Work Text:
Charlie lets herself into Dean’s hotel room and pauses just past the bathroom when she catches sight of Dean spread out on his stomach in the bed. He has one arm dangling off the side, the other tossed over the waist of another man. Dean’s “guest” is passed out on his back, one hand wrapped loosely around the arm Dean has over him, his face turned toward Dean.
Charlie gives Dean a mental high five as a grin spreads across her face. She looks around the room for Dean’s duffel bag, whooping silently to herself when she spots it on top of the dresser across from the foot of the bed. She tip-toes over the clothes spread across the floor and starts digging around inside the bag.
Dean’s clothes, toiletries, and the souvenirs they’d already picked up are organized according to Dean’s own ridiculous internal filing system. Charlie has never managed to quite understand his system and is unsurprised when she’s unable to find their convention passes. Charlie cusses under her breath as she rummages through the bag again, unsure if she’s overlooked them or if they just aren't there.
She gives up after a moment and looks around for Dean’s laptop bag. She finds it in the chair next to the dresser and hefts it up on top of the duffel bag, forgetting to be quiet. The sound of shifting bed sheets from behind her tells Charlie she’s woken one or both of them.
After a moment, she hears a low, hoarse voice say, “Dean, there’s a woman going through your things.”
Dean groans, and Charlie hears him shifting around. She wagers with herself that he’s pulled his pillow over his head as she lifts a hand in greeting without turning around. “Sup!”
“It’s just Charlie,” Dean says, voice muffled, and Charlie awards Gryffindor 50 points.
She finishes looking through his laptop bag, unsuccessful once again, and turns around to fold her arms over her chest and glare at Dean. The man he’d brought back with him is sitting up against the headboard, blinking sleepily at her.
“Oh, I’m just Charlie. We've been friends since the fourth grade, but I’m just Charlie to a man you've known for-” She raises her eyebrow at the man in question. She doesn't know if he’s playing along or just that literal, but he blinks at her, blinks at the clock, and answers, “Twelve hours, give or take.”
“-a man you've known for twelve hours.”
Dean groans and rolls over to sit up on his elbow, the pillow over his head sliding off the bed and onto the floor. “Jesus, Charlie. Why are you even here?”
“I’m looking for today’s badge. I never got it from you since you disappeared last night.” She casts a meaningful look toward Dean’s friend, who blushes slightly. “I wanted to wander around the floor before my first panel.”
He is absolutely Dean’s type, Charlie thinks as Dean sighs and sits up fully, settling next to him against the headboard. He’s dark haired, tanned, has the type of broad jaw that Dean had drunkenly told her he loved to bite, and is lean bodied and well built. Charlie can even see tattoos edging over his shoulders and along his arms, as well as peeking up from beneath the sheet pooled at his waist.
Dean waves toward the table. “It’s in our carry bag,” he answers, indicating the bag they’d brought to manage their con haul. Dean licks his lips and turns toward the man. “Hey, Cas, do you wanna join me and Charlie? I don’t know what you had planned..."
Dean trails off nervously, and Charlie looks up from where she’s digging through the bag to see Dean giving Cas a hopeful look. Cas looks back, but he seems regretful.
“I’m afraid I’m busy with panels all day today, Dean.”
“We can tag along. Or I can; Charlie will probably want to go to hers separately.”
“Sure, what panels are you going to?” Charlie asks. She hasn't seen Dean genuinely interested in someone since Cassie, and damn if Charlie is going to interfere.
“Um, well, I have Hacking Ethics, the recap from December’s Hack-a-thon, a Q&A in the afternoon on hacking and security, and then another security panel, but I’m not attending, Dean. I’m speaking.”
Charlie blinks. “Those are the panels I wanted to see,” she says. Her eyes widen. “Shit, does that mean you know the other panelists? I've always wanted to meet CJN. He’s the one who-” Charlie cuts herself off as Cas's face goes red and his eyes dart away from her.
“No,” Charlie whispers.
Dean frowns at her and then looks at Cas. “No what?”
“Cas, what’s your full name?” Charlie finds herself kneeling on the foot of the bed, shoulders tensed, because he’s going to say it, he’s going to fucking say it.
And he does. With a resigned sigh, he answers, “Castiel Novak.”
Charlie shrieks and bounces forward on the bed as Dean reels away from her with a startled “Holy Christ, Charlie.”
“Oh my god,” Charlie squeals. “I've been dying to meet you! Your work totally inspired me to go into the security field, and you completely kicked ass at the hack-a-thon. I totally wanted to go, but I had just started my new job-”
Charlie knows she’s babbling, but Castiel Novak is right there. He’s giving her a bewildered look as if he never gets fangirls up in his face like this, and Dean is looking back and forth between them in amusement. Dean lets Charlie make a fool of herself for a little bit longer, before he cuts her off.
“-and I totally bought that book you wrote three years ago and I don’t even buy books, you know-”
“Charlie. Charlie! You’re going to make Cas late.” He shoots a look at Cas, and then adds, “I’m sure we can hook up afterwards and you can- calmly- ask him all the questions in your little fangirl heart.” He sends a questioning look at Cas, who smiles back at him.
“That would be fine,” he says to Charlie and she squeals and bounces where she sits wedged between them. “I do need to get ready however.” He casts a meaningful glance at his lap which causes Dean to laugh.
“You’d better get going, Charlie, before you get an eyeful of dick.”
“Gross, Dean!” Charlie rolls over Dean’s legs, arm flailing out to whack him in the stomach on the way over, and snatches up their carry bag, waving as she shouts behind her, “I’ll be in the lobby! You’d better hurry up!”
Dean shows up an hour later and hauls her up out of her chair to drag her into the hotel’s cafe. He orders three cups of coffee which sets Charlie off into another squeal.
“I can’t believe you, Dean! You’re here one night and you hook up-” Charlie looks around and then lowers her voice. “-with Castiel Novak!”
Dean rolls his eyes and passes her one of the cups while he takes the other two. She walks beside him, bumping into his shoulder to watch him struggle to not spill any coffee. They head across the street and into the convention hall where they find the room of Castiel’s first panel on the second floor. Charlie squirms in excitement as Dean approaches a conference worker and clears his throat. The man looks them over with a frown.
“Yeah, we’re here to see Cas, uh, Castiel Novak. Dean Winchester and Charlie Bradbury.” Dean gestures at her with one of the coffee cups. The man eyes them and then steps away, lifting a walkie-talkie to his mouth. He speaks into it and just a moment later a woman’s voice echoes back through it. Charlie wiggles in place. Dean rolls his eyes at her even though he’s shifting nervously himself.
The worker returns and opens the door to the panel room, tilting his head. “Novak is in the back; he knows you’re coming.”
Dean grins. “Thanks, man.”
Charlie waits until the door shuts behind them and then squeals and latches onto Dean’s arm. “Oh my god, Dean!”
Dean laughs and drags her toward a small group clustered by the stage, one of whom is Cas.
Cas smiles warmly at them both, nodding a greeting to Charlie as he moves to stand next to Dean, resting a hand on his arm. “Hello, Dean.”
Dean grins and ducks his head, looking up at Cas through his eyelashes. Charlie smirks to herself as she watches. “Thanks for doing this,” he says to Cas with a glance toward her as he hands Cas his cup of coffee.
“Doing what?” Charlie asks. She recognizes the Dean Winchester Has Something Planned look. Cas turns from Dean to face her.
“I thought I’d introduce you to the other panelist.”
“Shut up!” Charlie dances in place while Dean laughs at her. Cas catches her by the arm and leads her on stage where he introduces her to some of the biggest names in her field. By the time Cas leads her back off the stage, telling her the panel is set to start soon, Charlie has traded business cards and phone numbers with them all.
Charlie fists them tight to her chest and bounces over to give Dean a hug before spinning to grin at Cas. Before she can thank him, he speaks, gesturing to something behind them.
“This is Dorothy. She’s my best friend since not-quite-fourth grade,” Cas says. Charlie turns to see a woman striding toward them, grinning. She’s stunning, with dark hair pulled into a low ponytail that rests over her shoulder and blue-grey eyes. She’s wearing a leather jacket and khaki slacks, and when Charlie slides her eyes back up Dorothy’s body, she meets Charlie’s gaze with a wink and a wide smile. Charlie flushes in embarrassment.
“Nice to meetcha,” Dorothy says, holding out her hand. Charlie shakes it, giving Dorothy a nervous grin of her own. “Cas hasn’t told me much about you, but he has said quite a bit about Dean over there.”
Both Dean’s and Cas’s cheeks go pink prompting Charlie and Dorothy to laugh.
“You guys will be sitting with me while Cas does his thing. If you find me before the next panel, I’ll get you settled there, too.”
“That sounds fantastic!” Charlie can’t help doing another wiggling dance, which has Dorothy grinning widely at her again. She catches Charlie’s arm and pulls her close. She casts a conspiratorial look over at the boys where they stand watching.
“Let’s give them a moment, eh?”
Charlie looks over her shoulder and winks at Dean before letting Dorothy settle them into seats in the front row right below the table where the panelists are beginning to seat themselves. Dorothy sits close enough that their arms are pressed together, and Charlie smiles at her before she shifts her gaze over in time to see Dean take a step closer to Cas, ducking his head slightly again. Whatever Dean says causes Cas to smile brightly, clearly smitten, and he reaches out to catch Dean’s hand with his own. Dean grins back and leans forward to press a quick kiss to his lips. Charlie has never seen Dean be so openly affectionate with anyone is such a short amount of time.
Before she can help it, Charlie whispers, “I’m going to have Castiel Novak as an adopted brother-in-law.”
Next to her Dorothy laughs and presses slightly closer. “Here’s hoping,” she says as Charlie meets her gaze. “Wouldn’t mind spending a little more time with you.”
Charlie blushes and looks away in a vain effort to hide her grin.
Epilogue: Two Years Later
Charlie plops down next to Dorothy and rests her head on Dorothy’s shoulder. Dorothy turns to press a kiss into Charlie’s hair.
“My feet hurt. So glad this evening is almost over,” Charlie complains while Dorothy laughs. Before Dorothy can respond, Charlie sits upright and turns to face her. “By the way, I heard it’s customary for the maid of honor to sleep with the best man.” Charlie wiggles her eyebrows at Dorothy.
“Okay, first off, we’re both groomswomen, and second off, we’re already sleeping together, you dork.”
Charlie ducks her head slightly and holds a finger in front of her lips while she shushes Dorothy. “Shhh… it’s pretend. Role play spices up the bedroom,” Charlie whispers as she leans in toward Dorothy.
Dorothy laughs and wraps her arm around Charlie’s shoulders. “You are so drunk right now,” she chides with a kiss to Charlie’s lips. “So which one of us is the best man?”
Charlie shrugs and settles her head back onto Dorothy’s shoulder, turning it to watch as Dean and Cas say goodbye to the guests who are headed home for the evening. There’s a lull, and Dean steps closer to Cas, who reaches out and slides his fingers in between Dean’s. Charlie watches as Dean grins, his cheeks pinking. Whatever he says causes Cas to smile widely, his nose crinkling, and Charlie hums under her breath.
“What?” Dorothy asks into her hair.
“Just thinking that I called it. I totally got Castiel Novak as my brother-in-law!”
Dorothy laughs, and Charlie turns her face into Dorothy’s shoulder to hide her grin.