It was very easy for Dean to think he imagined the feeling of being watched all last night during work. The feeling of someone watching right over his shoulder, easy to push off for him being paranoid and more than a little freaked out about some person floating in essentially a big round fish tank. He had every right to be weirded out.

But did he honestly think the person was responsible? They weren't even conscious for crying out loud! He let himself be caught up in the creepy ass vibe of the facility.

Well, not anymore.

He wasn't going to let some shit job get the best of him and freak him out. Wasn't worth it.

He wasn't even going to be there that long, anyway.

He rolled over in bed, watching the dull numbers of the alarm change by the minute. After thirteen minutes of watching the clock, he decided he should get out of bed and make dinner before Sam came home.

Not like he was some housewife or some shit like that, he just liked to cook and since him and Sam lived together he was forced to eat Dean's food whether he liked it or not. Besides, someone had to make sure the sasquatch ate.

He lazily stepped into the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab the ground hamburger he had placed in there to defrost. He dumped it into a bowl and grabbed various spices, throwing them in without measuring in a casual manner like he's done this a thousand times. Cracking an egg to hold the burgers together, he kneaded the ingredients together with his hand while the little grill top griddle they had heated up.

He scooped out decent portions of the well mixed hamburger meat and flattened them into patties. He made five total and as they sizzled on the hot griddle he grabbed some condiments, setting them out on the counter.

He flipped the burgers and admired the healthy looking brown with several dark burn lines running across. Perfect. Grabbing some buns, he opened them up and tossed them on the edges of the griddle to toast as the burgers finished.

Dean heard the front door open and close and grabbed two plates.

"Hey Dean," his brother Sam said as he stepped into the kitchen and breathed deeply. "Smells good."

"Heya Sammy." Dean greeted easily in response, flipping the burgers one more time to check their progress before deeming them finished. He placed the toasted buns on the plates, piled the burgers on top and loaded his just the way he liked it.

Plopping down in a chair at their small kitchen table, he bit down into the burger as Sam sat across from him.

"Work again tonight?" He asked easily and got a nod in response from Dean.

The two men finished their burgers in relative silence after that, Dean contemplating whether or not it would hurt to tell Sam about the freaky ass dude in a fish tank. He decided that he wouldn't say anything for now.

Getting up to put his plate in the sink, he moved to stand behind Sam, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"Clean up's all yours, Samantha," he said, giving a squeeze and stepping away.

"Awww, c'mon, no way man I just got home from work."

"Too bad, bitch. I gotta get goin' to work."

"Jerk." Sam grumbled, eating the rest of his burger as Dean walked back to his bedroom, chuckling.

The drive to work was short, Dean too lost in his thoughts to pay attention to the time. Pulling up that night, he almost faltered getting out of the car.

"Relax, man, s'all in your head."

No way in Hell was he going to let some weird ass feeling get in the way of work, whether he actually liked the job or not. He entered his codes easily enough, went to his cart, put on his uniform and went to the Thursday wing.

As soon as he walked through the doors he was hit with the feeling of being watched that was so intense the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. It was absolutely smothering.

He gripped his cart tighter, knuckles turning white from the effort. Once the doors closed, he noticed the same guy from the night before was still in the lab. He was absolutely frantic, muttering to himself and quickly writing things down on a legal pad.

Dean strained to hear his quiet, but panicked words.

"...okay, promise. Everything is okay, why are you upset? Don't be upset, what happened?" He wrung his hands together nervously. "Finally got you calm, what changed?"

Th'hell? So he wasn't imagining that feeling that was so thick in the air he could have been breathing sand.

He cleared his throat, causing the smaller male to jump and look over at him. Sudden clarity dawned on his features and he muttered beneath his breath and wrote something else down. Dean frowned.

"Did I, uhh, interrupt something?" He asked, not loosening his grip and trying to ignore the overwhelming feeling of being watched.

The scientist shook his head.

"No, no. I was just leaving." He quickly gathered his notes, tucking them under his arm and moving to slip past Dean.

Dean put his arm out to stop him. Alarmed eyes met his.

"Listen, man. I got something to worry about being in here with this thing?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Oh no, no nothing. He's harmless, curious, but harmless." The words were spoken quickly, nervously with a spastic nodding of the head. Dean used his larger build to tower over the man and intimidate him. "Maybe a little upset, but it's fine! I promise, don't hurt me I'm just doing my job! Harmless!"

Dean seemed content with that response so he leaned away, nodded and pushed his cart further in the room. Charles practically scrambled out the door.

Dean sighed through his nose. It was going to be a long, uncomfortable night, especially with this feeling draped over him like wet concrete.

But nonetheless, he grabbed his cloth, a new one for sanitary purposes, and his disinfectant and started to work his way around the room. If he thought the night before was stiling, he had no clue what he was talking about. This was ridiculous. There was no way a feeling this strong could be chalked up to nerves.

He glanced up, eyes narrowing slightly at the experiment in thought. Well, it couldn't hurt.

"What, you mad cause I didn't say hi, Cas?" For a moment he thought he felt the heavy air fluctuate. Maybe the experiment really could hear him. In that case... "Well hey, Cas. How ya been?" He paused, feeling the stirrings continue. No fucking way was this going to work, but he might as well try.

"Good? Good. Me? I'd be better if you turned your freakin' mojo off . " Air bubbles rushed to the top of the tank. "You're all over, man. A guy's gotta breathe and I can't do my job with you breathing down my neck." As he spoke, he waved his arms.

Suddenly the intense feeling lifted, the air becoming light in the room once again. The feeling was still there, but so faint that he would have to really pay attention to notice it now. Dean was more than a little freaked out, but hey, everyone needs a friend right? Damn scientists probably never taught the guy manners or some shit. A slight smile in disbelief lit up his face for a fleeting second. It actually worked.

"Wow. Uhh. Thanks, Cas. That was, uhh, thanks." He rubbed the back of his neck before getting back to work.

It was much easier to work now that he didn't have some freaky experiment trying to smother him in feels.

He made his way silently around half the room before the feeling came back. He groaned.

"What now, Cas? Did I do something wrong?" At the sound of his voice, the heavy air literally lightened before going heavy at his silence again.

Oh. The experiment wanted him to keep talking.

"Well, I don't have much to say, man. I can't just talk nonstop. Gonna lose my voice that way. But I'll tell you what," he paused and lifted his cloth in a gesture toward the tank. "Every once in a while I'll say something. How's that? That work for you, Cas?"

He waited, looking at the experiment for his answer. He got it when the air seemed to become lighter than normal.

"Guess that made you happy, huh?" He asked as he went back to work.

This time, however, he threw in a few comments here or there.

He made comments about how creepy the lab was, how he was sure he'd be happier covered in grease, how he couldn't believe that what he said could not only be heard, but responded to in a way as well.

It was totally a sci-fi nerd's dream, but even though it was a little weird for him, he found himself growing steadily more comfortable.

When it was time for lunch, he tossed his rag down and went to head up the short flight of three stairs to the door. Just as he was a few steps away, the air grew thick with a vengeance. Once again it was stifling, so much so that Dean lost his breath. He groaned.

"C'mon, man. A man's gotta eat! I can't spend all my time in here with you!" If he thought the feeling in the air was stifling before, he had obviously no clue what he was thinking.

It almost pained him to breathe.

"Knock it the fuck off, Cas! You can't throw a hissy fit if I try to leave! Quit being such a baby, man! I'll be back for fuck's sake!"

He trudged out the room before he could say anything to the floating man in the human fish tank.

He was kind of ticked off, he couldn't do with attachments, and yeah, the experiment was probably lonely but it had scientists to bother all day. He was going to come and go as he pleased whether the experiment liked it or not.

Stepping into the cafeteria, Charlie waved him over excitedly.

"Hey dude! What's up? How's night numero dos?" She asked.

"Goin' good I guess. Lemme grab some grub."

Dean stepped over to the buffet before she could really respond and started filling a plate.

Tonight there was some kind of popcorn chicken, some weird pasta in creamy sauce that was either alfredo or garlic and herb, pizza, meatloaf, which he stayed faaaar away from, mashed potatoes and corn. There was no pie for dessert so he made due with a piece of chocolate cake. He made his way back to the table.

He gave a slight wave with his free hand as he set his plate down with the other.

"Hiya guys."

Charlie, Kevin and Garth all responded simultaneously with a light "hey." Bella sat on her phone, picking lightly at her pasta absentmindedly. Adam ate mechanically, obviously somewhere far off in his head and Samandriel was nowhere to be found. That was odd. It's not like Dean knew him well, but from what little he did know, he gathered that Samandriel wasn't the kind of person to just bail on work. Maybe he got caught up cleaning.

"Where's Samandriel?"

At this, Adam finally snapped to attention.

"'Dunno, he wasn't in his wing. I usually meet up with him before coming to lunch, but he wasn't there. Guess he took off or something." There was a weird edge to Adam's tone, not that Dean really heard much coming from him at all. Maybe it was just his nerves, which were pretty much shot from the moment he walked into his wing and Cas decided to go all 'smother-you-in-feels' on him.

"Does that happen a lot?" Looks like he wasn't the only one freaked out in this creepy ass place.

Charlie frowned, pushing her mashed potatoes around on her plate. "I'm sure he just needed a break or something."

"Maybe Miss Naomi is havin' a meeting' with him." Garth supplied helpfully, dorky smile ever present on his face.

"It's not entirely uncommon. He is her main toy, after all," came Bella's suave voice. He was sure she wasn't paying attention. Guess she proved him wrong. "No need to twist your panties, Adam, he'll be here same as ever again tomorrow night."

So that's why Adam was so spacey, he was worried about Samandriel. Well, seeing as they had who-knows how strong experiments all around them, he'd be worried too.

Adam nodded, going back to eating his food. Dean followed suit, eating quickly. He listened more than he spoke.

He learned that Kevin had an extremely strict mother and his own expectations of himself were just as, if not worse, as hers. He learned that Charlie totally batted for chicks and that she loved Harry Potter with a passion. He learned that Adam had a dead beat dad that he only ever saw twice a year. He learned that Bella was a destroyer of all that got too close to her. He made a mental note to not try to get mixed up in that. He learned that Garth was actually a pretty popular guy, he had many stories of friends and family and he seemed very fond of them. He was already growing on Dean, the kid was so goofy that he couldn't help himself.

Lunch passed quickly and soon he was strolling back over to his wing. He expected Cas to be sulking or some shit, making it thick like quicksand again, but was met with relative peacefulness.

There was no flicker in the air, no fluctuations of air pressure, no smothering feelings.

Huh.

It should have made him feel comfortable, but instead he felt oddly uneasy. Did he perhaps offend the experiment? He lifted a hand to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck.

"Uhh, heya Cas." Dean greeted slowly, he wasn't sure what abilities his experiment possessed and if it was anything like Charlie's, he didn't want anything thrown at him because he was being a dick.

But he didn't get any response. Nothing. Not even a bubble.

He frowned, but got back to work anyway. He worked quickly, methodically disinfecting and sweeping and mopping and then finally steaming.

He put everything back on his cart and moved to exit the lab but paused. He cleaned everything in this place but Casus tank. Maybe he should.

He grabbed a new cloth and sprayed some Windex on it, stepping over and wiping the glass down swiftly. He paused mid-wipe, biting his lower lip before taking a breath.

It wasn't usually his style, but seeing as the experiment was unable to really respond, he had to take the high road.

"Listen, Cas. I, uhh, just wanted to say sorry. Y'know, for being' a dick and all." He paused, worrying the inside of his cheek before continuing. "You probably don't have many friends, and that's cool man. No harm in that. But you probably don't want to lose any either, but you won't with me. I'll come back, okay?"

He didn't even know why he was doing this, saying anything at all. He didn't do chick flick moments, but the guy was straight up ignoring him.

"Just, chill, okay? See you tomorrow." He tapped the tank once and turned to leave.

As he made his way across the lab and to the doors, he could have sworn he felt a comfortable warmth surround him.

That was the first night the dreams started.