Peace and Quiet ((open rp))

[sgt_hunter]

John sat comfortably in a corner of Ravenclaw’s bar, nursing a scotch. The prank war was finally over and everyone was back to their appropriate age. Calm had descended on his family, at least for now. He spun the glass between his fingers, watching the amber liquid swirl in the half light. While he had been gone, his family had grown. Bobby

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[nerdofthelord]

The angel in question had made the Ravenclaw bar a regular part of his itinerary, so it was more or less inevitable that he would run across John at some point.

He'd been wondering about the Winchester patriarch, in turn. They had met twice now, only briefly, and on one of those occasions he'd been in no condition to hold a rational conversation. He owed John a debt for that incident (a highly unusual sort of debt, certainly, but nevertheless) and he was curious about the man who had shaped the lives of all his friends so profoundly

[sgt_hunter]

John looked up at the voice. He had only been distantly aware of anyone else nearby, and was surprised to see that it was Castiel. Normally he would have berated himself for a lapse in his guard like that, but today, he allowed himself the indulgence.

It wasn't a surprise the angel looked hesitant. Their last meeting had been under extremely bizzare circumstances and John had no doubt that the transformation had been unsettling for him. The hunter waved him over with a small smile, "Yeah. Take a seat."

[nerdofthelord]

Cas seated himself opposite John and got straight to business. "I, ah, wanted to thank you," he said tentatively. "For preventing an uncomfortable situation from becoming..." He paused, searching for a good way to put it, "...even more uncomfortable. I could have done considerable damage, if you hadn't..." He trailed off, finding it difficult to look the man in the eyes.

[sgt_hunter]

John held up a hand, "Forget it. You weren't exactly yourself at the time. Besides, I raised two boys and I remember those days pretty clearly. It's funny how quickly it comes back, even after all this time," he noted with a distant smile.

[nerdofthelord]

Castiel glanced up at that; somehow, preoccupied with his own embarrassment, he hadn't put much thought into the rather obvious connection. "Dean used to behave that way?" he queried, finding it difficult to imagine.

[sgt_hunter]

He chuckled at the memory, "The boy was born stubborn and it just got worse the older he got. But if you think Dean as a little one was rough, you should have seen him as a teenager."

"Now Sam, he was always the quiet one. He'd just look around and take everything in. Some days I'd swear I could see his mother looking out through them," he murmured.

John blinked. It was the first time in years he had been able to think about Mary without a tightening in his chest.

[nerdofthelord]

He was beginning to get an inkling how John had taken charge so effortlessly the day of the prank. Now that he really thought about it, Dean was exceedingly difficult to manage as an adult. As a small child lacking even the limited self-control he now possessed, he must have been downright terrifying.

"It doesn't sound as if they've changed that much, fundamentally," he observed, thinking of Dean's recent detention as just one example. Time and adversity had left their marks on both men, even in the short time he'd known them, of course, but those underlying traits certainly still held true.

"I admire them both," he said after a moment. "I owe a great deal to them both. As does all humanity. I'm sure that you don't need me to tell you, but I thought you might like to hear it from someone who was there to see when you couldn't be." Bobby had undoubtedly told him already, but it bore repeating. "You should be very proud of your sons."

[sgt_hunter]

"I am proud of them. They're damned good kids, and good hunters."

Bobby had in fact, not talked to John about what had happened, at Dean's request. He knew he had missed a great deal, but he was still lacking the details. He hadn't been the best father to either one of the boys, but he still saw the scars they bore, the way that Sam and Dean stuck so close to each other. Sooner or later, someone was going to have to come clean, even if he had to corner them into doing it.

"Thank you for looking out for Sam and Dean when I couldn't." John took a long swallow from his glass. He refilled his and inclined the bottle in Castiel's direction. "So how exactly did an angel wind up throwing in with my boys?" he asked curiously.

Season 4 in five minutes...

[nerdofthelord]

The angel pushed his glass slightly John's way. He would have liked to proceed cautiously, but that was difficult without knowing what John had or hadn't already heard. And circumspection had never been one of Cas's strong suits

Re: Season 4 in five minutes...

[sgt_hunter]

John poured for both of them, then sat back his gaze never wavering from Cas as he spoke. His expression may have been a carefully crafted mask, but it was not difficult to miss the growing agony in his eyes

[nerdofthelord]

Cas took a large swallow of whiskey. "It was clear that something had gone very wrong in Heaven. Angels were being murdered, the validity of our orders was becoming more and more uncertain. I doubted. I was afraid. And I had come to like Dean and Sam, better than most of my own kind

[sgt_hunter]

John reached for the fresh glass, grimacing as his fingers failed to completely close around it. The life of a soldier was something that he understood and he nodded at Castiel. "I can't say that being in the Marines compares to a soldier in Heaven, but I imagine the culture was somewhat similar. In the Marines, you followed orders without question, you were loyal to the Corps first above all."

He gave a fractional smile. Naturally Dean would be the one who tried to take on everything to protect Sammy.

John looked quizically at Castiel. "Fix them?" Obviously in his twenty years of hunting and studying demons and all manner of supernatural creature, studying the lore of Heaven had not been much of a priority.

[nerdofthelord]

"Exactly," the angel said, nodding. "It's not an easy mindset to break out of, even when you know that you must. Understand that I am not making excuses. It was a failure on my part, one that I can only hope I've atoned for since."

"Yes." As he spoke, he leaned across the table to touch the backs of John's fingers, willing away the lacerations. "You're not familiar with angelic lore? Healing is...one of the perks."

[sgt_hunter]

"No, it's not and easy thing to change," he agreed. John was beginning to develop his own respect for the angel.

He looked down at his hands, surprised. "I.. no. I wasn't exactly what you would call a man of deep faith before Mary had been killed. After that, I lost what little faith I had. I knew there was a Hell, and I knew there were demons. But Heaven?" he shook his head. "It was too far away, too removed while I was trying desperately to keep my family together and keep my sons safe."

[nerdofthelord]

Cas nodded as he refilled his glass; he could relate. "I think all of us have suffered our crises of faith." He smiled ruefully. "In fact, it's been something of an epidemic in recent months. But Heaven is real, and that disconnection is something I intend to try to change, if I get the opportunity." He knew he might be pointlessly spinning his wheels, making plans in that direction, but it was difficult to put it out of his mind. If Dean suffered for lack of anything to hunt here, he was just as stuck for any goals to pursue, orders to follow, battles to fight

[sgt_hunter]

"Given what's happened, I'm not surprised," he noted, taking a long swallow from his glass. There had been moments over the years when he would look up at the night sky and talk to the stars, wishing that somehow Mary could hear him. It was the closest John ever got to prayer.

"I couldn't be prouder of Sam and Dean. They're damn good kids, even if I was too lost to see it most days when they were younger," there was a bitter note of regret in his voice. "I know the boys didn't go through it alone, and for that I'm grateful to both you and Bobby."