"I think it's all done," Sam said as he folded up his list, "Now we just gotta head back home and haul our shit inside." He looked over at Jet with a slightly worried expression, "What did you tell the movers to carry over?"
Jet shrugged, "Well they had to pack up everything so I told 'em to just grab it all and we'd sort it out later."
"Even the shitty furniture?"
"I'm not that dumb, no not that shitty furniture." Jet smirked as he mocked Sam's tone, "Chill, it's just everything else."
"Yeah…" Sam sighed walked over to the Impala where Dean was leaning against the side, "If you two weren't hoarders I wouldn't worry so much about it."
"We don't hoard," Dean rolled his eyes with an over-tired laugh, "we're collectors."
Sam didn't buy it and Dean didn't care, he was a little distracted. "I hope Cas is doing okay, we've been gone all day, it's like 7pm." He muttered whilst looking at his watch.
"Bobby's got him, don't worry about it." Sam reassured him, after all Bobby hadn't called them the whole time so nothing too bad must've happened.
"You're right, though I'm sure Cas gave him some trouble."
Jet laughed, "Obviously, Bobby's a crab and Cas tends to act like a toddler. I can't see that old dude handling a grown child all that well."
"He dealt with you two," Sam commented somewhat defensively for Cas' sake. Though it was insulting to Dean at the same time he couldn't help but appreciate Sam's efforts to defend Cas too.
"Jet quit calling Cas a child, he's not like that because he wants to be."
"I'm not saying it to be an ass I'm just describing his behaviour, it's the fuckin' truth so get over it." Jet brushed them off and opened the passenger door but paused for a second; Dean could see the wheels the turning and he knew Jet felt a little bad for it. Not that Jet would ever say so, but Dean could see it and that was enough.
They travelled out of town with their moving to-do list nearly finished; groceries packed in the trunk, and mostly tired dispositions. Dean was pretty excited though, he wanted to see Castiel and make sure his feathered friend was doing alright. Cas had only been in his life for a few days but Dean had a feeling that they'd be together for a long time yet.
With his mind focused on the road and Castiel at home, Dean didn't notice much about the surroundings or Jet and Sam's vague bickering. He did hear a little of it, enough to know it was stemming from several nights of little sleep and stupid shit. Something about Jet needing a haircut and a retort of 'you're one to talk.' Dean zoned out of it soon after that exchange, though. He hoped Cas would greet him like last time, that surprised and awed look like Dean had just come back from war or something.
He looked forward to seeing Cas' smile when the realization hit that Dean was home for real. He wanted to get the hug he knew was coming his way, Cas never held back or felt awkward about hugging and that made them all the better. Plus there was the extra comfort of folded wings that Cas sometimes wrapped around him.
"You're right, he does have the weirdest smile right now…" Sam's voice broke into his imagination and kicked the shit out of it. Dean frowned and looked at the two grinning assholes in his car.
"I don't wanna know what you guys are smiling about, do I?" He grumbled irritably.
"Depends, do we want to know what you were smiling about?" Jet said with a slight bounce of his eyebrows that Dean wanted to punch off his face.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking that Cas is gonna be excited when we show up, that's all."
"I knew it was about Cas," Jet turned to look at Sam who nodded knowingly.
"So what?" Dean scrunched up his nose at them in a sneer and angrily kept his eyes on the road.
"Uh…" Jet trailed off as he stared toward the back of the car and Dean shook his head.
"Shut up, I don't wanna hear it."
"No, it's not that, look behind us." Jet pointed past Sam through the back window, "We've got a tail."
Dean glanced at his mirrors and spotted a car, kinda beat up but still more than 30 years younger than his baby. While he could see it was a little ways behind them, perfect following distance, he couldn't see any merit to Jet's statement. "It's just a car driving down the highway, dude."
"Well I've seen it everywhere we've gone today, if that helps." Jet's tone had shifted from the playfulness it had before and into something more serious. Dean could tell there were violent thoughts in his friend's head but he chose to believe that they were going to stay that way.
Sam turned around and looked back, "Are you sure?" he asked as he squinted a little, "I didn't see it…"
"Trust me," Jet kept his eyes on the mirror next to him, his jaw tense and breathing calm.
"So what should we do?" Sam sounded a little worried, "I mean, assuming that we do have a tail."
"Well first off what the hell would they want?" Dean looked at his mirrors again, his brow slowly creasing as paranoia started to set in. He didn't want to believe it but Jet didn't mess around with that kind of thing, at least not usually and not when it was an actual possibility.
"If I were a bettin' man I'd say it was Charlie," Jet smirked as he spoke, "that car looks like it's been through as much hell as she has."
"That's awesome," Dean sighed and looked at the mansion, "Well she'll have put it all together that MacLeod's old place is probably tied to Cas so let's just go home."
They did just that and Dean watched as the other car slowed down further down the highway and stopped well before the turn off. He was sure she was thinking a mile a minute about the whole thing and had no doubts they'd be seeing her very soon.
On the other hand he had to take in the sight of all their shit piled up at the front door of their new home, he stifled a laugh at how ridiculous it looked in comparison. "Our stuff is pretty crappy compared to the luxury we're living in now."
"Speak for yourself, I like my shitty jeans." Jet smirked as he hopped out of the car and looked back just as Dean had. However instead of just looking Jet waved, there was no way the driver would hear him so he didn't shout like he normally would've.
"We're just going to face this now, huh?" Sam leaned on the car's roof, an eyebrow raised at Jet's antics.
"Better when we know it's happening than when we're not prepared." Jet replied as he dropped his arm, "Check it out, she's coming this way."
Dean and Sam looked to see that the car had started up again and was in fact coming down their drive way. "What the hell are we supposed to tell her!?" Dean felt panic swelling up in him despite trying to shove it back down.
"Dude I get you're scared they're going to take him," Jet looked at him with a sort of calmness that Dean didn't appreciate, "but think about it for a second; Cas hates being away from you for half a day. He'd never let them take him, not a chance. You have nothing to worry about."
"What if he remembers them and wants to go with them instead?"
Jet slammed his hand down on the car suddenly making both Winchesters jump, "Fuck! Fuck off with that shit! You guys keep jumping on me and getting in my fuckin' face about being sensitive about Cas, well guess what? You're the ones being assholes about the whole damn thing! You keep acting like he can't do anything or he's completely helpless, like even the tiniest bit of truth spoken about his situation might break him in half. You treat him like a baby or a special needs kid. You get pissed at me for saying he acts that way, and yeah I'm no poet when I say it but you never have any goddamn faith in him!"
Sam and Dean looked at one another when Jet paused to take a breath, their friend's face was starting to show extra colour and Dean was pretty sure he could see a vein on his neck. Sam sighed as he saw the other car pull up and looked back at Jet, "Jet, it's not-"
"No, shut up I'm not done giving you shit yet." Jet snapped, a furious look in his eye as he turned it back to Dean, "Do me a fucking favour and give Cas some credit. He's not an object that can be stolen from you, he has better senses than all of us, he can fly, he's strong as hell and he gives people nightmares just by being around him. Castiel isn't stupid or weak so stop worrying about stupid shit."
Dean opened his mouth to retaliate but he had nothing, Jet made a good point and was probably one of the only ones treating Cas like a normal person. "I get what you're saying," he spoke calmly, surprised by the fact that he found no rage to counter with, "Cas isn't a baby but… at the same time he isn't like us either. I know I shouldn't treat him like he's stupid and I don't think he is, I just… I don't know, I guess I can't find the right balance." He glanced over at the strange car and saw Charlie standing outside of it, her face pinched in what he assumed was enraged confusion. Dean rubbed his face as if that might push away any bits of sleep that were creeping up on him, "I really care for him, okay? I can't help but worry about him, he's been hurt really badly and I just need to keep him safe."
Jet's expression relaxed and he took a slow breath, "Well… alright, I'm sorry I freaked out but you needed to hear it."
"Yeah," Dean laughed tiredly and looked over at Charlie, "What's up?"
"Where… is Castiel?" She asked almost timidly, Dean could understand why though. She was in the middle of nowhere with three strange men, all of them tall and looking pretty strong to boot. It didn't help that she arrived while Jet was pissed, either.
"He's inside," Sam offered a friendly smile though none of them were sure how far that would go.
"Deeeeeeeee!" They heard seconds later from beyond the door as it rumbled slightly.
"He heard me," Dean smiled, his focus solely on the entrance now. He heard a distant click and then watched as the doors swung open. A flutter of white feathers was left in Cas' wake as he rushed down the steps and launched himself into Dean's arms.
"Hey Cas! How's it going?" Dean said cheerfully as Castiel nuzzled him aggressively with accompanying whimpers.
"Dee," he whined and moved to lick Dean's mouth a few times before pressing his cheek to the other side and rubbed again. His wings barely held still, little flaps just brushed past Sam every few seconds before they went limp again just to repeat it.
"Cas?" Charlie gawked hoarsely, her voice was broken and tears were already brimming in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly and tried to clear her throat, "Cas, is that you?"
The way her tone shifted and cracked unintentionally brought Dean's mind back to her message on Cas' Facebook wall. He'd saved her life once, not like a superhero but just like a normal kid who happened to be there at the right time. Charlie's demeanour really showed it, her eyes were big and posture hesitant but open toward Cas despite how he looked. Dean felt a familiar ache in his chest as he looked at her and felt Cas' affection.
"Castiel?" Charlie said a little louder.
Cas turned to look at her and tilted his head curiously, his eyes squinted and he looked back at Dean for some kind of explanation.
"That's Charlie, she was a friend of yours." Dean smiled and nodded toward her, "Go say hi."
Cas blinked like he did when he didn't quite understand but he looked at her again anyway, "Ch…" his face scrunched up and he stepped a little closer, sniffing the air to get her scent. He paused and shuffled around her instead, giving her a wider radius at first but slowly closing in. He didn't continue to try and say her name though; he resorted to the chittering sounds the others were more aware of.
"What's going on?" She asked more generally, hoping anyone might answer. "What happened to him?"
"From what I understand it's a long story," Bobby said from the doorway, "Why don't you all come inside?"
Charlie looked back down at Castiel who was kneeling beside her. Dean could only imagine what was going through her head, he didn't know Cas before the experiments and he was sure she was remembering every little detail about him. It only made it worse that she'd been looking for Cas for so long just to find him in a state like he was in.
Her mouth was pulled tight at first but she took a deep breath and nodded, "Uh, yeah, okay. I guess so?"