Chapter 26

Sam lowered his gun and Dean sheathed his knife with a sigh.

"What are you doing? She killed me!"

Jo was about to order the Hellhounds after Meg when Dean put a hand on her arm.

"But I think she also brought you back," Dean said to her quietly.

"Ding Ding! Someone get the boy a gold star!" Meg added with a wink.

Jo took a closer look. She definitely recognized Cas, and then she remembered Meg too. She had only trusted her briefly in Heaven because she figured Meg wouldn't be able to get into Heaven unless someone higher up allowed her to. Honestly, she would have gone with anyone who promised to take her back to Dean.

"She has become a kind of ally. Then there is whatever it is between her and Cas."

Jo saw Sam's disgusted look then looked at the angel and demon. Meg was looking at Cas with an odd look on her face, at least odd for a demon, and Cas was looking at her the same way.

"Yeah we don't get it either," Dean said.

Even knowing Meg helped bring her back and was on their side for the moment, Jo still felt like throwing the angel blade at her. Dean gently took the knife out of her hands.

"I promise you can kill her if she crosses us," he said.

"I guess the hugs and kisses portion of the greeting are over. Do you want to know how to get out that tablet or not?" Meg asked.

Dean sighed again in frustration.

"Please, Meg do you know how to get the tablet out without destroying the place?" he asked.

"No," she replied with a smile.

"I do, however," said Cas.

He stepped towards Dean but was blocked by a growling, snarling Scorch. Jo and Sam tried not to smile as Dean instructed Scorch that Cas was a friend and to memorize his smell. Jo heard him add it is OK to kill Meg if she ever harms or intends to harm Jo. Her eyes widened a little because she had been looking at Dean when he had said that part; his mouth had not moved. She knew she had heard what he was thinking at Scorch, she also knew that he had wanted her to know he was giving that command even if he didn't know she had heard.

She thought about the things Dean had heard her think and thought she figured out the key. They had to really want the other person to know something for them to hear it. For it to work it had to be something they wanted to say out loud or wished they could say out loud to each other. She came back to the here and now to see Cas climb the ladder. Cas put his hand on the keystone and it began to glow blue. He muttered something in a language she didn't know. The light went away, leaving the tablet in his hand. He climbed down the ladder and handed the tablet to Dean. Dean wrapped the tablet carefully then put it in the padded laptop case before he handed the case to Jo. Dean and Sam carried the ladder back to the groundskeeper's shed they had borrowed it from, Scorch close on his heels. The remaining Hellhounds closed ranks around Jo, Ember and Coal on each side of her, keeping a close eye on Meg and Cas. Most of them were very confused by that alliance and didn't trust it. When Dean and Sam returned, Jo dismissed all but Ember, Coal and Flame.

"So Cas, why didn't you tell me you were bringing Jo back? And why didn't you do it sooner?" Dean asked.