Author's Note:
I hope you guys are still interested in this thing, I did mention that the lead up to the final chapter would be slow. I mean this isn't exactly climax territory or anything o.o
Love you guys! Hope everyone is well
The road trip started off great, they got some fast food and cranked the tunes as much as the two with advanced hearing could handle. Dean was having a blast until he noticed the way some other people stared at them at red lights. Of course they saw Desirae and Cas, that was the look Dean had seen a dozen times already. Not everyone was crazy about it, but he didn't know how long that luck would last.
Drive-thrus were fine, Dean could just drive off after they got their food and that was it. However rest stops were another story. Desirae and Cas would have to go inside for that, and while it seemed odd in cities and stuff like that, Dean never worried much. Out at truck stops though? He was nervous about that.
The first rest stop they came across was just a set of bathrooms and the like for travellers, no store or gas station attached. In fact it was empty, Dean couldn't believe his luck! The second time wasn't nearly as clean-cut.
"I have to pee," Desirae announced and Dean knew that there weren't any similar rest stops as the last one they'd been to for quite a while.
"You sure?" He asked hopefully and she nodded.
"Is there a place nearby?" Cas asked and Dean had to nod too.
"Yeah, a truck stop a few miles up. Can you hold it for a few minutes, Rae?"
"Yep, but not too many minutes."
Dean made sure to get them there in time, silently worrying about the bathroom separation. If anything happened to that kid he'd never forgive himself. Not that that would matter much though, Jet would kill him so he wouldn't have to live with that guilt.
However he was the only one worrying about it, Cas seemed fine to go inside in his coat and just look like a dude with a hunched back. Desirae didn't cover up but she was pretty quick, most people didn't notice her at first. Hell, most people tried to avoid looking at the two guys walking in with a child.
"Your kid likes to play dress-up too, huh?" The clerk asked suddenly and startled him.
"Uh…" he wasn't sure what to say but Cas stepped in for him.
"She does," he smiled warmly at the clerk who just smiled back.
"Where you folks headed?"
"LA," Cas answered and the guy laughed.
"Looking to be movie stars or something?"
"Nah, more singing than anything else." Cas shrugged and looked at Dean.
"Most people go for acting, you're lookin' to get famous I bet." The cashier sounded friendly though Dean felt something was off about the guy. Maybe it was because he thought everyone would be out to get Cas, but he was pretty sure the dude was weird.
"I don't think it'll be that hard," Cas stated confidently, "I have a few ideas on how to jumpstart it."
"Well good luck then, what's your name? That way I can tell people I met you before you get there."
"Castiel Novak," Cas beamed, Dean wished he could bottle up everything about that split second and keep it forever. He knew it wasn't possible, but Cas' expression was worth dreaming about it.
Dean could tell that the cashier didn't quite believe Cas, though. It seemed like Cas' name went in one ear and out the other, possibly because he looked like he had a major back issue and wouldn't be pretty enough or something. As long as the guy didn't try anything with Cas Dean was just fine with his skepticism.
Cas didn't seem to mind the guy's non-believing status either, he just smiled and said nice to meet you when Desirae appeared again.
"We can go now," Rae told them and went back out to the car, it was so quick that Dean had to follow her out to make sure she was alright.
"Anything happen?" He asked when he caught up to her and she shook her head.
"Nothing more than what you'd expect," She smiled up at him and Dean realized that maybe he could chill out a little bit. She was fine, she could defend herself if she wasn't, and if something happened Cas would probably put the fear of god in whoever tried anything. Dean smiled back at her and ruffled her hair like Jet always did.
"Awesome, glad to hear it."
"Wait up," Cas insisted as he hurried out after them. "Just leaves me in the store alone."
"I thought you'd be fine," Dean heard the small laugh in Cas' voice, Cas was fine. He smiled wider and watched his travel buddies climb into the car; everything was okay. Worrying endlessly about Castiel wouldn't get him anywhere, he needed to trust his boyfriend. Being around for the emotional hurt was a given, Dean would do it no matter what. But fearing for Cas' safety around every corner was too much.
He trusted Castiel.
Cas started to get a little antsy when Dean announced the half-way mark. It was the first time he travelled out of state, it was his first time moving into such a different lifestyle. Everything was new and scary, but that wasn't why he was getting anxious. He felt cramped in the backseat and he couldn't keep putting on that horrible coat, his wings were squished enough as it was.
"I need to stretch," he groaned and dropped to his side, trying to stretch out one wing at a time. There still wasn't enough room, even when curving it over the roof and covering part of the windshield he still couldn't do it right.
"Cas don't cover the windshield," Dean scolded and Cas curled it back in obediently.
"Uuuuggghhhh…." He droned and tried to do the other one with less success than the first. A frustrated whine escaped him, not unlike the sounds he used to make when Dean had found him. It caught Dean's attention, he saw those pretty eyes peeking up at the rear-view mirror to see what was up. However Dean didn't pull over, he just kept going.
"I swear I'm gonna jump out and fly," Cas warned and that was enough to get Dean to comment on his situation.
"I'm sorry Cas, I know you're cramped back there but we're almost in Albuquerque. Think you can hang on for a bit until I can find a spot to pull over?"
Cas nodded, "Yeah." He tried to suck it up, driving on the I-40 didn't make it easy to pull over and be unnoticed as he flew around. Cas kept quiet as they drove into the city. Granted it was dark already, maybe that would've made it easier?
"Do you think the others are there yet?" Desirae looked between the two of them and Cas shrugged.
"Probably, getting this far took us like 13 hours," Dean sounded tired and Cas suddenly felt bad for being annoying.
"How long does it take to fly there?" She asked next and Cas still shrugged.
"Like 3 hours or something like that," Dean answered again, "What time they land depends on whether or not they got on a flight right away or had to wait."
"I hope they call us," Desirae sighed and slumped back against the seat, her eyes fluttered as she tried to keep awake.
"I'm sure they will," Cas reassured her and gave her his coat, "try and sleep, we'll wake you when we get to a hotel."
"Thanks," She curled up with it and was sleeping pretty damn fast, Cas was a little impressed.
"She was tired," Dean remarked and Cas laughed softly.
"Yeah, I could tell." He looked up at the lights of the city on the night sky, it wasn't particularly beautiful or ugly. "The lights in LA are probably going to be amazing." He remarked raptly but Dean scoffed at him.
"Probably gonna look like every city sky, light pollution."
Cas smiled and leaned forward to kiss Dean's cheek. "Alright, alright, you're not wrong." He rested his head on Dean's shoulder, it wasn't the most comfortable position but he liked being that close to Dean. "But flying above it at night will be incredible."
"That I'd believe." Dean smirked and returned the kiss quickly. "Did you decide on what talk-show you want to come out to the world on?"
"I don't know," Cas furrowed his brow, "What's popular right now? Do people still love Ellen? Maybe Oprah?"
"Oh," Dean glanced at him for a second, "Oprah's show ended in 2011."
"Oh… yeah, I guess that was for good then." He remembered hearing about it before graduation. "I think being on the Colbert report would be fun-"
"That's over too."
"WHAT?!" Cas regretted being so loud when Desirae glanced at him and apologized a few times until she rolled over again.
"Yeah," Dean cringed a little, "In 2014 he was picked to be on the Late Show."
"Oh my god, is Letterman dead?"
"No, no, he retired."
Cas was quiet for a bit and Dean dared to ask if he was alright. "I just realized how much the world can change in four years." Dean was trying not to laugh at his sudden moment of horror, but he could hear it.
"I didn't think much about that," Dean was still trying though it wasn't working so well. "I'm sure you'll figure it all out, it's just four years."
"More to have fun experiencing I guess," Cas smiled and rested his head again, he'd have to do some research into what show he'd pop into. "Maybe just appearing on the news would work, and then let the talk shows call me…"
"Sure." Dean wasn't much help.
When they got to the edge of Albuquerque Dean hunted down a hotel, they were going to go around the city but only in the morning. Even Dean needed a few hours every now and then.
Desirae stirred and realized she was in a normal bed, not the Impala. She sat up and looked around at the room, a two bed hotel suite that had a bundle of blankets with two wings in the other bed. She didn't realize she'd been so tired that she wouldn't wake up from someone carrying her, but it was alright. They were adorable together, snuggled up close and she could swear she heard Cas purring.
Rae slipped out of bed and grabbed Dean's phone, finding that it was dead. After a few checks around the room and through their stuff she learned that Dean didn't have a charger with him either. She stared at the dead phone just imagining the worry that the others might be going through. Jet was going to freak.
She put the phone back where she found it and took care of her morning routine.
Part of her was a little mad that she'd passed out like that, she really wanted to see the whole trip. Going from being locked in a basement to driving halfway across the country in just a few months was incredible to her. She could barely leave the mansion before, but now she was free to travel around. Sure, she got odd looks and people didn't understand her, but that didn't matter as long as she had the others.
The landscape so far was gorgeous, they covered so much ground in a day that she could barely remember all of it. She tried to recall her favourite areas, seeing flat land turn hilly was fun. She liked being able to see for miles, but seeing large hills was kinda awesome too. Mountainous terrain and deserts, it was all so pretty she couldn't choose her favourite part. The whole road trip was her favourite part so far.
When she walked back into the main area she heard some whispering and Cas sat upright, "Morning Rae, how'd you sleep?"
"Right through the night," she said as she hopped back onto the bed she'd gotten to herself. "How long are we staying here?"
"Not long," Cas assured her and nudged Dean, "Right, Dee?"
"Mmmm…" Dean was more or less incoherent, too tired to function yet.
"You can't sleep all day." Cas continued to poke at Dean until he swatted the nuisance.
"I'll get up, I'll get up."
"Also your phone is dead," Desirae pointed out and Dean sat upright to that news.
"Ohhhh shhhhiiit…." He said slowly as he grabbed it and tried to turn it on anyway. "Jet's gonna kill me…"
"We can buy a car charger," Cas told them and climbed out of bed, "Now c'mon, I'm hungry."
"Shower first?" Dean asked sadly and Cas couldn't possibly continue to say no to that face.
Desirae watched some of the shitty hotel TV while the other two were 'cleaning' up in the shower. She turned the volume way up so she couldn't hear anything else, not that that helped a lot but it was all she could do. To her relief they tried to keep it quiet.
She wondered to herself if she knew about that sort of thing because of how Cas' DNA and the experiments changed her mental state, or if she just heard about it. Considering she barely knew anything about the world other than what the Cas part of her knew, she could chalk it up to the experiments.
There were so many commercials advertising things she either didn't understand or didn't need, but the acting was astoundingly bad. She couldn't look away when people would pretend to mess up, part of her head told her it was called an infomercial. Whatever it was she found them hilarious, so much so that she didn't even realize when Dean and Cas were out of the bathroom again until they spoke.
"Ready to check out of her?" Dean asked, making her jump a little.
"Yeah, let's go." She said but didn't move, transfixed by television. After a few moments Cas picked her up and turned off the TV.
"We're going now." He told her and Desirae couldn't really complain either way, she was still getting what she wanted whether that was watching stupid shit or going back out into the world. Flying to LA would've been a cool experience too but she was finding it more enjoyable to drive the first time. Despite Sam and Jet not being there she would venture to say it was one of the best things she'd gotten to do since getting out of the mansion.