Fallen [Dean Winchester FanFiction]

XXI

Twenty-One

Midday quickly rolled around. Before Dean knew it, the time on his watch was reading a quarter to three. It'd been a whole two whole hours since he'd last heard from Alaine and as the minutes continued to pass, he found he yearned more and more for her company. Across from him at the table, his young brother sat quietly amongst a mountain of books and files he'd barricaded himself behind. Jody had hit the road a little while ago, leaving Sam and Dean alone in the bunker. Sighing, the elder Winchester reached for the beer sitting in front of him and took the bottle to his lips.

Sam picked his head up from the tome he was reading to cast his brother a curious look. "Hey, Dean?"

"Hm?"

"Don't you think it's weird we haven't heard from Cas in a while?"

"No. The guy goes M.I.A all the time."

"Yeah, but with everything that's been going on with Metatron being hell-bent on killing us all, don't you think we should be taking things more seriously? We need a strategy."

"We have a strategy remember? Get a Greek god on our side, find the spear of triam, and ice that winged son of a bitch."

Sam scoffed. "Sounds easier said than done. We haven't even crossed off the first step to our plan. It's been months and still no luck on finding that ritual."

"Look, let Cas keep doin' whatever he's doin', alright? When the time comes, he'll give us a call."

"I just don't get why you're so chill about all this."

Dean's features hardened. He set his beer down on the table, leaning forward in his seat. "For starters my life, for the first time in, what, never, has actually settled down. I'm just starting to catch my breath. I ain't gunnin' to jump back into the fire just yet. I want to enjoy every minute I can before I'm thrown into the frontlines again."

"Dean, that's great and all, but we just can't sit around with our thumbs up our asses. We need to be prepared—"

"I am prepared," Dean snapped irritably. "Just 'cause you don't see me with my head buried in some book doesn't mean I ain't ready for when it all hits the fan. You keep reading and researching, I'll keep doin' my part."

Sam shook his head, his eyes dropping back to his book. "Yeah, whatever that is."

Dean narrowed his eyes. His mouth opened to retort, the words in his mouth being immediately silenced by the loud shrilling of his phone. Sighing his annoyance, he reached for the device sitting over the table. He caught a quick glance at the caller ID and scoffed before placing the incoming call on speaker.