After a few days of watching trash TV under the comforter with Charlie, Dean went back into his studio and started trying to fill the gaps left by his last pieces. He sorted through his sheet metal, trying to think of what to make next. He wanted to do something different. Still a sculpture, still metalwork, but a design he had never tried before. He started trying to bend the metal using his equipment, waiting for inspiration to come to him.

Eventually it did, and he started constructing the basic structure, as time slipped away from him, the way it always did in the throes of creativity. Eventually, when the framework for his idea was together and stable, and red hot from the welding torch, Dean headed back into the house. He wanted nothing more than a shower and some comfort food after a hard day's work. He could hear voices in the kitchen, and stuck his head around the doorway, wanting to check in with his brother and sister and let them know what he was doing. But doing so was a mistake, because they had visitors. Two loud and exuberant visitors.

"Dean! You're here!" Balthazar gestured wildly with a glass of beer, nearly slopping it over Charlie. She pushed his hand back firmly.

"He lives here, he works here, of course he's here," Charlie rolled her eyes.

"Mmm, and he's covered in motor oil and sweat. No wonder Cassie was all over him, he's exquisitely delicious. I'd lick him."

Dean made to move away, not in the mood for Balthazar Novak and his crappy flirting.

"Dean, wait," Sam called out after him. "They're not just here for Balthazar to make inappropriate comments about you."

"I don't want to talk to any damn Novak's," Dean muttered, and headed up the stairs for the bathroom. Sam followed him up, catching him just inside the door.

"Dean, I know you're pissed. I know you're hurt. I know that, whatever anyone else thinks, it wasn't about Castiel's money. But can you please hear them out? At least listen to Gabriel, if you can't stand being near Balthazar." Sam tucked his hands in his pants pockets. "Have your shower, get changed, and we'll order pizzas and talk. I'll put a three-strike rule on Balthazar. Two more flirts and I'll kick him out."

"Fine." Dean caved faster than he expected. But he was trusting Sam, knew how levelheaded his brother was. He wasn't going to be swayed in the same way Dean had been. So if Sam said that Gabriel had something worthwhile to say, he was going to believe it. "Order it now."

Sam gave him a small smile and went back down the stairs, and Dean stepped into the bathroom, making sure that the door was locked before he peeled his clothes off. The last thing he wanted was for Balthazar to try and see him naked.


When Dean got back downstairs, in his rumpled jeans and a shirt that gave nothing away, the pizza had already been delivered, and everyone was tucking in happily. Dean grabbed a slice of pepperoni and settled between his brother and sister, trying to ignore Castiel's siblings as he ate.

"So," Gabriel finished a slice of Sam's favorite, and leaned across the table. "What the hell happened with you and Cassie?"

"Cassie is stepping aside to give me a shot," Balthazar stuck in.

"Strike two," Sam spoke quietly as he passed another slice of veggie supreme to Gabriel. "What did we talk about?"

"Well, why else would Cassie suddenly be acting like his life plan included marrying Meg? Meg! That girl is awful."

"Balth," Gabriel shook his head, and focused on Dean, his eyes taking on that same laser-like gaze of his younger brother. "You know, Balthazar and I have mastered avoiding dealing with Michael and Luke, escaping all the business talk. We tried to take Cassie under our wings but I think he thinks we're a bit deviant."

"We're very deviant," Balthazar smirked. "But Cassie is … how to put it …"

"Socially awkward?" Dean supplied with a mouth full of pizza. Balthazar pointed finger guns at Dean. He took that as confirmation.

"Yeah, well," Gabriel picked a piece of sweetcorn off of his slice. "Cassie never did what was expected, and then you came on the scene and we got excited. I mean, he's always liked your stuff and then he's managed to get a date with you? It felt like Cassie was doing what he needed, whatever Michael and Luke said."

"And?" Dean was wondering what the point of this even was.

"And it makes no sense. None. You didn't hear him after that first date; you didn't see the look on his face. He's crazy about you."

"He made it pretty clear at the gallery that he's not."

"Okay, forget about the art show a sec, what was he like the time you saw him before that? Was he off with you at all?"

The catwalk show. The boat. Kissing in the limousine, and having sex below deck on Castiel's boat. It had felt like Castiel couldn't get enough of him. But clearly Cas had moved on.

"What are you trying to say?" Sam asked, so that Dean didn't have to answer.

"That I think, despite our best efforts, Michael or Luke has gotten to Cassie. Whatever's been said, whatever's happened, Cassie isn't doing things by himself any more. One of our big brothers is pulling the strings."

And now Dean was thinking back, to every interaction with Michael and Lucifer. Admittedly, there weren't many with Lucifer, he seemed dismissive at best, but Michael had been there, trying to sway Dean. Buying him suits, talking Castiel up, trashing Meg. Dean couldn't remember everything Michael had said to him, but he had definitely been Team Dean. Had there been more going on than he realized?

"So, even if that's true, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Remind Cassie what it is he really wants," Balthazar shrugged. "I mean, if you want to. If not-"

"Are you about to get kicked out, Balthazar?" Sam interrupted in a sickly-sweet voice. Dean was so grateful to his brother for standing up for him.

"How am I meant to do that? Cas and me, we had an arrangement. It's over now. So how would I justify hunting him down and telling him to leave Meg?"

"Justify it?" Gabriel snorted. "I thought you wanted my brother's ass?"

Dean glared at him, and Gabriel stared back, chewing his slice, completely unfazed by Dean's irritation.

"I thought you would want to fight for him. B and me, we're not here on any other agenda than our baby brother's happiness. We think you're key to that. I mean, if he really wanted Meg he would have bagged her years ago. Why now? Why after he's been with someone who keeps him up at night replaying every moment between you? It has to be something to do with them. And frankly, I'm sick of Michael and Luke's constant pissing contests."

Dean thought back, to whenever Castiel interacted with his eldest two brothers. His reluctance to talk with them that first time at the golf course, his delight in annoying the both of them at the auction, the argument that Castiel had with Luke at the dinner. Castiel hadn't said what it was about, he'd only let Dean pry so far before they were making out. Maybe there was something in what Gabriel was telling him.

"But if it is one of them behind it, they must have Meg on side. And they must have something over him, to make him go with it," Dean told the circle of pepperoni on his latest slice.

"Right? But you'll just have to remind him what he stands to lose if he goes through with this. We'll do what we can to help."

Dean eyed Balthazar suspiciously, and he gave what he clearly considered to be an endearing smile.

"Darling, we're going to help you get your man."

He winked, and Dean sighed. Castiel was worth putting up with the flirtatious brothers … wasn't he?