By some miracle, when they returned to the site, none of the others had left. Sam, Chuck, and Charlotte were seated in the back of the truck, talking. Dean seemed to slide into the spot beside the truck, shut off the engine, and launched from the car all in one swift motion. Alex and Claire were out only an instant later. Dean spared one moment to just look at Sam, who looked no different from the Sam he wanted him to be. His face didn't waver, but he looked sad, like he had maybe cried recently.

He turned his attention back to the warehouse, that seemed like it was a mirage or part of a dream, distant from them. The land was aglow under the twilight sky just dotted with stars and a nearly full moon. Dean started toward the building, and with each step he felt himself moving faster until he was running. He could hear the others in his wake. He heard Sam shout after him, "Dean! Dean! What's happening?" Then he heard them running behind him as he got to the door. Claire was at his side.

It was strange. He had been in a hurry to get back, but now with just the door between them, he froze. His palms rested flat against the door and he knew that if he just gave it a little push, that it would open. Claire whispered, "We can do this, Dean."

He looked at her and saw the others standing back a little. The world became quiet like he had suddenly been tossed into the empty. There was the roar of blood in his ears, and though Claire was saying something, he didn't hear her for a moment. He turned his attention back to the door and closed his eyes, willing his heartbeat back down to a level that was reasonable. He opened his eyes again and focused on the door. He pushed. It opened easily. It was late, and the light inside the warehouse was almost nonexistent. He could see something on the floor just ahead of him. It had to be Cas. The light of the July moon managed to cast some illumination into the room through the high windows of the building. Dean stepped forward, the scruffing of his shoes on the pavement echoing in the vast space.

One step. Claire matched it. Two steps. He could hear the sound of his breathing, jagged and shaking. Three steps. He imagined what he'd see beneath the blanket. Cas' face would be quiet and so peaceful. He's not dead. Four steps. He was more than halfway to him. Five steps. Claire's hand was on his arm, holding on as they drew closer. Six steps. He sucked in a breath. Seven steps. He fell to his knees and let his hands fall onto the sheet that separated him from the ocular proof that Cas was here, had always been here, would always be here.

He couldn't remove the sheet. Claire held his arm and waited at his side. He could hear her breathing too. Then another hand was on him. He looked to his left and saw that Sam was looking down at him past eyes that were pools of emotion. Sam gave his shoulder a squeeze. Dean gave him a small nod. He looked back down at Cas and pulled back the sheet.

He looked no different. His eyes were closed, and his hair was a wild mess like it sometime was before. He could have been sleeping. Dean hesitated, then moved his hands to Cas' face. His fingers slipped back to the underside of his head and cradled him a moment. "Cas." He breathed out the name and leaned in close. He whispered, "Open your eyes. Come back if you're gone. I need you to be here." His thumb raked an arc over Cas' cheek. He lifted Cas a little and said a bit louder than before, "Come on buddy. You said you were always here. I get it now. Talk to me." But Cas didn't move or wake up or anything.

Chuck rounded to the other side of Cas and came down onto his haunches to look them both over. "That's not how it works. I'm sorry."

Dean's head jerked up, and he noted the way that Chuck looked at him, like he was holding back hundreds of years of sorrows. "Then how does it work?" He was quiet. He still held Cas' head in his hands and waited. His breathing had not calmed much in the moments that had passed.

"We need to do the ritual."

"And then he'll come back?" Dean started to set Cas' head back down.

"The ritual is not for him." Chuck's words were barely above a whisper, and Dean heard them as an eerie echo of what Cas had said to him in his dreams.

Dean's fingers were still curled around the back of Cas' head. He gently slipped them away and got up. He looked down at Cas then at Chuck who now stood too. "Sorry you think that Chuck, or God, or whoever the hell you are, but if I'm involved, it'll damn well be about him." He nodded down to Cas and added, "It's all always been about him for me, and it always will be. So don't tell me this bullshit about the ritual not being for him. I don't give a fuck." Dean's body was still as he spoke, but his eyes glared across the space over Cas as he spoke. "It can be for you. It can be for Amara. It can be for fucking Lucifer riding shotgun in my brother. And like I said before, if it isn't for Cas, if he doesn't get some relief from this damn Sleeping Beauty routine then I'm out. That's how many fucks I give for your little ritual, and that's how this situation will play out." He paused for a breath and finished with, "Your move."

Chuck raised an eyebrow in consideration and said, "You've made assumptions that are inaccurate."

"Then clarify." Dean felt like he just didn't have the energy for this.

"You think that I'm God, and Sam here is Lucifer." He pointed over at Paul and then Charlotte saying, "and what? They are Amara and Death."

"And you're gonna try to tell me that they aren't?"

"Not quite." Chuck came around to Dean's side and reached out to him. He set a hand on Dean's arm. Dean let him. "It's far more complicated. It is why our human sides have been in charge. Well, it's a little different for Charlotte, but for Paul, your brother, and I well, let's just say that we are the same."

Sam spoke up then. "What are you saying, Chuck?"

"Surely you know. Surely he's let you know that much," Chuck said.

Dean looked from Sam to Chuck. He saw that Sam looked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about," Sam said.

Chuck moved to him and set a hand on Sam's head. "Oh, I see." He moved to Charlotte next and touched her head. "Oh, you never made it clear how much you held. Seems strange that you would have taken on more than your fair share when a more accommodating vessel was offered up."

She laughed a little and said in a voice that was not unlike Billie's, "We were told to protect the Winchesters. That was the deal he made. Seemed like giving wonderboy there his fair share was a tad foolish. He shouldn't have been given anything. Didn't you ever wonder why he never mentioned any of this while we were researching."

"Thought he was trying not to step outta character. Thought he was keeping it in check for Dean. Also, not letting him take what he should that really wasn't your call." Chuck looked back at Sam and asked, "Has he been okay in there?"

"He's quiet. I mean, he never says anything. Most days I don't even think about him." Sam cast a glance at Dean and then back at Chuck.

"Well, this changes things a little. Come here, Sam." Sam did as he was told and moved toward Chuck.

"What's going on?" Dean asked.

Chuck placed his hands on Sam and, reaching up to his head, pulled him down a little. Sam rested his forehead against Chuck's. They glowed a little as light seemed to come from nowhere to surround them. "Does it feel different now?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, I feel them." Sam steps back and smiles.

Dean steps closer. "What the hell is going on?"

"You've assumed, Dean, that we were each carrying just one of the essences in our vessels when in fact we were carrying all of them."

"I don't understand." Dean was starting to think this was his mantra. The things he wouldn't understand at this point might be legion.

"That's only because he asked us to make you forget. Your brother said yes to Lucifer, and got a bit of a bonus in the deal, just like the rest of us. He was supposed to have the larger portion of Lucifer, and a smaller portion of the others. A bit of Amara should be in there, and a bit of God. Cas thought that you'd struggle if you kept this memory. He thought that you'd push Sam away or spend your lifetime trying to expel Lucifer from him. He didn't want you to suffer, and you were rather depressed when the ritual occurred even with his intervention. I'm not certain that your lack of memory has helped. It was part of the deal that we made with him though. I'm sure that Castiel would have changed his mind had he seen what you've been these past seven years. Not knowing has made things difficult."

"Maybe you should give me back the memories that you've taken." Dean's voice was low and gravely. He stared hard at Chuck and waited. Chuck approached him and settled a hand on his head.

"This may sting a bit. I'm not God after all." He smiled at Dean and just as suddenly, Dean felt the electric shock of energy coursing through him. His eyes squeezed shut. He thought his eyes might burst from his head. Then a vision came to him. He could see the motel room from seven years ago. Cas was sitting on the bed across the room. Chuck was eating from multiple to go cartons. Billie scooped up a mound of guacamole on a chip and ate it. Sam was stretched out on the bed like he might sleep if he could.

Dean was pacing in the room. "I don't get it Sam. Of all the stupid things you could have done. You said YES! Damn it all. We just got him out of Cas." Dean's arms were waving at his sides in the motel room as he spoke. Sam's arm came up over his face, like he was going to block it all out.

Chuck waved a fork and said, "Look, Dean, it's the only way. Think of it like a bag. We put Amara in and seal her away with us. Your brother's sacrifice here is temporary. I've got enough strength in me to carry Lucifer out. Plus, we're all going to be one giant being at the end of it all." He pauses then and waves the fork at Billie and Cas, then continues, "And just like that, mankind is safely not in her proximity and everyone wins."

"How do you do this though without hurting the vessels. I mean, Cas isn't back to his full strength after hauling around Lucifer." Dean looked over to Cas and added, "No offence buddy."

"Cas knows what he's volunteering for." Chuck's voice dropped. He sounded like he was hoping to go unnoticed.

"What?" Dean looked back and forth between Cas and Chuck. "Why do I get the feeling that you aren't telling me something?"

Cas got up then and walked over to Dean. "I think that maybe we should talk." His hand found Dean's elbow, and he directed him toward the door. Chuck nodded and they walked out into the night.

"What's going on, Cas?" Dean asked as Cas moved ahead of him, touching the doors lightly as he went. When he got to the end of the row, he rested his hand solidly on the door to the last room and seemed to listen. He closed his eyes a moment, and the door popped open. He looked to Dean and motioned him through.

Once Dean was inside, Cas pushed the door closed behind him. They did not turn on the lights. The world outside held some light from the moon and the parking lot lights. Cas moved closer to Dean. "I can be of use, Dean. I didn't want you to be upset, but this is my choice."

Cas moved to the bed and sat on the edge of it. Dean hadn't moved yet, but he was staring at him in the dark room. Dean asked, "What choice did you make, Cas?"

Cas looked away at the headboard of the bed and said, "My grace will bind them. I'll be the one to keep them locked away, together."

Dean came over to the bed across from him and sat down. The chasm between them seemed vast, yet it was just a few feet. "Yeah, I get that. Your grace is gonna be used to hold them all together. You'll be human. You'll come home with Sam and I."

"I let you believe that." He looked back at Dean then. "I let you believe that I could lose my grace and be human. I didn't clarify when you seemed so content with the situation. I didn't question why it was okay to you, having a broken angel taking up residence in the bunker."

Dean let out a little snort of a laugh. He didn't find the situation funny in the slightest. He merely couldn't understand how Cas could be so incredibly wrong. "You wouldn't be broken, Cas. You'd be human."

"No, losing my grace wouldn't make me human. I'd be a burden, useless." Cas looked away again.

Dean reached across to him and settled a hand on Cas' knee. "You've never been useless, not to me, not to Sam. You're family, Cas."

"I'd never assume that you would view me as such, but I know what I contribute. I can do good here. I will do good."

"Cas." Dean's voice dropped to something softer, lower. "You always do good. You always have the best interests of the world or me or Sam right at the forefront. I'm not sure what you're planning, but know that I won't see you as anything like a burden when all of this is done. You'll come home with me. I'll teach you to like food. We'll get wasted drunk, and you can tell me about the stars. I'll get you clothes and set you up with one of the rooms in the bunker. It'll be your home, unless that's not what you want. In which case, just say the word." Dean seemed like he was going to go on painting the picture of their future in the bunker, but Cas held up a hand, silencing him.

"That would be a lovely life. I would be happy to have that." He looked suddenly quite sad. "I'll always be with you." He reached out then and settled a hand on Dean's chest.

"Yeah, that's kinda the point. You afraid you might get tired of me or something?"

Cas let out a small laugh and said, "That couldn't happen."

"Then you're upset about not having your grace then? Is that what has you looking miserable?"

"No." Cas looked away again and dropped his hand from Dean's chest. Dean had not noticed how long it had been there until it was gone. "I'll miss the casualness of our relationship. I'll miss the little moments like this where you can just reach out and set your hand on me." Cas looked down at Dean's hand that was still on him. Dean gave him a slight squeeze.

"That doesn't have to change, Cas."

"It will though."

Dean moved to the other bed and sat right up next to Cas. "Why would it change?" Dean brought his hand around to Cas' back and leaned in close as if to prove some sort of a point. "Chuck said that he could save the vessels, that you'd all be okay."

"No, that's not what he said. He'll save Sam, but that is all he'll be capable of saving. Even that is going to be tough for him. That's the deal I made with him though. I knew that without him you'd be lost. The rest of us will be done, but Sam will be saved. Our essence will be pulled from us and my grace will bind it all together."

"Then this is not an acceptable plan. We need to go back to the drawing board then." Dean's voice was higher than normal. He squeezed Cas' arm as if to emphasize his point.

"It is the only way. I've made my peace with it."

Dean got up then and waved his arms around a little in frustration. "Then what happens to you once your grace is used? Where do you go? Purgatory?" Dean stopped moving and came down to a squat in front of Cas. He put both hands on his legs and said, "I'll go there. I'll bring you back."

"I won't be in Purgatory."

"What is…" Dean looked equal parts frustrated and sad. "What's going to happen to you?"

Cas got up, forcing Dean to get back up too. He put his hands solidly on Dean's upper arms. "I'll be of use. Then I'll close my eyes on this world, and that will be it."

"No, Cas. Then you'll come home with me." He didn't know when he stopped saying things like us when referring to Cas coming home. He didn't mean to discount Sam. It just wasn't about Sam.

"No, Dean." His thumbs moved subtly back and forth in an effort at comfort. "I'm needed more here. If they aren't bound together, safely away from mankind, then all is lost. She's not ready to see yet what she's doing to the world. When God tried this before with Lucifer, he made a mistake. He held Amara with one that did not love humanity. That sentiment reinforced her already negative view on humans and creation. In choosing me for this task, God has chosen to tie her to one that knows what it is to love humanity absolutely. I'll carry that into this, and she will be bound to that love and to all that makes up this world, God, and Death and the heavens and hell represented in the form of Lucifer. It is what will heal her and the world that she is so intent on destroying."

"It doesn't have to be you though. Others love humanity. Others can do this." He was coming undone.

Cas moved his hands up to Dean's face and held him there with a look that said more than just his words. "No, Dean. The other angels do not love humanity as I do. I…" He leaned in closer to Dean and said. "I love humanity more than any angel ever loved anything. I love humanity's devotion, and flaws. I love the kindness that extends to so many and how humanity makes me feel like I matter beyond a war or a cause. I'm in love with humanity, Dean Winchester, and that makes me the only one that can do this."

And Dean admitted something in that rare moment of quiet that he might not have admitted before. "I won't survive this without you, Cas."

"You will. You'll have Sam, and he will save you from the worst of this." Cas sighs. "It brings me some joy to know that you will be okay. That I can do this and…"

"I won't be okay." Dean decided then to take a different path, fearful that Cas wasn't going to change course. "If you do this, then it destroys the vessels. If you care about humanity so much then why not try to save the vessels? It will kill Chuck, the real Chuck, not God. It'll kill Billie, not that I care much for her, but hell, her vessel didn't sign up for this. And what about Jimmy. He gave you this body, and even though he's gone, this is a gift not to be tossed away lightly."

Cas seems to think about this for a moment. "There is no other way to seal Amara away. She will destroy far more if she is allowed to go on. This is a small sacrifice." But Cas fell silent then and seemed to concentrate on the idea. "I'll do what I can to make this easier for you."

Dean felt the weight of the moment fall heavily on his shoulders. "There is no way that this can be made easier. I caused this, Cas. I caused all of this and you're paying the price."

They are a breath away from each other. Cas moves a little and the rustle of his coat is the only sound in the room beyond Dean's ragged breathing. Cas' eyes glow a little with grace as he leans into Dean. He kisses him lightly on the lips. Dean doesn't move. It is their first kiss, and Dean is quite still through all of it. Dean feels the warm thread of grace tickle past his lips to his tongue and to the deeper parts of him. Cas parts from him and says, "I'll carry you with me. All that you are, all that you've been, all that you mean to me, Dean Winchester. I'll carry you here." He leaned away a bit more and moved his fist to his chest. He touched Dean's chest too. "I'm with you." And he stepped away and moved to the door. Dean stayed where he was. He was stunned, and also he was just thinking about what had just happened. He could still feel Cas. He turned at the sound of the door opening and followed Cas out, like he wasn't really there anymore, like he was in a fog of sleep. He floated along behind him and to the far fields where the ritual would occur.

"What the hell good was that set of memories?" Dean lashed out as Chuck's hand dropped away from him.

"Cas changed the plan after he talked with you. He made you forget the talk. He took away some of your fears and you just complied. In a way, he gave you some hope. He gave you some sort of a dream of what you wanted. He kissed you and left a bit of himself entwined with your soul. So, although you were lost and hurting, you still had this lingering hope under it all. It is what kept you from giving up absolutely."

"So when he said he'd be here." Dean raised a hand to his chest. "He meant he left some grace in me?"

"Yes."

"And he changed the plan how?"

"He wouldn't let us proceed if the vessels were harmed. I hardly saw the point at the time, but now," Chuck ran a hand up though his hair, "Now as a vessel I can say that I'm glad he did."

"So are you God or Chuck?"

"I'm Chuck. He let's me play with his power a bit. It's been fun."

Paul stepped up then, "The mind reading is from him mostly."

Chuck added, "And the rest is a mix of the others."

Dean looked to Paul and asked, "So you knew what you were this whole time?"

"No, that was unclear until Chuck touched me while you were gone, and everything flooded back. I knew that something was different. I did not remember what had happened. I know now."

"Why didn't you know?"

Chuck answered for him. "Charlotte and I are old souls. We've had a long time to process our existence. Our connections to the supernatural also predate our deals with the higher powers that exist within us. Charlotte had a deal that was going to come due. The Hell Hounds were literally going to claim her just before Billie got involved. I had made my own connections of a questionable nature."

"Really? What'd you do?" Dean asked.

"I slept with an angel. There were consequences." Chuck looked away for a moment.

"Uh, consequences?" Dean asked.

"It wasn't the sex that was the problem, and so not important right now." Chuck looked at each of them, sighed and continued. "Paul is not an old soul. He is just a guy that prayed for help. His timing was right and he was willing to be of use. He's also a man of faith in a rather faithless world."

"So he was lucky." Dean's tone was wry. "Now he gets to be sacrificed for what?"

"It's not a sacrifice." Chuck looked a little put out. "The deal with Castiel still stands. At least that's what God says."

"You talk with him?" Dean looked at Chuck with some doubt.

"Yes. I got the major portion of him hanging tight up in here." Chuck tapped his head. "Paul got the majority Amara share, and Sammy here got the majority Lucifer share. Charlotte took a little of everyone. She's mostly just Billie though." Chuck clapped his hands together once and said, "So let's go take care of this ritual."

"What's gonna happen? You still haven't explained a damn thing."

"We're gonna keep our word." Chuck waved at the door and marched out. Everyone followed. Dean took Claire's hand in his and gave it a little squeeze.

"So are we okay with this?" She looked at him as she asked.

"I don't know. They say they're doing what Cas wants, keeping a deal with him. So I really don't know."

Alex came to his other side. "So we believe them?" They all spread out around the area that was cleared in the center of the sigil marked space. The night stars hung high over their heads.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. I just don't get what this is all for." Dean, Claire, and Alex stood off to the side of the group.

Charlotte came up to him. She said, "Chuck wants you all to move outside of the circle. He says that you don't have to be far, but a little outside should do."

"What's gonna happen?" Dean asked.

Charlotte tipped her head to the side and seemed to waver a bit. She was more Billie now. "I thought you'd figured it out with the memories back in place." Dean's brows furrowed at her and so she continued. "Cas took what you said to heart. He decided that our vessels needed to be protected too, not just Sam. So he told God that we needed to put something in place so that we would be released from all of this duty at some point. We had to put in seven years, and he was of the mind that you needed something too."

"What do you mean? What did I need?" Dean asked.

"He wanted you to have a normal life. He said that he'd give up everything if you could have a shot at that. We helped Sam guide you into those college classes way back when. We helped you in many ways. We sent you Charlotte when you needed a friend. And funny thing, she needed one too."

"So was all of it just a manipulation? None of it was real? And now we do this, and you all get to be free of the passengers you're carrying?"

Billie's carried a look of anger for a moment. "Life is a manipulation. Humanity should be nothing today. The world and all that you know of it should be as empty as the space between the stars, but it's not. And it's not because we made sacrifices. We are immortal, and we have chosen to give that up in some form for humanity. What Castiel gave to humanity is no small thing, so to call it a mere manipulation, to call us a bunch of mere passengers smacks of disrespect. I'll have you know that what we'll sacrifice for mankind is far greater than you perhaps deserve." She wavered a bit and Dean could see that she had suddenly become Charlotte again. "Sorry, Dean."

"No, I'm sorry."

She moved to him and set her hands on his arms. He had been holding Alex's and Claire's hands during Billie's tirade. Charlotte hugged him. "Our friendship was real, is real. I'd seek it out even without this. I meant what I said before, all of it." Dean's mind flashed back through their many conversations and also through her stories. He pressed his head into her shoulder and hugged her back.

"You'll be okay then?"

"I will, thanks to Cas." She pulled away and looked at him. "He wanted you to be proud of his choices. He wanted you to be happy. He made sure that we all carried each other in a way that would be of the most help to you and to humanity."

"Charlotte." He started and then paused. She waited. "I get how you all came to be carrying bits of all of the main players. You all were there in some form. But Paul wasn't there. Why did he end up getting this," Dean actually used air quotes then, "gift?" He sucked in a loud breath and added, "I mean, he presumably got them planted years later."

Charlotte looked away. Dean reached out and settled a hand on her cheek, redirecting her back to him. "We knew you were lonely. I sat in his church and heard his lackluster sermons. I tuned into him. He was lonely too. He was, is a good man. He prayed for help. Chuck let me intervene. He said that Cas would approve."

"Wait, you all brought him in because you all were playing matchmaker? What the hell?" Dean was irritated to say the least.

"Well, not quite. We needed a man of faith, and although you have a bit of faith, it wavers. Paul had faith in spades. So, we picked him. Picking him had the added bonus of maybe getting you a partner."

"How about Cas? Maybe just get through this ritual and find a way to restore Cas." Dean huffed out the words with a frustrated hand wave.

"None of us know for sure how this will go, but we think that it ends with the emptying of our vessels. Our powerful friends depart from us and join together as one being again. Once they do that, they leave earth. I believe that part of this ritual is Cas being dissolved in a way. He's what's holding them back. What's in us all is just a small measure of the all powerful ones. We wouldn't have even had that much if he hadn't intervened. It was supposed to just be all of them getting tied together and sent away. Fracturing them and tying them each to the vessels, kept us from dying. It also made freedom for them a possibility too. I believe it gave them an extra touch of what makes humanity so important."

Dean said, "You think that Cas won't get through this?"

"No, he never asked for that, so no plan was ever made for it."

"He knew I needed him. I told him in the same conversation. He'd have a plan. I told him what this would do to me."

"And he made sure to give you just enough hope to get through. And you've come far, Dean Winchester. You've built a real life for yourself that doesn't involve hunting. You've even got a family that loves you." She pointed at Claire then and added, "You're a father to her. You're a brother to Sam." She took his hand in hers. "And when all this is done, you'll still have that." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "And most importantly, you are enough on your own. You aren't dependant on anyone. You've been beaten down by life and loss, but you've survived, persevered even. You've learned to be strong even when you were alone."

"I wasn't okay. I wasn't strong. I was just getting through."

"And that is sometimes what life is. You matter a great deal. And even when you feel like you've lost everything," She placed a hand on his chest and said, "you've never been alone."

She walked away then and joined hands with Chuck and Paul. Sam was with them too and they each began speaking in unison. A light glowed out around them and the sigils glowed too. Dean felt Claire's hand slip back into his. Alex took his other hand. The light became brighter. Their heads tipped back in unison and they continued to speak out the words of the ritual, practiced incessantly before this day. Dean held on and did not look away. Claire whispered, "It's so beautiful." A wind blew through the field. The smell of lilacs wafted past. The voices grew louder in the circle.

Dean looked away for a moment. He looked to the warehouse. It was glowing too. He let go of Claire's and Alex's hands. They followed his gaze. Dean moved back to the warehouse. The light behind him was growing brighter and brighter. The light coming from the warehouse was intensifying too. He got to the door and then turned back. Everything was so bright. The circle of vessels separated. They were no longer holding hands. They stepped back, widening the circle. Sam looked away from the center toward Dean. They held each other's gaze. "Sam?" Dean moved back to him. Sam just smiled. He turned back to the center and light poured from them all to the center. It whirled about in a giant ball of light. Sam, Chuck, Charlotte, and Paul fell to the ground. "Sam!" Dean was running to him now.

He got to his side, the warehouse temporarily forgotten. He cupped Sam's face and lifted him into his lap. "I'm good, Dean." Sam's eyes fluttered open. Dean held him tighter.

"You the only one in there?" Dean was rocking him.

"Just me. They got what they needed." Dean lifted him into a sitting position.

Paul and Charlotte were getting up. Chuck was still laying on the ground. Sam got up and moved to Chuck's side. "He okay?" Dean asked.

"I think so. He's breathing," Sam said.

Dean glanced back at the warehouse. It wasn't glowing anymore. "I need to check on him." He got up and moved off to the warehouse. He walked right in and saw that Cas' body was still glowing a little. He knelt down at his side. Touched his cheek and whispered, "Come back." The glow began to fade, and he noticed that Cas began to fade too. "No, oh no, no, no." Cas became less tangible. His body faded until there was nothing. Dean's hands fell to the floor and Cas was gone. The tie that had bound them all to earth was now seemingly entirely burned away. They were free. Dean felt empty and utterly alone.