Strings Attached

Chapter 10

"It's a party in here!" Lucifer cheers. "Come on, guys, sing with me! Um... Actually, I don't have a song to sing. Okay... Dean, you start!"

"What?" Dean says, confused.

"You're singing," Lucifer clarifies. "Go."

"What am I singing?"

"We don't know, that's the whole damn point!" Lucifer tells him, exasperated. "Get with the program! And five, six, seven, eight!"

"That's the start to a dance," Dean tells him.

"I don't care. You're singing. Go."

"No, dude, I'm not singing."

"Why not?" Sam asks. "You're not bad. You know, if you're sober. Come on, lighten the mood."

"Can't I just recite the Bee Movie script instead?" Dean asks.

"You know that?" Lucifer says in surprise.

"Yeah."

Lucifer gives him a high five. "Nice."

"Why did you memorize the Bee Movie script?" Sam asks.

"Because I felt like it," Dean replies.

"I'm beginning to think I'm one of the most sane people here," Gabriel says. "Does that strike anyone else as a bit... not good?"

"Big time," Sam agrees.

"Cas, care to get in on the conversation?" Dean asks. "I mean, we're here for you, so..."

"I didn't ask you to be," Castiel replies quietly.

"You didn't have to," Gabriel replies. "We're here for you anyway. So turn that frown upside down and come talk to us!"

Castiel doesn't answer him.

"I think that's the first thing he's said since we got here, so we're getting somewhere," Gabriel says.

"Do we need to have a spontaneous sing along?" Lucifer asks. Silence. "I'll take that as a yes. Everybody! Cuz when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them! And when you're fifteen and something something something something... Yeah, I don't know this song."

Everybody but Castiel laughs.

"Come on, Castiel, I'm trying!" Lucifer whines. "You can't even smile? Seriously?"

"Maybe he just hates Taylor Swift," Sam suggests. "You know, cuz she's Taylor Swift."

"Well, I don't know what kind of music he listens to!" Lucifer defends himself. "All I know is that he plays guitar. It's, like, all I ever hear at home. Taylor Swift plays guitar, too. You know what? I tried. So deal with it."

Castiel hears footsteps approaching him, stopping next to his hospital bed. Dean begins singing softly, "I close my eyes, only for a moment and the moment's gone. All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity. Dust in the wind. All we are is dust in the wind."

"Seriously?" Lucifer says. "This is the most depressing song in all of creation. Why are you singing that?"

But he looks over at Castiel, and he notices a slight smile on the boy's face.
Dean notices it, too, and keeps singing. "Same old song. Just a drop of water in an endless sky. All we do crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see. Dust in the wind. All we are is dust in the wind." Dean pauses. "You know, we could really use your guitar skills right now." He finishes singing the rest of the song, uncomfortably aware of everyone else listening in. He doesn't mind too much, though. The smile on Castiel's face is enough reward for him, no matter how faint it is.

"Damn," Lucifer says finally. "That's some deep shit right there."

"I don't think we needed such a sad song right now, though," Gabriel adds.

"He likes it," Dean replies. "So deal with it."

Castiel is sort of surprised Dean remembered that. Sure, it was only a few days ago, but no one remembers what Castiel says. Ever.

"Well, new song!" Lucifer says after a few moments of silence. "All my friends are heathens take it slow. Wait for them to ask da da da da. Something know the half of the something. Alright, I give up."

Everyone laughs. Well, everyone except Castiel.

"Fine," Lucifer pouts. "Dean, your turn."

Dean thinks for a second. "Um... It's all the same. Only the names have changed. Every day, it seems we're wasting away. Another place, where the faces are so cold. I drive all night just to get back home. Cuz I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. Cuz I'm wanted, dead or alive."

"Seriously?" Sam scoffs. "Bon Jovi? You have got to be kidding me."

"Bon Jovi rocks!" Dean says defensively, then adds, "On occasion." He looks over at Castiel, whose faint smile has returned. "Besides, Cas like it, so you're irrelevant." He finishes singing the song, and by the end, Castiel is half asleep.

"Maybe he just doesn't like popular singers..." Lucifer muses. "One, two, three, like a bird I sing. Cuz you've given me the most beautiful set of wings. I'm so glad you're here today, cuz tomorrow I might have to go and fly away, fly —"

"Yeah, but Tim McGraw, you know his songs," Gabriel laughs.

"Don't diss Tim," Lucifer replies defensively. "He's a country god."

"I'm not dissing Tim, I'm dissing country in general," Gabriel replies.

"Country is the shit, man," Lucifer says.

"I can't believe you used to be cool," Sam mutters.

"I was never cool," Lucifer replies. "I just pretended to be."

"Yeah, totally. That makes sense. Not."

As they argue, Dean continues singing to Castiel. "There is a house in New Orleans, they call the Rising Sun. And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy. And God, I know, I'm one."

Once again, Castiel wears a smile throughout the song, but before it's over, he falls asleep.