CastieI is in the middle of cleaning the blood off Jack's arm when the doorbell rings. He groans and puts the towel down. Doesn't he have enough on his plate without adding a new visitor to the list?

He gets up to check who it is anyway. If it's Dean — something he wouldn't have considered until Jack showed up, but now it feels like a reasonable fear — and he doesn't think anyone is home, he'll probably pick the lock and come in anyway. That would be pretty difficult to explain to Charlie.

He opens the door just a crack to see who it is, and to his surprise, he's greeted by another cop — one who looks just as surprised to see him.

"Hey, Randy," CastieI says warily. "What's up?" That is, of course, just his polite way of asking what the fuck, Disher?

"Oh, hi," Randy says awkwardly. "This your place?"

"That it is," CastieI replies.

"Huh." Randy shrugs that off. "I'm sure this is going to sound really weird, but I'm actually doing a wellness check? Someone thought they saw someone covered in blood come here — stupid, I know. I guess they got the wrong apartment, huh?"

That leaves CastieI with two options. Randy is clearly ready to overlook this, so Castiel could pass it off as a case of mistaken identity that he seems so willing to believe. There's always a chance he'll try to follow up, though, either with his neighbors or with whoever got the (other) cops involved. Alternatively, he could admit that it's true and that someone did see Jack, but put a spin on it that gets him off the hook. He'd be implicating himself in this, but hopefully in a way that puts an end to it. He'd like to think it's less likely he'd get caught in a lie doing the latter, but it's going take a much bigger lie than "It wasn't me.

He only hesitates for a moment, so briefly that he's sure no one notices, before he spits out the first story he can think of. "You've got the right place, but I think you wasted a visit. He's actually a... good friend of mine... who got in a bike accident." It's no secret around the station that Castiel likes guys, so Randy doubtlessly assumes he means a fuckbuddy, which is exactly what he was hoping for. "I'd let you talk to him, but he's passed out on my bed right now."

"Ah, okay," Randy says. "Glad that was just a misunderstanding. Is he doing okay? It didn't sound good."

"You know, he's more upset about his bike than anything," CastieI says. "I'm sure he'll be up and at 'em tomorrow. He's a tough dude."

"Glad to hear it," Randy says. "I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Sorry about this.".

"No problem," CastieI assures him. "See you later, Randy."

"You too."

CastieI closes the door, locks it, and turns around to see Charlie gaping at him, her jaw practically on the ground. He hadn't really thought about how Charlie would react to that. In hindsight, maybe a quick "Wasn't me" would have been better.

"Was that Randy Disher?" Charlie asks.

"Does it matter?" CastieI replies dismissively, heading back to Jack's side.

"Yes, it matters!" they say loudly, and Castiel grimaces. Hopefully Randy didn't hear that. "You just lied to the fucking cops!"

"I prefer to think I just misled a coworker," CastieI says, as if that will make this any better.

"And you didn't even flinch!" she adds. "Hell, I would have believed you if I wasn't standing ten feet away from the kid!"

Castiel shrugs. "So I'm a good liar. What about it?"

"'What about it?'" Charlie scoffs. "You're lying to the cops like it's your goddamn day job, that's what! Do I even want to ask how often you do this, or is it just going to piss me off more?"

"Look," Castiel says, "I asked you to leave before you got in too deep and you refused. Well. congratu-fucking-lations, you've now seen what it looks like to get in too deep. If you don't want to deal with it, you know where the door is."

Charlie crosses their arms. "I can't believe you."

Jack clears his throat, and when both adults look at him, he just asks a quiet, "Cas, can you go get me something to drink? I think I'm dehydrated from, you know, bleeding everywhere."

Castiel gives him a small, sympathetic smile. He doesn't want to drag Jack into his fight, even if it is mostly Jack's fault they're fighting in the first place. "Sure, buddy. Water? Soda? Juice?"

"Apple juice?" he asks hopefully.

CastieI nods. "I do have apple juice."

"Yay!"

CastieI looks to Charlie. "I am going to go get some apple juice. By the time I get back, you better have decided whether you're in this with me or not."

And with that, he walks out of the room and to the kitchen, where he really hopes he still has apple juice in the fridge (spoiler alert: he does).

He's not sure whether he hopes Charlie stays or leaves. As much as he appreciates the occasional joke they crack, he feels like he's walking on eggshells around them. They could probably have Jack arrested just because he's a Hunter and hope someone finds something to pin on him within 24 hours. If they actually knew what he's done — the shootout behind the mall, for one — he could be going away for a long time. One slip-up could be the end for him.

On the other hand, if Charlie decides she's not in this and leaves, there's a good chance she would take it to the cops. He'd have to get Jack out of here immediately and think up a new lie to piggyback off the old one. His fictional hookup is supposedly asleep in his bed; how could he explain that just a few minutes later, his entire house empty? If she involved the cops, either she or Castiel is getting in trouble, depending on whom the cops believe (and, realistically, it would probably be her).

And, as much as having them around complicates things, Charlie also lightens the mood with her jokes. Now that all they're doing is trying to get Jack cleaned up, their conversation has mostly devolved into small talk, and Charlie makes things entertaining.

He supposes he wins and loses either way, so it doesn't matter too much. He just really hopes they don't get the police involved. That would just cause a lot of trouble that he wouldn't know how to handle.

Castiel grabs the cup of apple juice and makes his way back to the living room, but he pauses at the sound of Jack's voice. He hadn't thought about what would happen while he wasn't there. He'd sort of assumed Charlie would just walk out, if he's being completely honest. It sounds like that wasn't the case, and he's interested to hear what he's missed. He stands just out of sight and listens closely. This is going to be interesting.

"... a Hunter again and he turned it down every time," Jack is saying. "I don't think he's talked to any of us in months."

"Then why did you decide to come here?" Charlie asks, and she doesn't sound accusative at all; she just sounds curious. That actually bodes surprisingly well for him.

"Because I knew I could trust him," Jack says. "Partially because he's family and partially because he's good. If he thought turning me in would be in everyone's best interest, I have no doubt that he would, but he knows that being a Hunter doesn't mean I'm a threat to anyone. I'm just doing my best in a world where it's far too easy to do your worst."

CastieI smiles. He said somehow like that to Dean once, many years ago. He can't help but wonder if that's who Jack heard it from, or if he and Castiel are just so much alike that they both had the same thought. He's not sure which he likes more.

"Huh," Charlie says. "You know, I don't have much experience with Hunters, but if they turned out people like you and Cas, I think they might deserve a little more respect than I've been giving."

"I promise, we're not as bad as our reputation," Jack says.

CastieI takes that moment to walk back into the room. He's heard just about all he needed to, and he's pretty content with it. Was that Jack's plan all along? Just a chance to talk to her alone? If it was, it seems to have gone well.

Castiel hands Jack his cup of apple juice, and he gets a, "Thank you," in response. Jack takes a few sips before setting it down on the coffee table.

CastieI turns to his other friend. If Jack was going to try to clean up their mess, the least Castiel could do it go along with it -- and he probably does owe this to his friend. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. You had every reason to be upset, and I'm sorry for overreacting like that."

Charlie just shrugs that off. "Hey, man, I get it. I mean, I don't get it because you haven't really told me anything, but I get it. You're just trying to do what you have to to keep your friend safe."

"That about sums it up," CastieI says sheepishly. "I still didn't have to snap at you, though."

"Eh, it's fine," they say. "I'll just take it as a warning about what not to do if-slash-when I get in as deep as you."

"So you're gonna stick around?".

"Oh, hell yeah," she says. "What am I if not your favorite ride-or-die friend?" With a fond look at Jack, she adds, "And I like this kid. I don't know anything about him, but I like him."

Jack beams. "I love when fights resolve themselves!"