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#castiel the leader
vaicomcas · 1 year
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Castiel stepping up to lead the angels in S9e18
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rainsongdean · 11 months
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endverse dean + castiel, supernatural // enjolras + grantaire, les miserables
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quietwingsinthesky · 7 months
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castiel & uriel as michael & lucifer parallels drives me insane btw
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sometimes I develop stock backstories for a particular character that I can tweek for a variety of aus because i just like the vibe. Like Cas growing up in a big religiously abusive family on an isolated farm and maybe murdering his dad in his teens and getting away with it (don't worry about it.)
Anyway one I like for supernatural generally is just like. The Apocalypse gets derailed entirely by accident and no one has any idea what to do now. On the one hand it's a very utilitarian thing. I wanna write early seasons fic without the looming threat of the apocalypse hanging over everything sometimes you know? But I also just really like that vibe. The fact that the world is never going to end as like a source of existential horror. Especially for this species whose purpose is entirely tied up in the apocalypse. What does a world look like when it's been abandoned by God and just keeps on going? The same as it always did.
I like to imagine the slow death of heaven as the debate on if they should restart the apocalypse and how rages, and as they try to figure out what went wrong and who's to blame the lies that sustain this system start to crumble. They find out God hasn't been giving orders for a long time and now the final thread of prophecy he left them has snapped and they're left floundering. Some dedicated few go searching for him but when it becomes clear he's not to be found and isn't coming back it all just starts to seem so pointless. The archangels are locked in debate over what to do next, middle management is just trying to keep dissent from spreading, and all the while more rank and file angels are just... slipping out the back door when no one's looking. They aren't needed in heaven, they aren't needed anywhere, what can they do but try to find some purpose for themselves? And what better example to follow than those small ignorant favoured creations who have always had to construct meaning for themselves in the face of the daunting prospect of free will?
That's where Castiel goes looking anyway.
My favourite version of this is one where he ends up making a Reverse Doomsday Cult.
#spn#castiel#spn angels#The World Is Not Going To End: What To Do In The Face Of The Horror Of A Perpetual Existence#technically he takes over a cult#see cause I feel like Cas#especially when vulnerable and in search of guidance#would easily fall prey to cult recruitment tactics#heaven is also a cult I think he would find it comforting and familiar and treat it all as normal#he would be oblivious to the danger signs at first#but see once he did become aware of the types of violation and abuse that occur in those kinds of organizations#well he's an angel he makes with the smiting#which leaves him with a bunch of people already primed and vulnerable due to the fact that they were in a cult in the first place#doubly so because many of those spared would of course be victims feeling a mixture of fear and gratitude towards#the man who has just very convincingly revealed himself to be OH YEAH a LEGIT Angel#super easy to just end up in charge of the cult#on the one hand Cas is a much nicer cult leader in part on account of how he came here to seek guidance From humans#So the whole thing shakes out to be a lot more democratic than all that#on the other hand there is no way Castiel knows how to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy community building#not to mention he would undoubtedly share the truth about monsters and the supernatural with his followers#and if they were at all tempted to say#bring their mission of doing good works in the world to that particular problem#or even just build up defenses around their safe haven#well now suddenly this fringe religious group is stockpiling weapons#and that does not look good
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thanatosdetesreves · 7 months
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Im adding the 18th of september on the tumblr's important date calendar
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mint-mumbles · 8 months
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Who’s ready for a new Tumblr holiday! 🥳
Upon hearing that their CW uncle, Dean Winchester, actually told Castiel he loved him back, the Riverdale gang (Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica) decided to become a polycule. India celebrated by doing everything in their power to finally reach the moon, and succeeded!
Not everyone was happy, however. Upon hearing the news, the head of the Wagner group blamed Putin for the Riverdale polycule and tried to kill him, but Russian soldiers got to him first. In retaliation, pro-Baronihead shippers shot down the plane that the Wagner leader was on (most likely post mortem, not confirmed, but I think we all know what really happened…)
Donald heard about what happened, and assuming the worst about his boyfriend, Vladimir Putin, Trump turned himself in during a moment of weakness and grief.
Germany, on the other hand, was just glad that the plane shot down wasn’t on their territory, and to make sure that anti-Baronihead shippers wouldn’t harass people, they made citizenship laws more lenient as Germany as a whole is, in fact, pro-Baronihead. Therefore, the Baronihead shippers would be protected from any and all harm
What a crazy world we live in 😌
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sweetsoursugarcube · 2 years
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That detail of Castiel's angel followers s09 wanting to have a daily roll call because they like to hear him say their names out loud lmao
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The Dangers of Hope Epilogue
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Series Summary: When Y/N shows up at Camp Chitaqua with her little girl in tow, her bloodshot eyes leave no doubt that she's infected. Or is she? Everything Dean has come to know for certain over the last five hellish years, is about to be challenged.
Pairings/Characters in the series: Endverse!Dean x Reader, Emma (OFC), Castiel, Sam Winchester, Lucifer, Michael, Zachariah, Risa, Johnston (OMC), Patrick (OMC), Theresa (OFC), other survivors and soldiers.
Series Explicit 18 +/Warnings: Show level violence, some gore, angst, smut, fluff all the usual for a series of mine. ❤️ Endverse!Dean (that's a warning for his anger and callousness as well as his extreme hotness. 😁) Each chapter will have their own specific warnings.
Chapter Warnings: None.
Word Count: 5,849
A/N: So, I've had this idea for quite a while. Basically since I watched The Last of Us. I loved Pedro in the role of Joel, but I kept thinking how incredible Jensen would have been. Which then made me think of how amazing he was as Endverse!Dean which then led me to this idea. Lol! I've stolen the premise of Ellie's storyline from TLOU, but made her a grown up, a reader insert, and a love interest for Dean.
If you've never seen TLOU, don't worry - you don't need to have seen it to understand this story. 😊
I've taken some liberties with the Endverse in my story, changed a few things from canon, but kept lots of things too.
I sincerely hope you enjoy the story. It will be ten chapters and I will do my very best to post one chapter every weekend. ❤️
A/N 2: So this is it, the epilogue, the end. I'm so sad to say goodbye to this series. I've really loved writing it, even if it kicked my ass a couple of times. I know I've said this already, but it definitely bears repeating - I'm so unbelievably grateful for the love and support you've all shown this series. Thanks so much - and I hope you enjoy this little peak into Dean and Y/N's lives a decade later. This ended up about twice as long as I'd planned. Lol! Enjoy! ❤️
Main Master List || Series Master List || Tag Lists
The dividers below were created by @saradika
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Spring, 10 Years Later
The rumbling engine of the Impala was silenced as Dean pulled into the garage and parked Baby in her spot. The camp had eight cars now, so they'd had to expand the garage two summers before. The cars got shuffled around all the time, but Baby always kept her spot on the end. Everyone knew it was her spot.
The late afternoon sun shone in through the garage windows as Dean removed the keys from the ignition and pushed them back into his black, denim jacket pocket.
Sam was sitting beside him and shot him a questioning look when Dean didn't immediately jump out. “Dean?” 
Dean nodded and then looked over at his little brother. “Do you think I did the right thing?”
Sam sighed. He'd already answered this question from his brother, in various forms, three or four times. 
The Deerling Survivors Camp, a small camp located almost seventy miles away, had sent a message to Dean a week earlier, requesting a face-to-face meeting. Dean had asked Sam to come along and they'd stayed overnight at the fledgling camp. The pseudo-leader there, just a young kid who’d been thrust into the role, had asked them to let Deerling join Camp Chitaqua, and after seeing the shape of the camp, Dean had agreed on the spot.
Years earlier the four smaller camps surrounding Chitaqua had joined them, expanding the camp by miles and miles and raising the population by more than two hundred people. It had been a big decision, and Dean had consulted with the council for a couple days before agreeing to the expansion. 
It was a very good decision in the end, since they now had enough land to plant six, four acre farm plots. They made sure to rotate crops, leaving one field fallow every season and using it for grazing pasture. But all that fertile land meant that the campers all had plenty of fresh vegetables. Their expanded size also allowed them to enlarge their barn, so they could now house and care for four cows and a bull, two horses, dozens of chickens, a rooster, two pigs, and eight sheep. 
They'd bartered and traded with other camps for most of their animals or found them wandering around alone and unclaimed. But they bought their sheep from a farmer living in what used to be Iowa. A lot of farmers had started over there, scratching out a new life from the soil, now that the world had started turning once again.
Seven years ago they'd finally succeeded in producing a vaccine. It had taken a lot of hard work. For three years, every single person that worked on it did so with nothing more than a promise of a better tomorrow. 
It had taken another two plus years to get the word and the vaccine out to people, but now most of the population was vaccinated. The vaccine had also been carried overseas. They couldn't be sure how things were going across the pond because communication was still very limited. But they'd heard rumors that it was going well. 
Some infrastructure was up and running again; they had electricity in some places, and some cities had running water again. There were even some places that had phone lines connected - in and around the bigger cities where people were beginning to congregate.
Things seemed to be progressing quickly out west in the former California, where they'd reportedly started broadcasting some form of Television again. Not very many people had TVs anymore to watch, but it seemed comforting to people just to know something resembling their former lives was returning. 
Not everything was perfect, of course. There was no centralized government, or structured, widespread laws. Most areas had variations of camps like Chitaqua with leaders in charge, or occasionally small, internally elected governments that ran the camp. Lawlessness still existed in a lot of places, but it was being beaten further back every day as groups banded together. 
There were also still some areas that were uninhabitable because massive groups of Croats still roamed there. The researchers that had created the vaccine were working on a cure for those who’d already been infected, but thus far they’d proved unsuccessful. Croat attacks still happened sometimes, but the vaccine meant that people just had to deal with the bite itself, making sure it was healing properly - something that was becoming easier as medical stations were springing up in and around larger populations as well, as doctors went back to healing people as they’d been trained to do.
Chitaqua had a physician, Dr. Turner, who lived in the camp. The Medical Tent was no more and instead the doctor’s office and their cache of medical supplies were now housed in a big log structure that had been tiled inside to keep it as clean and sanitary as possible. Patrick was happy to be rid of guard duties these days, working alongside Dr. Turner to watch over the health and well-being of the campers.
There weren’t many tents left nowadays either. They had a bunch stored away in case the camp ended up with a big influx of new campers and temporary housing was needed. But most people lived in log cabins of varying sizes, dotted over the two and a half square miles of the camp. There were well over five hundred people in the camp now, since amalgamating the four other camps. They also had a reputation for being a prosperous, strong community, so people tended to migrate there as well - which continued to add to their numbers.
Now, after the meeting with the Deerling camp, they’d be adding another ninety-six people to their ranks, inflating their population to nearly seven hundred people. Dean was worried about the fact that he’d made the decision to absorb the smaller camp without consulting the council this time. 
The council was a group made up of eight other people besides Dean. Sam and Y/N were on it, as well as Brandy, Risa, Dr. Turner, and three other campers who were there representing the hunters, the farmers and the builders.
Day-to day decisions were still handled by Dean, but he relied on the council for other bigger decisions - taking their thoughts, ideas and opinions into account before he ultimately made a decision. Agreeing to take in another flock of people and develop another thirty acres of land was definitely one of those big decisions he’d normally take to the council, which was why, Sam knew, Dean had been second guessing his unilateral decision to say yes to Deerling’s request.
Sam shook his head at his brother as he answered Dean’s worry again. “Dean, you acted out of generosity, the council will understand. I can vouch for the fact that those campers need a lot of help very quickly. Those kids were starving, you could see that.”
Dean nodded. “Yeah, I know, but I just brought the camp more strain on resources with no benefits.”
Sam shrugged. “Well, there’s the land.”
Dean scoffed. “Yeah, unfarmable land that’s separated from us by almost eighty miles. And Brisbane camp sits between us and Deerling, and they already think we’re trying to take them over. Joining with a group on the other side of them is gonna make them even more suspicious and possibly turn them unfriendly.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I should have consulted the council.”
“Dean, there’s no way the council would have opted to just let a bunch of kids and sick people die. They’re definitely going to agree with your decision, and this way you’ve simply ensured that we can get food and medicine out to them by tomorrow instead of making them wait days for it. Trust me, you made the right decision.”
Dean grunted his response, still unsure. 
Sam slapped the back of his hand against Dean’s shoulder. “Now, I’m gonna go talk with the Doc about getting supplies together and coming out there with me tomorrow. Will you talk with Brandy later about food?”
Dean nodded. “Yeah.” A smile finally lit his face. “And then I’m goin’ home.”
Sam smiled and opened his door to climb out of the Impala. “Good plan. Give Y/N and the kids a kiss for me.”
Dean climbed out too and slammed his door behind him. He called Sam back as his brother began to walk away. 
“We should also figure out a time and day to have a sit down with the new leader from Brisbane, talk with her about our intentions regarding Deerling. She’s tough, but she seems more approachable and level-headed than their last leader. Maybe we can convince her we’re not looking to take anything over.” 
Sam nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
Dean frowned. “What’s her name again?”
“Eileen Leahy.” 
Dean noticed his brother’s cheeks turn pink and he immediately turned back into an annoying big brother, his grin wide. 
“Right, right, you met with her alone last time. She’s cute, huh? Something we should know? Maybe you should invite her over to our place for dinner next week. We can have our little sit down conversation then. What do you think?”
Sam had already turned and started walking away. “You’re an idiot!” He called back over his shoulder. But Dean made a mental note to tell Y/N all about it later. 
With Y/N firmly in mind he started out across the camp. Their cabin was situated on top of a low hill in the Southwest section of the camp, not all that far from where their old red tent used to sit.
They’d built their cabin when they came back to Chitaqua eight years ago after helping to set up the research facility. The vaccine was still a year away, but they’d done all they could do and they were ecstatic that after two years of traveling back and forth from camp, gathering doctors, researchers and searching for other psychic kids, (they’d only found two others) and after Y/N had given gallons of her blood to science, they could finally come home for good. 
Not long after returning home, Y/N realized she was pregnant and Dean became obsessed with building them a beautiful home. It was around that time that the camps had all joined together and building homes for everyone became a priority of the camp. 
The builders grew in numbers as they took on apprentices and taught them the trade so that more people in the camp could join in the work. It took almost four years of constant building, but eventually all five hundred plus campers had permanent homes.
Gotta pull the tents out for the Deerling folks, Dean thought as he walked, his mind immediately occupied with figuring out the logistics of where the new campers could stay, and how they could join in the life of the camp, once they were all healthy.
He stopped by Food Storage and spoke with Brandy as Sam had requested. And just as his brother had suspected, when he explained the situation, Brandy was one council member who was very glad he’d made the decision he had. He felt more sure now that the others would feel the same.
As Dean wound his way through camp he got stopped quite a few times, people wanting to talk with him about one concern or another. He generally pointed them in the direction of the person or group in the camp that could help them. But he also got stopped by friends wanting to say hi and talk for a moment or two.
He was happy to talk, but anxious to get home to Y/N.
He looked out towards the large school building where Y/N still taught every day. The new building had been built on the site where the main cabin had been burned down. It was even bigger than the old cabin, with six rooms for the seven teachers that worked there now. 
Y/N was also the principal of the school for all intents and purposes; she and the other teachers taught over two hundred kids from ages five to sixteen. Theresa had finished school and immediately joined the staff as a teacher, working with Y/N every day and loving it. Brandy was so proud.
But Dean wasn’t surprised to see the building empty now, however; he knew it was a day off. He picked up his pace, weaving through the buildings that resided where the old tents had taken up space. 
They’d greatly expanded the food storage, and had an entirely different rations system now that fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and game made up the vast majority of their diet. Brandy was still in charge and was constantly innovating to make things easier and to stretch their food as far as they could in order to feed everyone. 
The former tent area also housed three large storage sheds, a small building that worked as an office/meeting space for whatever group needed to use it, and a small mill where they processed the wheat they grew - that process had included a steep learning curve, but they’d eventually made it work.
There was also a small, open area where a kind of market had popped up organically as the campers traded amongst themselves for things like homemade jewelry, homemade clothes, and other non-essentials.
He walked behind the buildings and began climbing the gently rising path that led to their cabin at the top of the hill. About halfway home he heard loud barking and looked up to see their seven year old Bernese-Husky cross, Clifford, bounding towards him, the way he usually did when any of the family came home. 
“Hey, boy.” Dean said softly, scratching him behind the ears. “Miss me?”
Clifford barked happily in answer and ran ahead and then back to where Dean stood, obviously urging him on towards home. Dean laughed and sped up, chasing after the big dog who sometimes still acted like a puppy.
As the path through the trees ended, opening up into their wide front yard, Dean sighed deeply. “Home sweet home.” He murmured. 
Even though he'd been away less than two days, he was still so happy to be home. He felt the peace that filled him up every time he stepped around the last bend in the path and caught sight of their home in the distance.
The way smoke curled lazily from the chimney and the scent of something delicious wafted through the half open Dutch door, never failed to make him ache to get his arms around his wife and bask in her light. Dean shook his head at his sentimental thoughts, but hurried his pace to get inside. 
As he drew closer however, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he turned his head to see his son walking East, coming out from behind the house. Dean figured he was heading over to his friend Freddie's, and he was about to continue on into the cabin, but then he noticed what his eight-year-old was holding in his hand.
“Gabriel Eric Winchester!” 
Dean's voice bellowed out, freezing the young boy where he stood. Dean strode towards him, anger clear on his face. To the boy's credit, even when he turned and saw his father's anger, he still walked forward slowly, until he was standing directly in front of him. 
The gun he held, however, was tucked just behind his back, as though he was hoping Dean hadn't noticed it. 
Dean held his hand out. “Give that to me this second.”
Gabe's face fell and he brought the gun forward reluctantly, dropping it onto Dean's palm. 
Dean immediately checked to make sure the small, .38 caliber, Smith and Wesson revolver was unloaded and when he saw it was, he held it in his fist, directly in front of Gabe's eyes.
“What the hell do you think you're doing with this?”
His son's eyes were wide and they got watery quickly. 
He shrugged. “I was just gonna bring it to Freddie's. Josh said he could teach us to shoot.” He said, referring to his friend’s older brother. “Just cans on a fence.” He was quick to reassure Dean.
“And did you ask your mother if you could remove a gun from the weapons chest?” Dean asked, already well aware of the answer. 
Gabe shook his head. “No.” He said quietly.
“How did you get it?” Dean asked brusquely.
Gabriel’s voice was still soft as he admitted what he’d done. “I grabbed it yesterday when mom took out a rifle to scare away some raccoons that were trying to get into the compost. Josh said he could teach us if we had guns. So when I saw it last night I just…” He trailed off as he looked up at Dean's face.
“So what you're telling me,” Dean said quietly, “is that while your mother's back was turned you STOLE a gun and planned to use it without asking either of us for permission.”
Gabe's tears spilled down his cheek at his father's disappointed tone and accurate words. He nodded and then sniffed. 
“I'm sorry.” He said thickly. 
Dean crouched down so he could look his son in the eye. “Gabe, a gun is not a toy. I thought you knew this. It's not something to mess around with or use on a whim. It is a weapon. It's incredibly dangerous. If you'd gone off and started shooting, even just at cans, you could have seriously hurt or killed yourself or your friends. Do you understand me?”
Gabe nodded but bit his lip. “But you carry a gun.” He said, pointing to the ever present gun strapped to Dean’s thigh. “And you started using guns when you were even younger than me. I heard you talking about it to mom before. And I…” He sniffled again. “I just wanted to be like you.”
Dean sighed and shook his head. “Oh, buddy, I want you to be so much more than me. Your mom and I, we've worked really hard to make things better for you guys, to make the world safer so that when you grow up, hopefully you won’t have to walk around with a gun strapped to you at all times. It’s my job to protect the people in this camp. That’s why I carry a gun, and why I sometimes carry a rifle. But that’s not your job. Your job is to just be a little boy.”
Dean saw Gabriel pout a bit about being called a little boy. He smiled gently and squeezed his son’s shoulders. “Trust me, buddy, you should enjoy being a kid, don’t try to grow up too quickly.”
Gabe nodded begrudgingly and Dean pulled his son in for a hug. After a moment, he pulled back from him and stood up straight again, before nodding towards the cabin. “Go to your room now until supper, and when you come out, you’ll owe your mother an apology for going behind her back. Also, nothing but school and home for a week, do you understand?”
Gabe looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it when Dean gave him a stern look. “Yes, sir.” He said in acceptance and turned to run into the cabin.
“Gabriel!” Dean called. When his son turned back, the tear tracks on his grubby cheeks still visible, Dean spoke quietly but with conviction. “I love you and that’s why I know you can do better.”
Gabe’s face lost some of its forlorn look and he gave Dean a slightly awkward smile, lightly banging his fist against the side of his leg. “Love you too, Dad.” He said quickly before bolting for the house.
Dean shook his head and slipped the gun into his inside jacket pocket. He’d have to have a few more conversations with his son about gun safety and responsibility, but he was confident he could drill the dangers into him.
He walked up the stairs to the front door, more than ready to see Y/N and his girls. When he walked inside, however, he could hear voices coming from behind the kitchen door, and they didn’t sound very happy.
He pushed open the swinging door and saw Y/N and Emma inside. Y/N’s face lit up. “Dean!” She said happily as she saw him and crossed to the door to pull him down for a kiss. 
“Ew.” Emma said.
It was the standard reaction from all of their kids when they kissed in front of them. Emma had a hand over her eyes as Dean finished the kiss and looked over to where she stood by the sideboard that held all their plates, cups and glasses.
“You can look now, kiddo, we’re all finished.” Dean told her with a grin. “For the moment.”
Emma rolled her eyes and made Dean chuckle. Y/N frowned up at him. “Did I hear you yelling at Gabe?”
Dean nodded. “Yeah, gotta talk to you about that, but you guys sounded angry when I came in. Anything wrong?”
Y/N looked at Emma and shrugged. “I’ve been telling Emma that she needs to invite her new friend for dinner.”
Dean’s brow wrinkled as he looked at Emma. “You don’t want to bring your friend over for dinner?”
Emma looked at Y/N with frustration, clearly annoyed that she’d told Dean anything. 
Dean tried again. “What’s going on kiddo, since when don’t you want us to meet your friends? Who is it, by the way? Didn’t realize any new kids had started at the school.”
Y/N shook her head. “Jeffrey’s not a new student, he’s just a new…friend.” She said meaningfully. 
Dean caught on and his face immediately dissolved into a scowl. “Oh.” He said without enthusiasm, crossing his arms over his chest.
“See?” Emma barked out, pointing at Dean, but talking to Y/N. “I told you this is how he’d be!!”
“What?” Dean asked defensively. “What are you talking about?”
Emma folded her arms, her posture and scowl mirroring Dean’s. “You get like this every time I bring a boy home, even when he’s absolutely just a friend. You scare the shit out of them!”
“Emma!” Y/N said, reprimanding her for her language..
But Dean just scoffed. “I don’t know what you mean. How do I scare them?”
Emma glared at him. “You interrogate them, Daddy, you know you do.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “Come on, if they’re too freaked out to answer a few simple questions then-”
“Simple questions?” Emma interrupted with a humorless laugh. “When I invited Timothy Sutherland over here you forced him to sit down and answer a thousand questions about his family, his background, where he grew up, what his plans were when we finished school. He ran out of here and never looked back.”
Dean threw his arms out. “Do you really wanna date a loser like that anyway? Who can’t even answer a couple questions?”
“Ugh!” Emma stomped her foot and stormed out the back door. 
Silence reigned for a moment when Emma left before Y/N turned towards Dean, giving him a tilted smile. “So, welcome home!” She said in a would-be cheerful voice.. 
Dean sighed as he pulled her back into his arms and kissed the top of her head. They enjoyed the simple peace of each other’s embrace for a few minutes before Y/N spoke.
“What happened with Gabe?” She asked.
“He stole a gun and was gonna go shoot cans with Josh and Freddie Young.”
“What?” Y/N shouted, pulling back to look into Dean’s face.
He nodded. “Yeah, but don’t worry, I handled it. He’s in his room till supper and he’s grounded for a week. And I talked to him about how dangerous guns were. I have more conversations planned around the subject for the near future.”
Y/N shook her head before laying it back on Dean’s chest. “Good lord.”
After a couple minutes Y/N pulled away and poured them each a cup of coffee. They settled beside each other at the wooden table and instinctively linked fingers.
Dean took a sip of coffee and sighed. “I don’t really interrogate all her boyfriends, do I?”
Y/N pursed her lips. “Well, she’s never actually had a real boyfriend. And I don’t think that's because boys don’t want to date her. She’s smart and kind, beautiful and well-liked. So…” She shrugged. “It seems probable that the boys who like her are just too intimidated by her father - you know, the legend who fought monsters, Croats, angels, and WON - the soldier that leads the camp, wears a gun, and asks scary questions, all while donning a very good mean-face.”
Dean exhaled loudly, but before he could respond, their youngest child came bouncing into the room. She was just six years old, and looked so much like Emma at that age that it sometimes caught Dean off guard. 
But she was definitely her own little bundle of energy. Having never known hunger or hardship, she was all bright smiles and busy excitement. It seemed as though she’d been born smiling and simply hadn't stopped. Very little bothered her, and she was absolutely spoiled by the entire family, including their found family members in the camp.
Everyone loved Hope.
“Daddy, you’re home!” Hope shouted as she jumped into his lap.
“Oof.” He grunted as she landed hard on some sensitive places. “Hey sweetheart!” He said, slightly out of breath. 
“I missed you. Mommy said you might not come home until tomorrow, but I said that you would come home quick because you like to be home and you don’t like to stay away. Right?”
He nodded, trying to keep up with her racing words. “Yeah, baby, I love to be home.” 
Before his sentence was ended Hope was on to her next thought. “I saw Emmie running out the back door and I tried to talk to her, but she looked mad. She was sitting on the tree swing in the back and I wanted a turn, so I told her to push me, but she just helped me on the swing and then she left to walk through the front yard and leave. And when I tried to follow her, she told me not to leave the yard and to go inside and see you cause you were back. So, I did.” She paused for breath before asking, “Why was Emmie mad?”
Y/N answered. “It’s nothing sweet pea. Why don’t you help me make supper? You can shuck the corn.”
Hope clapped her hands. “Yes, I want to pull all the strings off.” 
Y/N held her daughter’s hand as she hopped off of Dean’s lap, and then leaned forward to kiss Dean slowly. 
“Ew.” Hope said, shielding her eyes as her sister had. 
Y/N smiled against Dean’s lips and whispered to him. “Go talk to your daughter.”
Dean nodded and stood up, bending to kiss Hope’s shiny chestnut curls on the crown of her head. “Hey, promise me something short one.” He said, continuing when she looked up at him. “Promise you’ll take a really long time to grow up, okay?”
She smiled at him, cheeks round and rosy. “Okay, daddy.”
He winked at Y/N who smiled indulgently. “She promises.”
***
Dean instinctively knew where he’d find his oldest child. She coped with stress and frustration the same way he did, the way he’d taught her to. 
He walked through the door of the garage and sure enough, there was Emma, wearing old, blue coveralls that were too big for her, and bent over the hood of the little Chevy hatchback that sat next to the Impala. He knew she heard him come in, but she didn’t say anything, just kept working. 
Dean hopped up on Baby’s hood and waited for her to be ready to talk. Eventually, she caved and looked over at him, her face slightly shuttered and a little hard to read. “Hi.” She said simply.
He smiled at her. “Hey kiddo.” He nodded at the open hood she was under. “How are things looking? Still need a new oil pan?”
Emma shook her head. “No, I replaced that last week. Risa found me one in the back of the storage shed.”
“Good.” Dean said. They were both quiet as Emma leaned back in and continued working. 
After a moment she cleared her throat. “Looks like I’m gonna need new brake pads though. Think we could go to Lowry’s and see what he’s got.” She asked, referring to a guy in Brisbane who collected car parts and often traded with them.
“Sure. I’ll be busy for the next day or so. But we can go after that. One day after school?” He asked.
Emma nodded and stood up, wiping her hands on the rag she had stuffed in her pocket. She was quiet as she slammed the hood closed and then stepped out of the coveralls and hung them up on the hook beside the door.
She wandered over to Baby and hoisted herself up beside Dean on the hood. After a moment she leaned her head onto his shoulder. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Dad. I’m glad you’re home.”
Dean lifted his arm so she could snuggle closer, and then wrapped it tightly around her shoulders, squeezing her into his side.
“No, you don’t have to apologize, baby. Apparently I’ve been unconsciously scaring away the tons of boys who would otherwise be beating down our door. Though, if I’m being completely truthful, it probably wasn’t entirely unconscious. Cause I just know not a one of them is gonna be good enough for you.”
Emma chuckled. “I don’t think it’s tons of boys, Daddy. And I’m not interested in a bunch of boys. I’m interested in Jeffery. And I really do want you to meet him. I think if you give him a chance you’d like him. He’s really sweet and funny and just…” She sighed. “I just like him.”
Dean squeezed her again and felt his chest constrict with love and bittersweet memories, remembering how she used to crawl into his lap and let him read her to sleep. Those days were long gone, but she was still that little girl to him and she probably always would be. But he knew she was growing up and he needed to loosen his grip, at least a little.
So he sighed now and nodded. “Okay, kiddo. If you like him, I’m sure I’ll like him too. So, invite him over for dinner one evening and I swear to keep my questions to a minimum and be perfectly cordial.”
Emma laughed. “I don’t know if cordial is ever a word I’d use to describe you, Dad. Let’s just try to leave out the death stares.”
***
That evening after dinner, it was Gabe and Hope’s turn to do dishes. Gabriel washed and Hope dried with some assistance from Dean. As they were finishing up, Keisha and Julianne showed up on their doorstep asking if Emma was free to go for a walk around camp.
Y/N nodded when Emma looked to her for permission. “That’s fine. Be home before dark. Oh, here.” She said to the twins, grabbing a bag and passing it to them. “Take these home to your mom, it's the dress patterns she loaned me.”
Keisha went to take it, but Y/N pulled it back. “On second thought, nevermind. I’ll bring it to her tomorrow afternoon. Gives me a reason to visit and gossip.”
The girls all laughed and then waved as they headed out the door. Dean had to smile as they walked away, their high pitched voices and giggles floating back to them on a breeze. Some things hadn’t changed and he was grateful. 
Gabe went to his room to read, since he was housebound for the next while. Hope played with some well loved and worn out dolls for a little bit before they took her to her room and put her to bed. They tucked Gabe in not long after, and then took their coffee cups out onto their little front porch and sat in one of the big Adirondack chairs that Dean and Sam had built three years ago.
Y/N settled happily into Dean’s lap, her hands cupped around her warm mug. The late spring air was soft and warm, and the sounds of the camp drifted up the hill towards them. They listened contentedly for a little while as Clifford came out of the house and flopped down on Dean’s feet. 
They talked about the kids and they talked about the Deerling camp; they talked about Sam, and Y/N admonished Dean for teasing him about Eileen. 
“Be nice.” She scolded. “I hope he will bring her to dinner. If he likes her, I mean.”
They talked about anything and everything, and as the sun began to set, Emma came up the path and smiled as she saw her parents cuddled together in one chair. As much as she rolled her eyes and hid her face when they started getting kissy, she loved how much they loved each other. And she knew she’d never settle for anything less than what they had together. 
She told them goodnight and went inside, Clifford rising slowly to follow her and sleep at the end of her bed as he did every night.
Soon the fireflies were buzzing loudly and the camp was getting quiet, so Dean stood up with Y/N still in his arms, leaving their coffee cups to sit on the porch until morning. She laughed as her husband carried her effortlessly into their bedroom.
He set her on her feet and locked the door before he buried his hands in her hair and pulled her to him, crushing her lips beneath his own. Y/N moaned softly and immediately pulled off his flannel shirt and yanked his t-shirt over his head so she could spread her hands across the wide expanse of his still beautifully muscled torso. 
“God I missed you.” She breathed, even though it had only been one night. “I hate when you go away.”
He smiled against her skin as he stripped her down to her bra and panties. “Missed you too, sweetheart. Promise not to go anywhere ever again.”
Y/N laughed at his impossible promise as he lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He continued kissing her as he crossed the room and lowered her to the bed. She wouldn’t let go of him and pulled him down on top of her. 
Dean chuckled at her hold on him and then mouthed his way down her body, licking and nipping at her skin. Ten years later she still had the ability to make him instantly hard and aching for her.
They spent most of the night making up for the one they’d been apart. In the darkest part of the night they found light and life in each other’s arms and fell asleep knowing tomorrow would dawn bright and busy - filled with responsibilities, joy, love and most of all…
…hope.
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Jensen RPF and Any/All Characters: @lyarr24 @lacilou @deans-spinster-witch @globetrotter28 @suckitands33 @alwaystiredandconfused @evznackles @jackles010378 @impala67rollingthroughtown @krazykelly @candy-coated-misery0731 @envyaurora95 @spnwoman @deans-baby-momma
Dean Fics Only: @roonthelittlespoon920 @slamminmine @zepskies @safiyas-world
Any/All Fics Regardless of Character or Fandom: @kazsrm67 @slut-for-evans-stan @sexyvixen7 @nancymcl @hobby27 @waywardcheshire
Everything Incl. Fan Edits: @k-slla @leigh70 @eevvvaa @kickingitwithkirk @foxyjwls007 @notinthislife50 @roseblue373 @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @avanatural @mrsjenniferwinchester @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @deangirl96
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profoundbondfanfic · 9 months
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Dunno if y’all take requests but I’d love a list of vintage destiel reccs, like canon or canon divergent season 4/season 5.
We do take requests! I'm sorry it took a while to come up with this list but here are a few of our favorites from early seasons.
A Different Kind of Falling by Lyrial [Explicit, 72k words]
“I will do it then,” Castiel said with confidence that he did not truly possess. “I will pretend to be a hunter and gain the trust of Dean Winchester so that we may locate Michael’s grace and restore him. I might not be as familiar with humanity as Balthazar is, but I am still a master tactician. I am certain that deceiving a few humans will be well within my capabilities.” As the humans would say, famous last words. (Dean is the fallen archangel Michael. Castiel is sent on a mission to restore him to his angelic self. Things get complicated, however, when Castiel finds himself falling for Dean.)
A Different Kind of Monster by roadtonowhere (lastoryx), xfancyfranart [Explicit, 89k words]
Something in Bodie, California is luring truckers to their deaths and Dean’s on his way to take it out. It’s the first time Bobby’s given him a case and, with Sam at Stanford and his dad off chasing demons, he's finally hunting monsters on his own. When an accidental encounter puts an as-of-yet-unknown monster in the passenger seat of his car, Dean decides to ice him, taking his dad's old adage to heart: a monster is always a monster. Unfortunately, Dean can’t seem to figure out what kind of monster "Castiel" is and he certainly can’t shake him.
Faith Healer by punkascas (earlwyn) [Explicit, 75k words]
Dean hates faith healers. Scam artists and power-hungry dicks, all of them. But with Sam nearing the end of his rope and desperate for a way to keep their father’s last words from being true, Dean has no choice but to turn to the enigmatic and irascible Castiel, more tattooed junkie than spiritual leader, in hopes of finding a way to cure Sam. Yet Castiel hides dangerous secrets, and Dean soon learns they have more to worry about than just Yellow Eyes and Sam’s growing demonic abilities. War is coming. Canon divergent after 2.10.
Good One's Gonna Be by remmyme [Explicit, 37k words]
Castiel Novak receives a rather alarming text message from an unknown number, and what started as a simple misdial quickly turns into the greatest friendship Castiel has ever known. But Dean has many secrets, dangerous truths about the life he lives, and would like to tell Castiel exactly none of them. A (slightly) AU, (mostly) text fic, S3 fix-it romance (of sorts).
Holy!Dean verse by bunnymaccool [Explicit, 120k words]
Dean Winchester has grown used to God dicking around in his life the last couple years. But this crap? This takes the CAKE ... or pie, rather. Now he's been thrown a whole new curve-ball. The kind that has ended the Civil War in Heaven ... but resulted in Raphael taking over, and hunting for Dean's ass on a silver platter. Not to mention dealing with Balthazar acting like a self-righteous prick, Sam having some big damn epiphany on his big brother's sexuality, and Cas eying him up like he's the world's juiciest cheeseburger. All that mixed with the chance to fix it all and set everything to rights ... but only if Dean is willing to sacrifice himself. Again. Seriously, if he ever meets that bastard God he's gonna- ... oh hey, Chuck! What are you doing here?
On Falling by kettleknight [Mature, 34k words]
After saving Dean from Hell, Castiel is tasked with convincing him to say "yes" to Michael should the apocalypse come to pass. But the time to complete this mission is quickly running out, and his superiors are expecting an answer soon. Desperate for a solution, Castiel asks his vessel for help and is forced to make a decision: help the apocalypse follow through, or crash head-first into humanity and damn the consequences.
Profoundly Different by amireal, tiamatv [Explicit, 190k words]
"Castiel?" Sam calls out, carefully. Both of them lower their guns but don’t put them away, yet: there’s no sign of a struggle, but the guy did just break out of an insane asylum by squishing an orderly. With a bureau that he shouldn't have been able to move. "We're not gonna hurt you. We're here to help. My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean." There's a loud silence. Dean can hear the wind rustling through the structure. A deep voice suddenly speaks up. It’s coarse and raspy and sounds like it hurts coming out; he’s never heard anything like it. It sends shivers down Dean's spine. "Dean?” the man asks. “Dean Winchester?" (A Season 4 AU: what if the fallen angel Dean and Sam ran into was Castiel, not Anna?)
See the World in Green and Blue by parenthetical [Explicit, 8k words]
Castiel spends a day learning what it's like to be human.
So Says The Sword by komodobits [Explicit, 85k words]
The briefing was simple: ‘Stand guard over the Michael Sword until the battle is ready to commence. Await further instructions.’ Castiel doesn’t mind working security duty; he was briefed shortly after the initial salvation of the Sword from the pit, and again before taking up his position. He knows what to do. However, it’s easy to forget that the green room isn’t real. Time moves differently there, the space ever-changing to make a prison of mountains, cathedrals, salt flats, orchards, and whatever Castiel was led to believe about Heaven’s greatest weapon—Dean Winchester is something entirely unexpected.
Strandlines by aeli_kindara [Explicit, 40k words]
It’s September 18, 2008. Castiel is being deployed to rescue Dean Winchester from Hell. He lands in Dean Winchester’s motel room in 2003. Things go from there.
The Girlfriend Experience by rageprufrock [Explicit, 15k words]
While it's not like Dean hasn't had a couple of truly regrettable hit-and-runs in his sexual history, this is probably the saddest fucking thing that has ever happened to him.
Thursday’s Child by strangeandcharm [Explicit, 114k words]
Thursday's child has far to go.
You can also check our time travel tag. We've reviewed some fics that play around with them going back in time. Here are a few:
a turn of the earth by microcomets [Mature, 95k words]
adam bites the apple by sicsempertyrannis [Teen, 11k words]
Crazy Diamonds by pantheon_of_discord [Explicit, 25k words]
Face to Face with the Skies by quiddative [Explicit,42k words]
Like a Comet in the Sky, I'll Follow You Across the Universe by super_skam310 [Explicit, 107k words]
the weight of water by eddiegirl [Explicit, 46k words]
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deancaspinefest · 3 months
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Given to Fly
Author: MittenWraith (mittensmorgul) | Artist: seidenapfel
Posting on Sunday April 14
It only upsets Dean's comfortable routine a little bit when Claire's illustrious uncle moves down to Norfolk to run his airfield. That is, until he meets his new boss face to face and can barely make words happen. Cas isn't doing much better, even if he knows exactly what he'd say to Dean if only he weren't Dean's commanding officer... Test pilot instructor Cas (who's afraid of boats) ran from his Air Force family to join the Navy, Dean ran from his Marine Corps father to work on airplanes for the Navy-- just as long as he doesn't have to fly in one, he's fine. They've met in the middle, but also in an impossible circumstance. It seems as if the one thing they want is something they can't have. Unless solving one impossible mystery could free them...
Keep reading for a sneak preview!
Dean arrived at work bright and early the next morning, expecting to have a little time to get ready before Captain Castiel Novak was expected to make a general inspection with Rufus in advance of handing over the reins to him. Unfortunately for Dean, he was a little too late for that. He walked into his office to find Rufus sitting in his chair, having a cup of his coffee. That in itself wasn’t surprising, but the fact he was sharing a cup while having a chat with the illustrious and storied Captain Novak was. He was so entirely caught off guard he almost forgot to salute as Rufus got to his feet.
“Chief Winchester, we weren’t expecting you in for another half hour or so,” Rufus said as Captain Novak stood up and turned around to be introduced and saluted. Dean was grateful to Rufus for babbling on for a bit before getting to business, because the second Dean saw the man’s face he lost the power of speech. “Captain Novak wanted to know where to get the best cup of coffee on base, so of course I led him straight to your office. Captain Castiel Novak, this is Chief Petty Officer Dean Winchester, mechanic extraordinaire and keeper of primo coffee beans.”
Dean managed another salute, which Novak returned.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chief Winchester,” Castiel said, looking just as knocked off balance as he shook himself off as Dean felt. “I understand we’ll be working closely together.”
Since Dean was standing there rather dumbly nodding back at him, Rufus broke the tension by clearing his throat and sitting back down at Dean’s desk.
“Captain Novak will be shadowing me for the next few days, and then taking over full time by the end of next week,” Rufus said. “Though I’m sure you don’t need me teaching you the ropes on how an airfield runs.”
Novak let out a little huff of a laugh at that. “Hopefully not. Though it is a new working environment, and the transition can be difficult for everyone involved. It’s well known you’re a beloved leader to your crew, and filling those shoes is never easy. Though the excellent coffee doesn’t hurt,” he added, taking his seat and toasting Dean with his cup.
Dean just stood there looking at Novak’s shoes before finally shaking himself off and noticing the apologetic smile on his new boss’s face falter just a little. Novak glanced at Rufus before looking back at Dean.
“I hope we haven’t overstepped, invading your space like this…”
“No, sir. My door is always open for anyone who needs it,” Dean finally managed, starting to feel like a human being and not a walking x-ray scan. Novak was still staring at him, though, and he knew he must be making a terrible impression. He pulled himself together and stood up a little straighter. “Even if they just need a decent cup of joe.”
“Well, Winchester, since you’re here, would you mind going through morning inspection with the Captain?” Rufus asked, after it was clear that Dean and Cas would otherwise just continue to stare at each other if left to their own devices.
Dean was doubly grateful that he’d already stopped for breakfast on his way in and hadn’t brought it with him to eat at his desk. He dropped his gear bag beside his desk and grabbed the inspection roster off the shelf beside the door.
“Ready when you are, Captain. One fifty cent tour, coming right up.”
(continue reading on Ao3 on Sunday April 14)
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vaicomcas · 11 months
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Castiel was glorious in 9x21 King of the Damned, gif version.
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He was commanding and he was feared by his enemy.
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He was loving and warm to his friends even when they treated him with less than enthusiasm.
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He defeated two assassins.
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He forcefully argued for Gadreel to change his loyalty, not by manipulation, but through honest appeal to Gadreel's conscience.
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kotana-x · 8 months
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Supernatural teen!AU
Castiel - teenager with mild Asperger's syndrome, an obsession with insectology and a love of beige raincoats. Not very emotional and often does not understand other people in the area of feelings and ambiguity. Crowley - leader of a small group of punks, although he looks like a cinnamon bun. Actually has red hair (dyes it). Loves dogs and vulgarity, does not like his mother.
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They are different, and therefore it took them a lot of time to become friends.
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They study in the same class, but Castiel, due to his characteristics, simply did not distinguish Crowley from the rest of his peers. They came together over a common conflict with Dick Roman.
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Spending the night together on a bunk bed
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quietwingsinthesky · 1 year
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i am being genuine, i think Zachariah is one of my favorite characters on this show
#him 🤝 Castiel: shits fucked I’m gonna go get drunk about it#literally he fascinates me I wanna poke him with a stick#‘whatever happened to personal loyalty’ NEED TO POKE HIM WITH NEEDLES AND FIGURE OUT HOW HE WORKS#okay okay okay okay it’s. like there is something to be said. about heaven’s reprogramming vs actually kicking angels out/killing them#that is last resort methods. I am gonna take Zach as being genuine there. what ABOUT loyalty huh?#the worst thing that can happen to an angel is getting kicked out like. Zach is one of the higher ups he’s an administrator of punishments#but is that punishment not better than the alternative?#an angel lobotomized is an angel saved. kept with the flock. personal loyalty. they worked so well for Heaven right up until they didn’t.#and he just. sets them right again. painfully. but sets them right. a gift for past service. forgiveness for new sins. wipe clean the slate.#also he really is just chilling at that bar. acting like he got fired.#but we know what him Actually being fired would look like. Heaven does not just let angels go#and when Michael arrives he assumes it’s to kill him so…#what im saying is zach’s getting mind games played with him too. he fails to get a yes? toss him out for a while. let him boil in the shame#and when he’s offered his job back he looks like he’s about to cry for the joy of it. LIKE#I DONT KNOW MAN I JUST FIND HIM SO COMPELLING THIS REWATCH#TERRIBLE TERRIBLE MAN. COMPELS ME THO.#he also gets points for singing when the saints come marching in. lmao. that’s the football song <3#I need to rewatch the Naomi episodes so I can compare them… angels dedicated so much to Heaven they’ll hurt their own siblings…#my favorite little cult leaders <3 well. leaders is misleading. cult middle management.#spn#Zachariah spn
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billiewena · 1 year
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valleydean · 6 months
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Valley of God [Read chapters 1-4]
a deancas horror au by valleydean (emmbrancsxx0) halloween horror series
SUMMARY: Dean and Castiel have been dating for a little under a year, and things are going great - or, at least, that's what Dean thought. On the weekend before the summer solstice, Cas is hired to take a group of campers on an excursion through the Appalachian Trail in the Hundred-Mile Wilderness. Much to Cas' shock, Dean tags along. When the campers are attacked by mysterious forces in the forest, they end up in a peculiar town hidden under an eternal mist. Soon, members of their group start to go missing, and Dean can't shake the feeling that something led them to town for a purpose.
PREVIEW:
“Start from the beginning,” Ishim said.
At once, Charlie, Jo, and Victor began talking over each other.
Ishim held up his hand, silencing them. “One at a time.”
Everyone was quiet then, waiting for someone else to talk. When it became apparent no one would, Dean opened his mouth, figuring somebody had to do it.
Cas beat him to the punch: “We were hiking the Appalachian Trail and took a small detour to the ruins at the top of the mountain—”
“The old temple ruins?” Ishim confirmed.
Cas nodded. “We made camp not far from them. Some time in the middle of the night, we were awoken by… To be frank, I’m not sure what it was. Something attacked us. It shook our tents like it was trying to get inside.”
“An animal?” Ishim asked.
Cas shook his head. “No. I… We heard screaming. There were whispers. Some of us saw people in the forest.”
“Can you describe these people?”
“We didn’t get a good look at their faces. It was too dark.”
Ishim hummed. Then, “What happened then?”
“I thought it would be safer if we got off the mountain. I told the others to run,” Cas explained, and Dean narrowed his eyes at the back of his head. He remembered what Cas had said before he left the tent. Something about Dean being safer there. And now he was saying they hadn’t been safe at camp?
It didn’t make a lick of sense.
“We lost each other as we came down the mountain,” Cas was saying. “One of us may still be in the forest. If he isn’t here…” Cas shook his head mournfully down at his lap, but there was something in the line of his shoulders. Dean couldn’t place it. “I’m afraid he might be hurt.”
“Look, is it possible it was people from the town playing a prank?” Victor cut in.
Ishim sat back in his chair, not taking a second to mull it over. He shook his head immediately. “No. We keep to ourselves. We don’t get many outsiders.”
“You’re telling me,” Jo grumbled, probably thinking the same things Dean was.
The clothes, the streetlamps, the cobblestones, the town marshal? It all looked like something out of a 1800s period drama. Dean felt like he’d just stepped out of a time machine.
“Where are we?” Charlie asked.
Ishim said, “Nahaliel.”
Dean frowned. “That’s the name of the town? Kinda a mouthful.”
“It means Valley of God,” Ishim told him, shooting Dean a hostile look. Dean didn’t really care what the name meant!
Suddenly, the door swung open again. Dean jolted, at the end of his rope. He wasn’t the only one, because everyone whipped around, too.
Benjamin came back inside, two other people in tow. First was a slender guy who, even though it was the middle of the night, was dressed in a three-piece suit with a collarless shirt held together by a diamond stickpin. His shoulders were held back, making him look taller and more imposing than he actually was. Behind him, there was a stern-looking woman in a white blouse tucked into a long skirt. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun. An antique carved ivory cameo brooch was pinned to her collar.
Ishim stood up and said, “This is Raphael. He’s Nahaliel’s acting leader.”
Leader. Not mayor or governor. Leader.
Acting leader, actually. Dean didn’t know if it was worth it to ask what happened to their regular one. He really didn’t give a shit, anyway, considering how many other things were going on. Either way, these people were weird as hell.
Dean figured they must be Mennonite or something. That was the only explanation he could come up with.
“Raphael, these people were camping near the ruins on the mountain. They said something attacked them. One of them is still missing.”
“I see,” Raphael said. His tone was deep and dark, baritone. It shook inside the hollow of Dean’s bones. He spoke with absolutely no inflection at all. “Your friend?” He stood to the side of Ishim’s desk and gave them all the once-over. Dean felt himself tense when the guy’s eyes briefly passed over him. Like Raphael’s voice, his expression was unyielding and emotionless.
“Their friend,” Cas corrected. “They were on a tour. I’m their guide.” He said the last part sullenly, like he was blaming himself for what happened. For losing Garth. Dean’s heart tugged before he remembered he was mad at Cas.
Recovering, Cas looked up at Raphael again and said, “My name is Castiel.”
“Castiel,” Raphael repeated. “You were the guide for all…” He inspected everyone else again, like he was counting them. “Six of them?”
Dean’s forehead wrinkled. It was kind of a weird thing to say. Maybe the guy was just trying to figure out if everyone else was accounted for.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cas pull his shoulders back. “Yes. Including Garth.”
“The one who is missing?”
Cas nodded. “We thought, maybe, he saw the lights of your town and came here but…” He paused, and Dean could practically hear the cogs in his head turning. When he spoke again, he asked, “This town. How long have you been here?”
“A long time,” Raphael answered. “We were founded centuries ago.”
“That’s impossible. I’ve been this way hundreds of times. I’ve never seen this place.”
Dean tensed his fists on his lap, because Garth was still out there and they were getting off topic.
“Yet, here we are,” Raphael said.
“But—” Cas started.
Dean cut him off, “Who the hell cares?” He stood up, ready to go back into the damn woods and find Garth himself if he had to. “We’re wasting time standing around here with our dicks in our hands. Meanwhile, Garth’s still out there with who the hell knows what!”
“We will find your friend,” Raphael told him, slow and measured, and maybe Dean was just freaked out and overreacting, but this didn’t feel like the usual removed, calm public service guy attitude found in cops taking witness statements. Raphael was starting to piss him off.
Finally, Raphael turned to Ishim and said, “Form a search party and begin looking immediately.”
Ishim nodded, seeming ready to hop to it.
“Great!” Dean bit out. “I’m coming, too.”
“Me, too,” Victor said, his chair legs scraping on the wooden floor as he got up. Benny leaned off the wall.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve all been through an ordeal,” the woman who’d walked in with Raphael finally spoke. Everyone in the room turned to her. “You should rest. Let us handle the search.”
Dean told her, “Look, lady—”
“Naomi.”
“Right. Naomi,” he said, trying not to lose his patience. “I don’t think any of us are gonna rest very well until we find Garth. He’s our buddy.”
“And our people know these woods,” Naomi returned pleasantly. “There’s no sense in another one of you getting lost out there. Our marshal will find your friend quicker without you. In the meantime, there’s space for each of you at the inn. I’ll take you there. It isn’t far.”
Dean was still wary, even though the reasoning made sense. He looked at the others, trying to gauge what they were thinking. All of them shared uncertain looks with one another.
Cas sighed and relented, “Yes. Thank you.”
“Excellent. If you’ll follow me.”
Maybe all of them were just too bone-tired to do anything but go with the flow, but they all followed Naomi out of the marshal’s office. Together, they started down the street.
Ahead of him, Charlie and Jo had their arms around each other as they spoke in soft voices. Victor and Benny were looking around at their surroundings. Cas kept his head down, his shoulders tucked up to his ears.
Dean figured now was as good a time as any.
He rushed to Cas’ side and demanded, “You wanna tell me what the fuck all that was about at camp?”
Cas looked at him, expression drawn but eyes deep wells of emotion. “Dean, I promise, I’ll explain everything later.”
No way. Not good enough.
Dean stopped walking abruptly and grabbed Cas’ arm, manhandling him around. “Yeah, how ‘bout you explain now?”
Cas’ gaze roamed Dean’s face. His mouth was open, like he’d start talking at any second, but he never did. Dean didn’t know if he was searching for an excuse or what, but his patience was running out.
Cas inhaled. “Dean—”
“Please keep up! The mist is thick tonight. We wouldn’t want you losing your way,” Naomi called from up ahead, pausing to look back at them. The others did, too, all of them blinking Dean and Cas’ way.
Slight embarrassment uncurled in Dean’s gut. He looked back at Cas, whose face was shored up into a neutral mask again. Cas dipped his chin down and started walking after the others.
Dean flapped his arms against his sides in defeat and stomped after him.
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*after the Squad has been separated for a few years*
Balthazar: So what have you been up to recently?
Castiel: Leading a revolution with Dean.
Balthazar: Good for you two! Me, I've joined the mob.
Castiel: *nods* Oh, how cool! That's awesome!
Balthazar: I know! Anyway, have you heard from the others? Gabriel?
Castiel: Happily living his exile in Vegas. Anna?
Balthazar: Wrongfully locked up in an asylum, which reminds me, we need to break her out later. Lucifer?
Castiel: Cult leader.
Balthazar: Yeah, that sounds about right.
267 notes · View notes