"Are you absolutely positive that was not Dean Winchester?" Charlie asks as soon as they've left the store. "Like, completely, 100-percent positive? No room for doubt? It really wasn't...?"

Castiel shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure that if one of us would recognize Dean Winchester, it would be the guy who lived with him for almost a decade, not the one who saw him for five minutes in a bank almost a month ago."

Charlie frowns. "I mean, I guess, but he really..." She sighs. "No, I guess you've got a point. You'd know better than I would."

The rest of the walk to the car is silent. Castiel appreciates that. He's a little too shaken up right now to hold a real conversation. What the fuck was Dean doing? He fucking killed a dude! On camera! Granted, it was a bad dude and it's hard to hold that against him, but still! What the fuck?

And, in the midst of Castiel's crisis, Charlie decides they don't like this silence and they break it not long after they get in the car, much to his dismay.

"Do you actually not remember his name, or did you just not want Jody to know it?"

"I really have no idea what his name is," Castiel lies. "I told you; it's been a really long time since I've seen most of these people. I'm impressed with myself for even recognizing him."

"Hmm, that's fair," Charlie says. "So, it looks like Jody's going after the Hunters now. How's that feel?"

Castiel just shrugs and looks out the window.

"Okay, you're not as excited as I'd expected," Charlie remarks. "Isn't this a good thing? Maybe they'll finally take them down! Wouldn't that be great? You won't have to worry about them anymore!"

"Yeah, that'll be great," Castiel says, but he can't even pretend he's excited about it. He's not that good of a liar, and Charlie is (usually) good at picking up when he;s lying

"Do you not want them to go down?" Charlie asks. "I mean, it's a gang. They're criminals. They ruined your childhood. Shouldn't you be rooting for this?"

Castiel sighs. "I told you, there's more to it than that."

"But... They suck." Charlie pauses. "I thought."

"They do," Castiel says, "but they don't. It's complicated."

"What does that even mean?" Charlie asks.

Castiel waves that question off.

"No, seriously, what the fuck does that mean?" Charlie asks. "Like, I'm sorry, I know I said I wasn't gonna bother you about this anymore, but, like, what the fuck?"

Castiel turns his attention back to her, and his friend takes their eyes off the road for a few seconds to give him a puzzled glance. Castiel just cocks an eyebrow. He doesn't want to have this conversation at all, but if he has to, it's not starting with a question as vague as "what the fuck?"

"Just, tell me one thing," Charlie says. "At the very least, you gotta tell me this one thing. Did you like them or not? Because I feel like this is something I should really know if we're going to be fighting crime in a city populated by your ex-gang-members."

"I did," Castiel says simply.

Charlie waits for a few seconds, and when he doesn't elaborate, she asks, "Okay, and do you still like them? Like, how do you feel about them now? And how do they feel about you?"

"I don't know," Castiel replies.

"For which question?"

"Both."

Charlie nods slowly. "Okay, that's fair." She drums her fingers on the steering wheel. "If they take the Hunters down, are you going to...?"

"Try to stop it?" Castiel finishes. "Of course not. I'm sentimental, not stupid."

"Actually," Charlie says, "I was gonna say, 'are you going to be okay,' but that is good to hear, too."

"Oh." Castiel frowns. That's awkward. "It doesn't matter. The guy literally winked at the camera. He knows people are looking for him, and he's going to lay low for a few weeks until this blows over. No one's gonna catch him or the other Hunters. At least, not because of this."

"You sound so confident," Charlie remarks. "I wish I had that much faith in... well, in literally anything."

"What can I say?" Castiel says. "I know when to pick my battles, and this is not one I would choose."