Reasons

How to flush birds

15. How to flush birds

Stones are not enough

The door jumped open and three men entered the room. All three of them were dirty from head to toe, covered in black dust and slivers of glass and wood.

"Oh god, I'm so hungry." Dean threw his duffle bag onto the bed and fell beside it, stretching his limbs. His brother granted him a sympathetic look.

"You need to get your food by yourself, I can barely move my legs." The younger Winchester commented and yawned lazily while walking towards the closed door separating this room from the bathroom.

"I seriously need a shower before falling asleep."

"Yeah, whatever, Sammy." Another yawn echoed through the room. Both brothers were so busy complaining about themselves that they completely ignored the dusted angel who was still standing next to the door which he had closed quietly.

The three of them had searched every inch of the burned remains of the house. They had moved broken wooden beams, pipes, got soaked wet by liquids only god knew what they were made of and occasionally got smitten by cement slabs. Their reward was quite sobering. They had not found one tiny piece of evidence.
 

Nothing at all!
 

At one point, Sam had become that frustrated that he had started to tear a found raven feather into tiny pieces. The same went for Dean.

The only one who had been patient and calm the whole time while crawling through all that dirt and dust and more dirt was Castiel. With that stoic expression of his the angel had continued searching for any possible leads, no matter how small the evidence might have been, but even he had failed to find something.
 

Anything!
 

When the clock had stricken nine, the three men had given up. The sun had already started to sink and they were convinced they would not find anything in the dark they had not found during the day.

Now, Dean was lying on a bed in some random motel somewhere in Wayne. He was too exhausted to get himself something to eat, but he really needed to.

Lazily, he pulled himself up onto his elbows, taking in his surroundings. Now, he finally noticed the angel standing around as if he was waiting for something.

"Dammit Cas. Don't just stand there. Aren't you tired?" The angel turned his head towards the older Winchester, looking at him for a second, before answering.
 

"No."
 

Oh yeah, that was a hell of an answer, buddy! Dean sighed deep within his throat when he fell backwards again. Since their last little encounter, Castiel had not spoken much. Well, he never said much, but even for him 'no' and 'yes' was just few.

"Did you forget how to speak or did you reduce your vocab to those two words now?" Dean spit out.
 

"No."
 

The older hunter rolled his eyes and growled dark. That's it, he thought and forced himself up, one more time.

Staring at Castiel, he stood up and started to take off his dirty clothes.

"You know what, Cas? Blow me! I'm serious. I'm tired of this. Just fly out or do whatever you're doing usually when you're not around, but stop this shit!"

He shrugged off his jacket and opened the tie, very well aware that some certain angel was still there. He started unbuttoning his button-down and threw the first garments next to his bag.

As he noticed Castiel not moving a muscle, he remembered. He had told the angel twice to not waste any of his mojo for something stupid. The insight made him growl even more and he turned his back towards the still staring angel.
 

"Sam, hurry up!" he yelled while walking towards the bathroom door, forcefully knocking against it. All he got as a response was the increasing sound of the shower.

His brother was not done yet and would enjoy the clean water way longer than needed just to piss him off more.

Dean disliked the idea to stay smelly just for the sake of sleep, but if his fussy little brother needed to clean every inch of himself for the next half an hour, he would stick to sleep now and shower later.

When he finally brought his attention back towards Castiel, he noticed that the angel had eventually moved from the door and had taken a few steps towards the hunter. Nearly deliberating if he should close the space or not.

The hunter stayed put and observed the other man. His trench coat was partly soaked and partly smeared with black coal. Cleaning time. Either they bought the angel some more clothing or he had to show him how a washing machine worked.

Teaching the angel that was nothing he wanted to do, though.

Not at all! While Dean was busy spacing out and fantasizing about things he needed to teach the more and more human becoming angel, he barely noticed that this very angel had finally overcome his hesitance and closed the gap between them, stopping only inches before him.

"Do you wanna make out or smite me some more?" Dean spit out. If he let the silence fell over them again, he knew what would happen.
 

Even though he was aware that Castiel would take him way too serious if he kept talking like this he needed words right now, but the angel did not respond in any way.

He kept staring at him. Watching the human breathe, gulp and lick his dry lips in front of him. That staring! Always staring at him.

Like he was a miracle or a hallucination, but nothing real. Nothing he could touch, grasp and hold onto.

The hunter realized he had lost again when his thoughts settled around the idea, what kind of blue the angel's eyes could be.

Calling them blue was not even close to what they seemed to look like for him. It was weird enough to even waste time thinking about another man's eye color.

Blue is the color of the deep blue sea. I hate that stupid kid's song.

Feeling a shiver running down his spine at the thought he lifted his right hand and patted the angel on the shoulder.
 

If mood swings were only for women, Dean did not know how to call his own behavior these days. With a snuck grin on his lips he squeezed the angel's shoulder.

"Cas, stop making a drooling brain dead zombie outta me! You're gonna kill me one day."

His words hit something. Dean did not know what exactly caused it, but he could see a slight twitch on Castiel's face before he lowered his gaze and cut the connection which had established between their eyes.

The blue was gone.

A heavy sigh escaped him. Yeah, a hero at words, Dean thought and nearly lowered his chin on top of the lightly smaller man in front of him, when something stung his nostrils.

Dean wrinkled his nose as the scent of Castiel's hair and clothes.

"Dude, if Sam ever gets his beauty shower done, you go in there next! You smell like you got roasted for too long." He kept talking since it felt weird enough to be standing so close again. On the other hand, he did not even know why it felt wrong in the first place.

Castiel was the one walking up towards him.
 

It was not like he forced the angel or anything so why was he worried about standing close anyway? Because you're still the one who corrupted him Dean Winchester! You gave him an inch and now he wants to take the yard. Or maybe he has his own reasons to do so and you're not even part of those real reasons? Why is that bitch takin' so long? The hunter reached up slowly and grabbed the angel's other shoulder too.

"Hey Cas, you should take that thing off. It smells like garbage and you won't need it anytime soon." Being the only one talking here made the hunter feel more and more uncomfortable. Like he had forbidden the angel to talk or had insulted him so he refused to say anything anymore. Castiel raised his head and met the Winchester's gaze.

"Talk to me man!" Dean's patience died quickly again. It was annoying to talk without getting any kind of response, but maybe Castiel had already said way too much and would stay silent like this from now on?

"You've been friggin' loud once so c'mon! Don't make me push you off a cliff to hear you say something!" He increased the grip on the angel's shoulder and, without noticing, pressing the angel's chest closer.

"If I feel the need to talk, I will, Dean." The voice was low and calm. The hunter nearly held his breath at the angel's words, but the meaning rushed past him. The sound was way more important and shut him up for a moment.
 

When the door next to them opened, Dean did not even jump or tried to hide anything. The hard stare of the angel was confusing and claiming his attention way too much to bother. They were not doing anything he needed to hide in the first place, but if he was right, Sam already knew more than he knew himself so denying was also useless.

"You guys seriously need a single room for yourselves!" Sam said while leaving the bathroom, shaking his head and slightly grinning to himself.

First you beat each other up and later you make up for it?

"You got some serious problems guys." He only spoke out loud the last part of his thoughts while drying his hair with a small towel: feeling fresh and clean again after crawling through coal and dust all day.

"Shut up bitch. Or we start talking about your problems." Dean let go of the angel and sat down on the bed, running a hand through his hair when the hard rock tunes of his cell phone ripped him out of his cursing-baby-brother-state.

While reaching for the phone, he lay down onto the bed and sighed in relieve before he answered the call.

"You're gettin' slower pickin' up your phone, boy. I thought I was the old one here." The rough voice of the old hunter came up, but Dean was already way too tired to even sit up again, so he just lay there and listened to what his friend had found out. In the meanwhile, Sam grabbed himself his still pretty dirty shirt and pulled it back over before he fell back onto the bed, throwing a glance at the still lost looking angel.

It was obvious that Castiel did not know what to do and where to go, so he stayed put and waited for anything to happen. The younger hunter shook his head, lay down properly and closed his eyes. His brother would probably do what was best. As long as he could sleep he did not care what these two idiots were doing.

"Fine. Gotcha. See you later Bobby." Dean placed the phone down onto the desk close-by and lowered his head into the pillow before his brothers muffled voice spoke up behind him.

"So anything new?"
 

"Yeah, another murder, a few suicides and someone throwing his boss out of the window. Seems pretty much the whole area went nuts, if you ask me." Dean responded feeling sick at the thought of so many people dying lately, especially in this little town.

His eyes shot open when he remembered that there was still something undone standing nearby and waiting for anything. The eldest Winchester turned his head around and found himself staring at Castiel, who had not moved an inch since he broke the eye contact.

"Cas." he started and managed to slowly sit up again. He pointed towards the bathroom.

"You did it once you can do it again, right? Just go and clean yourself up and take a rest, will ya?" Raking his hand through his short dark hair, he waited for the angel to move a muscle.

Finally, Castiel did as he was told and turned towards the bathroom door, closing it shut behind him and leaving the hunters alone.

Dean placed his head back onto the pillow and let out a relieved sigh. Sam had opened one eye to see if their friend was seriously gone before he continued to speak.
 

"So what do ya think? Witchcraft, black magic, curses, demons? Angels?" Sam was hoping for a proper reply, any kind of clue would have been fine since he had no idea.

"Nope." Dean had already closed his eyes, pressing his face deeper into the soft pillow while he tried to ignore the fact, that the pile of clothing lying next to him was sending waves off unpleasant odors upwards.

"Bobby's got no clue either, yet?" The youngest Winchester kept asking, but it was hopeless. A grunting sound was all he got as a reply and he gave up. Sam slowly drifted away with his thoughts. They would find out what was going on soon.

They always did.

After closing the door behind him, Castiel did not move a muscle. Dean had been right, he smelled and he had noticed it as well. Another indicator for him, that he was becoming more human every day. He disliked it, he even disliked that he disliked something. Castiel shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
 

He felt a strange pressure in his lower half. It was already distracting him for hours. Of his knowledge humans needed to use the facilities for some kind of release. The angel moved his head, looking at the different objects in the room, resting his gaze on the toilet. Castiel sighed, surrendering to his needs.

Slowly, he started undressing himself. When he was done he moved towards the toilet but stopped again, staring at it as if it was a demon in disguise.

Bending down he lifted the lid. Castiel growled deep within his throat. He could not believe he really wanted to do that! For one moment, the angel closed his eyes, contemplating, calming his mind.

Dean shifted to his side, trying to finally fall asleep. However, the hunter was not able to relax until he heard the toilet flushing. He opened one eye lazily and just a second later he could hear the muffled sound of the shower.

The Winchester shifted again. He could need a shower himself but, considering the fact that his baby brother and the angel were using the shower he would probably shower cold. Dean growled. He did not want to shower cold, he needed warmth, at least tonight!
 

While he kept his eyes pressed shut, he concentrated on clearing his thoughts, which made it even worse to stop thinking. I should have headed for the damn shower right in the first place. Damn you comfy looking bed, it's your fault! When he heard a low snore from the other bed he opened his eyes and turned around. Sam never snored, but he did it again when Dean narrowed his eyes.

That's it.

The older hunter sat up again and buried his face in his hand, brushing over his face while the sound of the shower increased a bit. Considering a night sleeping with all the dirt on him and smelling his sweat was just unbearable.

His head slowly turned towards the bathroom door. The light from inside crept into the room, but was not enough to lighten it up.

A bit of steam was dancing in the light and vanished in the much colder air of the main room. Dean had enough.
 

He stood up from the bed, walked towards the bathroom door, took a last view over his shoulder, to see if his brother was still snoring and entered the bathroom.
 

12 Hours earlier, some time past lunch
 

The door swung open and a tall man in uniform entered the small room.

"Brian, how often do I have to tell ya to submit the reports within 24 hours after questioning the suspect? Dammit, man, you're behind, again! I'm not gonna tell ya that a third time, got me? Get yourself together or you can go on annual leave. Unpaid." The man did not even wait for the other to reply.

He simply slammed the door shut again and left the surprised man stare at the wooden door. Brian sighed exhausted and threw his roller ball pen onto his desk. He ran his hands over his face.

"Dammit!" For one moment the only thing he could hear was the sound of bypassing cars and birds. He turned towards the open window and took a look outside. It was quite a sunny and warm day. Children were playing outside, people were taking walks. Apparently, everyone had a free day except for him and his partners. Right, my partners. Brian scratched the back of his head, when he turned his attention back towards the loads of paperwork on his desk. He sighed.

"Here for two friggin' years and doin' nothin' but paperwork." he growled.

"Brian, get the coffee, Brian get the prints, Brian get this, Brian get that... I'm gonna show them what Brian can do!"

Determined, he walked over to the filing cabinet. One of the things one learned at the Police Academy was to lock the gun someplace safe, so nobody could take it without intending to use it. He checked the magazine which he had filled for 10 rounds. He pushed the steel magazine in the gun and pulled back the slide.
 

A small clicking noise told him that the gun was charged. Suddenly, Brian's thoughts were interrupted by loud shouting outside his room. He could see his colleagues rush by, yelling commands and curses. Putting the Glock back onto the shelf he stepped towards the door, opening it and watching his colleagues get armed.

One of the doors toward the questioning rooms opened and his boss stepped into the main working area, followed by three men in suits

"Hey Brian, what are you doin'?" The man turned his head towards a smaller man with dirty brown hair.

"What's goin' on, Jake?" "Some kid went mental at school. All units required." Before Brian could reply his colleague shushed him.

"You stayin' here. You got work to do." he said and continued his way, following the others out of the building.

Brian pulled a grimace, clenching his fists that his knuckles went white.

"Ridiculous." he barked out and turned on his heel, walking back into his small office, slamming the door shut.
 

"You got work to do, of course I do, and nobody else wants to do it, huh? Bloody hell, and that's what's called colleagues. Bite me!" Furious like hell, he pushed the papers off his desk. Brian continued his way toward the cabinet and grabbed his Glock. A smile worked its way onto his lips. "I'm gonna show them what Brian can do, what I can do!" With this he headed out his office, out of the station.

Outside he walked straight toward his black Dodge He needed to get out of here.

"Ahh, dammit, you beasty thing, get off my car!" Brian lifted his hands and tried to scare the raven off his car. The gigantic bird unfolded its wings to show the man the different shades of black before it took off. Getting in the car he snarled displeased.

"Friggin' birds. Hate 'em!" Starting the engine, he left the parking area, headed downtown.
 

6 Hours later but 6 hours earlier from the Winchester's
 

Brian checked his watch. Again. He had made a game of it, testing himself for how long he was able to resist to not looking down at his wrist.

Just a matter of time, he thought and glared at a group of young boys standing in front of a small shop. For almost four hours Officer Brian Fowley was leaning against a wall in one of Wayne County's bigger shopping malls. He had been watching people passing by, ready to strike if somebody did anything wrong.
 

However, nothing had happened until now. A couple of teens had caught his attention. They were standing in front of the store, discussing something in a very aggressive manner. Every now and then, one of the boys had looked at him, to make sure he did not notice anything. Of course, Brian did notice them and he was aware of their intentions.

They're gonna steal somethin'. C'mon, don't lemme wait, boys.

Finally, after a few minutes, the teens entered the store. With a smug grin, Brian put his hand around his holster. He would wait until they exited the store and then he would catch them. The man smiled proudly. He would be the hero! Everyone would admire him. Suddenly, he could hear somebody yelling and in the next second, three teens just rushed out of the store. The owner in pursuit. Brian's grin faded and he started moving.

"Police, freeze!" He rushed by the store owner, pursuing the teens. He pushed the masses out of his way, jumped over obstacles, but could not reach them. Brian snarled displeased. He grabbed his Glock and twisted the safety switch to unlock the gun. He lifted his hand, aimed and shot.

The loud exploding sound echoed through the mall and everything seemed to freeze: time and people. He was the first one who dared to move again. Stepping closer to the lifeless body, Brian smiled, he was proud. He had caught a thief!
 

"Ey, man, what the hell?" A young man gasped, still shocked about what had just happened. Brian turned his head, expecting cheering and gratitude, but all he could see in the man's face was disgust.

"You shot a kid, man! You friggin' shot a kid!" Somebody else added. "And stop grinning you psycho!" Slowly, the masses started to whisper, closing the circle around the officer and the dead boy in front of him. Brian furrowed his brows.
 

"What? I just caught a thief. So what? Aren't you grateful? Am I not awesome?" he asked, irritated by the people's reactions.

"No man, you just killed a boy. You're sick! And something like you is a cop? Oh my dear god!" An elderly woman knelt down beside the body, putting her freshly bough flowers next to his head.

"I'm sorry boy." she said before she stood up again. When she turned toward the police officer she startled. A couple of people started to scream and her brain finally realized why: She was staring right into the barrel of a gun. Before she could say anything else, Brian pulled the trigger.

When her body hit the ground he started laughing.

"I'm awesome, I've caught a thief, have I not? That's so cool, man! I need to tell that my colleagues. Hey, don't you run away." He moved his armed and pointed at another random person in the crowd before he pulled the trigger one more time.

"Didn't know shooting is that much fun! Should do a lot more of it."

Now, in the middle of the night at the motel

As quiet as possible, Dean closed the door behind him and sighted the bathroom. The pile of the angel's clothes caught his eye first, lying somewhat carefully folded on the toilet seat. The air was damp and hot steam was pouring out from above the shower cubicle. Milk glass prevented him from seeing much, but all he needed to see was the blurred image of the angel's body.

His eyebrows went upwards and he decided for himself that Castiel had not noticed him being in here yet. Lucky me, he thought and turned towards the sink.
 

When a stream of warm water started to brush over his hands and lower arms, a low sigh escaped him.

This had to do for now. While the water kept pouring out he bent forward a bit, closing his eyes for a moment. He felt tired after this long day with all the crawling in dirt and fruitless research.

The mirror above the sink was fogged and he felt the urge need to take a look at his own tired and exhausted face so he reached up and wiped the wet surface partially clean. When he took himself in sight, his ears noticed a difference.
 

The shower had stopped. Dean held his breath for a moment as he stared at the still closed shower cubicle, which noisily creaked open behind him. Castiel's head poked out first, revealing his wet hair and still dripping shoulders.

When he finally noticed the hunter, their eyes locked in the reflection. It only took two seconds before Dean took in a deep breath and lowered his gaze hastily. The sink was way more interesting right now.

"Dean, is there anything you want?" Wet steps moved closer and the Winchester did not need to look to know that Castiel was standing behind him now. The low voice was way too close. Clasping his hands around the sink, he forced himself to not turn around.

"No, thanks. I just thought a shower would help me sleep. I thought you might be done already." It was the worst lie he could come up with, but it seemed to satisfy the angel since he noticed his growing personal space and the sound of a rustling towel.

A sigh of relief escaped him and he felt secure again before the steps approached him once more.

His body stiffened for a second before he noticed the angel's movement to the left and in the corner of his eye, he could see a hand reaching towards the clothes lying on top of the toilet lid.

"I'm done now." the angel said matter-of-factly. With the pile of clothes in his hand, still completely naked he stayed put and waited for another reply of the hunter.

The hot steamy air caused the hunter to wipe off a thin layer of sweat from his face before he turned around slowly.
 

A fake smile on his lips he tried to concentrate on the angel's face. "I can see that." he replied and as his brain decided it was way more important to travel down the angel's bare chest, his eyes got caught by the pile of dirty clothes and his brain started to function once more. "Just take a look in my bag. I'm sure I've got one or two shirts left over. Sam's sleepin' already, so don't worry." he said and kept his sly smile on. The angel did not move at first and kept observing the still half dressed hunter.

As if he was waiting for something else to happen, but when the seconds passed and nobody of them moved a muscle, he turned towards the bathroom door. Dean's wish to take a hot shower slowly decreased as his eyes followed the angel leaving the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

You didn't stare at him. Why did you stare at him? It's not like you don't look awesome yourself, Dean Winchester. You're even better so what? The hunter shook his head and decided to finally get rid of his own smelly clothes.

It was not supposed to feel like that and he should not be embarrassed at all, but even though he knew that, he still felt something hot building up inside him. All he needed now, was a cold shower and maybe afterwards, he could take a hot one.

Dean took his time to get all fresh and clean again.

A shower did wonders sometimes, like washing away a bad mood or bad thoughts and the hunter felt good once more, tired but good.

When he stepped into the main room, a towel properly wrapped around his waist, his eyes automatically searched for a sign of Castiel.
 

That very angel, not really a big surprise, was sitting on the edge of the hunter's bed. Waiting and staring straight forward, not even turning his head when the oldest Winchester walked towards him.

Dean was satisfied to see a not naked angel. It seemed that he had managed to find a fitting shirt and fitting jeans in his bag.

"Dean, there is one thing, that bothered me. All day." Castiel's voice was calm and pretty much aware of the fact that another human was in the room, resting, so he avoided being too loud. The spoken to hunter moved closer, shaking his head in the process, while a few drops of remaining water ran down his right temple.

Whatever the angel was going to say, he probably wanted to avoid his younger brother to overhear their conversation.

"Spit it out already. What is it? You need anything?" While the question left his mouth he immediately regretted asking.
 

"I wondered how the current mission does anything to prevent Lucifer from destroying the world. I was wondering if, in any case, this town and its people had anything to do with the upcoming apocalypse. It doesn't seem necessary to me, to stay here any longer and search for something that is probably not even there." Castiel said, still staring straight forward and not looking up at the hunter.

"You know Cas, we've no idea where Lucifer is, what he's doing and how to stop him. Shall we call for him to come and face us or what do you think shall we do Cas? It's not like we're running from him, but I won't walk straight up to him if he still drools for Sam! And as far as I'm informed, he will always loath for him. We should be glad that whatever is going on here has nothing to do with angels, demons or the devil himself! We're here to do our job. We hunt whatever drives these people mad and kill it. That's what we do Cas. That's our job. To save people!" Dean grew louder and louder with each argument.

He had enough problems. It was not necessary to remind him every damn second, that the world was about to crumble.
 

"I understand." The angel went silent again and raised his head, meeting the hunter's gaze.

He could not see the hunter's face, it was way too dark already, but his senses told him, that the human was angry. Always angry.

"Why didn't you save the boy?" Dean changed the topic. It still bothered him that a possible possessed victim died without the chance to question him.

Besides, the massacre and death was worse enough on its own, but without a clue, they could not prevent more of these murders and suicides.

"I couldn't peril." The oldest hunter stepped forward and stopped right in front of the angel. "Hell, like you care if anyone thinks you're weird or a psychic. You could have tried!"

"I'm not capable to save everyone Dean, neither do I tend to try to do so. Saving a single human won't change anything." Huffing at this statement, the hunter moved past the angel and sat down onto the bed. Throwing the towel from his head onto the ground, he turned his head around to face the other man.

"Yeah right. Just a single human boy." Dean repeated angrily, not even trying to keep his voice low, ignoring the fact, that his brother was occupied sleeping next to them.

"You know what I saw? A boy, with a family. A mom, dad, sister, who will spend the next years paying for what their son did. A bunch of people crying over the loss of beloved ones." He took in an annoyed deep breath before he continued.
 

"Also, he could've helped us to get a friggin' clue in this damn case! We're groping in the dark!"
 

"Coal." Castiel said without even responding to the more important matter.

"What?" Dean was not sure what exactly the other was trying to say, but he felt his anger rise with every further interruption in his speech.
 

"Wood that burns at a high temperature and turns nearly completely black: coal." The hunter hid his face behind his left hand. Why did I even ask?

"Cas, people keep turnin' nuts and killin' whatever they feel like. We need to stop this and if you wanna work with us, help us damnit!"

"You told me, to not waste my 'strength' on unimportant vanities." The angel replied and kept staring straight at the other. Whatever was going on in this town, Castiel did not sense any angel activity nor any sign of Lucifer.

Even if they hid properly, he would have felt anything or sensed even the slightest of their existence, but there was none. There was no need to stay here any longer, people started to go crazy, it could possibly affect the Winchester brothers too.

It could affect Dean Winchester.

"Right. I told you to not waste your mojo, but I also told you to stop listening to everything I say! Act on your own damnit!" Also saving lives isn't an unimportant thing. Another frustrated sigh escaped the hunter.
 

"For becoming more and more human you're obviously lacking some kind of empathy. If people die, we have to stop it. That's our damn job."

"Could you two discuss that outside or shut up already?" The muffled voice of the younger Winchester appeared behind them and Dean turned around a bit.

"Keep snoring bitch!" He needed sleep badly for himself, but first he had to finish this. Sam grumbled deeply and forced the pillow over his right ear, trying to go back to sleep again.

Dean turned his attention back to the angel.

"I said it was a bad idea. You should've stayed with Bobby. You're distracting us and you're no help dude. Seriously."
 

"I won't go back, Dean." Castiel responded immediately, as if he needed to make his position clear once and for all.

"Yeah, it's pointless. I got it. Whatever. Things can't be changed anymore. People die and next time, if there is a next time, we need to be faster."

"You can't save everyone, Dean." The words which left the angel's mouth forced the hunter to clench his teeth.

"Maybe not, but I'll be damned if I stop trying. I won't give in so easily!"

When he felt the other moving a bit closer towards him, he reached up, grabbed the angel by his arm and pushed him away.

"Don't even think about it." he said angrily and made clear, that Castiel was not welcome anymore.

Not now. Dean was sick of this nonsense and all he wanted for now was to sleep and nothing else. He simply turned around and roughly slammed his head down onto the pillow. With the smelly clothes and his own sweat gone, he finally could rest.

Alright, he was only wearing a damn towel right now but who cared? With a swift move he grabbed the still properly folded bed sheet, roughly unfolded it and placed it over himself. Mission completed.

The angel could do whatever he wanted, but Dean was too tired to care if he spent his night on a roof again, counting cars, staring into the sky or just kept sitting at the edge of his bed, whatever. He needed sleep. Now!
 

When he felt the slight move of the bed, he could tell, that Castiel had lifted himself up. With another slightly angry grunt the hunter forced his face deeper into the pillow. I'll save whoever I can and you won't tell me what I can't do! Dean Winchester doesn't take advice from a douche bag angel!

The hunter could not believe that even now he was wasting his thoughts on the holy being. Even though he was exhausted he felt the urge need to keep himself awake and busy with thinking.

Finally, tired from his own brain, he lost track of time and his thoughts drifted away, luring him into an unconscious state.
 

He remembered that smell.
 

Alright, now this is gettin' old! Dean groaned to himself as the darkness around him slowly faded away and revealed the familiar sight of chains, tables, tools and probably the most important thing of it all: Castiel.

Something was different, however. The angel stared at him from above, a mischievous grin on his lips, like he was truly happy to see the hunter awake. Dean managed to turn his head around a bit and eventually he noticed what was wrong.
 

He was not tied to a wall or torture rack, he was simply strapped on a long, cold, metallic table, unable to move.

Leather straps held him in place and his sight was restricted. Castiel moved behind his head, even though the hunter tried, he could not see what he was doing.
 

Seconds later, he could feel more cold metal but this time it was pressed against his head around his cheekbones. Whatever the angel was up to, he obviously wanted to prevent any movement from the Winchester.
 

Rememer it's just a dream. Nothing else. Whatever he does, it's not really...

His thoughts got cut off when every muscle in his body started to twitch and tense. His body rebelled against the leather straps but it was useless. He would not escape. The feeling only lasted a few seconds before the electricity left his body, but his brain could not form any proper thoughts anymore.

His eyelids still twitched slightly.

Dean was happy enough, that he did not feel anything wet between his legs, but even if, he probably would not care right now. Not in this weird place.

"How did that feel? I thought we'd try something new today." Castiel's voice was way too cheerful. It was unusual.

Maybe Dean's dreams were mixing in too much of his memories of hell and Alastair or the angel simply started to enjoy their small sessions. An angel that enjoys torture, sure, dream on man.

Dean's brain managed to form thoughts again and focus on what was just happening to him. Another jolt of electricity ran through his body and every muscle screamed once more. It did not last longer than the first one but it seemed the angel had increased the voltage. Even though the device was shut down already, he could feel his legs and arms twitch uncontrollably.
 

A question formed in the hunter's fried brain: how could a memory know what it felt like to be treated like this? Right when he wanted to think further, he noticed that the pain in his muscles felt way too familiar.

Just as if he had a hard and long workout, but not really as bad as it was probably supposed to feel.

Even though the method was different and not anywhere close to what he had experienced in the last weeks, the pain was not different. Being ripped open, torn apart and bleeding, but electric treatment?

Even though it was neither the right time nor place, he started to chuckle a little. A shadow leaned over him and he could enjoy the upside-down sight of a slightly confused, nearly worried angel.

"Did that last little shock break something in your head? You've already gone insane? That would spoil everything else I had in mind!" The hunter continued to chuckle but the sound of his laugh was cut off by a hand on his mouth.

Dean's eyes widened a bit as he could catch a dark shimmer in those blue eyes above him and the angel's voice rose again.

"Shh. Don't make me sew you shut, Dean. Laughter doesn't suit this place and you don't want to disturb this, do you?" With these words he removed his hand from the human's mouth, only to be rewarded with a wicked smile on the hunter's features.
 

"Now you screwed up. You're nothing like him, just a fucked up memory walking around in an angel's body. You aren't Cas!" The hunter felt stronger than ever before. Memories could harm him in his dreams, but as soon as he woke up this bullshit was over.

Cas if you're watching this right now, wake me up please. Dean wished he could turn his head around, but the device still prevented him from moving, so, instead he just closed his eyes. If only he would wake up already.
 

"What makes you believe that I want you to leave so soon?" The angel said as if he had read the hunter's thoughts and buried his left hand into the dark hair of the trapped man on his table.

"You won't leave if I don't want you to. Do you understand Dean? After all those nights and days and endless hours I thought we finally got somewhere, but it seems I still have to teach you. You really are persistent." He did not want to waste any more time for words, he would let the hunter feel how wrong he was.
 

"And you're talking too much. Quit pretending to be something! You fucked up dream mutant angel!" Dean barked back and tried to look as amused and confident as possible in his situation. The Winchester smiled. Finally, he could see that his torturer's facade was slowly crumbling.

"Maybe you don't know the real Castiel? Maybe you haven't encountered my true self yet?" Another amused sound left the hunter's throat. He was winning this.

"And maybe you should stop talkin' bullshit and get yourself a hobby! Watch some bees or something!" He wanted his normal dreams back.

He wanted his original dreams back. He wanted something real instead of this fake pretending thing above him. He could not deny how much he despised the creature that shared the same air with him right now.
 

Cas, if you hear me, wake me up already. "Oh Dean you think it's that easy? You still don't understand!" Dean could not stand the voice of the angel anymore. The words were wrong, everything was wrong. If the pain was not enough to torture him, than listening to a rip-off angel certainly was.

Dean refused to look into the man's face and pressed his eyes shut.
 

"All I need to understand is that you are not him and whatever you do won't affect me anymore. I know Cas. He wouldn't do shit like this. It's simply not his style." he said and barely noticed that he had started to chuckle again. It felt weird to laugh in his current situation but he could not do much more right now.
 

Dean knew it.
 

His dream version of Castiel was nothing more than a mixed up memory filled with lies and his current state of a part of hell was affecting him too, since Lucifer was walking on earth. He could only guess.

A hard blow hit him his face. His eyes shot open and his head bumped against the metal device, which was still holding him in place. He could feel his teeth grinding against his lip and only bare seconds later he could taste his own blood.

Castiel's breathing pitched for a moment before the angel calmed himself down again. Simply beating was not enough in this case.
 

"You know nothing." The voice grew deeper as the creature walked around the table and reached towards an object on his utility table. Dean could not see what it was, but he already knew that it would be something to slice, rip and tear him.

A moment later he felt the weight of the other man on top of him as the angel straddled himself above the hunter, pressing their bodies together as close as possible.

"So what's his style? I wonder what he would do." The obviously revealed fake angel leaned down slowly.

Waiting for an appropriate answer, but got tired of waiting after a few seconds.

"It's a shame." Castiel whispered and leaned down further, brushing his lips over the hunter's and felt the wince rushing through the strapped body as he slowly forced his curvy knife into the soft flesh, opening old scars and tearing freshly healed skin apart again.

He aimed for the small area between the hunter's rips and turned the knife around to pass through the gap which parted bone and muscle tissues.

While he enjoyed the gasp and scream that left the hunter's lips he made a swift move, forced the knife even deeper and turned it to the left slowly. Dean's agony increased even more and he tried to bite the fake angel away, but all he managed was to cough which forced the blade even deeper inside him.
 

Castiel turned his instrument around even more, nearly drawing invisible circles into the bleeding flesh under him. Suddenly, he pulled his knife out again. Observing the wound with his fingertips, he let his eyes travel upwards till he enjoyed the exhausted and twisted expression on the hunters face.

"You should see yourself Dean. You're a living piece of art. I'm the artist. You're my canvas." the angel said cheerfully before his good mood vanished at the sight of a grinning Winchester under him.

He was twitching at the pain, but his lips were forcing themselves into a bizarre grin. Laughter echoed through the endless walls of the chamber.
 

Dean could not hold himself back at the angel's words. There was nothing to prove anymore. It felt good to laugh even though his body was still strapped down, bleeding and the aftershocks of the treatment were still lingering in his muscles.

He knew what he would do first when he saw the real Castiel after he woke up later. Thinking about the confused look on his face afterwards made him laugh even louder.

"Stop it."

The angel said with a harsh tone in his voice. The fun was over, but Dean continued his snickering, ignoring him.

"Stop laughing."

Castiel commanded again, this time, trapping the hunter's neck with his right hand. He did not squeeze it yet, but as the hunter ignored him and just continued his foolish behavior, he used his left hand too and started to cut off the hunter's breath.

"I said: Shut up!"

His voice grew louder, but Dean's dry laughter was still pouring out of the broken body. It took another tight squeeze to ruin the happy mood of the strapped human.

The hunter's laughter started to turn into half hearted coughs when more and more air left his lungs.

Right when he thought he would pass out he could feel a soft touch against his lips, followed by a tongue, precisely licking along his broken, bleeding lip.

The grip on his neck loosened and silence fell over the place. When the angel let go of his neck and lips, Dean stared at him blankly.
 

"You are nothing like him. Nothing at all." Right when he closed his eyes again, he could feel the sharp metal move inside him.

Tearing at his muscles, his flesh and parting his skin further.

"Make-believes are over, Dean." Words slipped from the angel's mouth, but they did not really reach Dean anymore.

He knew it was fake and he would soon be waking up. Soon enough, but until then he could only endure the way to real burning pain. Slowly, he slid his eyes open again only to witness as the darkness around him spread again.

The last thing he noticed before his vision went black was the face of an angry angel staring straight down at him, his lips moving and forming his name.
 

"Dean."
 

"Dean!" A voice was calling him, but he was way too tired to respond in any way. His eyes closed, he managed to slowly turn around, bury his face into a rather hard pillow.

"Dean, c'mon!" The familiar voice penetrated him again.

Dean's eyes shot open and the first thing he saw was the very face of his concerned baby brother Sam. The older hunter jerked up and looked around, taking everything in.

"Dean, you alright? What the hell happened?" Sam let go of his brother's shoulders and sat back down on his own bed, still watching the older man and his strange behavior.
 

"Dean? Hello? Talkin' to ya, buddy."
 

"Where is he?" Dean stood up and walked across the room just to take a look at the bathroom. Needless to say that he was not surprised to find it empty.

"Who? Cas? He's... dunno. He flew off, I guess." Sam pulled a face in surprise, still working on putting the puzzle together.

"Did you have another one of those weird dreams?" Dean spun around and looked at his brother, contemplating about lying or telling the truth. This time, he chose the latter.

"Could say that. Weird isn't even close to it!" Sam furrowed his brows.

"Wanna talk?"

"Nope!"

"Okay. Anyway, uh, we got some work to do. Perhaps you get distracted with that!" This time it was Dean who looked surprised.
 

"Work?"

Sam nodded and gathered his things.
 

"Got a call from the sheriff's office. There seems to be some officer who went nuts. Happened yesterday around the same time when we went to the house but nobody noticed because everyone was busy." The eldest Winchester nodded understanding and yawned.

While clapping his hands he stood up.
 

"I'll get myself a nice shower, you get supplies and then we're gonna have breakfast on our way before we meet the sheriff." He hurried past by his younger brother, but stopped in the threshold, throwing his brother an indefinable glance.

"Now!" he added and disappeared behind the door, leaving Sam with his dozens of questions alone. A little desperate about the current situation he simply said "Uhm, okay..." and smiled helplessly.

Twenty minutes later, both men were sitting in the Impala, eating their breakfast while Dean kept staring into the rearview nervously.
 

When he had returned from his shower, Castiel had just stood in the middle of the room, talking to his baby brother.

Sam had read Dean's expression but had just shrugged it off, explaining himself with "Got work to do!" before he had pointed towards the food bags on the table. Now, as already mentioned, they were sitting in the Impala, heading towards the WCPS.
 

Dean looked into the rearview again. Since Castiel had shown up this morning they had not spoken with each other. They had not even looked at each other! The hunter felt uncomfortable. First, this weird dream and second, the angel's strange behavior, or better, his non-existing behavior.

Dammit, Cas. Dean forced himself to focus his attention back on the road in front of him. Finishing his burger, he cleaned his fingers by wiping them over his jacket. Unfortunately, Sam noticed that.

"Urgh, dude, you serious? I'm so not gonna clean your stuff next time!" Shaking his head, Sam turned his head back toward the window, trying to ignore his older brother's unbelievable and disgusting behavior.

He even ignored his "What?" and tried hard not to respond to it.

It took the three men just thirty more minutes before they arrived at the WCPS. Everyone was already busy when they entered the building. Dean headed directly towards Stacy who was pacing through the hall.

"Oh, you again. Good to see you. The sheriff is down the floor, interrogation room two!" she said before Dean could even open his mouth. The older Winchester glanced back at his brother and waved into the indicated direction.
 

"What the hell were you thinkin' Brian? I mean, you shot a teenager. A god damn kid, Brian!" The sheriff inhaled deeply before he continued.

"And why the hell did you shoot the other civilians? Did you completely lose your mind?" Nick turned around and run a hand through his hair. The sheriff opened his mouth but suddenly, the door opened and Dean stepped into the small room.
 

"What the... oh, agents. Good you're here." Automatically, Nick's gaze moved toward the other agents and remained on Castiel.

"I am currently questioning Brian, I mean Mr. Fowley regarding yesterday's shooting at the mall. He has killed several civilians on a rampage and returned to the WCPS afterwards, filled a report as nothing happened and..."

"...I wasn't on a rampage, Nick. I saved lives. Those kids tried to, and as a matter of fact, succeeded in stealing. I simply caught them. Nothing else!" Brian interrupted proudly. The sheriff spun around again. His face showing fury when he yelled.

"Dammit Brian, you killed people... just stop the fuck talking!"

Dean and his brother shared a glance before the younger Winchester moved closer toward the table.

"Uhm, Brian, why exactly did you do... what you did?" he asked and received a confused look from the person in question.

"Because that's my job. I'm a police officer. I have to catch the bad people. To serve and protect! That's what I just did." The sheriff exhaled exhausted and turned around. He walked past by Dean, stopped next to Castiel and threw him a glance before he left the room. Dean noticed this but did not say anything.
 

He was certainly not in the mood for it. He turned back toward the police officer and smiled smuggly.

"So, serve and protect, huh? Think you kinda misunderstood that phrase. Killing innocent people doesn't fall under serving and protecting. Not at all, buddy!" Brian just shrugged.

"I did what I had to do. I'm not gonna say any more!" With this, the man crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted. Noticing something fall down, Sam bent down to pick it up.
 

"Hey, Brian. Why do you carry a feather around?" The younger Winchester held up the black feather so everyone was able to see it. Brian shrugged again before he replied.

"Not mine. Perhaps from this crow I scared off my car. Who knows? Who cares?" The young hunter frowned.

"Is there anything else you might wanna tell us?" Brian shook his head causing the hunters to sigh and surrender.
 

"Very well. That's it then. Thanks for your time and please rot in hell!" Dean said and marched out of the room, leaving a speechless brother and emotionally untouched angel behind.

Five minutes later, the Winchesters and the angel were sitting in Sheriff Nick's small office, going through the evidence once again.
 

For the hunters, nothing made sense. No indicators for demonic influences, no witchcraft, no nothing. The only trace they got was a handful of case reports and the belongings of the people. Dean yawned. "There is no damn connection. What made them go mental, after all? I don't get it." The sheriff started laughing amused.

"Yeah, well. Me neither! Anyway, you fancy a drink or something? I'm starving." Dean started beaming immediately. "Man, I'm in." Sam rolled his eyes. As soon as his brother heard any word that could be related to food he got hungry.

That was definitely not normal!

"Guys, I pass. Think I'm gonna stay here a little longer and check the evidence... again!" Smiling, Sam waved over the table and grabbed one of the plastic bags on it.

"What about you, Mr. Walsh? Fancy some delicious treats?" Nick asked and granted Castiel with a more than just friendly smile.

For a moment, it seemed like Castiel was not going to reply but then he stood up, nodding.

"I shall come with you. If the treats are the right ones I will be fine!" Without even wasting a glance at Dean, he walked by and followed the sheriff out of the office.

Dean mouthed a 'What the hell?' toward his brother before he rushed out of the room, following his angel and this other man.

Keeping a few steps between him and the other two men, Dean followed suit, silently watching Nick chatting with Castiel, or to be more precise, speaking to himself. Castiel did not seem to be bothered by replying to anything the sheriff said.
 

Apparently, the man did not care much about it, he kept on talking. When they had finally reached the café they chose a table in the far corner.

Dean was not blind, he had noticed the sheriff's intentions and he was determined to do something about it.

Therefore, he sat down beside Castiel, throwing him a threatening glare, but again, the angel ignored him. Damn you, he hissed in his thoughts, hoping that Castiel was aware of them. And, apparently, he was because his head turned around to look at the hunter.

It was one of those moments Dean hated and desired so much at the same time. They were simply staring at each other, blocking out everything around them. This moment did not last long, however. Nick almost threw the cup of coffee onto the table in front of Dean, and apologized with a smile sweet as poison.

While sitting down, Nick reached over the table and placed another cup in front of Castiel.

"So, how do you like it so far, Cas?" Dean almost choked on his own tongue when he heard Nick call his angel by the name he had given him long time ago. The hunter glared at the sheriff. Before he could say anything, Castiel raised his voice.

"It may have not been obvious for you, but I do not wish to talk to you sheriff. And this treat..." Castiel threw a deadly glare at the cup of coffee in front of him.

"...is certainly not what I desire!"

He turned his attention back towards the staring sheriff.
 

"To make my point clear: I do not care about you in any way. You mean nothing to me, so it would be advisable to stay away from me as far as possible. There are certainly other things I desire more than you!" Castiel's gaze wandered off to look at the hunter beside him, who had joined Nick in staring at the angel, mouth agape, eyebrows raised.

Without hesitation or another word, Castiel stood up and exited the café.

When the door bell resounded, Dean jumped up and followed the other man, leaving a still stunned sheriff behind.

Outside, he immediately caught sight of the angel. Castiel was standing at the corner of the building, apparently waiting for him to follow.

As soon as Dean had reached him he started off.

"The hell, Cas. What was that about? Dammit! We're undercover man. You can't do such shit. Especially not in public areas!" Dean hissed furious while he gestured with his arms. Castiel on the other hand remained calm.

He simply listened to what the eldest hunter said before he replied in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Dean, I believe you were the one who told me to think on my own. That is what I did because I do not wish to have this man close to me. I do not care about him and if I wish to have somebody's desire upon me it shall be yours."
 

With this, Castiel disappeared.
 

Right now, Dean Winchester felt really, really, really small and speechless. The hunter just stared at the wall which had been behind Castiel just seconds ago.

"This... angel..."
 

At the WCPS
 

Sam had sat down in the Impala, waiting for his brother and the angel to finish their 'date' with the sheriff. Nothing new had been discovered in the old reports and, after waving Stacy a short goodbye, he had left the police station.

Now he wished he had joined his brother instead of staying behind. He probably missed something worth a good laugh right now.

"We need to finish this job ASAP if we run into that sheriff once again, it might end up uncomfortable!" The younger hunter nearly jumped when Dean nearly ripped the door open and smashed it shut aggressively shortly after.
 

"Dude." Sam took a look around, not finding what he was searching for.

"Where's Cas?" he asked, furrowing his brows and staring at his still raging brother, who tried to act as cool and calm as possible. Failing completely!

"It seems that, our sheriff, did something that Cas didn't like. So, let's just agree that we don't mention him for the next 2 hours alright?"

Still frowning, Sam kept staring at his brother.
 

"Call Bobby. Tell him we're heading back for now. No need to waste another bunch of money for a room." Dean said and let the engine roar up, feeling immediately better as he felt the vibration of his beloved baby flowing through him.

His brother shook his head but did as he said. It would not hurt to call their old friend for some news and clues.

While he kept waiting for the hunter to pick up, he kept observing his brother's body language. Something told him that he was somewhere else with his thoughts again and, Sam knew his brother by now, he could point towards the being that was bothering the other Winchester's mind.

Finally, he could hear the clicking noise on the other side and a raspy "Hello?" from the old man.

"Hey Bobby."

"So how's it goin'?" The boys always had the perfect timing calling their old friend. Currently, he was busy emptying a huge bottle of home-brewed scotch. While he waited for the other to describe their discoveries, he took another long sip, feeling the liquid burn in his throat and hissed slightly into the phone.

"Everything alright Bobby?" Sam interrupted himself suspiciously.

"Yeah, sure. Continue. Anything unusual?" Bobby replied and waited for the young hunter to continue.

"It might be nothing but, get this: It seems all of the people who went nuts had an encounter with birds. At least that's reasonable since I found feathers among personal belongings." "Birds? Geez. What kind of birds are we talking about?" The old hunter mumbled into the phone, his brain already working like crazy.

"Uhm, black ones I guess. One mentioned something like a crow, but the ones we saw were bigger. More like ravens or something." Sam continued, not sure what exactly could be that interesting about those flying creatures.

"Idjits."

Bobby said more to himself than into the phone.

"Come back here. I think I know what you're dealing with here." He placed the phone back onto the desk and turned around with his wheelchair.
 

Somewhere inside the huge bookshelf behind him, was exactly what he needed now.

The book of Norse mythology and divinities.

A few hours of research and preparation later

As the little amount of blue fume vanished into thin air, the hunters remained silent and waited for something to happen.

"Did it work?" Dean whirled around, looking for a sign of any supernatural being but could not make out anything.

"Maybe we forgot something?" Sam poked around inside the bowl, pushing burned clumps of blood and myrrh around. Bobby opened the book again and started to search for any kind of mistake they could have made, when suddenly someone knocked at the front door.

The Winchesters exchanged looks before the younger hunter cautiously walked towards the door.

"Anyone ordered pizza?" Dean said but placed his hand on his colt, just in case they had some kind of sinister visitor. Sam turned around and took another glance at his brother.

"Who's it?" he said out loud and waited for some kind of reply.

When he did not receive any kind of response, he turned back towards his brother and both shrugged, pulling a turtle face simultaneously.

"If you call for someone you should be kindly enough to not let him wait outside for too long. He might be gone before you open up." A deep raspy voice appeared from outside, which made the hunters raise their brows.
 

The younger Winchester opened the door hesitantly and narrowed his eyes.

Right in front of him an old man, white hair and beard, wearing several layers of brown tattered jackets and a rather dirty jeans came into view. Dean appeared in the doorframe and his eyes widened at the sight of the guy that showed up.

"Bobby? Old friend of yours?" He waved to the old hunter which rolled towards the boys, the book still lying on his lap, to take a look at who had decided to stop at his house. When he finally got the chance to take a look at the visitor, his eyes observed the appearance and he rudely poked the brothers into their sides.

"Move it and let him in idjits!" The old man walked past the two men and followed Bobby into the living room. The old hunter placed the book back onto the huge desk and ogled their new guest warily. Sam stood a few feet off from the white bearded man and observed him himself.

"So you are..." Dean started when he entered the room too but got cut off shortly after.

"The ruler of Asgard. The god of war, death and wisdom." Bobby said with a great amount of respect in his voice which Dean was pretty much lacking.

A forced smile made its way up onto the gods wrinkled face.

"You summoned me. What do you want?"

"You're Odin?" Sam asked as if Bobby's description was not clear enough.

A simple "Yes." was the short and precise answer that left Odin's mouth before a short laugh disturbed the moment of upcoming respect.

"No offense, but you look pretty puny for a god." Odin turned his head towards the older Winchester and stared at him blankly.
 

"I assume, you thought a god like me should appear with thunder, a storm, flashing lights and with wind blowing through his long untamed hair?" Dean could not suppress a short snicker, but tried to calm down right away.

"Not really but a little bit more than a simple knock would've been a bit more impressive. Just sayin'!" Sam rolled his eyes at his older brother before he cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"It seems something that belongs to you, is responsible for several incidents in some little town." When silence was all he received, Dean spoke up.

"Your birds."

"Ravens." Sam corrected him and received a 'Sam-Winchester-the-bird-fancier' look from his older brother before he continued.

"They are responsible for several deaths and it would be great if you could take them with you. It seems they're a bit out of control."

The youngest hunter tried his best charming smile and waited for an answer.

"Just jam them back into their cage and we're done here!" Dean broke the silence again and felt his own patience fall apart.

When the god still kept silent, Bobby turned his wheelchair around and rolled behind his desk. Calling a god was simple but to make him do what you want, was obviously quite another matter.

"Hugin and Munin haven't had the chance to spread their wings for ages. They obviously enjoy the fresh air brushing through their feathers. To take that away from them would be unthinkable."

"They're killing people!"

"Nonsense!" The early raspy and nearly weak voice grew into a loud and powerful growl, which nearly made the older Winchester jump.
 

Odin closed his eyes and took in a long sip of air.

"You're mistaken." he simply said and opened his eyes again to exchange views with the mortals in front of him.

"Neither Hugin nor Munin killed anyone. All they do is to awake and activate what lies within the human soul. If there is a deep feeling lingering inside oneself, they're able to make it surface. Sometimes those feelings are a bit overwhelming but what the mortals do with it, doesn't involve them anymore."

"Easy to say for someone who let them free and lost control over their behavior!" Dean yelled at the god, stepping closer and feeling his natural grudge against gods and other holy beings rise inside him.

Odin remained silent for a moment, thinking if it was worth to spend any more time with these mortal beings.
 

Finally he raised his hands in the air and spoke up again.

"I don't think you understand the slightest. They might belong to me but I'm not in control of their actions. What they choose to do depends on Hugin and Munin themselves." He gestured towards the hunters, a nearly non existing smile on his features.

"Anyway. Who am I, to spoil my friend's fun? It might disappoint you but I don't care for the single one of you." The old man turned around, towards the door and started to walk away from the humans.

"Wait! There has to be a way to stop this! Even gods have to follow the rules!" Sam clutched at the last straw he could come up with and hope blossomed inside him, as the old man stopped his movements.
 

"The rules have been ripped out of the book and were tossed into the sea. As I said, I'm not going to call them back. They can spread their wings and fly as long as they wish." With these words he, very slowly, tuned and continued his leave when the older Winchester finally got an idea.

"Maybe for a price?" Dean suggested and wiggled his brows. A being like Odin would have a weak point somewhere, hopefully. It seemed to work. The god turned his full attention to the hunter. Odin's face suddenly showed some kind of interest into the older hunter.
 

"What do you think you could offer to someone like me?" he said and folded his arms over his chest.

Sam noticed they had actually nothing to present but at least they had a change to find something he might wanted. The hunters tried to come up with something but their brains failed them.

Dean was the first to speak again.

"We can get you whatever you'd like to have. As long as it doesn't involve any more human lives or virgins."
 

"I've got no use for human belongings, or lives." Before the humans could come up with anything to offer, the sound of fluttering wings announced the arrival of their guardian angel. Not a second later Castiel showed up, keeping his distance from both Winchesters.

Dean turned around waving a bright smile at him, which vanished immediately as the angel did not even greet him like he always did.

The angel seemed to change his behavior at will lately.

"Hey Cas." he said, feeling more and more uncomfortable with every passing second, which the angel kept silent. Hemming, he turned back towards the more important matter.

Odin did not deign to look at Castiel at all and kept waiting, his patience leaving him steadily. None of the hunters could come up with anything to offer, even though Bobby had started to turn page by page in his book to find a clue.

"I have found Gungnir." The angel said out of nowhere and suddenly, he received all the attention. As the word reached Odin, Sam noticed that something twitched in the gods face. "Who's Gungnir?" Dean asked, his face showing disbelieve that this thing was even a word. Castiel turned his head towards the hunter and opened his mouth when the oldest hunter spoke up.

"A spear. Excuse me: his spear." Bobby closed the book and looked up at the god in confusion.

"How can you find something he carries with him?" The hunters could not believe their eyes as they noticed that the god was somewhat struggling for words.

"You lost it?" Dean said with a big fat smile on his face.

Odin tried to stay calm and only replied a short "Misplaced." while the older Winchester found himself snickering even more.
 

"Seriously, how could you lose something like that?"

"Dean." Sam felt like hitting his brother with the book Bobby was holding right now but he knew it would only cause more damage and probably more stupidity.

"Alright, alright. So, let me get this straight. If we get you your little goodie, you will take those murderous birds with you?" Dean furrowed his left brow in disbelieve while the god simply nodded.

"I promise, I'll take them home with me but you're mistaken. Neither Hugin nor Munin have murderous intentions. They just awake what lies within oneself." Odin snickered slightly. "Those unfortunate souls. They will be mourning over the loss of their spare time." The smug grin on his face did not show any kind of mercy or pity for all the misery which his birds had caused on earth.

Another point for Dean for not liking gods or anything so called 'holy'.
 

"Fine, whatever." The hunter faked a smile and turned around to face the one who would deliver the god's precious weapon.

Castiel had been silent since he mentioned the spear and while the hunters kept talking, he kept staring holes into the oldest ones back.
 

"Alright Cas. Go get it!" Dean gestured towards the angel to get moving, but instead of the sound of fluttering wings, he only received a blank stare.

Sam raised a brow and switched glances between the angel and his older brother. Something told him that Dean was missing something in his command, which should not be a command in the first place.

The angel did not move a muscle. The oldest Winchester hemmed and took a few steps towards Castiel.
 

"I said, get the goodie to the god and everything will be back to normal." he said with a lower voice and even more silent he added a "Please?" to complete his request. He kept his green eyes locked with the angel's blue ones and waited for them to disappear, but nothing happened.

"Cas, could you please get that spear for Mr. Odin over there so he takes his little feathered friends with him?" Dean said, becoming louder by now since he got sick of waiting and not getting any response from the stubborn angel.
 

Castiel lowered his gaze for a moment and remained silent.

When he finally looked up again and met Dean's gaze he parted his lips and a single word left his mouth.
 

"No."