AN: So welcome to exposition land. Hopefully, I have given you enough Cas and Dean for a little bit. Yes, I know, never enough. Thanks again for the kind words. I can't believe that you all have stuck with this for so long.
The plan had been to meet in Zach's conference room. When Cas stepped in, he found the room too full. Zach seemed to be trying to create an impression. He had invited a large number of the junior associates in, as well as, the others that would more likely work the cases. It felt too crowded for a first meeting.
Cas walked over to Zach and said, "This won't work. I am going to move things over to my office."
Zach looked over at him like he was speaking a different language. "What's wrong with my office?"
"You have too many people here. It makes us look like we are trying to impress them. We don't need to look that desperate." Cas nodded over to where Lucky and his associates stood by the morning breakfast table. Lucky had a cup of coffee in his hands, while the others stood near him empty-handed waiting.
Zach nodded, "Go ahead." Zach's tone acknowledged his assessment of the situation.
Cas walked over to Lucky then and extended a hand, "Good to see you again."
"Likewise, Mr. Novak. Shall we begin?" He motioned over to the table.
"Yes, but we are going to head over to my office. Let the kids work in here." Cas employed his most charming smile and raised a hand toward the door.
"Ah, I thought that we were going to have a crowd. Glad to change the venue." Lucky and his associates followed Cas over to his office. They entered and Cas directed them to the long table. He sat opposite them and set out some legal pads and pens for his notes. He had read in the faxed notes that Lucky was not a fan of electronics at meetings. All notes were to be taken on paper.
One of Lucky's associates walked the perimeter of the room before stopping behind Lucky's chair. He leaned in and whispered into Lucky's ear. "Will anyone else be joining us?"
"For now, no."
"What about Gabe?"
"He will be on board later. I do hope that you don't mind. I assumed that I would be sufficient today, as this is just a preliminary meeting." Cas was calm as he leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers and then laying them out on the table in front of him.
Lucky's smile quirked up at the edge, "You will be quite sufficient, I think." He turned to the ones that stood at his back then. "May I introduce three very important associates of mine?" He raised a hand toward a brunette to the left of his seat. "This is M. She is my diplomat. She is going to be in charge of you. She is knowledgeable in all aspects of our little operations. She has a head for numbers, details, and she can read people in a way that I have often found most valuable." Cas looked at her face, a round inviting, almost childlike face at first glance. A deeper look revealed something hardened, perhaps a life that dragged her about a bit.
Cas said, "Nice to meet you. Your name is M?" He asked her, but Lucky was the one to reply.
"Yes, her name is M." He motioned toward the second woman, another brunette. Her hair was tied back into a loose ponytail. Her suit was crisp though, and dark. "This is R. She is in charge of the research. She knows all of the gory details concerning our research. She is available if you need information about our drug trials overseas as well as here."
Once again Cas directed his words to the one being described, "Nice to meet you, R."
Lucky began again, this time gesturing to the man at his other side. "Lastly, this is A. He is hopefully, only going to meet you this once." Cas cocked his head to the side at this very limited explanation. "You see, he is a man with a unique skill set. He makes sure that things work out according to plan."
Cas didn't want to ask, but sometimes his brain didn't work right, "And when the plans don't work out."
"A makes sure that they always do." Lucky smiled a most beatific smile. "So, now that you have met my ARM, let's get down to business." He chuckled a little at his subtle joke.
The meeting sprawled out for hours and Cas learned more than he had wanted. When Lucky had finally risen to go, Cas followed him quite willingly to the door. His associates trailing after them both. He walked them all the way out to the elevator. Before they got in M spoke, "I will be here in the morning to go over some of the specific files that you have not seen yet. I set up the meeting already with your secretary. It looked like you were free all morning. Now you are not. See you at 7." She turned to the elevator as it opened and followed the others inside.
"Seven it is then." Cas responded as the doors closed.
Later that night, Cas sat up in bed looking over his notes from the day. An email came through. Gabe had sent something that was not typical. The subject line read, Not porn, I swear.
Strangely, the subject head actually assured him that it really was porn-free. It contained no baby animal references. I live in a truly strange mental world. He read the message first.
Watch the background. I'll come over later. Something weird about it.
He opened the video and played it. It was from the night at the bar. There was a background scene. It looked like Gabe was filming another of his sneaky videos meant to cover the times when he was away from the table. He could hear the whiny peal of song coming over the speakers. He could see Anna and Gabe dancing out on the floor in the center of the shot. Then he noticed the background. Dean was there. He was just beyond the entryway looking in. A man stood at his shoulder, just behind him. He was leaned in close to Dean's ear. He appeared to be speaking. Dean's face did not betray any emotion. He just kept standing there. Then, a barely perceptible motion occurred and he seemed to have handed something back to the man, before walking into the main part of the bar. The whining song ended and everyone cheered. Gabe returned to the table to shut off the recording.
Gabe showed up at his door several minutes later. "Did you get the email?"
"Yeah." Cas ushered him into the condo.
"So, what do you think that was?"
"I don't know. It was odd, huh."
"I'll say. I wonder what that guy was saying." Gabe sat at the counter. "I hadn't watched this one until last night. I was looking for some new torment for you, when I found this one."
"He is attractive. Maybe he was just hitting on Dean." Cas theorized.
'Then what did Dean hand him?" Gabe wondered out loud.
"Maybe, I should just ask him. Not sure if it matters though. I know he didn't go home with the guy." Cas smiled a little at the assurance that he felt with his words.
"Yeah, it just seemed odd. Do with it what you will." Gabe got back up and headed for the door. "Did it go well with Crowley today?"
"Ah, that is the real reason that you came over, huh?" Cas smiled over at him.
"I did have some curiosity. So, spill, jerk." Gabe laughed.
"I took copious notes and fully intended to pass them on to you. Just give them back before I go in tomorrow. I have a follow-up at the not obscene hour of 7 am." Cas walked over to the table and plucked up a folder containing his notes, and handed them off to Gabe. "Enjoy."
"Wow. Some light reading." Gabe seemed to weigh the folder. "Thanks for the distraction. You're making my so called leave seem less like a leave."
"I do what I can. I'll see you bright and early." Cas followed him out the front door and waved him off.
"Goodnight, Cas."
Review, Fav., Follow. Tomorrow we will get to know M a little. 'Till then...