Chapter Seven

"Dean!"

Dean's head swung up just to watch as Castiel slumped bonelessly to the ground.

"Cas!" Dean rushed to Castiel's side, completely unconscious of the fact that he was still butt-ass naked. Castiel lay, unmoving, did I pull Cas to me just to have him die on me? "Cas!" Dean grabbed onto Castiel's shoulders and shook, "Please. Don't die on me."

"Dean," Castiel said weakly as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Cas, you okay man?"

"I seem to be free of the Leviathan," Castiel looked around the room, taking in the remnants of the spell Dean had just completed. "You started the ritual of binding," Castiel stated in shock. "How did you locate…?"

"Bobby and Sammy wrote it down for me then took off. But what do you mean by started? It's a summoning spell. You're here. What more could be left?"

"Of course," Castiel's voice sounded defeated, "you did not know. I should have known immediately."

"Known what?!" Dean asked, frustration rising.

"It is of no importance. I am…happy that you freed me from the Leviathan and that I got to see you one last time."

"Cas," Dean practically shouted. "What the hell do you mean one last time?"

"Dean, I don't want you to feel obligated to complete-"

"Castiel," Dean interrupted forcefully, "just tell me."

Castiel averted his eyes down away from Dean's face. Dean could have sworn that Castiel blushed; Dean definitely did as they realized that Castiel was unintentionally looking at Dean's naked groin. Springing apart, Castiel quickly averted his eyes again as Dean rushed over to pull on his jeans. After carefully zipping them up (he obviously didn't want to risk something getting stuck), Dean grabbed the instructions Bobby and Sam had left and walked right up into Castiel's personal space. "Here," he said, thrusting the sheet into Cas' hands. "Tell me what's missing."

"It has been more than a millennia since I have seen this ritual," Castiel stated evasively.

"And I'm sure you remember it like it was yesterday. Quit stalling."

"It' the ritual of binding…at least the first part of it."

"You mentioned that before," Dean interrupted. "What is the ritual of binding? It's not just a summoning spell?"

"The summoning part of the spell is so an angel's marked human can give their answer."

Dean's hand went directly to Castiel's handprint and watched as Castiel nodded slowly in answer to Dean's unspoken question. Of course Dean had considered the possibility that Castiel's handprint might hold more significance than merely being a souvenir of his journey outta hell. He'd have to be a fool not to; after all his life was just one complicated mess after another.

"What's the question Cas?" Dean asked, cutting straight to the issue.

"There is no human equivalent," Castiel sidestepped.

Sneaky bastard.

"Explain it to me," Dean persisted.

Castiel physically shook, bringing Dean's attention back to the fact that Castiel apparently wasn't in the best of shape.

"Wait," Dean spoke up just as Castiel was about to start talking, 'whatever the rest of the ritual is…how much time do we have to finish it?"

"I do not know," Castiel began, "to my knowledge, no human has ever begun the ritual without immediately completing it."

"Well then what are the possible answers?"

"Dean, I don't think-"

"Cas just tell me," Dean smirked, "I'm a big boy, I can take it."

"The ritual is to complete or reject the binding of an angel and a human. There are only two choices, yes or no."

"Since you've been implying that I'm never going to see you again I'm guessing that 'no' ends badly for you?"

"It is less than ideal; however I do not want you to base your decision on what happens to me. It is not important."

"Cas. I was a frigging mess while you were gone, because you were gone. So what happens to you most definitely is important!"

"Why do you think I won't want to say yes?" Dean asked when Castiel remained silent.

"We would be bonded for all of eternity."

"You mean physically stuck together?" Nah, completely impractical…there's no way.

"No," Castiel confirmed Dean's suspicion, "It's more like a joining of your soul and my grace."

"And what's so horrible about that?"

Castiel paused before answering, "I know how resistant you were towards having Michael take you as a vessel."

"But it's not like we'd have to share the same body or anything, right?"

"Yes, but it is considerably more invasive than reading your mind, the thought of which makes you quite upset. You have, in fact, accused me of it on more than one occasion."

"Cas," Dean paused to lift Castiel's chin so he could look him in the eye, "if it means that you will stick around then I'll learn to live with it."

"Bu-"

"No more buts," Dean interrupted. "What do I have to do?"

Castiel gulped nervously, even though it was Dean rushing this, he felt guilty. Under different circumstances, Castiel knew that Dean would never agree to the binding. He had hoped that Dean would never discover the true meaning of the handprint. No angel had used the binding since the Nephilim had been destroyed. He obviously had not consciously made the decision to mark Dean as his intended. In fact Castiel had never heard of an unintentional marking, which is perhaps why he had not been chastised for the action.

Dean had given Castiel time to come to terms, but for all he knew the clock was ticking. "Cas, is there any part of this binding thing that would be worse than eternity in hell?" Not waiting for an answer, Dean reached out to casually touch Castiel reassuringly on the arm, "Cause I would still be there if not for you. I want to do this."

Dean's hand felt as if it was on fire as they were enveloped in a bright light before everything faded away.

AN: I know this chapter's kinda short but it felt like a natural break and I figured everyone would rather have more of the story sooner rather later. As always feedback is greatly appreciated.