Chapter Text
There was a lot to say about what he had packed in the car considering there wasn’t a whole lot of room in it for anything other than what he actually needed. His brother was bound to say something about the car as well. God, he was a pushover. His now ex-fiancee had been the one to convince him to get it. Personally, Sam missed the rumble of their dad’s old Impala.
The traffic through the city was thinning out his already frayed nerves. He finished all his classes and had been ready to take the bar when Covid-19 had begun to cancel everything. Now, he could understand things shutting down and everyone locking themselves away, but dammit this hadn’t been his plan.
“Fuck!” Sam slammed his palm against the steering wheel and angrily pulled off the main road to try and meander his way through the backstreets.
Seven years, one dead girlfriend, one cheating ex-fiancee, and now nothing to his name besides the contents of his car and the car itself. So, he tucked tail and ran back to his brother.
Dean Winchester had found a stable job, bought a fixer upper and even had a roommate. Which had never seemed like an end goal for his brother. Sam grumbled to himself as he turned down the street towards an older section of the outskirts of the city. It was a decent neighborhood, bordering an area enduring gentrification. Plenty of schools nearby and even a hospital about ten minutes to the south. Quiet, yet not too quiet. He could see why Dean had wanted to live here. The driveway was empty. No Impala meant no Dean.
As he turned off the car he sighed. Sam Winchester at rock bottom. Fucking great. He climbed out of the car and headed to the back of the house. Dean had informed him of a fake rock by the back door that contained a key. Used in the off chance that his roommate’s sister needed a place to crash late at night.
Roommate. Sam had chuckled when Dean told him that over the phone. A former Army Ranger by the name of Castiel Novak. He had been discharged from the military just two years ago and was now in college. According to Dean, they had been set up as roommates by Castiel’s sister.
Sam was truly hoping to meet her as he wanted to thank her. She was the reason that Dean was even still alive. Saving people. If he remembered correctly that’s what she did for a living. His brother had been a bit tight-lipped about the Castiel side of the household, but he wasn’t going to fault him for that. There were some things that were better left to be experienced rather than explained.
At last he found the rock and pulled the key from the plastic backing. He skipped the three small steps for the back porch and used the key to let himself in. It was quiet, but he could smell coffee brewing. So someone had been here recently which meant they would be back soon. Sam tossed the key and fake rock on the kitchen counter. The walls were bare and the tile was removed from the backsplash so this must have been where Dean had left off in the renovation project.
He raked a hand through his loose hair and pushed it back behind his ear. That was going to be something Dean would nag him about too. Probably call him Samantha or something similar.
Sam kicked his shoes off and weaved his way through the bottom floor of the house. It was quaint and definitely in the middle of a remodel. The dining room seemed to be a temporary workspace for Dean and held a bunch of the plans and materials. There was a den off to the side that held a desk and lots of books. So, Castiel’s workspace, more than likely.
The living room he thoroughly enjoyed and could see where Dean had worked first. The room still needed to be painted, as he could see where Dean had knocked down a wall to make the room bigger. The seam was covered, but there was no paint to seamlessly blend the pieces of drywall together.
Though, seeing a snoring body on his brother’s couch wasn’t something he had been expecting to see. Whoever it was had their face planted in a pillow and had left their shoes on. The long dark hair was pulled into a bunch of individual braids that were tied in a loose bun.
Sam jumped as the front door opened and Dean walked in carrying bags of groceries. A tall black haired, wonderfully bright blue eyed man followed along with his arms also laden down.
“Need any help?” Sam offered.
Dean grinned at him and shook his head. “Nah, Cas and me got it.”
“Dean, she is here. You were correct.”
“Hell yeah I was. It was why I set the coffee pot to start while we were gone.”
Sam followed the two men through the living room and into the other side of the kitchen. The bags were shoved onto the kitchen island and the man Sam could now say was Castiel began to put the groceries away. Dean chuckled and threw his arms wide. There was no way that he could reject that invitation. Sam went over and hugged his brother. A heavy hand slapped against his back and he stepped away.
“It’s good to see you Sammy.”
“You too Dean.”
No one said anything else as an obnoxious ringtone began to play. He looked over his shoulder to see a banged up Samsung plugged in on the corner of the kitchen counter closest to the living room. Then a thud before muffled grumbling and the unmoving lump on the couch plodded into the kitchen and yanked the phone off the cord.
“What?”
Sam turned to look at Dean as to what was going on, but his brother was over at the coffee machine filling a thermos with the entire pot.
“Yeah, give me twenty. I’ll be there.”
The woman groaned and banged her head against the wall. Then she took a deep breath and set her shoulders. Sam raised an eyebrow at that. She looked like she was preparing herself for battle. Dean walked past him and held out the thermos for her.
“Isra, you should at least change shirts.”
“Why? Gonna be sweaty by the end anyways.”
“Israfel.”
Sam sucked in a breath as the woman shucked her clothes off right there in the kitchen. It took all of his willpower to not look. She kicked the scrubs at Castiel before muttering to herself as she left the kitchen.
“I’m sorry for my sister,” Castiel said as he stepped up to Sam’s side. “I am Castiel Novak. That is my sister Israfel Novak. She will be here occasionally while the state begins to shut down.”
Dean pressed a few buttons on the coffee maker and leaned against the counter. “She’s the head nurse at the ER. Showed up a couple days ago with some clothes and just kinda claimed the couch. I think this is the first time we’ve seen her in 36 hours.”
Damn. A door slammed shut and Sam knew that it was Isra that had left. One former marine, one former army ranger, one head ER nurse, and a soon to be lawyer in one house. What could go wrong?
******************************************************
This bothered him. Not his brother coming back home to live with him, but the amount of things that his brother owned. It had all fit inside that ridiculous Tesla Model 3. Now, it wasn’t a bad car, but it wasn’t a proper car either. Dean was looking forward to actually taking it apart. No one had come into the garage with a Tesla and he had wanted to get his hands on one for a while. No better way to find out what made something tick than to take it apart and put it back together.
Sam didn’t have a lot. It was obvious when it had only taken the three of them twenty minutes to get everything inside and set up in the spare bedroom he had worked on before Sam got there. There was a California king bed, dresser, and desk, but that was it furniture wise. And that bed had cost him a small fortune. Had to find something big enough to fit his Sasquatch of a brother.
Dean ran his thumb over the edge of a picture frame that he pulled out of a box. It was of him and Sam back when Sam had graduated high school. He had managed to get leave long enough to see him graduate. Only a couple of weeks, but those weeks had been glorious.
“Sam, is this all you have?”
His little brother sighed and leaned against the foot of the bed. That was all the answer he really needed. Words had never been something they needed to communicate. It would probably last for the rest of their lives.
“Ruby took the rest.”
And that’s what he thought. Dean bristled at the idea of someone using his brother like that. “Bitch.”
“Dean.”
“What? She is! She used you! Did she keep the ring?”
Sam gave a dark chuckle. “No, I managed to get that back by breaking into the apartment. Sold it to get the money to drive out here.”
Dean tossed the picture frame onto the bed and dropped to sit next to his brother on the wooden floor. It was not good for his bad leg, but he would deal with the pain later. Either that or Isra would help him stretch it out when the muscles tensed up. Ah, probably shouldn’t be relying on her at the moment.
“I can’t believe I fell for it. Once I said that I wanted to help the everyday person she lost her mind. It was like she expected me to take the offer from the law firm I had interned with.”
Pellegrino, Speight, and something else if Dean remembered correctly. His memory wasn’t the best, but he remembered the weird ass names. As well as how Sam had hated working there. He hadn’t said much about what went on there, but Dean knew something bad had happened.
“Shit, everything went up in flames.”
He nudged his brother’s shoulder with his own. “You got this Sam. You’re the smart one.”
********************************************************
No one knocked on the door as it creaked open so that told Castiel who it was. The only other awake man dropped down into the beaten up old couch that was pressed up against one wall between two bookcases. He turned his attention back to his homework and tried to ignore Dean. Yet, Castiel could feel the green eyes on him. With a heavy sigh Cas saved his progress on his laptop and gently closed the lid.
“I didn’t tell him that his former boss is your older brother.”
Luke Pellegrino. Luke had taken their mother’s maiden name once he left the house at 18 with his twin Michael. Greatest day in Castiel’s memory, the day his tormentors finally moved out. A year later Raphael had left and that just left him, his fraternal twin Gabriel, and older half-sister Israfel. His parents were never really around so it was up to Israfel to raise them while going to college for nursing. Still to this day he damned his parents for forcing that life on her. The day that they had died in that car crash he hadn’t cried for them, he had cried because at long last the three of them had been freed.
“I don’t associate with Luke anymore.”
Dean bit his thumbnail, but didn’t look at Castiel. “I think something more happened there than what he’s telling me.”
A chill went down Castiel’s spine. He remembered the rumors and accusations thrown at Luke and Michael when he was younger. If those had been true then he could only imagine what Sam had dealt with.
“It is up to him to talk about it.”
There were those green eyes that Castiel couldn’t stop thinking about. There were flecks of gold in them that always caught the light no matter how dim it was. His heart had stopped the moment he had met Dean two years ago. It was something Israfel and Gabriel liked to tease him about. But Castiel knew better. Dean was not interested in someone like him. Men and women more like his brother and sister were what Dean normally went for.
The confident swagger, charming smirk, and gruff voice always wooed someone to his side. Once they found out he was a veteran it was basically the moment that the pants hit the floor. Castiel did not have that same demeanor. His service had been similar in many ways to Dean’s, but he had slogged through much darker areas. Gabriel didn’t know, but he knew that Israfel had an idea about what his service entailed. She had been in the area with Medecins Sans Frontieres during that time. Besides, it was impossible to hide that from her.
“Do you think he will?”
Castiel sighed and leaned back in his creaky computer chair. “I’m not a doctor Dean. If anything, I think being with you will help him. He’s got this cloud over him. Put him to work, that should help.”
Dean nodded and slapped his hand against Castiel’s desk a couple of times. “Thanks Cas. I’ll see if he wants to help me paint the living room.”
“I’ll get my headphones then.”
The smile that Dean threw Castiel made his heart stutter. It was the one that Gabriel referred to as the ‘panty dropper’. Corner of the mouth crinkled up and you could see a flash of white teeth all the while Dean looked at the ground and let out a light chuckle. Then Dean vanished down the hall towards the stairs. Castiel grumbled to himself that he shouldn’t be thinking about that ridiculous catalogue of Dean’s looks that Gabriel had made one drunken night.
Even if Gabriel was absolutely right.
********************************************************
The next morning it was officially announced that the state was shutting down everything, but essential services. The three of them had sat in the living room on the floor with boxes of pizza in front of them the previous night when Israfel had called Castiel. She warned them that it was coming and to not go out. Now the three of them could see why. The news was broadcasting how everyone was flocking to the stores to stock up on things.
Panic buying was what Castiel had called it. That it was a regular occurence in a country with residents that were ill informed about diseases and other natural threats. The only thing they had done that day was go to Isra’s apartment and pack it up.
Sam had listened to Castiel’s careful explanation of what would be happening in the state next. People would be panicking and landlords, like Israfel’s, would be pushing for money from residents or would be threatening to kick them out. So, she had Castiel pack up her things to throw them in Dean’s garage as she wasn’t going to be able to travel the hour to her apartment and back to the hospital every 18 hours. Dean’s couch was ten minutes from the hospital.
He had never seen a reaction like this before in his life. Both he and Dean had sat and watched the news with open mouths while Castiel spewed facts like a textbook. People were going crazy. The news even broadcast footage of a fight that had broken out at Costco over toilet paper. Toilet paper.
It was another 24 hours before he saw Israfel again. Well, Isra. Dean had told him that the only one that called her Israfel was Castiel. There were dark circles underneath her eyes as she plopped down on a bar stool at the kitchen island. Dean set a coffee cup in front of her and continued cooking breakfast. Sam moved the coffee cup out of the way when he noticed that she had fallen asleep while resting her head on top of her fist. Castiel sighed from his seat and folded the paper he was reading.
“I’m surprised she lasted long enough to even take a drink of the coffee,” Cas stated.
Dean looked over his shoulder and shrugged. “I’m surprised she made it back. Figured if anything, she would just sleep at the hospital.”
“Is this normal?” Sam asked as he looked at Isra. She was beginning to drool on her fist slightly.
“Back in Afghanistan it was and whenever she was with me in physical therapy,” Dean stated as simply as he could. There was a slight waver in his voice at the beginning of his sentence.
“The hospital is probably overloaded with people coming in thinking they have it. Which would more than likely put a strain on the staff as they try to separate non emergencies from actual emergencies,” Cas said matter of factly. He brought a paper towel up and wiped at the line of drool sliding down her wrist.
Sam watched Dean pause and put his hands on his hips. “Think the rest of her crew could use some food?”
“Yes. I assume Oscollo Noriega is the one there right now if you wish to call and ask.”
Dean waved his hand and slung the tea towel he had in hand over his shoulder. “I ain’t bothering him. But, I will put together as many pancakes as I can make and send them off with her.”
All three of the men jumped as her phone began to blare out a heavy rock song and vibrated across the countertop. She snorted and sat upright. Sam smirked at the disgusted look she gave her arm before reaching for the phone.
“‘Ello?” She discreetly wiped her arm on her shirt when she answered the phone. “Shit, did you call Metro? Alright call the PD and have them arrested then contact Metro to see if they have any extra cases.”
Sam raised his eyebrows as she tossed it onto the countertop. “Trouble?”
For the first time since he arrived she actually looked at him. Her eyes were a dark forest green, but they were just as expressive as his brother’s. “Who the hell are you?”
Dean busted out laughing. Castiel groaned and pushed the coffee back towards his sister.
“Israfel, that’s Samuel Winchester. Dean’s younger brother, I told you he would be coming to live here.”
“Right. Central heterochromia. Nifty.”
Sam blinked and furrowed his brows. Central what? Castiel took pity on his confusion it seemed.
“She means your eyes. The two different colors you have in your eyes with the sunflower effect.”
That was interesting. He never knew the name for what his eyes looked like. He sipped his coffee and made a ‘huh’ sound. Dean dropped several plates onto the counter filled with food.
“Alright, breakfast is served. There’s veggie bacon on that plate for the two weirdos and non-lactose milk is in the fridge Sammy.”
Isra shoved the veggie bacon away from herself and dug into the sausage and bacon before Dean had even finished talking. Sam watched as she shovelled the food into her mouth. It made him wonder if she had eaten at any point while at the hospital.
“Israfel, slow down.”
She pointed a fork at Castiel with a bit of pancake hanging off the end. “Can’t baby bro. Once I eat I gotta get back.”
“Dude, you just got off a 36 hour shift. Where’s Lo?”
“Probably passed the fuck out at home. Some idiot put us on the same shift. Nurse Jackie is in charge right now.”
“Is she actually named Jackie?” Sam asked while pouring a glass of milk.
“No, have no clue what her name is, but apparently she can’t do shit. Security caught a group of people stealing our N95 masks and boxes of gloves. That was my coworker who I believe is actually running things at the moment. She sounded disappointed when I told her to have them arrested.”
Castiel stopped chewing. “Rowena?” he asked while politely covering his mouth.
“Yep,” Isra said while popping the ‘p’. “She also told me to stay home to get some rest.”
“Rowena Macleod is running the Central ER?” Dean incredulously asked.
Sam had no clue who any of these people were that they were mentioning. Had he really been away for that long? Damn, it felt like he didn’t know anything about Dean’s life now.
“Rowena is a badass. I was thrilled when she transferred to me. Freaking gave her whatever she wanted before I left. If I could she would be the one actually in charge in deed and title. For now, she can plot the demise of her supervisor and I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Isra stuffed a sausage in her mouth as she turned an upturned eyebrow to her brother. No one said anything. Sam grinned and turned back to his own food. He liked her.