Castiel had wisely suggested that they move to another hotel so that the Winchesters could sleep before they pursued the Shape shifter's location in the morning. This one was the seedy kind that no one but criminals slept in, for fear of being robbed… or worse. The angel sat on a hard chair, watching the boys as the small clock on the wall ticked past 1am. Dean began to snore softly, his female chest rising and falling gently.

Sam, however, lay wide awake, staring at the ceiling. For one, he found the idea that Castiel was watching them kind of creepy. Secondly, he was thinking about his plan to ask Dean if he would consider remaining a woman so that he could quit 'the family business' and settle down under Castiel's careful guard. He'd forgotten a vital point in his eagerness to allow Dean a peaceful life. The angels. The angels wouldn't let Castiel have free-will, they would cause mayhem if he tried to stay with Dean. Sam would have to consult Castiel about his plan.

As though the angel could hear Sam's thoughts, he spoke up softly from where he was seated in the darkness.

"Sam, you are not asleep."

"I know" Sam replied, propping himself up on his elbows in the bed. "Is Dean?"

Castiel was silent for a moment. He checked the aura of Dean's soul.

"Yes, Dean is asleep. Why?"

"I need to talk to you about her." Sam chose female pronouns to make his plan sound more natural. He supposed they may as well get used to them, in case Dean chose to remain a woman.

"Her?" Castiel asked.

"I've just been thinking ,Cas… if we didn't change Dean back… she'd be able to live a normal life," Sam licked his drying lips "I mean, if she wanted to stay as a woman and stop hunting, would you be able to… would you want to protect her?"

Castiel started. "You are suggesting we leave Dean like this?"

"Well what if we can't change her back? Would you be able to protect her then?"

"The angels would not allow-

"But they might. Wasn't part of their argument that Dean was a man? Would they let the free-will thing go if you're no longer going against "God's will" by protecting her as a woman? You're here now and they haven't done anything." Sam was trying to use logic to persuade the angel.

Castiel's blue gaze dropped to the floor. He had only told Dean part of the reason why he had been restrained in heaven and had not been able to come to the Winchester's aid. The angels had said that free-will would be a problem for Castiel's leading of heaven, but that it was specifically his emotions for Dean and especially because Dean was a man and that this was going against the Bible. Castiel didn't think his father would actually care, but the angels threatened to restart the apocalypse and Castiel couldn't let that happen. He had, of course, considered occupying a female vessel himself but had decided strongly against it. Jimmy Novak would die if he left his vessel now and he had proven to be a very powerful vessel. Castiel would feel too much… the human's expression was guilt.

Would Castiel be alright with Dean remaining a woman, though? He had fallen in love with Dean as a man, after all. Although it was still Dean and Castiel still felt the exact same way about him as a woman, there was something wrong. The woman part was down to shape shifter DNA, something that was forced upon Dean. Castiel didn't think Dean would particularly like the idea of remaining a woman, either. He could already tell Dean was becoming frustrated with being in a different body, despite the amount of times he mentioned how fun things under his trousers now were. Could Castiel be truly happy with protecting a Dean who wasn't happy with himself? It seemed wrong. However, this woman was still Dean, no matter how Castiel looked at it. Would his personality stay the same in this form, though? He decided to let Sam ask Dean about the whole plan and determine his own answer to whether he would protect him based on whether Dean wanted Cas to do so.

By the time Cas had told Sam this, Sam's eyes were becoming heavy and he soon drifted into a dream-filled sleep.