10It was exactly 2:47 in the afternoon when the door to room 107 of the Midquent Motel flew open. Castiel quickly looked up from his perch on the end of the bed. He had been sitting there for over two hours, completely still. He was immersed in his own thoughts, terrible thoughts of war and guilt and heaven, and occasionally, a flash of white and an unnerving voice that he couldn't place. He was so concentrated on his thoughts that he'd momentarily forgotten where he was, and the noise of the door startled him.
Dean Winchester strode into the room, anger rolling off him in waves as his brother Sam lagged behind him. He shut the door quietly, his head down, clearly not in the mood to argue. But Dean was practically bristling, and Castiel could sense that conflict was unavoidable.
He had come to accept that this was normal for the Winchesters. Sometimes Dean would be angry, sometimes Sam, sometimes both. Someone was always unhappy or frustrated. Often, watching them argue made Castiel depressed. As an angel, it was peculiar to feel this way, but he could not deny the overwhelming sadness that came over him when he watched the boys, his boys, argue and fight. He thought back to a few years prior, when things were simpler for them. They were still brothers, simply fighting any supernatural being they came across. Castiel had been watching them, even then, though his friends didn't know it. He missed their easy fighting, the playful comments and smiles. Things would never be the same, but that didn't meant the angel wouldn't try.
Castiel's eyes turned back to the television in front of him, which he had only half been watching. However, the camera's view of the New York police department was quickly blocked by Dean's figure.
"Come on, Sam! What were you thinking?! You could'a gotten us both killed!"
"Yeah, but I didn't, Dean," Sam replied with a sigh. He didn't even bother looking at his brother, simply pulling out a chair at the table by the window.
"Dean," Castiel said gently, but the hunter ignored him.
"I thought you were done with all of this reasoning crap! If something supernatural's causing a problem, we kill it!"
"When have things ever been that simple, huh?" Sam snapped, turning his body in the chair. "There's still good in the world, Dean, in people."
"Um, Dean…" Cas tried again.
"Oh, well excuse me if I have a hard time seeing the good in a goddamn shifter bitch!"
"She was being hunted Dean! She killed a whole bunch of demons! Maybe there were some casualties in the process, but the body count that brought us here wasn't her fault! She said she doesn't kill!"
"Dean…"
"And of course we should believe her, right. Because all the shifters we've met have been the pinnacle of honest and sane. Come on, Sam!"
"Okay so I trust her! How is that any different from you trusting a vampire Dean? Huh? How is that any different from you trusting Benny?!"
"Dean."
"What, Cas?!" Dean finally snapped, breaking eye contact with his brother to glare at the angel.
"Could you please move?" Dean's anger quickly turned to confusion.
"What?" Castiel raised his hand to point at the television.
"Could you move, please?" Dean looked back and forth between the commercial on the screen and the angel's innocent face. He glanced over at Sam, who also looked nonplussed.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Am I blocking your view?"
"Yes," the angel replied simply. Dean narrowed his eyes, incredulous.
"Seriously? Sam risks getting us killed because he fell for another pretty face, and you're more concerned about your show?"
"Well you finished, right?" Dean crossed his arms, attention now fully on Castiel.
"What?"
"The case," Cas elaborated. "You finished? The demons that killed all of those women were exorcised?"
"Well, yeah," Dean answered, barely before Castiel continued.
"Good. Excuse me." He returned to staring at the television as the commercial break ended. Dean gave a short, derisive laugh.
"Well, I'm glad that's settled." Castiel didn't respond, bright blue eyes glued to the screen. "What are you even watching?" Dean let his arms flop to his sides as he turned to the screen, where a pretty brunette cop was reading a file at her desk, surrounded by men chatting about a case. Dean practically growled. "Great," he muttered, "another procedural cop show." He looked over to Sam, who was watching the altercation with interest. "He's watching a procedural cop show!"
"The police are very important, Dean," Castiel replied. "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders." The two hunters stared at him in silence, both mouths hanging slightly open. After a few seconds, Sam raised his hand, pointing at the angel in confusion.
"Is that a quote from Law and Order…?" Castiel glanced at him quickly before shrugging off the accusation.
"The point is, the police provide an important service for ordinary people, similar to the one you provide. Only they're acknowledged and paid." There were another few moments of silence. Then Sam chuckled. Dean shot him a glare, but he didn't stop. Soon, Sam was full out laughing, cracking under the pressure. Castiel smiled innocently. With one look, Dean's anger melted away. He chuckled rolling his eyes, and collapsing on the bed next to Cas.
"Whatever. I hate cop shows. Gimme the remote."
"No."
"Dude, you've been here for hours! Give me the remote."
"No. I believe the saying is, I was here first."
"Dude! Lose the attitude!"
"I cannot lose an attitude, Dean. It is an intangible aspect of a human being." Dean opened his mouth to argue, but Sam cut him off.
"Just because you aren't surrounded by hot cop girls with hand cuffs," Sam started.
"Hey!" Dean yelled. "If I wanted girls flirting with cops I'd turn on some porn! We're not watching this shit!"
"Actually, Dean, the female is the cop. It's very interesting shit, as you say. The brunette male is-"
"Cas, I don't care! Turn it off!"
"Oh come on, Dean, let him watch it if he's that interested."
The brothers continued to bicker, but the angel wasn't bothered. He smiled softly at the screen at the main characters bickered as well. For the moment, they were distracted. For the moment, their biggest problem was television shows. Then Castiel felt a new emotion rising, and the sadness was erased. For the moment, they were happy.
