I've read too many fics revisiting that last scene between Dean and Cas in the previous episode and it got me thinking so here's another one-shot based on my idle thoughts and worry over Friday's finale. As I post this we have a little over 69 hours to go (and I've been counting since this episode aired.)

Still no ownership for me, just my own guesses that are bound to be false and an obsession with a type of being I refused any belief in until this past September.

"I'm sorry Dean."

"Well I'm sorry too then."

The words have barely left the hunter's mouth before the flutter of wings and displaced air replaces them. Perhaps Dean thinks he's abandoned him in truth, but that's not the case.

He has spent too much time with the Winchesters, the angel muses as he settles onto the bench in that snowy field that is some random soul's Heaven. He still retains some of the humanity he picked up with his fall, he knows this though it was over a year ago. And in that time he also picked up some of the brothers' bad habits.

Minor things like a taste for alcohol and swearing just because. Those are not so bad, and easy to notice, but there are more subtle changes he's only now seeing in himself. Traits he hadn't even noticed at first in the Winchesters. Stubborn resistance when someone else tries to pick thier path. Blind devotion to following the route they think is right. The standoffish attitude when faced with resistance from those close to them; family. A certain reluctance to emotional conversations.

Dean had named him family, his brother, and the angel found himself reflecting now on the many ways in which it was truth. Ways Dean might never even understand or consider. That he had responded by stepping away from the topic, intentionally re-instigating a fight, well that was just another example.

Couldn't they see he was doing what was necessary to win the war? But then, maybe he was the one who couldn't see. As he sat there, time neither passing nor standing still, his thoughts passed back over all his knowledge of the Winchesters. No matter what happened, the obstacles along the way, they always achieved their goal. What humans lack in finesse they more than make up for in determination, especially so for Sam and Dean. Anything is possible for them if it's for family.

Maybe that's what he was missing, but how to know what was right? The world suddenly showed him a second path, fading as it was, and now was the time for a final choice. Though he'd made a mess of things with the Winchesters and Bobby, he knew Dean would still accept him back yet. The lies and the fights hadn't ended the trust between them nearly as quickly as would be expected. He still had a chance to 'mend fences,' as the phrase goes, with them but would it do any good?

Should he take the chance at redemption with them? Would it do any good to involve them in Heaven's war? Or was it best to cut ties and continue the endeavour with Crowley that would result in the end of Raphael? Could he be content in the knowledge that Sam and Dean were alright, even if they wanted him dead too?

Which choice was right? Which was less wrong? Which path could he live, or die, with?

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this piece as it didn't come out how I planned but if I keep tweaking it then it'll just come apart and I don't want that. I was aiming for Cas to come to agree with Dean's opinion but this feels like he's totally conflicted still. Maybe that's more honest to canon though...

Reviews are loved, as are theories on the finale and next season.