Chapter Text
Castiel was back to being his regular, sad, grumpy ol' self, and Dean was damned if he knew why.
Everything was great, as far as he could tell. It had been a few weeks since Jack had plucked him out of the Empty, and Dean was just happy to have his best friend back. It helped, too, that things were altogether lighter on the hunting front now that Jack's in charge, which meant that they'd actually been able to spend almost every night holed away in the Dean Cave. Dean felt accomplished, having already managed to introduce him to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and every old Western movie that he could think of.
Cas seemed to be enjoying their time together, but every now and again, he'd stare at him with the sad eyes or do this mopey little sigh out of absolutely no where . They had just started in on Game of Thrones for the night when it happened this latest time.
"All the sexy time too much for you, Cas?" Dean teased, which apparently was the wrong thing to do because it only seemed to irritate the grumpy angel further. "C'mon, buddy! You never know, could be some teachable moments in it for you." He laughed, but surly Cas just looked surlier, and if Dean wasn't mistaken ... the dude kinda looked a little hurt.
"Uh... You alright, Cas?"
"I'm fine, Dean," he said, sinking even further into the La-Z-Boy recliner and crossing his arms.
"You sure? Because it looks like you're pouting."
"I'm not pouting." Cas pouted.
Dean turned in his own reclined seat to face him more squarely. "Look, I get it. Being in the Empty for so long again had to have messed you up." He looked away and scratched at the worn fabric of the armrest. "I sure know not having you here certainly did a number on me. And um... I'm just... Man, I'm just really glad to have you back." When he looked back up, the look on Cas' face had softened. But Cas was fickle: it hardened again as soon as he added, "I said it before and I'll say it again , you're family. My brother."
Cas turned away (which the weak might have taken as a sign to leave well enough alone). "Just give it some time and we'll get you out of this funk, buddy. And I know you're immune to boobs or whatever, but, who knows, maybe Daenerys Targaryen will surprise you and be just the thing that does it for you!" he joked.
At that, Cas did turn back around to face him only, this time, he stared at him for a long moment, head tilted, eyes all squinty. The silence stretched on until it would have been awkward were it anybody other than Castiel.
"Dean... I appreciate your concern. I am okay and grateful for your companionship," he said carefully.
Dean chuckled at the odd, careful phrasing and turned back to the show. A moment or two passed, and he could still feel Cas's eyes on him.
"What, Cas?"
He was still squinting like he was trying to figure something out. "I find Khal Drogo much more... interesting," Cas said, watching Dean closely for a reaction.
Dean choked a little on his popcorn but glued his eyes to the screen (it didn't really help with the awkwardness, seeing how Khaleesi was currently riding the shit out of Khal Drogo, but he had already committed by now and, dammit, he wasn't a quitter!). Even Dean would admit (out loud and in public) that Momoa was hotter than actual hell fire but there was no way Cas had meant it that way.
"Yeah, he's cool."
Luckily, Sam came in at that moment, and Dean gratefully took the excuse to turn even further away from the blue eyes, still burning a hole in the side of his face.
"So get this--" Sam called out, luscious mane bouncing on every other step. Dean hurried to shut off the TV entirely (There was no way he was watching sex scenes with his brother in the room). "I just got a call from a hunter, a friend of Max Banes, who could use some backup. He's had a friend go missing in a town near Stillwater, and he thinks it might be Vetalas--"
"Which always hunt in pairs," Dean finished. They were also a bitch to find and kill. Last time, it'd taken the combined effort of three grown hunters and a teenager to get the job done.
"Yup. Apparently, he's the third guy to go missing in less than a month. The first just showed up dead with multiple bite wounds and pumped full of 'unidentified venom.'" Definitely sounded like Vetala. "What do you say we check it out?"
Dean stretched and groaned as he pushed himself out of his big, comfy chair. Sam's eyes grew wide and Cas's narrowed when he added, "Well, Cas, I guess we can say goodbye to our Netflix and chilling."
"This doesn't make sense. An attorney, a firefighter, and a teacher -- all different ages, who all live on different sides of town, no obvious connections..."
"So, what are we missing?" Dean asked as they scanned the teacher's living room. Rick Scolari was the last to up and vanish from the small town , and besides his obvious love of Taylor Swift and froufrou furniture, they couldn't find any evidence of a crime.
"I don't know..." Sam checked the files again . "In such a small town, you'd almost expect there to be more overlap, but these men didn't so much as go to the same gym. Where, then, are these things nabbing them from?"
"Mr. Scolari also enjoys Beyoncé," Cas said with a bright smile as he observed a larger-than-life black and white poster in the hall leading to the bedroom. Dean rolled his eyes but smiled. Cas could be such an endearing dork sometimes.
"I doubt that's a clue, Cas."
"It could be, depending on who you ask," came a thick Argentine accent from by the front door.
Dean and Sam both reached for their guns while Cas just squinted at the new intruder: a man about Dean's age, olive-skinned with curly, dark locks and the type of five-o-clock shadow that looked like God had stenciled it on himself (but Jack wasn't that great at coloring within the lines so, probably not). He flashed them a set of pearly whites and dimples, which said something about a man with two guns pointed at him.
Sam lowered his gun and put out an arm for Dean to do the same. "Arturo?"
"What an honor to have finally crossed paths with the legendary Winchesters."
Sam splashed him in the face with Holy Water, and Dean tossed him a silver coin. The hunter only seemed partly taken aback by their complete lack of decorum but wasn't surprised by the checks, catching the coin with ease (and without having his skin burn off).
"Nice to meet you, too," Sam greeted properly .
He dried his face with a handkerchief (sophisticated bastard) and shook each of their hands.
"What was it you were saying about Beyoncé being a clue?" Cas asked, not skipping a beat. Dean put a hand on his back and Arturo gave them a strange, knowing look that Dean couldn't place.
"Well, she is the queen for a lot of us." He winked and Cas beamed back at him while Sam and Dean frowned in confusion. The man's smile turned rueful. "Rick is an... old friend of mine. He reached out two days ago because he didn't feel safe."
"And why wouldn't he be safe?" Dean asked.
"He didn't think it was a coincidence that other gay men in this podunk town had started going missing. It appears our monster has a thing for queer men."
Cas stood up taller, taking on a defensive stance that Dean barely noticed because he was too busy looking around at the furniture and decor again. "Ooooh! Makes sense!" he exclaimed proudly, having finally connected the dots.
What didn't make sense was why Sam took one look at him and Cas and slid his hand down his face like he was already exasperated before the case even got started.