearly fifteen years.

It isn't much to go on, but she can easily see him beating the knowledge into Dean that people who were different were wrong, and to be hunted, and that you didn't want to be different.

Watching Dean and his angel interact now, she wonders when they would get past that hurdle.

When. Not if.

They are still murmuring to each other when Charlie leaves, not even sure if the click of the door closing is enough to jolt them out of their focus on each other.

Cas can't stay for the vampire hunt, and Dean tries to ignore the disappointment that shoots through him when the angel had said that he had Heavenly duties to attend to.

Victor still can't run on his ankle, and Garth's arm is setting, but not healed enough to even come in to the office yet. He's getting the best treatment – the finest doctors that the FBI could give, and the best amulets and charms that Missouri could make, but it'd be another two months before he could come along on hunts. Charlie had been temporarily promoted to a member of the team to make up for the two missing people, and Jo had been partnered with Annie. The younger girl is beaming while the older hunter had rolled her eyes. Anna isn't here, and Dean assumes that she's doing angel stuff with Cas.

Ash is staying behind, claiming that he had been on enough hunts lately, and that he needs a break. He would take Charlie's place, researching from the office. It was a job that either of them could do, and Dean's glad that he didn't need to slog through the research needed, if there is any needed. They knew all they needed to take down a group of vamps, and Dean had just re-stocked the Impala with dead man's blood and plenty of hatchets.

Taking place in Durango, Colorado, the trip wasn't a long one, and Dean had argued for driving over flying, even if Charlie and Jo would have preferred taking a plane. It was only a seven hour drive, and Dean's refusal to get on a plane twice in a month had cinched the deal, even in the face of Jo's protest that their bosses would pay for the flight.

As soon as they arrive, Dean puts Jo in charge of getting them all somewhere to stay, and Charlie in charge of finding them some place to eat. There's a diner that isn't too run down near where they're motel is, plus they have large tables and few customers. Annie goes and sits on a different table to Dean and Charlie, and when Jo comes back with three keys in her hand she goes over to where Annie is, not even looking in the direction of Charlie and Dean.

"She's getting better at this stuff," Charlie remarks.

"Yeah, I remember when I first brought her in. She was so intimidated by the city, the big buildings and the sharply dressed people. You could see how uncomfortable she was. I was afraid that I would have to send her back to Nebraska, and Ellen would tell me off for getting her hopes up. I do admit that that was the thing I was most afraid of in that situation." Dean smiles, thinking about six months earlier when Jo had joined the team. "She's nearly ready to go now, isn't she? And when she comes back, she'll be a full member of the team."

"And you can have a permanent partner at last, instead of just me," Charlie leans forward. "You'll stop dragging me out on these ridiculous outings and I can sit at my computer in peace."

"You wouldn't have it any other way," Dean teases.

Charlie sniffs delicately, turning her nose up slightly. "Maybe. When is Jo going anyway?"

"This'll be her last hunt as a junior member of the party. You can turn up any time during November, but as soon as December starts they want you all there."

"That's only a week away though," Charlie says in surprise.

"Exactly. She's been putting it off for as long as she could. I think I might have scared her a little with all my stories."

"Well it is gruelling, but I don't doubt she can get through it, with flying colours even."

"Exactly what I'm thinking. She's gonna knock the competition out of the water."

Charlie nods, and then seems to recall that they're on a case here. "Vampires. I haven't done any beheading in a while."

"Me neither," Dean says, looking out the window. "I'm not out of practise though."

Charlie rolls her eyes. "You probably have a dummy you can behead sitting at your house, where you can just put the head back on once you chop it off."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You're the one that's all gung-ho about this," Charlie shrugs.

"That doesn't mean that I have a dummy that I cut the head off at home!"

Charlie looks doubtful, but she lets the subject drop. "So this is going to be the next town hit, right? They frequent bars, and take intoxicated people?"

Dean nods. "Yeah. There are two bars that they could go to in this town, so we split up. I don't like it, but we don't have any choice. One of us will play bait, while the other watches and calls the others if their partner gets taken. They follow them back to the nest, and we take them all out."

"Whoever is playing bait is going to be in the most danger."

"Exactly. Which is why I'm going to be the one doing it."

"Don't be stupid, I'll be the one to do it."

"There's no question of who's going to do it Charlie."

"Yes, there is," Charlie protests. "Look, I'm not a full time hunter like you. If you get captured, there's no way I can take more than one vampire at a time. But if I get captured, then you can and will swoop in and rescue me. That plus the fact that you're going to have to bath in alcohol to get yourself smelling drunk, since your tolerance levels are ridiculously high. So I'm going to be the one to do it."

Dean scowls, but he can't rebut any of her arguments. "I don't like it," he says.

Charlie grins, knowing that she's convinced him. "You don't have to like it, you just have to get in there before they start sucking me dry."

Dean grumbles but agrees very reluctantly. Jo is going to play bait at the other club, and Dean isn't happy about that either, but she puts forward basically the same arguments as Charlie. So similar in fact, that Dean is wondering if they had conspired together to be the ones baiting the vampires. He wouldn't put it past them.

They have time to kill before the darkness falls, and Dean spends the time looking for a decent phone for Cas. The angel still doesn't have one, and Dean is not going to start praying, so he needs one. It takes a few hours, but Dean finally finds one with a plan for a year with enough texting and call time on it that he thinks Cas won't use it all.

It costs a few hundred dollars, but Dean just puts it on his company credit card. If anyone asks about it, he can say he was buying something for the angels, and no one would ask any more questions.

He trails Charlie around after that, following her wherever she wants to shop. They end up just wondering around the shopping area, talking. Dean asks if she got lucky with the waiter.

"Yeah I did, but… I don't know. I think I want something more long term now, you know? But they'd all just ask what you do, I mean that's one of the first questions you ask someone when you meet them, and what do I say? I work with the FBI and can't talk about my job? Do you know how dodgy that sounds?"

Dean did know, and that was one of the reasons that he stayed away from getting to know anyone who isn't in the know about the hunting life at least.

"I think I could solve some of your problems," Dean tells her, and Charlie rounds on him.

"Have you been keeping someone from me? You better not have been keeping someone from me."

"Ah, I was just getting to know her a little bit. I do know that she has a crush on you, so that should give you an opening."

Dean steals Charlie's phone and inputs Lara's number into it. Charlie looks at the number for a while.

"Where does she work?" She asks.

"In IT, just general info about all the cases and paperwork that runs through the building."

Charlie nods absently. "Okay, I'll call her. Although I would appreciate it if you told her I had her number before I call her."

Dean smiles. "I can do that."

After that they spend a ridiculous amount of time in a gaming shop that Charlie spots, and Dean can only drag Charlie away after he reminds her they have to work. Charlie shoots him a dirty look but she wraps things up, giving the people behind the counter her email and phone number, and telling them that she would email them about her next LARPing session.

"I was having fun talking to them!" She protests after they leave.

"It's after dark Charlie. We should have been in place half an hour ago."

Charlie scowls at the sky, like it's personally offended her.

They get to the club, and Charlie spends another ten minutes drinking out of a vodka bottle and making herself look trashed but also pretty at the same time.

As soon as she's done, Dean helps her into the club, before spraying her with a mist bottle full of whiskey. "That'll make you smell like you have taste," he says. "Now remember to be careful, okay?"

Charlie huffs. "As long as you remember to not pick anyone up we'll be fine."

"I don't confuse work and play, unlike some people."

"Hey! I was just talking to them."

"And now we're late, come on."

They walk into the bar, and Dean gets his phone out, ready to send or receive the text saying that Jo had been taken, and to send one to Annie if the vamps caught Charlie.

He has to watch the rest of the crowd as well as Charlie, in case she isn't taken but another person is. Charlie is watching as well, and they have signals to tell each other if they see anything.

Around eleven, Charlie is approached by a man and a woman. She's made sure to be the life of the party, buying rounds of drinks, making sure everyone knows she's tipsy, dancing with anyone who wanted to, and basically getting people's attention. Dean focuses on his friend and the people who had approached her. Charlie flicks her fingers, and that's the signal for the vampires.

Dean sends the text to Annie, but it's a fifteen minute drive from where they are to here, so the clock is ticking. Charlie knows she has to stall them for as long as possible without losing their interest, but it's only five minutes later that she starts to follow them outside. Dean swears and walks out after them, making it look like he is just leaving, not going after them. There's a black hummer in the parking lot, and Dean's not surprised when they lead her towards it.

He touches the sword under his jacket for reassurance as he gets in the Impala, then calls Annie and puts the phone on speaker on the dash so he can drive without worrying about it.

"Black hummer, going up Main Avenue. Where are you?" Dean asks, looking for Ash's truck.

It occurs to him that their vehicles aren't the most inconspicuous ones out there. Maybe Charlie had a point with her suburban car, nice and common.

"Just getting there, which way are you headed?" Annie's voice comes through the phone.

"Towards you," Dean replies.

Dean hears the rev of the engine through the phone, and knows that Annie is probably breaking he speed limit by a considerable amount right now.

It takes another five minutes, but Dean keeps giving directions through the phone and eventually he can see the headlights of the truck in his rear view mirror. They're reaching the outskirts of the city, and it's probably becoming obvious to the drivers of the hummers that they're being followed.

Dean swerves into another street and then listens to Annie's directions as she takes over following them. Another few minutes and then he's taking over again, just in time to see the hummer drive down an off road.

"I see where they're turning off," Dean says through the phone. Annie comes up behind him, and she and Jo get out of the car.

"Down there," he says, pointing towards the dark track, winding its way between the trees.

"Don't you love it when they conform to the stereotypes," Jo says cheerfully.

"Have both of you got your weapons and dead man's blood?" Jo and Annie nod.

"It's probably only a short walk, and they'd hear the car. We need to go in by foot."

They spend the next ten minutes quickly walking down the track, and Dean has to fight down the urge to sprint, so he can save Charlie from whatever the vampires are doing to her. But he knows that she can take care of herself, so he conserves his energy for the fight.

They come across a barn, and Dean motions for Jo and Annie to take the front while he goes in the back.

"I'll untie Charlie, you keep them occupied," he whispers.

Annie and Jo go around to the front, and Dean runs quietly to the back. Picking the lock on the door, he hears the sounds of fighting. Wriggling faster, he breaks it open, and comes in to a melee. Charlie is trying to wriggle out of her bonds, and Dean runs over to slice them off, and gives her his spare machete. She takes it with a grin and lops a vampires head off happily from behind.

Dean lets loose, lets himself drown in the feeling of the fight, cutting off heads, throwing darts to paralyse some vampires, and using gravity and momentum to knock others over.

Dean's not sure how long it takes, but eventually he's panting in a river of blood, decapitated bodies all around him. He's blood splattered and sticky. Looking around, he sees that the others aren't that much better. Charlie looks like she'd bathed in it, Annie wiping it off her sword and Jo checking that none of them were still alive.

It takes little time for them to soak the place in gasoline and set it alight. They watch the place burn for a few minutes to make sure that it's not going to spread, but it's the middle of winter and the woods around them are soaked from the storm a few days ago.

They decide to sleep for the next few hours, and Dean checks them out of the hotel in the morning, half listening to the people in the lobby talking about the mysterious blazing up of the Gregor's old barn.

Annie had already taken over the 'investigation,' and it wasn't long before she had the local police closing the case, on FBI orders. They all looked a bit suspicious, but as long as nobody found the remnants of the fifteen human skeletons in the remains of the barn, they were golden.

Since Annie is taking Jo through the clean-up, Dean and Charlie hover around for a few hours until they're done, and the remains are being shipped to their mortuary in Phoenix, who are used to getting extremely suspicious bodies from the SPN unit to cremate.

As soon as they get back, Rufus hands them the paperwork, and they all groan simultaneously, but sit down to fill them out. Dean's just glad that no one was hurt.

He hurries through his forms, and by the time he's finished he's not sure if Lara will still be in the building, but he goes down to IT to try.

She is there, but it looks like she's getting ready to leave.

"Dean!" She says. "Hi, hello, why are you here so late?"

"I gave your number to Charlie," Dean tells her. She looks petrified for about four seconds, and then she rushes forward to hug him.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She squeals. "Wait, I'm sorry, I shouldn't hug you without asking, oh my god."

"It's fine Lara, don't worry about it."

"Oh my god, what if she doesn't call? What if I stutter? What if she doesn't like me?"

"She'll like you, don't worry. Just tell her that you want to go and talk over coffee, and the rest will work out, I'm sure."

Lara gulps nervously then runs her fingers through her hair. "If you say so."

"I do. But I have to go home now, are you coming?"

Lara quickly packs up her things and rides down the elevator with him. They part at the parking lot, Dean waving goodbye.

He doesn't sleep that night.

Jo leaves that weekend.

Dean wishes her well, along with all the others, and feels like he's waving goodbye to a part of his life. He's the one who got Jo accepted into this program, he's the one that gave her the opportunity to shine like they all knew she could, and know she was going off to training. Anna slides into the cab beside her, looking angely, like usual.

Cas is standing next to Dean, almost close enough for their arms to brush together. Dean almost wants to do that, but instead he takes a small step away from the angel. Cas glances at him questionably and Dean shrugs.

Dean tells Charlie about Lara when he gets a spare moment, and she nods, hand sliding into her pocket to play with her phone.

"She's great, just call her for coffee."

Charlie nods slowly, looking into the distance.

There's a night for drinks and celebration, which Garth and Ash take as permission to get ridiculously drunk. Dean drinks as much as they do, and only gets slightly tipsy, a fact that nobody except Charlie and Cas notices. Charlie frowns at him, but Dean gives her a look, a 'what can you do?' Even though Cas healed him of the symptoms of not having enough sleep for a month, he can't cure the source, and his dreams are still continuing. Dean copes as much as he can, and having a few in the middle of the night to calm his nerves has become a part of his life now.

Cas just looks at him and asks if he values his liver at all.

"I figure I'm gonna die before I'm forty anyway, so why plan for the future?" Dean slurs as he leans slightly on the angel, an hour after everyone else has left. Cas hails a cab and climbs in after him, giving the driver a fifty, telling him Dean's address and to keep the change. The driver nods in respect for the tip, and it feels like no time has passed before they're getting out. The drive has given Dean some time to sober up a bit, and he doesn't have to lean on Cas as they make their way up the stairs. As the exercise clears his system some more, he just begins to feel tired. It's been a big day, he has to work tomorrow, and he just wants to crash.

Cas opens the door, and there must have been some sneaky mojo at work there because Dean did not leave the door unlocked and Cas doesn't have the key.

Cas helps him into his room, and Dean pulls his shirt, shoes, socks, belt and jeans off, not realising that he's doing it completely unconsciously in front of the angel until he feels Cas's gaze roaming over him. When he turns the angel's eyes are on his face, but Dean can't shake the feeling that the angel had been sneaking a peek. Well not exactly sneaking, since it had been Dean undressing in front of him, but you get the idea.

Whatever. He's drunk and not bothered enough to think that train of thought through.

Sliding under the covers, Dean looks up at Cas through half lidded eyes, fighting off a yawn, already ready to sleep, dreams be damned.

"Dean..." Castiel pauses. Hesitates, for just a second. And Dean sees it, notices how something like Cas that is usually so eloquent and assured, is stumbling over the sound of his name, over the thing that the angel is about to ask. "Can I stay here tonight?"

Now Dean would have normally drawn the line at that. Having something not human stay in his apartment while he slept? While he was drunkenly passed out? That was a no go, an absolute line, and the angel had just crossed it.

Yet Dean heard himself saying, "Sure Cas," like it's nothing, like it's perfectly normal. But Dean sees that Castiel understands the magnitude of the trust that had just been placed at his feet, and it makes Dean feel more open and exposed than he had been in a long time. "Do you want me to make up the spare bed?"

"I do not need to sleep Dean," The angel says, and Dean should have known that, I mean what supernatural creature slept, really, and that was really where Dean should have said yep, no thanks, leave please, and yet he didn't. He just nods at that angel, murmurs out a 'goodnight' and pulls the covers over his head.

It shows how far he had come with the angel when he falls asleep straight away, not worried about what could happen in the night, only knowing that an angel is watching over him, just as his mother had always told him, and that he would be safe until morning.

Blood red sharp pain screaming black darkness demons Alastair laughing in his ear you're mine Dean no one else's mine mine mine mine my weapon and don't you forget –

Dean thinks that waking up is the best and worst part of his dreams. On one hand he can tell himself that it's over, and that it's not happening to him anymore, that it's over. On the other, he has to face the reality that it happened.

"Do you experience these dreams every night?"

Dean shoots up, supporting himself on his wrists and feeling them pop. "Fucking hell Cas."

"You did invite me to stay."

Dean rubs a hand over his eyes. "Yeah, well I was drunk last night. People do stupid things when they're drunk. Do you have to wake me up by speaking to me every single time you're here?"

"I did not wake you. You were simply lying there with your eyes closed. I'm assuming that you were trying to orientate yourself after your dream."

Dean swallows. "I didn't dream."

Cas is watching him, like he knows that Dean doesn't mean that, and Dean can't look at those eyes that see everything when he's already feeling so broken and torn.

He pushes the blankets back and stretches, still feeling Cas' eyes focused on him. He brushes past Cas, just enough for the angel to grab his elbow.

"I do not know what you dream of Dean," the angel says, and Dean takes a moment to close his eyes as he feels the dizzying rush of relief go through him at the fact that Cas doesn't know, before looking at the angel.

"But if you want, if you let me in, I could possibly help."

Dean looks at the angel doubtfully, not knowing what he meant. "What, like let you inside my head?" He asks.

Cas looks down at his shoes, at the carpet, for a long second. "Yes. If your soul was not so damaged then I could do it without your permission, but having anything inside you when you don't want it to be there would most likely tear you and whoever was trying into pieces."

Dean blinks. "What do you mean… you could help?" He's too cynical to not look a gift horse in the mouth, to think that Cas could help him that easily.

"If you let me inside your mind, there will be no danger. I could look at the memory that troubles you, and I could sooth it, or block it off from your mind so you cannot remember it."

Dean shifts uncomfortably away from Cas. "Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I don't need anyone digging through my head." And even if his memories are shitty, they're still his. He should have all of his memories available to him. They're what make him who he is.

Cas doesn't look disappointed or upset, simply nodding. "It is your choice. Since you are already awake, do you wish to get ready for work now?"

Dean checks the time on the clock next to his bed. It's half an hour earlier than he would normally get up, and he takes a moment to turn off the alarm.

"Yeah, I guess."

Cas nods before going to sit on the couch, making no move to turn the TV on. Dean sighs softly. He had managed to get Cas to sit down now when he came over, but the angel didn't understand why Dean would be interested in watching the TV, or why he should watch it.

Dean showers and eats, offering food to Cas, who, like usual, declines.

"Come on Cas, let's go."

Charlie wipes her hands nervously against each other, looking around for Lara. Dean had said that she's brunette, short, and babbles when she's nervous. She hadn't been too bad on the phone when Charlie had called and arranged the meeting. When Lara had suggested coffee and afternoon tea at a local restaurant she knew, Charlie agreed immediately. It sounded like a nice way to get to know her, as well as seeing what food she liked.

Charlie knew that Dean wouldn't have given her Lara's number without doing a full background check on her first, so she hadn't, resisting the temptation, afraid it would ruin their relationship before it even started.

Lara had said to be here around two thirty, and it was just after twenty past. She's only wearing work gear, and has to hope that that's enough for the other woman.

Another few minutes pass, and then the building door opens. Charlie turns to look, and takes in the woman who has just left the building.

A slip of a thing, she couldn't have weighed over sixty kilos. Brown hair that's tied up in a bun, but Charlie could see that when released it would be long. She's wearing heels, tall ones, and she still doesn't come up to Charlie's height. The bones in her face are delicate and sharp, eyebrows plucked, and make up sparingly but professionally applied. She is wearing a black suit over a purple top, which complements her skin colour.

All in all, she looks hot.

Charlie smiles. First test passed.

"Hey," she calls, walking over. "Are you Lara?"

The girl looks up, and hot damn, those eyes are pretty, large and brown and wide. "Uh, yeah, I'm Lara. You're Charlie, right? I mean you're standing here, asking for me, and we agreed to meet here and it makes sense that you would be Charlie."

Charlie nods. Lara swallows after a pause.

"So we going to your café?"

Lara nods. "Yeah, it's run by the sister in law of a guy I used to work with. Carly makes really good food, you'll like it, I'm pretty sure."

"Sounds cool. Lead the way."

It isn't a long walk. On the way there, Charlie asks Lara how she is, and if anything's happened really in her life recently. Lara says she's good, and no. Then she asks the same questions, and Charlie says she's well. She thinks about werewolves and vampires and her crazy life.

"Just the usual work stuff. Nothing exciting."

Lara nods, but a flicker of doubt crosses her face before disappearing. "Okay. Here it is."

Charlie looks down the small street, and there's a café about half way down that she has to be talking about. It's cute and screams 'family run.'

Lara leads her in, waving to the woman behind the counter, who perks up and immediately comes over to where they're sitting, abandoning the task of wiping down the counter, which she had only been doing half heatedly anyway.

"Lara, hi! How are you doing? Who's your friend?" The woman – Carly – has her hair pinned up, and an apron covered in flour on. She smells like coffee and sugar, and her smile is warm, if cautious, as she looks at Charlie.

"Hey Carly, I'm doing well thanks. This is Charlie, she's from work."

Carly looks Charlie over again, more appraisingly. "I see." She says after a long pause. "Do you want me to get you two anything?"

"A mocha for me please."

"Same here," Charlie adds. Lara flashes her a small smile.

Carly leaves, and Charlie leans back in the booth, looking Lara over. Lara is looking right back, and Charlie hopes what she's finding satisfies her.

"So. Dean. How did you two meet?"

Lara tilts her head slightly. "I was down near Lighters, on my way to my car, and ten guys surrounded me, saying that I was going to go with them. Dean shows up, beat up five in three seconds and has the others running in ten. He looks me over, tells me I'm unharmed, and takes me back to my car. He must have recognised the number plate or the model as one of the company's cars, because he asked if I worked here. I said that I did, and he said that he worked here as well. We just bumped into each other every now and again after that, and we said hi each time. One time you were with him, but you were looking through a folder, and he must have noticed me looking, because the next time he caught me he asked me about you." She shrugs. "And about two months later he gave me your number. You called, and here we are."

Charlie frowns slightly, but wipes it off her face. What was Dean doing near Lighters? The only things down there are seedy bars and abandoned warehouses.

Charlie nods, putting the thought away for later. "Okay then. Just letting you know, the only things I know about you is that Dean saved you from a bunch of nasty guys and that he thinks you're safe to date me. No looking at any files, I promise."

Lara smiles slightly. "Same."

"Although Dean looked through your file, but he said you were fine, and that man goes through everything relating to someone he cares about with a comb that has a finer touch than the pixels on my computer screens, and that's saying something."

Lara blinks. "Okay then, I guess I can live with that. I suppose we can't really discuss work here, can we?"

Or in this entire arrangement. If there's going to be an arrangement. Damn it Charlie, stay cool. "No, not really."

"Well then. What do you do for fun?"

"I game a lot," Charlie confesses, and watches Lara's eyes light up.

"Yeah? What are we talking about here?"

Second test passed.