#shortcut road

[hopefultimetravelpeace]

Shortcut Slippery Road from Grand Phnom Penh to Borey Angkor Phnom Penh

[formerlysylvieplath-blog]

SHORTCUT ROAD

Supernatural High School AU set in the present day based largely around seasons 4 and 5.  Angels and demons alike descend on a small Colorado town where the teenage Winchester brothers recently moved to stay with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo while their father goes on an extended hunting trip.

CH1 [PART 1]  CH1 [PART 2]  CHAPTER ONE [PART 3]:

The day was winding down, most of the teens having piled into cars and headed for home or the summer jobs that would keep them in beer and condoms for the next few months. Dean was sitting on the hood of the Impala, Sam beside him, thin towels the only thing separating them from the scorching heat the black paint has soaked up. Ash laid spread-eagle on the roof, his clothes underneath him; when he'd stepped out of the water with all his bits and pieces showing the other three along with Gabe and some guys had begun pelting him with his own shirt, jeans, and boots over and over, which he tossed back at them, threatening to strip to bare skin if they couldn't handle what he was bringing to the table. Now he lay quiescent, humming a bit. Dean had a weird feeling he was meditating. Which was cool. To each his own.

The nine Palmeiros were slowly gathering together, if he'd finally managed to peg their faces with their last name; Jo was with them, chatting easily, seeming to stay mostly with Anna and Cas though it looked like she and Gabe occasionally exchanged barbs. The guy was kind of annoying. He'd kept popping up out of nowhere and pulling people underwater then would disappear again before anyone could retaliate, showing up behind someone else. Dean had finally barked at him to stop when he'd tugged his own kid sister under one too many times, leaving her choking, but Gabe had just stared with this sly little grin on his face and shrugged his shoulders, then started to talk to Sam about older brothers and their general incapacity to not be dicks before Michael had reprimanded him, sounding like an echo to Dean who heard himself from only a few minutes before. Apparently Sam had, too, judging by the way he'd started laughing. Bitch.

Michael, now, he seemed kind of alright. He was the attention whore of DeChoix High, there was no doubt about that; Dean ran into them in every school and generally pissed them off by stealing their girls. But instead of appearing bothered by the attention diverted to Dean, he seemed almost to welcome it, inviting Dean time and again to talk with him, to sit with him, to eat with him. He wasn't sure what to make of it, honestly. He didn't trust anyone instantly, much less some guy with the inevitable high school jock god complex, and he didn't like the way he'd heard Michael talking to Rafe, Uriah, and Zach. It was more like a drill sergeant than an older brother. And yeah, Dean would be the first to admit sometimes you had to get rough with your kid brother or how else was he going to learn? But he wasn't a dick to Sammy without provocation, and he hadn't been able to figure out why Michael was being so hard on the three of them. Maybe that was just his thing, though. Or a family thing. Uriah and Rafe hadn't exactly been warm and welcoming, to the Winchesters or to anyone else for that matter, and if they were going to be distant and disconnected than maybe Michael was getting through to them the only way he knew how. It was hard to judge.

While he'd been thinking more and more people had slipped away, leaving them, the Palmeiros, and a fringe group Dean vaguely recognized as another family. There was a guy, short and vaguely unimposing, with dark hair and slightly bulging eyes; what stood out about him the most, though, was the giant black dog that was never more than a few feet away from him, even when he'd deigned to get into the water. Really, it was mostly that dog who had kept him from trying to interact with the guy at all; well, that and a general disinterest in the way the dude looked, but whatever. Really, he'd had a bad experience a few years back with a wild dog or wolf or something attacking him when he was out on a hunt, and he'd never fully gotten over it. But a few different guys had elbowed him and pointed out one of the girls, Peg or Meg or something, who was apparently the town crazy bitch, though also reputedly an easy, fantastic lay, if you were brave enough to get past the brother and the dog and the insanity to go there. She caught his eye now and smiled at him, stroking one hand slowly up and down the center of her body, pausing to idly play with her belly ring. Instead of interest, Dean felt disgust skitter up his spine, making him recoil. It was a weird response, one he didn't want to deal with, and so he looked away; for what felt like the thousandth time that day, his eyes collided with a bright, blue gaze, and he found himself studying Cas yet again.

The guy was odd. It was that simple. He seemed kind of socially awkward, always a little on the outside of things, talking without realizing the impact what he was saying was going to have. Dean could sympathize with foot-in-mouth disease; he'd had the symptoms a few times himself. But it went beyond that, bordering on outright blunt unawareness. Shit, even now he wasn't looking away, instead seeming comfortable with staring at Dean as long as Dean was comfortable staring at him. Not that he was; it was making him squirm a little, rolling his shoulders, propping himself higher up on the hood. He wasn't going to be the one to look away first, though; that was weakness, cowardice, or perhaps just an admission of discomfort. Either way, his eyes were glued to Cas's for the duration. And the more he looked at him, the more he saw --- something. There was a sense of knowing, of awareness in the other guy's eyes. Dean felt like he was looking into something ancient, ageless, and a little sad. But he was seventeen by his own admission, the same age as Dean, though actually he had to be at least a few months younger since they were in two different grades. The timelessness was out of place, and that didn't sit well with Dean. Hunter instincts, always with him, kicked in, making him look closer, making him wonder.

He'd felt like that with a few of the Palmeiros over the course of the day, actually. He was more than willing to write it off as no more than them just being a strange family; their dad was a pastor, after all, and they all seemed oddly religious, even Gabriel, stopping to pray before eating, going out of their way not to take the Lord's name, the little one, Rachel, often fingering the cross she wore around her neck. The older guys hadn't turned down a beer, though, Gabe made sexual innuendos and dropped the f-bomb like it was his job, and Anna and Jo had danced along the sand together when a favorite song came on the radio, so they couldn't be all that fundamentalist.

Eh. He'd keep watch on it. Meanwhile, interested to see what would happen, he amped up the heat in his eyes, smiling slowly at Cas, winking, then waiting, waiting ... And there it was, the fumbling awkwardness as Cas blinked, looked away, confusion spreading across his face, his feet slightly stumbling on the rocks.

"Gonna call dibs on him, too?" Sam asked quietly, humor infecting his voice.

"What?" Lost at first, Dean quickly clued in, then scowled. That wasn't something they talked about, something he talked about, not even abstractly and definitely not specific to anybody. With a quick swipe, he knocked Sam's arm out from under him, making him fall back onto the hood with a bang that woke Ash from his meditative state.

"Who's hurtin' the car now, boys?" he asked, flipping to lean face-first over the windshield, his hair, sweaty as well as wet, sticking up at odd angles all over his head. It was a sore subject with him, one that Dean had accidentally broached the day before upon spotting him for the first time in a couple of years. He'd loudly exclaimed, "Dude, no mullet?!" and received two middle fingers in response and rampant laughter from Ellen, Bobby, and Jo; it turned out that he'd lost a bet with Ellen over who The Bachelor was going to pick on the last round of the show and her prize had been to cut off his Kentucky Waterfall under the pretense of merely seeing what he would look like without it. As it turned out he'd just looked weird, and they were all anxiously waiting for him to grow it back out. In the meantime, Bobby had bought him one of those trucker hats with the hair attached in the back, which Ash apparently hadn't realized was a joke and instead wore when he was working on his tech, holding to the fact he couldn't think straight without his Tennessee Tophat on. He did get a lot of work done. Hell, within the space of an hour, sporting his neck toupee, he'd cracked Dean, Sam, and John's phones then set up a program so John could hack in anywhere on his laptop within a few keypunches before their dad had to leave. He could wear the hat all the time if he did the same for Dean; after all, BustyAsianBeauties.com wasn't cheap, and he was getting tired of ruining other people's credit just so he could get his porn. Seemed morally reprehensible, somehow.

"Bite me, Ash," he replied lazily, flipping him off as Sam struggled back to an upright position, making little exclamations when the burning exterior sizzled against his skin. Then all three of them watched with varying levels of interest as the two groups made their way toward them, spreading into a half-circle around the Impala.

Jo hugged Anna and came to sit between Dean and Sam, wrapping an arm around each of them. "Let's go home. I'm starving and Bobby promised he'd make chili for me tonight. Besides, I'm sick of sitting around in wet clothes. Ash smells like feet."

"Uncalled for," came the cry from behind her, followed by an audible sniff. "Correction: fair enough." He slid forward, down the piping hot windshield, to crash into the three of them like a bowling ball smacking a brick wall; Sam was the only one who moved for him and even then it was just because Sam was Sam. Ash continued to slither forward until he tucked into a front roll off the car, arms extended, and came up sitting with his knees cocked, smiling at the group at large. "Howdy."

"Your, um," Rachel said, gesturing at Ash's pelvic area.

"Sweetheart, your penis is showing," Ollie said, grinning as Ash looked down, shrugged, then closed his legs a little.

"So why are we all gathered here today?" Dean asked. "Wait --- " He did a quick head count, then narrowed his eyes. "You don't all need a ride home, do you? Because there are some things my baby just doesn't do and acting like a clown car is one of them. Or a moving kennel." Besides the Impala, there was only one other car in the lot, a mid-sized Prius in a shimmery cornflower blue.

The guy with the monster pet pulled out a set of keys. "We have wheels, darling," he said, depressing the lock button which sent up an audible, cute little beep-beep from the Prius, making Dean snort with laughter.

"Dude, how do you fit that dog in that car? No, actually, how do you talk him into getting into that embarrassment to begin with?" he asked, brow cocked.

"Oh, he's very good at taking orders," the guy said.

Scoffing, Uriah remarked, "Like you aren't."

"And you've got loads of room to talk, do you, big boy?"

There was a snarl, first from Uriah, then from the dog, both of whom were held back, Uriah by Michael and Rafe, the dog by a simple clicking noise from his master. After that things were quiet for a moment, factions silently forming and dissolving, as the four at the Impala watched all of it with interested eyes.

"Dean, have you actually met Charlie yet?" Michael asked suddenly, breaking the mood. Instead of turning to look at him, he kept the demon in his sights, face ever so slightly amused.

Dean smiled. "Not in so many words. I'm Dean Winchester. This's my brother, Sam."

"Charles McCullough. My sisters, Meg and Ruby. And this," Charlie replied, scrubbing his dog's head with a friendly hand, "is Cernunnos."

The dog was still growling, low-level and intense, reverberating through the ground and up the frame of the car into the pit of Dean's stomach. He shifted slightly, ending with his arms hanging off his knees, protecting his center. Charlie caught the movement and smirked, making Dean scowl in response. He didn't like it, didn't like the dog or the way the guy was messing with him, didn't like the undercurrents or the fact some people seemed to be coming on too strong while others weren't coming on at all. Everyone was allowing each other to talk, one at a time, no one splitting off into smaller groups or having side conversations. It was weird.

"No one likes that dog," Jo said to him quietly, watching Charlie and Cernunnos. "It's a dick, just like the guy who owns it."

"Funny thing, I can hear from a distance of three feet away, even if you do mumble in that American hick trawl," Charlie said snarkily, Meg laughing behind him. Ruby took a few steps back, closer to Anna, who blinked and nudged Cas to the side.

Jo blushed, angry and tense; the fact this guy had embarrassed her pissed Dean off, and apparently Sam too as all three of them rose from the hood of the car, Ash likewise standing and brushing off the back of his boxers: a united front that easily formed. "Just because she called you a dick doesn't mean you have to prove her point," he said, stepping forward only to hesitate as the black monster also padded a step forward on dinner-plate paws. His ears were cocked, sharply pointed, and his fur was unrelieved shining black, not a spot of white to be seen. "Fucking demon dog."

All three of the McCulloughs laughed at that, Gabe and Ollie likewise joining in. The tension broke, Charlie and his sisters heading for their car, but not before the guy stopped and winked at Dean who was still pissed but now standing perhaps pointlessly in front of his car. "I like you. This is going to be fun."

"Okay?" Dean replied, confused, but unable to say anything else as Michael and Rafe appearing beside him diverted his attention, leaving the McCulloughs to make their escape. Sam watched Ruby as she gave him a little wave before disappearing into the back seat, the dog beside her; his brother noted it so he could make fun of him later. After all, payback was the Winchester way.

"Do you guys actually hang with that asshole?" he asked of the Palmeiros.

Michael shrugged while Rafe replied, "Their father and ours are old friends. It's part of the reason why we ended up in this town together. But no. We do not hang."

Shoving a hand through his white-gold hair, Michael smiled and changed the subject. "Dean, you should come over to our house for a cookout tomorrow." Before Dean could point out the obvious, he amended, "All four of you, if you wish."

"What do you think, Sammy?" he asked his brother, turning away from Michael a little. He didn't like when people ignored any member of his family, of which Jo and Ash were naturally included, but he especially didn't like anyone overlooking Sam. It was okay when he did it. And that was about it.

Sam considered for a moment, making Dean proud with his cool, take-no-shit face. Sometimes the kid was too nice, but he knew when to strap on and keep from letting people walk all over him. "We'll talk to Ellen and Bobby, see what they have planned, and get back to you," he said. "Guys, are we ready to leave?"

"Yup. Jo?"

"Sure am. Ash?"

"Hell yes! I hear there's Bobby's chili at the other end of this ride. Always ready for Bobby's chili." Ash cocked his thumb, pointed his finger, and sent an invisible bullet speeding at the Palmeiro brothers. "Catch y'all later."

They turned and began to get in the Impala, Jo waving to Anna before starting to rib Sam about having to sleep outside after eating their bean-filled dinner, Ash making it totally inside the car before his almost-bare ass met the hot interior and he got back out to tug his clothes on. Dean opened the driver's door and paused, looking back. The Palmeiro brothers had melted in with the rest of their family, Michael talking, everyone seeming to listen intently, except Gabe of course who was dancing behind Ollie, distracting him, and Cas. Cas's body was turned toward the group but his head was angled at Dean, eyes a rich, deep blue, slightly chapped lips set in a firm line. Dean started to smile at him again but something in the other guy's face made him stop; the seriousness of it, maybe, or the fact that his head slightly tilted, as if he was confused but trying to relate the best he could, like a puppy. So he just shook his own head, shrugged a little, not really sure what he was replying to, not really sure what he was saying, simply knowing that he was having silent conversations with someone he'd just met and was helpless to stop.

Then he got in his car, cranked the Zep, and drove off.

Michael stood with Rafe after the rest of his brothers and sisters had disappeared, ostensibly to walk home through the woods, actually to teleport there. But they'd been careful to implant a remembrance that the Palmeiro father preferred not to use cars, believing them to be bad for the environment and a waste of money, and so his children walked everywhere, all over town. It was easier that way.

"That did not go as expected," Rafe commented dryly, his tone as always flat and hard.

"No. It didn't. I attempted to isolate him too soon. I expected him to gravitate more easily toward the popular crowd. Instead it seems he prefers to be on the fringes. King of the rebels, much like Gabriel."

"It does not suit our plans."

"Plans can change."

"They are buying his soul even as we speak. You know what is coming."

"So let it come." Michael rolled his shoulders and repositioned, feet braced against the hard earth, cognizant of what lied below, trapped in his own personal hell yet still powerful for all that. "One way or another, we're going to win this. We're going to take this screwed up hunk of world and fix it. Remake it in our image."

"Not if I get there first ... "

[formerlysylvieplath-blog]

SHORTCUT ROAD

Supernatural High School AU set in the present day based largely around seasons 4 and 5.  Angels and demons alike descend on a small Colorado town where the teenage Winchester brothers recently moved to stay with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo while their father goes on an extended hunting trip.

CHAPTER ONE [PART 1]  CHAPTER ONE [PART 2]:

Not wanting to actually get in the water, Cas went to stand with Uriah, who was near the fire pit getting it started so they could make some lunch. They were going to eat together, like a normal family. It was odd. It was all odd. Jo had said hi to him as if they'd known each other for years, then she and Anna had talked like old friends, Jo telling her the story of the Winchesters arrival, Anna seeming to affect genuine interest in the topic as if she wasn't there for exactly that reason. His brothers were cavorting with Ash in the water and, having been introduced by Ash to Sam and Dean, were slowly including them in their play. Cars full of more teens arrived, each person showing no surprise or untoward interest in any of the Palmeiros; instead they went about normal human activities, talking, laughing, applying sunscreen, flicking each other with wet towels. Rachel split off to giggle and make eyes at younger boys with a group of younger girls; Ollie had snuck up behind an acne-ridden teen and poured water over his head, then the two had begun high-fiving and discussing what sounded suspiciously like a porn site; and the groups in the water were becoming more and more isolated and diverse as Michael and Rafe gathered the most popular of the teen set around them, leaving Gabe, Ash, and the Winchesters to hang with the outcasts, where apparently, judging by the laughter and adoring fanfare, Gabriel reigned. It was all so normal, so human.

No one really came to speak to him or Uriah; even Anna and Jo, who had a few other friends, were largely left alone. They had all written it that way, choosing to be more isolated as much as the move fit in with their adopted personas. Cas didn't know why the other two had designed it that way but, for him, it was about a level of comfort. He didn't wish to connect with anyone here, not really. Everything on Earth was so temporary, all of them so immediate and easily snuffed out. On some level he understood the purpose of the humans and his Father's choice to create them. They were endlessly entertaining and creative. But they were also wild, rambunctious, undisciplined, even frightening. One could never entirely determine what course of action they would choose; and, in his experience, their choices were often the wrong ones. Heaven was full of people who had made poor decisions. Though, to be fair, these days it didn't seem as if that was exclusive to humanity.

Deep within, he felt himself beginning to waver, the ability of his brothers to enact action like the one they were currently involved in making him wonder if his Father was speaking to them at all. Michael would never directly answer that question, instead vaguely alluding to instruction then pawning him off on Zach, who would talk around the issue for so long that Cas left with a headache and a greater sense of despair. Eventually, he'd learned to stop asking. But when Michael had presented them with the current "game" as he called it, Cas had felt it necessary to wonder, though he'd still all but blindly followed, only putting up token resistance. They were skipping steps, jumping over necessary acts, shortcutting destiny.

"They don't seem worth it." The low bass of Uriah's voice rumbled through Cas, recalling him to his brother's presence. He'd placed hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and was poking at them a bit harder than was necessary, fork clean and shockingly silver in his dark hand. At Cas's questioning look he went on, "The humans. They don't seem worth all this trouble. It would be easier to grab them, torture them into agreement, and end this as quickly as it was begun." Again another stab, another sizzle. "Instead we're pandering to them, becoming like them. Treating them as if they are more than we are. They stink of corruption and we allow it, becoming corrupt ourselves."

"No." Cas cut him off, knowing Uriah shouldn't be saying any of what he was. Even if they shared similar doubts, they couldn't speak any of them aloud. "Michael has received revelation. There is a purpose to this. We just do not see it. Simply because something is not seen does not mean it is not there. We know this better than anyone."

Uriah snorted, viciously attacking a brown-striped hot dog; then his reply was cut off as all the Palmeiros suddenly tensed, ears cocked toward the parking lot for just a moment, before they resumed their normal activities. No one seemed to notice, though Cas did see Dean and Sam exchanging glances that could've been anything from "did you catch that?" to "sorry our eye-lines momentarily intersected".

"They're here," Uriah said, unnecessarily. He flipped a burger and slapped it back down, Cas watching him with purposefully blank eyes.

"I know." He could feel them, pushing at his back. He resisted the urge to turn as the pressure grew, and so was surprised by the hand that landed heavily on his shoulder. Shifting to the side, he forced the hand to fall away, expression neutral as he faced the short, slightly round, dark-haired boy who had an amused twist to his lips. "You must be Crow --- "

"Ah-ah-a. They call me Charles here, darling," he cut Cas off, Scots accent lightly overlaying his words. He patted the head of the large, black Great Dane seated next to him much as he had patted Cas's shoulder, never mind that the dog was almost his height. "And which one are you?"

"Cas. This is my brother, Uriah." He gestured to Uriah who snorted again, his preferred method to express annoyance, and refused to look at Charles.

Charles smiled. "Pleasure. These are my sisters, Megan and Ruby. Say hi, girls." Behind him stood two pale, dark-haired girls, one of whom grinned viciously while the other gave a half-hearted nod, something like sympathy in her eyes. Cas was too aware of their evil to believe it.

They all stood there awkwardly for a moment, Charles's grin not letting up, Ruby beginning to squirm a little, while Cas and Uriah were totally still.

"Yeah, Charlie, we're going to go. You can tell these two are boring. And I see some boys I'd love to play with." Meg, clothed in a tiny white string bikini, a sparkling belly ring, and little else, spoke with a dark rasp, smile never leaving her face.

"Fine, fine. Just mind what you get into, Meg, and Ruby, look after your sister. Wouldn't do to get noticed too soon." At Charlie's dismissive wave, they headed for the water; Charles stayed and looked at Cas and Uriah, expression nothing sort of jovial. "So, can I get a frankfurter? Traveling made me famished."

"These aren't for such as you," Uriah snapped, acting as if the food was manna from Heaven. Cas, instead, chose to say nothing, unwilling to engage the enemy in any sort of dialogue.

"Too bad, then. Was just going to feed it to Cernunnos, here, anyway," he replied, grinning at their discomfort. "Can never be too careful. Now, as fun as this has been, I better go meet the rest of the yokels. But, honestly, boys --- good luck. May the best pseudo-men win." With a wave and a call of "c'mon, pup", he and the dog moved away, his happiness making Uriah snarl.

"Demons." A wealth of acidic hate bubbled in Uriah's single word.

"They were just trying to bait you. You make it too easy." Cas gave him a meaningful look, then walked away, meeting Anna where she was returning to her towel with Jo right behind her. Sitting next to her on the grass, hands neatly folded in his lap, he looked neutrally at both girls. Anna's eyes brushed his, and then her attention turned to Jo.

"Tell me more about the Winchesters. You said they're from Kansas?" Her tone was one of polite inquiry as she carefully toweled off her hair.

"Uh-huh, originally," Jo replied, rubbing down with a beach towel emblazoned with a faded NASCAR logo. "They and their dad have traveled quite a bit, but since this is Dean's last year of high school Uncle John wanted them to go to one school the whole year so Dean could feel like a real graduate or something. And since he and Bobby and Mom are such good friends, they picked here." She collapsed onto the ground, damp towel spread beneath her, and flung an arm over her eyes. "He dropped them off yesterday so they could get to know people and get comfortable over the summer."

"What does their dad do?" Anna asked, continuing the conversation from her now-seated position without realizing that Dean was creeping up the bank behind her, able to hear her questions. Cas saw him, however, blue eyes meeting green as Dean lifted a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, obviously asking Cas not to reveal his presence. He returned his eyes to his sister's face, unsure if he should be complicit in this or not. He couldn't imagine the human boy had anything too dangerous planned.

"He's a mechanic," Jo said lazily, body shifting as the sun dried her. "That's how he and my step-dad know each other, they --- augh! Fricking a! Dean!" Rocketing to her feet, she rounded on the laughing Winchester, who had leaned over her and wrung the water from his trunks onto her face, some of it splashing into her mouth. Jo started slapping at him, making him defensively raise his hands even as he kept laughing, humor complicating his ability to fend off her attack.

"That's for talking me into taking my car instead of Bobby's truck," he said, finally getting a grip on her wrists. "Now, let's hug it out. C'mon. C'mere." He pulled her forward into his embrace.

"God, Dean! You're still wet! That's disgusting!" Pushing him away, Jo sat back down on the ground, disgruntled. Dean settled next to her, smiling at all of them, happy with his revenge.

"Dean Winchester," he said, holding out a hand to Cas first, surprising him. Dean's eyes were intent on his face, belying the ease of his expression. Cas had the feeling the other boy missed nothing. He took Dean's hand uneasily and shook it a little, not really sure how much pressure to exert. Dean gripped his tightly, his hand warm and a little wet, skin wrinkled from extended exposure to the water.

"Cas Palmeiro. And my sister, Anna." He gestured to her, hoping to distract Dean's attention. Dean did grin at her and say hey, but then returned to looking at Cas.

"Palmeiro --- more of Gabe and Michael's family?" His mind was almost visibly calculating, trying to place all of them.

"Yes," Anna answered for him. "There are nine of us. Uriah's the oldest; he's over at the fire pit. Then Michael, Rafe, Gabe, and Zach who I believe you met. Next is Cas, then me, and finally Ollie and Rachel, who are both over there with their friends." She gestured to where the slightly younger kids were gathered, playing a game of whiffle ball in a clear space.

"Ah. Nine. That's a lot," Dean said rather lamely. "Some of you adopted?"

"Yes. Uriah, Rafe, Gabe, Anna, Ollie, and myself. Our parents were very generous, as well as very busy," Cas said, making both Jo and Dean snort with laughter. He wasn't entirely sure why. "They are both out of town at the moment. A mission trip." He offered the information without solicitation, suddenly feeling a bit foolish as if he was talking merely to fill up silences, which had never been his way before.

"Join the club," Dean remarked casually, relaxing back on one hand. "My dad's away working, too. Just me and my brother Sam, though. Hey, what grade are you in?" His eyes assigned the question to Cas.

"I am going to be a junior next year."

"You should meet Sam, then, that's his grade --- Hey, Sam! Sammy!" Dean called to the lake, his brother separating from a group of guys and looking at him with a question on his face before trudging out of the water at Dean's gesture.

"What's up?" he asked, reaching them, smiling in greeting to Anna and Cas, before turning his attention to Dean.

"Just wanted you to meet Cas, here. He's going to be a junior. And this is his sister, Anna. They're Gabe, Michael, Rafe, and uh --- "

"Zach, Ollie, Uriah, and Rachel's siblings," Jo filled in for him.

"Yeah, them," Dean said. "So sit down, make friends. I'll just move over here." He shifted so he was between Anna and Cas, smiling at the redhead a bit wickedly. Sam compliantly settled into his seat, looking comfortable as Jo moved to lay down again, her head this time resting on Sam's bare thigh.

Cas was a bit startled by their behavior; he and his siblings had always restricted themselves to the most minimal contact, not only due to respect for one another but also general inclination. Angels were not born, they were created. There was no need for any interaction of a sexual nature between them and, in fact, the sexuality of humans was an oft-debated issue amongst the heavenly host. A faction argued that, by engaging in carnal acts, humans were proving their moral inferiority to angels. Another, however, was adamant about the fact that sexual interaction was an expression of the Father's love and, while there were some humans who abused the act, many respected it for just that reason and so their angelic counterparts should do likewise and not judge so harshly. Castiel counted himself in neither group, nor did he dwell with Gabriel's kin, the ones who had inhabited human skin long enough to have established some sort of sexuality within themselves; instead, Cas was merely confused by the idea of it. He supposed it was some sort of expression of emotion, yes, but it seemed unnecessary. Any emotion that was appropriate to have was also only appropriate to have within yourself. Contact was exclusively for fighting or to convey wrongdoing. Punishment. Otherwise, he saw it as right to keep yourself contained, apart. Angels were both individuals and a collective, and he believed that only by respecting each other's individual presence could the collective remain strong. He didn't wish anyone to impose their individuality upon him; likewise he would refrain from imposing himself on others. It was a basic concept.

Not so to the humans, apparently, who were used to casual contact and familiarity. He didn't know what he would do if one of them attempted to place a part of themselves on him. The handshake had been difficult enough.

Resettling a bit, he noted that Sam's eyes were on him, gray-green and pleasant and neutral. "You have just moved here," he said, a bare statement of fact that he knew, by Sam and Jo's automatic smiles, was a bit socially awkward.

"Don't mind Cas, he's always like that," Jo said, who now rested with the dark sunglasses she'd pulled out of her shorts pocket perched on her nose. "Y'know. Abrupt."

Cas began to protest before realizing that she did, in fact, know him well enough to make such statements. Or at least she knew the simulated version of him implanted in her memories. "That's accurate."

Sam grinned wider, pushing a hand back through his wet hair, leaving it slicked to his head. "Well, so is the fact that yeah, we just moved here yesterday. Seems like a good place, though. No complaints so far."

"Yes, it is good," Cas said, nodding sagely, then turning to look at Anna with mute appeal in his eyes that only she would be able to read. That was, she would've been able to read, if there hadn't been someone monopolizing her attention.

" --- I'm going to be a junior, too," she was telling Dean, her face regaining some of the animation it had lost recently. Cas hadn't realized until now that it had been gone. "Cas and I are the only ones in our grade. Most of us are going to be seniors."

"Did you hear that, Sammy? Another junior, just like you." Waiting until Anna's attention was briefly turned away, Dean mouthed something that looked like "dibs" to his brother, who laughed a little.

Confused, Cas asked, "What is dibs?" The word felt unfamiliar in his mouth.

All the humans started cracking up while Anna blushed a bit, her eyes communicating frustration to Castiel. Apparently it was a concept she comprehended while he didn't, but he'd never been embarrassed to ask questions before, as long as they were appropriately timed, couched politely, and made out of actual ignorance rather than a feigned cluelessness born of the desire to put another down. Perhaps he'd broken one of the first two strictures, however. He simply wasn't sure. Over the millennia he'd found he did rather often misread events, as his sense of the situation often didn't match others. Uncomfortable, he shifted again; this time his leg and arm brushed against Dean's, their skin contacting briefly, hotly, before they both pulled away. Dean looked at him with a smiling inquiry in his gaze. Cas didn't understand the question, much less have an answer. He wanted to rub his arm, feeling as if his skin had been abraded, the hair standing slightly on end. But he was afraid to move for fear of more contact. He could feel Dean watching him, even as they all continued to laugh. The entire incident took no more than a moment.

Yet his skin still burned.

"Dibs means he's staking a claim on your sister, Cas," Jo explained, popping up to sit Indian-style, head now on Sam's shoulder; he moved to accommodate her more comfortably, wrapping an arm around her. She punched him in the rib cage, largely, apparently, because she could.

"Ah. A claim of a sexual nature," he said, realizing only after they dissolved into laughter again that perhaps it wasn't a statement he should make, especially when Dean agreed with a wink and a lurid, "Oh yeah". Anxious, he looked to Anna, who sat with flags of hot red high on her cheeks and refused to meet his eyes.

She stood and brushed off rather unnecessarily considering she'd been seated on a towel, then slipped her light dress on and said, "I'm going to go get food. Would anyone else like to come? Jo? Dean? Sam?"

"Yeah, I could eat," Dean said, standing, then reaching over to pull Jo to her feet as well when she extended her hands to him. "Sammy?"

"We'll be along in a minute," he replied. The other three walked away, talking and laughing, Dean seeming to smooth things over with Anna while Jo helped.

Head hanging a bit, Cas sat, unsure what to say, what to do. "I suppose I do not merit a personal invitation."

"Can you blame her?" Sam asked, tone anything but unkind. "It's not a big deal, though. People get embarrassed, but then they get over it. Happens to my brother all the time."

"Embarrassment?"

"Yeah, that. And the sexual innuendo stuff. He knows how to deal with it. Enjoys it, actually. Most of the time he's the one saying it." Grinning sharply, Sam shrugged a little, then stood and patted Cas on the shoulder as he walked past. "So don't worry about it."

There was just so much contact, so much oddity. He and Anna weren't even supposed to be engaging the Winchesters overmuch, being there as more support staff than the main line, and yet they'd just had an entire conversation and now she was going to have food with them. He and Dean had touched, albeit accidentally; Sam had comforted him, Jo had welcomed him. He just didn't understand them. And he didn't understand what his brothers were hoping to achieve here.

Sighing, Cas leaned forward and set his head in his hands, allowing himself a brief moment of doubt before rising to his feet to wander off into the woods, searching for direction.

[formerlysylvieplath-blog]

SHORTCUT ROAD

Supernatural High School AU set in the present day based largely around seasons 4 and 5.  Angels and demons alike descend on a small Colorado town where the teenage Winchester brothers recently moved to stay with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo while their father goes on an extended hunting trip.

CHAPTER ONE [PART ONE]:

Castiel was positive this was a bad idea. He didn't know how else to express it to his siblings, however; he'd spent the past month during the planning stages of this venture debating the very idea of it but not speaking aloud, knowing they wouldn't listen, instead praying they would recognize or receive revelation about the poorness of this decision. They hadn't, and here they were. It was his place to follow and to do it without argument, if not happily, and so he did. But he knew, deep in his new human host's belly, that there was no way for this to end but badly.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped a little farther forward onto the pebbles of the swimming hole's rocky shoreline. They were in northern Colorado, in a little town named DeChoix that all the locals said with a strong Americanized dee-chuh-wah-ex. It was a pretty place, fraying around the edges, but comfortable, just big enough for its own high school, not quite large enough to keep that high school's graduates from leaving town, with only one WalMart and two competing diners that made for some interesting eating. That tiny step forward was the only actual physical contact he'd had with the place aside from initially setting his feet down, but he knew all of that just the same. They'd been required to spend a solid day watching the patterns of DeChoix and its people, taking in more in those twenty-four hours than most noticed in a lifetime. He could speak about the crooked line down the pavement where Sycamore Street crossed with Ash, or how if you wanted cherry pie you needed to go to Jenny's Diner but you couldn't beat Sunshine Cafe's breakfast specials. He could talk about how evil Mr. Taylor was and how everyone was sure to fail his calculus class this semester but that was okay since they all knew he was just an asshole because he really wanted to be banging Ms. Carter-Smith, the art teacher, who wouldn't have anything to do with him. He could describe the inside of a bedroom he'd never been in, inside a home he'd never lived in, and yet the entire town believed he'd spent the majority of his life growing up there. It was staggering, what they'd been able to observe, what they'd managed to implant in peoples' minds.

It had been a long time since he'd last been human. It wasn't often required of those outside the inner circle; he, for example, hadn't been convincing nubile girls to allow God to impregnate them or giving the resultant step-fathers nightmares sending them fleeing into the depths of the desert. Occasionally they had to slip one on just to monitor things, but there wasn't a lot of discomfort in it as it wasn't a full body replacement. Their need for the hosts was so temporary that mere mental occupation was enough. Now, however, what with undertaking this extended campaign, he'd had to completely insert himself within his host. To make matters worse, it was the first time he'd been a teenager or, indeed, pre- or pubescent at all. His host had just turned seventeen, his hormones reflecting the change. It wasn't something Cas had ever had to deal with before and hadn't taken into account when preparing himself. His bright blue swimming trunks brushed across his groin, moving with the wind, and he winced, wanting to grab down there. He'd heard of these things happening. He just didn't want them happening to him. It was --- itchy.

An elbow plowed into his side, sending him sliding on the rocks as merry laughter rang out around the wooded area. Gabriel danced forward, brown hair first sliding into his eyes then cavorting with the breeze, expression pure mischievous energy. "Come on!" he shouted, raising his arms to the skies. "Move! Shake! Do something, do anything but stand there! Gahhhh!" His shouting became wordless, joyous, until suddenly his head snapped down and he pinned them all with a wicked grin and serious eyes. "Don't you feel it? We're human. It is so damn good to get into skin again." He curled and stretched, rubbing his hands across his shirtless chest, making Balthazar laugh and do the same. Gabriel smirked and went to join him, shoving him backwards perhaps harder than he meant to as he moved immediately to grab his stumbling brother and tug him in a playful circle. "You feel it, don't you, Balthy old boy? The completely fucking amazing feeling of being human!"

"Gabriel." Michael's voice cut through the noise of their play, making all but Gabriel still. Cas turned to watch him, uncomfortable with the realization Michael had been behind him the entire time and he'd only now noticed. He stood inches above all of them but Uriel, the golden white of his hair painfully bright in the summer sun; his posture was easy, even relaxed, but with Michael that was always a deadly mistake to make, confusing his comfort with his own body for a casual nature. Castiel knew it took only one wrong word, one poor decision, and his brother would snap to attention, prepared to face any oncoming enemy. Michael was a soldier. More than that, Michael was their general and they were expected to treat him as such. And really, they all did. Excepting, of course, Gabriel. And, oddly, Anna.

"Wrong name, big brother," Gabe said, all but ignoring Michael as he turned to look at the swimming hole, studying the murky brown-green of the water with relish.

Michael's eyebrow cocked, the only sign of disturbance. "Oh?" The syllable was quiet, heavy with meaning.

"Mhmm. Picked a new one, all by myself." He turned long enough to flash them a rebellious grin. "You might've heard it before, actually --- Judas. Ring any bells?"

Uriel growled and started forward, Michael's hand staying him. "How did you manage that, Gabriel? Uriel and Castiel were in charge of all names and records."

"Oh puh-lease, like I was going to let those two pick for me," Gabe retorted, scoffing. He began to stretch again, bending one arm over his head, then the other. He jogged in place for a moment, smiling a bit sadly as he rotated in a circle and noticed Balthazar sidling back to stand next to Rachel. "They're about as creative as Andy Dick's one-liners. " Seeing most of their blank looks, he rolled his eyes and explained. "Spend a day watching the town and no time devoted to pop culture? You have no respect for humanity. I'm saying that they're boring. Get it now?"

"Boring their choices may be," Michael agreed, making Cas burn internally with shame. "But also easy to remember and to use. Do you really believe that any of us are going to agree to refer to you as Judas?" His tone crawled over the last word, repugnance obvious.

"Do it, don't do it, doesn't make any difference to me. I wasn't the one who wanted to hide out in this hick town. Spread your wings on main street for all I care. Perform miracles for the mayor. I, brother, am only here for the mansuit. And the chicks." He touched himself one last time, winking, then took off at a full-out sprint for the water, diving off the embankment with a shrill scream.

The rest of them stood there for a moment more, carefully balanced, watching Michael. He finally sighed, allowing them to relax, and said almost to himself, "Hopefully he at least left Gabriel as his middle name." Voice hardening, he went on, "Which is what you all will call him."

Then, stepping further into the group until they all naturally formed a ring around him, he ordered, "Last sound off. Starting with you, Raphael."

"Rafe Matthew Palmeiro. Eighteen, senior next year, every sport but soccer and tennis. Was adopted at six, moved here at eight. Uriah and I are not brothers, though we're both inhabiting black hosts, and we're to be offended if anyone insinuates we are simply due to the color of our skin. Racists," he ended with a mutter, making Uriel laugh.

"Good. Next? Zachariah?"

He squirmed for just a moment before pasting on a conciliatory smile. "Zachary Andrew Palmeiro. Seventeen, one of the Palmeiros three biological children along with Rachel and you, Michael. I'll be a senior next year and am the student government treasurer." Zach smiled, as happy with the position as he was hoping he'd pleased Michael.

Without a word to him, Michael turned to Anna and gestured for her to begin. Her typically serene face gave no clue to her inner feelings, strands of vibrant red hair sifting around her shoulders. "Anna Elizabeth Palmeiro. Sixteen, seventeen in November. I was born in Portland and adopted by the Palmeiros when I was a year old. We moved here from Denver when I was six. I'll be a junior next year, and am heavily involved in the school KEY and BETA clubs as well as the event planning committee."

"Very good. Balthazar?"

"Bartholomew Mordecai Palmeiro. I hate when people call me Barthy, for obvious reasons. I go by Ollie instead. Fifteen, almost sixteen, which is almost eighteen, which is legal," he said with a leer, grinning until Michael stared at him. With a sigh, he rushed through the rest. "I'll be a sophomore in the fall, I was adopted when I was three from Denver, we moved here when I was five, I play golf and baseball and I recently got my permit and the first time driving nicked Mrs. Cooper's pig-shaped mailbox which accurately reflects the heft of its owner."

"Did you?" Michael asked, the slightest hint of amusement softening his features. "Careless. Uriel?"

He squared up, heels all but snapping together. "Uriah Thomas Palmeiro. Nineteen. I graduated two weeks ago and am taking a year off to do service work locally before going to the University of Colorado. I am the Palmeiros second child as I was a little over a year old when I was taken in. When our father left for his mission trip, he asked me to stay here to assist Michael in looking after the rest of you." Uriel eyeballed all of them as if they were heathens, a burden beyond bearing.

"Rachel?"

"Rachel Rebecca Palmeiro, fourteen, fifteen in July. An upcoming sophomore, one of the three biological children, cheerleader and mathlete. I take the most after our mother." She reached up and neatly tucked a hank of shining golden hair behind her ear, then smoothed down the fitted length of her white cover-up before returning her hands to their original position at her sides.

"Judas Gabriel Alejandro Delfinio Suarez Palmeiro." Gabe appeared behind Rafe, shaking his head and spraying water over all of them, grinning when his brother's eyebrows lowered. "Seventeen soon to be eighteen. Senior, which means one more year then I'm blowing this hellhole. I am the town prankster and troublemaker, all the men hate me, all the ladies love me, and I don't give a rat's ass. Ollie and Cas are my favorites, Ollie because I'm corrupting him, Cas because he's so incredibly boring it's almost fun to watch. I detest Uriel cause he's a big dumb lug, and I think Rafe smells like Axe body spray and ass. Uh, let's see, what else --- " He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "My favorite color is green, I'm obsessed with Disney movies, I once brought a raccoon into the house, I'm up for long walks on the beach, moonlit nights on the sand, and sex under the bleachers." With one more tap, he nodded. "And Michael's a douche."

Ignoring him, Michael turned and said, "Castiel."

He kept his face still, hands hanging open, feet spread an even shoulder's width apart. Logically, he had known it was his turn next, and he launched into the speech he had rehearsed in his head while the others talked. "I am Cas Anthony Palmeiro. I was born December 17th, 1993, in Boulder, Colorado. I was adopted in May of 1994 by Joseph and Maria Palmeiro, a pastor and his wife based in Denver, Colorado. In the year 2000, when I was seven, Joseph received a pastorship at a church in DeChoix, Colorado, and we summarily moved. I will be a junior next year. I am a mathlete and member of the chess team, though there are only three of us so the assignation 'team' is debatable." He paused, ostensibly done, but then his mouth opened once more, words hesitating on his tongue as if they themselves knew it was pointless for them to be spoken. "I would like to say that I do not --- "

"Michael Joseph Palmeiro. No one calls me Mike or Mikey except Mom. Eighteen, the oldest biological child, and the one who's been with the Palmeiros the longest. I'll be a senior next year, and am captain of the football, basketball, swimming, and track teams, as well as a student council member. We moved to DeChoix when I was eight, and I adjusted most readily to the move. Last year I was crowned king of the junior prom. I'm active in the JROTC and led our drill team to victory in the state championships." Michael, having cut Castiel off without even bothering to look at him, rattled that off easily, then scared him by smiling, strong white teeth flashing. "From here on out, we will use these names and only these names for one another -- excepting Gabriel, who again will be referred to as Gabriel and nothing else -- even in our thoughts. We will stick to the rules Lucifer and I agreed on, and we will win this."

He paused, head cocked, then smiled again, bigger, brighter. "I hear cars coming. Get ready. It's time for the game to start."

Clapping Rafe on the shoulder, the two of them along with Uriah and Zachary moved toward the water, the former chatting easily back and forth as Zach occasionally interrupted and Uriah watched silently. Ollie came up behind Rachel and tugged her hair, making her spin, only to have Gabe do the same from the other side; Rachel began to protest and the boys only amped up the teasing in response, the three of them sniping back and forth as they moved away.

Anna came to stand next to Castiel and, as one, they turned to watch the makeshift parking lot that was little more than torn-up crab grass. "We shouldn't be doing this, Anna. There is a preordained order to things and --- "

"It doesn't matter now, Castiel," Anna replied, breaking Michael's first name policy without fear only minutes after he made it. "What's done is done. This is the situation. You just have to deal with it. We all have to deal with it."

There was a deep rumble, then a black '67 Chevy Impala cruised into the lot, spilling out four passengers, one girl and three guys. The driver, irate, started cursing at the laughing girl before checking the undercarriage of his car, patting its grill with a murmured, "What did that mean dirt road do to you, baby?"

Cas studied them, worry creasing his adolescent brow. They looked so innocent. "It is not fair to them."

Anna laughed, bitterly. "Oh, Castiel. You should know by now --- nothing about existence is fair. It simply is." With that, she turned, walking slowly to first collect a towel from the pile that had appeared on the beach with them, then to lay on a shaded spot in the grass away from everyone.

Watching as the boy finished soothing his injured car and the other three stopped making fun of him for caring so much, Cas felt another throb of premonition, followed by sorrow. It was not their purpose to bring difficulty and decision into the lives of humans, not because of their own inclination. It was their purpose to do their Father's work. But he'd been so indirect for so long that Michael and Lucifer grew bored, restless, deciding to change the game because, as Michael repeated over and over like a line of lyric he just couldn't shake, when the Father's away the angels will play.

He just wished, futilely, that the Winchester brothers weren't the ones they had to play with.

Dean scowled at the mud splattered over the wheels of his beloved car, a gift from his dad when he dropped them off at Bobby's. There were bits of rock and grass crunched up in the treads, which meant they sure as shit had pinged on the undercarriage, which meant that Jo's promise about the road being entirely fine for him to drive on was bull. He stood up and glared at her just so she would know he was pissed; that only led to her laughing harder and rolling her eyes, elbowing Sam and commenting, "Let's get our stuff and head for the lake. I think Dean and his baby need their privacy so she can heal."

Sam grinned and nodded his agreement, but not before moving to pat Dean's shoulder, giving the comfort his little brother offered too easily. "It didn't sound too bad. Honestly, if Ash hadn't rocked around so much we wouldn't have scraped even once."

From back near the trunk came a voice filled with a breathy Southern slur. "Just testin' the suspension. Never know where you could make improvements." He closed the trunk with a clatter, tossing a beer from the cooler he'd removed to Dean who caught it easily, ignoring the slightly stinging slap of metal against his palm for the sake of the cold comfort within. "Besides, she ain't hurt. Made of sterner stuff, this one." Ash patted the car, smiling at Dean, who shrugged in complicit agreement before turning his back on them to crack open his beer and study the lake. Moving to stretch his arms to the sky, Ash unknowingly mirrored the actions of an angel from only a few minutes before, then smacked Sam on the ass and sprinted for the lake with a scream, dropping the cooler and stripping his clothes off along the way, broke-down boots, torn jeans, and black muscle t-shirt littering the bank like shrapnel.

"Doesn't he own a pair of trunks?" Dean asked, watching Ash splash into the water in nothing but his boxers. Shaking his head, he took a long swallow.

"Probably not," Jo replied, grinning. "You think he'd wear them even if he did?" She slung a towel around Dean's neck and strangled him a little, making him laugh, before cocking an eyebrow at the brothers and commenting, "Well, since you two are being such slowpokes, I'm going to go hang out with my friends. I'm sure you two can find your way around. Water, beach, bank, forest --- you get the idea." Then she, too, moved away, greeting a brown-haired boy standing at the edge of the parking lot before settling in next to a red-haired girl who welcomed her with a warm smile.

Sam stood shoulder to shoulder with Dean --- or, well, almost, as his brother had shot up over the past few months, leaving him standing at a good three inches above Dean's head --- and looked over the lake as he was doing. Ash was wrestling with some guys in the water, flailing limbs flashing white and brown; Jo was stripping down her cut-off shorts, leaving her in a slightly worn red bikini, as the girl next to her likewise removed her coverup, displaying a black one-piece bathing suit Dean found oddly attractive for being so modest; a blonde girl screamed as a taller guy picked her up and slung her out into the deep; and the boy, the blue-eyed one at the edge of the lot, watched the two of them as they were watching everyone else, not bothering to turn away when Dean caught his gaze, instead nodding calmly before picking his way over the rocks to where Jo and her friend were getting ready to hop in the lake. Interesting. It wasn't often that anyone paid specific attention to him and Sam, not when they weren't trying to attract it; and it was strange, too, for someone to react so collectedly to being caught staring.

"New town," Dean said suddenly, crushing the beer can in his hand and dropping it on the ground.

"Yup," Sam agreed, bending down to pick it up so he could toss it in the trash on their way to the beach.

"New school." Rolling his shoulders, Dean stood comfortably bare from the waist up, excluding his omnipresent amulet, his bottom half clothed in camouflage-patterned swimming trunks and his boots.

"Yeah," Sam agreed again, adjusting his own slightly small pair of navy swim shorts Dean had found in the clothes their dad left behind.

"New --- friends," he spoke again, looking over the red-head before his eyes strayed to the boy next to her.

At that Sam laughed. "At least we have Ash and Jo this time. Bobby and Ellen. Rufus. It won't be like starting over entirely."

"Yeah. Thank god for Rufus." With that bit of wit, Dean hit his brother with a cocky grin, then smacked him on the shoulder. "C'mon, Sammy. Let's go show 'em how swimming is done. Winchester style."

Then he headed for the water, laughing as Sam called from behind him, "You're gonna let them see you dog-paddle?"

[mrjackleshasmoved-blog]

au destiel hs fanfic. written by paranoidbastard. all sorts of epic. dean/cas, sam/ruby.

SUMMARY:

Set in the present day, angels and demons alike descend on a small Colorado town where the teenage Winchester brothers recently moved to stay with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo while their father goes on an extended hunting trip. 

[mrjackleshasmoved-blog]

not mine but damn amazing <3 ilu mercy bb

SUMMARY: Set in the present day, angels and demons alike descend on a small Colorado town where the teenage Winchester brothers recently moved to stay with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo while their father goes on an extended hunting trip.