Obviously his lines were getting weaker as he got older, Gabriel decided. His reasoning behind this was that Castiel had barely reacted after he'd looked up and saw Gabriel - who he hadn't even known was still alive until a minute ago - waltz into his bar.
This was all apparently Mary Winchester's fault.
Said Winchester raised her glass in acknowledgement of Gabriel's arrival. "Sorry about your anti-climactic entrance there, Gabriel. Mine was that way too, if it makes you feel any better." Mary raised the bottle of rum so that Gabriel could see it. "Rum?"
"I thought you were gonna stay out of your boys' lives til you knew they were safe?"
Mary Winchester sighed, putting the bottle back down. "Dean's getting married."
Gabriel put his arms out, waiting for an explanation after Mary paused. "So? I already knew that."
The blonde woman looked back at Castiel. "Why is it that it seems like Gabriel knew my elder son was getting married before I did?"
"Probably because I did know," Gabriel interjected before Castiel could, sitting down beside Mary at the bar. "So, Cassie." He waited until his brother was looking at him to continue. "You're awfully calm for someone who just found out that his older brother was still alive after not seeing him for six years."
Castiel shrugged. "There have been a few events within the past few days that have seemed highly unlikely, yet they have occurred so I am apparently no longer affected. At least for the time being," the brunette added.
His older brother turned back to Mary. "Until Balthazar shows up," Gabriel said to her under his breath. Suddenly, Gabriel turned back to Castiel. "Dean. That's why you didn't react." He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand when he figured it out. "Dean's the reason you didn't react."
Mary grimaced. "I may have been the final straw though, since he didn't actually know for sure that my death had been faked." Gabriel shrugged, letting out a small, indifferent "eh". "Anyway, I was trying to make Castiel see why I knew Dean liked him."
Gabriel scoffed. "How long have you been here? Hours?" Mary rolled her eyes, the smile on her face growing. "Seriously though, Cassie, if you haven't figured it out by now, you obviously haven't been paying attention."
Castiel frowned, considering something. "Mary said I saved Dean's fiancé previously. However, I don't remember doing such a thing."
Mary and Gabriel exchanged a look. "Her name is Lisa Braeden," Mary began, turning back to Castiel, in sync with Gabriel. "Five and a half years ago, you led to her meeting private investigator Dean Winchester."
"She was a subject of investigation in the Novak gang," Gabriel continued, looking as casual as possible while sitting on a barstool. "Your actions saved her from them and sparked her curiosity as to who you were, exactly."
Lisa Braeden was royally pissed off. Not just pissed off, mind you, but royally pissed off. The Novak gang was after her and she'd been forced to leave everything behind except for one suitcase, so yeah, she was royally pissed off.
It was in this condition that she came across Castiel Novak.
(It was later that she met Gabriel and Balthazar and Anna and found out that they thought that Castiel had saved her. Ha. As if.)
(Nope, wait, that was actually really likely, the more that she thought about it.)
At this time in his life, six months after his rebellion against Michael, Castiel was on the run from the Novak gang, and yet still not as far away from their territory as he wanted to be. Not that Lisa knew that. Nope, not at all. She had heard absolutely nothing about the extremely attractive private investigator who had apparently been saved by the also extremely attractive gang member, both of whom Lisa was bound to meet.
When they met, Lisa was running away from a small group of members of the Novak gang who had tracked her down and were now chasing her. Castiel happened to be walking by when Lisa very nearly ran him over.
"Hey! Watch where you're going," Lisa yelled, suitcase still in hand, which she very nearly used to whack Castiel's head off.
Castiel dodged out of the range of Lisa's suitcase. "I apologize, however, you ran into me."
Lisa opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again when she realized he was right. "Oh yeah. Sorry. I'm kinda in a hurry here." She looked to where she had just run from when she heard disturbing loud sounds coming from that direction. "Speaking of my hurry." She was about to take off again when Castiel grabbed her by the arm, none too lightly. "What the hell?"
"Follow me, otherwise you will be caught by the group of them who are going to attempt to stop you if you continue in the direction you were previously heading in."
"Wait, how do you - what?" Despite being thoroughly confused, Lisa followed Castiel down several streets, around a few corners, and away from the members of the Novak gang following her. "Okay," Lisa said, once they were in an apartment (she still had no clue who Castiel was or why she'd followed him there). "Now you get to explain to me who you are and how you knew who was following me."
Castiel sighed and very nearly failed to not roll his eyes at Lisa. "My name is Castiel. As to my knowledge that you are being hunted down by the Novak gang, that requires a far more in-depth explanation that we do not have time for."
Lisa sat down on the bed, her arms crossed. "I'm waiting." She didn't move, meeting Castiel's stare straight-faced, leading him to sigh and pull up a chair.
"As you undoubtedly already are aware, the Novak gang has several different subgroups in cities across the United States, and in those subgroups there are also a relatively large number of members. I hold a very unique position within the Novak gang, givin my many talents and blood relations within the gang. With that having been said, I have often been privy to documents relating to various persons of interest to the head of the gang, Michael Novak." Castiel leaned back into his chair once he was finished. "Is that a sufficient enough explanation for you?"
She pursed her lips together. "Yeah, that answers my original questions well enough. But now I have another question. If you're such a special member in the gang, why didn't you just turn me in?" Lisa leaned onto her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. "I mean, it seems like you'd end up in a pretty good position with Michael Novak if you turned in a person of interest."
Castiel frowned, carefully thinking over his answer before voicing it aloud. "It may seem that way, however, it would not be wise of me to make my presence known as I have disobeyed direct orders that has led to the subsequent continued investigation into an action performed by a member of the gang."
Lisa grimaced. "I see," she said, sitting up. "So, either way, it's a good thing you got me out of there before they found me." The taller of the two nodded his agreement, the silence stretching out between them.
"After you got her out of there, you were generous enough to get her a way to the next state, out of Novak territory and coincidentally where Dean was busy searching for you," Mary continued, subtly watching Castiel's reactions.
The bartender was quiet for a few moments after she finished, both Mary and Gabriel watching him. "I remember her. However, I was unaware that she was Dean's fiancé as no one has informed me of her name."
Gabriel whistled. "You really did pull all the way out of the game, didn't you, Cassie? I'm officially dead and I still have a better way of staying in the loop of things that I really need to know." He didn't quite move fast enough to get out of the way of Mary's elbow, which was aimed at his stomach, leading to a very pained grunt.
"How did you learn this story?" Castiel ignored Gabriel's comment as best as he could, despite the little pang of nostalgia that hit him.
Mary smiled a little. "I "accidentally" ran into Lisa shortly after Dean and, since it was still so fresh, she told me the story about how the incredibly handsome, formerly high-ranking member of the Novak gang turned-rebel named Castiel saved her life and led her to meeting Dean."
Castiel turned to Gabriel. "And you? How did you learn this story?"
His older brother grinned charmingly. "Pretty much how Mary learned it, except that my run-in involved a bar and a shot-contest."
"And how do you and Mary know one another?"
The older woman looked at Gabriel. "He certainly is full of questions today, isn't he?"
Gabriel shrugged. "Happens when your ex-boyfriend returns from oblivion, and you find out his mother and your brother aren't really dead." Castiel cleared his throat, still waiting for his answer. "Fine, Cassie. I'll tell you the story of how I met Mary Winchester. And yes, this does have something to do with that little file that you made all of those years ago."
A/N: Chapter nine for nine followers, yay! (I didn't plan that, seriously.) Anyhow, monthly updates seem to be a thing. Yeah. Fun. Anyway, please tell me how I did. Does it suck? Was it amazing? Anything at all? Reviews, critiques, comments, anything at all is appreciated!
UPDATE 8/7/14: "Life Suddenly Got More Confusing" chapter title changed to "Supernatural Superserious" by R.E.M.