"Cas! Seriously, personal space!”

Dean was standing when Cas swooshed in at his prayer.

“I’m sorry, what is it that you need?”

Dean looked at Cas and walked over to the plush motel bed. He plopped down and folded his hands, resting his arms on his legs,”Cas, do you ever just want to have a break? One day, no jobs. No responsibility, no chaos, no fighting for your life. A day where the newspapers are spotless, the forecast is sunny, crime is at zero. One day that you can just hop in your car and drive, no destination, the road under wheels, no where to be, no one to worry about.”

Cas looked at Dean, slimming his eyes with confusion,”Dean, what are you saying?”

Dean shook his head and looked to the floor,”I’m saying, I want peace. I want to know that there’s no monster under the bed or in the closet. I want Sammy to be okay, so I don’t have to worry about him every damn day. I want to stop feeling like I’m responsible for everyone, but know that they’re safe. I want a nice slice of cherry pie, and I want to keep that pie, I want to enjoy that pie, and savor it everyday, keep it protected, until I finally give out.”

Cas stood, still looking at Dean bent over the edge of the bed, his eyes watering. Cas walked over and sat next to Dean, close, but not too close. He put his hand on Dean’s back,”What you want, is what we all want. I’m sorry Dean, I wish I could make it better. I wish I could put all the evil in this world to rest, bring harmony to all God’s creatures. You don’t have to feel responsible for everyone-”

“But I do Cas, people are dying, innocent people, and I can’t stop it.”

“I know. People die, but people are also born. You are one in several billion, you can’t save everyone. Not Sam, not me, not anyone. It doesn’t work like that.”

“But God I wish it did.” Dean looked into Cas’s eyes, his own tearing up. Cas looked at Dean, into his big green watery eyes. They were sitting on the bed, in silence. The door opened and Sam came in. Both Cas and Dean quickly shot up from the bed and stood, Dean wiping away any sign of the conversation from his face.

“Hey guys, Cas.”He set the brown paper bag filled with groceries on the table,”So, what’s going on?”

“Nothing nothing, I was uh, just asking Cas here, to uh, give us any updates. See if there was anything new.”

“New?”Sam wrinkled his forehead, raising his brows. He walked over and hung his tan jacket on the hook.”Speaking of which, I think I found something. All the murders, how they’re related.”He sat at the cheap wooden table and opened his laptop and began to type. Dean went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. Pulling off the cap he leaned against the countertop and sipped away. Sam looked up at Cas who was standing, staring straight at Dean.”So Cas, was there anything, new?”

Cas turned his focus off Dean and looked at Sam, he began shaking his head,”No, nothing new.”Sam nodded and went back to typing. Cas looked once again at Dean, still leaned back against the countertop, halfway through the label on the bottle. Dean looked over towards Cas, and they stood, staring in silence, expressionless. Sam, about to say something, looked at Dean, still looking at Cas, and then to Cas, still looking at Dean. He stayed quiet as if considering his options.

”Hey, you know, I forgot to get another pack of beer. The stores just around the corner, I’ll walk over. We can talk about the murders later.”He slid back and out of the chair as it made a noise, scraping against the linoleum. He grabbed his jacket and turned to Dean and Cas, both nodding at him. He smiled and stepped out, closing the door and sunlight out, behind him.

Dean took one last swig of his beer and set down the empty bottle. He went over to the fridge once again and opened it. Inside, two full packs of beer. He began to look confused,”We got plenty of beer,” he looked at Cas then back to the fridge,”guessing he didn’t realize that, oh well.”He grabbed another bottle and flicked off the cap. Before taking his first sip, he looked at Cas. He set down his beer and walked over to the bed. When he sat down and looked up, Cas had vanished.

“Cas? Cas! Damn angels, don’t even know how to say bye.” He laid his back against the cushioned bed, as if to go to sleep, though the day was nowhere near over. Just after closing his eyes, there was a knock at the door. He sighed with aggravation and stood up, walking to the door. Looking through the small glass hole, he saw no one standing outside the room. He opened the door for precaution and stepped out, looking left and right for someone who might have knocked. There was no one, he rolled his eyes and stepped back in. Just before closing the door, he had the slightest urge to look at the parked Impala. He turned around and glanced at the parking lot, inside the Impala was Cas. Alone, sitting in the passenger seat. Dean frowned and looked back in the room then stepped out, closing the wooden door behind him. He walked over to the Impala and scooted into the driver’s seat.

Several minutes later, Sam returned to the motel room, empty handed, slowly entering. He looked around, as if trying to find Cas and Dean. He saw the beer bottle, completely full and sitting on the countertop. He put his jacket on the hook and sat down at the same wooden chair. He looked around once more, then at the bottle, and smiled,”It’s about time.”

“So where are we going, Cas?”Dean asked, looking at Cas then at the road ahead.

“Just drive. No destination.”Cas looked at Dean, holding a small white, cardboard box. Dean continued driving then looked down at the box, then at Cas, then back to the road,”What’s in the box?”

Cas stayed silent for only a moment,”Pull over.”

“What? Cas, you’re the one who wanted me to drive-”

“Please, just over here to the side.”

Dean frowned as he looked at Cas and shook his head, slowing down and turning into a dead end gravel road cut.

“So are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on?”Dean said, turning to Cas, shutting off the car. Cas smiled and looked down at the box, then handed it to Dean.

“What is it?”Dean asked, looking at the box in his hands with confusion. Cas smiled, his sparkling blue eyes looking into Dean’s,”Open it, that’s the point.”

Dean rolled his eyes and pulled off the lid of the box. Inside the square, there sat a plump, juicy, golden crusted, beautifully baked slice of cherry pie. He smiled, taking a whiff as the sweet smell lifted from the box. He looked right into Cas’s eyes,”What’s this for?”

“Well, earlier you were saying you wanted to drive with no destination. I can’t save everyone for you, I can’t ensure Sam will be okay, I can’t bring peace or the absence of responsibility. But, in all that it could contain, I can bring you the best slice of cherry pie in the country.”

Dean began to chuckle and looked down at the pie, he put the lid back on and set it in the back seat. Cas began to look worried and confused,”What? Do you not like it? I can look for a better pie. I can search the quiet streets of a village in the Netherlands, go to the oldest bakery, I’ll find you the best pie in all of my fathers’ creation.”

Dean shook his head and smiled like he’d never smiled before, he looked at Cas, his eyes squinting with the rest of his face,”Cas, earlier, I wasn’t talking about pie.”

Cas frowned and turned his head,”What do you-”

“It was an expression, Cas. I wasn’t referring to a slice of pie. There’s plenty of pie; cherry, apple, peach. And I can have pie anytime I want. I can try every slice in existence, love every bite, but nothing could amount to-”

Together they looked into each others’ eyes, Cas pleading with his expression for Dean to go on, and Dean smiling, not taking his eyes away from Cas.
“Nothing, not even the best pie in God’s creation, could amount to you Cas. I would live a pie free life to spend it all with you.”

Cas’s eyes widened as if in shock, then he began to smile,”Dean, I, I know that being an angel comes with a lack of emotion, but for you, it doesn’t matter. I’ll spend it all with you.”

They stared at each other, the sun setting over the trees, it’s glare pouring into the silent Impala. Slowly they got closer to each other, and as the sun showed it’s final moments in the sky, they embraced each other, softly pressing their foreheads together then all at once, they were wrapped in each others arms. The sun finally settled in the distant landscape.

They can’t save the world, not for good. Evil is everywhere, and no one knows that more than they, but the idea that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t all that bad, was enough. Sitting in that Impala, together, was enough.