Chapter Text
Watching Sam turn to smile shyly over his shoulder at Castiel, as though he worried the man might fly away, was probably the best moment of Castiel’s life so far. There was no chance of him flying from Sam.
Then the best moment of his life, the one where Sam Winchester peeked to be sure Castiel was waiting for him, as if he had not waited all these years for him, was abruptly interrupted by someone diving into Sam’s vacant seat.
Castiel yelped in surprise, and nearly fell out of his own chair. Then his eyes narrowed. “Gabriel! Jesus, don’t do that!”
“That him? That’s the douche?”
His brother frowned. “No! That’s Sam!”
“He’s enormous. But look. I can take him. Maybe. Probably.”
“Take him where?” Castiel demanded.
Gabriel leaned in until his Hawaiian shirt was nearly touching the table. “Out. Take him out.”
“I’m taking him out!”
Gabriel exhaled with relief. “Oh, thank God. Glad to hear it. I got your back, bro. Careful though. He looks like a freaking lumberjack in a suit jacket. Remember, there’s nothing wrong with a sucker punch if the guy is over six two. It’s a rule.”
Castiel stared at his brother in utter disbelief. “Gabe! I’m not going to hit Sam!”
“Then I don’t know how you figure on taking him out. I know you did some martial arts a while back, but I’m pretty sure you can’t kick that high.”
He found that his brain could not keep up with all the surreality around him. He dropped his face into his palm. Gabriel caused that gesture a lot.
“Cas? Come on. We gotta strategize here. If one of us is gonna break another guy’s face, the other has to be ready to post bail. You got a debit card or something? What’s your PIN?”
After another pause to collect himself, Castiel lifted his gaze and took a breath. “Gabriel? You’re talking about assault.”
“I think it’s battery, but go on.”
“Sam is my friend. When I said I was going to take him out, I meant that we’ve had a wonderful dinner, and we shared some fun memories and humorous stories, catching each other up on what’s been going on, and then the entire universe hiccoughed, and Sam Winchester, the most beautiful human on the planet, asked me if I would be willing to date him.”
Gabriel stared back. Then his eyes went cold. “That is not what I meant by take him out.”
“I’m aware of the miscommunication now, thank you.”
“And you said yes?” the older man exploded.
Castiel shushed him. Most of the other patrons at the grill had paid and left while he and Sam talked, but those who remained tossed glances at them. “Yes!” Castiel hissed back. “Of course I said yes! Gabriel, you know better than anyone how bad my crush on Sam was! How much I’ve wanted this moment my entire adult life! Why would you even ask me if I said yes?”
“You’re being…” Gabriel dropped his voice from a shout to a low growl. “You’re being a moron. Stop it.”
He threw his hands into the air in exasperation.
“Bro, he’s obviously caught word that you’re loaded now!”
“What?” he cried. “No!”
“You came into some dough and suddenly he wants to make nice? You have a sweet bank account, Cas! That’s what he sees! That man killed you over and over for two years! Everytime my phone rang, it was like, well, Cassie must have gotten his throat kicked in again. Must be Tuesday.”
Hurt and anger filled him with heat. “Stop.”
“He got off on your misery so regularly, Casa Erotica could have made a series on it! And now, you’ve got some cash, and he’s suddenly available? After knowing you as a broke, pudgy college kid, now you can bench press him, and suddenly he wants you to press him into a bench? No. Cas, wake up-“
Castiel stumbled to his feet. “No! I said stop! It isn’t like that! It was never like that!”
Gabriel stood too, shaking his head. “Man, I love you like a brother.”
“I am your brother!”
“And so I’m going to tell you what you need to hear. Sam freaking Winchester is a tool. He’s playing you. And even if he’s not? He totally is, but even if he’s not, why wasn’t he interested back then? Cassie, dude, if he wasn’t into you when you were that cute, little, butterball mess, you shouldn’t want him now. If he didn’t want the real you, you shouldn’t let him have whatever it is you’re trying to be now.”
The hurt bloomed into a painful spike in Castiel’s chest. He backed away. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“It’s not pretty, but it’s true. He’s a tool.”
He shook his head slowly. “No. Not about him. I can’t believe you just said that. About me.”
Gabriel stopped then, and seemed confused. “What? What’d I say?”
Castiel let his childish fantasy take over. His imaginary wings unfurled, and he let them carry him away. He could hear Gabriel calling after him as he stormed toward his suite.
***
Dean yawned at him. “Okay. I’m here. What?”
Sam smiled. “I’m sorry, man. I know this is your night off.”
“It’s cool. I’m listening. Shoot.”
“So-“
Dean cut him off with a laugh. “Wait! What time is it there? Did you and Cas have your not-a-date already? How did it go?”
He laughed too. “It turned into a date.”
“Ah ha! Big brother called it!”
“You did,” he sighed happily. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes. “How did I not see this before? He says...Dean, he says he’s been in love with me since way back then. Can you believe that?”
His brother’s voice softened. “Yeah. I can. I remember Cas. He worshipped you, kid.”
“What? You knew?”
“No. But looking back? I ain’t exactly surprised.”
Sam chewed on his lower lip. “Seeing him today, on the plane...It was like I’d suddenly found a part of my soul that had been missing for years. I can’t...I can’t explain it.”
“You just did.”
“But you can’t understand…”
Dean snorted softly. “Think so? How do you think it felt to see that Impala again after all those years? When Bobby called to say he had found her, had checked not only the VIN but the engine number. And I got there and took one look at her...Sammy, I know what it’s like to be reunited with something that belongs with you. I know what it’s like to have a bit of your soul out there someplace, to feel incomplete, and not even be aware of that hole till it’s fixed up. My Baby came back to me. Maybe Cas coming back into your life will fix you up too.”
Tears stung, and he closed his eyes tighter. “God, Dean.”
“Just calling it like it is, kiddo. You’ve been restless past couple of years. Like you’re always looking for something around corners. Like when I would always look up every time I heard an engine rumble that could’ve been her.”
He sniffed and smiled. “Dad didn’t lose my soul in a poker game while drunk.”
This snort was louder. “Yeah. Don’t think he wouldn’t have tried if he could’ve found a way. Every time he told me to look out for Sammy, I think he was telling me to protect you so he didn’t gamble you away along with everything else.”
“Cas is waiting outside. I just left to take my jacket up to my room and hit the head.”
“Cleaned the pipes?”
And just like that, the brother moment was over, and they were back to being...brothers. Sam rolled his eyes. “You’re disgusting.”
“Just saying. You’ve had a bit of a drought lately. Might want to make sure you can handle a little rain without flooding.”
“You stopped making sense halfway through that stupid analogy.”
“You’re a stupid analogy.”
Sam was too happy to not snicker at that. “Goodnight, jerk.”
This was met with another yawn. “Happy for you. Bitch.”
Sam shivered with excitement. He grabbed his key card and hurried back out of the room to rejoin Castiel at the grille.