Can you hear between the words?
Title: Can you hear between the words?
Author: fate_incomplete
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Spoilers: 8.17 Goodbye Stranger and 8.18 Freaks & Geeks
Characters/Pairings: Implied pre Dean/Cas, Sam POV
Word Count: 600
Summary: Sam really hadn't meant to overhear Dean's prayer, to see what lay between his words.
.......................
Sam paused in the hall. He could hear Dean in the kitchen and automatically began preparing a convenient half truth for why he wasn't getting the rest Dean had all but ordered him to get. The unmistakable clink of beer bottles drifted through the open door. Sam's face creased in concern at his brother yet again drinking alone through the night.
He heard Dean close the fridge and walk through to the sitting room off the kitchen, settling on the couch by the sounds of it. Sam was about to continue down the hall, his bare feet getting cold, when he heard Dean sigh. He walked quietly into the kitchen, unsure if Dean wanted company, and was about to announce his presence when Dean started talking.
His brother was sitting in the dark with only faint light outlining his form, but Sam was sure he was alone.
"Hey...so, we took care of a vamp nest today. Fun times. Saved a girl though, Krissy, don't know if I ever told you about her, so, there's that..."
In the dim light Sam could see Dean take a swig of beer. There could only be one person he was talking to. He knew he should leave, yet curiosity won out. It was only days since Castiel beat Dean to a pulp, he couldn't help but wonder what Dean had to say to the angel.
"Sam says he's doing okay, mostly."
Another mouthful of beer.
"I meant what I said. I meant it in purgatory too. Just...I don't care about all the fuck ups, trust me, you're not alone in that department."
"You watch out for yourself, wherever you are. Crowley, that bitch Naomi, you know they'll be coming for you."
"Whatever happens, I'm...just, stay in one piece, you hear me."
Somehow, this was not how Sam imagined Dean's prayers to Castiel. The few times Dean had prayed to the angel in Sam's presence had been flippant and impersonal, not like this, raw with emotion. He had known for some time that there was this thing between Dean and Castiel that was never spoken about. As repressed as Dean may be, whatever emotions were there ran deep, and what was between them, it was strangely...intimate, there was no other way to describe it.
Sam watched the dark outline of his brother who had gone quiet. Dean was fidgeting with the beer bottle absently, like he had forgotten to keep drinking it. It hung loosely between the fingers of one hand as he lifted the other to rub his face, exhaustion evident in every line of his body.
"Cas, don't carry this with you too. It wasn't you. I know that."
Sam ducked his head. He could almost physically feel the emotions rolling off Dean. This wasn't something anyone was meant to see. This was his big brother who had happily given lip to Lucifer and Michael, who had literary been through hell and back, willingly hanging out every bit of his broken self for a rebellious angel to see, and as vulnerable as Sam had seen him.
"You do what you have to, just...I'm here, if you..."
Dean rubbed his face again, letting out a puff of air somewhere between self derisive laughter and tears.
Sam hadn't meant to overhear something so obviously private, and he hadn't meant to see whatever hung between Dean's words that defied description. Sam walked away, careful to not make a sound. Leaving Dean alone in a darkened room that felt impossibly empty, as his brother's whispered promise echoed in the shadows.
"Cas? You ever need me...I'm here...for whatever that's worth."
.......................
Author: fate_incomplete
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Spoilers: 8.17 Goodbye Stranger and 8.18 Freaks & Geeks
Characters/Pairings: Implied pre Dean/Cas, Sam POV
Word Count: 600
Summary: Sam really hadn't meant to overhear Dean's prayer, to see what lay between his words.
.......................
Sam paused in the hall. He could hear Dean in the kitchen and automatically began preparing a convenient half truth for why he wasn't getting the rest Dean had all but ordered him to get. The unmistakable clink of beer bottles drifted through the open door. Sam's face creased in concern at his brother yet again drinking alone through the night.
He heard Dean close the fridge and walk through to the sitting room off the kitchen, settling on the couch by the sounds of it. Sam was about to continue down the hall, his bare feet getting cold, when he heard Dean sigh. He walked quietly into the kitchen, unsure if Dean wanted company, and was about to announce his presence when Dean started talking.
His brother was sitting in the dark with only faint light outlining his form, but Sam was sure he was alone.
"Hey...so, we took care of a vamp nest today. Fun times. Saved a girl though, Krissy, don't know if I ever told you about her, so, there's that..."
In the dim light Sam could see Dean take a swig of beer. There could only be one person he was talking to. He knew he should leave, yet curiosity won out. It was only days since Castiel beat Dean to a pulp, he couldn't help but wonder what Dean had to say to the angel.
"Sam says he's doing okay, mostly."
Another mouthful of beer.
"I meant what I said. I meant it in purgatory too. Just...I don't care about all the fuck ups, trust me, you're not alone in that department."
"You watch out for yourself, wherever you are. Crowley, that bitch Naomi, you know they'll be coming for you."
"Whatever happens, I'm...just, stay in one piece, you hear me."
Somehow, this was not how Sam imagined Dean's prayers to Castiel. The few times Dean had prayed to the angel in Sam's presence had been flippant and impersonal, not like this, raw with emotion. He had known for some time that there was this thing between Dean and Castiel that was never spoken about. As repressed as Dean may be, whatever emotions were there ran deep, and what was between them, it was strangely...intimate, there was no other way to describe it.
Sam watched the dark outline of his brother who had gone quiet. Dean was fidgeting with the beer bottle absently, like he had forgotten to keep drinking it. It hung loosely between the fingers of one hand as he lifted the other to rub his face, exhaustion evident in every line of his body.
"Cas, don't carry this with you too. It wasn't you. I know that."
Sam ducked his head. He could almost physically feel the emotions rolling off Dean. This wasn't something anyone was meant to see. This was his big brother who had happily given lip to Lucifer and Michael, who had literary been through hell and back, willingly hanging out every bit of his broken self for a rebellious angel to see, and as vulnerable as Sam had seen him.
"You do what you have to, just...I'm here, if you..."
Dean rubbed his face again, letting out a puff of air somewhere between self derisive laughter and tears.
Sam hadn't meant to overhear something so obviously private, and he hadn't meant to see whatever hung between Dean's words that defied description. Sam walked away, careful to not make a sound. Leaving Dean alone in a darkened room that felt impossibly empty, as his brother's whispered promise echoed in the shadows.
"Cas? You ever need me...I'm here...for whatever that's worth."
.......................