Notes: Wow. Just wrote part of the fight scene for later and I have no idea where some of it came from. Now I feel like a terrible person, also a little twisted for coming up with a somewhat very morbid poem.

leahelisabeth: Oh, I have plenty in mind for them and also Sam ;) I swear it's like you're in my head sometimes, which is nice cause I get lonely.

Disclaimer: People own things. I'm a college student. I am not people.

CHAPTER 11

The sun was just about to set on their little moon and things were finally winding down a bit. Dean had checked, re-checked and then had Sam check and re-check all the stations around the house to make sure all was secure, all the guns were loaded, and ammo was well within reach at all times. Most of the house's occupants had either gone outside to get in a little more practice with the blanks before dark while the others had gone to sleep or prepare a quick dinner of sorts.

Lisa was still bedridden, letting out periodic and impressive screams that carried to most corners of the house. She was drenched in sweat and breathing hard as Anna and Ava mopped at her brow with a cool cloth. It had been going on 17 hours of labor so far and they were all incredibly exhausted, but not as much as Lisa, obviously.

At the foot of the bed, Bobby was peeking under the tent of sheet over Lisa's bent knees, trying to see how far they had come. Not very, he noted and then he heard soft footsteps approaching the door and turned to see a wide eyed Castiel poking his head around the door frame his mouth completely agape at what he was seeing.

Bobby gave him a short nod of greeting and right away Cas ducked his head bashfully, knowing that he wasn't really supposed to be there, but he just couldn't stay away. There was something very special going on and he felt drawn to it. Bobby noticed this and didn't shoo him off just yet. Kid was just curious and his innocent expression was just too honest for Bobby to ruin by kicking him out.

Instead, Bobby just updated him on what was going on, feeding into the young man's liking for new knowledge, "She ain't completely dilated yet. Once she is, it will be pretty quick, but for now the contractions are still preliminary.

"What's he saying?" Ava asked.

"It's going to be a little while longer is all," Bobby answered.

Lisa groaned loudly, "Oh! Really? What taking so long?"

"Actually the average amount of time spent in labor is 12-18 hours. Historically there have been records of women who spent three weeks in labor. You have only reached 17 hours, five minutes and 43 seconds at this point," Castiel informed her shyly from the doorway. The looks of horror on all of their faces were completely lost on him though.

Bobby cleared his throat, "Uh, I'm going to go see if I can find some birth safe painkillers in my med bag."

Castiel perked up at this as Anna crossed over to Bobby who was digging through the drugs, "Uh, Sheppard? How many babies have you delivered?" she asked worriedly.

"Um, I was an army medic mostly. Not many pregnancies on the battle field, but there was a lady who stopped at our monastery one night and me and another preacher took care of her. Mostly him though," he confessed. She nodded.

"My first time too."

"Mine too," whispered Castiel as he slowly edged into the room and over to the side of the bed.

Bobby and Anna stare at him a moment before the preacher sighed and pulled off his hat to rub at his sweaty forehead, "It's going to be a long night."

Lisa started to scream as another contraction hit, making Cas flinch and step away from the bed a few feet. He turned wide panicky eyes to Bobby.

"Is the creation of a new life always so loud and sweaty?"

They chose not to answer that.

Outside in the hallway, Dean had been walking through the house looking for weak spots and such, and maybe he had an ulterior mission to locate where Cas had gotten off to, but mostly weak spots. He stopped outside of the door and peaked in when he heard Cas' question, smirking at the innocence of it.

Nobody seemed to notice Dean in the doorway as they were all focusing their attention on Lisa. However, Dean's attention was focused on Cas as he slowly crept back towards the bed, wary that she might start screaming again. He moved closer and closer until his knees bumped the edge and then he slowly moved his hand towards the panting girl.

Finally the others took note of Cas' movements. Ava bristled and looked like she was about to protest, but both Anna and Bobby silenced her with a look. Lisa was watching him warily, but she had a gentle soul and didn't move away from his touch as he brushed his fingers between her eyes.

Right away her panting eased off a little bit and the wrinkles in her forehead smoothed out. She sighed happily and melted back into the bed with a soft smile.

"Cas?" Bobby asked after a brief pause.

"I only took away some of the pain. She needs the rest to guide her through the rest of the process. She still has a while to go," he said quietly and left the bedside to meet Dean at the door, not at all surprised to see the captain there.

Dean however, was very surprised at what had just happened before his eyes. Not so much the healing thing, but just Cas taking away the pain from a young girl. It made him wonder why the Host would even want Cas back in their grasp if he was so pure. Surely they should have given up long ago trying to distort him into something, mold him into something else. A soldier, Cas had said.

He greeted Cas at the door by pulling him out of sight and into his arms for a tight embrace and a deep and tender kiss that left them breathless.

"You're amazing you know that?"

Cas shrugged and ducked his head as he blushed.

"Okay, Nurse Castiel. I'm going to go look over the plans again and you should maybe find somewhere else to hang. They've got a long night ahead of them."

Cas nodded, but cast one last glance behind them at Lisa's swollen belly as they walked away.

"Who do you think is in there…?"

Dean was still too focused on his task to veer off and was going over the diagrams on the table once again trying to spot the weak points. Cas had curled up by his side a while ago like a cat seeking warmth and had been watching Dean work. It was a mite distracting to have him so close and Dean couldn't help sneaking a few glances down at the tousled head in his lap every few moments.

It had been one year now. One year since Cas had come barreling into his life and stirring things up until Dean wasn't sure what was up or down anymore. It had been an exciting ride, that was for sure. Scary too, but when he really thought about it, he wouldn't have had it any other way. Even staring down the eve of battle, he was frighteningly happy to be here.

It was his own little secret anniversary in his head, his own little holiday that he didn't share with the others. He didn't even know if they remembered what day it was or what it meant for all of them. He was even a little embarrassed that he was so disappointed that he couldn't celebrate it by the normal, or traditional means.

He couldn't take a drink to toast another year together because it was a strictly no alcohol policy at this point as they waited for battle. There was no grand feast of simmered and spiced protein blocks as the only dinner that he and most of the others had gotten was sandwich and an apple. No party, no music, no dancing…there hadn't been much laughter either except for the little pranks that the crew had continued doing even as they were hard at work.

He smiled as he recalled how just a few hours ago Sam had gone to take a drink of water only to find a big plastic spider in the bottom of his glass, a gift meant for Balthazar. Or how Gabriel, finally back on a planet had been digging for booby traps and had deposited several beetles in Chuck's hair that the mechanic hadn't noticed until one crawled across his face as he tried to talk to one of the house girls. Dean remembered running towards the screaming after that and being surprised to find Chuck there. He had thought it was two girls screaming.

Cas had yet to notice the prank that had been pulled on him. It was mostly because Cas never took his coat off and probably wouldn't notice the many sticky notes dotting the back with all of the cute nicknames that his brothers had used to call him as children. Dean's personal favorites that he had read so far were "Castiella" and "Huggy Bear".

He fondly ran a hand through Cas hair and laughed when his hands were batted away. This is when Pamela walked into the room.

"That man of yours, Balthazar is going to use of all your credit before he's even earned it," she joked.

"Father used to have Balthazar do chores to make up for overspending his allowance," Castiel commented, his voice muffled by Dean's leg.

Pamela snorted, "I'll keep that in mind, but I'm willing to overlook it since you got added to this little pickle."

Cas sat up startled, "When did we become porcupines?" he demanded.

"Pickle, Cas. Not prickle."

Pamela was now outright laughing at the two of them, "Oh, boy. You and your crew gotta be some of the more 'unique' ones to come through my door. I can't imagine what's it's like for Anna to live with all of you under one roof. I suppose the copious amounts of eye candy helps to ease it though. Tell me, are their weekly crew orgies?"

Dean chuckled while Cas' head tilted in confusion, "Well, we're an odd conglomeration, but we got along well enough. Like any family we have our moments and drama," Dean told her seriously, but his eyes were drawn to the wooden pox that the House mother held in her hands, "What'cha got there?"

"Ah, these are the real reason I'm here…besides wanting to have you two fine cut boys within pinching distance. I wanted you to look these over for me."

She opened up the box to reveal four fancy pistols all neatly organized, nestled in stain fabric. There were classics, for sure and Dean had to let out an appreciative whistle. He picked up the first three and gave them a quick go-over. They had been well maintained it seemed, but he noticed that the models were so old that none of the crew's ammo would work for them. Pamela had shrugged and said she had a few rounds for each one.

"They all look like they will be fine, but I'll have Sam or Meg give them a quick practical later," he said and went to reach for the last one. She got a fond smile on her face when he looked it over.

"Oh, may I say how fine you're making my favorite weapon look right now," she smirked. Cas bristled at his side but didn't say anything. Dean didn't look up from the gun, but still moved his knee so that it bumped with Cas'. A comforting gesture.

"So what's its history then?"

"Violence and crime, sad to say. Something so beautiful and still a damned powerful tool for killing. What about you?"

Dean shrugged, "Similar."

"Hmm. Well, I think you've done all you can at this point. Perhaps it's time you two take a break from all this planning. As you said, isn't likely Burgess would come at night and it's already dark out. I know more than a few of my kids who are more than willing to work their trade with you. You deserve to spend some time relaxing in the best way possible tonight," she winked.

Dean's mouth started gaping as he looked between Cas and her, "Uh, I've, uh, I've got the job on my mind. I don't really need to 'trade'. They're a fine bunch, but…I'm more than all set."

"Yes. He is set," Cas repeated firmly.

"Oh, don't you worry, honey. I trained as a Companion and I can read people pretty well. I knew he was taken with you."

"Then why suggest otherwise?"

She smirked again, but didn't answer his question, "I've got a room all set up for you upstairs. Third floor, second door. It's got the best soundproofing in the house," she tossed over her shoulder as she picked up the weapons and headed off. Her sly smile never faltered as she left the room.

Cas was scowling, Dean was biting his lip.

Eventually, after the awkwardness had plenty of time to stink up the once semi-relaxed atmosphere, Dean started to stack up the papers before him, cleaning up the table.

"I think I'm going to call it a night then," he stated as he stood up and turned to face Cas, "Are you going to want to come up with me?"

Cas sat back with his arms crossed over his chest, "Not if we won't be alone."

"We'll be alone. I don't know why she said that. You're the only one I want in my bed tonight and every night after…" he realized how girly that sounded and winced, throwing his hand out for Cas to take. Reluctantly Cas unfolded his arms and grasped the offered hand to stand up, but he didn't let go after that and perhaps was gripping a bit too tightly if Dean's flinch was anything to go by. He also made sure to glare at each and every person they encountered as they went up to their room for the night.

He glared especially hard at one young man in particular as he brushed by them and headed outside.

Okay, this chapter is up for the day. On to studying! *fake smile with overenthusiastic thumbs up*