Chapter 64.

With no immediate need for his supervision, Dean sent Sam to find their mother and brief her on whatever he felt she needed to know and suggested he should call Sarah and let her know how things were going. He stayed in the Dean Cave, listening to music and trying not to speculate on whether Cas had hit some kind of obstacle in his relationship with Jules.

When his phone rang, he stopped the music and answered it. "Rowena," he said, "What are you up to now?"

"Why do you assume I'm up to something, Dean?" she said.

"Experience." he said. He was surprised how good it felt to hear her voice again.

"I just called because I heard you were back ... not from you, I might add."

"I've been busy." he said.

"I waited a while, in case you still had an archangel on board." said Rowena, "Honestly, Dean, what kind of idiot lets himself get possessed by an archangel?"

"At the time, I didn't feel I had much choice."

"I know, I know. A noble sacrifice, laying down your life for your friends. All very virtuous, but still incredibly stupid. If you had no use for your body, you could have come to me. I have several."

"Just how stupid do you think I am?" he said.

"Do you want that answer as a number, or in a graph?" she said.

He chuckled.

"I'm glad you're back with us." she said, "Everyone missed you."

"Even you?" he said.

"Well, I'm not the sentimental type, but there were many times I thought, 'I wish Dean were here, taking these stupid risks instead of me.'"

"What stupid risks did you take?" he said.

"I'll have you know I was fully engaged in plotting against your celestial parasite. I still am. I'm working on anything I can find to obliterate the Heavenly bastard." Her voice sounded kinder when she said, "I'd imagine your brother and the angel were very happy to have you home."

"Yes, they were." he said.

"And are you happy to be home?"

He was less sure about that. It still felt too good to be true and if his happiness came at the cost of any of the bunker's other residents, it could mean nothing to him.

She read his hesitation too accurately. "Nothing good ever comes without a price, eh?" she said.

"This time, I really hope it does." he said.

"He took it badly, you know."

"Sam?" he said.

"Castiel. Took to wandering around alone at night. Made some poor decisions. Felt very alone, I think."

"Yeah, Sam said." said Dean.

"Do you know if he has anyone besides you and Samuel? I'm assuming, if he has a private life, you'd know it." She sounded casual, but a little too casual.

"Why are you interested?" he said.

"I'm worried about our little cherub."

"Seraph."

"Whatever. You and your equally emotionally constipated brother don't seem to me to constitute the best support network in the world. I mean, he's been around for a while. Presumably, there have been other people in his life."

"Well, there's Claire." said Dean. Rowena knew of her, although they had never met. It was safe enough to mention her. He had no intention of talking about Jules.

"His sort of daughter."

"They're pretty close." he said.

"He mentioned a liaison." she said.

"Did he?" said Dean, doubting it.

"I assumed you'd know all about it."

"Hell of an assumption. If he has a private life, he's keeping it very private. As far as I know, he has no relationship with anyone outside the family."

"I wonder if that means it's someone you would disapprove of or if it means the relationship is in the past." she said.

"Does it matter?"

"You're remarkably incurious."

"It's none of my business."

"You're in loco Dei. I would think you'd take an interest."

"I'm a loco what?" he said.

"You're in loco Dei. You're standing in for God as far as Tweetypie is concerned. His welfare should be your concern."

"His welfare is. Any romantic entanglements he may or may not have are not."

"And what if she, he or they are like to prove harmful to the wee featherling? You should be aware, he's become a lot less cautious of late."

"In what way?" said Dean. She was trying to get information and that was normal for her and refusing to give it came naturally, but he had the feeling she might also be trying to convey some and that was rare enough to merit attention.

"I'm not betraying a confidence." she said, "I can keep secrets as well as you. All I'm saying is that you might want to keep an eye on his associations and his interests, because sometimes, he is wont to take some foolish risks. Not that all of his recent ideas have necessarily been bad ones."

"I know Sam likes all your riddles, but I don't have the time or the patience. If there's something you want to say, say it."

"Well, since you force me to be direct, I will say this: We cannot afford to lose Castiel and we should not always assume he is thinking clearly. He has been more thoroughly Winchestered than any of us."

"And what, exactly, does that mean?" he said.

"It means his self-presevation is trumped by his personal devotion to you."

"And are you saying the same is true of you?" he said, knowing that would annoy her.

"Me? It'll be a cold day in Hell before I put a Winchester before my own interest. I'm afraid I am quite immune to your charms. That angel of yours, though ... "

"He's not my angel."

"Yes, well I wouldn't tell him that. I don't think he'd cope well with rejection. All I'm saying is, don't assume he's fine, just because he doesn't tell you he isnt." There was a note of genuine concern in her voice. Perhaps she was fonder of Cas than she liked to admit.

"Don't worry," said Dean, "I know what he's worth and I know he's a little vulnerable at times. Things are a little messed up for now, but he's high on my list of priorities."

"As he should be. We have one of Heaven's best weapons. We shouldn't let it rust away to nothing." There was a pause and then she said, "What things are messed up?"

He thought about lying, or refusing to answer, but he decided he needed to give her something. "Me." he said, "Michael's possession ... "

"Say no more." she said, sounding sympathetic, "Having that kind of power inside you, controlling you, that righteous, arrogant ego calling the shots, keeping you down, of course it left some unfortunate effects. To be honest, I'm impressed you're not a gibbering wreck."

"Thanks." he said.

"Take comfort from the fact that you turned out to be a lot stronger than he expected." she said, "I'm currently trying to find a way to ping him out of whatever vessel he's in, but if you want me to come to the bunker and ... "

"No." he said quickly, not wanting her to see how things had changed between him and Cas, "No, you keep doing what you're doing. No point keeping a witch of your calibre in reserve at a time like this."

"No, there really isn't." she said, sounding pleased, "You take care, now. Watch the angel, make sure your brother looks after himself and try to avoid handing your body over to anyone who isn't a highly trustworthy ally."

"I'll do my best, Rowena." he promised, "You stay as bad and beautiful as you are."

"Flatterer." she said, "I'm glad you got free. Impressed and glad."

He hadn't gotten free and that weighed on his mind a lot, but she was not the one to confide in about that. He started the music up again, reminding himself that not being a gibbering wreck was a triumph, in a way.