Ruby Is Just Smarter Than Dean 1/3
Title: Ruby Is Just Smarter Than Dean, 1/3
Author: abbylover23
Rating: PG13 for Ruby's mouth and Dean's general behaviour.
Genre and/or Pairing: pre Dean/Castiel, Sam/Ruby.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: Ruby's existence? But ya know, she's like my idea of what Ruby would have been like so maybe that'll help?
Word Count: 2,440
Summary: Ruby has spent hundreds of years watching people but she's never seen UST like Dean and Castiel's. It's hilarious, awesome to wind Dean up with and maybe, just a little bit, she thinks it'd be something that'd make them both happy if they'd ever get their act together. Maybe.
Many thanks to my awesome cheerleader pillywickle without whom this fic and all other fics i write would never make it to posting ♥
Ruby noticed it first. She loves Sam, she really does, but he’s not the brightest tool in the shed when it comes to human emotions. He tries, bless him or well- whatever- but often he misses what’s right in front of him. Ruby’s better with people- ironic considering she was a demon for hundreds of years and all but hey Ruby’s one for the irony. And she’s also one for making people uncomfortable, especially when people is Dean and it’s just so fun to watch that muscle in his neck twitch and his jaw clamp down like he really wants to kill her. Not that he would anymore. They have an uneasy kind of truce these days; especially since she helped stop the big guy rising up and took a bullet for Sam.
She suspects Dean now thinks of her as “acceptable” if not a great catch for his little brother. Either way, he’s sort of wordlessly accepted she’s sticking around- but even that doesn’t stop him bitching about her all the time or the both of them trying to aggravate the hell out of each other. In another lifetime she guesses they might have had a hot one night stand, if he weren’t so obviously pining after an angel and she was... well, you know... in love with Sam.
Her point is, she’s always teased Dean about it, you know, the thing with Castiel; she asks pointedly why they stand so close together all the time- even when there’s miles of space beside them; she’s commented, loudly, about the fact that it isn’t always necessary for them to stare into each other’s eyes for over five minutes at a time when neither of them are disappearing any time soon, because seriously, it’s like they’re going for some kind of record. And every time they appear to be having a moment she can’t resist saying something sarcastic that tends to make Dean jump and Castiel disappear. Dean then spends at least twenty minutes looking between her and his gun and pondering aloud how pissed Sammy would be if he ganked her.
She feels pretty certain Sam would be quite pissed.
She hopes.
...But it’s just so damn easy.
Last week a nest of goblins attempted to rip Cas’ head off before they’d all gotten to him and he’d had to go all extra strength badass angel on them and kill every single one in a flash of something that had made Ruby’s skin sting. Dean had practically dragged Cas out of there muttering the whole time about stupid, stubborn angels and then yelled at him for trying to go in there alone.
Dean deals with his emotions by shouting at the people closest to him. Ruby is actually quite glad Sam does not have this particular trait; even if he does take after Dean in a whole lot of other ways she suspects Sam doesn’t even realise. For instance both of them have a tendency to sleep with their faces squished into their pillows- Ruby’s favourite screensaver is of Sam half buried in a fluffy white pillow from a motel in Virginia. But no-one knows ok so it's not that girly. And when they’re mad both of them fold their arms across their chest and say each other’s names a lot; she tried to count once during one particular argument but lost it somewhere around the twenty first time Sam said “Dean” exasperatedly.
Anyway, back at the motel Dean manhandled Castiel down onto the bed and began wiping away blood from his face with a cloth. They were both glaring angrily at anything but each other in what she assumed they thought was a manly way but really just made them both look about twelve and neither had spoken in a while. Castiel had said something snappy back at the car about Dean being childish and ridiculous because, well, he learnt how to convey feelings from the best of them. They’d both sat in the car glowering out of the front window whilst she and Sam sat in the back and tried not to move- even Ruby knows when it’s just not safe to test Dean’s patience. She’s so tempted to make some crack to Sam reminding him never to show her how much he loves her by yelling at her or looking like he wants to hit her but well... Dean might throw her out of the moving car. Normally Castiel systematically ignores her or gives her this “if you weren’t Samuel Winchester’s little friend I would so smite your ass” look and she shuts up for a while.
And man it is so obvious they’re about this close to hitting that. Dean growls at someone who is apparently driving too close (they were like a mile behind) and jams his foot on the gas making Ruby clutch at her seatbelt and Castiel sigh loudly- which of course only provokes Dean into driving faster, smirking the entire time. It's so tempting but she’s not suicidal and even with the car rife with sexual tension she bites her tongue.
But at the motel she can’t resist throwing a comment their way, “you guys gonna be making much noise tonight while you bang out your issues?” She asks casually as she’s heading out the door with Sam.
Cas and Dean both look up at her with absolute horror and she shrugs, “I just wanna know if I’m gonna be getting some shut eye or not.”
Dean takes a step forward as if he’s about to kill her and then trips on the bed sheets tangled around his feet, swears and throws a pillow at the door as Ruby slams it shut smirking.
It’s just so damn easy.
The next day they’re at a gas station in some tiny straw town with a population of less than three hundred and no doubt a whole lot of people who still think pitch forks would work against witches. She and Sam are leaning against the Impala, Sam’s looking at a map, the cute little frown he gets when he’s concentrating on his face, and Ruby’s catching the last few rays of a weak September sun.
The apocalypse is done and dusted and Ruby’s glad; a whole load of boys getting bored with their toys and fighting for something more shiny in the shape of humanity just makes her want to roll her eyes and tell them all to grow up. She, however, unlike Dean, bit her tongue and didn’t say anything of the sort when they finally came into contact with the Archangels. Dean had yelled at them- hilariously thinking volume had any sort of effect on immortal beings that could laser him to dust with the click of a finger- and had proceeded to tell them off about how badly they’d treated Castiel. Because it didn’t matter that there was a giant war going on between heaven and hell but it was important someone got scolded for hurting Dean’s angel’s feelings. She’d been so busy trying to get Sam to stop hyperventilating about Dean shouting at an archangel that she hadn’t noticed the faint pink tinge of pride on Castiel’s face until she thought back to it weeks later.
She’d asked, mainly for Sam’s sake, to be human once again and Michael had been remarkably ok with granting her request. She’s gonna miss being a demon in a way, it’s kind of useful when you wanna kick the crap out of someone (cough Dean) but she knows in the way a gin and tonic will always test an alcoholic, she’d be a constant reminder for Sam if she stayed a demon. And she wants him to be happy. She wants Sam and Dean and Cas and everyone else the boys care about to be happy.
Fuck she's sounding kind of human.
“You hungry?” Sam’s voice, softer than usual, breaks her thoughts and she wondered for the millionth time if he was reading them somehow.
She nodded, “I could eat.”
They found Dean and Castiel in the corner booth. Cas was examining the menu with some fascination and Dean, well, Dean was watching Cas. He started as they sat down and Ruby smirked, that blush actually made him look kind of cute. He shot her a drop dead look and then inclined his head at Sam, “you got anything?”
“Yeah, up in Wilmington, four people have gone missing- all after visiting the same club and get this- there’s like, no trace of them anywhere. No cars, no footprints outside, no bodies leaving in bags, no last sightings, no cell phone records after a certain time. They just go into the club and don’t come out again...”
Dean raised an eyebrow, “that’s it?”
Sam shrugged, “we’ve checked out less.”
“I agree with Sam,” Castiel said nodding.
Dean looked just as surprised as Sam but then held up his hands, “fine, we don’t have to be at Bobby’s for a few days anyway. We can check it out.”
“Oh so you’ll check it out when Cas thinks it’s a case but not when I say so?” Ruby rolled her eyes as Sam pouted and Dean turned bright red.
“Sam that’s not what happened- I- I just- there’s no harm in checkin’ it out is all.”
“I’m sure Dean did not mean to belittle your opinion Sam,” Castiel said smoothly.
“Yeah- what Cas said,” Dean said quickly, glancing at the angel gratefully.
“Whatever,” Sam looked back down at the menu. Dean and Cas continued to stare at each other. Ruby wondered what happened when they were alone; did they just sit and stare until someone interrupted them? Or did they actually talk about stuff?
“Hey sugars, what can I get you?” The waitress appeared and broke off the Olympic staring match. Shame, Ruby had money on them making it to twenty minutes.
“One strawberry milkshake please,” she said brightly.
“Can I get an orange juice please?”
“I'll get a beer if you-”
“Dean you’re driving.”
“Shut up Mr Responsible.” Sam continued with his bona fide bitch face and finally Dean rolled his eyes, “fine, I’ll get a coffee I guess and a double cheeseburger with extra fries please.” Dean smiled widely up at her but his face fell when she merely nodded and turned to Castiel.
“What about you honey?” She leant forward, close enough for Cas to be able to see down her shirt- if he was that kind of guy- and Dean’s leg jerked under the table as if he were resisting the urge to kick her.
Ruby raised an eyebrow; she loved the Winchester & Angel show.
Castiel didn’t even notice; so absorbed was he in enquiring exactly what the specials were.
“And what is in a veggie burger please?”
Oh Lucifer. They’ll be here forever if he questions every damn thing on the menu.
The waitress blinked, “um, vegetables?”
Dean took pity on her, “he’ll have the same as me.”
“But I-”
“Cas trust me on this, you don’t want the veggie burger.”
There was a moment of silence whilst the two of them had another one of their silent conversations- Ruby wondered somewhat hysterically if Castiel knew exactly how many freckles Dean had on his face as a side effect of the constant staring- and then Cas relented, “very well, I will trust your judgement Dean.”
“Gosh, you two are so sweet,” the girl said suddenly.
Castiel and Dean both turned slowly to look up at her and Dean flushed, “no no we’re uh- we’re not a- uh, we’re not sweet.”
“You are you know,” Ruby dropped in, “just adorable.”
Dean twirled a fork between his fingers, eyeing her menacingly, “you wanna taste metal Ruby?”
“Can I get the Caesar salad please?” Sam cut in as Ruby glowered at Dean.
She resisted grabbing her own knife as protection and smiled up at the waitress, “and I’ll get the chocolate fudge cake please.”
“You’re such a weirdo eating desert instead of something savoury,” Dean said shaking his head as they handed back the menus.
“You’re a weirdo full time,” she shot back. "I'm surprised you even know the word savoury."
“I’ll be right back with your drinks,” the waitress said smiling at them all and then winking at Castiel. Sam’s mouth dropped open, Ruby hid her face in her hands giggling and Dean forgot about insulting Ruby and looked like he wanted to actually kill the waitress with his fork as she walked away.
"She seemed pleasant," Castiel mused quietly.
"Yeah she seems like a real golden girl," Dean retorted shortly.
"Was there something you notcied that I did not?"
"Nope," Dean sat back in the booth and scowled in the direction of the kitchen, "you got the angel mojo Cas- you'd know if she was an evil bitch."
Castiel frowned, "I did not sense anything but affection from her behaviour. She likes working here."
"Yeah I bet she does."
The waitress returned, smiling widely before placing their drinks on the table and then winking at Cas again. Dean's frown deepened, Ruby grinned at the girl, good on her.
Castiel didn't seem to have noticed.
"She got a problem with her damn eyes or something?" Dean grumbled as he sipped his drink.
"Maybe you have," Ruby said, smirking at him.
"Bite me Ruby."
"Thanks but I prefer to bite-"
"You finish that sentence and I swear to god-"
"Dean," Castiel said softly, making the older Winchester's head swivel towards him. The angel smiled softly at him and Dean seemed placated and about to say something when the waitress appeared again with their food.
It was damn good chocolate fudge cake too; Ruby gave the whole place points just for that. And for the chick with the stones to blatantly hit on Cas when the guard dog beside him was giving her such back off my angel, bitch looks. And, oh yeah, the cake, soooo good.
She realised Sam was staring at her and her hand fluttered up to her face, "what I miss something on my face?"
"No," he said, his eyes warm, "you just look happy."
"Cake and my boys, what else does a girl need?"
Sam beamed back at her, grabbing her hand and twirling their fingers together.
Dean snorted, "get a room."
Lucifer damn it.
"Fine," Ruby snapped, standing up suddenly and wrenching her hand out of Sam's. They'd been having a moment dammit, was Dean really so needy that no-one was allowed them but him?!
"I'm out. I swear Cas you have the patience of a saint to deal with this one all day."
"Hey-"
"Ruby-"
"I'll be outside."
Part 2 | Part 3