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As Cas drove home towards the bunker, all he could think about was how angry Dean was going to be. Dean hated animals. Not only did he hate animals, but he hated dogs in particular. One day when he and Sammy were younger, they were playing in the park with a stray Sam had found along the way. Things were going good until the dog ran up and bit Dean in the ass, and it was all downhill from there. After Cas’ discovery of guniea pigs, there was even a strict “No Animals in the Bunker” rule. But Cas figured it would be easier to ask for Dean’s forgiveness than his permission, so here he was with a puppy in the front seat of the car he had taken from the bunkers garage, and no groceries in the backseat, which was what he had ventured out for in the first place.
Cas had made it to the grocery store, but before he could even make it inside, he noticed the box to the side of the door with a “Free Puppies” sign, being watched over by a young girl who couldn’t have been more than 12. Cas wandered over to the box, sticking his hand inside, and noticing how excited the puppies were to have someone new to play with. “May I ask why you are getting rid of all of your puppies, young girl?” Cas inquired, petting as many as he could as he spoke.
“Well, our dog had all of these puppies, but mommy says I can only keep one and we have to find the rest a nice happy forever home!” The little girl said excitedly. “Do you want them all?!!”
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly take them.” Cas replied, a hint of sadness in his voice.
“Oh please mister, please! I know you’ll take real good care of them!” The little girl insisted.
It didn’t take much to break Cas, and this little girl pleading for him to take a puppy was all the motivation he needed. “Well, I guess I could keep one…” Cas said, but before he could even finish his sentence, the little girl was jumping with joy next to him.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much, mister! You’re going to love it!!” The little girl exclaimed. “Take whichever one you want, oh except for that one,” the little girl said as she pointed to a small puppy in the corner of the box, arguably the runt of the litter. “He’s mine, his name is Spot!”
Cas reached in and picked up one of the more rambunctious puppies, struggling to hold the squirming animal in his arms. “Thank you, young girl. I wish you luck in finding homes for your remaining dogs.” Cas said to the little girl as he began to walk away, hearing her shout “Thanks, Mister!” as he went. Dean was going to be so mad.
As Cas pulled back into the bunker, he noticed that the puppy he had chosen had fallen asleep on his trench coat in the passenger seat. He gingerly picked the puppy up, arranging it in his arms and trying not to wake it. He walked through the door in the bunker’s garage, and wandered through the long hallways towards the TV room, where he was likely to find Dean lounging on the couch, watching Game of Thrones. Ever since Cas had fallen, and Dean had quit hunting, their days were usually spent watching movies and just simply being together. Dean heard Cas coming down the hallway and began to call out to him.
“That you, Cas? Did you get everything for the tacos? I’m starving!” Dean yelled, his voice becoming louder as he walked out to meet Cas in the hallway. Upon seeing the bundle in Cas’ arms though, he stopped in his tracks. “Uh, Cas? What the hell is that?” Dean said, pointing to the puppy bundled up in Cas’ coat. “Dude, you know about the ‘No Animals’ rule, come on!”
“Dean, I know. I’m sorry! But there was a small girl outside the grocery store trying to find ‘forever homes’ for all of her puppies, and they’re so cute, Dean! I couldn’t tell her no, I just couldn’t Dean.” Cas said, sounding like he was pleading with Dean already to let the animal stay. “I promise I’ll take care of it, and walk it, I won’t make you and Sam clean up after it!” He exclaimed.
Of course, just like Cas couldn’t say no to the little girl, Dean could never say no to Cas. He walked towards Cas and gently placed a kiss on his forehead, looking down to examine just what Cas had in that trench coat. “I know babe, I know.” Dean said reassuringly. “Now, let’s see what we have in here, huh?” As Dean began to pull the trench coat back, a small golden-haired puppy yawned and looked up at Dean curiously, blinking the sleep out of it’s eyes. Before Cas and Dean had a chance to react, the puppy was leaping out of Cas’ arms to run along the hallway of the bunker. “Aw, damn it.” Dean groaned, throwing up his hands in frustration. Two seconds and this dog was already running loose through the bunker.
“It’s ok, Dean! I’ve got it!” Cas said, looking determinedly at Dean before taking off down the hallway.
“This is gonna be interesting, for sure.” Dean muttered to himself, wandering down the hallway behind Cas in search of the dog.
6 months later, Dean had the dog trained about as well as you could train any dog. With a snap of his fingers, or even just a stern look, the dog would be at Dean’s side in an instant, able to sit, stay, and even bark on command. It had been a long few months trying to train the dog to follow his commands, and Cas had been no help at all, slipping the dog (which they aptly named Moose) extra treats when Dean wasn’t looking. Dean had tried to tell Cas that was only going to make the dog harder to train, but Cas wouldn’t hear it. “He just wants love and attention, Dean? Can’t you see that?” Cas would always say, as the dog lay across his lap, licking furiously at his cheek, giving Dean a look that he would almost call smug if he thought a dog could look smug.
As time went on, Cas seemed to sneak more than just treats to Moose. One night, as they were eating burgers in the kitchen, Moose came up and laid his head on Cas’ thigh, looking at the burger in his hands longingly. Dean was still standing at the stove, finishing up putting the toppings on his burger, so Cas quickly pulled a chunk of meat out of his, sliding it to Moose, who practically slurped it out of Cas’ fingers.
“Damn it, Cas, I thought I told you not to feed the dog scraps!” Dean said, trying to sound threatening, but no real anger in his tone.
“I know, Dean, he just looked so hungry.” Cas said, giving Dean the most pitiful look he had ever seen. It wasn’t like Moose was actually hungry, as Dean and Cas got him all the best dog food, treats, and everything else you could spoil a dog with, but Moose knew how to work Cas over. If you had asked Dean a year ago if a dog could be manipulative, he would’ve said of course not, but now he knew that was not the case. The more time he spent with Moose, the more he realized that the dog knew just what it was doing.
Dean just rolled his eyes and sat at the table, trying not to chuckle at how adorable Cas was with the dog.
“Go sit, Moose.” Cas said firmly, pointing towards the doorway in the kitchen. But Moose didn’t budge, just rubbed his head along Cas’ thigh a little more. “Moose, sit.” Cas stated again, a little bit more forcefully. When Moose didn’t move again, Cas didn’t know what else to try. “Deaaannn. He won’t listen to me!” Cas said, a note of defeat in his voice.
“Moose. Sit.” Dean said forcefully, snapping his finger and pointing towards the doorway. Moose instantly went; tail wagging as he sat waiting for the two to finish their meal. “Gosh Cas, you’re just too much of a softy” Dean laughed. He had to admit, Moose was growing on him.
About a month later, Cas and Dean were curled up in bed during a particularly bad thunderstorm. Ever since Cas had fallen, he was practically terrified of the thunder, and all he could stand to do was let himself be wrapped up in Dean’s safe arms and wait for the storm to pass. Dean could feel Cas tense every time the thunder rumbled outside. He lovingly ran his hands up and down Cas’ back, letting him know that everything was alright, that he was safe here. As Dean’s hand ventured down towards Cas’ hip, he felt the bed suddenly shift as something wet rubbed his wrist. “What the…?” Dean leaned up on his elbow, looking to see what the thing was. As he looked towards the foot of the bed, he could see Moose shivering by Cas’ waist, whimpering a little as loud thunder rumbled again.
“Moose…?” Cas whispered into the dark room, leaning up to see the dog by his legs. “Oh, Moose, c’mere.” Cas held out his arm as the dog leapt up into his hold. “Dean, he’s scared. Please let him stay with us? Please?” Cas begged Dean.
Of course, Dean would never say no to Cas.
“Alright, but just this once!” Dean said, flopping back down on the bed in defeat.
It wasn’t just that once, but as long as Dean had his angel beside him, he really didn’t care who else was around.