Chapter Text
Dean had spent the morning and well into the afternoon quiet and subdued. Castiel had expected a bit more excitement from the little, as this was their first big outing together where Dean could just be himself. The angel had willed everyone around them to suddenly feel the strung urge to be somewhere else, leaving the two men virtually alone as the traipsed through the aquarium. Cas tried not to panic as Dean lagged against the angel and remained sedated through each exhibit. He didn’t know how to handle this side of Dean, more used to a cranky and bratty Dean. It took everything in him not to scan the boy for any illness or mental anguish. The angel sighed and cursed himself, for probably the millionth time, for promising not to use “any of his mojo” on Dean as the hunter had so eloquently put it.
“Is everything okay, baby?” Cas asked as he rubbed a hand smoothly up and down Dean’s back. This wasn’t the first time that he had asked that same question that day, but not knowing what else to say when normal conversation was hardly getting a response.
“Yeah, Daddy.” The boy sighed. He leaned into the angel's touch and continued to sag against him as they walked.
“Anything that’s bothering you, Dean, we can work it out together. All you have to do is talk to me.” The angel tried again. Blue eyes filled with concern.
“I know.” Was all Dean replied, making Castiel want to scream.
“The restaurant where we are meeting Sam and Gabriel is a few hours away. Why don’t you lie down in the back and close your eyes? There are few things that sleep doesn’t help.”
“A nap sounds good.” Dean agreed, anything to get away from the constant questions and worried expression on Castiel’s face.
Cas tried not to gape at the hunter - Dean going down for a nap without arguing was basically unheard of. As he helped the boy setting down for the ride he made a point to feel his cheeks and forehead for signs of a fever and resist the urge for the upteenth time to scan him. Dean did fuss for a moment at Cas’ hands on his face but felt fine otherwise.
“I love you, D.” Cas spoke softly as he wrapped a blanket around his charge and lover.
“I love you more, Daddy.” Dean was already closing his eyes and curling up on his side around his stuffed angel bear.
Castiel did his best to stifle the sigh he felt escape from his lips yet again as he climbed into the front seat to begin the drive east.
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Dean rolled over and closed his eyes, feigning sleep. He was kind of tired, they’d had a long drive to the aquarium and then all that walking wore him down. But mostly he just wanted to stop answering questions and avoid the look of concern in his angels eyes. He was fine - mostly. It’s just that, today was day five. Out of seven. And day seven didn’t really even count because it was only a half day and he knew they would spend that half day cleaning the house and packing up their things before heading back out. So really he only had one day left.
One day left without monsters, one day left without the pressure of saving the world, one day of happiness left. Killing things was the family business, one he’d never quite been able to shake despite several chances to do so. But that was before Cas - before Daddy. Now the angels had shown him that the world wouldn’t stop if Dean took the time to be happy.
Would the world end if Dean didn’t want to be a hunter anymore?
Dean pinched himself hard and whimpered to stop that train of thought. He was a hunter. He would go back to his normal life in two days and that’s all there was to it. People counted on him, depended on him, to keep fighting the good fight. He wasn’t doing anyone any good playing house with an angel.
Eventually Dean did drift off into a fitful sleep, dreaming of werewolves and wendigos and of all the people he had lost to that life.
Cas woke the boy up when his whimpers didn’t stop after several minutes, reaching over the bench seats of the impala to gently shake Dean.
“D, it’s just a dream - wake up baby.”
Dean sat up with a wild look in his eyes that faded as he realized he was safe in the impala, not in whatever dreamscape had been terrorizing him.
The hunter took in his surroundings as he blinked sleep from his eyes. The two men were parked in front of a Chili’s and dark had fallen, other than that Dean was pretty lost. But he was soothed by the fact that his angel was with him and by the years of falling asleep in one state and waking up on another in the very same Impala he was in now.
Castiel helped Dean from the car and they linked arms as they walked into the restaurant where Sam and Gabe were waiting for them. Dean really had been excited to see his brother when the angel announced their plans for the day. But now that he was here, he was actually kind of irritated by his brother's presence. Sam had gotten out of the life, twice. The only reason he was back in was because of Dean. And he was reminded of that fact every time he looked at his brother.
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Throughout dinner Dean grew increasingly agitated. He went from subdued and introspective to down right irritated. It wasn’t the new touches being exchanged between Gabe and Sam that bothered him, the secret knowing glances, or the way Gabe whispered in the taller man's ear that bothered him. It was more the way Sam revolted against Gabe’s quiet guidance. Maybe Sam thought Dean wouldn’t notice but he knew what to look for. Sam and Gabe were suddenly in the same kind of relationship he and Cas were in. When did that happen? It had only been a couple of days! Had this been going on before this week? Why hadn’t Sam told him?
Dean laughed and joked with the others, a watchful eye on his brother and the archangel. He insides churned every time Sam pushed him off or rolled his eyes at Gabe’s hushed request for him to eat. Why was Sam being such a brat? Why was Gabe letting him get away with it? It wasn’t until Gabe, Cas and Dean had all finished eating when the evening came to a head.
“Sammy, I need you to finish your dinner.” Gabe asked pleasantly but Dean saw the warning in his eyes. He has been asking patiently all evening for the hunter to eat - and Sam had spent the evening playing with his food. It was the same look that Cas gave Dean when he was on thin ice and needed to backpedal and fast.
“I’m not hungry right now.” Sam said between clenched teeth and pushed his plate away, crossing his arms like a child.
“Samuel, you need to finish your dinner.” Gabriel’s voice had hardened as he sternly guided the plate back in front of his boy.
“I said “I’m. Not. Hungry.”” Sam had raised his voice and was speaking slowly, like Gabe was dim and having hard time understanding him.
Dean gaped at the scene unfolding before his eyes. What was Sammy thinking? Throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of a restaurant! Castiel would have had his ass! Dean was becoming more and more sure that they were in some kind of power dynamic and he had so many questions.
He watched in horror as Gabe leaned over and whispered something into his younger brother’s ear that made his face turn red. Their server walked up to their table at the moment, apparently not sensing the mood, to ask if anyone needed dessert or the check, just in time for the salad that Sam had swept from the table to coat her midriff. Sammy didn’t stick around to apologize, he ran for the door with Dean right on his heels ready to give him a piece of his mind.
“What is your problem, Sam!?” Dean demanded once the other hunter had stopped running. He was shaking with the effort it took to not start wailing on his brother.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Sam accused, his breathing heavy with his own pent up emotions.
“Cut the crap, Sam! We were in there having a nice, NORMAL, dinner! No hunter talk, no monsters, just family and dinner. And you ruined it!” Dean was hot and shaking as he yelled at his brother.
“Leave it alone, Dean.” Sam tried to dismiss him again and began walking towards his and Gabe’s rental car.
“I don’t want to go back!” Sam yelled, exasperated.
“Back to the spa? Is Gabe hurting you?” Deans rage suddenly changed focus, he was about to jump the archangel in the middle of a crowded Chili’s.
“No! Gabe has been great! He’s been helping me, Dean. I don’t want to be a hunter anymore. I’m tired, Dean. I know the concept of giving up the family business is pretty fucking foreign.” Sam was snarling at Dean, acting like poison dropped from his tongue as he talked about hunting.
Dean’s vision went red - he had spent the last few days wrestling with the fact that he was in paradise and that he was dreading returning to hunter life. The biggest reason he hasn’t gone to Cas and told him he wanted to stay was Sam. He couldn’t leave Sam to hunt by himself, not when he had been the one to drag Sam back into the life.
Dean lost it and before he could register what he was doing he had jumped on top of Sam and was focused on landing as many punches as he could before the larger man could throw him off. At some point Cas and Gabe came out and tried to break the dueling boys apart. Castiel ended up grabbing Dean around the waist and physically lifting him into the air to prevent him from getting back to Samuel. Gabe led Sam away, one hand grasped firmly around Sam’s bicep as they walked away.
“You think you know what I want! Fuck you, Sammy! You don’t know anything!” Dean was screaming at the retreating man's back at this point. He was so worked up that it took him a while to hear Castiel yelling at him even though his mouth was right next to his own ear. Dean fell silent and sagged against his angel, trying to release the energy that was raging inside of him.
“What is going on with you, Dean!?” Castiel demanded, finally allowing the man to walk on his own as they trudged back to their car.
“Nothing.” Dean muttered, kicking at the gravel beneath his feet instead of making eye contact with his angel. He briefly wondered if Sammy was also on the receiving end of a lecture right now.
“Enough! You’ve been ‘fine’ all day and now I’ve just pulled you off of your brother!” Castiel huffed, exasperated with his boy.
Dean let out a bark of a laugh and said “That's not the first time someone has had to break Sammy and I up and it probably won’t be the last.”
“No, Dean. This had better be the last time or the spanking you’ll be receiving at home will seem like a walk in the park.” Castiel’s voice honestly left no room for argument and Dean felt his stomach drop at the angels decree.
“Whatever.” Dean honestly surprised himself as he muttered this because the chances of the angel murdering him seemed pretty high right now.
He felt Castiel go stiff beside him which was never a good sign.
“Get in the car, Dean.” Was all he said, his voice much calmer than the vein in his neck indicated that he was.
“Cas, I’m -” Dean tried to back pedal but Cas cut him off before he could get another word out.
“In.” The angel’s voice was quiet and commanding and any fight in Dean fled his body at this point. As soon as Dean had pulled his legs into the car the angel slammed the door shut and climbed into the driver's seat.
Dean didn’t bother trying to speak on the way home. He realized now that they were way past apologies. He wasn’t sure how long the car ride really was but he would swear to anyone that asked about it that it was way too long, and also way too short. All too soon they were pulling into Baby’s garage and Castiel was pulling him from the safety of the back seat of the Impala. He tried to surrender to the punishment he had earned, but it was hard not to drag his feet just a little bit as Cas towed him through the house and up the stairs. Dean’s stomach was in knots and he wanted nothing more to rewind and go back. Turn back time to prevent himself from chasing after Sammy.
“I think you had long enough to think about your actions in the car ride home, Dean.” Cas began as he helped the boy out of his shirt.
“I’m just so disappointed in you, Dean. What on earth got into you?”
Dean resisted the urge to cover himself with his hands, he knew it was useless and he didn’t want to give Cas any more reason to be upset with him. Dean hated disappointing Castiel. Hearing him say it was like a knife in the hunter's stomach.
“He just said something that really hurt my feelings. I got mad and you know how hard a time I have when I’m angry. I’m really sorry, Daddy.” Dean absent-mindedly scratched at his arm where the Mark used to be.
“I’m sure you are sorry, Dean. And you’ll be calling to tell Samuel how sorry you are, after we have a conversation about the proper way to express yourself.” Dean’s stomach was doing back flips at this point.
“Yes, Daddy.”
Dean didn’t fight as Castiel pulled the man over his lap. He tried to surrender himself to the spanking he knew he had very well earned. He could help squirming as the angel’s hand rained down over and over and over again.
Cas didn’t get Dean much of a chance to recover from the hand spanking before bringing that damn lexan paddle down on his already sore behind. The hunter shrieked at the first stroke and was sobbing by the tenth. He lost count after that afraid that the spanking would never end and unable to focus on anything other than the searing pain.
Eventually the paddle stopped falling, although Dean wasn’t quite sure when. He did know that he wanted to crawl into bed with Castiel and never leave. Nothing bad ever happened when his Daddy was holding him. He wanted to live in those arms. Cas did hold him for awhile, shifting the man so that they were laying together without putting pressure on his battered behind. Cas stroked Dean’s back as they lie together, telling him over and over how much he loved him. Cas knew there was still something Dean hadn’t said but he tried to be patient.
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“Hey, Dean.” Sam answered the phone on the first ring, like he had been waiting for his brother to call. Dean thought he heard Sam sniffle but was sure he was projecting.
“Hey, Sammy.” Dean wasn’t used to apologizing to Sam and it was hard to even get started. The extent of Dean’s apologies in the past had been buying Sam a beer and never talking about whatever it was that had happened between them again. He leaned against the porch railing and stared wistfully at the porch swing, it would be a while before he was comfortable enough to sit there again. Both men let the silence drag on between them for several minutes before Dean finally found the courage to start again.
“Look, about dinner…” Was all he managed before trailing off.
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, too.” Came Sam’s easy reply, always ready to forgive his brother.
“We good?” Dean asked.
“Yeah, we’re good.”
There was another long pause between the two of them. Dean wasn’t sure that Cas would count that as him apologizing and hoped the angel wasn’t listening in on their conversation. The lack of conversation while the phone call went on was both equally as uncomfortable as it was comfortable at the same time. Most phone calls between them were to update the other on research, leads, the monster of the week, or that year's apocalypse. Honestly, having nothing to talk about was kind of nice.
“Sammy, I’m not coming back.” Dean heard himself say it, but didn’t really believe that it had come from his mouth. He felt out of control and at peace all at once.
“What do you mean, Dean?”
“I don’t want to hunt anymore.” Dean looked up from where he had been staring out into the blackness that engulfed the house he now shared with his angel, boyfriend, and Daddy and turned to meet Castiel’s gaze.