Prison Break (Sequel to "Wanted")

Chapter 10

After two weeks with no signs of the Bloody Valentine killer, Castiel finally decides it's safe to head back to work. He promises Anna to come home as soon as work is over, and assures her that the police detail outside their house, however small it may be, will keep her safe while he's not here. Part of him feels bad that he's leaving her home alone, but if he has to spend one more day locked up in his house, his head is going to explode.

"So," Castiel asks his partner, "what've you been up to while I was gone?"

"Oh, you know, just helping out with other people's stuff," Charlie says with a shrug. "Michael wasn't sure when you'd be coming back, so he wanted to hold off on giving me something permanent."

"Damn, that sounds boring," Castiel remarks.

"Oh, trust me, it was," she says. "Didn't get a damn thing done, either."

"Well, it could be worse," Castiel says with a shrug. "Could've been one of the suckers on the Bloody Valentine case. Did you hear that he deadass put his phone in some mom's groceries? SWAT busted down the door and there were just a couple of kids eating cupcakes."

"So I've heard," Charlie says awkwardly. "You know he's still out there. Are you okay with that?"

"Of course I'm not okay with it," Castiel says. "I wouldn't be okay with any killer being in the streets, especially not one that tried to kill my sister. But there's not much I can do about it, so I'll have to deal."

"And you're gonna be able to deal?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure if you were to take a look at me right now, you would see that I'm dealing," Castiel says, getting a little annoyed at the questions. How many times does he have to brush her off for her to shut up about it?

"Well, yeah, but, I mean, after the call —"

"What do you know about the call?" Castiel asks immediately. She shouldn't know anything about it. That was classified information. Every little bit of it was classified. Its mere existence was classified.

"Nothing!" she says quickly. "Nothing, I know nothing!"

"You clearly know something," Castiel says. "How?"

"Well, um..." Charlie scratches the back of her neck awkwardly. "Michael kinda kept me in the loop while you were —"

"Michael did what?" Castiel demands.

"Please don't get mad at me," Charlie queaks. "I wasn't even supposed to tell you that, and if Michael finds out I did, he'll kill me."

"You don't have to worry about Michael killing you because the second he gets back here, I'm going to kill him myself."

"That's why he said I couldn't tell you," Charlie says. "'Cause you'd kill him. But, you know, I didn't have a partner, I didn't have a case, and he thought maybe you would've told me things about Winchester that could be useful in catching him, you know?"

"And you should have told him that I hadn't told you a goddamn thing," Castiel snaps. "Nothing I've told you would be anywhere near as useful as, like, reading a case file. There was no reason for him to give you this case."

"Well, I mean, I did get the case file —"

"Please tell me you didn't read it."

"Um..." Charlie looks around awkwardly.

Castiel smacks his head against his desk.

"Oh, come on," Charlie groans. "This is a huge case, Cas! I've been reading articles on it since before we even met! Not only did I have a chance to catch him, but I got to read all the details that got left out of the media? Of course I took the chance when I got it!"

Without looking up, Castiel just says, "Fuck everything."

"Now, I really, really have to ask," Charlie says. "Why did you treat him like a friend?"

That one gets Castiel's attention. He picks his head up to look at her. "What?"

"Well, you were always pretty nice to him," Charlie says. "You know, given the circumstances. Was there a method to your madness, or...?"

"I don't know," Castiel says. "I mean, he popped in and said that if I'd talk to him, he'd lay off the killing. Obviously, I wanted to keep that deal going as long as I could, so I wanted to convince him that he wanted to keep the deal, which meant convincing him I wanted to befriend him."

"Is that why?"

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "Did I not just say that it was why?"

"I mean, seriously, between you and me," Charlie says, lowering her voice to ensure that no one could eavesdrop. "You weren't starting to like him at all?"

"He tried to murder my sister!" Castiel hisses.

"Before that, I mean," Charlie says. "'Cause that's when things changed, right?"

Castiel narrows his eyes. "Did Michael put you up to this?"

"Oh, god no," Charlie says. "I don't even think the thought's ever crossed his mind. But I was reading the transcripts of all the phonecalls, and he seemed so chill, you know? And I was wondering if that ever sucked you in."

Castiel shakes his head. "I told him last time we spoke. I think he's fascinating, and I think he's the biggest piece of shit on God's green earth. Always have, always will."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just..." Charlie shrugs. "I'm just really impressed by how well you played that. I mean, pretending to like him saved Anna's life. Hell, it even saved your life, right? 'Cause even if he knew he was gonna get caught up in New Hampshire, he could've killed you anyway. So, I guess the moral of the story is that when your career with the FBI is finished, Hollywood is always looking for fresh faces."

Castiel forces a smile. She's right, isn't she? The only thing that saved him and Anna was that he pretended that he and Dean were friends. Sure, it was easier then because Castiel actually sort of enjoyed talking to him in a weird way, but still. Dean is out on the streets as they speak, and Castiel has already made it very clear that they're not friends.

Anna and Castiel are never going to be safe again.