Tell me where we go from here 24/?
Chapter 24
Claire was sleeping by the time Sam had extracted all the grace from her. The way she had whimpered and screamed it was more likely that she'd just lost consciousness at some point but seeing her laying on the couch with a peaceful expression on her face, Sam wanted to believe that she was sleeping.
He checked her pulse just to make sure that she was okay. Her chest fell and rose in an even pattern and Sam sat back in relief. The syringe in his hand was almost full but he couldn't tell if it was more than they had gotten of Gadreel's grace or not. If this was enough or if he just had tortured Claire for nothing.
Kneeling next to the couch for so long, his legs had gone numb a while ago and now Sam struggled to get back to his feet. When he got the feeling back in his legs Sam grabbed a blanked and draped it over her still form. She didn't stir to that but he hadn't expected her to anyway. It was probably better if he was long gone when she woke up. Maybe she could shrug this off as a weird dream and move on with her life.
Yeah, as if, he thought bitterly and could only hope that this was her last encounter with the world of angels and demons. Once you set a foot in that world it was next to impossible to get back out, he knew that, he had tried, but she wasn't in as deeply as others. She might still have a chance.
"Thank you, Claire." Sam said with one last look at her face partly hidden by her hair and the blanket. Then he grabbed his things and left.
They needed a quiet place to do the spell so they drove around town until they'd found a motel. By then it was late in the afternoon and even if they were able to locate Cas' grace with the spell, it was too late in the day to do much about it. And Sam didn't want to rush into this blind, they didn't know what kind of traps Metatron had left for them.
Dean found them a motel a little bit above their usual standards but Sam didn't comment on it and neither did Cas. If he even noticed the upgrade. Sometimes he wasn't sure how much of their daily life the angel actually noticed and what he just filed under human behavior he didn't understand.
Sam went to his own room only long enough to drop his bag on the bed before he headed over to the room Dean and Cas shared. It was bigger and the last thing Sam wanted to do was to screw up the spell just because they didn't have enough room to do it properly. Besides, the burned stuff smelled, he knew that from experience, and he really didn't want to sleep in a room smelling like burned sulfur and resin. He doubted Cas actually cared about stuff like that and so far Dean didn't know so he couldn't protest. With a smirk on his face Sam entered the room.
Cas had already cleared the table and it didn't take long to set everything up. Now Sam could only pray that they had enough grace for this to work. Not that there was anybody listening to his prayers. He'd stopped that years ago when he'd realized that God didn't give a shit. The only ones picking up on prayers these days where the angels and usually they weren't willing to help anyway.
"Okay, let's do this." Sam had one last look at the things they'd set up to make sure everything was in order, then looked over to Cas to see if he had spotted something wrong but when the angel didn't indicate something like that, Sam started with the spell.
Dean was the one who hadn't seen this before so he stayed back and let his brother do the work but Sam felt his eyes on him. Spell-work had always been in the gray. Dean hated witches and Sam couldn't say that he himself was fond of them either. Witchcraft was dabbling with unknown forces and there was too much that could go wrong. One wrong word, one wrong ingredient and you could die easily. Or you could sell your soul to a demon without knowing it.
So they tried to avoid spells and magic in general as much as they could but sometimes it was the only way. Not that Sam liked it.
To his surprise the spell worked.
"That's at the other side of the country." Dean groaned when he had a look at the location the spell had revealed.
"At least it's on Earth." Sam muttered under his breath. He hadn't vocalized is concerns earlier but for all they knew Metatron could have hidden the grace somewhere in Heaven. Even Hell or Purgatory had been valid possibilities in his eyes. So Earth was good. Hell, this continent was good.
"We have time to get there." Cas spoke up. For long moments he'd just stared at the remains of the spell and Sam couldn't tell what was going on in the angel's head.
He remembered the feeling when Dean had told him that he wanted to shove Sam's soul back into him. He hadn't jumped in joy back then. But this was different, right? Cas knew that this was a good thing. He needed his grace to survive.
They cleaned up and then they headed out to find something for dinner. They hadn't really eaten all day and with the good news they felt like celebrating. At least Sam and Dean felt like celebrating. Cas tagged along but Sam got the feeling that there was a lot on the angel's mind. Not that he blamed him, this was big news for him.
A few beers, that was all Sam had in mind. Just relax for a bit and then he wanted to get back to his room and start the research on the location where the grace was hidden. Maybe there was something like the tree that had grown where Anna's grace had hit the ground. Or he could find something indication that Metatron had guarded it some way. Somehow he doubted that the angel would leave Cas' grace just laying around for anybody to pick up who happened to come along. That bastard was too tricky, he would have kept it save just in case he would need it as a bargain chip later. Which had turned out to be the case, only that Cas wasn't willing to make a deal with him.
So Sam wanted to be back in his room before midnight, probably earlier, but then Dean brought out the shots in the attempt to get Cas drunk. Which Sam had to admit was pretty hilarious. He'd seen drunk Cas before and it was a sight to see. So he stayed with the others and somehow Dean coaxed one shot after the other into Cas and Sam as well.
Sam hadn't felt comfortable with the amount of alcohol Dean used to consume but over the last few years he'd gotten better and this was only a one night's fun so Sam didn't say a word and tried to keep up with the pace Dean was setting.
Sam wasn't exactly a lightweight but he wasn't that used to alcohol either so it didn't take long for the shots to take effect. At least he was a happy drunk according to Dean. Right now Sam thought he was hilarious.
Cas drank everything Dean put in front of him and with his dimmed mojo it didn't take a liquor store to actually get him drunk. And drunk Cas was a snuggler, it turned out.
At least Sam was beyond caring when Cas inched closer to Dean with every shot he downed till he basically sat in Dean's lap, leaning heavily on him.
"No, Dean." He protested weakly when Dean ordered just another round. "I shouldn't."
Dean just laughed and raised his glass and after a moment of consideration Cas followed suit. They downed them like pros and then slammed the glasses on the table. Cas was a quick learner, Sam observed with amusement.
Then Cas leaned over and placed a kiss on Dean's lips. Stunned for a moment Dean just sat there but Sam could clearly see the moment his brother decided to don't give a fuck. He buried his hand in Cas' messy hair and they kissed deep and sloppy right in front of Sam.
"Get a room, you two." Sam yelled and threw a balled up napkin at them. Dean didn't break the kiss but gave him the finger. Sam snorted to that and decided that he was too drunk to care. As long as their hands stayed above the table ...
As if Dean was reading his mind his hand did slip under the table and Sam really didn't want to know what he was doing there.
"You do realize that we're in a bar." Sam felt the need to point out but he wasn't sure if the words came out of his mouth as clear as they had sounded in his head. Tomorrow would be fun. He groaned at that thought, hangovers always seem to hit him worse than Dean. On the other hand Dean had way more experience with those.
Only now realizing himself that they were in public and that the bar was rather full Sam sobered up a bit and had a glance around. This wasn't the place he would recommend for two men to kiss in public and he wasn't surprised when he noticed a few not so kind faces in the crowd. They had a table a bit at the side so it wasn't that obvious what was going on back here to most of the patrons but a few did notice.
"Ehm, Dean?" Sam cleared his throat and turned his attention back to his brother who still tried to eat Cas' face off. The alcohol had done nothing for his dexterity and the kiss was sloppy at least. But enthusiastic, Sam noticed, very enthusiastic. On both parts. Sam cleared his throat again, louder now and while he had no idea where to look. He was happy for Dean and Cas but this was a little bit too much for him. He was okay with little kisses and a touch here and there but by now Cas had a hand under the table as well and Sam really hoped the sound he'd just heard wasn't Dean's zipper. Because no, that was at least ten steps too far.
"Some people don't have any decency." A loud voice carried over the noises of the bar. Sam couldn't make out the speaker but it was clear who was addressed here. Under the table Sam kicked out and hit somebody's shin. It was Dean how yelped in surprise but at least that broke the kiss.
"Dude." Sam hissed, a wary eye on the other guests. Some where openly staring by now. "If you don't want to fight your way out of here ..." He jerked his had at the people around them and thankfully Dean got the hint.
"Oh." Now it was his turn to clear his throat. "Right." He grinned rather sheepishly and reached for his glass.
"Cheers." Dean raised it to the crowd and suddenly everybody was busy looking somewhere else. "As if they've never seen two dudes kissing." Dean muttered and emptied his glass.
"There is a difference between kissing and what you just did." Sam reminded him but made sure to lock eyes with Cas as well. They had both been crossing that line.
"You're a spoilsport, Sam. You know that?" Dean shook his heat.
"I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable." Cas apologized sincerely. "It won't happen again."
Sam was just sober enough to notice that this probably needed clarification.
"I don't mind a kiss or two." He assured them. "But keep the x-rated stuff to the bedroom."
Dean didn't say anything to that but Sam didn't miss the grateful glance his brother gave him.
Chapter 25
Masterpost