Naggity Nag (Dean/Cas)

[Castiel]

[cas]Slowly, "So you choose not to help protect your infant nephew and your younger brothers, nor to find your father." Castiel shook his head slowly. "So be it. I will find someone else to fight your battle." As attempts at emotional manipulation went it was pretty crude. Castiel's understanding of human psychology, even Dean's, wasn't the best. But just the fact that he was trying at all argued a certain sophistication that came entirely from his association with the Winchesters and their friends.[/cas]

[Dean Winchester]

[dean]"Damn it, Cas," Dean swore vehemently, hand coming down on the table in his frustration and anger at the clear use of...whatever it was, reverse psychology or something.

He didn't bother asking why it had to be his battle, again, because even he knew that was petulant bullshit and it wouldn't get him anywhere anyway.

Again he found himself rubbing at his eyes, wanting to tell the angel to fuck off but knowing it would just cause more rounds of this and in the end he'd give in anyway. If Sammy was in trouble, he'd help. Sammy's kid he was still trying to wrap his brain around. "Sometimes I really hate you, you know that?" he asked, dropping his hand and following it with, "Do you at least have an idea of where he is, or was? A starting point?"[/dean]

[Castiel]

[cas]"Yes." Castiel's voice was harsh, but then it always was. "I do know that. Hermantown, Minnesota. Four hours ago I caught a flash of him before he could ward his motel room. Not enough to pinpoint his location further than that, and the last time I found him he just banished me before I could speak to him." He sounded a bit put out by that, being banished hurt like anything.

And in the closest thing he could manage to making this easier for Dean, "Sam and the others are heading for Bobby Singer's home. If it is easier for you, or better, to find them first, they will be there tomorrow."[/cas]

[Dean Winchester]

[dean]"Yeah, no," Dean said with a harsh laugh and shake of his head. "I'll track Dad down first, thanks." The last thing he wanted just now was to see Sam. Or Bobby. Though those two were mutually exclusive, though.

He needed pie. He waved the waitress over and ordered a piece of apple with cheese. When she'd gone to get it, he leaned back in his seat and asked, "Anything else?"[/dean]

[Castiel]

[cas]He actually gave that some thought. "It's possible that Michael and Lucifer have cracked or are cracking the Cage. We can't get a good look right now. Raphael is gathering support to try to force our Father into the open. Crowley is poised to take over as the King of Hell." Another pause while he sorted through the billions of pieces of information that flew at him constantly. "Missouri Mosely had a mild heart attack but will recover nearly wholly. And there is some evidence that there is another generation, or at least another group that was never activated, of Special Children in the world and that the demons are seeking them out. Those are all the things I believe you would want to know."[/cas]

[Dean Winchester]

[dean]"Is that all?" Dean asked sarcastically. "I shouldn't have asked."

But he had and he was already filing all of it away in the order he'd need to present it to Sam, if he didn't already know. "You tell Sammy all that?"[/dean]

[Castiel]

[cas]Deadpan: "He didn't ask."[/cas]

[Dean Winchester]

[dean]That pulled a reluctant laugh out of Dean and he nodded, smile growing when his pie arrived. "Okay, then."

He started eating and, around bites, asked, "So, what? I find John and head to Bobby's? That's the whole plan?"[/dean]

[Castiel]

[cas]Castiel never lost the solemnity as he explained, "The last time I formed an elaborate plan for your family, two members of it banished everybody in sight, drew Enochian sigils onto their skin and disappeared from the sight of Heaven and Hell. It seemed prudent to leave things more flexible this time."[/cas]

[Dean Winchester]

[dean]Another snort. "Flexible, sure, that's one way to put it."

He finished his pie, looked at Cas and, before deciding it was time to go, asked, "How you doing with all this?"

It was hard, sometimes, to remember just how far Castiel had come, what he still was in so much of his being regardless of what had changed. And lately it was hard for Dean to remember that Cas was probably his best friend. He'd lost that in the midst of all of his self pity and it was time he knocked that shit off. Mostly because Cas was looking more wrinkled around the edges than he usually did.[/dean]

[Castiel]

[cas]"I am--" as tended to happen when something like this came up, Castiel was unsure how to answer. It was not much in an angel's nature to consider their own state. He had to think about it for a bit. "I am tired," he finally manged. "Very, very tired. I have been cut off from Heaven. Raphael's supporters can't sever me from my grace, they no longer have that kind of power, but they can make Heaven too dangerous for me to return to. I haven't been back since the day my Father revived me." The day Sam and Adam had fallen into the Cage. "That is a very long time for one such as me. It weakens me, badly." He felt somehow wrong saying this, but he thought it was more like the way Dean looked angry when he was discussing his emotions than because there was anything inherently wrong in the conversation.[/cas]

[Dean Winchester]

Worried, now, Dean didn't beat around the bush. Only asked, "Can I help?" He sincerely doubted it, being human and all, but he needed to put it out there, that he'd do whatever he could. Even if Cas said that finding his father and getting to Sam and the rest would be help enough, something he figured was almost a certainty.

[Castiel]

[cas]"Not right now." He sat with his shoulders squared, unnaturally still and without fidgeting or shifting his weight. "There might be something later. I don't know. It depends on too many things." He looked squarely at Dean. "Be the Winchesters. That's what will help. I need you. Everything needs you."[/cas]

[Dean Winchester]

[dean]"Yeah, okay, I'll get on that," Dean said, sounding incredibly tired himself but steeling himself, nodding as he stood and threw a bill down on the table, more than enough for pie, coffee and tip.

"Do me a favor, though," he said as he did so, "Don't just pop in and," he looked up to find Castiel gone and sighed. "Out."

Muttering under his breath, he headed out and to the Impala, gearing up for another long drive.[/dean]