Dean was lost. He was standing in the middle of the produce section of the local grocery store, a basket hanging from his arm almost painfully from the weight of the items he'd stuffed into it. He'd never been a fruits and vegetables type guy, but there he was, positioned right in front of the potatoes. He couldn't for the life of him remember what it was that would have brought him over to the produce, not in a million years. He blinked down at the rack of potatoes and then glanced up to see who all was surrounding him. A few feet away stood a tall brunette woman in a sleek dress, high heels clicking loudly on the floor as she walked, hips swaying lightly. That was the reason! He smirked brightly, turning back toward the potatoes so that he was only staring at her out of the corner of his eye. When he glanced up again, she was gone, but there was someone else who'd caught his eye. Standing over in the bakery area with what seemed like perpetually messy hair, was Castiel. Dean frowned a bit, cocking his head to the side as he idly wondered how long it had been since he'd taken his car. Three, four days? Was it even fixed? He'd never called him to come get it.
It took him far too long to dig up the memory, Castiel's car was fixed, Bobby had done it personally and called him to come get it on Dean's off day. That was why he hadn't been there when he showed up to pick up his car. Even though he'd already had his off day when he'd come across Castiel on the side of the road in the first place. When was the last time he'd taken two days off in a week? He just shrugged it off and moved closer just to see what he was up to. He was standing in front of a selection of pies, staring at them as if they were all labeled in French and Dean shimmed up beside him quietly.
"Hard to pick just one, huh?" he whistled and Castiel started, jumping to the side a bit as his head whipped around to gawk at Dean. He just smiled over at him and waved innocently, Castiel patting his chest lightly as if Dean had damn near given him a heart attack.
"Dean! You startled me," he sighed sharply, glancing back at the pies as Dean leaned over to have a look. "There are a lot to choose from."
"Apple is the best, hands down. Unless you don't like apple. Then you got cherry, that's a close second," Dean chuckled, standing straight again to smirk at him. "Having a pie kinda day?"
Castile smiled softly, reaching down to scoop up a Dutch apple pie, double checking the date before he slid it into his own basket. He seemed to be shopping for essentials, all except for the pie. It was the only food item in the whole thing. "You could say that."
"How is the car treating you? Anymore problems?"
"Not a one," Castiel chuckled, turning to walk with Dean toward the check out lanes. He wasn't sure when he'd initiated the walk, it just seemed to happen and Castiel naturally fell in step with him. It was still a bit awkward how comfortable Dean was around him, like he had known the man for years, but he never complained. They just continued on their way as if nothing were out of the ordinary. "It was a shame you weren't there when I came to retrieve it. I would have liked to personally thank you. I was informed there was no charge, even for the services."
Dean nodded, plopping his basket down onto the shelf along side the self scan and started to ring up his items. Bread and lunch meats for sandwiches and chips. Castiel took the machine beside him and began scanning his own things, placing the pie carefully into a bag all it's own. "I told you not to worry about it, welcome to Lawrence gift and all. You were having a shitty day, figured something needed to go right."
"And I am eternally grateful for your help, Dean."
"Eternity is a long time, Cas," he snorted, shoving a twenty into the machine and waiting for his change to spit out. "Hey listen, are you gonna go get a real car? One of your own I mean, not a rental?"
Castiel swiped a card on the machine he was standing at, blinking over at Dean as his receipt spat out. "Eventually. Why do you ask?"
"I was just thinking, you don't seem to know much about cars," Dean mumbled, scooping up his bags once he had pocketed his change. He wasn't trying to make him feel stupid, it just wasn't something everyone was into. Just because Castiel was a dude didn't mean he had to automatically be a motor head like Dean. "Not that that's a bad thing, man. I just don't want you going out and getting a shitty car, y'know? Something you're going to have in the shop every three days or some shit. I was thinking, maybe I'd come with you. Take a look at things before you buy something."
Castiel smiled, his nose crinkling a bit and Dean couldn't help but think it looked entirely too adorable on a grown ass man. He scooped up his bags and nodded for Dean to follow him toward the doors before he spoke again. "I think that may be best. I would like for my mechanic to look at the car before I purchase it in the first place. Make sure everything is running properly before I commit."
"Your mechanic?" Dean laughed as they made their way outside and Castiel just nodded at him enthusiastically. "Well alright then. When are you going to go looking?"
"When is your next day off?" Castiel asked, stopping suddenly and Dean realized they were already standing beside his black Chevy. It was a unique car to see rolling around these days, but he was amazed that Castiel remembered it so easily. He lifted the bag with the pie in it suddenly, extending it to Dean with a smiled on his face.
"What?" Dean asked, glancing down at the bag in confusion.
"It was for you in the first place. A gesture of thanks. Robert explained that you favored pie." Robert? Who the hell was Robert?
"Oh, you mean Bobby?" Dean asked, wrinkling his nose a bit but taking the bag none the less. That was why he had suddenly picked out apple when Dean poked his nose into the situation. He had specifically stated that apple pie was the best, so that was what Castiel bought. "Y-Yeah I like pie. Thanks man, but uh, don't ever let Bobby hear you call him Robert."
Castiel nodded his head, watching Dean open the back door and sit his groceries and newly acquired pie in the floorboards so they didn't slide around on the seat. As soon as he shut the door, he rounded to the driver side door, peeling it open and waving at the dark haired man. Castiel nodded lightly and Dean slid into the seat, waiting to close the door until Castiel moved from the back so that he wouldn't accidentally back over the guy. Except he rounded to Dean's side of the car and crouched down a bit to see him better.
"You didn't answer me, Dean," he stated calmly and when Dean just blinked at him in confusion, he shook his head lightly. "When is your next day off so that we may go look at vehicles?"
"Uh, Wednesday? I think, not really sure," Dean blurted out, frowning when he honestly couldn't really remember what day it even was or when his next day off was scheduled.
"Tomorrow then? You'll call me? I trust you still have my phone number?" Dean nodded lightly, pulling his leg into the car as Castiel gripped the door and started pushing it closed slowly. "I will talk to you tomorrow, Dean Winchester."
Dean smiled at him softly as he shut the door, Castiel waving at him before he turned and headed off in whatever direction it was his car was parked. As soon as the dark haired man was out of sight, Dean shoved the keys into the ignition and turned the car on, waiting for a moment before he put it in reverse. The drive home was weird, too short and kind of blocky now that he tried to think back on it. He was just suddenly standing there in his kitchen, putting away the groceries that he'd bought with the pie Castiel had given him laid out on the counter. He'd gotten Dean a pie as a token of thanks and Dean couldn't help but shake his head at it. The guy was a little weird, kind of dorky, but in a good way and it made him smile. Moving over to the pie, he peeled the box open and pulled it out, grabbing a knife from the drawer and cut himself a slice. He didn't even bother putting it on a plate, snatching a fork up from the dish drainer and scooped up a bite form the slice he'd cut. The moment he shoved it into his mouth he knew there was something wrong. It wasn't exactly nasty, but it didn't really have much of a taste to it except it was distinctly apple. He gagged a bit, just because it wasn't at all what he was expecting, forcing himself to swallow the bite anyway. What kind of damn bakery made pies without any kind of sugar in them? Castiel had spent damn near eight dollars on that pie and it wasn't all that good. A rip off, honestly and Dean was going to have to remember to never buy pies from the grocery store again. But if Castiel asked, it was the best damn pie he'd ever had...
It was hard to remember the last time he'd had a dream, even harder to remember the last time he'd had a nightmare. He was still laying in bed, unable to move as the steady sound of beeping slowly filled the room to an unbearable volume and he tried to scream out for someone to stop the noise. He felt like his ears were bleeding, eyes swiveling around in his skull as he tried to piece together where he was. Bland wallpaper, generic photos of flowers, florescent lights burning low. There was a machine perched next to his head and he instantly realized that it was the source of the noise. A little green line spiking rapidly as it scrolled across the screen and Dean instantly tried to lift his hand to knock it over. Anything to stop the shrill beeping.
When his hand refused to move, he glanced down at his body, his lungs burning as he gasped in sharp breaths. He was covered in blood, his hands mangled beyond recognition and his arms and legs covered in deep maroon lacerations. The beeping suddenly stopped as did the burning in his lungs and Dean faintly registered it was because his own heart had stopped, his breath caught somewhere in his throat and the edges of his vision slowly started fading to black. He wanted to call out for help, to scream for someone, but there was no sound and he found himself praying to God for the first time in his life that someone would help him. He was in pain and he was scared and he didn't even understand why.
"Dean! Dean, can you hear me?" a voice shouted suddenly and Dean blinked rapidly, the vision of Castiel standing before him suddenly breaking through and he looked petrified. "Dean?"
Dean was standing beside his car, leaned back on the hood with his arms crossed over his chest, facing a lot full of cars. He'd promised Castiel that he would meet him at the car lot to help him find a good car and he'd shown up just like he said he would. But Castiel had been late, so he stood by his car and waited. What he couldn't understand was why the guy looked downright pale and freaked out, his hands reaching out for Dean like he was trying to keep him steady. Dean just smirked at him and pushed away from his car, watching as Castiel slowly took a step back, eyeing him warily.
"You're late," he muttered, arching an eyebrow as Castiel's blue eyes raked over his body several times in search of something. "Why you lookin' at me like that, man? You gotta buy me dinner at least once before you can start starin' like that."
"I-I'm sorry, I just-" Castiel rambled, quickly averting his eyes. "I thought there was something wrong."
"Nope, just killin' time. You ready to get looking? I drove around the lot a few times before I parked, there are some nice cars in the back. That's a little more on the pricy end, but they're damn good for the newer models," Dean sighed, starting off across the lot without even really waiting for Castiel to follow along. He'd apparently caught on however, because when Dean turned to look back at him, he was only a few steps behind. He was still watching Dean closely, like he expected him to collapse or something and it made him wondered if maybe he had fallen asleep standing or something before he'd started shouting at him. "Any thoughts?"
"I just want a good car, Dean. I don't think cost should be an issue for reliability," Castiel muttered, following along behind him. "Whatever you think is best."
Dean nodded lightly, making his way through the rows of cars toward the back of the lot, ducking down to glance into random cars as they moved through the lot. Castiel kept close to him as they walked and Dean tried to ignore the way he kept lurching toward him whenever Dean moved too fast. He stopped worrying about it by the time he'd reached the line of sleek silver cars near the back of the lot, chalking it up to his profession. Castiel was in the medical field and if Dean was spacing out as often as he thought he was, it probably looked like he was ill to the man. He stopped near an Infiniti sedan, crouching down to stare in the window and smiled. When he turned to see if Castiel was even the slightest bit interested in it he found the dark haired man still staring at him worriedly.
"Cas, what is wrong-" he started, his words cutting off as he saw a tall woman stroll past behind him, the edges of her faded like a dream. She was wearing scrubs, like she'd walked right out of a hospital and Dean followed her with his eyes. It wasn't until her form faded away between the cars that Dean blinked, turning back to look at Castiel in complete shock.
"Dean, are you alright?" Castiel asked, reaching out to grab him by the upper arm and he was thankful for the support. His knees nearly gave out, his brain far too focused on trying to process what he'd just seen to keep his body under proper control. "Dean, tell me about the car."
Castiel voice urged him through the fear that was quickly spreading through his limbs, his eyes darting between the row of cars where the nurse had vanished and back to the silver Infiniti beside him. "It-it's a good car. They make good cars," he muttered, finding his legs again slowly. He wanted to ask the dark haired man if he'd seen it, but he wasn't exactly sure himself what he had even seen. So he focused on the only thing he knew about-the car beside them. "It's not going to crap out on your after a few years, if you keep up with regular fluid changes it'll last you years. Probably be able to hand it down to your kids with the right maintenance."
"And you'll help me with it?" Castiel asked, finally removing his hand from Dean's arm. "You will help me keep it running properly, Dean?"
Dean nodded absently, turning back to look over the car. He reached out and pressed his palm flat onto the hood, feeling the warmth of the metal from the midday sun and slowly rounded to the driver side door, popping it open. At first it seemed a little strange to him that he could get into the car without a key, but he decided to just go with it in light of all the weird shit that was going on. All he wanted to do was pop the hood and take a look at the engine. When he moved back to the front of the car and shoved his hands under the lip of the hood, he found the latch and popped it open easily, pushing it up so that he could prop it open and just stared down at the engine. It was pristine, brand new even. He wondered if it had more than twenty miles on it just from being driven onto the truck from the factory and back off again onto the lot.
Castiel watched him closely, leaning onto the car beside him without really looking at the car at all as Dean pulled and poked at all the hoses and belts. Everything was clean and brand new, the belts snug and in place. When he pulled out the dipstick for the oil, it was a pretty amber color that meant it was new and he carefully shoved it back in. Antifreeze was full, washer fluid full. The tires were all brand new and inflated properly. Not a single scratch on it. He just stood back for a moment and gestured to the car before crossing his arms over his chest and nodded.
"It's a good, solid car, Cas. She's brand new. Not as much character as my Baby, but it's still good," he huffed, smiling a bit when Castiel turned to finally look at the car and nodded in approval himself.
"Then I will purchase this car," Castiel muttered, watching Dean again as he lowered the hood and let it fall shut loudly.
"You sure you don't wanna look at any others? Something in another color?"
"No Dean, I trust your judgment on these things. And it is obviously brand new, I doubt it could have very many flaws. I will admit that it lacks the pleasing aesthetic your car has, but I do not believe I could keep up with the particular maintenance that an antique car like yours requires."
"She is a full time job," Dean nodded, leading him toward the office building off toward the side of the lot. He'd have a ton of paper work to fill out, not to mention a credit check and more forms to fill out. They'd be there for hours and while the act of buying a car was particularly boring, Dean didn't mind hanging around with him. "But she's worth it."