Destiel Imagines

7. the angel in the library (au)

Dean smiled as he walked into his favorite library, taking a deep breath and smelling the old papery scent in the air. He came here every day...not just for the books.

He made his way over to the science fiction section and began browsing, while at the same time looking around for the person he always loved seeing - Castiel, a beautiful, blue-eyed, almost angelic volunteer who worked odd jobs at the library, restocking shelves and so on. He was usually around the sci-fi books at this time of the day. It didn't take Dean long to find him; he was standing on the opposite side of one of the shelves, sorting through a trolley of books and sliding them back into their places.

Casually, Dean pulled out a book and looked inside the dust jacket, glancing between the shelves at Cas as he did so. For a moment, their eyes met, and Cas gave him a wide, friendly smile. Dean's face warmed, and he dropped his gaze back to the book.

He'd had a crush on Cas for two months now but he was far too shy to ask him out. He'd never done this sort of thing with a guy before. Coward, he thought to himself.

He went to go read in his favorite spot by the window. An hour or two later, he finally decided it was time to go. He stood and went to check out his books, then cast one last glance around. Oddly, Cas was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, where's Cas?" he asked the librarian.

She smiled knowingly. "His shift just ended. He's probably heading home right now."

Oh. Dean managed a smile back. "Have a good day, ma'am." He left the library with his books.

As he stepped out into the bright sunlight of the parking lot, Dean immediately saw that something was wrong. Cas's sky-blue VW beetle was still parked out front. He hasn't left. But then where was he?

"I-I don't have any money," stammered a frightened voice from around the corner of the building. "I - I'm sorry, I'm telling the truth!

Silently, Dean crept closer, his expression tense and serious.

A man in a black hoodie and grubby old jeans stood, pointing a gun at Cas's head. Cas held his hands up in surrender. He was shaking. Dean could see that he was terrified.

"I saw you giving money to that homeless kid just this morning," the thief growled. "You're lying. Now you're going to hand over your wallet, or else I'm going to empty this gun into your fucking brain."

Without warning, Dean jumped forward and punched the thief in the face. He fell backwards, firing off a round of bullets that split the air like thunder. Dean grabbed the man's wrist, twisting the gun from his grasp and throwing it aside. "Call 911!" he yelled to Cas, holding the thief down. Nodding to show that he understood, Cas pulled out his phone and quickly called the police.

As the police drove away with the criminal cuffed in the backseat, Dean turned and studied Cas's face. His lip was split, and there was some blood coming from his hairline. "You okay?" he asked, concerned.

Cas smiled weakly. "I'm fine. Thank you, you really saved my life back there."

"I'm Dean," he replied, shaking Cas's hand.

"I've seen you around the library for a while now. You seem like a great guy." Cas bit his lip. "Want to get some coffee? There's a little shop nearby called Vernon's, we could head over there."

Dean's hope soared. He grinned back at Cas. "Coffee sounds fantastic," he said.