Strings Attached

Chapter 71

A/N I just realized that a lot of the bad characters in this are black. I just want to clarify that I don't mean anything by that. These are just some of the characters I don't like. Maybe I'll throw Rufus in as a nice person just because. Hmm... Let's see if I can fit him in here. No promises, though.

Castiel is wheeling himself to lunch -- which Charlie managed to convince him to actually go to — when he hears someone call his name. He knows immediately who it is. It's Crowley. Castiel freezes, unsure what to do. Should he see what Crowley wants, or get the hell out of there?

"Hey, Castiel," Crowley greets him as he walks up to the boy. It's strange somehow. Maybe it's because Crowley sounds almost... Nice. But he's not. Castiel knows that.

Castiel looks up at him expectantly. What's he going to do? And does Castiel have time to get away first? Probably not. He missed his chance. Dammit.

"I heard what happened to you," Crowley tells him. "You okay?"

Castiel nods silently. Why does Crowley care if he's okay? Crowley has never cared. He's never even asked.

"I read your story thing in the paper. You seriously killed a serial killer?" Crowley says in surprise.

Castiel nods again.

"How? You'd just been shot, like, three times."

"Adrenaline?" Castiel guesses.

"That's a hell of an adrenaline rush," Crowley replies.

Castiel just nods again.

"Hey, Cas!" Dean walks up to the boy. He gives Crowley the death stare as he says, "I told you to leave him alone."

"We were just chatting," Crowley replies with innocence that this time isn't faked.

Dean looks down at Castiel for confirmation. Castiel just nods, assuring Dean that Crowley is telling the truth. Dean seems to believe it, but still looks skeptical.

"Well, I'm stealing him from you," Dean tells Crowley. "So deal with it."

"Alright, fine. See ya."

And that's it. Dean wheels Castiel away, and Crowley doesn't taunt him or beat him up or anything. That was so... Easy. It's weird. Castiel doesn't like it.

"Was he bothering you?" Dean asks in a low voice when Crowley is out of earshot.

"No," Castiel replies. Seeing Dean's skeptical look, he adds, "Really. It's like people don't realize I'm still the same person I was a month ago. It's kinda freaking me out."

Dean chuckles. "I'm sure it is. You're, like, a hero and you didn't even do anything here."

"Why?" Castiel asks. "Literally all I did was let a guy shoot me. That's not really hero worthy."

"No, 'all you did' was sacrifice yourself for your brother and your boyfriend and kill a serial killer in the process," Dean corrects him. "And that's pretty cool, in my opinion."

"'Sacrifice myself'?" Castiel echoes. "How was that a sacrifice?"

"You got shot at! How is that not a sacrifice?"

"Yeah, I took a couple bullets, but it's not like I traded my life for someone else's."

Dean sighs. "You're really, really clueless. You know that, right?"

"Yes, but you're gonna have to be more specific."

"Okay, I don't know how else to say this," Dean tells him. "You're famous here, and this time, it's for a good thing. I'm sure it'll pass over eventually, but until then, you're going to have to deal with people not ignoring your existence. Do you think you can do that? Just for a few weeks, if that?"

Castiel nods. "Yeah," he agrees reluctantly. "I'll hate every minute of it, but yeah, I'll deal."

"Good," Dean replies. "Now let's go eat."