A few days later, the disappearances started. We'd called Sam and Dean when we had begun our journey to Idaho, and let them know we would be staying there for a while. Cas called Dean this time, telling him what was going on.

Dean showed up a few days later to investigate, and stopped by our places of work as well. "Hey, Cas and I are headed out tonight for a guy's night kind of thing." He said. I wiped my brow, took off my gloves, and walked over to him.

"You're taking him on the hunt with you, aren't you?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No. He's gonna be my wingman. I'm gonna swing by him next, see how he's doing." I laughed.

"You're just gonna spring this on the poor guy?" I asked.

"Yep. Just wanted to tell you first that way you weren't wondering." He said. I shook my head.

"You guys and your 'no girls allowed' nights." I muttered. One of the guys working on drywall shouted something to me in Spanish about getting back to work, and I shouted back that I was telling this poor fool that I wasn't a date. He laughed and went back to doing drywall. "Sorry, I've got to get back to work soon."

"Wait a sec," he said, rummaging around his jacket. He pulled out a flip phone and tossed it to me. "So you can stay in touch easier." He explained. "Kevin wishes you'd call more, so it already has all our numbers programmed in to it." He tossed me a charger, next, along with a small roll of cash. I caught it with ease, and moved to give him a short hug. "Whoa, whoa, hold on." I pulled away, and saw him with his hands up and the most manly mockery I've ever seen. "No chick flick moments."

"Nerd." I called him, shoving my new things in my spare pocket. He smiled, laughing at me. "I'll call you before we leave, don't worry." He said. I just laughed.

"Don't go hunting without me." I answered. "And don't hook Cas up with any reapers."

"I think he can do that himself." He answered, getting back in the car. I glared at him. "Don't worry, I won't let him run off with any women. He's all yours, isn't he?" He asked.

At that, I didn't answer, and Dean just smiled like he knew a secret before driving off.

I went back to work on my part of the house again, still thinking about Dean's last question.

Later that night though, after I'd gotten off work, I saw a message from Dean.

Change of plans. Helping Cas out with boss. Meet you at bar later. ID with cash.

I knew which bar he was talking about, there was only one in town. However, I had not known about the ID he had so kindly provided me. I checked the name on it real quick. Kylie Winchester.

I was going to need to thank Dean and Sam and Kevin very much for that, for putting me in as their family.

I wondered briefly if Castiel was having trouble with his boss. I'd seen her maybe once or twice, Nora, but I thought nothing of her. Nice lady. Brought a few spare waters out to the site sometimes.

Or it may not be trouble. My mind reminded me. I pushed it out of the way quickly. I'd meet with Dean, and Cas would be there with him at the bar. It was probably nothing. Maybe Dean had tried to hook up with Castiel's boss.

But as I walked to the bar, I couldn't quite quench that nagging feeling; the one that said Cas wouldn't be there with Dean. And the feeling was right, Cas wasn't there with Dean. It was just Dean, sitting at the bar, one glass of beer already down.

"Hey." I said, sliding in the barstool next to him. "Where's Cas?"

At that, he blanched slightly. "If I tell you, you can't freak out on me." He started off, looking over at me. I nodded, once, and flagged the bartender over.

"I'll have what he's having." I said, flicking my thumb at Dean. A few seconds later a beer was slid down my way, and I took a few gulps. Dean looked over at me, surprised. "What?" I asked.

"Kevin said you didn't drink."

"I don't like to drink." I corrected him. "I've seen too many people on the streets waste the money they get to stare down an empty bottle. But," I took another gulp. "It doesn't mean I can't drink."

"Fair enough." He conceded, seeing me nearing the halfway point of my own. He waved down two more, and they were served quickly.

"I promise I won't freak. What's up?" I asked, finishing my first. Dean took a deep breath before beginning.

"Cas is on a date." He said. "With Nora."

I took a few sips to process this before leaning forwards, resting my elbows on the table in front of me. "OK." I said decisively. Dean kept watching me.

"What do you mean, OK?"

"I mean, he's an adult, and he's grown up enough to understand the choices he makes now and how they impact things. I may not like it, but he's got the free will to go on a date with another woman if he wants." I took another large drink, trying to chase away the bitter taste those words left in my mouth. "That OK." I said after I finished. Dean just stared at me in... Not shock, but almost like a disappointed and slightly angry parent.

"So you're just going to give up?" He asked, as though the mere thought was absolutely insane.

"What am I giving up, here, exactly?" I asked in response, turning to him. "He said it himself, I'm his friend, his guide. If he wants to go out on a date, fine."

"I saw the way you looked at him." He said. "The way you talked about him, and wanted to see him, and the look of absolute betrayal when he talked about April."

I swear, I was going to hate that month if it kept getting brought up.

"So I know you're not 'OK' with this." He continued. "And I know that's why you ordered that beer," he pointed at said drink, now almost halfway gone itself, for emphasis. "And I know that's why you agreed to be out here with him, even when he hurt your feelings and made you feel like you'd been cheated on."

I finished my drink, thinking. "He called me a friend himself." I reminded him. "I don't know why he chose me, at first. I don't know why he decided to send me to you guys for help, or why he pulled me out from Crowley, or why Metatron brought me back even, I just don't know." I took a deep breath. "But I'm pretty certain that it doesn't matter how I feel, because he doesn't feel the same way, does he?" I watched Dean choose his words carefully.

"What makes you think that?"

"Nora." Dean finished his second beer, and ordered two more. "April. Meg."

"How do you know about Meg?"

"The look on his face when he talked about her." I answered. "It was like he lost someone he'd cared deeply about; someone he didn't think he'd ever lose."

Yeah. I'd known.

I'd figured it out.

The only way I was cool with it, that I hadn't freaked out over it, was that it hadn't been my mom.

My mom was dead. I was willing to leave it that way.

"So can we please, just... Stop talking about what's not going to happen? Because I tend to stop at three beers," I held up the one I had had yet to touch. "And if we keep up this conversation I know I'm going to keep drinking, and that's not what I want to do."

"Alright, then." He agreed after a moment. We both sat there in silence before he spoke again. "I almost forgot," he turned towards the barstool next to him, and pulled out a cardboard box I hadn't seen earlier. "We learned your birthday from your driver's license. It's in a few days, isn't it?"

"Yeah, three days." I agreed, taking the box from him. I was about to open it, when he shook his head.

"Wait till we're outside." He said. I nodded, and set it down on the bar beside me.

We talked for a little bit more after that, on how life had been. Angels doing, well, angel things. A hacker friend of theirs named Charlie came to visit, went in to the Wizard of Oz World, which was apparently a thing. Dean had made friends with a dog to kill a guy imitating a bunch of other animals, which I found very weird.

I kept him updated on our end; Castiel's life plan, his ever-growing immune system, seeing the second-largest ball of twine (to which he responded that he and Sam had gone by that almost seven years back), and just… Life, in general, I guess. There hadn't been as much going on for our end. Not a lot of hunting, not a lot of anything besides staying off angel radar for a while. I asked him about the rib engravings, and he said they hurt like a mother.

"Wow." He said after a while. "Just… Wow."

"Wow what?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, I know you're gonna hate me for this," I took a small sip of my drink. It was almost empty. "But I don't know how you don't see it."

"See what?"

"CAS." He emphasized the word with a large swig. "You know what, no. Screw this. We're headed out." Dean grabbed his keys and threw some money on the table. "For both of us." He said, pointing at me.

"Where are we going?" I asked, following the older Hunter.

"I don't know." He answered. "But I always feel better driving in baby, and this is going to keep bugging you until you believe me, so I guess I'm going to go look for some proof."

I wasn't following a word of what he said, but I still got in the shotgun seat of the car.

We weren't driving for maybe five minutes before Dean got a call, and we headed to the sheriff's office. He told me to stay in the car while he went in to see what was up.

Not long after that, he was bolting towards the car. "We've got to get to Cas. Now." He started the car, and drove like a madman.

"What's going on?" I asked. Dean filled me in as we went, (seriously? Cas didn't fill me in on the whole… Rit Zein thing?) and told me to open the box.

Inside were two angel blades.

"Happy Birthday." He muttered. I gripped them in my hands, and found that they fit nicely. "You did good knives and daggers before… You know."

"I died."

"Yeah, that. Anyways, we'd gotten a hold of a few of these, and after watching you wield one the first time…" I stared at them, remembering when I'd used one first. "Look, if they make you feel uncomfortable, feel free to say so, and we'll snag you some solid iron ones."

"I like them." I said, staring as I pulled them out. The weight was definitely familiar, but this time… Comfortable. Not terrifying.

Under them was a set of sheaths; one for around the waist, and two for on the legs. "Wow. You guys don't mess around, do you?" I asked. Dean shook his head.

"When your problems are typically going to be angels, it's smart to have an angel blade." He answered.

"Two?"

"You did good with one in each hand." He shrugged, and I could see a small smile crack before he focused on the mission once more.

Castiel was in trouble.

When we got there, Dean kicked the door down and ran in first. I watched as he was cast to the side, and I ran second.

I was tossed to the other side, by what appeared to be a young man.

But by the way he tossed me as if I was nothing, without laying a single hand on me, I could easily assume he was the angel Castiel had warned Dean about.

I saw Dean trying to get up, and slid one of my new angel blades towards him. He slid it to Cas, who in turn stabbed the angel…

I had seen one die already, a broken one without wings.

This one died differently, in a blinding flash of white light and a scream of pain.

Dean talked with Sam on the phone afterwards, and I sat in the car while Castiel talked with Nora, who had apparently expected him to be a babysitter while SHE went out on a different date. Cas had been freaking out about a baby with a fever, and I'd told him to give the poor thing a small dose of acetaminophen.

I heard Dean say the angel's out spell was irreversible.

I heard Cas call me a friend, again.

Once Cas was done talking with Nora, Dean asked him where we were going. He didn't answer, just got in the shotgun seat quietly. I sat in the back seat, still, not saying a word.

Dean let us stay at his motel room for the night, and dropped us off at our respective workplaces in the morning. He dropped me off first, telling me he was proud and to not lose the angel daggers.

Castiel and I hadn't spoken to each other that night, nor that morning. I don't think Castiel knew what to say to me, nor me to him.

"Be safe Kylie, alright?" He said. I nodded, and turned around so I could pick up my stuff and get to work once more.

Cas didn't say good bye, or have a good day at work, or any of the other normal things he would say before we parted for our jobs. He just sat in the shotgun seat again, with an expression I wasn't certain I could place.

That evening, Castiel said he couldn't sit by doing the human life while angels like Ephraim suffered and were uncertain of what to do on Earth. He said we needed to get out there and do things, not just let life pass us by.

That night I took first watch, and while Castiel was asleep took a look at the page that had held Castiel's dream for our future, at one point.

"I knew it was too good to be true." I muttered. I tore out the page that night, fighting back tears, and threw it away. I'd seen it before, after all. People making big dreams to get off the streets, and not following through. Why should I have believed this to be any different?