Chapter Text
After a long day Dean decided to walk to the park. As he passed moms with their kids and people on their daily runs. He decided to sit by the lake. Throwing stones into the water, he wondered when his life would be that happy as the family's feeding the ducks bread as the couples who ran together. As the little old couple who are playing chess together. Dean was trying to find someone but in a busy town there were more hookups then real relationships. So he decided to go to a movie to distract himself a little.
As he got up from the ground he just heard a “ Ouch” as he looked up he saw a man bend over in pain. Quickly he apologized “ oh i'm so sorry i didn't see you there.” He says as he tries to help the man.
“ It's quite alright, it was my fault. I was too busy trying to find a spot to see the birds at sundown.” the man says
``Nevertheless, I am sorry. I'll get out of your way.” as Dean was walking away he stopped “ Wait Birds at sundown what do you mean?” he asked the man.
“ Well it is the beginning of fall and when its this time of year the sun goes down more orange and the birds look magical. It's silly but if you would like to stay you could see for yourself.” the man says
Dean thought about it before he could say no he saw the way the man smiled in this light waiting for a reply and he decided to stay. For at least now. If nothing it would be a cool story to tell later. So he simply said “ Sure that would be interesting.” Dean says as he looks at the other man.
“ Well great, you can sit with me and we can wait for the sun to go down. I brought snacks if you are hungry.” The man says as he hands Dean a tupperware full of cakes he thinks.
“ Well thank you. I am pretty hungry.” Dean says honestly as he grabs one and takes a bite.
“ They are lemon cakes. Hope you like them.” the man says
“ Oh these are the best things I've ever tasted. Did you make them?” Dean asks as he takes another bite.
“ Yes, well more like my brother did. He has many hobbies and one is baking.” the man says
“ Well, tell your brother they are great. Oh looks like the sun is going down.” Dean says nervously as he watches the man grab something else out of his backpack. It was a camera.
The man waited a few more seconds and started clicking his camera. As Dean watched the sky get full of birds. And with the orange hue of the sun it looked like a painting. It was beautiful. The sky was getting swallowed by orange and yellow. If he wasn't sure he was on the ground he would say it was a movie that he entered. Dean watched the sky like it was the first time he was seeing it. The man must've noticed because when Dean turned to see the man he had his camera pointed at Dean.
“ So are you going to use those to stalk me now or what?” Dean asked, trying to be funny.
“ What?! No! I'm sorry you just looked so mesmerized by it. It was nice. I should be going. I'm sorry.” the man apologized immensely
“ Oh no I'm sorry I was trying to be funny and obviously failed horribly but I just wanted to see the pictures. When you are done of course I don't want to ruin the shot.” Dean says sadly
“ Sure. That would be nice. My name is Castiel by the way. I just realized I invited you to watch the birds with me and took photos of you and i didnt even have the courtesy to tell you my name.” Castiel says now Dean knows his name. It was unique for sure.
“ Well nice to meet you Castiel. I'm Dean. You have a nice name.” Dean says smiling.
“ Nice to meet you too Dean. What would you say to grabbing a bite to eat? I'm still hungry. And I can show you the photos if you still think I am as you said a “ Stalker” I would understand.” Castiel says
“ No, that would be nice. I am also hungry.” Dean says as he gets up and dusts off.
They decide to have tacos at the food truck at the other side of the park. So they walk as Dean asks Castiel how long he has been a photographer. And Castiel tells Dean about moving around a lot and that nature was the one common thing. Dean can understand moving around. So as they waited for their food Dean went through most of Castiel’s photos and asked a bunch of questions because he just enjoyed hearing him talk. He learned about the different types of trees and the many birds of the world and that finch was a special type in the area. And he learned that Cas had 5 brothers and 2 sisters. Dean thought that was crazy. They talk about Castiel travels and Dean admitted he would want a big family too. When their food was eaten and they were full on talking Dean said he was tired and went home. Before he left, Castiel gave Dean his number.
When Dean got home he headed for the shower. He needed to be up early the next morning. Before he headed to bed he grabbed his phone from the table. Crafting a text he sends it to the number he had for him.
To 9453782356
Hey, it's me. I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed the day. I would appreciate it if you didn't share the photos you took of me today. My family is unlike parts of the community. My father wouldn't like it if he saw them. He's a bit of a hardass.
As Buck got out of the truck he felt his phone vibrate. Looking at it he can see he has a new text message from a number he doesn't know. As he reads it he feels a little hurt by the words the person says. What should he do? Tell the person he got a new phone. Give the person advice. They seem like they had a good day. Who was Buck to ruin that. Especially considering the last sentence of the text.
To: 9433412398
Hi. And sure I won't tell anyone. What was your favorite part of the day? If I could ask. Just curious.
As Buck waits for a reply he checks the inventory of the truck. Before a call. When he feels a vibrating in his pocket.
From:9433412398
I enjoyed the food. You are good at taking photos. And it was just fun to not think of anything. It was a nice day.
As Buck reads it he considered telling this person he wasn't the one he was looking for. He didn't want to lie to this person; they seemed like a good one. So he decided just to see where it went.
To:9433412398
I'm glad you enjoyed the day. I have to get back to work but it was nice texting you. Sweetheart.
From:9433412398
I also have to get to bed early. Text you later handsome.
As Buck looked at the text. He had to tell him he wasn't the person he was looking for. As Buck went on with his day he kept staring at the texts from the mystery person.
Later that night
From:9433412398
How was your day? I had a super busy day. It was exhausting. There was like 4 projects that needed to be done today
As Buck reads it he wonders what the person does. He considers the words. And he thinks maybe engineering. Maybe a lawyer. As he replies
To:9433412398
What projects? And busy too there was a major car accident on the highway that took so long to get it moving.
Reading the message Dean considered why Cas was on the highway but he replies nonetheless.
From: 9433412398
Oh really, was it bad? And we had 3 major things I had to fulfill. But it's not exactly a cake walk when there's a bunch of sick people around.
As Buck got into bed for the night he looked at the new message. Even more confused than before. But he changes the random numbers to a name. Still a mystery he simply puts mystery.
To: Mystery
That does sound stressful. I hope tomorrow is better for you. I have to head to bed. Early shift and all. Sleep well.
As Dean read it. He smiles a little happy that he and Cas were getting along so well. He enjoyed the day they had together. Meeting randomly in the park was a great thing. So he decided to put his number into his phone permanently under “ Handsome”
The next morning when Dean got up to head into work, gathering all the kids assignments. That he had graded last night. He needed to input them for the grades. As he went into work he said hi to Becky the receptionist as he walked down the hall he saw Charlie, waving to his best friend and another teacher. She taught first grade, while Dean taught 4th grade. As he placed his things down on his desk he felt his phone vibrate taking it out and seeing it was from Cas he was glad it was him and not from his dad.
From: Handsome
I hope you have a good day today. :)
TO: Handsome
I hope your day also goes well.. Hopefully you aren't too busy who knew work was difficult
Buck knew that the person on the other end thought he was someone completely different but he also had a feeling that person would appreciate it. And in the end that feeling won out. So as he put his phone away to finish getting the truck ready he felt it vibrate in his pocket.
Mystery: I hope your day also goes well.. Hopefully you aren't too busy who knew photography was so dangerous.
As he looked at the message from mystery he couldn't help but smile at the jester but also still trying to figure out who this person was. But honestly the mystery was fun for Buck. he could be whoever he wanted but mostly it was the fact that he felt like this person needed someone more than he did.
Once the truck was all set he went up to the loft to grab something to eat. He was a little hungry. So he walked up the stairs he could see everyone talking and laughing but as he made it to the next floor it all stopped and they got quiet looking at him silently judging him in their mind because they think they know him. But none of them know how hard it was for him to get back here to Saving people is something he knows he is good at. So he kept walking into the room and sat down on the couch with the apple he grabbed from the fridge and tried to ignore the stares and comments made underneath their breaths.
When the alarm rang he got up as fast as he could and slid down the pole to grab his gear and head into the truck. Once everyone was in they drove off. Bobby tells them the emergency.
“ Small car wreck. 2 victims pin into the car. Buck grab the pliers and go with Chim once we get there. He will be there to make sure the victims are responsive. Hen is on the other car, I'm on fire control with Eddie” Bobby says as they pull up.
Checking out the lady she was responsive but was pinned in the car pretty good. He was going to need all the help he could get. Hopefully they will help him. It wasn't about them, it was about this person in need of help.
“ I'M GOING TO NEED THE SAW!” he screamed to chim and Eddie turned to see him. The look on his face was concerning. But he couldn't think of that. He had a victim in front of him and they needed help.
“ Miss, you are going to be okay. Stay awake tell me where you were going before this happened?” Buck asked the woman to keep her talking.
As he listened to this lady telling him she was on the way to a party he worried the saw never came. So he looked around Chim and Hen were working on the victim in the other car. He decided he would just get it himself. So he ran to the truck to grab the saw. As he took it out and turned he saw the car get inflated in flames. He turned to see the cloud of orange and black smoke. He tried toi run but his body Sank to his knees he couldn't handle this.
He looked around with blurry eyes and everyone looked horrified. He felt like he was on fire. So he took off his jacket and threw it. It landed inside the truck. And he walked away. Sad and defeated. He caused this. His own mistakes caused this woman to die.
Grabbing his phone he needed someone who didn't know him.
To: Mystery
Hey, how is your day going? I just need a distraction. Things didn't go well with a scene and I couldn't do anything to help the women.
Dean was in the middle of a lesson before lunch when his phone vibrated on his desk. The kids heard it and started shouting “ Oh Mr. Winchester has a girlfriend!!!” which made Dean laugh. So he stopped the lesson so they could all settle down. “ Come on Sir, tell us what she said. I bet she wants to go to dinner or something romantic and gross” One student said and when they didn't settle down he decided to tell them it was his brother. And that made them not interested. As he finished the lesson after that interruption the bell rang and the kids went to lunch. He grabbed his phone and headed to the teacher lounge to have lunch with Charlie as he walked he checked his phone it was from Cas.
As he read it he was confused but he knew Cas was in pain. So he crafted a message
To: Handsome
Hey Are you okay? What do you mean?
He considered the possibility that maybe Cas had another job. But when cas didn't reply he walked into the lounge to see Charlie sitting at one of the tables.
“ How is my queen” Dean says laughing
“ Dean, I take you to a convention once and you will never let me live it down.” Charlie tells him.
As Charlie tells Dean about her weekend and about how her girlfriend got a new job. How they were going on a road trip next weekend to a convention. It was going to be fun. As Dean listened he considered telling Charlie about Cas and how now he was very confused. But decided against it because she would ask questions he didn't have answers for. He checked his phone again and this time he did have a message.
From: Handsome
Yes, now I am. It was just a little triggering and since the people who work with me are mad at me. So they're not that excited to help me. But I hate this. This is all I know I am good at, and without this what do I have. Maybe I should just leave like they want. I feel bad lying but I am not the person you think. My name is Buck. I'm a firefighter.
As Dean read the message, he didn't know what to say. But he did know that this Buck needed a friend in his corner. So he asked if Buck could facetime him so he could explain the situation. Leaving the teacher lounge he told Charlie his dad was calling and Charlie knew that was never a good thing, she let him leave.
When he got back to his classroom he pressed the call button and sat there while Buck explained everything that had happened with the firetruck and with the lawsuit and the work he had to do to get back to even being able to walk. And Dean felt sorry for him. When Buck was done telling his story Dean considered what he was going to say. And decided to be honest since Buck was honest with him.
“ I know you know nothing about me and I thought you were someone completely different but I understand being good at something and feeling like no one wants to support you in it. My dad was a bit of an asshole when I decided to become a teacher. He said it was queer career choice. But from what you have said I'm sure you are a great first responder. You want to know something? I considered becoming a firefighter because my dad said it was a noble profession but my best friend convinced me that I should be a teacher because I'm good with kids.” Dean tells Buck.
“ Thank you Dean for listening. I know you don't even know me but that's what I liked a little. You didn't know any of my faults and Is that your classroom? It looks nice. I bet you are the favorite teacher in the school. And yeah I'm sure. I have to get back. I kind of ran away from the scene because of the women. They might have left me here for all I know. But I hope you have a good rest of your day. I'm sorry if I bothered you.” Buck says
“ Buck no I was at lunch it's all good. And text me if you need anything okay. I'm here. And I like mysteries. Hope you can catch them before they leave. “ Dean says smiling to Buck
“ Bye Dean.” Buck says, smiling back.