((Dedicated for all of the Bobby and Cas fans out there… I feel like we've lost a valuable part of the show when we lost them. Team Freewill forever! Please excuse the crappy writing… and R&R if it's not too… blergh…))

xXx

Fading… I know it. Dammit, I know it. It feels so anti-climactic. And you know the stupid thing—the incredibly stupid thing? I couldn't help but hope.

"Hey, Castiel?" I call out. See what I mean? Dumb. I'm such a damned fool. But Sam and Dean weren't the only one who missed the socially-awkward angel. Of course, it goes beyond that, that fool trench coated being is the only thing that can save me now. The darkness is falling and I can see the Reaper before me smirk.

"Sorry, your Dues Ex Machina isn't coming this time," he says, irritably, even as he plays with his god-awful watch. "Now stop playing around, it's time to go."

"You don't know that," I reply, though to be honest, I agreed with him. But hell, it really was my last straw.

"Oh, I don't?" Came the snarky reply. I see his eyebrows rise, like he's dealing with a particularly petulant child. "Your little winged friend disintegrated in that lake, you drunken fool. You can wish all you'd like but he is not coming back."

"Do not be so sure."

I look up. Damn it all… I felt my stomach drop at the sound of his voice. The Reaper blinks. "I don't believe it." Hell, neither do I. But yet, there he is, standing in the middle of my decaying gourd like he belongs there.

Or maybe he does. "Cas?" I demand, my eyes narrowed. "I swear to God, if you are another death-delusion…"

"Delusion?" Cas asks, tilting his head. "I can assure you, that I am quite real."

"Great, you are real," I snort. "Leviathan must be bored as hell… or else you just want to see your handiwork. Well I don't need a gift-basket, so go screw yourself."

The Reaper laughs, finally catching my attention. "You really are a moronic drunk," he says with a smirk.

"Come again," I reply.

"He's not a Leviathan," the Reaper says irritably. "He is here to kick me out of your brain. Apparently my presence here offends his delicate, angelic, sensibilities." Cas' eyes narrowed slightly, but otherwise he remained stationary. I didn't realize it but, God, I missed him.

"Angelic?" I know I sound a bit ridiculous, but seriously. "How?"

"How am I alive?" Cas asks gently, eyeing me with that damned pensive expression. "I wish I had an answer, but, I don't know, Bobby."

"Care for me to enlighten you both?" The Reaper cuts in smoothly.

"Enlighten us to what exactly?" I demand, seeing Cas stiffen in my periphery.

"You fool-hardy little angel," he snorts, finally pocketing that watch. "You are such a naïve little child."

"To what exactly?" Cas repeats, taking a dangerous step towards the Reaper.

"The Leviathan left you alive."

"Left me alive?" Cas replies coolly. "I have spent several months regenerating in a lake."

"And if it had been their wish to do so, they would have ground you to dust," the Reaper says sharply. "You are important to them. So do not be as foolish to think that your importance to them is over."

Cas actually pales. I have never seen him so frightened before, his blue eyes wide even as his hands hang limply at his side.

I look at him, but his eyes have already recovered. "No matter, just get me the hell out of there," I demand.

Cas blinks and looks at the Reaper, who holds his hands up in surrender. "Far be it from me to interfere," he says with a sigh.

Cas nodded, though I can see from the pained look in his eyes, he was far from forgetting the Reaper's barb.

I touch his shoulder gently, surprised at how… human he feels. "Come on," I say gently, "My melon isn't going to heal itself."

He nods slowly and pulls away. "Bobby," his voice is rough and I really don't understand why he is looking at me like that.

"Don't strain yourself," I say—never been one for awkward silences. "Look, save your apologies for the boys, who actually need to hear it." Cas fixes me with another one of those confusing as hell gazes.

"But, Bobby…" Castiel started.

"Dammit, kid, just get me healed," I retort, fully aware of the irony of my statement. "We have some boys shock the hell out of."