Dean reran Dylaniel's words in his head a few times before saying, "I-I'm sorry. I thought you said 'Castiel.'"
"I did," Dylaniel confirmed.
Dean's mouth anxiously tried to form words that his brain hadn't quite figured out yet. He was too confused by many aspects of the conversation, not the least of which was how Dylaniel could be so damn calm about this whole thing. The kid didn't seem to understand the absurdity of the situation.
"The robotic angel in the suit is your mom?" Dean asked again in the hopes of getting a different answer.
Dylaniel corrected, "Xe. Yes."
"That's crazy." Dean exhaled the words while shaking his head, but then his tone turned defensive. "That doesn't make any sense. He seems okay or whatever, but there's so much wrong there I don't even know where to begin."
Dylaniel's expression changed almost imperceptibly, but Kaylee and Tom knew him well enough to recognize that he was scowling at Dean.
"Dean, you're gonna want to back off." Tom stepped forward to get a little between Dean and Dylaniel. He wasn't expecting a fight to actually break out, but there was an element of uncertainty to this entire situation.
"He's the one saying that I'm…." Dean didn't actually know what he'd been told. If angels really didn't have a gender, maybe Castiel was in a woman. But completely aside from them possibly calling him gay, they were implying that he had a relationship with some emotionless angel... or at least that they'd had sex. Maybe it was an accident? He got drunk and Castiel was in some hot woman? He'd had plenty of drunken one-night-stands before. There had to be a reasonable explanation. "I'm not trying to be a dick, but I think there's gotta be a mistake or something I'm missing. First of all, in my time Cas is wearing a guy, and, secondly, he's not exactly Mr. Personality. So you can see why this is all coming a bit out of nowhere."
"Cas is maybe a little awkward at times, but he's just as complex and emotional as anyone," Kaylee commented.
Dean heard the 'he' and found it alarming. "You said 'he,' but Cas has been a woman," Dean countered. "I'm no expert on angels, but last time I checked humans still needed to fuck the opposite sex to have a kid."
"My xe took a female vessel, but it was temporary," Dylaniel explained as his cousins watched him for any tells.
Dean was scrambling to rationalize Cas only having a female body briefly. Could a vessel be destroyed? Was there an emergency? "It was temporary—like a fluke? We drank too much or it was a foxhole kind of situation?"
Dylaniel openly glared in a move that Dean found unsettling. The nephilim turned and nodded to Kaylee and Tom. "I'm going on rounds. You can call for me if you need something."
"Dyl, you—" Tom started, but he was already gone.
"Dammit." Kaylee collapsed into her chair in annoyance. She threw her hands up at Dean. "Really? You've got to be so touchy about this?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" He stood up and paced. "You guys are feeding me all this stuff that's completely insane and I'm just trying to make sense out of it."
"You basically just asked him if he was an accident."
"I'm not trying to insult him," Dean said in his defense.
"That is a pretty fucked up thing to hear from a parent," Tom quietly commented.
"I'm not his parent!" Dean spun around as he shouted. He'd had enough of dealing with the other Dean's goddamn life. "I didn't fuck his mom or xe or whatever. I don't know what kind of sick, freak occurrence made that happen—"
Kaylee snapped, "You know what? Stop before I stop you!" Dean opened his mouth to talk, but she cut him off. Her expression had turned venomous. "Dean, we'll tell you what we're gonna tell you and you can believe it or not, but don't go telling us it's bullshit when you don't know. This isn't your time. This is our time and you need to remember that. You think this stuff with our uncles is insane? Well you can ask them tomorrow. In the meantime, have a little fucking composure. Dyl has seen his parents take enough grief. He doesn't need that shit from you."
Dean was shaking from shock, frustration, and being yelled at by someone he was beginning to think of as a friend. He was thoroughly confused by everything that was going on, but he did catch part of what she'd said. "I'm gonna see them tomorrow?"
"Yeah," she confirmed. "This'll be fucking great."
1/30/2011
Dean fell to his hands and knees. The leader of the angels walked up behind him and grabbed a fistful of his hair. He pulled Dean upright into a kneeling position, then pressed the tip of his angel blade to Dean's sternum. Blood dripped from a gash on Dean's left cheek, his right arm was probably broken, and his angel blade had been lost in the brawl.
Cas had been similarly disarmed in the grossly unfair fight. It had been six against two, which would have normally triggered them to flee, but the group of angels had found some way to block Cas's ability to teleport. Unable to run, the result of the fight was largely inevitable with the only question being whether Dean would be taken alive or killed.
"Castiel." The leader, Ziniel, began stating the interim judgment. "For your crimes against Heaven, you will be imprisoned until true and fearsome judgment may be brought upon you—"
Cas interrupted. "Please, spare him." His words were directed at their captors, but he was staring at Dean.
"We have explicit orders," Ziniel replied. "He will be taken to Michael."
"You can't take him to Michael." Cas didn't know what Michael wanted with Dean, but he knew it was nothing good. The archangel had no concern for the welfare of humans. Whatever Dean was wanted for, his well-being was not going to be a factor at all. Maybe he'd be tortured for information regarding Sam, executed for all of the angels he'd killed, or used as a hostage in a game with stakes that were too high? "Please, I'm begging you to let him go."
Cas's humility made several of the angels visibly uncomfortable. An angel begging was almost unheard of, but to plead for a human was unimaginable. The angel holding her blade to Cas's throat looked at Dean, then at Cas in confusion.
"You will be imprisoned for treason and you only ask about him?" Her voice was more curious than critical. "Why do you even care?"
"If you take him to Michael, I'm sure he will be destroyed…. If he is destroyed, then I will be as well—beyond anything that Heaven could inflict on me directly." Cas pulled his gaze away from Dean, then stared at Ziniel with conviction. "I'm in love with him."
The angels looked at each other with uncertainty. The suggestion that an angel could be in love was taboo. To some angels the idea was absurd, but to others it was offensive. Ziniel scowled and tugged on Dean's hair, making his eyes water.
Dean's jaw dropped and his lips moved, unable to form words. He'd been struggling with the impossibility of his feelings for months. It had been insane to think that Cas could ever have those thoughts too, so he had tried to bury his own. But Cas had confessed them... too late.
"Love is a human emotion. Our kind is above base emotions. You're just confused by your illness. You're wrong," Ziniel said as he bared his teeth in a showing of anger. The irony of his statements was lost in the wake of Cas's confession.
"Read my mind and tell me how wrong I am," Cas replied defiantly.
It was considered inappropriate for one angel to read another's mind unless given permission. This courtesy was even extended to hostile angels, though Cas had always taken the precaution of actively trying to shield his thoughts. But now he let down his guard slightly, just enough to allow his feelings for Dean to be displayed.
Curiosity got the better of the six angels. There was a painfully long pause while Cas's most personal confession was laid out on display for their captors... and Dean. Dean barely moved, but for a small trembling and watering eyes that bordered on tears. Hael looked at Dean for a few seconds, then moved her angel blade half an inch off of Cas's neck.
"It's no secret that you are sick. But I had no idea that you'd allowed yourself to be poisoned by these creatures," Ziniel hissed. "You disgust—"
Ziniel pointed his blade at Cas to emphasize his point, but as soon as the angel blade was a foot away from Dean's heart Hael disappeared. Ziniel looked around in confusion for a moment before Hael's blade plunged through his back and out his chest.
There was a split-second pause while the four remaining angels realized what was happening. Hael had chosen sides and now each of them was being forced to do the same. The angel closest to her lunged at her, but another intercepted him. The remaining two entered the melee, each one trying to aid a different side. It only took a few quick swings before Hael and the two friendly angels were standing over their three dead siblings.
"You two should go before reinforcements arrive," Hael said as she turned away from the bodies to instead look at Cas. "We will tell them you escaped."
"Why are you doing this?" Cas asked.
Her face was painted with disbelief at her own actions, but her lips flickered in joyful revelation. When she spoke, she nearly smiled. "They say that it's an abomination to love a human. We're supposed to be more than them. To love them would make us weak. But you are not weak." She turned from Cas to Dean. "You gain strength from your love for each other. That should be protected, not punished. If you both are to be killed for that... there is something wrong with Heaven, not you."
"Thank you all." Cas nodded to the other angels.
"We may not be many, but you have some allies in Heaven," Hael told them. "Now go."
They teleported back to the living room of Dean's cabin, him still kneeling in mild shock before Cas. He was completely speechless. Some angel had just read his innermost feelings and outed him. He was embarrassed beyond immediate comprehension, but it was also a relief. Being exposed was probably a small price to pay for sparing their lives, and also there was the unforeseen perk of the entire awkward event: Cas had said he was in love with him.
They had both had their feelings for each other brought out into the open. No more long nights lying in bed trying to decide whether to say anything. No more wondering whether Cas's borderline-intimate interactions were just an incomplete knowledge of customs or something more. It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
Dean stared up at Cas for a moment, scared to do anything that might be the wrong thing, but Cas smiled in a way that was strangely reassuring. Dean stood up slowly and shifted nervously.
"You're hurt," Cas observed. "Can I heal you?"
Cas had never asked for permission to heal him before, but Dean understood that he was trying to be respectful of his confused feelings. Dean could feel the trickle of blood cooling on his left cheek. He nodded. Cas held Dean's right arm with his left hand, reached out and cupped Dean's cheek gently, healing the flesh below. It produced a delicate tingling sensation that made Dean close his eyes for a few seconds.
"Cas, I'm not sure what to do." He spoke with an out-of-character helplessness.
Cas tilted his head, indicating his thoughtful reflection on the situation. The familiar gesture made Dean feel safer, if not less vulnerable.
"Can I try something?" Cas asked.
Dean's pulse started to rise. He wasn't entirely sure what Cas was planning. No one ever knew what Cas was about to do and he knew the angel better than anyone in existence. Cas was fearless, passionate, and intelligent, but all of that was hidden below a calm exterior as level and unmoving as a frozen lake.
"Okay," Dean exhaled.
Cas's fingers slid back to interlace with Dean's dirty blonde hair. He stepped forward, pressing his lips against Dean's just as Dean finished taking in a startled breath. The first thing that Dean noticed was the softness of Cas's lips. He had assumed that for some reason guys must be rougher than women, but Cas's lips were some of the softest he'd ever felt.
There were things about Cas that were predictably not feminine, but that didn't bother him as much as he'd expected. Like when Dean moved one hand over Cas's shoulder to pull him closer—he'd never made out with someone almost his own height. Or when they kissed harder, their mouths opening slightly and Dean felt his chin drag across Cas's five o'clock shadow. The scratching sensation was surprising, both in its newness and in the excitement it produced in Dean's gut. He gasped, then gripped Cas tighter and him kissed deeper.
In recent weeks, Dean had occasionally wondered what it'd be like to kiss Cas. Knowing the two of them, he had expected it to be awkward and clumsy. He wasn't entirely wrong. Cas barely knew what he was doing, but that was okay. Dean was also out of his element. The thing he hadn't seen coming was that he didn't care that it was clumsy, that their noses bumped together, that Cas bit his lip a tad too hard, or that Cas didn't know what to do with his hands. It felt good.
Dean just went with it, trying not to overthink it. Instead he just felt it out. Somewhere in the excitement his instincts took over. In his eagerness he unconsciously moved them forward, backing Cas into a wall. They fumbled their way to the bedroom, knocking down a picture frame in the process. In their frenzy, he found himself tumbling backward onto his bed, pulling Cas with him by the collar of the tan trench coat. Without breaking from the kissing, Dean slid a hand up under Cas's suit jacket and pulled him closer. Then it happened.
When Dean pulled Cas down onto him, his erection rubbed against Cas's hip, but Cas's erection also pressed against him. Both of them were still fully clothed, but the feeling was unmistakable. Dean was completely distracted from their intimate moment. Cas's dick was sizable, like his own, and suddenly Dean felt entirely out of his depths. He had no idea what to do—well, he had some idea, but he wasn't ready to plow ahead into such new territory just yet.
Dean stopped kissing Cas, who had also given in to a more instinctual approach. Cas leaned in to kiss Dean's neck below the jawline and Dean reflexively tilted his head back to allow better access. He had begun grinding against Dean, making them both harder. Everything was happening so fast. Dean started to feel overwhelmed. He put a palm on Cas's chest and pushed up gently.
"Cas, hey—slow down," Dean said, causing Cas to immediately stop mid-grind, with their hard dicks still pressed between them. "I think we should take things slower than this."
Cas pushed his upper body away from Dean and the bed, so that he could look Dean in the eyes. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No! It's not that. I've just—I've never... done stuff with a guy." He felt like his stomach had knotted from just saying the words. The idea of going any farther conjured images of him having a full-on panic attack. "I'm gonna need a little time to wrap my head around this…. I don't want to fuck this up; not with you."
"I'm fine with whatever you need."
"Just some time," Dean reassured him. "Maybe taking one step at a time."
"Can I still kiss you going forward?" Cas asked hopefully.
"Oh, fuck yes—but let me tell Sam about us before you start doing it around anyone else."
"Okay. When are you going to tell him?" Cas didn't seem to appreciate just how large a gesture talking to Sam would be. The angel looked expectantly down at Dean, who swallowed hard and nodded to himself.
"I can do it," he said as both a reply and self-encouragement. "I can do it... once I can walk easier."
"What do I do about this?" Cas indicated his own erection.
"You can use my shower," Dean suggested. Seeing Cas's confused expression he added,"You'll figure it out."
"Hey, Sammy. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Dean asked as he entered his brother's cabin.
"Sure. What's up?" Sam was lounging in a chair reading a book to Kaylee, who was sitting on his lap. The Mysterious Stranger was far beyond the comprehension of an eighteen-month-old, but she entertained herself by playing with a toy dragon while Sam gently bounced her on his knee.
"So, um, I wanted to tell you…." Dean took a deep calming breath. "Cas and I are gonna try something out."
"Okay. What?"
He was struggling to find the right words. 'Dating' seemed silly. It wasn't like they were gonna go to the movies and share popcorn—things were too crazy right then and who knew if Cas even liked movies. Maybe he could try watching a movie with Cas one of the nights they were at the camp or in a motel room that had halfway decent cable—Dean cursed his anxious mind for trying to change the subject.
"Being a—well—more than friends."
Sam put down his book and straightened up in his chair. Dean could feel his ears and cheeks turning red. He wouldn't have been surprised if he'd have died of a heart attack in that moment, waiting to see how Sam would react.
"You guys are, like, going to be a couple?" Sam's eyebrow raised and he smiled.
"I guess."
"That's great! I'm happy for you two."
"Really?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Sam's brow furrowed in confusion, then his smile started fading. Dean looked terrified. He was sweating and trembling slightly. Sam hadn't seen him so upset in about a year, during his last stress-and-Abyssal-induced panic attack. "Did you think I'd be upset?"
"I don't know…. I thought that…. I'm not sure." Dean rubbed his face in a move that disguised him wiping some moisture from his eyes.
"Dean, I'm not Dad. I don't care if Cas is a guy or angel or whatever. I just want you to be happy." Sam was trying to be reassuring and firmly lay out his position.
"I just…." Dean's eyes darted around uncomfortably before settling on Sam's shirt. "I know you're not Dad, but I couldn't help thinking of what he'd say. He'd be so pissed at me."
"Pissed at you? Seriously? I'm the King of Hell and am in a serious relationship with a demon." Sam held up Kaylee. "My daughter has horns. You think Dad would really be pissed at you?"
"I'm probably gonna end up blowing a guy," Dean confessed weakly.
Sam nodded his head in acknowledgement of Dean's point. "Dad had really weird priorities." They both frowned for a few seconds, then Sam smiled at Dean excitedly. "When you called me that morning for advice on how to explain being—"
Dean raised his hand to silence Sam, but it just made Sam smile more broadly.
"You're in love with Cas?" Sam asked in a combination of teasing and gleeful gushing.
"Fuck. I guess. I don't know, man. I mean, it's not like I'm going through all this"—Dean waved his arms around trying to indicate all the stress he'd been experiencing related to his feelings—"because I want to hit it and quit it."
4/08/2017
Hael teleported into the clearing between the cabins. She spotted Dean sitting on the floor of Sam and Ruby's porch. He was doing some repair work on the arm rail. A pile of partially burnt wooden beams had been discarded next to the steps. She walked up to Dean.
"How's it going Hael?" Dean asked without getting up.
"Hello, Dean. Everything is fine. I just wish to ask my brother for some advice. Where's Castiel?"
"I'm not sure," Dean answered, but clenched his jaw and evaded Hael's gaze.
"Is something wrong?"
"There's trouble in paradise," Sam said as he collected an armful of charred wood to relocate to a kindling pile.
"Cas and I had a fight. It's not a big deal," Dean said as he finished sanding an edge on the arm rail. He blew off the sawdust and leaned back against a support beam.
"What was the disagreement about?"
Dean ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes briefly before answering. "Cas thinks I should have a kid before I'm too old."
He was almost forty. Silver peppered his hair, though it wasn't obvious from far away. His face still had a beauty to it, but when he was tired lines of rough years were visible. Cas had recently started subtly healing Dean while he slept, trying to fight the normal aging process, but they hadn't been at it long enough to tell how effective that plan might be.
"And you do not want to have children?" Hael asked uncertainly as she took a seat on the porch beside Dean.
"It's not that. I just…. I don't want to cheat on Cas—that's not the right way to say it…. I know it's silly, but if he can't have a kid, then I don't know."
He looked around to see if anyone else was in earshot. Sam had gone off to help Bobby teach Kaylee some of the basics of power tools over at Bobby's. Ruby and Tom were starting Alex out on Magic 101. The boy needed to learn some control or else they'd have another burnt-up porch to replace.
"It's my understanding that human male same-sex couples routinely have one partner be a biological parent," she commented.
"That's true, but just because it's normal doesn't mean it solves the problem…. I know I'm being stubborn." He sighed, then looked up at the partially cloudy sky. It would start getting dark soon and there was too much left to do. Reluctantly, he started packing up his toolbox.
"You want to have a child that is technically the offspring of you and Castiel?"
"I know how insane that is." He was embarrassed by how childish he'd been. Cas was just trying to make him happy and he'd turned it into a fight because he was being stubborn.
After a long pause, Hael said something that completely derailed his self-loathing. "He could use this vessel."
"What?"
"Castiel and I are from similar enough choirs that we shouldn't damage each other's vessels to a significant extent. I believe that I could temporarily exchange vessels with him. You two could try to conceive. My vessel would not be perfectly compatible for him, but it should still function in many respects."
Dean was a little taken aback by her generous offer. "That's nice of you…." He was not entirely sure the full implications of what she was offering. "But he's still an angel."
"It's…." She looked a little uncomfortable with the topic. "It's technically possible for angels and humans to breed. It's just a blaspheme."
"You're serious."
He was stunned. Cas had said that there were only a fixed number of angels, created by God. Assuming that God stayed missing-in-action, every death of an angel was a permanent loss for their population. There were no baby angels and he'd never heard of a half-angel, so he had just assumed that the entire species was sterile…. Well, physically he'd be having a kid with Hael's soulless vessel, but there had to be something more to it than that if Heaven deemed it blasphemous.
"Any children you two have would be considered a crime against Heaven. Angels loyal to the laws of Heaven would try to kill it," she warned.
"How's that different than any other member of this family?"
"Hi, Hael," Ruby said while briefly glancing up from some notes.
She was seated at their dining table double-checking Tom's calculations for a luck spell while Sam was making dinner. Dean coming over wasn't a surprise; he'd been promised free reign of their superior kitchen as compensation for helping with repairing the porch. Hael following him in was a little unusual though.
"Actually, that's Cas," Dean corrected while gesturing at the petite blonde woman to his right. Ruby and Sam both stopped what they were doing to stare.
"I'm temporarily exchanging vessels with Hael," Cas explained.
"I didn't think that was possible," Sam commented as he turned down the stove so that he could give the strange development his undivided attention.
"It's difficult and uncomfortable," Cas admitted.
"Then why are you doing it?"
Dean couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Cas and I are gonna try to have a kid."
"That's great!" Sam grinned with giddy excitement.
"About damn time." Ruby nodded in approval, then thought of something. "Cas, have you ever been in a female vessel before?"
"No."
"Oh, sweetie, come with me." Ruby got up from the table, grabbed Cas's arm and started walking her out of the room. "We need to have a little talk girl-to-girl."
"I understand how to copulate," Cas muttered defensively.
"It's so cute that you think that's all we're gonna talk about." Ruby patted Cas's back before kicking the bedroom door shut behind them.
"Maybe we should've stopped her?" Sam mused.
"He's like billions of years old. What could she possibly say to spook him?" Dean shrugged, then strolled into the kitchen. He started digging through the cupboards for supplies.
"Now I really want to know what they're talking about." Sam's brow furrowed in a mixture of embarrassment and mild concern.
Dean noticed the look on Sam's face, then eyed the bedroom door. "Ditto."
Dean started seasoning a few steaks while Sam returned to working on his vegetarian hash.
"So, you're probably excited. Cas as a woman," Sam said while cutting up some fresh herbs. Dean made a noncommittal noise that surprised Sam into looking up. "What? No judgement—I just thought that you might miss women. It's been…."
"About ten years," Dean filled in the blank. Sam nodded, impressed with how much time had passed since Dean had hung up his womanizer hat. Dean sighed, then continued, "Don't make fun of me, but I want to get this over with and get Cas back in his body as fast as possible…. It's gonna be weird."
"But it's still Cas."
Dean stopped fiddling with the steaks and looked at Sam. "Have you and Ruby ever messed around with her in a different body?"
Sam frowned slightly at the thought, then smirked. "You still remember where to—" he started, but Dean threw a handful of steak seasoning at him, hitting him in the face.
Dean supposed Hael's vessel was pretty. It had blue eyes, but not nearly as vibrant a blue as Cas's male vessel. Her hair was blonde and fairly straight. She had full lips and a pair of D cups. A decade ago Dean would've happily taken a tumble with a woman who looked like her, but that was before he got married. It wasn't that he didn't find women attractive; it was just not want he was looking for anymore. He'd been with Cas, in the male vessel, for over eight years. That was what he'd become used to. Rationally he knew that Cas was still Cas regardless of the vessel, but it made him uncomfortable to be trying something so different from what they were used to doing as a couple.
They were in their bedroom. Cas stood a little awkwardly next to the bed. She didn't know how to start the process and he wasn't making it any easier. He was obviously nervous. When Cas leaned in for a kiss, Dean returned it with his lips chastely closed. He pulled back.
"I'm sorry, babe. It's just hard—" Dean rolled his eyes "—not as easy with you like this."
"Do you want call it off?" Cas asked.
"No! No. I just need to get used to it." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be fine."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Just please don't take this personally. I just see you one way in my head." Dean closed his eyes in demonstration. "I know you're not your vessel, but it's all I get to see of you—and with you in our friend's vessel... it's just… weird."
"I understand. I have an idea." She went to the nightstand and drank the fertility elixir that Ruby had prepared for them, then turned out the lights. She moved back over to Dean and kissed him again.
He tried to imagine Cas's male vessel, which was made a harder by the female vessel being half a foot too short. But the few drops of the elixir that he tasted on her lips seemed to give him a small thrill. He couldn't tell if it was partially an aphrodisiac or if it was the excitement of realizing they were really about to try to have a kid, but either way he appreciated it.
They each started undressing themselves to avoid bringing more attention to Cas's new body. Dean managed to find some lube in the dark and started stroking himself hard. When he was ready he climbed on top of Cas, who had lay down on the bed.
Looking down Dean could see Cas's bare breasts and long blond hair in the dim light. He grabbed her and flipped her over onto her hands and knees.
"Should I—" Cas began, but her voice was jarringly feminine.
"Cas, I love you, but please don't talk right now." Dean cringed internally with guilt, but he pushed it from his mind. After a few quick strokes, Dean lined himself up and pressed into her. Cas was so tight that for a second Dean worried he'd missed his mark. In the darkness he scowled at the idea that Sam's teasing might've been right, but then Cas pushed back against him in encouragement.
Dean grabbed her hips, which were a little too full, but that didn't stop him. He looked up towards the ceiling and tried to imagine Cas's wings rocking back and forth with each thrust. In hindsight, he probably should've tried harder to make Cas cum, but for their first time having hetero-sex, he just wanted to break the ice. He pressed into her hard as he finished.
Afterward they lay together in the dark while waiting for Dean to recover. The silence stretched on for several minutes before Dean laced his fingers between Cas's. He held her hand to his lips and kissed it.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could be more for you," Dean said softly.
"It's okay. I know how hard you're trying."
"I love you, and what you're doing for us." Dean smiled in the darkness. "For our family."
Six months later Dean ran through the center of the camp, threw open Sam and Ruby's front door, then shouted, "Cas is pregnant! We're gonna have a kid!"
He excitedly hopped up and down as soon as he got inside their home. Sam rushed over and tackled him with a hug, accidentally knocking the two man-children over into a coat rack.
During the pregnancy Dean ended up doting over Cas more than anyone had expected. It was partially from anticipation, but also it was his chance to show affection that didn't require physical intimacy. Cas hadn't left the camp since they had started trying to conceive for fear that the strain on the incompatible vessel might further complicate the pregnancy. Dean occasionally would visit army's bases for a day or two each week, but for the most part he diligently focused on his family.
There was almost no information available on nephilim. Historically, there had only been five documented cases, and all that was known about them was largely an oral history from the group that had killed them.
The most well-known nephilim were the twin brother and sister, Seraph and Sophia. In spite of the policy of angels not to document nephilim, the siblings had managed to make it into an old hunters' codex. Their entry in the codex didn't describe their angelic mother or the fact that more than half of their known kills were of angels, but those details were provided by Cas. It did, however, describe them as hunters from the mid-sixteenth century with a reputation for speed, guile, and resilience against injuries. They were the longest surviving nephilim, both killed in battle by angels at the age of seventeen.
With so little information, there was a certain amount of new terrain being covered. The most surprising aspect was that the pregnancy progressed faster than an entirely human one. Cas could feel kicking and movement by the eighth week. Going into the fifth month, she looked like she was almost full term.
Cas was at twenty-five weeks when she went into labor. Dean was sleeping when he was woken up by her clutching his wrist. Cas was lying next to him, eyes clenched, holding her belly.
"Cas, babe!"
He touched her back and recognized the tension in her body as being a possible contraction. After a few seconds, she relaxed slightly, releasing his wrist.
"I'm gonna go get help. I'll be back in less than a minute—I promise."
Cas nodded without opening her eyes. He kissed Cas's hand, then ran out of their cabin. Once he got within earshot of Sam and Ruby's cabin he yelled for help. He didn't bother waiting for anyone to get out of their groggy stupor. Ruby was home that night and didn't sleep, leaving her practically on call. The light in her and Sam's bedroom turned on as Dean started running back to Cas.
From the very beginning, Cas's labor was incredibly intense. There was no gradual increase, so despite arriving during only the second contraction, Ruby's expression turned grim. She sat down on the bed next to Cas and pushed some of the hair out of Cas's face. Her vessel was sweating and trembling. Even between contractions, she was having difficulty speaking. Ruby had taken up the role of midwife since she'd given birth twice, but she chewed on her lower lip. She turned to look at Dean.
"Pray for Hael."
Dean went out into the living room and hastily prayed. Nothing happened. Cas cried out from the other room. He prayed again, and once more nothing happened. Dean grabbed a lamp off the desk and threw it at the wall, but it stopped just before impact. Sam lowered the lamp to the floor as he entered the living room and looked at Dean with concern.
"It's too soon," Dean managed through his panic, then anxiously started pacing.
"We don't know that," Sam said, but his words didn't seem to register. In frustration, Sam telekinetically grabbed Dean to stop him from moving. Dean fidgeted, then looked at Sam, who gave his older brother a hug. "I know it's scary, but you've got to calm down and just be there for Cas."
Hael arrived an hour later. He had been resting the borrowed vessel at their Richmond base when he sensed the prayer. He tried to fly directly there, but he had difficulty thanks to the incompatible vessel and trace amounts of an anti-flight aura around the Great Lakes area. It took several tries, but eventually he was able to get through the difficult patch to the camp.
The entire labor was confusing and distressing to Dean. He sat beside his husband, who was trying to give birth at a week that by human standards was dangerously premature, while his friend was wearing his husband's body and trying to assist. It was upsetting on so many levels, but he simply held onto Cas and tried to be as comforting as possible.
After forty-two hours of labor, their son was born. Hael cleaned up the baby, wrapped him in a soft blanket, then handed him to Dean. Once the female vessel was healed, Hael promptly transferred vessels with Cas.
Dean had been transfixed by his son, so when he eventually looked up at the two angels, he wasn't entirely sure which one was which. Cas, in his male vessel wrapped an arm around Dean and kissed him. Tears started falling down Dean's cheeks as they kissed.
They looked down at their son. His wisps of hair were a bit blonder than Dean's, possibly reminiscent of the female vessel. But his eyes—his eyes were the intense light blue that had only ever existed in Cas's eyes.
