Cas deposits him outside his door when it's still dark. Rubbing his wrists, he slowly turns the knob. He sees Sam's still asleep in the shadows and just as he closes the door quietly he turns around to see Charlie an inch away.

"And where were you, mister?" She whispers. "And where's your shirt?!"

"Shh!" Dean covers her mouth and pulls her outside.

Charlie worms away and whispers,"What's with sneakin' out? Working undercover as a Chip N' Dale or something?"

Before Dean can even remember the excuse he had ready for just this scenario, Charlie whirls her bright red head around.

"Wait.. Wait! Wait! Wait!" She's bouncing a little in place. "You!" She points at Dean. "And him?!" She points straight up at the sky.

"He's not God, Charlie." Dean sounds sarcastic but his mind is racing with how quickly this just happened.

"Well I was gonna flap my arms but that looks too much like a chicken."

He groans and walks down the path a ways and sits on some stairs leading to other rooms above. Charlie follows and hops down on a step below him. Dean's eyes are too big but he doesn't feel the crazy body-numbing panic he felt the first time he freaked with Sam.

"This is so cute!" She says like she can't keep quiet a second longer. Charlie pats his knee. "He's like Spock in a trench-coat. And you're his Kirk! Aww!" She's getting herself too worked up.

"Charlie, I've never hit a girl that wasn't trying to kill me.. but you're pushin' it."

"Oh loosen up! If you can talk to anyone it's me! Please talk to me!" She says over-excitedly. "So which one of you pitches and which one catches?"

"What?! Stop it! We haven't done any pitching or whatever." He's pretty sure his entire chest is flushed at her words.

Charlie blinks and gives him a gentle smile. "But you guys are.. like.." She gestures to his bare chest.

"Yeah, kinda I guess."

"If you have to guess I don't think you're doing it right. Do you need me to have "the talk" with your AngelBoat?"

"Christ Charlie, Shut up."

Even though it was probably the most awkward and embarrassing moment in his life, it was a relief to talk to someone about it. He couldn't tell his little brother yet, but saying it to Charlie was like a stepping stone. Practice. Whatever.

"Okay well does Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dreamy take the lead or.. do you guys switch?"

Dean blushes and looks down.

"Huh.. I always thought you'd be the top.. but it kinda makes sense when I see you two together."

Dean's face gets hard and he doesn't say anything.

"Please stop. I didn't call you a freakin' girl or something. You're not that lucky."

He sucks in a deep breath and blows it out quickly. Might as well get it all out and see where it left him.

"That's not it exactly."

Charlie looked like she was going to fall off her step with excitement.

"Oh?! More than doing the dirty with an angel? Man, where was this in the books?"

"It doesn't talk about me and Cas in those fucking books does it?" Chuck was gone but he would hunt him down in the afterlife if he had to.

"There's a bunch of soulful eye-sex but they stopped before anything spicier. You guys have your own fan base, though. Destiel."

Dean pinches his nose between his eyebrows.

"Anyway, back to the scandal.. I mean stuff you're gonna confide in me."

"Well we're like.. I don't know. He.." Fuck how does he explain this.

"He.." She mimics.

"Well it gets all like.." Ugh.. why couldn't he have just had Cas zap him into the bathroom instead of outside the motel.

Charlie makes a "Come on" motion with her hands.

"Okay well it started with him like helping me through some issues I had by.. um tying me up when I couldn't control myself.."

Her eyes widen and she smiles with her mouth open.

"But then it got where we don't need to anymore and we're still.."

"Ooo!" She giggles getting it, so he doesn't have to keep fumbling.

"So you guys are into that. He goes all 'Down,boy!' "

Dean groans. "Why did I start talking to you, again?"

"Because you love me and know I love you." She sing songs.

Dean stops and smiles.

"Ya know.. Sam does too."

His smile falls, knowing where this is going.

"If you're sneakin' out for some midnight nookie, I'm guessing he's still in the dark."

"He's not gonna understand.."

"He doesn't have to understand. You just gotta tell him you're happy. You are happy?"

Dean looks away but smirks shyly.

"Yeah so.. Man up. Say Sammy.. I sometimes like the sausage."

Dean rolls his eyes and pushes her shoulder. He has to make a grab for her before she falls.

The next morning, they're at an IHop nearby. Waiting for more coffee, Dean keeps thinking about how hot Cas looked on his knees. And though it was uncomfortable and scary as hell at first.. what he did later felt unbelievable. If Cas hadn't had such un-wavering confidence every step of the way, he's pretty sure he could never have done half the things they did. He remembered how Cas said "fuck" and it made him cum around his fingers.

Charlie's making her way through chocolate chip pancakes when she stops to say, "Hey, cool tat! When'd you get that?"

Huh? Shit. He looks down and realizes he was tracing the dark red swirls from where it peeked out from under his watchband. He'd been zoning out.

"Oh, uh a while back. Research and drinking do not mix. Pretty sure it means 'Pie'."

Sam gets up and walks outside without looking back.

Charlie smiles with eyebrows raised but wisely goes back to eating her pancakes.

They say their goodbyes, Dean giving Charlie an extra long hug. "I'll see you guys soon. You still have four and half Potter films to get through." Dean smiles and ruffles her hair like she's 8. "Tell Spock goodbye for me," she whispers in his ear.

Dean tries to go back in and start up a conversation with Sam. He simply rattles off the details for their next case. It's a day's drive and possibly a vampire or two.

"Sam, look.."

"Coroner's report says most of the blood was drained, teeth marks around the wounds. Majority just go missing. Could be a mass grave somewhere."

"Sam I'm trying to talk to you, I.." Sam throws the papers on the bed forcefully.

"No! You're not. You lie and act weird and are gone half the night and don't tell me a damn thing so we're just going to talk about the case or we're not talking at all."

Dean watches him pick the papers back up with his heart in his throat. Should he try now.. with them fighting and he can't think of a word to say. Fuck.

"Sammy.." Dean just looks at him.. he feels like a fish out of water. Gasping.

Sam shakes his head and walks out the door.

Dean waits outside by the Impala as Sam comforts a sobbing mother in her livingroom. They're getting closer to narrowing down where their vamp is hiding. This is the third house they've been at. Sam is taking point with the interviews and Dean is giving him space.

Dammit, he needs to fix this. Tonight. Tonight he'll tell Sam about him and Cas. They'll be able to move on and hopefully be okay again. Dean didn't believe in happy-endings, good fortune, luck or silver linings but right now he was hoping for all of the above. And maybe a set of balls to get him going.

Charlie was right. Sam was his brother and even though they hardly ever said it.. they loved each other. Had died for each other repeatedly. Even if he was shocked to hell and back, once Sam recovered the most Dean would probably have to endure was a life-time of teasing. He wouldn't hate him or some shit. And it had to be better than how they were now. They weren't talking and Sam didn't even want to be in the same room with him if they weren't talking about the case. It wasn't fair to Cas either. Him and Sam had been friends too.. before Sam starting getting the wrong idea and now was openly cold to him.

So that's it. Tonight when they got back to the motel room, he'd man up, hand Sammy a beer and say..

He laughed out loud when he heard Charlie's voice in his head saying "I like the sausage." Well he'd work on the wording. Butterflies were in his throat as he went over and over different approaches.

He jumped when Sam finally opened the car door and got in. "Mrs. Torres says after her daughter went missing, she searched her room and found a flyer for a band playing at a goth club called The Underground. Let's check it out tonight."

Dean nodded, knowing all other attempts at conversation right now would just end with both of them pissed off.

They find the club wedged at the end of a row dark buildings in what looks to be an Industrial District. Once inside, they sit, backs to the bar, and watch the club's ebb and flow. Fake fog clogs the air and dark-clothed youths blend together. Their abundant jewelry winks as the flickering lights hit it.

"Yahtzee." Dean says over the throbbing bass.

They watch a promising slow-moving male lead a young slim brunette towards the back. Her bright red streaks disappear out the door. Following a ways back, the hunters stay in the shadows. The vampire is holding the girls hand like they're sweethearts. Like he wasn't taking her away from prying eyes to suck the life right out of her.. one gulp at a time.

The happy couple disappear through a heavy door at the end of an alley. Dean looks up to see that it's an abandoned, closed down Cigar Factory. He rolls his eyes. Of course. Why the fuck can't their evil lair be in a cute well-lit bungalow or a goddamn ice cream parlor. He hated warehouses and factories and all these big empty buildings that all the bad guys loved so much. Too many places to hide. Too easy to get taken unexpectedly. Too many shadows that were just waiting to pounce.

He felt a quick pickup in his heart-rate and a rush of adrenaline. Steady. Breathe. He followed Sam through the door, gun raised. A syringe full of a dead man's blood in his jacket pocket.

They slip inside as quietly as possible and see... nothing. All the high up windows, that would usually allow moonlight in, have been painted over.

Dean's in the dark. He can't even see Sam in front of him. He hears shuffling from somewhere to his right. Then a quiet so dense he doesn't want to breathe. The back of his neck pricks. Something is very wrong. More wrong than being trapped in the dark with a vampire.

A shoulder brushes by his and he whirls.

"Sam? he whispers.

"Yeah?" he hears from back behind him.

Oh. Fuck.

More shuffling from closer.

"We need light. Now." His voice sounds normal but he's choking on panic and dread.

Something that could have been a laugh to his left.

Dean quickly backtracks and feels along the wall for a switch he hopes to God is hooked up to something.

His hand stumbles over one and he breathes out. Thank...

The lights pop on above them to reveal maybe two dozen still bodies. All facing him. Some are lounging on the floor. Some crouched, practically drooling as they grin at him. Sam is a few feet away with wide eyes that show fear and resignation.

...Jesus.

They're not getting out of here.

He hears someone behind him and turns slowly to see the brunette with red streaks. She blows him a kiss and flicks the lights back off.

Notes: Don't hate me for my lack of smutty goodness, darlings. *Eskimo Kisses*