Chapter 3

Dean woke up and stretched, feeling at peace with the entire world. He was warm and cozy and the sofa he was lying on was the most comfortable piece of furniture he'd ever had the good fortune to sleep on. Someone had spread a fleece blanket over him and with that, he was perfectly happy to spend the next few centuries or so just lying there.

Wait…when did he lay down? He shifted and turned his head, looking around, trying to figure out just where he was. Relief flooded through him when he spotted Sam on the same couch, catty-corner to him. He was still asleep, under a blanket and dead to the world. "Sam?"

Sam shifted and rolled over, wrapping up in his blanket like a caterpillar.

Dean groaned, grabbed the back of the couch, and pulled himself to a sitting position. He swung his feet over the side of the couch and somehow made it to a standing position. As soon as he had, he got a good look at the room where they were, and he just had to stop for a moment and stare.

It was the best rumpus room he'd ever seen. Overstuffed chairs and ottomans, a huge U-shaped couch, bean bag chairs, and an entertainment center to make the gods weep. Shelves held DVDs and video games, and he could see four different game consoles. More shelves held tons of board games. There was even a mini basketball hoop, a pinball machine, and two arcade games!

Holy crap! This guy Belenus is serious about his fun, Dean thought, going over to Sam and shaking him.

"Whaaaaat?" Sam groaned, trying to push his brother away. "What is it? Go away."

"We just had another nap, Sammy," Dean said. "Wake up."

Sam's eyes snapped open and he jackknifed to a sitting position. "Aw, you're kidding me! How much more are we going to sleep?"

"Dunno," Dean said, dropping back onto the couch. "I have to say, though, I like this couch. This is one comfy couch."

Sam looked thoughtful. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Belenus was showing us around the house, and then he said he thought we looked tired…and then we woke up here."

"Do you think he snapped his fingers?" Sam wanted to know.

"He promised he wouldn't if we agreed to two weeks."

"Which we haven't done yet," Sam reminded him. "Is Cas here?"

"Here," Cas said, appearing next to them. "Sorry, I've been keeping an eye on Belenus and Williams. Are you two all right?"

"Yeah, fine," Dean said. "Just what the heck happened, though? One second, we were on a house tour, and then we woke up here."

"You were tired," Cas said, taking a seat on an ottoman. "Belenus brought us to this room-which is yours, by the way, he said so-and both of you headed straight for the couch and lay down. Since then, you've been asleep."

"How long have we been asleep?" Dean asked.

"Two and a half hours," Cas told him. "How do you feel?"

"Like I'll never be able to sleep normally again," Dean muttered, feeling ticked off. "Did he snap his fingers?"

Cas shook his head. "No."

Sam nodded. "Okay. Wait, what did you mean when you said this room is ours?"

"That was what Belenus said when he brought us here," Cas explained. "He said this room was for you to have fun in."

"So…he gave us a play room?" Dean said, feeling a bit worried at that. Just why he was worried, he couldn't say.

Cas looked around the room, but he didn't say anything, which was answer enough, Dean supposed. It was a pretty awesome room.

"What's Belenus and Williams been up to?" Sam asked.

"Belenus has been in his office since you fell asleep. He's been making phone calls, sending emails, and working on his computer. Williams has been in your rooms, putting clothes away."

"Clothes?" Sam echoed. "So, he finished washing our clothes?"

"And the new ones that Belenus purchased on your behalf," Cas stated.

"Oh, he didn't." Sam looked ready to kill something.

Cas nodded. "He did. I think he really wishes you to stay."

"Yeah, we still have to decide about that," Dean reminded them both. "Thoughts?"

"We may not have a choice," Sam pointed out. "Don't you remember from earlier? Either we agree to the two weeks, or he just doesn't let us go."

"Can we trust him, though, to let us go after two weeks?" Dean wondered.

"I feel that he wants to build a relationship with you two, and the best way for him to sabotage that would be to keep you here by force," Castiel said. "He's given you a way to leave and the option to return if you wish it."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, there's that. If he just wanted to keep us here, he wouldn't give us a chance to go. Actually, now that I think about it, his threat to keep us here if we didn't agree to the two weeks is kind of what a parent would do."

Dean stared at his brother. "Come again?"

"Well, what do you do with a kid that you think is intent on doing something stupid?" Sam pointed out. "You keep him where you can keep an eye on him. He thought we were being silly by refusing to stay here and recuperate."

"Okay, now that you've said it, that makes a weird sort of sense," Dean agreed. "So, what do you guys think? Stay two weeks? Run for the hills?"

"The whole situation makes me want to run for the hills," Sam admitted. "I mean, this guy can't just want to get to know us. It's never something so simple."

Castiel shrugged. "I agree with Sam, but at the same time, I'm not certain that an attempt to run for the hills would be successful. He's a very powerful pagan god and he is more than a match for me. If it came down to combat, then I would not win."

"How can a pagan god be more powerful than an angel?" Dean asked, remembering what had happened to the pagan gods who had gone up against Lucifer. "I mean, Lucifer was able to take out a bunch of them."

"Lucifer is an archangel," Castiel reminded him. "I am not. Plus, Belenus is…it's likely he's easily twice as powerful as those other gods, but my guess that he's a great deal more powerful than that. I don't know why, but he has somehow become very, very powerful. I think the best bet we have is to go along with what he wants."

They both stared at Cas. After a moment, Sam took a deep breath. "Cas, how powerful do you think Belenus is, exactly?"

Cas looked as if he wished Sam hadn't asked the question. "It's only a guess, but I'd say he's powerful enough to decimate the planet and cause complete devastation."

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. Don't sugarcoat it, Cas."

"How can a pagan god be that powerful?" Dean asked.

Cas shook his head. "I don't know, and I don't like not knowing."

"What makes you think he can do all that?" Sam asked.

Cas just looked at him.

"Right. Never mind. Okay, so we stay?"

"Two weeks, and then we run for the hills," Dean said with a smile. "Okay. What should we now?"

"If Williams is putting away clothes, then I'm going to go get dressed," Sam said, heading for the door.

"Ditto," Dean said, feeling more than a little tired of wandering around in a robe and pajamas.

They returned to their rooms and managed to convince Williams that yes, they could pick out their own outfits, and no, they didn't need his help, and they returned to the rumpus room feeling a little shell-shocked. Belenus had not only bought clothes for them, he'd bought entire wardrobes. Both Dean and Sam had plenty of jeans and shirts and necessaries like underwear and socks, but there was more. A lot more. Belenus had also bought them things like khakis and slacks and button-down shirts, workout gear, formal suits, and they both had two tuxedos. After that was...everything else. They had shoes (sneakers, boots, loafers, dress shoes), belts, handkerchiefs, ties, overcoats, gloves, hats...nothing was wanting. The labels caused sticker shock in both brothers and once they were dressed in jeans and T shirts, they got the heck out of there. Not feeling up to anything much, Sam dug out a board game and the three of them settled down to play and talk. All of them were more than a bit desperate for something that felt close to normal.

They were interrupted a little while later by Williams, carrying a tray with cookies and mugs of hot chocolate. "The master suggested that you might enjoy a small snack," he said, placing the tray on a table. "Enjoy, sirs."

"Thanks," Dean said, picking up a mug. He couldn't help grinning when he saw marshmallows under the whipped cream and chocolate curls. Williams sure knew how to spoil people when it came to hot chocolate.

"Wow," Sam said as soon as he took a sip of hot chocolate. It was rich and absolutely delicious. "This is great!"

"I'm glad to hear you say so," Williams said. "Supper tonight will be at seven. Have a pleasant afternoon."

"You know, I could get used to this," Dean remarked as soon as Williams was gone.

"The butler, or the hot chocolate?" Sam asked.

"Both!"

They went down to dinner at seven and Belenus met them there. He looked happy to see them and encouraged them to sit down and eat.

"Williams has prepared a feast for us," he said as they took their seats. "I hope you're hungry."

"Despite the cookies and hot chocolate a few hours ago, yeah," Dean said as he sat down. "Cas, do you think that's a good sign?"

Cas actually smiled. "Yes. When you first returned from your last hunt, you barely had enough energy to be enthusiastic about food, let alone eat any of it."

"That must have been some hunt," Belenus stated. "What on earth were you hunting?"

"Some weird hybrid creatures," Sam said as Williams carried in his tray. "They could shape-shift, but they could also feed on your energy. We were stuck with them two days before we managed to get out."

Belenus looked from Dean and Sam and back again. "No wonder you were so tired when you arrived."

"And that's after several weeks of Cas playing nurse and fussing over us," Dean said, more than happy for an opportunity to tease Cas.

"Sometimes, you were not good patients," Castiel said in the dry tone that meant he was doing his best to make a joke. After several years on earth and interacting with people, his attempts at humor had gotten much better.

"Hey, can you blame us?" Sam wanted to know. "I remember being asleep one afternoon and you insisted on waking me up because it was time for us to eat…"

"You threw a pillow at me. Twice."

Belenus started chuckling, and they could tell he was finding it hard not to break down laughing outright. "I have a question…if the three of you live together, how do you keep from killing each other?"

"We manage," Dean said lightly. "Sometimes we yell, sometimes we fight, but we usually live through it all."

"Mostly," Cas added.

The chuckling started again, and Belenus kept chatting with them while they had supper. Williams had prepared roast beef and mashed potatoes with gravy along with vegetables and feather-light rolls. Dean and Sam were hungry enough for seconds, and when Williams served dessert, they both were happy to accept second helpings of apple pie.

Dean didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was starting to like Belenus. He had a pretty strong sense of humor, knew how tell a good story, and aside from being a pagan god who didn't know how to take 'no' for an answer, he seemed like an okay kind of guy…when he wasn't snapping his fingers and compelling people to do things. He looked across the table at his brother and he could tell Sam was starting to like him, too. At the present moment he and Belenus were discussing books and it turned out that both of them had read a lot of the same authors. For a change, it was nice to see Sammy relaxing and talking about something he enjoyed. For a fleeting moment, Dean wished it could always be like this for his little brother.

"I just wish I could find his fourth book, but it's out of print," Sam said after taking a sip of water.

"Black as Onyx?" Belenus said. "There's a copy of it upstairs in the library."

Sam's eyes widened. "Really?! Any chance I could borrow that?"

"Of course," Belenus said happily, sounding like an indulgent uncle. "You can raid the shelves if you like."

"That might take a couple of years," Sam said with a grin.

Belenus nodded, his thoughts plain on his face. He would have been happy for them to stay a couple of years.

Dean decided that there was no time like the present. He glanced at Sam and Sam gave the barest of nods. They were both on the same page. Good. "Well, you can at least count on two weeks. Make sure you leave some time for food and sleep, Sammy."

Belenus smiled, and to Dean, it looked as if they had just granted his dearest wish.

They spent the evening in the rumpus room, playing cards and talking. Belenus was eager to hear all about their lives when they were kids: what games had they played, what they'd done that was fun, how had they liked school, what were their favorite subjects, places they'd been, and what they'd liked best to eat. General questions like that were easy to answer and Sam and Dean took it in turns. They noticed that he was tactful enough not to ask questions about things they'd rather not discuss, and they both appreciated it.

Around ten-thirty, Belenus insisted that they go to bed and get some rest.

"Aw, come on, the night is young," Dean said immediately. "Why don't we go out? Have some fun?"

"No, no, absolutely not," Belenus insisted. "You and Sam both need your rest."

"Castiel could go out and have fun while we sleep, right?" Dean joked.

"Castiel is busy reading," Cas said from his seat on the sofa. "Don't try to live vicariously through Castiel, Dean."

Castiel's speaking about himself in the third person and his tone made Dean, Sam, and Belenus crack up. Cas, of course, ignored them all and continued reading his book. At last, Dean calmed down and looked at the book that Cas held. "What are you reading there, Cas?"

"Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan," Castiel said after glancing at the cover. "It is...interesting."

Sam looked impressed. "It is interesting. Nice choice, Cas."

Cas smiled and turned a page.

"Returning to the bed question," Belenus said, not willing to let himself be distracted. "Seriously, you both feel tired, so you should go to bed."

Dean flopped onto the cough. "What if we want to stay up?"

"Oh, come now," Belenus said kindly. "You're not going to impersonate a willful child, are you?"

"Dean doesn't need to impersonate a willful child," Sam teased. "He is one."

"And you're a geek," Dean shot back.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Belenus looked from Dean to Sam and back again, and then turned to Castiel. "Should I be concerned about bloodshed in a minute?"

Castiel shook his head. "No. That's just how they are."

"And what makes you an expert, Cas?"

Castiel looked at Dean. "After all the time I've spent in your company, I've learned a thing or two." He paused and looked them up and down. "Your scents have changed."

"That came out of left field," Dean said, surprised. He knew Cas could sense how ill someone was according to their scents, but he usually didn't mention it unless it was necessary. "What do you mean?"

"I can smell a lot of fatigue coming off the both of you," Cas explained. "You're very tired, even though you're pretending not to be. You should go to bed and rest."

"Let's put it to a vote," Dean said.

"Gladly," Belenus said, snapping his fingers. A second later, Williams entered the room. "Shall we vote now?"

"Hey, hold on," Dean argued. "I know what your vote will be, and I know Cas' vote already, and ten to one Williams will vote however you want him to, so...this may be a biased ballot."

"Let's save ourselves some embarrassment," Sam said, clapping his brother on the back. "Let's go get some rest, huh?"

Dean argued, just for the sake of arguing, but eventually he and Sam headed upstairs to their rooms. Cas watched Belenus watch them go, an indulgent smile on his face.

When Castiel checked on the Winchesters half an hour later, they were both in the their beds asleep. He was thankful that both of them had seen reason and were getting the rest their bodies so desperately needed. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was worried about them. Their entire bodies...every single cell...was exhausted. They had no reserves left. Whatever those creatures had been, wherever they had come from, Castiel prayed that they were the only ones in existence. He knew Sam and Dean were resilient and they had built up their endurance over a lifetime, but two days with those creatures had taken all their reserves and left them physically weak. The fact that they'd recently spent four days asleep and then taken a nap the same day they'd woken up spoke volumes on just how exhausted they were. He'd been shocked when he'd seen how close to death they'd been, and he was still very worried.

Belenus was something else that concerned him. Something about this whole situation seemed wrong to him, but he couldn't exactly put his finger on what was wrong. The fact that the Winchesters had agreed to stay...no, something else. Maybe it was how quickly they'd agreed to stay. It had been only a few minutes' worth of talking about it, but something inside was telling Cas that something about that was wrong. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Belenus might have done something to influence the decision. Just what he might have done, though, was a mystery.

The whole thing was mysterious. He just wished that Belenus' so-called "invitation" had come at a better time. Having Sam and Dean both so exhausted was not good. Exhaustion left a person unable to think effectively or to respond to dangerous situations effectively...Cas only hoped he could guard against anything that might happen.

He was about to return to his book when he heard something upstairs. Startled, he headed back upstairs and reached the Winchesters' rooms just in time to see Belenus slip into Dean's room. Suspicious, he followed Belenus into the room, but what he saw stopped him in his tracks.

Belenus was tucking Dean in with an extra blanket, and a second later, he smoothed Dean's hair. If that wasn't shock enough, Dean actually smiled and gave a sigh in his sleep. Castiel hid, and then he watched and listened as Belenus whispered an entire litany of things he loved about Dean and how happy he was to have Dean with him. When Belenus left Dean's room and went into Sam's, Cas followed him. There, he did the same things he'd done in Dean's room, whispering to Sam and tucking him in, and when he left he looked as if all the peace anyone could ever want resided in him.

Belenus headed down the hall, but he stopped halfway to the stairs and turned. "Are you spying, Castiel?"

Cas winced and came out from his hiding place. "I'm merely making sure everything is all right."

Belenus nodded, the expression on his face enigmatic. "If anything were wrong, I would have told you."

Cas considered everything he'd heard and seen that night. "You truly are glad to have them here."

Belenus smiled. "I've already said so several times. They are of my blood, Castiel. My family. You, of all people, know how important family is."

Castiel nodded. "I do."

"Then you understand how I feel right now," Belenus stated. "Also, you understand that I could never do anything to hurt them, Castiel."

"I don't think that you would hurt them intentionally, no," Cas admitted. "Unintentionally, though...that remains to be seen."

Belenus gave a long-suffering sigh. "What can I do to allay your suspicions, Castiel? Hmm? I went through a great deal of effort to get them here, I've given them the option to leave if they wish...if I were a capricious god, or even a capricious forefather, then I would give them no choice in any matter at all. You do not need to fear for their well-being or liberty, Castiel."

Cas said nothing. There was still something that he wasn't seeing, he was sure of it.

"You needn't fear," Belenus repeated. "I do wish to build a relationship based on trust with them both, and trust is something that can't be forced. I'm not about to sabotage that by confining them and proving to them that I can't be trusted not to let them live their own lives. Have you considered the possibility, Castiel, that you've lived for so long unable to trust others that your first reaction to something new is to be suspicious?"

"That would be Sam's and Dean's first reaction as well," Cas pointed out. "And doing so has kept us all alive."

Belenus nodded. "I see. Well, there's precious little to threaten you here. Why not take your stay here as an opportunity for a little holiday? It must be exhausting to be so vigilant all the time. Relax. Take some time to do exactly as you please for a change. I'm sure you'll be much better for it. Now, I'm off to take care of a few things. Have a pleasant evening."

Castiel watched him go, still struggling with the feeling that there was something in this whole situation that he wasn't seeing. What it might be, he had no idea, but he wished with all his being that he knew what it was.

"Master Castiel?"

Williams was probably the only creature in all of existence who could sneak up on and startle an angel so badly. Cas nearly smote him out of reflex, but he was able to restrain himself in time. Still feeling shaken, Cas turned to the butler. "Yes?"

"The master has ordered me to show you to your bedroom."

"That won't be necessary," Cas said immediately. "I don't sleep."

"A hallmark of good hospitality is making sure that all guests have accommodations," Williams said evenly. "And the master has ordered that I show you your room. He said nothing about you sleeping there."

Cas looked Williams up and down. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Williams merely smiled.

"Very well," Cas sighed, capitulating. "You may show me my room."

Williams turned and led Cas down the hall, to a room that was not far from Sam's and Dean's rooms. It was a room a lot like the Winchesters' rooms: four-poster bed, bookshelves, seating area, entertainment center, and to his surprise, new clothes. Did Belenus think it necessary to completely dress all of his guests?

"If you need anything at all, there is a bellpull here," Williams said, showing him the braided rope by the bed. "You may ring any time of the day or night; I will hear you and come. Now, there is one request that I will make."

Castiel turned his attention from the clothes to Williams. "What request?"

"That you will remain in your room during the nighttime," Williams said. "At night, the young masters will be sleeping, and the master rests as well. There will be no reason for you to wander the house."

"Is this a request from you or your master?" Castiel asked as suspicion bloomed in his chest.

"Why not let it be from us both?"

Castiel looked at him, suddenly wary.

"Let me put it to you this way," Williams suggested. "Would you want someone you hardly know prowling around your home at night while you are asleep?"

"Put that way, I suppose not," Castiel admitted.

"Did it ever occur to you, Master Castiel, that the master may be just as wary of you as you are of him?"

That was a surprise. "No."

Williams merely nodded. "I thought so. Have a pleasant night, Master Castiel. If you need anything, please ring."

With that, Williams left the room, leaving Castiel alone with his thoughts.