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Dean leaned back in the chair, savoring the moment.
His gaze wandered around the library, and to his surprise, he felt a subtle sense of possessiveness creep over him towards this building that Henry had so unexpectedly presented to him and Sam.
Dean had never owned anything outside of the Impala, his weapons, and the small bundle of clothes he carried around in his duffel but now he and Sam found themselves heirs to this and all of the knowledge contained herein.
Knowledge, Dean smiled fondly, that Sam was ecstatically wallowing in, not too dissimilarly to a pig rolling in the stickiest wettest mud!
It had been a long time since he had seen his little brother quite so happy!
Yes, all this belonged to the Winchesters now and Dean was freakin' sure he wasn't going to share with anyone!
No one would ever know about this place, not if he could help it!
He studied the sigils spaced surreptitiously around the room. Some were carved into the wood of the shelves, doubling as a discreet decorative border, others were traced delicately around the perimeters of the floor and ceiling. He recognized most of them but some were completely unknown, though he was sure that Sam would delight in finding out their origin.
The angel-banishing ones were familiar enough, and he was happy that the place was off-limits to those beings as well as to the run-of-the-mill demons.
At Dean's sigh of contentment, Sam glanced surreptitiously over at his brother. Dean was balancing his chair on two legs, booted feet unrepentantly crossed on top of the antique oak table, a little pile of early editions of 'Busty Asian Beauties' at arm's length.
Dean had been like a little kid when he'd discovered a first edition of his favorite porn mag hidden away in a dusty drawer, but he could hardly contain his delight when he found a whole stash of them.
Some former member of the MoL must have had the same tastes as his brother, Sam thought amused.
He could see the serenity on his big brother's face and a small spark of hope flared up in his heart. Maybe this time their luck had changed; maybe this bunker would bring them to a place where they could find some kind of peace.
Sam lowered his eyes to the obscure text he'd been studying, the inquisitive part of his brain relishing the puzzle that the words were setting him.
They both remained in companionable silence until Dean's booted feet were brusquely swung down to the floor with a thump, causing Sam's head to pop up in alarm.
"Dean?"
"S'okay, Sammy. A man of action like me can't spend all his time lying around doing nothing. Duty calls. Duty to my stomach that is.
I'm off for supplies and when I get back I'm gonna rustle up a meal that'll have your hair standing on edge. Now THAT would be something to see!"
Sam eyed him as if he was an idiot, an expression that Dean was more than familiar with having had it bestowed on him countless times by his younger brother.
"I'm gonna cook you up the hottest curry on the planet," he boasted as he clattered his way up the staircase towards the exit.
"Strictly for adults, Sammy, so get your game together!"
Sam's bitch-face followed him, causing Dean's heart to feel light and carefree. There was nothing so satisfying as baiting his ginormous little brother.
He was a man of few needs, and long ago he had come to understand that having Sam at his side was all he wanted or required.
He parked the Impala in front of the small store that served the nearest township to the bunker, and as he turned to enter he heard a voice at his shoulder.
"Dean."
Dean felt a twitch of annoyance at the sound. His day had been going so well and he shied away from the thought of having it spoiled by the visitor.
"What do you want, Cass? " he asked none too sweetly, turning on his heel to face the angel. "Whatever it is, this isn't a good time."
"Dean, I've been searching for you everywhere, but you seemed to be off my radar."
"Maybe you've got a little glitch there, dude. Don't angels have to go in for a check-up now and then or somethin'?"
"No, we don't need to do that. Our powers are always at their peak," was the blank-faced serious reply.
Dean shook his head in disbelief.
Two thousand years observing humans, plus an assiduous frequentation with the Winchesters, and yet at times the angel remained as childishly naive as ever.
"I was joking, Cass," Dean replied curtly, turning back towards the store. "Listen, I gotta buy some stuff for dinner, so if there's nothing important..."
"Dean, wait, I need your help. There have been strange happenings concerning Heaven. I've been hearing rumors of a plot by fringe fractions of the lower angels to take over control and..."
Dean held up a warning hand.
"Stop right there, Cass! I don't want to know. I'm so not interested in your little angel feuds, nor in what happens in Heaven. I'd think you have a lot of experience in that field, seeing that the story of a lowly angel who wanted to rule Heaven is one I believe you're familiar with."
Castiel looked away. This time he understood perfectly what Dean was saying. That lowly angel had been him. The ambition to take over Heaven had been his.
"This is different, Dean. The last time I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving you out of my plans. I didn't want to ruin your new life with Lisa and Ben but I've learned my lesson. I value your advice. You have always been loyal to me, perhaps the only being who has," Castiel declared.
"Then we share a special bond," he continued. "I pulled you out of Hell, out of perdition..."
Dean felt a rush of resentment ripple through his body. Enough was enough!
Heaven could go to Hell for all he cared and its inhabitants too; all of them!
"That 'special bond' you keep mentioning only came about because you were the first angel to reach me in Hell. If it had been Uriel, then he and I would have had the 'special bond' and I've a feeling that things would have gone down badly!"
"I can't believe that you are not interested in the well-being of Heaven, " the angel continued stubbornly, ignoring Dean's words. "You have had experience of Hell. Where would you rather pass the rest of eternity?"
"Just so you know, Cass, by the time you pulled me out, I was enjoying myself hugely shredding souls to ribbons, so by then Hell wasn't so bad at all."
"Dean this is blasphemy. Heaven is eternal salvation and Hell eternal damnation!"
"If you say so. Now, I gotta get my groceries. My stomach is feeling a little bit neglected," Dean declared patting his abdomen. "I know you don't need to eat so...you'll excuse me if I..."
"If you will not listen, I will speak to Sam. He is always more amiable than you. He will listen to my plea," Castiel insisted.
"Stay away from Sam. He doesn't need any crap right now. He's been through enough. He's done his bit for friggin' Heaven, or does a hundred and eighty years being tortured in the Cage by Lucifer not count as enough?"
By now Dean's nerves were frayed and he stepped up into the angel's personal space, raising a pointed finger,
"You pulled my little brother out without his soul and I still don't know if it was through carelessness or if you did it on purpose for some sneaky little plan of your own.
You broke his wall, with no more regard than if he was a fly to be swatted. Sam owes you nothing and neither do I. We've both paid for any 'favours' you might have done us.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask. Whatever happened to Balthazar? I tried praying to him a couple of times but nada."
Dean noticed a shift in the angel's eyes at his words, and if anyone could interpret an expression of guilt it was Dean Winchester, high priest of guilty feelings.
He tilted his head in understanding.
"So you do know something, Cass. Here's what I think. Balthazar was spooked back then when he gave us your location to try and stop you from opening the door to Purgatory.
Could it be that you and he had a little spat and maybe bad went down?"
The angel's expression told Dean that he was on the right track.
"What happened? Did you fight, did you kill him? No! You didn't kill him in a fight, did you, Cass? You did it treacherously. Did you take him down when his back was turned? Is that it?"
"You don't understand, Dean. I..."
"Don't try to deny it. I can see it in your eyes. You betrayed your brother and comrade, so who's to say you won't do the same to me, or worse, to Sam? I want no more of it. Find someone else to give you a hand.
I'm sure there are plenty of hunters out there who would love nothing better than to have a powerful angel by their side, but as far as helping you out for the affairs of Heaven, we're through!"
Dean took a step back as he cautioned.
"Keep away from Sam because if you try to hurt him again, I might be forced to do something I'd rather not."
Dean's green eyes morphed into two green emeralds as he delivered his warning.
He'd once promised Sam that as long as he was around nothing bad would happen to him. He'd been unable to keep that promise but he'd make up for it from now on.
Whoever hurt Sam, whether it be a supernatural being or a human, was dead meat, no one excluded, not even a once friend.
"This will not end here, Dean," Castiel declared stubbornly. "Perhaps, as you say, this is a bad moment. I will return when you are of a better disposition."
The angel disappeared with a whoosh of wings and Dean entered the store without a backward glance.
"How was the curry, dude?" Dean asked, patting his stomach. It felt like it was about to explode with the amount of rice he'd shoveled down.
"It could have done with a touch more curry powder! " Sam declared with irony, his face suffused with heat from the spicy dish " But it's a good effort."
"Good effort, Sammy? That's all you've got to say! No cordon bleu cook could have done better!"
"Yeah! Okay, Dean. It was a bomb, " Sam conceded graciously.
"Go make the coffee then, Sasquatch and we'll call it quits. Oh, and the dishes are all yours to wash," he called after his brother, receiving an answering grunt from Sam.
Yeah, life was good, Dean mused. A roof over their heads, food, drink, and Sam by his side. He could ask for nothing better, and what he had he would defend with tooth and nail.
He hadn't mentioned his encounter with Castiel.
He knew Sam had a forgiving heart and would probably have felt sympathy for the angel even after what he'd done to him, but that's where Dean came in.
Sam was his to protect and look out for. That's what big brothers did.
The time back in the alley, a few years ago, when Sam had taken his revenge on Brady came to mind.
What was it he'd said?
" All those angels, all those demons, all those sons of bitches. They just don't get it, do they, Sammy? "
"No, they don't, Dean. "
"You see, Brady...We're the ones you should be afraid of."
Those words were as relevant now as they had been back then.
Anyone who thought they could use or hurt the Winchesters again would be in for the biggest butt-kicking on the planet.
Word of Dean Winchester!
The End.