Book 22 - Motorway To Roswell

by GailDunn2

WARNING: Adult content and situations. It is finally time for Castiel's group to obtain the last Tablet, but there are roadblocks. Lucifer is organizing Armageddon behind the scenes, but there are other issues to deal with now. Can the team overcome the obstacles that continue to be thrown their way?

1. Time Stand Still

BOOK FIVE - ANGELS, ALIENS AND ARCHETYPES

Chapter 1 - Time Stand Still

They were just finishing up with dinner. Barry had set up the food in the kitchen buffet-style, and the humans had all loaded their plates and brought them back out to the library area. Gail hadn't wanted the group to be segregated into humans and Angels. The noise level in the library was considerable, but it sounded like everyone was having a good time reconnecting.

The group that had gone to Romania were telling their Angel and human friends about their adventures over there. After a bit of prodding, Cas had joined in. He'd realized that Gail was right; the mission in Romania was over now, and they needed to put it behind them and move on. Klara's death had been very sad and it had been completely unnecessary, but otherwise, there had been no lasting harm done. The bottom line was, the Tablet had been successfully acquired, and perhaps best of all, Jason was finally dead.

So now, they would be gearing up for the road trip to go and obtain the fifth and final Tablet. But Tommy had advised that they should take their time about getting to Nevada, because his contact would probably need two weeks or so to get them the Top Secret clearance they would need in order to safely enter Area 51. But Cas thought the delay could actually be a blessing in disguise. There were a few things that various members of their group would need to attend to before going out on the road again. But if everything worked out the way he anticipated, they should have the Tablet a week to ten days before Christmas. Cas fully intended to keep his promise to Gail about that. So, unless they were in the midst of something that would alter the fate of all mankind, they were damn well going to take a couple of days to celebrate Christmas with their friends and family, and with each other. No one deserved a happy and loving Christmas more than Gail, in Cas's opinion. They all did.

Cas had apologized to Riley when their human friends were eating dinner, and Riley had apologized right back.

"You must understand that these Tablet missions are fraught with danger, and many lives have been lost in their acquisition," Castiel had said to the young Angel. "Therefore, they take a toll on those involved, both physically and emotionally." He frowned. "Lucifer enjoys killing people, Riley. That's the bottom line. So, while I can see that these missions seem very exciting to you in the abstract, you need to know that we mourn every life that is lost."

"Hear, hear," Bobby said, raising his bottle of beer in a toast. Those in their group that had drinks lifted them in response.

But Riley hung his head. He didn't blame Castiel for admonishing him earlier. In his enthusiasm to hear stories of Castiel's bravery, Riley had gotten carried away. "I'm sorry, Castiel," he said quietly. "I meant no disrespect, Sir."

Gail had taken a drink earlier just to be companionable, and she banged her glass on the table now. "Quit calling my husband 'Sir'!" she said to Riley. "That's just like calling me Ma'am,'. I told you not to do that, any more."

Frank nearly spit out his mouthful of beer. "Did he really call you that? Oh, please tell me he called you that," he said, chortling.

"Yeah, and I told him to quit it," Gail groused to her brother. "Makes me feel old."

"My little sister, a 'Ma'am'," Frank said, grinning widely. "That's hilarious."

Gail looked at Riley, who was staring at her now, with a stricken look on his face. She hoped she hadn't gone too far, but she'd wanted to lighten the mood a little. "Feel free to call my brother 'Pookie'," she said to Riley. "He really likes that." Everybody laughed, and Cas smiled. But Riley looked uncertain, so she said, "You're going to have to get used to teasing and being teased, Riley. Cas is right; a lot of what we do is very stressful, so we like to have a laugh, too. After all, laughter is the best medicine, right?"

"Right, Ma-" Riley stopped himself. He'd been about to call her "Ma'am" again.

"Now he's calling me a man, I think!" Gail complained jokingly to Cas, throwing up her hands in mock despair.

Cas knew what she was doing. His smile widened. "Then Riley obviously needs glasses," he remarked in a light tone. He tilted his head, looking at his wife. "Do you want me to fight him?"

Riley was looking positively panicked by now, and Gail decided she'd better not torment him anymore. She got up and walked over to where Riley was sitting, across the table from Cas. He had tried to get the chair beside Cas when they'd first sat down, but Dean had plunked himself into that chair first, and Gail was already on Cas's other side, as usual. Everyone knew better by now than to try to sit in her seat, even Riley, who was relatively new to their little family. So he had scrambled to get the chair opposite Cas, then. Gail thought it was very cute, and more than a little bit funny, too. It was as if Riley needed to sit as close to Cas as possible, to bask in his greatness, or something. Not that she could blame him for wanting to be close to Cas, of course. But she just didn't want any additional pressure put on her husband. He had quite enough responsibility right now, as it was. Maybe she should tell young Riley that Cas snored, or that his socks sometimes smelled less than fresh. That wouldn't be the truth, of course, but his hero worship of Cas needed to come down just a notch, or the poor guy was going to die of fear and intimidation before he ever got the chance to be trained in combat.

Gail put her hand lightly on Riley's shoulder. "We're teasing you, Riley," she told him. "You've got to lighten up just a bit, or you'll never make it around here."

Riley let out the breath he'd been holding. Intellectually, he'd known that they were joking around; Riley just didn't want Castiel to think that he was insulting his wife. He'd heard stories about guys who'd had Castiel's blade at their throats for even looking at her the wrong way.

"We're Cas and Gail," she said to Riley. "That's it. No more Sir, or Ma'am. I don't want to have to start a beauty regimen in the middle of a mission." She poked him. "Got it?"

Riley smiled. "Got it, Gail." He looked at Cas. "I'm really looking forward to training with you, Sir - I mean, Cas."

"That's the advanced class," Dean said, around a mouthful of food. He swallowed, then grinned. "We'll put you with a lightweight, first. Somebody like Frank. Or Sammy."

Frank threw his fork down on his plate. "That's it, Winchester. Your ass is mine."

Dean smirked. "How I wish you were a beautiful, willing woman saying that, instead of...well, you."

"I'm telling Nicole," Sam teased him.

Dean shrugged. "No sweat. I'll give you her cell phone number right now. Or, you could just wait, and tell her in person." He glanced at Gail, who was making her way back to her own chair. "She's actually flying back to Vancouver for a couple of weeks around Christmas. They've wrapped the shoot in Mongolia, and she's coming home soon. I was gonna ask you if you'd mind if I invite her for Christmas dinner. One of you guys could zap over to Vancouver and bring her to your house. What do you say?"

"Of course we can do that, Dean," Cas remarked. "She's welcome in our home any time."

"So, they've 'wrapped the shoot', have they?" Gail teased, nudging Dean on her way by. "Listen to you. You've got the lingo down, and everything."

Dean was just opening his mouth to retort when Tommy said, "Does anybody want to look at my admittedly brief presentation?" He glanced at Bobby. "That is, after we all thank Barry for the terrific meal, of course."

"Yeah, thanks," Jody said. She rose from her chair, patting her stomach. "You're a great cook, Barry. It's a good thing we'll be going on the road again shortly. A few more of these kinds of meals, and I'll start getting fat."

"Don't worry, Jodes, we'll just work it off you in the training room," Sam said, grinning.

After everyone had cleaned their plates, they took their seats around the living room TV, as per usual. Everyone was there from their group, except for Kevin and Becky. Cas had decided that he wanted the bare minimum along on this last mission. If the others wanted additional training, they could have it, but he didn't want to have to worry about a lot of people.

"So, Sam, are you all geeked out about going to Area 51?" Dean asked his brother.

"Yeah, kind of," Sam said, nodding.

"So, you believe in aliens?" Frank asked Sam.

Dean's brother shrugged. "Why not? If all of the other weird creatures we deal with exist, why not aliens?" he asked rhetorically.

"I wonder if aliens ever ask each other: 'Do you believe in humans'?" Chuck piped up, and everyone laughed.

Frank gave him a thumbs-up. "There's hope for you, yet," he told the Angel. Then Gail's brother smirked. "I just hope all that stuff about the probing isn't true. But just so everyone knows, I have about a million jokes running through my head on that subject."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I'll just bet you do. But for now, I'm just going to go ahead and start. As everyone knows, Area 51 is notorious for being one of the most heavily guarded, Top Secret facilities in the United States, if not on the entire planet. You couldn't have picked a tougher place to get into if you'd tried."

"I'm aware, Tommy," Cas said with a grim smile. "I know that the Tablet itself is warded against Angels, but just as an experiment, I tried to wink myself to the base when you were all getting dinner. It's not just the Tablet that's warded, it's the entire site."

"That's interesting," Sam mused aloud. "Why would a military base ward their premises against Angels?"

"No wonder there are so many conspiracy theories about the place," Ethan said. "You would almost think that they know more than they're telling, then."

"Of course they do," Tommy said quickly. "Those guys, especially the high-ranking guys, know a lot of things about a lot of things."

"So, let me get this straight," Dean said. "These are the guys who deny the existence of aliens, and UFOs, but they ward against Angels? Who's kidding who?"

"Anyway, the base itself has many nicknames, including 'Dreamland', and 'Paradise Ranch'," Tommy went on. "Irony included, I'm sure. Lots of code names are used in connection with the place, even when it comes to the most innocuous things. And then, to add to the fun, sometimes even the code names have code names. Multi-layered security levels."

He put a slide on the computer and projected it onto the TV. "This is one of the few photos I was able to find online, and it's not even of the base itself. This is Edwards Air Force base. Area 51 is a remote detachment of the base, further back in the desert. Its primary purpose is unknown to the public. It's thought to be for the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems."

"Double bill tonight," Dean announced. "Independence Day, and Men In Black."

Tommy smiled. He was used to this by now. Actually, so far, everyone was being pretty well-behaved. Maybe it was because they were more focused now. They were so close to the end. "It's true that the intense secrecy of the place means that the conspiracy theorists can go wild. Crashed spaceships, alien autopsies, the whole nine," he continued.

"Oh, you guys have gotta see 'Paul'," Frank enthused. "That's the best Area 51 movie, ever."

Gail knew her brother was talking about the film, but she got a funny feeling when he'd said that. She was thinking about their having left Paul back at the castle now, and now, she was getting another one of her feelings. Something had happened there, but she didn't know what. Hopefully, he would get that cell phone soon, and report in.

"The place is located in the southern portion of Nevada," Tommy went on, "about 83 miles northwest of Las Vegas."

"Excellent," Dean said. "Then we can swing by Vegas, on our way there."

"We're not going there to have fun, Dean," Cas chided him, somewhat predictably.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You said yourself that we had to take our time," he pointed out. "I just figured we could kill a day there. It's only going to take us a day to get there from here. Even less, the way Frank and I drive."

"We'll talk about all that, Dean," Cas said. "Please, let Tommy finish."

"And before you ask, Gail," Tommy said with a grin, "even though it's the desert out there, you're going at the right time of year. It should be very comfortable temperature-wise, even during the day. And it gets cool at night, too, just like Egypt."

"Good," she said, nodding. Hopefully, nobody would have to die in the acquisition of this particular Tablet, though. She still hadn't quite gotten over what they'd had to do there, and she knew that Cas felt the same way.

Dean snapped his fingers. "Top Gun. We've gotta watch Top Gun. Hey, Tommy, do you think you could get me an Air Force uniform? Maybe I could take one of those Army planes for a quick spin while we're there."

"You'd look great in a uniform," Tommy blurted out.

"Hellooo. Right here," Barry said, and everybody laughed.

"Sorry, Dean," Tommy said, grinning. Dean waved him off. Tommy and Barry were like family now, and that kind of teasing felt no different than the kind between him and Cas, or Frank. Dean supposed he had grown quite a bit in the past few years.

"So you think you'd be able to handle one of those fighter planes?" Frank said to Dean, lifting an eyebrow.

Dean shrugged. "Sure. I fly in video games all the time."

Tommy had been taking a sip of beer and he sputtered it out, laughing. "So you really think that's the same thing?" he said to Dean.

Sam was looking curiously at Tommy. "Do YOU know how to fly one of those?" Sam asked Barry's boyfriend.

Tommy sighed. He hadn't planned on getting into this, at least not right now. He still hadn't had the chance to talk to Barry about his conversation with Wyatt. But now, Barry was looking at him suspiciously, as if he might be putting two and two together. Dammit. He should have pulled Barry aside and had that conversation. But his boyfriend had been cooking up a storm, and Tommy had been doing his research, and then everyone had started to gather, and he'd run out of time. That was Tommy's excuse, and he was sticking to it.

"He certainly does," Barry said in a cool tone. "Tommy used to BE one of those men in uniform."

Tommy sighed again. Might as well get it over with. "Yes, I did," he told everyone. "When I was younger, I thought that being in the military would be pretty glamorous. It's like you said, Dean. Top Gun. An Officer And A Gentleman. I would be serving my country, looking sexy in a uniform, and get to be around lots of men."

"The gay guy trifecta," Frank quipped, and most of the group smiled. But Tommy threw his head back and laughed. "Exactly, Frank," he said, and then he cocked an eyebrow with amusement. "So what could be wrong with that picture, right?"

"Let me guess: you could be called to war," Jody said.

"Bingo," Tommy replied. "Now, mind you, this was in Canada, so the chances didn't seem nearly as likely as if I had been here in the States. But even though there were some aspects of it that I truly enjoyed, it wasn't for me. So then, once my hitch was up, I applied for a job on the Vancouver newspaper as a war correspondent. I don't miss it."

"None of it?" Barry said sharply, and Tommy's heart sank.

"No, none of it," Tommy said, reaching out to take Barry's hand. He gave it a squeeze, then said, "What my boyfriend is taking great pains not to say is that my ex-boyfriend has a fetish for military guys, and vice versa. The higher up the food chain they are, the more attractive they are to him. He's my source in Nevada. To put it delicately, he 'dates' Colonels and Generals from the base. That's how we're going to get you those credentials you'll need." He looked at Barry. "I'm sorry, hon. I was going to tell you about it when we were alone. I talked to Wyatt this afternoon, and he agreed to help us."

Barry took his hand away from Tommy's. "I figured as much," he said angrily.

"Don't be mad, hon," Tommy said. "I wouldn't have called him if we weren't desperate."

Barry said nothing. He just sat there tight-lipped, with his arms folded across his body.

An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the room now. There was obviously a lot more to this story, but it was really none of anybody's business. All of the humans and the Angels who were present knew how complicated things could be in those types of situations. If not from personal experience, then intellectually, at least.

"I've got it!" Frank said suddenly. All eyes turned to him. "Now starring: Tommy Cruise, in 'Crop-Top Gun'."

Crickets. Then Barry burst out laughing, and then everyone joined in. "That's terrible, Frank," Barry said, but he was wiping his eyes from laughter now.

Tommy looked at Gail's brother gratefully. He appreciated what Frank was doing. "Maybe I'll star in 'Independence Gay'," Tommy said, playing along. "Will Smith, in his prime? Smokin' hot."

"I'd say 'Men In Back', but I think that might be a whole other kind of movie," Dean said with a wicked grin. Jody gave him a sharp look. She'd allowed Robbie to stay at the table while he was eating, and he was still here, pushing the food around his plate. He hadn't eaten much at all, she noticed. He was probably upset that they'd be leaving again so soon. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be listening very closely to the adults at the moment. But, what did she expect? She couldn't tell everybody to stop being themselves just because little ears might hear. And she didn't want to be "that guy" all the time. So to speak. Sometimes she found herself being thrust into a parental role with some of the adult males around here, one that rivalled the one she had with Robbie, and sometimes she resented it a bit. Who had died and made her everyone's Mom, all of a sudden? But then, it occurred to her that there was a very simple answer to that question: basically, everyone. Demons had killed Sam and Dean's mother, and Frank's, as well. Bobby's mother was in Hell because she had committed suicide back in the day, and Jody's own Mom had died of cancer. The Angels never talked about their parentage, nor had Barry and Tommy. Gail's biological mother's and father's identities were a mystery, and Cas's parents were Adam and Eve. The Biblical Adam and Eve. Imagine that. Wow. No wonder everyone got a little messed up sometimes.

Somewhat apropos, Tommy said, "We'd better get back to business, before Cas lays down the law." He smiled.

Cas answered his smile, playing along. "I was actually trying to work out something to do with Studio 51 as opposed to Area 51, but I can't quite figure out the appropriate wording for the joke," Cas said. He looked at Gail. "I suppose I should have consulted the expert," Cas added, nodding his head to his wife.

Gail's lips twitched. "That has possibilities. I reserve the right to circle back to that one," she said.

"Anyway, back to more serious matters," Tommy said quickly, before anyone else could jump in. "If you were thinking about going there for a recon..." He put on another slide that showed a warning sign. "These are all posted around the perimeter. As you can see, it states that the taking of any photographs or the possession of any weapons in the vicinity of the base is strictly prohibited, and that the use of deadly force is authorized at their discretion. And they're not kidding about that, boys and girls. The area is so restricted that if any of their own pilots-in-training stray into that airspace, even accidentally, they face disciplinary action. There are also motion sensors all over the place. It's protected top to bottom, and side to side." He glanced uneasily at Barry. "That's why I had to resort to such drastic measures. We couldn't get anyone near the place without those Top Secret credentials that Wyatt's working on getting for you."

"Do you think there's anything to all that alien stuff?" Riley asked Tommy suddenly. Gail's eyebrows rose. This was the first time he'd ever spoken up like that. Maybe he was coming around a bit.

Tommy shrugged. "Who the hell knows? Everybody's got their own opinions about the subject. Rumours abound. Crashed UFOs, aliens being held there, either alive or dead. The development of weather control, time travel, and teleportation."

"Anybody else think that last part sounds really familiar? Are you sure you're not running that place, Cas?" Dean joked.

Cas looked at him, startled. He knew his friend had just been going for humour, but it occurred to Castiel now that the kinds of things that Tommy was talking about did sound very much like Angelic powers. And there were very powerful warding sigils present at the base. The situation was becoming increasingly more mysterious and puzzling to him.

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but that's all I have for now," Tommy told them.

"That's it?" Sam said, surprised.

Tommy sighed. "I'm afraid so, Sam. I told you, this place is locked down, tight." He looked sideways at Barry. "And even though I'm probably gonna have to sleep on the couch tonight, I thank God that we have Wyatt as a resource; otherwise, we'd be pledging allegiance to the Devil, because we would be screwed. And there aren't even any guarantees that he's going to be able to come through for us."

"I have faith that he will," Cas said firmly. "And, Barry? Try not to be too hard on Tommy. I imagine that you and Gail could have a good, long chat about your respective men and the unpleasant things we have to do sometimes, to get the job done," he concluded with a grim smile.

Barry looked at Tommy, and his boyfriend looked so miserable that Barry reached out for his hand. Tommy took it gratefully.

"And, speaking of my spouse," Cas continued, "since we are required to take our time to get to our destination once we get on the road, Gail has made a request that I have agreed to honour. We looked up possible routes on Google, and we found one that will take us through Denver."

Frank's head snapped up. Of course he would realize the significance of what Cas was getting at. Jody was looking at him curiously, as well.

"I had one of my feelings. That's the house that Frank and I grew up in," Gail explained to everyone. "Something's telling me that I need to go there." She looked at her brother. "If it's going to bother you, Cas and I can go by ourselves," she said to Frank. "But I think I need to go there. I just can't explain why."

Frank thought about it. "You know what? It might be kind of good to see the old place again," he mused. "Well, except for what happened the last time we were there, of course. That part wasn't so good." He was trying to be flip, hiding his real feelings about the subject.

Jody put her hand on his arm. "Are you sure, Frank?" she asked him. "I know that was a long time ago, but sometimes these things can all come flooding back, even if you think you're ready." She herself had some personal experience with a similar type of situation. She'd briefly visited her old house years ago to try to get some closure, but she had broken out into a cold sweat, then turned tail and fled. Just because you were a cop didn't mean you had no feelings.

Frank nodded, but: "If Gail thinks she can handle it, I'm pretty sure I can, too," he told his wife.

"We'll come with, if you want," Dean said. He spoke in a casual tone, but his offer of support was genuine. He wasn't so convinced that Gail or even Frank were going to be able to handle how they were going to feel when they went there. He knew very well what it was like when your childhood home turned into a crime scene. It didn't matter how old you were or how many years had passed. The second you walked through that door, you regressed to that scared little kid again, and all you saw was the horror.

"Thank you, Dean," Cas said to their friend. "I'm going to propose that we all remain here for two more days. There are a few things that need to be taken care of here, before we go."

"Oh? Like what?" Sam asked curiously.

Cas smiled. "Gail and I are going to buy a car, for one thing."

"What? Why?" Dean asked.

"Because I want to have some tunes on a road trip, and I'm tired of waiting for you to recognize good music when you hear it," Gail teased him.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Well then, I'd better come with you. Based on the car your hubby rented in Romania, you could end up coming home with a rolling piece of crap."

"I would welcome your advice, Dean," Cas said sincerely.

"Good. Then you and the wife can buy me lunch, in appreciation," Dean said, nodding. He looked at Sam. "You coming?"

"No, you guys go ahead," Sam replied. He was thinking about Oliver's journal. He hadn't mentioned anything about it to anyone, not even Dean. It was Gail's business, and until they found out what was in the journal, he felt like it should stay that way. This car-shopping trip was opportune, then. When they were off doing that, he could bring the journal to his FBI guy and get him working on it.

Jody also saw her opportunity. "Why don't you go with them?" she said to Frank, nudging him. "I know how much you like to look at cars."

Frank looked at her for a moment, and then he realized: she was going to take the opportunity to go to the doctor, and she wanted to go alone. Fair enough. He didn't care, as long as she went. "Sure, Jodes," he said easily. "I can help Cas negotiate the price. He'd probably just open up his wallet and give them the sticker price."

"You're right about that," Dean said, taking a sip of beer. "When we went to buy Gail's engagement ring, he took all the money he had on him out of his pocket and offered it to the guy."

Gail smiled. She could just picture that, too. She'd never heard that story from Dean's viewpoint before, and it was both sweet, and funny. She took Cas's hand and gave it a squeeze, and Cas smiled at her. "I would have paid any price to get you that ring," he told her earnestly. "It was the one you were supposed to have, and it was the one I knew you would love."

Frank rolled his eyes. "OK, then Dean and I are gonna have to do the negotiating. If Gail says she likes the colour of the thing, you'll just hand the guy your life's savings."

Gail's lips were twitching. "Maybe we should just use the two-finger system and get it for free, then. Declare it on our taxes as a business expense. You know, saving the world from Satan, and all that," she joked.

"Brand new car: twenty-six thousand dollars. Saving the world: priceless," Sam quipped.

Everyone laughed, and they slowly started to stand and clear away the dishes left over from supper. "I'll help you wash up," Jody said to Barry. She looked down at Robbie's plate. "Are you done pushing your food around?" she asked him. "Did any of it actually make it to your mouth?"

He looked up at her with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, Mom. I guess I just wasn't very hungry," he told her.

Jody sighed. "OK, go wash your hands. You can play video games for an hour, and then it's bedtime."

Once everything was cleared away and Robbie came into the living room, he said to Riley, "I wanna show these guys our FPS game."

"FPS? What's that?" Dean asked, puzzled.

"First Person Shooter," Riley replied with amusement. He guessed that maybe these older guys wouldn't know. They hadn't even had a gaming system when Robbie had first gotten here, the boy had told his new Angel friend. Riley had been amazed. Two single guys living in what was basically a great big Man Cave, and they didn't have a PS4? What was wrong with those guys? But then Ethan had explained that they were on the road a lot, and basically, they did full-time in real life what people pretended to do in this make-believe game. So then Riley had shut his mouth. That had been a bit of a wake-up call for him. What did you need video games for, when your life was basically a First Person Shooter game?

Robbie loaded the game now, and the men gathered around to watch. "I want to play with my Dad," Robbie said.

"That's because he knows I'm good," Frank said, grinning.

"I want to play with Cas," Riley said eagerly.

Gail was amused. What a bunch of little boys. "I'll tell you what," she said. "We'll have a tournament. That way, you'll all get to play. How does that sound?"

"Yay!" Robbie enthused.

"How is the game played?" Cas asked, curious. He sat down beside Robbie and reached his hand up to Gail. When she took it, he tugged gently, and then she was in his lap.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Hey, this is a rough, manly game," he told his sister. "No kissing and hugging."

"No, let 'em," Dean said. "If she distracts him, there's a lot less chance of him kicking our asses."

"The guy's been around since Creation," Frank shot back. "How's he gonna know how to use a PS4?"

"Hello, right here," Cas said, and Gail laughed merrily. "You tell them, sweetie," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Wipe the floor with them."

Cas gave her a squeeze. He was watching Robbie and Riley play now. They were demonstrating how to play the game. The concept looked simple enough to him. Your character had missions to perform, but there were enemies attacking, trying to prevent you from accomplishing your goal. He smiled grimly. His brother-in-law may be right about the mysteries of the video game system itself, but the concept was one that Cas understood all too well.

"OK, we've got..." Gail counted heads, "ten people playing. I'll write the names down and choose two at a time. They'll play for five minutes, and whoever gets the most points will move on to the next round. Then we'll play down until we have two people remaining, and then we'll crown a Grand and Supreme Champion. Sound OK, guys?"

"Sounds good," Sam said agreeably. "But I think you miscounted, Gail. I only see nine guys here, if Bobby's playing."

"Yeah, nine guys, and me," Gail said pertly. "I've got to at least try it."

She wrote down the names, put them in a popcorn bowl, and picked the first two. "Sam versus Ethan," she announced.

"Oh, good," Ethan said, moving to sit in Riley's spot on the couch.

"Good? Why good?" Sam asked, taking Robbie's place.

"Because I used to play these types of games with my brother all the time," Ethan told him, accepting a controller. "You've never played before. This'll be a piece of cake."

"Dude, Dean and I do this kind of thing full-time," Sam told him, smirking.

"Let the macho posturing begin," Gail said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling.

At the end of the allotted time, Sam was ahead on points. "Told you so," he said to Ethan. The young Angel took his defeat gracefully enough, joking that maybe he should visit a shooting range while he was here on Earth to work on his rusty skills.

Gail reached into the bowl. "Bobby versus Cas," she announced.

Bobby limped over to the couch as Gail stood to allow Cas to slide over to make room for him. She sat back down beside Cas as Sam got up, ceding his spot to Bobby.

"This should be fun," Dean said, grinning.

"It'll be like the blind leading the blind," Bobby remarked, turning the controller over in his hands. "I've never done this before. Which button do you push for - " Suddenly, his character in the game was lying on the ground, mortally wounded.

"Sorry," Cas said, his lips twitching.

"Dammit! I wasn't ready yet!" Bobby swore. "Which button do I push to shoot?"

Riley showed him, and Bobby's character got up after a few more seconds. It shot at Cas's character, and Cas's character went down.

"Hah! Gotcha!" Bobby said delightedly.

"So you did," Cas said mildly.

The men were all smirking at each other now, and Gail couldn't help but smile, too. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Bobby so pleased with himself.

Cas's character got up, and Bobby shot it again, right away. "Gotcha again," Bobby said, and Dean put his hand up for Bobby to high-five.

"But, I was not prepared," Cas protested, and Bobby snickered. "How many enemies do you know of that sit around and wait for you to be prepared?" he asked Cas.

Cas thought about that for a moment, and then he nodded. "All right, Bobby. Fair enough," he said.

Then, when Cas's character "respawned", as Robbie called it, Cas pressed another button on the controller and suddenly, his character was holding a machine gun. He shot Bobby's character with it, and then as soon as Bobby respawned, Cas shot him again, and again.

"Come on, Cas," Bobby complained. "You're not even giving me enough time to get up, let alone to try to defend myself."

"Oh. I wasn't aware that enemies behaved that way," Cas said innocently. The men all laughed as Bobby frowned. He tried pressing different buttons on his controller, but he only succeeded in moving his character back and forth, and side to side.

"It looks like you're dancing, Bobby," Frank said.

"How did he get a damned machine gun?" Bobby fumed. Then Cas shot him again, and the men laughed some more.

Bobby glared at Cas. "You're lucky I'm a human now," Bobby seethed.

"Is that right?" Cas said. He was trying to suppress a grin.

As soon as Bobby's character got up, Gail put her hand on Cas's arm and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "You're very good at this, for someone who's never played before," she complimented him. He turned to look at her, smiling. "Thank you," Cas said, and Gail kissed him on the lips.

"Thanks, Gail," Bobby said. While she had been distracting Cas, Bobby's character had respawned and shot Cas's character.

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, sweetie," Gail said to her husband. But of course, she'd done that on purpose. The score was extremely lopsided now, in Cas's favour.

The men played for another couple of minutes, and then Gail said, "Time. Cas is the winner."

Bobby rose and moved slowly away from the couch, mumbling something about a defective controller.

Back into the bowl Gail went, and then she smiled. "Riley, and me."

"You set that up on purpose," Dean accused her jokingly. "You know there's no way he's gonna shoot you."

"OK, number one, Angels don't cheat," Gail said huffily.

Dean coughed into his hand, uttering a word that sounded similar to "bull spit". Sam grinned.

Gail was trying not to smile, too. "OK, well, I don't, anyway," she retorted. She looked at Riley, who was tentatively picking up the controller that Bobby had dropped on the coffee table. "You'll shoot me, won't you, Riley?" she asked him sweetly.

He regarded her uncertainly. "I will if Cas agrees not to hold it against me," Riley said with a half-smile.

"I will agree to no such thing," Cas said archly, handing the controller he'd been holding to Gail. Then he smiled at the young Angel, to show that he was kidding. "Shoot away, Riley," he said. "My wife can take care of herself."

"God help you, Riley," Frank quipped. There was more laughter.

Gail was looking down at the controller now. She felt just as lost as Bobby had been. She'd seen these things before, of course, but now that she was holding one, she realized how many different buttons there were on it. Crap. Maybe she shouldn't have encouraged Riley not to be intimidated by her and Cas. Riley was going to blow her right off the map.

She smiled nervously at the young Angel. "On second thought, Cas might just pull his blade on you if you shoot me," she said to Riley. Then she looked at Cas. "What button did you push to get that machine gun?" she asked him.

Cas shrugged. "I have no idea," he told her.

Frank rubbed his hands together. "Oooh, this is gonna be good. Ten bucks Riley kills her twice, before she even presses a button."

Sam was shaking his head. "Oh, I don't know, Frank. Gail's very competitive. Twenty bucks she annihilates him."

"I'm with Sammy," Dean said, grinning. "Sorry, Riley. Let us know where we should send the flowers. She might even be more ruthless than her husband, you know."

"Yeah, but she's uncoordinated," Frank said, leaning back in his chair.

"SHE'S right here, and SHE'S gonna kick all of your asses!" Gail fumed. "Sorry, Riley, but you're going down."

They started to play, and Riley shot Gail's character immediately. Damn. Then she respawned, and he shot her again. She was starting to get frustrated. When she came back to life, she started mashing buttons at random, moving left and right. Her character was weaving so much that Riley started missing his shots, and then suddenly, his character was down. Gail had lucked out and shot him.

"Aha! A moral victory!" she exclaimed. While he was down, she started pressing more buttons and moving her character around a bit more. She ran around a corner, and came face to face with a big, ugly monster. It reached out and clawed at her character, and she yelled, "Aaah! What the hell?"

"Sorry, Gail! I thought we'd cleared this area," Riley said sheepishly. His character respawned, and he made it run around the corner. Then he killed the monster. "There," Riley said. "Now, just wait a minute, and you'll heal."

She thanked him, then she shot his character, and all the men laughed. Gail looked at Riley and shrugged. "You know what they say, right? All's fair in love and war," she told him. "Sorry, Riley, but these guys were right: I'm both competitive, and ruthless." She looked at Frank. "And I am NOT uncoordinated," she said to her brother. "Oh, I can't wait to whip your butt."

Riley respawned, but after that, it was pretty much over. Gail was weaving her character all around and mashing buttons indiscriminately now. He couldn't plan an attack because her play was so erratic, and he couldn't defend himself because she was currently unleashing a barrage of ammunition. At one point, she pressed one of the buttons and suddenly, her character had a live grenade in his hand.

"Aaaah!" she yelled. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a live grenade," Sam said, amused.

"Well, what am I supposed to do with it?" she exclaimed, panicking.

"What do you think you're supposed to do with it?" Dean said sarcastically. "Don't be such a girl! Throw it!"

"Which button do I push to do that?!" Gail shouted.

"Rest in pieces, kiddo," Frank quipped. He was enjoying this immensely.

By some miracle, she found the right button, just before she exploded herself. Her character lobbed the grenade at Riley's character and blew him up. He'd been too much of a gentleman to shoot her character while she was panicking about the grenade.

"Time," Cas announced. He'd taken over the role of timekeeper while Gail was playing. "Gail wins."

Riley smiled at her. "Good game," he said, putting his controller down on the coffee table.

Gail smiled back at him. What a good sport he was. She knew she was a poor player, really. "Thanks, Riley," she said. "And...sorry."

She reached into the bowl. "Guess what? Epic matchup!" she announced. "Dean versus Frank."

"Yahtzee!" Dean exclaimed. "Hand that controller over here, Mrs. Buzzkill."

She glared at him. "Oh, there'll be some killing going on, all right," Gail said, handing the controller to him. "You'd better pray you don't make it through to the next round."

"He won't, don't worry," Frank said cheerfully, plunking himself down on the couch next to Cas. "You're done, Winchester."

"We'll see about that," Dean retorted, flexing his arms.

The two men played for their allotted time and the action was fast and furious, but Dean emerged the victor, by a narrow margin. "Dammit!" Frank exclaimed.

"Sorry, Frank." But Dean was grinning. He stood up and extended his hand to Gail's brother to shake, but before Frank could shake it, Dean moved his hand away. "Psych," he said, smirking.

"Nobody likes a sore winner, Dean," Frank grumbled. He walked over to where Robbie sat, patiently waiting for his turn. "You have my full permission to kick his butt," Frank said to Robbie. "In fact, there are untold rewards waiting in your future if you do."

"Well, he's got to beat Chuck, first," Gail announced. "That's our last matchup."

Robbie moved forward eagerly, and Chuck picked up the other controller, gesturing to everyone. "We, who are about to die, salute you," Chuck said dryly.

But once they started to play, Chuck discovered that he was feeling a little bit more competitive than he really should be. He didn't want a kid to beat him in front of all these guys; he'd probably never hear the end of it. Then he thought about that. What did that say about him? Did he really need their approval so badly? But on the other hand, it wouldn't be honest to throw the game either, and he didn't think Frank would want him to coddle Robbie. Or was that just a rationalization on his part? But near the end of the allotted time, when Chuck finally eased up a bit due to his conscience, he was so far ahead on points that it was a foregone conclusion.

"Time," Gail called. "Game goes to Chuck, who gets the honourary meanie badge," she added, grinning.

Chuck shrugged. "Hey, I'll beat you, too," he said, smirking. "I don't discriminate."

"Oooh, I'm shaking," she retorted. "OK, names are going back in the bowl. Next round." She mixed up the five remaining names, then drew. "Cas versus Chuck. So, there is such a thing as karma."

"Oh, man," Chuck lamented.

Cas smiled. "Don't worry, Chuck. I'm totally disregarding the fact that you just said you were going to beat up on my wife."

"Oh, you are so dead," Dean said gleefully. "Hold on; let me get another beer for this."

"I'll get in on that," Frank said, pulling Robbie into his lap and tickling him. He was proud of the boy for taking his loss to Chuck so well. A few months back, Frank might have been angry with Chuck for not stepping aside and letting Robbie have the victory. But, no longer. Robbie had to learn that life was tough, and you didn't always win. Frank had certainly learned that same lesson the hard way, when his parents had been slaughtered by Demons. At least this was only a game. Nobody was really going to die tonight.

But Chuck was going to die virtually, and he was going to die plenty. Chuck had seemed capable enough using a controller, but Cas knew how to kill, whether in real life or in a game. Once the men started to play, Chuck didn't stand a chance. Cas beat him handily.

"I would say I'm sorry, Chuck, but Angels aren't supposed to lie," Cas said, smiling.

Chuck sighed. "That's OK, Cas. I may have had my problems from time to time, but I can certainly distinguish between reality and a video game," he said affably. "The better man won, in this instance." Then he smiled. "I hope you play Gail in the final, though. There's no way you're going to beat her."

"Yeah, how's that going to work?" Sam asked, curious. "There are only three of us left, now."

"You'll play Dean," Gail said to him. "Then whichever of the two of you wins, I'll put that guy's and Cas's names in the bowl, and I'll play whoever I draw. Then whoever wins that match will play the other guy for the Ultimate Championship."

"Sounds fine to me," Dean said, shrugging. "I'll kick Sammy's butt, then yours, and then it'll be me and Cas for the title. The World Series of badassness. This is gonna be fun." He grinned, flexing his arms.

"'Badassness'? Really, Dean?" Sam said, shaking his head at his brother.

"Never mind, Sammy. Prepare to meet your fate," Dean said cheerfully.

Everyone gathered around, preparing to watch, as the brothers did a little more trash-talking. Then Gail said, "Ready, set, go," and the battle was on. Both men had had the advantage of watching the more experienced players by now, as well as the more naturally skilled ones, like Cas. Sam was using stealth tactics, while Dean was on the offensive, hitting his younger brother with everything he had.

"This is actually pretty fun," Dean said happily. He had just lobbed a grenade at his brother's character, blowing him up.

"Yeah," Sam said calmly. His character respawned, and he made it run around the corner. Dean hadn't been paying attention because he'd been looking around at their audience, smirking at having blown his brother up so spectacularly. So Dean's character ran around the corner and then Sam attacked him, stabbing him with a knife. Some attacks were worth more points than others. Sam had figured out by watching everyone that these types of assaults were worth more, because they were riskier.

"Hey!" Dean said indignantly. "No fair!"

Sam grinned. "What? It was entirely fair. You weren't paying attention. Don't do your end zone dance before you score."

"OK, that's it. No more Mister Nice Guy," Dean fumed. "Prepare for shock and awe." He respawned, then he attacked Sam's character right away, then kept on attacking him. Sam tried to make his character fight back, but Dean was being too aggressive. When Gail called "Time," Dean was ahead on points.

"Yes!" Dean exclaimed. He dropped the controller on the table and pumped his fist. "In your face, Sammy." Then Dean looked at Gail. "You're next," he said, pointing his finger at her.

Oh, crap, Gail thought. There was no way. Dean was going to kill her, many, many times. And then he was going to do a victory dance over her corpse, and then she was never going to hear the end of it. And she was an eternal being.

"Which button do you push for the rocket launcher?" Gail quipped nervously.

Dean gave her a double-take, then he looked at Robbie. "Is there one of those?"

"But you might not be playing Gail. You might be playing me," Cas said to Dean, as Gail put the pieces of paper back in the bowl.

"Or, Cas could end up playing Gail," Sam pointed out.

Dean's smile grew. "Even better," he said cheerfully. "You know he's not going to kill her. He's not even gonna try. So I'll end up playing her for the championship, anyway."

Gail picked one of the pieces of paper out of the bowl and unfolded it. "Cas," she announced dramatically.

"Yahtzee," Dean said, sitting back in his chair. "Perfect. Gives me time to finish my beer. Warning: this'll be five minutes of the most pathetic, one-sided game playing the world has ever seen. Might as well not even give Cas a controller." He passed his to Gail. "Here," Dean said to her. "Shoot him once, and then make sure your affairs are in order before you and I play for the championship."

Gail looked at Cas. "Sweetie, you're going to have to shoot me. We need this guy to lose, or we're never going to hear the end of it." She jerked her head at Dean.

Cas smiled, but he said nothing, just picked up the other controller.

"I'll be the timekeeper," Sam said. "Ready, you two?" Cas and Gail nodded. "And...go," Sam said.

Gail moved her character over to stand in front of Cas's character. "OK, here I am," she told him. "Just let me know when you're going to do it, and then I'll close my eyes."

"Come on, Gail!" Dean exclaimed. "If you're not even gonna try, then why are you playing?"

"Well, I'm not going to shoot you," Cas told her, "so I guess you'll have to shoot me."

"Well, somebody's gonna have to shoot somebody; otherwise, how are you going to decide who plays Dean?" Frank pointed out, quite logically.

"Hold still," Cas said to her, as he moved his character closer to hers. She scrunched up her face. Here it came. But she had told him to do it, hadn't she?

Cas's character bumped against Gail's character, but he didn't stab her, and he didn't shoot her. "What are you doing?" she asked him curiously.

Tommy was standing behind the couple now, and he was grinning. He had a pretty good idea of what Cas was doing. If more video games had guys doing stuff like that with each other, he and Barry might just have to buy a console.

"I'm kissing you," Cas said, his lips twitching.

Dean threw his hands up in disgust. "Oh, come on!" he exclaimed.

Gail started to move her character back and forth. "I'm kissing you, too," she told Cas.

"Now, that's my kind of game," Barry said. He had come down the hallway with Jody just in time to notice what they were doing.

Dean was losing his mind. Cas and Gail were smiling at each other now. "I was considering shooting you," Gail said to her husband, "but just the fact that we're making Dean so crazy makes this so much more fun."

"By all means, then, go ahead and shoot me," Cas said mildly.

"But I don't want to shoot you," she stated. "I love you."

"That's why I don't want to shoot YOU," Cas told her.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Dean yelled, exasperated. He leaned forward and snatched the controller from Gail's hand, shooting Cas's character. "There. Now it'll be me and Mrs. Kissyface for the championship," Dean said grumpily. He looked at Cas, rolling his eyes. "Try to grow a pair before we go car shopping tomorrow, Cas, willya?"

"Point of order," Sam said. "You won't be playing Gail for the championship, you'll be playing Cas."

Dean lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah? How do you figure that?"

Sam smiled slyly. "Gail's disqualified. She let an unauthorized player take her turn."

"What do you mean?" Dean exclaimed. "That doesn't even make any sense!"

Gail was smiling now. "Sure it does, Dean. It's like batting out of order in baseball. After all, where would we be without rules? I guess I'm disqualified, then." She shrugged.

"But I grabbed it out of your hand!" Dean protested.

"I'll have to have a talk with Gail about guarding her possessions more carefully, then," Cas said, smiling at Dean. "But in the meantime, I seem to have grown a pair just in time for our match. Thank you for your advice, Dean." He gestured with his controller. "I'm ready when you are."

"Dude, you are beyond dead," Sam said to his brother.

Cas's smile widened. He looked at Gail. "Count it down, Mrs. Kissyface."

"With pleasure, Mister Kissyface," she said, smirking. "Ready, set, go!"

Cas's character had a grenade in each hand, and he dropped them both on Dean's character, exploding him in spectacular fashion. "When you said that I should grow a pair, I presume this is what you meant?" Cas said cheerfully.

Dean's character respawned. "Or, I could do this," Cas said, and he shot Dean multiple times. "Or this," Cas said, pushing the button for the machine gun. Then he pushed another button, and his character was holding a bazooka. "I imagine this would be effective, as well," Cas said calmly.

"At this point, I think I would just stay dead, if I were you," Frank quipped to Dean. "It'll hurt less."

Dean fought valiantly, but at the end of the five minutes, Cas was way ahead on points, having killed his friend's character in a number of gruesome and innovative ways. When Gail announced that time was up, Cas put his controller down on the table and smiled at Dean. "That was enjoyable," he said mildly.

Dean opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, and then he closed it. Bottom line was, Cas had beat him, straight up. "Congrats," he sighed.

"Way to go, Cas," Frank said, smiling. He stood, lifting Robbie off his lap. "I'll shake your hand after I get this guy to bed."

"We should make up a trophy, or something," Sam said. "Make this an annual thing."

Cas took Gail's hand. "I think we'll call it a night. We'll come by early tomorrow morning, and Dean and Frank can take us to the dealership to get our car."

"Fine," Dean said shortly. "See you."

"See you, who?" Gail teased him.

Dean glared at her. "See you, O Supreme Champion," he said to Cas.

"That's better," Gail said. "And you can call me Mrs. Supreme Champion."

"You'd better pop out of here before I call you something you might not like as much," Dean growled at her.

Gail pretended to look around. "When did Crowley get here?" she quipped. Then she blew Dean a kiss.

By the time he picked up the controller to throw in her direction, she and Cas had gone.

Gail was cleaning their clothes and Cas was folding each item as she gave it to him, then putting it away.

"Dean was so mad," she laughed. "That was funny."

"It's a little too easy to drive him crazy, sometimes," Cas said, nodding. "He should be more inscrutable." He accepted one of her tops, deftly folding it and putting it in the bureau.

She watched him admiringly. "You're very good at that," she told him. "Just like you're very good at a lot of things. I was surprised to see how good you were at that game, but I guess I really shouldn't have been."

Cas smiled, pleased by her compliments. "My hand-to-eye coordination has always been fairly good," he remarked. He moved to the closet to hang up the pair of pants she'd given him.

"And you have very good hands," Gail continued, smiling.

"Once you figure out the correct buttons to push, it's actually quite enjoyable," he said.

She smiled more widely now. "That's certainly true."

Cas could hear the smile in her voice, and he turned around. "I have the feeling we're not talking about the game anymore," he said to her.

"Game? What game?" she quipped.

He walked back to the bed and sat down beside her, taking her hands in his. "I love you, Mrs. Supreme Champion," Cas told her, kissing her on the lips.

Gail laughed. "Maybe I'll sign our Christmas cards that way this year. Or the one we send to Dean, at least." Then Cas laughed. She was so cute, and so funny. "Now, let me see how good those hands of yours really are," Gail said mischievously.

Frank, Sam and Dean were having coffee when Cas and Gail arrived at the bunker the next morning.

"All hail the Supreme Champion," Frank said, lifting his mug in salute.

Robbie was sitting in Frank's lap, and he'd been trying to beg a sip of coffee from his Dad for what seemed like an hour now. But Frank had refused. That was all they needed, the kid running around here all hopped up on caffeine. Jody was already gone; she'd left early this morning. Her doctor was back in Sioux Falls, which was about a six-hour drive from the bunker. Frank had asked his wife if she shouldn't just call or e-mail ahead first, to make sure she got seen. But Jody had shaken her head, stating that wouldn't be necessary. She and her doctor went way back. They had a personal relationship, as well as a professional one. It didn't matter if Jody just showed up out of the blue. Nelly would see her. Then Jody would probably stop by the station house for a bit, shoot the breeze, and then head back home.

"Uncle Cas!" Robbie exclaimed. He hopped off Frank's lap and ran over to where Cas and Gail stood. "Come and play video games with me!"

Cas smiled, looking down at the boy. "I'm sorry, Robbie, but I can't right now. Your father and your Uncle Dean are going to go with your Aunt Gail and myself so that we can buy a car."

"Cool," Robbie said. He turned back to Frank. "Where's Mom?"

"She went to visit her cop friends this morning," Frank told him. "She'll be back later."

Robbie frowned. He knew his Dad wasn't exactly lying to him, but he wasn't telling him the whole truth, either. But there was nothing Robbie could do about it, he supposed. Not everything was his business. His Dad had told him once, and his Uncle Dean had agreed, that women were mysterious sometimes, and they liked their privacy. Even if you were married to one, she would let you know what was your business, and what wasn't.

"I'm taking off, too," Sam said. He drained his mug and stood, crossing the kitchen to put it in the dishwasher. "I'll see you guys later. Happy car shopping," he added, leaving the kitchen.

"Where's Sam going?" Frank asked Dean.

Dean shrugged. "Dunno. He didn't say. We're not those two," he said, nodding his head towards Cas and Gail. "We're not joined at the hip." He rose and put his coffee mug in the sink, and Frank did the same.

Gail was bemused. "Hey, look at us. We're the Siamese Angels," she said to Cas.

"That's not politically correct," Frank said, grinning. "That should probably be 'conjoined Angels'."

Cas smiled. "Conjoined," he said. "I like the sound of that."

Dean rolled his eyes. "You would. Let's go, O Supreme Wuss - I mean, Champion."

They all laughed. "See you later, kiddo," Frank said to Robbie.

"We'll come and get you when we get back," Gail said to the boy, "and you can be the first one to come out to the garage and see our new car."

"Okay," Robbie said, and he ran off down the hall.

Gail looked at Frank. "You're great with him," she said to her brother, smiling. "Almost as good as you were with me."

Frank looked at her for a minute, and then he pointed his finger at Cas. "You buy her any damn kind of car she wants," he said in a thick voice. He cleared his throat. "I've gotta go take a leak. Hang on." Then he left the room abruptly.

Dean was smiling at Gail. "You're pretty OK sometimes, you know that?" he said to her. Then, after a pause, he added, "I mean, you know, for a girl. Even if you do cheat at video games."

"Hey, I didn't cheat, you grabbed the thing off me," she retorted. "And you're probably the only one that Cas would put up with that from, too."

Dean puffed out his chest. "That's because he likes me the best."

Frank came back, and the quartet walked into the garage, the human men now arguing over who Cas liked the best. Gail was smiling widely. It was the weapons museum all over again. It was almost as if Cas was their father and they were brothers, vying for his attention and approval.

Cas opened the back door for Gail.

"He likes me the best, because he came to get me. He had Crowley release me from Hell and turn me back into a human," Frank bragged, getting into the passenger seat in the front of the Impala. He liked it there because Sam was so tall that the seat was already adjusted to the right place.

"Oh, big whoop," Dean shot back. "He actually came right into Hell to get me."

Gail shook her head. This had to be the strangest game of one-upmanship ever played. No wonder they didn't have too many friends outside their little circle.

"I love you both equally," Cas said, settling himself into the back seat beside Gail. He had missed being back here with her. He took her hand. "But it's Gail who I love the most."

She moved forward in her seat and poked her head in-between Dean and her brother. "Suck it," she said pertly. Then she smiled, settling back and snuggling against Cas as Dean pulled the Impala out of the garage.

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Nelly," Jody said to her doctor.

"I'll always move you to the head of the list, you know that," Dr. Vukovic said. "How've you been, Jody? How's Project Pregnancy going?"

Jody frowned. "It's hit a snag, unfortunately. Frank and I have been too busy working on another project. I can't discuss the details. It's sort of an undercover deal. But we hope to be finished with it soon, and then I'm going to devote myself to it full time."

Nelly smiled uncertainly. "Oh. Well, that's good, I guess. Did you just pop in to say hi, then?"

"No," Jody replied. "I've got another lump in my breast. I know I'm fibro-whatever, but this one feels new, and I promised Frank I'd get it checked out. And you know about my Mom. So, I guess it's not a bad idea to stay on top of these things."

"OK, let's have a look, then," Nelly said. "Do you want to go next door to the examination room?"

"Nah, you can cop a feel right here," Jody said good-naturedly. "Or feel a cop, more accurately."

Nelly smiled, rising from her desk. "You and Frank HAVE been married for a while," she said to Jody. "His sense of humour's rubbing off on you. I'll have to meet him, sometime."

"I'd like that," Jody responded. She took her T-shirt off over her head and stood, unhooking her bra. "We'll set something up, after this case we're working on is over."

Her doctor friend palpated Jody's breasts. "I can feel it," Nelly said. "I don't think it's anything more ominous than just another cyst, but because of your age and your mother, we'd better send you for some mammograms."

Jody nodded. "I thought you might say that. The problem is, we're only in Lebanon for another couple of days, and then we're going back out."

"No problem," Nelly said. She was reaching for the phone as Jody put her bra back on. "I'm calling the medical clinic in Lebanon right now. They'll put you on the fast track. I may have to embellish the facts a little, but they'll be taking you tomorrow, I promise."

"Thanks a lot, Nelly," Jody said, pulling her T-shirt back on.

"Are you kidding?" her doctor said. "I owe you my life, Jody. If you hadn't shot my stalker, I would still be living in fear, afraid to go outside, or even answer my phone. Things most people take for granted. I don't have nightmares any more, and I don't wake up in a cold sweat, picturing him standing over me."

Jody smiled grimly. "Well, that wasn't exactly following procedure. But we both know that he was never going to give up. More often than not, restraining orders are a joke. They're pieces of paper that male judges issue, thinking they're doing something about domestic violence, and stalkers. I'm not saying those men don't care, I'm just saying that sometimes they just don't get that a scrap of paper isn't going to stop a psychopath. So, sometimes you have to go a little off book."

"Well, I thank God for you every day, Jody," Dr. Vukovic said. "I tried to go through the proper channels. You know I did. But he wasn't going to stop until he'd driven me crazy or killed me."

"That's why it was lucky that I was over at your place when he broke in," Jody said casually, "and it was lucky that I happened to have my service revolver with me. When he attacked you, I warned him to stop, but he wouldn't. So, I had no choice."

The women looked at each other for a moment. At least, that was the way that the police report had read, when Jody had submitted it. But she hadn't felt the slightest bit of guilt about it at the time, and she didn't feel guilty about it now. If Romania had served any purpose, besides the acquisition of the Tablet of course, it had served as a reminder to Jody that monsters could not be reasoned with, and they did not let pieces of paper stop them from hurting people.

Nelly gestured with the phone receiver. "I'm still on hold with these people. Why don't you take off, and I'll text you the appointment time as soon as I get it?"

Jody nodded. "Thanks, Nelly." She left the doctor's office and took the elevator down to the parking garage, and then she drove over to the precinct.

Sam took Oliver's journal to his contact at the FBI, and he was told that the process could take anywhere from six weeks to several months, depending on how busy things were at the lab. Sam said that would be fine. Like everyone else, Sam hoped they would have Lucifer dealt with sooner rather than later, but realistically, when had things ever gone that easy for them? But at least the book was in the proper hands now.

He was in the process of walking towards the spot where he'd parked the car when he stopped and called Quinn, on an impulse. Sam told her about having dropped off the journal, and then there was silence. Dammit. What should he say next? Though he'd had his share of hookups, it had been quite a while since Sam had actually asked a girl out on a date.

"Sam? Are you still there?" Quinn said.

"Sorry," Sam apologized. "I was wondering if you were free to get together for lunch. Or dinner tonight, if you'd prefer."

Quinn smiled. "Are you doing anything right now? If you want to come by here, I can make us lunch. Actually, you'd be bailing me out, big time. I was planning on going up to the attic. Believe it or not, I haven't been up there since I bought the house. I'll bet you there are about a million spider webs up there, and God only knows what else. I know I'll have to deal with it at some point, but I keep putting it off."

Sam smiled. "I can go up there with you, if you want. I'm an expert spider-killer, and I'm very tall, as I'm sure you've noticed. I can clear out a lot of cobwebs for you."

Quinn shook her head slowly. "Why would you want to do that, Sam?"

"Maybe I want an excuse to get to know you a bit better," he said lightly.

There was a moment's silence, and then Quinn said, "I'd like that, Sam. Come on over, then, whenever you like."

Sam hung up the phone and got in the car. He turned on the radio and found a pop station, then turned up the volume. He glanced over at the passenger seat, picturing Gail sitting there, enjoying the music. "I wish only good things for you and Cas," he told her. "I'm moving on, Gail. I have to. I love you, I love you both." Then he started the car and drove away.

Frank and Dean were arguing.

"They've got to get that Charger," Frank said to the elder Winchester. "You heard the guy. If Cas throws a few grand more his way, he can have the classic 1970 Charger the dealer is selling for his buddy. Do you know how rare those are, Dean?"

"A Dukes Of Hazzard car?" Dean scoffed. "What's so cool about that?"

"It's not orange, and it won't have a confederate flag on it," Frank shot back. "It's blue, and it's got a 426 Hemi. I'd sell my grandmother for that car. It's the opportunity of a lifetime."

"It's blue?" Gail asked her brother. "What kind of blue?"

"All she cares about is the colour," Dean said to Frank, "and I don't think Cas cares at all. So, why is this so important to you?"

"Because all I've ever wanted all my life as far as cars go is a '70 Dodge Charger," Frank told Dean. "But I could never afford one. They're rare, and they're expensive, because they're so rare. When Cas gave me my nest egg, I searched and searched online, but I couldn't find one. That's how rare they are, Dean. So they have to buy it. Then I can live vicariously. At least I'll be able to ride in it, and maybe Cas will let me drive it, once in a while."

"Why don't YOU just buy this one, then?" Dean asked him.

Frank let out a frustrated breath. "Because I'm a father now, Dean. It wouldn't be responsible of me to spend that kind of money on a car I don't need. I already have a perfectly good car."

Dean stared at him. Wow. He never would have thought of it like that. Frank was a stand-up guy, all right.

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess we'll have to take it," Cas said quietly. He looked at Gail. "If that's all right with you, of course."

She shrugged. "Sure. As long as it's not a lemon and it has a decent radio, I'm happy. And, it's blue. You know how I feel about that colour," she said, touching Cas's cheek.

An hour or so later, they were sitting in the reception area of the dealership, waiting for the salesman to return with the car. Frank was the first to hear the low rumble of the engine. He looked up sharply. That was the sound of a quality automobile.

Then Dean heard it, and he looked at Frank, grinning. "Sounds like we're about to welcome another Baby into the family," Dean quipped. He looked at Cas. "You'll have to think of another nickname, though. 'Baby' is mine."

"Oh, please tell me we can borrow it to send out announcement cards, though," Gail said happily. "Can you imagine how many people we'd mess up if we sent out cards announcing we're welcoming a Baby into our family?"

"And it's blue, denoting a boy," Cas chipped in. "Maybe I should buy some cigars."

Dean looked at Cas, then did a double-take. "That's officially the funniest thing I've ever heard you say," Dean told his friend.

"Then why aren't you laughing?" Cas asked him, curious.

"I guess because I'm so shocked," Dean replied.

"I've been trying for years to tell you I'm funny, Dean," Cas said, smiling. "I don't know why you never seem to believe me."

The salesman came in the front door and announced, "Your car is here, Sir."

Cas stood. "Excellent," he said to the man. He looked at Frank and Dean, who were craning their necks to look outside. "Why don't you two go outside and have a look at the car?" Cas said to the men. "Gail and I will settle the deal, and then we'll be right out."

"Maybe we should stay here with you," Frank said uncertainly. They'd already agreed on a price, but he was afraid that if the salesman got Cas alone, he might rip him off. Up the price at the last minute, or something.

"No, what we're going to do is walk outside and look at the car, first," Gail said to them. "I'm not going to spend that much money on a car I haven't even laid eyes on. And Frank and Dean can have a look under the hood and give us their expert opinions."

Cas smiled. "As usual, you are right. And I don't even need that laminated card to tell me so." He and Gail laughed, while Frank and Dean exchanged puzzled glances.

They walked outside, and Frank's face lit up immediately. He rushed over to the car, admiring it. "I think I'm in love," he enthused, putting his hand reverently on the car.

"Won't Jody be jealous?" Cas joked.

"No, she'd totally understand," Frank said, smiling. He looked at Dean. "So?"

"Let's get a look under the hood, first," Dean said, approaching the front of the car. Frank popped the hood, and both men gazed down with looks of rapture on their faces.

"Now that's some good American muscle, there," Dean acknowledged, nodding his head. "If I was ever gonna cheat on Baby..." He looked around furtively, as if the Impala could hear him.

"So, is it a good car?" Cas asked the men.

"Good? Good?" Frank sputtered. "Cas, you have no idea. This is the Holy Grail. The perfect car." He had wanted to make a joke about two Angels owning the Holy Grail of cars, but Frank supposed he'd better wait on that. The salesman was standing there staring at him as if he thought Frank was going to hotwire the car and take off with it. Not that the thought hadn't crossed his mind, of course. "Can you start her up, buddy?" he asked the salesman. "I just need to see, and hear, for a minute."

Dean was smirking as the man started the engine up and Frank made a noise that Jody was probably very used to hearing in the privacy of their room. But Dean had to admit that it was a fantastic car. Much better than he'd thought it would be.

Gail came around to the driver's side of the car. "Can you put on the radio for a minute?" she asked the salesman. He switched it on, and a pop song was playing. "Now, that's what I'M talking about," she said, starting to dance.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Way to ruin the moment, Gail."

"I'm ruining nothing," she retorted. "Is it your car, Mister Smarty-Pants?"

Cas was smiling. He looked at Dean and Frank. "Do you both agree it's a good car, then?" Dean said, "Yeah, Cas, it is." Fran nodded so enthusiastically that he looked like a bobblehead statue. Then Cas looked at Gail. "I know you already know what I think," she said to him, and his smile grew wider. Yes, he did. Cas took her hand. "Let's go inside," he said to the salesman. "Stay out here, and we'll be right back," he said to Frank and Dean. Frank nodded absently. He was way too busy ogling the car to care what Cas was saying. But Dean looked at Cas questioningly. Cas sighed, and he held his hand up in an "I've got this" gesture. He appreciated his friends wanting to look out after his welfare, but Cas was not nearly as naive as they seemed to think he was. It was just that money was not nearly as important to him as it was to humans. If he had to part with more of it to make his loved ones happy, he was glad to do that.

A short while later, Cas and Gail came back outside, and Cas had the car keys in his hand. Frank and Dean approached them.

"So, everything went OK?" Frank asked them.

"Yeah, it just took a few minutes longer than we thought to get the paperwork done," Gail said to him. "There was a typo on the ownership papers."

Frank looked at her, puzzled. Then Cas extended his arm and held out the keys. "My name was on the papers; or, at least, the false name that I gave to the salesman," Cas told Frank. "So we told them they had to change it to yours."

Frank's jaw dropped open. He looked from Cas to his sister and then back again. "Get outta here," he said, dazed.

"Merry Christmas," Gail said. "And, Happy Hanukkah, birthday, and anniversary. Enjoy. Just don't expect another present from us for the next decade or so," she joked. Gail was smiling widely. The expression on her brother's face was worth at least five Chargers.

Cas pressed the keys into Frank's hand. "Take your sister for a drive," he said. "Dean and I will meet you at the diner, and we'll buy you both some lunch." He kissed Gail on the cheek and gave her a squeeze, then he said, "Come on, Dean." The men walked away, leaving the brother and sister there.

Frank stood looking down at Gail, open-mouthed. "Earth to Frank," Gail said, waving her hand in front of his face.

"I can't believe you guys would do this," he said dazedly.

She shrugged. "Hey, we're Angels. 'Tis better to give, and all that crap. Just make sure you vacuum all the crumbs out of your old car before you hand it over."

Frank pulled her to him and gave her a big hug. She put her arms around her brother, smiling. She had heard him sniffle.

Once Frank had composed himself, he said, "Let's go, kiddo." They got into the car and Frank started it up. He sat back and listened for a moment. "No offense to you and Cas, but THAT'S the sound of Angels singing, right there."

Gail laughed merrily. It was wonderful to see her brother so happy. As soon as she and Cas had looked at Frank looking at the car, they'd known that he had to have it. So they had given the salesman more money, and he had agreed to take it under the table and put Frank's name on the ownership papers. A little dodgy as far as Uncle Sam was concerned, but Gail didn't care. Just look at Frank's face.

They pulled out of the lot at the dealership. "Do you think Cas would mind if I steal you for a bit longer?" Frank asked her. "I've got to go on the freeway for a few minutes, just so we can go a little faster. I want to open her up a bit."

"Sure, Frank. I'll just send him a message," she said.

"Do you need my pho-" he started to say, and she looked at him, raising her eyebrow. "Oh. Right," her brother said, grinning.

Gail told Cas they'd be an additional few minutes, and then she sat back in her seat, watching the scenery fly by. She remembered the time she'd thought that Cas and Frank hated each other, and tears sprang to her eyes. It was still so hard to believe that that whole thing had never even happened.

They drove for a while, and then Frank pulled over to the curb on a street a couple of blocks away from the diner. He shut off the engine and turned to look at his sister.

"Before we get there, I just wanted to say something to you," Frank said, trying to speak past the lump in his throat. "When I first met Cas, I thought he was a bit of a weird bird," Frank told her. "And he totally is. But he's also the best guy I could have ever wished for to be your husband, and my brother-in-law. I give the two of you a hard time, but you know how we are. We tease each other a lot, you and I. I confess, at first it was hard for me to see him take over the role of your protector. That was always my job. I kind of felt like you didn't need me anymore."

"I'll always need you, Frank," Gail said. Her eyes were misting over now. "I don't care where we both are, or what we're doing. I don't care whether we're both married, or if you have a million kids, or if you and Jody move to Timbuktu. And I don't care about some stupid adoption. You're my brother, and no one can ever take that relationship away from us. I love you, Frank, and I'll always need you in my life. No matter what."

"When you and Cas split up, I wanted to talk to you, so many times," Frank went on. "I could see how miserable you were. But I never knew what to say. So I called him in Vancouver, and I asked him what the hell was going on."

She was startled. "You did? He never told me that."

"I'm not surprised," Frank said with a wry grin. "I kind of reamed him out. He said that it was all his fault, everything was his fault, and he was working on being the kind of man you deserved. And that's all he would say. I really went off on him, too. Told him he was being an ass, that you were bawling your eyes out every night, and that he needed to make it right."

Gail smiled sadly. How well she remembered that time. It warmed her heart to hear what Cas had said to Frank, though, and also, what Frank had said to him.

Frank continued, "Then, when you moved back to Vancouver, and you guys got back together, I was happy if you were happy. But, maybe you can tell me now what caused you guys to break up in the first place?"

She looked at him. Crap. No, she couldn't. What was she supposed to say, here? That she and Cas had broken up over something that had apparently never even happened, although it had seemed so real to them that they'd been certain that it had? That was the craziest thought she had ever had, and there was no way she could go there with Frank. But she didn't want to lie to him, either.

"Does it really matter?" Gail asked her brother. "We're married now, we're ecstatically, some would say sickeningly, happy, and that's ancient history. Can't we just leave it at that?"

Frank nodded slowly. "Yeah. Sure. Sure we can, kiddo. But you know that if you ever need to talk, about anything, you can come to me, right?" Then he broke into a grin. "And I'm gonna tell Cas the same thing, in case he ever pisses you off again. But I'm warning you, I may have to take his side. He bought me a Charger."

Gail pretended to frown. "OK, first of all, he and I made that decision together. Secondly, Cas and I are married, so what's his is mine. And thirdly, give me a hug, you big poopyhead."

They both released their seat belts at the same time and Frank gave her a big bear hug, kissing her softly on the forehead. "I love you, kiddo," he told her, and now it was Gail's turn to sniffle.

Frank pulled out of the embrace. "OK. Now, let's never speak of this again," he said, grinning. "If my wife finds out I have such a soft underbelly, I'll never hear the end of it. Now, let's go. I'm gonna get a burger, and the biggest chocolate milkshake they've got."

He started up the engine and pulled out into traffic.

Cas and Dean were sitting in a booth at the diner, and they had been talking, too.

"That was a really great thing you guys did," Dean told Cas.

Cas shrugged. "We could see how much having that car meant to him, Dean."

"Whose idea was it, yours, or Gail's?" Dean asked, curious.

Cas's mouth twitched furiously. "Mrs. Kissyface and I came to a consensus." Then his expression grew serious. "Gail and I are one and the same, Dean. We think alike, and we communicate on a higher plane. It's the sacred bond. It's the most intimate relationship there could ever be."

"OK, OK," Dean said, holding up his hands. "Why can't you ever just answer a question like a normal person?"

"Because I'm an Angel," Cas said earnestly, "and because I thought that you and I were such close friends that I could provide an answer with a little more depth to it."

Dean smiled. "So you DO like me the best," he remarked. "Come on, Cas, it's just the two of us. You can admit it."

Cas answered his smile. "I just bought Frank a very expensive car," he pointed out.

Dean laughed. "You're a lot funnier now than you used to be."

Cas's eyebrow raised. "So you finally admit I'm funny?"

"I only said you're funnier than you USED to be," Dean shot back. "But, let's face it, the bar was pretty low." He stared at Cas for a moment, and then he said, "Despite all this crap we've been going through, I've never seen you happier, Cas. Gail, either. And I'm glad, Cas. I'm really glad."

Cas continued to smile at his friend. "I love you, Dean," he blurted out.

Dean looked around nervously, hoping no one had heard. He may have grown and matured a lot since Barry and Tommy had come to stay at the bunker, but it was a pretty safe bet that a lot of the midwestern macho types of guys who frequented this diner had not. "Yeah, yeah, OK, Cas," he said to his friend. But inside, Dean was pleased. He loved Cas, too. Maybe he would even tell him that, one day. Dean had told Gail on her and Cas's wedding day how much she meant to him; maybe he'd tell Cas on his deathbed, or something. Anyway, Dean knew that Cas knew how he felt. Guys just didn't go around talking about that kind of stuff. Well, normal guys didn't, anyway. Dean loved Frank, too, but he would never say so out loud. Two straight men just didn't say those things to each other, even though they felt them. Cas was the exception. He could be chopping some monster's head off one minute, then telling you he loved you the next, and each of these things coming from Cas would be equally genuine. His weird and wonderful best friend.

"Since we're alone, let me ask you something," Cas said to Dean now. Something had been gnawing at him for a while now. A couple of things had, actually. Dean looked at him expectantly. How could he put this?

"Do you remember when Gail was in the bunker recuperating, after that panther attacked her in the Secret Garden?" Cas asked Dean.

"Yeah, of course I do," Dean replied. "What about it?"

"Do you recall that time that you were passing by our room, and she had cut her hand on some broken glass?" Cas continued in a calm tone, though his stomach was fluttering.

Dean's forehead wrinkled as he thought back. "Oh. Yeah. You had a hold of her hand, and I came in the room when I saw that she was bleeding," he responded. Cas held his breath. Then Dean laughed. "I guess that was pretty stupid on my part," Dean went on. "I came in there to see if I could help. All you had to do was grab her and heal her. I'll bet you guys thought that was pretty funny. Old habits die hard, I guess."

"And, that was it?" Cas persisted.

Dean was puzzled. "What do you mean? Yeah. That was it. You healed her hand, you mopped up the water, and that was it." He regarded Cas curiously. "You're getting weird again. What's with the questions?"

"Nothing, Dean," Cas said quickly. "Never mind." He sat back in his seat, lost in thought. Was it possible? Was that yet another conversation he had apparently manufactured out of whole cloth? In Cas's mind, Dean had come storming in there, accusing him of having hurt Gail, because she had been bleeding. But now, Dean was confirming that the event itself actually had happened, but it had been completely innocuous. Ever since Metatron had informed Cas and Gail that what they'd come to refer to as the Demon period had never happened, the couple had found it so hard to believe that they'd been seeking independent corroboration from their friends and family. And every question and every answer they'd received so far supported the story that Metatron had told them in Mongolia, that he had modified their memories so radically that they'd been convinced that all of those loathsome, repugnant things had truly happened. But it had all been a huge lie. They had never even been through the ordeal at all. He had never been a Demon, she had never been victimized, and there had never been a cure, because there had never been a need for one. They had broken up over a figment of their imaginations. They'd had a house, but neighbourhood youths had accidentally exploded it. Bobby had not rained down holy fire. Rowena may or may not be loosed upon the Earth; the jury was still out on that. But if she was, they had not been the ones responsible. That was one thing that Castiel had not been able to obtain independent corroboration about, yet. If he had been on speaking terms with Crowley, Cas might have asked his Brother about that. But it felt like pretty much every question that Cas could ask about that period had been answered now. He supposed he should try to talk to Crowley about it at some point, as Gail already had. That was if his Brother would tell him the truth, of course. If Cas took the time to analyze it, he realized that Crowley could have taken Cas and Gail out of their misery at any time throughout their agonizing separation. He'd known the truth, but he had let them twist and writhe, laughing up his sleeve at them that whole time. And then there was Metatron, the architect of the grand deception, of course. But at least he had finally come clean and told them about it, giving them the biggest gift that they had ever received. But it should not have even been necessary in the first place, because he should not have perpetrated such a terrible hoax to begin with.

"Cas? Cas!" Dean exclaimed, shaking him out of his reverie.

"I'm sorry, Dean, I was just woolgathering," Cas said mildly.

"Well, find out if they're on the way," Dean said. "I'm starving."

"So am I," Frank said. He and Gail walked up to the booth. "Slide over, Dean," Frank told his friend. "I'm sure the lovebirds want to sit beside each other."

"We certainly do," Cas said. He reached out his hand to Gail and she took it, nestling herself beside him in the booth. "Did you enjoy your drive, Frank?" Cas asked him.

Frank rolled his eyes comically. "You have no idea, Cas. I can't even begin to tell you how fantastic that car is. I'd say lunch is on me, but I realize what a hollow gesture that would be. Thanks, man. Thanks a lot."

Cas put his arm around Gail's waist, sliding her closer to him. "You're very welcome, Frank." Cas looked at his wife. "We're very happy that you're happy, aren't we, my love?"

"So happy," she agreed. She and Cas started to kiss.

"See, what they're doing now is trying to make us lose our appetites, so they don't have to pony up for lunch," Dean groused.

"Won't work," Frank said cheerfully. "I'm way too happy to let that bother me."

Cas sat back in his seat, looking at his loved ones. This was more like it. He would love it if their lives could be like this all the time. These couple of days were proving to be a welcome respite from the upcoming dangers that Cas knew they would have to face. And he had no doubt that there would be many of those.