Aftershock (Sequel to Writing's on the Wall Destiel)

Chapter 7

The next few days were full of books. Literally. Every waking hour, Sam and Dean would grab any and every book on any type of lore to find a way to discover who raised  Castiel from hell. Castiel tried to help, but he didn't find anything. Whoever had raised him had done an exceptional job of covering their tracks.

Baby mostly just hung around the house, observing, not saying much. Most of the time, he flirted with Castiel, mainly to see the brothers' reaction. He saw the seemingly hidden fist Dean always made and the ever so famous jaw clench. He noticed Sam's eyes darting to Dean, ready to stop him if he even thought of physically restraining Baby.

Dean and Castiel both pretended the incident a  few days ago didn't happen. They both avoided each other more; the testosterone levels rose to high levels when they were in the same room, much less next to each other. They couldn't even talk to each other without it getting awkward. So the only words they exchanged were "Hey, Cas," and "Hello, Dean," but that was it. Dean stayed away from Castiel, because he was afraid of what he was starting to feel for him again. And he didn't want to influence Castiel. Castiel avoided Dean because he already made a promise to himself to not fall for Dean a second time, but it got harder and harder every day.

Sam became more and more sure that the person who raised Castiel was Lucifer. It was their only choice. But there were numerous factors that made him doubt. Like, why would he kill Castiel and raise him up again? Why would he scorch the trees surrounding Castiel's grave if he specifically said that he wouldn't ever want to destroy it? On top of that, he was a little weirded out by Baby's constant cheery mood, but he was mainly worried for Dean and Castiel. He'd sit with Dean and talk with him about Castiel, giving him relationship advice. To Castiel, he'd say to give Dean another chance, that Dean only said the things he did because he was scared. Overall, there was too much tension in the house for him.

"Hey, Dean," Baby commented one day. "Can we talk for a second?"

Dean looked confused and a little annoyed, but he shoved those feelings down. Baby (in car form) had stuck with him through thick and thin- not that he had a choice, but Dean still felt he owed him some respect. "Okay......"

They went off into a corner, Dean leaning against the wall. "What?"

"What happened with you and Cas?"

That, Dean had not expected. "Come again?"

"Oh, come on. I know you've got the hots for blue eyed beauty over there, but man! Every time you're next to each other, the tension gets so high! And my spider senses are telling me that something happened. So, what did?"

"Why are you even asking? You don't know a thing about Cas and I."

"Hey! When I was a car, I heard every single conversation! Not that I wanted to, but let's just leave it at, I picked up some interesting things. And something tells me pretty boy over there and you used to be a thing. What happened? I've stuck by you for a long time, I think I deserve some straight answers."

Yeah, straight, Dean thought. "I don't even know. It's complicated. He, uh, sort of heard a conversation between me and Sammy and...I guess, sort of assumed things. Then I said some craptastic stuff, he said some craptastic stuff and it went downhill from there."

"Aren't you two going to fix it?"

"We tried. Hell, we've tried. Every time we do, we make it worse, okay? Yes, I still love him, but it's easier to stay as friends."

Baby nodded, chewing on his lip  thinking carefully before he spoke. "Dean, I gotta say what I gotta say. You suck."

"What?"

"Man, from what I've heard, you two are like Romeo and Romeo ignoring each other because you think it's in everyone's best interests. Well, guess what? It's not. Cas loves you still. He told me. But this is going to be the world's most doomed relationship if you don't suck it up and fix it."

"What do you want me to do? Huh? Go over there and tell him I love him and I'm sorry? Hate to tell you, Baby, but that's not the way we work. Cas made a choice, and I'm respecting it. I trust him to tell me if he wants a relationship. I'm not going to force that onto him just because I want a relationship. In case you're not caught up with the times, there's a little something we call free will and Cas has as much right to that as I do. So yeah, it might be the world's most frigging doomed relationship, but at least he doesn't hate me completely." Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

"At least tell him!" Baby fought to keep his voice under control as he cast a look at Castiel who was helping Sam research without the faintest clue of what was going on. "At least admit it to him so he doesn't think that-"

"What are you, stoned? I told you, we don't swing that way. If you've got any other ideas, fine. I'm happy to hear them."

Baby looked at him, face suddenly stony. "You know, Dean, I'm so disappointed in you right now."

"Welcome to the club."

"No, really. I'm really disappointed at you." Baby's voice suddenly heightened, and his face shimmered and revealed the true identity.

Dean took a step back. "Gabriel?!"

"Hey, Deano. Hurting my brother, I see?"

"No, no, no, no, wait. It's not like that."

"Oh, I respectfully disagree. Way I've been hearing and noticing, he seems pretty upset thanks to you."

"That's enough, Gabriel." They both turned to see Castiel and Sam in the doorway. Sam's raised eyebrows were the only indication that he was surprised. Castiel seemed unfazed by his brother's unexpected appearance. "Dean's right, it's not what you think it is."

"That so? Then why do you look like you'd rather be anywhere than next to this jackass right here because it would hurt less?"

"Dean didn't cause it. Any of it," defended Castiel, not knowing how awestruck Dean was by his response. "This was my decision and Dean is respecting my choice. Nothing more. Don't blame him for something he didn't do. Oh, and give his car back."

Gabriel sighed, rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the Impala in car form was parked outside, with not even a scratch or dent in it. "Better?"

"Yes. Now leave."

"Cas-"

"Not now, Dean," Castiel answered without taking his eyes off of Gabriel. "I'm perfectly fine, Gabriel. You can leave."

Gabriel didn't believe him in the slightest, but he didn't show it. "Alright. I'll let it slide this time. But if I find out he's hurt you-"

"He won't. I trust him."

At that moment, Castiel's gaze drifted to Dean and already found the man looking at him. Dean's eyes were full of shock and disbelief, Castiel's full of grace and compassion.

When they looked back at where Gabriel was, the archangel had already left.