Chapter Text
Sam looked up from his notebook when he heard voices in the motel parking lot, far too boisterous for the usual post-hunt exhaustion, but still very clearly the two people he’d been worried sick over for the last few hours. He’d actually considered sending the park rangers after them as a result of too much downward spiraling into all the possible reasons why Dean could have missed a check-in.
Hardly anything could be as frustrating as being useless like this. Stuck in a motel room with a concussion and a foot he couldn’t put weight on while his family was out there, fighting an enemy Sam had failed to identify. This really wasn’t what he’d been thinking of when suggesting this case. With Cas’s tendency to be far too hard on himself, Sam had just wanted a way to pull their friend out of his dark thoughts, knowing too well how quickly those could drown you. But he'd meant to hunt with them, not abandon them with Cas already low on grace.
Sam heard his brother laughing outside. No matter how relieved he was to have both of them return in one piece, if Dean had dragged Cas to a bar after that hunt without letting Sam know they were okay first, he’d be seriously pissed.
A key jingled, the door opened, and Sam started, “Guys, I called you like ten times. Couldn’t you—”
He trailed off when he took in their appearance. Disheveled hair, muddy clothing, and Cas’s shirt was sitting on him all skewed, without enough buttons left to close it properly. And was that a dried leaf stuck to the angel’s coat?
“Heya, Sammy. Nice to see you, too,” Dean said, far too cheerful for the occasion.
“Are you all right?” Sam asked them, eyes swapping back and forth between the two of them, unable to decide who of them looked more like he’d just lost a fight against an Ent.
“The forest decided to play a round of Fuck, Marry, Kill with us and there were only two players,” Dean told him, completely unbothered.
“What the Hell is that supposed to mean?” Sam asked, frowning at his brother’s strange behavior. Well, even stranger than usual.
“Dean, we didn’t—,” Cas started, only to be cut off by Dean.
“Dude, don’t spoil the fun,” Dean grinned in Cas’s direction before turning back to Sam. “Take your pick, Sammy. Only one of the above did not happen tonight.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sam asked, touching the bridge of his nose with two fingers.
“Nope,” his brother said, popping the p sound and giving him the shit-eating grin that only Dean could consider charming. Well, he and far too many waitresses, for some reason Sam really couldn’t get behind.
“Dean, come on, I was worried about you two. Tell me what happened.”
“Already did. I really wasn’t kidding.”
Because they weren’t forthcoming with any kind of information here, Sam considered even the most outlandish encounters with all sorts of forest creatures he’d initially ruled out. So he stole a surreptitious glance at Dean’s ring finger, feeling slightly sick at the reminder of the forced marriage in his own past.
“Are you telling me one of you got married tonight?”
“That’s the possibility that didn’t happen out of the three,” Cas explained helpfully. “Though I still don’t understand this game.”
“That’s because this is not how this game is played, Cas,” Sam said, tired with Dean’s cryptic way of saying whatever it was he wanted to say. He wasn’t even sure any longer he truly wanted to know. “Dean, I’m not gonna ask who you had sex with, just… please tell me if the monster is dealt with? That’s the kill, right?”
“Only two players, Sammy.”
Sam hesitated, paying more attention to detail this time. Cas was giving Dean a sidewards glance, his attention on Dean’s face like it was the most interesting sight in the world. The two of them stood close enough together that the backs of their hands brushed, but neither of these things was exactly new.
Cas’s shirt, though… Sam couldn’t imagine how all those buttons could have gone missing on a hunt. And then Dean turned his head to meet the angel’s gaze, and his annoying grin changed into something impossibly soft, unlike anything Sam had ever seen on his brother’s face.
“Wait a second,” Sam said, clearing his throat. “Did you two really…?”
“Hell yes!” Dean agreed enthusiastically like this was exactly the question he’d been waiting for during this entire bizarre conversation. “And now we’re gonna take a shower.”
With Dean’s insane way of saying nothing at all, Sam still wasn’t fully convinced he’d drawn the right conclusions here. So he threw a doubtful look Cas’s way, just in time to witness a subtle smile play around the angel’s lips. Cas seemed riveted at the thrilling occurrence of Dean grabbing something from his duffel, and then Dean grabbed Cas by his sleeve and pulled him into the adjacent bathroom.
“Wait, what!” Sam yelled when he suddenly realized the very real danger he was in of getting an earful. “Guys, come on. I still can’t walk properly, why don’t you take another room?”
The bathroom door reopened and Cas stepped back out, clearing his throat awkwardly as he approached Sam.
“Sorry, Sam, I almost forgot. My apologies, I’ve been… quite distracted today.”
Cas hovered a hand over Sam’s head and leg, and just like that, two of the three sources of Sam’s annoyance vanished. The third was currently whistling in the bathroom. Was that Wanted Dead or Alive?
“Uh—thanks, Cas,” Sam nodded at the angel with a smile that was meant to be supportive, though probably ended up more confused than anything. “I thought you were low on grace? You really didn’t have to.”
“Dean recharged me.”
Sam blinked.
“He what?”
“After he killed me, that is.”
“He what?”
“Don’t worry, Sam, it wasn’t on purpose. He thought I was a tree.”
Sam closed his eyes, having reached the exact point where he decided he was done.
He gave up on trying to get anything useful out of either of these two for the rest of the night.
“My grace should have cleansed any remains of the venom from his system, though it’s entirely possible he’s in a state of post-coit—”
“Yeah, you know what?” Sam interrupted just in time, clearing his throat, then rubbing over his chin in embarrassment that he didn’t know where else to place. “I, erm, I do not need to know this.”
That gained him an endearingly typical Cas frown, head tilt included, and Sam chuckled, reaching out to place a hand on the angel’s shoulder.
“But… Cas,” he continued more softly. “I know you’ve been through a lot, and you deserve some happiness. I’m happy for you guys.” He clapped the shoulder softly before letting go.
“Thank you, Sam,” Cas said, all wide-eyed surprise and so genuine in showing how affected he was by this basic kindness that Sam swore to himself he’d tear Dean a new one if he ever pulled that silent treatment crap on Cas again. Especially in reaction to Cas doing something as unforgivable as… saving their mom’s life.
“Thanks again for the healing, Cas. And, uh—congratulations.” A completely out-of-tune perversion of Bon Jovi sounded from the bathroom, and Sam added after a moment, “Or condolences. I’m sure one of the two applies. Maybe both.”
The angel nodded at that as if Sam’s words had been a completely normal thing to say to someone. Man, what was their life.
“CAS, coming?” Dean called from the bathroom.
“I have to leave,” Cas said with all the severity of talking about another war in Heaven. “I recommend a room further down the hall.”
Only when the bathroom door closed behind the angel did Sam realize he still didn’t know if the monster was dead or not.
“But guys, what about the monster?” he attempted, then he heard a noise he wouldn’t be able to unhear for the rest of his life. Grabbing his notebook and his duffel, he fled the room, thinking, Well, at least they’re talking now.
The End