"That was a waste of time." Dean grumbled as he put his and Sams weapons into the trunk of the Impala. He then started cleaning the blood off of his jacket.

The trio had investigated the site the nest was supposedly at only to find a single Djin there. The Djin had then lead them to a Skinwalker who also had no idea what was going on at the hospital. After making work of those two demons, it was late afternoon and the elder Winchester was in an especially cranky mood. When they got back into town, his mood only got worse.

Dean parked the Impala in front of some stores with the intention of hunting down some food. He was starving and it was made worse by his bad mood. The last thing he needed as for an annoying CNA to find him.

"Hey Dean!" a male voice called out.

Dean froze mid-stride and his eyes shut, a groan slipping out as he slowly turned to face the speaker. "Richard, right?"

The blond beamed at him. "I'm so happy that you remembered." he approached the hunter and got right up in his personal space like before and gave him a wink. "I don't work today and it looks like you have off also. How about we go get that drink now?"

"We are actually working." It was Castiel who spoke, surprising everyone there, even himself. His eyes narrowed on the blond, not liking how close he was to Dean. He moved closer to the pair and the blonde blinked at him for a moment before smiling.

"So are you his work partner?" Richard asked and moved even closer to Dean, his smile only getting bigger as he saw the glare the blue eyed man was sending him. He recognized jealousy when he saw it and he loved messing with people. "Please say you'll have at least one drink with me before you go?" he asked, looking up at Dean as he put a hand on the taller mans shoulder, the same one with Castiels mark, but he wouldn't have known that.

The angel became furious at that, but before he could move to do something about it, Dean had placed both his hands on Richards arms and pushed him away firmly but not hard enough to knock him over.

"I am not interested in having drinks with you, Richard. I am working an important job right now, as you know. I don't have time to slack off." Deans voice left no room for argument and before the blonde could respond, he had turned and walked away.

Richard stared after him for a moment before his eyes filled with anger at being rejected. He turned on his heel and stormed away in the opposite direction, muttering under his breath, after shooting Castiel a withering look for interfering.

"Well, that was interesting." Sam said from where he leaned against the Impala, watching Richard storm off and Dean stop further down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets and cursing. "So, are we still going to the restaurant to get some food or should we go back to the motel and order in?"

"It appears that Dean has chosen for us. He just went into that one there." Castiel pointed to a placed called 'Bubbas Burgers' that Dean had just entered. He started to follow but Sam stopped him.

"Are you going to tell me what was going on earlier, Cas? I know it wasn't nothing." Sam held the angels gaze and was surprised when the shorter man looked away first, shuffling his feet nervously. "Cas?"

Castiel moved a few steps closer to Sam so he didn't have to speak so loud, then looked around to make sure no one else was within hearing distance. "Dean asked me to show him my true form. I cannot do it here without killing him, but I could show him his memories from when I saved him. That is what I did."

The taller man nodded after a moment but was frowning, "So how did that mark get back on his arm if he was only seeing his memories?"

"I honestly don't know, Sam. It is nothing to be concerned about, so don't worry." They walked down the sidewalk to the restaurant Dean had gone into, Castiel mostly silent until Sam asked about the kiss. His blue eyes widened slightly before they softened again with a sigh. "Sorry, I don't know about that either. It just...happened. I didn't even realize that I had moved."

Sam actually chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Cas. With the way the two of you stare at each other, I'm really not surprised. You already know what you're getting into with him, and I know I don't have to give you 'the talk'." he didn't have to say it, but his unsaid words were clear; Don't hurt him.

"I understand." Castiel said and reached for the door handle and held the door open for his friend. "I would rather go back to Purgatory than hurt him." he said softly, but Sam heard and gave him a pat on the back as he went by.

"Guys, back here!" Dean called and waved them over to the booth he found for them, a large soda already in front of him. "What took you so long?"

Castiel said nothing as he slid into the seat across from Dean and Sam sat beside his brother.

"We were just making sure that guy wasn't going to follow after you. He is really determined to get into your pants." Sam said with a laugh and continued to do so when Dean grumbled.

"That guy is way too handsy. I don't see how he is holding his job if he gropes people right in the hospital."

At Castiels confused look, Sam added, "He works on the floor where the kids were attacked. He literally cornered Dean yesterday in the hall."

"Dude, he was trying to friggen jump me in the hall! If Betty had not seen him, then I would have had to put him on the floor. Some people just don't understand personal space." he saw Castiel flinch at the words and he looked away uncomfortably. Dean drank some of his soda as an awkward silence fell over them.

"Anyway," Sam said and cleared his throat, "After we eat I am going to go back to the hospital and check in. It's been quiet today so far, but that doesn't mean whatever is attacking the kids is gone."

Twenty minutes later and they all had their food. Dean and Castiel had burgers while Sam had got his usual salad. Dean commented that rabbit food had no place in a burger joint, or anywhere else for that matter, before he was distracted by his burger. Technically, Castiel did not need to eat but he had grown fond of doing so. He had figured out how to turn down his sense of taste so that it was more than molecules, especially when he loved burgers as much as Dean did. He made a sound of appreciation as he bit into it, but nowhere near as pornographic sounding as Deans always did.

Dean was almost suspiciously quiet this time eating and Castiel wondered if it had anything to do with how he'd stared yesterday while the hunter ate. Their eyes locked for a long moment before Castiel smiled and held up his own burger and took another bite of it. Then he felt something hit his arm and looked down to see that when he'd bitten his burger, barbeque sauce had squirted out the bottom and down his arm. He stared at it for a moment before bringing his arm up and licking the sauce off, going from almost the bend of his elbow all the way to his wrist.

Dean had stopped eating and was staring at him, while Sam had got up from the table and made a hasty retreat. He had finished his food and did not need to stick around. The hunter continued to watch with wide green eyes as Castiels tongue worked to clean the remainder of the barbeque sauce from his fingers. He stopped when he felt eyes on him and felt his cheeks heat at the look Dean was giving him.

Dean had only seen Castiels cheeks color a few times, and even then it was only slightly. This time it was a full on blush and he found it adorable. Apparently his body also liked the show Castiel was putting on unaware and Dean shifted in his seat a bit, half hard just from the other licking sauce off his arm and fingers.

"Good, huh?" Dean said, unsure of what else to say as he was also embarrassed. He went back to eating after Castiel did the same and nodded.

They finished their lunch in silence and Dean only groaned again when he was told they were out of pie for desserts, but would he like cake? Castiel didn't see much of a difference since they were both sweet, but the hunter looked at him like he was crazy. Dean then went on a rant about how different the two desserts were and how nothing was as good as pie. When Castiel suggested putting cake into a pie crust, Dean had called him a blasphemer and paid for their food, shooting the angel looks as the other looked at him in confusion. Finally, Dean broke into laughter as they left the restaurant.

"One of these days I need to take you out just so you can try a bunch of different foods, especially different pies!" Dean had put a hand on Castiels shoulder as they went out the door and he gave it a squeeze. "You may as well do something enjoyable here while you are taking a break from your angel stuff."

"I enjoy spending time with you, Dean." Castiel said in complete serious, his head tilting to the side a bit. He turned to face the hunter so he could look up at him, putting them close together since Dean was still holding his shoulder. "What we do already is enough as long as I can be by your side."

Deans lips moved wordlessly, unsure of what to say to that. He felt his cheeks heat a bit and he could not stop his gaze from dropping to Castiels mouth. His eyes then moved down his neck and to his chest, the shirt he wore being just tight enough that Dean could make out his muscles underneath. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and he wondered for a moment if the angel could hear it.

"Dean? Did I say something wrong?"

Dean finally let go of Castiel and moved away, heading for his car a few parking spots away. "Nope." he laughed and slid into the drivers seat. He looked out at Castiel who still stood where he was, frowning. "You coming, Cas?"

Castiel nodded and quickly joined the hunter in the car. As they drove off, he continued to watch the hunter with a slight frown on his face. His thoughts were a jumbled mess trying to understand what was going on between them, if anything. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

Every now and then Dean would look at him before quickly looking away, his tongue darting out to lick his lips which would immediately cause the angels attention to drop to the hunters mouth. Finally, Castiel tore his gaze away from Dean to look out the windows, trying to figure out where they were heading.

"Since Sam is already at the hospital, we're going to head to the local college. There is a professor there that may be able to help us with finding out more about the Sandman."

It was about an hours drive to the college from where they were and the time passed in a comfortable silence. Dean was still surprised that Castiel hadn't flown off yet, but he knew the angel couldn't stay around for too long. He would just enjoy it until the angel had to go. When they pulled up in front of one of the buildings, Dean got out and stretched, then watched as Castiel did the same.

"Let me do the talking, Cas. No offence, but you are too serious and blunt and tend to freak people out when you ask weird questions." Dean said with a grin as they moved to the doors.

"Understood." he said with a nod, but frowned. "It would be faster if I just looked into her mind to see what she knows. She also would not be able to lie."

"Yeah, but it's better if people like her didn't know that monsters and things like you didn't exist." Dean said as he yanked open the door and entered, pausing when he realized Castiel wasn't following. "Cas?"

"Things like me...I can see how knowing that angels exist could cause trouble. But you make it sound like I'm as much of a monster as what you are hunting."

Dean replayed what he had said and turned to face the angel, "Shit Cas, you know I didn't mean it like that. I'm more of a monster than you are."

"Dean, you're not-"

"Come on, we're wasting time." Dean turned back around and headed off into the building before Castiel could finish speaking. The hunter may not run from demons, but he ran from emotional things.

The building was mostly empty as it was after class hours, though a few students wandered the halls talking to each other, comparing notes, or studying in the library in the center of the building. The office they wanted was on the top floor and was occupied by Dr. Rose Gillis, English and mythology teacher.

The office was impressive. Bookshelves lined the walls, every space covered and causing the shelves to bow under their weight. There were some maps pinned up around the room as well as piles of them in containers off to the side. A lounge chair sat of to the side with a lamp under it telling them that the owner often spent a lot of time in this room reading. The smell of old books caused Deans nose to twitch and he couldn't help but think of how much Sam would love to be here. He was such a nerd.

The woman who sat behind a large mahogany desk had long blond hair, brown eyes and a curvy figure. Her legs were long and toned, probably a runner, and a smile that lit up the room. A pair of thin, wire frame glasses sat on her nose but she slid them up when they entered the room. Her red blouse was unbuttoned enough to give a peak of breasts and the black skirt was tight and hit just above her knees. Dean had a feeling there were a lot of males in her classes just so they could see her as much as possible. He knew he'd be staring were he in her class.

"Are you going to come in and sit or just stand there staring?" Her voice was smooth and pleasant, surprising him a bit. He would have thought her voice to be higher to go with her appearance. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get right to the topic. I prefer not to dance around and make small talk when I have other things I need to get finished."

"Yeah, thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Dr. Gillis." Dean said as he sat down in one of the chairs at her desk, Castiel taking the second seat. "I was told that you were the one to go to for anything mythology related. I was hoping that you could tell us what you know about the Sandman? I mean, other than what we hear in the bedtime stories."

Her brown eyes looked him over before they moved on to examine Castiel. Her eyes lingered a bit longer on him before she turned back to Dean, a single eyebrow raised in question. She got up from her chair and moved over to one of the many bookshelves that lined her walls, then pulled a large tome off her shelf and started flipping through it. With how gently she was turning the pages, it was obvious to tell how old the book was.

"Other than the bedtime stories, there is not much on Sandman." she carried the book back over to the desk where she set it down open between the men. "There have been theories that there is a dark side to him, or maybe a brother, that is evil. He goes after the naughty children and rips their eyes out to bring back to his nest to feed to his own children on the moon."

"What, does he make jelly out of the eyes or something?" At Castiels confused look and the doctors frown he added, "Nevermind." Dean leaned in to take a closer look at the book and flipped to the next page. The picture was of a monster tearing someone apart and eating him. "Whoa, what's this one?"

Dr. Gillis leaned closer to the book, putting a hand on Deans shoulder to brace herself as she leaned over him. "There is another tale that says the Sandman puts his victims to sleep before he eats him. In the descriptions he sounds more skeletal and has sharp teeth whereas in the bedtime stories he is always described as an old man."

Dean turned his head slightly to look at her and found her looking back at him. While she had been speaking, she had turned just enough to press one of her breasts into his arm and her fingers pressed into his skin. She smiled slowly as they held each others gaze and he got her silent offer. While she was normally his type and he wouldn't hesitate to go after her, for some reason he was not feeling the urge to. His body wasn't even reacting to her.

"Why would someone in charge of making people fall asleep and bring them dreams want to kill them?" This time Castiel cut in and his blue eyes were locked on the woman. He seemed a bit angry. "Do these stories mention anything about trapping or stopping him?"

Dr. Gillis frowned as she moved away from Dean, as if she suddenly remembered they were not alone in the room. She moved to stand beside the desk and leaned against the edge, arms crossing over her chest which only pushed her bust up more. Enough buttons were undone on her blouse to make it hard to looks elsewhere.

"Nothing that I've read or heard about say anything about stopping or trapping him. Considering how hard it was just to find these other versions of the stories, I think that if the Sandman were real, that it was not something that happened often." When she turned her attention from Dean to Castiel, she startled. It felt like his blue eyes were piercing right into her soul and it made her uneasy. Wanting to get away from it, she moved around to her side of the desk to sit back down in her chair. She saw him smirk but it was so quick she thought she imagined it. "Was there anything else I could do for you?"

"No, if that is all you know, then we are done here." Castiel again surprised Dean by speaking out, then he was standing and moving behind Dean. "Let's go."

As Castiel waited for Dean to hurry up and stand, his eyes did not leave the doctors. While she had retreated for the moment, he knew that she was very interested in Dean, he couldn't blame her, but he was not going to let her get her claws into him. He knew he was acting like a jealous lover, but he could not stop himself.

Dean gave the woman an embarrassed smile as he got up from his seat. "You've told us more than what we already knew, so it was a help." he could feel the air practically crackling with energy as Castiel stood behind him. He looked over his shoulder at the angel but the other man did not notice, he was too focused on trying to kill the doctor with his gaze alone.

"Well, if you decide you want to talk again, you know where to find me." she replied calmly as if she were not being intimidated by an angel. "It doesn't even have to be work related." her words were suggestive and Castiel had to give her credit for being so bold and not backing down.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Castiel grabbed Deans arm and practically dragged him down the hall. As he did so, he looked over his shoulder to see the woman laughing a bit. He started to wonder if she had just been teasing him, but then shook his head. He'd seen the interest in her eyes and the way she'd pressed herself to Deans side to point out things in the book.

When they made it outside, Dean yanked his arm away and glared at him.

"Dude, what the hell was that about?"

Castiel looked at the hunter for a moment before he turned away with a shrug. "She told us what she knew and there was no further reason to be there. We need to figure this out, so why waste anymore time with her? If you stayed longer to talk, she would have asked you to get drinks. Then you would have wasted even more time."

Dean just looked at him. Then really looked at him before a slow smirk appeared. "Is that what all the glaring in there was about? You were afraid I'd ditch you and go out with her?" he felt like his chest was going to burst at the thought of Castiel trying to scare away anyone interested in him. "Were you jealous of her, Cas?"

Castiel moved to the car and stood outside the passenger door. "Jealousy had nothing to do with it. We are working on an important job. Any unnecessary delays could mean more attacks. I do not wish for more children to be hurt."

Dean narrowed his eyes a bit and walked over to stand in front of Castiel, putting him between himself and the car. "Oh really? So if I said that I needed a break from the job for a bit and went back in there, you wouldn't be upset?"

"If you really want to take a break from this job, then that is your choice. More attacks could happen, but it is none of my business who you have sex with." Castiel shot a glare up at the doctors window as if he could see her. A curtain moved, a sign that she had, in fact, been watching them. When his eyes turned back to Dean, they were angry. "Go ahead if you want to so badly."

Dean frowned as he looked down at Castiel. "Even if she had offered, I would have turned her down." he saw hope flash in the blue eyes and he couldn't help but smirk a bit. "You are right that this job is too important to take a break from. I'm not heartless you know."

Castiel stared up at him with wide eyes, unbelieving what he was hearing. "I have known you for years and I have never seen you walk away from a willing women, even if you were on the job. Had I not been there, she probably would have climbed right into your lap." This said with a growl. His head tilted and he blinked a few time. "I am glad to hear that you are making an exception since children are involved."

That was not the real reason he would have turned down the offer, but Dean did not bother to correct him. "Right, now that we have that cleared up, we should probably get going."

As Dean started to turn away, Castiel grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the car. Before Dean could get so much as a word out, the angel was kissing him. Deans whole body went rigid before he slowly relaxed, sighing into the other mans mouth, deepening the kiss. Their tongues clashed in a battle for dominance and eventually Dean gave in with a moan. Castiels tongue left no spot of his hunters mouth unexplored and while he kissed him, one of his hands held Deans pinned to the car, while the other was buried in his hair to keep him from moving away. Dean couldn't stop himself from rocking his hips against the leg between his own, a soft whimper escaping his throat while his free hand curled into Castiels shirt.

His brain had short circuited and he was moving on instincts now. Everything around him vanished and the only thing that registered was Castiel pressed against him and where their mouths were connected. A tremble ran through his body as he continued to be dominated by the angel and not a single cell of him wanted to object to that.

When the kiss finally broke, Dean slowly opened his eyes and stared down at Castiel, feeling a bit dizzy and panting. He was half hard just from that kiss, that amazing, mind blowing kiss, and because of the jeans Castiel wore, he knew the other was in the same state. The angel had not moved away even a centimeter.

"Cas?" his breath came out in a whisper and his tongue came out to run across his lower lip.

At the sound of a door closing, Deans eyes snapped over to the building and he saw Dr. Gillis standing there. She was looking at them with a raised brow and a smirk and Castiel was glaring at her again. Dean felt his face go red at being caught and he tried to wiggle away from Castiel but the man held him firm against the car with his body.

She raised her hands in surrender before making her way to her car and leaving. Once gone, Castiel let up on Dean and took a half of a step backwards. His own breathing was uneven and he had not expected his body to react the way it had. He also had not planned on kissing him quite like that, but when Dean melted against him, he couldn't hold back. When he looked up at the hunter, he was smirking.

"I just wanted to make sure that she knew you were not interested. She has been watching us since we came outside." Castiel took another step away from Dean and then looked at him like he was waiting for something. "Dean, I cannot get in unless you move."

The hunter just stood there, leaning against the car, while he tried to process what had just happened. His heart was still beating at the rate of a rock song and his lower body was waiting for things to continue. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down, something that was hard when the angel was still so close. Finally, he moved away but kept his eyes locked on the shorter male as he got into the driver side and Castiel got into the passenger seat.

"You didn't need to do that. I told you that I would have told her no if she had asked." he muttered, his face still hot from embarrassment. He avoided looking at the other while he dug his keys out of his pocket and started up the car.

"I thought that would be the best way to keep her from pursuing you." the angel said then frowned. "Was it unpleasant? With the way you reacted, I thought you were enjoying it, but if I was wrong, then I am sorry."

Unpleasant? Was he seriously that dense? If they had not been interrupted, he had no doubt that one of them would have been bent over the hood of his car. Dean groaned and let his head fall forward to hit the steering wheel.

"Cas, you're killing me here." He held up his hand to keep the other from saying more, instead turning his attention to the road. "Let's just get back to the motel and see if we missed anything."