A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! I really enjoy hearing your feedback. I've been trying to find time between schoolwork to write more. Anyway, enjoy!

Dean blinked. He was in shock. Was this really happening?

A new wave of anger surged through him. "So that's it then?" he yelled, face skyward. "You just gonna leave me here with a friggin' fallen angel on my front porch, you douchebag?"

He clenched his jaw tighter and hoisted Ramiel up further onto his shoulder, who had begun to sag. Sam did the same, and the two—without so much as speaking a word—entered the house. After carefully setting the now-unconscious Ramiel on Lisa's couch, the brothers slowly met each other's gaze.

Dean didn't know what to say. He didn't have anything to say at this point.

Sam opened his mouth to say something, face full of guilt and apology. But before he could get a word out, Lisa rushed into the room. "Dean," she said in relief, pulling him into a hug.

Dean hardly responded, but did the best he could to reciprocate. Lisa noticed and pulled back, searching his eyes. "What's…." she began, but her gaze shifted to Sam, who was standing awkwardly behind Dean. "…Sam?"

"Hey Lisa," Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I thought…" she looked from Sam, back to Dean, confused.

"I know," Dean said quietly, voice tense. "I thought so too." He cleared his throat and stood up straighter. "But apparently I was wrong."

"Dean," Sam began again, tone once again apologetic.

"Dean," Lisa interrupted, eyes wide. "Who's on our couch?"

Dean shifted awkwardly, trying to attempt to cut her off as she walked over to Ramiel. "That's…Ramiel," Dean said. "Castiel's brother."

"Castiel…the angel?" Lisa asked, eyes trained on Ramiel.

"You told her?" Sam asked, obviously insulted by this new piece of information.

Dean clenched his jaw again. "Yeah, well I didn't exactly have someone to talk to about this stuff while you were prancing around doing whatever the hell you were doing," he snapped.

"I wasn't 'prancing around'," Sam said defensively, eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah, well obviously you were doing something without access to a phone." At this, Dean crossed his arms, having backed Sam into a corner—figuratively, speaking.

"Boys," Lisa cut in sharply, "we can settle this later. Right now we have to help him," she continued, pointing at Ramiel, who had a trail of blood dripping from his nose and mouth yet again.

Dean gave Sam one last glare and turned to Ramiel and Lisa. Without turning around, he shouted to Sam. "Help me get him into the guest room."

Sam, haughty and silent, bent over and lifted Ramiel along with Dean, towing him to the bedroom. After Ramiel was taken care of, Lisa at his side, the brothers remained back in the living room with nothing to say.

• • •

Castiel stared into the distance for a long time.

He knew he owed Dean an apology—that's what humans did, right? And although he wasn't human anymore, he felt he still shared some commonalities with the species, guilt being one of them. He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt…and remorse.

Of course he felt horrible for abandoning Dean. But Dean couldn't see what he saw. And what he saw was what was best—for both of them. It was best for Castiel to remain in Heaven and do his assigned job. And archangel wasn't a bad title, either. On the other hand, it was best for Dean to live his "apple pie" life in peace, without the disturbance of angels—or anything supernatural, for that matter.

That's why Castiel had worked so hard to make the angels leave the Winchesters alone, save the means used to protect them from harm. As long as he kept them alive, he felt what he was doing for them was good—good for both of them. And Sam…well, deciding not to contact Dean was his own choice. Whether admirable or unfavorable, that was not up to Castiel to judge.

Now he came to the real question. The question he had to resolve immediately, lest all his good work be compromised. Who was ordering the angels to kill the Winchesters? Obviously Heaven was in chaos, so it wasn't hard to comprehend that there would be disobedience on some level. But direct orders against an archangel's? That was big. And the other angels were obeying, which meant the one giving the orders had to be powerful, or feared in some way.

Still, Castiel had no idea who to look for, or where to start. It had been much easier when he had help…when he had friends. Sitting alone in the park wasn't nearly as nice as it used to be.

• • •

"You could've called."

The room had been silent for hours, the brothers merely sitting there, saying nothing. Lisa was in the other room, keeping watch over Ramiel after putting Ben to bed. It was late at night now, but neither one of the brothers had even considered sleeping. They were both too wired with emotion. Finally, Dean had been the one to break the silence.

"Dean, look man, I'm sorry," Sam breathed.

"Save it," Dean responded quietly. "It doesn't matter anymore."

Sam squinted at him in the dim light. Leaning forward, he shifted his elbows to rest on his knees. "I just…when I got out of Hell I came here first. But I saw you through that window and… I saw how happy you were. How…normal." Sam sighed. "I didn't want to be the one that messed up your life again."

Dean was silent for a while, and Sam wondered if he'd fallen asleep. Looking up, he saw Dean's eyes glistening. Dean sniffed, taking in a deep breath.

"Sammy, I was in pain," he said lowly, voice almost a whisper. "Knowing you were gone…forever…it hurt. Man, I searched through every book and every scrap of information to get you out but…. I couldn't do a damned thing."

Now it was Sam's turn to be silent. A few minutes passed, feeling like hours. "Dean, I didn't know…."

"I know you didn't," Dean cut him off. "I understand. The past is the past, man. What're you gonna do?" He tried to say the words casually, but they couldn't mask the pain in his voice.

Sam nodded, lowering his eyes. "Yeah," he muttered in agreement, although he wasn't quite sure either of them would be able to let it go that easily. They both had a lot of problems of their own to resolve, now that a new chapter of their lives had started.

Suddenly, a gust of air lifted Sam's hair. Dean apparently had heard it too, as he had sat up straight and was looking around. Sam furrowed his eyebrows and turned around, searching the dark for some monster that was surely coming to kill them….

"Deeeeean!" He heard a familiar voice from behind him, drawing out the vowels of Dean's name comically. "Long time no see."