Title: Consequences of Action

Chapter: 6

~~~~~~~~~~

For three days, Jo pretended to avoid Castiel, while carefully keeping herself in his sight. It took skill to follow him around, not look like she was following him, yet feel like he was following her. She enjoyed how well he pursued her, liked the way he integrated their scenario into the hours. He’d seem to suddenly appear by her side, an arm going around her waist or shoulders, voice low in her ear. Or he’d lean against the nearest table, wall, or doorway and simply watch her.

It made helping her people through their first few days in a strange place difficult. Jo was easily distracted from the tasks she assigned herself, to the point where Rick told her to just go do something that didn’t require thought at all.

What was there that required little thought? Her cabin didn’t need anything, nor did she have any decorative trinkets that needed arranging. Dean insisted that she rest a week when she tried to demand a job like everyone else.

“You just got here, Jo.” He finished with the clipboard in his hands and handed it off to a young woman at one long table. “We try to give new people about a week of downtime before finding a job they’ll be comfortable doing. You need to take some time and decompress like everyone else.”

“I’m fine,” she argued. “I like to keep busy.”

“Really? You’re fine. Are you sure about that? You’re distracted, jittery --”

“Not because I need downtime. Believe me, Dean, that’s not why I’m distracted.”

“Oh?” Amusement hovered at his mouth, twisting his lips. “Then why are you?”

She looked away and ignored the question, still suspecting he knew very well about her and Castiel. Not that they’d been flirting, but that they’d already done the deed. “I can’t sit on my butt and do nothing. Let me do something. Anything. I’ll go stark, raving mad if I have to do nothing for a week.”

“Yeah? Then you need to take two weeks off. When was the last time you were able to do something for yourself without thinking about your people first?” He crossed his arms and stared at her with that disconcerting gaze that saw right through her. “When was the last time you spent all morning lying in bed reading a magazine or book? Or were able to do anything without having to look over your shoulder the entire time?”

“Awhile,” she admitted, slipping her hands into her back pockets and scuffing one foot on the floor.

“You think I don’t know what you’re going through right now?”

She sighed, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure you do….”

“I’ve been there, Jo. I’ve gone through the whole edgy, nervous bit. I’ve had the guilt, the not knowing what to do with yourself.” He held up two fingers in a ‘v’. “Two weeks. You take two weeks and decompress.”

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, blowing out a long breath. “What the hell am I supposed to do for two weeks?”

“Funny you should ask….” Dean started across the lodge.

Jo followed.

He stopped at the bookshelves along one wall, fingers pulling several paperbacks from them. “Here,” he said, holding them out. “Do some reading.”

Glancing at the covers, she snorted and shoved them back at him. “I don’t like romances. They’re corny, stupid, and cliché.”

Putting those back, he pulled several more books from the shelves. “Try these and if you don’t like them, bring them back and pick out a few more. And….” He stepped to the nearby table and crouched down, opening the flaps on a large box. When he stood, he had a few puzzle books in his hands. “These too.”

“Those are crossword puzzles.”

“Your point?”

“I hate crossword puzzles.”

His amusement faded and he dropped the books back in the box. “Suck it up, Jo. Quite being a pissy bitch about this. You’ve got two weeks of downtime. You’ll be glad for it later.”

“Fine.”

“And whatever is causing that distraction? Get it taken care of, yeah?” He leaned on the table. “It’s only two weeks. It’ll be done before you know it.”

The books were a nice idea, but sitting still to read felt indulgent and she couldn’t make herself read for more than a few minutes at a time. She felt jittery, as though she’d drunk a ton of coffee. It wasn’t just the waiting for Castiel either. It’d been a long time since she’d had time to herself. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have absolutely nothing to do.

Jo checked out the supplies area and met Chuck, who for some odd reason blushed whenever he looked at her. Not just any blush, either, but fire-engine red, accompanied by stammering when he spoke. Despite that, he seemed nice. Helpful even. Jo was able to pass a few hours talking to him and his team, getting a feel how he operated his ‘department’.

Three days of anticipation for Castiel was enough however. She’d reached the point where she tossed and turned all night, unable to rest for the hyper-aroused state she was in, constantly thinking of their night together and imagining the next one. She couldn’t wait any longer. Finally, Jo got up and went to take a shower, knowing she was going to be unable to go back to sleep.

She headed for breakfast right when they opened at six and stayed through closing at eight, watching for Cas, waiting for him to come in. He didn’t show up and when she asked if they’d seen him in the kitchen, she learned why. He’d gone to the outer kitchen door and picked up something to take with him, saying something about signs he was finishing up on the outside.

While it was frustrating that he wasn’t there when she wanted him to be, he did have jobs that Dean had given him. He couldn’t ignore them to be with her. She wiled away the time by visiting a few of her people, though she supposed she should get in the habit of calling them Dean’s now, since they were all in his camp. There was a noticeable difference in their manner already that Jo was glad to see. Dean and Risa’s visits to all of them had been an encouragement.

By eleven, Jo was bored with waiting and chose to help Mya in the laundry with the sheets. A boring job made much more exciting when Jo saw Castiel return. He stood at the picnic table where Dean was taking an early lunch. With the sheets up, she and Cas would have relative privacy to flirt and more when he inevitably sauntered over. A good choice, she decided, waiting at the clothesline for Castiel to approach her, drawing out her task as long as possible. Several times, she thought he’d walk over, but it wasn’t until Mya left that he followed her behind the lines of sheets.

He came up behind her as she adjusted a pillowcase on the line, putting his arms about her waist and his mouth near her ear. His breath tickled and she laughed.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Cas nibbled down the side of her neck and back up. “Miss me?”

“Were you gone? I didn’t notice.”

“Liar.” He chuckled, teeth nipping at her earlobe. “Now I’m all a fan of anticipation, but I get the feeling that you’re avoiding me.”

Jo gasped as he swirled his tongue behind her ear, sagging back against him, her hands lowering to rest on his forearms. “Do you?”

“I do. You’re not thinking of welching on our deal, are you?”

“You can’t make me,” she told him, turning her head and meeting his mouth for a quick kiss. “We’re here now.”

“You’re absolutely correct. I can’t make you.” He guided her to a sheltered spot by the building so that they were hidden on all sides and backed her up against the wall. “However, I think your conscience is going to bother you for not following through your end of the deal when I clearly did mine and then some. I found beds for all of them here, showed them around, made sure they all had whatever they needed. So what have you been doing the past couple days while I’ve been hard at work on my end? Avoiding me. That’s very naughty, Jo. I think I like naughty you. Our naughty selves could have a lot of fun together.”

While she tried to come up with a proper comeback in tune with the scenario, she couldn’t think of one. He’d pursued her enough. “I think it’s time we were a little naughty.” Reaching up, she cupped a hand behind his neck and urged his head down to hers. Their mouths met in a long, lingering kiss that left both breathless.

Castiel pressed his forehead against hers. “Then let’s go be naughty.”

“Lead the way.”

The walk to his cabin seemed interminable. There were too many people that wanted to stop them and talk. Jo fidgeted through each encounter, while Castiel, in contrast, didn’t even appear irritated by the interruptions. Finally, they reached his cabin and went up the steps.

Jo stopped, staring at the bead strands hanging from the doorframe in lieu of an actual door. Though she’d noticed them previously in her glances at the cabin, she’d not noticed the complete lack of an actual door. “You have no door.”

“I sort of kicked a hole through it one night. I’d been drinking with Dean and the door tended to stick. For some reason, I thought it’d be a good idea to just kick it open.” He shrugged, sliding a hand along the strands. They swayed back and forth from the contact. “I don’t actually recall the incident, only the aftermath. It was Chuck who told me what happened.”

“Alcohol will do that.” She’d done some pretty stupid things herself in the past while under the influence.

“It sure will. Dean hung the beads there as a joke. He said every wannabe hippie needed a bead door.”

“Wannabe hippie?” Jo slanted a curious glance at him.

“Four women and a brief experimentation with the marijuana I found in the woods,” he said in explanation. “I never got around to replacing the door. Will it be a problem? Because I’ll have someone put up a new door later this afternoon if --”

“No, I like it.” She did, too, stepping to the strands and through them and looking around. The layout of his cabin was the same as Dean and Risa’s cabin. The difference was in how the furniture was arranged. “What about privacy, though? Aren’t you ever worried about it?”

“I’ve got a curtain up to hide the bed and if anyone comes in uninvited and gets an eyeful it’s their problem.” Castiel made a beeline for his bed.

Jo crossed her arms, watching him turn down the sheets and fluff the pillows. Her palms were sweating, heart beating fast, and she felt as though she couldn’t draw in enough air.

It felt wonderful.

“I can’t do this,” she told him, kicking off her boots and leaving them by the door.

“Just relax. Take a few deep breaths.”

“Anyone could see in here.”

He returned to her, grasping her hands and leading her to one side of the bed. “Let’s just close the curtain here for some extra privacy.” He undid the ties on the curtains at the end of the bed and closed them. When he turned back to her, he pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside. Moving close, he hooked his fingers in the waist of her jeans and tugged her against him, hands moving to cradle her hips. Cas glanced first left, then right, then looked down at her, shrugging a brow. There was a decidedly mischievous expression in his eyes. “Hey there. I’ll show you mine, if you’ll show me yours.”

“How could I resist such smooth talk?” She slid her hands up his chest to his shoulders. His skin felt hot to her touch.

“You can’t. You’re helpless to resist.”

“I am actually.” She smiled at him.

He smiled back, then nodded, that smile fading. “That’s enough talking, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Definitely. Talking is overrated.”

They were all over each other in a second, pulling articles of clothing off and tossing them aside without a glance to see where each piece fell. The awkwardness Jo had half feared would be there wasn’t and they forgot the world outside for a few hours.

In a quieter moment much later, lying twined together, they talked. The sun moved in the sky, warming them through the window above the bed. Jo could hear leaves rustling in the breeze and the occasional chatter of people passing by.

Rather than talk about the Apocalypse, she told him about her childhood and all of those things that Ellen had shared with her as they’d traveled. She talked about her dad and how her parents had met.

“It was a blind date. Can you believe it?”

“Ellen always did seem the adventurous type,” he remarked, shifting the covers up a bit more.

“Not only a blind date, but set up by Grandma Liz. That was mom’s mom. Died when I was only a few months old. I never got to meet her. Anyway, Mom went under protest, fully expecting a guy totally wrong for her, but grandma could pick ‘em. She knew exactly what would attract my mom and my dad was it.” She laid her head on his chest. “William Anthony Harvelle came from a long line of hunters, but he wanted a family and a place where hunters could go to connect with each other, like a safe harbor. He had a plan.”

“The Roadhouse?”

“Yeah. He had both for awhile. A family and a place. And mom took the news of his…other line of work in her usual manner. She just took it in stride, though when he was gone on a trip she hated every second of it, hated that job. It was a love-hate thing, his hunting. She loved that he was helping people, hated that it had to be him out there. And then when I left….” Jo drew little invisible circles on his chest and stomach with her fingertips. “She was as pissed as I’d ever seen her, but I kept going. I wanted to help people, make the world a better place. She said I was just like him; that I had none of her in me and all of him.”

“I think you’re a lot like Ellen.” His hand cupped her shoulder.

“Me? No, Cas, I’m not. I’m nothing like my mom. She was fearless, strong, stubborn --”

“And you’re none of those things?”

Jo raised up on her elbow to look at him. He was serious. “No, I’m not.”

“Are you certain?” He stilled her fingers, grasped them in his. “You went to Detroit knowing the signs were overwhelming. You knew something bad was on the horizon.”

“Something bad is always on the horizon. It was something we had to do. We had to try to stop it. It’s the job, Cas. You know that.”

“It takes a certain amount of fearlessness and strength to walk into a bad situation knowing it’s bad and that you could easily die. Believe me, I’m fully cognizant of the extent of both needed.”

“We were doing our job,” she reiterated.

He shifted a little. “You left home to be on your own years ago. That’s adventurous and stubborn both, especially since you remained alone until Ellen found you. Then, after her death, you chose to lead those people.”

“I made a promise to her and again, it was my job.”

His hand stroked her bare back. “I see you as all of those things and more. Fearless, strong, determined, intelligent, beautiful, fun….” He watched her a moment. “Need I go on?”

“You see all of that in me?”

“I could continue even. Shall I?”

Jo laid back down, head once more on his chest. Apparently, how she saw herself wasn’t how others did. “I don’t feel fearless, or strong. I feel scared, nervous, tired. I feel like if I don’t do something with my time I’ll go nuts. I don’t know who the person you described is.”

“The way we see ourselves isn’t always what others notice. It’s okay to be scared, nervous, and tired, Jo. You’ve been through a lot. You’ll be twitchy for awhile yet.” He held her and Jo fell asleep cradled in his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~

She was worth it.

That was the thought that kept running through Castiel’s mind and one he occasionally heard echoed by Jimmy. Jo was worth the wait, worth giving up other women, worth making a commitment to. She was exactly what he thought she’d be for him and he continued to think about that throughout the next few days. He hoped heaven really did have something planned for a future aside from the remaining apocalypse, because he wanted to have more time with Jo.

He was walking towards the shooting range when Dean approached him and slung an arm about his shoulders.

“So what do your ex-girlfriends think of this suddenly one woman behavior?”

“They accept it. What else would they do?” He tried to shrug Dean’s arm off with little success. It wasn’t budging. “It’s not as though I left them any doubt as to my decision.”

Kylie and Vanessa still seemed perplexed by his decision, while Natalie and Carrie had made friendly overtures to Jo, not holding a grudge against her.

“Well, now that you’re not seeing them anymore, I’ve got a question about that.” He raised a finger, pointing at him. “You ever get them all together at once?”

“At once?”

Dean waggled his brows. “You know. At once. Group action.”

Cas shook his head. “Oh geez, Dean.” He should have known Dean would come up with something like that.

“Enquiring minds want to know.” He pointed back at himself. “I’ve been tamed here. Cue the whip sound. Tell me I can still live vicariously through your sexual escapades.”

“I’m all out of escapades unless you count Jo’s games.”

“Games?” Dean’s interest appeared to perk exponentially and he removed his arm from Castiel’s shoulders. “Do tell.”

It was an honest slip of the tongue that he hadn’t meant to do. “Just games,” he said, trying to hedge and knowing Dean wasn’t going to let him.

“What kind of games are we talking here? Kinky bondage, black leather, whips, and chains?” He was amused at the prospect, humor dancing in his eyes. “Because I can totally picture Jo in a leather bustier and t-back. Maybe some stiletto-heeled thigh-high boots.”

Castiel snorted, though he could picture that too. “Hardly.” He glanced around, sure that someone had snuck up to them and was listening to the conversation, but they were still alone. “She likes to be…persuaded into bed.”

Some of that amusement faded. “You mean rape games? Cas --”

He crossed his arms, wondering if he really should be telling Dean this. Probably not, but he forged on anyway. “Not really. More like…coercion or blackmail, which requires a fully thought out scenario and a bit of planning to act out.”

“And I thought I was lucky with a woman who doesn’t mind dressing like a French maid or naughty nurse. You hit the jackpot. On the flip-side though….” Dean whistled. “Are you serious? Jo Harvelle likes to roleplay coercion situations? Jo. Jo who spent years trying to get herself taken seriously as a hunter. Jo who --”

“Yes, Dean. That Jo.”

“That’s…that’s just…so not what I expected.”

Cas nodded. “There are some emotional issues involved.”

“Huh.” Dean shook his head, looking regretful. “As much as I’d like to pursue that tantalizing tidbit, I’ve got a demon to persuade to tell me a few lies. Wanna come with me, maybe pass me the holy water or the salt off the table?”

“No, I’ve got plans.”

“Bummer.” Dean sighed. “Well, bring Jo over to our cabin after dinner, about eight. I should be done by then. Risa picked up some Reno 911 seasons last time she went out. I thought we could all four of us watch a few episodes, have some popcorn, a few beers.”

“Sounds fun. We’ll be there.”

He watched Dean walk off towards the unpopulated end of the camp where they kept their demon prisoners. Lucifer liked to taunt Dean by giving out false information. He left locations for the Colt and Lucifer with one demon and they’d find another demon waiting at one of the locations with more false information. Dean called it Operation Breadcrumb, meaning he thought Lucifer was leading them to something eventually, he just wasn’t entirely sure what that thing was. Probably their deaths.

After years now of that trail, Dean had become surprisingly blasé about it. Castiel suspected that was the point. Lucifer planned to make them unconcerned and swoop in and slaughter them all.

He started towards the shooting range once more. Jo was practicing soon despite Dean’s efforts to keep her resting. It would be fun to see if he could distract her before she even got started. They should have the place mostly to themselves, so if things got heated they could let off a little steam in the office Dean had set up there.

Perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly a week later, Dean was working on the engine to one truck when Castiel sidled up to him. He’d been trying to forget what Castiel had told him about Jo and games, mainly because he didn’t think it’d be a good idea to accidentally mention it to Jo, but it was a difficult process. He’d look at her and wonder how she’d gotten to that point.

“I need a tv and a DVD player,” Cas said in a low, urgent voice that was the sort Dean imagined a low-life would use when trying to score some highly illegal drugs.

He glanced askance and bit back a smirk. “A tv and DVD player. You, Cas? Am I hearing you correctly? Did you, or did you not, give a lecture on how television is a vast wasteland designed to turn the human brain into mush? Recently? Like after those episodes of Reno we watched. What happened to having much better things to do with your time?”

“I require it for Jo’s continued comfort,” he explained with an uneasy shifting of his shoulders. “She liked the set-up you and Risa have and has expressed a desire to watch tv in bed with me. I’m not certain what she wishes to watch. Jimmy maintains she’s got some nicely naughty ideas planned. If that’s the case, then I wish to experience them.”

“Or could be she likes lounging around in bed watching tv as downtime.” Most hunters Dean had met admitted to vegging in front of the tv after jobs. It was another way to deal with stress.

He nodded in agreement. “Perhaps. Either way, I wish to procure both items and as you’ve generously acquired several for other people….” He broke off with a sigh.

Dean set his tools down and let his smirk slip free. It quickly grew to a full-blown grin. “It’s just killing you to actually cave on this, isn’t it?”

“It’ll make Jo happy. There’s nothing that says I have to watch any DVD’s when she’s not there. I knew very well that both items could be necessary and I’ll gladly watch whatever she wishes.”

“If you haven’t become a couch potato by now after these years hanging out with me, I doubt you’re in danger of your brain turning to mush.” He wiped his hands on a cloth.

“It was my idea, Dean, not hers. She explained it could be fun to watch tv together in bed and I offered to make that happen.”

Dean called someone to take over, then motioned for Castiel to follow him. For someone who didn’t seem to sunburn, he looked awfully red. On a hunch, he inquired, “Uh-huh. Were you actually in bed when she made that request?”

“There’s that possibility.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunching. That slouched posture still looked alien on him in Dean’s opinion.

“Was she doing something really interesting with her hands or mouth or both at the time?”

Cas turned his gaze up to peer at the sky as though fascinated by the color. After a moment, he replied, “There’s…that possibility as well.”

“So really, Jo wanted a tv and DVD player and suckered you into getting it for her and setting it up in your cabin.”

“That’s not what happened.” His frown was fierce.

Dean laughed and slapped him on the back with one hand. “Man, Cas, that’s exactly what happened! You were under the influence. Happens to the best of us.” He spent a few minutes more kidding him about that, then turned his attention to planning a shopping trip. They needed other items anyway. Might as well make it a good raid. He planned it for the next day, laying out a simple trip to a complex that had been very good to them a few times in the past. With any luck, it hadn’t been hit too badly yet.

They left before dawn, reaching the area by a little after eight. Dean was pleased to see that the stores weren’t too torn up.

“Okay. Alpha team, pick up two tv’s and DVD players. Batteries too, and anything else we might need in the future that’s not already on your ‘get’ list. Cas, go with them. Pick out what you want. Stick around and keep an eye out once you’re done. Beta team, pick up the foodstuffs. Once you’re loaded, get back to camp. Jo, you’re with me and my team.”

“And what are we picking up,” she asked a few minutes later, walking alongside him.

“You get a tv and DVD player, you need things to watch.” He motioned to a building that had a small sign above the door: Movie Rental and Sales.

They swept the building first, made certain there were no surprises, and were soon perusing the shelves, grabbing whatever caught their eye. Dean watched them a moment, then headed to the curtained area at the back of the main room, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket and smoothing it open. He slipped through the curtain, intent on his task. Behind him, he heard a noise, assuming it was Jo or one of the others. “Don’t get started, okay? Porn is a natural, beautiful thing.” When there was no smartass answer that any of his team or Jo would make, he reached for his gun and whirled.

There was a disheveled, dirty woman coming towards him. She reached for him as he brought his gun up, hands ripping the gun from him before he could get a tight grip. Dean pitched over backwards, slamming into one display, items crashing to the floor. He could smell her rank breath, his heart racing in his chest.

Close, she was too close, too fast, too --

“Get off him, bitch!” Jo shot the woman, once in the chest, once in the head, the body hitting the wall and sliding to the floor.

“Hell and damnation,” Dean gasped, scrambling away and pushing himself up to stand.

Jo stood in the curtained doorway. “All clear,” she yelled, in response to a muffled question. “Of course I’m sure. I got her. Guard the damn door like you’re supposed to, will you?”

Dean took a couple deep breaths. “Thanks, Jo.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, stepped the rest of the way through the curtain, studied the blood splatter on the wall, and moved to join him. “I save your butt and what do I see? That your love for porn remains intact.” She indicated the slip of paper in his hand. “Tell me that isn’t a shopping list.”

“It could be.”

Tugging it from his fingers, she read through it, then handed it back. “That’s not your handwriting.”

He shoved it in his jacket pocket. “It’s Risa’s birthday list, okay? I don’t celebrate mine anymore, but she wants a little fuss made for hers.”

“She wants porn for her birthday?”

“She wants one movie and it’s one of those artsy women’s porn titles.” He adjusted his jacket. “Besides, porn can be used to enhance the healthy sex life of a couple if both parties agree to the use of it.”

“Sure.” It looked like she didn’t believe him, her lips turning up in that smug little smirk she had. Reaching out, she grabbed one of the fabric shopping bags hanging on the wall and started putting DVD’s into it.

“What are you doing?” He crossed his arms. There didn’t appear to be rhyme or reason to her selections.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Shopping.”

“Bingo!”

“You’re stealing porn.” Somehow, he’d never pictured Jo getting porn. Being in a porno in his head, yeah. Watching it herself? Nope.

She glanced at him. “Of course I am. Haven’t you heard? Porn can be used to enhance the healthy sex life of a couple if both parties agree to the use of it.” She snapped her fingers several times. “Thought you were up to the minute on these things.”

“Cute, Jo. Real cute.” Dean rolled his eyes. “Is Cas aware you’ve got porn planned?”

“Somehow, I don’t think he’ll object,” was her dry reply. “Besides, I don’t have just porn planned. I have mock-the-porn planned and if, in the process of mocking it, it causes a rise, then all the better.”

Now that was more what he expected from her. “You’re going to make him watch porn to mock it?”

“I can’t make Castiel do anything, Dean. Seriously though, with titles like these, they just cry out to be mocked. ‘Edward Penishands’? Really? Tell me that’s not a prime contender for mockery.” She crouched down to pick out more titles.

Suddenly, her criteria was obvious. “What could have been…” he murmured.

Jo glanced up. “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

When she’d filled the bag, she stood. “Mockery will definitely commence in a few hours.”

“And probably something else as well.”

“That’s the plan.” She sashayed to the doorway and through it. There was no other way to describe that wiggling walk. Dean shook his head and followed her.

They were almost to the outer door when it opened and a man poked his head in. “Uh, Dean? Everything’s loaded and we need to haul ass. Watch team reports nine Croats heading this way on foot. Fast.”

“Thanks, Alex.” Dean followed Jo to the truck, glad to see that she kept going to it rather than stop, whirl, and shoot at the Croats that rounded the corner behind them. The last thing he needed was to have to leave her because she did something stupid. The watch team was in place for a reason and he was glad to see she realized it.

She reached the passenger side where Castiel waited and Dean saw Cas grab her hips and hoist her up into the truck. He reached the truck himself, climbing in and starting it up amid the sound of gunfire from the back.

Just because they made runs all the time didn’t mean it was ever easy.

There were more Croats attempting to block the way out, but they got through them and back on the road back to the camp. This time, it didn’t appear that they’d lost anyone.

When the immediate danger had passed, Jo relaxed back in the seat and sighed. “You sure know how to show a girl a good time.”

Though Cas leaned close to Jo, his voice was loud enough for Dean to hear the reply. “I’ll show you an even better time when we get back. I plan to have you screaming my name in under a minute once we’re alone.”

She giggled.

Dean blinked. He’d never heard her giggle before and that was an honest giggle.

She shifted a little on the seat, hand dropping to Castiel’s thigh. “Tease.”

Cas made one of those revolting purring noises he’d made that day by the clotheslines. “I told you before, I never tease without delivering. You’re gonna get the bonus plan, baby.”

Dean cleared his throat. “You two do realize you’re not alone in here right?”

“Did we make you uncomfortable? I apologize,” Cas said, looking around Jo at him.

“Just…keep it in your pants, okay there, stud?”

Jo snickered.

When they returned, Dean wasn’t surprised when Cas asked if they could take a two hour long break before setting up the tv and DVD in his cabin. He had no trouble figuring out just what Cas and Jo were going to be doing.

~~~~~~~~~~

Risa studied the map on the table, then the pages of the open books. She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t see it, Castiel. There’s not a single road or town or anything with that name in this state. Not now or ever if I’m reading these right.”

“I concur. Another demon, another lie. What a surprise.”

She opened another book, skimmed the table of contents, decided it was useless for her search and shut it again, standing and stretching. They’d been researching the information the demon had given Dean with no luck. “No place, no Colt. Why are you all so sure it’ll work anyway?”

“We’re not.” He reached out one hand and closed the books, stacking them in a neat pile. “It’s the only idea we have aside from Michael and you’re aware how that turned out.”

She was. Risa had been there when Dean had called out, heard the desperation in his voice, witnessed his bitter, regretful tears when what he’d expected hadn’t happened. The archangel hadn’t answered and Dean had stayed in a drunken stupor for over a week after.

Risa was aware of more than Dean realized. She knew Castiel had once been an angel and that he claimed he was no longer one, essentially human. She knew about demonic hosts and angelic vessels and the difference between them. Risa had heard a lot by simply keeping her mouth shut and ears open. Like who Sam was and what had happened to him. Dean avoided talking about it and she knew why. He disliked talking about things that caused him pain and she never let on that she knew. She wanted him to tell her himself someday. The only reason she knew about it was courtesy of one of those drunken discussions Castiel and Dean sometimes engaged in late at night. She didn’t think either realized how much had been said.

What she didn’t know was how he’d met Castiel and how they’d become as close as brothers. Right now might be the perfect time to chat with Castiel about it. Dean was sleeping in and wouldn’t likely interrupt them. She returned to her chair. “Can we talk?”

“Thought we were already,” he replied, rolling up the map they’d been studying and putting it away in a tube.

“No, I mean about you and Dean.”

Castiel paused, eyed her a long moment, then nodded. “I reserve the right not to answer.” He put the tube with all of the others.

She nodded her assent, though he did that normally when he didn’t want to answer a question. He had ignoring questions down to an art form. “Fine. How did you meet?”

“The first time or the time face to face that he remembers fully?”

Risa hesitated, suspecting there was much involved in both times that she should know. “Both.”

Castiel took the chair across from hers. “Why do you want to know,” he countered.

“You’re his closest friend here, practically a brother. I’d like to know how that came about.”

“You should ask Dean.”

“I have. He won’t talk about it.” She studied him. He didn’t appear terribly concerned about her reasons for asking, merely curious.

“And you think I will?”

Shrugging, she glanced at the door and back at him. “I think that that part of your shared past doesn’t cause you nearly as much pain as it does Dean. I think your pain came later and I think to fully understand your friendship I need to know the truth.”

“Perceptive, except you don’t really mean to understand, Risa. You mean to attempt to negate your jealousy.”

The truth was uncomfortable and she shifted. “Castiel --”

“No, it’s okay. There’s no need to deny it. I understand. I take a lot of Dean’s time away from you. He tells me things he’d probably never tell you. It’s only natural that you’d be jealous.”

She bit her lip and drew in a sharp breath. “He’s my husband. He knows my past, all of it, and for me to not know part of his…. It’s like a secret between us.”

“I shouldn’t tell you without his consent.”

“Please.”

Tipping his chair back, he crossed his ankles on the table and clasped his hands on his stomach. “Bear with me for a moment, all right? I need to get a proper reference of where to begin. Did he ever mention the hellhounds to you?”

She thought about what Dean had mentioned and nodded. “Briefly. He said that hellhounds attacked him, dragged him off to hell, and he was rescued later.”

“Any details?”

“Like what?”

“Like how he was rescued?”

“No.” Dean had glossed over that part of his past as quickly as possible, his voice tight with tension and emotion, skipping months at a time in his narrative. “He basically said that a lot of things happened after that that shouldn’t have and Lucifer was freed.”

Castiel stared at the ceiling a moment and when he returned his gaze to her, his stare was piercing. “That handprint seared into his flesh is mine.” He held up one hand and as he continued, he raised it in the air. “I snatched him from the fires of eternal damnation and raised him back to life.” Now he lowered his hand back down. “As far as I know, he doesn’t really remember that part, only waking in his grave.”

It was due to Castiel that she had her husband at all. Risa swallowed hard at that, feeling like the biggest ungrateful bitch in the world for how she’d sometimes treated Castiel.

“It could have been any of us in the garrison that grabbed him,” he said, almost as though she’d said that out loud. “I just happened to reach him first. If he does remember, he’s never mentioned it to me. I don’t believe he does because when we met later, he didn’t appear to know me.” He watched her, not even seeming to blink. “I tried to talk to Dean immediately after he raised up and couldn’t in my true form. I was vesseled up for our next meeting. He and Bobby did a summoning and we met for the second time.” He tilted his head to one side. “There’s quite a bit to tell if you wish to know how we got where we are today and I don’t believe we’ve the time before Dean wakes. Simply put, the road we’ve traveled together has been a long one. I fell because I believed Dean was right, became his friend and ally in his efforts to stop the Apocalypse, and when I really lost everything I’d ever known and became human, he was more friend and family to me than my brethren had been. Is that enough Risa? Are you now able to begin understanding?”

She nodded. “I…it’s enough for now.” She looked at him with new eyes and saw, not an irritating obstacle between her and Dean, but a rock that had somehow kept Dean going. Dean, in return, had been Castiel’s rock. She saw bitterness beneath his overall manner, but not regret. After all that had happened to him and to Dean, both together and singly, he didn’t regret the journey itself. He didn’t regret it and she wondered why. Most would. Most would have their bitterness wrapped up with regret, all tied together in a neat bow.

Maybe another time she’d ask him.

He removed his feet from the table top and got up from the chair. “Think about what I told you. If you’re still curious, I’ll answer basic questions, but if you want details, you go to Dean. Agreed?”

“Thank you.”

With a final nod, he left the cabin and Risa pondered what he’d told her.