Sam sobbed broken heartedly while still holding up Dean's dead body. He couldn't believe it. After everything they had been through, battles together, fought for. Now? This? When would the pain and suffering stop?

So deep was he buried in grief, he didn't hear the soft rustling of wings behind him.

"Hello Sam"

Sam turned, hope welled up in his soul. "Cas! You're here, quick, Dean needs your help!"

"I'm sorry Sam, I can't"

Fresh sobs wracked his body.

Castiel watched Sam briefly, compassion overwhelming him. He loved Dean, but he loved Sam as well, they were family. He walked closer to stand beside Sam and Dean, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Sam, it is Dean's time. He has no more wars to wage, and he has earned peace."

"How are you even here Cas? Dean said the Empty took you, did Jack do that? Could he bring Dean back? Please?"

"Millenia of Chuck manipulating order for his own selfish benefit, caused a lot of chaos. And everything you and Dean, all of us together, did these past years, well it tipped the balance too far. Jack is setting it right, and by setting it right that means we can't pull the threads anymore. No resurrections, jumping between dimensions, running back and forth between hell or purgatory or wherever. Everything is as it should be. Can you understand this Sam?"

Sam continued to sob, "please Cas,…please"

Castiel's eye shone with blue light, the hand on Sam's shoulder lit up. He used his powers to surround Sam in comfort, to ease his pain. Not remove it but ease it.

"I am here because in setting things right, Jack restored quiet to the empty. You don't need the details Sam, but my release to work with Jack was part of that. I am here, now, Sam, because you and Dean were, are my family, Jack too although that's different now. I am here, in this moment, Sam, to take Dean home."

Without Sam even realizing it was happening, Castiel took over the task of holding up Dean's lifeless body. Ever so gently he lifted Dean off the metal that he was impaled on, stopping only briefly to caress the side of his face.

"Sam, I have to go now. You will not see me again in your lifetime, but you will see me. When it is your time, I will come back to bring you home as well. No reapers for either of you."

"Cas, I…" Words failed, Sam was empty.

"Live a good life Sam, the one you always wanted but didn't know how to have. Your battles are over too. Dean's soul is at peace now. You will be together again, I promise you."

Sam didn't want Cas to go, but knew this was it.

"Cas, you know I loved you like a brother, right? Thank you, f….for everything." He swallowed, another wave of sobs was coming. "Promise me you'll take care of him"

"Always."

Another rustle of wings, Sam was alone.

Dean looked around in awe. So this was heaven. Big sky, fresh air, the most beautiful mountainous countryside he had ever seen. Then he heard a greeting and turned his head.

"Bobby?" It was the father of his heart.

Bobby handed him a beer, and Dean took a seat next to him. Trying to understand, well, everything, he listened while Bobby told him about the people who were here waiting for him, Jack and the changes he had made, how heaven wasn't a good memory loop anymore, it was a different kind of real. He was so proud of Jack, his son.

"Jack did all of this?"

"Well, he had a little help. From Cas." Bobby looked at Dean, with the briefest twinkle in his eye.

It was a lot to take in, he looked at Bobby. Cas was here?

For the first time since Dean could remember, he wasn't scared, or angry. He didn't feel the panic that had always, always been waiting on the edge of his mind to take over. He didn't feel like there was a tightly coiled spring in his gut, and he wasn't frantically worried about Sam. No regrets gnawing at the back of his thoughts. No shame. He had been so weary after a lifetime of fighting, and now? All he felt was…peace.

"Did you say Cas was here?" He quietly asked Bobby because it already seemed like too much.

"Why don't you go see for yourself? Two miles down the road…that way." Bobby nodded to the right.

Following the nod, Dean saw Baby. As perfect as she ever looked. Waiting on the dusty road and facing the direction Bobby had mentioned. He put his beer down strode towards his car, not even hesitating to get in and start her up.

"Thanks Bobby."

"See ya, you idjit"

The drive took forever and also a second, time was a funny thing in heaven apparently. He knew he had reached his destination when he saw the cabin. It was the one he had always dreamed about, the one he imagined as a place of shelter, and the one he had always hope would be home. Big porch, made of logs, stone chimney with gentle threads of smoke curling out of the top.

He turned of the ignition and got out. Was this real? Really his?

The front door of the cabin open, and the rest of the pieces fell into place. Crossing that porch and walking towards him, the man was infinitely familiar and also different. The trench coat and suit were gone. Cas was wearing boots, not unlike his own, a pair of jeans and a sweater that was the same deep ocean blue of his eyes.

"Hello Dean"

"Cas? Is this real?"

Castiel's eyes shone brightly, and the smile on his face filled Dean with wonder.

"Yes Dean, this is real."

"How are you here and not in the empty?"

"It's a story that I have forever to tell you Dean, it is good to see you. I missed you."

Dean looked at everything again, was this really real? Was this possible?

"What happened to your trench coat?"

"Like you Dean, my battles are over. That is not me anymore. This is."

Dean really didn't remember when Cas had reached him, but he was right in front of him now, close enough to touch.

"I was too broken Cas, you understand that right? When you told me you loved me, I just didn't know how to say it, it was too much. But you know? That I love you, I loved you for what feels like forever."

For the second time that day Cas gently caressed Dean's cheek, although Dean wouldn't know that.

"Yes Dean, I knew it then and I know it now." Cas's hand dropped from his face and took his hand instead.

"But Cas, is this real? Or is this my imagination? Is this, are we, something that I can have?"

Cas smiled again, Dean didn't even realize that he had just mirrored his own words. He was going to spend the rest of time showing him exactly how real this was. Ever so gently he leaned forward and kissed Dean. He had waited so very long for this moment.

Still holding Deans' hand, he turned back towards cabin, tugging Dean to join him. In life, Dean had had to be the stoic leader, emotionally walled off, but here, Cas knew Dean could let go.

"This is something we can both have Dean, this is real. Let me show you."

Cas led Dean back across the porch and into the cabin. The door shutting behind them both.