We've put a new agent on the case.

A new agent.

New.

Does he mean in addition to Castiel, or replacing him? Or replacing his partner or someone else on the case? Or does he not mean it at all, and he's trying to throw him off? He asked for Castiel at the press release, and suddenly it seems possible that Castiel's gone entirely? That can't be a coincidence. Michael's a liar; Dean's known that for a long time. But is this one of his lies?

He has too many questions. What exactly is going on? Who's this supposed new guy? What's he doing? What's going to change? Is Castiel still around? How's he supposed to figure this shit out if Michael won't fucking talk to him — talk to anyone?

He'll just have to take matters into his item hands.

~~

"Cas, call me. 605-555-1967."

And now, he waits for his bloody booty call to go through.

~~

When Dean's new burner phone rings almost a day later, words cannot explain how excited he was. He's been sitting at the local airport since he bought the phone, just waiting for this moment. He answers it without a moment of hesitation.

"Hi." Is that how a normal person answers a normal phone call? This is a little too important to act normal. He's thrilled to finally get to talk to this guy.

"Is this the —"

"You're not Castiel," Dean interrupts, his hopes dashed. What the fuck is this?

"What?"

"This isn't Castiel," Dean says. "I recognize the voice. Call me when you have Castiel on the phone."

With that, Dean hangs up, fighting back a sigh. Well, this fucking sucks. It looks like it's time to get the hell out of dodge before they track his location. Maybe he should get a new burner phone while he's at it, just in case they can track his. Well, fuck.