Chapter 94.

Dean looked at Sarah. She looked troubled. She hated to see any of them fighting. He turned to Cas. "I'm sorry. I never intended to ... "

"Neither did I." said Cas and Dean knew that his mind had finished the sentence before his mouth had a chance to. Cas smiled slightly, "But I could still put you through a wall with very little effort."

"Yeah, I know." said Dean. He consciously stopped his mind from saying anything about Michael.

"Could I suggest a compromise?" said Jules.

"You seem to be the voice of reason today." said Dean, "Go ahead."

"Cas?" she said.

"I'm listening." he said.

"Thanks." said Jules, "I think maybe we should keep Cas at the bunker, where he is a vital, frontline defence."

"Thankyou!" said Cas.

"That's not really a compromise." said Dean.

"If you'll let me finish ... It is, as we've discussed, a short drive away, so each evening, he can come here for supper and stay until after breakfast."

"And if Michael attacks at night?" said Cas.

"As Dean said, he could attack now and none of us would be at the bunker." said Sam, "This seems fair. You split your time between the bunker and this place, Jules gets to spend a lot of time with you. Any objections, Dean?"

"None." said Dean, keeping his mind under control, letting it reveal neither his relief that he would still have Cas around nor his concern that Cas might still end up atomised by Michael.

"Cas?" said Sam.

Cas didn't answer. He looked from one face to another, saying nothing. Then his eyes met Dean's and Dean heard in his mind, "If Jack dies because I am not there ... "

Aloud, Dean said, "You know as well as I do that Michael will attack when we are both there. We don't get lucky."

Quietly, Jules said, "Cas, this is a chance to be together. And if the bunker gets attacked, we'll both go to join the battle."

"You think the Winchesters can withstand Michael for thirty minutes?"

"Hey!" said Dean.

"Or thirty seconds?" said Cas.

"Double hey!" said Sam.

"I could always do the vessel thing and fight him in my own body like Sam did with you know who." said Dean.

"Don't even joke about that!" said Cas, "Promise me now that you will never say yes to any iteration of Michael."

"I've already promised." said Dean.

"Promise again." said Cas, "Never, under any circumstances, for any reason, ever." His mind backed that up with a surge of doubt and fear.

"Okay, fine, I promise. It'll never happen. Honestly, Cas, it was never gonna happen. You know me better than that."

"Yes. Well. I worry."

Sarah smiled at each of them. "Maybe both of you need to have a little more faith in each other. I think Jules is making a very sensible suggestion. It would bring a little balance into Castiel's life and I think he would be the first to admit that he could use a little balance."

"Plus, you'll be here, with Jules, all night, every night." said Dean.

"Yes, which would be a great thing, if we could close the link at will." said Cas.

"We're getting there." said Dean.

"And we'll get there too, Cas." said Jules, "Remember Ecclesiastes."

"Ecclesiastes?" said Dean.

Sarah smiled again. "For everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven."

Dean looked at Cas. In his head, Cas said, "No, don't."

"The Byrds." said Dean.

"The what?" said Sam.

"Oh Hell. The talismans don't work." said Dean. He heard Cas's mind struggling to find an argument. "Forget it, Cas. I know."

"Yes, you do." said Cas, "I'm sorry."

"How long have you known?" said Dean.

"Since I heard about the fire visions."

"Did you know, Sam?" said Dean.

Cas answered instead. "Everything Sam did, he did for us. He did it to help us."

"You lied to me, Sammy? How long have you known they didn't work?"

"I ... " Sam began.

"Did they ... did they ever work?" said Dean.

"You and Cas were a mess. The link was driving you both crazy. He wanted to get Heaven to cut it out and you were capable of almost anything. I did what I had to do and if you hate me ... "

"There never were any talismans. Was there a Rhydian?"

"Yes, but he did my laundry at Stanford." said Sam, "I know you're pissed ... "

"You lied to me. You lied to Cas. We never had any protection."

"You had near total protection. Once you believed in the talismans, your faith in them enabled you to close the link. I gave you a magic feather, that's all."

"Well, you can take your magic feather and teach your ass to fly." said Dean, "You lied to me."

"Do I need to remind you of Gadreel? Amy, maybe?" said Sam, "It's not like it's the first lie we've told each other. We do what we have to. I was terrified that you or Cas or both would destroy yourselves to kill the link. Under the circumstances, I thought a lie was the only option. You wondered why I was acting so weird and guilty, well, that's it. I hate lying to you, always have. Fine, so you hate me now. Just know that I hate myself more. If there had been any other way ... "

"Hate you?" said Dean, "No, I'm pissed and I'm hurt and I kinda wanna punch you in the face, but you did what you did because you wanted to help us. You did help us. And now, because you bought us time to think, we're starting to gain conscious control. I guess I would've done the same thing for you, if I'd thought of it."

"So, you forgive me?" said Sam in some surprise.

Dean shook his head. "You ran rings around me, little brother. I find that very hard to forgive. But yeah, I forgive you. I'll be a lot less gullible in future, but I forgive you."

"Thanks. I've barely slept."

"I noticed."

"I knew you'd work it out. I knew you'd be angry."

"It took me far too long to work it out." said Dean, "At least it means I was never losing my mind."

"No, you weren't. I wanted to tell you that, but you still needed to believe in the talismans."

"Yeah, I understand." said Dean, "Okay, Cas, decision time. A simple choice, do you spend your nights with us or with Jules?"

Cas looked at Dean, then Sam, then Jules. "No contest." he said, "But if there's the slightest hint of an impending attack ... "

"We'll let you know right away." said Dean.

"Good!" said Sarah, "I think this is better for everyone. Now, what do we all want for supper?"