Chapter Text
“Hands in the air, get on your knees!”
Dean heard the yell before he’d even reached the room, but he knew it would come. Something told him that the bunker was too quiet, that someone or some thing had to be there. A spike of fear ran through him as he heard his mother from down the hall.
Oh, shit.
Dean broke into a run, entering the room only to see Mary holding somebody at gunpoint. Not just anybody, but Cas.
“Hands, now .” Dean didn’t hesitate.
“Woah, woah, woah, woah!” He reached his mother, pushing the gun down away from the confused angel. “It’s okay. He’s a friend.” A glance at Cas reminded him that Castiel had thought he was dead- no wonder he looked so relieved. He took a step towards him, unsure of Cas’s reaction. He was moving towards Dean, too, an undistinguishable mix of emotions on his face.
“You’re alive? What about the bomb and the Darkness? What happened?” Cas was closing in on Dean, wanting answers and, Dean thought, something else too.
As Cas stepped into his space, Dean raised his arms a little, expecting a hug from the angel. But then Cas’s arms not only wrapped around Dean’s midsection, but moved up to brace Dean’s head against Cas’s hands so he couldn’t move away if he tried (or wanted to) and although Dean’s emotions were spinning out of control and he had no idea what was happening, he caught on.
He let Cas pull him forward, wrapping his own arms around Cas’s torso, and then maybe Cas leaned towards him, or maybe it was the other way around- neither of them could tell, and at the moment they didn’t care, either.
And then they were kissing and Dean’s brain short-circuited. He’d had a single moment to react, to push away before Cas’s lips touched his, but he was so shocked he’d just let Cas do it, and as soon as he felt Cas’s mouth on his he was done for.
Cas held onto Dean until the human melted into his touch, not waiting for a response or any sort of rejection. Dean had never felt anything more perfect in his entire life, and he wondered why the hell he’d been too afraid to do it before.
Cas’s lips were soft against his, and it felt like time had stopped. He’d imagined it happening so many times, so many different ways…but he never thought it would happen like this, in the bunker, after so many years of dancing around each other and now they were here and Cas had been the one to take the first step which meant Cas liked him too and Cas’s arms were around him and they were pressed up together in the middle of the library with-
Oh my god.
Dean pulled away, face flushed, and pushed Cas’s arms off of him. His heart clenched at the hurt look on Cas’s face, hurriedly trying to explain.
“Cas,” he started, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck and glancing at Mary, who was looking back and forth between Dean and Cas with a look of such astonishment that Dean might’ve laughed if it weren’t for the serious situation. How the hell am I supposed to explain this?
“Are you a hunter?” Both of them turned to look at Mary, who was now looking more curious than anything. She could probably tell that Cas wasn’t just a normal human, Dean thought.
“No, I’m a-”
“He’s an angel,” Dean interrupted, sending a proud and apologetic look in Cas’s direction and nearly smiling at the look of wonder on his mother’s face.
“Come again?”
“An angel, with a capital ‘A’. You know, wings, harp-”
“No, I don't have a harp.” It was Cas’s turn to interrupt, and Dean winced at the sharp tone of his voice. He took a breath.
“This is Castiel.” This is the angel who just kissed me for the first time. This is the angel I’m kinda sorta really in love with. Welcome to the future, mom. His throat constricted as he thought about how she would react. The last time she was on Earth, she probably didn’t even know what bisexuality was, not to mention all the other ones added to the list in the past few decades. What if she didn’t accept it? I mean, her son...
He turned back to Cas, hoping with all his heart that he could make things right. “This is, uh...this is Mary. Winchester .”
And you just kissed me right in front of her.
The pain in Cas’s eyes slowly turned to confusion, then understanding, then back to puzzlement and relief.
“Your...mother.” Now Dean could see the redness start to appear on Cas’s own face as he realized what he’d just done. He opened his mouth as if to apologize, but Dean sent him a look and silenced him.
“Yeah.” He sighed, looking between his mother (who just looked amused at this point) and his best friend, if that’s what Cas still was. “I'll tell you everything.” He frowned. “Where’s Sam?”
“He’s not here.” Cas’s face fell as he spoke, explaining what had happened at the bunker. Dean listened to him, ignoring his mother and mentally swearing to catch her up on everything the angel was talking about afterwards. After checking the traffic cams, the three of them piled into the Impala and went to find Sam.
As expected, the car ride was, well...awkward, to say the least. The whole episode with Mary and Baby didn’t help, and now Dean would never be able to get the idea out of his head that his mom and John had... nope, not even going to think about it.
He had to admit it was a little fitting... I mean, me and Sam both have before, you gotta admit it’s the right car for it... he tried not to remember the time he’d dreamed about his night with Anna in the backseat, where he’d unexpectedly ended up imagining a different angel underneath him. Stop it . He shifted nervously against his seat. Your mom is literally sitting right next to you and you’re thinking about banging Cas in the backseat!
“So have you two been together for a while?” Dean started as his mother spoke up, still staring out at the trees passing by the car. He glanced up at the mirror above him, meeting Cas’s wide eyes.
“Uh, no, actually, we…” he trailed off, cleared his throat, glanced at Cas again helplessly. How could he possibly explain what they were? He hadn’t even known Cas liked him back to that extent until he’d freaking kissed him. Mary turned to face him as Cas spoke up.
“I...we hadn’t exactly...done that before.” He kept his gaze away from both occupants of the front seat, choosing to stare out into the distance in front of the Impala. Mary’s mouth opened in surprise.
“ Oh .” She sat for a moment, regarding Cas. “That makes more sense.” She nodded as if satisfied, and turned back around. “How long have you guys known each other, then?”
“Uh…” Dean was still trying to judge his mother’s reaction to the whole situation. “We met years ago. Must’ve been…” He mentally counted back the years. “Eight. Yeah, almost exactly eight years ago, actually.”
Mary stared at Dean as if he’d just told her Lucifer was just misunderstood. Dean’s eyes darted over to her and then went back to the road in front of him.
“What?” His mother snorted, shaking her head disbelievingly.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? You’ve known the guy- or angel, whatever- for eight years and you just kissed for the first time today ? I might’ve been gone for a few decades but I don’t think that’s how these things work!” She looked back at Cas, then back at Dean with new fire in her eyes. “And you ! What was that about him thinking you were dead?”
Dean cleared his throat nervously, foot pressing down harder on the accelerator.
“Uh, well, you see, that whole thing with the Darkness- God’s sister, I mean…there was kind of a- a bomb, I guess? But that bomb was me, because a reaper gave me a ton of souls and made it into something that could theoretically destroy Amara- that’s her name, by the way- and it was supposed to kill me, but then she changed her mind about being evil and her and Chuck- God, I mean- they just kind of decided to screw off to who-knows-where and I didn’t have to use the bomb. Then Amara said something about giving me something back, and then...then I found you, mom.”
There was silence in the car, and Dean didn’t have to look to know that Mary and Cas were both staring at him, speechless. “Yeah, I know,” he waved his arm in a nonchalant gesture. “Take a minute, or whatever.”
Just as he was wondering who would break the silence first, they both exploded at the same time.
“Why didn’t you call me, or Sam…!” Cas was saying, while his mother went on about leaving the ones you love to die and wait what mom??
“Mom, I- I don’t-” He stared at her, mouth open, until he realized Cas was staring at him with his really, Dean? expression. He sunk into the seat, feeling an unwanted blush creep up the back of his neck and ears as he finally stopped denying it. “Okay, fine. I guess I…” He rubbed a hand across his eyes, because it was easier than looking at Cas or his mom. A thrill of fear and anticipation and relief flooded through him. Oh my god I love him.
“What was that?” Mary’s eyes sparked with mirth as she nudged Dean. “I couldn’t hear you.” Oh, for the love of…
“Cas…” He met the angel’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and Cas smiled softly.
“It’s alright, Dean. I know.” They held eye contact for another moment before Mary snapped her fingers in front of his face and told him to focus on the road instead of his extremely attractive boyfriend.
Dean had never felt more embarrassed in his life, but as his face burned, one side of his mouth lifted up in a small, secret smile.
I love him.