Wake Me Up When the Bad Life Ends / Book Seven / The Life Series / Supernatural

Hunteri Heroici

Sam, Dean, Castiel and I were standing outside of Big Ryan's Gas n' Sip.

Castiel was leaning against the front of the car.

Sam was on the phone the phone, filling the Impala with gas. "Right, yeah. No, just, uh, just call us whenever you find something." Dean and I walked out of the gas station. Dean had four beers. I had food. "Yeah. Yeah, 'course." Dean removed the tops from the bottles of beer. "Right. No, I—I, uh..." Dean handed me two beers. I tossed a container of salad to Sam. Dean handed Sam a beer. I ducked under Dean's arm, walking toward Castiel. "Yeah, hey, you know what? Uh, Dean's here. He really wants to talk to you."

I handed one of the beer bottles in my hand to Castiel.

Castiel took it, reading a newspaper.

Dean took the phone from Sam. "Mrs. Tran, yeah, hi, uh..." He hung up, tossing the phone back to Sam. "Tunnel. What's going on in Tranland?"

"Well, uh, Garth finally got them to his houseboat, but Kevin's having a lot of trouble reading their half of the tablet," Sam explained. "So far, bits and pieces. Nothing about boarding up Hell."

"Garth has a safe-houseboat?" Dean asked.

"Dude, I don't even ask questions anymore," I told them. Sam took the gas pump out of the Impala. I looked at the newspaper Castiel was reading. "What's the word, Cas?"

Castiel didn't get what I meant. "It's a shorted version of my name."

I nodded. "Yes, it is. I meant what's the word on the word? Any tablet chatter on angel radio?"

"Oh, I couldn't say," Castiel told us. "I turned that off."

"You can do that?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Castiel answered. "It's a simple matter of blocking out certain subsonic frequencies. I could draw you a diagram if you want."

"No, that's—We're good," I told him. "Why'd you flip the switch?"

"Because it's a direct link to Heaven," Castiel answered. "And I don't want anything to do with that place. Not anymore."

"So what now?" I asked. "Move to Vermont, open up a charming B&B?"

Castiel knew I was being sarcastic. "No. I still want—I still need to help people. So..." He smiled. "I'm gonna become a hunter."

Dean, Sam and I took this in, smiling slightly in surprise.

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Castiel answered. "I even found a case. Oklahoma City. A man's heart jumped 10 feet out of his chest. It sounds like our kind of thing, right?"

Sam and Dean looked amused yet skeptical.

I shrugged. "He's got a point."

"Excellent," Castiel told us. He rapped on the car with a hand, turning away. "I'll see you there."

"Wait, Cas, Cas," Dean told him. "If you want to play cowboys and bloodsuckers, that's fine. But you're gonna stick with us, okay? None of this zapping around crap. Capiche?"

"Yeah, I capiche," Castiel answered.

"All right, then," Dean told him, walking to the driver's door.

"Can I, uh, at least ride in the front seat?" Castiel asked.

Dean and Sam spoke together, Sam while shouldering Castiel out of the way. "No."

Sam and Dean got into the front seats.

I smiled, getting into the car behind Dean.

Castiel opened the door behind Sam.