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When the dead started to rise, everyone knew what it was. Zombies. A mindless, flesh craving monster that feasted on anything with a pulse. Those who didn't know, quickly found out as the dead ate their families right before their eyes. The ones that knew how to kill the zombies, (destroying the brain) banded together to kill the reincarnated before they over took the remainder of the 7 billion people who populated the earth. They believed that they were more intelligent than the dead- which is true, but they forgot that zombies don't feel pain, fear, or tired. Zombies don't bleed or need to sleep and eat like humans do. The more dead the living killed, the more invincible they thought the were, but one wrong move and you got bitten. Those who thought that they would be immune to the disease or were too caught up in themselves that they didn't think to mention to another member of their group that they would turn into a zombie soon, got them killed. There were also a lot of riots after people realized that they were losing, that also caused the plague to spread more. Those dying in the 'battle', came back as zombies and bit their friends, who bit more people and soon the living retreated to anywhere they thought was safe enough to keep on surviving.
Dean Winchester was one of those people. Him and a few others were trying to wipe the earth clean of as many of the dead as they could in South Dakota. His group was made up of his brother Sam, Jess, Benny, Charlie, Bobby and Rufus. There was also Gabriel, who they picked up about a week after zombies started roaming the earth. He was a pain in the ass and liked to eat all the candy he could get his hands on, but he didn't hesitate when it came to killing the children and the odd lonely old person who had turned, that was the main reason why they let him stick around. Also he had some medical background from when he was studying to be a doctor like his father, before he decided to rebel and become a pastry chief instead.
Dean was proud of his group, his family. They were smart, quick and quiet when they needed to be. The eight of them fit into two cars which was fuel efficient, considering that in the panic, the fuel stations had been nearly run dry. Gabriel joked that they were saving the planet by car pooling.
One of the cars they had was Deans pride and joy. A black, four door, 1967 Chevy Impala that he called Baby. So far, the only person to drive it was Dean.
They stored the extra fuel and most of the weapons that they collected along they way in Baby's trunk. The other car, that held tents, sleeping bags, a potable stove, first aid kit, the food and water supply, was an embarrassment according to Dean. "A mini van," he had scoffed at Sam when the younger brother had pulled up in Deans drive way a year earlier.
"It's practical Dean," Sam had snapped. "For families." Dean just rolled his eyes and muttered embarrassing under his breath.
Before the apocalypse, Dean had a pretty normal life. He fixed cars with his adoptive father, Bobby Singer, at the Singer Salvage Yard in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Bobby had adopted Dean and his younger brother Sam when their parents, John and Mary, who were Bobby's closest friends, died in a house fire when the boys were very young. Rufus was Bobby's friend, they hunted together sometimes and was there for Bobby when his wife died of cancer.
Dean had good friends and spent nights with both sexes when he felt like it (no one gave a shit about Dean being bi). He ran most mornings to stay in shape, sometimes he even went to late night yoga and martial art classes with Sam and his wife Jess. Sam had meet Jess at Stanford university when he was studying to become a lawyer. Now they were married and lived in Sioux Falls near the salvage yard.
Dean had met his best friend Benny during high school. He was the only one who stood beside Dean when he had dropped out to work full time to help pay for Sam's schooling. The two older boys were like brothers.
Charlie came along when Dean was almost 30. After discovering the show Game Of Thrones and always being a bit of a geek, loving Harry Potter and Batman, Sam and Jess had dragged him to a Live Action Role Playing (LARPing) game of Moondoor. That is where he met her, the redheaded lesbian who kicked ass and was the queen of her own kingdom. The two hit it off when Dean stumbled into her tent by accident- He was looking for Sam and Jess, who had ditched him in favor of learning to sword fight. Charlie made him her handmaiden and dressed him up in LARPing clothes, which looked totally bad ass (Dean has a photo of the two of them dressed up with goofy grins on their faces on his phone and hanging on his bedroom wall at home). By the end of the day, Charlie was like the sister he never wanted.
Now it was the frigging apocalypse and Dean killed zombies. When it was time for them to retreat, the group found themselves heading South. Along the way they picked up more survivors, which turned their two car set up into three. The first living people they came across was one of Bobby and Rufus' old friends, Ellen Harvelle and her daughter Jo. With them they had a girl named Ruby, a honor student named Kevin and his mum Linda.
Ellen owned a bar The Road House, and knew how to defend herself. She and Jo barricaded themselves inside and lived off their supplies until they ran out and went to look for more. That's when they found Ruby. Ruby had a lot of guns and was an excellent shot. At first Ellen was reluctant to have the girl around her daughter but after saving their asses from some zombies, she let her stay. When the bar got over-run, the three of them ran for their lives and were rescued by the fierce Asian lady, Linda and her son, Kevin.
The second group they found, had nearly shot Dean and Sam when they were out scouting somewhere to sleep that night. After some discussion and tears from the shooters, the Winchesters learnt that they were just scared collage kids. Becky and Garth lead the bothers back to an abandoned warehouse were they met the other two people of their group, Chuck and Gilda.
After determining that these four were pretty harmless, Sam ran back to get the others while Dean stayed to get acquainted.
They all stayed in that warehouse for two weeks until a horde caught their scent and they were all on the run again.
The convoy of now-four continued running into Kansas. And after getting turned around of one of the back roads in Lebanon, Dean found a bunker. He was the go to guy for scouting missions now. Dean refused to let Sam come with him once Jess had announced that she was pregnant. "No Sam," Dean had yelled as loud as he dared. "You are not coming with me. If anything happens to you when we are scouting and that kid becomes fatherless, I'll tie your ass to a tree and let you rot as a zombie." Usually Rufus or Bobby went with him now but he made them stay behind because he's quicker alone. When Dean discovered the bunker, he laughed. Then he gathered his bearings and raced back to where his group was laying low and told them to hull ass so they could clear it out.
Turns out it was empty. And huge.
That was over two months ago.
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The bunker was their life saver. It was secure, had power and water thanks to the power plant nearby and the river that sits by it and was secluded enough that they didn't have to worry (much) about the zombies.
In the main area of the bunker, there is a very large table with an illuminated map of the world (Dean had Kevin shut it off as soon as he figured out how to conserve power). There is also computers, but they are pretty useless without internet. Sam and Chuck almost shit themselves when he saw the large library.
With Chuck being an author and Sam being a huge ass nerd (According to Dean and Jess), they spent most of their time surrounded by the vast shelves. Sam had taken it upon himself to try and find out all the information he could about the bunker, who built it, when was it built, why? So far he had yet to come up with much except that it was built sometime in the 1930's based on the architecture and decoration.
The group took turns cooking in the fully equipped kitchen. When it was Deans turn, he liked to show off his culinary skills that he had picked up over the years. The kitchen also had a small table and chairs, but the group liked to eat their meals together on the larger table in the main area.
Much to the surprise of everyone, the bunker had a firing range. When they came across it, Gabriel declared that who ever made this bunker was bat-shit crazy. Along with the firing range, they found a number of weapons, guns with bullets, swords, knives. It was insane. There was also a makeshift gym hidden behind two shelves. When Dean saw this, he decided that he would keep everyone in fighting shape. They may be safer than they were when they were out on the road, but zombies still currently existed, and he didn't want anyone to get sloppy.
There was also a garage where Dean stored Baby and everyone else's cars.
The last wonderful thing of the bunker was that all of them could have their own rooms. On the first night that they were safe, everyoneborrowed some poor guys truck a week in, it was a tan 1988 Ford truck. It wasn't his baby but it had the trunk room that they needed. Slowly and steadily they found what were needed. Warmer clothing, fresh underwear, Harry Potter for Charlie (and Dean).
Three weeks later, they found themselves in a semi-large grocery store that didn't take very long to clear out. Benny and Rufus went straight to the isle for personal hygiene, while Dean made his way up and down the isles, filling his cart with all the non-perishables that were still on the shelves. He muttered to himself as he reached the confectionery isle and started throwing the left over candy into his cart. "Stupid Gabe.. He's going to have so many cavities. What a jackass... Ooh M&Ms, score."
After the confectionery, he pushed his cart to the alcohol isle. He found a decent bottle of whiskey for himself and a bottle of 'Blue Label Johnny Walker' that he thought Rufus and Bobby would appreciate.
Dean was about to put another bottle in the cart, when the sound of scuffing feet hit his ears. He froze and held his breath, waiting to see if it was just Benny trying to play a sad joke on him or if it was a zombie.
When the sound came into sight, Dean dropped the bottle in his hand and the sound of glass shattering against the floor seemed to echo through the grocery store, he cursed, grabbed his cart and hurried towards the exit. The moans of the dead followed him and Dean yelled out "ZOMBIES," to get the attention of Benny and Rufus. He cursed again when he saw that the zombies were blocking the exit. Dean drew out his .45 caliber pistol and shot the closest one, it's brain matter exploded onto the dead that were behind it and it collapsed to the floor. He swiveled around when he felt cold fingers trying to grab a hold of his neck and Dean shot another 3, this time some of their blood splattered forwards and it landed on Dean's jacket. "Oh man," he breathed heavily. More zombies appeared from the shelves and Dean kept shooting. He reloaded and focused on clearing the zombies that were blocking his way out of the store, the gun shot sounds had drawn zombies from neighboring buildings and Dean felt panic bloom in his chest. When he ran out of bullets, he drew his knife and stabbed the nearest one in the head, which caused more blood to spatter all over his face and hands. He was his the process of stabbing the second when he heard a gun shot in the distance, relief flooded him, Benny he thought. As the zombies around him dropped, Dean grabbed his cart and hurled it over the bodies, racing towards his truck. A cold hand wrapped around his ankle and Dean stumbled, causing the cart to fly forwards and crash into the side of the truck and Dean to fall unceremoniously. He caught himself on his hands- his knife cluttering out of reach, and tried to tug his leg out of the zombies grip. When the zombie didn't give, Dean looked over his shoulder to get his bearings and use his other leg to kick the zombie in the face, but before he could gather up the power he would need, a figure stood over the zombie and drove a knife into it's skull. The hand that was latched onto Deans ankle fell away and Dean pulled him self up so he was standing again. The figure held the knife out to Dean, which he recognized as his own.
"We should move," said the stranger- a man, in a deep gravely voice. "More will come."
Dean nodded and took the knife out of the mans hands, "Uh yeah okay."
He moved over to the truck and started to throw the groceries into the back. The man hesitated for a moment before he came over and helped.
When the last of it was stowed, Dean pushed the trolley away and glanced back towards the store, he saw a zombie fall and heard Benny yell "GO, GO, GO."
"Get in," Dean said to the man and ran over to the drivers side. He opened his door and slide in, "Come on!" He urged the man and started up the truck. When the passenger seat opened and closed, Dean put his foot on the gas pedal and drove away from the grocery store as fast as he could. He slowed down when he looked in the rear view mirror and saw that Benny was following him.
When they were a few blocks away, Dean looked over to the man that was sitting next to him. He was still surprisingly pretty, considering that he was covered in layers of grime. His dark hair was greasy and flaked with blood, startling bright blue eyes were framed by dirt, chapped pink lips. Dean wondered what he would look like after a warm shower. He wore a was-white dress shirt supported with a lose backwards necktie, dress slacks, worn dress shoes and a dirty trench coat.
"Uh," Dean cleared his throat. "Thanks for saving my ass back there.. Um?"
"Oh, my name is Castiel Novak. You're welcome."
"Castiel? What kind of name is that? Oh, crap. I didn't mean it like that. I just- Castiel? That's a bit of a mouth full. Mind if I call you Cas instead?"
Castiel shook his head, "No I don't mind..."
"Dean! I'm Dean Winchester. Uh, Cas cool," Dean coughed. "Behind us is my best friend Benny. Rufus should be with him but I can't see past the glare. Do you think you could stick you hand out the window and signal for him to pull over?"
"Oh, sure, okay." Castiel wound down his window and gestured to the car behind him.
Dean flipped on his blinker out of habit and pulled over. They both got out of the car and walked towards the van. "Dude, where's Rufus?" Dean asked.
Benny got out of the van and shook his head at Dean, "I'm sorry brother. He got bit."
"Fuck," Dean muttered. "What happened?"
"We were making our way back towards you, when they came out of no where. They just jumped on us brother. One of those ugly bastards got hold of Rufus and decided to make a meal out of his neck." Benny took a deep breath, "It happened so fast. You were popping off shots and he was yelling at me to go. More zoms started to.." Benny broke off. It took him several tries to finish, "He told me to save myself but when I wouldn't leave he pushed me out of the way and they swarmed him. I only snapped out of it when one of them tried to grab me. I shot it, then I turned back and shot Rufus to put him out of his misery, then I ran like hell. Saw you and this guy and told you to go. Now we are here and I really want to go back home now brother."
Dean brought Benny in for a hug and said, "We're definitely going home now."
Castiel shuffled his feet awkwardly, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Dean pulled out of his hug with Benny, "Thanks Cas. Benny this is Castiel, Cas this is Benny."
Benny stuck his hand out which Castiel grabbed, "You're the one who saved my boy?"
"I am."
"Thanks brother," the two shook hands.
"So Cas, do you live around here?" Dean asked him.
"Yes. I actually live in the building opposite the grocery store. I was on the roof attending to my bees when I saw you drive in."
"Your bees?"
"Yes, my honey bees."
"Oh cool man. Hey, do you want me to take you back? It's the least I can do for you, since you saved my life."
"I would appreciate that, thank you, Dean."
"No worries. Hey Benny, do you think we have enough supplies?"
"Sure do brother. Still need to find a crib for Jess though."
Dean sighed heavily, "Crap."
"I know where you can get one," Castiel said.
Deans face lit up, "You do? That's wonderful. You're literally saving my life- again."
Castiel smiled, "It's not far from here."
"Sweet," Dean smiled back.
"I'm going to start heading back now," Benny said. "I'll get back a few hours before you and I'll break the news about Rufus so you don't have to okay?"
"Are you sure?" Dean frowned.
"Yup. This saves me from going baby shopping."
Dean laughed and brought Benny in for another hug, "Drive safe."
"You too brother," Benny thumbed Dean on the back. "Nice meeting you Castiel," he said and got back into the van.
Dean and Cas watched him drive away before they got back into Deans truck. "Where too?"
"If you make a left up here and then a couple of blocks past the street with the store, it's right there."
"Sweet," Dean said again and started the truck back up.
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"So Cas tell me about yourself," Dean puffed as he lifted a fancy looking crib into the back of the truck.
"I'm not very interesting."
"Sure you are. You look after bees. That's interesting."
"I suppose so. Uh, I am- was, a librarian. I look after bees and I collect my own honey. I was living with my sister but she got bitten early on so now I'm on my own. I assume my brother is dead too but we hadn't spoken in a while before the apocalypse started anyway."
"I'm sorry Cas, that sucks."
"Mm," Castiel hummed. "What about you Dean?"
"Well before this I was a mechanic up in South Dakota. Now I do supply runs for my group that are currently in Kansas. I found this wicked bunker, it's a safe as safe can get. There's almost 20 of us. You should come back with me Cas, there's plenty of room. There's even plenty of field space up above where you can put your bees."
"I-" Castiel hesitated. "How do I know you're not going to wear my skin as a suit?"
Dean burst out laughing, "Dude no. We're not like that I promise. Honestly we're normal people."
"Are you sure my bees will like it in Kansas?"
Dean grinned, "They'll love it."
Next stop was Castiel's apartment. They parked the truck a few apartment buildings away and silently made their way through the afternoon shadows to Cas' building. Zombies roamed the streets from the earlier gun fire but they avoided them easily. Since there was no power, the two climbed five flights of stairs to reach Castiel's apartment. When they got inside, Dean exclaimed, "You ran down six flights of stairs to save me?"
Castiels cheeks turned pink, "Maybe?"
Dean chuckled, "Thanks. Go pack your shit, I want to be out of here before the sun sets." He laughed again when he heard Castiel softy mumble, "It's not shit," under his breath as he walked down the hall way.
The apartment was nice, it had big windows that drew in the afternoon sun, a decent sized flat screen mounted on the wall, some photos of Cas and a red head spattered around. When Cas came back into the living area, he gave Dean an empty bag and instructions to empty the contents of the cupboards into it while he went up to the roof to gather his bees. Dean took the bag with a smile and watched Cas walk out the door with a swish of his trench coat.
At approximately 3pm, Dean and Castiel got back into the truck and drove back towards Kansas. They filled the seven hour drive with easy conversations about everything. By the time night fell and they were close to home, Dean felt like they had known each other for years.
Every time Castiel laughed or smiled, his eyes would crinkle in the corners and Deans stomach would do somersaults. He learnt that Cas loved burgers, his favorite superhero was Captain America, knows all the Harry Potter movies off by heart, that he's utterly indifferent to sexual orientation but hasn't had any serious relationships and that the queen bee in his hive is called Courtney.
When Dean turned up the drive way that the bunker was on, Castiel grew quite. "It's okay," Dean reassured him. "Benny has probably told them that you were probably coming back with us."He stopped the truck right by the doors to the bunker for easy an easy unload. The doors flew open and Sam appeared. "Sammy!" Dean grinned. He hopped out of the car and Sam pulled him in for a bear hug. "Can't.. breathe.. Samantha.."
"Sorry Dean," Sam said and released his brother. More people exited the bunker and started to unload the truck.
"Me and Cas got the crib," Dean said.
"Cas? Oh Castiel, cool. Yeah Benny told us he might be coming back with you. Did he?"
"Yup. Cas! Get your butt out here and said hi to everyone." The passenger door creaked open and Castiel climbed out. His eyes darted around nervously as he walked over to Dean. Before he could say his greetings to Sam, Gabriel screamed "CASSY," and threw his arms around him.
"Umpf! Gabe?" Castiel breathed.
"Holy shit! I thought you were dead! Benny came back here telling us that Rufus died and a man in a dirty trench coat called 'Castiel' saved Dean-o's ass and I was like, how many people do I know that are called that? I didn't want to get my hopes up but I'm so glad it's you bro!" Everyone stood frozen watching the two brothers reunite.
Jess sniffed and Dean turned towards her to see that she was crying.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
She pointed towards Gabriel, "Hormones and them. It's just so lovely to see that this apocalypse didn't take everyone."
Dean hummed in agreement and turned back towards the brothers. Gabriel had let go of Castiel but he still had his hands on his shoulders, like if he stopped maintaining physical contact, Cas would just poof out of existence. "I hate to break up the reunion, but we need to pack it in for tonight. I don't know about you guys but I need a shower and sleep," Dean announced to the group. A few of them voiced their agreement of him needing a shower as they continued to unload the supplies.
"I would help with the unloading but I don't know where anything goes," Cas said to Dean.
"Right okay, how about I give you a quick tour and then get you set up for a shower."
Castiel smiled, "Sounds good. Gabe you can let go of me now. We can catch up later okay?"
"Oh yes, sorry," Gabriel said and took his hands off Cas' shoulders.
"I think that is the first time I've heard you say sorry," Sam laughed.
"It was a one time occurrence Sammy, don't get use to it."
Dean sighed quietly and gestured for Cas to follow him into the bunker and away from their bickering brothers. His new friend grabbed his bags out of the truck and followed him into the warm depths of the bunker. More people welcomed Dean back and introduced themselves to Castiel as Dean showed the the new comer around.
When they reached his bed room, Cas took a tentative step inside. "Where am I suppose to sleep? You said there was plenty of room."
"There is," Dean grinned. "You can move in right next door. Uh, I mean you can take the room next to mine if you want too, but if you wanted to be closer to Gabe, I'm sure that can be arranged in the morning."
Castiel shook his head, "The room be next door will be perfect, thank you Dean."
"No worries," he shrugged, hoping his eagerness to stay close to the man wasn't to obvious. "You should hang your coat on the door knob or something so that the others know where to put some blankets for you. We can wash it tomorrow." Cas put his bags just inside said room, shrugged out of his coat and did what Dean said. "Now for the best part of the tour, the showers!" Castiel laughed at Deans enthusiasm as he got tugged further into the bunker.
They stepped into the vast communal showers together and Dean grabbed them some fresh towels. The attraction that had been blossoming in his chest all day grew, as Castiel stripped down to his boxers. Dean tried so hard not to stare but even after he told himself that he was being creepy, he couldn't stop glancing over at Cas' toned stomach, broad shoulders and jutting hip bones. Dean snapped out of his stare when Castiel cleared his throat. He quickly threw one of the towels at him and turned around so that Cas wouldn't see the blush creep up his face. When he heard one of the showers turn on, Dean started his own strip down and got into the shower next to his new friends. He heard Castiels giggle of joy echo through the room and Dean joined in too. What a crazy day, he thought.
The hot water didn't last as long as Dean hoped it would, but long enough for them to both get clean in comfort. Afterwards, he gave Cas a wide grin and he received an equally wide grin back. Next he strolled over the where they kept the robes, oblivious to the fact that Castiel's gaze soaked up the sight of his bare, still-wet, half towel covered skin. Dean put one on and handed the other to Cas, "Hey don't pull that face," he frowned. "Dude, these robes are awesome, don't hate until you try it." Hesitantly, Castiel put the 'dead mans' robe on and Deans face broke out in another grin. "See," he said. "They're not bad."
"You're right Dean. Sorry for being so judgmental."
Dean snorted, "It's okay. Lets get out of here. I don't know about you, but I've been driving all day and I'm pooped."
Castiel rolled his eyes, picked up his dirty clothing and pushed Dean to get him moving back towards their bedrooms. Though he didn't voice it, Cas did indeed feel pooped. He could feel his eyes drooping as they made the short trek back. By the time they got there, they were both yawning and visibly sagging with the weight of their need to sleep.
"Oh! You startled me," Charlie squeaked. She had been in Castiels new bed room making up his bed.
"Charlie," Dean brightened. The red-head laughed and flung herself at him, they wrapped their arms around each other and squeezed. Cas scuffed his bare feet against the cold ground. Dean and Charlie pulled out of their embrace.
"So you're Castiel?" She questioned. Cas nodded. "I thought you would be taller."
Dean chuckled, which made Charlie start, soon the three of them were laughing in the hall way.
"Thank you for making up my bed," Castiel said when they had calmed down.
"Don't mention it," Charlie smiled. "I should go, you guys look tired." Both boys hummed in agreement. "C ya later," she gave Dean a kiss on the cheek and gave Cas a small wave before she walked away.
Castiel cleared his throat, "Well, good night Dean. Thank you for bringing me here today."
"No worries," Dean smiled. "Night Cas."
"Night Dean."
With one last glance at each other, the two went into their rooms and closed the doors behind them. Dean didn't bother getting dressed, he just through his towel on the floor next to his dirty clothes and robe, jumped under the covers and as soon as his head hit the pillow- he was asleep.
Next door Cas took several deep breaths and started to unpack his meager belongings. Cas put his clothes in the draws provided, changed into his pajamas and placed some photographs of him and Anna on the night stand. When he got under his covers, Cas found that he couldn't sleep, no matter how tired he as. It was strange- being around so many people after being alone for a few months. It was strange having electricity and an actual shower, after having to bath with rain water and the water he could carry back from the store across the street. It was strange that Gabriel was alive. Millions of thoughts raced around in his head, until Cas fell into an uneasy sleep.
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One week later and the group had had their make-shift funeral for Rufus. Benny spoke about his final moments, making them all shed tears.
Castiel and Gabe had caught up, and had their own small ceremony for their sister Anna. Cas had made his home for his bees in the paddock next to the bunker. "They do like it here," he told Dean a few days after they got back. Castiel was still to get more than a few hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, and he found him self seeking the solitude of an empty room far from the daily activities of the people in the bunker because he wasn't yet use to the noise. The only time he felt at ease was when he was around Dean. Dean who sought him out when he left the noise. Dean who shared his M&Ms with him. Dean who came outside with him to check on his bees when he didn't ask him too. Dean who Castiel was growing more attracted too each passing day.
It was Dean who finally asked Cas if he was okay one week later. They were out side, sitting in the cold. Snow had yet to stick but they could feel it getting closer and closer each day. Castiel hesitated at first. He wasn't sire if he wanted to plague Dean with his petty woes, but he caved and told Dean how he's not use to everything yet.
At the end of their talk, Dean put his hands on Cas' shoulders, looked deep into his blue pools of eyes and told him with sincerity that if he ever needed anything at all, Cas can come into his room at any time and Dean will do everything in his power to help.
Later that night, Castiel took Dean up on his offer. He crept into the room next door and shook Dean awake. "Dean... Psst... Wake up.."
"Mm Cas hey, what's up?" Dean mumbled sleepily.
"I don't want to bother you but do you think that I could sleep in here tonight? On the floor? I feel better when I'm with you."
"You don't have to sleep on the floor. Here," Dean scooted over in his bed and held the blankets up. "Climb in."
Castiel blinked in surprise but climbed into the bed next to him. "Thank you," he whispered when they both got comfy.
"Don't mention iiiit," Dean yawned. Soon he was softly snoring again and Cas let himself drift off to the sound of his even breaths.
In the morning Dean woke up with a warm weight against his back and strong arms wrapped around his body. He was being spooned. It took him a minute to remember that Castiel had came into his bed room in the middle of the night and asked to sleep in here with him. Dean smiled into his pillow, the sound of Castiel's deep breathing filled the room. He lay in his bed quite happily being the little spoon for a couple of minutes more, before he gingerly unraveled him self from Cas' hold. Castiel moaned unhappily when Dean fully detached himself but settled back down when Dean tucked in his blankets back around him.
Dean got dressed while watching his friend sleep. He looks so peaceful and fucking beautiful, he thought as he stole one more look and exited his room.
He thought about bringing Cas back a cup of coffee but decided against it as this was the most Castiel had slept in over a week. Instead he sought out Charlie and she swept him up in helping her assemble Jess' complicated crib.
An hour or so later, Castiel emerged bleary eyed but rested. He stumbled into the kitchen with a big yawn and startled Chuck who was sitting at the counter reading a book. "Oh sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here" Cas apologized.
"Don't worry about it. There's fresh coffee in the pot and left over bread Ellen made yesterday."
"Thanks." Castiel busied himself with pouring a cup and making him self a sandwich before he asked Chuck where Dean was.
"I'm right here Cas," Dean said from the door way before Chuck could answer him.
"Oh good. I would like to thank you for letting me stay with you last night. I feel much better."
Dean flushed slightly remembering the spooning, "Anytime Cas. It was nice and you needed it." They shared goofy grins.
Chuck glanced nervously between the two, the mutual attraction was so obvious but Chuck doubted that they were aware of the others mutual feelings yet. Even though it had only been a little over a week, the other 16 were already placing bets on when the two would potentially get together.
When Cas had finished his breakfast, he said goodbye to Chuck and him and Dean went up to the surface to check on the hive. They bundled up in some warmer gear and Dean grabbed one of his swords for protection. So far they hadn't had any zombies wonder near their home- but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Out doors was crisp and refreshing after being inside for so long. Dean loved to watch Cas fuss over his hive, he talked to them, told them about his day and assured them that the were going to do great this winter. Some snow had sprinkled on top of the hive which Castiel swiped into his hands, when Dean had his back turned, Cas put the cold down Deans back. Dean yelped in surprise and started jumping around trying to dislodge the cold that was seeping into his clothing. Castiel laughed as loud as he dared, as he watched his victim dance around.
"You little shit," Dean stalked over to the giggle man. Castiel stepped back, trying to retreat. Dean glared half heartily, "Come here."
Cas breathed in a shaky breath, "No."
"I'll get you back for that one way or another."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Bring it," Castiel teased. Dean lunged and tackled him to the ground. The breath was knocked out of Castiels lungs but Dean didn't make the landing rough so it was easy to gather his breath again and try to wiggle out from underneath Dean.
"Uh uh, no you don't," Dean said as he straddled Cas and held his wrists to keep him steady.
"Dean," Castiel gulped. He wasn't frightened but he was curious to what was going to happen.
"How am I going to get my pay back hmm?" Dean stared down into the blue eyes he was growing more and more infatuated with and they stared right back up at him. "There's not enough snow to do they same thing... yet."
"You could let me go?" Castiel suggested.
Dean laughed, "Not yet."
"Then what are you going to do to me?"
"I don't know. What do you think?" Castiels breath hitched and his eyes flickered to Deans lips. Dean hesitated briefly before he lent in and softly pressed his lips to Castiels. When Cas didn't respond, Dean pulled away, but before he could stammer out his apology, Cas tilted his head up to reconnect his lips to Deans. Dean smiled into the kiss and they spent the next few minutes exploring each others mouths. "I hope that was okay," he said as he climbed of Castiel.
"More than," Cas smiled.
Dean smiled back, "Good. We should go back inside, before someone comes looking for us."
"Yeah," Cas took Deans out stretched hand and he was lifted back off the ground, though instead of letting his hand go, he kept their fingers intertwined.
--------------------
6 months later and Dean and Castiel went on the supply runs. They were the go to guys, the "dream team" according to their family back home. They were quick and easy- in and out. It was a dance, always watching each others backs, always flowing easy around each other so they were close, but not close enough to step on each other. It was their way.
It was nearing their 10th run since the weather had turned warm, this ones mission was to gather as much food, clothes and other gear Jess' and Sams new born baby (Mary) would need as it grew. It was decided that they wouldn't go far from home- only the next town over- because, "Not many people are going to be looking for baby things in an apocalypse Dean," Castiel had stated.
They set out early morning and made the seemingly short drive in no time at all. It was fortunate that Lebanon wasn't a people packed town to begin with, so Dean navigated the streets in Baby with ease. As they entered Esbon, Dean had to slow down so he could manoeuvre around some zombies.
Since he and Cas didn't know Esbon, they cruised up and down the streets until they found a store that had good potential for what they needed. Dean parked his car swiftly close to the store front for a quick get away if they needed it and the two exited Baby. Castiel gestured for Dean to knock on the entrance door to draw any zombies that might be inside. After a minute and no zombies, Castiel entered the store and Dean followed closely behind. After a quick sweep and determining that the sound leave the apartment upstairs alone, Dean chucked Cas a basket and he started to fill his own with an assortment of baby clothes. They weren't in a hurry but they were efficient, and with several trips to the car and only a couple of kills out side from the zombies being drawn to the sound of Baby's engine. Dean and Castiel were getting ready to pull away to head back home when Castiel shushed Dean.
"Did you just shush me?" Dean asked in disbelief.
"Ssssh!" Castiel slapped his hand on Deans mouth to keep him quiet. "Did you hear that?"
A muffled "No" was Deans response.
"I thought I heard someone screaming. Listen," Castiel took his hand of Deans mouth and they both sat in silence. Dean was about to say Cas was crazy when a faint scream pierced through the air.
"Shit," Dean cursed and him and Castiel tore out of the car again, grabbing their weapons on the way before they ran back into the store. They stood in the middle of the shop, ears tuned into hear more noises indicating where the scream came from. Their heads whipped towards the back of the shop when they heard a loud curse and the sound of glass shattering against the floor. Dean and Castiel inched their way towards the back and located the door that lead to the storage out back. The moans of the dead grew louder but there was no more screaming which was a good sign of no one getting eaten. Dean took a deep breath and he inched the door open slightly to take a quick peak inside, "Shit," he muttered and quietly closed the door again. "There's a little over 20 zoms in there. The screamer seems to be up on a second level were the zombies are trying to reach but the stairs are blocked so there must be a ladder some where. Do you want to try and get them Cas?"
"I do."
"Shit okay," Dean took a deep breath. "Here's the plan, I'm going to open the door again and then you're going to tip a shelf over to make a lot of noise and draw the zombies this way. Once they come through the door, I'm going to shoot them and hopefully my aim is good enough so we don't have to use our knives. Sound good?" Castiel could only nod. Dean leaned in and gave Cas a quick kiss. "On three? One.."
"Two," Cas croaked and grabbed the nearest shelf to tip.
"Three," they said together. Dean swung open the door and Castiel pushed the shelf over. Glass exploded against the floor, the wood splintered and ricocheted into the other shelves creating multiple bangs. The zombies closest to the door turned and gun shoots echoed through the building, the screamer yelled in shock as blood sprayed on him. Castiel stood by with his knife ready for when Dean ran out of bullets and the left over zoms pushed them selves into the room. It didn't take long until Dean was muttering about bullets and Castiel was driving his knife into the first skull. Soon Dean and Cas were covered in sweat, their bodies slick with blood and brains. When the last one dropped, they stood in the middle of the now dirty shop with their chests heaving from greedy breaths of air.
"You okay?" Castiel asks.
"Peachy," Dean replies with a tight smile.
"You're not bit? Scratched?"
"No no, I'm good Cas. You?"
"I'm good." They both sighed in relief. "Shall I go first?"
"Yeah, just be careful stepping over the bodies. One might still be kicking."
Castiel smiled softly and proceeded to walk into the room out back. "Hello?" He called out to the mystery person. "My name is Castiel Novak and this is my partner Dean Winchester. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine thanks!" A guff British voice called back.
"We killed all the zombies, it's safe to come down now."
"I'd rather stay up here if you don't mind."
Cas put his hand on Deans arm when he huffed in frustration. "Uh, we do mind actually but why don't you want to come down here where we can talk like civilized people?"
"Civilized?" The man laughed. "You probably just saved me so you can eat me your selves."
Dean and Castiel shared a startled glance. "What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"Man eat man world out here."
"Dude, we're not going to eat you?"
"Prove it."
"Prove it," Dean repeated. "How the fuck are we suppose to do that?"
"Dean please. Sir, we are not cannibals. I don't know who you have come across in the past but me and my partner are apart of a nice group. We'd be more than happy to take you back with us-" Castiel got interrupted.
"Yeah so you can eat me!"
"Fuck this Cas, lets just leave this guy. He obviously doesn't want our help," Dean grumbled.
Castiel sighed heavily, "Let me try one more time to get through to him then we can leave."
Dean frowned, "5 minutes okay Cas? More zoms will come."
"Okay. Sir, what are you doing in a store that sells baby things?"
The man huffed, "What are you doing in here?"
"Gathering supplies for the infant back home. Your turn."
"Oh. Er, I thought it would be safe from the bad groups you know? Cause know one looks for baby things in an apocalypse."
Cas shot Dean a knowing look. "Smart."
"I thought so. Until those zombies you just killed- thanks by the way, followed me back here. I wasn't as quite as I thought I was being."
"Mm," Castiel hummed. "You're lucky we were here."
"Uh, yeah."
"Do you think you can come down now? I would really like to talk to you properly."
There was silence for a few moments where the man was having an internal debate, "Sure okay."
Castiel smiled at Dean as they waited for the man to climb back down the ladder. Once he was down and the three were facing each other, they eyed each other up. The man was filthy. It was obvious he hadn't washed properly in days- even weeks. His clothes were stiff from the elements and sweat, his hair was cut badly on his head from an obvious home job.
"So," Dean said breaking the silence. "We've got to get going. Are you sure you don't want to come with us? It's safe where we are. Only a town over."
The man hesitated, "Uh. Are you sure you're not going to eat me?"
"Positive," Castiel reassured.
"Alright then. I'm Crowley, by the way. Crowley MacLeod."
"Crowley?" Sam questioned. "Were you a play writer in the 1600's?"
"Shut it Moose, I'll have you know I was a successful literary agent born this century." Sam snorted in amusement. It was a couple of days after Dean and Castiel had brought him back to their bunker and Crowley was settling in okay. He was still distrustful of the whole "we're not going to eat you" thing, but he was comfortable enough to walk around like he was a king.
In those few days, Dean had been acting weird. Castiel had asked him what was wrong multiple times but Dean insisted he was fine and just tired of this damn apocalypse. Though Castiel believed him- he was tired of the zombies too, Cas still asked Sam to try and get through to him. It was only after that Dean and Sam announced that they were going to go back to Esbon to grab something he and Cas forgot last time.
It was odd that Dean wasn't taking Castiel but nobody said anything, the brothers brushed it off as some quality time and that Sam had cabin fever.
Castiel spent the whole time they were gone fretting. He kept replaying their last runs in his mind to try and find the source of why Dean didn't suddenly wanted Sam to go with him instead. Did he do something wrong? Did he say something wrong? Was there an anniversary he forgot about? Charlie tried to distract him with a game of Monopoly but it didn't really work so Cas went to lie down and wait for Dean to come back.
Mean while up on the surface, Dean drove Baby back towards the town. He was softly singing along to one of his cassette tapes that Sam didn't particularly like. Dean knew that Sam was waiting for the right time to ask why it was so important for them to come back here and why Dean lied about forgetting something. That time came when Dean parked his car out side of a jewelry store. "Dude, what are we doing here?"
"I want to marry Cas."
Sam blinked in shock, "Okay?"
"That's why you're here and not him. I want you to help me pick out a ring."
"You're serious?"
"Yes!" Dean exclaimed. "Now come on. I want to do it tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Yes tonight."
"Wow, okay. What brought this on?"
"Nothing brought this on, bitch. I want Cas to be.." Dean paused searching for the right word. "Mine."
"Jerk, I'm pretty sure he is already."
"No, I mean truly mine. I want everyone to know that I, Dean Winchester, found someone that makes me happy in this fucked up world. I want him to be Castiel Winchester."
Sam stared at his brother, he was pretty sure that was the longest sentence he had ever said about his feelings. "Okay. Lets go get him a ring then."
Dean beamed and jumped out of his car.
A few hours later, Charlie came and told Castiel that Dean and Sam were back safe and sound, Cas took his time going to greet them. He was happy that they were back in one piece but he would rather avoid the stab of jealously? Seeing the two brothers walk back in the bunker together. He had come to the conclusion that Dean must be getting sick of him and it was only a matter of time before Dean replaced him.
When he did finally pull himself together to go welcome them, he found everyone sitting around the tables with some afternoon snacks. Sam was on the floor in the corner with Mary, giggles and light chatter could be heard.
"Cas!" Dean grinned and scooped him up in a hug.
"Dean," Cas sighed. He put his face in the crook of Deans neck and the two stood in an embrace for a couple of seconds.
"Get a room!" Gabriel called out. Castiel chuckled when Dean let go of him and shot the bird at his brother.
"I need to talk to you," Dean whispered to Cas when the commotion of Gabes reaction died down.
Castiel gulped, fear pooling in his stomach. "Okay sure," he whispered back.
"Actually it's more like I need to ask you something."
"Uh, okay?" Confusion replaced the fear.
"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Dean called out to everyone in the room. Castiel flushed slightly when everyone turned their attention on the two of them. "Thanks," Dean said, turned back to Castiel and slowly got down on one knee, pulling a black box out of his pocket that contained a smile but elegant silver band.
The occupants of the room gasped but Castiels was the loudest. Holy shit, he thought.
"Cas," Dean smiled. "I'm sorry if you were confused today when Sam and I went out instead of us, but I wanted this to be a surprise. You make me so happy and I will forever be grateful for when you saved my life the day we met. I love you Castiel, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?"
"Yes," Castiel beamed and wiped stray tears off his face.
Dean laughed happily and slipped the ring onto Castiels finger before he stood up and crushed his mouth to his fiances.
The room was drowned with clapping and wolf-whistling from their family. Rounds of congratulations were given and Ellen seemed it fit to crack open the bottles of champagne that the bunker had lying around for occasions like this apparently.
The newly engaged couldn't stop grinning at each other all night and when it was finally acceptable to slip away, the raced each other back to their room to make love.
After wards, Cas voiced his worries to Dean and Dean kissed him with so much love, Castiel felt like the happiest person left on the earth.