Chapter Text
Sometimes it's really hard to get up and start the day.
Usually Dean doesn't have much of a problem with that. He always makes sure to catch enough hours of sleep and lets himself be wakened by some nice rock songs instead of a shrilling noise. Furthermore he loves his job and his employees, so it's not really a hardship to leave the house.
Normally.
But right now his head hurts, his mouth tastes like he swallowed something dead and he's cursing himself for drinking way too much beer last night. Admittedly they had been celebrating Sam's engagement, but it still doesn't excuse why he didn't cut down on alcohol much sooner.
Why aren't time machines invented yet? He'd love to go back and kick his past self in the ass.
He's considering to call in sick for the day and hide underneath his covers, but in the end he refrains from it. He wouldn't hear the end of it since all of his employees and friends knew exactly about his plans because Dean couldn't shut up about his brother finally popping the question. They wouldn't let him live it down if he'd dare to be a no-show today.
So he crawls out of bed, grumbling and cursing, and swearing to himself to never touch alcohol again. He knows it's a hollow promise, but right now he feels good with it.
It's quite an achievement when he reaches the bathroom. After finishing the most urgent business he brushes his teeth for about ten minutes before he climbs into the shower. The fresh water feels really nice for a change and he hears himself sigh in relief. Maybe he'll even manage to swallow some dry toast without puking his guts out before heading to work.
There's a text message waiting for him when he finally comes out of the bathroom. Do you feel as awful as I do?
Dean rolls his eyes, fondly. Sam drunk less than him, even squeezed in a few glasses of water, and he's still complaining?
Dean decides now and then that he's gonna make his brother completely drunk at his bachelor party!
What r u whining about? U can stay in bed all day lazy ass! I need 2 go safe the world.
Dean grins, pleased with himself, before he starts dressing for the day and looking for some aspirin. After the shower he feels slightly better, but he won't survive the day without a few drugs.
You're a mechanic in a small town, Sam writes back ten minutes later. Not exactly hero material, dude.
Dean snorts. I'm a business owner, bitch. So suck it up, I'm awesome!
Whatever you say, jerk.
Dean can't help but smile. Admittedly Sam likes to mock him sometimes, but actually he's really proud of his big brother. A fact he's never tired of vocalizing in the presence of literally anyone else.
Dean sighs, stretches his limps and grabs his car keys. He's slightly early, but since he skipped his breakfast for the day apart from a few bites of dry white bread he's got more time on his hands. And it can't really hurt showing up half an hour earlier instead of bailing altogether as probably every person on earth suspects.
Before he's got the chance to open the Impala's door though he notices his neighbor Anna rushing out of the house toward her car. Her eyes are fixated on her phone and she looks kind of anxious. It's at least a clear difference from her normal calm exterior.
“Hey, Anna,” he greets her, waving his hand like a stupid idiot and doesn't give a damn. “Everything okay?”
Anna looks up, clearly puzzled as if she didn't expect at all that some other human being would acknowledge her existence. She watches Dean warily and he can't help but shudder slightly. There's definitely something wrong!
But instead of confiding she just smiles harried and says, “Everything's great, Dean. How about you?”
Dean knows a diversion when he sees one, but it's Anna's personal business if she wants to talk about her worries or not. All he can do is being nice and offering some support if needed.
“Hungover,” he confesses. He even adds a pout for good measure and feels a little bit proud of himself when Anna starts to chuckle. “We celebrated Sammy's engagement last night.”
Anna frowns, stepping closer at the fence that's separating their properties. “Your brother is engaged? I didn't know that.”
Dean shrugs. “It's new. He grew some balls a few days ago.”
Actually Sam had been thinking about it for two months straight. Picking up the ring, making hundred different pictures of several locations and asking Dean's opinion if they would be good places to propose. He had been so nervous and excited it'd been kinda cute.
In the end he just blurted the question into Jessica's face right after they had sex, horrifying himself and making Jess laugh so hard she only stopped for saying Yes quickly before laughing some more.
And well, at least he waited till after the sex.
Nonetheless Sam told their parents a heartwarming story about Jess making some breakfast and Sam realizing all of a sudden there would be no better time than this, an everyday situation he was eager to share with her for the rest of his life.
Jess went with it because she loves her giant dork and Dean went with it because he likes to have some blackmail material for later.
“So your little brother is finally settling down,” Anna says with a warm smile.
She doesn't know Sam very well since his brother had been at Stanford since a few months ago and only had got the time to visit his family occasionally, but nonetheless she seems happy for him.
Yeah, Anna always has been a kind soul.
And he's more than glad that she bought the small house next to his about two years ago instead of that overactive couple with the huge sex appetite (at least they used to eyeball Dean like a piece of meat the few times they came over to inspect the house – both of them!)
Anna is about to add something else, but suddenly her phone beeps and she seems to remind herself that she's actually on a mission.
“I gotta go,” she says, looking uneasy again.
Dean frowns. “Are you sure you're alright?”
“Yeah, I'm ...” She takes a deep breath, obviously trying to collect herself. “I just need to pick up my brother from … from the airport.”
There's a lie somewhere in that sentence, but Dean doesn't dwell on it since she just dropped some information he wasn't aware of.
“You've got a brother?” he asks astounded.
He actually thought he knew Anna quite well. They use to hang out together from time to time, enjoying their shared love for awful horror movies and junk food. They even hooked up one time, but although the sex had been really great they decided to stay friends instead and Dean had been grateful for that since he isn't the best at commitment anyway and he would have hated to see Anna turn into a bitter ex-girlfriend someday. They grew closer over time, sharing stories about their childhoods and families.
But not once did she mention a brother!
“It's … it's complicated,” she tries to explain. “Castiel is ...” She glances at her phone again and pales some more. “I really need to go.”
She marches in her car's direction, not once looking back.
Dean watches confused how she drives out of the driveway, her expression grim. Whatever the hell is going on with her brother, there's probably a really good reason why she never mentioned him before.
He just hopes she stays safe.
* * * * *
“You're early, Winchester.”
Ash no-one-is-really-sure-that's-his-last-name Smith, the newest addition to their little force, grins at Dean over his coffee mug, obviously totally aware that Dean, although he showed up even before opening, is an utter mess.
“Shut up, Ash,” he grumbles. He eyes the coffee pot and contemplates if it'd be a good idea to try some. He still feels nauseous, but his stomach sort of settled after the toast and some water. He probably can't eat a burger today – that would most likely end badly –, but a cup of coffee couldn't be that harmful, right?
“Aw, don't be that way,” Ash tells him with the world's biggest shit-eating grin ever. “I'm just surprised to see you here, boss. I thought you would be at home, vomiting and regretting your life choices.”
Dean grunts annoyed. “I did half of that this morning already.”
“Don't worry, you will puke your guts out at the end of the day,” Ash promises as if he seriously thinks Dean can't wait for that to happen. “You look at least horrible enough.”
“Jeez, thanks!”
“You're welcome,” he says cheerfully.
Dean scowls at the guy and starts to wonder if it wouldn't have been a better choice to schedule Jo Harvelle for the morning shift. Sure, the blonde woman is fierce, knows no mercy whatsoever and doesn't miss a chance to mock Dean, but at least she's grumpy till at least noon and wouldn't bother him with liveliness and all that fucking crap. Dean never has been good at handling a morning person's happy mood while feeling like shit.
But Ash seems to enjoy Dean's crankiness and doesn't look all too eager to leave his boss alone in peace for the rest of the day.
Fortunately they got a broken Prius in yesterday afternoon and Dean immediately orders Ash to move his ass and go to work. The mechanic does as he is told without any complaints although he throws some looks in Dean's direction as if he's collecting a few mocking comments in his head which he's going to use at his break.
Dean sure as hell can't wait to hear them.
He settles down in his small office, overlooking the high paper pile on his desk with dark eyes. The taxes are due in a few days and Dean hates every second of it. Of course he fucking knew what would be expected of him when he inherited the auto shop from his father, but that sure as hell doesn't mean he needs to like it. Unfortunately you can't do whatever you want when you're running a business – at least when you want that specific business to be successful.
And well, Dean can't exactly complain. Admittedly Trentwood isn't the center of the universe, but since Dean's business is the only decent auto shop in the area he's got more than enough customers, even a lot of people from a few towns over. They trusted his dad's knowledge back in the days and Dean is more than pleased that obviously the majority of them seems to feel the same way about his son. Sure, it probably didn't hurt that Dean worked at the shop since he was fifteen and knows many of the faces since then, but nonetheless he's happy that they stayed with him instead of looking for different options.
It's a really nice feeling.
“Why the hell are you here, Winchester?” a voice from behind him suddenly exclaims. He turns around, grinning at Charlie Bradbury. The redheaded woman with the pouty mouth looks highly displeased to see him. “I bet you wouldn't show up today. Actual money, you bantha!”
Dean rolls his eyes. Of course she did.
Charlie isn't known for missing an opportunity when it presents itself and usually she's quite precise in her predicaments. Hell, she even saw it coming that Sam would blurt out his proposal during sexy times (“He was thinking way too much, driving himself crazy. Of course it was destined to happen at a time when his brain was shut down.”).
“Why are you here, you son of a bitch?” Charlie growls. “I just lost fifty bucks!”
Dean snorts. “I'm so sorry that my ambition is standing in your way.”
Charlie folds her arms in front of her chest. “Oh please. You're just here because you didn't want to hear our 'We told you so's.” She shakes her head. “I warned you beforehand that it wouldn't be a great idea to do this thing on a workday.”
Dean groans. He remembers that talk quite well. And he really doesn't need to be reminded of that.
“It was the only time I'd got Sammy all by myself,” Dean says. “That poor busy puppy has a full schedule. And I never meant to drink that much. Actually it wasn't that much to begin with. I'm just --”
“Old?” Charlie helps him out with a wicked grin. “Did you forget you turned ninety a few months ago? You should probably cut back a little bit.”
Dean grits his teeth. “Thirty is not that old, Charlie! Don't act like I should start to look for nice nursing homes.” He glances at the papers in front of him and sighs. “Don't you need to go to work or something?”
Charlie works at a bureau at the other end of the street. He really has got no fucking idea what she's doing there exactly – he only knows it's got something to do with computers, but everytime Charlie tries to explain it to him it goes way over his head –, but obviously she's good a her job and gets paid a shitload of money which she mostly spends for video games, BluRay-boxsets and nice LARP-outfits.
“At least you look like crap,” Charlie continues, ignoring his question completely. “I also bet that you would puke into a trash can if your sorry ass really would – against all odds – show up for work. So please don't disappoint me.”
Dean scowls at her. “Seriously? You're all disgusting human beings, you know that?”
Charlie grins. “We know. I'll ask Ash to keep me updated. I don't want to miss a thing.”
She's about to turn away but suddenly he calls, “Wait, wait. There's something else.”
She lifts her eyebrows, watching him warily. “What? Is this about the whole handmaiden thing again? I'm sorry, my friend, you can't back out at the last minute. I will only accept a coma or death as an excuse.” She hesitates before adding, “No, wait, just death. A coma is not good enough to miss the heroic battles of Moondoor.”
Dean exhales. “Actually … I wanted to talk about Anna.”
Anna and Charlie became quite good friends the last year. They met at Dean's when he invited some people over for barbecue and beer. They hit it off immediately, obviously both huge fans of some fantasy novel they talked about all day. Since then Charlie informs him regularly about their 'girls nights' and bemoans the fact that Anna is obviously straight as an arrow (or at least not interested in Charlie in that way) on a nearly daily basis.
“What's with Anna?” Charlie asks tentatively.
“I just wanted to know if you could tell me about her brother,” Dean says. “She's picking him up from the airport right now and … well, I never heard of the guy before.”
Charlie blinks a few times, staring at Dean motionlessly. Finally she asks, “Anna's got a brother?”
There are different emotions swirling in her eyes. Confusion, surprise, hurt.
“Yeah, obviously she does,” Dean says. “At least that's what she told me. But ...”
“But?”
“I don't know.” Dean shrugs. “She seemed nervous or something. I didn't like it.”
“Nervous about meeting her brother?”
Dean hesitates. “I think something happened. And not something good.”
Charlie looks thoughtful all of a sudden. She glances at her cellphone, probably contemplating if she should give Anna a call or not. Finally she suggests, “Maybe it's not a brother-brother, you know?”
Dean frowns. “What?”
Charlie tilts her head, apparently deeply in thoughts. “Well, perhaps it's just a term she uses for him. Like when Benny calls you 'brother' without being your actual brother.”
Dean hesitates. “Yeah, maybe,” he admits.
“But it still wouldn't explain why she never talked about him,” Charlie continues. “There must be something. Something really dark in their past.”
Dean can't keep himself from snorting. “Really dark? Jeez, Charlie, you should cut back on the whole LARPing. It starts to affect your brain.”
But Charlie totally ignores him. “I could dig a little bit. Use my hacking skills.”
“Charlie --”
“C'mon, Dean, don't tell me you're not curious. Anna told me about her favorite sex position, for crying out loud! She told me about her mom's death and how much that affected her. But her brother …?” She shakes her head. “She didn't mention his existence at all. There must be a reason for that and I doubt it's because he's such a nice guy and she loves him so much.”
The ugly feeling in his stomach is back at full force. He knows she's right and he doesn't like it one bit.
“Maybe you should talk to her first before doing something illegal,” Dean tells her nonetheless. “She was in a hurry this morning and didn't have the time to explain it to me. Maybe I'm freaking out over nothing.”
“But maybe you're not.”
“Still – no hacking!”
Charlie rolls her eyes. “Fine. But only if you puke into that trash can next to you. You owe me.”
Dean can't help but smile. God, he loves that woman like the sister he never wanted. “By the way, you seriously know Anna's favorite sex position?”
Charlie shrugs, looking way too smug. “In her defense, she had been really drunk that night. And oh my God, that lady is quite kinky! Too bad I can't tap that.”
Dean leans back in his chair. “Just go to work already, Bradbury.”
She starts to pout. “Don't forget the trash can.”
“I will try my very best.”
But at the end of the day he needs to disappoint her again.
* * * * *
Dean feels himself become kind of uneasy again when he parks the Impala in his driveway and throws a glance at Anna's house. Her car stands right in front of her garage, just like any other day, and everything seems perfectly fine.
But he can't shake the image of her anxious expression that morning.
And before he's able to talk himself out of it he walks over and knocks on her front door. He's slightly aware that he's still wearing his oil-stained clothes, but he doesn't care. Anna told him once it's a nice look on him and so he refrains from changing beforehand.
“Hey, Dean,” Anna says, not at all surprised to see him. Apparently she knows very well that she had him worried.
“Hi, Anna.” Dean smiles weakly. She looks better than before. Much calmer. As if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “I just wanted to make sure you're alright.”
“That's really nice of you. I'm fine.”
There's still something in her voice Dean doesn't like but at least he doesn't hear any alarm bells ringing in his head anymore.
“And your brother?” Dean asks and tries to sound not overly prying.
“Castiel is fine,” she reassures. “Just a little tired. Long flight.”
Dean nods understandingly. “So … where did he come from?”
Anna sighs deeply. “Look, I know you have got a lot of questions, Dean, but I'm really exhausted right now. My brother and I … we've got a lot to discuss, you know?”
“Yeah, of course.” Dean immediately takes a step back. “Family comes first, right?”
Anna seems grateful regarding his support and in the end that's all that Dean is able to give her. Encouraging words, an open ear and a chance to settle things with her brother without further interruptions.
That and keeping Charlie from hacking the shit out of this guy.
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” she says. “The situation … it's just a little messy right now. Castiel needs me.” She exhales. “He's a good guy.”
She adds that last line just for Dean's benefit since obviously she's concerned Dean could think otherwise. And yes, he kinda does. Never mentioning the guy before and looking freaked out when he called her? A normal and healthy sibling relationship usually doesn't look that way.
“Don't be afraid to ask if you need my help,” Dean offers finally. He still doesn't feel completely relaxed without meeting this Castiel, but it's obvious that Anna doesn't wish for that to happen right now and Dean just needs to accept that. “Both of you.”
“Thank you, Dean. I won't forget it.”