Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 119

Castiel and Dean head home from the high school after about a minute, and after Castiel brushes off questions about his conversations, Dean launches into a story about how he feels like God with how these kids look at him. It's fun to listen to Dean talk about his moment of fame, even if it's almost exactly what he said last time.

He finally finished with, "And they loved me. It was awesome."

Castiel chuckles. "Sounds like it."

"Well, you'd know," Dean says. "It happens to you all the time."

Castiel just shrugs. It's a nice pick-me-up, sure, but it happens so much that it's mostly just annoying.

"Hey," Castiel says randomly, pointing out the window. "Can we stop here for a minute?"

Dean slows the car down as he looks where Castiel is pointing. "The cemetery?"

Castiel nods. "Yeah."

"Okay...?" Dean says uncertainly, pulling into the graveyard. "Any particular reason, or do you just like ghosts?"

"It's where my dad was buried," Castiel explains. "Over ten months and I still haven't come back. I just feel like I should."

Dean nods in understanding. "Yeah, I get that. Do you know where I'm parking?"

"Yeah, go up there." Castiel guides him through the twisted roads, finally stopping him as close to his parents' headstones as he can get without driving over dead people.

Or so he thinks. It turns out this place is a lot bigger than he thought, so it takes a bit of walking to find them. In fact, they might have passed right over Chuck and Becky Novaks' headstones, had there not already been someone there.

"Michael?" Castiel says in surprise.

The older boy's head whips up at the unexpected sound of his brother's voice, revealing a tear stained face. He's kneeling next to Chuck's grave, on top of what would be his body, had his body actually been recovered. In reality, it's just an empty coffin lying six feet under.

"Hey, you okay?" Castiel asks.

Michael nods. "Mm hmm. I'm fine."

Not believing this at all, Castiel kneels down next to him, putting an arm around him comfortingly. "I miss him, too."

Neither of them speak for a few minutes, just looking at Chuck's headstone. It's Michael who finally breaks the silence, his voice quiet as if scared of waking the dead.

"Remember when Dad surprised us with that trip to Disney World?"

"I can't say that I do," Castiel admits. He didn't realize he's ever been to Disney World at all.

"No, you probably wouldn't," Michael replies. "You would have been one at the time — or two, I think, because Mom was still pregnant with Samandriel."

"Was it fun?" Castiel asks curiously.

"Lucifer and I had fun, at least," Michael tells him. "Dad would take us on the fun rides like the Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest, and Mom would take you and Gabriel to meet the characters. We probably have pictures of it somewhere."

"So mom didn't like rollercoasters?"

"She liked them more than Dad did," Michael says with a small smile, probably remembering their father's reactions when he realized he had to accompany his eldest sons on them. "But she was pregnant, so she wasn't supposed to ride them. Dad hated them, but he knew Lucifer and I loved them, and you don't send a six year old off alone like that, so he came with us anyway.