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The first time Sam dragged Dean to the Farmer's Market, Dean bitched and moaned the whole time. It was his only Saturday morning off and he hadn't gotten off shift until midnight the night before. But Sam did the puppy eyes and promised him a food truck brunch. So he trudged along, making lewd remarks at Sam's inspections of organic produce for his own amusement. After Bitchface #14, Dean decided to wander off on his own for a bit. Maybe it wasn't that bad. If Dean still had the time and energy to cook, he'd probably have his own mesh bag full of goods. Here lately, he was surviving on caffeine, vending machine honey buns, and something from whatever drive thru was open. Work sucked. "Detective Winchester!" Dean turned to see a friendly face in a vendor booth. "Mildred! I didn't know you had a set up." They'd met a couple years ago when Dean investigated allegations of theft and elder abuse at the retirement community Mildred was living in. He did make a couple arrests and recover some property, but Mildred and a few others moved out. He hadn't heard from her much since then other than a few cards. "We've been setting up for a couple months now, me and my nephew. Castiel, honey?" And that's when Dean forgot how to breathe. The man who popped up from behind the table with a crate of jars was stunning. Broad chest. Broad shoulders. Thick cord standing out on his neck. Wild hair. And piercing blue eyes. "Hello." Somebody hose me down with ice cold holy water. "Uh…hi. I'm uh…D-dean. Detective Dean. Dean Winchester." Dean sighed in self admonishment. "I'm Detective Dean Winchester. But you can call me Dean." He flashed his go-to charming smile. Mildred grinned. "Castiel, this is the nice man who got my pearls back before I left that sketchy place." "Should have called it Shady Pines," Castiel rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Dean." "Nice Golden Girls reference, Cas." Dean winked and shot him a finger gun…then instantly regretted it. "I'm definitely a Dorothy even though my aunt seems to think I'm a Rose." "Heh. I'm totally a Blanche but I see myself as a Sophia someday," Dean replied. "You know, my nephew here is single…" Mildred interjected. "Just so you know all that adorable flirting isn't for nothing." "Subtle. Really subtle, Aunt Mildred. Uh…yes. I am single. Widower, actually. Michael passed two years ago. Then, I bought a farm and moved my aunt in with me." "I'm sorry for your loss. I was only like, half serious with the flirting. Don't want to push you into something…" Dean backtracked. "Save your sorries, Sugar. Michael was a bastard through and through. Falling off a ladder was almost too good for him." Mildred practically spit the name out. Dean had never heard her speak ill of anyone. "Aunt Mildred…" Castiel tried. "The bruises were still healing when you picked me up. There’s only so many doors you can walk into," she tipped a glass jar off the table, which her nephew caught in a flash. "And you have the reflexes of a cat," Mildred smirked. Dean kept his expression neutral at the new information, but his detective brain was whirring. Abusive spouse. Accidental death. Possible life insurance payout. Guy probably did it. But can I really blame him? Men don't file abuse reports. Self preservation is self defense. "I get it. My old man…wrapped his truck around a tree after a bender. Still had a shiner of my own when I went to ID his body." And a cut on my hand where I fucked up his brake line. "Glad we got the tragic backstories out of the way before the awkward first date my aunt is desperately trying to set up." Castiel tried to play it off with humor. He wished Mildred hadn't brought up Michael's "accident." He'd been lucky he wasn't investigated further. His inheritance was a pittance compared to his own trust fund Michael wanted to get his hands on. "Boys, how about we give Detective Winchester a couple sample jars of this delicious honey and if he likes it, maybe he'll come back next time?" "Yeah. Sure, Mildred. Whaddya got going here?" Dean rubbed his hands together. Castiel grabbed a bag and a few small jars. "These are harvested from the bees on my farm. Each hive is in their own patch of flowers. They influence the taste. The jars are all labeled." "And we recycle those jars. You bring those back for a little discount on your next purchase." Mildred slipped a business card into the bag. "Of course, you don't have to wait to just…drop by." "Hint, hint, huh? I'll give these a try and get back to you. Good seeing you again, Mildred. Nice meeting you, Cas." Dean gave them both a small salute then scanned the crowd for his brother. He found the jolly green energy giant finishing up at a stall selling macrame planter hangers. The brunette selling them was cute, which explained a lot as Dean knew Sam had exactly one potted plant and it was a tiny cactus. "Heya, Sammy. You ready to grab brunch?" The smile faltered on the dark haired woman's face. Her hands went up when she spoke. "Oh! I didn't know you uh…" she gestured between them. Sam's eyes went wide. "No! This is my brother." Dean grinned. "Even if I wasn't, we're both out of his league. But if you're into settling, he's not too shabby." That made her giggle. "I'm Eileen. And I guess he can still text me." "See, Sammy? What would you do without your wingman?" Dean swatted his shoulder. "It's Sam. And probably not get embarrassed in public quite as often." "He'll text you," Dean told Eileen before pulling his brother away. "She's pretty hot. If you're lucky, she might go on a date or two with you before she realizes you're actually a moose in jeans and flannel." "Jerk. What did you buy?" "Nothin'. Got some samples from Mildred and her nephew. Remember the case I had at the retirement village? She's pretty cool. And her nephew's…" Sam laughed. "Exactly your type? You get a number?" "Yep. Mildred was blatantly setting us up. I dunno, though. He's a widower. Might not be ready to date anybody yet." "How long has it been?" "Couple years. Wasn't a good marriage but grief works differently for everybody." Sam shrugged. "Maybe he just needs a friend right now. You know how to talk to people who lost somebody." "Maybe. But that's a problem for Future Dean. Present Dean was promised food." "Fine. You'll love the breakfast burritos. Eggs, chorizo, onions, cilantro…" "Dude, you had me at chorizo." *** Dean stared at the open case file on his desk. It was the third suspicious death this year. The coroner couldn’t quite list them as natural causes, but also couldn’t find any external causes to list them as homicides. The victims also didn’t appear to have any connections. Nick Morningstar was in his late forties, in good health, and had no rap sheet. He’d been questioned for the murder of his first family. He had a solid alibi and they actually did catch the monster who did it. Nick had moved on and started a new family with Kelly Kline and her teenaged son, Jack. The house was in Kelly’s name and there wasn’t a life insurance policy. She and Jack were visiting her parents for a week when Nick suddenly became very ill and died. April Kelly was in her late twenties. She volunteered at a food bank and regularly donated items to a shelter for the unhoused. The last known person to be in contact with her was a man who’d missed the cutoff at the shelter. Clarence. No last name. He either disappeared or took off right before Ms. Kelly was found dead in her residence. There was no trauma to the body. She’d also had no known health problems. Finally, college freshman Channing Ngo. Nineteen years old. High school sweetheart of Kevin Tran. Poor kid was under so much pressure he wound up in rehab for an Adderall addiction and had to defer a year after graduation. His mother, Linda, moved them out of state soon after so they could get a fresh start. Channing had moved on and brought a new boyfriend around to meet her parents. That kid was questioned but his alibi was bulletproof. He was in Urgent Care getting treated for hyperemesis and dehydration. Which left Dean with a whole lot of bupkis. The tox screens didn’t come back with anything unusual. Those three didn’t even shop at the same grocery stores or use the same bank. And without any new cases he was stuck on them. “You hoping if you stare at them long enough, they’ll spontaneously combust?” His partner Donna asked. She’d spent just as much time and effort as he had. “Dee, if we don’t catch some kind of break, I hope I spontaneously combust.” “You’re fooling yourself if you think you’re that hot,” she jabbed. “Ouch. And here I thought I was Plan B if something ever happened to your wife.” "Not even if I swung that way," she winked. "Work married is enough." Dean sighed. "You're the only committed relationship in my life, Dee. Aside from being mistaken for Sam's boyfriend at the Farmer's Market." Donna accidentally inhaled some of the powdered sugar from her donut and choked. "You? You went to the Farmer's Market?" He pulled open his desk drawer and took out his sample honey to show her. "He bribed me with food. But I ran into an old friend and might make a new one." "Ooh! Jodes got us some honey from there! The lavender is the best." "Yeah…that's my favorite too. I'm thinking of going back. The guy is hot. His aunt made it very clear he was single." "So do it! You haven't been on a date in…" "I know! And that last date was a trainwreck. All Becky wanted to do was grill me about Sam. Then I found out from the other dispatcher that Becky thought I wanted to be her GBFF because she thought I was gay, not bi. Before that, it was that blind date with Aaron and we were both wondering what the hell our friends were thinking. He is in my DnD group now. Cool but no chemistry." Donna leveled a look at him. "Ask the hot guy out. If it fizzles, it fizzles. But at least you tried." "Okay! I'll swing by their stall this weekend and see if he wants to grab a burger or something." "Attaboy, Deano." *** Castiel unloaded the glass jars from the dishwasher and set them aside to be labeled. After he filled them with honey, Mildred would lovingly tie the burlap squares over the lids with different colors of ribbon. They hadn't needed any jars with white ribbon in awhile. The thing about sweet old ladies, is that nobody is afraid to share their idle gossip with them. There were whispers around town that found their way to Mildred's ears. And there were too many about seeing bruises on Kelly Kline. Castiel could relate. He'd done his best to cover what Michael did to him. It's easier for a man to hide under long sleeved dress shirts in any weather without suspicion. The occasional ones to his face he could claim as accidents or a gym related injury. Kelly's cardigans just drew more suspicion. The last straw was a mark on her son, Jack. He wasn't into sports. He wasn't the type to get into any kind of physical confrontation at or after school. That's when Mildred invited her over for tea and they laid out their plan to help her and Jack. All she had to do was leave the jar of honey with the white ribbon out for Nick and go to her parents for a few days. Kelly didn't hesitate to accept the jar. After Nick, it was April. She was a serial killer who would never be caught by conventional means. Her victims were low risk. Single, unhoused men with no families. She got to know them a bit from volunteering. Then, if one came up just short of a bed for the night, she offered them a drugged sandwich and took them home. They were never seen or heard from again. It came across as a modern urban legend. Except…the same thing happened in the previous city Castiel lived in. Only, she was known as Daphne Allen there. Her would-be final victim, Clarence, narrowly escaped her clutches. Thinking he'd be blamed for April's death, he ran. Castiel found him in his barn and gave him some clothes and money for a bus ticket. He knew the man was innocent because he was the one who made sure April got her special jar of honey when he made a donation to the food bank. The hardest one, was young Channing Ngo. Mrs. Tran had done her due diligence in finding out who supplied her son with the prescription drugs he'd abused. She also recognized the oleander when she toured the farm. She'd been the realtor who sold it to him and came back a year later to see how he was doing. He and Mildred weren't in a position to refuse Linda Tran when she asked for the jar. Thankfully Channing's new boyfriend had only been mildly affected and had recovered fully. Castiel came close to confessing everything but Mildred talked him down. That woman had her own skeletons in her closet. Before Castiel was born, Mildred had been in a band with her sisters as a singing trio. Naomi, his mother, had been assaulted by their manager. With their careers and reputations at stake, they couldn't report him to the police. So the sisters decided to get their own justice. Just some rat poison in his nose candy. The next line he snorted off the bathroom sink in the bar they played was his last. Naomi confessed it all to him on her deathbed. It was what gave him the courage to deal with Michael. If his mother and aunts could take out a monster and live with it for forty years, he could too. He waited for a storm to pass that would clog the rain gutters with leaves. Michael always cleaned them out personally because he refused to pay for a service. Everything had to be done his way. Castiel actually smiled at Michael as he pushed the ladder away from the house and didn't even flinch when Michael's skull hit the concrete drive like a ripe cantaloupe. He went inside, put on his headphones, and took a nap until a frantic neighbor went in to alert him. They called the police and Castiel used the flood of tears from his overwhelming sense of freedom to perform as the grieving spouse for the first responders to the scene. Then he waited for all further investigations to conclude before selling the house he could "no longer live in without being reminded of his dead husband." He reached out to his Aunt Mildred and learned she'd left her retirement community and was living in an extended stay motel. Castiel went to her and she immediately confronted him about the faded bruises. He assured her that wouldn't be happening again and they confided in each other how they'd solved their problems, forty years apart. He bought the farm for him to finally fulfill his dream of beekeeping and for Mildred to have peace in her golden years. He hadn't even intended at first for there to be a hive near the oleander. But…what if? What if the next man who came into his life charmed him into letting him in before the mask fell? What if someone hurt his beloved aunt? More than one accident was suspicious. And for some reason Mildred wanted to set him up with a detective. Castiel hoped the man wasn't that good at his job. *** "Sooo…" Dean tapped on the booth table. "I told you this would be awkward," Cas said from behind his menu. He set it down. "You're very attractive, Dean. You have a sense of humor. And my aunt told me you're a very compassionate person. The problem, as I see it, is that you're a cop." "Whoa…whoa…wait. My job isn't my personality." "If I may continue?" Dean sighed then nodded. "One of the very few things you know about me is that my late husband was abusive. As a cop, you've met or assisted other people in domestic abuse situations. Your instincts are to somehow…help me. I don't need that. Michael can't hurt me again." "Cas, I also know you're a beekeeper who watches The Golden Girls. Okay? First date 101 is getting to know things about each other. Unfortunately, we already got the bulk of our baggage aired out. So…my middle name is Henry. My favorite color is blue. I'm an Aquarius and I'm into frisky men and women." At that, Castiel smiled. "My middle name is James. My favorite color is green. I think I'm a Virgo but I never got into that. I am exclusively interested in men." "See? There we go! Now, this may be the real deal breaker, Cas. You gonna lecture me about my diet when I order a bacon cheeseburger with loaded steak fries? I will not be burger shamed." "I have no intention of shaming your burger because I have been trying to decide between the bleu cheese and the one with the egg on it." "Dammit. Now I kinda want the egg one." After that, the date seemed to go easier. Castiel had barely dated before Michael as it was, and half of those were with women he had no romantic interest in. In his mind, he'd been trying to make his mother happy. Naomi knew her son better than that, apparently. She told him his happiness was all that mattered to her. Michael was his happiness, at first. A sweet gentleman, really. Castiel and Naomi were thoroughly charmed. Michael even invited Naomi on a couple weekend getaways. She'd started referring to Michael as her son-in-law before he'd even proposed. She cried happy tears at the small, intimate wedding. Those first few months were like this, the date with Dean. Easy conversation. Laughter. Sharing food from each other’s plates. They settled into a quiet, domestic life. Castiel worked from home as a financial advisor. He dealt with clients over the phone and through emails. Michael was a regional bank manager, traveling a few days here and there. Castiel had no reason to suspect that his doting husband was cheating on him…until he returned from one of his business trips wearing a dress shirt with someone else's monogram on the cuff. Michael would never buy something secondhand. Castiel confronted him. Michael flew into a rage Castiel had never fathomed possible. His blue eyes turned ice cold. The hands that had touched him so tenderly felt harder than steel when the blows landed. Castiel had never been in a fight before in his life. He protected himself on instinct alone. When Michael was finished, he felt completely broken. Worse than the pain, was the way Michael convinced him his own mother wouldn't believe him. Naomi had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Her beloved son-in-law arranged for all of her treatment and a home care nurse. On the off chance she did hear Castiel out, Michael could take all of that away. He couldn't do that to her. He'd rather suffer. As nice as the man across the table from Castiel seemed, he couldn't help but think that if things went any further, he and Mildred would be hurt. And not just emotionally. He wouldn't allow his aunt to spend her last years in prison. "...you know, Cas, I meant what I said about the whole not being ready thing. Everybody grieves at their own pace. I know Michael was a bastard, but you loved him once. And it's okay to mourn that part of him and your relationship." "I suppose you know that from experience." Dean pushed his plate away. "I do. It's been years and I still…sometimes I still miss my dad. Not the one who smacked me around. The one who taught me how to drive and who took me and my little brother to wrestling matches. The guy who ate cereal with me on the couch while we watched Saturday morning cartoons." Castiel sighed. His brain told him Dean was definitely too good to be true. Then his brain told him it wasn't fair to Dean to assume people are only good on the surface. "This is my first date in years. I don't know if it's grief or if it's the fear of falling into the same situation. Honestly, I agreed to this because I thought I'd see pity in your eyes and it would be easy to…let you down easy." "I haven't had much luck with partners either, Cas. But my work partner convinced me to take another chance. Overall? I'd like to think this is just the start of something, even if it's a friendship. I mean, if you want to try that?" "You know what? I think I can do that." "Awesome! So…any activities in mind for the our next, shall we call it an 'outing'?" "I'll think about it. Hell, my evenings have mostly been putting puzzles together with Mildred while some sitcom streams in the living room." Dean grinned. "I'm down for that. Better than eating Girl Scout cookies and watching reruns of Dr. Sexy." "Now that sounds like a perfect weekend." *** Dean looked over at the bouquet of flowers in the passenger seat. "Idiot. There's twenty fuckin' acres of flowers here." Regardless, he scooped them up along with new thousand piece puzzle and went to knock on the door. "Dean! So nice of you to come visit, honey." Mildred pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek. "Are you sure you boys don't want to go out and see a movie or something? I don't mind an evening to myself." "Eh…Cas and I aren't exactly dating. We're um…hanging out. Here, these completely useless flowers are for you." "They're beautiful. And thank you. I'll get these in some water. Well, come on in. Make yourself at home. Castiel is just finishing up boxing a shipment. These little boutique stores buy up so much honey." Dean took in the layout. He couldn't help himself. Always look for blind spots and exits. Otherwise, it was a charming home, fairly open. Shutters over the island between the kitchen and the dining area where they'd be assembling the puzzle. Overstuffed couch separating the space for the living room. "Business is good, then?" "We're comfortable. I still had a little bit of a nest egg squirreled away and Castiel…well, his sperm donor did two things right by him. The first was staying out of his life. The second was setting him up a trust fund he could access when he turned thirty." So he wasn't counting on a life insurance payout from Michael's accident. If anything, Mikey was in it for the money. "Wish my old man had done that. I got saddled with a lot of debt when he died." Mildred gently guided him into the kitchen with her so he could get a vase down from a high shelf for her. "I ever tell you I knew your father?" "No, actually. How so?" "We used to play a lot of bars, honey. He wasn't there so much for the music as he was for the poker games in the kitchens." Dean ground his jaw. "That sounds like John." "Anyway, I didn't know him all that well. Just a familiar face. Sorry for your loss." "It is what it is. Livin' the way he did, if you could call that a life, he was bound to go out ugly." "Enough of the ugly talk," she patted his shoulder, "Let me get some tea going, unless you want something stronger." "Tea is fine, Mildred," Dean looked through the jars of honey by the serving set. "I've actually been drinking more tea than coffee lately just to add the honey. Been meaning to come by another jar or two honest." "I believe I can help you out with that," Castiel walked into the kitchen. "If you're uncomfortable with the friends and family discount." "Unless you're bribing me to get out of a parking ticket, I could probably accept that," Dean smiled at him. "Heya, Cas." "Hello, Dean. Did you bring those flowers?" Dean ducked his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Realized it was kinda silly when I pulled up." Castiel placed a hand on his shoulder. "The flowers and the sentiment are lovely. I'm finished with business for the day, Mildred." "Still not too late to go out and paint the town. You two don't have to keep me company." She pulled the whistling kettle from the stove. "No one will ever accuse you of being subtle," Castiel jokingly chided. "Whatever happened to long courtships?" Dean choked on air. "Is that what we're doing?" Castiel smirked. "We'll see. Have you eaten? I could order some pizza." "Sure. Sounds good, Cas. I'll uh…help Mildred set the tea." Castiel confused the hell out of Dean. One minute he's the guy who’s reluctantly making friends and the next he's coy and flirty. Maybe he was deliberately keeping Dean on tilt. Stop it. Stop being a cop for a minute and just be a person. The rest of the evening was like that. There was polite and mundane conversation with little flirtations and looks sprinkled in. Mildred looked like the cat who ate the canary. Dean just tried to keep up. It was annoying and intriguing. People were usually easy for him to read but Cas…Cas was like a book with the wrong sleeve cover. The summary on the back seemed nice but he was a much deeper read once you saw the pages. By the end of what was a pleasant evening, Dean wasn't sure if he was supposed to hug Cas, kiss him, or awkwardly wave. Mildred hugged him and kissed his cheek before leaving the two of them on the porch. "This was nice, Dean." "Yeah, Cas. It was. Guess this is what normal people do, huh?" "Normal is a setting on my washing machine. I…I can breathe, Dean. I've spent two years catching the breath I'd been holding, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And you…part of me wants you to steal my breath away again." "Cas, you say things like that…are we friends? You want friends with benefits? Or do you want somebody who's gonna make your coffee exactly the way you like it every morning?" "I want…I want to not be afraid the next person I let in will hurt me. Or Mildred." "Mildred can tell you herself I'd never do something to hurt her. And you don't know me well enough yet to make that call. But I want you to. I want you to know me because I wanna know you." Dean paced the porch. "People leave me, Cas. It's always them doing the leaving while I'm wondering what the hell I did wrong." "You assume it's you. Maybe you just haven't found anyone who wants who you are and not what they want you to be." "What if it is who I am they don't want?" Castiel carefully approached him and cupped his hand on Dean's cheek. "Would you ever hit me?" Dean instantly balked. "Fuck no!" "Then I see nothing about you that needs to change." Castiel pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "I want to see you again." "I want that too, Cas." *** Four months later, there were still no breaks in Dean's unsolved deaths. He had a new temporary partner due to Donna out on maternity leave. She and her wife Jody adopted a little girl they named Alex and the family was bonding. He was happy for them. But his partner was a real piece of work. Cole Trenton was a transfer. He waltzed in like he was a big fish in a little pond. He also scoffed at the wedding picture of Donna and Jody on her desk. And then he made a few remarks to Dean that didn't sit well. First, it was mocking his pink dress shirt. "Wife outta town and you threw something red in with the whites?" "No wife, Cole. I like this shirt. It was a gift." "People talk, brother. Just lookin' out." "Look elsewhere," Dean had warned. Then, Cole made a comment about Cas bringing him lunch. "I think your good buddy is angling to get hold of your rod and tackle." Dean's dating history wasn't exactly a secret. People just didn't want to socialize with Cole to pass along that information. "And I think you're taking an unhealthy interest in my junk, Cole." That made the other man flush almost purple with rage. The last straw was finding Cole with his filthy, phobic paws on one of his jars of honey. "Ain't this cute. Little ribbons and everything. Your fruity friend give you that to sweeten you up?" It took a fuckton of self control to keep Dean from throwing a punch. Instead, Dean smirked and winked. "I get it now, Cole. You're jealous. The squeaky wheel is desperate to get greased. You want to strut around here like some self appointed Alpha Male. But you're nothing but a puffed up little Beta who wants a real Alpha to bend you over that desk and make you his bitch. Now, I'm awfully flattered. I am one hot piece of ass. Fortunately for me, I'm taken. And ohhh how he takes me. Got me screaming his name every night. So you can just tuck tail and whimper off…puppy." Cole took a swing but Dean caught his fist, twisted the arm behind him, and pinned him down on the desk. "This what you've been stroking it to, Cole?" "Fuck you, Winchester!" "Never gonna happen." Dean looked around the bullpen. "Somebody get the Captain. I want to file several complaints against Detective Cole Trenton." *** "Holy shit! You really said all that?" Castiel cuddled Dean from behind on the couch. "I did. And now he's on leave without pay pending investigation. They gotta interview everybody and since I opened the gate, there's probably gonna be more complaints." "My boyfriend defended my honor." "And the honor of your honey, Babe." Dean rolled over to face him. "He's a phobic asshole. I've been putting up with shit like that since I was a kid." "Your father?" "Yeah. I never confirmed or denied…but he knew. And he gave me hell for it. He…he got me a pro for my seventeenth birthday." "He what?" "Her name was Chastity," Dean laughed. "Ironic, right? Anyway, I looked like I was gonna puke. I mean, I'm bi and I like women but I hadn't done anything like that before. So she talked to me. She said she was paid up front and it didn't matter how I wanted to spend the time." "Your father never found out?" "Nope. He handed me a beer after she left the motel room and said, 'aren't you glad you got that sorted out?'" "What an asshole." "Yeah, he was. Especially at the end. Wanted me to simultaneously be a man's man and be his fucking housewife. I raised his kid, cleaned up every goddamn mess, and worked my ass off to keep a roof over our heads." "You're a good person, Dean." Dean sighed, "No, I'm not. I wanted to knock Cole's lights out." "But…you didn't." "No. I didn't. I still wanted to." Castiel sat up. "Dean, you didn't. You could have and maybe you had good reason to. But in that moment? You made a choice. You chose not to be violent. And that's one of the reasons I lo…" he stopped himself. "Cas, Baby, I love you, too. It's okay to say it. I think we've both been tip-toeing around it." "We have. It's just…" "Terrifying? Even without our pasts, it's big. It's scary. It makes everything between us…" "Real," Castiel finished. "We're real." "Yeah. Wow. Big moment." Castiel snuggled back down with him. "Should we celebrate?" Dean nuzzled him then gently kissed him. "I have some ideas." *** Dean shuffled into his kitchen, mostly on autopilot. It had been one of the few nights he and Cas spent apart. He went through the motions of starting his coffee then sat down at his small kitchen table to sort through the mail he'd neglected. A large envelope was amongst the bills and junk flyers. No return address. Fuck. I've already touched it. He didn't think someone would send a small time detective anthrax but he couldn't be too careful. He scrubbed his hands in the sink then returned to the table with a mask and gloves. He carefully opened the envelope to not disturb the contents. "Crime scene photos?" He said aloud. He spread them out. He recognized them instantly. All of them were from his unsolved cases. All of them had something circled in red Sharpie. Something Dean should have noticed months ago. "Sonofabitch!" He swept everything off the table. There was writing on the back of one of the pictures: Are you a bad detective or his accomplice? Dean snatched everything back up and rushed to throw on some clothes. He peeled out of his driveway towards the farmhouse. He didn't even remember if he'd closed the car door before he barged into the processing barn. He threw the pictures down on the bench. "We need to talk." Castiel didn't even look surprised. "How long have you known?" "Like twenty fuckin' minutes! All this time…it was right there under my nose and I didn't…couldn't see it. You played me, Cas! How could you fucking do that?!" "I didn't play you." "What do you call sleeping with the guy who's been investigating the murders you committed?" "I call it falling in love with you." "Tell me why." "Shouldn't you Mirandize me first?" "Dammit, Cas! It's me!" "Just…leave Mildred out of it. Please. I can't let something happen to her." Dean sank back against the bench. "Jesus…fuck. I need to understand here, Cas. I've been pretty damn sure you had something to do with Michael the whole time. I don't blame you for that. Self preservation is self defense. But what did those other people do?" "Nick was abusing Kelly. When he started hurting her son…we just wanted to help her and Jack be free. Then April, I knew her as Daphne Allen before she came here. She was a serial killer, Dean. She killed unhoused men. Nobody filed missing persons reports on them. Nobody looked for them. I had to stop her." "What about the kid?" "She was dealing. She got more than Kevin Tran hooked. Linda…Linda figured out how I did it and she…she demanded a jar." "What does the white ribbon mean?" "White oleander. There's a hive in the white oleander. Ingest enough of the honey and…" Dean took it all in. Maybe he was a bad detective. He overlooked what tied the cases together long before he'd met Cas. That sonofabitch Cole found it and he definitely was a shitty detective. "I'll turn myself in, Dean. Just me. Not Mildred or Kelly or Linda Tran." "No." "Dean, please! Kelly is a victim! She was protecting herself and Jack. Linda was protecting her son and other people." "I meant you're not turning yourself in. There's the law and then there's justice." "What are you saying?" "I'm saying…I'd be a huge fucking hypocrite to bust you when I would have done the same thing. I have done the same thing." "Dean?" "John had help wrapping his truck around a tree. I worked in a garage, Cas. I knew how to fuck up a brake line. I was young and stupid and he could have hurt somebody else but luckily he didn't. That's all on me. And I probably would have confessed if that had happened. But it didn't. I got away with it. Then I became a cop so maybe, just maybe, I'd spot another bad situation and get someone out before they had to resort to what I did." Castiel pulled him into a fierce hug. "I'm so sorry, Dean." Dean melted into it. "Never told anyone. Not even Sam." "I told Mildred about Michael. I…I pushed the ladder. I let him die in our driveway. He threatened to withhold care and treatment from my mother. Hurting me was one thing…" "Said I can't blame you for that." "I know but…Mildred, my mother, and their sister did something before I was born. Their manager raped my mother. He's not my biological father; she hadn't even met him yet. He had total control over their lives and careers." "What did they do?" "Cut his coke with rat poison." Dean actually snorted a laugh. "That'll do it. Fuck, Cas. What are we gonna do? That asshole Cole is pretty much blackmailing me." "Not like he'd fall for a jar of honey now." "We sound like a couple sociopaths, Cas." "If Cole takes me down, he takes down you and everyone else. You already know how far I'd go to protect people I care about." Castiel looked Dean over. "You didn't kill John because of what he did to you, did you?" Dean shook his head. "It was the first and last time he hit Sam. That's when I decided John had to die." "Cole Trenton is threatening the people we love. Each other." "Then Cole Trenton has to die," Dean agreed. *** "Hey, Dean. This is a surprise. Come in," Sam greeted his older brother. "You and Cas aren't canceling date night with me and Eileen, are you?" "Uh…not exactly. You still ordained?" "Yeah, I think so. Only did Brady's wedding but…what's going on, Dean?" Dean settled down on his brother's couch. "Me and Cas are getting married. We want it quick, small, and simple. The four of us, plus Mildred. Say the words, sign the papers, mazel tov, let's have pie." Sam dropped down beside him. "Wow. I mean, this is…sudden. You guys have been together like, four months?" "When you know, you know. You in or not? Because Cas was the one who talked me down from just doing it at the courthouse when we got our license." "Slow down a minute. When did you propose?" "This morning." After two cups of coffee, since he left home too quickly for the pot he started. If they failed to contain the Cole situation, at least they couldn't be compelled to testify against each other. It wasn't the most ideal way to get hitched, but Cas had agreed that they were just speeding up the inevitable. "You're absolutely sure this is what you want? Don't you need a prenup or something because of Cas' trust fund?" "I'll sign a postnup if he wants. It ain't about money, Sam." Dean hadn't even thought of that. He doubted Cas had either when he agreed to the quickie wedding. At least Cas had thought to tell him he'd regret it if Sam wasn't there. "Okay…so what's the plan?" "We go out to dinner like we planned tonight. Plus Mildred. Somewhere between drinks and dessert, me and Cas will make our vows. You sign as the officiant. Eileen and Mildred sign as witnesses. I drop the paperwork off on the way to work in the morning. We throw a couple bags in Baby after I punch out and we take the weekend for our honeymoon. I'm moving into the farmhouse and if you want, you can take over my mortgage on the house. Get outta this shoebox apartment." "You thought of all of this between last Saturday and today?" More like between finding out the man I'm in love with killed four people and the drive over here. "I've been thinking about my future with Cas for a while. Been thinking about your future with Eileen. If you had a bigger place, she could shack up with you." "Dean, I don't think that's all there is to this." Sam wrung his hands in his lap and took a deep breath. "Did he find out about Dad? Is this so he can't testify against you?" Dean sprung up from his seat. "What the fuck, Sam?" He didn't think he could handle any more surprises. "You think I'm an idiot? Dad died less than twenty four hours after he beat the shit out of you and backhanded me for getting a fucking college scholarship. Yeah, he had the blood alcohol of bottle of vodka. But I saw you come out from under his truck before he went on his last bender." Dean was shaking and almost retched. "You weren't supposed to find out." "I probably wasn't supposed to know that wasn't the first time he beat you, either. Seriously, is that why you're in a hurry to marry Cas?" "That's just the tip of the iceberg." Dean pulled out his wallet and offered Sam a dollar with a trembling hand. "You take this and you're my lawyer, right?" Sam snatched it from him. "Fine. How fucked are you?" "Three ways from Sunday, Sammy. I had to tell Cas about John. I had to because…some evidence came to light that he was involved in my three open cases. That's all I'm saying about that. The evidence came from that dickbag Cole." Sam paced. "Okay. Mutually assured destruction. Common enemy. How solid is the evidence?" "Circumstantial. But if the bodies are exhumed then a second autopsy will probably be more than enough to convict. And I look like an accomplice or at the very least, an accessory after the fact." "Did he say why he did it?" Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "To protect innocent people. I didn't want you involved, Sam. In any of this. I just wanted to get married and figure out this Cole shit." "You really love each other. You'd keep each other’s secrets even if you weren't married." "We really do. And yeah. I never would have told you, even. I'm sorry, Sam." "No. I get it. There's only one other person in the world you'd protect like that, and you did. You did it for me. I'm in this. Let me help you." "You're already helping me." "No. I mean, help you. I'm a lawyer. You're a cop. Cas damn near got away with killing three people…" "Four. His first husband. I suspected Michael's accident wasn't an accident. He confirmed it. Offed the bastard before he could beat him to death." "Right. So the three of us could come up with a way to get this Cole out of the picture." "Sam, just marry us. That's all I want." "Go to work, Dean. Wear a nice suit to dinner." "Thanks, Sammy." *** "Am I Mr. Novak or are you Mr. Winchester?" Dean asked the panting man beside him in bed. "You're asking that now?" "We didn't talk about it before." "Do you have a preference?" "I dunno. We both barely have any family connections to our names." Castiel rolled to his side and traced his fingertips over the tattoo on Dean's chest. "You have a strong connection to your brother. I only took Novak back because Milton disgusted me." "Your mom gave you your dad's last name. She wanted you to have it." "I've never met him, only one of his attorneys when I got access to my trust." "I'd be honored either way, Cas. We could even hyphenate. Equal ground." "I'll still feel equal if my last name is Winchester." "Well, guess we're checking into the hotel tomorrow night as Mr. and Mr. Winchester." *** "Winchester! My office, now." Fuck. "Sure, Vic." Dean made his way to his Captain's office. "Have a seat." At least he didn't tell me to close the door. "What's up, Sir?" "We're closing out on Cole Turner." Dean did his best to make his internal freakout look more like contained anger. "I'm disappointed to hear that." Captain Henrickson shook his head. "It's closed because Turner was found deceased in his extended stay motel room Saturday morning." "Jesus, Vic. What happened?" Yeah. What the fuck happened? "Carbon monoxide poisoning. Went in his sleep. We rushed the prelim from the M.E. Techs said it was a faulty HVAC unit." Henrickson leaned forward. "Obviously, because you two had beef, I gotta ask where you were this weekend, Winchester." "On my honeymoon. Cas and I tied the knot Thursday. Headed out after my shift Friday. Got back around midnight last night. I'll forward you the hotel information and you can run my financials." "Congrats. You know the drill, though." "It's not a problem, Sir. Cole have any family?" "Ex-wife and a kid. She said, and I quote, 'Send the pension check. Keep his sorry ass.'" "Harsh." "My ex-wife would probably say the same, to be honest. You better treat that new husband of yours like a goddamn king." Dean smiled. "I do." "Good. And put me down for more of that lavender honey. That's some good shit." "Yes, Sir. Anything new land in my inbox?" "Your unsolveds are getting shelved to cold case. You're on a string of home invasions. One of them is a real head scratcher. Door was kicked in but all they did was put parental locks on all the TVs and clean out the fridge." "Bunch of dumb kids," Dean shook his head. "I'll find 'em. Scare 'em straight with an overnight in a cell. D.A.'s probably gonna do probation and community service." "If your brother's the public defender, sounds about right. Just clear 'em." "Yes, Sir." Dean stood and left for his desk. He got a line out and called his brother. "Heya, Sammy. Got in late last night. I'm back at work. Wanna meet up for lunch so I can tell you all the sordid details of my honeymoon?" *** "Talk. Now." Dean and Sam were sitting in the Impala with some takeout salads. "Remember that summer I spent as a maintenance guy at a motel?" "Yeah. Fake name, paid under the table. Your rebellious phase. Found you anyway." "Cole was the only one staying at the motel. His room was as far away from the office as he could get. The unit I messed with affected four rooms. I jimmied the windows open on the other three. Made sure his was jammed shut." "What were the techs supposed to find, Sam?" "Exactly what they did. I swear I even wore a swim cap so they wouldn't find a hair. Gloves, no prints. Didn't wipe anything down so there's no suspicious smears." "What about the last maintenance on the unit? Don't you think they'll get blamed?" Sam scoffed. "The last time maintenance touched that thing was almost three years ago. It was on the side. I covered all my tracks, Dean. You're the best detective they've got and you're gonna be busy with a bunch of petty unlawful entries and misdemeanor theft and property damage." "How do you know that?" "I listened to the police scanner." "Of course you did." "Eat your salad. And let me know when you need help moving your stuff into the farmhouse. I can borrow Eileen's truck." Dean sneered at the plastic container in his lap. "Does she know anything?" "You know she reads lips, right?" "Goddammit. Is half the town in on this?" "Dean…she's the one who gave me the idea to fuck with the HVAC. She…she knew more than we did. She knew what Nick was doing to Kelly. She knew that April was fucking the guy who worked third shift at the crematorium. He skipped town after they found her dead. And Channing. Eileen saw her scamming a doc for a scrip." "She could have come to me." "No, she couldn't. Because she also knew Cas and Mildred were in on it. She wasn't going to get them in trouble. Then you started dating Cas and I started dating her…she said it would be like stabbing family in the back." "Shit…I kinda love her and I'm kinda terrified of her." "Same. Except I know I love her." "Lock it down, Sam. Lock. It. Down." "She likes the idea of moving into your place together. We'll start there." "I need to go track down some hooligans. Thanks for the rabbit food." *** "How's my cabin coming along, boys?" Mildred brought out some sweet iced tea. Dean, Cas, and Sam had cleared out all the white oleander after Cas had relocated and isolated the hive. The plumbing and foundation were in place for them to put together the cabin kit Castiel ordered. "We never asked you to move out, Mildred." "I know, Dean. But you're newlyweds. You need this time to nest," she winked, "without worrying about me walking in. I'll be fine. I'll have the intercom if I need help and…maybe I'll have my own gentleman caller over to entertain. And you could have hired a crew to do this." "Nonsense. I had so much personal time banked, Vic was practically pushing me out the door. It feels good to work with my hands again. Maybe I'll go ahead and retire after my twenty years." Castiel hugged him from behind. "I can put you to work packing and shipping boxes." "We'll negotiate my payment later," Dean turned his head for a kiss. "And this is exactly why I'm moving out. You boys are going to be moving a lot of furniture." They both blushed. "Sorry about that, Aunt Mildred." "Why do you think I leave the television up so loud? I'm sure not losing my hearing." Mildred patted their shoulders. "Drink up. Don't get dehydrated." She walked back towards the farmhouse. Dean scrunched his face. "Did she mean now or when we…?" "Who even knows, love."