The room was bright and warm. He sat at the table with Lil and M. They were eating and smiling. No one was talking though. It was just pleasant. Cas glanced at M and noticed that her wine glass needed replenishing. He reached over with the bottle and poured until her glass was generously full.
"Happy?" He asked her.
"Yes, Cas. I got my favorite people right here." She smiled at Lil first then Cas. "What's on your mind?"
"So many things. I wish that I understood your notes." He drank from his own wine glass and noticed that Lil was making little play doh creatures at the table instead of eating.
"Okay. Why don't you start with the basics."
"You knew that Dean was a cop?" He stared steadily at her. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, a dark curl fell in front of her ear.
"I did." She sipped from her glass. "It was easy enough to discover. I looked into him after Ezra's party."
"I figured that out, I think from the way that you laid out the notes." He glanced over at Lil. She was making a tiny woman. She was using her fingernail to add details to the face. She was looking at it with intensity. "What did you mean when you said that Dean could help move information into the right hands?"
"Lucky likes to feed information to the authorities from time to time. He likes to confuse them."
"Oh." Cas sounded disappointed.
"Well, there were other goals too." She reached out to him and held his hand. "I was unhappy with certain things, as you already know. I couldn't live with what I was a part of. I had to do something, so I did."
"What did you do?"
"I made sure to leave just the right information on your desk overnight. I also made sure that Sam got just enough intriguing details to want to see more, and pass them on to someone with a little more power. I had hoped that the sheer volumes of files that I had checked out would be enough to obscure the missing files, but, I had no such luck it turns out." She was looking at Lil now. "God, I love her. Why did I have to go off and develop a moral compass? I could have stayed with her forever."
"Why did you?" Cas felt her hand tighten on his.
"Children are my Achilles' Heel, Cas." He didn't understand, but before she could explain he noticed her turn toward Lil. Lil had finished making the figure. She turned it to them in triumph, and Cas could see its face. A familiar face from the photographs. A face that Cas had seen before. Then she took her tiny fist and raised it up only to smash it down on the figure with enough force to jar Cas awake.
It took him a few moments to regain a normal breathing pattern. When he did he rolled over and looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand, 6:30 am. Wow, a full night's sleep. He sat up slowly reaching out to the other side of the bed that Dean had been occupying most nights, but not this past night. It was cold. He slipped out of the blankets and made his way out to the living room. It was quiet and softly illuminated in the early morning glow that seeped in through the windows. He could see that the couch was occupied, so he made his way over to it.
Dean was passed out and tipped to the side in a half sitting, half laying position. Lil was laying in front of him, his arms and a blanket wrapped around her. Her head was tipped back across his torso. It was a funny posture and looked like it would be completely uncomfortable. It reminded Cas of the way that kittens would sleep when they were first born, a tangle of limbs and faces all piled up on one another.
He tip-toed away to get his phone. He wanted to take a picture of them looking peaceful. He flicked to the camera app and came back to them. He snapped the picture. The flash went off. Dean cracked open an eye. "What are you doing?"
At least he didn't sound angry anymore. "Taking a picture. It looked like a moment that needed to be saved." Cas came down to eye-level with Dean. Lil had not been disturbed by the flash.
Dean reached out and placed a hand on Cas, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I guess. You?" Cas didn't know how to respond. They couldn't really talk with Lil right there practically ready to wake up.
"I'm old. My leg is killing me. I remember when I could bounce back from injuries without much effort."
"Really, Dean, you do recall that you were shot, don't you? This isn't some minor injury."
"Yeah, mom." Dean adopted a snarky tone. Then he fell into a quieter voice, "I don't know what to say about yesterday. So, instead of talking about it yesterday, I decided to just throw myself into the task of moving all of the stuff into storage. The guys helped a lot."
"Did Jorge harass you any more?" Cas folded his legs under himself and leaned his head down next to Dean.
Dean shrugged by way of an answer. "Jorge said that he was going to watch the house to see if anyone comes or goes from it. It is hard to know who to pin the responsibility on. I mean A never said who sent him, and our suspicions really mean nothing." Dean sounded frustrated. "Catching someone breaking into the house would help. I mean if we had someone that we could question, now that would be quite helpful."
"Hmm." Cas sat up then and planned to start some coffee. He looked back at Dean as he stood to go and saw his expression drop into something rather sad. Cas couldn't help himself though, he felt the need to share his feelings about the day before. He came back down into a crouch and said, "You were an ass yesterday. Just so you know. I didn't tell him that you were my boyfriend. He just kind of figured it out. But even if I did, even if I shouted it from the god damn mountaintops, it should be fine. Just so you know how I feel about this subject." Dean stared back at him but did not speak. Cas could not read his expression beyond the sadness that played about at the corners of his eyes. "We on the same page?" Cas stood again.
He waited for Dean to respond. "Hmm." Lil was stirring now and the conversation had to end. Cas walked over to the kitchen and made the coffee. His day was going to be a little full if he could convince to Dean to watch Lil. He needed to go to the office. These little treks in would help him buy more time with Lil. He was hoping to extend his leave by an extra week by taking a few meetings and such while he was supposed to be off.
He called back over his shoulder, "You mind watching Lil while I go to the office today?"
"Do you have to?" Cas turned to Dean and wondered at the question.
"It would be helpful. If you don't want to, just say so." Cas turned back to the coffee, willing it to brew faster.
"I didn't mean it that way. I just can't keep an eye on you both if you are there."
"Lil and I were alone for most of the evening last night and we are fine." Cas couldn't help but sound a little dismissive. Lil was up now and stumbling off to the bathroom. "Good morning, munchkin."
"Mornin' Cas." She did not pause in her path.
Dean got up and hobbled over to the kitchen counter. "Of course I'll watch her. Go do what you need to do. When will you be back?"
"I want to try to put in a whole day. Mind if I come back around 5:30ish?" Cas pulled down two mugs and bowls for cereal.
He felt Dean come up behind him and loop his arms around his waist. "Like I said, do what you need to do. I'll be here." His face was resting on Cas' shoulder. His words brushed across his cheek like a kiss. Cas wasn't quite ready to let Dean off the hook. He seemed to be trying to apologize with actions and Cas wanted words. If he can use words to be angry, he can use words to make this right. It wasn't easy having resolve though. Dean had carefully positioned himself. His body was stretched up along all of Cas' back. Dean's arms were sitting just a little lower than they would if this were a casual hug. He felt his body responding and made a move away from Dean. He stepped to the side and Dean's arms fell. Cas opened the fridge and pulled out the milk.
"Mind grabbing the cereal? It's up there." Cas pointed at the cabinet. When he looked at Dean's face, he could see that he was disappointed. They set the table with the cereal and coffee, along with the orange juice for Lil. She came out and joined them. Meals were usually easy for them. If their entire relationship could be spent eating or preparing food, then, well I'd weigh a literal ton. It would be easier though to just focus on something so basic.
"You ready to keep me company today? Cas thinks that he has to go to work or something." Dean said good naturedly to Lil.
"Okay. Did you say sorry to Cas?" Dean looked uncomfortable. Lil kept on eating innocently unaware of the effect that her question had on Dean.
"I thought that I did, but now I think that maybe I didn't." Dean looked over to Cas.
"You'll get no help from me. I need to get ready for work." He stood and gathered his bowl and mug to drop off in the sink. He wandered into the bedroom and closed the door to get ready in private. He had to smile a little at the thought of Lil calling him out on his behavior. Dean Winchester, you don't stand a chance against us. Cas chuckled a little. He took time to shower and shave. He picked out a navy colored business suit. He looked out the window and saw that the sky was unseasonably overcast so he decided to throw on an extra layer, a tan trenchcoat. Cas came back into the room with his briefcase in hand.
Dean looked over at him and so did Lil. "You look pretty, Cas." Lil said from her seat on the couch.
Cas looked down at himself and then smiled back at them. He did a little turn and said, "I don't see it, but if you say so." He walked over and placed a little kiss on her head. "It's nice to have a little fan club."
Cas moved to go, then Dean said, "Wow, Cas, cold." Dean had his head tipped to the side.
"What?" Cas knew what, but he was still angling for words.
"Nothing, I guess." Dean looked pretty pitiful. Cas decided to leave.
"I'll be back around 5:30 then. Call me if you need me to change plans." With that he closed the door and headed off for work.
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Thanks all for the feels. Mummabro, you are astute as always:) Maybe I should be more subtle. Thanks for the support YoungHopeful. Smalls907, loved your response. Dean does need to lighten up. Cas is the one going through trauma here. Master's daughter, it seems that I have become a little predictable. ;) You got your dream sequence, albeit not as surreal as the last. 'Till tomorrow all.