Chapter 50.

Dean called Rowena. It was some time before she picked up. "I take it the call means I'm not about to be murdered." she said.

"I don't waste ammo if I don't need to." he said, "But we need to get a few things straight."

"I am absolutely forbidden from having any further unsupervised contact with your angel."

"At the very least." said Dean.

"Did he get back okay?" she said, sounding almost genuine.

"Depends on your definition of okay. You took most of his grace."

"In my own defence, I have to say, I didn't want to take that much. He insisted."

"You manipulated him."

"I did not. I would not." she sounded insulted.

"You lured him away to some seedy ... "

"Now, Dean, I don't do seedy. Also, 'lured' seems a strong word. He initiated contact. He insisted on meeting away from the bunker. He's adorably bad at the cloak and dagger stuff, but, my god, he tried!"

"He's vulnerable."

"And why is that?"

"None of your business." said Dean.

"Do you even know?"

"I don't know what you think you mean by that."

"Do you know what you have in Castiel?"

"Yes."

"Most witches would do absolutely anything to get a chance to work with a willing angel on full power."

"He's not full-power anymore."

"Grace regenerates. Stop whining about it. You have a valuable ally and I should say, a devoted friend and he feels he has to sneak away to a witch of questionable ethics."

"He wanted to do a questionable thing. He knew we wouldn't support it."

"He knew you wouldn't support him."

"No. You don't know him as well as you think."

"What he did today gives protection to the people he cares about."

"What he did today left him helpless and gave you lasting power over him. I know it's no good to ask you to hand over the crystal you tricked him into letting you have ... "

"A simple quid pro quo."

"But you leave him alone in future."

"Give me one good reason."

"I'm looking at a gun with a clip full of good reasons." he lied.

"You know, if you tried listening to him once in a while, he might not wander off in search of validation elsewhere."

"You don't know anything about him ... or me."

"I know he had to be desperate to ask me for help. I know he got into a Toyota with a witch, came to a hotel named after one of his greatest enemies and surrendered his grace because it seemed like the only thing he could do. I know you know that too and I know that's why you want to put a bullet in my brain."

"If Michael comes while he's powerless, he dies."

"If Michael comes, he dies anyway, because he will die rather than see you fall into slavery again. Whatever happens, Dean, he will always protect you, your brother and Jack and he won't care what it costs him. He never has. As soon as he found himself with a family around him, he was as good as dead."

"No." said Dean.

"I could have drained all his grace and killed him today."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him."

"I've told you before. Take better care of your celestials, especially that one."

"You're glad I didn't, today. You got a nice little payment."

"You misjudge me. I tried to talk him out of it. You may not have noticed, but your feathered friend is not easily swayed from his decisions. Faced with such implacable determination, I decided to be practical and gain a little protection for myself ... protection which also protects him."

"How?" said Dean.

"Any of those crystals remain bound to him for as long as he lives. Any one of them can be used to inflict magical control or harm on him. By having one, I keep a way to counter such charms."

"Or work them."

"Indeed. I'm not your enemy and I'm certainly not his."

"You cast a spell on him that tormented him."

"I didn't know what it would do." she said.

"You didn't care."

"True, but things are different now."

"How are things different? You took his grace."

"He offered a witch power. What did you expect me to do, politely decline?"

"Yes!"

"Well, I'm sorry. Maybe Winchesters can resist the temptations of a trusting angel, but I make no claims to sainthood."

"What did he tell you?"

There was a long silence, then she said, "Sadly, nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

"He doesn't trust me."

"Good."

"And neither do you and neither of you has a reason to, but whatever you think of me, I wasn't exploiting him or manipulating him. I told him the dangers. I told him he should talk to you first. For once, I'm not the baddy. Whether you believe me or not and I'm reasonably sure you are physically incapable of believing me, I like him. I even like you, though the gods alone know why. I helped him because he asked for my help."

"You're right. I don't believe you." said Dean.

"Well, I am an excellent and inveterate liar, so I can't say I blame you. You've said your piece and I've said mine. Shall we leave it at that?"

"If, because of you, anything ... "

"If anything happens to him, it will be because of you and your brother, not because of me. Would it help if I came to see you?"

"It would help if you kept away from Castiel."

"We have no further plans to meet, but when his grace is back, I expect he'll want to make crystals for you and Sam."

"Well, we don't want them."

"Think twice before refusing them. The protective power of angelic grace is considerable."

"The cost to Castiel more considerable." said Dean.

"And you may hurt his feelings. The need to protect his family runs deep."

"His need to sacrifice himself is a sickness. I won't be encouraging it."

"If you'd like to talk face to face, we can. Of course, I'll need a guarantee of safe passage. You have something of a temper."

"You have something of a nerve." he said.

"We're still on the same side." she said, "He wanted to protect the Nephilim and so do I."

"He's weak." said Dean.

"Yes, for now, but he has stalwart protectors and I know you won't let him come to harm."

"If he wanders off again, we may not get the choice."

"Keep him close. It shouldn't be hard. He'd follow you anywhere, if you'd let him."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying it outright. Keep him close. Listen to him. Try to understand what he's telling you ... and what he's not."