[ic] ♟ voicemail & open post

[sonofabitch]

"This is Dean. You know what to do."

Comments

[Voice]

[smartwinchester]

[So it's been days. And Castiel told Sam most of what they talked about in something of a drunk ramble that only made a little bit of sense once Sam had time to sleep on it. But he has a pretty good guess over what was the nail in the proverbial coffin. So Sam has to be the one to fix it, seeing as it was his head.

Is his head.

Whatever.

He sounds pretty quiet and subdued, all things considered.]

Hey -- it's Sam. We need to talk. Get back to me when you get this. It's important.

[Voice] An hour after the previous message.

[smartwinchester]

[CALLING AGAIN.]

Dean, it's Sam. Seriously. We need to talk. Get back to me.

[Voice] Two hours after previous message.

[smartwinchester]

[CALLING AGAIN.]

If you don't pick up on the next try, I'm coming over there, because you're not going to do the whole 'I'm Dean Winchester and I'm going to run away from my problems thing' over this, okay? Call me back.

[Voice] Two hours after previous message.

[smartwinchester]

[>8|]

Fine. Be a four year old. Whatever.

I'm going to be at the library for the rest of the night if you feel like acting your age and answering a stupid phone call.

[/CLICK]

voice;

[sonofabitch]

[Dean only answers because he's bored out of his mind being alone, okay? That's all it is.]

What, Sam?

voice;

[smartwinchester]

[Yeah well Sam doesn't feel relieved that you called back okay this is just an obligation. >8|]

-- finally.

Look, we need to talk. Alright? Actually talk this time.

I can explain everything, but you have to promise to listen to understand it.

[text]

[dragonspeak]

So Morgana has decided your mother is a lady of the court.

I guess that means you and Sam are lords now.

text;

[sonofabitch]

SWEET

DO WE GET SWORDS OR SOMETHING

[text]

[dragonspeak]

We can probably figure something out.

So Lord Winchester or Lord Campbell? Since you're inheriting from your mother.

text | day 139

[minifridge]

John's here. It's not a trick, it's really him.

He's from closer to my time than yours.

text;

[sonofabitch]

saw him
dont think he knows us
whatve you told him?

[minifridge]

I haven't mentioned that you guys are his kids yet. He's still dealing with not being my husband, and the monsters/hunting talk is still new.

I'll tell him, I promise. I'll be kind. I'll let you know when I do.

Note - Day 195

[dragonspeak]

[On Dean's desk, there's a small bundle of cookies--round medallions with red glaze in the shape of fire on one side. Next to the cookies is a dark brown scarf. If Dean examines the scarf closely, he'll notice the embroidery on one end that says: "Lord Campbell". The note reads: ]

To keep you warm for the Yule season. Sorry, no swords to give out this time.

Merlin

text;

[sonofabitch]

[Dean is more than perplexed to find it, because he barely celebrates Christmas with Sam let alone expects (or gives) presents to (from) other people. It's a nice gesture, though, and it's good that he's alone because he even smiles at the cookies. But then he sees the "Campbell" and has to roll his eyes. Still, he'll send Merlin a text in thanks. As much of a thanks as he's known to give, at least.]

Already got a sword, but the cookies are more appreciated right now.

~rebelledforhim

[sonofabitch]

[ continued from here ]

[ Castiel looks like he belongs here, leaning against the desk in a room that's undeniably Dean's. It's still strange to him that he has something akin to a home, even if it isn't a house like normal people would have. The bunker offers the same kind of stability, something that means fewer weird motel rooms and a closet where he can keep things like pajamas and the robe he's come to love. Sam makes it home, and Castiel does when he sticks around. Family, little and broken as it is, adds warmth to the cavernous space. ]

Oh. [ Suddenly, he gets it. In his mind, the barn is covered in spray-painted symbols, the half-rotten table littered with all manner of weapons. Those had been such simple times when all he and Bobby could imagine summoning had been a demon, before angels and Leviathan and gods and multiple apocalypses. He'd been terrified and angry, and the road to friendship with Castiel hasn't always been smooth, but he knows that meeting him that night had changed him forever. Some of it had to do with the tidings said angel had brought, of course, but a lot of it had to do with Castiel himself.

Clearing his throat, Dean shoves another cookie into his mouth to avoid answering for a moment. Castiel didn't ask a question, but he has this way of looking at Dean that makes him feel like he needs to reply and uphold his end of a conversation. ] Yeah, well, maybe you've got fond memories there, but I nearly crapped my pants that night. [ He chuckles, licking cookie crumbs from his lips. Sitting on his bed, thinking about that night and the handprint once branded on his arm, he suddenly feels antsy about having Castiel in his bedroom. He sets the cookie bag aside and stands, shoving his hands in his robe pockets. ] Can't say anything about the rest of the list, since I haven't been anywhere else on it, but they sound way better than a shitty barn.

[ Glancing around, he reclaims the pie and nods towards the door. ] Whaddya say we go to the kitchen and slice this baby up?

[rebelledforhim]

[He seems to huff again, biting into another cookie. He remembers. Point in fact, he remembered everything—-with a startling clarity. The first moments of his creation, knowing his once-kin, the spinning ball of dirt, the little gray fish, all of it. But after that night, that moment, things shifted. As if light had pierced through and chased the dark and blind spaces of the eternal. They awoke something in him that would never be snuffed out.

Sam and Dean. The Winchesters. The Righteous Man and the Boy Who Ends. All of the Demos before him, infinite places and time—-infinite humans, boundless to all and nothing...and Castiel is only content to be here. With them.

He thinks often on what—-and whom—-he’s sacrificed to be standing here with Dean Winchester. And every time, he still finds it worth it. With them...he belongs. And he wonders if they think so too. He hopes they do.

Cas seems to smile at that, about the barn—-glancing up at the hunter as he stands.] One would assume. For me...it is a place I visit most.

[He nods at his last, moving to follow Dean towards the kitchen.] By all means.

[sonofabitch]

Seriously? [ He's not sure what about that sits wrong with him, but the thought of Castiel spending so much time in the run-down barn rather than being with them feels nostalgic at the expense of the present. ] You could stand to visit us here more, you know. Maybe the bunker doesn't have as many weeds or a rotting roof, but the company's better.

[ Smiling at him as they walk through the halls, Dean slips into the kitchen first and sets the pie on the table. It only takes a minute to gather utensils and a couple of beers, one of which he hands to Cas before taking a seat. Being an expert pie eater means he's pretty good at carving them up, and he sets a couple of big slices on two plates and slides one over to Castiel. ] So, apple's your favorite pie now?

[aprofoundbond]

[Castiel goes to the Empty just as Dean says 'me too,' and while that confirmation of his love breaks his heart, it also makes him feel full, complete; he loved and he was loved. How could anyone ask for anything more from life?

The Empty takes him and tucks him away, but he feels as though he's barely closed his eyes when Jack is taking him by the hand, leading Castiel into the light, literally and figuratively.

'How?' He asks. 'We won,' Jack replies, eyes and smile both filled to bursting, and Castiel feels his heart swell to the same. Jack explains how they ultimately came to defeat Chuck, how Jack is now God, and how Jack, fulfilling his destiny, is going to let the world run itself going forward.

'But first,' he tells to Castiel, 'there's something we must do. That you must do, Castiel.'

Castiel listens, but even as Jack explains, Castiel feels the pull of Dean's soul, tugged along towards eternity; Dean Winchester is dying. Castiel feels terror and despair creeping in on him in the same way the Empty once took him. But before he can panic, Jack takes him by the hand again, promises him it will all be okay.

'You're going to save him,' Jack says. 'And that will be the last of Divine Intervention.'

Castiel doesn't get the chance to do more than hug Jack one last time before, abruptly, Jack disappears in a glow of hazy light, like the dawn rising. And when Castiel looks again, he finds that Jack has transported him to the barn in which the Winchesters stand, or, rather, where Dean Winchester is pinned in place by a rebar and Sam Winchester is pleading with him not to go.

Castiel rushes over.]

Sam, Dean!

[His heart aches, seeing Dean like this; helpless, pinned, and gradually fading from life. He will not let this be Dean Winchester's true Death

He turns to Sam.]

We need to get him off of that rebar, and then I can heal him.

[sonofabitch]

[ When Dean is forced to watch the Empty suck Castiel into its thick blackness, he mourns for more than just his best friend. He has lost Castiel countless times, whether it be to differing opinions, corrupting power, weakening loss of that power, and ultimately even death. This loss has a note of finality to it, however, both because of the speech Castiel gives and the knowledge that Dean is truly powerless now. There are no benevolent higher forces to steal Castiel back from death, nor is there a chance of bargaining with the malevolent force that took him. Dean is alone, and he's left alone with the unignorable truth that he's lost Castiel the moment he truly, fully had him. It's a loss of the being that was Castiel, of course, but it's also a loss of what they could have been together. His feeble return of Castiel's love had been born of shock and the inability to process everything that was happening. Castiel loved him? Of course, he knows it now, maybe had known it even before or at least hoped for it. It isn't until now that he wishes he'd acted on that love sooner.

Then again, he's not sure who he blames more for keeping such a secret.

Dean has to go on, though, because otherwise, Castiel's sacrifice would be for nothing. He doesn't wash the handprint from his jacket. He barely feels the blows from Lucifer or Chuck. He doesn't mourn the loss of Michael when he turns out to be little more than a pawn in the fucked up game they've had to play. He's proud of Jack, then disappointed to watch him leave. He goes through the motions and focuses on Sam and survival and not thinking about all of the people they've lost along the way. It's really just them, the two brothers, back to how things had been after Sam left Standford. At least they can get lost in the hunt, he thinks, until a very old face rears her head and Dean gets hung up like a coat on a hook. ]

It's okay, Sam. [ He pats at Sam's shoulder, or maybe chest, or hell, it could be his face. The feeling is leaving his extremities and they're only moving on stubborn instinct. It feels like his whole life has been leading up to this moment, and he finds the words for his brother in ways he hadn't been able to the other times they'd been threatened with one final separation. Halfway through, he thinks he must really be fading fast if the delusional sound of wingbeats is anything to go by. He smiles, chuckling at himself and how even now, his stupid brain is searching for Castiel. The smile drops when he realizes he won't be able to see the angel in Heaven, if Dean even manages to make it there. ]

Cas. [ His vision is blurring, but he imagines him standing there, just over Sam's shoulder. The hallucination calls their names, making Dean's eyebrows furrow together in concentration. For an image conjured by a dying brain, Castiel is very insistent. ] Cas, I'm sorry.

~aprofoundbond

[sonofabitch]

[ continued from here ]

you got it, angel. I'll try really have to behave

as long as you get off on it, I'm not complaining. but I want to give as good as I get

[aprofoundbond]

I know how difficult that can be for you. I'm looking forward to seeing you try.

Oh, I'll get off on it. Don't you worry about that. Wing touch is one of the most intimate acts for any angel.

~personalspaceinvader

[sonofabitch]

[ continued from here ]

fuck, that'll be hard with your mouth on me. pretty sure I'll be begging before you get halfway down

Sorry!!! Life got me for a week.

[personalspaceinvader]

You can beg all you like. It won't change my plans for you.

Patience is a very important skill. We can work on it all night if needed.

~aprofoundbond

[sonofabitch]

[ continued from here ]

normal citizens? hell fucking no. hunters? a little. pretty sure we're a unique case. falling in love with someone who saved you at your lowest point isn't that unheard of, though

you learning to bake behind my back, Cas?

[aprofoundbond]

I think 'meeting the love of your life by raising his damned soul from Hell' still is fairly unique, though. I'd like to see one of those romantic comedies try for a storyline like that, sometime.

Perhaps. Perhaps I'm looking to surprise you.