Holy Vision

Chapter 2

His wings shuddered and twitched at the sound of his name, reaching out toward Dean before quickly pulling away. "Yes?" Cas said still confused.

Dean shook himself from his trance and tried to peel his vision from the enveloping beauty. "Nothing. Just happy you're here," he said with a slight smile. He didn't understand how he could see Cas' wings. He'd only ever saw their shadow when the angel first introduced himself. He never thought their divine presence was possible to physically see. Then he remembered the glasses that sat atop his nose that were scorched in holy fire. Maybe.

He took them off and sure enough Cas' wings were gone. Dean frowned and immediately put them back on. "I am also happy to be here"

"Yeah, why are you here? We thought you were off in Montana looking for Metatron. If you found this case why didn't you call?" Sam questioned.

Cas sighed. "I heard something on angel radio about an attack, so I thought I'd check it out after Montana proved to give me no help. I was going to call after I'd checked the crime scene and was about to but here you are."

"Here we are! So what'd you find? Anything important?" Dean said trying his hardest not to look at Cas.

"Well," he motioned them to follow as he walked toward one of the tape marks, "there were seven humans killed. The other three were angels." He pointed to the ground and sure enough, three pairs of burnt black wings were etched into the diner's floor.

"What did you hear on angel radio? Did they plan this attack or?" Sam asked, examining the wing marks.

Cas sighed again and cast the brothers a nervous glance. "I'm not sure. It was just chatter about the attack. It seems they were aware of it but I can't say for certain that Heaven arranged it."

Dean looked at Cas again, his breath hitching in his throat as he asked his next question. "Uh...so who were these angels? Do you know?" He quickly looked away as his face started flushing a soft pink. For some reason seeing his best friend's wings when he technically wasn't supposed to made Dean feel like he was crossing some sort of line. He kept telling himself to take the glasses off for respect of his friend's privacy, but he just couldn't will his hands to actually do it.

Cas' face turned sad. "Yes. They were friends of mine. Dina, Manakel, and Xapham. We fought together. Although we hadn't talked recently, they always found promise in loyalty."

"Okay, so why would three of your old friends be in a diner in Nebraska? And why the slaughter party?" Sam asked confused.

"You know as much as I do. As far as I knew, they were all in Heaven doing its work. I don't understand why they would be down here."

"Well hey," Dean said looking at Cas solemnly, "why don't we go find a motel and look over everything. Maybe we'll spot something then." He put his hand hesitantly on Cas' shoulder. He tried to smile but it kept faltering as he watched Cas' wings twitch and expand at Dean's touch.

Cas nodded. "Yes. Of course. Thank you guys."

"We'd do anything to help figure this Heaven and angel nonsense out. Don't worry about it." Sam smiled as he left the diner to get in the car.

Cas turned back to Dean who still had his hand on his shoulder and who was still staring very intently and curiously at him. Although Cas noticed he wasn't staring directly at him, more behind. He turned his head to look at whatever Dean was focusing so hard on. He saw nothing. Cas faced Dean again with a worried expression, tilting his head to the left ever so slightly. "What is it Dean?"

Dean was lost in mesmerized thought when he heard Cas' deep voice again. He quickly snatched his hand from the angel's shoulder and turned the other way. "Nothing, I was just thinking."

Cas reached his hand up to Dean's face, suddenly noticing the lenses he hadn't seen before. He gently touched the rim of the glasses and Dean watched his wings shutter with a glimmer. "Why are you wearing glasses?"

Dean shrugged and Cas replaced his hand at his own side. "They help me see."

Cas' face twisted in confusion. "Dean, I asked about the glasses not your eyes."

"What? Cas-no. Never mind." He rolled his eyes and went to join Sam in the car. Cas stood there for a few extra seconds, confusion still wrapped around his features. He checked behind him again before also leaving for the car.

Dean watched as Cas exited the building, noticing that his shimmering black wings were drooping and looking more dull. That immediately changed however when Cas met his eyes. They twitched and rose off the ground, expanding in the sunlight.

Dean quickly took the glasses off and placed them in his pocket. He couldn't look at the wings anymore, not with his face continuously getting all hot and what not. He felt embarrassed. Like he was spying on Cas while he was vulnerable. Or peeking at someone as they got out of the shower. It didn't make sense. The feeling he got when he looked at them rendered him incapable of forming thoughts of anything but beauty. But he also felt as if he was breaking some type of angel rule by doing so.

"Dean? Are we gonna go?" Sam said staring at him worriedly.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah we're going." Dean gripped the steering wheel as he backed out of the lot and raced down the street toward any motel.

The one thing Dean couldn't shake from his mind was how the angel's wings twitched, shuddered, and ruffled anytime Dean said his name or briefly touched his arm.

He glanced back at Cas in the rear view mirror and found his soft blue eyes staring right back at him.