Chapter 43.

Walking back to the farmhouse with Dean, Cas was deeply troubled. It was clear to him that Dean had, on at least three occasions, picked up his thoughts. Fiery visions had filled his mind twice when he was kissing Jules and it could not be coincidence that the song Turn, Turn, Turn referenced the verse of Ecclesiastes that Jules had quoted to him as they discussed their relationship. One or both talismans had stopped working.

He had wondered why Rhydian had made a talisman that worked on angels, now it seemed clear that he hadn't. Rhydian had been trying to make a talisman that stopped human psychics from sharing each other's thoughts and it had worked partially to prevent mental traffic between him and Dean. Sadly, his angelic mind seemed to be too strong for it.

That put a trip to Heaven back on the table. If there were no other way to fix the thing, he owed it to Dean to do the one thing he knew would end it, one way or another.

The question now was, should he tell Dean? Dean would want to know, but if he knew, he would also know that heavenly intervention would be necessary and he was strongly opposed to that idea and had threatened to kill all remaining angels if Cas considered it.

Dean seemed more positive than usual, bordering on hopeful. As they walked, he suddenly stopped, turned around to face Cas and said, "You should take Jules on a date!"

"I don't know anything about dating." said Cas.

"Yeah, well, time to learn. Take her out. Make her feel special. Women love that stuff!"

"Where would I take her?" said Cas.

"I don't know. Dinner. A movie, maybe. Then you get to sit side by side in the dark."

"We did that at the sleepover." said Cas, "And we watched a documentary about bees in Sam's room."

"Wow. You really are made for each other. Don't worry, we'll think of somewhere for you to take her."

"This is you not interfering?" said Cas.

"This is me trying not to interfere. I admit, I'm failing. Sorry."

"It's okay. It's nice that you care." said Cas. He looked into Dean's eyes and knew that Dean still needed to believe in the talisman around his neck. The decision was made. He would help Dean through the stuff he was dealing with and then he would decide whether there might be any other option than going to Heaven and asking them to kill the link, preferably without killing the defective angel.

They stopped at the hives, lit by a bright sunset. "I love this place." said Cas. He touched Jo's hive and whispered, "Sleep well, sisters." He glanced at Dean and said, "And tell this one he needs to get some sleep too."

Sarah came out of the house. "Sam and I have made supper. Come and eat. Castiel, I'd like you to eat with us tonight."

"Why?" said Cas.

"Family is important." she said.

He didn't understand, but he nodded. Humans had strange, deep needs, emotionally and he was not going to object to anything that gave his family peace. He and Dean washed their hands and joined Sam and Sarah at the table.

"Is everyone good?" said Dean, looking at Sam.

"I think, tonight, everyone is fine." said Sarah.

Sam nodded and started serving up pork cutlets to everybody.

Dean flashed a look at Sarah that Cas understood as a question and she nodded firmly. He decided that telling Sam that the talisman didn't work was only going to add to his other burdens. There was no point to that.

"It's always a pleasure to have you boys here." said Sarah, "I am so grateful to Castiel for bringing Dean and Sam into my life too."

"We're grateful that you let us in." said Dean.

"We are!" said Sam, "It feels like we finally have a home."

"Always." said Sarah, "I know you three have a lot on your minds and the battles ahead have no certain outcome. I want you to know, I believe in each of you. I have faith that you will win. I have faith that you will stand together and that nothing on Earth or beyond it can defeat the three of you united, much less the three of you united with Jack."

Opposite her, Dean said, "Thanks, Sarah. That means a lot. You give us hope. You give me hope. You don't realise how hard it is to live without hope until finally you get the smallest glimmer again and it's like a truck being lifted off you."

"It's good to know I've helped in some small way."

"Actually, you've helped in lots of big ways." said Cas, "Since the first time I wandered onto your land. you've been helping me."

"We love you, Sarah." said Sam.

"Good, because I have a big favour to ask and at least two out of the three of you won't like it."

"Which two?" said Dean.

"You and Castiel." she said, "The automatic response of both of you will be a refusal to even think about it. I want you to promise to consider it properly, with open minds and no assumptions, to talk about it and to be prepared to give it a chance."

"Fine." said Dean.

"Yes, of course." said Cas.

"I want you to take the talismans off and try to use and control the mind link."

They both answered at once, Dean saying, "Absolutely not!" and Cas saying, "Out of the question!"

"You'll never have conscious control if you don't try." she said.

Cas thought about it. If the talismans were working, there would be no need, but they were not and sooner or later, Dean would work that out and lose even the protection of his own belief. "Maybe Sarah's right." he said, "Maybe we should try."

"You know what that thing does to you, every single time." said Dean.

"Yes and I know what it does to you, so I wouldn't even consider it if I didn't think we had to do it." said Cas.

"All of Sarah's advice so far has been good." said Sam.

"Yes, I know." said Dean, "But you've never been a part of this, so you don't know what she's asking. I'm not doing it."

"Because of what it will do to Castiel?" said Sarah.

"No." said Dean and Cas heard Dean's voice in his head say, "Because of what hurting Cas does to me."

He glanced at Dean, worried that he might have noticed the connection. He hadn't. Quietly, he said, "Dean, I think we need to consider it."

"I've considered it. It's a dumb idea."

There was an awkward silence around the table for a while, then Sarah looked directly at Dean and said, "If you can get control ... "

"And what if I can't?" said Dean.

Cas heard a whisper in his mind, "All I ever do is fail."

He was careful to reply to what was spoken, not the part that wasn't. "You can, Dean. We can. We can do this together."

"I need to think." said Dean. He stood up. "Excuse me." he said, before going out into the dwindling light.

"Thankyou for giving it serious consideration." Sarah said to Cas.

"I think we have to." he said.