Winifred "Fred" Burkle (i_figure) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2011-05-10 00:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | castiel, winifred burkle |
Angel to the rescue, no, not that Angel (Castiel/Fred Log, complete)
(Happens prior to this.)
Fred had tried calling for Castiel, but that had felt a little odd, just calling someone’s name out loud. She'd even found a summons, but she felt bad about summoning an angel. She didn't think it was right to treat any sentient being like it a dog - called with a whistle, treat, or threat. Plus, she'd done enough as it was. Or not enough. She still hadn't found the cure for whatever had happened to him. There had been moments that she felt like someone was watching, but she chalked it up to being paranoid. Even that one time in the shower; then again, she lived in a city that actually had its own Norman Bates.
She finally decided to give in and hit the Library; only they wouldn't let her near the computers. It aggravated her that they were going to keep her away from information. She wasn't sure what she would do, but there had to be something. After looking through various yellow pages, a few more angel books, and then a comic about Black Canary, she took a small break with a stop at the museum, or the display cases. Yes, nothing overly exciting or new. Dean’s amulet sitting there gave her some sort of comfort. He did exist. She was pretty certain he existed.
Fred headed out of the library and stopped, her brows furrowing. Had she had her clipboard on her when she went in? She stood not far from the side of the building, thinking about what she’d brought with her. Somewhere above something was rocking, something very big and heavy, something that could squish a frail human to a bloody mess. Said possible bloody squished mess shrugged and started on her way, deciding she hadn’t brought the board with her.
“Maybe a cafe!” One of those internet type places seemed like a good place. Did the City even have one of those internet type cafes? Well, she guessed she’d have to look.
----
Castiel was an old, old being, and he did not take change lightly or easily, especially when it affected him so personally. After his strange day with Fred and the subsequent conversation with Dean, Castiel stayed off of the round and in the air, so to speak. He Watched, of course, as was his nature, but he kept himself off the grid, using no power and trying to avoid manifesting in any form that would attract a great deal of attention. He didn’t actively look for the beings that Dean had requested, choosing instead to keep a metaphorical ear to the ground for any peculiarities.
After a great deal of soul-searching (yet another metaphor, in this case), Castiel had decided to keep a close eye on Fred to see if she showed any further peculiarities. She hadn’t. She was ordinary, very devastatingly ordinary, and Castiel could find no sign of latent power or universal importance about her. He was an inherently patient being, however, and whether or not this was the result of a ‘wish,’ he was sure he would find out.
Unlike what human greeting cards seemed to imply, Watching did not necessarily imply Guarding, but Castiel was in a unique position here in the City, and he would not hesitate to interfere here where he might have in another setting. He could move much faster than humans, sometimes even faster than human thought, and he watched with slight concern and growing interest as Fred narrowly avoided serious accident outside the library. He put aside his other concerns and focused as she moved on her way, actually putting a metaphysical (not metaphorical) ear out to see what she was saying to herself.
----
“Of course, that’s if the things exist. You’d think that it’d let me have a computer. Or a clipboard. No, can’t have that. A tv would be good. Not that I’ve asked for one. Well, there was that one time, but that doesn’t count really. Next thing you know it’s gonna put an abacus in my bedside drawer. Do you know how hard it is to figure out the direction of a particle with an abacus?” Fred looked up as someone was actually listening and staring at her. “Not you, just..sorry. It’s not easy though. I tried once. I somehow got 42, which doesn’t make any sense at all. 42? What kind of answer is 42?”
Fred stepped around the person who had been and still was staring at her. Well, they weren’t moving. Of course, she wasn’t looking to see that a black Charger was barreling down the road, possibly targeting her, or just not seeing her. She could be hard to miss sometimes.
“Not you. You probably are great at abacus working. Though I do like the way the beads slide back and forth.” The brainy female started to step down into the street, not liking the staring. It only made her want to babble more, which probably made the guy only want to stare more. The other side of the street seemed a safer place for both of them.
----
Naturally, she was wrong there. Castiel could find nothing significant about the black Charger beyond that it was driven by someone who was either blind or not watching where they were going, and in the leisurely few seconds he had to consider it, he decided to wait and see what became of it.
Avoiding manifestation entirely, he sped his appearance up so quickly that there wasn’t a man behind Fred at all, there was just a peculiar woosh of cold air and a little tug on the back of Fred’s collar, just enough to put her off her balance and prevent her forward motion for a split second.
----
Fred lost her balance, which really wasn’t all that surprising, and eeped softly as a car blurred past. She stood on the curb for a moment and looked after the car. She also checked to make sure there weren’t any cars coming before stepping off the curb and heading onto the street. She didn’t want to be road pizza, and she didn’t think she was good enough at Frogger to get herself across in some weird arcade game callback.
As soon as the street seemed clear she stepped out and headed to the other side. She didn’t mean to do it, or maybe she did; she turned and gave the starer a wave, only to see that the staring person had gone on his way.
“Talking to strangers and yourself? I guess it could be worse. Actually it could always be worse. There isn’t a single moment it can’t not be worse. I don’t think there is an absolute worse. Not that I want to find out.” She knocked a wooden newspaper/magazine kiosk as she walked by just to be safe. Thankfully, the City was being kind, or seemed to be. A cafe sign was just a block up; it had a cup of steaming coffee or some sort of beverage with a computer beside it and read “Techno Joe’s.”
What could possibly happen to Fred walking down a sidewalk? It wasn’t like there was a huge piano being lifted higher and higher on ropes that could fray, right? She probably wouldn’t have started walking under had she seen it.
----
Castiel had been in existence before the invention of pianos, and he felt that they were long overdue by the time they made it into mainstream. He did not, however, feel that they should be distributed in the air above sidewalks. Castiel, on high alert by this point and practically on Fred’s shoulder (so to speak) waited until the last millisecond before the rope snapped to actually interfere. He gave her a little shove forward this time, just out of the way.
He’d already done a sweep for other angels, demons, leprechauns, witch’s hexes, and even Fate herself. Perhaps it was simply something he hadn’t caught yet.
----
Again, she lost her balance. Fred was beginning to wonder if she didn’t have an inner ear problem. Maybe something in the City was affecting her. She jumped as the piano crashed into the sidewalk where she’d been only moments before. Thankfully nothing came shooting out at her; no one ever thought about the bits and pieces that had to go every which way when the large object with a great deal of momentum hit a larger object that wasn’t moving and wasn’t going to move.
“Shit.” She said it softly, feeling a little embarrassed and naughty at having said it aloud. She looked slowly up at the men who were looking down at her and at the piano, or what was once a piano. “I...need coffee.” She turned quickly to head to the cafe where it was hopefully safe and secure, without falling pianos or wooshing cars. She did check to make sure nothing else large was hanging over her path. It seemed the right thing to do.
With a few breaths and some very speedy steps, she got far enough away from the impact site to breathe a little slower, to try to relax. If she thought too hard about it, she’d wonder if someone was trying to kill her. She didn’t know anyone who would want that. It wasn’t like she was that important.
Once she was inside , she felt even better. She ordered a large cup of coffee, a scone, and a computer. She settled at a terminal and started typing.
“Castiel. Cas-t-a-e-l? Cas-t-i-e-l? K-a-s-t...” She worked through the various possible spellings; there weren’t that many. At least not using only English language and Roman letters. “Where oh where are you, Mr. Watcher Angel person?”
She hadn’t been speaking that loudly, but someone in the coffee shop caught what she said. The word ‘angel’ seemed to trigger something. The man in the corner stared at the woman at the terminal who was talking to herself. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. Sure, she’d said “Mr. Watch Angel person,” but he recognized her as one of the bastard’s gang. He and a few of his friends had a bone to pick with her boss.
----
Castiel didn’t have to take up physical space if he didn’t want to, though the vessel made it a little complicated. Using Jimmy as an anchor, Castiel watched and listened, senses keen, looking for all things supernatural or divine. The man in the corner didn’t meet either of those criteria right off the bat, but he was the only one in the coffee shop watching Fred with any interest, so, almost ignoring Fred’s request for his presence, the angel focused on him. Several minutes later, he still had nothing he was familiar with. He didn’t understand what was going on here, and for a second he was strongly tempted to bring Dean her to have him investigate it. He was better at this sort of thing than Castiel. He glanced back at Fred to make sure she wasn’t about to electrocute herself at the keyboard.
----
Fred was actually rather adept at juggling the coffee, the scone, and the keyboard, all without harming herself. Nothing was happening. Her fingers moved over the keyboard, and she somehow managed to eat the scone quickly. Eventually she sat back to stare at the screen.
“Nothing? How could there be nothing?” She reached for another bit of scone only to brush at crumbs on a now empty-ish plate. Her brows furrowed in confusion, but she knew she’d eaten the whole thing. She just thought it would last longer.
The man in the corner was still paying rather intent attention on the brainy female. Whoever he talked to had told him to stay and not do anything apparently, just watch. He seemed agitated though, moving, shifting, looking at his watch and phone. He was waiting for something?
Fred looked up, noticed the man staring at her. He looked normal, sort of. He was in the shadows, so it was hard to tell. Plus, he was sitting on the only thing that might really say “Hey, I’m a demon!” The tail was tucked away, which could explain the constant shifting and reshifting. Fred didn’t have a clue, so she just smiled shyly at the man before giving a soft “aha!” The weird shifty staring man was forgotten as she reconfigured her search. Whatever she got had her sitting up and making a very “that can’t be right” face.
“Dean? But...I...” Fred shrugged. “Well, at least I get to see if he recognizes me, and he’s here. Over the Rainbow Motel.” Her lips moved as she memorized the address. It wasn’t like she thought she’d be followed, but she cleared out the cache, gathered up her cup and plate to set them in the dirty dishes tub, and headed out.
The man waited a few moments before making the call. “Yeah, Over the Rainbow Motel...I donno. She said ‘Dean.’ Like I know. Look. We get her. Boss’ll be happy. Then we’ll get that Angel, take him down.”
----
Castiel wasn’t human, and he had excellent hearing. That didn’t sound like a specific angel, but he was still on high alert anyway. He considered destroying the... whatever he was... but in the end decided to see what Fred would bring out of the woodwork. Castiel distinctly heard “we” and that meant more were coming. He was very interested to see what these others would be and what they would do. Fred did not recognize the first one, but that didn’t mean anything.
He shadowed Fred to Dean’s doorstep, not trusting himself to leave and warn Dean, thinking she would trip and impale herself on the sidewalk if he so much as blinked. The thing following her didn’t notice Castiel’s presence, which ruled out divine or anything that Dean might call ‘big guns.’ With a soldier’s restless patience, Castiel spread his senses thin as Fred approached the motel.
----
How they got into the room was their own little secret. They’d placed a few lookouts along the way, and they moved faster than humans. Maybe not as fast as some vampires, surely faster than a Slayer, but certainly not as fast as a rather attentive angel. They didn’t worry about the vampire in question, as it was a bright sunny day, but they never knew what might be with the scientist.
Fred stood outside the motel, staring up at the multifloored bit of eye sore. Why did they live in these places? Why did the City let them live in these places? Sure, it might have been what they were used to, but they could probably handle a normal house, an apartment, something. Then again, who was she to talk? She lived in a basement under a detective agency she didn’t even really run.
The man with the tail had followed, tugging at his pants oddly. His tail was giving him issues, but he had to look “normal.” As Fred was stepping inside to the lobby, she thought she’d spied him, but why would he be following her?
Back in the motel room, the forces were gathering. Four demons seemed enough to handle the smallish female. She wouldn’t give that much of a fight, surely. And if she got hurt, well, it really wasn’t their problem. They just had to make sure she stayed alive.
Fred got lucky in that the guy at the desk would take her last twenty to give her Dean’s room number. Of course, he wasn’t the clerk. The real clerk was in the back to be eaten for dinner later. Tailing would be hostage victims was hungry work.
----
The clerk was not Castiel’s problem. He was not a naturally compassionate being, despite what all the fuzzy greeting cards liked to say, and while he was concerned about Fred’s safety in a very distant, even clinical way, the clerk was not even a blip on his radar screen. Ignoring the man’s plight in favor of those awaiting Fred, Castiel began to understand that these were beings he had never seen before. For a being who had been Watching his world for millennia, that was saying something.
Castiel reached for Dean, but of course he was not in this building, or anywhere near it. He was staying in that woman’s flowershop, not here. Arrogant, perhaps, in his certainty that Castiel could prevent any real harm from coming to Fred when he chose, he waited to see what they would do or say once she arrived.
----
Fred was soon standing in front of 609B. She couldn’t help the little giggle at how this was almost oddly fitting for Dean, what she knew of him anyway. She hoped that he was in. Maybe he could explain what was going on with Castiel. While she didn’t expect him to be at her beckon call, she did expect some sort of reaction somewhere. Even a busy signal. She wondered for a moment what an angel’s busy signal would actually be; it probably wouldn’t be a sound so much as a feeling, certainly some sort of experience.
The brainy female shrugged and knocked on the door. No answer. She knocked again, waiting for something. She thought she heard something inside. The hallway was getting that creepy empty but not empty feeling.
“Dean? It’s me..Fred?” The question in her voice didn’t come from not knowing who she was, but more from his possibly not knowing who she was. She knocked again, and this time the door knob turned; the door opened. “Dean?”
Fred was smart enough to stay in the light, nudging the door open with her hand. She didn’t go in, not yet.
“Come in.” It wasn’t Dean’s voice, but it was muffled enough that it could have been. Maybe. Plus, Fred hadn’t heard Dean’s voice in a while; she could be remembering it wrong.
“Dean, I’m Fred. I am looking for-”
“Come in.” This time it was more of a command.
“I...maybe we could turn on a light?”
“Aw fuck it. Get her!” The guy with the tail raced down the hall to push her into the room. The thugs in the room could work in the light, but they liked the shadows. Fred screamed, or tried to. Something clamped on her mouth, which triggered the fight part of the flight or fight response. She bit, kicked, punch, squirm.
“Ha! She’s feisty. She’ll be tasty.” One of the shadows mumbled. When they moved into the light from the hallway that came in through the open door, they looked normal save for the tattoos, and maybe the slightly pointy ears. Fred wasn’t giving up.
“Do not eat her! She’s gotta be alive.”
“Just a small taste; she can live without a finger.”
“Or a foot.”
“Head?..Ow! If she doesn’t stop biting, I’m going to eat her face! She doesn’t need a face!” The room would look like a tornado hit it, or four thugs trying to pin down a girl who refused to go easily.
----
Castiel wished that thugs were a little more giving with information; it was at the point where he felt he must interfere, and he still didn’t know anything he hadn’t known in the parking lot. There was no bright light and no fanfare, there was just nothing one second, and Castiel standing there the next. He put a hand out and took hold of one of the demons at the back of his neck, hauling with inexorable strength to bend the creature backwards and then, without expression, tossing him up and back.
He hit the ceiling and bounced off a wall before landing on the motel bed. Castiel moved forward again, in case the others didn’t realize they needed to let Fred go. Immediately.
---
Fred’s eyes widened as there was the angel she’d come looking for. The thugs didn’t rush to help their fallen or more thrown comrade, but they did spread out to deal with the situation. It was just a guy, even if he did seem to be strong. One of the demon tattoo thugs held Fred tightly to him, even if he was wincing from the biting. Fred was going to have to brush her teeth for days and days.
“Looks like we’ve got a hero.” One of the “braver” thugs finally spoke up. They all seemed to be sniffing at the air.
“Not vampire. Smells too...alive.”
“Smells like lightning.” The tail guy finally chimed in.
“Boss didnt’ say anything about some moron in a trench coat who smelled like lightning. We get the girl.” The demon whined as he rolled off the bed. “This is a lot of work for some vampire.”
‘Let’s just eat them both, tell boss we couldn’t avoid it,” said one thug who was starting to edge toward the angel. They really weren’t that bright.
----
Castiel didn’t know anything this stupid, but it was all a question of relativity. Castiel was not just ‘a guy,’ and other than humans, most creatures seemed to acknowledge the fact. It was not in his nature to be insulted. He simply transferred his gaze to the creature nearest, and suddenly he was inches from the furred face. Castiel took him by the neck, though he was quite taller than Jimmy, and held him there while he kicked and everyone else blinked.
Black appendages fully unfurled and filled the room with cold shadows, real and not-real, intangible but fully there. Static and the smell of rain filled the air, and all the light bulbs snapped like ice in spring. “What are you?” It was a command in the harsh dark voice of a thing far beyond human.
----
Fred had never seen someone so...well, awesome. Sure, she'd seen Angel as a demon, full on green with spikes demon. She talked with Lorne the demon. She...well, the last time she'd seen wings had been a demon's, so she was a little confused, thrown off, befuddled, awe struck, many many things by those wings. That explained the feeling she'd had when he hugged her; she'd seen angels do that in art, but this was definitely something that went beyond any scifi/supernatural fantasy van art.
The thug blinked, managing to control his bladder somewhat. "Frank," he wheezed. He couldn't think of a time when he'd been in this exact situation, so he went with the easiest and fastest answer.
"No names! The boss said no names!" yelled the thug holding Fred.
"A little late for that, Donny." The bed thug groaned. Donny glared at the bed thug who was still trying to get his body back in order.
"Enough. The boss wants the girl. Frank and Bill, you take care of w..wings. We'll get the girl back to the boss." Tail guy was trying to be forceful, but he was having issues. The wings, those wings were magnificent and frightening.
Bill, the only thug who hadn't done anything stupid so far, just stared at the scene. He gulped and started to back away, to find a shadow in the corner to hide in. Seemed that Bill was probably the only smart one in the bunch.
----
Castiel did not blink, and though the wings were again abruptly gone, they left behind running chills and a sense of fullness where empty air should be. He showed no sign of strain holding the creature up above his head, and he looked slowly to Donny, eyes unyielding iron in the glance. “You are a Frank?” he said, but no, because they each had a different name. Impatient, Castiel closed his hand around Frank’s throat, crushing until a spine cut into his fingers, and then he tossed the body aside.
Blink, Castiel was gone; a step and he just behind Fred, one hand on her shoulder; another blink, less than, and he had her on the other side of the room, expression cold, eyes on Donny, then; blink. He was at Donny’s chest and reaching for his throat now, in the exact same position he’d held Frank. “What are you?” he asked, in the same tone, fully expecting a better answer if Donny didn’t want to end up with his throat on the wrong side of his spine.
----
Fred's jaw dropped at what she saw. Angels didn't do that! Angels were good, kind, loving, and even cuddled? Right? Then she had to remind herself that an angel threw Adam and Eve out of Eden, that they did a number on Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho, that they were the ones who did God's dirty work. Still, it was a little disturbing to see the man who had been so, or mostly soft with her do that. It would have been disturbing even if she had just met him, maybe more so, maybe not. She took a moment to figure out where her stomach was, and had a hard time focusing on stomach and whatever Castiel was doing with the one called Donny.
Donny didn't have as good control of his bladder as Frank had. Fred felt bad, sort of. She had a feeling they were trying to kidnap her and do something not at all pleasant, and it probably had to do with...actually she wasn't sure.
"Demon. Ttetovált." Donny hoped that was enough because this was not how he wanted to die. Dying fighting, maybe, but not with his throat squished out by some freak with wings. Definitely not a freak who was so small.
----
Castiel’s cruel blue eyes narrowed. “You are not a demon. I would know if you were from Hell; I would feel it in the fiber of your being.” He squeezed, just a little, a warning reminder of what he could and would do at the least provocation. He did not turn to look at Bill or Fred, it was as if he and Donny were the only creatures in existence in that moment. “What is a Ttetovált?” He mimicked what Donny had said with moderate success. “Who sent you?”
----
Fred stepped forward, not too close, but she had to do something. She knew the demons were more than willing to hurt her, but she couldn't let them die. At least, not like this? She didn't know why he was killing them, not exactly. She could guess.
"Castiel?" She was afraid; she had every right to be afraid. "Castiel. They are demons. They're demons from my reality. They aren't your demons." She was guessing anyway. "They don't possess people. Most of them don't anyway. They come from a different dimension most times, or they're cursed."
Donny tried to nod, but it was kind of hard to nod when someone was trying to rearrange your throat so that it was in the back instead of the front of your spine. Donny croaked, "What she said. Demon."
Tail guy made a move to attack Castiel from the side, but Fred jumped in and gave him a proper pop to the nose, which seemed to cause a good deal of pain the way the guy started wailing. Fred looked at the angel then at the remaining Ttetovált demons; instinct said get to a wall or get her back to Castiel's. Or run. She couldn't quite decide what to do.
Bill growled and ran for it. The window was his target; he didn't want to go out into the light, but he wasn't staying here, with that thing. Plus, someone had to tell the boss that everyone died, right? The bed thug crouched down as if to attack.
"The boss. The boss sent us. We're gonna use your girlfriend to finally get Angel out of hiding. We're gonna dust the vamp." That was what the tail guy had intended to say, but it came out with a few more m's and n's than necessary.
----
Castiel was not in a rage; it would take a lot more than a few small creatures and one human to make him rage at anything. He wasn’t even angry, not really. Perhaps that was the scary thing. He turned his head to look at Fred, clearly considering her suggestion. Without releasing his grip he lowered his elbow slightly so Donny could put some weight on his toes and gasp. Castiel watched Fred’s interference with a kind of subtle bemusement, and then he looked back at Donny, ignoring Bill’s retreat and the thug on the bed, who the angel would handle if he dared attack him.
That got Castiel’s attention, which sharpened like a blade. The cold air and static came back, and a dark line appeared over his brow. “Angel? Which angel?” Vampires didn’t dust. Castiel thought of feather dusters, and looked at Fred, who held Donny’s life in her hands at that moment.
----
Fred gave Donny a look. Why were they looking for an...Her eyes widened; her mouth made a little oh. “They are after my boss. Well, he was my boss. He is my boss. He’d be my boss if he were here, which he isn’t.” There was a beat as she realized what ideas this might give the bad guys. “He’s on vacation, and he’ll probably be back any day now.”
Tail guy looked between the freak with the wings and the girl with a mean right. Was this some sort of cosmic joke? Was the boss that clueless?
“So, there’s no Angel?” This would probably get them raises. Or it would get them killed. “But he’s got an office.”
“He’s on vacation. He left me and him.” Fred motioned to Castiel who was definitely no one to mess with. “In charge. So, you should tell your boss that he probably doesn’t want to mess with me or Angel anymore. There are demon hunters out there who know how to end you.”
Fred hoped that Castiel wouldn’t go for the full truth or full disclosure at that moment, and that he’d just roll with what she was saying. Donny was glad to have his feet on the ground, and he waited for someone to decide what was about to happen to him.
“We..we..we should go. We’ll go.” Donny looked pleadingly into Castiel’s eyes, and hoped to anything that was holy or unholy that the winged man would let them go.
----
Castiel was aware that a lot of people took the names of angels, and even the name of angel. He understood, and he was more chagrined that this was some personal issue of Fred’s, and apparently had nothing to do with him. He looked at Donny and he made sure Donny looked back. “If you come after Fred again I will take you a mile over the city and drop you.” He raised and then released his fingers illustratively, and Donny did drop, a whole two inches. He seemed to get the point, however.
Castiel turned his head to watched the tailed creatures retreat. Strange beings in this City, and he wondered how much of God’s intent was at work there. He shook his head. All things were God’s intent, of course.
----
The demons were certainly eager to leave. Fred stepped out of their way to make sure she didn’t get run over or grabbed in the process. Who knew what apparently unintelligent demon types would do? She wasn’t going to take chances.
As soon as they were gone, she looked at Castiel. Well, he didn’t seem to be all moony anymore, and if she were being honest, she was a little disappointed. Then again, he did come to her rescue, which was saying something. It wasn’t like she had someone she knew would just drop everything to find her, or even notice she was lost/missing.
“I’m sorry. That kind of thing happens where I’m from. Demons kidnap people, or threaten lives in order to get something or someone. I’m sure it happens in your world or reality, but this was probably my first time to as victim of possible ransom. I came here because Dean was supposed to be here. To find you. I wanted to make sure you were okay. You look okay. Are you okay?” Fred stepped closer, looking hopeful. “Is Dean really here? What about Sam?”
----
Castiel was probably the very opposite of moony. He was concentrating on his thoughts, and had not looked over at her once since the creatures ran off. Her words appeared to cut through that, and he woke up from an inadvertent prayer to see her as if for the first time. “No... no, they are not here. I have not seen, heard, or felt Sam in the City yet, but I suppose I have not looked as hard as I might.” He rotated to face her, the coat a little stained by some Ttetovált blood, but not much. “Dean has relocated. I am fine.” The reassurance, of course, came last. “What are these things to you or your employer?” he asked, at last curious enough to tilt his head and stare expectantly into her eyes.
----
Fred’s hopeful look faded a little when he said he hadn’t felt Sam. She had hoped the brothers would be here together. They seemed to always be missing each other somehow. Or they weren’t together for very long. She also wouldn’t mind seeing either of them. Even if neither were the ones she knew.
“Oh, Dean isn’t here here. I see. I guess I should find him. Tell him that I know him, but then he doesn’t seem like the type who’d be comfortable with that. I could be wrong. Plus, I might not even know him - he could be from another time or reality. That’s always funny how that works.” She quickly pulled herself off that train thought to process his question and the stare. No, Castiel was definitely not suffering from whatever ailment he’d had earlier, if it really was an ailment at all.
“I don’t know. They’re probably demons who know Angel, my employer,” using his word. “He runs Angel Investigations, only right now I’m the only one with the detective agency, firm, whatever it is. I am Angel Investigations, which makes it more Fred or Burkle Investigations rather than Angel Investigations. They probably know him from before. He kills demons. He’s like a hunter; he’s a vampire with a soul. Although when I last saw him he wasn’t a vampire; he did have a soul, but he wasn’t a vampire. At least I think he had a soul. Most humans have souls after all. Not all, but most. I think...” She thought about that before looking at him. “He probably righted some wrong that these demons’ boss did and now the boss wants revenge. It happens. That or they work for Wolfram & Hart, but I don’t think so. I don’t think Wolfram & Hart have an office here.”
----
Castiel had absolutely no idea what Fred was talking about. Here here? He stared at her, unblinking, trying to make sense of it. Dean told him he was two years behind, and Dean had no reason to lie. Still, it was difficult to disbelieve, and it was easier to think that it was God’s will he not remember.
Eventually he gave up; Fred rambled about a great many things, and Castiel was in imminent danger of choosing to ignore about eighty percent of what she said. What he understood was that Fred worked for a hunter who killed demons. That was enough for him. “You are used to having powerful enemies,” he noted, starting to feel awkward in her presence and desperately wishing he had not needed to be tangible for the last several minutes. When most people wished they could sink into the floor, Castiel just vanished. Hastily, he recited Dean’s new address. “Above a flower shop,” he added, helpfully.
----
Fred couldn’t help the smile which was followed by a soft laugh. Dean’s living above a flower shop was more than a little amusing. She had to wonder how that worked, and why he would want to live there. Then again, who was she to say anything about where people lived? She lived in a vampire’s basement apartment under said vampire’s somewhat inoperative detective agency. She was the last person who should be laughing at people’s choice in location location location.
“I guess I am. Guess you forget sometimes that it’s not normal to deal with it everyday.” Fred took a hesitant step forward, then quickly closed the distance to give him a hug, even if it was a little awkward or returned. “Thank you for saving me. You didn’t have to, but you did. I’m glad you’re okay now. I was worried, specially when I couldn’t find a cure.” She gave him another squeeze, and waited just long enough to see if he wanted to hug her back.
----
He wasn’t sure that he did. There was an awkward lifting and dropping of arms, and then he awkwardly curled one around her (without touching her elbows) and patted her on the back just before her spine. Pat, pat. Then he tried to dislodge her stiffly. “It seems to have worn off.” Castiel always fell back on the obvious when he didn’t know what to say. It just put everyone back on the same page. “I will take you to Dean,” he said, quickly, to prevent more awkward things from happening.
Without asking for further permission, he brought his hand back over her back and, instead of patting, they lifted. It was like falling, but in reverse, without pressure. The sense of being enclosed was immediately replaced with the sense of flying, cold air and weightlessness, and then--abruptly she was on her feet in front of the flower shop. Alone.