[SPN] Crossroads State, Epilogue (12/12)

[mercyrobot]

Please refer to master post for header information, warnings, etc.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Epilogue



Epilogue

"What the hell do you want to buy a coat now for? It's still like a hundred degrees out."

"Unseasonably. The weather is unpredictable and I'd like to have it if I need it."

"Yeah, yeah, climate change apocalypse. How about this one, Al Gore?"

"Dean."

"What? What's wrong with it?"

"I'm not wearing a leather jacket."

"What's wrong with leather jackets?"

"Nothing at all, on you. I think this is more what I'm looking for."

"Seriously?"

"I know it's not particularly bad-ass, but--"

"Dude, Cas, that's like a park-bench flasher coat."

"I'm sure it will be obvious that I'm wearing clothes underneath. What do you think?"

"Holy shit."

"Do you object to it that much?"

"No, I take it all back. Less flasher, more John Constantine. It's kinda hot, actually. So maybe you shouldn't get it. Might distract the kids."

"I doubt that will be cause for concern."

*

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Castiel rarely sees Zachariah even during the year, except at staff meetings and the occasional uncomfortable parent conference, but it's a small town with a finite number of restaurants and El Torrero has become very popular since it opened. He honestly dislikes speaking to Zachariah any more than absolutely necessary; the man makes him squirm, and for some reason him being here feels, irrationally, like some kind of invasion. Trying to ignore his presence across the restaurant has the opposite effect, enough that Castiel bumps into someone's chair and doesn't notice their party is smaller than expected until they're sitting down.

"Shouldn't we have a table for three?"

"Unless you need one for Constantine, no. Thought I told you, Jess managed to get out of work after all so I doubt we'll be seeing Sammy before he comes to load his car and pick up the dog."

"Oh, I must have forgotten."

"'s weird," Dean says around a mouthful of salsa. "Now that Sam doesn't have to live in the dorms, I think I'm actually gonna miss the big slobbery bastard."

"Sam?"

"Bones, dumbass," Dean laughs. "But remind me to tell Sam you called him a slobbery bastard."

"I misunderstood." Zachariah is handing the black folder with the check back to the waitress with the kind of smile he wears at school board meetings when tuition's being raised.

"Hey." Dean reaches across the table to touch the back of Castiel's hand. "You here?"

"Of course. I'm sorry."

"I was actually kinda thinking, I might--"

"Well, fancy seeing you here, Dr. Milton! I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Somehow in the few moments that Castiel wasn't looking at Zachariah, he's made his way over and is now looming over the end of the table, his wife lingering a few paces behind him. Castiel tenses and Dean pulls his hand back.

"Hello, Mr. Adler. How are you?"

"Oh, just fine. I won't keep you and your friend from your dinner, but I wanted to come and wish you luck." Castiel doesn't dare look at Dean, and his prayers that Zachariah will stop talking after a clenched word of thanks go unanswered. "I'm only sorry I didn't hear about it until after the fact or I could have written a letter for you. I'm sure they would have been very interested in what I'd have to say."

"It was all very rushed and I felt Joshua's recommendation would be sufficient."

"Ah, good old Joshua." Zachariah smiles and claps his hands together once. "Well, again, best of luck. I know you must be eager to find a position that suits your, ah, lifestyle." He twitches a partial sneer at Dean and walks away.

Castiel closes his eyes and opens them to see Dean somewhere between disbelief and anger. "What the hell was that, Cas?"

"That," Castiel sighs, "was the headmaster of St. Benedict's. We don't get along well."

"And the other stuff? Good luck, position, lifestyle?"

"I wasn't planning to tell you unless they make an official offer. There's an unofficial one, but it still has to be approved by the--"

"So, what, just 'surprise! I'm outta--'"

"It's not Chicago. It's here. In the history department at IU."

"Seriously? Wait, do you even do history? And how come the other one was gonna take a year but this one took like five minutes?"

"Seriously. I'm well qualified for ancient history, and the specifics of academic budgets and hiring practices would interest you even less than they interest me."

"But you're staying. Here."

"With you. Yes."

"Cas, don't do that for me."

"It's not a sacrifice. I'm doing it to make myself happy too."

Dean's never been one for public displays any more than Castiel, but he leans across the table for a kiss that either no one or everyone sees, quick and nearly chaste and sweet with oversugared cheap margaritas. "The only reason I'm not dragging you home right now is 'cause we already ordered and I'm really hungry," he says, and the rough timbre of his voice says as much as anything.

"We have time."

*

It's 5:30 and the shrill bleat of the alarm clock is predictably cut off by the sound of it hitting the floor and Dean grumbling something unintelligible that experience indicates is profanity. Castiel tries to sit up, but he's pinned down by Dean's knee locking across his hips. "Nope," Dean says, eyes still closed, lips warm and jaw rough against Castiel's neck.

Castiel laughs lightly and lets himself sink back into the pillows for a few minutes, stroking his fingers through Dean's hair with his mind at an impasse between concentrating on the warmth of arousal spreading through him or on the long list of everything he needs to accomplish today. Dean apparently only managed to hit the snooze button because the alarm clock gives an anemic series of chirps from the floor that taper out like a dying bird. "Dean, I need to get up."

"Mmm, feels to me like you already are."

"That's terrible," Castiel says, but he's smiling, and he doesn't resist being rolled over and pulled on top of Dean.

"You love it." Dean breaths the words in a wet kiss-whisper against Castiel's ear and rolls his hips up lazily, chases away timetables and room numbers and enrollment limits and office hours.

"I love you," Castiel says without meaning to. And no, he's never said it, but Dean would have to be blind and deaf not to know, not to see it and hear it in everything.

Dean stills, turns his head from where he's been gently biting at the cords of Castiel's neck and looks up. It's still dark, so Dean's shadowed in the shapes of tree branches and curtains from a dimming streetlight outside and the sky just beginning to turn pale, but their eyes can still meet. "You mean that?" Dean asks, drawing a thumb across Castiel's bottom lip, and it nearly hurts to hear genuine uncertainty behind sleep-gruff bravado.

"Absolutely," Castiel says. He kisses the tip of Dean's thumb, then his lips, softly.

Even as dark as it is, Dean's smile is bright enough that it's easy to see. "That's-- damn." Dean pulls him down and kisses him, for once without joking morning-breath apologies to prompt Castiel into saying he doesn't mind, and they hold on tight to each other until another squawk from the alarm clock makes them break apart laughing.

"I think you broke it," Castiel says.

Dean smiles against his mouth. "My bad," he says without a hint of apology. "What time do you actually have to leave?"

"My first class is at nine."

"'Cause I meant this to be quick so you could go do whatever, but--" Dean gives his hips a very deliberate twist and Castiel's eyes flutter closed-- "I really, really want you to-- am I still allowed to say 'fuck me' now that we're in love and all?"

Castiel knows better than to believe that Dean thinks the words brought the feelings into being, knows he's saying it that way to make a reciprocal statement without having to make one, and it wouldn't really have mattered if Dean said nothing at all. Still, he can't help teasing, and musters as serious a tone as he can. "No, Dean. You have to frame it in terms of throbbing manhood and special secret places."

Dean blinks at him once and then dissolves into laughter. "You fucker!"

"I believe that was your suggestion."

Dean stops laughing once he's sucking two of Castiel's fingers into his mouth, once Castiel's nudging his thighs apart. He's slow, careful, both because he can count on one hand the times Dean's asked for this, and because the shattered vulnerability when Dean's finally coaxed to relaxing and is writhing against his hand and saying, "Now, yeah, c'mon," is a beautiful sight. So is Dean looking up at him and Dean tight around him and kissing at a strained angle and speaking nonsense and clutching at him and no, Dean didn't have to say anything at all.

The alarm clock has given up all signs of life by the time Castiel is in the kitchen making coffee and tea, but the microwave says it's 6:58. Dean comes down in yesterday's jeans and yet another old t-shirt of Castiel's he'll be claiming as his own, hair still damp from the shower and smelling of Castiel's shampoo. He wraps his arms around Castiel's waist from behind, kisses his bare shoulder and tickles his fingers into the line of hair below Castiel's navel. "Hope you didn't have anything too important to do."

"Not really. I meant to go for a run." Dean rarely comes with him now that Sam doesn't have to live in a dorm and has taken Bones back to Stanford with him; he says he feels weird just running for no reason.

"I think you got your exercise."

"Do you want breakfast before you go?"

"I wish. I gotta run home first 'cause my dumb ass left the shop keys there and I gave everyone else a four-day Labor Day weekend. Which given how Chuck and Becky were looking at each other by the time they left Bobby's yesterday, they're gonna need the recovery time. Ugh." Dean shudders theatrically. "But hey, what're you doing for lunch?"

"I didn't have any plans. My afternoon class doesn't start until three."

"Okay, meet me downtown at like 1:30? There's a...thing."

"A thing?"

"I got an appointment. You should be there."

"Dean? Are you sick?"

"Dude, no, nothing like that. It's a good appointment. Just trust me."

"I do."

And Dean looks happy, excited, but Castiel knows he'll get no more information. He gives Castiel a lingering kiss and nearly drops the travel mug of coffee Castiel's just handed him. "Have a good first day, Professor," he says. "I love you too, by the way."

The sappy smile manages to leave Castiel's face at 8:35 when he exits his new office and it finally sinks in, as he crosses the quad, that he's about to have to engage a room containing twelve adults who are interested enough in history to take an elective seminar. Who will probably argue with him and bring up points from unassigned sources and who he won't have to correct about gum-chewing or the state of their uniforms. He doesn't know whether to dance in the middle of the hallway or cry.

What he thinks is a heart attack at 8:45 is actually a rapid succession of text messages vibrating in the breast pocket of his jacket, because there's little to no service in his basement office and everything's suddenly coming in at once.

From: Sam
Good luck today!! PS tell my stupid brother to call me.

From: Jo
gl 2day drinks on the house 2nite :)

From: Gabriel
Knock em dead prof

From: Anna
shut up, you'll be awesome. <3

From: Michael
I'm sure I don't need to wish you luck, but I hope it's with you anyway.

From: Balthazar
good luck w yr new bigger kiddies. xxx luc has 1st solo lecture this am, shitting self vicariously send booze

From: Dean
breathe. youll rock. tell them the thing about the guy & the bees its awesome.

From: Dean
ilu

At 8:50, Castiel's smiling again when the first student comes in and presents his first administrative difficulty. "Mr. Crowley? You're not registered for this class."

Crowley grins and takes a seat in the front row. "I will be, sir. Someone's bound to drop."

"I thought you were going to Kenyon."

"Change of plan. Turns out the old man didn't quite have the funds, so it's a few more years round here."

"I'm sorry it didn't work out, Crowley."

"I can be Miss Ohio some other year. Thing or two up my sleeve. But for now it's good old Dr. Milton and some heresy."

"In case you wondered, Crowley," Castiel says when another couple of students wander in at 8:55, "I am having a very nice life."

At 9:03 he resigns himself to having Crowley smirking at him from the front row for the rest of the semester, because Meg Masters isn't there to answer when he calls her name. By 9:30 everyone's introduced themselves and Castiel's said, "Welcome to Heresy and Orthodoxy in Medieval Europe," and he's taken Dean's advice and begun with the account of Leutard of Vertus receiving divine revelation through a swarm of bees that entered his body through his genitals and caused him to jump down a well.

At 10:50 he's arguing with a student about the assigned reading because Clare of Assisi and Margery Kempe are relegated to footnotes in the syllabus. She objects on feminist grounds and he's forced to end the conversation rather harshly and tell her that the scope of the course is not confined to female mystics, but she'd be welcome to explore them in her papers.

At 11:05 his office phone rings and the headache that's been developing dissipates when it's Dean asking, "How'd it go?" and Castiel gets to recount all of it.

At 12:00, his first office hours begin with a student from a class that won't meet until tomorrow, worried about the writing prerequisites, and the headache threatens to return because the student's real concern is assuring himself of satisfying a requirement with a class he can get an A in before the add/drop period ends.

At 1:20, Castiel is circling downtown looking for a parking space and wishing he'd taken the bus. He finally parks on a side street in front of someone's house and walks a few blocks. Dean's already in the diner sipping at a milkshake, the other half of which is in a glass in front of the seat that Castiel slides into.

"I already ordered," Dean says. "Hope you felt like a BLT."

"That's fine. I take it we're pressed for time."

"Appointment's at two. I was afraid they'd get backed up with orders."

Castiel leaves his car where it is at 1:45 and gets into the front seat of Dean's Impala. Dean keeps glancing over at him but not saying anything until they're pulling onto South Walnut Street and parking in front of a sign with a pawprint logo that says City of Bloomington Animal Shelter. Dean's hands are tight on the steering wheel and he's looking straight ahead.

"Dean?"

"You remember like, three weeks ago when you bought the sexy Constantine coat and we ran into your asshole headmaster?"

"Former headmaster, yes."

"I was about to say something about this but then he showed up and I kinda forgot about it and you were busy every time I had to go. But, uh, there's this dog."

"Here?"

"Yeah. They make you do a bunch of visits and stuff before you can take 'em home, and this is the last one. I figured since you'd be kinda stuck with him too, I mean, at least however long you're stuck with me, we might wanna make sure you like him."

"I plan to be 'stuck' with you for the forseeable future, so it might be prudent."

Dean kisses him and keeps doing it even when the woman parked next to them comes out with her new dog, some large-breed mutt that keeps barking at them as she tries to coax it into the backseat of her car.

Castiel's tie is crooked through the whole of his afternoon lecture, but he doesn't notice it until he goes to the bathroom afterwards and sees himself smiling in the mirror. At 6:50 he's walking through the aisles of Petco with Dean, who's holding his hand whenever he doesn't need both to keep an overexcited German Shepherd named Misha from chewing everything in reach. At 7:35 he's eating a burger at the Roadhouse, which is welcoming its first-ever canine patron, and still thinking he's having a very nice life.


THE END

---

Notes: Misha the dog has his origins in the_reverand's awesome fic Trade Show. <3


Thank you for reading!

Comments

[the-reverand.livejournal.com]

WHAT A NICE LIFE <33 Their slow romance is lovely and possibly every Cas/Dean AU should end with a German Shepherd named Misha. :D I love especially how Dean just worms (or creeps in the case of the hungover breakfast break-in XD)his way into Cas's life, and also roadtrip and also Dean asking for it there at the end. XD

You know, all this flippin' time, I never realized Luc was Lucifer. XD IDK how not! I imagined this vaguely Eggy frenchy dude. Haha.

YAY YOU DID IT! And I've downloaded the mix and I'MA LISTEN TO IT SO THERE.

<3

[safeandwarm.livejournal.com]

This is gorgeous.

It was a slow burn in all the best ways. I really enjoyed your characterization of everyone. Your major characters were well developed, and your minor characters were interesting. I especially enjoyed your Michael.

I loved it.

[readbeforesleep.livejournal.com]

This was utterly lovely. Great pacing. Great characterizations.

By the way, I also really enjoyed They Say the Highway is for Lovers which I see to my great shame I did not comment on when I read it.

This was just .......

[dazedrose.livejournal.com]

one of the best AH Destiel fics i've ever read, and one of the best in all the fandoms i've read. You have such a smooth writing style and just a natural flow. You made me giggle, and out right laugh, and i'm still smilling like a goon. The characters you have created here was brilliantly done, developement of Cas and Dean's relationship felt so organic and was a pleasure to read. Your supporting cast were well created, and I for one love Gabe.

I will now go and check out anything else you've written. And if you ever decided to put this whole fic in PDF form i would love you forever. I love having my favourite fics on hand on my iPad to read whenever the mood strikes.

Again

[elvisglasses5.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwwwww!!! I've seriously got hearts in my eyes right now. <333

And, oh, what's this? It's 4am? Why yes, I did just stay up til 4 reading this lovely fic. Thank god for spring break! (Though I'd love to run into Prof Milton and his hot hunky bf preferably making out on my campus. Mmmm mmmm.)

[larenoz.livejournal.com]

What an awesome story!! Like previous commentors, I loved the slow burn.

Some of the best characterisations I've ever read and the character specific dialogue was just SO spot on!!!

Loved every minute of it!!!

[prologi.livejournal.com]

They are both so rubbish. ♥

(Man, I really need to watch at least some of this show, since there's a ton of awesome fic for it and everything I know I've learned from gifs on Tumblr.)

[strangefancy.livejournal.com]

Oh my GOD. This is my very favorite type fic ever and yours just went straight up to my 'best of' list. This was fantastic. I love the slow, sweet build up of their relationship and the minimal angst. I love how it was so very life-y, without becoming a soap opera (as AU's can tend to) and how you made everything seem so real and lifelike.

Everyone is so IC here and I utterly adored the translation from SPN canon to who they were here. I love that there was still a little strife between the Winchesters and nothing was perfect, but they were still them. And having Sam and Ruby together before Jess was a stroke of genius - let Sam have that wild moment before he settled down.

And Dean and Cas - so adorable and they were obviously MFEO without it being slapped in our face. It's such a great, well written romance, thank you so, so much for sharing! I could read this 'verse forever!

[mai2921.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is a fantastic story.
I love everything about it, everything.
And I'm still laughing at the fourth of july party, Jo is fantastic, every character in this are fantastic.
Really amazing job. ♥ ♥ ♥

[meanheans]

Holy moly, your pacing was PERFECT. Nothing felt rushed or like it was dragging and I just fell into reading it and didn't stop until I was done. :D

I have to agree with Lucitania, I had been dying for an SPN story that was long and yet didn't have any ridiculous drama and grief and boy howdy, you delivered! I can't say enough just how perfect this was.

PERFECT. <3

[anathemacrowley.livejournal.com]

I have to say stories like this are kind of my guilty pleasure. As much as I love Supernatural, I do so love the AU's where they aren't hunters. It's always fascinating to see how people take on the characters outside of the story. Your take was no exception. It was beautifully written. The characters were in character, and their jobs and lives reflected the character's personalities perfectly. That made it a really enjoyable read.

As much as I loved all the Dean/Cas parts though, I think the Gabe parts (and Kali references) were some of my favorites. But I love his character in general, so I'm a bit biased. :D

And haha, Misha the over excitable German Sheppard. That was a nice touch! And strangely fitting. :)

[ivesia19.livejournal.com]

This was a wonderful story - I enjoyed it so much!
Great characterization!
Wonderful, well-developed plot!
Really, there are a million fantastic things about this.
:)

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

What a great read!

[lazy-daizy26.livejournal.com]

OMG I adored this so much! Thank you for sharing this with us. I love the slow build up to Dean and Cas, it's so sweet and yet frustrating and I LOVE it! The UST is delicious! Also enjoyed Sam's story and how he is working for Gabriel now as well as Jess being in the picture. I've always loved Sam and Jess together.

The integration of the characters from SPN was perfect!

I was telling others on twitter that I hope you write more D/C because you captured them perfectly!

Thanks again for a wonderful story!

[lpdrunknmunky.livejournal.com]

Truly wonderful stuff here! I enjoyed every paragraph, especially the cleverness and complete lack of grammar mistakes and the fact that you referenced Alsatians and then they got one, hahaha. I think your Dean and Cas are pretty IC, which is hard to do in an AU, I know, so kudos. Thanks for writing (and posting) this, it made my saturday morning/afternoon!

[vallie82.livejournal.com]

Thank you for writing and sharing this incredible story. This has been the worst week of my life and I´m incapable of reading anything that contains even the smallest amount of angst if I don´t want to cry uncontrollable for hours. You have no idea how much I needed something like this.

I loved the pacing of the story, every little detail you described and how it made the story feel real, all characters was so very IC and I love it so much! I really hope you´ll have time to make a PDF of this, because I want to safe it for future re-reads.

Again: Thank you for making my miserable week a little bit better.

[donovanspen.livejournal.com]

I love this so much. Saving it as one of my favorites to reread!

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

Fuck me, that was good.

I spent a nice few cozy hours just basking in it. BASKING, I say. You do an excellent AU!cas. He's still Cas: still serious and a little socially awkward and nerdy but not overly so, still believable as a human but still retaining his Casness.

I liked how you set up everyone in relation to the other characters. I liked Ruby being Sam's bad girl hookup because LOL yes. I especially liked Castiel's relationship with Balthy and how it wasn't BAD, and Balthy wasn't a terrible person, but there was that kind of painful, bittersweet realization that it wasn't going to work almost from the beginning.

And of course I loved Dean. Oh Dean. I think his bisexuality or at least flexible sexuality here made a lot of sense, since we see him almost immediately set up as a foil for Cas's very strict, regimented life, whereas Dean sort of flows from one thing to the next.

ANYWAY, in conclusion I am seriously jealous of all the feels this inspired in me. Probably the best real life AU I've ever seen.

[discreetmath.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, this was beautiful. I am feeling SO MANY EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW

The pacing was excellent, and I loved the way you presented Balthazar (and Ruby) and the progression of those relationships in a way that felt realistic, and didn't vilify them for the sake of the end result. If that makes sense.

Dean and Cas were gorgeous and perfect, and their friendship and falling in love was so honest and well-developed and ugh ugh ugh

I'm going to go sob into my cat's fur about how perfect they are together, okay

[metaphoracle.livejournal.com]

Very much enjoyed this! I was preconditioned to like it due to mechanic!Dean and professor!Cas, but then you had to accurately and humorously describe academia and all its hiring quirks. Do I sense a fellow academic who has gone through job search hell?

[malcolm-doyle.livejournal.com]

I adored the shit out of this. It was so well paced and the characters where all such a joy to read. You did a fabulous job here, it was such great writing!

[brokentoy.livejournal.com]

I loved this, so so much.
I didn't know I was looking for something like this until I found it recced on tumblr and BAM! here I am gushing over how beautiful it is.

I love Cas, and your Cas is adorable. I like how he goes so matter-of-factly about his life, his job and his crush on Dean, and the added angsty moments when he feels there's no hope but still, admirably, admits that Dean's friendship can be enough.

When Dean and Cas end up as lovers I'm happy, but when they do so as a direct evolution of a beautiful friendship I'm actually bouncy with joy :)

Also, all the other characters and the way you depicted that are amazing. Especially the dog Misha, brief as his appearance was :D

[peroxidepest17.livejournal.com]

I read all of this instead of doing everything I was supposed to do and I enjoyed every minute of it. <333