After Castiel had explained, Adler said nothing; he just nodded and then began restoring the living room to its rightful order. The hunter let him be. He was shaken himself.

His father. He hadn't known Dad was dead. To be honest, he had never considered the possibility, even knowing that he would continue to hunt until something or someone got to him before he got it first; he had just always seemed so – immortal. Aloof. Strong.

And now he was dead, and Castiel felt empty. Not sad, not lonely, just... empty.

He hadn't seen him for over five years.

Suddenly, the room felt small, too small. He had to get some air.

He stumbled past Sam and Dean, never feeling the angels' eyes on him.

Dean was lost. Despite having spent more time with humans than most of his brethren, he had never really taken the time to learn how to deal with their... emotions; both Cas and Adler were obviously affected by what had taken place; but how could he –

He looked at Sam. His brother, he realized, was waiting for him to do something.

If he had been a good angel, an obedient soldier, he would have left. He needed to report to John what had happened; although every angel would have felt the next seal breaking, it was still required of him that he returned to Heaven immediately –

He went after Cas.

The hunter was just outside, leaning against the house, breathing heavily.

Dean didn't know what to say.

Or whether or not Cas even wanted him there. Maybe he would have liked to be alone.

"Cas?"

He gave him a weak smile.

"I didn't know my father was dead."

"Yeah..." Dean said helplessly, swallowing, surprised at the human reaction of his vessel.

"I mean – sorry. It must be hard." The words fell stilted, flat, between them, but Cas seemed to relax slightly.

"I hadn't seen him in years. I shouldn't be surprised he attacked me. He always despised me."

He knew that now. He had never been good enough for his father.

"Cas... you know that was the spell, right? The souls were supposed to attack blindly, to do stuff they would never have done while they were alive."

"I know. But still..." Cas took a deep breath.

"Anyway, it is none of your concern."

"Of course it is" Dean said softly. "You're important to me."

A pause, heavy with meaning.

"You're my charge."

Castiel cursed his erratically beating heart. He was a duty to Dean, nothing more.

And what his father had said...

It was blasphemous to look upon a soldier of God with desire. Castiel couldn't doubt it.

And since Dean had just openly admitted that the only reason he cared was that Castiel was his charge...

A hand on his shoulder, warm, grounding.

Dean had moved closer, was looking right into his eyes.

"I don't know what the spirit told you. I don't – I saw your memories when I touched your soul. I didn't mean to. But I did. And – you were a good son, Cas. It's not your fault your father left. Believe me..."

And he took a deep breath and for a moment, he looked as unsure and human as Castiel had ever seen him.

"I guess I have some experience with fathers who just abandon their children."

He closed his eyes for a moment and looked like he was about to pass out, and it took Castiel a moment to realize how monumental an admission it was. This was not Dean doubting his orders; this was Dean criticizing God.

"I guess we'll just manage on our own then" he said, prompting a small smile from the angel.

Thankfully, he would later reflect when he wasn't caught up in the moment, Dean wouldn't read between the lines.

The only thing worse than his crush itself would have been Dean finding out about it.

"So..." he cleared his throat. "What now?"

"Well" Dean mused, "at least they still have sixty-four seals to go. At least that's something."

Cas nodded.

Dean looked away.

"And then of course..." he hesitated. "I need to report to John."

"Do you really have to leave?" the words tumbled out of Cas' mouth before he could stop himself.

"I mean, right now?" he added, and he'd just made things much worse. He couldn't act any needier if he tried.

Unexpectedly, Dean's face softened.

"I guess they already know the seal was broken. It's not that important that I tell them."

Cas felt far more relieved than he should have, but in truth the encounter with his father had left him very shaken indeed, and he really felt more grounded with Dean around. Even if he was only the angel's charge, not his friend, not his –

"Thank you" he said quickly to escape from his own thoughts.

"You're welcome, Cas. What are friends for?"

He tried not to let his heart beat faster at the word friends. He failed.

He tried to speak, failed, cleared his throat.

"Should we go back in?"

Dean nodded.

Sam couldn't help but feel relieved when Cas not only looked better when he returned, but he brought Dean with him as well. He wasn't sure it was safe for his brother to return to Heaven. Over the course of the years, he had heard rumours about what happened to angels who stepped out of line, and he'd even begun to suspect something he wasn't ready to share with Dean yet.

Whenever he thought about the strange whisper of a... special set of angels, he always felt too uncomfortable to continue after a while, and something like memories, dim and confused, appeared in a flash before slipping out of his grasp.

He wondered if Dean had experienced such flashes too. He wondered if he would even have noticed.

Either way, now was not the time to approach the subject. Not when Dean was obviously struggling with feeling upset on behalf of Cas without understanding why.

"Cas?" he inquired politely and the hunter smiled at him.

"I'm fine."

Sam knew humans often used that phrase when they were not, but his new friend seemed content. Or at least calm enough to function. And he was now and then glancing shyly at his brother, confirming Sam's suspicions of what was happening between them.

"Sir. Dean has still not returned." John was obviously angry.

"Very well. Find him and Sam and bring them here. It is time to teach them a lesson."

John vanished.

Sam didn't realize Dean had left until he turned around to speak to him; for a second, he feared he had returned to Heaven until Adler commented, "He's pacing on my porch. Tell him not to wear a hole in it, would you?" and Sam, after trading a glance with Cas, went to join his brother.

Dean was worried and tense, alternatively looking at the sky and the house.

When he saw his brother, he bit his lip and turned away.

Eventually, slowly, almost as if he was forcing himself to, he said, "I have to report to John."

"Then why didn't you do it before?"

"I should have. But Cas asked me to stay" Dean said defensively, and at any other time Sam would have let him be, trusting that the best of his brothers would eventually come to the right conclusion. But they didn't have time.

"So it's alright if Cas asks you to stay, but if I do, you leave?"

"Sam..."

"Dean!"

Dean looked away

"Sam, it's not... You're a good angel, but – "

"But what? We have evidence that other angels wish to start the Apocalypse."

"You can't really call that evidence – demons lie" Dean argued.

"To each other when they have no reason to?"

Dean was silent. Sam could see he was struggling with his desire to obey and act like a good soldier but at the same time he was driven by his urge to find out the truth, and his trust in Sam and Cas.

He was already on their side. He just didn't know it yet.

One day, Sam hoped he could be open to Dean about this; could tell him that he'd always known, always expected him to fight right along with him when push came to shove; but for now, he waited.

Dean sighed.

"I guess a few more hours couldn't hurt. Just until we have... answers."

"Of course" Sam happily agreed.

Then, suddenly, unexpectedly, said, "I'm glad you're here." He cleared his throat. "I mean... I can't protect Cas all on my own. There are many demons out there."

Sam nodded, understanding what he was trying to convey. Dean had always loved humanity, but since rescuing Cas he was certainly more in tune with it.

"I'm glad to be here."

Dean smiled at him, and Sam was once more surprised at how well they understood each other without words. It was a miracle that no one had yet noticed how strong there bond was; if they had...

But somehow, it had passed them by that both Sam and Dean had chosen a favourite brother amongst their brethren. Not for the first time, Sam wondered if they simply didn't understand. They might think they did, but they never would. Not like they understood one another.

"Yeah, yeah" Dean said, "But Sammy, you could be anywhere you wanted to be. I never got that, really. All you had to do was just play along – "

He stopped for a moment, a strange expression crossing his face, but just as Sam thought it had been too much and he would revert to being the good angel he had been for so long, he continued. "You've always been better than me. You could be a garrison leader, if you wanted."

"I don't want to be" Sam said simply. "And for the record, you would have made just as good a leader as me."

Dean snorted. "Sure. Can't you just imagine John complimenting my many qualities?"

They laughed, heartfelt, comfortable laughter, and Sam reflected how often it had been like that, just the two of them enjoying each other's presence, long before he had ever begun to doubt Heaven's orders.

Maybe they'd simply been created differently.

"There are sixty-four more seals they have to break" Dean said. "Now, obviously they'll try to crack the easy ones first."

"Let me guess... We got hundreds of options."

"One hundred and seventy-four, according to the list."

Sam shrugged. "We've fought other battles before."

"You're right about that" Dean answered, his eyes lingering on the house.

Sam could guess what he was thinking off and said nothing.

And then, a blinding light filled his vision, light that shouldn't have blinded him at all, and he couldn't move, and he felt something clawing at him, drawing him out of his vessel –

Before he could react, everything was gone, the house, the light, and he found himself alone in a field. It was night.

Belarus, he recognized. He was in Belarus.

And at the same time, he knew what had happened. Dean had sent him away.

Neglecting to save himself in the process.

He rushed back and found Dean's vessel on the porch. It was empty.

Automatically, his Grace reached out and ensured that the body wouldn't decay. Dean would need it when they got him back. They would get him back. They had to.

Even though Sam knew who had taken him.

It could only have been angels. Only another angel could rip them out of their vessels and drag them away.

He gently took Dean's vessel in his arms and teleported them in a guest bedroom upstairs. He didn't want the humans to learn what had happened by seeing what they would assume to be Dean's corpse.

Then he returned to the living room.

Cas' face fell when he saw he was alone.

"Where's Dean?"

There was no time to prepare him gently.

"He's in Heaven. The other angels took him captive."