It's too cold outside

Living life in the fast lanes

The frosted glass door stood in front of the raven haired boy. What stood inside would be a new way of life. There was a sandy haired man stood facing the window, he knew who was outside the frosted glass. " Castiel... " no answer. "For crying out loud, doors do not bite! Stop being a pussy an get in here, I don't summon you because I want to talk to glass if I did that I'd go outside an talk to the junkie that lives on the corner." Castiel walked in, his back stiff and shoulders square. "Luci..fer." This was not the time for terms of endearment. "You wanted me?" Still not facing the boy, Lucifer gestured towards a chair opposite his desk. "Sit." The word was sharp it was a direction, there was no question about it. Cas would have rather stand, it was easier to be guarded when stood up. Lucifer knew this though, that was exactly why he told Castiel to sit down. Once the glass in the blondes hand was empty he decided to sit in his chair.
"It's time you learned a lesson Castiel." Lucifer let that statement hang in the air. There was silence. "Your new case is waiting for you in Newton. You need to go over there. It's one of my friends. They had a shipment that was seized. It's gone to court. They are being tried for conspiracy to commit crime, illegal distribution of pharmaceutical drugs, and a minor in gang activity." Cas did not dare make a comment. He couldn't decline the case. He would loose his job. His name, his reputation, his family. Lucifer had never once asked this of him. Why would Lucifer not have this. It was his specialty. Lucifer knew that Cas couldn't lie. That had to be it. He was just playing a sick game on his younger brother. What a sick game. Cas could go to jail if anyone knew he was about to knowingly defend a criminal that was guilty. This was not the kind of thing to do as a spiteful prank. This was licence loosing, life changing stakes. "Oh before you hop off to Newton Cas, you should know the name of my business associates." This had Cas' attention. A smile Spread across Lucifers face. It made the hairs on the back of Cas' neck stand up and his skin crawl. It was sinister. "They are called The Eternal Abandoned." Cas' stomach twisted. He knew who they were. "You can leave now." Cas wanted to weep out of sheer relief that he could leave. He walked slowly away from his brother. "Oh and before you do go, make sure you have that glock handy." The tone In Lucifer's voice was sweet but it dripped venom. As soon as the door clicked closed Cas ran to the bathroom and into the nearest stall. He vomited, it was sharp and burned. He kept on throwing up bile. The eternal abandoned... that was Kansas' biggest drug cartel. You had to be a total mad man to even consider defending these thugs. You looked at them in the wrong direction and they'd shoot you. You walked on their turf and you could be shot. They were the tightest most trigger happy gang in the state. You messed with one of them you messed with all of them.
It felt like forever before Cas could regain his composure. What the fuck was Lucifer up to dropping this on him! It wasn't funny, it was so far from funny. All Cas could think of was Lucifers parting worlds about the gun. "I guess I should." He muttered to himself. Cas got in the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. He was in a daze.
Before he knew it Cas had walked to the bank. It wassnt a long walk but he was surprised when he almost walked into a woman. He jumped feet. It was Alice, she was a bank Clerk. She was quite young with thick brunette hair that was always in her eyes. She looked stressed. "Oh Cas sweetie! You coming in?" She enquired stubbing out a cigarette beneath her dolly shoe. "Uhh yeah I guess." Mumbled Cas. The girl flicked her hair out of her eyes and took a good look at Cas. He appeared to be a little bit disheveled. "Cas? Everything okay?" He looked up from under his own unruly hair. "Yeah. Just work.." he hesitated let out a long and deep sigh. "Uhh could you do me a favour? I need to make a withdrawal from my safety deposit box." Alice smiled. "Of course sweetie. But let's fix that tie of your's first." She smiled and reached towards him fixing and smoothing his tie. Her hand lingering a little longer than necessary. Cas was not oblivious to the charms of women but he wassnt in the frame of mind to flirt today. He just let her hand drop. Normally he would flirt away with her. She had a southern drawl that was unique to Texas but it was doing nothing for him today. He couldn't think of anything other than his hellish brother. The two walked into the bank and Alice let him into his safety deposit box where he withdrew a small hand pistol from it. He signed the paperwork and walked back to the office. Only exchanging pleasantries with Alice and promising to catch up soon.
The raven haired boy walked with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was 28. He was not made to be dealing with gangs. Yet his brother had decided to drop him into what was going to be one of the biggest cases of the year. He hated Lucifer for that.
He got in the elevator once more and headed upstairs to the offices. Cas would not be bored with this case. As he walked past the front desk he saw Anna diligently flipping through the preliminary paperwork he had complied. He though back to only a few hours ago when he was overjoyed that his older sister had finally been given the responsibility of a small simple case. He just didn't know where that left him. He would love to have take such a simple open and close job. He gave his receptionist a tight lipped smile. Not having the energy to start a conversation. He stepped into his office and spied a bright note attached to the screen of his computer. He sighed it was Lucifer. He just knew it. Looking at it confirmed his suspicions. It was telling him the time and address of the meeting he had to attend. Luckily it was tomorrow. He had today to focus on finishing the last of the paperwork of his previous cases.

Alexander the Great had nothing on Castiel James Novak. Castiel may be conflicted but he was good man. Unlike Lucifer Novak.