One Last Thing
Dean turned away from the railing, looking up at the sky. He still had some unfinished business.
"Castiel!" he shouted at everything and nothing. "Come on, you fucker!"
"What?" Sam looked at him with shock. "Cas?"
There was the telltale flutter of wings Dean hadn't heard in years but could never really forget.
"Hello, Dean. Sam."
Cas stood on the side, looking like always – looking alive – except maybe the black trench coat that fit him way better than the previous ones and a matching tie instead of the usual blue. He was hot. And Dean did the first thing that came to mind.
The knife was in his hand with a thought as he strode over to his best friend, stabbing him straight in the chest.
Cas glanced down at the blade with the same small, amused smirk but his eyes when he looked back up at Dean was all warmth. Dean didn't know if he was seeing it because he wasn't oblivious to it anymore or because Cas didn't have anything left to hide.
"Déjà vu," the angel muttered, pulling the knife out and letting it hit the concrete. There was a brief flash of grace and the wound disappeared in an instant, no struggle, no pain.
"You absolute asshole!" Dean shouted at him. "You're back from the dead, again, and you fuck off to here, without a call?"
"Dean, please –"
"I fucking died!"
"Dean –"
"Sammy, how old were you when you kicked the bucket?" the hunter asked without glancing at his brother.
Sam cleared his throat.
"Sixty-seven," he said.
That stopped Dean for a second. His baby brother had a good, long life. That made it all worth it. They'd have to talk about that, Sam had to tell him everything so Dean could be even more proud of him than he already was. But that meant…
"Then my death was like, thirty years ago!" he yelled at Cas. "I've been here for thirty fucking years and you didn't even think about popping in?"
Cas sighed and probably the only thing keeping him from rolling his eyes was Dean's ire. The bastard.
"Dean, you went for a drive," he said softly. He seemed… lighter somehow, the permanent frown on his face almost gone. He looked like someone who didn't have a care in the world.
"I fucking missed you," Dean whispered.
"I know. I'm sorry," Cas murmured. "Jack asked me, when he pulled me back from the Empty, before he… was gone, that I keep the peace up here, looking over the souls." He paused briefly, eyes narrowing with annoyance. "To be honest, I thought you wouldn't die so soon that I don't even have time to consider going back down."
"Fuck you," he felt the tip of his ears heating up and really, why was he the one getting scolded?
"Dean, you fought countless enemies, the Devil, Death and God Himself. I gave up my life for you, and you didn't even last a month because of a damn nail."
"Yeah, about that Empty shtick," he crossed his arms, trying to change the topic to what he had more interest in. It worked, because something in Cas' face darkened at that. "We have to talk."
"Uhm, guys, maybe I just –" Sam spoke up, gesturing awkwardly at Baby.
"Take her," Dean nodded. "You can find Bobby at the Roadhouse. He has shitty beer."
"Alright," his brother nodded and went over to Cas to hug him tightly for a long moment. The angel hugged him back immediately. "Glad you're alright, man," Dean heard him whisper, and Cas had a gentle smile on his face when they pulled away. "Don't be a stranger, okay?"
It didn't take much time for the taillights to disappear from view. Dean started walking in the other direction without a word, confident that Cas would follow him.
The silence wasn't oppressing, the forest around them loud with wildlife, the sound of their boots not scaring anything away. As the dusty road curved in front of them, Dean started hearing something, a noise that didn't belong anywhere near these woods. He looked at Cas in surprise who just gave him his usual upturn of lips in response.
"Heaven is whatever you want it to be," he shrugged, the gesture more human than ever before. Dean hurried up his steps.
The sea. Vibrant crystal blue, disappearing on the horizon. The wind and sun warm on his face, seagulls flying overhead. The waves were licking the beach in a calm back-and-forth. There was sand under his feet.
He knew he was gaping openly, but he couldn't help it. There was no touch of humanity in sight, just he and Cas and the infinite water.
You, me, Cas, toes in the sand, couple of them little umbrella drinks. Matching Hawaiian shirts, obviously.
The words were coming from somewhere deep within him, a memory from forever ago.
"We're so bringing Sam next time," he breathed out.
"We?" Cas asked and he sounded unsure. Dean hated it.
He turned to Cas fully, closing the distance between them in one step, cupping his face in both hands. The angel's breath, which he didn't even need, hitched and Dean should've done this a long time ago just to see this reaction.
"You're a dumbass," he said and couldn't help the contentment washing over him. I've got you. I love you. "Listen, Cas, you ever try something like that again, I'm gonna kill you myself before anyone else has the chance. You can't just confess things like that to a guy in five minutes and then die immediately after. That's a jackass move."
"Dean –"
"Let me say this," he asked. Because he could finally say it. There was no one who would try to take it away. There was no reason to be a coward anymore. "The thing you thought you couldn't have? Well, I thought the same about you." Cas eyes went comically wide, mouth opening a little and Dean really couldn't help how his gaze dropped to it for a moment. "I mean, you're an angel," he huffed a laugh but there was no bitterness in it like all the times he'd thought about this before. "Never even thought you could feel anything like that in the first place, let alone for me. After all the things I've done to you, how could you? And then I thought we were gonna die and you drop a bomb like that. I probably couldn't have processed all you said in a week. And then you were just gone and I didn't even have the chance to say it back."
Cas' face was so incredibly affectionate and hopeful Dean wanted to bask in it forever. He could hardly believe he'd been able to live without it before. Or not before, just, y'know, live without it.
"I love you, Cas," he breathed out, the words rolling off his tongue. No choke-ups, no stuttering. Easy, natural.
The angel's teary laugh was full of joy and his touch tender when his hand was sneaking into the back of Dean's neck.
"I love you, too," he smiled brightly and it was the most awesome thing ever.
The hunter's walls had already crumbled to dust a while ago and the thought, "I wanna kiss you," slipped out before he could do anything against it. Cas' nod was quick and came without hesitation and even though Dean was technically dead, he felt his heart hammering in his chest.
They met in the middle. Cas' lips were dry and his stubble scratched against Dean's, noses bumping together, and their hands were really not in the greatest positions for this. It was perfect.
It took them a couple seconds to maneuver themselves into something more comfortable and then it was the first time Dean truly felt like he was in Heaven because it was literally otherworldly. The kiss was gentle and easy, lips moving against each other leisurely but there was something deep and meaningful in it that Dean'd never experienced before. Cas' fingers were fisted in his jacket at his shoulder and at his waist like he never wanted to release him. The hunter could relate, his hand buried in Cas' soft hair, the other grabbing the lapel of that damn coat.
He didn't know how long they stood there, not that time had any meaning here.
Cas was the one to pull away and he chuckled when Dean tried to chase his lips. It was the definition of fond, and Dean couldn't even bother to be embarrassed about it. Cas' eyes were bluer than the sea just a couple yards away from them, his face shining with something that Dean had only seen once but now his gaze wasn't clouded by tears.
"Having it is immeasurably better," Cas whispered between them, sounding almost shy.
Dean grinned.
"Yeah," he agreed. Something occurred to him and he cleared his throat, lowering his gaze to where his hand was playing with the angel's tie before looking up again. "This whole… 'Ruler of Heaven' gig you got going on. You gonna be busy with that, right?"
Cas leaned in again and pressed the softest of kisses on Dean's still tingling lips, thumb sliding over a freckled cheek.
"Not as busy as you'd think," he smiled indulgently. "Naomi's a capable second-in-command."
"Bet she likes that," Dean smirked before turning serious. "You okay with her?"
"I asked Jack for it," Cas sighed. "I know her the best and she knows what she's doing."
Dean swallowed thickly.
"Then you – you can stay for a while?" he asked and he hated how his voice was almost desperate.
"Even if I have to go, you know I always come when you call," Cas reassured him. "For now, we have all the time in the world."
T hat was just fine by Dean.