Prison Break (Sequel to "Wanted")

Chapter 16

A/N it occurs to me that it's been a while since y'all have read the a/n in the beginning so I just wanna remind y'all for future reference that there is a suicide tw on this fic bc it will be coming up again eventually

Michael taps on Castiel's desk in a subtle attempt to get his attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Charlie look up immediately, but they just finished a case and Castiel is completely bogged down with paperwork. He gives his brother a half-assed "What?", his gaze never leaving his work.

"Do you have a minute?" Michael asks.

"Do I have a choice?" Castiel counters, though if it turns out that he does have a choice, he would pick finishing up his paperwork over whatever Michael's up to.

"No, not really," Michael says. "My office?"

"Is Charlie coming?" Castiel asks. Usually he would have included her already if he were handing over a new case, but he's not sure why else Michael would need him. He's already passed over the Bloody Valentine case, and unless the guy struck again, he's pretty sure Ash and Kevin can handle the first murder.

"If you want her to, sure," Michael says. "But it'll only take a minute."

Castiel finally looks up from his work. "I'm holding you to that."

After assuring Charlie that he'll be right back and pleading with her that she do at least a little bit of their paperwork, he follows Michael to his office. Ash and Kevin are already there, so there's no doubt in his mind that it is, in fact, Bloody Valentine-related. What's the point of dropping a case if he's going to be their consultant every time a body drops?

Michael closes the door and shuts the blinds before turning his attention to his brother. "The Bloody Valentine killer may have dropped a phone number."

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "'May have'? Either he did or he didn't."

Michael gestures to the other two agents, and it's Kevin who explains.

"As you're probably already aware, the Bloody Valentine killer struck in Wisconsin," Kevin says. "He left a body and a heart in the victim's blood, but no note. This morning, it was reported that he left a phone number in Sharpie on a wall -- inside someone else's house -- and made a heart with what we're assuming was his own blood given that there was no body, but the lab work hasn't come back yet."

"It's weird, though, because he left a body in Hayward, Wisconsin and a number in Texhoma, Texas," Ash adds. "I don't know why he'd travel halfway across the country just so we could track his call and he'd have to move again, but he did it."

"And you want me to make the phone call," Castiel finishes for them.

"Pretty much," Ash says.

"You won't need to talk for long," Michael adds. "Just long enough to run a trace on the call."

Castiel sighs. "Fine, whatever. Let's get this over with."

Castiel pushes his brother out of the way, which he's decently sure only he could get away. Ash opens up a folder, presumably the case file, and hands him a photo of the "crime scene" -- though he must admit, referring to the site of a non-violent break-in as a crime scene seems to diminish the phrase's meaning. He makes sure everyone is ready -- they may not be able to put the call on speaker because Dean always manages to figure out when he does, but they need to make sure they're all set to track him down as soon as he picks up -- and then dials the number.

Dean picks up within seconds, and the first thing out of his mouth is, "I swear to god, I didn't kill anyone."

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "Your signed confession says otherwise."