Dean hasn't set foot in Xaphan Motors for a month. Another union representative, Missouri, had taken over his responsibilities. After Dean had briefed her, Missouri had headed off to introduce herself to Castiel and Xaphan's employees, swearing out loud that she would do her very best to make sure that each and every worker's rights were defended in this case.

Then, strangely, Dean hadn't heard a single word. Missouri had passed his desk occasionally, giving him a nod, but otherwise, she hadn't updated him at all. Rufus hadn't said anything either and, frankly, Dean was too proud to ask. Besides, Dean had fed Rufus some bullshit story about his heavy workload and asked to be relieved of working with Castiel.

Thinking of Castiel tightened something in Dean's chest and stirred desire, low in his belly. He wavered between anger and sorrow and longing. He would find himself, at random moments of the day, slipping into daydreams about the time he had spent with Castiel. And it wasn't just the sex. Dean missed Castiel's company. The way Castiel dumbly responded to pop culture references and found joy in the smallest things, like a hamburger or a smile from Dean.

Not that the sex wasn't something he also missed. Dean dreamt of having his hands on Castiel, and woke up hard and leaking. He would slide his hand under the bed sheet and rub himself to climax. Afterwards, he'd feel guilty about fantasising so freely about a man he could no longer bring himself to speak to.

Sometimes, Dean would remember half-snatches of the last conversation he had with Castiel. And he knew that he was missing something. That he hadn't trusted Castiel without reason.

Sitting in a staff meeting, lost in one of his daily musing sessions, Dean almost missed what Missouri was saying.

"…and so it's pretty much confirmed, the 20 employees have been rolled over and are employed under the banner of Gregory's other holding. It wasn't a bad move, I have to say."

Dean's head snapped up, "Wait, what?"

From his position at the head of the conference table, Rufus raised an eyebrow.

"Winchester, have you been listening to a single word said in this meeting?"

Dean frowned and ignored him, looking straight at Missouri instead.

"Missouri, mind recapping what you just said?"

Missouri narrowed her eyes, like she was mentally smacking Dean around the head with a wooden spoon.

"Dean, honey, I was saying that I've closed up negotiations for the moment with Castiel Gregory over at Xaphan Motors. He managed to keep all of his current employees on the floor by keeping some of them on the books of another of his companies. Not strictly kosher, but it worked."

"How, what…when did this happen?" Dean managed to ask.

"It's been stewing for a month and half now, I think. Bobby Singer, the spokesperson knew what the plan was, but of course he was sworn to secrecy. This sort of thing goes against fair employment regulations, but we'll turn a blind eye if it means twenty families keep food on the table, know what I'm sayin'?"

Like the sun creeping over the horizon, realisation dawned, and Dean almost missed Rufus' "Where the hell do you think you're going, Winchester?" as he grabbed his jacket and darted out of the meeting room.

Dean played Missouri's words over in his head during the short drive to Castiel's factory. Fair employment regulations were pretty clear about things like equitable hiring practices, so, while Castiel, creating new positions under another company, wasn't such a bad thing, he was legally required to advertise those new positions.

Instead, it seemed Castiel had done this so that he could keep the employees he already had. And he hadn't trusted Dean enough to let him in on the secret. Apparently, Castiel felt he could trust Bobby to get the ball rolling, but not Dean.

Dean blew past the reception area, ignoring Rachel's curt demands that he stop, and pushed open Castiel's office door without knocking. And marched straight back out, stopping at Rachel's desk.

"Castiel, where is he?"

Rachel pursed her lips, "Mr Gregory is busy on the floor right now, but I would be happy to schedule you in for…"

Dean didn't let her finish; he just headed for the stairs.

Castiel's sleeves were rolled up, and he was holding a wrench like he actually knew what to do with it. Bobby was leaning over one of the machines, pointing out a part that needed to be replaced.

"Cas, put that thing down before you hurt yourself."

Castiel turned at the sound of Dean's voice and took in a shuddering little breath. For a moment, the two men just looked at each other, before Castiel found his voice.

"So what if I do, Dean. Isn't getting hurt sometimes part of the deal?"

Dean's chest heaved as he took in Castiel's double meaning.

"I don't think I could stand seeing you hurt, man. And besides, it's kind of my job to advise on these sorts of things," Dean smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

Every eye on the floor was on the two men, as Castiel put down his wrench and closed the distance between them. Dean's lips parted reflexively as Castiel covered them with his own.

Christ, he had missed this so much. He and Castiel were like fire and ice, but, mostly, they were like the plates of the Earth, moving together, shifting and pressing and pulling. The results could be disastrous, like an earthquake, or glorious, like the birth of a new mountain range. Dean thought he could leave everything behind, his job, the family legacy, if only he and Castiel could stay like this forever.

Later that night, languid and sated, Dean rested his head on Castiel's chest and asked the question he had been putting off all day.

"Cas, why didn't you trust me with your plans for the company? You knew I wouldn't say anything, right?"

Castiel sighed gently above him and Dean worried for a moment that he had broken the peace already. But as he looked up, Dean saw that Castiel was blushing a little.

"What the hell is it, Cas?" he asked.

"Dean," Castiel started, seriously, "what I was doing was not strictly legal and I wanted to ensure you did not suffer if it did not work. I wanted to protect you."

Dean snorted and pushed himself up on to his forearms, "Cas, that's really sweet and all, but I can handle that sort of thing, been handling it my whole life. Besides, what the hell were you thinking, if it had gone down, the people who suffered most would have been your employees."

Castiel pushed a hand through Dean's hair, lost in thought.

"I had considered that, but my employees were always safe. Because of you, Dean."

Dean looked at Castiel, quizzically.

Castiel continued, "You have changed my whole perspective, Dean. I saw terminating employment as a necessary evil, but you showed me alternatives. I have had to make sacrifices, secure funds and contacts at the expense of my family's more extravagant habits, but you made me understand that it was worth it. The workers were never in real danger, even if I was found out."

Dean was silent for a moment.

"And besides that, I wanted to impress you," Castiel's voice grew smaller, "I wanted you to believe in me. I had to show you that I had changed for the better."

There were no words. Castiel, who Dean was pretty sure he practically worshipped now, wanted his approval.

Castiel, who Dean loved, was turning his head away in embarrassment.

So Dean shuffled up into a sitting position and pulled Castiel's mouth towards his. White collar or blue, together, they were going to make this work.

A/N Thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this story. I didn't mean to write so heavily from Dean's POV (or with so little smut), but that's just the way it flowed. This is the last chapter, so, much appreciation for sticking with me while I scratched this itch ;)