Sorry for the lack of updates... been busy with life, I guess O.o
Dean stared in the rearview mirror of the Impala and adjusted his tie. He made a face, trying to look stern. He and Sam had posed as FBI agents numerous times now, but he was still secretly nervous that he didn't have the brains to come off as a college-educated criminal justice professional without his brainy younger brother by his side.
Today Sam was two towns over, investigating the Jinn attack that had brought them to Santa Cruz the first place. Dean was going to be Agent Angus Young, looking into some random disappearance that had taken place a week after Castiel Novak has rolled into town and started working at the university. For all Dean knew, Castiel had perpetrated the disappearance of the UC Santa Cruz student. Mostly he needed a reason to get their mystery winged man alone.
Dean took a deep breath and got out of the car, trying to walk with a sense of purpose into the building where Castiel worked as a data analyst. He'd never admit this to Sam, but he was still getting used to hunting alone. He was used to having John or Sam by his side. Now that John Winchester was dead and gone, Dean knew he'd have to get more comfortable working alone. Their cases often required it.
He entered the building, straight to the reception desk. An older woman looked up. When she saw his face and his suit, she perked up.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Hello m'am. Agent Angus Young, FBI." He said, whipping out his fake badge.
The receptionist looked a little nervous. "Oh, hello Agent. Anything I can do for you?"
"I'm here to talk to one of your employees, a Mr. Castiel Novak." He said confidentially.
"Oh, you're here to see Cas? I can't imagine you have the right man. He's such a sweetheart! He's an analyst in the IT department here. Cute as a button." The woman smiled, clearly charmed by a man that Dean knew he may have to kill.
Dean grimaced. So far this wasn't going well.
"It's nothing he's done, m'am, I can assure you of that. Mr. Novak is not in any kind of trouble. I just need to speak with him immediately."
The woman raised an eyebrow, but lifted the phone and called Castiel. She whispered to him conspiratorially that there was someone from the police here to see him and giggled when he said something in response. Dean hadn't even met him face to face, but he could tell that this guy was definitely a charmer.
Castiel Novak appeared in the reception area a few minutes later and his appearance made Dean swallow. He'd been following him for two days, but he still hadn't seen him up close. The man was definitely pretty, but with a slight rough edge to him. He was definitely Dean's type, at least when it came to the same sex. Sometimes it was horrible playing on both sides of the fence. He could never decide what he liked.
"Can I help you, officer?" Castiel asked.
His voice was coarse, as if he'd been smoking for 40 years. It wasn't the voice he'd expected. Dean felt a jolt go straight to his crotch. He tried to shake it off. Dean had never been affected by the more attractive creatures they hunted. That was usually Sam's deal.
"Yes. Mr. Novak, if you have a moment…" He started, swallowing again.
Castiel smiled at him and Dean felt the man's gaze catch his, blue eyes drilling into green. Castiel was basically having eye sex with him in front of the receptionist. Despite this, Dean found himself unable to look away.
"Of course." He said. Somehow, Castiel was managing to smolder at him with only his eyes.
Dean's mouth went dry and he just motioned to the door. No one affected him like this. Men, women, or the things he killed. No way was Castiel Novak human.
A few minutes later, they were sitting outside the building at a picnic table. Castiel kept his eyes on him, not letting his eyes leave him once. Dean actually began to feel a little creeped out.
"Hey man, what's with the stare?" He snapped.
"I should be asking you the same question. Why is an 'FBI agent' here to question me?" Castiel asked, smiling at him.
"I'm here about the disappearance of Christy Gaines." Dean said, trying to regain the upper hand.
"Never heard of her." Castiel said, shrugging. He continued to stare at Dean, his smile growing a little colder. Castiel leaned forward a little bit, his big blue eyes practically flashing.
"She disappeared right after you moved into town. Her address…" Dean felt himself drift away.
Castiel stared at the "FBI agent" that was currently sitting in front of him. The guy had been almost too easy to charm, to easy to put into a trance. All it had taken was a few long stares. He'd dipped into his brain as soon as he'd saw the guy and all he saw were thoughts of lust. The "FBI agent" found him incredibly attractive and had been nervous about this meeting since before he'd gotten here. Castiel sighed, shaking his head at the "FBI agent", who was sitting there with a dumbstruck expression on his face.
"Humans." He muttered, shaking his head some more.
He leaned forward and pulled out the guy's badge. "Agent Angus Young. Nice." He said, chuckling. He didn't quite understand the reference, but he was sure it related to a band or something. It sounded like an alias that Gabriel would use. "Too bad, Agent Young. You're kind of cute yourself."
Castiel heard a flutter of wings. He groaned internally. Gabriel was supposed to be giving him space, letting him do his own thing now that he was "human," but he just kept watching.
"Are you stupid?" Gabriel hissed into his ear. "Working a trance in broad daylight? Now, with everything that's going on? You're supposed to be keeping a low profile, you stupid fucker!"
"He's not a real FBI agent." Castiel intoned. "I could tell by the second I saw him."
"No shit! He's a hunter. Not only is he a hunter, but he's Dean Winchester. You're working your mojo on Dean Winchester, of all people, in public, in broad daylight? I know you're young, I know you're cocky, but are you stupid too? Why is he talking to you?" Gabriel demanded.
"Dean Winchester? Is that name supposed to mean something to me?" Castiel said, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, he's a hunter. We've dealt with plenty of hunters."
Gabriel just continued to hiss in his ear. "Get rid of him. Do whatever you need to do to convince him you're a boring human who works with computers for a living. You do not want the Winchester brothers coming after you, especially not now, believe me!"
Gabriel disappeared. Castiel felt a little stunned. He hadn't seen Gabriel that worked up since the last time Kali had broken up with him. He sighed again, so annoyed that he'd have to keep up this façade.
Dean blinked, feeling like he was coming out of a slight haze. Castiel Novak still sat in front of him, looking as delectable as ever. Except now he looked slightly annoyed and his eyes were no longer on Dean.
"S-sorry. I must have blanked there for a minute." He said, blinking some more. He straightened up, adjusting his tie. "Christy Gaines. She was a student here, disappeared right after you moved to town. Her address is listed as being two blocks from your current address."
Castiel just blinked back at him. He smiled a little, trying a little too hard to look sweet. "I'm sorry, Agent… what did you saw your name was?"
"Agent Angus Young. Back to Ms. Gaines." Dean said, trying to make his voice boom.
"Christy Gaines… I remember seeing her name in the paper and online. I've never heard of her besides that though. I don't even really remember what happened to her." He said, shrugging. "It was kind of crazy around that time, you know? I'd lived in Chicago my entire life, then moving here… it was like uprooting my whole life."
"Why did you move here, Mr. Novak?"
"Please, Agent Young… call me Castiel. Mr. Novak was my father and he was kind of a dick." Castiel said, almost a little too loudly. "Anyway, I moved here for a job. That simple. I graduated from college, took the first job I was offered. Just my luck that it was across the country, which is actually what I wanted. I needed to start over."
Dean's eyes studied Castiel's face. He'd had years to study liars, while also being quite a liar himself. Castiel Novak did not seem like he was lying, but there was something there. Dean could sense something just beneath the surface. This man obviously had nothing to do with the disappearance of Christy Gaines, God rest her soul, but there was something he was hiding.
"How long have you been in town, Agent Young?" Castiel asked, changing the subject.
Castiel's face changed from earnest to slightly flirtatious. Dean felt the jolt again.
"A few days. Following several leads." Dean said.
"I swear, I've seen you somewhere." Castiel said, squinting at him.
The peep show.
For less than half a second, Castiel's face changed and Dean saw it again, something that made him sure he was hiding something.
"Tell me, Agent Young. Am I really a suspect here or are you just questioning every new employee at UC Santa Cruz? I swear, I have no idea who Christy Gaines is, let alone what happened to her. I can even come in for an official interview if you want. I don't want my co-workers to think I'm a weirdo or anything." Castiel said.
"That… won't be necessary." Dean said. As the words came out of his mouth, he wasn't sure why he was saying them. The guy was basically offering to volunteer more information and Dean was very suspicious of him. He didn't know why he was turning it down.
"Well, if it's unofficial, maybe I could buy you a beer when we get off work? I'd love to pick your brain about a typical day on the job. When I was a kid, I always thought it'd be awesome to be in the FBI." Castiel said, leaning forward a little bit.
Castiel rested his chin on his palm and smiled at Dean, looking up at him through a shade of dark lashes. Dean felt himself transform into a woman as he thought this, but he believed this is what Tyra Banks referred to as "smiling with your eyes." For the third time in less than five minutes, he felt the jolt and then he found himself taking Castiel's phone number and putting it into his phone.
He had just made a date with their case.
Castiel waited until Dean Winchester had driven away in his obscene black gas guzzling vehicle before he started to properly freak out. Dean Winchester had been watching him, possibly for days now. The hunter had clearly thought "the peep show" when Castiel had just ventured to one less than a day and a half ago. This meant that the hunter had a reason to be watching him, had a reason to be questioning him in the first place.
Hunters normally didn't scare Castiel, but if Gabriel had told him to watch out for Dean Winchester, then it was possible that he posed some kind of threat. He didn't know why, but whatever it was, Castiel knew he hadn't kept a low enough profile. Once again, his sense of himself had been overinflated. Castiel felt rattled and that was something that he wasn't used to feeling anymore.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." He muttered to himself. "Fuck. How did I miss him? He's so obvious."
Castiel paced in front of the building for a minute, trying to decide what to do. If he went to Gabriel, then he was in for an epic ass-whooping, but at least Gabriel could clean up his mess. He could try to find out what Dean Winchester was doing on his own, but that could make things worse and Gabriel would find out anyway.
Castiel stalked back into the building, went straight to the receptionist, who adored him. He told her that the agent had some bad news about his family and that he had to take the rest of the day and maybe the week off. Castiel had dealt with plenty of tragedy during his short life and knew how to play this card. All it took was a deep stare into her eyes and a sob story about a missing aunt, and she was crying her eyes out and calling his boss.
He immediately went to the empty bathroom and took off, flying back to his small human house, still unaware that it was his wings that had drawn Dean Winchester to him in the first place.