After the End

Chapter Twenty

Dean expected to be bombarded with questions from Charlie as soon as he walked into the building, so it didn't phase him when she began rambling about how Cas wouldn't tell her the details and that he would be late, and something about how he was being very stupid because he needed to get his arm looked at. Dean let her get it all out before grabbing her shoulder to level with her, taking a deep breath.

"We gotta talk," he said simply as Charlie narrowed her eyes in confusion. Dean sighed, stepping to the side to reveal Claire, who had been strategically hiding behind him this whole time. Charlie's eyes widened in surprise and Claire shrank closer to Dean's side. "Where's Cas? This is important," Dean added, looking around the room for his angel.

"In the back," Charlie answered, still glancing between Claire and Dean as if trying to figure out a complex puzzle or something. "Claire, are you okay? What's going on?" she asked impatiently, the worry showing on her normally smiling face.

Claire looked at Dean with uncertainty, nervously pulling on the sleeve of her long-sleeved shirt as Dean offered a small smile. "It's okay, you can trust her," Dean urged, nodding softly. "Let's go in the back and you can tell her and Cas what's going on, alright?" he offered, and Claire hesitantly agreed with a small nod. Dean looked back at Charlie, silently pleading with her to hold off on more questions until they were settled in the backroom. He didn't want to make Claire go through talking about it twice, so he wanted Cas to be there too. Luckily, Charlie gave them a look of understanding and led them back into the other room with the beds. Cas was sitting at the desk in the corner of the room looking over some papers.

He looked up when the door opened, his eyes instantly finding Dean's with a small smile on his lips. When he noticed Claire too, his smile faltered. "How did it go?" he asked, clearly worried since Claire was with them. Charlie seated herself on the stool next to one of the beds, leaning forward to listen.

Dean gave Cas a look that conveyed exactly how unsure he was and Cas pressed his lips together in understanding. "Claire, why don't you have a seat," Dean said softly, leading her over to an empty bed where she sat down without question. "Charlie, let's get this thing off my arm. I think Claire needs a minute." He noticed the unsure expression on Claire's face, so he figured he wouldn't push her into talking if she wasn't ready. He knew he was right when Claire gave him a grateful smile, scooting back on the opposite bed to lean against the wall.

"Oh, alright," Charlie agreed hesitantly, gesturing for Dean to sit on the bed she was currently in front of. He got himself situated on the mattress and Charlie got to work unhooking the sling and working the bandages off to look at the stitches. "Try moving your arm for me," she instructed, bracing a hand on the back of his shoulder. He did as he was told, moving his arm as far as he could without wincing. "How's that feel?"

"Sore," Dean admitted, grimacing as he stretched his arm too far. "But not horrible." He looked away from Charlie to find Cas watching him with an unreadable expression that made Dean squirm a little. Cas looked away with a slight smirk, back to looking at the paper in front of him.

Charlie took the stitches out next, which was a little uncomfortable, but nothing Dean hadn't been through before. "If you can move your arm comfortably, I'll allow you to go back to work tomorrow. But I want you to keep the sling with you so you can wear it when you're not using the arm, got it?"

"Yeah, sure," Dean answered, twisting to check out his wound. It looked a lot better than it did a few weeks ago when he got it. He didn't plan on wearing the sling, but anything to make Charlie happy. "That's great news, cause I'm gonna need to get back out there as soon as possible. That's actually the reason Claire is here." He looked over at her, trying to gauge if she was ready to talk yet or not. "You want me to explain, or you feel like talking?"