When did three days become so long? Cas sat at the conference table that was in Gabe's office. Papers spanned the space between them. They were working on a case that should have been done before Cas made partner. Unfortunately for them, the client, who was completely innocent, couldn't manage to keep his mouth shut when there was a camera or a journalist within five feet of him. Okay, maybe he wasn't completely innocent. The fraud was getting harder and harder to explain away with each interview that Ezra set-up.
"Hey, Cas, I'm having trouble with the phrasing on this. You mind looking it over?" Gabe sounded tired. They were all tired. It had been a long day.
"Yeah, sure, send it over." Cas did not look up from the computer when he spoke. The email came through in the next second. He opened the email. Gabe had sent a message with an image embedded in the body along with the words: Cas is sexy and he knows it.
The image was from the night at the bar. Cas was clutching a mic and was poised with his pelvis thrown so far forward that it was actually unreasonable. He had his other arm extended out pointing into the crowd.
"Really, Gabe? How do you get anything done?" Cas said as Uriel leaned over and looked at the screen.
"Nice shot." Uriel looked over at Gabe.
"Don't encourage him." Cas scowled. "Pass me the folder."
"Oh, I could just send you the digital file of all of that." Gabe chuckled.
"I'll pass. Actually, I think that this is a sign that I have spent way too many hours cooped up with you two. This is all as good as it will get. I'll see you both tomorrow at the courthouse." Cas stood to go.
"See you tomorrow." Uriel tossed off.
"Wuss, you just can't handle my awesomeness." Gabe sounded like his energy was running low too though.
"You are right. I have experienced far too much awesomeness today." He closed the door behind him and wandered back to his office to get a few things together for home. He passed Sam's door and saw that his light was still on. He poked his head in. "Burning the midnight oil too?"
"Almost done." He said to Cas as he pulled the phone away from his mouth, shielding the bottom. Then quieter, "On the phone."
Cas slipped out, quietly closing Sam's door. He went to his office then his desk and sat. Just for a second. He began gathering his papers and saw his phone laying on the edge of the desk. He had left it in his office, because he needed a distraction-free environment. He flipped it over now, and looked for the message icon. There was a missed call icon. No voice message though. It was the same number that he had messaged before. Maybe I should just call. He was thinking as his office door opened.
It was Sam. He was still on the phone. "Why don't you just ask him yourself? No, I am not your little messenger boy. No, you shut-up. No, you."
Cas cocked his head to the side at this odd intrusion. Clearly, Sam was not on the phone with a client anymore, or at least he hoped not. "Everything okay, Sam?"
"I am handing him the phone." Sam said as he swiftly removed the phone from his ear and pressed it to Cas' head.
"Sammy, you bitch. Just ask him what he needed so I can get back to..." The gravely voice settled into Cas's ear.
"Uh, not Sammy," Cas interrupted.
"Oh, uh, sorry." There was a long moment of silence then.
Sam spoke up loud enough to be heard through the phone, "He said that I needed to find out what you wanted because you weren't taking his calls."
"I am confused." Cas said into the phone and to Sam who was backing out of the room.
The voice on the phone said, "Sam told me to call you. This is Dean. Sam's brother." There was a pause between each sentence of information as if Dean expected Cas to acknowledge him and thus avoid the need for more information.
"Oh, of course," Cas said. Words. Bah! Each time that he tried to speak it was like a light had gone on in a dark room full of roaches-the words skittering off into the darkness.
"So, is your phone broken?" Dean ventured.
"No, it works. Is yours, um broken?" Cas replied.
"No, I am talking to you on it right now."
"Oh, yeah." Stupid. "It's just that I tried to text you, but you didn't reply." Yes! A coherent sentence.
"Really, I didn't get that. Did Sammy give you my cell?"
"No, I just replied to the number that you called from." On a roll. That makes two completely reasonable sentences.
"Oh, well, that explains some things. I called from my uncle Bobby's landline. He lives out in the sticks. Cell service out here is for shit, so I just use his house phone."
"Oh, sorry about that. Guess I should have just called back. It has been a little busy." Cas almost mumbled the last bit.
"No worries. Sounds like a bit of miscommunication." Another long pause. "So, uh, not to be a broken record, but Sam told me to call you."
"Why did he do that?" Seriously, that was the best I could come up with? Think!
"You tell me. He said that you were unclear or something. He said that you maybe had a concussion or something." Dean rushed through the information while in the background Cas could hear a loud banging sound taking over the quiet that was there before.
"What's happening? That is really loud." Cas had to raise his voice a little to be heard.
"Oh, I'm at my uncle's place. We are pulling an all-nighter. He got a bunch of cars from some rich guy. They need major body work. The timeline on them is tight, so we are going to try to burn through as many as we can now." There were more banging noises coming through the phone. "Bobby, seriously, I am on the phone."
"Then go take the call in the house, you idjit." The other voice rasped out clearly, despite it likely coming from no where near the phone.
He could hear Dean moving around with the phone and the noise lessening a little before he spoke again, "So, I'll need your address. Do you have a garage?"
Cas was confused. Where did this conversational thread come from? "Sure, got a pen?" He waited for Dean's reply.
"Ready." Cas gave him his address.
"I don't have a garage." Cas added, though he did not understand the point of the question. Maybe this is how Dean does small talk. Seriously, someone has to hold up both ends of the conversation, because so far…
"Oh, well then, that will complicate things." There was more banging in the background and what sounded like muffled swearing.
"Damn it, Dean. I aint paying you to talk on the phone all night. Get over here and help me out." Then he could hear a shuffle of sorts and then the voice was in the phone, "Dean can't talk on the phone anymore. He'll call you when he finishes his work." Then there was silence as the uncle had hung up the phone.
"Well, that was abrupt." Cas walked the phone out of the office and saw Sam sitting on one of the office couches. "Here is your phone."
"Everything clear now?" Sam took the phone and rose to go.
Cas grunted in response and went back to gathering his things from his office. Clearly, nothing could just be simple.