Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned

Act I:

“You’re a very beautiful woman, Joanna.” Castiel’s earnest stare should have been at least somewhat disconcerting, yet Jo was quite comfortable with him watching her so closely. He didn’t say the words in a lustful way, only like they were a fact he’d noticed.

“Thanks.” What a random compliment, she thought. They were standing together on the far side of the bar. Her mother, Sam, and Dean were on the other side. There were others present in the establishment, but Jo felt like the party going on was only theirs. They’d a right to be celebrating, with Lucifer back in hell and the state of the world creeping back to normal. Or whatever passed for normal. “You can just call me Jo. Only my mom calls me Joanna and then she does it when she’s mad at me or wants to make a point.”

“Jo.” He nodded once. “It wasn’t a random compliment I presented to you.”

“Excuse me?” Taking a step back, she glanced him over again. Tousled hair, handsome features, suit and raincoat that were wrinkled. The gruff voice of a tough gangster from a bad Forties movie. One of Dean’s friends. That was how he’d been introduced. Castiel, Cas for short, a friend of Dean’s. At the time she’d merely nodded, hoping to spend some time with Dean. That hope had fallen flat as the afternoon slipped into night.

Dean was avoiding her. He wasn’t even being particularly subtle about it either, which both hurt and pissed her off.

“You were watching Dean flirt with that woman over there a moment ago and began feeling insecure about your appearance. You shouldn’t be. Many men find you exceedingly attractive.”

Blinking several times, she took that in and ventured, “You’re a psychic, then?”

“Not at all. I’m an angel.”

Said matter-of-factly, with a solemnity that proclaimed he really believed it. Knowing all she knew now, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. At times, the things Jo knew about the world freaked her out more than a little. “Right.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“Well,” Jo took a sip of her beer, then shrugged. “There are demons and I know they’re real, so I should believe in angels, too, but Dean personally knowing an angel? Hanging out with one on a regular basis? Bends the mind. I’ve never thought of Dean as the sort of friend an angel would choose. I mean, he can cuss like a champ, drink like a fish, and find a willing woman in a twenty foot radius wherever he goes. Not exactly attributes I’d think a heavenly being would actively look for.”

“Dean knows several angels. He knew Uriel. He knows me, Zachariah, Gabriel, Raphael -- that was only a brief meeting --, and Anna. He got to know Anna very well.”

“Anna?” Count on Dean to find one female angel in the bunch, Jo decided with a peevish frown.

“In the backseat of his car.”

The backseat? Jo crossed her arms. “Nice. Backseat. Great. That’s a mental picture I didn’t want.”

Castiel tilted his head to one side, lips parting and brows drawing together. “I’ve made you jealous. My apologies. That wasn’t my intention, Jo. While Anna and Dean’s relationship did take a physical turn --”

“He screwed an angel, you mean?”

“--it has no bearing on the present.”

“Seriously? Dean sweet talked an angel onto her back?” Jo couldn’t keep the edge from her voice. He’d go after an angel yet tell Jo it was the wrong place and time? That sure made her feel attractive. The hurt inside her seemed to increase ten-fold.

Alarm flared in his eyes, as though he’d realized he’d said something wrong. “She’s in his past now.”

“Guys always say that, usually to get in a girl’s pants.”

He blinked. “That’s absurd. No grown man would fit in your pants.”

Jo gaped at him.

He stared back. “Dean and Sam both look at me that way sometimes. What did I say?”

Slowly, Jo turned and walked away, shaking her head. Unbelievable.

~~~~~~~~~~

Castiel didn’t understand what he’d said to make her walk away. He thought back over the conversation and still didn’t understand it. Just when he thought he had human interaction down, something like this happened and it was apparent he understood nothing. Dean kept telling him he had to learn to make small talk if he was sticking around.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to stay. He did have the choice, which was a bizarre thing all by itself. Why was he given the choice? Gabriel wouldn’t say, skirting the issue when Castiel had tried to bring it up.

Choosing ones own punishment was difficult.

Once the decision was made, there was no going back. After his actions during the Apocalypse, the choice of reprimand given to him was generous. More than generous, really. It was absurdly light considering how rebellion was usually punished. He could either return and face what he’d done immediately -- recalled from duty --, or live on earth for the approximation of one average human lifetime with limited powers before returning. Either way, he’d be recalled, yet he’d also be forgiven. That fact had been stressed by Gabriel.

Gabriel the prankster acting in an official capacity after a long time away. Why had Gabriel been chosen to come to him?

He had two days left before he had to tell Gabriel which he’d accepted as his sentence. Two days to wonder, think, second guess, and agonize. Two days to decide if he wanted to spend years more with humans. Mostly powerless. Essentially human the entire time. Why was he even having trouble making the decision? He’d disliked that powerless state he’d been in briefly, yet here he was considering extending it?

Castiel hadn’t told Dean or Sam about his choices. It was his decision to make and he didn’t want them influencing him either way.

Dean approached, holding out a bottle of beer to him. Cas took it. It didn’t matter if he liked the beverage or not. Dean would hand him coffee or beer depending on the time of day no matter what Cas said. “What did you say to her? She looks pissed.”

“I have no idea what I said.” He shook his head. “We were discussing your angelic acquaintances, I mentioned Anna, and she became upset.”

“Mmm.” Dean watched Jo a moment. Castiel wanted to know what Dean was thinking, but in yet another one of those personal space talks, of which they’d had several, Dean had told him it wasn’t polite to listen in on his thoughts, so he refrained. “Don’t mention Anna next time.”

“I won’t.”

“Learn from your mistakes.”

“I’m trying. It’s a never ending task. Was it mentioning Anna that upset her then?”

“Depends on what you said about Anna.”

Castiel ignored Dean’s raised brows. He decided he shouldn’t mention to Dean what he’d said to Jo on the subject of Anna. “Should I try talking to her again?” He wanted to. He felt comfortable talking to her. Her mother, Ellen, was a different matter. Cas looked at her and couldn’t seem to breathe or get any words out at all. His stomach lurched at the thought of spending time with Ellen. Jo though….

Ever since she’s entered the bar, she’d seemed intent on keeping herself off alone, apart from their group. She felt isolated, uncertain of her future, and very, very sad. He could relate to all of those. To him, she felt safe.

Turning his head, he looked at her. She’d moved to a video game, playing it by herself, shifting her weight from side to side, hips swaying. He watched that sway, wetting his lips with his tongue. Castiel decided that he could easily like Jo.

“Kind of cute, isn’t she,” Dean asked, smacking him on the arm.

“Jo Harvelle is quite attractive,” Cas confirmed.

“Damn straight.” Dean clinked their beer bottles together once, then headed back to Sam and Ellen.

Castiel decided to talk to Jo again. This time, he wouldn’t mention Anna.

~~~~~~~~~~

From his vantage point where Castiel wouldn’t sense or notice him, Gabriel watched him talk to Jo Harvelle. He rolled his eyes. Boy, regular smooth talker he was. With a snap of his fingers, Gabriel made things far more interesting on several levels.

~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re still concerned with your appearance.”

Jo gasped, then coughed as her swallow of beer went down the wrong way. “You again.”

“You needn’t be concerned. You’ve a symmetry of features that is pleasing to the eye. Symmetry is beautiful. Your eyes show intelligence, humor, your emotions, and occasionally your insecurities, though those are masked well from human perception.”

“Is that so?”

“It is. Your brows are a fine arch, your nose straight, and mouth…” He paused, eyes widening a fraction.

“What about my mouth?” She was curious as to what he was going to say.

“It’s a well-shaped mouth.” His gaze slipped down her, but not in a sleazy fashion. “You’ve kept your body in good repair. You’re well-proportioned in height, weight, length of limbs, and while you sometimes wish your breasts were bigger, they are a perfect size for your proportions.” His attention stalled on her breasts and he swallowed hard, twin spots of color on his cheeks.

I just made an angel blush, she thought. That’s kind of cool.

Cas’s lips parted, brow furrowing. “You have…exceptional breasts, Jo.”

“Quite a pronouncement from a guy who hasn’t seen me naked. Are you hitting on me?”

He took a step back. “I’ve not struck you.”

“No, I mean are you coming on to me?”

Confusion flickered in his eyes. “I’m not fully certain what you’re inferring.”

She arched a brow. “Are you trying to get me into bed, angel boy?” There were drops of sweat on his brow.

“You don’t appear tired.”

“The horizontal mambo?”

“I don’t understand.”

He didn’t either. There was a distinct lack of comprehension in his eyes. “Seriously?”

“Will you explain it to me,” he asked with an interested expression his face, as though he was eager for an explanation of this thing he didn’t understand.

Jo sighed. How was it possible to hang out with Dean and not understand these things? She shook her head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because…that’s just too weird even for me.” Turning, she joined Sam at the table, keeping Cas in view out of the corner of her eye. He was a little weird maybe, but seemed like a nice enough guy. She felt strangely comfortable with him. Safe even. She decided to ask Sam a little about him.

~~~~~~~~~~

His intention in starting the second conversation with more comments on her appearance was to put her at ease. After all, he’d seen Dean do that, right? But somewhere along the way, he’d completely messed it up. He could tell that much by the odd look in her eyes. No need to listen in on her thoughts at all. And that mention of her breasts? Might have been fine if he hadn’t taken the time to really look.

Look. Observe. Notice, see, perceive, take in, scrutinize, study, examine… and realize he meant the compliment he was giving in such a complete way that it made his body feel different than it had. In seconds, he was sweating, stomach churning in the way it did when he thought about talking to Ellen. Jo said he hadn’t seen her naked, yet in his mind was a sudden image of her just that way.

What was happening to him?

All of a sudden he felt…. He felt.

Castiel’s glance lifted to her mouth as she spoke. He wanted…. What did he want? He wanted to put his hands on her naked flesh, drag them along her body and see if her skin was as soft as he thought it’d be. He wanted her mouth…. His imagery was incomplete and he searched his knowledge, wishing Jimmy were there to drag awake for answers.

Would she explain what she meant? No, she refused, leaving him curious, contemplating her, those images invading his mind, and that physical response he seemed to be having to her. When Dean had taken him to that brothel he’d had similar sensations, but nothing of this magnitude.

What he did know was that these physical sensations weren’t all bad. Those thoughts of her naked made him feel quite…good.

Castiel chugged down that beer Dean had handed him, set the empty bottle on the bar, and went in search of Dean for explanations.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dean perused the songs listed, finding nary a one he wanted to listen to and several Jo would like. Why not, he decided, dropping change into the slot and picking a few. Turning, he found Cas disregarding his personal space again, his eyes wide with panic and breaths fast. “Cas?”

“I’m ill. It’s the only explanation.”

“What’s wrong?”

“This body has become ill in a strange way and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Fix what?” Placing his hands on Castiel’s shoulders, Dean nudged him back a few steps. “What are your symptoms?”

“It began as I was talking to Jo. I started sweating for no reason. I felt extremely warm, my heart pounding. Her mouth…. I wanted to…. Have you looked at her mouth, Dean? It’s very…. I don’t know what word I’m looking for.”

“Kissable,” he guessed based on what Cas had said so far.

“Is it?”

“I’ve thought so. Anything else?”

“I looked at her breasts and had the strangest thought that it’d be most pleasurable to touch them. Then I started imagining her naked and…more, which created another rather localized physical response in the groin area.”

Dean almost laughed. Almost. Yet somehow he held it in. Cas couldn’t even get to the imagining and erection stage with a woman in a whorehouse, but less than ten minutes of conversation with Jo and he was there? There must be something about Jo he just clicked with. Hmmph. Stand in line, pal, he thought. “You’re not ill, Cas. You’re attracted to her.”

“Of course I am. She’s an exceptional human, like you.”

Now Dean laughed and shook his head. “Um…not like me. You’re sexually attracted to her.” He could actually see the comprehension dawning.

He glanced at Jo and back at Dean. “I see. This is what you took me to that den of iniquity to experience?”

“Absolutely.”

“But I feel ill in my stomach. This is good?” His eyes narrowed a fraction.

“It’s part of the process. Palms sweating, stomach churning, imagining her naked, imagining what you want to do with her…. All a part of it. Next thing you know, you’ll be getting a hard-on at an inopportune moment and will have to pretend you don’t have one when all you really want to do is lay her down on the nearest semi-flat surface and do the horizontal mambo.” He knew he certainly felt all of that when around her.

“The horizontal mambo is sex?” More comprehension.

“Sure is.”

“She thinks I was attempting to maneuver her into sex.”

Did she say it or think it, he wondered. “Jo said that?”

“She did.”

Nodding, he placed a hand on Cas’s shoulder. “Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?”

“You do want to have sex with Jo.” And so would any red-blooded male in his right mind. At least in Dean’s opinion.

“I do? Should I?”

“You do want to. That, uh, ‘localized physical response in the groin area’? It’s called a hard-on. As for sex…only if she says yes.” He raised a finger to emphasize his next words. “No means no. Always wear a condom.” He doubted Jo would agree if it came down to actual ‘yes’ or ‘no’, so he felt fairly safe giving that advice. Besides, what harm was there in letting Cas get some experience flirting with a woman? Jo was a terrific flirt when the mood struck her. It’d be good for him.

“What if I make her mad again?”

“Duck. She has terrific aim. That I know.” Dean gestured in Jo’s direction. “On the bright side, if she says yes then you’re in for a fun night.” In his fantasies, Jo was always fun…and sexy, wild…pick an adjective.

“You have no factual basis for that statement, Dean. You’ve not had sex with her.”

He opened his mouth to comment, closed it, and tried again. “True. That’s very true, but look at her. How could she be anything but a fun time, huh?”

“I should go talk to her again, then?”

“Definitely.” Dean wondered how Jo was going to handle Cas’s attraction to her. Hopefully, she’d be gentle letting him down if it came to that, though to be fair, Cas didn’t seem to understand rejection like men everywhere did. He rather suspected Cas would simply nod and continue whatever other conversation they’d been having up to that point. He watched and waited for the rejection scene he knew would eventually be coming. Maybe he should have warned Cas about that….

Nah. He had to learn some time.

~~~~~~~~~~

“It has come to my attention that I’m sexually attracted to you.”

At least this time Jo didn’t choke on her beer. She had yet to take another drink. “Did Dean put you up to this?”

“No. However, I was uncertain what my physical symptoms meant until I spoke with him.”

“Physical symptoms?” This ought to be good, she thought.

“The sweating, pounding heart, and what Dean refers to as a hard-on.”

Automatically, Jo glanced down at his crotch, but his coat was covering the area. “Really?”

“Yes. He says I should have sex with you.”

And once more, Dean Winchester left her breathless, but not in a good way. Jo flicked her attention to him. He was watching them. She had the urge to flip him off. “Did he?” No, she decided, she didn’t want to flip him off, she wanted to punch him and maybe kick him in the head for good measure.

“He did.” Cas’s brows rose. “You’re angry. Did I make you angry? I didn’t wish to --”

“Oh, it’s not you.”

“You’re upset with Dean then?”

Jo set her beer down and crossed her arms. This reunion was definitely not going the way she’d hoped it would. “For a guy who acts like he likes me, Dean can be amazingly infuriating.”

“He cares about you very much. He’s concerned for your welfare and only wishes your happiness.”

“Is that so?” Jo slid up on one stool and patted the one beside her in invitation as ‘I Can’t Fight This Feeling’ began to play on the sound system. How oddly appropriate. She was having the feeling she wanted to strangle Dean and not fight that urge. “So what exactly did Dean say to you, Cas?”

Joining her, he took that stool she’d patted, but turned to face her instead of the bar. “He said that if you say yes I should wear a condom.”

“Okay, besides that.”

“He confirmed that what I’ve been feeling is sexual attraction.”

“Mmm.” Jo nodded, took a long pull off her beer, and swiveled on the stool to face him. “So he gave you his blessing to hook up with me,” she placed a hand on his knee, “and have lots of sex?”

“Hook up?”

“Get together,” she clarified, with a sweet smile.

“He said you’d be a fun time.”

“Did he?” This she could only bite out through a clenched jaw.

His reply was slow in coming and he swallowed several times first. “He did.”

Jo’s fingers contracted, digging into his leg for several seconds before she forced herself to unclench. “Okay.” She smoothed his coat with both hands. “Dean do this often for you?”

“Do what?”

“Try to get you laid?”

“Laid?” He thought about it a moment. “Oh, yes, laid means sex. Yes. We went to an adult establishment for the purpose of sex a few months ago.”

“And?” She loosened his tie a bit more, opening the collar of his shirt to expose his skin.

“I became distracted by the personal information I was privy to regarding the young woman I went in the back with and we were encouraged to leave.”

“You struck out.” Jo drew one finger along the line of his jaw. “Poor baby.”

“I didn’t have sex, no.”

“So instead of taking you to another brothel, he points you in my direction. That’s flattering.” Her tone would have made any other man cringe, but not him. He seemed oblivious.

“You’re still angry.” One hand raised, catching hold of the hand she had at his jaw. “Don’t be angry, Jo.”

“It’s just…I know how to pick ‘em. You know that? I head for the jerks every time. It’s like I’ve got this internal radar that picks up only jerks.”

“Dean is stubborn and opinionated, but I don’t believe he’s a jerk.”

“What about you, Cas? Are you a jerk?”

“I’m an angel. Dean says most angels are dicks, not jerks.”

The laugh that came was not a quiet little giggle, but rather a loud, boisterous explosion of honest mirth. When it had faded, Jo reached for her beer and drank the last of it. “You actually seem pretty nice. Do you really think I’m beautiful?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“That’s a switch, because most guys lie through their teeth to get girl on her back.” Retrieving her hand from his, she sat back. Jo rested her arms on the bar. “Look, Cas, you seem really sweet, but I don’t pick up guys in bars even if they’re someone Sam would vouch for, so…no hooking up with me. Sorry.”

He nodded. “I believe I understand.”

She snuck another glance at Dean. He was frowning, still watching them. “But if you’re willing, I just had an idea. Come here.” She beckoned for him to lean over and put her mouth close to his ear, telling him what to do and say. “Got it?”

Cas nodded. “I’ll meet you there.”

~~~~~~~~~~

What the hell was going on over there? First Jo seemed angry, then she was all happy and relaxed. Weird. Dean straightened as Cas crossed to him.

“I must procure condoms,” Cas announced, loud enough that Dean saw Ellen’s brows raise, a speculative glint in her eyes.

“She said yes,” he blurted out, turning his head to watch Jo leave the bar. Was it his imagination or was that a smirk she directed his way as she stepped out the door?

“She said to bring at least six and we’ll have a good time.”

“Six,” Dean repeated.

“Is that a lot?”

Dean chugged his beer, then slammed the bottle onto the table.

“You’re jealous.”

“She never said yes to me.”

“You never asked her.”

Beside the point, he thought.

“Therefore,” Cas continued, “you’ve no reason for anger.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dean started to turn away, stopped by Cas’s hand on his arm. “What,” he snapped.

“Do you have six condoms in your room? I want a good time.”

“Help yourself.” This, he decided, was the suckiest reunion ever.