Splatter

13. The Intended 3499

Sam's place was more warehouse than actual house. He lived off a houseboat most of the time when he was on his marine expeditions, but there was no way Dean wanted anywhere near water after the week he had had. So Sam took Dean to the closest thing he had to a home out of water, which was a huge shed like structure built on a piece of cheap vacant land. There was no harbour access, not even an inlet that went out to sea. The whole plot was a disused farm and Sam actually kept a few grazers on pasture to keep the weeds down. In deference to Sam's love of water, there was a huge manmade dam, though the ongoing drought had shrunk the previously grand lake into a swimming pool sized puddle. Dean sat on the dry wharf which stood like a bridge to nowhere in the parched landscape and researched a topic that he couldn't stop thinking about.

The breeding cove Castiel had mentioned in passing was a closely guarded Mer secret. There were several hundreds of them around the world in far flung locations. The only one the humans had found was in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and that one was abandoned since the coral had been bleached there. Dean still daydreamed about visiting it with Castiel, horse riding over expanses of red dust, sightseeing in the coastal cities. Maybe there they wouldn't even be noticed, since surely Castiel couldn't be known as the Mer prince the world over? When Castiel had first shown up at the seawall, Dean had thought him a diplomatic attache of some kind. Then it emerged that Castiel was higher on the food chain than he made out. When Castiel went on tv to promote the whole Mer mating ritual fiasco, Dean realised that Mer royalty were a bigger deal than he had thought. Now that Dean had experienced the violence of Mer politics on the island, he figured that Castiel, and whatever he was up to in terms of his interactions with the humans, was critically important. Seemed to Dean that Castiel had many allies and just as many enemies. The whole thing didn't add up, except for the fact that Castiel seemed to always be in peril and Dean would do just about anything to fight those dangers with him.

Checking his emails, Dean realised the committing ceremony had been scheduled the next week. The days prior to it stretched like they would go on forever. Not that Dean wanted to rush into a new life with Castiel, he quite liked his old life in fact, but surely there was no way he could have Castiel by his side and not become a royal consort? Dean imagined if Castiel was just an ordinary guy, maybe someone who worked the wall with him, how things might have been different. They would have dated, maybe settled down together, maybe drifted apart. None of this living in constant danger and publicity weirdness. Or even if Castiel was just a normal Mer, like Andrea, Dean could visit him in the swamps like Benny does, maybe even consider transferring to a post in the swamps like Benny has requested. Dean spent his days recuperating, speculating, wishful thinking and finally just being really bored. Once or twice he called up Bobby citing the unprecedented number of Mer arrivals at the wall as an excuse that he should be allowed to go back to work.

"Haven't you figured out why there's so many?" Bobby said gruffly. "They're royal watchers from the seven seas. You better send the whole squad some wedding cake to make up for all the overtime everybody's pulling."

Dean didn't get it, why would a bunch of Mer who previously had no interest in humans suddenly flood the shores? He understood the need of the Mer refugees to flee bad waters but Mer moving onto land for the sole purpose of spectating Dean getting hitched was just absurd. Castiel never mentioned how popular he was as a leader of the Mer, though Dean had seen how loyal his entourage were.

* * *

About three days before the committing ceremony, everyone from work descended on Sam's farm. Benny was accompanied by Andrea. Charlie and Kevin arrived with a video game console, ostentatiously to help Dean pass the time, but Dean thought they just really wanted to whoop his ass at something. Donna and Jody arrived with delicious crockpots of curry and stroganoff. Bobby brought his mac 'n cheese. Ash came with a giant jar of home pickled chilli peppers, while Garth shucked corn to cook on the charcoal fire. Dean and Sam provided the steaks and beers. As the sun set a people mover pulled up and Sam's face lit up as the passengers disembarked. Hannah was in the lead, holding an elaborate box which was revealed as filled with bento like treats. Balthazar and Gabriel were lifting a metal bucket full of monstrously sized lobsters, waving cheerfully at Dean as they advanced. Jack and Kelly had baked in the embassy kitchen, offering up a gloriously rustic looking pumpkin pie. Then there was Crowley, holding a crate of dark bottled drinks, glowering as his mother rushed forward to kiss Dean's cheeks in a swirl of silk and perfume. Chuck came prepared with a whole platter of deli meats, smiling shyly as he greeted everyone. Finally the driver got out and ambled up to the Winchesters.