Duty Free Gift for the Traveler - Chapter 2/?, Part A
Duty Free Gift for the Traveler
Chapter: 2/?, Part A
Author: Sofiwick
Beta: The awesome Kodamasama.
Pairings: Sam/Gabriel, Dean/Castiel.
Rating: PG-13 (it may go up in later chapters).
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. I am making no profit from this fanfiction.
Spoilers: Up until 6x22.
Warnings: undecided!Dean, hesitant!Cas, Mr. Fix-It!Sam, flirtatious!Gabriel, Bobby being Bobby.
Takes place right after 6x22, with a few changes (prepare for spoilers): Castiel kills Crowley, Sam’s Wall is still there, and Balthazar is alive.
Summary: Sam already has his hands full with Dean’s epic gay love affair with an ex-god without Gabriel suddenly deciding he wants his own slice of hot Winchester.
Chapter 1
Thank you sooooo much for the wonderful comments here, on Fanfiction.net and DeviantArt! You guys make my day!
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Chapter 2, Part A: Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
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When Dean gets out of the shower in the morning, Sam does his best to pretend he just woke up, even though he’d actually spent the last four hours pondering his decision, thinking about Gabriel’s resurrection, and rehearsing his reactions to the unavoidable conversation he’s about to have with his brother and the angel who just saved humanity - against their efforts to stop him.
“Morning, Dean.” Sam makes a show out of stretching himself. “Get any sleep?”
“Not much. I had to talk to Bobby before he went back to his place a couple of hours ago,” Dean says. He looks rested for a guy who hasn’t slept in a few days - Sam wonders if Castiel’s kisses have restorative properties and makes sure to remember this question for future teasing.
Sam takes the moment he’s washing his face to casually ask, “Any news from Castiel?”
Silhouettes kissing in the dark come to mind, and Sam’s afraid of turning around in case the expression on his face screams what he saw the night before.
“Yeah, actually. He’s in Heaven right now, but I’m calling him after you take your shower.” Dean sits on his bed with an impatient sigh. “We sort of need to talk to you.”
And it’s already time for Sam to start his act. Raising his eyebrows, he contorts his face in a mixture of confusion and concern. “Is everything alright, Dean?”
“Sure, Sammy, everything’s cool. It’s just some stuff we got to sort out, you know?” His brother gives him a weak smile and absently turns on the TV.
By the time Sam comes out of the bathroom, Castiel is already sitting with Dean on his bed, elbows resting on his knees in a way that makes him look less like an angel and more like the man whose meat suit he’s wearing - someone capable of feelings, vulnerable to heartbreak. Castiel is here looking for Sam’s approval, and he won’t be disappointed.
“Hello, Sam.” The angel looks at Dean for support only to find green eyes staring at the floor.
Not awkward at all. “Hey.” He sits on his own bed with a serious expression. “Dean said you guys have things we need to talk about?”
And they talk, starting with the fight in the Cage. The long explanation is made up mostly of Castiel narrating events in his usual way - like he’s reading them from a book, with Dean interrupting every so often to show he’s in on all of this.
Sam nods the entire time, taking notice of the space between his brother and the angel. Something so important as the story on how Robot Sam came to be seems inconsequential next to the fact that, once the story is finished, Dean’s coming out of the closet.
He coughs to hide a chuckle before it escapes without his consent.
“Okay,” Sam clears his throat, “I think I get it now.”
“I am sorry, Sam.” And Castiel really is.
“Well, doesn’t matter anymore, Cas. I don’t blame you.” He smiles to comfort the angel, (.) “Let’s try to put this behind us.”
“But I’ve done regrettable things.” The reluctance in accepting that no one is holding it against him makes Sam wonder if Castiel believes he should be blamed and punished for what he did. There’s so much sorrow in his voice there’s nothing Dean can do to stop his hand from reaching for Castiel’s shoulder, trying to comfort him but too ashamed to do so in front of someone else.
“Haven’t we all?”
The silence accompanying that statement sends each individual to a different part of their past. Sam’s is filled with demon blood and what may or may not be brief glimpses of memories from Robot Sam or phantom pain from his time in Hell.
Dean coughs, dragging all attention to him. “There’s one more thing we need to tell you.”
Sam had expected his brother to reach out and hold the angel’s hands, or at least move in a little closer to him. It feels like a natural human reaction to seek that sort of contact when delivering to your family the news that you’re getting together with your angelic stalker.
But Dean doesn’t move, and Castiel doesn’t know any better.
“There has been a new development in my relationship with your brother.”
“Okay.” Sam waits patiently for someone to go on.
It suddenly comes to mind how much Dean and Cas resemble a married couple sitting there together, worried expressions on their handsome faces as they try to explain something very complicated to their children.
The conclusion that Sam’s probably the kid in this relationship doesn’t make him feel warm inside.
Castiel is clearly passing Dean the ball to claim their relationship whatever he wants, for he just looks at him and waits.
“Dean.” His brother’s rigid posture and hands rubbing against each other don’t go unnoticed - Sam is suddenly very much afraid Dean’s tendencies to screw things up will end up doing just that. “If this is important to you, then it’s important to me. But you have to say it.”
Because having Dean say the words is crucial. How does he expect to have a long term relationship if he can’t even admit it to his most important family member?
“We’re sort of together now,” Dean confesses, avoiding everyone’s eyes. The angel is clearly afraid he’ll be rejected by his brother-in-law, while Dean is downright uneasy from just being there.
Something isn’t right here. It’s a good thing Sam watched their interaction the night before; otherwise, he would assume his brother was pretending to love Castiel to keep everyone safe from a homicidal maniac of an angel turned god.
It’s horrible how possible that’d be, for his brother to actually pretend to love someone to ‘save the world’.
However, he did watch the way they held each other so urgently, how his brother enjoyed all the clumsy wet kisses the angel had to offer, Castiel’s hands touching Dean’s face with something akin to fascination…
“Like, romantically?” He doesn’t have to double check, of course, but a little authenticity doesn’t hurt anyone.
“Yeah, but- but! I’m not gay-” Dean says hastily, a little louder than necessary. It’s great his boyfriend is an angel who doesn’t know he should probably feel hurt or even angry over Dean getting all defensive about his sexuality. “You know I’m a ladies man. It just… happened. And it’s only Cas.”
“It’s okay, dude. You don’t have to be one or the other; maybe you’re just bi-”
“No, man! I mean, I don’t feel like this for other guys, just Cas.” Dean sighs, frustrated, getting worked up about it. “I’m… angel-sexual! Yes, that’s it.”
“Dean, that is not a word,” Castiel kindly informs him.
“It is now, ‘cause I’m not gay.” Dean grins cheekily, although he’s still the only one in the room distressed by labels.
“It is pointless to discuss your sexuality, for I’m neither man nor woman.”
“See, that’s why ‘angel-sexual’.” And Dean nods happily like that concludes it. “Totally not gay.”
Of course not, Dean. You just want to have hot man-sex with Cas for the rest of your life, maybe even cuddle a little. How would that make you gay?
“Dean, dude, it’s okay. Gay or not, doesn’t really matter. I can see you guys care about each other, and I guess that’s enough for me, even if you just got together and what, you’re still trying to figure stuff out?” Sam tries his best to put emotion in his words as he smiles. “I’m fine with it; I’m just worried about Bobby.”
Ah yes, Bobby. Sam could image that conversation. Hey, Bobby! Remember the guy who killed your ex-girlfriend? Well, you see, we now decided that he’s good, and we absolved him of all his crimes. If you can just go along with it, that’d be great, thanks.
“Because of the gay th- I mean, the angel-human thing?”
“Dean, Bobby cared a lot about Eleanor. You saw how angry he was. He won’t just accept everything like ‘this’!” Sam snaps his fingers.
“If it’s worth anything, I only planned to get part of her blood. She would have lived if it wasn’t for Crowley stabbing her the moment I was gone.” Castiel says it so matter-of-factly it makes Sam wince.
Eleanor had hinted at being tortured by both Crowley and Castiel. Two days ago, the very idea of that poor woman suffering like that made his skin crawl and hatred for the angel rise in his chest.
Two days ago, he didn’t know his brother had actual feelings for said angel.
Sam almost feels sick putting his brother’s happiness over the cruel fate an innocent had to suffer in the hands of the one who would bring said happiness.
“Maybe if we try to explain things to Bobby-” But Dean doesn’t sound convinced by his own words.
“No, I take it back,” Sam interrupts. “Bobby won’t like it, but it doesn’t matter.”
Dean looks confused. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter? He’s like-”
“I know what he’s like to us, Dean. But this is your chance at being with someone you actually care about - and this time you don’t have to give up your life as a hunter to be with them.” Sam smiles, trying to reassure his brother. “So no, Bobby doesn’t have to accept it; he only has to respect you for it.”
“That’s more than I can ask for.” Castiel sounds honestly relieved.
“And who knows, maybe he’ll forgive Cas one day! Actually hear his side of the story.” For whatever reason, he senses the mood switches from ‘tragic’ to ‘hilarity’ in a second, and Sam isn’t about to lose this opportunity. “Maybe he’ll forgive him enough to attend your big-ass gay wedding at the beach.”
There’s a pause, and Sam can hear the sentence sink into Dean’s mind.
“Oh, Hell no, you’re not going there-” Dean turns red as he puffs up his chest in typical douche bag, macho man behavior. It’s endearing.
“Dean and I have not discussed marriage arrangements as of yet,” Castiel informs them.
Sam blinks. Dean looks like he’s about to pass out.
“Dude, no! We’re not- He wasn’t-”
Castiel smiles shyly. “Did I do it right? Was this a ‘prank’?”
Damn, his brother will have his hands full with this one. Sam has a feeling he and Castiel will have a lot of fun teaming up in the future.
“Cas! Did you just-” Dean starts to babble, and Sam almost wishes Castiel would shut him up like the night before. “Okay, people! Let’s get this straight - no one here is gay, and no one here is getting married.”
“I don’t know, man. You have to get married in order to adopt.” Sam smirks.
“I believe I’d enjoy children a great deal.” Castiel tilts his head. He might be serious.
Maybe it’s Dean’s horrified face or the glee in Castiel’s blue eyes, but Sam can’t help laughing. “Stick around, Cas. We could use your help and… we like you. Really…”
Just don’t go around torturing people anymore, pretty please…?
“Then you can find it in yourself to forgive me?” The angel sobers up immediately.
“Cas, don’t sweat it! We’re all martyrs here, and we have all done stuff we regret for the sake of the people we love.” Sam grins. “Congrats, now you’re an official member of the family.”
Dean laughs so suddenly and so loudly it startles Sam. He looks genuinely relieved as he pats a somewhat perplex angel on the back. “There we go! This heart to heart was brought to you by Kodak.” He winks at Cas and squeezes his shoulder until blue eyes meet green in a meaningful look Sam has seen one too many time. “I told you everything will be fine.”
Cas smiles as if trying to mimic something he saw on TV, although Dean looks happy enough at his attempt at humanity. “I’m sure it will.”
Yeah, judging by the fact they didn’t even hug or kiss, the only thing Sam is sure of is that the eye-fucking was about to reach epic proportions…
Chapter 2, Part B