Sherlock, Grab the Salt

"Do we have to take a case in London?"

       "Do we have to take a case in London?" Dean whined, taking another sip from his beer. "Can't one of the locals take care of whatever it is?" Sam gave his brother an exasperated look.

       "Dean, the client has asked for us specifically. Plus," he continued, "we are getting paid for this one." Dean huffed.

     "We don't even know this guy! He could be a serial killer, or worse! I say, we don't go." He put his beer down and turned away from his nearly packed suitcase defiantly. Sam didn't have a chance to respond, because of the sudden presence of someone else in the room.

       "Cas!" Dean exclaimed, "How many times have I told you not to just pop in like that!" The angel barely bothered with an apologetic glance.

       "Your client is indeed..." he paused for a moment, "trustworthy." Dean finished off his beer and sat down on the creaky motel bed where his suitcase lay unzipped.

       "And how the hell would you know that?" the elder brother asked angrily, clearly more worried about the hassle of leaving than country than safety. Castiel merely tilted his head slightly and Dean sighed.

       "Right." He said curtly, "Angel of the Lord. How could I forget?"

       "See?" Sam exclaimed, smiling triumphantly, "It's all safe. We're going." He turned to Cas. "I assume you can transport us there? Dean has a thing about airplanes."

       "I do not." Dean grumbled under his breath, sitting up straighter in an attempt to save some dignity. The other men ignored him.

       "Yes," the angel said "I can take you to London when you are both finished packing your luggage." The taller brother stretched his arms and sat next to his suitcase as Dean reluctantly finished packing. He barely had time to turn around after zipping up his suitcase before he felt a hand on his shoulder and all three men suddenly found themselves in a narrow alleyway.

       "We are in London. Your client's house is nearby." Castiel said before the brothers could ask any questions, "This was the safest place that we could arrive." Sam refrained from lecturing the angel about warning them next time and merely nodded in thanks. Dean cleared his throat, drawing the attention to him.

       "Our luggage?" he asked expectantly. The angel looked around and coughed to hide his embarrassment. He then disappeared and reappeared with the brothers' suitcases, the familiar ruffle of wings filling the alleyway.

       "I would stay, but... Heaven isn't proving able to keep itself in order these days." Cas said, looking slightly apologetic. He disappeared with another ruffle of wings before the Winchester brothers had time to reply.

       "Damn Heaven." Muttered Dean, his eyes lingering on the spot where Castiel had just been. "You would think for all the arrogance those bastards have they would be able to do something right every now and then." Sam had heard this complaint from Dean hundreds of times and knew nothing would placate him, so instead he pulled up the address they had been given on his phone. Luckily, he had had the foresight to acquire global wifi before informing his brother about the case.

       "Let's go." He called over his shoulder, having already started to walk away. Dean tried to hide his wonder as they ambled down the busy London streets, but Sam was too focused on the directions to notice and comment on Dean's sudden lack of complaining. When they finally turned onto a seemingly endless private drive and approached a large gate, Dean had forgotten altogether that he was supposed to be against the whole situation. The gate was twice the height of Sam and its iron bars swirled at the top in a design that obviously indicated wealth.

       "This is where our client lives?" Dean asked excitedly. "Sweet! We're getting paid by this guy!" Sam just shook his head and pressed his finger to the buzzer found on the left side of the street.

       "Hello, this is the Holmes estate. Please state your business." The voice belonged to a very bored sounding woman.

       "Um, hi," Sam responded, leaning in to speak. "I'm Sam Winchester. My brother Dean and I were invited here for a... job?"

       "We'll send a car down." The woman lazily replied and the buzzer clicked as she ended the conversation. As the brothers waited, Sam took in Dean's buzzing excitement and gave him a pointed look.

       "What?" Dean asked defensively.

       "Please don't offend whoever we're meeting Dean. He seems important." Dean put up his hands in surrender.

       "I know, I know!" He said, "I'll be a perfect angel!" Sam watched his brother giggle at his unfunny pun and prayed to God, or whoever was listening, that this meeting would pass without his brother making complete fools out of both of them. The car that arrived nearly a minute later was black with tinted windows and no apparent brand, and the brothers spent the ride up to the estate in silence.