Chapter Text
‘Okay so there’s this case not that far away, all of these people went missing but there haven’t been any signs of struggle, some of the witnesses say they were walking right behind the person sometimes even talking to them. And then when they looked away for just a second the person was just gone’ Sam said whilst walking into the kitchen where his brother was sitting
‘I mean we can go there Sammy, but we don’t have any badges. We’ll have to find a cover’ Dean said whilst Castiel walked into the room.
‘hey, Dean’
‘Oh hi Cass, what’s up?’
‘Are you guys going on a new hunt?’ Castiel asked.
‘Yes, yes we’re probably gonna go look at these missing people not far from the bunker’
Dean answered him whilst keeping his eyes at him. Is that weird? He thought. Does he make this kind of eye contact with everyone?
‘Should I join?’ Castiel asked hesitantly.
‘Sure you can join Cass, you did great last time. But you don’t have to if you’re not feeling it.’
‘But Dean, I got all the fake badges lost and almost crashed your car.’ Castiel said as he was wondering why they would even want him to join again.
‘You did what you had to do Cass, those badges aren’t more important than your life. It’s fine okay, we’d like you to join.’ Dean said.
‘Actually you might come in very handy for our cover up, but let’s just get there first’ Sam said ending the weird conversation between his brother and Castiel that was more eye contact than talking.
By now he was used to it. that seems to be how they talk.
So they slept for an impressing 6 hours, then got up and packed their stuff and drove off to the village. Although it was what they had called nearby it was still a 2 and a half hour drive they didn’t want to ride twice a day for maybe up to a week. Which is why they planned on just renting a motel room until the job was either done or turned out not to be a job or at least, not for them.
-Salida Colorado-
‘We should’ve done a little extra research before actually driving down here and wasting money on this motel’ Dean said whilst they sat in the motel room all on their laptops researching the case. They had bought one for Castiel too as he no longer had his angel powers to search for clues.
‘Like we care about the money, we don’t even actually have it’ Sam looked serious but that had more to do with focus than actually being mad at Dean.
‘Okay, okay. You got something yet?’ Dean answered getting rid of the subject.
‘I think I found something?’ Castiel said with hesitation, he didn’t want to disappoint them with something useless but this seemed like something, a connection between all the missing people so far.
‘Really?’ Sam said with excitement both for him and Castiel as he knew the former angel wanted to really help them. ‘What is it?’
‘Well, so far all of these victims seemed to have gone to meetings or parties you could say. All of these have been organized by the local community centre. All with the same name.’ Castiel answered whilst scanning over the text for the details.
‘What was the theme of those parties? Or what are they called?’ Dean asked.
‘The theme I cannot find but the title is “Loving forever”’ Castiel said whilst giving his questioning head tilt trying to figure out what that name refers to.
Dean and Sam both smiled rather than laughed at that name. So cheesy and loving forever had probably meant something along the lines of ‘a divorce looks bad’.
‘Let me see that’ Dean said whilst walking over to Castiel and sort of claiming his laptop.
‘Ah I see, it is a couples party only and is meant to “bring up the spark” allowing you to meet other couples and that kinda sad stuff’ He said whilst reading and searching for more information.
‘I do not understand Dean, why is love sad to you?’ Cas asked slightly worried at Dean’s statement.
‘Oh Cass I don’t think love is sad, but the people there are probably not in love. If their relationship was going so well they wouldn’t need a community centre party to “bring back a spark”’ Dean explained.
‘So if a spark went away you wouldn’t try to find it?’ Castiel asked him whilst trying to make eye contact with Dean.
‘Well, I mean yes but I dunno Cass most of these people just keep pretending it’s there and that’s not gonna fix it. Sometimes they just grow apart I guess.’ He answered whilst replying to Castiel’s attempt at making eye contact. Dean still didn’t know why Castiel did that, or even more so why he caught himself doing that. Why he even made eye contact or why it lasted so long yet it wasn’t weird but it still kind of was.
It had been some time again since one of them spoke, all of them either doing further research or figuring out how to get more information on the community centre.
‘I found the community centre’s phone number, should I call them about the couples activities?’
Castiel asked.
‘Yeah sure Cass, you need any help with the questions?’ Sam said whilst looking up from his laptop to give Castiel a small smile.
‘No I think I am capable of doing this myself, however I will stay in the room may you want to ask further questions.’ The angel answered whilst grabbing Dean’s phone from the table the man was working on. He dialed the number very carefully, making sure he made no mistakes before calling the number and waiting for a response.
‘Hello! this is community centre Bowie how may I help you?’ A friendly voice answered from the other side of the line.
‘Hello, I would like to get more information about the “loving forever” event the centre has been organizing.’ He calmly answered.
‘Oh yes, it has been a success! It’s not really an event it’s more of a party. Some of the new people in this town haven’t gone around and socialized and for couples to socialize together is always an easier start. What would you like to know about the party? You are always welcome to come to our next one.’ The voice answered with enthusiasm.
‘Could you tell me about the events that go down at these parties, what kind of couples are usually seen there?’ he asked with a lack of enthusiasm. The woman didn’t seem to notice or care as she went on with her story. Telling him more about the party trying to interest him.
‘These parties are very varied, last year we had a Halloween themed one but this year we plan on more of a Christmas theme. The couples that visit these parties vary a lot. All ages, backgrounds and orientations.’ The last sentence came out more carefully, as though she was scared that Castiel was afraid he wasn’t allowed to be there. However Castiel panicked about something completely different. What was he going to say now? He couldn’t think of any questions so he went with ‘Could me and my partner join your upcoming party?’
This raised both Sam and Dean’s head in surprise.
‘Yes why don’t you and your-’ she paused a little at that sentence clearly not being sure whether he was with a woman or a man (little did she know he had no one. Not yet at least.) ‘- partner come visit this week? We have application forms and you’ll be able to taste the sphere.’ She finished.
‘Yes, you can expect us this week. Goodbye’ And with that Castiel ended the phone call. ‘What did I just do’ he said immediately after he hung up, noticing both of the brothers were staring at him.
‘I think you and your partner are gonna go to a couples party except, you don’t have a partner’ Sam said knowing Castiel knew that but just wanting to kind of rub it in.
‘Well we still need to go there so we better find a partner’ Dean said.
‘Yeah maybe we can find a female hunter who happens to be nearby?’ Sam replied trying to come up with an idea.
Dean and Sam kept on talking trying to get a good idea. Castiel seemed to have zoned out even though it would be him going in there. After a while he suddenly spoke up. ‘But if we find a partner for me who is not in on this case I might miss some crucial details. How come neither of you pretend to be my partner?’
‘Well I’m not gay Cas’ Dean quickly said sounding kind of offended or hurt that Castiel even thought of that.
‘I mean me neither Dean but that’s not what this is about, it’s just a cover up not like the real deal.’ Sam said.
‘But we still gotta sell the part, we can’t just act like FBI agents when we’re supposed to be a couple.’
Dean replied to him.
‘Well you two fight like a married couple all the time I don’t think it’ll be that hard to sell the part’ Sam answered snickering but also knowing it had been true. He also knew they weren’t going to admit it was true. ‘Hey!’ Dean replied whilst giving Sam a stomp to his shoulder. His reaction just made Sam unable to hold his laughter which only pissed Dean of some more. ‘But I mean fine okay, we’ll do it won’t we Cass?’ Dean said after a while. He looked over to Cass with a soft look on his face wanting to let the angel know he meant it. ‘Are you sure Dean? You do not have to do this if it makes you feel uncomfortable. We can find someone else to help me cover up too’ Castiel still hesitated, not wanting to make Dean do something he was very defensive about.
‘No, no it’s fine really. We won’t find someone else before tomorrow. Let’s just do this.’ Dean replied not wanting to sound like he wanted to do this but also assuring Castiel that he was okay with doing it this way.
‘Okay, Dean’ Castiel replied.
They decided it would be best if Castiel and Dean went into town asking around about the missing people. Sam stayed in the motel doing whatever there was to do. Probably looking for a way to make new badges and looking further into the town.
The new supposed to be couple walked to the town as the motel wasn’t far outside of the town. It was January which meant it was very cold. As they walked outside they first came a across a boring strip of concrete but soon found their way to this park that had a pretty river flowing alongside. Since it had snowed the trees looked white and pretty yet there was barely anyone around since it was a regular working day. After a long walk in the park, striking up only two conversations with towns people they decided it was time to get some place warm. They found this little café right outside of the park and went in for some coffee and a warm snack. Or to be more specific some warm pie.
‘we should’ve known nobody was gonna be here right now’ Dean said whilst sitting down at a booth.
‘Yes but we should not be concerned as tomorrow is a Saturday which means many people will go outside enjoying the view.’ Castiel answered him. ‘Gives us perfect time to get you a warmer coat. It’s winter, Cass and people get cold and sick when they don’t wear coats.’ Dean said. Then a waiter came up to them. ‘may I take your order?’ she asked. ‘Yes I would like some eggnog, actually make that two he’ll have it too. And then we’d like 2 slices of pie, I’d like cherry and he’d like-‘ Dean quit talking letting Castiel decide which flavour he’d get. ‘I would like the apple pie please’ Castiel decided. Then the waiter walked back into the kitchen again. ‘Dean, what is eggnog?’ Castiel asked.
‘Oh it’s a Christmas drink, it’s real good. And if you don’t like it we’ll get you something else.’ Dean said. After that they waited for their drinks and pie. Having a little chatter about the town and their previous case, their order finally arrived (it had only been 10 minutes but Dean had a hard time waiting when he knew what was coming to him). ‘One Cherry pie?’ ‘Yes, yes that’s for me’ Dean said whilst pointing his finger in the air and having a little goofy smile just being very happy to eat some warm fresh pie as they were always a little better than the store bought ones. ‘Than this one would be for you’ The waitress said whilst sitting down the apple pie in front of Castiel. Castiel just nodded at her with a polite smile as she finished putting down the drinks. Dean had already started eating his pie but stopped after taking a sip and seeing Castiel was going to take a sip too. ‘C’mon go for it!’ He said being kind of giddy about the good food and excitement for Castiel’s reaction. Castiel took a sip, not yet informed on it being alcoholic. However that hadn’t been much of a shock factor after being human with the Winchesters for some time. ‘This is actually delicious’ Castiel said before taking two more big gulps of the drink. Dean smiled at that returning to his pie. ‘Dean would you like to taste my apple pie too?’ Castiel asked. ‘Mhhm that sounds great Cass.’ Before Dean could grab a bite with his own fork it was already on Castiel’s fork and heading towards his mouth. When Dean looked at him a bit puzzled he said ‘We need to look like a couple don’t we? This is something a couple would do right?’ ‘Oh yes that’s true yeah, sure.’ Dean said whilst taking the bite and looking Castiel in his eyes. Which there wasn’t need for, nor for the feeding. No one knew them in this town or was paying attention to them. That didn’t stop him from asking Castiel if he wanted a bite too. It also didn’t stop him from having a weird grin on his face whilst feeding him. And out of all this the weirdest thing was that it wasn’t weird. The rest of their meal was silent except for the occasional appreciating groan. The silence made Dean zone off into his own mind. ‘Good thing Sammy isn’t here. Would’ve just made it really awkward.’ He thought.
‘No that looks ridiculous on you, especially with the trench coat sticking from underneath. C’mere.’ Dean said after Castiel but on another weird winter coat. None of them seemed to fit him. Castiel was way too soft and detailed for these big bulky winter coats. Dean helped Castiel get of the winter coat and his own trench coat. ‘Okay try this one on now’ Dean said whilst handing him the other coat. This one was more elegant. A black long coat. Wasn’t as warm as the other coats which is why he kept it for last. He noticed Castiel’s little shivers whilst walking through the park. Noticed Castiel’s relieve when they walked into the warm café. He wanted him to get the warmest coat but he would just look ridiculous. ‘I quite like this one Dean.’ Castiel said when he put it on. ‘Yeah, looks nice. Is it warm though? It’s still a winter coat it should keep you warm.’ Dean replied to him. ‘Yes it is warmer than it seems on first glance. It seems to be water proof as well.’ Castiel said, clearly being keen on the coat. ‘Let’s get it then. You need anything else? We’re here anyways.’ Dean asked. ‘No, just the coat’ Castiel said with a smile on his face.
‘Hey Cass, nice coat.’ Sam said when they entered the motel room. ‘Thank you’ Castiel replied clearly being happy he had noticed. ‘Yeah we’ll need to go back to the park tomorrow, there wasn’t really anyone around. But there was this store nearby the café we ate so we decided to get Cass here a new coat.’ Dean said whilst clapping Castiel on the back when mentioning his name.
‘Yes the café was really nice. I had some eggnog that I really liked. And we shared some pie.’ Castiel said to Sam.
‘Sounds like a fun first date, doesn’t it.’ Sam replied knowing Castiel wouldn’t pick up on the undertone of it.
‘I guess it does Sam, but then I am not familiar with going on dates.’ Castiel replied.
‘Oh we also went and got some dinner’ Dean said whilst holding up the white plastic bag.
They sat down at the motel dinner table and all got their food. Chatted about the case and some random subjects that came up. After they were done they were all too tired to go for another beer and just slowly headed to bed one by one. ‘Wait how are we gonna split the beds?’ Dean asked right after he realized they hadn’t discussed it yet. ‘Well you too are the couple so you just share’ Sam said quickly. ‘You know what, fine. I’m too tired to argue you right now.’ Dean said whilst getting into the two persons bed. He quickly found Castiel sleeping on the other side of the bed. Being closer to him as when he was in another bed. But he wasn’t weirdly close either.
As Dean woke up the next day opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Castiel. The other man was still sleeping on his tummy and his face squashed into his pillow. ‘What time is it?’ Dean thought before turning over and getting his phone to check the time. ‘it’s 7:30 I should wake Cass up.’’ Sam was already gone, probably on his way too healthy morning run. Dean turned back around and gave Castiel a little shove. However there was no movement following that. ‘Hey Cass, c’mon. Wake up buddy’ he said whilst poking him some more. Slowly but surely Castiel started to show movement followed with a groan. ‘Hey Cass, wake up.’ Dean said softly. ‘Good morning Dean’ Castiel said before stretching out like a lazy cat. ‘Hey, good morning buddy.’ Dean said whilst ruffling Castiel’s hair softly. ‘Did you sleep well?’ he then asked. ‘Yes I did Dean, did you have a good night’s rest?’ Castiel asked him in return. ‘Yeah, this is quite a nice bed for a motel room. Were you gonna shower this morning?’ Dean asked. ‘No, I showered yesterday evening so there is no need for me to shower now.’ Castiel answered him. ‘Well that’s great because we can just secretly sleep until Sammy gets back. We’ll just pretend my alarm didn’t go off.’ Dean said with a mischievous smile. He then let his head rest on the pillow again and felt the movements of Castiel doing the same. ‘Dean’ He then heard Castiel say. He opened his eyes to be met with Castiel’s sleepy, yet intense gaze. ‘Are we not supposed to work on the case whilst Sam is gone?’ Castiel finished his sentence once he had gotten Dean’s attention. ‘Buddy, his morning walk isn’t really helping the case either, so don’t feel bad about it. Besides we don’t get that much sleep, especially not while we’re on a hunt. So be glad and take a nap.’ Dean said reassuring before giving him a securing smile and closing his eyes again relaxing into his pillow.