The Price of Freedom

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Let's not tell Dad about this, Farrah said as she and Cas walked into the bunker.

I agree. He lightly flushed; it had happened because he said he loved her. Sam knows.

That's alright. He wouldn't freak out like Dad.

Hearing a slight commotion in the library, Farrah shouted, "I'm making dinner! If you wanna put in a request, then get out here!"

The boys tumbled out of the room and down to the kitchen. Since Sam's request was heard first, she made what he wanted: greenbean casserole.

As Cas spoke with Sam and Dean across the kitchen, telling them what had happened at Philip's house, Farrah was sliding the casserole into the oven. Her hand slipped and brushed the tray, and before she could shout Cas was standing beside her. In one fluid motion he had the casserole completely inside and the oven door closed.

"Ow," she hissed, then took her hand from Cas' to shake it off. Almost instantly it was healed.

"Uh..." Dean said. "What just happened? Cas, how'd you know she was hurt?"

Sam pursed his lips. "Uh, Dean, I think-"

"No. I want answers."

Cas let Farrah stand in front of him, knowing that if Dean was going to get angry at anyone over this, it would be him. Farrah didn't know how it had begun anyway, so it would be her telling the whole truth.

Her cheeks flushed. "Sam, Castiel, can I have a moment with Dad?" The two nodded and made their way out.

Sitting at the table, Farrah took a deep breath. "When I was with Garth, before Charlie called, uh, I was thinking about you guys. I love you and Sam, Dad. Just as I was thinking about that, I-I thought of Castiel. How kind and considerate and selfless he is. I thought that I might love him."

Dean's eyebrows shot way up, but he didn't say anything, which she took as her cue to continue. "About that time, there was a sort of physical tugging on my chest, and I could feel my brain sort of expanding. I tried poking around on it and it hurt Castiel. Then...we can speak telepathically to each other, and if either of us feel pain, the other will as well."

"You...think you love Cas," he said slowly.

"I did. But I'm sure now."

"And you're sure you aren't just reacting like this because you spent a year with him and you're suddenly safe?"

"Yes. I know it's genuine."

He took a deep breath. "Looks like I need to have a talk with an angel."

Her cheeks turned a very deep shade of red. "Don't. Please. He's Castiel; he probably hasn't glanced twice. Just leave it alone."

He nodded. "Okay. But if anything happens-"

"I'll come straight to you."

~

"Okay, so get this." (We all know who said that.)

Farrah and Dean walked around to look at Sam's computer. "What are we seeing?" Dean asked. They were looking at a screen with at least twelve different pages open, each one either on leviathans or Dick Roman.

"We're seeing nothing."

Now Cas was intrigued, and he walked over too. "What do you mean by nothing?"

"I mean nothing. The leviathans have done nothing. No disappearances, no mysterious deaths. The crime rate around where they're located has dropped five percent since they showed up."

Farrah gawked at the screen. "Well...what're we gonna do then? Just let them keep going? Wait for them to kill someone?"

"No," said Dean. "I'm not letting anyone else die because of them."

"So we see what their plan is. Great. How?"

Sam sighed and looked at her. Almost simultaneously, Dean and Cas did the same. Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Fine. I brought them in, I figure out their plan."

"Or," Sam said slowly, "you could...talk to them."

"What?" Cas and Dean exclaimed. Farrah simply nodded.

"That might work. But they know that I'm your family; they hate me."

"Wait, you're considering this?" Dean said.

She nodded, although her heart was pounding hard in her chest. "Yes. Just tell me how."

"Farrah," Cas grabbed her upper arm and looked pleadingly at her, "it is very dangerous. Please reconsider."

"We'll see what I have to do before I make any decisions."

They stayed up late into the night; none of the Winchesters wanted to leave the problem like that without a solution.

At two a.m., they finally finished, and Farrah passed out at the table. Sam and Dean had already clocked out and made it to their rooms, so Cas just smiled and picked her up-she wasn't that heavy.

As he walked her to her room, she shifted. Stopping for a moment, he tried to make sure he wasn't waking her up. After a moment he was satisfied and kept walking, but she jolted away from him and he lost his grip. Farrah hit the floor and scrambled away from him frantically, trying to simultaneously get to her feet.

"Farrah," he said gently, holding up his hands. When she saw him, she started to shake. Soon he realized she was crying, and assumed it was because she was scared. He instantly leaped into motion and pulled her into his arms. "We're safe, Farrah. It's okay."

After a few minutes she took a deep breath and stepped back. "It seems my nightmares aren't getting any better."

They stepped into her room, cozy looking with the dark tones of brown and green, but also innocent enough to betray that she was an angel. When she saw an angel blade, she flinched, but tried to hide it.

"If it would make you feel safer, I could watch over you while you slept," he offered.

"It would. Thank you, Castiel."