Earthbound (Without these wings I learned to fly...) Part 1
Title: Earthbound (Without these wings I learned to fly...) Part 1
Author: fate_incomplete
Character(s): Castiel, Dean, Bobby
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~22,000
Warnings: The usual Winchester angst
.................................
They drove in silence. The hum of the engine and road noise seemed almost hypnotic in the absence of conversation. Castiel was still trying to process what had happened. Lucifer and Michael were gone, trapped back in the cage. The apocalypse was averted, they had won. Yet it didn’t feel like a victory. Not that he was sure exactly what victory should feel like.
Castiel glanced over at Dean, who was staring out the windshield at the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. His jaw was clenched and his eyes glistened with the tears he refused to let fall. Dean had lost his brothers, Castiel wished he had the words to offer some comfort, but could think of none that seemed sufficient, and so he stayed silent.
He was numb. Dean had often accused him of being heartless and unemotional, but this was different. The numbness that seemed to fill his entire body was beyond anything he had felt before. Or rather hadn’t felt. He didn’t understand it, as he didn’t understand so many things lately.
Dean sighed, breaking the silence. Castiel cleared his throat, thinking desperately for something to say before awkwardly settling on, “it’s over Dean. You and Sam stopped the apocalypse, you have your victory.”
“You call this victory Cas? Sam’s gone!” Dean replied angrily, glaring at Castiel belligerently for a second before turning his attention back to the road.
“You got what you wanted, no paradise just more of the same,” Castiel continued.
“What I wanted? Are you serious Cas?”
“What would you prefer Dean, peace or freedom,” Castiel replied earning another glare from Dean.
The muscle in Dean’s jaw was working overtime again as he struggled with his anger and grief. He bit back the irate retort that was on his lips, jamming a cassette into the player instead, not caring which one it was, just anything to drown out the silence, the conversation, the thoughts swirling in his head.
They didn’t utter another word on the long drive back to Bobby’s.
.................................
Bobby halted as he entered the kitchen. Dean and Castiel stood glaring at each other, the air seemed to tingle with anger and resentful words. Bobby had woken to the sound of raised voices. He had rushed down to see what was happening and now stood awkwardly in the doorway, not sure if he should interrupt. Neither of them had appeared to notice his entrance as they continued to stare at each other.
Five agonising days had passed since Lucifer and Michael, along with Sam and Adam, had been trapped back in the cage. Five days filled with stilted conversations, sentences that never got finished, emotions that no words seemed adequate for. All three of them had been on tenterhooks around each other, it had only been a matter of time before the tension and emotion reached boiling point.
“What the hell do you care Cas?”
“I lost my brothers as well Dean. My family.”
“What do you know about family? You’re nothing if not a cold heartless bastard!”
“You think you’re the only one with the right to feel pain, to feel loss,” Castiel said, his voice dangerously low as he advanced towards Dean. They were now standing toe to toe.
“Oh right I forgot, you gave up everything. Your brothers were nothing but a bunch of arrogant dicks!” Dean vented, his anger and grief aimed at Castiel whether he deserved it or not.
“I don’t remember requesting an early morning wakeup call,” Bobby interjected before Castiel could react. Bobby was sure that reaction would be nothing short of a fist to Dean’s face. He wasn’t in the mood for cleaning up any more blood.
They continued to ignore him for a moment, eyes locked together, before Dean eventually glanced towards Bobby. A flicker of guilt passed across his face before it was hidden beneath a blank mask.
“You two done bickering?” Bobby said, feeling well out of his depth, but in no mood to put up with any more crap.
Dean’s eyes returned to Castiel’s. “I’m done. We’re done,” Dean finished before storming out of the room, brushing past Bobby.
If it hadn’t been a former angel standing there, Bobby would have been sure there was raw pain and loss glistening in Castiel’s eyes. Castiel walked out the opposite door without looking at him.
Bobby left the room and headed back upstairs, grumbling under his breath about stubborn fools. Maybe if he was lucky he could get back to sleep and put off dealing with anything for a few more hours.
.................................
Bobby woke several hours later. He rolled over sighing as everything crashed into his consciousness the second his eyes opened. Sam was gone, and downstairs was a broken man and a … well two broken men now he guessed. He wondered if he was too old for this shit.
He’d curse his luck for knowing the damn Winchesters if he didn’t love the two boys as if they were his own sons. That thought just bought home the grief even more, the hole he felt inside from the loss of Sam. He sighed again and got up out of bed. It was time they started to face things.
Bobby was torn by his own grief at Sam’s sacrifice, but his concern for Dean ate at him as well. He wasn’t one to offer a consoling hand or soft words of comfort. It wasn’t his way. The fact remained though, that it had been five days and none of them wanted to acknowledge what had happened or where to go from here. It felt like they were in limbo.
Bobby walked out of the house to stand with Castiel on the porch. “Where’s Dean,” he asked quietly.
Castiel simply shrugged. “Working on one of your cars,” he replied without looking at Bobby.
“You two spoken since this morning?” Bobby asked. The clenched jaw and cold glint in Castiel’s eyes was answer enough.
If Bobby didn’t know what to say to Dean, he had even less idea what to say to the angel. He had never understood Castiel, hadn’t really tried to. He had helped them, but Bobby didn’t even pretend to understand why. It hadn’t seemed important, they had needed his help and he had simply been there. He didn’t have the energy to try and figure out what the angel had been feeling these last few days. His own grief and worry over Dean was more than enough to keep him occupied.
Bobby merely grunted in acknowledgment, caught between the awkward silence standing here with Castiel and the undoubtedly uncomfortable conversation he would get from Dean if he sought him out. In the end the strangeness of the angel outweighed Dean’s anger. He sighed. When had things gotten so complicated? He walked off to find Dean, leaving the angel to his unknowable, brooding silence.
He found Dean angrily pulling at something on the engine of a rusted out old El Camino. He grabbed a beer from the esky sitting on the ground. “Dean. Not that your company ain’t scintillating, but what are your plans?”
Dean looked at him across the engine, beads of sweat rolling down his face. “Plans? What’s there to plan for?”
“Dean, Sam’s gone. He sacrificed himself so that...”
“So that what? That we could leave him rot down there while we go happily on our way? “
“Well he didn’t do it so you could mope around here like some rejected prom date.”
Dean fidgeted with the wrench in his hand distractedly. As he looked up at Bobby, unshed tears pooled in his eyes. “I know,” he whispered. He threw the wrench back in the tool box, wiping his greasy hands on his jeans. “I know,” he repeated his voice thick with emotion as he leant against the car with both hands, his head bent down, his shoulders slumped.
Bobby took several swigs of his beer, silently watching Dean struggle with his emotions. Dean eventually looked up, staring out over the junk yard. He nodded his head slightly, absentmindedly licking his lips as he tried to swallow downs his feelings. He came to a decision.
“I’m leaving Bobby,” he said quietly. Bobby narrowed his eyes trying to figure out if Dean was about to do something stupid.
“You are?”
Dean nodded not trusting his voice. He closed the hood of the El Camino and wiped the sweat from his face on his shirt sleeve. “I made a promise, and I’m gonna do my best to keep it,” he said.
Without looking at Bobby, he headed back towards the house.
Half an hour later Dean threw his duffle bag into the Impala. He stood tossing the keys as Bobby came out to say goodbye. “You sure about this boy?”
“Yeah,” Dean replied forcing himself to sound confident. “I have to do this.”
“Ok. You keep in touch.”
“I will Bobby,” he replied, though neither of them really believed it.
They embraced awkwardly, the goodbye of two men not willing to say or show how much they cared. After a couple of slaps on the back they parted. Dean climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Bobby walked back into the house rather than watch him leave.
Dean looked back towards the house and saw Castiel standing on the porch, alone, and silent as always. He caught the angel’s eye and they held each other’s gaze for a moment. Dean nodded his head slightly in silent goodbye, before looking away. Too stubborn and tied up in his own grief to offer an apology or comfort to the angel, he hoped Castiel would understand, he understood him better than just about anyone else after all. Guilt mixed in with his swirling emotions, he put the car into gear and drove off, before it could tear him up any more. He glanced once in the rear view mirror, Castiel was still standing there alone, watching him as he drove away.
.................................
Bobby spent the night after Dean left drinking alone in his bedroom before falling into a dead sleep. He woke 12 hours later. He knew Dean was going to Lisa’s to try and have the normal life he had always dreamt about, that Sam had made him promise before he sacrificed himself. He hoped Dean could find some peace; the kid deserved it more than most after all. He knew he would miss him. He could kick the boy’s ass at times, but he would still miss him.
He grabbed a notepad with an address scribbled on it from amongst the pile of books next to his bed and headed downstairs. He had gotten a call from Rufus last night about a possible Ruguru problem. It was time to start getting on with life and a Ruguru hunt was as good a way as any.
He stopped in his tracks when he entered the lounge. Castiel was asleep in one of the armchairs, scrunched in amongst a pile of books and scrolls, some of them had fallen onto the floor. Bobby had almost forgotten about the angel, wasn’t sure he would even still be here.
They hadn’t really spoken last night after Dean had left. The last Bobby had seen of him he was still standing on the porch staring down the road that Dean had driven out onto. He was so used to the aloof angel dropping in and out that for a moment he couldn’t quite figure out what he was still doing here, asleep on his couch no less. Then he remembered that Castiel wasn’t exactly an angel anymore.
He rubbed his face tiredly, thinking that this was perhaps the first problem he should deal with. He had no idea of how to deal with the now powerless angel that had crashed out in his house, apparently homeless and more than a little clueless. ‘Life sucks’, he thought as he walked over and picked up the fallen books, nudging Castiel’s foot to try and wake him. When that didn’t work he prodded a little harder accompanied by a gruff, “hey”.
Castiel woke with a start. “What?” he asked as he looked around still sleep addled. “Oh,” he said as he took in his surroundings, remembering where he was.
Bobby chucked the books he had picked up back on the top of the pile on the couch and headed into the kitchen, “I’m putting coffee on if you want some.”
A grumbled reply that he couldn’t understand was all he got in return, but he took that as a ‘yes’ anyway.
He had the two cups of steaming black coffee made before Castiel stumbled into the kitchen. Castiel gave mumbled thanks as Bobby handed him one. They both sat down at the table drinking in silence. Bobby studied the angel as Castiel stared intently at his coffee, as though he was trying to work out what its secrets were.
“Cas I know we’ve never really spoken much, but given the circumstances I think we need to.” Castiel continued to study his coffee. Bobby sighed, and kept on talking. “As it seems you apparently need to sleep now, perhaps you’d best do it somewhere other than my couch”.
Castiel looked up at him, looking every bit the lost puppy. “I’m sorry, I’ll leave”. He started to get up.
Bobby sighed his long suffering ‘why must I be surrounded by idjits’ sigh, “I just meant a bed would be better.”
“Oh,” Castiel said as he lowered himself back into his seat.
“But while we’re on the subject, what are your plans? I mean well...I guess you can stay here if you want.”
“I don’t have anywhere else do I,” Castiel said, he eyes downcast, studying his coffee again.
“I’m just saying after everything you did to help Dean and Sam, you can stay here till you get back on your feet, or decide what you’re doing”.
The grateful look he gave Bobby was a little too much for him. He got up and poured himself another cup of coffee.
“I won’t pretend to know what you’re going through or even understand anything about you. I guess I’m just saying I’m grateful is all.” An awkward silence carried on for a few moments, “I got a possible Ruguru case I’m going to check out. Back up’s always appreciated if you want to tag along?”
Castiel just nodded. It wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic response, but in the moment Bobby didn’t care, he hated awkward silences. He finished up his coffee and headed into the other room to grab supplies for the hunt.
.................................
Bobby and Castiel sat in the car outside a farmhouse in Indiana. Rufus had been right, and they had found a recently turned Ruguru in town. They had got to town just in time to find a rather chewed corpse at the local morgue. They had tracked the killer back to this house, after speaking to the woman who lived there who had just reported her boyfriend, who had been acting strange, as missing.
Of course Castiel had promptly started to tell her that her boyfriend wasn’t missing, and had been acting strange because he was a flesh eating monster on the prowl around town. Fortunately Bobby forestalled him before he freaked the woman out too much. They were here now on a hunch that the recently turned Ruguru would be drawn back to his old home and his loved ones, though probably not for a happy family reunion.
The two men sat in silence, staring across the road at the ordinary looking house. They had spent most of the last day sitting in the car without saying a word and Bobby was starting to find it a little unnerving. He smiled briefly as he thought, ‘trust Dean to make the strangest friends and then leave them with me to deal with’.
Castiel stared out the windshield, his brow creased in thought, “If someone else made a promise, would you feel beholden to keep it as well?”
“What?” Bobby asked completely thrown by the statement, the first words Castiel had spoken in over an hour.
“Even if they didn’t ask you too?” Castiel continued, ignoring the complete confusion on Bobby’s face.
“Well, maybe, I don’t know,” he stuttered struggling to figure out where Castiel was going with this.
“Hmm,” Castiel murmured softly as he turned to look back at the house.
Bobby was left staring at the side of Castiel’s head, his mouth clamping shut when he realised it was hanging open. He started to ask what the hell Castiel meant before deciding against it. Maybe the weird silence wasn’t so bad after all.
Before Bobby could contemplate his strange companion and the lecture he should give Dean for leaving his weird ass angel for him to deal with, he noticed Castiel’s head tilt slightly.
“He’s here,” Castiel said before Bobby could ask him what was wrong. The two men quietly got out of the car, shotguns and flamethrowers in hand.
They both cautiously walked down the side of the house, senses alert for the figure Castiel has seen enter the back yard, until they heard a woman scream. Castiel started to run.
“Wait ya damn idgit!” Bobby yelled after him, cursing under his breath as he tried to catch up. He came around the back of the house just as Castiel kicked in the door and rushed inside. He followed after him just in time to see him fire at the Ruguru with his shotgun as it charged him.
The shot halted the monster’s charge but only for a second before it continued forward, barrelling into Castiel knocking him from his feet. The angel and the monster fell in a tangled heap, the Ruguru pinned Castiel to the floor, and bloodshot eyes fixed on his prey, completely oblivious to Bobby.
Bobby rushed in, his shotgun in the monster’s face as he fired off a shot, blowing half its face off. It fell back to the floor. The woman was crouched in the corner sobbing in fear at the hideous creature that had been her boyfriend. The creature raised its head, glaring at Bobby. Without any hesitation Bobby let loose with the flame thrower, lighting it up. The Ruguru let out an anguished scream before the flames consumed it.
Bobby helped the trembling woman to her feet and guided her into another room away from the ashy remains of the man she had once loved. He spared a glare for Castiel as he climbed to his feet.
After ensuring the woman was as well as could be expected given the situation, they left the house and were quickly back on the road to South Dakota. They had been driving in silence again, though Bobby had been brooding over Castiel’s rash actions.
“You know you’re not exactly an angel anymore.”
“I’m well aware of that Bobby,” Castiel replied curtly.
“Well you can’t just rush in like that anymore, you’ll get yourself killed.”
“And?”
“Or you’ll get me killed,” Bobby snapped, because while Castiel might be in a self-sacrificing mood, Bobby was currently in nothing of the sort.
Castiel glanced at him briefly, defiantly, before he turned to look back out the window, remaining silent for the rest of the trip. Bobby doubted his words had had any effect. He’d seen reckless behaviour like that before. It would take more than a few harsh words to fix the reason behind them. ‘Damn angels,’ he thought for not the first time and probably not for the last.
.................................
PART 2...
.
Author: fate_incomplete
Character(s): Castiel, Dean, Bobby
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~22,000
Warnings: The usual Winchester angst
.................................
They drove in silence. The hum of the engine and road noise seemed almost hypnotic in the absence of conversation. Castiel was still trying to process what had happened. Lucifer and Michael were gone, trapped back in the cage. The apocalypse was averted, they had won. Yet it didn’t feel like a victory. Not that he was sure exactly what victory should feel like.
Castiel glanced over at Dean, who was staring out the windshield at the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. His jaw was clenched and his eyes glistened with the tears he refused to let fall. Dean had lost his brothers, Castiel wished he had the words to offer some comfort, but could think of none that seemed sufficient, and so he stayed silent.
He was numb. Dean had often accused him of being heartless and unemotional, but this was different. The numbness that seemed to fill his entire body was beyond anything he had felt before. Or rather hadn’t felt. He didn’t understand it, as he didn’t understand so many things lately.
Dean sighed, breaking the silence. Castiel cleared his throat, thinking desperately for something to say before awkwardly settling on, “it’s over Dean. You and Sam stopped the apocalypse, you have your victory.”
“You call this victory Cas? Sam’s gone!” Dean replied angrily, glaring at Castiel belligerently for a second before turning his attention back to the road.
“You got what you wanted, no paradise just more of the same,” Castiel continued.
“What I wanted? Are you serious Cas?”
“What would you prefer Dean, peace or freedom,” Castiel replied earning another glare from Dean.
The muscle in Dean’s jaw was working overtime again as he struggled with his anger and grief. He bit back the irate retort that was on his lips, jamming a cassette into the player instead, not caring which one it was, just anything to drown out the silence, the conversation, the thoughts swirling in his head.
They didn’t utter another word on the long drive back to Bobby’s.
.................................
Bobby halted as he entered the kitchen. Dean and Castiel stood glaring at each other, the air seemed to tingle with anger and resentful words. Bobby had woken to the sound of raised voices. He had rushed down to see what was happening and now stood awkwardly in the doorway, not sure if he should interrupt. Neither of them had appeared to notice his entrance as they continued to stare at each other.
Five agonising days had passed since Lucifer and Michael, along with Sam and Adam, had been trapped back in the cage. Five days filled with stilted conversations, sentences that never got finished, emotions that no words seemed adequate for. All three of them had been on tenterhooks around each other, it had only been a matter of time before the tension and emotion reached boiling point.
“What the hell do you care Cas?”
“I lost my brothers as well Dean. My family.”
“What do you know about family? You’re nothing if not a cold heartless bastard!”
“You think you’re the only one with the right to feel pain, to feel loss,” Castiel said, his voice dangerously low as he advanced towards Dean. They were now standing toe to toe.
“Oh right I forgot, you gave up everything. Your brothers were nothing but a bunch of arrogant dicks!” Dean vented, his anger and grief aimed at Castiel whether he deserved it or not.
“I don’t remember requesting an early morning wakeup call,” Bobby interjected before Castiel could react. Bobby was sure that reaction would be nothing short of a fist to Dean’s face. He wasn’t in the mood for cleaning up any more blood.
They continued to ignore him for a moment, eyes locked together, before Dean eventually glanced towards Bobby. A flicker of guilt passed across his face before it was hidden beneath a blank mask.
“You two done bickering?” Bobby said, feeling well out of his depth, but in no mood to put up with any more crap.
Dean’s eyes returned to Castiel’s. “I’m done. We’re done,” Dean finished before storming out of the room, brushing past Bobby.
If it hadn’t been a former angel standing there, Bobby would have been sure there was raw pain and loss glistening in Castiel’s eyes. Castiel walked out the opposite door without looking at him.
Bobby left the room and headed back upstairs, grumbling under his breath about stubborn fools. Maybe if he was lucky he could get back to sleep and put off dealing with anything for a few more hours.
.................................
Bobby woke several hours later. He rolled over sighing as everything crashed into his consciousness the second his eyes opened. Sam was gone, and downstairs was a broken man and a … well two broken men now he guessed. He wondered if he was too old for this shit.
He’d curse his luck for knowing the damn Winchesters if he didn’t love the two boys as if they were his own sons. That thought just bought home the grief even more, the hole he felt inside from the loss of Sam. He sighed again and got up out of bed. It was time they started to face things.
Bobby was torn by his own grief at Sam’s sacrifice, but his concern for Dean ate at him as well. He wasn’t one to offer a consoling hand or soft words of comfort. It wasn’t his way. The fact remained though, that it had been five days and none of them wanted to acknowledge what had happened or where to go from here. It felt like they were in limbo.
Bobby walked out of the house to stand with Castiel on the porch. “Where’s Dean,” he asked quietly.
Castiel simply shrugged. “Working on one of your cars,” he replied without looking at Bobby.
“You two spoken since this morning?” Bobby asked. The clenched jaw and cold glint in Castiel’s eyes was answer enough.
If Bobby didn’t know what to say to Dean, he had even less idea what to say to the angel. He had never understood Castiel, hadn’t really tried to. He had helped them, but Bobby didn’t even pretend to understand why. It hadn’t seemed important, they had needed his help and he had simply been there. He didn’t have the energy to try and figure out what the angel had been feeling these last few days. His own grief and worry over Dean was more than enough to keep him occupied.
Bobby merely grunted in acknowledgment, caught between the awkward silence standing here with Castiel and the undoubtedly uncomfortable conversation he would get from Dean if he sought him out. In the end the strangeness of the angel outweighed Dean’s anger. He sighed. When had things gotten so complicated? He walked off to find Dean, leaving the angel to his unknowable, brooding silence.
He found Dean angrily pulling at something on the engine of a rusted out old El Camino. He grabbed a beer from the esky sitting on the ground. “Dean. Not that your company ain’t scintillating, but what are your plans?”
Dean looked at him across the engine, beads of sweat rolling down his face. “Plans? What’s there to plan for?”
“Dean, Sam’s gone. He sacrificed himself so that...”
“So that what? That we could leave him rot down there while we go happily on our way? “
“Well he didn’t do it so you could mope around here like some rejected prom date.”
Dean fidgeted with the wrench in his hand distractedly. As he looked up at Bobby, unshed tears pooled in his eyes. “I know,” he whispered. He threw the wrench back in the tool box, wiping his greasy hands on his jeans. “I know,” he repeated his voice thick with emotion as he leant against the car with both hands, his head bent down, his shoulders slumped.
Bobby took several swigs of his beer, silently watching Dean struggle with his emotions. Dean eventually looked up, staring out over the junk yard. He nodded his head slightly, absentmindedly licking his lips as he tried to swallow downs his feelings. He came to a decision.
“I’m leaving Bobby,” he said quietly. Bobby narrowed his eyes trying to figure out if Dean was about to do something stupid.
“You are?”
Dean nodded not trusting his voice. He closed the hood of the El Camino and wiped the sweat from his face on his shirt sleeve. “I made a promise, and I’m gonna do my best to keep it,” he said.
Without looking at Bobby, he headed back towards the house.
Half an hour later Dean threw his duffle bag into the Impala. He stood tossing the keys as Bobby came out to say goodbye. “You sure about this boy?”
“Yeah,” Dean replied forcing himself to sound confident. “I have to do this.”
“Ok. You keep in touch.”
“I will Bobby,” he replied, though neither of them really believed it.
They embraced awkwardly, the goodbye of two men not willing to say or show how much they cared. After a couple of slaps on the back they parted. Dean climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Bobby walked back into the house rather than watch him leave.
Dean looked back towards the house and saw Castiel standing on the porch, alone, and silent as always. He caught the angel’s eye and they held each other’s gaze for a moment. Dean nodded his head slightly in silent goodbye, before looking away. Too stubborn and tied up in his own grief to offer an apology or comfort to the angel, he hoped Castiel would understand, he understood him better than just about anyone else after all. Guilt mixed in with his swirling emotions, he put the car into gear and drove off, before it could tear him up any more. He glanced once in the rear view mirror, Castiel was still standing there alone, watching him as he drove away.
.................................
Bobby spent the night after Dean left drinking alone in his bedroom before falling into a dead sleep. He woke 12 hours later. He knew Dean was going to Lisa’s to try and have the normal life he had always dreamt about, that Sam had made him promise before he sacrificed himself. He hoped Dean could find some peace; the kid deserved it more than most after all. He knew he would miss him. He could kick the boy’s ass at times, but he would still miss him.
He grabbed a notepad with an address scribbled on it from amongst the pile of books next to his bed and headed downstairs. He had gotten a call from Rufus last night about a possible Ruguru problem. It was time to start getting on with life and a Ruguru hunt was as good a way as any.
He stopped in his tracks when he entered the lounge. Castiel was asleep in one of the armchairs, scrunched in amongst a pile of books and scrolls, some of them had fallen onto the floor. Bobby had almost forgotten about the angel, wasn’t sure he would even still be here.
They hadn’t really spoken last night after Dean had left. The last Bobby had seen of him he was still standing on the porch staring down the road that Dean had driven out onto. He was so used to the aloof angel dropping in and out that for a moment he couldn’t quite figure out what he was still doing here, asleep on his couch no less. Then he remembered that Castiel wasn’t exactly an angel anymore.
He rubbed his face tiredly, thinking that this was perhaps the first problem he should deal with. He had no idea of how to deal with the now powerless angel that had crashed out in his house, apparently homeless and more than a little clueless. ‘Life sucks’, he thought as he walked over and picked up the fallen books, nudging Castiel’s foot to try and wake him. When that didn’t work he prodded a little harder accompanied by a gruff, “hey”.
Castiel woke with a start. “What?” he asked as he looked around still sleep addled. “Oh,” he said as he took in his surroundings, remembering where he was.
Bobby chucked the books he had picked up back on the top of the pile on the couch and headed into the kitchen, “I’m putting coffee on if you want some.”
A grumbled reply that he couldn’t understand was all he got in return, but he took that as a ‘yes’ anyway.
He had the two cups of steaming black coffee made before Castiel stumbled into the kitchen. Castiel gave mumbled thanks as Bobby handed him one. They both sat down at the table drinking in silence. Bobby studied the angel as Castiel stared intently at his coffee, as though he was trying to work out what its secrets were.
“Cas I know we’ve never really spoken much, but given the circumstances I think we need to.” Castiel continued to study his coffee. Bobby sighed, and kept on talking. “As it seems you apparently need to sleep now, perhaps you’d best do it somewhere other than my couch”.
Castiel looked up at him, looking every bit the lost puppy. “I’m sorry, I’ll leave”. He started to get up.
Bobby sighed his long suffering ‘why must I be surrounded by idjits’ sigh, “I just meant a bed would be better.”
“Oh,” Castiel said as he lowered himself back into his seat.
“But while we’re on the subject, what are your plans? I mean well...I guess you can stay here if you want.”
“I don’t have anywhere else do I,” Castiel said, he eyes downcast, studying his coffee again.
“I’m just saying after everything you did to help Dean and Sam, you can stay here till you get back on your feet, or decide what you’re doing”.
The grateful look he gave Bobby was a little too much for him. He got up and poured himself another cup of coffee.
“I won’t pretend to know what you’re going through or even understand anything about you. I guess I’m just saying I’m grateful is all.” An awkward silence carried on for a few moments, “I got a possible Ruguru case I’m going to check out. Back up’s always appreciated if you want to tag along?”
Castiel just nodded. It wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic response, but in the moment Bobby didn’t care, he hated awkward silences. He finished up his coffee and headed into the other room to grab supplies for the hunt.
.................................
Bobby and Castiel sat in the car outside a farmhouse in Indiana. Rufus had been right, and they had found a recently turned Ruguru in town. They had got to town just in time to find a rather chewed corpse at the local morgue. They had tracked the killer back to this house, after speaking to the woman who lived there who had just reported her boyfriend, who had been acting strange, as missing.
Of course Castiel had promptly started to tell her that her boyfriend wasn’t missing, and had been acting strange because he was a flesh eating monster on the prowl around town. Fortunately Bobby forestalled him before he freaked the woman out too much. They were here now on a hunch that the recently turned Ruguru would be drawn back to his old home and his loved ones, though probably not for a happy family reunion.
The two men sat in silence, staring across the road at the ordinary looking house. They had spent most of the last day sitting in the car without saying a word and Bobby was starting to find it a little unnerving. He smiled briefly as he thought, ‘trust Dean to make the strangest friends and then leave them with me to deal with’.
Castiel stared out the windshield, his brow creased in thought, “If someone else made a promise, would you feel beholden to keep it as well?”
“What?” Bobby asked completely thrown by the statement, the first words Castiel had spoken in over an hour.
“Even if they didn’t ask you too?” Castiel continued, ignoring the complete confusion on Bobby’s face.
“Well, maybe, I don’t know,” he stuttered struggling to figure out where Castiel was going with this.
“Hmm,” Castiel murmured softly as he turned to look back at the house.
Bobby was left staring at the side of Castiel’s head, his mouth clamping shut when he realised it was hanging open. He started to ask what the hell Castiel meant before deciding against it. Maybe the weird silence wasn’t so bad after all.
Before Bobby could contemplate his strange companion and the lecture he should give Dean for leaving his weird ass angel for him to deal with, he noticed Castiel’s head tilt slightly.
“He’s here,” Castiel said before Bobby could ask him what was wrong. The two men quietly got out of the car, shotguns and flamethrowers in hand.
They both cautiously walked down the side of the house, senses alert for the figure Castiel has seen enter the back yard, until they heard a woman scream. Castiel started to run.
“Wait ya damn idgit!” Bobby yelled after him, cursing under his breath as he tried to catch up. He came around the back of the house just as Castiel kicked in the door and rushed inside. He followed after him just in time to see him fire at the Ruguru with his shotgun as it charged him.
The shot halted the monster’s charge but only for a second before it continued forward, barrelling into Castiel knocking him from his feet. The angel and the monster fell in a tangled heap, the Ruguru pinned Castiel to the floor, and bloodshot eyes fixed on his prey, completely oblivious to Bobby.
Bobby rushed in, his shotgun in the monster’s face as he fired off a shot, blowing half its face off. It fell back to the floor. The woman was crouched in the corner sobbing in fear at the hideous creature that had been her boyfriend. The creature raised its head, glaring at Bobby. Without any hesitation Bobby let loose with the flame thrower, lighting it up. The Ruguru let out an anguished scream before the flames consumed it.
Bobby helped the trembling woman to her feet and guided her into another room away from the ashy remains of the man she had once loved. He spared a glare for Castiel as he climbed to his feet.
After ensuring the woman was as well as could be expected given the situation, they left the house and were quickly back on the road to South Dakota. They had been driving in silence again, though Bobby had been brooding over Castiel’s rash actions.
“You know you’re not exactly an angel anymore.”
“I’m well aware of that Bobby,” Castiel replied curtly.
“Well you can’t just rush in like that anymore, you’ll get yourself killed.”
“And?”
“Or you’ll get me killed,” Bobby snapped, because while Castiel might be in a self-sacrificing mood, Bobby was currently in nothing of the sort.
Castiel glanced at him briefly, defiantly, before he turned to look back out the window, remaining silent for the rest of the trip. Bobby doubted his words had had any effect. He’d seen reckless behaviour like that before. It would take more than a few harsh words to fix the reason behind them. ‘Damn angels,’ he thought for not the first time and probably not for the last.
.................................
PART 2...
.