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Dean loves this new life. Hunting monsters has taken enough out of him, so when he found the ad for Tom Nook’s Deserted Island Getaway Package , he jumped on it faster than he ever imagined.
Timmy and Tommy were overly helpful in getting him set up, but after all he’s already used to bubbly personalities. Charlie will probably go nuts when she comes to visit him.
Even having to sit in a flying metal death trap for a few hours to get there couldn’t quench his thirst for a proper vacation. Bury his feet in the sand, sip cocktails at the beach, maybe have some adventures in nature. Any of those would be amazing honestly.
The pilot for Dodo Airlines was a big part of making the flight a positive experience for him. Rufus was a gruff older guy with weird codewords not only for his flights, but also for his passengers. Dean still snickers when he thinks about that. You don’t get called apple pie by another guy every day, least of all from someone behaving like a secret service agent.
Tom Nook on the other hand seemed to only put on a friendly face, if Dean was being honest. Always talking about teamwork, but never actually getting his hands dirty? Dean will keep an eye on the raccoon.
Setting up the tents (because dealing with his own wasn’t enough), Dean is glad he could at least help his new neighbors. Jody is a nice lady who used to be a sheriff before. Roald is a penguin who prefers to work out and is what others would probably call a jock.
Dean finds him amusing though.
It’s been a few weeks on the island. After getting to name it (of course he went with Lawrence to honor his family), they actually made him the spokesperson for the townspeople. So much for getting to relax and just enjoy life. Making the place look good, getting other villagers to join, and of course everything always came at a cost with Tom Nook.
After his initial travel fee had to be paid in “Nook Miles” (some ominous currency that raccoon clearly had made up), he could earn “bells” (another clearly made up currency just as ominous) to pay for other items and loans. The phone he got still made him feel uncomfortable every time Nook airdropped a new app.
But at least he made more and more friends and got to sit in the sand every day when he wanted to. He just had to make sure to not sit on a seashell or coral. One time he spent his miles on a wetsuit and learned how to dive around the island. Exploring more and more of his surroundings made his life more fun. After being a hunter for most of his life, not having a regular workout routine really made him feel uncentered. But working out with Roald also wasn’t his thing. Sammy would like the penguin, probably. He was a lot more into all the weight lifting and running after all.
According to Tom Nook, it is time for a new event. He is all excited about some bug-catching thing. Dean is just happy there will be more new people to talk to instead of the few regulars. Even though he likes most of them, he also misses meeting new people with every new case. So to prepare for this, he makes himself a new net, and because he is feeling generous, he also makes one for each of his friends and presents the gifts to them.
“Oh, Dean. This is so nice of you! My net broke just last night so this comes just at the right time.” Jody squeezes him in a tight hug and Dean returns it just as tightly. Roald is a little stiffer and gifts him with a protein shake as a thanks.
The second Dean starts with his first round of catching bugs, he accidentally catches his net on someone’s head.
“I’m sorry!” A gravelly voice apologizes. The deep rumble shakes Dean to the core of his being. The man standing up from his hiding spot between the flowers wears a trenchcoat and his dark ruffled hair somehow makes his blue eyes shine even brighter. Behind the man two gorgeous black wings frame his stature.
“I’m sorry for hitting you with my net. I’m Dean,” he remembers his manners and extends a hand.
“I’m Castiel.” The guy shakes his hand in a firm grip. “Did you catch anything good so far?”
Instead of answering, Dean gets lost in the blue of Castiel’s eyes. So when Castiel tilts his head inquiringly, Dean eloquently responds with a “huh?”
Castiel repeats his question and Dean can feel a blush coloring his cheeks. “Oh. I just started. This round I mean. Tried to catch a bee, but instead I caught a handsome fella in my net.” Hold your horses, Winchester. You have barely known the dude for 2 minutes!
Trying to hide his sudden blabbering, Dean returns the question. Castiel’s eyes light up with joy and he starts to go on and on about the exquisite fauna on this island, Dean feels pride swell in his chest.
“Do you want me to show you my favorite place here? Or we could go for a ride on the Ferris wheel.”
“Aren’t we in the tournament?”
“True. But did you even start catching bugs yet? Or where you just sitting in my flowers looking at them fly by?”
“Oh, I was. Wait — Your flowers? Is this your island, Dean?”
“Well kinda? I live here with a few other people. Anyway, do you wanna see the place or not?” He feels torn between wanting to show his new acquaintance the waterfall, and his urge to hide from being inquired.
“Sure. You must know all the best spots on this island. It is really beautiful.”
Calm down, Dean. He’s just complimenting nature. Not like you did much getting the flowers to bloom. It’s not hard to put seeds in the ground and wait for them to grow.
“Do you maybe have a nickname people use? Castiel is a mouthful, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“I can’t say that I have. Everyone just calls me that. But with names like Bonbon around, people don’t even consider my name weird or want to shorten it. What would you call me?”
“I can keep calling you Castiel if you want. I can also call you sweetheart, because some people seem to like being called that. But honestly? I’d just call you Cas, I think.”
“Cas? I like that.”
A gummy smile splits Cas’s face and Dean can’t hold back his own grin in return.
They walk away from the main area and after a short hike along the river, Dean points to a bridge.
“Right behind there is my favorite place on this island.”
At the top of the bridge Cas stops in his tracks and just takes in the scene before him.
“Told you it was gorgeous here.” Dean walks ahead and spreads his arms. He loves how he made this his personal hideaway. The pavilion is taken up with roses on one side and different kinds of insects feel at home in the blossoms. Next to it, he has a little white bench set up for when he wants to relax in his zen garden.
“This is stunning, Dean! Did you do all this by yourself?”
Dean nods proudly. He might’ve gotten the idea from Jody, but building it was all his own doing.
And now that they’re a little farther away from the crowd, it’s time to figure out where Cas stands. If Dean is not mistaken, the man before him loves all beings even more than Dean does. And with society being the way it is, he really hopes he is not mistaken. Can’t be too careful after all. Tom Nook might just be trying to figure out who is and isn’t loyal to him.
“Have you —”
“Do you —”
They speak simultaneously and start laughing.
“You go first,” Dean mimes zipping his mouth.
“Have you noticed how Tom Nook seems to be apprehensive about some animals and not others?”
Talk about cutting the bullshit. Dean is relieved though, because if Cas feels comfortable asking him this straight forward it must mean he also doesn’t like it.
“Yeah. I was going to ask you the same thing actually. It’s kinda weird how he seems to make everything about some of them, but he’ll gladly have others put on display in the museum for example. Blathers and Tom must be in cahoots somehow.”
“I’m relieved you think so too, Dean. Have you talked to Jody about this? I think she’s here to work for the Equality Alliance. At least I remember her face from some of the meetings.”
“Equality Alliance?” Dean is a little confused, but suddenly he remembers seeing something on Sammy’s desk one time. Of course his brother would be down to fight the good fight. And of course he’d hide it in case Dean was anything like their old man. But now it’s time to show Sam who Dean Winchester is, and what he fights for.
“We can have a little meeting in my house tonight once the others are having a party around the campfire. Jody will be thrilled you remember her. Speaking of: I haven’t seen her all day. That’s kinda weird for her.”
Just then Jody and another woman stroll through the bushes to the left and conspiratorially giggle. When they notice the two men in the pavilion, they make their way over to join them. And just like Dean thought, Jody immediately recognizes Castiel. To Dean’s surprise Castiel also knows the woman with Jody, and when he is introduced to Donna, he is a little surprised by the hug she wraps him in.
“Any friend of Cas’s is a friend of mine!” The blond woman has a warm and welcoming demeanor and Dean feels like he might even like her if he met her on one of his hunts.
In the evening, the group sits in Dean’s comfortable living room and they chat about the Equality Alliance. Dean learned a lot about them from Cas in whispered conversations all over the island while they pretended to be invested in the bug catching event. Learning how big of a name his little brother actually is in these circles came as a shock to Dean. But when his three guests learn that Sam Winchester is his little brother, they are no longer surprised about Dean and his stance.
“Sam always talks about his brother and how he wouldn’t be the man he is today if it wasn’t for you.” Jody makes it seem like Sam and she talk at least once a week and given the fact that he himself only maybe talks to Sam once a month or so, that feels weird.
“So how are the plans for taking down Tom?” Dean wants nothing but to skip the heart to heart and step out of the center of attention.
“Well. Having you and Jody on this island already while he is spending his time here will make this the best place for operation orange. — Get it?” Cas is clearly happy about the codename, but Dean doesn’t fully understand the joke. So when Cas just goes on instead of waiting for a response, Dean is relieved. “I can’t wait to see that raccoon in an orange jumper behind bars just like the poor animals he and Blathers locked away in that ‘museum’.”
Watching Cas be anything but a weirdo in a trenchcoat is giving Dean all kinds of ideas. Honestly Dean thought Cas looked hot from the beginning, but this whole undercover agent thing? He could use a cold shower right about now.
“Do you have any clue how long this has been going on here?” Jody asks Dean.
“Not really. But I know someone who might be able to help us figure this out — at least for this specific island at least. His name is Kevin. But he’s a weird fella. I can try and find him if you want. He usually hangs around a more quiet place on the island. And he spooks easily, so I should go alone first.”
Cas furrows his brows at that. “Kevin? Kevin Tran? About this tall, Asian-American, smart as a whip?”
“And a ghost afraid of everything. Yeah. That’s him,” Dean replies.
“A GHOST ?” all three of his guests stage whisper simultaneously.
“I take it that is new information for you,” Dean hangs his head in defeat. He thought he'd escaped that part of hunting. Informing friends and family of a loved one’s passing always sucked. And it only got worse when it was people he got to know better before having to tell them horrible news like that.
“I had no idea what happened to him. I just ran into him one night and he got spooked so bad that his soul shattered and I spent the next half hour running all over the island catching the fragments to return them to him before he would even talk to me. That’s actually just what happens every time we meet now that I think about it. But I guess it makes sense if he got killed here. And if you already know him, I think you should come along, Cas. Maybe that will stop him from shattering at least for once.”
So Jody and Donna retreat to Jody’s house while Dean and Cas take a midnight stroll along the beach. It only takes them a few minutes to see the glowing that Dean knows is Kevin. What happens next is a first for Dean. Cas calls Kevin's name and just like usual, Dean can see the soul shards trying to fly away, but when Kevin realizes who he sees, he is immediately whole again and shining brighter than Dean ever saw him before.
“Castiel! It’s so good to see you. I never thought I’d get to talk to you again. Sorry. I’d give you a hug, but you’d just fall through me I’m afraid,” Kevin grins.
“I’m sorry you died, Kevin. But if you help the Equality Alliance one last time, I’m sure you will be able to move on. You deserve to rest.” How does Cas not freak out at seeing his friend as a ghost? Or why didn’t he freak out when he heard about ghosts being real? Dean has questions, but he also knows now is not the time to ask them.
“Hey, Kev? Can you tell us what happened? I’m guessing you didn’t die of old age,” Dean tries to lighten the mood and as usual, it works.
“Nah. Not unless Tom calls his shovel old age. The bastard hit me over the head with it when he caught me releasing all my catches instead of handing them over to him. He went on a rant while he took care of burying my body and didn’t notice my spirit watching him. So I can give you a full record, Cas.”
When Kevin’s report is all typed up and the ghost has one last look over it, he beams at everyone in the room. “Now you have everything you need to get Tom Nook and Blathers behind bars for good. Be kind to Timmy and Tommy though. They didn’t know what their boss was doing. I’m gonna hang around until sunrise in case you need my help, but I guess we won’t see each other again,” Kevin’s little speech sends tears to Jody’s and Donna’s eyes and if Dean is a little misty, nobody has to know. The dude grew on him even more over the last few hours, sue him.
“Thank you, Kevin. You did your duty beyond what anyone could have asked of you. I will make sure you will be honored accordingly so everyone will know about your heroic deed,” Cas tells him sombrely. “I will personally let your mother know how proud she can be of you.”
Kevin looks like he could use a hug at those words. “Tell my mom I love her very much. And tell her I’m sorry I didn’t keep my promise to come home.”
Dean gets an idea about that. “Hey Kevin? Would you want to stick around a few days longer so we could get your mom here for you to tell her yourself? I bet she’d appreciate it.”
“You think that would be okay? I always thought ghosts had to move on as soon as the mission was done. Huh. Guess I learned something new even after death,” Kevin huffs a laugh and the sad mood alleviates.
“I’m gonna go send out an invitation to Ms. Tran right now. I’ll make Sam deliver it and maybe he’ll also accompany her here,” Donna says. “I’m coming with you,” Jody tells her and together the two women leave Dean’s house.
Without the added company Dean and Cas get strange looks from Kevin.
“So… I think I’m not needed right now… You two look like you have some talking to do,” Kevin smirks at them and leaves through the back wall.
“Uhh… That was…” Dean starts.
“Weird,” Cas ends. “Even for Kevin’s standards. He always was a little shy. I wish he had met a different fate. He gave everything for us and just because he firmly believed all creation needs help.” Cas looks away wistfully as if he’s going through all his fond memories of his colleague? Friend? Dean isn’t sure what to call their connection.
“I’m sorry for your loss. He seems like he was a hoot to be around. Wish I’d met him before he got so skittish.”
And when Dean hears a sniffle from Cas, he opens his arms and steps closer. “I don’t normally do this, but do you maybe need a hug?” And just like that, he has his arms full of a sobbing dude in a trenchcoat he only met this morning for the very first time.
After a few minutes Cas calms down and his breathing evens out.
“Thank you, Dean. I didn’t know how hard this would hit me. Kevin was special to me. And I hadn’t expected to find him here.” Cas steps back and uses the sleeve of his coat to wipe at his eyes. Dean can’t take his eyes away from the other man. In just 12 hours, he came into his life and made himself a place in Dean’s heart. It hurts to see him grieve like this, but experience tells him Cas will make it through to the other side.
“Do you want to talk more about Kevin, or do you want us to focus on operation orange?”
Cas exhales before straightening his shoulders. “Let’s get operation orange going so we can avenge Kevin! He deserves to know his murderer is behind bars.”
At the campfire all the participants from the bug off are having a great time. In a corner Tom Crook (as Dean has now started calling him in his head) and his buddy Blathers are having a hushed chat. The owl looks as spooked as when Dean showed him an insect for the first time. And even Tom seems less chipper. Hopefully they don’t try to run now. The Equality Alliance only has a few operatives on the island and Dean has no clue how well his fighting skills will be against the raccoon or the owl. To his surprise, a hand slaps down on his shoulder and when he turns around to see who it belongs to, he sees Rufus wink at him. “Hey there, cheesecake. I heard someone might be in trouble. Can’t let you have all the fun without me.”
Maybe the Alliance is bigger than Dean imagined.
Out of the corner of his eye, Dean notices Tom turning around to move away from the fire and Blathers walking in the other direction back to his museum. Before they can get far, Cas charges forwards and so do a dozen other participants from the bug-off. In less than a minute the culprits are on the ground and getting their rights read. Dean is a little surprised to see Roald is also right at the front helping Castiel pin down a frazzled Tom. As soon as the bystanders realize what just happened, loud cheering erupts as chains click around Blathers’ and Nook’s hands. “You’ll spend the rest of your life in orange, b-b-buddy,” Roald informs Tom and Dean couldn’t be more amused by it.
“I’m going to fly them out to the city right now, Mr. Novak.” Rufus salutes Cas and for the first time things about him seem to make sense.
“Perfect, Mr. Turner. Please take four agents with you to keep those two from doing anything stupid on the way. Just leave Jody and Donna, please. I have some more business to take care of here.”
As the spokesperson for the island, Dean is now apparently in charge of the festivities and the further proceedings. Cas sends him a knowing look and strolls over.
“It’s your time to shine, Dean. I know the last 12 hours have been a lot already, but I know you will do a great job going forwards. At least guide these people through the night and tomorrow everything will be a little easier. Once the guests have left, you can decide if you want the Alliance to take over here or if you want to become the mayor.” With an encouraging hand on his lower back he pushes Dean to the middle of the fest grounds.
“Hi — uhm— some of you already know me. For those of you who don’t: hi, I’m Dean Winchester and I’m the spokesperson for Lawrence. What we just witnessed was the amazing work of the Equality Alliance. Unfortunately, Tom Nook and Blathers have been working on oppressing some animals for their own gain. In the process at least Tom also became a murderer. Maybe some of you have met the resident ghost on this island. His name is Kevin and he was a victim of a horrible homicide.” He looks at Cas and nods in his direction shortly before going on.” I want to make some changes around here. For tonight you all are welcome to stay and either talk around the fire or if you want to help start the change as soon as possible, I’ll be taking all the help I can get to free the poor animals they imprisoned in this ‘museum’. The insects and aquatic creatures did nothing to deserve being stuck into small cages and tanks, so I want them all to be free as soon as possible.”
He can’t believe the loud cheers from all around him at those words. Not a single person is sitting anymore and they eagerly await to be led to the museum to free the other animals.
Cas steps up to him and together they lead the group to their destination.
“I’m proud of you, Dean,” Cas whispers. “Thanks,” Dean whispers back. “I’ve been wanting to get rid of this atrocity since before they had me go get everything ready for it. I’m just glad I finally get the chance.”
The group doesn’t take long to free the animals seeing as they have several species who can help with the communication. It takes them the longest to get all the aquariums empty just because of having to carry out all the fish and molluscs in individual bags and return them to their living habitats.
After the last one is finally free (Dean took it upon himself to get the angelfish because those little cuties really grew on him from the moment he first laid eyes on them), their job is done.
It turns out Cas actually can talk to them. “They want me to thank you for always bringing them extra treats. They’re glad to be home now.”
“Tell them not to worry. I’m glad I could get them out safely,” Dean waves at the little fish while Cas snickers. “You know they can understand you just fine?”
Dean feels his cheeks heat at that revelation.
“They say your secret is safe with them,” Cas tilts his head a little.” Now I’m just a little curious though. What secret do you have that I could uncover? I guess that can wait until tomorrow though. Farewell, dear angelfish.”
Back at his house, Dean looks sheepishly around. “I’m gonna get my sleeping bag out and you can take the bed. You are my guest.”
“I wouldn’t put you through giving up your bed after all you did today. I will gladly take the floor since I already feel honored to even have a roof over my head tonight. Let alone your roof.”
Dean doesn’t know how to process all these emotions from the agent. He’s never been good at that. Sure. He sweet talked a lot of people when he needed to, but this somehow feels a lot bigger.
“I’ll make you a deal, Cas. I think I might actually have a second mattress in storage and then we can both sleep comfortably on the floor. What do you say?”
“Deal. But let me help you set it up.”
In no time at all Dean’s floor looks like an amazingly cozy bed and Dean has just enough energy left to offer Cas a change of comfortable clothes so he can get out of the suit before they crash for the night.
The next morning Dean wakes up because someone is snapping pictures and oohing and awing. How his hunter instincts didn’t alert him to someone in his home sooner is beyond him, but when he opens his eyes and sees his brother and his best friend standing at the foot of the makeshift bed, it all makes sense.
And suddenly Dean also realizes why he feels extra cozy this morning (and the cause for the pictures and sounds): Cas is snuggled around him like an octopus. He doesn’t mind in the slightest though. Cas smells amazing and looks even better in normal clothes than the suit than Dean could’ve imagined. Instead of yelling at Sam and Charlie like he usually would do, he decides to gently tap Cas on the upper arm and when the dark haired man stirs, Dean informs him of their visitors.
“Visitors?” He turns around to look in the same direction as Dean and a rosy blush colors his cheeks and ears. “Hello Sam. And Charlie? What are you doing here?”
“Duh, like I’d let Sam go visit Dean on his own. I overheard him on the call and you know me, Cas. I get away with pretty much anything if I want to.” Charlie is bubbling over with energy.
Dean guffaws between the three; he swallows a few times before his mouth actually is capable to form the words his brain is thinking. “Wait, you know Cas? You know Charlie? And where were you two that she could overhear your phone call? I thought you two weren’t close anymore either?”
Sam lets his longish hair fall in front of his face when he looks at his shoes. “I’m sorry, Dean. I should have kept you in the loop. Cas and I actually work together and Charlie and I never stopped being in contact. She is Cas’s right hand woman. We couldn’t tell you or we would’ve risked this whole operation failing. It was actually her idea to get you on this island and away from hunting. I’m sorry, man.”
Now Cas is confused. “You two planned this? You planned to put your civilian brother on an island with a corrupt raccoon? Are you two nuts?”
Charlie gets defensive since she knows what Dean did for a living before he came here. “A crooked landlord was not the worst he had dealt with before. I think you two should have a talk. Or maybe we should actually all sit down and make sure you two don’t keep any secrets from each other before you get more cozy.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and the men still under the covers realize how this must look.
In a matter of minutes the mattresses and sleeping bags are back in storage and the table is set for the four of them. Cas is making coffee and moving around the kitchen like he has lived here for years instead of this being the first morning in this house. While he is distracted grinding the beans, Dean takes Charlie to the side.
“Don’t you dare send those pictures to anyone, Red. Forward them to me and me only and then you delete them. I’ll stand right here and watch you, capisce?” With a smirk, his best friend takes out her phone and does as he’s asked. “Good. Now you also delete them from the backups I know you have automated on your phone.”
“Aww man. Why did I ever tell you about those?” Charlie looks petulant, but complies. Dean doesn’t want to risk any incriminating evidence of him being a softie on other peoples’ phones. “Thanks, Charlie. I’m glad to see you by the way. It’s unexpected, but nice. Please promise to tell me everything once we get some time though.”
“Of course, Dean. Now that operation orange is over and you met the big brain behind everything, I can finally loop you in,” she punches him lightly on the shoulder before joining Sam and Cas at the table.
The second Dean spots Sam’s phone on the table unattended, he takes his shot and snatches it away. “Hey, gimme my phone back! There’s sensitive data on there,” his giant of a baby brother tries his puppy dog eyes on him, but Dean has been immune to those for years now. “No way, Mr. Lawyer-man. I’m not gonna snoop around, but I’m certain I heard two phones go off snapping pics earlier and I’m not risking anything.”
When Sam tries to get his phone back by reaching his long arms over the table, Cas takes the phone from Dean. Calm as a cucumber, he states: “This is an Equality Alliance issued phone. As such, it is my duty to ensure there is no personal data stored on this device. I am going to perform a security check now. Do you comply or do I need to remind you of the contract you signed with us?”
Sam gulps and Dean shifts in his chair. He tries his best to hide how much this side of Cas turns him on.
“That’s what I thought.”
It only takes him a minute and Dean can hear Cas’s phone vibrate in his pocket before he returns the phone back to Sam. ( ‘The sly fucker sent the images to his own phone then,’ Dean thinks to himself.)
The rest of breakfast is rather uneventful until a knock at the door announces more visitors.
When Jody and Donna enter, they also bring a smaller woman with them who they introduce as Ms. Tran. “You are Kevin’s mom. I’m so sorry for what happened to him,” Dean offers her a handshake and his condolences. Her firm grip surprises him a little, but in the years as a hunter he learned to never underestimate people. She must have some training under her belt at least.
After breakfast the group decides to look around Tom Nook’s tent. Timmy and Tommy are more than helpful and get Charlie everything she asks for. In no time, she has all the records on her own laptop and while she runs some programs, Ms. Tran takes the time to talk to Dean.
“I am glad you found my son. I feared something had happened to him, but now that I know, I can stop worrying. And you managed to get me on this island to see him one last time. I will never forget this. If you ever need anything you can just call the number on this card and ask for ‘Lotus’. I will come and help you with whatever you need, no questions asked.” She shoves a card into Dean's hand with a lotus flower on the front and a number on the back.
“So you’re mafia? You know what? Forget that I asked,” he pockets the card before looking at her again. “I wish you could have had more time with your son. He seems like a nice guy.”
Ms. Tran smiles fondly. “He was a good student, never did anything wrong. And he’s smart as a whip and the most caring person I know. No wonder he joined Mr. Novak and the Alliance.”
A deep sigh is the only sign of the turmoil she must feel, but since they only met half an hour ago, Dean is uncertain how to help. Charlie saves him in this moment though with a triumphant “Yazee!” that startles everyone.
Cas looks over her shoulder with his eyebrows drawn together in confusion and she starts explaining “I was running an algorithm and I figured out where Kevin must be buried. It’s not far away from the waterfall. I know he would want a proper burial and now we can give him that.”
“Thank you for your foresight, Miss Bradbury. I am glad to know my son has — had people like you he could call friends.”
After Cas gives Rufus a quick call to come back to the island with a coffin, they take some shovels and the printout with the coordinates Charlie found, then make their way to the spot.
To Dean’s surprise he built the pavilion only a few yards away from Kevin’s remains.
They dig in turns and in the afternoon find the first bones in a 5 foot depth. Ms. Tran sits with Jody and Donna in the pavilion, weeping openly for the first time since her arrival on the island. Dean and Cas carefully extract one bone after the other and Charlie sorts them with tears in her eyes while Sam helps her. They work in solemn silence and don’t even notice the plane landing near the dock or the group of people arriving with the coffin and holding a silent vigil for someone most of them didn’t even know.
Once Cas hands Dean the last bone to give over to Charlie, they look at each other. Exhausted after working for such a long time, they need to make sure they actually have every piece of evidence that might have been buried with the young man. So they search around the edges and Dean is the one to find a shovel. Rusted, dented, but obviously stained by the blood of its victim. To preserve what little evidence is left, Cas puts on gloves and picks it up. Sam holds an evidence bag open for Cas to put the shovel into and Dean and Cas finally climb out of the hole.
Only now do they notice the vigil going on around them. Apparently someone also found a box of candles because the area is illuminated by soft flickering lights as Dean realizes the sun has just set.
Turning around towards the pavilion, Dean can see Kevin standing in front of his mom. They both seem wistful at things that could have been. But from their vantage point, they can’t overhear the chat between the mother and son and neither do they want to. When Ms. Tran and her son turn around to look at the gathered group, Kevin’s eyes go wide. He floats over to Dean and profusely thanks him for helping all creation and also finding his bones so he can get a final resting place away from this island. He finishes his little speech to Dean with “I’m gonna miss you, even though you scared me every single time we ran into each other, Dean.”
For Cas he only has a short nod and a “Thanks, Castiel,” before he returns to his mother. They see him trying to embrace her and then he vanishes.
And just like that, the somber mood seems to have lifted. Rufus and Sam close the coffin that now holds the remains in a supine position.
Roald and three other similarly buff agents walk up to them, make a salute and gently pick up the coffin to take it to the plane.
Ms. Tran joins them on their walk and when Rufus doesn’t follow, Cas asks “are you not going to fly them home?”
“No, sir. I asked another pilot to also fly here for that transport since I thought you might want to stay one night longer. I thought we could sit around the fire and I could tell y’all the story of how it went down with Tom and Blathers after we got them on the plane.”
Cas takes Dean by the hand and they walk to the camp together. On their way they pass someone selling balloons and when Cas spots a pink bunny, he stops to get one for Dean.
A round of ooh’s and aah’s and a “let me get something to drink for everyone” from Jody, and the gang spreads around the campfire like they are having the time of their lives.
Rufus gets the spot in the middle so everyone who was not there to witness can hear him.
“So on the flight the two crooks started insulting each other and each blamed the other. Not wise with four agents right there and every word being recorded in my opinion, but whatever. They complained about the cuffs being too tight and how much it sucked being contained. Blathers seemed to have at least a little conscience because he actually drew the conclusion that what they did to the insects and marine animals was not okay.” At that a wistful laughter huffs around the circle. “So when we reached the city, it also didn’t take long for the news to break that they’d been caught and before we even made it through the prison’s processing, the guards on duty doubled around us, because someone apparently had tipped off the prison’s mafia gang already. I heard some inmates yell something about ‘Lotus wants you dead’ but I’m not sure who that is.”
Dean can feel dread rise in his chest. He knows who Lotus is. Should he tell Cas? Should he keep his mouth shut? Before his thoughts can spiral any more, Rufus continues his story. “Tom Nook was taken to isolation immediately and will most likely stay there for his own safety until he is done with whatever his sentence will be. I hope Lotus won’t interfere though for the sake of justice.”
“I hope so too. The other creatures all deserve to have their captors held responsible for their actions,” Cas replies.
Charlie chimes in with “I’ve tried finding out who Lotus is for years now and you know how good I am at my job, but so far I’ve had no luck.”
Ms. Tran must be really good at hiding her tracks if even his computer wizard of a friend can’t figure this out. Then he remembers the card in his pocket. Maybe he can call in his favor sooner than he expected.
Dean yawns and Charlie, Cas, and Jody follow close by. “I’m tired, guys,” he announces. “Can I camp with you for the night?” Charlie asks Jody and Donna. “Sure, hon. I have a second guest bed you can use,” Jody replies.
“Roald left me his key and told Sam and I to make ourselves feel at home there,” Rufus informs them.
And just like that, Dean and Cas find themselves alone in Dean’s house again. Unlike last night, they feel a lot more comfortable and without even talking about it, they set up the mattresses on the floor just like they did last night.
Once they are in comfortable clothes and cozied up under the covers, Dean turns to Cas only to find the other man already looking at him intently. “Cas?” “Yes, Dean?” “Will I — will I see you again?” Dean can feel his heart hammering in his throat and hopes he hasn’t misinterpreted the looks he caught Cas taking at him every so often throughout their time on the island. “I would love that, Dean,” Cas replies with warmth in his voice.
Dean moves his hand a little closer to where he thinks Cas’s hand might be and is surprised to find Cas’s hand already open and waiting. In their little bubble, Dean feels as safe as he hasn’t felt in a really long time. The moonlight shining in through the window makes Cas’s eyes shine like waves on the ocean sometimes do. Silence covers them and soon they are fast asleep still holding hands.
To his relief Dean wakes up the next morning without someone snapping pictures. But this time Cas is not only snuggling him octopus-style from the side. He is actually on top of him holding on like a koala. Dean is glad that his phone is still next to the mattress on the floor where he left it last night, so he snaps a picture just so he can remember this really happened once Cas is no longer around.
Just as he puts the phone back down, Cas speaks up. “I hope you are going to send me this picture too. You make a great pillow by the way.” Half of the words get drawn out by a huge yawn that reminds Dean of a cat. “Already done. And thanks for the compliment.”
Cas snuggled on top of him with his head resting on his shoulder is soothing. Dean is torn between getting up or staying here forever. But then Cas lifts his head and their faces are so close together. Before Dean can even think about it, he kisses Cas. And when Cas returns the kiss, only the knock at the door stops them from going any further. They both stifle their laughter before Dean yells “come back later”.
They wait to hear if whoever is at the door walks away, but what they hear is actually Charlie squealing “they’re knocking boots, Sam. Pay up!”