The One like a Hallmark (Destiel)

Chapter 4: Does everyone have a messy basement?

Dean didn't know what he expected honestly.

It's very rare that you ever enter a house that doesn't have a creepy, dark, secluded basement or attic. Maybe it's because of his crush (wow, way to be teenager, Dean) on Cas, that altered his expectations.

"Please tell me you labeled the box." Dean said, staring at the mountain of boxes in the corner. The mound was taller than he was, which was pretty terrifying. That wasn't even counting the amount of boxes littered over every space of floor.

"God, I hope so." That wasn't the reassurance the hunter was looking for. "I'm terribly sorry. Last time I had, Gabriel put the candles away. We'll be lucky if their even in a box alone." Cas informed.

"Not to imply that you do all the work around here but maybe next time you should do the boxing." Dean suggested. Though he could barely see Cas in the darkness, he could tell the man was nodding enthusiastically. Apparently the thought of searching this entire room for a box of candles was just as unpleasant to him as it was to Dean.

Cas, who manned the only flashlight, shined the light at the big mound. Dean carefully maneuvered himself around the dozens of boxes- trying not to hurt anything valuable- until he stood next to Cas. "Please tell me we aren't diving right into a mile before we stretch."

"Good thinking." Cas seemed thankful that Dean said something. Together, they both opened dust boxes. Dean was in no place to judge- for he had no home to store valuables- he didn't understand why they'd keep half this stuff. It all seemed like a bunch of uselessjunk you'd find at a flea market to him; old clothes, furniture, vases. The only thing he saw that was worth keeping was the photo albums.

Dean flipped open what felt like the twentieth box. A bunch of papers rested within it. Curiously, Dean picked them up while Cas was busy digging through a box of old clothes. Flipping through the worn pages, Dean noticed words formatted like a legal document. He glanced up to make sure Cas was still focused before pulling it out so it was in the front.

Glancing over, he recognized a few things he had yet to look into. Originally, later on he'd head to the local library and browse through their history documents of the town but now it seemed that trip may be cut short- much to his liking.

"Hey, Cas?" There was a hum in response. "You didn't happen to inherit this place from you Uncle, did you?" The rustling of clothes being shifted stopped. Yellow light flashed over in Dean's direction, and despite being blinded, Dean still looked up with one of his eyebrows raised.

Cas carefully walked over to Dean. By his body language, Dean could tell he wasn't very happy about a stranger going through his paperwork but at the same time, he must've been just as curious as Dean.

"Yes. Why?" Cas sat down on his knees next to Dean. The undercover hunter took the flashlight out of Cas's hands and handed him the papers. While Cas read over the papers, Dean made sure he had enough light.

"I don't understand." Cas said after a while. "I thought, Raphael said he bought the house."

"You didn't know he bought the land with the intention of building his own house?" Dean asked. He didn't get why someone would lie about something so simple. It wasn't like it was that big of a deal but it could be a key in figuring out who killed the poor guy.

"No. A few years ago he boasted about finding a beautiful home surrounded by acres of land, in a secluded place. He never mentioned about taking a team of people to clear a few trees to build it himself." Cas informed. "A great portion of my family are realtors but they were always against cutting down forestland in favor of building."

Dean had a thought in his head but he didn't dare voice it. Raphael getting mauled in the woods- acres that he built on (which didn't make sense due to the previous thought of the culprit being a witch). To him, it was clear motivation for a monster to get pissed off and murder the guy. There was no such luck in getting Cas to see that.

"Sorry for digging through your stuff." Dean apologize, taking the papers from Cas's hand and setting them neatly back in the box. "As a cop, I'm kinda used to digging into things. I saw promisingly important papers and couldn't help myself." He handed the flashlight back to the owner of the basement.

Cas took the offered flashlight hesitantly. "You are a stranger in my house digging through important belongings. You can see why I'm slightly off put by that, correct?"

"Of course." Dean replied. "It was wrong of me. I understand if you want me to stop looking for candles in case I stumble across something else." He pointedly glanced around the room. "Though, I feel like that's more punishment on you than it is me."

When Cas didn't respond, Dean looked at him. The hunter was caught off guard by the frustrated eyes glaring at him. Dean bit his lip, angered by how hot he thought Cas was at this moment. Right now, this man had the power to throw Dean out into the freezing night to die from hypothermia. The last thing he needed to do was a, give the man a reason to do so and b, be blinded by how good looking he is is. Coming across as a man that sleeps with a lot of people probably won't bide well with the guy. Though it wouldn't be a lie.

Does it count if Dean doesn't sleep with a lot of guys? That he never felt the need to act on his bisexuality until he met Cas?

Dean doubts Cas would listen to that reasoning when they've only known each other for a few hours.

"I'll shut up now." Dean said to himself.

"That would be wise." Cas agreed. "We'll look through a few more boxes but if we don't stumble upon them, it'd probably be for the best if we just stop the search. Unless you're scared of the dark, I believe we'll survive without a few candles."

"Trust me, I haven't been scared of the dark sense I was four. I'll live." Dean reassured. He didn't say how his father's way of protecting him from the dark was handing him a '44 and warning him not to shoot his brother. That reminded Dean that he somehow had to hide the pistol in the waistband of his jeans. If either Cas or Gabriel knew he was armed, they'd probably alert the actual police.

Lying about being a cop was only going to give him a little leeway. Leeway that he's pretty sure he's already taken advantage of.

*

Ten boxes later, their mission was a success. Just as Cas said, the candles were not in the box labeled so, and instead they were in a box marked "useless crap".

Apparently Gabriel had the same opinion about some of this junk as Dean did.

Speaking of Gabriel, the guy had thankfully risen from his motionless state and started searching the cabinets for possible dinner options.

"What's for dinner shorty?" Dean asked, carrying the box of candles as Cas led him up the steep staircase. Cas beckoned him to set it on the counter.

"I'll have you know, you're just abnormally tall." Gabriel countered, setting a bag of doritos on the small table. So far, he managed to create a small pile of bagged carbs on the round table.

"You haven't seen nothin' until you've seen my younger brother." Dean raised his hand above his head, roughly at what Sam's height was. "Actual giant."

"I don't know whether to be intimidated or mock you for being the older brother to a moose." Gabriel commented. He visibly weighed his options. "Heh, you're the short one in the family." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Coming from the short one in his own family." Cas said, eyeing Gabriel pointedly.

"I'm not talking about our family, Cassie. Let me have this moment." Cas looked at Dean with a sorry look that said, there's nothing I can do. Part of the hunter was happy that Cas didn't seem that mad about what happened down in the basement. Well, mad wasn't really the right word but still. The other half of Dean was pissed that he cared what the guy thought of him.

I'm screwed, was Dean's last thought to himself before picking up a bag of potato chips.