If you ever get close to a human (4/4)
Epilogue
Bobby pulled into Lisa’s driveway - now one hundred percent corpse free - exactly twelve hours after Dean had phoned him. He’d practically bolted out of the truck to hug Sam. The hug had lasted over two minutes, so Dean had won the bet he and Sammy had made. Sam had to do next week’s laundry. Sam had insisted it hadn’t lasted quite that long, but Dean had given Cas his watch to do the timing, and Cas wasn’t a cheater so he doubted Sam was going to be able to weasel out of the deal.
They were leaving Bobby to watch over Ben and Lisa. She wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but she wasn’t thrilled about being murdered in her sleep or taken as hostage or bait, either. And Dean had given her a choice - she could have Bobby, or she could have himself, Sam and Cas. Lisa had probably made a wise choice.
Dean felt really bad about Lisa and Ben. He hadn’t wanted to drag them into this mess. It was apparent now that the demons weren’t just gonna let Dean walk away. Meg had probably told a few friends about where Dean was staying, and that meant this would be the first stop on any Winchester-hunting trip. But Dean had a plan to fix things, and in the meantime Bobby was pretty confident he could hold off any attacks on Cicero until they got back.
It only took fifteen minutes to load up the car. It was only slightly more full than usual because Cas only had one duffel bag full of stuff. There were also about six boxes of table salt in the trunk, courtesy of a very concerned Ben.
“I’m so sorry about this,” Dean said when Lisa came out of the house to say goodbye. “I owe you a really, really big favour sometime.”
“You do,” Lisa said, and poked him in the chest. “An enormous favour. A world-changing, back from the dead type favour.”
“Yes ma’am.” Dean answered. They hugged and it was much less awkward than he expected. “You’ll be okay with Bobby.”
“I know I will. And you’ll be okay with Castiel.” The old-fashioned name sounded odd from her mouth, like she couldn’t quite wrap her tongue around it. She winked at Dean when she said it, and Dean felt himself blush. He was about to stammer out some kind of explanation, or at least make a dirty joke to deflect attention when the front door opened again and Cas walked outside, squinting in the bright sunlight.
He carried a plastic bag in each arm, a sways slightly, as if they bags were so heavy they shifted his centre of gravity. Behind him, Ben carried another bag, though his is practically dragged on the ground.
“What’s all this?” Dean asked, already moving to take Ben’s bag before it ripped, and probably one of Cas’ too.
“My magazines,” Cas answered, as if there’s nothing weird about bringing three huge bags full of magazines on a hunting trip.
Dean paused. A million jokes and rude comments fluttered through his mind temptingly, but Cas was his boyfriend now so Dean figured that probably meant he should be nice. “Cas, that’s a shitload of magazines,” he said. Okay, so he was still working on the being nice thing.
“They’re very important,” Cas replied matter-of-factly, “so that I can learn how to fit in as a human.”
Dean couldn’t help by smile. He reached up to touch Cas’ hair, ignoring Ben’s face of disgust at such public display of affection. “You know what, baby? Fitting in is overrated. And I can teach you everything you really need to know about being human.”
Cas considered this for a moment, tilting his head. “Okay,” he finally answered. “Why did you just call me ‘baby’?”
“Never mind, I was just trying it out,” Dean answered as he piled the magazines at the corner of the drive for the recycling truck. “Where’s my little brother? We’re losing daylight.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Sam ruffled Ben’s hair as he passed him on his way in, which seemed to annoy the kid. “Let’s get moving.”
“Shotgun.” Cas blurted out.
“What?” Sam asked.
“Shotgun.” Cas repeated, “That means I get to sit in the front, right?” He looked to Dean for confirmation.
“Yeah it does. Nice one, Cas.” Dean chuckled.
“What the fuck? No way!” Sam protested. “I always sit in the front. And I’m his fucking brother!”
“Yes, but I’m the one he’s fucking,” Cas answered.
It took a good fifteen minutes for Dean to stop laughing. By that time, Cas was in the passenger’s seat and Sam was installed in the back of the car, determinedly kneeing the back of Cas’ seat. Cas didn’t seem to notice.
“So what’s the plan?” Cas asked, once Dean’s laugher wound down.
“We’re going to find God!” Sam declared gleefully. “And ask him to protect Ben and Lisa.”
“What?” Cas asked. He looked frantically at Dean. “God is dead! There is no God!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Sam said, fiddling with the amulet he wore around his neck at all times. Dean loved being able to see him in the rear-view mirror. “He kind of gave me a sign.”
“We have no idea why the amulet appeared! You have no proof it had anything to do with God.”
“Come on Cas.” Dean could practically hear Sam roll his eyes. “The god-finding amulet reappears and gives me my body back. Seems like a sign to me.”
Cas huffed in frustration and took an enormous bite of the ham sandwich Lisa had given him.
“Have a little faith,” Dean said with a smile.
He turned onto the highway and accelerated to just above the speed limit. Then he put one hand on Cas’ knee, keeping the other on the steering wheel. He glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw that Sam was already on his laptop, probably doing research. Dean wasn’t sure they’d actually be able to find God, but if they did he would have to be sure to say thanks. Dean had his car, his stupid little brother, a pretty kickass new boyfriend and miles of open road ahead of him. Life was pretty sweet.
Notes and Acknowledgments
Master Post