CHAPTER 5

"Cas?" Dean said, his voice way quieter when he planned on, which would have made him feel like an idiot if he wasn't so damn relieved.

Instantly, Sam grabbed Dean's arm. "Is he okay?" Sam demanded.

Dean shook himself free, then glanced around. They were still in the hospital, meaning that the area was far from private, but there didn't look like there was anyone else around who could overhear, so Dean switched the phone over to speaker, then held it up so that he and Sam could both hear. "Cas, what happened? Where are you?"

"I am in a public library," Cas said, and Dean could hear in his voice that he was frowning, though he sounded more confused than anything else. "It seemed like a good a place to go as any, as the last library that I had visited had been extremely helpful. I snuck out of the hospital where I had been admitted, just as you taught me. Though, I have to say, it was far more difficult as a patient than it had been as a witness."

Dean could definitely hear a note of pride in Cas' voice, just a small one, and despite everything, it was enough to make him smile slightly. "Well, good for you, buddy," he said, then quickly added, "Where exactly is this library?"

This time, when Cas spoke, it was obvious that he was frowning. "It is fairly close to the hospital. I'm sorry, I do not know the city, or the library's name. Although, I could ask the librarian. She has been very kind so far, allowing me to use her phone to call you."

"It's okay," Dean said, since they already knew the town, and honestly, a name probably wouldn't help them much with finding the place. "just hang tight, we'll find you." Then he paused for a moment, and then added, "Just, what happened to you, man?"

"I am not entirely sure," Cas admitted, the words coming slow, like he was still trying to work it out even as he spoke. "I woke in a strange hospital room, and I am not entirely sure how I got there. They said that you and Sam had been to see me." Instantly, his voice turned urgent. "They were correct, weren't they? Sam is here, too? You are both alright?"

"I'm here, Cas," Sam said quickly.

Cas let out a long breath. "I am very relieved to hear that," he said.

"Are you alright?" Dean demanded. "You don't sound like you're doing so good." Cas was up and talking, at least, so that had to mean that he was doing better than he had been this morning. But still, the guy sounded completely exhausted. Dean hadn't even got to see him, but he could already tell that Cas must just barely be keeping on his feet, like he was going to collapse any moment.

"I am alright," Cas said firmly, then added, "Or, I am better than I could have expected. I am... not quite sure what's wrong with me, and if I'm being honest, that it fairly frightening." Cas sounded like it, too. Like he was way more freaked than he was letting on. "I will be okay, though. As I said, I am just glad that the hellhounds didn't harm you or Sam."

"We'll be there in fifteen minutes, okay?" Dean promised. He would've said five, but they didn't actually know what direction the library was in, so Dean figured he'd better give them a little extra time, so that Cas didn't panic if it took them longer than expected. But really, Cas couldn't have gotten far, not sounding the way that he did. It couldn't be that hard to track down where he was.

"Thank you, Dean, but no," Cas said immediately, making Dean frown. "There is something else that I need you to do first. Do you know where my belongings might be? I believe that they were taken from me when I was admitted to the hospital, and I have a weapon-"

"You talking about the silvery blade thing?" Dean asked, glancing around the hall again to make sure that nobody was around. There was a doctor walking past, and Dean went silent until she was far enough away, then added, "We got that already. Sam and I broke into the police station earlier."

"Wonderful," Cas said, honest relief in his voice. "Bring it with you, please. It will be our only means of defending ourselves if we are attacked again."

Dean frowned. "What exactly is this blade? Where'd you get it from?"

"It is not important at the moment," Cas said absently. "Just, please, come and find me as soon as you can."

"Okay, okay, we're on our way," Dean said, and started walking again, twice as fast as he had before, ignoring the pain as his leg started protesting against the speed.

"Cas," Sam suddenly said. "There are two people who have been here to see you-"

Dean turned and glared at him. Cas was already on the run, and it sounded like something was seriously wrong. Did Sam really have to bring up the wife and kid now? Sam just shrugged, though he didn't say anything more.

For a long minute, Cas didn't say anything. Dean and Sam reached the parking structure and shoved the doors open, practically racing over to the Impala. Then, just as Dean was slipping into the passenger seat, Cas spoke. "You mean Amelia and Claire Novak. I know of them. And no, they were not there to see me."

Dean had meant to stick with his plan of not making Cas talk about the wife and kid, not until they were back somewhere safe and he'd had a chance to rest up. Now, though, he couldn't help but say, "What? What do you mean?"

There was another long pause as Cas considered his answer. "It will be difficult to explain over the phone," he finally said. "And the librarian has already begun to give me strange glances. I believe that she finds my conversation suspicious. I would prefer not to say anything more until we are in a private location."

"Yeah, I bet she would," Dean said. Especially if Cas was still in his hospital gown or something. He could only imagine the kind of attention he was drawing. "But it's okay. Like I said, hang tight. We're on our way, just wait for us."

"I will," Cas said. "I believe that I must return the phone to the librarian now, but I will wait for you outside of the library."

"Sounds good," Dean said, and swallowed, trying to think of any last words to say before they hung up. Not that he really needed to say something special, considering that it was five minutes until they were going to get to see each other again. But still. He felt like he should, somehow.

Cas beat him to it, though.

"One last thing," he said. "Do not tell anyone about my location, and if anything approaches you while you are looking for me, take my blade and stab it through the chest."

Then he hung up.

Huh. Well, you couldn't say that the guy didn't know how to make an exit.

"I think I noticed a library while we were driving here from the motel," Sam said. "It should only take two minutes to get there."

"Awesome," Dean said, stuffing his phone back into his jacket, then taking a moment to run his fingertips over the handle of the blade he had hidden there. "Let's see if we can cut it down to one."


It took three minutes to get there, by Dean's count. Not that that was that long, but he was still going crazy by the end of it.

Cas was sitting on the front steps of the library, just as he had promised that he would be. He was wearing a pair of green hospital scrubs that he must have stolen from somewhere, but he still stood out, especially with his bare feet and wild hair.

But he was there, and awake, and alive. And honest, Dean hadn't realized it until right then, but even when he'd been talking to Cas on the phone, part of him had felt like this wasn't going to last, like Cas would vanish again before they actually found him. But there he was.

The street was jam packed with cars – way too many of them for such a tiny town. Sam didn't even bother to go looking for a parking space that was actually close to the library, just pulled off and parked on the side of the road about thirty feet away, right next to the sign that announced that parking was prohibited from here to the nearest road. The instant that the car stopped, Dean was jumping out, already rushing over toward Cas. That was the exact moment that Cas stopped glancing over his shoulder long enough to notice them, and was instantly on his feet. "Dean."

"Cas," Dean said, and couldn't stop himself from grabbing him and crushing him against his chest, holding him as tight as he could, Cas' hands rising up to squeeze Dean back just as hard. And maybe it was girly or cheesy or whatever, but for a second, Dean just rested his head against Cas' shoulder, and holy crap, it almost felt like everything was alright again.

He was torn between wanting to keep holding Cas like crazy, and wanting to step back so that he could get a better look at Cas' face. It only took a moment for the second instinct to win out, and he moved away, keeping his hands tight on Cas' shoulders as he looked him up and down. "No offense, but you look like shit. Except, you know, that's actually pretty good for a guy who was in a coma an hour ago."

Cas' lips twitched into a hint of a smile, though that quickly fell away, replaced by a worried expression as he studied Dean the same way. "You don't look well, either," he said, then his frown deepened as he added, "And your leg is wounded."

"It'll heal," Dean said with a shrug, then quickly added, "But what about you? What are-"

He cut himself off, because suddenly Cas grabbed Dean's hand and shoved back the sleeve of his jacket, and pulled out a pen from somewhere. Dean didn't know where he'd gotten it from, or where he'd been carrying it, but he immediately started drawing some weird symbol along the back of Dean's arm, using his other hand to hold him still and keep him from pulling away. "Cas, what the hell?" Dean demanded.

Cas didn't answer, just released his arm, then reached forward to grab Sam's hand and do the same thing to him. "Hello, Sam," he said, not looking up from the symbols he was drawing. "I am very glad that you have not been kidnapped by Azazel, and that you appear to be well."

"Thanks, Cas," Sam said slowly, frowning down at the symbols the same way that Dean was. "But what exactly are these for?"

"Protection," Cas said, and didn't add anything more. Instead, he glanced around, then grabbed both Sam and Dean by the wrists and began pulling them down the sidewalk toward the Impala. "Come, it isn't safe here. We should move to a more-secure location."

"Why?" Dean asked, hurrying up so that he was walking next to Cas instead of getting dragged along behind him. "I mean, I get that yeah, safety is a good idea. But why do we need to go there so fast? What's after you?"

Cas hesitated, looking like he didn't know how to answer, then said, "I believe that I may have seen Hester standing inside the library earlier. I do not believe that she saw me, but even so, I wish to be certain."

"Woah, woah, who's Hester?" Dean demanded. He was pretty certain that he'd heard that name before - and after a second, he remembered why. Cas had used that name when he was talking to that witch Jackson, trying to make up some story to keep him talking. And when Dean had asked about it later, he'd insisted that he knew nobody by that name, but he'd been denying it such an obvious way that Dean had known that there had to be more to the story. "And why is this girl after you?"

Again, Cas didn't seem to know how to answer. "She is someone who would be sent to retrieve me," he said. "Possibly. I am not certain, but I don't want to take that risk." And he looked like he was about to say more, but suddenly his hands tightened around Dean's wrist, nails digging into his skin, and suddenly he pulled both him and Sam to the side, leading them down a different road, off to the side.

"Wait, Cas, what are you doing?" Sam asked.

"She was there," Cas said, his voice stiff. He wasn't slowing down, either, even though going this speed had to be hard on the guy, considering how tired he looked already, his face pale and dark circles under his eyes. "I saw Hester standing beside the car. She did not appear to notice us, but it is not safe to return there. We must find another way."

"Okay," Dean said, and he pulled his arm free from Cas' grip. Instead of moving away, though, he stepped even closer to Cas, and reached forward so that he was the one holding Cas by the arm. "Listen, whatever's going on, we're gonna figure it out. She's not going to catch you, or anything like that. Just tell us what the fuck is going on."

They turned a corner onto another street, and for a second, Dean thought that Cas was actually going to give him a straight answer. Instead, Cas just glanced between him and Sam. "You did not tell anyone about my location, did you?" he asked. "It is very important that nobody knows. Not even any of the doctors at the hospital, or Amelia. You did not tell her, did you?"

"No, we didn't tell anyone," Dean said, and he thought that he saw Cas' shoulders relax, just the slightest bit. It didn't last long, though, before he was back to being just as stiff and worried as he had been before. "Why?" Dean demanded.

"I want to minimalize the chance of you having been overheard," Cas said, then added, his voice grim, "And I don't want them to have any reason to harm any innocent people in their attempts to find me. Something that they may be willing to do if they thought that there was any chance of receiving information in return." He frowned then, and added, "I suppose that they could have learned through other means. Or, it is entirely possible that Hester followed you here from the hospital – although, in that case, then she would have been able to find me already, and would not still be looking." He tilted his head, and for a moment, he was obviously thinking hard. Then he shook his head. "It doesn't particularly matter. The important thing is that she's here, and we have to find a way to get away."

"Cas, you're not making any sense," Sam said. "Seriously, just tell us who this Hester is."

Cas' frown deepened. "I'm sorry," he said, leading them on another turn around a corner. "This is all very difficult to explain, particularly when I know that you aren't going to believe me. I'm trying to decide the best way to- There." He suddenly broke off midsentence to gesture down the road. "She is Hester."

There were a ton of people on the road, enough that Dean couldn't tell who he was talking about. But there was one blonde woman in a gray suit standing maybe twenty feet away, and Dean swore that he had seen her just a minute earlier, standing near the Impala. God only knew how she had gotten here so fast, but Dean was pretty sure that she had to be the one that Cas was talking about.

Okay, whatever was going on, Dean decided that he was just going to go with it for now. If Cas said that they needed to get away from this lady, then that was what they were going to do.

The three of them didn't need to discuss it, just turned at the same time and headed down the next side street. They made it a couple feet before Sam said, "There," and pointed down a gap between two of the buildings. Dean nodded and led the way, limping forward as fast as they could. With any luck, they could cut across to a different street, and throw that woman – whoever she was – off their tracks.

Dean waited until they were halfway down the alleyway before he asked, "Okay, so we're running from some weird woman that we don't know anything else, for reasons that you haven't explained to us yet. Fine. But just tell me, how do you know all of this?"

That question, Cas answered immediately. "My memories have returned to me," he said. "I know much that I didn't remember before."

Dean stopped walking, and for a second, he just stood there, turned around so that he could stare at Cas. It was only when Cas nudged him forward that he started walking again. "You got your memories back?"

"Yes," Cas said. "That is what I just said."

Dean swallowed. "So then, you remember about being Jimmy Novak," he said. Except that that didn't make sense, since hadn't Amelia said that Cas had told her that he wasn't her husband? If Cas remembered everything now, then that was probably the last reaction that Dean would've expected from him.

Cas, though, immediately said, "No, I am not Jimmy Novak."

"What?" Sam demanded.

"He is... a vessel," Cas said slowly.

Dean stopped walking again, turning back around to face Cas. "A what?" he demanded.

Instead of answering, Cas reached forward to try to urge Dean forward. "It is vital that we try to escape before Hester finds us," he insisted, then frowned and amended, "Well, it is unlikely that we will be successful, even if we continue at all times. Even so, we must at least try."

Dean just shook his head and didn't move at all, except to plant himself firmly in the center of the narrow alleyway, to make sure that Cas couldn't move past him. "I'm not going anywhere 'til you explain what you meant by that," he said firmly, then couldn't help but shake his head again. "Seriously? A vessel, or whatever? What the hell?"

Cas looked like he was about to argue, then he frowned, suddenly appearing resigned to answering these questions. "No, I am not from Hell. Quite the opposite, actually," he finally said, glancing back at Sam for a moment to gauge his reaction before returning his eyes to Dean's face as he said, "I am an angel of the Lord."

Nobody spoke.

"And angel?" Dean repeated. "Seriously?"

Cas nodded once. "Of course. I would not joke about this," he said, then amended, "Or, I was an angel until recently. Then I briefly became human, and returned to being an angel for an even briefer period of time. And I am- I'm not quite sure what I am at the moment, but now does now seem to be time to worry about that."

Cas paused after that, watching Dean expectantly. Whether he expected Dean to say something or if he was waiting for him to start walking again, Dean had no idea, but either way, he was pretty sure that he wasn't about to do it. Instead, he looked past Cas, toward where Sam stood, making up the end of their line. Sam was staring back at Dean, and was wearing the exact same worried look that Dean was positive was etched onto his own face.

Finally, Cas took a step closer to Dean and said, "I know that you don't believe in angels-"

"No," Dean said immediately, shaking his head. "No, that's not even the problem here. Because you're right, I don't believe in them. But even if they were real- Seriously, man, you can't think that you're one of them. What, you just magically got your harp and your wings?"

"No, I don't believe that I have ever touched a harp," Cas said, looking momentarily confused. Then his face dropped and he reached behind him, looking almost as though he were touching something, even though there was nothing there. "And my wings useless," he said, letting his hand drop back to his side. "It appears as though all my powers are gone."

Right. That made sense, in the twisted way in which absolutely none of this actually made any sense at all. Because there was no way that Cas was actually an angel – no chance that he was any sort of supernatural thing. Dean had been living with him for months, he couldn't have hidden something like that. And, what, Dean was supposed to believe that Cas had just forgotten about something this big, and now he somehow managed to remember it all?

No. There was no way that Dean was going to believe it.

But the thing was, he could see that Cas believed it. It was so obvious in the way that he spoke that he wasn't messing around here. He honestly thought that everything that he said was the truth.

Cas was crazy. Either that, or the demons had done something to him – messed with his head until he believed things that weren't true, scrambled his brains somehow until he didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

Dean swallowed hard, and decided that he wasn't going to think about that anymore.

"Okay," he said slowly, and turned to continue down the alley again. This time, though, he reached back to grab Cas' hand, and kept a tight hold on it. For some reason, he felt like he had to make sure that Cas was still there. "Okay, let's just circle around to the Impala, and then we can head back to the motel."

"We should go to a different motel, just to be certain," Cas said. "The sigils that I drew on our hands will prevent the angels from finding us, but it is still best to avoid any places that the angels might suspect you to go to." A pause, then he said, "Actually, the safest thing to do would be to head to the next town over, to make it even harder for the angels to track us down."

Dean just nodded. "That's what we'll do, then," he said. Because he had no frickin' idea what was going on, but the last thing he needed was for Cas to start freaking out in the middle of the street. So okay, he'd humor Cas right now, then get him back to somewhere where he felt safe. Then it would be time to figure out what the hell was going on.

He definitely was not looking forward to that conversation. For now, though, he just tried to push it away. Focus on getting back to the Impala, that was the important thing.

"I know that you don't believe me," Cas said.

"Of course I do," Dean said, but Cas was already cutting him off.

"No, you don't," he said. "I didn't expect you to, to be honest. I already knew that I would have to convince you."

Dean didn't know what to say to that, since Cas was right. There was absolutely no way that Dean believed him, but now didn't seem like the best time to keep pointing that out. So he opted for just not responding, though he did tighten his hand around Cas'.

They slipped out of the alleyway and out onto the street. Dean couldn't help but instinctively glance around, looking for this Hester lady. Although, if Cas was going on about angels and shit, then who knew if this woman was even a threat. Hell, who knew if she was even real? Cas could be getting paranoid, making up threats where there weren't any.

Still, though, if this Hester was around here somewhere, then Dean figured it would still be better to make sure that she and Cas didn't meet up. Just to be sure.

"You know, if we follow that road around, then we should be able to get back to the Impala quick," Sam said, gesturing down the road. Dean nodded, and looked back at Cas to see what he thought. Though, honestly, if Cas did disagree with the plan, then Dean wasn't sure what he was going to do. Because the best thing for Cas would definitely be to get him back somewhere safe – not to mention that Dean really fucking didn't want to spend the afternoon running around downtown, especially if there wasn't actually anything to hide from. He wanted to just get back to the motel and figure out what the they should do next.

Luckily, Cas thought for another moment, then nodded. "That sounds like a good plan," he said. "So long as Hester is no longer watching the Impala, then we should be able to sneak away now. That would be the best thing."

Dean nodded, then frowned, touching Cas' arm with his free hand. "Hey, you okay?" he asked, voice low.

Cas definitely didn't look like he was. His face was even paler than it had been a minute ago, and his whole body seemed to sag, like he would only make it a few more steps before he dropped. But he squared his shoulders and nodded firmly. "I'll be fine," he promised, then amended, "Or, I'll be able to continue moving until we are able to find a safe place to rest. I suppose that that's close enough."

And, well, yeah, in their lives, that was pretty much the best that you could expect. Didn't exactly make Dean feel any better, though, and he switched to wrapping his arm around Cas' waist, doing what he could to help hold him up. Not that Cas seemed to need it – for all that he looked like he was just seconds from passing out, the guy was surprisingly steady on his feet – but it made Dean feel better, at least.

They had been walking for maybe another thirty seconds when Dean saw her again. That woman, Hester. She was standing in front of them, maybe thirty feet away, mostly lost in the crowd, but he swore he caught a glimpse of her. She had her back to them, but it was definitely the same woman. Then a large guy moved between her and Dean, or else Dean might have blinked – either way, it was like she just vanished during the split second that Dean's eyes were off of her.

Dean stiffened. "There," he said, nodding his head up the road.

"You saw her?" Cas demanded.

"Yeah. She's gone now, though," Dean said, and looked over at Sammy, making sure to meet his brother's eyes. "She just vanished. Poof."

Sam grimaced. It was obvious that they were both thinking the same thing – demons. They were pretty much the only supernatural thing that could just disappear like that, except for ghosts. And demons definitely seemed like the better guess, considering that everything in their lives lately was always because of those bastards.

"We have our hex bags," Sam said in a low voice, and Dean nodded.

"Those won't work on an angel," Cas said, "but the sigils that I've drawn on your arms should prevent her from being able to sense our presence. As long as she doesn't see us."

Cas abruptly turned off to the side, pushing his way into the nearest store, leaving Sam and Dean to hurry after him. The store turned out to be one of those incredibly girly shops, with sparkly, pink decorations everywhere and some sort of perfume hanging in the air, strong enough that it nearly made Dean start hacking up his lungs. Even Sam looked disgusted, though Cas didn't even seem bothered, and immediately made a beeline for the back of the store.

"What exactly are you doing?" Sam asked.

Cas didn't answer. They were near the dressing rooms now, and Cas stepped forward and pushed on the nearest door. It didn't open, so he moved to the next one, and this one was unlocked. "In here," he said, gesturing in front of him.

Dean scowled and shook his head. "Are you crazy?" he hissed, taking a step closer to Cas. "We can't go into the dressing rooms of some girl's clothing stores. We're going to look like complete perverts."

"Somehow, I think that escaping from Hester's notice is more important," Cas said, and he had this stubborn look on his face, like he wasn't going to budge no matter what they did. Dean glanced around the store – luckily it wasn't crowded, and it didn't look like people had really noticed them yet. Still, though, if they kept standing here for longer, then they were definitely going to attract attention, and he didn't even want to know what people would start thinking if they saw three men arguing next to a display of little kids' back-to-school fashion.

"Fine," he snapped, keeping his voice low so that nobody would be able to overhear. At least they'd be able to close the goddamn door so that nobody would know that they were in there.

"Cas?" Sam asked, once they were all inside. Lucky the rooms were decent sized, so there was barely enough room for all of them to fit inside. "What exactly are we doing in here?"

"Hiding from Hester, as I said," Cas said, turning to glance between Dean and Sam. "Angels have the ability to search for faster and more effectively than any other being, but as I said before, the sigils will prevent her from sensing our presence. She will still be able to search for us, but so long as we stay somewhere where she does not think to search, then I hope that we will avoid notice."

He was leaning back against the wall now, his body limp enough that Dean was honestly surprised he hadn't fallen over. Dean frowned, and reached over to help hold him up again. There was a chair in the corner of the room, and Dean helped guide him toward it. "Might as well rest while you can," he said, grabbing the purple shirt that had been left on the chair and throwing it to the floor, where it joined about a half dozen other random pieces of clothes. Apparently nobody had bothered to pick up in here in a while.

"Thank you," Cas said, and his voice sounded slightly steadier. He slumped back in the chair, one hand propping up his head, but continued, "Out of all the angels in my garrison, Hester has spent the most time on Earth. She knows the customs. Dean's reaction confirmed my theory that this would be a place where she would not expect to find us, so I thought that it would be an ideal place to strategize."

"...Okay," Dean said slowly, not sure how to respond to that.

Cas added, "Of course, once she has searched all of the areas where we are likely to be, she will move onto searching the places where she would not expect to find us. We cannot stay here for long. Still, though, I imagine that we have at least a few minutes of safety."

"Strategizing, huh," Dean said, and shook his head. "We head back for the Impala. If anything tries to attack us, we kill it. That's my strategy."

Cas frowned. "That doesn't seem like a well-developed plan," he said.

"Simple, though," Dean said.

"Cas," Sam suddenly broke in. "What can you tell us about Hester?" Dean threw Sam a look, trying to silently ask why he was bothering with that question. Right then, there was no way they could trust whatever Cas said – or, at least, they didn't have a clue what they could trust and what they couldn't. And Dean didn't want to think about that, didn't want to acknowledge that there was something messed up in Cas' head, making him believe in crazy things, but they didn't have a choice. If there really was some demon out there looking for them, then they couldn't afford to get caught up in make-believe. They had to find a way to stop it.

Sam just shrugged, then turned toward Cas, waiting for an answer.

"She's a good soldier," Cas said slowly. "As I said, she was a member of my garrison – my second-in-command, actually. I knew her well."

"And now she's out there trying to kill you?" Dean demanded. "Seriously?" Not that he was buying into anything that Cas had to say, but still, the story didn't make sense.

"All angels follow the commands from those above us," Cas explained. "If she was ordered to come here by one of the archangels, then she would not have a choice." He stopped them, tilting his head to the side, squinting his eyes as he thought. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, more thoughtful. "I do not actually know if she came here to kill me. She might-" Then he broke off, and shook his head. "Either way, I don't want to find out. But there is hope that she may not be here with malicious purpose. She was the last being that I saw before I became human." He spoke that last part like it was supposed to somehow make sense to them, like it explained why she might not be one of the bad guys.

"So, you saw her right before you took this Jimmy guy's body?" Dean asked, and couldn't keep the skepticism out of his voice. He tried, he honestly did. He just couldn't help it – Cas' story was fucking ridiculous. Not to mention that it was scary enough that Dean was pretty sure that he had to choose between acting obnoxious about the whole thing or breaking down, and he definitely knew which option he preferred.

Cas stiffened, suddenly enough that it made Dean take a step closer to him, concerned. "I did not take Jimmy's body," Cas said, snapping the words from between gritted teeth. "I was placed in this body after I fell from grace. It was not my decision, and don't you dare to imply otherwise."

"Whoa, whoa, okay, buddy," Dean said quickly, raising his hands in fake surrender. "Right, you didn't mean for any of this to happen. Fine. No need to get so pissed."

"I am not pissed," Cas said through clenched teeth, his hands balling into fists. "I just do not appreciate the implication that I would choose to do something like this." Then he took a deep breath, and – before Dean even got the chance to ask what this was – he said, "We must decide how we plan on getting back to the Impala."

"I still say we stick to the direct approach," Dean said. "Head back to the Impala the fastest way, and stab the bitch if she tries to get in the way."

Cas was already shaking his head. "You underestimate the angels," he said. "They are far stronger than you know. You would not be able to defeat Hester."

"Come on," Dean urged, and reached into his leather jacket to touch the handle of the Cas' blade. "We can take her." A knife like this wouldn't work on a demon – not unless there was something special about it – but at the very least, it could be good for holding her at bay while one of them spouted off an exorcism. And if she was any other type of thing – as unlikely as it seemed – then the blade should be able to do some damage.

"Dean, I know that you and Sam are experienced hunters, but you have never faced an angel," Cas said, voice low and intense, lifting his head to stare Dean in the eyes. "Angels are-"

"Jesus, Cas, this isn't the time for this," Dean snapped. "There's no such thing as angels, okay?"

The moment that the words were out of his mouth, he was fucking certain that he shouldn't have said it. At least, he shouldn't have said it right now, and not like that. Should've tried to act more gentle about it, should've waited 'til they were back at the motel, should have done anything but snapped it at him while they were both stressed enough already. Except that his leg was killing him, and Cas still looked like he was in god-awful shape, and they were being hunted by something that he didn't even know. Add that to the lack of sleep and the leftover panic from Cas being in a frickin' coma, and Dean didn't exactly feel eager to hold his tongue.

Still. Didn't mean he should've said it. The fact that he knew that only made him feel worse.

Cas' eyes narrowed slightly, and he straightened in his seat, leaning forward slightly to look up at Dean easier. "And we don't have time for your disbelief," he said, then tilted his head, his eyes looking distant, the way they always did when he was getting some idea. And despite everything, Dean just crossed his arms and didn't say a word, waiting to hear what Cas was going to say.

"Sam spoke to you while you were in the hospital two months ago," Cas suddenly said.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "You could hear us talking about that while you were unconscious?"

Cas shook his head. "I heard nothing during that time," he said, then immediately continued, "He began looking through your father's journal, and promised that he would not give up on finding a way to save you."

Sam immediately cut his eyes over to Dean, and judging by the look on his face, Dean was pretty certain that Cas had gotten that right.

"Lucky guess," Dean said. It didn't mean anything.

Cas' eyes narrowed further. "Big scare today, huh?" he suddenly asked, but there was something off about his voice, making it sound monotone, almost like he was reciting something from memory. "Don't worry, though. I could've told them that you'd be too stubborn to die for real. They probably didn't even have to use the machines, right? You just gave death the old 'fuck you' and restarted your own heart."

"Cas, what the hell?" Dean asked, because none of those words were making any sense, and honestly, hearing Cas speak in such a flat voice was creeping him out, big time.

Cas ignored him, just continued speaking without pause. "Let's not let that happen again, though. I'm not giving up. I'm-"

"How do you know that?" Sam demanded, and Cas' voice cut off, his head turning to look at Sam instead.

"I was there," he said. "I heard you speak those words to Dean."

"No way," Sam said immediately. "No way. How is that possible?"

"I already told you, I am an angel. Or, I was, in any case." Cas turned back to Dean, and asked, "Will this be sufficient proof, or do you require more?"

Dean opened his mouth, then closed it, not knowing what the hell he was thinking.

Cas thinking that he was an angel was one thing. But saying all that stuff, and having Sam react like that- Apparently that must've been what Sam had actually said while Dean was in that coma, because there's no way Sam would be acting like that if his reaction wasn't genuine. Sam could be a bitch sometime, but there was no way that he would do something like that. Meaning that however Cas had gotten this knowledge, it had to be real.

Which didn't necessarily mean angels. But it did mean… something. And shit, Dean didn't couldn't even begin to figure out what that something might be.

"We can discuss this later," Cas said, his voice softer now. He slumped back in his seat again, and admitted, "I will not give up, of course, but I do not think that I will be able to continue onward for much longer. We should get back to the Impala as soon as possible. Do either of you have any ideas?"

Sam and Dean exchanged another glance. "Dean might be right," Sam said after a minute. "We don't know the town well enough to know how to sneak around. But if we circle around, we should be able to end up back by the library again." He shrugged. "I say we just make a run for it – or, well, we can at least try to go as fast as we can." Yeah, because with Dean and Cas in the shape they were in, odds were that not a lot of running was going to be happening. "And if we do get found by Hester… Well, then, I guess that we at least have to try to fight."

Dean nodded, and drew the blade from his jacket. "Here," he said, holding it out to Sam. "You can handle the stabbing."

"You sure?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows at Dean as he took the blade.

Dean nodded, though he grimaced as he did. "I get the feeling that you're gonna be the one who's fastest on his feet right now," he said, scowling down at his injured leg. "You'd better be the one in charge of fighting the bitch. You be the bodyguard, and I'll help Cas."

"Sounds like a plan, then," Sam said carefully tucking his hand beneath his jacket to hide the blade. "Want me to lead the way? Or should I take the rear and watch your backs?"

Dean opened his mouth to answer, but Cas beat him to it. "Follow behind us, please," he said. "I get the feeling that Dean and I will be significantly slower than you are, and I don't want to risk us being left behind."

"What he said," Dean added, and reached out his arm to help Cas to his feet.

Cas frowned. "I do not need as much help as you seem to think," he said. "I am fully capable of moving on my own." But even so, he accepted the hand that Dean held out to him, and wrapped his arm around Dean's shoulders without complaining.

"Yeah, sure you are," Dean said, then nodded to Sam. "Okay," he said. "Let's go. And let's hope that nobody sees us sneaking out of the frickin' dressing room or else we're gonna look shady as fuck."

Surprisingly, they actually did manage to sneak out of the store without drawing too much attention. Dean just hoped that their luck would hold out long enough for them to get back to his baby in one piece.

They didn't have any hope of blending in once they actually reached the street, though. Seriously, they couldn't take two steps without someone sending an odd look their way. Not that Dean didn't understand why, with the way that Cas looked – hospital scrubs, bare feet, leaning on Dean for support as they limped forward way faster than what was probably smart for either of them? Yeah, not exactly something you saw every day. Sam wasn't exactly helping much, either, with the way that he kept his hand tucked into his inside jacket pocket, obviously holding onto the handle of the blade and ready to draw it in an instant. It wasn't exactly subtle.

Oh, well. They just needed to make it a little farther, and then they'd be able to hit the road, and it wouldn't matter what any of these random civilians thought.

Sam hurried forward a few steps, leaning closer so that he could speak to Dean and Cas in a low voice. "If we cut through that parking lot, I think we can make it back to the library quicker," he said, gesturing around to the back of the strip mall they were passing. "We might have to cut through a couple other buildings, but it should get us there."

Dean nodded, and he and Cas immediately turned and veered off to the left. Because ducking around behind a building, toward the empty parking lot where the employees left their cars and it looked like absolutely no one else ever went? Definitely not suspicious.

It was also exactly the kind of place where you'd expect someone to go when they were trying to hide. Dean figured they'd just have to hope that Hester didn't choose this moment to play detective in this particular spot.

Assuming that Hester was some sort of angel, or super-powerful being, or something. Trying to decide what he actually believed was just making his head turn in circles, so he pushed those thoughts aside.

"What do you think are the odds we actually make it back to the Impala before she finds us?" Dean asked, lowering his head to whisper directly into Cas' ear.

"Slim to virtually nonexistent," Cas said at once, without even stopping to think about it. Like he'd had the answer all worked out already.

Well. That was encouraging.

"We have to try, though," Cas added after a moment, and Dean didn't say anything in argument, though he did speed up their pace just a little bit more.

At first, it almost seemed like Cas was going to be wrong. They made it all the way to the back of the building, and Dean glanced over his shoulders, scanning the entire area behind him. There was no sign that they were being followed by Hester – or anything else, for that matter. They just had to make it through this parking lot, and then it should be a straight shot down the street to where the Impala was waiting. Simple. Dean was pretty sure they were actually going to make it.

Then he turned back around, and Hester was right there. She hadn't been there literally two seconds ago, but apparently that didn't matter, because she had just suddenly appeared in front of them without any warning.

Dean had a sudden thought that maybe it wasn't so much that they'd been able to escape Hester before this. Maybe it was more like she was waiting until there weren't any witnesses.

Dean reacted instantly, moving forward to try to put himself between Hester and Cas as much as possible. Not that Cas was making it easy, the way that was also trying to do the exact same thing. Dean was the one who won that round, though. If being able to make himself the one standing closest to an angry possibly-and-angel was considered winning.

Dean was the one standing closest to her, and Sam had already drawn the blade and had it ready in his hand, like he was just waiting for the perfect moment to attack her with it. But Hester didn't pay attention to either of them – didn't even spare them a glance, just kept her eyes locked on Cas, a scowl twisting her face. "Castiel," she said, voice low.

"Hester," Cas said, copying the same tone of voice, and suddenly making himself sound about ten times more intimidating than Dean had ever heard him. Seriously, if Dean hadn't been so used to Cas – and if Cas hadn't been on his side – then Dean was pretty sure that that voice would at least make him flinch, even though he definitely would have denied it later.

"You," she said, and Dean could practically see the fury growing on her face as she took a step forward. He instinctively reached into his jacket, hand closing around the gun that he kept there. Forget what Cas had said about the blade being the only thing that could harm her. Dean wasn't going to stand there and watch while Hester had that expression on her face. And from the way that Sam shifted his weight beside them, Dean was pretty damn sure that he felt the exact same way.

"What have you done?" she demanded, her voice rising, growing louder as she took another step towards them. She was now maybe six or seven feet away, more or less, and Dean swore, if she moved any closer, then Dean was going to blow her full of lead, damn the consequences.

"What I had to," Cas said, his voice even lower now, sounding more like he was trying to calm her down than intimidate her. Not that it looked like it was working. "And I believe that you know it, too."

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say, because instantly she moved forward, closing the distance between them in two strides. Dean yanked out the gun and had it pointed toward her heart in an instant – at this distance, there was no way in hell that he could miss – but he never got the chance to pull the trigger.

Instead, he was facedown on the pavement in the blink of an eye, and for a second, he couldn't do anything but just lay there and try to remember how he'd gotten there – if he'd been thrown, or if he'd just suddenly appeared there, or what the fuck was going on.

Then he remembered Cas, and immediately pushed himself to his feet.

Except that he couldn't. He managed to prop himself up on his elbows, but no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't lift his torso more than a foot off the ground, and his legs wouldn't move at all. Some unseen force was holding him in place.

Fuck.

Sam was on the ground, too, looking like he'd fallen back on his ass and couldn't get up. Whatever was happening to Dean, clearly Sam was feeling the effects, too. The blade was on the ground, like it'd gone skittering across the pavement, just out of Sam's reach.

Cas was the only one still on his feet, still facing Hester. He had his back straight and his head high, glaring at her with narrowed eyes, looking like he was trying to be intimidating, but he just... wasn't. Don't get him wrong, Cas was badass when he wanted to be, Dean was never going to doubt it. But it was hard to look like you'd stand a chance in a fight when you were also swaying slightly on your feet.

"Why have you come here, Hester?" Cas asked, and his voice didn't tremble or shake at all, Dean had to give him credit.

Hester seemed less impressed. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Instead, she reached up and grabbed Cas by the shoulders, shoving him backward until he collided into one of the random cars parked nearby, cornered there where he wouldn't be able to get away.

"You let him go right fucking now," Dean demanded, immediately starting to fight twice as hard to break away from whatever force was holding him like this, but it still didn't even budge. Whatever it was, it was strong as fuck. "Or else I-"

He didn't get to finish the threat. Hester glanced over his shoulder at him for just an instant, and then his voice died in his throat. It wasn't that he felt any different, or that she was somehow stopping him from opening his mouth. He kept trying to speak – he was screaming every swear word he knew as loud as he could – and he wasn't making any noise.

"Dean," Sam shouted, but he didn't say anything more. Dean wasn't sure if Hester had given him the same treatment, or if he had just decided to keep quiet and not risk having it happen. Either way, Dean could see him straining, arm extended as far as he could, trying to close his hand around the blade. Wasn't working for him, either.

Cas immediately looked over at them, his eyes darting between Dean and Sam, and Dean could see both the worry and the anger in them as he turned back to Hester. "Why are you here?" he demanded again, in a voice that was stronger this time, and a hell of a lot more angry. "What do you want from me?"

Her hands tightened on his shoulders, and Dean saw the way that Cas stiffened, his face going blank all of a sudden. Dean recognized that face. It was the same way that he'd looked when Dean had been stitching up his wounds after he'd been kidnapped, and he'd kept his face completely emotionless to keep from letting on that it hurt. And then Dean was fighting harder against whatever was holding him down, trying to shout some of the swears that he hadn't used in years, but all of it was still not frickin' working.

That was when he saw it. A gray shape writhing in the corner of his eye, disappearing the moment he tried to turn to look at it. But everywhere he looked, they were there, just barely in his range of vision, just enough that he could see them taunting him every time he turned his head.

Then Sam's skin started melting, his whole face dripping like it candle wax until his features weren't visible, just a distorted mass of flesh, constantly shifting and bubbling into new shapes.

"Sammy!" Dean screamed, and thrashed on the ground, trying to throw himself free and run to Sam, to grab him and try to figure out what the hell Hester had done. And nobody could hear him call Sam's name, but a second later, he heard Sam yell back, "Dean!" It was distorted, somehow growing louder then softer then louder again all in the space of a second, but it was definitely Sam's voice, coming somewhere from the contorted mass of flesh where his face used to be.

"What are you doing to him?" Cas demanded, leaning forward, getting as close to Hester as he could and glaring daggers at her, but he wasn't even glancing in Sam's direction. Instead, he took his eyes off of Hester just long enough to turn toward Dean, more like he was the one that he had to worry about, not Sam. Dean held his gaze for about half a second, until Cas' skin started cracking and splitting, blood oozing out from the cracks and dripping down his face.

Dean took a deep breath, trying to get his heart to stop racing. Another hallucination, then. And it was a fucking bad time for this to start up again, but still, it was all in his head, not something that Hester had done. He hadn't been able to tell – considering that some super-badass-powerful-creature thing was attacking them, who knew what she could do to them?

But okay. The hallucinations were shitty, but he could handle them. At least he didn't actually have to worry about Sam suddenly melting into a ball of goo.

Hester ignored the question completely, but it did get her to speak. "You were our leader," she said, and her voice sounded even creepier with the way that it was echoing in Dean's ears, but even through the distortion, he could still hear how bitter she sounded. "I trusted you. We call trusted you."

Slowly, Cas nodded. The motion did strange things to the hallucinations, sending drops of blood splattering to the floor. Dean wanted to close his eyes and try if he could force the hallucinations away like he always did, but he didn't want to take his eyes off of Cas long enough to do it. Seeing him through this distorted, fucked up view was better than not being able to watch at all, even if it was just for a couple seconds.

Not that watching would do any good. Not when he couldn't force himself up to go actually do something to help.

He still couldn't tear his eyes away, though.

"Yes," Cas agreed. Hard to tell for sure, but Dean thought that the tone of his voice was different now – more like he was definitely on the defensive, working to calm her down more than anything else. "And I trusted Naomi," he continued. "We all believed that our commanding officers would do what was best. I know that I, at least, was horribly mistaken."

Dean knew immediately that that was the wrong thing to say, that it was definitely going to set Hester off. And he was right. Hester roughly yanked Cas forward, then slammed him back against the car again, hard enough to set off the alarm. A second passed, and then the alarm abruptly went silent.

"You betrayed all of us," Hester said, her voice still getting louder, though she was enunciating each word carefully, like it was specially chosen, like she was deliberating over every word she said. "You turned against Heaven and everything that the angels were supposed to stand for."

Dean stiffened at the word angels. Hearing Cas say it was one thing. Having Cas start repeating Sam's words as some kind of proof was something else entirely. But having someone else act like it was real? Jesus, that wasn't even part of the same universe as the first two.

He didn't have long to think about it, though, before Cas was replying.

"I was not the one who betrayed our purpose," he insisted, once again leaning forward, getting closer to her.

She didn't back away, or move at all. "You went against your orders, and for what?" she demanded, practically spitting the words. "For the sake of some human you're in love with?"

"For all of humanity," Cas corrected before she had even finished speaking. Then he paused, and his eyes slid toward Dean, watching him for a moment before returning his gaze to Hester. "Yes, for Dean Winchester, but he wasn't the only reason." Abruptly, Cas reached up, grabbing Hester's shoulders and squeezing the same way that she squeezed his. "We have always protected the humans. God's favorite creation. Lucifer was sentenced to an eternity of damnation because he refused to care for them, and now Naomi and the archangels plan on beginning an apocalypse that could wipe out the entire population."

Hester took her hands off of Cas, but it was only to grab him by the wrist and rip his hands off of her, throwing him away from her hard enough that Cas fell back, collapsed to the ground, his back still against the side of the car, head bowed. The sound of his heavy, rasping breaths was way too loud in Dean's ears.

"I follow orders," Hester said, and slammed her hands forward, palms flat against the car, directly above Cas' body, so that she was towering over him, blocking him in. "I don't question my place."

"Even if you know that this is not what our Father would have wanted for us," Cas asked, his voice weaker than it had been a moment ago, but stubborn as all get out, like he wouldn't be backing down.

"You know nothing of our Father's wishes," Hester said, her voice practically a growl now. "No more than any of us."

"No," Cas agreed, still not lifting his head to look at her. "But I do know that the destruction of humanity can't be allowed. I will fight against it, even if I am fighting alone."

For a moment, neither moved or spoke a word. Then Cas tilted his head, studying Hester. "Naomi didn't send you, did she?" he asked. "She doesn't even know that you're here."

"And what makes you think that?" Hester asked, voice tight, fingers twitching on the car like she was trying to crumple the metal.

"You would have killed me already if you were following her orders, for one," Cas said. He broke off for a moment, coughing, then had to take a deep breath before he could continue. "If you wanted me dead, or if you planned on dragging me back to Naomi, then there's nothing I could do to stop it, and we both know it. So why haven't you?" He paused, just long enough to make it seem like he was waiting for an answer, then said, "And even if Naomi doesn't know what you did the last time you were ordered to kill me, she still would not send you alone, without anyone as backup."

"What happened last time," Hester repeated, voice flat.

Slowly, Cas lifted his head, tilting it back so that he could once more stare her in the eyes.

"All of my memories have returned to me," he said, voice even. "I remember everything, Hester."

"I don't know-" Hester started to insist, but Cas just kept talking, speaking over her as if her words didn't matter.

"I remember that you were the one who found me when I was fleeing from Naomi," he said, and paused for just the slightest moment before saying, "And I remember that you were the one who cut away my grace."

"Don't you dare imply-" she said, and cut herself off, not saying anything more.

Cas didn't answer, but he kept his head tilted back to stare at her, and slowly began to stand. She moved a step back, whether to allow him to stand or because she wanted to get away from him, it was hard to tell. Probably the second one, judging by the look on her face as she glared at Cas.

It took Cas a minute to push himself up to his feet, grabbing on to the car's side mirror to hold himself up, legs buckling like it was all he could do to keep himself up. And that minute was long enough for the cracks to spread all the way across his body, splitting wider until it looked like he was going to collapse into pieces like a broken doll, and Dean was really fucking wishing that he could just make himself see clearly.

Then Cas took a deep breath, and stepped forward, away from the car. He was back to being only inches from Hester's face, and wasn't holding anything for support, even though he looked like he should be. He didn't move back toward the car, though, or reach for anything else. Instead, he continued to face Hester, and said, his voice low but strong, "I don't need to imply anything. We both know what you did."

Hester reached forward and grabbed Cas by the front of his hospital scrubs, but instead of throwing him backward, this time she yanked him forward until her practically tumbled into her, faces almost touching. Cas cried out, from surprise or pain or both, but Hester didn't even react. "I am loyal to Heaven," she said, her voice dangerous. Dean heard that kind of voice all the time, in monsters and humans, and hell, even in himself more than once. And it always meant that someone was getting ready to snap. "I would never betray my purpose."

Cas was breathing even faster, in shallow, rasping breaths that made it obvious that he was in pain. "You already did," he gasped.

"Don't-" Hester began.

Cas didn't listen to her, or even give her time to finish. Instead, he looked her in the eyes as much as he could and said, voice louder and completely clear, "I was not the only one who rebelled."

The reaction was instant. Dean could feel it against his skin – a sudden weight in the air, a buzzing in his bones. Hester didn't move an inch, and neither did Cas, but it was still- the atmosphere between them was different. Or, shit, Dean didn't have the words to describe it, but he could practically feel the air between them, heavy as frickin' concrete and crackling with electricity, strong enough that made his whole body tremble and burn.

And it was hard to tell, but based on what he could see of Sam's expression – all wide-eyed and shocked – he was pretty sure that his little brother was feeling this same thing, too.

"Never say that again," Hester said. She was barely moving now, not even twitching an inch, except to narrow her eyes slightly. But her voice snapped, quick and powerful as a whip, and Dean swore that he could actually feel her words strike him.

Cas didn't seem affected. Or, at least, if he was, he wasn't letting on. "It's true," he said. "You can't deny that you have already turned against Naomi."

Again, Hester wasn't moving, absolutely nothing about her expression was changing-

Except then it was. Or, she still hadn't moved, but it was like she was suddenly lit up from the inside. Not in some stupid metaphorical way, either – there was this crazy light shining out of her eyes, and she was literally glowing. All at once, the air was twice as heavy, until it felt like lead in his lungs, almost like he couldn't breathe.

Dean quickly squeezed his eyes closed, even though he hated to do it, didn't want to take his eyes off of Cas right now. But this hallucination wasn't like the others. It felt way too real, in a way that none of the other ones ever did. It was fucking messing with his head, and he needed it to go away right fucking now.

He opened his eyes a moment later. The glow was still there. If anything it'd gotten stronger.

Cas was staggering now, looking like he was barely managing to keep himself upright. Or, more, it looked like he wasn't keeping himself up, like he would have collapsed to his knees if Hester hadn't been holding him by the collar still. But he kept talking. "The orders were clear," he insisted. "I wasn't supposed to leave Heaven alive. You were the one who let me go."

Hester moved. Dean didn't see her do it, but suddenly, Cas was thrown back against the car once more, and Hester was standing directly in front of him, only a foot away.

"You had me at your mercy," Cas said, the words coming out as a gasp. "You could have killed me then. You're not going to do it now."

Hester's hand flew out, reaching for Cas' throat, and Dean tried to scream a warning, but nothing came out.

Cas reached up and grabbed her, fingers tightening around her wrist.

Lights flashed behind her, stronger than before. Dean squinted and half-closed his eyes, lifting one hand to try to shield his eyes, but he could still feel his eyes burn.

And he could see wings.

That was what they looked like – dark shadows that stretched up behind her, inky shapes that were visible for barely a second, but long enough that Dean definitely saw them.

They didn't seem like the normal hallucinations, either. Except they had to be, right?

Cas was flinching away, shying back against the car like he could feel the power radiating off of Hester, too. But he squeezed her wrist tighter, not letting her pull away.

Dean was pretty sure that if she tried, Hester would be able to yank her arm free in an instant. But she didn't.

"You know what Naomi is doing, don't you?" he demanded, his voice fast and about ten times more urgent now.

"The prophesies-" Hester began.

"No," Cas said immediately. "Not the prophesies, not even the end of the world. Do you know that she's been brainwashing all of the angels for millenniums, rewriting our minds to make us into her pawns. Keeping us from ever disobeying."

Hester froze. It was hard to tell, when she wasn't moving all that much before, but Dean swore that she went even stiller, somehow. "How?" she demanded after a moment of silence, her voice harsh.

"By tapping into our minds and rewriting our programing," Cas said, voice a little stronger now. He even managed to move away from the car, just long enough to lean towards her. "And we can never remember that she's been doing it. I managed to escape this time, and that's the only reason why I know the truth."

Hester remained still, just long enough for Dean to see the shocked look appear on her face, followed by her eyes narrowing. Then she vanished just as suddenly as she'd appeared – no warning, just gone. Immediately, the air lightened, until Dean felt like he could actually fucking breathe correctly.

Cas must feel the same way, too, because the first thing he did was take a deep breath. Then he slumped back against the car, sliding down to the ground, head back and eyes closed.

Which was the exact moment that Dean realized he could talk and move again, because he said, "Cas!" and quickly scrambled to his feet, ignoring the way his leg protested as he hurried over and crouched next to Cas. Sam did the same, stopping only to grab the blade again before running over and kneeling on Cas' other side.

Cas opened his eyes, and for a moment, he studied Dean through narrowed eyes. Then he smiled. "It appears as though Hester didn't leave any permanent effects on you," he said. "That is fortunate."

"Hey," Dean said, carefully reaching forward to wrap an arm around Cas' shoulders. "You okay?"

"Yes," Cas promised, and took another deep breath. "I'm still weak from being unconscious for so long, and Hester didn't help matters at all. But I'm fine. I will recover."

Dean nodded. Cas looked like he was telling the truth, at least. Good enough. That meant that he could turn to the other thing that he needed to know. Which was good, because honest, he didn't think that he'd be able to hold back any longer.

"You saw that, right?" he demanded, turning over to Sam, then almost doing a double take at the sight of his brother's face. Not because there was anything weird about it – actually, it was the complete opposite. Sam's face was completely back to normal. No hallucinations, no nothing.

Dean didn't have time to dwell on that, though, because Sam was already nodding. "If you're talking about the glowing and wings," he said, "then yeah, I saw that." He hesitated, then glanced at Cas for a moment before adding, "And I wasn't the only one who felt that, was I? The way that you could just feel the power rolling off of her, like it was almost something physical?"

Dean took a deep breath. Okay, so that hadn't been part of the hallucinations, either. "No," he agreed, "you were definitely not the only one who felt that."

"And it wasn't the first time, either," Sam continued, almost without giving Dean time to finish. "It's- I told you that I felt something when you were healed from that coma, right?" And again, he barely waited for Dean to finish nodding before he was saying, "This felt exactly the same way. Just, not as strong."

Okay, this was definitely getting weird, even by their standards. Or, more like it had already passed weird twenty miles back, and was well on its way into fucking crazy. And Dean tried to think of a better explanation, something to tell him why all of this stuff could be happening, but he was drawing a blank. Honestly, there was only one thing that he could think of, and that was what was scaring him.

He turned to look at Cas, who was still leaning back against the car, eyes only half open. Right then, he definitely didn't look like some badass warrior of God. Except Dean couldn't think of any other explanation.

"Seriously, Cas?" he asked. "You really are a frickin' angel?"