Chapter 21.

Cas watched clouds drifting across the dark sky, The air had cooled as the hours had passed, though the cold had no effect on him. At the farm, Jules would be lying in the comfortable bed Sarah had given him and Sarah herself would be snug under her quilt. He wondered whether either would sleep, whether anyone he cared about was getting any rest at all. He was glad he didn't need it.

There were advantages to being soulless and inhuman.

His cellphone rang and he answered it. "Yes?" he said.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late." said Rowena, "I know you're probably tucked up in your little bed. I hope I didn't wake you."

"You didn't. I don't sleep." he said.

"Interesting. I don't know much about the nocturnal habits of angels. What are you wearing?"

"I'm wearing what I always wear."

"Now, if you don't mind my saying so, you're not really entering into the spirit of this, Castiel."

"The spirit of what?" he said.

"You're not a natural flirt, are you, darlin'?" She chuckled and said, "Are you ... can you be ... a virgin?"

"Of course not!" he said, uneasily aware that April was the only reason he could say that.

"Oh, now I am intrigued. Was it someone I know?"

"Rowena, is there a point to this conversation? Because we are a little busy here trying to stop Michael from burning the world to charcoal."

"Oh, I knew there was something. My old friend turned out not to have anything we can use against Michael. All talk, as usual."

"I know the type." said Cas.

"You sound irritable."

"You didn't come here because you said you thought you had something. Why do any of us ever trust you?"

"You never do, do you?" she said.

"How many times have you lied to us, tricked us, hexed us ... "

"I've never claimed to be a good person, but I've also helped you."

"That's true." he admitted, "Although you have so many ulterior motives, that sometimes we have to search really hard for the overt ones."

"Do you like me, Castiel?" she said, "Or do you blame me somehow for Charlie's death?"

"Your involvement was tangential and minor. I was more to blame." he said.

"You didn't answer the first part of the question."

"Angels have no likes or dislikes." he said.

"You like and dislike a lot of things." she said, "I suppose we're not friends."

"No." he said.

"But if the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then the fact that I am a friend of the Winchesters must mean something to you."

"It means I am talking to you, despite this conversation having no value whatsoever."

"You sound cross, Castiel. I wonder if you know how attractive your anger can be."

"I wonder why you persist in trying to flirt with a being incapable of feeling any of the feelings you are trying to arouse."

"Yet you are not a virgin." she said, "And there's probably a story there."

"There isn't." he said.

"Human or angel? Hunter or civilian? Pleasure or duty? Have you ever been in love?"

"Have you?" he asked.

"Yes, long ago, not wisely, but too well, if you know what I mean."

"I know the quotation." he said.

"You've led an odd sort of life, haven't you, Tweetypie? You know so much and feel so little. You watch life, death, love and sex and you don't know what any of them mean. You've fallen so often and so hard, but you're still trying to keep that halo bright. You're ashamed of the feelings you shouldn't have and afraid of them, but you're not a marble statue, my friend. There is blood in your borrowed veins. There is thunder in your heart. Even your anger at me is a passion you shouldn't feel."

"You don't know much about angels." he said.

"Maybe not, but I know a lot about men and you can't wear the flesh without feeling the thorns."

"The flesh is a vessel. I, the angel, am in control."

"So you had sex in the line of duty?"

"That's not your concern."

"Once, or more than once?"

He knew he should have said he was a virgin. It would have been a lot simpler. "You know, you could just have texted that you had nothing."

"I said my friend has nothing. I still have a few leads. I'll keep you informed."

"By text." he said.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"How is now an appropriate time for this?" he said.

"Can you think of a better one? The world's about to end. Let's grab all the fun we can before it's all over."

"This is fun to you? Antagonising an angel?"

"More fun than you can possibly imagine, assuming you can even imagine fun. Have you ever laughed, Castiel?"

"Yes, I've laughed."

"Oh, that's good. There's a little spark of life in there after all. You've laughed. You've had sex. You've rebelled against Heaven. You've even worked a little magic here and there. We have a few things in common. We should be friends."

"The enemy of my enemy who is also the friend of my friend and the friend of my enemy and the mother of my enemy and the ally of my enemy and the enemy of my friends wants to be my friend."

"Do you have so many friends you can afford to turn one away?"

"You are nobody's friend. You are a witch and the most perfidious, unreliable and selfish witch I have ever met."

"And still you like me, a little." she said.

"Perhaps I respect you, a little." he admitted.

"It's a start."

"But you should lose all interest in my private life. I don't have one."

"You don't?"

"My life is duty. Duty is my life."

"Duty to Heaven? Because that hasn't come across when you've done so much that wasn't sanctioned by them. Duty to the Winchesters, perhaps?"

"Duty to creation, to good rather than evil, to humanity."

"Humanity, my dear, are not worth your time."

"That has not been my experience."

"I remain enthralled by the possibility that I may hear all about your experiences."

"Really? I find it hard to imagine you in thrall to anything."

"Now you're getting the hang of flirting." she said.

"Playing games with me might not be the best use of your time, with an apocalypse looming."

"Ah, there's always an apocalypse looming. The Winchesters will handle it. They always do."

"And if they need your help?"

"I'm working on it. I told you."

"You tell me a lot. I believe less than half of it."

"That's probably very wise." she said, "Is that wind I can hear?"

"Yes. There's some wind tonight."

"You're outside?"

"On top of the bunker." he said.

"Alone?"

"No. I'm talking to you." he said.

"Is something wrong?" she asked and it sounded close to sincere.

"No, nothing." he said, "Goodbye, Rowena."

"Au revoir, mon cher." she said.