Author's Note:
Oh my god this chapter
It did not come easy but here we are all the same. Hope you like it folks :D
"There is… one other phone call I made," Sam admitted as the three walked back into the hospital room. Cas looked up excitedly, happy to see them all back without any hint of animosity. He of course did notice Sam's guilty tone and Jet's skeptical expression, but those things had just happened so he didn't count them.
"What did you do?" Jet raised his eyebrow, ready to get defensive if he needed to.
"Well, since you didn't do it and I know how much she means to-"
"You called my mom!?" Jet exclaimed dramatically, his voice even cracked and nearly made Cas snort out a laugh.
"Yeeeaaaahhhh…" Sam droned guiltily and smiled with as much confidence as he could muster. "I kinda thought you'd want her to know."
"Yeah but she's gonna kill me! What did she say!? How did you keep that conversation so short?" Jet grabbed onto Sam's shirt and pulled him closer in a desperate attempt to gain some sort of control over his situation.
"She hung up pretty fast, I think she's on her way out here." Sam kept that air of 'I know what I'm doing' but no one was buying it.
"What did you tell her?"
Sam paused and pressed his lips together, it said enough but Jet waited with wide eyes all the same. A small part of him probably believing if he waited long enough Sam would just say he was kidding. Cas didn't quite understand Jet's situation with his parents, but he waited and listened all the same. It was a learning experience, a moment to know a bit more about Jet just by watching the scene unfold.
When no one interrupted him Sam sighed and dropped his head, "That you came into some money and ended up in the hospital because of it."
"She'd laugh at me if that's all you said." Jet called bullshit immediately, Sam didn't even have time to finish sighing.
"She did, then I told her that you lost a limb and that's when she demanded to know where you were." He rubbed the back of his head and turned away, "So uh… she's on her way here now. I think she'll be calling you soon."
Jet stared at him, silent and waiting for another second or two before he finally reacted. "Goddamn it, Sam!"
"What? I already said I thought you wanted her to know!"
"Guys," Cas tried to interject but they weren't stopping.
"Yeah I do but I should've told her! Since you did it she probably thinks I'm dying and now I either gotta lie to mom or tell the truth. If I tell the truth she's gonna whoop me; if I lie it'll be fine until she figures it out and then she'll whoop me anyway... but worse…" Jet frowned deeply and he sat down to think it over.
"I don't think it's that bad," Cas took the pause in their banter to speak, "I think she'll just be relieved that you're okay."
"The second she sees I'm okay I'm not gonna be okay anymore." Jet's certainty was making Dean laugh and Cas tried not to let that contagious giggle get to him.
"Cas is trying to make you feel better," Dean joined in once he caught his breath, a cough catching up to him seconds later. His fit changed the atmosphere of the room in an instant, it sounded like his lungs were trying to tear right through his throat. Each time he tried to inhale it wracked his body again and he hacked harder. Cas went to his side and tried to be there for him, though Cas really had no idea what that meant.
He could sit and give Dean a back rub, supportive hand on the shoulder, something to show he was there. But that was all he knew to do. Maybe that was all Dean needed, but it still left Cas feeling like a failure.
"Are you okay?" he asked after a few seconds of silence, Dean had his eyes squeezed shut and swallowed thickly a few times. Cas glanced up at the others then back at his boyfriend, "Dee?"
"I'm good," Dean croaked and took a slow breath, trying to calm himself. "It's okay, Cas."
Castiel smiled and kissed Dean's cheek, "If you say so."
"You sound like shit," Jet remarked as caringly as he could while also sounding as insensitive as ever.
"You say that every time I cough,"
"Well it's true every time you cough."
"You're getting a lot better," Cas reassured him and kissed his cheek, "Hang in there, okay?"
"No worries," Dean gave him a thumb's up, "I plan on hanging around for quite a while."
"Now what?" Charlie piped up, arms folded over her chest and a curious look aimed at Castiel. Michael looked at him too, he wasn't sure why.
"Well," Sam stepped up next to Cas, "I think we should tell the authorities now."
"What?" There was a resounding echo from everyone else in the room.
"Why?" Jet added, Cas noticed the odd movement of Jet's arm close to his body and recognized it as an attempt to cross his arms. Cas kept it to himself but there was a distinct twitch under Jet's eye, one that Jet tried to hide by showing anger toward Sam's idea. "What authorities are we going to tell? It won't accomplish anything."
"I think it will," Sam's patience was intact and he took Jet's tone with a grain of salt. Cas admired them, he couldn't wait to figure out his own dynamic with Dean. "We've already tried not doing that; and while I know you're more comfortable thinking we can keep doing this on our own, I think it's time we stop."
"Sam's got a point," Bobby added and looked at the others more seriously, "The things those people did was unforgiveable and most of 'em are gettin' away. I say we hand this over to the professionals and take it easy. You kids have done enough."
Jet opened his mouth to protest but he stopped when Desirae grabbed onto his pant-leg. He looked down at her, his expression softened and he knelt down. "What do you think, kiddo? Should we tell someone else about this?"
"Does that mean that they'll take care of it? So you guys don't have to go down there again?"
"Probably, yeah. We wouldn't be going back there anymore." Jet explained, Cas felt a pit in his stomach and he looked down.
"I'm not going back there, whatever we decide I'm not going back there." He felt their gazes on him; he only had the nerve to look at Dean. That gentle, warming smile made him feel better almost instantly, though he couldn't tell what the others were thinking yet.
"We're with you, Cas." Michael voiced his support first and Charlie nodded as she touched his arm.
"All the way, man."
Jet was looking at him when he decided to glance up, confusion was the first thing he recognized but that slipped into more understanding territory pretty fast. "Yeah alright," Jet sighed and sat down on the floor where Desirae could sit in his lap. "I guess we're done then, fight's over."
"Not necessarily," Sam brushed fingers through Jet's hair, shaking it out a little, "But you could use a break anyway."
Jet laughed, "Yeah, you're not wrong."
"A few of us could use a break," Dean added with a smirk. "I'm all for telling the authorities now."
"What do you think they'll do?" Charlie didn't sound too worried, more amused at the idea of a bunch of strangers encountering their nightmare. "Think they'll kill what's left down there?"
It hadn't occurred to Cas that that would be the outcome. He'd left one on the front lawn, a moment he'd lived purely based in an altruistic mindset. That one hadn't been angry or vicious; it didn't have a chance to be that way. It was so close to dying, maybe it'd already accepted its fate and that was why it didn't attack. The others still had some hope left in them, still enough energy to lose their minds at the small chance of freedom.
"Don't worry, we'll let them know that those things shouldn't be killed." Dean nudged Cas with his foot, since Cas was a little too far away to touch by hand. "People are louder about cruelty to other beings these days."
"Well then let's do it," Charlie clapped her hands and looked around the room to double check. "We're all on board?"
"One more thing," Dean cleared his throat for a moment, everyone waited for him. Cas appreciated that, he was sure he'd lose his temper if someone gave Dean shit for taking so long. Jet commented on how bad it sounded, but that was their friendship. Cas felt he'd know relatively quickly if someone was seriously messing with Dean. "I think that wherever we move to, we should all go together."
"I'm down," Jet was the first to react, no hesitation and Cas nearly audibly sighed in relief. It wasn't so much a secret from Jet though, dark eyes were angled Cas' way and he just smiled in return. "You know, 'cause it'd be good for Desirae to be around you."
"Yeah, absolutely." Cas nodded quickly and the others started to laugh. They all understood it wasn't Dean's request, he was just doing it for Cas but that was fine. Pretty much everyone agreed, except for Bobby.
"I'll be sure to visit," he chuckled, stroking his beard. "But I still have a house back in South Dakota."
"Oh," Cas looked at him sadly, "I guess you have a life back there."
"That I do, but I won't be a stranger." Bobby walked over and gave Cas' shoulder a squeeze; there was a knowing smile on his face. "Don't worry so much, Cas."
"I won't," he smiled then, too. It was okay, a sort of mantra he'd told himself for ages with the Winchesters. Even if in that moment it wasn't okay, it would eventually be.
Everyone else was onboard with it, living together in the same place for a while sounded like fun. Cas didn't know what kind of home they'd end up getting, he wasn't sure if he'd get a say in it or if they'd leave it to Jet and Sam. It didn't matter to him much; as long as Dean was around and his friends were close he could live comfortably.
The decision was made; they wouldn't go back to live at the mansion and the authorities would be clued into what had happened. Cas didn't want to be there for that, but he was certain there'd be more than enough questions for him to answer. However Sam decided to show an immense amount of kindness and stated he'd be the one to do the informing.
"You sure?" Dean furrowed his brow, taking that moment to test his limits without the oxygen mask on again. He was supposed to do it a few times a day, not for very long and he was instructed to sleep with the thing. Not that that ever really stopped Dean, but Cas was there to set him straight at least.
"Why, did you want to come with?" Sam smirked at his brother, "Don't worry about it, I'll tell them everything they need to know."
"I'll help," Charlie raised her hand, "I can show them how far I've gotten into the encrypted files."
"There are more files?" Jet asked indignantly, "I thought you cracked 'em all."
"There's a lot, and MacLeod didn't just leave it out for anyone to read. I'm not a wizard, I just know a few things." Charlie's cheeks flushed as she glowered Jet's way. "I didn't see you hacking into anything."
"I never said I was a hacker."
"Neither did I!"
"I didn't say you were either. I just said I thought you were better with computers."
"I swear I'll-"
"Okay, okay," Cas stepped in between them, "Chill guys, Jet stop antagonizing her."
"What!?" Jet looked up, "I wasn't! She started it."
"Seriously?" Sam crossed his arms and looked down at Jet.
"What?" He threw his arms up out of instinct, wincing when the left one moved. "Ow! Fuck, fuck, fuck fuck-"
Cas cringed and rubbed the back of his head as he watched Sam apologize profusely for causing that reaction. "Uh… okay… just stop arguing I guess."
"Deal," Charlie agreed.
"So… is Garth still here?" Cas hoped to change the subject.
"He does have a job," Michael was more than happy to take him up on that.
"Don't you?"
"I took a vacation very suddenly," Michael nodded, clearly proud of himself. "Still deciding on whether or not I'm going to go back to it or do something else."
"Something else. Something else." Cas chanted softly and Charlie quickly joined him.
"Can I tell authorities too?" Desirae asked and looked up at Jet who was getting over the fact that he'd just spooked himself with pain.
Jet didn't speak right away; instead he looked up at Sam again then at the others, namely Cas. "What do you guys think? Should she stay put?"
"C'mon," she whined and slumped against him, "I'll be with Sam, it'll be safe."
Jet sighed and knocked his head against hers, "That's not the point."
"She can come," Charlie stated firmly and Desirae almost immediately appeared at her side.
"For real!?"
"Yeah, why not?" Charlie smiled and glanced at the rest of the room, "I'll watch her, besides I think she'd be great proof."
"Plus I can tell them what I remember, then maybe they won't ask Cas so many questions." Desirae was eager to please but that comment didn't make Cas any more comfortable with the idea.
"I don't want you to answer more questions, I should be their focus." Cas took a careful breath and looked at Dean for a moment. "Maybe I should go too, then."
"What? Not without me, you don't." Dean frowned and Cas tried to calm him.
"It'll be okay, maybe this way I can be more objective and get it all out."
"And maybe you'll realize you wanted me there and it'll be too late. No way, you're going when I go." Dean gave a stubborn nod and seemed like that was that.
"Hold on, Dean. Maybe he should do this." Sam interjected and got a glare from his brother. "I know you want to protect him, but he needs to tell his story. Maybe he should do it on his own. Charlie and I are friends, we'll be there for support but we won't coddle him."
"Cas?" Michael cut in and got Cas' attention before Dean could react. "What do you think? Should you do this without us?"
"I don't want to do anything without you guys, but Sam makes a good point." He looked at Dean, "Do you really think I can't handle this, Dee?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant." Dean shook his head, "I… I'm not really sure what you need to do, okay? But I want to be there. I keep thinking of the worst case scenarios, imagining that you need me and I'm not there…"
Cas went to his bedside and nuzzled his cheek, Cas wasn't sure what to say but he could nearly feel the anxiety in Dean. Just the thought of Cas facing that alone was stressing Dean out and that was the last thing that any of them wanted. Dean had almost died very recently, it was fresh in Cas' mind and he couldn't imagine making Dean uncomfortable. Sure, that feeling was probably a novelty and would wear off, but he hadn't shaken it just yet.
"We can wait until you're let out," Sam suggested instead, his tone had lightened up too.
"Let's go as a group!" Jet spouted dramatically, "The more the merrier."
"I don't think they need all of us," Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "But I guess we all have a different part of the story to tell."
"Well they'll definitely want to hear Cas' version," Michael chimed in again, "They've heard mine a thousand times already."
Cas nodded, "Yeah, I'll be one of their focuses for sure, Desirae too. Jet inherited the property so they'll want to talk to him. Sam and Charlie know stuff about the computers and files…"
"I'm the leader, so they'll obviously want me." Dean laughed at himself.
"I'm co-leader." Sam added with a grin.
"Awesome, if we get arrested for anything I'll be sure to send them your way." Jet gave a thumb's up.