When Castiel awoke the next morning Dean was gone. He dressed slowly and made his way back downstairs to the kitchen. The demon was nowhere in sight, so Cas helped himself to some leftover stew for breakfast and wandered outside to the garden.

"There you are, young Princeling," Alastair greeted with a cheer that made Cas's breakfast coil in his stomach. "Ready for your next task?"

Cas felt his face fall into a blank mask as he nodded. "As you wish," he answered. "What do you require of me today?"

"Nothing too mentally taxing," Alastair promised, "I just need a bit of firewood. It does get chilly here with the breeze off the ocean, don't you think?"

Castiel, who hadn't noticed a particular chill - or breeze for that matter - nodded his agreement. "I'd be happy to help."

Alastair smiled again and waved Cas to a pile of wood against the back of the house. It was quite large, and Castiel was surprised that he hadn't noticed it the day before.

"Just have that split before I get back," Alastair said, "and I'll give you a reward."

Cas tilted his head. "What kind of reward?" he asked.

Alastair threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, little Princeling, so suspicious! Anything that is in my possession will be yours for the asking. Does that suit you?" he asked.

Castiel's impulse was to say no, not to trust any gift Alastair might offer him, but Alastair didn't require an answer. He was already walking away, leaving Castiel to his work.

Dean appeared almost at once. "Hello, Dean," Cas greeted, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth at the sight of his friend.

"Hey, Cas, what's today's meaningless task?"

Cas removed his coat as he spoke. "This wood pile," he answered, draping the removed coat over the pile in question and starting to unbutton his shirt.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna do you much good with that one," Dean commented.

"On the contrary, your company will keep my mind as busy as my hands," Cas countered, removing his shirt and putting it with his discarded coat, leaving him bare to the waist as he hefted one of the axes piled next to the logs.

Dean cooed appreciatively. "Whoa, Cas, nice."

Castiel blushed despite himself. "Dean," he said in admonishment. But he found himself warmed by the appreciation.

"Sorry, no fair trying to seduce you when I'm not equipped to follow through."

Cas shook his head at his friend and swung the axe at the first log. "Tell me about hunting," he requested.

Dean flew closer, perching on pile itself, and began. "Have you ever seen a vengeful ghost?"

Castiel admitted that he had not and he spent the next hour rhythmically swinging his axe and listening to Dean's tales.

"Cas," Dean said, "wait. Stop."

Obediently Cas put down his axe. "What's wrong?"

Dean flew up to Cas's shoulder and surveyed the wood pile. "I don't think it's going down." Cas studied the pile himself through narrowed eyes.

"It's only been an hour," he reasoned.

"Yeah, but still..." Dean said.

Cas raised his wings in a shrug. "Perhaps it is our imagination."

The next hour was much quieter as both angel and bird watched the wood pile carefully with each log Cas pulled off and split.

At the end of the second hour, Castiel stopped again. "You are correct. This woodpile is enchanted."

"Yeah," Dean agreed.

"I don't suppose you know a secret Hunter's trick for splitting wood?"

Dean made that impossible snorting sound again through his beak. "Yeah, get help."

Cas smiled. "Ah, so all I have to do is turn you human again and we're all set."

"Exactly," Dean agreed, sounding amused.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Cas?"

"Do you know a secret Hunter's trick for turning someone human again?" he asked, suppressing a smile at his own joke.

Dean didn't laugh though. "According to the legends, true love's kiss does the trick every time," he answered.

Cas didn't hesitate, he leaned down and kissed the top of Dean's feathery head.

To his surprise, there was a flash of white smoke and when it cleared he was staring into the most remarkable green eyes he'd ever seen.

The man before him was a little bit taller than Castiel, a little bit younger, a little bit wider, and a lot more beautiful than he had ever imagined.

The man - Dean - looked down at himself, hands grabbing various body parts as if to assure himself that he was in fact human again and then his eyes caught on Castiel. He looked up, eyes raking over Cas's naked chest with a smirk. "Hey, Cas," he said when he'd finally raised his eyes high enough to meet Cas's again.

Cas found himself walking toward Dean until he was close enough to make out a scattering of freckles on Dean's face that he instantly found unreasonably adorable. "Hello, Dean,"

"True love's kiss, huh?" Dean said, grin wide and teasing.

Castiel felt his face grow hot, but he ignored it. "It is more likely that my angelic nature reversed the spell."

Something like disappointment flicked in the depths of Dean's green eyes, and his smile faltered. "Should've made out with an angel a long time ago then," he said gruffly.

Castiel wanted to say something to put the smile back on his face, but nothing occurred to him and the silence between them stretched uncomfortably until Dean turned away from Cas and picked up Cas's discarded axe. "Let's see if this spell can keep up with two of us."

Cas stared at his newly human friend. "Don't you want to get out of here? Now that you're no longer a bird."

Dean shrugged, relaxed and easy. "What's to say that being human will magically allow me to get out of here? Then I'll have wasted a day out there instead of helping you. Besides, I told you, Cas, we're both getting out of here." The absolute certainty in his voice warmed Castiel's Grace, and he picked up a new axe feeling freer than he had since the storm had blown up in Heaven.

The spell, it turned out, could not keep up with the two of them working together. A serious flaw in the enchantment, but Cas couldn't complain about it. There were few words between them as they worked their way through the stack. It was difficult work, slow and hot, but they had every log split well before sundown.

Dean grinned at Cas as he swung the ax into the pile of freshly split logs. "Done with time to spare. We are awesome."

Cas stared back. "Yes, you certainly are," he agreed quietly.

"Let's get a drink. See if we can..." Dean's words were lost in another puff of green smoke as he was transformed back into the white dove that Castiel had met on his first night in the tower.

"Dean!" Cas yelled, startled and inexplicably frightened. He crossed over to Dean and quickly kissed the bird's head again. Dean turned back into himself at once.

Dean staggered back, and would have fallen if Cas's arm hadn't come up to catch him around the waist. "Are you alright?" Cas asked.

"Yeah. Thanks," Dean said.

"It seems the kiss was a temporary solution," Cas observed.

Dean shook his head. "I think more drastic measures are called for."

Castiel frowned. "Like what?"

"Hell, I don't know Cas. This isn't exactly my area of expertise," Dean said. "Normally I'd say we need to find the source of his power and salt and burn the shit out of it."

"The source of his power is nothing physical, Dean," Cas said at once, "It's ownership. Right now we both belong to Alastair. Even though it's against our will, it gives him power over us," Castiel explained.

"Really?" Dean said, looking thoughtful. Castiel didn't answer, letting Dean think the problem through. It didn't take long before Dean took a deep breath and then wrapped his arms around Castiel. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Dean," Castiel answered without hesitation, hands sliding up Dean's arms to grip his biceps just below the shoulder.

Dean's lips twitched up in a half-smile at Castiel's quick answer. "Then I think I can break the spell and get us both out of here. You just need to agree to one - smallish - thing."

"Anything," Castiel promised.

Dean grimaced and looked away, although he didn't let Cas go. "Wanna get hitched? Belong to each other instead of some demon?"

Cas's heart leapt at the question. All the suitors - male and female - that his Father had brought before him, all the beloved friends he'd known from fledgling, none of them made his stomach flutter the way Dean's voice did, none of them made him flush like that first look at Dean's true form. Besides, it was a good plan - one that might just work. "Yes," Cas breathed, "I do, Dean."

Dean looked up, eyes wide and startled and filled with something that Cas hoped was more than gratitude. "Cas, I... Thank you." Cas tipped his head up, and then Dean was kissing him with a gentleness that belied the bruising grip he himself had on Dean's biceps. "Thank you," he whispered again when they parted.

Cas was too overwhelmed to speak. He nodded and leaned in for another kiss. Dean obliged with a smile and then pressed his forehead into Cas's shoulder. "When Alastair comes back, you have to ask for me Cas. As your reward, ask for the hunter he has flying around in the shape of a dove. Okay, Cas?"

"Yes, Dean, of course," Cas said.

"We'll have to find something - a ribbon or a string - to tie around my finger so that you can recognize me if Alastair decides to change me again," Dean said, pulling back to look around the garden.

"There is no need, Dean," Cas said, wrapping a hand around Dean's wrist to pull his attention back to himself. "Now that I have seen your soul in your true form, I would never fail to recognize it."

To his surprise, Dean shrank away from him. "You can see my soul."

"Yes," Cas said, sensing Dean's discomfort, "and it is beautiful. Like you."

"Yeah?" Dean asked, still disturbed but with amusement creeping into his voice.

"Yes," Cas said firmly, stepping in closer again. "Your soul is the brightest thing I've ever seen, strong and light - like your feathers when you're a dove."

Dean blinked at him once and then threw back his head and laughed. "Obviously not a reflection of me then, cause there's very little bright and light about my life."

Cas tipped his head to one side and stared at Dean. "You doubt what I see?"

"No," Dean said, "I didn't say that."

Cas nodded to himself. "You doubt your own worth then."

"Nah, I'm awesome and I know it." Dean laughed again. "Just look at all the good things in my life."

"Sam," Cas said at once and Dean stopped laughing, but his smile turned genuine.

"I'll give you that one. But don't ever tell him I said it - he'll be insufferable."

Cas nodded solemnly. "It'll be our little secret."

"Yeah," Dean said. He shifted his weight from side to side and rubbed the back of his neck. "Like my wings, huh?" Dean's eyes flicked up over Cas's shoulder and he reached out a hand in question. "Can I?"

Cas extended his wings toward Dean and nodded. "Of course. You are to become my mate after all."

That half smile made another appearance at that and he reached forward again, but his hand stilled before making contact when they both heard the approach of Alastair. Dean threw a hasty look back over his shoulder. "I've gotta go. I should be a bird again soon. Ask for me, don't forget," he commanded.

Cas nodded his agreement, and with a last short press of Dean's lips to his, Dean disappeared into the trees.