/The shit hath hit the fan./

DEAN

"One last time before we hit the road?"

"Dean, we need to leave soon. You made a promise."

"Yeah but baby…"

"Dean, we must go."

"C'mon…the bed's right there."

"We made love four times yesterday Dean, if you recall."

"I thought it was just three."

"We stopped at the side of the road one time."

"Oh."

"And we made love once more early this morning."

"But…"

"We have a lot of driving to do-"

"You sure…I can't…tempt…you…?"

"I….Just…oh….one…more…Dean…"

"I figured you'd come around."

"Stop talking, Dean."

At the end of one wonderfully idyllic month of peace, driving and sex, Dean returns home, pulling into the familiar garage of his parents' house in Lawrence. (He'll never stop calling it that.) Stretching, Dean yawns and turns off the ignition. He drove all day to get back, and his muscles are cramped. His spine still hasn't fully recovered from the highly impractical but awesome sex he and Castiel had in a tent, about two weeks ago. Dean has never been this happy in his whole life, and he had a pretty great childhood. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he leans over to kiss Castiel, never tiring of the soft, firm lips molding to his. "I love you." He whispers, fingers toying with Castiel's raven locks.

Castiel smiles against his lips and pulls away gently, with an almost shy smile, which Dean loves. He loves that Castiel can still be shy even when he's a total beast in bed. Chuckling at the thought, Dean got out to get his suitcase out of the boot. "Why are you laughing?"Castiel asks, head cocked to the side.

"Oh, nothing." Dean smirks at his angel. "Just thinking about that insane thing you did with your wings where you-"

"Dean!" Sam barrels through the back door into the garage. "You're back!"

Dean grins and ruffles Sam's hair. Geez that kid's getting tall. "Hey there, Sammy."

"Who were you talking to?" Sam asks, suspicion narrowing his eyes.

"Just talking to my baby." Dean croons, patting his Impala lovingly.

Sam rolls his eyes. "I'm going to go tell Mom you're back, jerk."

"Bitch." Dean calls, as Sam's freakishly long legs take him back into the house.

Dean lowers his voice, as he turns to Castiel. "I wasn't lying when I said I was talking to my baby."

Castiel trails soft fingers along the line of Dean's jaw. "I know."

Pulling Castiel into his arms, he gives him a long, deep kiss. Castiel melts into his arms, and Dean licks into his mouth greedily. He feels Castiel suddenly freeze in his arms. Pulling back, Dean stares at the man in his arms, taking note of the way his wings are twitching and the unadulterated terror in Castiel's eyes. He looks exactly like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Cas?" Dean begins, but Castiel shoves away from him, his eyes focused on a spot behind him. Dean spins around, but it's empty. He and Castiel were the only ones there, as far as Dean could see. Unless…

Castiel utters a single word: "Gadreel." Then he's gone, ripped away, his arms out towards Dean, his wings arching high. Dean just stays frozen beside his car, eyes trained on the spot Castiel was just moments before.

"Dean?" Sam's hand startled Dean and he whipped away, breathing a sigh of relief as he notices Sam.

"Oh, hey Sam." Dean's voice sounds off even to him. He clears his throat, trying to buy himself some time by dragging out his luggage. "I'll just put these upstairs-"

Sam stops him. "No let me. Go say hi to Mom. She's in the kitchen."

Dean, still numb with shock, walks through the door into the hallway and turns right into the kitchen. Mom's in a simple tee and blue jeans, her hair up in a loose bun. Dean thinks with a pang of worry, that the blue of her jeans is exactly the colour of Castiel's tie. He has a role to play though. It's not like he can file a missing persons report…Castiel is an angel. He can take care of himself. He'll be back…soon. Plastering on a smile, Dean wraps his arms around his mother, inhaling her sweet lilac perfume. "Hey Mom."

"Hi sweetie." Mom disengages herself and turns towards Dean. "I'm making your favourite today, home-made hamburgers with mash..honey, are you okay?" She asks, her carefree smile turning to an expression of worry.

"Yeah." Dean takes a deep breath and kisses her cheek before stepping away. "I'm just tired. And I missed you guys." He adds.

Her face clears and she presses a palm to Dean's face. "Did you have good time?"

"It was awesome." Dean tells her, with a grin. "I got you a bottle of wine, some real good stuff. And that chocolate you like."

"Oh, sweetheart, you shouldn't have." Mom gives him an impish smile. "But I'm glad you did."

"Didn't you get me anything?" Sam hinted, folding his gangly body into a kitchen chair.

"Sure did, Sammy. I got you a can of worms, I think it's in the trunk somewhere." Dean teases.

Sam flashed him a bitch-face. "Jerk. What'd you really get me?"

"Bitch. Couple of video games."

"Boys, quit bickering and sit down. Dinner's ready."

Dinner with his family, the first home-cooked meal Dean's had in a month is filled with hearty laughter and incessant teasing and bickering, at least with him and Sam. Though his mother does do her fair share of teasing.

"So, Sammy, you still being a little bitch and not asking Jess out?"

Sam turns bright red at Dean's question. "I uh…"

"Do you like her?"

"Yes!" Sam blurts out.

"So ask her out." Dean shrugs.

Sam gives him The Look. "I can't just ask her out, Dean."

"Sure you can!" Dean waves his knife.

"Your father asked me out four times before I said yes." Mom interjects. "It was worth it."

"Fine!" Sam glares at his nosy family. "I will. Soon. When it's the right time."

"Hell I had to ask Jo out twice." Dean snickered.

"What happened between you two?" Mom asks, leaning forward.

"Yeah it's like you guys just ended after a year." Sam murmurs.

Dean shrugs. "It just didn't work out. We grew apart I guess."

"It's a shame." Mom chuckled. "Ever since you two started playing together, Ellen and I were entertaining the notion that someday we'd see you get married."

Dean's heart aches, his thoughts wandering back to Castiel. "I guess things never work out the way we think."

"I guess so." Mom looks at him then, almost as if she knows. But how can she know? Not only is Dean gay, he's gay for an angel. That's crazy people talk!

Dean stands up, taking his plate. "Dinner was awesome, Mom."

"It's good to have you back, man." Sam claps Dean on the shoulder.

Dean heads up the stairs and changes into an old Metallica t-shirt that he lent Castiel to wear once, and a pair of boxers. The t-shirt still smells a little like Castiel, and worry turns his stomach. He misses his damn angel so much, and the concern and fear for him is tearing through his insides. Leaning back against the headboard he wonders where Castiel is, and if he's okay. 'Gadreel.' Castiel said before he disappeared. Why does the name sound familiar? He remembers something about it, Castiel mentioned it once. Another angel obviously…wait a second. Didn't Castiel say once that Sam's guardian was an angel by the name of Gadreel? From Castiel's garrison? Dean sits up straight. Did Gadreel rat him out? Dean feels almost physically nauseous, and he swings his legs over to dangle off the side of his bed, as he pinches the bridge of his nose. Putting his head down between his legs, he stews in his thoughts.

Is Castiel in trouble because of him?

Dean's door squeaks open, and Dean looks up. "Dean?"

"Yeah, Sammy?" Dean's voice cracks slightly, but he disguises it with a cough.

"You okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sam." Dean lies, as Sam comes over to sit beside him.

"You don't look fine, Dean." Sam says in that voice that means 'We're going to talk about this whether you like it or not.'

"I am fine, Sam." Dean says, irritably.

"Is it about Jo?" Sam sighs.

"What?" Dean's head snaps around to look at his brother. "No, Sam, it's got nothing to do with Jo."

"So there is a something!" Sam says, triumphantly.

Dean stares at his brother. "You're going to think I'm crazy."

"I probably won't." Sam assures him.

So Dean tells him, everything. He tells him about guardian angels, about God, about Castiel, and about his big gay love for his guardian.

Sam stares at him, mouth agape, disbelief and bemusement evident in his eyes. "You're right." He says finally. "I do think you're crazy."

"Dude, Sammy, you know me." Dean runs a hand through his hair. "If it weren't for Cas, would I know about angels, and heaven and all that shit? I mean I'm hardly the religious type."

"There is that…"Sam allows. "But, Dean, people who say shit like that end up in mental hospitals."

Dean groans. He does not want to do this, but…He shoves his t-shirt up his body and gestures to the hickey at the base of his stomach. "This is from when we had sex this morning."

"Dean…" Sam bites his lip, obviously half mortified and half incredulous. "That could've been from anyone. What if this is just some stalker guy who's pretending to be angel?"

"Sam." Dean rolls his eyes. "He never ages, he knows all about heaven and God, you've never seen him even though he's been around my whole life, and oh, did I mention? He's got fucking wings!"

Sam pauses, before speaking hesitantly. "Have you considered schizophrenia?"

"I did." Dean sighs. "Look man, if you don't believe me, fine. I'm just saying, I ain't making this stuff up, and I'm not hallucinating. I need you to just try to understand."

"So he just vanished?"

Dean nods. "Apparently it's against the rules for him to have a romantic relationship with me."

Sam is quiet for a moment. "I guess he's back in heaven then. I mean broken rules equal punishment right?"

Dean squeezes his eyes shut and rubs his temple. "Shit Sam. I never wanted him to get into trouble…"

Sam wraps his arms around Dean. "Don't blame yourself man. It was just as much his choice as yours. I mean if he really is an angel, then I think he could've stopped it if he wanted to."

Dean laughs. "He's the best angel there is."

Sam pulls away, a curious light in his eyes. "You know Mom and I were talking about you?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, you seemed different when you left. You weren't the same after Dad died, and the day after graduation, you seemed…lighter. Like everything was off your shoulders you know?"

"That was the day I kissed Cas." Dean smiles, fondly.

"Well, he seems good for you." Sam says thoughtfully. "Wow. Angels huh."

"Yep. Freakin' angels man." Dean shakes his head. "You probably still think I'm insane."

"Seriously Dean, after all you've told me, I want to think you're insane…but I just can't. It seems way too unreal, but I think I can believe it."

"You believe me?" Dean asks hopefully.

"Yeah." Sam smiles, though his forehead scrunches up. "I guess I do."