After the End

Chapter Five

 Dean took the keys from Sam, as they stood over the open trunk staring at their belongings. Dean started handing Jack all of their blankets and pillows, Cas most of their food, and then Sam took everything they needed to make the house safe from monsters and ghosts. Dean took what was left, including the weapons. Once they had everything piled up in their arms, they silently made their way up the steps on the porch. After Dean picked the lock, they dropped all of their things in the living room and took a quick survey of their new space. The living room wasn't too small, but the large couch took up a lot of room. There were side tables, a broken television, shattered pictures barely hanging off the walls, and a few other small things scattered around the room. They'd have to do some cleaning if they wanted to stay here, but first they had to make sure the house was empty.

"We need to do a sweep of the house," Dean announced, making eye contact with Sam. His brother knew the drill, even if it had been ten years since their last hunt. Always check the house before making yourself comfortable. "You and Jack salt the doors and windows down here, me and Cas will get the upstairs. You know the drill." He couldn't let Cas and Jack go off on their own and Dean didn't feel like answering Jack's twenty questions, so this was the only option.

"Right," Sam nodded, grabbing the sleeve of Jack's coat to pull him along to a different room. Dean watched them disappear before gesturing for Cas to follow him up the stairs.

Dean kept his hand close to his gun, just in case. They walked slowly through the hallway, the floorboards creaking under their heavy footsteps. "The salt keeps ghosts away, right?" Cas asked quietly, close on Dean's heel as they checked the empty rooms for signs of life, human or not. There were three rooms upstairs and one bathroom, so it didn't take long to make a round. So far, nothing.

"Yeah," Dean answered simply. "Just a precaution."

As they finished looking through the last room, finding nothing, Dean handed Cas a box of salt to start lining the windows. "But what do you do to keep other monsters out? Like those vampires you killed," he asked, watching Dean for a moment before copying his actions on the opposite side of the room. "To my knowledge, there's nothing stopping them from coming in here whenever they want unless you could get your hands on some dead man's blood." Dean have him an impressed glance, though Cas was focused on pouring a line of salt on the window sill.

"Well, there's not," he agreed. "That's why you have to know how to fight. How to defend yourself," he explained as Cas finished covering the window and turned to face Dean, his expression serious, like usual. Dean raised an eyebrow. "You're an angel, right? Don't you know how to fight?" He found it hard to believe that angels didn't get some kind of training, but then again, they were angels. Dean knew nothing about angels aside from what little Cas had told him.

"Sure," he mumbled. "When I had my powers. But I'm human now and I'm much weaker than before." He followed as Dean left the room to finish salting the rest of the windows. They stopped in the next bedroom, slightly bigger than the other one, and did the same thing as before. "I'm afraid I'll only get in the way if something happens," Cas continued, eyes on the window as he poured the salt across in a straight line. "I don't want to be useless."

"You're not weak just because you're human, Cas," Dean answered, shaking his head. That kind of thinking was what made him weak, not his human body. Dean knew Cas was stronger than he let on, especially since he'd held off the vamp the night before. Cas would be a good fighter, he just had to believe it himself. "But if it means that much to you, I'll teach you a few things. How to defend yourself against bloodsuckers, werewolves, whatever you can think of. I'm not a great teacher, but-"

"I'd appreciate that, Dean," Cas interrupted, settling a comfortable silence between them as Dean nodded, not sure how to respond. They finished salting the windows in the remaining rooms, which didn't take too much longer. After they were done, Dean turned to go find Sam, only to run into Cas who was standing much closer than Dean thought he was. "What kind of things can you teach me?" he asked, breaking the silence as Dean licked his lips awkwardly, taking a step away from the angel. He straightened out his jacket, just to have something to do with his hands as Cas waited for an answer, those blue eyes staring into his own.