Book 27 - The Eye of the Storm

by GailDunn2

WARNING: CONTAINS SOME ADULT CONTENT. Dean is back, but there is some fallout connected with his return. Gail's true parentage remains a mystery, but there are other concerns that take priority. The Supernatural movie makes its debut against an ominous backdrop. Ominous things are coming from Nevada, and the battle lines are being drawn in Heaven as the vote will soon be held.

2. Someone I Used To Love

Chapter 2 - Someone I Used To Love

The six of them had been puddle-jumping, going from casino to casino, bar to bar. It was full dark on the Strip now, and Barry was looking around himself at all angles, amazed. He had never been here before, and he had heard that it was quite the spectacle. But the accounts he'd heard didn't do it justice.

"Wow," he marveled. "I can't even imagine what the Hydro bill would be every night for all of this."

"The what?" Dean asked him, puzzled.

Tommy laughed. "The Hydro. That's Canadian for the electric bill."

"Oh," Dean said. He guessed he should probably learn more about Canada, if he and Nicole were going to become more serious. "What do you say if you bump into somebody?" he said, smirking. "Or, if somebody bumps into you? I've heard you apologize."

"Of course you do," Tommy told him. "Either way." Then, an instant later, it actually happened. Tommy was looking at Dean, and a man who was walking the other way bumped into Tommy. "Oh, sorry," Tommy said, and Sam laughed. "Canadians," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh my God! Tommy?!" Wyatt exclaimed. Then he looked at the others, and his eyes grew wider. "Oh, my God! It's you guys!"

"Hi, Wyatt," Tommy greeted his ex-boyfriend.

"What a coincidence," Wyatt marveled. "I can't believe it."

Tommy stared at him, shocked. The last time they'd seen Wyatt, he had been thin, as usual; but now he looked emaciated, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Hey, Cas," Wyatt said flirtatiously. "How's that marriage thing working out for you?"

Cas gave Gail's hand a squeeze as she said tartly, "Very well, Wyatt. It's working out very well for him."

Wyatt smiled. "Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying." Then he looked at Dean and Sam. "You two still claiming you're brothers?" he asked them, and Gail burst out laughing.

"I'm fine too, Wyatt. Thanks for asking," Barry said sarcastically, and Tommy's ex looked at him coolly. Yes, he'd seen that Tommy and Barry had been walking hand in hand, and he'd also noticed the diamond ring on Barry's finger. Please. This was Wyatt they were talking to. He could be blind, and he would still be able to smell a diamond. The bottom line was, Barry had won, and Wyatt had lost, in every category imaginable. He'd also noticed the shocked look on Tommy's face when he'd first seen his ex. Even now, Tommy was staring at him with that inquisitive reporter look. It wouldn't be long until he put two and two together, if he hadn't already.

"What are you all doing here?" Wyatt asked the group.

"Just here for a couple of days on vacation," Sam said casually.

"But we're leaving tomorrow," Barry added quickly.

"Do you want to go to a really good show tonight?" Wyatt asked them. "I can get you in for free."

Dean perked up. "What's that, now?"

"It looks like you've discovered Dean's Achilles' Heel," Tommy said dryly. "'Free' is his favourite 'F' word."

"Just a minute," Barry said. He grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him aside to where Sam was standing. "You know what kind of show he's talking about, right?" he asked the brothers.

"Sure," Dean said, and Sam nodded, too. Then Dean smiled slowly. "But I'll bet you a million bucks Cas won't."

The brothers were smirking as they rejoined the group. "Lead on, Wyatt," Sam said.

"What kind of show is it?" Cas asked Wyatt, as they followed Tommy's ex down the Strip.

"There'll be a lot of good-looking women, singing and dancing, sort of like a variety show," Dean answered quickly. He winked at Wyatt, who got the message. Man, if only, Wyatt thought. A couple of years ago, when he'd been healthy, he would've wrapped himself around Dean after a wink like that and never let go, straight or not. Woof. "I hope Gail won't get jealous," he said, smiling.

Barry and Tommy exchanged amused glances, and Gail looked at Wyatt suspiciously. "Women? Singing and dancing?" she asked him. "You're not talking about a strip club, are you?"

Dean had to avert his face to keep from laughing out loud. Gail was no fool, but this time, she had taken a wrong fork in the road. Good. It would be a lot more fun this way. "No, it's not a strip club, we promise," Dean said to her. "I've learned my lesson, Gail. I'll never take Cas to a place like that again, even if you aren't with us."

"Good, because you know I would never go to one of those kinds of places," Cas said primly. "Don't you worry about any of those women, my love. I'm sure they won't flirt with me when they see that I'm there with my wife."

Tommy was shaking now with the effort to keep from laughing. Maybe what they were doing was a little bit mean, but it was also pretty funny. Obviously, the Angels were too naive to realize that they were going to a drag show. Well, Cas was, anyway. Gail still had that suspicious look on her face, as if she knew that something was up that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Wyatt was trying to keep himself from laughing, too. How could anyone as gorgeous as Cas be so naive? Man, his former co-workers were gonna be drooling all over Cas, wife or no wife. And over Sam and Dean, too. What a blessing it had been to run into their group tonight. Wyatt would be greeted like a VIP by his old friends, not only because he hadn't been there in so long, but because he was bringing all this man candy with him.

They got to the cabaret and Wyatt was greeted warmly by the hostess. She led them to the best table in the house, right by the stage. Wyatt asked for several bottles of champagne to be brought to the table, and he beamed when the hostess told him they would be free of charge.

Wyatt poured champagne all around and he lifted his glass. "Here's to having a good time," he said to them all. The whole group lifted their glasses to meet his toast.

A couple of minutes later, the lights started to dim and then the show started. A tall woman with flaming red hair came out on stage to warm up the audience, and she looked down at Wyatt's table and gave him a thumbs-up. The hostess had come backstage and told all of the performers who remembered Wyatt that he was here, with a number of tall, good-looking men. But it looked like he might be fading fast, so they all made a pact to show him and his friends a really good time.

A couple of singers followed. One woman covered Cher songs, and the other one was dressed like Madonna in the 1980s. They were pretty good singers, and the one who played Madonna was a good dancer, as well. Gail started to relax. Apparently, she'd been suspicious for nothing.

Then another woman came onstage, imitating Beyonce. She was scantily clad, and she started to do some sexy dance moves. After the first song, she said, "I see a very good friend of mine in the audience tonight." She stepped down off of the stage and came over to where Wyatt sat. "How are you doing, Sugar?" she said to him.

"I'm good, Queen B," Wyatt answered.

"And look at all these handsome men you brought with you tonight!" the performer squealed. She walked around the table, looking at them all admiringly. She fluffed Sam's hair, then felt Dean's bicep. "Me-ow," she remarked. Then she saw Cas, and she stopped short. "And who might you be, Honey?" she asked him, tilting the microphone towards him. "Cas," he responded. The performer looked at the audience. "Cas," she repeated, imitating his deeper voice. There was a ripple of laughter from the crowd. Then she moved closer to him and sat on his knee. "Well, Cas, what do you think of the show so far?" she purred into the microphone.

"I think it's very entertaining," he said in a mild voice. "But I wish you wouldn't sit on me like this. I'm a married man."

"Really?" Beyonce's imitator said. "Imagine that. A married man. It's not like we've had any of THOSE in here before."

The audience laughed, and "Beyonce" moved even further forward in Cas's lap. Now, her breasts were near his face, and he was looking away pointedly. "Well, what your wife doesn't know about won't hurt her, right, Big Boy?" she cooed.

"She's right here," Cas said in a strangled voice, gesturing to Gail. "I must insist that you rise immediately."

Gail was glaring at the female impersonator, but she was also looking around the table at her friends now. They were all laughing. Dean thought he might just pee himself in a minute. God, he wished Frank was here. Look at the look on Cas's face. The poor guy still had no idea.

Gail knew now, of course. As soon as she'd seen the performer up close, she'd known that "Beyonce" was a man, dressed up like a woman. She poked her husband, then gestured to her own throat. If Cas looked closer, he would be able to see that "Beyonce" had an Adam's apple. Which was pretty funny, considering whose lap "she" was on.

Dean was wiping his eyes with his hands now. "What's going on?" Cas said sharply. "Why are you laughing?" He glared up at the performer's face. "Why don't you sit on HIS lap?" Cas said angrily, jerking his head at Dean. "He's single."

"Ooh, Honey, if I didn't have my set to do, I'd be sitting on all of your laps, believe me," the performer said flirtatiously. Then "she" looked down at Gail. "Oh, and by the way, you're not fooling anybody," the impersonator said cattily. "If you want to look more like a woman, try a bit more makeup. And, BTW, your falsies are crooked." Then "Beyonce" got off Cas's lap and sashayed back up to the stage.

The men lost it. They were killing themselves laughing now, leaning on each other for support. Gail was glaring daggers at them, and Cas was still looking extremely confused. Gail grabbed Cas's hand, tugging him to his feet. "Come with me for a second," she said to him. Then she leaned down and said something in Dean's ear, and then she pulled Cas to the front door of the club and outside onto the sidewalk.

"Please don't shout at me, Gail," Cas said miserably as soon as they got outside. "I didn't know she was going to flirt with me like that, and I certainly didn't invite her to do it."

"Cas, that was a guy," she said bluntly. "This is a drag club."

"A what?" he said, puzzled. This was uncharted territory for him.

"A drag club," she repeated. "They're female impersonators, Cas."

"Female - " he started to say, and then, the light dawned. "Do you mean that those were all men?"

Gail nodded. "Yep. I didn't really know that myself, until I saw 'Beyonce's' Adam's apple. I'm surprised you didn't notice it, at such close proximity," she added dryly.

"I was trying not to look," Cas pointed out. He frowned. "I suppose our friends think I'm pretty foolish."

Gail touched his face. "No, sweetie. You're just a little innocent, sometimes. I think it's cute." Her lips twitched. "Besides, it's me who should be really upset. 'Beyonce' thinks I'm a guy, in drag." She looked down at her chest. "And, even worse, she thinks I'm crooked!"

She looked back up at Cas, and the two of them laughed together. He put his arms around her waist. "Well, I've never had any complaints," Cas said lightly, and he kissed her on the mouth.

Their friends came out of the club. Dean was still laughing, but he'd calmed down somewhat. "I'm sorry, but that was too funny," he said, clapping Cas on the shoulder.

Barry was pretending to inspect Gail. "Don't listen to him, Gail, I don't think you're crooked at all," he said, smirking. "He's just jealous that his come out of a store."

"You'd better not look; Cas'll get mad," Tommy said, nudging his fiance.

"It's OK for me to look; I'm gay," Barry assured Cas with a smile.

"You probably could do with a bit more makeup, though," Sam told her, grinning.

Gail fixed them with an all-encompassing glare. Wyatt was standing there too, so she couldn't say exactly what she wanted to say. She settled for: "You guys had better hope I don't win that upcoming little contest that you all know about. 'Cause I'm starting a list, and I'll be taking down names."

Cas was just opening his mouth to add a witticism when Wyatt collapsed onto the sidewalk.

Gail and the men were sitting in the waiting room when the doctor came out. "Are you Wyatt's friends?" he asked them.

Barry made a face. That might be a bit of a strong word. But he nodded to Tommy, who stood from his chair and faced the doctor. "Yes, we are," Tommy said. "I'm his ex-boyfriend. How is he?"

"He doesn't have long," the physician said softly. "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but we don't have any time to lose. Do you know who his next of kin is?"

Tommy frowned. "He doesn't have any, I'm afraid." That wasn't exactly true, but he was protecting Wyatt now. His ex's family were fundamentalist Christians, who had disowned Wyatt a long time ago. Even if they hadn't, though, Tommy knew that Wyatt wouldn't want any of them here. "I'm the closest thing he's got," Tommy added, looking apologetically at Barry.

"Well, you can go in, then," the doctor told him. "I'm sorry, but I have to rush off. We're very busy tonight."

Tommy turned to Barry with a concerned look on his face, but Barry gave him a nod. "Go and see him," Tommy's fiance said quietly. "Nobody should have to die alone, not if there are people around them who can be kind to them in their last moments."

"I love you," Tommy said to him. "For that, and for many other reasons." Then he went down the hall to Wyatt's room.

The others sat silently for a bit, and then Barry asked Gail, "What did you say to Dean?"

"What?" she asked him, puzzled.

"Back there in the club, right before you took Cas outside. You leaned down and said something to Dean that none of us heard. What was it?"

Gail's lips twitched. "I said the next time he dies, I was going to rip the last two pages out of the spell book, roll them up, and shove them up his-"

"You did not!" Barry exclaimed, interrupting her.

"She sure did," Dean said, grinning. Then he remembered why they were here, and he made himself stop.

Meanwhile, Tommy had let himself into Wyatt's room. He drew up a chair beside the bed and took Wyatt's hand. "You should have told me," he chided Wyatt gently.

"Why? You have nothing to worry about," Wyatt replied. "We haven't been together for years."

Tommy frowned a little. "I didn't mean for my sake, I meant for yours. How long have you been sick?"

"Just over a year now," his ex responded. "Remember when I called you on New Years', and you hung up on me?" Tommy opened his mouth to explain, but Wyatt held up his free hand weakly. "No, you don't have to say anything, Tom-Tom. I know what you guys were dealing with. Or I have a pretty good idea, anyway. I've spent way too much time thinking only of myself, and now I'm paying for it. When you and I were together, all I cared about was the next drink, the next high, and the next guy. When you finally came to your senses and left me, I took all those pills because deep down, I knew I had just let my only real chance for happiness walk out that door."

"I thought you were just being dramatic," Tommy said, stunned.

"I know you did, and why wouldn't you?" Wyatt said, smiling grimly. "That was my M.O., wasn't it? You would go out on the road and I would hop from bed to bed, justifying what I was doing by saying that you were leaving me all alone. Blaming you for my character flaws. Me, me, me. Then you left, and suddenly, I was 'free'. Free to do what? Live alone? Sleep alone? Die alone?"

Tommy winced. "Is there anything I can do for you, Wyatt? Anyone I can call?"

Wyatt sighed. "You know how my family feels about me. I couldn't face any of them right now. But, yeah. Actually, there are a couple of things you can do. Can you call Adrian for me?"

Tommy looked at him blankly, and then he realized: Adrian was the General who had gotten Cas and Gail and the Winchesters into Area 51.

"I know he's not exactly your favourite person, but I need to tell him I'm sorry," Wyatt went on. "He and I haven't spoken since he brought your friends into the base - "

" - And betrayed them," Tommy interrupted sharply.

Wyatt sighed again. "Yes. But that whole thing wasn't my fault, Tom-Tom. Anyway, I didn't tell Adrian when I was diagnosed, and I feel bad about that now. I wonder if you could call him for me and ask him to come."

Tommy stared at his ex, astonished. This whole time, Wyatt had known that he had AIDS, and he'd never told the man he'd been sleeping with? Unbelievable.

"Don't look at me like that," Wyatt said, as if reading his mind. "I called and called, but Adrian never called me back. Maybe he blamed me for what happened at the base, I don't know. But none of that had anything to do with me. I don't even know what happened there! He called me once, right afterwards, and said that I had ruined his career by bringing those Angels to meet him. And that was it. He stopped taking my calls after that, and he stopped coming around the club. And then, I had to quit performing, once I got too sick. But I know I don't have too long now, Tommy. Which brings me to the second thing: can you ask Cas to come in?" Tommy gave his ex a look, and Wyatt rolled his eyes. "He's an Angel, isn't he? I want him to hear my confession." Then Wyatt gave Tommy a sly grin. "Hey, there's no law that says I can't enjoy the sights while I'm unburdening myself, is there?"

Tommy shook his head slowly. Wyatt. He was one of a kind.

A couple of minutes later, Tommy came out to the waiting room, telling Cas that Wyatt wanted to see him. Then Tommy excused himself. He needed to go and call Adrian for Wyatt, and he thought he should go somewhere private to do it.

Cas stood from the small couch he and Gail had been sitting on. "Show me to his room," he said to Tommy, and the two of them walked down the hall.

"After Cas is done, let's get out of here before that General gets here," Dean said grimly. "I owe that guy a punch in the face."

Gail nodded. "Lucky Gabriel isn't here. I'm pretty sure he would feel the same way. But we're done with those guys. We got what we needed to get there. It's all about poor Wyatt right now. Sorry, Barry," she said to their friend, but he shook his head. "No, don't worry about it," Barry said. "I've just been sitting here thinking about how lucky I am. That could have been me in there, a number of years ago. I wasn't always careful, and I wasn't always smart. But Tommy and I both got tested when we decided we were serious about each other, and we were both clean. So, there but for the grace of God, as they say. I'd be a pretty petty person if I had a problem with Tommy giving Wyatt a little comfort in his last hours."

Tommy had stepped outside the building for a breath of fresh air, and for some privacy. "Wyatt wants to see you," he was telling Adrian. Tommy was calling from his own cell phone, reasoning that if the General saw Wyatt's ID come up, he wouldn't answer.

"Well, I'm not interested in seeing him," Adrian replied shortly. "Tell him to lose my number."

"He's in the hospital, and he's dying," Tommy said harshly. "That change your mind?"

There was silence, and then Adrian sighed. "All right, I'll come. But I'm at the base, so it'll take me a while to get there. What's wrong with him?"

Tommy pursed his lips in frustration. "What do you think, Einstein?"

"It could be a lot of things," Adrian remarked cautiously.

"Well, it's not," Tommy retorted angrily. He wasn't really sure why he was so angry with the General. Adrian was a victim here, too, according to Wyatt himself. Maybe it was because the General had betrayed his friends in Area 51, but there was more to it than that. Adrian was the receptacle for Tommy's outrage at the unfairness of it all. He no longer loved Wyatt, but it hurt Tommy's heart nonetheless to see him laying there dying, when the guy he remembered had been so full of life. Damn disease. As if the world didn't make life hard enough for gay people.

"Are you certain?" the General asked him now, alarm in his voice.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Tommy yelled into the phone. "It's AIDS, you closeted bastard! Now, get your five-star ass down here and show him some compassion!" He pressed End Call, then stood there for a moment, breathing heavily.

"I've done a lot of sketchy things in my life, Cas," Wyatt was saying to the Angel. "Do you think that someone like me would be able to make it into Heaven?"

Cas looked at him with compassion. What could he possibly say to that? How should he know? But then it occurred to him: it might soon be his job to know. If he aspired to the High Office, this was just the sort of decision he would have to make. There was only one problem: the answer had to be no.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Wyatt asked him.

"Like what?" Cas said, stalling.

"I don't know, exactly," Wyatt said. "Like you know something."

Tommy entered the room just in time to hear their exchange. "Actually, Cas might BE God, soon," he said heartily. He thought he would keep Wyatt's spirits up if he told him that, but Cas frowned. He wished Tommy hadn't said that.

"What?!" Wyatt exclaimed. Tommy told him about the upcoming election, as Cas's heart sank. But it was too late to do anything about it now.

Wyatt looked at Cas, open-mouthed. "I hit on God?" he said in a soft voice. Then, more loudly, "I hit on God?!"

As Cas opened his mouth to correct Wyatt, the patient started to laugh. "That's hilarious!" Wyatt said in a high-pitched voice. Tears started to stream down his cheeks. "That's perfect! I hit on God! Now I know why everybody says your name in bed! Because they see your face!" He reached out and touched Cas's face with his fingertips. Then his laughter turned into a cough, and he clutched at his stomach.

"Do you want me to call the nurse?" Tommy said, alarmed.

"No, Tom-Tom," Wyatt said wearily. "I'm ready to go, now. Thanks for the laughs. I hope I'll see you all in Heaven." Then he closed his eyes, and then he died.

Cas and Tommy came back out into the waiting room and their friends could tell that Wyatt was gone, just from the looks on their faces.

Cas was feeling several different emotions at that moment. It was always a shame when a life was lost, especially if the person had suffered beforehand. But it was a lot more complicated than that. Wyatt's confession had been detailed, and a little bit shocking. He told Cas that he had been extremely promiscuous throughout most of his adult life, including the time that he and Tommy had been in a supposedly committed relationship. That was a question of morality, though, wasn't it? If Tommy had forgiven Wyatt for that, should God not do the same? And Wyatt had helped them gain access to Area 51, where they had not only obtained one of the Tablets that was supposed to have led to Lucifer's demise, but they had been able to liberate the Archangel Gabriel from there, also. That should tip the scales in Wyatt's favour, shouldn't it? However, the one part of Wyatt's confession, and the part that Castiel couldn't quite get past, was that Wyatt had known over a year ago that he'd had AIDS. Yet, he had told no one. General Greene had only been one of Wyatt's lovers right before he had been diagnosed, and he had had unprotected sex with several men during that time. And therein lay the issue. The instant Wyatt found out that he had AIDS, he should have informed those men immediately. He claimed to have attempted a phone call or two to Adrian, at least, but that had been it. Wyatt's diagnosis had been his death sentence, but by keeping the information to himself, he had to all intents and purposes passed sentence on General Greene as well, and also on the man's wife, if the husband and wife were having relations, as well as who knew how many other men who had been pickups and one-night stands.

Thou shalt not kill. But there were many different ways to kill, and different reasons for doing so. Castiel had killed thousands upon thousands of individuals during his existence. Was it really supposed to be up to him to decide which murders were OK, and which were not? He felt a frisson of self-doubt. Perhaps he was not cut out to do the job, after all.

Barry took Tommy's hand. "I'm sorry," he said to his fiance.

"Thanks," Tommy replied. He looked at the others sadly. "Let's go home."

Adrian arrived at the hospital about fourty minutes later. The nurse paged Wyatt's doctor, who informed the General that the patient had passed away. He stood there, shocked. Oh, God. My God.

"Are you all right, Sir?" the doctor inquired.

"No. I don't think I am," he replied dazedly.

The doctor regarded him closely. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on here. "Would you like to get tested, Sir? We can do it here and hold the results for you. Under the circumstances, I can fast-track it for you. It'll take about 3 days. And it's completely confidential."

General Greene thought about it for a moment. "Do it," he said.

Cas and Gail transported Sam and Dean back to the bunker, promising to be back in the morning to help Dean break the happy news to Nicole.

"And there'd better be three million dollars in that safe when we get here," Gail said to Dean, pointing her finger at him.

Dean smirked. His Angel friends had already told him and Sam that they were going to split the money equally between the Winchesters, Frank's family, the women's shelter, and Barry and Tommy's wedding. "I'll tell you what, 'Mrs. Adorable'," he said to her now. "Take my share and give it to the AIDS Foundation."

"Dean!" Gail exclaimed. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" She hugged him, and he gave her a squeeze. "Hey, I figure if I die again, I'd better accumulate a few brownie points," Dean said. His and Cas's eyes met, and the friends smiled at each other.

Then Cas and Gail winked Barry and Tommy directly to the apartment they were currently occupying in Vancouver. There were hugs all around, and the Angels told the men to go ahead and book their venues for the wedding. "Let us know what kind of deposits you need, and either Cas or I will show up with the money," Gail told them. "Or, maybe the two of us will be able to come here together. But things are probably going to get really busy for us coming up, so we'll have to see."

The men had thanked them profusely, and then the Angels went home.

The next morning, Cas and Gail were back at the bunker.

"How do you want to handle this?" Dean asked them. "I don't want Nicole having a damn heart attack, too."

"We'll Skype her, and tell her that we have good news," Cas told him. "She's already half-expecting to see you again, as an Angel. So we'll bring you over there, and then we can explain."

"OK, you guys," Dean said uneasily. He was wondering how this was going to go over. He hoped Nicole would be OK with it, but it was a lot for somebody who didn't spend a lot of time in their world to deal with.

"Good to go," Gail announced a few minutes later. She and Cas had gone into Dean's room for privacy, and now they had come back out into the library area, where he'd been waiting nervously.

"Really? Already?" Dean asked them.

Gail smirked. "Well, if you'd like, Cas and I can go back to your bedroom for a bit longer. I noticed that your sheets are really soft."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Don't even joke about that. I'd have nightmares for the rest of my life about what kind of weirdo Angel crap you guys might pull in there. Forget about changing the sheets; I'd just have to burn the damn bed."

Gail shrugged. "Hey, you can just buy another one, with the share of jackpot money we'll be giving you."

Dean looked at Cas. "Tell your wife to behave herself," he said with a half-smirk. "She's gonna be the First Lady of Heaven soon. What kind of example is she setting, talking like that?"

Cas's lips twitched. "You're quite right, Dean. If it had been me, I would have told you to buy a whole new room."

Dean did one of his famous double-takes as Cas and Gail laughed. "Ready to go?" Gail asked Dean. She and Cas extended their hands to their friend and winked him out of the bunker.

"So, let me get this straight," Nicole said to the trio, dazed. "The Tablet said that Sam had to kill Dean with Lucifer's knife. OK, I knew about that part."

"That is correct," Cas said formally. "But, it turned out that the Tablets were written by Lucifer himself."

"Even before we knew that, though, I'd had the idea," Gail added. "I just didn't think it was fair for Dean to have to be sacrificed like that."

"But, because of the source of the spell, I forbade it," Castiel continued stiffly. But then he relaxed, smiling. "You can see how well that worked out for me."

Nicole was shaking her head vigorously, as if trying to clear it. "But, there was a funeral. You burned Dean's body."

"They burned A body," Dean chipped in. "Sammy had a contact at the police station in one of our local towns who kind of owed us a favour. So, this guy let Sam stick me in the morgue for a week, while he and Gail worked on the spell. Then Cas got on board, and then, they got it done."

"They didn't really leave me a choice," Cas remarked. "But now I'm glad, of course."

Nicole was astounded. She looked at Dean, then at the Angels, then back at Dean. "But...you're OK? You're you?" she said to him. "No adverse effects, or anything?"

"Nope," he said, smiling. "Just an overwhelming urge to see you."

Nicole started to smile back, but then she said, "I have one more question, you guys. How the hell could you do this to me? How could you just let me mourn like that?"

Gail frowned. "I'm sorry, Nicole. You can blame me for that. Originally, it was just me and Sam who knew about it. I didn't even tell my own husband, because I was afraid he was going to take that book and burn it, before I got the chance to use it."

"Regrettably, I might have done just that," Castiel said softly. "When the idea was first broached, I was adamant that it was dark magic, and it was wrong."

"What changed your mind?" Nicole asked him curiously.

Cas took Gail's hand and brought it to his lips. "My darling wife," he said. He kissed her hand gently. "I started to think about what Gail was saying. Was it fair that Dean was sacrificed? No, but Biblical sacrifice is frequently not fair. But she made a couple of other very salient points that had to be considered. Firstly, since Lucifer confessed to us that he was the one who wrote those Tablets, could we really be sure that the circumstances of the sacrifice were indeed God's Will? And Gail also pointed out that our Father had given her the ability to perform any magical spell, despite the fact that she has no knowledge of the subject, nor any training in it. A spell as complex as the revival spell would usually require centuries of practice. So then, I got to thinking that perhaps Gail was right; perhaps our Father gave her that ability as a failsafe, a backup in case Lucifer tampered with the Word. Those things were enough to convince me that my position had to be reconsidered."

"Well, that, and the fact that we were doing it anyway, when he busted us," Gail said with a sheepish grin.

"All right, so let me recap, here," Nicole said, sitting back in her chair. "Dean's back from the dead, he's a human, and everything is business as usual. Right?"

"Right," Dean said happily.

"And how long ago was this that you brought him back?" Nicole asked Gail.

Gail's forehead wrinkled. "Let's see: You came back, we got Bobby, he died and went back to Heaven - "

"What?!" Nicole exclaimed.

Gail closed her mouth with a snap. Crap. It was the truth, but maybe she shouldn't have said that. This was a whole lot of stuff they were laying on poor Nicole at once.

"I know. I felt like hell about it too, but Cas and Gail said he's happy," Dean said. "He went straight back to Heaven after."

"So, we had his wake at the Hunters' bar, then you guys took the next day to recover, and then we went to Las Vegas," Gail continued, ticking off the days on her fingers. "So, that's...4 days."

"Four days," Nicole repeated. "You waited four days before you got around to telling me that you're alive!?" she said to Dean, raising her voice.

"Well...yeah..." Dean said, his smile faltering. "We had some other stuff to deal with, and I didn't know how we were going to tell you..."

"So you had to go to Vegas with your buddies to figure it out," Nicole said angrily.

"Come on, that's not fair," Dean replied uncomfortably. "We didn't know how you were going to take it."

"OK, so you let me mourn you for four more days because you didn't have the courtesy to treat me like a friend," Nicole said in a clipped tone. "Not even a girlfriend, but just like someone who cares about you."

"I...I just..." Dean was floundering now, searching for words that wouldn't come. Cas and Gail were looking guiltily at each other. But the bottom line was that Dean and Nicole's relationship was up to Dean and Nicole. It hadn't been up to them to decide how Dean should handle it, or how he should have conducted himself once he'd been brought back to life.

"Get out," Nicole said to him.

"Nicole..." he started to say.

"No, Dean. I'd like you to leave. If you don't care enough about me to give me the wonderful news that you're alive, and then tell me that you want to go to Vegas with your friends to celebrate that fact - " Her voice cracked, and her eyes filled with angry tears. "What did you think? Did you think I was going to tell you that you couldn't go, or something? What do you take me for, Dean?"

"I'm sorry, Nicole," Cas said. "You can blame me for that. I should have - "

"You should have what, Cas? It's not you I'm having a relationship with. If you can call it that," Nicole said pointedly.

"I call it that," Dean said quickly, but Nicole looked at him coolly. "Are you still here? I thought I asked you to leave. Maybe you can come back sometime, when you've learned how to respect me enough to treat me like a person."

Dean was stricken. He had no idea what to day or do now. Gail rose from her seat. "Come on, let's go," she said to him, holding out her hand.

"Is it all right if I stay here and visit for a few minutes?" Cas asked Nicole in his most ingratiating voice. "We can talk about the movie."

Gail turned her head so Nicole wouldn't see that her lips were twitching. She knew that tone. Cas was going to do some serious groveling on Dean's behalf. But Gail also knew that there would be no sense in Dean's staying there right now. When Gail was mad at Cas, sometimes his mere presence in the same room was enough to keep her blood boiling.

"YOU can stay," Nicole said to Cas, and Gail grabbed Dean's hand. "We'll see you back home," she said to her husband, and she winked Dean away.

Cas sighed. "I'm sorry, Nicole," he said again.

She let out a frustrated breath. "It's not you, Cas, it's him," she said to the Angel. "I'm just hurting right now. He just waltzes in here after 4 days of being back from the dead, says 'Ta-da!', and everything's supposed to be peachy? Well, it's not! Look, I don't care if he wants to go to Las Vegas, Cas. I don't own the guy. And I totally understand that you guys wanted to have a private wake for Bobby. I just wish that Dean would have given me the opportunity to BE understanding about those things. I mean, if we can't be honest with each other, then why am I even bothering?"

Cas looked down at the floor. He felt badly for Dean, but he also understood what Nicole was talking about. He looked up at her. "When Gail first became an Angel, I used to keep things from her all the time. I justified that by saying that I was protecting her. But I wasn't being fair to her. I have learned how to treat her as an equal partner, and she is much happier, as a result."

Nicole's lips twitched. "And how about you? Are YOU happier, Cas?"

He smiled. "Let's just put it this way: when Gail is happy, I'm happy." He and Nicole shared a laugh, and then Cas's expression grew serious. "I may be the last man you should ask about relationships, Nicole. You might not be aware, but I'm very inexperienced in that area. Gail is the only woman I've ever been in any kind of a relationship with."

"Really?" she said, trying to keep a straight face. She'd known that, but even if she hadn't, it was pretty obvious that Cas was hardly a ladies' man. They all used to joke about that back in the day, when he worked on the TV show.

"Yes, but I know Dean," Cas continued earnestly, oblivious to her amusement. "And I know that he has strong feelings for you. I'm hoping that you are willing to give him some time. He's not used to this type of situation. Please consider that."

Nicole regarded him. "You know what? You're a really good friend, Cas. Gail's a lucky woman."

He shook his head. "I'm the lucky one, Nicole. But, I waited thousands upon thousands of years to get this lucky. Do you think you could give Dean just a couple of days to realize how lucky HE is?"

Nicole shook her head slowly. Cas. "I'll think about it," she said, raising an eyebrow to him.

"If it'll make you feel better, I'm sure that Gail is shouting at Dean right now," Cas told her. "And, take it from me, he will not be enjoying the experience." Nicole laughed again, and Cas smiled gently. "Now, let's talk about the movie," he said to her.

Gail was trying to talk to Dean, but he was making it very difficult.

"All I'm saying is that I understand both sides," she said, following him down the hallway and into the kitchen. "But you've got to admit, she's got a point. I saw her at your memorial service, Dean. She was heartbroken. Maybe we should have just bitten the bullet and told her right away."

"I don't want to talk about this with you right now," Dean said angrily. "Buzz off."

"Dean, I'm trying to help you," she said, frustrated.

"No, you're not. You're trying to make me and Nicole into Cas and you, and it's not gonna happen," he retorted.

"Why would you even say that?" Gail said, making a face.

"Admit it, Gail, you've been trying to marry us off since the beginning," Dean shot back.

"OK, number one, that's b.s.," she said, raising her voice, "and, number two, I couldn't possibly be trying to turn you into Cas, because Cas isn't a giant ass!"

"I'm going to my room, and if you try to follow me, I'm gonna stop by the weapons room and pick up an Angel blade," Dean said, pointing his finger at her.

"Oh, yeah? And what are you gonna do with it, clean your fingernails?" Gail yelled. "You couldn't kill me, even if you wanted to! I brought you back to life! Now get out of here, before you make me regret that decision!"

"Hey! What's all the yelling about?" Sam asked, rushing into the kitchen. Dean brushed past him, stalking down the hall. Sam looked at Gail, and she shrugged.

"It didn't go well, I take it?" Sam asked her dryly.

"You could say that," she said sardonically. "Of course, it would help if your brother wasn't behaving like a GIANT ASS!" she added, yelling down the hallway.

"Hey, welcome to the club," he said affably. "I've been a card-carrying member for decades now."

Gail smiled. "Cute," she remarked. "Hey, come with me to the library for a minute."

She walked down the hallway, pausing for a moment to glare at the closed door of Dean's room. Then she continued walking, with Sam trailing behind her. She went to the safe and used the combination to open it as Sam sat down at the table. Then she took out the case with the jackpot money in it and brought it over to the library table.

"I wanted to divvy this up," Gail told Sam. She started arranging the money in piles. "One stack for you and Mister Poopyhead, one for Barry and Tommy's wedding, a bigger one for Frank's two kids, some for the shelter, and a small stack for us. We don't need much." She finished the task, then handed Sam his and Dean's cut. "I'm going to put some of this other stuff in envelopes at home, and then I'm gonna go to Frank's and give him theirs, so they can get it in the bank. Tell your brother that Cas and I are going to the shelter after I visit Frank to give him their cut, and he can call Cas on his cell phone when he's come to his senses."

Sam grinned. "That might be a while."

She shrugged. "Hey, we're eternal beings. I can outwait him." Then she paused. "Sam, you don't think I'm trying to turn him and Nicole into Cas and me, do you?"

"Is that what he said?" Sam asked her. "I missed the beginning of the fight-I mean, discussion," he amended hastily, making Gail grin. Then Sam sighed. "This is really hard for him, Gail. He's used to hookups and one-night stands. Nicole is the first woman he's had real feelings for in ages. The problem is, because Dean has never spent any appreciable time in a relationship with a strong, independent woman, part of him is still convinced that she's going to be possessive or demanding. He watches too many guy movies, and he reads too many men's magazines."

"He actually READS those?" Gail quipped. She and Sam shared a laugh. "OK, I'm going home, and then I'm going to Frank's. I'll send Cas a message on Angel Radio so he knows where I am. Maybe we'd better leave Pouty Baby alone for a while." She gestured to the hallway. She gathered up the remainder of the money, giving Sam a kiss on the forehead. Then she winked out as he grinned, pocketing the money she'd given him.

"So, what's being pregnant like?" Gail was asking Jody a short while later.

Jody thought about it for a moment. "It's like...being hungry every minute of every day, yet the very thought of food makes me nauseous. Plus, I'm tired all the time, and my feet are so swollen they look like big loaves of bread." She paused. "So, it's great!"

Gail looked at her incredulously. What was it about having kids that made people certifiably insane? That didn't sound great at all. Yet, Jody and Frank were sitting close together on the couch, and Frank had his hand on his wife's leg. Dean didn't have to worry about him and Nicole being Cas and Gail, because it seemed like Frank and Jody were now vying for the crown. Oh, well. As long as they were happy.

Her brother and sister-in-law had been very appreciative when Gail had given them the money, and she had smiled happily. Then she'd told them the story about winning the jackpot, and then she'd told them about the club they'd gone to in Las Vegas and Cas's reaction to it, and they'd all laughed until their stomachs hurt. But then she'd told them about Wyatt's death, and the mood turned quiet.

"See how much you miss when you don't go places with us?" Cas said. He had just appeared in the hallway of the house and he'd walked into the living room, towards the sound of the voices.

"How's Nicole? Has she calmed down any?" Gail asked her husband. He sat down beside her on the loveseat and took her hand. "I think she'll give him another chance," Cas replied. "She probably just needs a day or so to think about what we discussed. How was your talk with Dean?"

Gail rolled her eyes. "He's an ass," she told him.

"I'm aware of that," Cas said, his eyes dancing with amusement. "But I was curious about your talk."

The four of them talked for a few minutes about Dean and Nicole's situation. Then Rob came into the living room. "Mom, Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said.

"Ummm...hi, Rob," Gail said dryly.

Rob looked at her. "I'm sorry, Aunt Gail," he said in a trembling voice. "But I was laying down on my bed reading, and I fell asleep. I dreamed that there was a big flood, and then I dreamed about a lake on fire. The lady who killed my dad was there." He looked at Cas. "And then, you were in a small, dark room, all by yourself. And I had brothers and sisters."

"Wow, that's a lot of information, all at once," Frank remarked. "C'mere." He reached out and pulled Rob into his lap, and the boy didn't protest. Frank knew that meant that his son had been really shaken up by the visions.

In truth, Rob had seen even more than that, and what he'd seen had scared him, bad. But when he'd rushed into the living room and seen the Angels, he had clammed up. He was reluctant to say everything he'd seen in front of them, because a lot of the scariest stuff he'd seen had to do directly with them.

"That does it," Jody said, frustrated. "I say we just storm into that office and make Ms. Scanlon talk, by whatever means necessary."

"Sure. Then we'll be able to pay for our bail with the money that Cas and Gail just gave us. Too bad our kids will be without parents, when we go to jail," Frank said sarcastically.

"I have a better idea," Gail said, starting to smile. "Why don't Cas and I pay her a visit? We can pose as a married couple wanting a baby and see what happens. Then, if she won't play ball, Cas can use the two-finger system on her. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me," Jody said firmly. "We've got to find out what that place has to do with the both of you."

Gail nodded. While she was aware that whatever information they might find out about Rob's adoption, or her own, wouldn't help cure Rob's visions, it might make him feel better if they could at least find out where his psychic powers came from. And Gail was curious about her origins, as well. So much had been alluded to about her father potentially being the worst kind of individual imaginable, and possibly even the killer of Frank's parents. Was that true, and should they be concerned about him? But, why would he not have shown his face this whole time? And what about Gail's mother? Who was she?

"Well, why don't we go right now?" Gail suggested. "We don't have anything planned. We'll just pop over there and see if she'll take us without an appointment." She nudged Cas. "Put some of our money in your wallet, in case we need to bribe her to take us right away. We'll give her a sob story about us wanting a baby really bad, and we'll see what happens."

Rob squirmed off Frank's lap, frustrated. He knew that wasn't going to do any good, but he also knew that they weren't going to listen to him. He wished they wouldn't go there. He wished that he had never brought it up. Gail had no idea. She was stirring up a hornet's nest. "I'll be in my room," Rob announced. He ran upstairs.

The adults all looked at each other for a moment. "Teenagers," Jody sighed.

Frank frowned. "I'll go talk to him."

"OK, well, we'll get going, then," Gail told the couple. "We'll call you when we get back."

Frank headed up the stairs, the Angels popped out, and Jody let out a relieved breath. She thought they'd never leave. She was already late for her second nap of the day. She stretched out on the couch, then promptly fell asleep.

Frank knocked on the door of Rob's room, then opened it without waiting for a response. Rob was laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling, but he sat up when his dad entered the room.

"I know how much it sucks," Frank said without preliminary. "It got to the point where your Aunt Gail was scared to even accidentally touch somebody, when we went out in public. I wish I could fix it for you, but I can't." He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the boy.

"I know that, Dad," Rob responded. "I'm not a little kid anymore." He was silent for a moment, and then he said, "Do you remember when my dad killed my mom? You came up here to tell me about it. I knew you couldn't fix that either, but you made me feel better, anyway. I don't think I ever thanked you and mom for taking me in. You could have just given me to foster care or something, but you didn't. I know I've been a dick, Dad. It can't be easy having a kid like me, sometimes."

Frank had a lump in his throat the size of a grapefruit now. "Are you kidding? It's the easiest thing in the world," he told Rob. "When you love somebody, anything's possible. If I could handle your Aunt Gail for all those years, I can handle you." He leaned down close to his son. "And between you and me, she was a giant pain in the ass."

Rob laughed. "You'd better not let her hear you say that, Dad. She'll zap you. Or Cas will."

Frank looked at his son. "Elephant," he said.

Rob sighed. He knew exactly what his dad was talking about, but he didn't know what to say about it. "I'm sorry, Dad. I just can't help it. Cas sent all of you out there for a year, and it didn't even do any good. All it did was take you guys away from me and make your hair grey. Then, he took Uncle Dean to Madagascar, and got him killed! If Aunt Gail hadn't gone behind Cas's back and insisted on doing that spell, Uncle Dean would still be dead, and I'd be in Canada!"

Frank waited a moment, but Rob was finished his rant. "We probably should have had this talk a long time ago," he told his son. "But we can't keep going back to that year we lost, and it's not fair to blame your Uncle Cas for it, anyway. He used his best judgement at the time. And yes, it screwed up our family, but that's selfish thinking, Rob. We're trying to raise you better than that. We saved lots of lives by being out there, and sometimes, you have to be willing to sacrifice in order to do the right thing. Your Uncle Dean knows that, and that was why he was willing to die. But that can't be laid at your Uncle Cas's doorstep, either. Lucifer fooled us all into thinking that it was God's Will. By the time they realized that he'd screwed them over, it was too late. And I'm not even gonna bother asking you how you know about Cas and Gail and the spell, because I know better by now. But I will tell you something you don't know. Actually, a couple of things. First of all, I love Dean like a brother. It broke my heart in two when he died. I was a pallbearer at his funeral, burning a body that I thought was him. And yet, all that time, my own sister and Dean's brother were planning to use that spell to bring him back. But they didn't tell any of us. They didn't tell me or your mother, they didn't tell Dean's girlfriend, and they didn't even tell Cas. And, let me tell you, Rob, when I found out, I was pretty mad. But then, I got to thinking about it. If you ever tell anybody about this, I'll kick your butt six ways from Sunday. But, I'm glad they didn't tell me what they were planning, because I would've marched right over to your Uncle Cas and told him, and then, I would have helped him burn that damn book."

Rob gasped. "No way," he said, dazed.

"Yes, way," Frank retorted, but he did so gently. "And I'll tell you why. Because the witch who wrote that book - and I'm only using that particular word in deference to your mother, 'cause I'd like to use a way more descriptive one - is Rowena, the King of Hell's mother. Remember her, at your Uncle Bobby's wake? Her and Crowley? I told you what the two of them did to me, and to Gail, the other night. They can't be trusted, Rob, and neither can anything that comes out of that book. We lucked out this time, but Dean could just as easily have come back as some kind of unholy...I don't know what. All I know is that Cas was right. It ripped his heart right out of his chest when Dean died, but Cas was trying to do the right thing, as he saw it. And Gail put her marriage to him at risk by proceeding with the spell behind his back, because she was trying to do the right thing, as she saw it."

Rob let out a frustrated breath. "So, how are we supposed to know what the right thing IS, Dad?" he asked Frank.

"Ahh, young Grasshopper, therein lies the rub," Frank said, raising his eyebrows.

"Huh?" Rob said, puzzled.

"Never mind. We're gonna have to start a reading list for you, until you go to school in the fall. I'll get your Aunt Gail to jot down a few of the classics."

Rob groaned, and Frank's face broke into a grin. "Don't worry, we'll get her to throw a few fantasy books in there too, just for fun," he told the boy. "Although how those books are going to rival your real life is beyond me." He leaned over and gave Rob a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. "I love ya, kiddo."

"Dad! Gross! You're slobbering all over me!" Rob exclaimed, rubbing his cheek.

"Then my job here is done," Frank said. He stood from the bed and walked over to the door.

"Dad?" Rob said from behind him, and Frank turned around. "I love you, too," Rob said. Frank smiled, and then he left the room quickly, so his son wouldn't see the tears welling up in his eyes.

VIGNETTE - UNDERCOVER ANGELS

Gail had insisted that they stop by the house first and change clothes. She thought that the Scanlon woman might be more inclined to see them without an appointment if they looked and behaved like wealthy people.

They popped into the bedroom, and Gail opened the closet. "You can put on your suit, and I'll put on a dress and heels. Then we'll get a wad of money and you can put it in your wallet. If she makes noises about not being able to see us, you can pull out your wallet and pretend like you're looking for your business card. I betcha when she sees all that money, she'll be able to squeeze us in."

Cas smiled. "I imagine you're right," he agreed.

"So, do you think Nicole is going to forgive Dean?" she asked him absently. Her back was still to her husband. She reached down and pulled her top off over her head, dropping it on the floor. Then she undid her jeans and stepped out of them.

Cas wasn't answering. She turned around to look at him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, stripped to his shorts. "Can you come here for a moment?" he asked his wife.

She cocked her head. "Why?" she asked him suspiciously.

"I just want to ask you something," he said innocently.

Gail was trying not to smile. "You know, for an Angel, your innocent act really needs work," she told him. But she was moving towards him anyway. "What did you want to ask me?" she said when she got there.

He put his hands on her waist. "What's that on your lips?" he asked her.

Gail's hand went to her mouth. "Do I have something on my lips?"

"Yes. My lips," Cas said, smiling. He lifted her up and laid her down on the bed, kissing her on the mouth. His tongue poked out, looking for hers.

"We're supposed to be going," she protested weakly.

Cas had her bra undone now, and he was pulling down her underwear. He was getting just a little too good at that. "We'll just give her more money," he said, shrugging.

Gail gave up. That didn't even make any sense. But his fingers were between her legs now and his tongue was on her body, and wasn't Denver an hour ahead of Kansas, time-wise?

"I love you, Cas," she said. Then his shorts were off, and then they were both crying out each other's names.

Nearly an hour later, they were showered and dressed to the nines, entering Cathy's office. She looked up. "Can I help you?"

They had discussed it, and they had decided that Cas was going to take the lead. He was going to be a well-heeled businessman, who wanted an heir for the family fortune. "Yes, my wife and I would like to see Cathy Scanlon," Cas said, with a touch of arrogance in his voice.

Cathy stood from her desk, assessing the couple. She'd noticed right away that they were very well-dressed, of course. Also, the man had opened the door first, and his wife was peeking out timidly from behind him.

"I am she," Cathy said formally.

Cas strode forward, extending his hand. "How do you do," he said, matching her tone. "I am Cas, and this is my wife, Sarah. We were given your name as someone who might be able to assist us in having a child."

Cathy took his hand, giving him a brief handshake. "I may be able to help you with that, but I usually don't take walk-ins. I could book you an appointment-"

"No," Cas interrupted her. "I don't have that kind of time. My business interests take me out of town very frequently. If you require a show of good faith, I will gladly pay you extra for your time."

He reached for his wallet, but suddenly, there was a loud clattering noise that came from the back, beyond the door behind Cathy's desk. She jumped slightly. "Excuse me for a moment," she told the couple. "I have to see what that was. Have a seat."

As Cas pulled Gail's chair for her to sit down, Cathy hurried back to the storeroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked Vincent.

"I wanted to get your attention, but I didn't want to go out there," he said. He was looking in the direction of the office where the Angels were, a slight smirk on his face. "What do those two want?"

Cathy gave him a half-shrug. "What most of them want. A baby."

"Do they, now?" Vincent was highly amused, and he was also more than a little impressed. He knew exactly who those two were. The instant his daughter had walked in, he'd been able to feel her. He had a psychic connection with all of the children he had fathered. So she was an Angel now, and married to the highest-ranking Angel in Heaven, the notorious Castiel. Well, good for her. Now, he was overwhelmed by curiosity. He had to get a look at them.

"Take them into the examination room," Vincent ordered Cathy. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. It was better just to do as he said.

So she came back out to the office and asked the couple to follow her into the examination room. Cas and Gail exchanged glances. But, at least she wasn't kicking them out, as she had done with the others. And if they pressed the subject of adoption right away, she would probably become suspicious. So they followed her to the examination room.

"You can disrobe and put on that gown," Cathy said to Gail. "I'll be back in a minute, and then we'll have a look at you." She looked at Cas. "You can wait back in the office, if you wish."

"That won't be happening," he told her dismissively.

Cathy nodded briefly. She'd figured as much. This was the type of man who thought his wife was his property. "Fine, then," she said curtly.

Once Cathy had left the room, Gail looked at Cas. "No way I'm getting undressed here," she told him. "We both know it's unnecessary. Plus, look at the big mirror she's got there on the wall. I'm sure I really need to see myself naked in a full-length mirror," she added sarcastically.

Cas smiled gently at her. "I think that would be a beautiful sight," he remarked. "But yes, you're right. There's no need for you to disrobe. I'll wait behind the door and when she comes back in, I'll apply the two-finger system."

Vincent was inspecting the couple from the other side of the two-way mirror, and he was intrigued by what he was seeing. So, this was Baby Gail now, all grown up. She still had the same dark hair and big, dark eyes. She wasn't beautiful, despite what her husband had said, nor even particularly attractive. But there was a spark about her, a vivacity that made her stand out. Vincent continued to watch the couple. He had told Cathy to go back to her desk for fifteen minutes, so that he could watch them alone.

"So far, this place seems fairly innocuous," Cas remarked. "This room actually looks as one would imagine a doctor's office examining room to look."

"Except for that mirror," Gail said, staring at it. She couldn't seem to stop looking at the mirror. Its presence here struck her as kind of odd, like finding a balloon in a business office, or something. Incongruous, like it didn't quite belong.

Cas was scrutinizing the mirror. He hadn't really thought about it one way or the other. For obvious reasons, medical examining rooms were a mystery to him.

Vincent was coolly appraising his daughter's husband now. The vessel this Angel had chosen was very aesthetically pleasing, but more than that, Vincent could tell right away that Castiel was an Alpha male. It was obvious in his bearing, and in the way he'd talked to Cathy. Gail had married well.

Gail hiked herself up on the table and sat there, legs dangling. "I wonder what's taking her so long," she commented.

Cas came over to stand in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I can go get her, if you'd like," he said to his wife.

Gail shrugged. "No, it's OK. Like I told Frank and Jody, we're in no particular hurry. If we don't behave normally, she might get suspicious. She's probably just giving me time to get undressed."

"All right, my love. You just relax," Cas said. He gave her a light kiss on the lips, then released her hands and started pacing around the room. Cas's gaze also kept returning to the mirror. Now that Gail had pointed out its incongruity here, Cas was getting a strange feeling about it. It felt almost as if there were some kind of otherworldly vibration coming from that space on the wall.

For his part, Vincent could feel the powerful celestial waves coming from Castiel now, as the Angel became agitated. As Castiel stared into the mirror, Vincent found himself feeling the urge to take a step back. He'd never felt anything like that before. How interesting. His respect for his daughter grew. What a clever girl. She may have married for attraction, or even for love, but her husband exuded much power, the kind of power that would make him a formidable adversary indeed. Vincent would have to keep tabs on these two, going forward.

Cas was frowning at the mirror. What was this feeling he had now? How could an inanimate object be making him feel so uneasy? But Gail began to smile. After her initial bout of uneasiness, now that she had moved to the other side of the room away from the mirror, she wasn't feeling that strange about it any more.

"Don't worry, you look fantastic, as always," she teased her husband. "I think we should find excuses to put you in that suit more often."

Cas gave her a brief smile, but he still felt uneasy. Nevertheless, he drifted back to the table where she was sitting. "What's the matter, sweetie?" Gail asked him.

Cas shook himself out of his reverie. He was just being silly. "Nothing, my love," he told her. He looked at her, then down at the table. He touched the stirrups, wrinkling his forehead. "What are these? Why are they here?" he asked her, puzzled.

Gail smiled. "Believe me, sweetie, you don't want to know," she told him. "You'll be a lot happier if you never, ever find that out."

Cas opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He looked at her, then looked at the table, then back at her again. Gail was trying not to laugh now. He was just too cute. She could see the hamster wheel spinning in his head, trying to work it out. "Put it this way: I'm very, very glad I don't have to worry about those kinds of exams anymore," she said with a grin. Cas gave the stirrups another uncomfortable glance, and then he moved away from the table.

He wandered over to the counter, where a plastic model of a woman's body stood. He squinted at it. It was one of those models that was comprised of clear plastic and small multicoloured pieces, which represented the various organs of the body. Fascinating. He could see the heart, the lungs and the liver, and because the model was that of a woman, there were other, internal organs that comprised the womb. It was astonishing, really, what the human body looked like on the inside. And because he and Gail had vessels, this is what they looked like on the inside, too, at least in the forms they presently had. Castiel's true appearance was much different, of course.

He glanced at his wife. This was what she looked like, on the inside. She hadn't been an Angel for nearly long enough yet to have evolved into the type of being that Castiel himself was. He felt a frisson of excitement at the prospect of Gail's continued growth in that area. One day they would be able to shed their human outfits and meld their essences together when they so chose. Just as she had been able to see and touch his true self on their wedding night, one day she would acquire that same type of form, herself. He couldn't wait for that day.

But for the moment, anyway, this was what Gail looked like on the inside. Cas reached out and touched the plastic model, and it promptly collapsed, with a loud clatter. Gail burst out laughing as Cas panicked, awkwardly clutching at the torso and the tiny plastic organs. He tried to reassemble the model in its original condition, but he ended up holding a piece of plastic that looked like a tiny vegetable of some sort.

"Where does this one go?" Cas asked his wife. She had one hand over her mouth now, trying to keep the snickers from escaping. "What are you asking ME for?" Gail said. "I don't even know what half of that stuff is, and I'm pretty sure that I don't want to! Lucky I never have that reaction when you touch me!" She removed her hand and let a few giggles escape. It was just too funny. Cas had successfully righted the model now and put most of the organs back on it, but he still had the tiny "extra" piece in his hand, and now he was examining the model intently again.

Suddenly, Cathy came back in the room. Cas started guiltily, putting the hand that still held the tiny plastic piece behind his back. Gail was losing it now. Just the look on his face...If she laughed any harder, she was going to fall right off the table.

Cathy was looking at the two of them suspiciously. She had no idea what was going on here, but it didn't really matter. She had her instructions. Vincent had come out to the office and told her to get rid of the couple. He'd satisfied his curiousity now.

"Something has come up," Cathy told them. "You'll have to leave."

Cas put the piece of plastic on the counter and moved forward. "What? Why?" he asked the woman.

She looked at him, and her eyes widened. For a moment there, he had reminded her very strongly of Vincent. How strange. Vincent hadn't bothered to enlighten Cathy about who this couple really were, or their significance.

"Oh, look. You have a spot, right here," Cas said casually. He reached out his hand and touched Cathy's forehead. She was transfixed. She stood very still as Cas entered her mind.

But it was very strange. He was walking around in a heavy fog waving his arms, as if doing so would clear the mist. Cas had never seen anything like it. He'd searched many minds in his existence, and he had never been blocked like this.

Eventually, the mist cleared enough for Cas to see rows upon rows of cribs, each one with a baby in it. Well, that wasn't particularly surprising. Even though she had yet to actually admit it to any of their group, Cas now knew that Cathy was the conduit for the adoption of those infants. But there was a lot more to it than that, he was sure of it. But, why couldn't he see it?

Suddenly, a tall, dark-haired man appeared out of the mist. He reached down into one of the cribs and picked up a baby, bouncing it in his arms. Then he smiled, chucking the infant under the chin and revealing the knife in his hand. As Cas watched in horror, the man used the knife to cut the baby. Then he held the infant up over himself with both hands, and let the blood produced by the cut drip onto his face.

Cathy seized Cas's hand and pulled it away from her head. "Get out now, while you still can," she said to him, wide-eyed. "If you value your wife's life, take her away from here, and don't come back!"

Cas was astonished. What the hell? Who was that man? Was it he who had been obscuring Cathy's thoughts, shielding them from Castiel's sight? He looked at Gail. Cas knew that she wanted to find out about her origins, and he knew that it was important to Frank and Jody to find out about Rob, as well. But Cas was totally discombobulated now. He had to think about what their next move should be, but he couldn't do it here, looking at this woman. Every moment he looked at Cathy's face, all he saw was that dark man with his dark grin, bathed in baby's blood.

He strode over to the examination table and grabbed his wife's hand, helping her off the table. The Angels left the room without another word, and they kept on going until they were out of the office and downstairs, in the street.

Cas winked them home, and they were discussing what he had seen in Cathy's mind as they began to change into more casual clothing.

Gail was appalled. "What the hell, Cas? What kind of a person takes a shower in baby's blood? Why would something like that be in that woman's head?"

Cas was frowning. He'd been frowning ever since they'd come back here. He walked around the bed and took both of her hands in his. "Sit down with me for a moment, please," he said. They sat down on the side of the bed together, and he looked at his wife with concern. "I think we might both know the answers to your questions already," he said softly.

Gail sighed heavily. "Great. My father is an evil bastard who likes to murder people and shower in baby's blood. Terrific."

Cas was agitated, to say the least. This was unbelievable. His poor, sweet wife. How on earth could she be the daughter of such an individual? He touched her face gently. "No, my love. Your father is God the Father. If this man happened to sire you, that does not make him your father."

Gail tried to smile. "Thank you for that, sweetie. But hey, on the bright side, if Rob and I ever have a Worst Father contest, I can definitely give him a run for his money." Then her smile faded. Rob. "What are we going to tell them, Cas? We didn't really find anything out, did we?"

"Well then, that's what we're going to report," Cas replied. "There's no sense worrying them without any facts. We don't know anything for sure right now." He gave her hands a squeeze. "But, I'll tell you something. If this man poses any threat to you, any threat at all, I will deal with him. That woman said if I value your life, we should stay away? Weel, I say that if they value their lives, they had better not make any trouble for you." His jaw was clenched now. Ever since he and Gail had met, it seemed that she had been in a constant state of peril. It was so unfair. He was simply not going to allow it.

He told her this now, and she couldn't help but smile. "You're extremely sexy when you go into protective mode," Gail said to her husband. She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Cas smiled back. It was a serious subject, but he knew what she was doing now. She was trying to lessen his anxiety, and her own. He nuzzled her cheek with his. "I'm glad you think so," he told her. "You know, I had heard that married couples' passion for each other can lessen over the years. I hope you never feel that way."

"Are you kidding?" Gail said incredulously. "Every time I look at you, I still can't believe you're my husband. And every time you kiss me, or hold my hand, I can't believe that you love me."

"Why would that be so hard to believe?" Cas asked her. He was genuinely puzzled. "You are the most lovable person that I have ever met."

"And that's why I call you 'sweetie'. It's because you're so sweet," Gail commented. She caressed his face with her hand, and he took her hand and kissed it.

Cas's eyes searched her face. This business with her father was making her feel insecure again; he could tell. Intellectually, it was understandable. If a person who was as repugnant as her biological father had not wanted Gail, what did that say about her? It hurt Cas very much to think that she would feel that way, but he knew that she did.

"I love you more than I could ever put into words. More than you could ever imagine," Cas told her. "I wish that you could see yourself the way that I see you. You are beautiful. You are perfect."

And you are blind, Gail though with wry amusement. But what was wonderful was that she knew he really did feel that way. She launched herself into his arms, and he wound his arms around her, kissing her on the mouth. Then he lifted her legs off the ground, laying her down on the pillows.

"This is the part where I show you how much I love you," Cas said charmingly.

"You show me every day, all the time," she said, smiling.

"Oh, so does that mean you would like me to stop?" he said teasingly. He was kissing her neck now, and his hand was caressing the soft skin of her stomach.

"Noooo," she murmured happily.

"Good, because I don't want to do that," he said. His lips were on her stomach now, and he trailed his tongue down to her belly button, where he tickled her until he received her customary giggle. Then he slid her underpants off of her and gently opened her legs. He lowered his head to her and lapped at her with his tongue, and her hands flew to his head. "That's so good, Cas," she told him. "You're so good. And you're so good to me."

He smiled at the compliment. But he clearly wasn't being good enough, because she was being too quiet. So he put his hands on her hips and drew her closer, and he sped up his tongue. A minute later, he was rewarded with her cries of pleasure. Then, after a minute or two more, he quickly took off his pants and entered her, lifting her legs up to his shoulders so that he could kiss them as he pushed into her. The angle was so different, and the sight of him tenderly kissing her legs as he pushed himself in and out of her was so exciting that she shouted out again. Cas smiled, and then he lowered himself on top of her so that he could kiss her on the mouth. She caressed his back as his tongue found hers. Then she wrapped her legs around him and he moaned, and then he was still.

When they were laying together afterwards, Cas kissed her softly on the forehead. "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're less than you are," he said in a gentle voice. "Don't ever let anyone subjugate you or try to tell you that you shouldn't be who you are."

She raised herself up so that she could look at his face. "What brought that on?" Gail asked her husband curiously.

Cas was thoughtful. He didn't know, exactly. "I just don't want anyone to undermine all the self-confidence I see in you now," he told her slowly. "I'm very proud of you, my darling. I probably don't say that enough."

She was very touched by what he was saying. "Thank you, sweetie. That means a lot to me, especially coming from you."

His forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

She kissed his face. "I mean that I've seen so much improvement in you, too. You're confident, you're loving, you're funny, and you're compassionate. You're everything a good God should be."

Cas stroked her hair. "I suppose we should go to Heaven and find out more about the election, then. You know, I thought about just withdrawing my name from consideration, after Bobby got back and announced his candidacy. But we can't count on him to carry the vote, Gail. A lot of the Angels may be very angry at him for having resigned. That wasn't common knowledge at the time, but I'm fairly certain we can rely on Patricia to bring it up," he continued wryly. "In fact, we may have to be prepared for some character assassination, ourselves. Are you sure you're up to that?"

Gail shrugged. "What's she going to do? Call me a name, or two? I think I can take it, Cas. You're just going to have to make sure to hold on to your temper. It's not going to help your chances if you're angry all the time. You'll have to turn on that charm that I know you have an abundance of. That should translate into tons of votes."

"If I vote for you, will you vote for me?" Cas said, smiling shyly.

"I don't know," she said mischievously. "We'll see."

His hand went under the covers, and he started to caress her. "How about now?" he asked her.

"You have my attention," she told him pertly. "Now, show me why you should have my vote."

Then his hand moved in the way that he knew she liked, and she gasped. "You make an excellent point," she quipped. "Now, let's talk about your campaign promises."

A moment later, he was making love to her again, promising to love her forever and ever. And that was the only promise she would ever need.

It was getting to be early evening now, as the Angels got dressed again. They had decided that they wanted to bring the money that Gail had put aside for Barry and Tommy to the couple immediately, and Cas had called Tommy's cell to find out if it was convenient. Then, since they were going to Vancouver anyway, Cas called Richard to find out if it was all right to stop by the women's shelter to drop off their donation. Normally, they might have just put the envelope in the slot, as Cas had done many times before. But Richard advised that Aurielle had been asking after the couple, so Cas and Gail had decided that they would have a visit with her while they were there. And there was the other thing that Cas wanted to do in Vancouver, as well. He had also gleaned some information from Richard on that, without Richard's knowledge, just by asking a few cleverly worded questions.

But as Gail was retrieving the envelopes from the bureau, Dean called Cas's cell, asking if the couple could drop by the bunker for a moment. As soon as the Angels popped in, Dean rushed to Gail, hugging her to him. "I'm sorry," he said to her. "I apologize for being such a dick to you."

Gail hugged him back. She was pleasantly surprised. The fight with him had been bothering her, too. "Me, too," she said to Dean, giving him an extra squeeze before coming out of the embrace. "It was a stupid fight. I just want you to be happy, Dean, no matter what that entails."

Dean looked at Cas. "So..."

"So...what?" Cas asked his friend.

"So, what did Nicole say? Did you convince her to forgive me?"

"I think so," Cas said patiently. "But you'll probably want to give her some time to cool down. She'll likely be calling soon anyway, to invite us to the movie premiere. It's supposed to be coming out soon. But I think it would be a good idea for you to just leave it alone for a few days, Dean."

"Look at you, giving Dean advice on women," Sam said to Cas, grinning.

Cas brightened. "That's right. I did, didn't I? I wonder how I would look in a flannel shirt," he quipped.

Sam laughed, and Gail smiled. "No offense, guys," she said to the Winchesters, "but I think we'll keep things as they are. Although I still think we should find excuses to put you in that suit just a little more often," she said to her husband, smiling mischievously. "Rowr."

Cas smiled back at her, and then he said, "That reminds me. I should call Frank and give him our report, before I forget. Excuse me." He took out his cell phone and moved down the corridor.

"What's that all about?" Sam asked Gail. She sat down at the library table with the brothers and filled them in on Rob's visions, and her and Cas's visit to Cathy's office.

She was just getting to what Cas had seen when he'd searched Cathy's mind when her husband returned from his phone call. "Frank says hello," Cas told the Winchesters.

Dean waved his hand absently. He was appalled at what Gail had been saying. "So, this guy likes to take baby-blood showers in his spare time? Awesome," he said, both dazed and disgusted.

"And you guys think he's Gail's father?" Sam said to the Angels. He felt nauseous, not only at the imagery, but at the thought that such a horrible individual could be Gail's father.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Sam," Cas answered for her. "We're all going to have to talk about that, at some point. It'll be up to Gail if she wants to pursue it, or not. I'll support her no matter what she decides."

Gail was looking down at the table's surface. "I'm going to have to think about it," she said soberly. "On the one hand, why stir up trouble? He's left me alone all these years, hasn't he? But on the other hand, if the guy's a murderer, we should do something about him, shouldn't we? But so far, we don't have any proof of anything, just a bunch of visions." She looked at Sam. "What might help is that journal we got from Quinn's place. Any word on where that might be?"

Sam frowned. "No. I'll call my guy again, see if I can't get him moving on that search. And I'm having lunch with Quinn tomorrow, so maybe I'll do a little gentle probing. See if she's gotten any more psychic flashes about it, or if Oliver has shown up again."

"Gentle probing?" Dean said, snickering. "Is that what you kids are calling it these days?"

"Shut up, Dean," Sam said good-naturedly.

"Well, on that note, we'd better get going before it gets too late," Gail said, rising from her chair.

"Oh, and thanks for the money, but we're gonna donate it to the AIDS Foundation," Dean told the couple, looking at Sam. "Both of us."

"That's wonderful," Cas told the men. "We'll tell Barry and Tommy. I'm sure they'll be pleased."

"Say hi for us," Sam said, as Cas took Gail's hand. "We will," Cas responded, and he winked them out of the bunker.

"It's funny; we've been seeing just as much of you guys since you moved out as we did when you were living in the bunker," Gail said, giving Barry a kiss on the cheek.

"Come in, come in," he insisted.

"We will, for a minute, but we can't stay long," Cas told him.

Barry ushered them into the living room, where Tommy was sitting on one end of the couch, having a beer. He sprang to his feet and rushed over to the couple. Cas gave Tommy a one-armed hug and presented him with the envelope full of money.

The men thanked the Angels profusely. "Now I don't have to worry about emptying our savings account," Barry said, clapping Cas on the shoulder.

"Well, that was kind of the idea," Gail said to them. "You guys are our very, very good friends, and I'm so glad we could help you out. You put your entire lives on hold to help us throughout that whole Lucifer thing. To help the whole world, really. So now, it's your time. Go ahead and plan the wedding. Just tell us when and where, and we'll show up."

"Oh, and Sam and Dean say hello," Cas added. He told the men about the brothers' plan to donate to the AIDS Foundation, and the couple was touched.

"Those are some terrific friends we've got there," Tommy remarked thoughtfully. "I'm so glad you were able to bring Dean back to us."

"Me too," Gail replied. "It's great to have our family back together again. Well, so to speak. You guys are all the way up here, now. But remember, we're all just a phone call away."

There were hugs and kisses all around, and then the Angels popped over to the women's shelter. Richard had let the staff know that Cas and Gail were coming, and to please let them in when they got there.

Richard had described the couple, but there had been no need, because when they got there, Aurielle saw them on the security camera. She buzzed them in, and hurried to the front entrance to greet them.

"Castiel! Gail! How are you?" Aurielle said enthusiastically. She extended her hand for each of them to shake. Then, she lowered her voice. "I'm hoping you're going to tell me that, since you are here, it means that Lucifer is back in his cage now."

"Lucifer is no more," Cas informed her. "And Metatron fell, as well."

Aurielle's mouth opened in surprise. "That must have been quite the battle," she remarked. She paused for a moment, and then she asked, "And, what of Crowley?"

Cas's lips twitched. "Unfortunately, he survived."

Gail and Aurielle both laughed simultaneously. The women looked at each other for a moment. "I'm very glad you survived," Aurielle said, smiling at Cas's wife. "Both of you. Please, come into the office. We can sit down and have a chat."

They followed her inside. Cas handed the envelope to Aurielle. "Will you give this to one of the staff members?" he asked her.

Aurielle smiled again. "Actually, I AM a staff member now," she said. "I no longer reside here, but I do work here, and I volunteer to help out in my off hours, too. So I guess you could say that I sort of live here, still. But I'm no longer a patron. After many therapy sessions and much soul-searching, pun definitely intended, I have discovered who and what I truly am. I wanted to talk to the both of you about that." She gestured. "Please, sit down."

Once they were all seated, Aurielle looked warmly at the couple. "I owe the two of you a lot. If you had not brought me to this place, I don't know what would have become of me. But because you took mercy on me and gave me the opportunity for redemption, I have flourished here. The staff took note of my organizational skills, and I started working for them here while I was still a resident, on a strictly voluntary basis. Then one of the office workers retired, and they offered me her position. I get pay, and benefits. I am earning a living, for the first time in...well, forever. I've gotten a very small studio apartment that's walking distance from here, just so I can have the experience of taking care of a place all by myself, and a smidgen of independence. But my heart keeps bringing me back here, and I can see that both of you feel the same way."

Then Aurielle frowned. "Before Metatron left for the movie set, he accompanied Richard here. Metatron donated half of the salary he earned for writing the Supernatural movie script to this shelter. It was anonymously done, but because I worked here in the office, I was privy to the details. He kept looking at me as though he knew who I was, but I don't see how he could have known. I'm human now, and my appearance is totally different than he would remember. Oh, and I go by a different name here. A lot of the women have 'shelter names', as we call them. Sometimes, for safety reasons, and other times, simply because we wish to make a statement about ourselves. My shelter name is 'Aurora', which represents a new beginning. Maybe that was too close to my Angel name, and that was why he kept looking at me the way he did. In any event, I was happy to see that he seemed sincere about wanting to make some sort of gesture of atonement. Did he stand with you against Lucifer?"

Cas and Gail told her what had happened out on the hallowed ground. When they told her about Sam having stabbed Dean to death, Aurielle gasped. Then, when they told her about Crowley's very active part in dispatching Lucifer, Aurielle's mouth fell open. But then, when Gail told the former Angel how she used Rowena's spell book to bring Dean back to life, Aurielle's eyes widened. "No! Not that unholy book!" she exclaimed.

But then the Angels explained to Aurielle their reasoning that the book itself was not evil, nor was the spell, necessarily. It was the intent with which the spell was done that determined its result. Since their love for Dean and for each other was the overriding factor, Dean had come back as himself, with no adverse effects. Although the Angels wouldn't have been aware of it, when Rowena had used that same spell to bring Crowley back, he had descended into alcoholism and bitterness for a time. But because Fergus MacLeod had always had those qualities as an adult human, no one had really noticed.

Aurielle appeared unconvinced, but she said, "I am so glad you got your friend back. But please, Gail, please, be careful with that book. I know very well what kind of a temptation magic that powerful can be. I never properly apologized to the both of you for my use of that book's spell on you, Castiel. That's just one of the things I will regret until the end of my days. I am so sorry."

Cas and Gail looked at each other. It was funny, really. They'd almost forgotten about that. The revelation of what Metatron had done to them in that cabin had been such a shock that it had overshadowed everything else.

"We accept your apology," Castiel said to Aurielle. "We were on our way to forgiving Metatron too, but he died before we had the chance to have that discussion. And what you did was wrong, but your offense was far less serious than his."

Aurielle looked at Castiel inquiringly. Was he referring to The Fall, now? Or was there more to it than that? Castiel was working his jaw now, and Aurielle knew that look. She had studied Castiel's face for aeons, when she had been obsessed with him. She knew every nuance of his expressions.

But Gail put her hand on her husband's arm. There was no point in bringing that whole modification mess up with Aurielle. She hadn't been to blame for any of that, and she seemed so at peace with herself now. "Let's not rehash any of that old junk," Gail said. "Let's talk about the present instead, and the future. I'm glad to see you're doing so well for yourself, Aurora," she continued, using Aurielle's shelter name on purpose. "You should be very proud of yourself."

Aurielle smiled at her. Now she could finally see why Castiel loved Gail so much. It was amazing that Gail could speak to her so nicely, after everything that Aurielle had done. She WAS proud of herself, actually. It had taken a lot of work, but Aurielle had finally come to the realization that she had not been in love with Castiel, after all. She had simply been obsessed with him, projecting her lack of self-worth onto him. She had chosen to fixate on someone who could never love her back, thereby creating an impossible situation for herself. When Castiel didn't return her affections, Aurielle was receiving the message that she wasn't worthy of anyone's love. Then the self-loathing would begin, and then, the stubbornness would set in. If she could only get Castiel to love her, then that would prove that she was someone who was worthy of love. But then, when he still did not return her affections, Aurielle switched gears, blaming Gail for impeding the path to true love. Surely if Gail weren't around, distracting Castiel with her Earthly ways, he would have recognized the depths of Aurielle's feelings for him. So Aurielle had tried her best to remove Gail from the picture, and then later, she had allowed others to feed her delusions, promising to deliver Castiel to her if she would only do what they wanted. But it had all been a big lie. All of it. Aurielle knew that now, without a shadow of a doubt. She had been eager to see Castiel and Gail, to tell them that, and to apologize. Also, this was the ultimate litmus test. If she could look at the couple with Sisterly regard only, Aurielle would know once and for all that she had been cured of her obsession. She looked at Castiel. He was as handsome as always, and his blue eyes were sparkling. But now that she was able to look at him objectively, Aurielle could see that his eyes were sparkling because he was happy, and he was happy because he was sitting beside his wife, holding her hand. Then Aurielle looked at Gail, and she was heartened to realize that she felt no animosity towards Gail any more, only happiness that Gail had found true love with the man she had clearly been destined to be with. Perhaps Aurielle would be fortunate enough to experience that same sort of feeling, before she had to leave this life. But she wasn't going to "go there" again, as the expression went. If it happened, that would be wonderful, but Aurielle had a happy life now, and she didn't want to mess with it.

"Aurora, have you - " a woman started to say, entering the office. Then, she stopped short. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company."

Castiel stood, out of force of habit. He'd been thrown back into Castiel mode by the subject matter of their conversation, and a female had entered the room. Aurielle smiled. She was no longer in love with him, but it was nice to see that some things didn't change.

She looked up at Valerie. "It's OK, Val. These two are old friends, and great benefactors to the shelter."

Valerie moved forward. "I know you," she said to Cas. "Why do I know you?"

Cas was stricken. She knew him because of that conversation they'd had, when he had first visited the shelter. Valerie had told Cas her horrifying story, and Cas had confessed to her that he himself had been an abuser. That was back when they thought that he had been one, of course. "I've been here before," he said weakly. He looked down at Gail. "This is my wife, Gail. Gail, this is Valerie. I don't know if you remember my mentioning having met her here, before."

"Yes, I remember," Gail said. She got to her feet, too, and extended her hand to Valerie. Valerie took it. She was looking from Cas to Gail, and back again. "So, the two of you are married, now?" Valerie remarked.

Gail interpreted her look correctly. "My brother has an expression," the Angel said. "Whenever there's a topic hovering over the room that no one wants to talk about, even though they should be talking about it, we say 'elephant'. That alerts the other people that you're calling them on it. So, I'm going to go ahead and elephant this, right now. Cas was never an abuser, Valerie. It's a long and complicated story, but basically, he was brainwashed into thinking that he was one."

Valerie released Gail's hand and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, really?" she said skeptically. She'd heard those kinds of excuses before. Hell, she'd MADE those kinds of excuses before.

"What's this? What are you talking about?" Aurielle asked, puzzled. Since she'd never had any knowledge of Metatron's modification of the Angels' minds, she had no idea.

"Nothing. Never mind," Gail said quickly. "We have to be going, anyway. It was great to see you again, Aurora."

"And it was wonderful to see the both of you again. Thank you for your generous donation. Valerie and I will decide how to put it to its best use, won't we, Val?" Aurielle said, looking warmly at the woman.

"We sure will," Valerie replied, smiling.

Gail took Cas's hand. "Let's go," she said to him. "There's no need to see us out," she said to the women.

When the Angels were back outside on the sidewalk, Cas turned to Gail. "I'm sorry. I hope you weren't too uncomfortable back there," he said to his wife.

"Not at all," she assured him. "I remember your telling me about your conversation with her. I guess she's confused now, but she and Aurielle will probably talk about it. There's nothing we can do about it now, anyway. But I don't want to pull on that thread, Cas. Everybody's happy, now."

Cas smiled gently. "Aurielle does really seem at peace, now. I'm glad. And I'm glad she doesn't love me anymore. We can finally put that to rest, as well."

"That's because she loves Valerie," Gail stated matter-of-factly.

If Cas had been taking a drink of something, he would have spit it out. "What?" he exclaimed.

Gail shrugged. "She loves Valerie. I could see it in Aurielle's eyes, the moment Valerie walked in the room. But I don't think it's the crazy, obsessive kind of love she had for you. I really think she's OK now, Cas." Gail paused. "It just goes to show you that every case is different, I guess. We did what we had to do when it came to Lucifer, but in this instance, a little mercy went a long way. Now she's helping people, Cas. We can be very happy about what we did here."

Cas nodded. Gail was right. He was just about to take her hand and wink them home when he got a call from Bobby on Angel Radio.

"Hey, Cas, you and Gail busy at the moment?" he asked.

"Not really, Bobby. What's up?"

"Then I think you'd better get your keisters up here to Heaven," Bobby said bluntly. "I'll explain when you get here." Then he abruptly signed off.

What now? Cas thought. He told Gail about Bobby's call. "OK, we'd better hurry up and do that other thing we'd planned to do here, and then get up there," Gail said. "Lucky we don't sleep, 'cause it's been a long day," she added with a wry smile.

She and Cas walked around the corner, linked hands, then winked to their next destination.