Chapter 35.
"Are we just gonna do silence?" said Dean, having eaten all he could.
"Apparently not." said Cas, "But I urge you to consider it. I've finally recognised the futility of talking to Winchesters."
Dean nodded. He could hardly argue with that.
"We could go to the Dean Cave and watch a movie." Cas suggested.
"How long for?" said Dean.
"As long as it takes." said Cas, seeming a little confused.
"I don't mean now. I mean for how long are we planning to maintain an amicable silence instead of trying to talk to each other?"
"Isn't an amicable anything better than the alternative?" said Cas.
"So our friendship has no chance?" said Dean. It sounded needy and pathetic to his own ears. He was relieved that Cas didn't laugh at him.
"Our friendship is too important to be thrown away because we can't stop saying all the things we don't need to say." said Cas.
Dean said nothing. He had no argument to offer.
"Every word I say feels like a shot in the dark." said Cas, "And I'm firing them all in your direction. I don't know what will hurt, what will heal, what will make you angry. With the talisman on, I have no way of knowing how you're feeling right now."
"We can take them off." said Dean. He saw Cas's face, the look of pain and he immediately said, "Sorry. Of course we can't. I've got Sam and Jack working on a way to end this thing forever."
"Please stop talking." said Cas.
Dean shut up. Bringing up the mind curse had been a stupid thing to do.
Someone knocked on the door. "Jack?" said Dean.
"Sam." said Sam, "May I come in?"
"Yeah, come in." said Dean.
The door opened and Sam looked at the food wrappers all over the bed. "Good. You ate something." He turned to Cas. "That's why you left? To get him food?"
"He wasn't eating." said Cas, "I had to do something."
"I don't want to interrupt. I know you two have a lot to talk about. I just wanted to be sure you were both okay."
"We've decided we have nothing to talk about." said Dean.
"What?" said Sam. He looked at Cas again. "Surely you don't think that?"
"My idea." said Cas.
"So, two days before the party, you're not speaking to each other? Sarah will never forgive me."
"Just for now." said Cas, "Just until it's safe to talk again."
"Why isn't it safe now?" said Sam. He looked at Dean. "Is this really what you want?"
"Yes." said Dean. What he wanted was irrelevant. He needed to do what Cas wanted. Cas had to be comfortable enough to stick around.
"Are you stupid?" said Sam.
"Yes." said Dean, "Apparently, I am."
"Maybe you should try silence too." said Cas to Sam, "It prevents so much conflict."
"Yeah, well, I'd rather be yelling at Dean than have silence between us." said Sam.
"I get that." said Dean, "I respect that. Now, Cas and I are going to the Dean Cave to see a movie."
"What movie?" said Sam, "How will you pick one without discussion?"
"His choice." said Dean.
"Maybe you should get some sleep. We need to know if the talismans stop you sharing dreams. The sooner you sleep, the sooner we know."
"Yeah, but no pressure, right?" said Dean. He glanced at Cas. The angel looked worried. "Seriously, Sam, you need to shut up about the mind curse and the talismans. We know what's at stake, we don't need to be thinking about it all the time. Cas, go pick a movie. I'll be right behind you."
Cas nodded and left.
"Silence doesn't help." said Sam.
"It helps him." said Dean.
"To do what?"
"He's one wrong word away from leaving forever." said Dean, "And I don't know what that word will be. Call me stupid, call me pathetic, call me anything you like ... I already have. He says talking to me is futile. I can't say he's wrong."
"I don't want him to leave either." said Sam, "Jack says he's thinking of going to Heaven for help."
"Since when does Heaven ever help him?"
"He's desperate and he's scared and he'll do anything to stop stealing your thoughts."
"They'll burn out his brain, or erase him from existence. Heaven doesn't care about Cas. If they need to destroy him to end the link, they will."
"I know, so we need to keep him here."
"Which means playing by his rules. He wanted silence."
"This is messed up. You know that, right?"
Dean nodded. "Yeah, I know and it's not what I want, but what I want doesn't matter. He's the one who is being tortured by this thing. He's calling the shots and I am fine with that."
"So you're gonna watch a movie together in silence and hope that'll fix things?"
"Maybe things can't be fixed. Maybe all we can do is pretend they don't exist, just for long enough for him to catch his breath."
"You still think you did this." said Sam.
"Whoever did anything, we owe Cas."
"You know I love Cas. You know I always will. It's for him as much as for you that I want you two to communicate."
"He got me burgers. He sat here while I ate them. That's communication."
"There's no doubt, you're John Winchester's kid." said Sam.
"That's not an insult to me, Sammy."
"It wasn't intended as one." said Sam.