Chapter 79.

Cas watched as the Winchesters started to dance, each surrounded by their supporters. He stayed carefully equidistant from both and Jules stood beside him. Mary and Sarah both came to stand there too.

Sarah turned to Cas and said, "Which one do you think will win?"

"I've known you too long to believe you care." he said, "You've told me many times, activity removes the energy from anxiety. All you care about is that they tire themselves out."

"We all need to release the pressure at times." she said.

Both boys started strongly. Both lacked a little technique, through lack of practice, but both were strong and agile and kept easily to the rhythm of the music. Cas could see that Dean wasn't trying to hold back as he had when dancing with Sarah and Mary. This wasn't about joy or the avoidance of it or all those hidden triggers, bringing up the pain he had buried whenever he could. It was about putting Sam in his place.

Sam was somewhere else entirely. Sam was using the music and the dancing the same way his brother used whisky. It worried Cas how badly Sam needed to blot something out of his mind and Sam was not talking about it, which could only be a bad sign.

"What will you do about Sam?" said Cas to Sarah,

"Until he's ready to talk, not much I can do." she said, "But hopefully, after this, he'll be a little less stressed."

"Leave Sam to me." said Mary, "I'll make sure he's okay."

"Do you know what's bothering him?" said Sarah.

"Yes. It's a Winchester thing. I promised him I wouldn't discuss it with anyone."

"So Dean knows?" said Cas.

"No, Dean doesn't know." said Mary, "The situation is under control."

Sarah and Mary looked at each other for a moment, but what passed between them was just eye movement to Cas.

Dean was suddenly dancing with an angel blade, to the delight of his supporters. Then someone handed a machete to Sam and he was whirling around, his dance moves turning to fight moves and back. His own supporters went wild. The music was getting faster and faster and Paul and Mark were both starting to sweat a lot more.

"Why didn't you join the challenge?" said Jules.

Cas smiled. "Angels don't tire. It would be cheating."

"I'm starting to think Winchesters don't tire either." said Mary.

Dean threw the angel blade into the table in front of him so hard that it was stuck two inches deep into the wood.

"I'm very glad that isn't one of my tables." said Sarah.

Just then, Sam threw his machete to Dean, who caught it without missing a step. Both groups of supporters shouted their approval. Someone threw a knife to Sam and he caught that and kept dancing.

"Someone could get hurt." said Jules.

"Only if they get in the way." said Cas.

Now the Winchesters were throwing the knife and machete across to each other every few seconds. It had changed from a dance-off to an impromptu training session. To a crowd of hunters, it was an impressive sight. To Cas, it was the return of his brothers.

"This is who they are." he said to Sarah, "Under all the pain and trauma and guilt, this is who they really are."

"Yes," she said, "And this is what we'll build on. This is how we'll save them both."

Mark stopped playing. With apologies, he got down from the table. Paul was still going strong. Jules went over to Mark and shook his hand.

"Grab yourself a beer!" said Sarah, "You earned it."

Jules returned to Cas, casually taking his arm as if doing so didn't set off an 1812 Overture in his head. He remembered Dean's advice and wished he, the veteran of many a deadly battlefield, had the courage to kiss her without a clear instruction to do so.

He watched his brothers and then saw Jack behind them, also not picking a side. Their eyes met and they both smiled.

Sam suddenly jumped onto Dean's table and Dean jumped aside, but didn't stop dancing.

"Cheat!" shouted Sarah.

Sam grinned at her.

Dean stepped towards him and he backed away, almost falling off the table, but not quite.

Dean threw the machete near Sam, but Sam barely reacted. Then Sam's knife landed in the top of the table, inches from Dean's right foot.

"Be careful, boys!" said Mary, "It's a birthday party, not a foot severing contest."

Paul played faster and both of them were starting to miss a step here and there and stumble a little. Each tried hard to put the other off, but both were near the end of their energy.

Finally, Dean said, "Hey, Winchester!"

"Yeah, Winchester?" said Sam.

"You win." said Dean, stopping his dance.

Sam did three steps more and then stopped and put his arm around his brother's shoulder. "Best out of three?" he asked, his breathing pretty rough.

"Go to Hell." said Dean, "I need a beer."

Jack fetched three beers, one for Sam, one for Dean and one for Paul. As he handed them out and various wagers were settled, Cas heard Sam say to Dean, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. You?" said Dean.

"My legs feel like rubber." said Sam.

They accepted congratulations from their supporters and then went over to Cas. "I could have beaten him." said Dean, "But he has too many legs."

"Too many legs?" said Cas.

"Like, about a thousand legs and stupid long." said Dean.

Sarah took his hand. "You both did well. How do you feel?"

He thought about it and then said, "Not bad. Tired, but not bad."

"And you, Sam?"

"I'm fine." he said.