Don't Walk Away - Part 2 Chapter 1

[badluck]

Castiel

I knew it was going to be incredibly painful to be around Dean again. After embarrassing myself so thoroughly, I had swiftly switched hotels and stayed in my new room all weekend, worrying about the moment I was face to face with him again. How would he react to seeing me? Would he have changed his mind about relationships? Would he get down on one knee and beg me to take him back? Or, would he ignore and avoid me? I know how much he abhors feeling emotions, let alone talking about them and I had managed to abruptly present mine directly in his face. After avoiding his phone calls and text messages, I began to fear that the one emotion he would not attempt to avoid would be anger.

It wasn't until Monday morning arrived that I had made a decision. Dean could not be my subordinate anymore. I had scheduled an appointment with Gabriel early that morning to discuss what options were available for Dean. Once again, Gabriel was sitting behind his desk in his glass walled office, feet resting on a pile of papers that suspiciously resembled potential scripts for future projects.

"So, what did the pretty little dickface do now? Not gonna lie Cas old buddy, I was beginning to think you were hiding a shameful career as an ex-lion tamer with the circus what with how you managed to get Winchester to legit become a productive member of society. I even had the whole story dreamed up. You as the sensitive but emotionally distant Tamer of the Wild Things. And then there, across the tents was her, the shy but determined Bearded Lady. You bonded over your mutual dislike for the Trapeze artists with their sparkles and painted on suits..." Gabriel trailed off, lost in his own fantasy mindscape. I was beginning to understand why Dean would describe Gabriel as a "fucked up old perv that escaped from his keepers."

"Nothing. Dean has been an asset to my team. I just felt that Properties was not where his true talent lies. I am aware that you originally sent him to me as a punishment, and in the last few months, he has flourished. I simply felt that the time for punishment has passed and that his true talents should be given an opportunity to develop." I stood practically at attention. I did not want Gabriel to be aware of how uncomfortable this conversation was making me, and the calculating look on his face was not helping. After standing there for a few minutes in complete silence, Gabriel moved his feet from his desk, sitting up to rest his arms on his desk, chin in both hands.

"Alright. Since you managed to make him a halfway decent employee, might as well see if his new found adulthood is planning on sticking around for the near future. I was planning on sending Uriel down to Sheepsville early anyway to start scouting locations for shooting, Dean can take over for him in his absence."

This sounded quite perfect to me. With Dean back in the offices, dealing with actors and last minute casting issues, he would not be able to come out to the sets. My relief must have been apparent to Gabriel as his expression became more thoughtful.

"Now that I think about it, Uriel could use a hand with finding locations for the outdoor scenes. I know you'd never be completely happy with the decisions he made. Want to head off to the land of Elves and Hobbits a few weeks early?" The last was stated with a curious raise of his eyebrow.

I honestly tried to not let my expression display anymore of my emotional state, but Gabriel is, no matter what Dean says, a thoughtful and observant employer.

"That would be more than adequate. I am certain that I will be able to find the best locations to make the movie look as beautiful as your past successes have. I appreciate your faith in my skills." I turned to leave the office, but was not fast enough to miss what Gabriel thought he had mumbled to himself.

"Oh man, this is gonna be gooooood."

Dean

The very next Monday, I was at work fucking early for once. Cas had been ignoring my calls and texts all weekend and had actually switched hotels on me. Something I discovered after freaking out one really excitable cleaning lady.

Walking onto set, I spied Ash over in a corner and rushed over to him, totally meaning to ask if he'd seen Cas yet, but before I could get a word in edgewise (whatever the fuck that means, why do people say shit like that if they don't know what it means?) Uriel started walking towards us, a shit-eating grin spreading across his stupid face.

"Winchester." He was smirking now. That's never a good sign for me. "Castiel has informed Gabriel that you are no longer needed on Properties. He's expecting you in his office to receive your new assignments. One can only hope it's somewhere far far away. A different movie perhaps."

I really wasn't in any mood to deal with his shit, plus I was still somewhat into keeping my job, so I just glared at him until he walked away, cackling to himself. God, the dude could understudy for the Wicked Witch if he was into kinky shit like body paint. Turning back to Ash, the dude was just staring at me like I'd grown a zombie head or something.

"Duuuuuude. Did you sleep with Cas' sister?" What the fuck?

"The fuck? No! Dude doesn't even have a sister."

"His brother?" Sometimes, I really doubted my commitment to this friendship.

"Cas is an only child, what the fuck is wrong with you?" I hissed at him. Hitching my backpack higher up on my shoulder, I scanned the room for any sign of my ex-superior before Ash grabbed my attention again.

"Then dude, I have absolutely no idea what you could have done to piss him off so badly he fired your ass when the two of you have been practically married and honeymooning it up all over this place the last few months." Lifting up the lid to his pweeeecious laptop, he started working on some of the set designs we'd need once the shoot moved over seas. I was half tempted to slam the lid shut on him, just so he'd focus back on the situation at hand. Which was helping me figure out how to talk to my best friend again.

"Look, A. I didn't sleep with anybody connected to Cas. B. I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about with this marriage crap. He's my friend, he's pissed at me. I need your help to fix it. Now, fucking help me fix it!" I tried to be as quiet as possible cause movie sets are full of nothing but gossipy bitches and the fact that Cas had fired me was already going to spread like wildfire, I didn't need anymore rumors to be added to it.

Ash barely even acknowledged me, briefly looking up from his screen. "Dude. I don't know what to tell you. Not gonna lie, the lack of sex in this drama is kind of making it not as interesting to me. But in the name of all things Bro, I think he's over in the Sarah bedroom set fluffing pillows right now."

I slapped him on the back and secured my pack on my shoulders again. "Thanks man, I owe you one." And took off to the other side of the sets where Cas might be.

Ash was right, Cas was in there lording it over some gopher child who was incapable of spacing the pillows out evenly. Had shit not hit the fan, it would have been hilarious seeing him pull that crap on someone besides me. Now, it just made me pissy. "Cas."

He froze for a second, before turning around, and it was like looking into the ice statue version of Cas, the one from the theater months and months ago.

"Mr. Winchester. Allow me to thank you for your assistance with properties. I'm quite certain by now Uriel has informed you that your presence will no longer be needed." He crossed his arms over the front of his stupid sweater vest and glared at me from behind his glasses. I couldn't take this shit anymore. I grabbed his arm and dragged him over to a corner of the set where prying little gossip monsters wouldn't hear.

"Dude. Look, I know you're pissed at me and I probably really deserve it cause I know I'm a raging asshat sometimes. But can we please just fucking talk about this? You know I avoid chick flick bullshit like the goddamn flu but I'm totally willing to put up with it right now." Hell, I'd even talk back if necessary. Dude was nerdy as all fuck and was creepily obsessed with fucked up movies, but I hadn't had as much fun in years as I did with him and I wasn't about to give up a good thing just because fucking feelings got in the way.

The look in Cas' eyes softened a bit, like maybe I had gotten through to the bastard, before he shook my arm off and put a bit more space between us. "Dean. I just can't be around you right now. Please just... leave me alone."

I didn't know what else to do. I just let him walk away. I stood there for a second before going back over to Ash and his stupid fucking laptop. One thing was for certain. I was so not in any sort of fucking mood to deal with Gabe and his fluffy "feelings are magical" crap.

TBC