Beta'd by K and updated Oct.9
Chapter 21: Come Back To Bed Baby
The blanket was soft underneath his chin and even his burn wasn't bothering him that much. Dean was slowly working his way to full consciousness. His fingers twitched around something smooth and warm and it took him a moment to register it. That was definitely someone's skin under his palm. Had he gotten lucky? He didn't remember-
The night before came back in violent flashes. Starting with picking up Sam and the fire. He groaned as silently as he could. Couldn't he have slept awhile longer, completely oblivious? At least his brother was safe and somewhere in the apartment. Dean's heart plummeted somewhere around his stomach. Shit. He'd spent the night in Castiel's bed. They'd been quiet hadn't they?His eyes opened slowly and he squinted, trying to see past the morning blur. Gently Dean extracted a hand and tried to rub the sleep away. The sun wasn't even up yet. Gratitude flooded his system as he took in a deep breath, letting himself relax for a small moment. Sam was probably asleep. He took in Cas' parted lips, the steady rise and fall of his chest, and smiled.
But Sam was still here. He couldn't stay.
He didn't want to rush out the door too quickly, that could make noise, but his movements were hurried as he shimmied out from underneath Cas' arm. Dean cursed as the gauze on his back rubbed sharply against his burn. Begrudgingly he told himself to ask Cas later for more pain medication. Dean hadn't even made it fully off the bed before his companion stirred.
"Something wrong, Dean?"
Dean shook his head and eased himself into a sitting position on the bed. Cas yawned and stretched, a hand brushing through his already messy hair. He leaned up, popped his neck, before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He glanced at the clock for a moment before walking to his dresser. Dean stared, confused. "Are you getting up?"
"I am."
"Why up so early? It's barely even morning."
Castiel smiled and dropped his sweatpants. Dean gulped. He'd forgotten that the other man enjoyed going commando. He couldn't pull his eyes away as Cas moved around the room getting dressed. "I'm going on my morning run," he explained wiggling into tight fitting shorts.
"Running, right," Dean murmured. His fingers itched to reach over and touch.
"Dean my eyes are up here."
"That's the cheesiest, overused line I have ever heard." Dean looked up at Cas' small, guilty smirk and shook his head. He winced as the skin on his back stretched but ignored it in favor of moving into Cas' personal space. He kissed the frown that had developed on Cas off of his face. "Where are the painkillers again?"
"I think you left them in the living room," Cas said, brushing a hand down the nape of Dean's neck. "Maybe I should stay..."
"No, don't be stupid," Dean stepped back to let him finish getting dressed. "I'm injured, not an invalid. Go do your running thing and I'll be here when you get back."
"All right," Castiel shrugged on a light morning jacket. "You're welcome to the use of my bed while I'm gone. It would seem ridiculous to put you on the couch when there's plenty of room."
"Yeah, I'll-," Dean eyed the door to the bedroom nervously. It wasn't that bad if Cas wasn't in there with him? He'd just tell Sam that he woke up and Cas offered the bed since he wasn't using it anymore. "I think I'll take you up on that."
"I won't be long." Cas gave him a quick peck on the cheek that had Dean's heart thumping hard against his ribs. You'd think he'd never gotten past first base before with how he heated up he got. Never mind the way his chest fluttered. He closed the bedroom door behind Cas and crawled back into the bed, completely forgetting about the pain medication. He was high on natural endorphins for now. With a relieved sigh he let himself drop on top of the sheets and buried his face into one of the pillows. It smelled deliciously like Cas and for a moment Dean's hand started wandering below the belt.
"Don't be weird," he told himself as he kicked at the sheets until he could shimmy underneath them again.
He was out in minutes.
By the time he came back to there was a faint murmuring sound of voices just beyond the door. "Wha-" Dean lifted himself up to his elbows and glanced at the clock. Cas should be at work already so who the hell was Sam talking to? "Sam-" Dean rolled his legs off the bed and marched to the door. He had to see his brother, make sure the guy was still in one piece. He blinked owlishly as he came out to see Cas and Sam sitting at the short dinning table. They both looked up at him.
"Hello, Dean. Did you enjoy your rest?"
Dean blushed and tried his best to fight it down. He knew that Cas had meant it as a legitimate question but that didn't mean that he could stop his own brain .Memories of the night before played through his brain. His eyes darted to Cas' neck where he finally noticed a dark mark. Fuck he'd left hickeys. How had he not noticed that earlier? He tried not to cough. It would be way too suspicious. "Yeah, I'm just glad I was awake when you left." Dean felt like the shiftiest motherfucker on the planet.
"You know you could've just kicked me out," Sam mumbled with a frown. "I could've taken the couch too. You're more injured than I am."
"It wasn't that big of a deal. I was comfortable," Dean swallowed the saliva gathering in his mouth and sat down at the table. "So, work?"
Castiel gave him a stern look but Dean pressed forward. He sighed and pulled his phone out, thumbing through a few messages. "Work is to continue as normal for the rest of us You're of course on forced medical leave."
"The hell I am, they can't just decide that without my permission."
"That's why it's called forced leave Dean," Sam said with a roll of his eyes. "And it's a good thing."
"How is this a good thing?!"
"You can barely walk without wincing," Sam accused and Dean's shoulders slumped a little. "I don't think you even realized you were doing it."
"It's not that bad," Dean mumbled.
Cas' chair scraped as he stood up. "Hey- No, I don't need more meds," Dean protested, watching Castiel walk into the bedroom. "I took some a few hours ago." His eyes darted around the living room where he was sure he'd left them the night before. There was an internal sigh of relief when he couldn't see them. Maybe he had carried them with him to the bedroom?
"Don't be difficult," Sam pleaded.
"I'm not being difficult." Dean glared at Sammy's broken expression for a moment before leaning forward. He set his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands. "Will you drop the friggin' pain killer thing if I stay home today? No arguments?"
"Yes," Cas and Sam chorused together. Cas had walked back empty handed and began digging around the couch. Castiel gave Dean a small glare as he reached into the couch cushion and found the pills.
Dean lifted up his hands in defeat. "All right fine, now put those back where you got 'em," Dean told Castiel, pointing back to the door he'd come out of. He could stash 'em straight back in his medicine cabinet never to be seen again.
"They'll be here if you need them," Cas said walking into the kitchen. He rattled the pill bottle to catch Dean's eyes before stowing it in one of the cabinets. He straightened his tie and stopped by the table, putting a hand on the back of Dean's chair. Hoping his brother wouldn't notice Dean leaned back a little so that Cas' knuckles could brush against his spine briefly. "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like. I doubt your apartment will be cleared anytime soon. All of the apartments facilities are open to you under my name."
"Guess you're heading out to the office, huh?" Dean asked trying not to sulk. He'd said he wouldn't argue it as long as they quit pill pushing.
"I'm afraid so," Cas bit his lip and gave him a worried glance. "I'm not sure how comfortable I feel leaving you-you two alone." Dean caught the correction and hoped that Sam hadn't noticed.
"How many times do we have to go over this. I'm injured. I got hurt. It happens. I didn't suddenly become incapable of taking care of myself," Dean snapped. The way Cas pulled his hand away from the chair almost made him feel guilty. He'd apologize for it later in private.
"If you say so. Well, you have my number. Sam, Dean, feel free to help yourself to my kitchen as well."
Dean watched for a moment as Castiel gathered his jacket from the couch and turned the corner into the entryway. He stayed quiet until he heard the slam of the door before muttering, "Not like you even have any groceries."
"So..."
Dean looked up at his brother, eying him suspiciously. He wasn't in the mood for a heart to heart. He'd be lying if he said that there wasn't an ache deep in his bones and he still felt a little too emotionally unbalanced to talk about Meg. The whole getting kidnapped and drugged thing, again, wasn't really the guy's fault so there wasn't much to discuss there either. Maybe they could just break into Cas' liquor and drink it out. No feelings required. "So?"
"Castiel, he's... He's nice."
Dean felt his spine stiffen. "He is."
"Must be good having such a great boss."
Dean snorted and leaned back in his chair. Sam sounded earnest and not like he was digging around for any extra information. "I dunno about boss but he's," Dean shrugged and tried to seem casual, "a pretty decent friend. Guy has a weird sense of humor but he's all right for a little nerdy dude."
"That's-that's good. I'm glad you have someone you can-"
"He's a friend, dude, stop with the mushy shit. What'd you two talk about anyway while I was conked out?"
It was Sam's turn to shrug. He fidgeted with his thumbs. "Not much. He asked me how I was, if I needed anything. Just small talk. I wanted to ask him about what happened but I figure that's still something I'm not exactly in the clear for."
Dean bit the inside of his cheek. "Yeah."
"I'm never going to work again, am I?" Sam said forlornly, eyes and head turned up to the ceiling.
"I dunno man. It would probably help if you stopped getting kidnapped."
Sam scoffed. "Not funny Dean."
"I wasn't trying to be."
For a few minutes only the sound of Castiel's living room clock could be heard in the room.
"Why me?"
Dean sighed and stood up, chair screeching a little as he pushed it back. "I dunno man, but I'm hungry. A man can't be expected to think about serious shit on an empty stomach."
"I thought you said he didn't have groceries?" Sam interjected.
"Shit, yeah," Dean grumbled as he went on another search of the pantries and the fridge. "I guess we could order out?"
"I could go get groceries."
"Fuck no."
Sam stood up with a sigh. "Dean-"
"You honestly think I'm letting you out of my sight after what happened? Dude, it's been a day."
"I think I can handle going to the grocery store on my own."
"No, you can't."
"Dean-"
"Shut it, Sammy. You're not going and that's final." Dean let the door to Cas' fridge slam shut a little harder than he'd intended. He winced and hoped it hadn't done any damage. At least it hadn't bounced back open or anything.
"It's just the grocery store," Sam defended, coming into the kitchen and trying to corner Dean. "You can't keep me locked in the apartment. Besides, I was going to go to work anyway."
"Work?" Dean raised his eyebrow and cocked his hip against the kitchen counter.
"Yeah, unlike you, I can still function pretty well. My burns were minor," Sam lifted his arm as if looking at it would help prove his point.
"You're not going to work."
"Then I'm at least going to the grocery store. We at least gotta eat."
"What, Pizza Hut too good for you all of a sudden?" Dean griped, folding his arms across his chest.
Sam sighed, "I promise I'll text you the entire time or something if you want. Can't you trust me even a little? It's like right down the street."
"Down the street, huh? Want me to google map that?"
"Like you even know how to use it," Sam shot back with irritation in his voice. He was finally getting fed up. It didn't help Dean's mood at all. Couldn't Sam just be... not difficult for once.
Dean marched past him into the living room and plopped down on the couch. He bounced a little as he settled himself. He felt a headache coming on. "You know what, fuck it, fine. But I'm giving you fifteen minutes round-trip." He didn't feel like getting into a massive argument. Besides, he figured while Cas was being wonderfully hospitable he wouldn't appreciate his stuff getting slammed around in classic Winchester style arguments.
Even though he refused to look at Sam he could hear the small smile in his voice. "Fifteen minutes, I promise."
"Whatever, get going. Clock starts now."
Dean stared at the dark TV with blind focus until he heard Sam shuffle out of the apartment. He sighed as the door closed and rubbed a tired hand across his face and then cupped his lips and his chin. "Fuck, damn it." He cursed as he leaned over to grab the remote. That didn't last long as his thoughts kept returning to Sam and a paranoid keeping of time. Realistically he knew there was no way that the trip would take fifteen minutes. The Impala was still at their old apartment. He doubted that anyone would've taken the time to bring it over as a courtesy. Hell it wasn't like anyone but Bobby knew they were even at Castiel's.
A thought crept up to him as he looked around Castiel's apartment. He found his house phone and lifted the back of it to see what company it was from. He needed to call Bela and leave a stern warning but he wasn't about to do it on an easily traceable number. Dean had hoped that Cas would have a system in place with a hidden router to prevent anyone accessing him back but of course he wasn't as paranoid as Dean. He glanced at the clock and suddenly he wished he'd given Sam a bigger time limit.
Dean opened the door to the guest room and started searching through it. With how quickly Sam had left he was betting Vegas money that Sam hadn't remembered his phone. Dean knew for a fact he'd set up a security system on his. He laughed to himself with a rueful smile when he found it. So much for texting him; not that he even could've. They'd both momentarily forgotten that Dean's was a glob of melted plastic somewhere. He dialed Bela's number from memory. Dean closed the door to the bedroom and moved to the balcony of Cas' apartment. He leaned over the railing so that he could keep an eye out for Sam, just in case he'd decided to double back, realizing he'd forgotten something (like his phone).
It went straight to voicemail as he'd suspected.
"Bela!" Dean said cheerfully. He could hear the ugliness behind his tone. "Haven't talked in awhile. Which is a damn shame 'cause apparently you and me, we got a lot to talk about." Dean sneered and stared out at the horizon, imagining tossing her over the balcony. "We had one business rule. One. You don't touch my family you conniving bitch. Come near Sam again and I will strip your skin from your bones." He let the call end there, snapping Sam's phone shut. He cursed and opened it again to thumb through and erase the outbound call. Dean was breathing a little heavily, anger churning underneath his ribs. He felt it pulse against his skin, trying to find a way out. The anger wilted a little as his belly growled and he winced. It was hard to start a war while hungry.
Dean left the balcony, leaving the door open. The weather had cooled and a little fresh air couldn't harm the place, right? Besides that way it would make sure that all the stench from their singed clothing didn't stink up the place. He walked over to the A/C and turned it off, figuring Cas wouldn't mind. He had essentially given him free reign of the place. And it really was a nice place. It was just the biggest disappointment in timing ever that the first time he'd been able to take a romp around it he was with his brother, and right after some massively stupid shit had gone down.
At least the walls seemed thick enough.
… … … … … … … … … … … .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . .
"How are the boys?"
Castiel sighed as he brought the steaming mug of coffee to his lips. Despite it being close to noon, when he did finally get to the office, he still felt groggy and exhausted. "Fine as they could be, I suppose." He swallowed and grimaced. He should've brought his own coffee from home. "Dean is injured rather gravely."
"Oh?"
Cas smiled softly and shook his head a little before rolling his eyes. "Well, he's still got the energy to complain and had to be forced to remain home today."
"Then he's fine," Bobby huffed. They stood in Cas' office for a moment, watching the hive of activity outside of his window. "So they're staying at yours?" Cas gripped his coffee cup tighter. He felt Bobby's eyes on him. "At least they're safe."
"Yes."
"You put a man on them, right?"
Castiel colored a little and hid it by turning his head. He hadn't been told to and he sure as hell hadn't gone through any official channels but yes, he had. It had been a split second decision he'd made while out jogging. It seemed that while a good run in the morning did wonders for wakefulness it also kicked his brain into some interesting worst-case-scenarios.
"Good."
Bobby left his office and walked along the rail to his own room, closing the door. Cas moved around the desk into his chair and leaned back. It was like all of his energy had been drained out of him and he didn't know how to get it back. With the attack on the Winchester's apartment their department had been grounded again. He'd been in contact with the other NCAVC units and they seemed to have everything under control. A few people had offered their concerns and condolences on what had happened to Dean. Losing, or rather almost losing, an agent was never fun. At least staying at the office meant that he could let his mind sit in a daze for a few hours. Of course there was the steady thrum of guilt over the cases sitting on his desk but he found it hard to focus. Every time he tried to read a single line the little black print turned into ants and marched straight off the page. He probably would've been more useful staying back at his own place. With Dean.
His secondary headache was trying to wait patiently for Zachariah to call him back. While he still didn't particularly care about how he'd spoken to him he knew that it wasn't going to be overlooked. Just because he was the CIA's favorite pet agent didn't mean that he was above regulation. Castiel pulled his cellphone out and stared at it for a moment before thumbing to his contacts. He hovered over Dean's name before rolling his eyes at himself and placing his phone on his desk, face down. He'd been at the office for less than an hour. Someone would've told him if anything catastrophic had happened in the meantime. Dean didn't need a babysitter.
He forced himself to start working through a few memo's. Being away for so long had left an almost intimidating pile of papers to gather dust in his mailbox. Most of them were easy and he could toss them into his shredder just about as fast as he read them. The only pause he took was a transfer request as a response to an open technical analyst position. He walked out of his office with the memo in his hand. Cas nearly got lost, not having visited the tech room in so long, and knocked on the door before entering.
"Are you quitting?"
Charlie spun around in her chair. There were ramen noodles flowing from her mouth to a small set of chopsticks. She dropped the chopsticks and slurped her food up, one hand quickly moving to the screen to close out of a brightly colored comic.
"I don't care about that," Castiel said and waved the transfer papers. "Quitting?"
"What?" Charlie leaned forward and took the papers. Her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh! No!"
"Then what am I approving?"
"They want to tack on a back up to the office. Not our team specifically or anything, though they'd work with our team. I don't actually understand half the reasoning for it, I think I do a damn fine job, "Charlie flipped the paper over to read through the rest of the transfer request, "but they thought we needed someone to -well." Charlie shrugged.
"I see," Cas mumbled taking the paper back. He had a pretty good hunch as to why they'd be pulling another techie in. He'd just wished he would've been informed or at least consulted about it. While he understood the need for delicacy and secrecy it was ridiculous that things were being kept from him on material he was working on. No doubt it would be internal monitoring of their agents but he didn't think they'd just open up a transfer. Maybe they were allocating already existing personnel to new tasks?
"Right so-," Charlie turned back to her lunch, "-we've worked with Ash before."
"Ash?"
"Well, Miles. I figured you wouldn't mind if I routed the transfer requests through me since they'd be working with our units the most. I picked a few that I think you'd like. I hope I didn't overstep."
"Not at all Charlie. Thank you." Castiel flipped through the transfer request again before handing it to her. "Pick whomever you would see fit. I can barely work my microwave. I wouldn't be qualified to pick a good standard analyst."
"I won't let you down!"
"I know." Cas took his leave and stopped by the water fountain before returning to his office. He hadn't wanted to push the issue but he was wondering the last time that they'd worked with another analyst of the caliber that would even qualify to put in for a transfer. Racking his memory he could only come up with one man. They'd met him in Oklahoma City so long ago. Maybe he'd ask Dean about it.
He tried not to let his worry consume him as he shuffled through the rest of his papers. It wasn't illegal to request a transfer out of a problematic area. Just because the man was likely to have been there working on the bombing didn't mean anything. Still, he couldn't help but be suspicious. Healthy skepticism is what he told himself. Before he could work himself into too much of a frenzy he brought his phone back out. Cas dialed.
Dean picked up on the first ring.
"Checking in on me, Cas?"
Castiel smiled. "As a matter of fact I am."
Dean chuckled. "I'm a big grown man. I can dress myself in the morning and everything. We're good."
"Because you weren't dragged out of a burning building, barely over 24 hours ago."
"I wasn't. I ran out of the burning building dragging someone else along."
"Cheeky, it's unbecoming."
Dean outright laughed. Castiel smiled as it faded into small chuckles. He hadn't realized just how much anxiety had built up in his chest until Dean had started talking and laughing. His office seemed brighter and the entire day more wholesome. "Seriously Cas. Call me to call me, whatever fine, but I'm good."
"Have you been taking your-"
"I thought we agreed not to bring up the pain meds."
"My apologies. Force of habit."
"You push pills on people often?"
"Not quite."
"Right... how are things at base?"
"We're grounded momentarily."
"Again?"
"You may make light of it but the arson at your apartment, Me-" Castiel stopped himself. Thinking of her would only distress them both. "-is a serious issue. They also don't have a replacement agent to send out with us."
"So what, you guys are stuck shuffling papers? Fuck that sucks. I think I lost a bit of my sanity doing that."
"Not all of us find it as big of a bane as you do."
There was a pause over the line. When Dean spoke next Castiel could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "So... you're in your office right?"
"Yes?"
"The one where I nearly bent you over the desk?"
Castiel flushed and coughed loudly. His eyes darted to his open office door. Logically he knew that he was on his personal phone and there was no way the sound could carry out. "Dean," Cas hissed.
"You are. Good. You thinking of it now? Us pressed against the wall?"
Dean's voice grew huskier and Cas' fingers began to tremble. He could go and shut the door but then that would look suspicious. He only did that when he was on a conference call or on the phone with a higher officer. He supposed he'd closed it once or twice just to get rid of the noise. Was he overthinking it?
"Cas?"
Castiel cleared his throat. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. "Yes, Dean?"
"You sound a little worked up."
"This is utterly and entirely your fault."
"And damn proud of it." Dean's breathing changed and Cas gripped the edge of his desk tightly. He knew that broken inhale.
"Dean," Castiel tried to warn.
"Man, Cas. The things I want to do to you in that office. Could've done," Dean's voice rumbled into his ear and down his spine, "mess up that desk of yours. Maybe during the day? Drop the blinds and close the door. Oh-"
Castiel bit his lip and clenched his legs together. He would not let this affect him. He would not get up and close the door. He wasn't going to play into this. He nearly bit out a curse as Dean chuckled. His own breathing was giving him away.
"You'd like that, right? Getting stretched open while everyone runs around outside? Filing papers or whatever the hell. Man-" Dean moaned loudly, "I don't know if I'd stuff that tie of yours in your mouth to keep you quiet or if-" his breath stuttered and he sighed out a groan, "- or if I'd grab you by it and yank it back. Fuck- pulling it tight, getting some leverage, while I fuck into you"
"Dean-," Cas whined out as quietly as he could. There was no hiding his erection now and he could feel the heat along his neck.
"Yeah Cas?"
"Please shut up."
"No."
Cas groaned and it came out sounding a little too much like a pleasured moan for his comfort. He slapped a hand over his mouth before sliding his chair back and going to the door. He closed it as gently as he could before moving to the blinds and dropping them. Castiel had moved past caring if his movements were erratic.
"I should let you get back to work."
"You bastard."
"I'll see you when you get home, Cas."
Castiel nearly let his head slam onto his desk. Someway he'd make Dean pay for that. The phone line went quiet and he gently set his cell phone back on his desk. He was deeply regretting calling Dean in the first place. "No that's a lie," he whispered a smile dancing on his lip. It was an inconvenient situation, he glared at his hard on like it had betrayed him, but he could breathe easier. For a moment he entertained the idea of taking care of himself. Replaying in his mind the scenario Dean had described. Cas hadn't even finished the thought before his computer pinged. He rolled his chair a little closer to his desk. It was an e-mail from Uriel.
"Odd." He opened it and gave it a quick glance through.
Surprisingly enough it seemed to be a discourse of a more personal note. There were condolences for having been pulled into another fiasco and strong ire over the CIA's lack of organization. It was carefully worded so as not to sound too insubordinate but having known the man for so long he could hear it in the word usage. It was oddly relieving to have someone else seem upset about it. Of course Uriel didn't particularly care for the well being of either Winchester past their functionality but it helped.
He'd written about half of his response when his phone rang. A small part of it hoped it was Dean, there were still the undercurrents of arousal pumping through his veins. 'Zachariah' flashed brightly on the screen. He felt himself go cold and swallowed. He'd been preparing himself for the phone call but it wouldn't make the reprimand any easier. Castiel prided himself on his work. He was an excellent agent. There were maybe a few black marks on his record from his younger days but he'd improved. His position wasn't just handed to him.
"Hello."
"Agent Novak. I trust you're feeling... calmer today?"
Cas bit the inside of his lower lip sharply. "I am. Thank you."
"Wonderful! I knew you just needed a moment." Zachariah laughed. "Now- if you hadn't been so emotionally compromised yesterday, I have news."
Castiel straightened in his chair. He searched his desk for paper and a pen. "News?"
"Excellent news. Sam Winchester has been cleared for work."
The pen clattered to the table. "Excuse me?"
Zachariah sighed loudly. Cas didn't have it in him to be irritated by the noise. He was too shocked. "All of the paper work has gone through. The CIA and FBI have absolved him of any and all responsibility for the OKC bombing and sequential kidnapping. Completely innocent! He's going to be recruited to a Virginia location, probably Quantico in the next few days."
Castiel felt his stomach sour. "Why?"
"Agent Novak this is good news. I was hoping for a more celebratory reaction than that."
"But-" Cas took in a shallow breath. "The fire- Meg Masters-"
"Has all been taken into consideration."
"But they're both targets. Why would we expose them to more-"
"It'll be all the better to have them both in one place. Keep a check on him under the FBI's own roof. I believe there will be a request and release papers sent from the Quantico office directly. We will of course be sending official papers," Zachariah interrupted, frustrated. "But since I'm such a nice guy I was going to give you the opportunity to deliver the news yourself."
"I-yes sir. Thank you."
"Good."
"Any news on Me-"
"We will be in touch Agent Novak. Have a wonderful day."
The line went dead and Castiel slowly lowered his arm. The phone felt heavy in his hand as he stared at the flashing "call ended" notification before the screen went dark. Had this happened months ago he might've been happier. It had never even been a serious concern that Sam would somehow be implicated as faulty in that occurrences. His innocence had been a given. That it had even taken this long for him to be cleared, nearly a year, was absurd. The timing felt wrong and it made him feel iced over.
Castiel didn't know how long he'd been staring at his desk in numb shock. It wasn't until there was a knock at his door and it swung open before his customary 'come in' that he snapped out of it.
"You all right there' big guy?" Bobby gave him a concerned look, closing the door behind him again.
"Sam Winchester has been cleared for duty."
Bobby's eyebrows rose up and his mouth gaped for a moment before he recovered. There was a suspicious glint in his eyes as he narrowed them. He moved forward and took a seat across from Cas. "Run that one by me again?"
"I just received a call from Zachariah-"
"CIA guy?"
"Yes," Castiel cradled his phone in his palm. "He informed me that Sam has been cleared along all channels. There are also plans to recruit him straight to our location. They will send official paperwork but- I was to be given the opportunity to deliver the news first hand."
"Didya ask about the burnt up apartment and that evil little lady that set fire to it?"
Castiel stared up at him in surprise. He couldn't recall filling him in on Meg's escape.
Bobby rolled his eyes, "Word travels fast. That I had to find out from office gossip..." Bobby let the rest of his sentence hang in the air.
"Apologies, I was under direct orders not to expand on the situation until given clearance," Castiel leaned his elbows on his desk and clasped his hands together. "I'm going to assume I have permission to speak of it. Meg has escaped. I did-ask that is. They've taken it into consideration. It is inconsequential."
"Inconsequential?" Bobby huffed and snorted. "She's the one that strands him in a wild west horror show and it's inconsequential? She just happens to start a bonfire in the boy's living room and Sam gets cleared?" Cas rubbed at his closed eyes and nodded in agreement. "As a proud government employee I gotta say I don't have a single good feeling bone in my body about this. I believe in a lot of things, coincidence just ain't one of 'em."
"I agree with you wholeheartedly." Cas opened his eyes and reached for his coffee mug. It was stale and cold. He spat it out into the trashcan by his feet. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it."
"I guess it's a good thing that the boy's are under your nose then." Castiel looked down at his desk and then quickly back up at Bobby. They both knew it wasn't protocol that they were to remain at his. Especially because of the relationship that he and Dean were participating in. "Keep them there." Cas raised his eyebrow in question. It seemed like odd advice. "Winchester's are a stubborn breed. Probably why his Daddy bit the dust so early; though don't let the boys ever hear you say that. You gotta keep an eye on them or they'll go running head first into the pit of hell, never thinking twice. I don't know about what's going on and before you start- I don't wanna know- but I trust them under your roof more than I do their own."
Castiel felt a weak, tired smile grace his lips. He sighed out a low laugh. "Thank you, Bobby."
"Nothing to thank me for," he stood up from his chair. "If I knew them a little better I would've hogtied the both of 'em and hauled 'em to mine."
"If only it were that easy," Castiel chuckled.
Bobby excused himself, having apparently only come to check up on him. Other people had, during his near catatonic state, knocked on his door but no one else had the permission to come barging in. He glanced at the clock and was relieved to find that it was almost time to return home. Of course he felt ashamed that he'd gotten so little work done but in all fairness he'd come in at noon and he'd received quite big of a shock.
Castiel threw himself into what was left of his work for the next two and half hours to make up for it. He nearly forgot about the day's panic when he finally made it back to his apartment. The moment he opened the door a warm scent filled his nose. His stomach rumbled loudly and he heard Dean laughing all the way from the kitchen.
"Glad you came home hungry." Cas was in the process of removing his shoes as Dean rounded the corner. He was wearing one of the aprons from his pantry and there was a grease stained spatula in his hand.
"Yes well, office crackers can only do so much," Castiel said walking forward. His arms started to reach out to embrace Dean, wanting to curl up in his warmth but he froze. Dean's eyes were frantic as he nudged his head backwards and to his left.
Of course. Sam was still here. Castiel smiled a little sadly but he understood; besides it wasn't his place to interfere or out them. Or Dean in general. They'd never actually fully discussed if Dean was open about his sexuality. Cas himself had never made an attempt to hide it, at least not consciously.
"Come on," Dean said walking backwards. He mouthed a 'later', followed by a wink and Cas felt something in his chest warm.
He followed obediently and had to pause in his living room. Cas blinked owlishly. There was a lot more stuff in his apartment than when he'd left.
"I told Dean we should wait and I know you said-" Sam started babbling as he stepped towards him. Cas looked up at his tower form, confusion increasing.
"Sammy- shut up." Cas turned to Dean. His ears were tinted red. "We didn't wanna keep using your stuff and since you're gonna mother hen me to death and keep me under lock down-I wanted some of my own shit to wear."
Castiel took a second look at the items scattered around his living room as it finally clicked. "Oh. Yes, that's fine. I was just caught off guard. We'll have to find you drawers after dinner."
"Thank you Castiel," Sam's big shoulders dropped in relief and Cas felt his gut churn. He'd have to share the news with them at some point. He just wasn't quite sure how to deliver it or what the reaction would be. Dean would probably be furious. "We'll get out of your hair as soon as possible."
"Please, it's no trouble. Stay as long as you need to."
"Good," Dean stirred something in the pan and it sizzled. "Insurance is going to take a walk through now that the squints are gone. See if there's anything worth saving or renovating. I mean we'll get our money for it but shit. I don't wanna move again, ya know."
"Understandable," Cas mumbled shrugging his jacket off.
"Ready to eat?"
"Ah- yes. Of course, just let me get changed." Castiel felt like a coward as he fled into his room. He closed the door and leaned against it for a moment to catch his whirring thoughts.
The anxiety he tried so well to hide carried with him out of his room like a cloak and settled heavier just as the food settled in his stomach. It was a shame, the meal had been delicious.
"Something wrong, Cas?" Dean looked distressed. He fidgeted a little with his napkin. His eyes kept darting from the only half-eaten plate in front of Cas to his face.
"Nothing- it's." Castiel sighed and took large sips of his glass of water. He ignored Dean for a moment, only giving him what he hoped was a comforting smile, and turned to his younger brother. "Sam, we need to talk."
Sam's fork clattered loudly to his plate. He coughed out some of the potato that had now lodged itself into his lungs. "Yes?"
"Hold on- what's going on, Cas?" Dean tried to edge into his field of vision. Castiel relented and leaned back in his chair so that he could easily see them both.
"I suppose there's no way to ease into it. Sam, you have been given full clearance to resume your lawyer position for the FBI. I've been informed release papers will be coming in within the next few days as well as a position request and opening at the Quantico field office."
Sam stared at him, mouth open wide. He looked nervous. "What? But how? I- don't they know about- the person I-"
"You didn't kill anyone Sammy," Dean cut in, voice sharp as a knife. "We don't know that. So stop that right the fuck now." He turned and Castiel tried not to flinch back at the look on his face. "What do you mean cleared?"
Cas flexed his hand and stared at his palm for a moment before answering. "I wish I had more answers for you, Dean. For you both. But I was given a notification by CIA that it has cleared both channels. Sam is absolved of all responsibility and connection to the Oklahoma case and," Cas fought not to sigh in frustration. He didn't trust this at all. "And the kidnapping as well as the fire at the apartment."
"The fire at the apartment? How in the world could've that even been on him? It was that bitch, Meg!" Dean slammed his hands on the table and stood up. His chair scraped loudly as it moved across the floor.
"Dean- calm down." Sam momentarily attempted to reach out and touch his brother on the forearm before thinking better of it. "Don't kill the messenger."
"I'm well aware of the situation, Dean." Castiel felt himself deflating under the fiery glare. "I'm not high enough up the chain to know anymore. I am sorry."
"Dean," Sam pleaded.
A few tense minutes passed before Dean finally sat back down. He set his face into his hands and rubbed his index fingers over his temples. When he finally lifted his head his face still held the promise of a storm but he seemed calmer. "At least I'll be able to keep an eye on you. Quantico, right?" He side-eyed Cas for a moment.
"Yes. I don't believe it's a mandatory request-" Cas' voice drifted off as Dean narrowed his eyes. He coughed. Of course it would be mandatory if Dean had any say in it. "-but yes. Quantico. He'll be a few floors below us."
"When would I start?" Sam mumbled wringing his hands together. His eyes darted around the room, jumpy and twitchy.
"I suppose whenever the Quantico personnel say that your injuries have healed sufficiently. Of course there is the small application process but since they are requesting your presence I doubt it will take long." Castiel licked his lips wondering if he should mention anymore news. Were it with any other people he wouldn't hesitate to keep on point but both brothers seemed tense. Then again he wasn't sure when he'd get an opening next. "We also have a new opening for a technical analyst."
This seemed to distract Dean. His eyes widened and he looked shocked, even a little sad. "What? No, is Charlie leaving?"
Castiel shook his head, "No, they are simply re-allocating resources and there is a need to hire a new analyst. They will be working with all of the units, not just ours. I believe they will be Charlie's back up?"
"Oh, all right." Dean relaxed a little. "You're the one that hires people right? What's that got to do with us?"
"Ash Miles?"
"Ash?!" both of the brother's chorused.
"Charlie hand picked his resume out of the transfer request pile."
Dean's expression brightened. His lips twitched in amusement. "That crazy mullet guy from the OKC office?"
"Dean he wasn't crazy. He went to MIT."
"Man's nuts, I promise you."
Castiel leaned back in his chair and listened to the brother's bicker with no real malice behind it. They hadn't always worked with him, only running into him once or twice but they knew enough of him to have a few opinions. Most of them good if you counted crazy as a compliment. At the very least it had momentarily distracted them from the problematic matter at hand. Sam should've never been cleared after a major security breach like this. A high class criminal like Meg going after them again? The video of Sam with the dead agent? Castiel forced himself to push the anxiety into a small corner. It would probably give him an ulcer later but he was glad to finally see the mood brighten. The apartment started smelling like the delectable aroma of Dean's cooking again.
Perhaps there was merit in having Sam under the same roof as well. He still thought it made them far too easy to target but it wasn't his call.
He helped the Winchesters find places for their clothing, all of it in the guest room, as well as the personal belongings they'd managed to fit into the Impala. He should've known they'd gone out when he'd seen it parked in front of his apartment building. There was no one else that drove such a carefully maintained classic. Sam headed to bed first as Castiel went about shutting off all the unnecessary lights. He was paused by Dean's hand on his elbow at his door.
"Hey."
Cas tried not to tense too much. He knew that there was still anger rumbling under the surface of Dean's skin and he wasn't particularly looking forward to arguing it out. Dean's mouth tended to strike him sharper when his brother wasn't around. Which, the dinner had been hard enough to swallow as it was.
He felt a hot body press against his back and he bit his lip, trying not to lean in. Lips ghosted over his neck.
"I'm sorry," Dean mumbled into his ear, hot breath cupping his ear.
"There's nothing to apologize for Dean," Castiel said he extracted himself from the half embrace. He held Dean at arms length and stared pointedly at Sam's closed door.
Dean lifted his arm and rubbed his palm across the spiky hairs on the top of his head . "Look it wasn't- I wasn't. You know I'm a dick."
"No you're not, Dean." Castiel pressed in a little closer and used an index finger to lift Dean's chin up so that the man was looking at him. "I understand it's a shock. At the very least he will be under our supervision. If I find out more I will tell you, I promise." Cas tried not to listen to the voice that decided to start listing all of the other information he was keeping from Dean.
"Right, yeah." Dean sighed and tried to lean in closer to Castiel. This time he allowed it.
"Your injuries seem to be paining you less," Cas said softly.
Dean tensed a little and pulled back. His eyes shifted back and forth and he looked like a child caught stealing a snack. Castiel tried to hold in the soft laugh that escaped him but it just bubbled out of him. Probably the stress. He cut it off very quickly but left the wry grin on his face. "There's no shame in needing a little bit of extra help."
"You're extra help," Dean bit back. Cas chuckled dryly. "Stop laughing at me!"
"Izvinite, izvinite."
"You're impossible," Dean sighed but he was finally smiling.
"We should go to bed, it's been a long day." Castiel sighed and stepped away from Dean opening his door. He didn't think that the other man would be comfortable spending two nights with him, especially not with what had happened the night before.
"Cas."
Castiel stopped in his doorway holding it open. He glanced back at him confused. Dean stood there looking uncomfortable. He fidgeted minutely and if Cas hadn't been watching for it he wouldn't have even noticed.
"Yes, Dean?"
"Don't make me ask."
"What?"
A small red coloring spread on the tip of Dean's nose. Castiel glanced into his bedroom and back towards Dean. He nearly collapsed to his knees in relief. "Sam didn't-?"
Dean shook his head, shoulders relaxing. "Nah man. Dude was out cold. I'm not expecting anything different tonight. Kid gets this stress sleep thing going on where not even a bomb would wake him." Dean rocked forward and back from the balls of his feet to his heels. "So," Dean bit down and licked his tongue along his lower lip. He glanced up at Castiel from under his lashes. The grin promised trouble. "Can I accompany you to bed tonight?" He wiggled his eyebrows for emphasis and Castiel nearly broke laughing. He reached out his hand and wriggled his fingers until Dean moved forward.
"Pashalsta?" Castiel said softly.
"I don't know what you're saying but I hope that's a yes."
"Da." Castiel reached forward and dragged Dean by the bottom of his shirt into the bedroom. Gently he turned them around and closed the door.
"You're a damn cheat." Dean pried Castiel's hands off from the hem of his shirt and reached up to grab him by the collar. He backed them towards the bed, stopping before he could collapse. "You know that just makes me want to rip your clothes off you."
Castiel's eyes darkened and he fought not to throw Dean down. Just because he'd taken his pain killers didn't mean that his back was any better. Instead he crooked his finger and beckoned Dean towards him. He leaned in eagerly and Cas ran his mouth along the other man's chin and cheek before nipping gently at the ear. "Khoroshiy ."
"Fuck."
Things would be better once the morning came. Or at least that's what Cas had to tell himself as he pulled away from Dean, feeling guilty about the wince that had come with the curse. The painkillers were probably already fading a little.
"Perhaps we shouldn't," Cas mumbled with regret.
"Really now?" Dean raised his eyebrow and let his hand trail down to cup Cas' hardness.
Castiel inhaled sharply and couldn't help but grind into Dean's palm. "Nyet, Dean."
"I don't know what that means," Dean defended nuzzling at Castiel's neck.
"It means, no." Cas pulled back out of breath. He took a few steps back.
"You can't speak Russian to me and just pull back," Dean complained with a poorly disguised pout.
"This is your fault," Castiel defended pulling his shirt off. He'd just remembered the earlier phone call.
"How is this my fault?"
"Office sex?" Cas tutted and crawled into bed; he pulled up the other corner of the sheet for Dean. "I thought you liked teasing?"
Dean's jaw dropped for a moment as Castiel settled into bed. He turned his head and nuzzled into his pillow. A moment passed before he heard Dean laugh and he smiled. He'd worried he'd gone too far.
"Turnabout's fair play I guess." He chuckled in the dark for a moment before Cas felt the bed dip. A warm body slotted next to his. He rolled into it with a grateful sigh, Dean threw his arm over his waist. "Well played, Cas, well played."
"Spasiba."
Dean groaned next to him but the arm around him only tightened.
Tomorrow would be a better day.
A/N: Russian: * Note; oh my god there are a thousand phoentic spellings for some of these. -bangs head against keyboard-
Sorry, Sorry * (note there's another version but it's a lot more like 'pardon' and that didn't seem to fit right/ Please? / Yes / Good / No / Thank You
For those of you who don't read A/N:'s this is actually pretty important. I had the tires in the car blow out (that's $500 something to get both back tires replaced and then towing) and I just had to take a trip up to New York City to get my passport renewed ($3000 round trip total for my family) and I just got news that they are laying off 4000 people company wide in our area. I'll do my best to update regularly but if days are wonky I hope you don't abandon the story or think I've abandoned it. Just hard times are hitting and I have college and just a lot of things going on. I beg you for your patience and not to give up on me because I haven't given up on you!
ALSO; K4637 has graciously offered to go through my older chapters and fix errors. Bless them. Super super helpful. I'm updating before they can get a chance to go through this chapter but if you wait until the end of the weekend we should have been able to get together to update a not sucky version.
UPDATED:
Beta message: Yellow, hope I'll do a good enough job to please you people. I don't get Russian, I only do the only English betaing. So if someone knows something about those, you are more than welcome to consult with GQ. It'll take me a while to beta through those 192 pages that are left but hope erryone can manage 'til then. You can contact me through ffnet as K4637 or tumblr buttfulmavinness. Yep, think that's about it.
-K