Oh Jeez, so sorry it's been this long!

~Five Weeks Later~

Dean shoved another water bottle into his bag with a sigh, his head already pounding with the idea of going on another run while it was freezing out. He agreed and completely disagreed with this plan. They were going on a huge 3 day run. An enormous storm was preparing itself to move right over top of them and they had to be ready.

Castiel was working around the clock to make sure his greenhouses were well stocked and could withstand the elements within. Sam and Kevin were helping him keep it maintained. Dean had found hundreds of seeds on the run a week ago when they finally went to get the things Charlie needed. Dean had hated how long they put it off but with building the trenches, hunting dead ones and then building not one but two greenhouses, there just wasn't enough time.

Bobby had been tracking the weather, knowing it like the back of his hand from spending so many winters up here. He claimed they had maybe a week to get prepared which started the discussion of the 3 day run with two different teams. One of the details Dean absolutely hated. He didn't like that they were splitting up and leaving their home base not nearly protected enough.

Benny, Jody, Krissy, Dean, Sam and Jess were on his team while Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Cole, and John were on the second team. That only left Rufus, Ash, Gabriel and Charlie to really defend the entire compound. Kevin didn't know how to shoot yet, Samandriel's ankle was almost healed up and could help with watch but he still had a limp. Thankfully Gabriel had been a natural shot when Dean and Sam had taken everyone out for shooting practice a few days ago.

What surprised him the most was his shy little boyfriend. Castiel absolutely loathed guns, wanted nothing to do with them. But when Dean gave him a knife, he had nearly pissed himself when Castiel got every single target without so much as blinking an eye. Castiel had taken the buck knife out of the target with a crooked smile that Dean had to kiss right off that smug face.

Dean smiled in spite of himself, though it was never hard to keep the smile off his face when he thought of Castiel. He'd come out of his shell so much in the past several weeks it was beautiful. The nerves and anxiety were still there of course and so were the nightmares but Dean expected those to never truly go away. But he was making his voice heard and Dean had even heard him arguing with John about something. Dean had wanted to interrupt but thought better of it and stayed out of the kitchen entirely.

Which had been a very good thing because it ended with Castiel staring John down until the old man started laughing, his hand clapping Castiel on the shoulder. Dean didn't even remember what the argument had been about but it had been a beautiful thing to witness.

The door to his bedroom opened and someone moved inside quietly. Dean didn't need to look up to know it was Castiel, his arms already wrapping around Dean's middle as his face pressed into his shoulder.

"Do you have to leave again?" Castiel mumbled, lips moving against his shirt. Dean sighed and zipped up his duffel. He tossed it off the bed and turned around to sit down on the mattress. Castiel moved closer, sitting down on his lap easily. Dean pulled him in even tighter and nuzzled his face into his neck while his hands slipped up Castiel's loose t-shirt to touch his warm skin.

"Yeah, I don't want to though," Dean mumbled. Castiel kissed at his forehead that had Dean melting into the touch, wanting nothing more than to just lay back on the bed with Castiel tucked safely against his chest.

"I wish I could go with you," Castiel said with a small breathy laugh. Dean laughed a little, knowing just how badly that could go. They had tried to take Castiel just on a sweep around the house and as much as Dean loved him, Castiel was just too damn clutzy for his own good. He fell down one hill, almost sprained his ankle and tripped so brilliantly he took Sam down with him and set off his gun.

They had laughed it off and that was only because they were within arms reach of home. If this happened somewhere new and foreign, it could have been disastrous. Castiel had gotten upset for about a minute when John sternly told him he was staying behind but it quickly erased when Sam pointed to a small scar on his arm from falling down. Castiel had nodded and shyly tucked himself away from the others.

"I'll be back in a few days and then I won't be leaving until after the storm," Dean said brushing some hair off Castiel's forehead. His boyfriend really needed a haircut but any time he brought it up Castiel just stuck out his tongue and continued on with his way.

"Why can't you go after? What if you guys get stuck out there with no way home?" Castiel asked softly, his fingers twisting in the bottom of Dean's shirt.

"You know why sweetheart, if we don't we could run out of food and supplies," Dean answered, both of them jumping when there was a gentle tap on the door. It pushed open to reveal a tired looking Jess, her long blond hair tied up in a braid that draped over her shoulder.

"Hey, we're getting ready to head out. So grab your breakfast and meet us out at the truck. Don't worry Cas, we'll take care of him," Jess said, giving them a wave and disappearing into the hall. Castiel sighed heavily, his arms wrapping back around Dean's neck.

"Please, please, please be careful and come home in one piece," he murmured. Dean hugged him tight for a few minutes and then he gently pushed Castiel off his lap, both of them standing up.

"I promise, you be careful too okay? No falling down hills without me," Dean demanded, smiling bright when Castiel all but giggled. He tipped up his boyfriend's face and kissed him. Castiel hummed against his lips, the front of his body flushed against Dean's as they hugged again. He didn't want to let go, didn't want to lose the warmth that heated him up from even the inside.

"I love you, " Dean whispered between kisses, grinning when Castiel's fingers tugged at his hair a bit.

"I love you too...God I don't want you to go," Castiel whined. Dean pulled back enough to cup his face and kissed him again, keeping it slow and chaste but it was enough to leave his boyfriend breathless.

"Goodbye sweetheart," Dean whispered. Castiel finally gave him a nod and sunk down onto the bed with a little sigh. Dean swallowed hard, grabbed up his bag and forced himself out of the room before he could delay any further.

Downstairs everyone was waiting for him, somber looks on each of their faces. Samandriel had managed to limp his way into the room and was sitting in Benny's lap but he looked more grumpy than upset like Castiel had.

"You ready kiddo?" Jody asked with a tight lipped smile. Dean gave her a jerky nod and everyone was moving around. He stole a glance over at Benny and Samandriel and couldn't help chuckling at the how even grumpier the kid looked. Dean was glad he was going to be around in case Castiel really started to feel lonely. The two had slowly started to become friends even if Castiel was still really shy around him.

"You better come back with all your limbs Bear," Samandriel said, crossing his arms over his chest. Benny snorted as he tipped Samandriel's face up for a short kiss.

"Don't you worry yourself Angel, stay safe and keep practicin," Benny said nodding towards the shotgun propped up against the couch. Samandriel nodded with a roll of his eyes and playfully pushed Benny away from him.

"Let's get this show on the road Brother," Benny grumbled, slapping his hand down on Dean's shoulder to pull him outside of the house.

~Day 1~

"Dean watch it!" Jess hissed, her arm raising to shoot an arrow in the biter's head. Dean pushed it away from him once it was limp and slumped over to push his hands into his knees. Those damn things were everywhere now and the first place they planned on raiding had about a dozen outside and even more inside. Thank God for Jess's quick and quiet reflexes, between her and Sam they had gotten pretty much every single one down without alerting even more to their where abouts.

Dean waved away his brother's grabby hands to make sure he wasn't bit and straightened up, "I'm alright Sammy, didn't get me. We need to do a sweep of this place before continuing," Dean whispered. Everyone nodded and got into place of any exits or walkways and Benny let out a low whistle. Sure enough a few more came ambling out towards them which Dean and Jody quickly took out with the bowie knives they had taken out of the cases.

Store number one on their list had been the hunting surplus store, which surprisingly hadn't even been looted yet. This thing had been going on for over a month now and with all the hunters in their area Dean had argued this would have been a waste of time. Thankfully he'd been out voted. Dean hated to admit when he was wrong but there were times when he was damn grateful for it.

Once they were clear all of them separated to start filling up their bags. Dean was tempted to just drop off this load before going off towards destination number two. With their growing pile of duffel bags already, it would be the smart thing to do.

"I can't believe all this stuff is still here," Sammy said throwing down a few hunting rifles with scopes down into the pile. Dean nodded, sweeping all the ammo into his bag. It didn't sit right with him...like someone had purposely left this place untouched. He tried to shake the feeling but even as they started to load the truck his stomach was churning.

"What's next on our list?" Jody asked glancing down at the map with Benny. There were several circles and lines drawn onto the map, helping each group know exactly where the other should be on what days. They were supposed to meet up on day two, discuss their findings and keep going. If they had more than enough then they'd just head home, which was what Dean wanted to do now, they had too much to just let sit around in their truck.

"Alright, why don't we see if we can hotwire one of these other cars. Get it running and I'll have Krissy drive it back," Jody offered after Dean brought it up. He didn't like the idea of the girl being alone but he nodded anyway. The kid could definitely hold her own and they had to get moving. There weren't many cars on the street but they did find a Ford Explorer in the back.

"Okay, this is just weird, the keys are sitting on the damn seat...something just doesn't feel right here," Dean said pointing inside the car.

"Maybe they got run off or didn't even make it this far, you saw how many of those things were inside. They probably just locked themselves inside and one of em turned," Benny said with a shrug. Dean dragged a hand down his face and groaned. He went to grab for the keys when suddenly the back window exploded, the sound of a rifle being fired echoing around them.

"Get down!" Jody cried, her voice muffled now that Dean's ears were clogged. He was vaguely aware of someone yanking him down and being pulled under the truck.

"Stay the fuck away from my truck!" Someone shouted. It sounded like a young girl's voice but Dean's head felt like he was underwater.

"Stop shooting!"

"You took my stuff!"

"Let's talk instead of shooting each other!"

"C'mon," Benny grumbled next to him. Dean shook his head, trying to get the pressure out from inside his ears. When he was a little more oriented he crawled out to find a girl about his age pointing a gun at them. She was blonde, her hair half in braids while the other half looked a mess of tangles. Her skin was dirty and her clothes looked as if she'd been wearing them since this whole thing started. Though she looked worse for wear, she pointed the rifle at them steadily.

"Where are your parents?" Jody asked, her hands held up in a pacifying manner. It was fruitless about half of their group had their own weapons drawn on the girl.

"No clue, I was on my way to visit my cousins when this shit went down...got stuck here when my bike broke down," the blonde grumbled. Dean narrowed his eyes at the girl, there was something about her that stuck out...something insanely familiar.

"Listen to me, my name is Jody, I used to be the Sheriff in these parts. We have a place, food, shelter and supplies. If you lower your weapon and talk to us, you can join us," Jody said softly.

"Why the hell would I go with you? You took my shit and planned on stealing the only car I've been able to get running," she said pointing her rifle even higher. It was then it clicked and Dean found himself moving in between the gun and Jody.

"Dean!"

"Whoa, hey you're name is Claire, isn't it?" Dean said ignoring the others calling out for him to move. He grinned when the girl's blue eyes widened and the rifle wavered just enough for Dean to snatch it out of her hands.

"Hey!"

"Answer me...you're Claire Novak right?" Dean laughed a little.

"How the hell would you even know that?" she demanded.

"Because I'm Dean, Dean Winchester, your cousin Castiel's boyfriend," he answered. A light of recognition lit up her eyes and she grabbed at his arm, her fingers digging into his skin.

"D-Did he make it? Any of them?" she begged.

Dean nodded, though his smile dropped, "Yea, Cas and Gabe did. The others…"

"Shit…" Claire groaned, tears springing up in her eyes but she swallowed them down, "Well...at least a couple of them made it. Are they here?"

"No, they're back at our compound. You can head there now with Krissy if you want, I'm sure Castiel would love to see you right now," Dean said. Claire nodded slowly a huge smile breaking out on her face.

"Yeah...that, that sounds good. God I can't wait to see them," she laughed a bit breathlessly," I um, raided the convenience store down the way, what was left of it anyway. It was pretty badly raided before I got to it so I wouldn't even bother with it if I were you but you might be able to find some other supplies," Claire suggested, holding her hand out for the gun clutched in Dean's fingers. He gave it back to her easily even if Sam gave him one of his legendary bitch faces. Dean wasn't worried, he'd heard so many stories about this girl he felt like he knew her already.

She was 17, a senior in highschool and a complete hard ass. She put up with no one's crap and even had the highest marks in her high school when it came to shop class, archery and sports. She even rebuilt an entire car by herself as her final project in her junior year. Dean had never met her up until now but Castiel always talked about her, she was his favorite family member besides Gabriel though he hardly ever got to see her.

Dean knew just how capable she was with a bow and probably was even better with a gun, he almost didn't want her to leave but getting her and the supplies back home was probably a better idea.

"This is Benny, my little brother Sammy, his girlfriend Jess and Jody's daughter Krissy. We pretty much emptied the store and were sending it home, which is why we were needing to find another car. I really think you should go with Krissy," Dean urged. Claire stared up at him before nodding, the rifle moving to rest against her shoulder.

"Yeah, I think I will. It'll be good to see Castiel...and get a good punch into Gabriel," Claire laughed a little. Dean grinned, watching as she moved over to Krissy, the two of them talking in hushed tones.

"You sure about this Dean? We don't know her and Dad's gonna get pissed we have another mouth to feed," Sam hissed next to him.

Dean frowned, "Dude, that's Cas's cousin, like I could just say Oh hey I know where your cousins are but no, you can't come. Be real and Dad's not gonna care, he even said that if we find any other survivors to bring them back with us."

"I don't know man…"

"Don't worry so much okay? It'll be alright, this way the truck will be even more protected on its way back home," Dean said. Sam finally nodded and backed off.

Castiel was working out in the garden when he heard it, the sound of an engine being cut off. He perked up and saw Rufus up in the sniper hut aiming right at the gate. There was definitely someone there and he was about to hurry inside when he heard someone shouting, the voice extremely familiar.

"It's Krissy!" Rufus called out. Castiel's chest lurched, why would Krissy be back so soon? He saw Gabriel and Charlie running towards the gate and Castiel wanted to go with them but he was scared. Something must have happened and he couldn't bear if anything happened to Dean or anyone else in their group.

At first when he saw the blonde hair he figured it was just Jess but then he looked closer...that wasn't what Jess had worn when they left. Her jeans were ripped up with a red flannel tied around her waist. He recognized that flannel and suddenly he found himself tearing across the garden.

"Claire!" Castiel heard Gabriel shout. He heard himself shout his cousin's name as well and she pulled out of Gabriel's embrace just in time for Castiel to collide into her arms. Both of them laughed loudly as they hugged, Gabriel wrapping his arms tightly around the both of them. Castiel couldn't help crying, he'd hadn't much time to really think of his cousin but she'd been there, in the back of his mind the entire time. He prayed every night that she was safe and he should have known she would be.

"Oh my God Castiel! He told me you were here but I was so worried he'd been lying," Claire laughed. Castiel pulled away and she gently brushed a few tears off his cheeks.

"Dean? You saw Dean?" he asked. She laughed, nodding her head.

"Yeah, I saw your boyfriend. Afraid to say I almost shot him but that's why I'm here," she said as Gabriel barked out a laugh. He kissed Claire's forehead and ruffled Castiel's hair before going over to the truck and climbing inside. Castiel sighed with relief as she moved them out of the way for them to drive past the gate. Claire swallowed audibly next to him and that was when he noticed the blood on her clothes.

"Y-you didn't actually shoot him...did you?" he asked. Claire shook her head, her smile turning into a tight line.

"Nah, now c'mon, let's get this stuff unpacked and then you can show me around, okay?" she said. Castiel nodded, taking her hand to eagerly pull her towards the house. He was so excited that another member of his family was okay and safe. Seeing Claire was so unexpected his stomach was fluttering wildly with all the excitement. To be honest he should have known better than to doubt that Claire wouldn't make it through all of this. She was the strongest out of all of them, even his older brother's combined.

They hurried down the path to join the others around the truck as Krissy eased it backwards, getting it as close to the front door as she could. Rufus just came out onto the porch, whistling low when he caught sight of what was in the bed. Krissy slipped through the back window and started handing out the heavy duffel bags.

"Oh before I forget, Dean wanted me to give these to you," Krissy said hopping out and reaching into one of the bags. Castiel's hands were suddenly filled with a book and several flower seed packets that specifically combined to draw in bees. The book drew a soft laugh from him when he realized it was about building water fountains for small creatures. Dean had promised to help him build the structures so long ago he had almost forgotten. His boyfriend was amazing.

"Do you actually have a garden here?" Claire asked, her voice breaking through his thoughts. He caught her glancing around, her eyes widening when she noticed not one but two greehouses in the distance.

"Mmhmm, come on, I'll show you," Castiel said pulling her towards it. Something made her pause though and she yanked on his hand to stop him. He looked at her with a raised brow but she was too busy glancing around the perimeter. Her entired demeanor had changed, a charge that had her back completely straight and on guard.

"Hey, come on," Castiel urged, pulling at her hand again only to find himself being yanked towards the house.

"You can show me later, I'm starving, let's get some food," she said, a tight bit of nervousness edging her tone. Castiel wanted to reassure her that this place was safe, that she had nothing to worry about. But there was something suddenly so off about his cousin that his stomach flipped uneasily. He tried to twist free from her grip but she refused to let go of him until they were inside the garage.

"Claire, what the-"

"Castiel, listen to me. Do you have a place you can hide?" She demanded, her blue eyes wide and fearful. Castiel spluttered a bit as his mind tried to catch up to where ever his cousin had gone. He tried asking her what was going on but she waved her hands to get him to stop talking.

"Cassie, answer me, is there somewhere in this house you and Gabriel can hide?"

"I guess? Why? What's going on Claire!" He hissed back. Claire swallowed hard, her fingers digging into his wrist that had his own heart thudding in his chest.

"Castiel, you need to listen to me very closely. Get Gabriel and hide away, do not come out for anything," she hissed, grabbing at his face when he tried to argue, "Your compound is about to be raided."