Prison Break (Sequel to "Wanted")

Chapter 8

Castiel has literally been pinned to the floor by a serial killer, and he's still never felt as uncomfortable as he does right now.

Through what is essentially an FBI-sanctioned Zoom service, Castiel is sitting cross-legged on his bed in front of a whole bunch of different people all over the country. The only solace he has is that one of these people is his brother, and that does make him feel a little better, as small as that fact is. Michael probably won't even treat him like a brother -- he is the director of the FBI, after all -- but he's still here listening, and that's what matters..

He's been waiting for about five minutes now for the all clear. They're trying to track a burner phone through a phone call from another burner phone, which has definitely been done before, but it's a little unorthodox. Why they need to watch to know what he's saying when all they're doing is tracking the location, Castiel will never understand, but it's a little late to raise an issue with it. He can understand the two agents on the case -- Tran and Harvelle, two men whom he's come to admire greatly over the years -- wanting to listen, but other than them and Michael, no one should have to be here.

Finally, one of the tech guys says, "We're all set."

Castiel looks at the little video of Michael, waiting for a sign that he can go. Michael nods one, telling him to proceed. He turns the volume off his smartphone — he doesn't want to risk hearing any noise from them during the call. He dials the number Michael gave him, and though he has it written down in front of him, he's practically memorized it from reading it over and over, trying to distract himself. He pauses, taking a moment to prepare himself, and then hits call.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

"Cas?"

And there he is.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel says.

"Wow, this is awesome," Dean says with childish excitement. "I didn't even think that was gonna work, if I'm being — hang on a second. Am I on speaker?"

"No," Castiel lies.

"No, I'm definitely on speaker," Dean says. "I can hear myself talk." He groans. "Come on, Cas! It's only been seven years! You can't tell me you've forgotten the game already!"

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten a single thing," Castiel says. He couldn't forget any of it if he tried -- and he definitely tried.

"Then take me off speaker," Dean says. "You know I don't like eavesdropping."

"Look, Dean, I'm driving," Castiel lies, the first excuse he can think of. "I'm just trying to kill some time right now. Yeah, you're going through my car's Bluetooth, but there's no one else here. You're fine."

"I don't know if I believe that," Dean says.

"You don't have to," Castiel says. The call's already been traced. He could hang up now and it would be fine. Castiel just wants to keep him on the line as long as possible to give him a smaller chance of getting away.

"All right then," Dean says. "Well, can you believe it? I'm finally free, Cas! I'm a free man!"

"That you are," Castiel says. For now.

"What, you're not gonna celebrate with me?" Dean asks, disappointed.

"Celebrate what?" Castiel asks. "The fact that you can go on another killing spree now?"

"I told you, I'm done with that," Dean says. "I don't want to be a criminal anymore. I'm a changed man."

"Oh, I'm sure you are," Castiel deadpans.

"And, apparently, so are you," Dean remarks. "What happened, man? I thought we were friends."

"Of course not," Castiel says. "You are everything I stand against. Why would we be friends?"

"Well, 'cause you came to visit me," Dean says, confused. "You let me talk to you. No one else did. I just kinda thought..."

"I visited you out of curiosity," Castiel says. "Not friendship."

"20 times?" Dean says skeptically. "You flew all the way across the country to visit me 20 times because you were curious?"

"Yes," Castiel says. "Dean, you are the most fascinating person I have ever met. I will give you that much. But I would never befriend a serial killer."

"Well, I'm not a serial killer anymore," Dean says.

Castiel throws his head back in exasperation. "Dean. You will always be a serial killer. You can't lose that title. It will be stuck with you for the rest of your life."

"I mean, legally, sure, but —"

"No, Dean, this has nothing to do with the law," Castiel says. "You murdered hundreds of people in cold blood. You're a serial killer in every sense of the word, now and forever."

Dean sighs. "Fine, whatever. If that's how you really feel, then I'm done. I was gonna keep my phone on me so I could call you later, but I'll just toss it in the lake and be done with this."

Castiel freezes. "You were gonna do what?"

"Hang on to my phone?" Dean says, sounding confused. "Why do you care? You don't want to talk to me."

"Uh..." Castiel glances at his smartphone, and Michael is silently but frantically gesturing for Castiel to keep going, so he does. "You know what? I think I'm just tired. I haven't slept since I found out you busted out, so I'm not really thinking straight right now. You think you could actually hang on to your phone, at least until tomorrow? That way I can take a nice, long nap, and when we talk in the morning, I'm more myself?"

"Really?" Dean asks eagerly.

"Yeah, 100 perfect," Castiel says.

"Cool! I'll keep my phone on at all times," Dean says. "Just try not to call me in the dead of night again? 'Cause then I'll be the cranky one, and you really don't want to see that side of me."

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Castiel says. He'll make whatever promises he has to if it means Dean will keep the phone with him. He won't follow through, obviously — he just wants to track it down. But Dean doesn't need to know that.

"Awesome," Dean says. "Talk to you then."

"Yep," Castiel says. Usually, he would have hung up by now, but he can't hang up on a serial killer. It doesn't quite work that way.

"Oh, and Cas?" Dean says.

"What's up?" Castiel asks, trying to keep his voice light and cheerful.

"Tell Anna I said hi."

Click.

"Dean?" Castiel says immediately. "Dean, are you there?"

Silence.

"No, no, no, no," Castiel whispers, calling him back immediately. "Come on, come on..." He rocks back and forth, anxiously waiting for Dean to pick back up and explain what the hell he meant by that.

And he doesn't.

"That asshole!"

Castiel throws his burner phone across the room so hard that it breaks through the wall. He jumps to his feet and sprints down the hall, taking the stairs two at a time to get to the living room. He almost runs right into Anna, who's already heading his way with a panic-stricken face.

"Cas?" she says quickly. "Cas, are you okay? What did he do? Did he threaten you? Did —"

Castiel just pulls her into a tight hug.

"What's wrong?" Anna asks. "What happened?"

"I never should have made that call," Castiel says quietly.

"What did he do?" she asks again. "Cas, you're scaring me. Is everyone okay?"

"They're fine," Castiel says. "No one's been hurt yet."

"But...?"

Castiel shakes his head minutely. "But nothing. We're gonna be fine." Because he's not letting his sister or his gun out of his sight.