Sam stamped the fire out while Sera laughed.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," He said, walking back over to the blanket. Thalia was sitting up on it, leaning against Sera's crossed legs. Moments ago she had been staring really hard at the patch of grass and then burst into gurgling laughter when it caught fire.

"Yeah, I do, kind of. She's stretching her mental muscles. At least she didn't do it inside the house." She leaned down to talk right in her daughter's ear. "Because you're a smart girl, aren't you? You know better than to burn your Mommy's curtains." She kissed her child's chubby cheek.

Thalia's eyes were now exactly like her father's. They changed color constantly, though, and she had already learned how to beg with them. Sam sat back down. He'd imagined a lot of places his life would take him, most of them ended with death, but he'd never thought for a second he'd get this. He never thought he'd be happy. Granted, it was with an angel and a baby that could grow up to destroy the world but hey, no one's life was perfect.

"So I heard the phone this morning. Dean and Cas having any problems?"

"Not professional ones."

"Hm. Where are they?"

"Close enough that I think they'll be stopping by for a visit soon."

He reached out and Tally took one of his fingers in her hand. Her grip was getting stronger and tighter all of the time. "She's growing fast…"

"Yeah, faster than a normal kid. I think she's physically like, six months old."

"Which means at six months she'll be a year, and at a year she'll be two."

He leaned down to talk to her. "By the time you're seven you'll be a teenager and I'll have to start worrying about boys knocking down our door."

"Please, don't put that idea in her head sooner than it needs to be," Sera said jokingly. "She'll probably stop aging at around twenty-five, or whenever she hits complete physical maturity. By that time she'll be an expert monster hunter, won't you, Tally?"

The baby made an affirmative noise, causing Sera to chuckle. Suddenly the patch of grass burst into flames again, and Sam jumped up to go stamp it out.

Cherry watched them from the other side of the chain-link fence. She slipped her fingers through it, her head tilted to see through the gaps. There were too many wards on the place for her to get close, but she could still see.

There were moments Cherry thought that she shouldn't do this, that she shouldn't take this child from her sister, the one that had always been close with her, guided her. The one Angel in the Garrison that knew almost as much as the father about where things were heading. But then she remembered who she was. So much was left undone because of the angels that had been slaughtered. So many messes to clean up, and not only was Sera not doing anything about it, she was in the center of it all. She was helping the Winchesters and Castiel, the ones who had caused all of the trouble. No, she couldn't let this go. Vengeance was all she had left.

She saw her sister look up and towards her, but her eyes were empty of recognition. She felt her there, sure, but she could not see her, nor know for certain that she was there. She gripped the metal, crunching it. Cherry was seething, wondering how their Father could allow any of this to happen. She pulled her hand away and then turned, squeezing her eyes shut and vanishing.

Dean came back into the motel room, two to-go plates and a paper sack under his arm. He looked over at the bed as he set them down, seeing that Castiel was still in it, fast asleep. He had twisted up the covers and thrown an arm up over his head. It looked really dramatic, like an actor in a stage play who was pretending to sleep.

He stepped a little closer and noticed Cas was sweating. He leaned across the bed and put his hand to Castiel's forehead. He was burning up. Castiel's eyes opened and he grabbed Dean and flipped him, pinning him to the mattress. He blinked, realizing it was Dean, and then relaxed. Although, he didn't let him up. "Hello Dean."

"Hey Cas." He said, in a breathy and obviously frightened way. "Sleep well?"

"I dreamed. It was rather disturbing. Sleeping is strange."

"Yeah, yeah it is." He tried to look anywhere but at Cas, because he wasn't sure how he felt about him being so close right now. He was mad at him, and he wanted to stay that way for a while. Castiel's hands were pinning his shoulders down so hard he was probably going to have bruises later.

Dean reached into his pocket and took out Cas's phone, bringing it up so he could see it. "Meg dropped this off."

Cas took a hand away from Dean, taking the phone and rolling off him, sitting up and crossing his legs. He opened it to check to see if he had any messages. "So did she tell you?"

"She didn't really have to." Dean said, pushing himself up. He rubbed his shoulders. "I'm glad you're getting around but…Meg? Why her?"

"She was there," he looked over, "and you hate her."

Dean took a moment to let that sink in. "What?"

"I fornicated with her because I knew for a fact that it would make you angry."

The fact that he said that without any feeling made it worse. Dean swung his legs over the side of the bed and turned his back on Castiel, raking his hand down his face. He didn't want the angel to observe the emotions playing across his face. He got up and walked over to the food.

"Hungry?"

"I find that I am."

The angel got up and walked over to the table, taking the paper sack and opening it. He unwrapped a breakfast sandwich and bit into it.

"Fascinating," Castiel said after he swallowed.

"What?"

"How much better everything tastes with bacon."

Dean had to snort as he grabbed one for himself. He walked over to the duffle bag, eating his breakfast with one hand and pulling the laptop and power cord out with the other. He set it all up on the table like a pro, using the wifi to search for a new job. Mostly, he was just using it and the food as an excuse not to talk or look at Cas. He barely noticed when the drink he had left on the opposite side was suddenly within reach, or when the trash was gone off the table.

Cas ruffled his hair and sat down close by him, opening one of the Styrofoam plates and picking up a plastic fork. "Anything interesting?"

"Not yet." He said, rather exasperated. Dean caught himself glancing up at the Angel and then had to force his eyes back down to the laptop screen. He bit his lip in anger, trying not to acknowledge how much Castiel had actually hurt him, because he knew he had no right. Castiel had given up everything for him, more than once, and Dean was anything but faithful. If he wanted to tap some demon ass that was his prerogative. However, that didn't stop him feeling what he did.

He would have gotten over it if it was anyone else but…Meg? There was no way he was getting over that any time soon. Dean remembered something she had said.

"Meg said that you put her on a path to Redemption. What was that about?"

"I thought it was a myth, but apparently it's not." He said, fidgeting in his chair before getting another forkful of hashbrowns. "There's this thing, don't know where it started, that an angel could redeem a demon by enveloping them in their grace. I've never heard of it being done, but apparently it can happen." He laughed a little and then coughed, hard.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he said, clearing his throat a bit then continuing to eat. "She asked me to save her. I could not refuse her request."

At least Dean knew Cas didn't have feelings for her. It had been an action that was half White Knight Complex and half make him jealous. That made it a little better.

A little later, while he was scrolling through news articles, Cas leaned over him, his hand right next to Dean's on the table. If Dean turned his face it'd be right up against Cas's cheek. He still smelled weird, though. Like Meg. Like Hell. "Find anything?" That deep, soothing voice he knew so well asked against his ear. He could feel Cas's breath on his skin, and it smelled like mint and tobacco.

"Uh…yeah" He said, swallowing hard. "If it's a job, when we finish we can go see Sam and Sera. It's less than a hundred miles from Sioux Falls."

"Good. I find that I miss them."

"Yeah, I do too."

The hand of Castiel's that was not supporting him on the table drifted over to Dean's shoulder. "So should we pack up? Hit the road?"

Honestly Dean could think of about ten things he would rather do first, but no, he was still mad. He shot up out of the chair, pushing Cas away as he did so. "Yeah, yeah we should."

He closed the laptop and leaned over to pull the plug from the wall, picking it up and walking around Cas to stick it back in the duffle bag. Castiel went around the room and went to the bathroom, gathering up their things. He glanced over at Dean as he angrily shoved his clothes into the bag, and his lips lifted in a slight smile. Although he didn't like seeing his Hunter in any kind of pain, giving him a dose of his own medicine was rather gratifying on a level.