Title: The Trenchcoat Avenger of Truman High

Author: rons_pigwidgeon

Pairing: Dean Winchester/Castiel, Dean Winchester/Others, Castiel/Others, Sam Winchester/Jessica Moore

Rating: NC17

Warnings: Masturbation, Underage Drinking, Phone Sex, Anal Fingering, Anal Plug, Anal Sex, Sex Toys, Blow Jobs in a Car, Car Sex, Sex in the Impala, Bathroom Sex, Hand Jobs, light dom/sub play, Homophobic Language, Homophobia, Homophobic language (way to be a dick, John), canonical character death

Chapter Summary: Time passes. And then canon happens.

Author's Note: I keep forgetting to archive chapters on this site. I apologize. I also am sorry this chapter took so long. I thought the chapters would be easier to write once canon got involved, but it's actually harder. I can't tell you how many times I have re-watched Dead in the Water to write this chapter. I had a similar problem with chapter 16, but I've talked it over with my beta and think I have a solid plan for how the rest of the story is going to go. Chapter 16 has come back from beta and will hopefully be posted this Sunday after some tweaking.

This chapter contains dialogue taken directly from Supernatural, Season 1 - Episode 3: "Dean in the Water"
Writing Credits: Eric Kripke (creator), Sera Gamble (writer), & Raelle Tucker (writer)
Transcript Used: . ?title=1.03_Dead_in_the_Water_(transcript)

Thank you to my beta, tackygoldring, for helping me with this chapter. You were beyond patient with me, and I will be forever grateful for that.

Dean's phone starts ringing, and he snatches it up from Sam's hand before his brother can answer it. "Hello?"

"Are you still going to Wisconsin?" Cas asks.

"Driving through Iowa right now. Why?"

"It's Memorial Day weekend, and the campus is already shut down."

Dean grins. He'd forgotten about the holiday weekend. Easy to do when you don't work. "Memorial Day weekend, huh? We'll be there in…" He checks the mile marker. "Three hours?"

"I'll still be at the library."

"Awesome. Angela working?"

Cas sighs. "Yes. No flirting."

"'Course, babe, no flirting. We'll see you soon."

"Wait, we? Who's with you?"

Dean glances at Sam, who's looking at him like he can't believe what he's hearing. "Sam's with me. I'll uh… I'll explain when we see you."

"Dean, you didn't do what I think you did, did you? Sam's supposed to be at school. What happened?"

"I told you, we'll talk about it when we get there. Get back to work. I'm sure there's some college girl waiting around the Latin section, just dying to ask you how to translate fuck into five languages."

"Dean–"

"I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yes, fine. Three hours." Dean turns the phone off and tosses it to Sam, who is still looking at him like he's an alien.

"What?"

"Was that… Cas?" Sam asks in the same voice he might use to ask if they were hunting a unicorn.

"Yeah, so?"

"Are we… picking him up? You're still seeing him?"

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

"No, I guess I'm just surprised, is all. You've never exactly been the relationship type."

"Yeah well, it's Cas."

Sam's side of the car is silent for a while. Dean glances over to check on him, and finds him staring at the dashboard like it'll give up the secrets to the universe if only he stares long enough. It's another minute before he speaks again. "Wait, we're picking Cas up? I thought we were on a hunt."

"We are. Cas won't mind."

"Does Cas know?"

Dean bites his lip and prepares for whatever shit storm Sam's about to throw at him. "Yeah."

"You told him the secret?! Our big family rule number one. We do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half, I did nothing but lie to Jessica, and you just tell Cas like it's nothing? What the hell, man?"

Dean keeps his eyes on the road. "Looks like."

Sam is not dropping this no matter how much Dean wants him to. "What the hell, Dean? That's Dad's number one rule. Don't tell civilians."

Dean sighs, rubs the bridge of his nose. "Look, I didn't have a whole lot of choice, okay? I went to him looking for you when you ran off to Standford, and he gave me that… look of his, and I just… I couldn't do it anymore. You think lying for a year and a half is bad? I lied to Cas for five years. Five. Even after he'd met Bobby, traveled with us, heard me talking to Dad about hunts a bunch of times. And I still lied to him. Even when he was interrogating me. So I broke finally. Sue me."

Sam is quiet for a while, too quiet. Dean glances over, and Sam's staring at the dash, but he doesn't look like he's really seeing it. "So he's known for four years now? How did he react?"

Dean smiles a little at the memory. "He was cool with it. Like, really cool. He didn't even blink, just went with it."

"Really? He didn't freak out or anything?"

"No, not at all. He said it made sense. The one time his freaky religious family did me a favor, I guess." Dean shrugs and glances at Sam. He's just sitting there, dumbfounded, staring out the window like he can't figure out how sunlight works. Dean lets him figure it out on his own.

"Does Dad know he knows?" he asks eventually.

"Doesn't matter now, does it? We gotta find him first, then maybe I'll think about telling him about Cas."

Whether or not Sam agrees, he shuts up after that. Dean turns the music back up, happy knowing he's about to see his favorite person. The rest he can worry about later.

"So, you haven't told Cas anything about what's been going on?" Sam asks as they walk towards Regenstein.

"He gets all... I don't know, concerned. He can't help right now, and I didn't want him to do something stupid like quit his job and try and come with us."

"You realize he's going to be pissed at you, right?"

"Oh, I know, Sammy, but he's gonna get over it, and then we're gonna have awesome make-up sex. And believe me, Sammy, whatever make-up sex you've had doesn't even compare to Cas."

Sam makes a bitch face. "Thanks for that visual."

Dean pulls the front door in his face and leaves him on the side-walk. Sam scrambles after him, staring around like he's never been inside a library before. "Don't ask then, dude. Hey, Phil, what's up?" Dean high-fives Phil, and turns to Sam. "Phil, this is my little brother, Sammy. Sammy, this is Phil."

Phil looks Sammy up and down and raises an eyebrow. "Not much little about him, is there?"

Dean laughs, slapping Phil on the shoulder. "You got that right. So, where's the Nerd King?"

"Languages, as usual. Careful, though. He's got a grad assistant sniffing around him like a dog on a bone."

Dean glances over at Sam. "Does he? Guess I'll be taking care of that while I'm here. Come on, Sam, let's go find Captain Trenchcoat. Try not to drool on any of the books." He sees Sam rolls his eyes out of the corner of his eye as he walks away from the security desk and leads Sam up the two flights of stairs to Languages. He finds Angela in Cas' place at the reference desk, her dark hair cut into a short pixie. She's pretty enough that it doesn't make her look like a dude, which is good. "Hello there, beautiful. I like the new haircut."

"Dean, hi, thank you." She blushes and rubs the shaved hairs on the back of her neck. "Castiel said you would be coming to pick him up. Who's this?" She eyes Sam up and down like he's a piece of grade A steak.

"This is Sammy, my little brother. Sammy, this is Angela. She works under Cas." He pauses, raises an eyebrow at her as he leans an elbow on the counter. "But not under him under him, right, Angela?"

"Right, of course not." Her blush deepens as she glances up at Sam from under her lashes.

Sam smiles at her. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"So, where's Cas, then? Do I need to rescue him from under a pile of German books again?" Dean asks.

Angela blinks at him before answering. "He's helping a grad student, I think."

Dean straightens. "Not the grad student who has the hots for him."

"Um… well… he asks him an awful lot of reference questions…"

Dean tries to remind himself that Cas is his no matter what else is going on, but he still breaks the pencil he'd been playing with. Angela smiles hesitantly at him and throws the broken pieces away. "If it helps, Castiel never talks to him about anything but research. And he was very happy when he got off the phone with you earlier."

"Thanks, Ang." He looks down the nearest stack, hoping to see a glimpse of Cas, but there's nothing to look at but rows of books and a stray step stool. He turns back, smirking. "So, any cute undergrad snap you up yet?" he asks, leaning closer to her. Her cheeks turn fire engine red. She only manages to stammer for almost a minute before they're interrupted by a talking pile of books, attached to khaki pants and a very familiar argyle sweater.

"I know I told you not to flirt with my assistant, Dean."

"Well, you weren't here yet. Who was I supposed to flirt with, Melville?" The nervous pimple-faced page stares at Dean with terror-filled eyes before scurrying off with a cart full of books to re-shelve.

"You were supposed to wait patiently like an intelligent human being," Cas informs him, setting the tall stack of books he'd been carrying on the counter. "Hello, Sam. It's possibly good to see you. You've gotten… astonishingly tall."

"Hey, Cas," Sam says, smiling awkwardly.

"Why is it only possibly good to see Sam? You love Sam," Dean asks, frowning. The look Cas gives him makes him immediately regret opening his mouth.

"I am always pleased to see Sam, except that he is currently supposed to be finishing his fall finals for his final year at Stanford. Instead, he is at my library. With you. What did you do?"

Dean sighs, glances at Angela. Cas looks at her as well and smiles warmly at her. "Angela, could you please excuse us for a moment? We are going to be in my office. Tell anyone looking for me that I am in a meeting, please." Angela nods, looking curiously between him and Dean. "And if you hear yelling, know that it is just me murdering my boyfriend for incessant stupidity. There will be no need to call Phil." Cas picks up the huge stack of books, carefully balancing them as he navigates around the desk and leads Dean and Sam to a small office at the back. As soon as the door closes, Dean knows he's in deep shit.

Cas drops all his books on the desk, spilling half of them in a spray across the surface. His lips are white with how hard he's clenching them together, and the look he turns on Dean could whither a rose garden. "Explain. Now."

Dean starts talking fast, explaining what happened in the calmest way he can without upsetting Sam, who's standing awkwardly behind Dean and looking like he'd like to be anywhere but in this room. Dean is abruptly stopped by a hand in front of his face.

"Just a moment. Are you telling me that your brother lost the most important person in his life aside from you, and you thought it was a good idea to lie to me about it? For an Entire. Month?"

Dean doesn't even have a good answer. He hangs his head and sighs. Castiel ignores him, turns to Sam. "I am very sorry for your loss, Sam. I can't imagine what you might be going through right now. If there is anything you need, please tell me." He rounds the desk and gives Sam a hug. Dean takes note of the misty look of Sam's eyes as he hugs back. When Cas pulls back, he rounds on Dean again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to get all worried. It's not like you could do anything about it."

"That isn't the point. We promised that we would be honest with each other not matter what, and you broke that promise. How do I know you're ever telling me the truth?"

"Didn't lie to you. I just didn't tell you. Not the same thing."

Castiel glares at him, but doesn't say anything. Eventually, Sam clears his throat. "I'm uh… just gonna go find some coffee. I'll uh… be back in a bit." He disappears, leaving the two of them alone. Castiel starts straightening up the books, his mouth set in a hard line.

"Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad. There's, you know, a lot going on. With Dad missing and everything that happened with Sam's girl, I didn't need you worrying on top of all of it."

"I understand that you are having a difficult time right now, but do you know what could have helped that?"

Dean has no idea, but he has a feeling he's about to get yelled at again.

"Talking about it. With me."

"Yeah, well, I didn't, okay?"

Cas gives him a look. "I need to get back to the desk, finish up for the day. I have another half an hour before I can leave."

"I guess I'll go find Sammy then, grab something to drink. You want anything?"

"No, thank you." He walks out of the office without another word.

Dean sorts through his box of ids until he finds the right ones and slaps one against Sam's chest. "We're going to go and talk to the sheriff," he tells Cas.

"I will find us lodging. Call me when you're done."

"'Kay." Dean leans in for a kiss, but Cas blithely slips from his grasp with the car keys and slides into the driver's seat with a wave to Sam.

Sam is laughing as he pulls away. "Wow, you're really in it."

"Shuddup." Dean smacks his brother over the head just before they reach the doors of the station. The interview goes about as well as can be expected when they haven't done their research on the town beforehand, at least until a gorgeous woman walks into the office.

"Sorry, am I interrupting? I can come back later."

The sheriff introduces her as is daughter as they stand, and Dean goes immediately to shake her hand. Like he's going to resist flirting with a beautiful woman, Cas mad at him or not. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean."

"Andrea Barr, hi,"

"They're from the wildlife service. About the lake," the sheriff explains, and the hesitant way he says it, combined with her reaction puts Dean on alert. The sullen little boy who peeks out from behind Andrea distracts him, though.

"Oh, hi there, what's your name?" he asks. The little boy shies away and Andrea follows him.

"His name is Lucas," says the sheriff.

"Is he okay?" Sam asks, but Dean already knows the answer. He recognizes the look. As the sheriff shows them out and offers his help, Dean takes a chance to talk more to the daughter. Sam's gonna think he's flirting, but he doesn't care.

"Hey, now that you mention it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?"

"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner and it's two blocks up," Andrea supplies. She has a pretty smile.

Dean smiles back, the smile that usually gets him laid by sweet girls like this one. "Would you mind showing us?"

She laughs. "You want me to walk you two blocks?"

"If it's not any trouble."

She looks at him like he's lost his mind, but shrugs. "I'm headed that way anyway." She says goodbye to Lucas and they're out on the sidewalk a moment later.

"So, cute kid," Dean tries.

"Thanks."

"Kids are the best," he tries again, but even he knows he sounds like an idiot.

They cross the street and stop on the sidewalk. Andrea points across another street. "There it is. Like I said, two blocks."

Dean can already see the Impala parked out front of the motel she points to across the street. "Thanks," Sam says.

Andrea turns and squints up at Dean. "It must be hard for someone with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pick-up line." Dean is struck dumb as she walks away.

"Kids are the best? You don't even like kids. Are you trying to get Cas to kill you?" Sam says as they watch her walk away.

"I love kids," Dean says, offended.

"Name two kids you even know."

Dean raises his eyebrows and holds up a hand, starts counting. "Phillip, Thomas, Jacob, and Claire."

Sam scoffs at him. "And who are they?"

"Cas' family."

"Right," Sam mutters, shaking his head.

Dean smacks Sam in the arm and walks away towards the motel. "Like you know any…" he mutters under his breath.

Castiel follows silently behind as they make their way over to a bench where a pretty brunette is sitting alone. He doesn't recognize her, but he does see the boy from the newspaper article a few yards away coloring on a bench. As Sam greets her, Castiel watches Dean's eyes travel to the boy and stay there. Dean goes off to 'say hi', and Cas settles on the bench next to Sam. The woman rolls her eyes. "Tell your friend this whole Jerry McGuire thing's not gonna work on me," she says to Sam.

"I don't think that's what this is about," Sam says, eyes following Dean. They all watch for a moment as Dean crouches next to the boy, talks to him, plays with his army men. When he starts coloring, the woman speaks again.

"Who's your friend?"

Sam looks over at Castiel, who offers her a smile. "This is Castiel."

"You from the Wildlife Service, too?"

"No, I'm a librarian. I'm just visiting for the long weekend."

The woman looks confused, so Sam clarifies for her. "Cas is Dean's boyfriend."

Her eyebrows nearly reach her hairline as Cas nods in confirmation. "Oh… I, I'm sorry. I was thinking… I don't know what I was thinking," she says, laughing awkwardly and glancing down at her skirt.

"Whatever you were thinking was probably valid," Castiel feels the need to tell her. "Dean cannot resist the urge to flirt with anything that stands still long enough."

Andrea looks back over to where Dean is now coloring with the boy. "Do either of you know why he wants to talk to my son?"

Sam looks like he is about to answer, but Castiel speaks first. "Despite his appearances, Dean is extremely good with children and cares a great deal about their well-being." Sam gives him a skeptical look. Castiel shrugs. "You've never seen him with Claire."

"Claire?" Andrea asks.

"My littlest sister. Dean did very well to bring her out of her shell and make her feel comfortable when she had no experience talking to strangers outside her church community." Castiel looks over to Dean, just standing up. He stands to meet him and the other two stand as well.

"I hope he has the same effect on my son," Andrea says as they watch Dean leave his picture with Lucas and walk towards them. "Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident."

"Yeah, we heard. I'm sorry," Dean says.

Andrea nods with a forced smile.

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asks.

"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress."

"That can't be easy. For either of you."

"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..."

Sam and Dean exchange a look. Castiel can recognize the shared history between them, the knowledge of what they'd had to witness as children. Dean's only told him parts of it, and he guesses not even the most difficult ones.

"Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with," Dean assures her. Behind her, Castiel can see the boy getting up, a piece of paper in his hand.

"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish—" She is cut off by her son entering their circle. Castiel smiles at him, trying to be encouraging.

"Hey sweetie," Andrea says.

Lucas hands Dean the picture without saying anything. Castiel can see the imagine of a house. "Thanks. Thanks, Lucas," Dean says. Lucas walks back to his bench. None of them know what to say. Eventually, Castiel grabs hold of Dean's jacket sleeve. They make their exit.

"Poor kid," Dean mutters. He wraps an arm around Castiel's shoulders, shows him the picture. Castiel allows it, still unhappy with Dean, but willing to overlook it for the time being.

Castiel is reading a lore book on water demons, looking for something to help with the case, when Dean sits on the bed next to him. "You don't have to work the case, Cas. Sam and I got it," he says, starting to pull the book out of Castiel's lap. Cas holds it firm.

"Three pairs of eyes are better than two, and I'm here. I might as well help."

"Let's give it a rest for a little while. Sammy's out. Haven't seen each other since Halloween…" He presses a kiss to Castiel's neck, leaning into him. Castiel shrugs him off.

"No thank you," he says, keeping his eyes on the book.

Dean backs off, but his annoyance is a palpable thing. "You're really not letting this go, are you?"

"You lied to me and kept me out of an important part of your life. It is going to take longer than a day for me to get over it."

Dean stands, goes over to the table and chairs in the corner and flops down with an audible WOOSH of the ancient upholstery. "Then, why'd you come with us? What's the point of being here if you're just gonna be mad at me the whole time."

Castiel throws a glare at him. "Because even angry with you, I would rather spend time with you than not."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Would you rather I get on a bus and go back to Chicago, then? Since it's now obvious that I'm not going to fuck you?" He's starting to think maybe that wouldn't be a terrible idea himself. He knows Dean doesn't see him that way, but anger is a powerful motivator.

Dean looks stricken at his words. "Now hold on, when have I ever treated you like you were just sex to me?"

Castiel reins in his sour look for the moment, aware that his last comment was probably out of line. "You haven't."

Dean gets up again, walks over to him. He pulls the book off Castiel's lap and drops to his knees in front of him, resting his hands where the book had just been. "Look, I get it. I fucked up. I should have told you about Sam. I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me from what? I've been hunting with you before, Dean."

"And when have I ever been totally okay with that?"

Castiel makes a face. "Never, but you know I can handle myself."

"Yeah, but this… this is different. Ever since Dad left, I've had this feeling, like something big is coming."

"Big?"

"Yeah, like… I don't know. Bigger than we're used to."

Castiel reaches out, runs his fingers through Dean's short hair. "All the more reason for me to be with you, making sure you're safe."

"No, Cas. You need to stay out of this. You're not a hunter. You've got a life, a real one, with friends and a career. That's where you belong, not hunting monsters on a never-ending road trip with me and Sam."

Castiel considers this, stroking a thumb down Dean's cheek. He's right, of course. Castiel's instinct may be to stay with Dean, to want to help, but there isn't much he can actually do. "Let me help with the research, then. I have a Master's degree in research, after all."

"If you want, sure."

"Thank you." He leans down to press his mouth to Dean's, a fissure of warmth sliding through him as Dean leans up on his knees to return the kiss. He pulls away after a minute, turning serious again. "You have to promise me that you will keep me up-to-date with what is happening, though."

"I promise," Dean murmurs, reaching for another kiss.

Cas holds him back, forcing eye contact again. "Even if things get dangerous. Even if you don't want me to get involved. You have to tell me when things happen. I don't want to find out another tragedy happened a month after it's over. You call me, and you tell me. Even if you think I'm going to drop everything to be with you. Even if you think it might get me into danger. Do you understand me?"

Dean hesitates, but a clench of Cas' finger in his hair is enough to have him nodding his head with a frown, eyes darting away. "Yeah, Cas, I'll tell you."

"Good. Now shall we get back to what you were planning to start earlier? Sam's still gone." He gives Dean a wicked grin that earns him an arm full of hunter and his back pressed flat against the bed. He has his hand down Dean's jeans and his hand wrapped around Dean's shaft when they're interrupted by the jangle of a lock and the door opening to the smell of pizza.

"Hope pepperoni's alri—" Sam greets them, only to stop abruptly upon sight of them tangled up together. "So, we're not fighting anymore? I'm not sleeping in the car," he says, putting the pizza box down.

Dean pulls away from Cas with a grumbling sigh and adjusts his pants. Castiel sits up, straightening his own clothes, subtly wiping his hand on the bedspread. "That won't be necessary, Sam. Thank you for bringing dinner." He gets up, heads towards the bathroom to get tissues for napkins and wash his hands. When he returns, Sam is sitting at the table across from Dean, still on the bed, pizza already heading for his mouth. Cas drops a few tissues next to him and goes to occupy the other chair at the table, handing a few more to Sam as he sits.

"You find anything at the library?" Dean asks his brother through a mouth full of pizza.

Sam wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. "No, most of their mythology books were in the Kid's section, mostly fiction. You find anything here?"

"I was unable to find any promising leads in my readings." Cas tells him, gingerly picking up a slice. The cheese is a gooey mess, but the crust is a little rubbery. He resists wrinkling his nose.

"Great. We've got nothing to go on, then," Dean grumbles, scarfing down another piece.

"Perhaps go check the lake out tomorrow again? There might be something you've missed."

Dean and Sam both nod, but they neither looks encouraged by the prospect.

Castiel wakes some time around dawn to Sam getting dressed as quietly as possible. Castiel thinks of maybe letting Sam know that he is awake, but Dean's arm is secure around his waist, and he is too comfortable there to want to disturb him. He waits for Sam to slip out of the room to turn in Dean's arms to look at him, settled and almost peaceful in sleep. Cas lifts a hand to trace along the curve of Dean's nose, across his should go back to sleep, but the prospect of Dean, unguarded and open to Castiel's full attention, is a pull he cannot resist. As angry as he was earlier for having been lied to, he is less surprised by the turn of events than he lets on to. Dean has a history of half-truths and intentional non-disclosure. Castiel knows how protective Dean is, knows that he should feel flattered that Dean would care enough about his well-being to want to shield him from the darkness that runs Dean's life, but it still hurts. It makes him wonder what other secrets Dean has hidden from him, what other half-truths and withheld information lurks in the back of his mind.

Dean shifts in his sleep, pulls Cas closer, nuzzles into his neck. "Go back to sleep," he mumbles, muffled by Castiel's skin.

"Sam left," Cas tells him, combing fingers through the gelled mess of his hair, stroking his thumb over Dean's temple.

"For breakfast?"

"No idea. He didn't know I was awake."

"So, we got time maybe?" Dean's hands flutter down his spine and over his backside, and he leans over to press his mouth to Cas'.

Cas smiles against his mouth, meets his tongue when it prods at his lips. Dean pulls their hips together so that their morning erections rub together, making them both moan. They rock together, slow, lazy. Dean's fingers trail up the seem of Cas' pajamas bottoms, traces the elastic before sliding inside to grab hold of his bare cheek. Slowly, the bottoms shift lower and lower on Cas' hips, until finally his cock is free and Dean wraps his hand around it, rough and dry, but somehow perfect. Cas arches into his hand, kissing him harder, clinging unconsciously to his arm.

Dean nudges Cas onto his back, pulls the pants down lower. He hovers over Cas on his knees, leaning over for a final wet kiss before he begins a journey of opened buttons, teasing tongue flicks, and open-mouthed kisses down Cas' bare chest as he pushes Cas' pajamas top off his shoulders. Cas has to" lift the blankets to watch Dean's final progress to his pelvis, hands pushing his pajamas down further.

"What if Sam comes back?" Cas asks just as Dean licks at the head of his cock.

"He'll deal. He's a big boy," Dean says, focus on Cas' shaft. The way he looks at it remind Cas of the way he looks at pie. Cas groans, dropping his head back against the pillow. He squirms under Dean until Dean gets the hint and sucks the head into his mouth, flashing Cas a wicked look as he does.

"Oh fuck…" Cas mumbles, taking a hold of Dean's hair to encourage him. Dean makes a tiny noise of pleasure and sinks deeper onto Cas' cock, working his tongue against the shaft in a way that sends sparks through Cas.

Dean takes his time, working Cas over until he is nearly blind with pleasure. He feels frazzled and a little out of control by the time Dean introduces a finger into him, flicking it against Cas' prostate just soft enough to make him crazy without quite pushing him over the edge. "Dean…" Cas whines, tugging at Dean's hair.

Dean chuckles around his shaft, pulls off it to lick at the head. "You ready to come, baby?"

"Please…" Cas manages, looking down at him through hooded eyes.

"How could I say no to that?" he crooks his finger inside Cas, pressing hard against his prostate at the same time that he swallows down Cas' entire shaft in one go. Cas loses it, shooting cum down Dean's throat, screaming incoherent please to God.

When he comes back to reality, Dean is wiping cum off his cheek, licking the remainder off his fingers, a wicked smile on his lips. He rests back on his knees, the bed covers pooled around his waist, leaving Castiel's bare skin open to the air. Cas pulls his pants up, vaguely aware that Sam could come back at any moment. Dean leans over to kiss him, planting a hand next to his head. He tastes of cum and morning breath, but it doesn't stop Cas from kissing him back. He reaches down to return the favor only to find a softening cock and boxers wet with cum. "Did you… while I was…?" he manages to ask between kisses.

Dean groans against his mouth. "You're so fucking hot when you come; how could I not?"

Cas strokes his flagging erection through his wet boxers. "Should we shower before Sam gets back?"

"Can we fuck in the shower?"

Cas snorts. Of course he would already be ready for round two. "We'll have to be fast. I don't want poor Sam to have to walk in to you calling my name."

Dean raises his eyebrows as he slides out of bed and tugs Cas with him towards the bathroom. "Who says it's gonna be me calling your name?"

Cas just narrows a look at him, and it's enough.

They manage another round and thorough showers before Sammy gets back, and even though Cas had turned him into a fucking mess in the shower, Dean can say he's more satisfied than he's been in a long time. He should have known it wouldn't last.

"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie," Sam informs them as he bursts in with a coffee carrier and a bag of donuts.

Dean's pulling on his socks on the bed when he bursts in. "What do you mean?" he asks.

Sam sits next to him, handing him a coffee. "I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead."

Dean was not expecting that one. "He drowned?"

"Yep. In the sink." He gives Dean a significant look.

"What the hell?"

"How does that even happen?" Cas asks, peeking his head out from the bathroom where he'd been getting dressed.

"No idea, but it happened." Sam looks just as confused about the situation as Dean feels.

"So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."

"Yeah, but what?" Sam asks.

"I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water...water that comes from the same source."

"The lake?" Cas asks, sitting on Dean's other side.

"Yeah." Dean nods.

Sam shifts, looking eager now that they've got an actual lead. "Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere. This is gonna happen again, soon." Dean stands, shifts over to a chair to pull his boots on.

"And we do know one other thing for sure. We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton."

"Yeah, it took both his kids."

"And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris—Bill Carlton's godson."

"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit." He turns to Cas, watching them without saying a word. "You wanna come?"

"I think I'll just stay here if you don't mind. I can research water wraiths, see if it could be what you're looking for."

"We'll be back then." Dean grabs his keys off the table, and Sam joins him at the door. He lingers in the door as Sam passes him on the way to the car, leans into the door frame. "Don't eat all the donuts while I'm gone," he tells Cas, who smiles and shakes his head.

"Don't get hurt."

Dean knocks on the door frame in farewell and leaves, meeting Sammy at the Impala. They've got work to do.

Later that evening when Sam and Dean get back, they both looked harried and unhappy. "Get packed, we're heading out," Dean tells him as he starts shoving things into his bag.

Cas stands, confused. "Did you kill the monster? I don't understand."

"The sheriff kindly asked us to leave, so we're leaving," Sam informs him, starting to pack as well.

Cas moves to his suitcase, still confused, but willing to do as instructed. "Why did he do that?"

"He figured out we aren't Wildlife agents. It was either get arrested for impersonation or leave town," Dean explains, going to the bathroom to pack up his toiletries.

"That seems extreme. Maybe you should tell him what you think is going on? I heard in town that there was another death?" He'd walked to a diner earlier for lunch, talked to a few of the locals.

"Bill Carlton, yeah. We were there."

Cas turns to Sam, alarmed at this news. "The sheriff doesn't think you were involved, does he? What happened?"

"We tried to talked to Bill this morning, but he wouldn't talk, but Dean figured out that the picture Lucas drew for him was of Bill's house. So we went to talk to Andrea and Lucas. It took a lot of talking to get Andrea to let Dean talk to Lucas, but when he did, Lucas gave him another picture."

Dean comes out of the bathroom with three toiletry bags, tosses one to Sam, hands the other to Cas. "We found the house in the picture, talked to the woman who lives there. Turns out she had a son who disappeared thirty-five years ago. Guess who he was friends with."

Cas narrows his eyes, confused. "How could I possibly know who a child who disappeared thirty-five years ago was friends with?"

"Bill Carlton ," Sam explains.

Castiel begins to understand where they might be going with this. "Do you think he had something to do with his disappearance?"

"Definitely. Why else would the ghost be going after his kids?" Dean says.

"So we go back to Bill's house to talk to him again, but Bill's going onto the lake on his boat when we get there. We tried to get him to turn around, come back to shore, but he ignored us. And then this… thing flung the boat upside down. Bill got caught underneath. Not sure if his neck snapped or he drowned or something in between, but he didn't make it."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Cas reaches out for Dean, slides his hand into Dean's. "I'm sorry you had to see it happen."

Dean shrugs, but he squeezes Cas' hand all the same. "Not the first time we've seen someone die."

Cas nods. "But the sheriff doesn't think you killed him, right?"

"Thankfully, someone else saw Bill go out on his boat before it happened, so we're in the clear," Sam says.

"But the sheriff still wants us gone, so we're gonna be gone," Dean adds, shouldering his bag. "You ready?"

Cas looks around the room to check that he has everything, still a little unsettled. "Yes, I believe so."

"Let's go, then," Sam says, shouldering his own bag and picking up the room key.

"You go drop these off; we'll meet you at the car," Dean says, handing over his own room key and taking Sam's bag from him.

They pack up while Sam walks towards the office and get in the car. Dean is quiet, unusually quiet as they sit there. Cas reaches across the seat and pushes his fingers through the spikes of Dean's hair. "Are you really okay?" he asks, cautious not to upset him.

"Yeah," Dean says with a half-smile, but Cas can tell the smile is forced. He slides over the seats to kiss Dean's cheek and wrap an arm around his neck.

"I love you," he says, because something about the moment makes it feel necessary.

Dean looks up at him, leans over to kiss him, soft and chaste. They pull away when Sam climbs into the back seat, and Cas moves back to his place.

Pulling up to a T-crossing, Dean looks off into the distance, not seeing the green light. Sam grows impatient in the back seat, leans over the seats. "Green. The light's green," he prompts.

Dean gets back into gear, but turns the wrong way, right back towards town. "Uh, interstate's the other way," Sam says. Castiel is also mildly confused, but he can see the tension in Dean's shoulders, a bit of determination on his face. He thinks he might know where this is going.

"I know," Dean says.

"Dean, this job, I think it's over," Sam argues.

"I'm not so sure."

"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest."

"All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?"

"But why would you think that?"

"Because Lucas was really scared." And there it is, the tension in his shoulders. Castiel understands, much better than Sam.

"That's what this is about?"

"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay."

"Who are you, and what have done with my brother?"

Dean glances at Sam, turns back to the road. "Shut up," he mutters.

Cas reaches over to rest a hand on his knee. "I think you're right. Given everything you've told me about this case, and everything we know about that little boy, I don't think its over either."

"And if we get arrested by Andrea's dad for checking up again?" Sam asks.

"Don't worry about it," Dean says.

When they get to Andrea's house, Castiel decides to stay in the car up until the moment the little boy opens the front door with terror on his face. Dean and Sam rush into the house, Lucas leading them out of sight. Castiel gets out of the car and follows after as swiftly as possible. Lucas leads them upstairs to a closed door. There's water everywhere, cascading down the stairs, pooling at the bottom landing, flooding out from under the crack in the door. Castiel pulls the boy out of harm's way, making sure he is shielded from whatever is happening despite his own struggles against Cas' hold.

Sam tries to force the door, doesn't manage it. Dean shoves him out of the way and gives it a hard kick, knocking the lock open and swinging the door open wide. Cas has Lucas far enough out of the way to not be able to see what's happening, but Sam and Dean rush in and the sounds of struggle and sloshing water is loud in the otherwise silent house. Cas can feel water filling his shoes, soaking into the cuffs of his trousers, but he barely notices in the face of keeping Lucas away from the action.

Finally, the splashing and sounds of struggle end with a loud thump and someone-Castiel assumes Andrea-gasping for breath. Dean comes out, eyes focused on Lucas. "She's okay, we got her. Are you okay?" he asks, kneeling to reach Lucas' level and taking hold of his shoulders. Lucas settles when he hears that his mother is safe and nods to Dean. He pulls out of Castiel's arms and pushes past Dean to get into the bathroom. Dean tries to catch him, but Lucas slides away like a wet eel. Castiel and Dean follow, standing in the doorway, watching Sam hold a coughing, gasping naked Andrea while Lucas kneels next to her and holds her hand.

"Are you alright?" Sam asks, looking as shook up as Castiel feels. Dean drapes a towel over her, helps Sam help her sit up. She rubs at her face, nods, looks at the bath with horror. It is dark with some sort of sludge—probably lake water—and looks fairly ominous. Sam and Dean both help her to stand and usher everyone out of the room.

"Let's get as far away from the water source, how about?" Dean says as he herds Lucas out of the bathroom. Castiel closes the door behind them all, and while Sam tries to comfort Andrea, Lucas clings to her side. Cas can recognize the dead, sightless look of her eyes, the fragile way she touches her son's back. Andrea is in shock. Thankfully, Sam sees it, too.

"How about we get you dried off and in bed? Cas, you wanna go find Lucas some pajamas? Dean, you wanna start mopping up?" He gives them both uncertain, half-scared looks, lets Andrea guide him to her bedroom.

Castiel doesn't know what the delicate process of getting a naked woman in shock dressed and into bed might entail, but somehow when he returns with race car pajamas, this is what he sees. He helps Lucas get changed while Sam goes to help Dean with the clean-up. Castiel sends up a prayer that her hardwood floors aren't completely ruined as he helps Lucas climb into bed. He leaves them there, Lucas tucked into his mother's side, watching her while she stares blankly at the wall.

The next morning, Dean and Cas are woken up from what little sleep they managed on the couch by Lucas trying to make breakfast in the kitchen. Cas uncurls from Dean's arms and climbs off the couch, straightening his clothes before realizing that they are wrinkled beyond anything he can do. Dean disappears into the kitchen to help Lucas; Cas goes to find Sam and hopefully check on Andrea. He finds Sam slumped against the wall outside her room, sleeping sitting up. He leans down and shakes Sam's shoulder to wake him.

"Wha…?" Sam peers up at him, wipes the drool from his mouth.

"It's morning. Go get some coffee."

Just then Andrea opens the bedroom door, pajamas rumpled and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Where's Lucas?"

"Downstairs. Dean's helping him make breakfast, I think."

"He probably wanted to bring me breakfast in bed." She smiles, sad, but fond. "He does that when I've had a bad day."

"You doing okay?" Sam asks, standing and straightening himself out.

"I think so. Thank you for saving me." She puts a hand on Sam's arm, forces a smile. Sam pats her shoulder, but doesn't say anything.

"Should we go down?" Cas asks, standing off to the side with his arms wrapped around his waist, feeling as thought he is interrupting a private moment.

"Mmm," Andrea hums, padding towards the hallway on bare feet.

"Afterwards, we should probably talk," Sam says, gentle but firm. It sounds like a suggestion, but Castiel knows it isn't.

Less than an hour later, Sam and Andrea are in the living room talking quietly. Cas thinks he can hear her crying, but he tries not to listen in, focusing on drawing with Lucas at the now-cleared kitchen table. Dean is off searching through Andrea's father's office. Cas tries not to find it odd that her father never came home last night, draws a picture of his family for Lucas.

Lucas gets up from the table, goes over to the sliding glass door and looks out the window. Castiel watches him for a second before getting distracted by Dean walking in from the office with something. He sets it in front Andrea and points at something on the page. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?"

Andrea looks up, brow furrowing. "What?" Her eyes follow Dean's finger, and she says with hesitation. "No. I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures."

Dean looks significantly at Sam. "Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff."

"Bill and the sheriff—they were both involved with Peter," Sam says, looking eager now that they seem to have a lead on what's happening.

Andrea has obviously not picked up what they're talking about. "What about Chris? My dad—what are you talking about?" she asks.

It is then that Castiel sees Lucas reach for the door handle, just as Dean sees the same. "Lucas?" he asks. Castiel gets up to follow him, and the others all follow as well. He leads them to a clearing a few dozen yards from the house and stops on a patch of mossy, soft-looking earth. Behind Castiel, Dean says, "Cas, why don't you take Andrea and Lucas in the house and stay there, okay?"

Castiel wants to protest, but he knows better than to question Dean's instructions in the middle of a hunt. He puts a hand on Luca's shoulder to direct him towards his mother, and the three of them go back to the house. Lucas goes back to drawing a picture of a red bicycle while Cas gets Andrea another cup of coffee.

"What do they think my dad had to do with Chris' accident?" she asks when he sits down across from her.

"I don't think they think he's responsible for the death itself," he says, hesitant to explain further.

"What do you mean? Of course he wasn't responsible. It was an accident."

"You incident last night was no accident. They think the same thing that went after you also went after your husband."

"And what was that?"

Castiel is about to answer when the sound of a car pulling into the driveway distracts them both. They go to the window, see the sheriff's car parked. The sheriff is walking across the yard to where Sam and Dean are digging in the spot Lucas showed them. It is only when the sheriff pulls his gun that either of them move. Castiel is running, not paying attention to anything but getting to Dean's side and getting rid of the gun. He doesn't get within ten yards of Sheriff Devins before the gun is pointed at him. He freezes, holds his hands up.

"Stay where you are," the sheriff snaps. Castiel does as requested, but it's enough of a distraction to allow Sam and Dean to tackle the man. They wrestle the gun away, Dean holding his hands tight behind his back as he tries to buck them both off. "Get off me," he shouts.

"Dad!" Andrea shouts, running up behind Castiel.

"You got one seriously pissed-off spirit, Sheriff," Dean growls. He looks less than pleased.

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does," Sam says, standing and picking the gun up, pulling the magazine out and dropping the bullets onto the grass.

Devins stares at the bullets as they drop. "How do you know that?" he asks in a quieter, less righteous voice.

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton."

"Listen to yourselves, both of you. You sound insane," Devins struggles against Dean and gets an elbow to the ribs for his trouble.

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."

"Dad, is any of this true?"

He sticks his chin up in defiance. "Don't listen to them. They're liars, and they're dangerous."

"Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me," she insists. When he does, she tells him, "Tell me you—you didn't kill anyone."

The sheriff looks at his daughter and visibly deflates. Horror swallows Andrea's desperate expression. "Oh my god."

"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank." Dean exchanges a glance with Sam. Andrea takes a step back, shaking her head. Castiel can see tears brimming at the edges of her eyes. Devins keeps going, trying to reach out for his daughter. "Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational."

"All right, listen to me, all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now," Dean says, getting up. Devins follows him, brushing himself off. A cry from Andrea stops them all in their tracks.

"Lucas!" she cries, taking off for the lake. Cas spots the boy reaching towards the water, perched on the dock. A pale, bluish hand reaches out of the water and pulls him down. Dean and Sam are off like a shot after Andrea.

Dean gets there first, pulls his boots off and his jacket in quick succession. Andrea moves to follow, but he holds a hand up. "Stay on the dock!"

Sam scrambles to get his boots off as well to follow Dean into the lake. "We'll get him! Just stay where you are!" Sam instructs just before jumping in. Castiel reaches her side and takes her hand, terrified himself watching the ghastly visage of a little boy leer at them just at the waterline before he disappears into the water after Dean and Sam.

Andrea clutches Cas' hand, screaming for her son. There is an endless back-and-forth between Sam and Dean, checking with the other before diving back under. Every time one of them disappears under the water, Castiel's heart clenches a little tighter.

He doesn't even notice the sheriff walking into the water until Andrea yells for him. Devins ignores his daughter. "Peter," he says. "Lucas—he's, he's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me," he pleads. Castiel feels hopeless watching the water take him, the little hands pulling him down.

Sam and Dean emerge again, see Jake going under. Both cry out, but it's too late. They both dive under again. An agonizing minute.

Two.

Sam breaks the surface, shaking water from his face and looking around for a sign of either Dean or Lucas. Another agonizing minute passes. Castiel can feel the dark, frantic part of his soul screaming to jump in himself, drag Dean up from the deep, protect his love.

Dean bursts up out of the water, Lucas limp in his arms, both gasping for air. Sam swims to help, both of them struggling with the boy over to the shore. There is no sign of Devins. Castiel and Andrea rush to meet them, Andrea taking her child into her arms and helping him to get his breath bath. Castiel helps Dean and Sam out of the water, helps Dean lay out on the shore. He's so relieved to see Dean alive and unharmed that he can barely contain his need to be close, to curl up with Dean and hold him close. He pressed his forehead to Dean's cups Dean's face in his hands. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you understand me?"

"What, you miss me?" Dean asks, smirking around his panting breaths.

"Assbutt," Cas mumbles before leaning over to kiss him. Dean clings to his shirt, pulling him into Dean's lap and returning the kiss with an urgency that mirrors Cas' own. They pull away slowly, reluctantly, Dean smoothing Cas' hair off his face and getting it wet and messy with pond scum. "I love you," Cas says, needing Dean to hear it, having come so close to his demise.

Dean pets his hair, looks deep into his soul, reaches up and kisses his forehead.