Dean and Cas stepped back outside into the bright afternoon sun, blinking and shielding their eyes from the light change.

"Man, it's dark in there. Remind me to mention it to Bobby next time we go back."

"Unless we'll be going back within the next 2 days, which seems rather redundant, I do not think I will be able to remind you of that."

"Oh. Right." Dean said awkwardly. God, he was an idiot. "Alright, now you've met the family and Bobby hasn't killed you, let's head off to the big city."

"I'm assuming that was test?" Cas asked dryly.

"Yup." Dean grinned. "Bobby's a great judge of character. Despite being a bit of a pain the rear himself."

"I can assure you, I am not an axe-murderer.

"Yeah, you look real terrifying with a cat sitting on your shoulder." Gabriel growled.

Cas raised an eyebrow. "I'll have you know that Gabriel can be terrifying, if he so chose."

"I'm sure. C'mon, the city is this way." Dean led Cas and the not-so-terrifying cat down a road that trailed off to the left.

"Is this road... paved with yellow brick?" Cas asked haltingly.

Dean looked down at the path under his feet. "Huh. I never noticed that before. I hope you don't expect me to start dancing and singing while we prance around with linked elbows, looking for witches and wizards, cus that ain't happenin."

Cas looked taken aback.

"Wait, did you /expect/ me to go skipping with you?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"No, I am silly surpassed you understood that reference. I did not take you as a reader of Baum. "

"Stereotyping much?" Dean bumped his shoulder into Cas's, shoving him softly. "I am literate, you know."

Cas's mouth quirked into a smile. "It seems I may have misjudged you."

"Just a bit. But hey, no harm, no foul. You definitely have more reading time than I do."

Cas inclined his head. "That is probably true. What was the last thing you read?"

Dean's eyes lit up. "I just erased this really interesting book by this guy Locke? He's one of those new-age Enlightenment guys. He wrote about freer government and how people have the rights to life, liberty, and… damn, I forgot the last one."

"Property?" Cas suggested.

Dean snapped his finger. "Yeah, that was it. You've read it?"

Cas's smile grew. "I have. I must say, I am impressed by your reading selection."

Dean bowed at the waist. "What can I say? I'm an impressive kind of guy. So, what did you think of it?"

Cas's expression turned thoughtful. "I'm not sure. I respect the king and queen. They are just rulers, who do not oppress their people or overburden them with taxes. I do not know what a legislature might do to our country. There is a significant concern that the people who would be in this legislature would not be the best of be people, and they might bring corruption into our government."

Dean thought about that for a moment. "I see your point. But would it be so terrible for us to have a few more rights?"

"I suppose not." Cas admitted. "At any rate, I prefer Locke to that imbecile Hobbes."

"Is he the one that said humans are animals?"

"And that the only way civilization can continue is through despotic leaders, yes. I do not care for him nor his idea very much."

"God, I hate that guy. He's an idiot."

"I agree. Unfortunately, his beliefs have many supporters."

Dean snorted. "Yeah, all the despots and their sons next in line for the throne."

"Well, in today's day and age, those are generally the only opinions that matter."

Dean sighed. "I know, I know. But don't you ever get the feeling that things could be better? That things don't have to stay the way that they are, that you should get up and do something about it? Have you ever felt that?"

"I cannot say that I have." Cas said apologetically. "My dreams were never so ambitious. My one dream was always to just /leave/. I have never really thought past that point. Everything after that was always utter fantasy."

Dean chuckled. "And now you're out. Cas, buddy, I think it's time to get you a new dream."

Cas looked up at the sky, as if still full of wonder that he was walking directly below it. "I do not even know what I would want to do. What kind of goal can I accomplish in less than 2 days?"

"You'd be surprised. I-" Dean stopped midsentence, pulling up short. Something wasn't right. "C'mere." he whispered, his voice taking on a more urgent tone. He grabbed Cas's arm, yanking him into a bush that was growing alongside the road.

"What-" Cas began to say, but Dean clamped a hand over his mouth.

Wait. That was kind of awkward.

Dean quickly removed his hand, instead placing a finger to his lips. Cas nodded solemnly, somehow not rustling the leaves above his head.

Dean listened harder, but there was nothing else to hear. The forest had gone silent. Dean let out a slow breath, relived. He was just being paranoid. Everything was just fi-

"Ahh!" Cas yelled, and Dean's heart rate rose a few notches. Dean whipped around to see Cas staring directly into the eyes of a horse. A familiar horse.

"Palace guard!" Dean yelled, grabbing Cas's hand again, yanking him from his position on the ground, while Dean began to run. As his feet pounded on the less than fantastical yellow brick road, Dean could hear Cas labored breath as he struggled to keep up. The guy might be fit, but he wasn't exactly used to running long distances. Dean kept up his pace, but turned his head back towards Cas.

"Don't worry, just a little bit further."

"Dean." Cas managed, his lungs struggling for air as his legs kept pressing forwards.

"Don't worry you'll be fine." Dean reassured him. He hoped so, at least.

"Dean!" Cas gasped, but before Dean could ask what was wrong, other than the fact that he simply could not run as fast as Dean, Dean ran headlong into something solid.

"Oof!" He exclaimed, falling on his back. Smooth, Winchester, very smooth.

He looked up to see what he had run into. Did the road curve here? No, it couldn't have been a tree. When the blackness finally faded from the edges of his eyesight, he saw what it was that had knocked him down.

The horse in front of him neighed, rising up on its high legs in some demented horse victory dance. Dean shot the horse a look, which only made the horse neigh louder with… was that laughter?

"Shut up." Dean grumbled, brushing himself off. Behind him, Cas was shaking softly, covering his mouth that betrayed his smile. Damn traitor.

"Calm down, Dean." Cas said when he had composed himself. "I do not think he is going to hurt us."

"And what makes you say that?" Dean asked, accusatorially, eyeing the horse suspiciously. The thing was huge, even for a horse. And his rider must have had a thing for lions, because this horse's mane was longer than some girls' hair that Dean had seen.

"Cas, this is a palace horse. Look at the insignia the thing is wearing. Are you forgetting the wanted posters?"

"It's a he, not an it. His name is Samuel. And no, I have not forgotten your criminal tendencies just yet."

"How do you know, it's, sorry, his name?"

"It says so, right above the insignia which you so kindly pointed out to me."

"Oh. Right." Dean propped himself up on his elbows. "But forget the name. A few hours ago, Samantha over here tried to kill me!"

The horse huffed indignantly.

"Dean, the world is full of wondrous creatures. Should we not attempt to get along with them?"

Okay, the guy had a point. Also, this was probably the first time Cas had ever even seen a real horse.

"So what do we do with him?" Dean wondered aloud. Before Cas could even suggest an answer though, Gabriel abandoned his position on Cas's shoulder, instead choosing to sit on the ground in front of the horse. Samuel, or whatever his name was, bent his head to examine the cat. The two of them stared at each other, neither moving.

Slowly, Dean got to his feet, moving to stand next to Cas. "Umm, this may seem like a stupid question, but why are they stating at each other?"

"Gabriel is, as you put it, 'a great judge of character'."

Before Dean could even conceive a response to that, Gabriel abruptly ended the staring match by scampering up the horse's leg, and settling down on his back. Content, Gabriel made himself comfortable in the horse's hair. The horse was clearly not happy with this arrangement. He reared up on his hind legs, shook his mane, and ran in circles, as if chasing his tail. But all the while, Gabriel held on. Okay, Dean was a little impressed.

Eventually, the horse stopped, letting out a sound that sounded way too much like an aggravated sigh. Gabriel settled into his new perch, wrapping himself in the horse's mane.

"Really, you have no one but yourself to blame for this, Sammy." Dean told the horse. "I told you to cut your hair."

"Dean, please stop teasing the horse. Samuel, please try to restrain yourself. I know Dean can be a pain, but please, for my sake, try not to kill him for the next 2 days. After that, you are free to seek revenge for all the times he will annoy you over the course of the next 2 days."

Sam didn't look too impressed by this speech, but he didn't kick up a fuss. Dean, on the other hand, was offended.

"Hey! I am not that hard to get along with. And who said anything about this hairball joining the wolf-pack?"

"Would you like to try to get Gabriel off of the horse?" Cas asked, leaning his head towards his cat's new home.

"Fair point. Okay, sparkle pony, you can join the caravan." Sam kicked Dean in response.

"See, we'll get along great." Dean turned to Cas, grinning. But then he was on the floor again, face first. That damn horse!

Dean's eyesight went a bit black for the second time in as many minutes. And this time, the only thing he could hear was Cas's laughter, which made his heart lift. No, it didn't, that was just his elevated heart rate from the adrenaline.

No, it wasn't. God, he was so screwed.

Ahh! The responce to this has been amazing! Thank you all so much, you have no idea what your feedback means to me.