In the end, Cas came back. Because of course he did. Dean took one look at the love of his life, the panicked look on his face, and strode forward, cupping Cas' face in his hands. He kissed Cas so hard, so passionately that the angel saw stars. "Wow," he gasped when they finally pulled apart.
Dean would have laughed at any other moment in time but he couldn't let anything go unsaid anymore. He and Cas had waited over a decade and enough was enough. "You could have always had it. You fucking idiot, I love you too."
Cas laughed and choked on a sob. "Is this really happening?"
"You want me to slap you?" Dean playfully shot back.
"I think I'll pass, thank you. But you love me," Cas marveled in awe.
"And you love me. Like so fucking hard I don't even know how to cope with this. Cas, you said all those things and my brain went offline. And I didn't even have time to say what I wanted. Despite my brain short circuiting, I thought you were going in for a kiss before you pushed me away," he admitted.
"Should we leave now?" Jack whispered to Sam.
"Probably, but like these two morons, I've been waiting over a decade and don't want to miss anything," Sam admitted.
Dean and Cas both shot him a glare but were both too happy to even tell him to fuck off and leave them to their privacy. They wanted to share their joy with their family - it was only right after they had saved the world yet again. "So we're retiring now. Want to live a normal life?" Dean asked Cas after turning his attention back to him.
"Sounds like a wonderful idea," Cas agreed before giving in to the impulse to kiss Dean again. "I can do that now."
"We can do that a fuck more than that, if you want," Dean offered, a jolt of fear running through him.
"I would like that."
"Gross," Sam muttered underneath his breath.
"I don't want to think about them having the sex," Jack whispered to him and three of them started laughing.
"I think we may have just traumatized our kid, Cas."
"It'll happen again. It's inevitable," Cas responded, brushing off his mock concern.
Dean barked out a laugh. "That it is." He laced Cas' hand into his and tried to wrap his head around the fact that he was allowed this, could actually be happy with the man he loved, his brother, and their son. He had literally everything he wanted now and it was absolutely fucking surreal. He had always thought his love for Cas was unrequited, that it would remain unspoken. The courage it took Cas to finally come out and confess everything still amazed him.
"What are you thinking about?" Cas questioned, knowingly, trying to resist the urge to kiss Dean once more.
"About you."
Sam gagged. "You two are sappy and gross, which doesn't surprise me. Jack, we can leave them alone now."
"Finally!" Jack laughed and followed Sam out of the map room, leaving Cas and Dean alone.
"Don't you ever fucking die on me again," Dean warned.
"I don't plan on it. Means you can't die either," Cas responded with a grin on his face.
"Deal." The joy bubbled out of him again and Dean couldn't help but laugh. He leaned forward and kissed Cas one more time.
"I love you." Cas couldn't stop saying it, was pretty sure Dean felt the same way.
"Love you too, Cas." Dean hugged him, stunned he had finally got something - everything - he had ever wanted.
"You want to find Jack and Sam?"
"And fuck with them some more? Of course."
Cas chuckled. "Troll," he teased.
"Takes one to know one."
"Good comeback," Cas could only sigh as they walked out of the map room hand in hand.
They found Sam and Jack waiting for them in the library. "Finally out of your own little world or still there?"
"Shut up," Dean shot back, trying to glare but utterly failing.
"We should celebrate. We beat God, everyone's back, and now there's no pressing crisis. Let's go out to eat, watch a movie," Jack suggested, lighting up.
"Sounds good to me. I'll grab Eileen." She had been napping ever since her return, and Sam hadn't wanted to bother her.
The five of them left the bunker about ten minutes later, walking off into the sunset they had deserved to see for a long time.
The end had no end, and this was the beginning of something new, something great.