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This had to be the work of Gabriel, Castiel thought as he watched Dean’s face flush as he stared at the tall, dark, handsome man in front of them. He felt himself tense up, and his eyes narrow as the man smiled, revealing pearly white dazzling teeth.
“Hi, Dean. I’m ‘Baby’.” On Castiel’s left, he heard Sam’s roaring laughter.
They had been coming back to the bunker after a (very unsuccessful) hunt for Abaddon, leaving them no further in killing her than before, but leaving a few of her cronies’ corpses behind. Castiel was watching Sam and Dean, with a smile on his face, as the two brothers started to fight over some song that the radio was playing; Dean was positive the lyrics to the song were “there’ll be peace when you are done” while Sam was sure that the lyrics were “there’ll be peace when you are gone”. Castiel had no idea who was right, but secretly hoped Dean was, because the song seemed to be his kind of music, unlike what he’d heard Sam listen to while Dean was showering the other night.
Suddenly, the impala started sputtering, and Dean pulled off to the side of the road, hopping out of the car with a string of curses and a look on his face paralleled to what it would look like if a mother heard her child start a whooping cough. Castiel and Sam followed suit, not wanting to be in the impala sitting around while Dean stood in the hot sun underneath the impala’s hood alone.
Dean was just about to lift the beautiful car’s hood when it started to emit a dark, smelly smoke that engulfed the whole car. Dean’s voice was audible over the unmistakable sputtering of the impala. Castiel waved the smoke from his face, and stood agape, which he assumed the brother’s did as well, as they saw a handsome stranger standing where the impala used to be.
He was a tall, dark man, with broad shoulders and bone structure that would have made Adonis weep. He was clad in all black leather, but his most striking feature was his nearly golden eyes. He saw the brothers take out their weapons and followed suit, prepared to attack the man.
The man smiled, an innocent, charming, dazzling smile. Castiel lowered his angel blade and stood straight up, noticing the brothers doing so as well. He then snuck a look at Dean, whose anger and confusion led a furious red flush up his neck and face. Then, Baby introduced himself, and while Dean flushed with now embarrassment, and Sam roared with laughter, Castiel’s stomach churned with the most unpleasant emotion he’d felt so far. Jealousy.
If Castiel had personal space issues, Baby was a personal space issue. He stood so close to Dean he could have very well molded into him if he wished hard enough, and Castiel felt himself standing closer to Sam, not trusting his emotions. As if Sam had a sixth sense for this kind of thing, he shot side-glances at Castiel every now and then, eyebrows raised as if to say “you okay?”.
Castiel, in fact, was not okay.
Dean’s ears were tinted pink, as embarrassment usually led Dean’s ears to be, and every time Baby’s arm brushed against his, he gave an involuntary little cough, trying to regain his macho manliness. Castiel had seen these symptoms before, with Lisa, and Anna, and most recently, Castiel himself.
He had thought he’d been imagining things at first, little coughs when Castiel’s shirt lifted, pink-tinted ears when Castiel walked through the bunker in his bed clothes (a tee-shirt and shorts). Castiel finally realized what it was when he had dashed past Sam and Dean in the hallway, clutching a towel across his lower half, and Dean had gone glassy-eyed and stood still, raking his eyes over Castiel’s flushed post-shower body.
But, later that night, when Dean had refused to talk or look at him, he decided that talking about Dean’s affections was in no way a smart idea, and had pushed his own feelings aside, the true Winchester way.
Now, his hands were clutched at his sides in white-knuckled fists, and Sam’s glances became more worried-looking as they walked to the nearest place where they could steal a car.
The silence between the four of them was deafening, and Castiel couldn’t help but to look at Dean and Baby out of the corner of his eyes every five seconds.
Baby was looking at Dean like he was God, and damn it all to hell, it was pissing Castiel off. He couldn’t stand Baby’s shining golden eyes, or his bulked, muscular body, or his fucking black leather outfit. He hated Baby. He hated him.
Well, that’s not true, but it sure felt like it. The heat inside of him felt like it could come out of his fingertips, or perhaps give him laser-vision powers, like that movie he and Dean had watched the other night.
“We need to find out how to fix you back.” Dean said, gruffly. Castiel felt some of the tension inside of him release. Dean wanted to change him back.
“Oh, Dean, do you want to take a ride in your Baby?” The insufferable car said, and Castiel felt the tension and anger and hate come back in tenfold, and faced Sam with a look of absolute disdain. Sam’s face, in turn, looked like he wished he could be any place but with the fallen angel, his brother, and his brother’s sexy beast of a car.
Castiel faced forward again, only to be tapped on his side by Dean, who’d shifted his way over into Castiel’s space.
“Are we thinking witchcraft? A spell? What is happening?” He asked, in hushed tones, and Castiel merely shrugged.
“I thought for a second it could be Gabriel, however-“
“-he’s dead.”
“Precisely.” Dean looked over his shoulder again, at a smiling Baby, and turned back to Castiel, a flush spreading under the freckles across his face. Castiel felt himself tense up again.
“I just want my car back,” he said, a pleading tone in his voice. Castiel nodded once, and turned to face the road in front of them.
“As do I, Dean.” He said, and then backtracked. “The sun is absolutely deathly today.” He finished lamely. Dean straightened up beside him.
“Right.” Dean agreed, and his voice sounded a little more professional, a little less Dean, and a little bit more hunter.
“This would be much easier if it was Gabriel.” Castiel murmured, and Dean scoffed.
“No, because he thinks he’s teaching lessons when he does stuff like this,” Dean said. “What kind of lesson is this going to teach us?”
Castiel sighed, and stopped in his tracks, rubbing his eyes. Dean kept walking for a half-second, and then turned back to look at him.
“Damn it, Gabriel.” He said, and heard a distinct, ‘pop’ of a lollipop behind him.
“Oh, brother mine, you’ve found me out.” Gabriel said, a cocky little skip in his step as he strode towards Castiel.
“You’re supposed to be dead!” Dean said, and Sam agreed with a grunt.
“We’re all supposed to be dead, nimrod.” He said, a roll of his eyes.
“What he means is, we saw you die.” Sam cut in, and Gabriel sent a wink his way.
“Helloooo, trickster!” He said, pointing at himself. Baby kept standing with his arm against Dean’s, a smile on his face.
“What lesson is it this time, Gabe? Don’t place too much importance on material items? Don’t… name a car Baby because it might be a six-foot tall dude? I don’t get it.”
“Then the lesson’s not over, Dean-o. Better get on that or else you’ll be stuck with that six-foot tall dude instead of a car for a very, very, long time.” He looked back over at Castiel. “Farewell, brother dear.” And with a snap of his fingers, he was gone again.
“Do you have any clue what this is about, Cas?” Dean asked, and Castiel shook his head.
“No,” he lied, and they continued to walk on.
“Cas, what the hell is wrong with you?” Sam asked, after they’d gotten back to the bunker. Dean was showing Baby to a room to stay while they figured out what to do, and Castiel, like a child, had trudged to his room, throwing a mature, ‘I’m-thousands-of-years-old-so-fuck-you” tantrum. Sam had caught the door before he could slam it. “You know, and I know, what Gabriel’s ‘lesson’ is.”
“I’m not getting into this right now, Sam.” Castiel said defiantly, and Sam gave him a look Dean would call a ‘bitchface’.
“You need to go have a conversation with Dean. About you guys’… feelings.” Sam said, and Castiel shook his head.
“Dean is with Baby right now, Sam. I don’t want to bother them.” Castiel found himself being so much more childish as he kept talking, and Sam wasn’t making this any easier.
“Cas-“ Sam started, exasperated. Castiel clenched his jaw and looked up at him.
“I’d like to be alone now, Sam.” He said, and Sam rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, letting Castiel slam it behind him with a satisfactory ‘WHAM’.
Castiel was entitled to feelings, even if he was a thousands of years old fallen angel.
Sometime during the night, when Castiel was sure everyone would be in bed, asleep, he carefully walked through the hallways to grab himself something to eat. He made it to the television room before he saw Dean.
“Hey, Cas. Couldn’t sleep?” He said, sleepiness evident in his voice. Castiel shook his head.
“Hungry.” Dean nodded, as if it should have been clear all along.
“We missed you at dinner.” He said, and turned back to his television.
“Why are you awake?” Castiel said, ignoring Dean’s comment. Dean shrugged.
“I thought I could finally get some alone time. The impala was in my face most of the night.” Castiel felt his face heat up and walked to the kitchen, not caring if his footsteps grew louder as he made his way to the fridge. He didn’t hear Dean follow him.
“So, what’s up with you? You haven’t done the ‘I’m-locking-myself-in-my-room-all-night’ thing since you first got here.” Dean said, and Castiel had to admit he did sound genuinely concerned.
“I also needed alone time, Dean.” He said, finding a half-eaten pie behind some leftover pasta. He raised it up, and looked at Dean. “Wanna share?”
So, Dean and Castiel sat on the couch in silent, digging their forks into a delicious home-made pie, watching an animal planet documentary that, to be honest, neither of them were watching.
“Why is Gabe doing this, Cas?” Dean said finally. Castiel took another bite of the pie.
“Your guess is as good as mine, Dean.” He said, and that was true enough, if Dean would guess, he might finally get to the root of it all.
“I just want my car to be my car, I don’t want-“ Dean stopped suddenly, and looked at Castiel.
He didn’t want to finish his sentence. And why would he? What’s the obvious thing that comes after that? I don’t want a boyfriend. I’m not gay, Cas. I’m not interested in men.
Castiel chose to say nothing. He took another bite of the pie, and stood up. He walked away without saying another word.
“Cas,” Dean called after him. He pretended not to hear it.
“Cas,” Sam pounded on the outside of his door. “Cas, come out and eat breakfast.”
“I had pie last night.” Cas called out. “Ask Dean, he knows.” He heard Sam sigh.
“Cas, can I come in?” Sam asked. Castiel stilled, contemplating. “Please?” Castiel cursed and opened the door for him.
“How can I help you, Sam?”
“Cut the crap, Cas.” Sam said, a bitchface climbing over his features. “I prayed to Gabriel last night.”
“That sounds like a terrible idea. He could have been in a mood and flung you into a situation where you had to sing everything or be chased by clowns.” Castiel said, and Sam stared at him blankly.
“Can you shut up, Cas, for like, ten more minutes?” Castiel nodded. “Listen, I got him to tell me what was going on, and obviously, I know and you know we were right. You and Dean need to sit down and talk.”
“You know that proves to be difficult when Dean refuses to talk about feelings.” Castiel replied, dryly. Sam pursed his lips.
“You’re no better, Cas. You refuse to talk to him about it too. Sometimes the tension between you two is so thick you couldn’t even slice through it with an angel blade.”
“I’m sure that you could.” Castiel argued, and Sam’s look silenced him immediately.
“Cas, Gabe and I have agreed that if you two don’t sit down and talk, we are going to lock you two in a room, make sure there is no way to get out, and then, show a video of all of the compiled moments he and I have gathered in the last couple years.”
“Honestly, that’s probably the preferred action, Sam.” Castiel said blandly, and Sam had no choice but to chuckle.
“You and Dean are perfect for each other.” He said, patting him on the back.
“I’ll go talk to him.” Castiel conceded, and walked to the kitchen for what he hoped were Dean’s pancakes.
When he reached the kitchen, however, there was an absence of pancakes, and an abundance of Baby’s lips on Dean’s.
Sam and Castiel stopped in their tracks, and Sam let out an “oh, no”, before Castiel retreated back to his room, slamming the door and ignoring Sam’s pleas of “Cas, let me in, I’m so sorry”.
“Go away, Sam.” He said simply, and after a minute, he heard Sam’s footsteps walking away.
He didn’t leave his room for the rest of the day.
Gabriel, however, popped in for a bit.
“Hey, bro, what’s up?” He said, pink gum snapping in his mouth, and Castiel looked up at him with his lips upturned into a snarl. “Fuck, what happened?”
“Gee, Gabriel, I don’t know, why don’t you just go ask Dean? Oh, wait, he might be attached to your fucking trick.”
“Cas, you’ve learned some sarcasm.” Gabriel said, a softness to his voice, and Castiel turned away from him before he decided to throttle him.
“What is wrong with you, Gabriel? Why can’t you just leave well enough alone?” Castiel said, and Gabriel sighed.
“I just thought I could help you guys stop pussyfooting around each other.”
“So make Dean’s impala come to life so it can steal him away from me.”
“In hindsight, not my greatest plan, but-“
“Change it back into a car.”
“I can’t.” Gabriel said, and Castiel finally faced him.
“You can’t?”
“When you and Dean finally work it out, then he’ll turn back.”
“Dean and I will never work it out!”
“Well, not with that attitude.” Castiel scowled at him. Gabriel shrugged and said, “there’s no way out but to talk.”
“Fuck you.”
“Aw, Cas, you flirt.”
“Is he still sucking face with the impala?” Castiel asked, much more harshly than he intended. Gabriel sighed.
“Just go talk to him, bro.” And then, Gabriel snapped his fingers and was gone.
“Most brothers just play normal pranks, Gabriel! Hand in a glass of warm water! Jumping out and scaring them! Your pranks hurt people and ruin everything!”
He left his room, stomach grumbling. At least he had a reason to leave the room if he chickened out.
This time, he made it as far as the end of the hallway before he saw Dean.
“Cas, come on, man, you gotta help me out.”
“Can’t your Baby help you?” Castiel asked, a little snippy. Dean threw his head back in agony.
“Cas, you don’t understand, I’m hiding from him.” Castiel sighed, and motioned towards his room. Dean’s face was full of gratitude. He darted past Castiel, and Castiel followed, closing the door behind him.
“Trouble in paradise?” Castiel asked. Dean rolled his eyes.
“Cas, I didn’t want to kiss him, he practically attacked me. It’s like he’s addicted or something.”
“I highly doubt that he could get addicted to you, Dean.” Castiel said, and Dean flinched back, as if Castiel had just slapped him.
“Thanks, dude.” He said, a hurt tone in his voice.
“It looked like you two were enjoying yourselves this morning.” Castiel shrugged, and Dean shook his head.
“This is a nightmare.” Dean said, and flopped onto his back on Castiel’s bed.
“You’re being overly dramatic.” Castiel said, and Dean flipped him off. He sat on the bed next to him.
“He’s not my type.” Dean said, and then laughed. Castiel smelled the whisky on his breath. Grand.
“Well, Dean, he’s a man, so I’d assume not.” Castiel said. Dean sighed.
“That’s not what I meant.” He said, his voice low, and drowsy. Castiel’s eyebrow raised.
“How so?”
“Cas,” he said, and breathed in deep. Castiel waited. “Your bed is so damn comfortable.” Dean shifted onto his side and promptly fell asleep.
Great, he thought, and rolled as far away from Dean as he could. He wasn’t giving up his bed.
When Castiel woke up the next morning, Dean was attached to him, his heavy limbs weighting Castiel down. Drunk, sleepy Dean was a cuddly, snuggly Dean, it seemed. He pushed his way through and rolled off his bed, leaving Dean to sleep off his whisky.
“Where’s Dean?” Baby cornered him, anger flashing through those gleaming gold eyes. Castiel shrugged.
“I have no idea,” he replied, and Baby slammed him against the wall. And fuck did it hurt.
“Baby!” Dean’s voice shouted, and the impala let him go, sending Castiel straight on his ass.
“Dean, I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Baby said, and Dean pushed past him, grabbing Castiel’s hand and pulling him up.
“What were you thinking? You could have hurt him!” Dean’s voice boomed in the hallway. The impala looked like it was ready to cry.
“I was just so worried.” Baby said. Dean sighed.
“Cas, we gotta talk.” He looked at Baby. “Alone, if you don’t mind.” Baby sent Castiel the nastiest look he could muster before walking away. Dean led Castiel into his room.
“What would you like to talk about?” Castiel asked, rubbing his shoulder. Dean looked at him sadly, like this was all his fault. Castiel sighed. “Don’t do that. You’re blaming yourself for something you can’t control.”
“I should have just fixed it in the beginning.” Dean said.
“You couldn’t. Gabriel’s work, not yours.” Castiel said. “Stop blaming yourself.”
“Cas,” Dean sighed, and reached for Castiel’s shoulder. Castiel let his hand fall by his side and Dean massaged it for him.
“I think I know what this lesson is,” he said, and Castiel raised his eyebrows. He tried to hide the joy of Dean’s hands being on him. “I just, I thought you might have known too, and when you didn’t, I don’t know, I just, backed off.”
“What are you talking about?”
“And now you’re getting hurt, and I should have just told you from the beginning-“
“Dean, honestly, what are you talking about?”
“Cas, shut up,” Dean said, and laughed harshly. Castiel smiled a little before nodding.
“Baby isn’t my type, no, Cas, shut up,” Dean said, as Castiel opened his mouth to once again agree that, yes, Baby was male, and obviously not his type. “He’s not my type, because… because, oh damn it!” Dean pulled Castiel forward and pressed his lips to the fallen angel’s. Castiel tensed for a moment before melting into Dean’s kiss, and feeling the warmth spread from his chest all the way to his fingertips.
“I thought I was imagining things,” Castiel admitted once they broke their kiss. Dean tilted his head.
“Imagining what things?”
“You blatantly staring at my half-naked body when I got out of the shower.” Dean flushed, pink tinging his ears. Castiel smiled. “I’m glad I didn’t imagine it.” He said, and palmed the side of Dean’s head, stroking the pad of his thumb over the blush of Dean’s ear.
“You’re such a sap.” Dean said, and pressed another kiss to Castiel’s mouth. Castiel’s stomach gurgled.
“I haven’t eaten since the day before yesterday.” Castiel said, and Dean laughed.
“Come on, I’ll make us something.”
They left the room pleasantly close to each other, and sneaking private smiles. They reached the dining room, and stopped dead in their tracks.
“Oh, son of a bitch.” Dean said.
The impala, back to its automobile form, was sitting on what remained of the large table.
“Gabriel!”