It was too late to try and stop a train already in motion. Of course, you could always derail it and force it to crash, but not without numerous casualties.

That's what it was like when you turned someone.

As soon as Cas dug his teeth into Dean's neck (right after he stealthily kissed the spot, of course) and started infusing his own blood with Dean's, it was vitally essential that he didn't stop until the task was over, lest they both die.

He didn't make the rules, but he would sure as heck abide by them.

The process was not a long one, taking five minutes more or less, but to Cas, those few minutes lasted an eternity. One small mistake, such as withdrawing his fangs before completion, would mean certain death for the both of them. Even in the afterlife, Cas knew Dean would be utterly ticked off with him for killing him, thus abandoning his brother and his pregnant wife, leaving them to deal with an army of vampires by themselves.

With this in mind, he was being cautious.

But besides the overarching fear intertwined with the task, he couldn't help but marvel at how good Dean's blood tasted. As the crimson liquid splashed his tongue and flooded his mouth, he had to wonder at why he hadn't tried talking Dean into becoming vampire sooner, or at least letting him feed from him sooner. He had never tasted such a pure taste, so untainted by life's cruelty, so genuine in its humility.

As he pondered about why Dean's blood tasted so good and why he hadn't turned Dean sooner, he came to the revelation that the two things correlated. Dean's blood was so good because Dean was good, and terribly so. Dean was courageous, selfless, kind-hearted, generous and...

Cas was actively taking that away from him.

Cas was ridding Dean of all these good, human qualities and replacing them with his own, vampiric ones, and that thought alone almost made him stop and withdraw.

Of course, what he was doing was a necessary evil for Dean to survive, but would he be the same? Would he be a callous, distance, cruel vampire when he awoke? Would he be bitter and furious with Cas when it finally hit him exactly how long he would have to outlive his brother? Would his feelings for Cas and his proclamations of love be unchanged?

Would he still be the Dean he once knew?

Dozens of variations to the same question ran through his head, and Cas was sure that if the telepathic connection still worked Dean would be berating him. That was another thing he as going to miss: he had just gotten use to being able to talk to Dean without actually talking to him, and that too was being unfairly ripped away. He never liked the phrase "life sucks" as he found it offensive and an intentional jab at vampires, but he could honestly say he understood it now.

After a few minutes, something deep within himself went off, as if he had an internal oven telling him his pizza was ready.

Or rather, his vampire was ready.

Feeling confident that Dean would be able to survive with the current amount of blood he had in him, he retracted his fangs and kissed the puncture wounds they left on his neck. They disappeared instantly.

As if on cue, Dean gasped and opened his eyes, looking for the life of him like a wild creature recently captured. Cas stared at him, noticing something about him that was different but unsure as to what.

"Dean!" chocked out Sam, clearly on the verge of tears. "Oh man you've gotta stop pulling that crap." He kneeled down to be face-to-face with his resurrected brother, and Jess followed suit. "You really scared us this time."

"Well Sammy," Dean said, having finally calmed down, "next time Death tries to schedule an appointment with me, I'll be sure to cancel." He rolled his eyes at the sentiment his brother expressed for him. Of course, he loved his brother and felt exactly the same way, but he really did need to find a way to say these things without sounding like such a girl.

Dean turned his gaze towards Cas. "Hey Cas." He smiled.

Cas' eyes went wide as he realized what was different about Dean. It happened in a split second, something only his trained vampire eyes could've seen, but he had seen it none the less. Dean's green eyes had always had rings and flecks of gold coloring them, but never had they glowed before.

Until now, of course.

When Dean had smiled, his eyes had actually lit up, and not in the sappy way humans mean when they say "their eyes lit up with excitement" or some crap like that. The gold in Dean's eyes had actually glowed and Cas had been caught off guard by it. He thought back to the few instances when his brethren pointed out such a trait in his own eyes, and the crippling shame that had filled him as they taunted him mercilessly. Raphael had eventually outlawed pointing out any minuscule details that made each other different from the other (claiming that it was necessary for them to truly unite, but Cas was no fool and knew this law was purely for his benefit) but the law had not come soon enough. The damage had already been done, the wounds had already become scars.

It was this very teasing that probably distanced himself from the pack in the first place, making it so astonishingly easy for him to choose Dean over his whole family. He had felt alienated because of his eyes that glowed when strong emotions overtook him. Being the only vampire with this quirk made him feel utterly alone, to say the least.

But now, now he wasn't alone.

He had Dean, and what a blessing that was. He didn't think such a peculiar trait would've been passed down to him, but it had transferred, and Cas was beyond pleased. Pleased that he was the only one who could see this, pleased that a part of him was now a part of Dean.

Pleased to not be alone anymore.

"Whoa Cas," Dean said, astonished. "Your eyes- Th-they're... glowing!"

Cas smiled. He could get use to this.

The streamers were set and hung everywhere in abundance, the smorgasbord of food beckoned to be eaten, and the ceremonial white table glowed beautifully in the center of it all.

Samandrial couldn't help but take pride in his handiwork. The entire set-up had been his idea and his alone, and if his plan didn't give him a principle position on Raphael's council, he didn't know what would.

"But, uh, I still don't get it," said the neanderthal he was forced to refer to as his brother. "Why are we throwin' the traitor a birthday party? I thought he was gonna get banished for sure. Especially after that kiss with that human, oh man-"

"Silence!" bellowed Samandrial. He was losing patience with having to explain his plan to Gadreel every time he forgot an important plot point, which was every ten minutes, but he especially wouldn't tolerate any mention of Castiel's apparent love affair with his scruffy human. It just wasn't fair that his ungrateful brother got to be happy with a human when he couldn't without disobeying Raphael. Over the thousands of years he'd spent on Earth, he of course had fallen passionately in love many a time, but it was only when he loved humans did he feel truly alive. There had only been one human, however, that he had seriously contemplated throwing everything away for, as his brother did now. Naomi had been her name, and she had been breathtakingly gorgeous. Raphael, in all fairness, had given him the option to choose her or their nest.

He had chosen the nest. Not a day went by when he did not regret his decision and cowardice.

"As I've stated before," he drawled, "This 'party' is not what it seems. Didn't you notice the ceremonial execution table?" He gestured to the white table acting as the centerpiece in his interior design.

"Yeah..." Gadreel studied the white table that the nest used for sacrificial rituals every so often. He had been wondering what place it served at a birthday party. Maybe they were gonna use it to place the presents? "What about it?"

A look of pure disbelief and disappointment painted his brother's features, and Gadreel hated the look he had grown accustomed to.

"What do you think we're going to be using that table for? The execution table for executing people?" He stressed the trigger word as if he were apart of a childrens' show, gently pushing the audience in the right direction.

"Uh... Is it for holding-"

"Don't you dare say for holding presents."

Gadreel didn't respond as he racked his brain for other possibilities.

"Samandriel!" Zachariah announced from his place on the balcony. From his perch he could see everything that went on in the central area of the nest, as well as use his special talent of sensing auras to alert his brethren of visitors and potential attacks. "The birthday boy is here!"

Samandrial sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was going to have to deal with his brother's stupidity later. "Let them in."

The doors slowly opened, revealing Castiel and his human ward hand-in-hand, both wearing white gloves and sporting the same smirk on their faces.

There should have been more thought put into this.

When Cas had suggested to him that they would not only break into the vampire nest, but rather waltz in through the front door he should've thought the plan through a bit more before immediately agreeing to the idea. Jess had laughed at his eagerness, Sam merely rolled his eyes, but the smile that Cas gave him was what made it worth it in the moment.

But was it worth it right now? Not so much.

As the doors slowly opened, Dean involuntarily squeezed Cas' hand; partially to make sure he was still by his side and not going anywhere, and partially in reaction to how freakin' huge the vampire nest was. The part they were in was apparently "the grand hall" as Cas had referred to it as, but this was just ridiculous. The ceiling held a marvelous chandelier filled with glittering crystals, lavish rugs covered the floor and white streamers covered, basically, everything else. Spiraling staircases stood on each side of the room, leading to different parts of the nest that were no doubt just as ostentatious as the grand hall. Ice sculptures were placed sporadically about the room and there was an insane amount of food on the buffet table, food that made his mouth water as though he had not eaten in days. Almost all of the furniture was made of wood, and if not wood then marble, and all of the wood was ebony. The whole room was dimmed as the chandelier itself emitted no light and the only light source was that of candles placed strategically around the room, but the smooth, black wood made the entire room seem darker, somehow.

Dean felt terribly small in comparison to how grandiose the room was, but he thanked his lucky stars that Sam wasn't with them. He and Cas had made the decision that Sam and Jess needed to stay home for their own safety, but at that moment Dean didn't think he would be able to handle one of his brother's lame Doctor Who cracks about things being "bigger on the inside."

In the center of the room stood Samandrial standing next to another vampire, and behind them hung a huge plasma TV on the wall, right above a table so white it was practically glowing. The table gave Dean bad vibes, vibes he could now pick up on due to his altered form, but the table straight up reeked of death and impending doom. He pointedly chose to ignore the table in favor of staring at all of the other pleasing scenery.

Like that TV, for one thing. He was definitely going to look into talking Sam into getting one of those bad boys.

"Brother!" Samandrial's voice practically oozed kindness, obviously overcompensating for what hid underneath his words. "How gracious of you to join us!" Samandrial's face was covered in shadow, giving him an eery expression.

Castiel and Dean took a few steps into the nest, only to be stopped by two vampires who could only be described as "security guards."

Samandrial 'tsk'ed. "Did you two really think we were letting you in with all of those..." He paused as one of the vampires frisking Dean removed two quality water guns, presumably filled with dean man's blood, and dropped them to the ground. "Weapons?"

"Hey!" Dean cried as they continued to search him and Cas, "Careful with the merchandise!" They wouldn't find anything incriminating on Cas. They had decided beforehand that he did not want to seem anymore like a traitor than he already was. (At least, this was the story Dean was sticking to, and he absolutely hadn't protested because he didn't want Cas handling anything that could potentially kill him, even though the same liquid could now kill him too.)

The two guards finished searching them after finding a whooping four water guns and three syringes, all filled with dead man's blood, and two smoke grenades all on Dean's person. They found nothing on Cas, save a half eaten chocolate bar in a plastic bag. The guards carried all of the undesirables to the white table for safekeeping until they could find a better spot to store them, but they gave the chocolate bar back to Castiel, feeling a bit ridiculous for having taken it in the first place.

Samandrial began to take a few steps towards them. "Well, well, well," he said, eyes locked on Dean as if noticing him for the first time. "I knew there was something fishy about the way you "killed" your human. I should've went with my first instinct." He stopped when he was face-to-face with Dean.

Uncomfortable, Dean took a step back.

Undeterred, Samandrial took a step forward.

"Wow, Cas," Dean whispered, "Does anyone in your family know any human social graces?"

"Now you see where I get it from," Cas replied as he squeezed Dean's hand, humor filling his voice.

Dean smiled and titled his head to look at Cas.

Samandrial took a huge whiff of air, still in front of Dean's face, and then crinkled his nose in disgust. Dean felt not only offended but outraged.

"Seriously!?" Dean took a step forward but Cas took several steps back, pulling Dean away from Samandrial before he could inflict any harm upon him and ruin their plan.

"Just as I suspected," Samandrial stated, folding his hands behind his back, "You've turned him into a vampire. How utterly original." His tone dripped with sarcasm and Dean wanted more than anything to smack him. "You must fancy yourself stupendously clever, hmm, Castiel?"

Cas didn't entertain the idea of answering him.

"Ah but brother, you've obviously neglected to tell your dear boyfriend the details of such an arrangement. Did you tell him that he'll have to drink blood for the rest of his life?"

"Well, duh." Dean was getting tired of his stupid "I'm smarter than you so you should listen to me" speeches. "Of course I'm gonna have to suck blood, that's kinda a given, man."

"Does he know that sunscreen and shades will be his only saving grace from the sun's powerful rays?"

"Tell me something I don't know." Dean rolled his eyes at Captain Obvious. Nothing he had to say would make him regret his decision to become a vampire so he could be with Cas. Nothing. Ever.

"Did you tell him..." Samandrial paused and tilted his head downward, causing an even more menacing shadow and shifting his gaze from smug to predatory. "That he will outlive his entire family?"

Oh.

Dean's face went pale. He felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He could feel his breath quickening as his body switched over to fight-or-flight mode, and it took all of his strength not to have a full blown panic attack right then and there. No, no Cas had not told him this. Sure, Dean should've assumed that he would have immortality like Cas, but both Dean and Cas knew that if Cas had read this part of the Terms & Conditions out loud there wouldn't have been a snowball's chance in August for Dean to have consented to this.

His fear of outliving his brother, having to see him grow old and die without him, was becoming a reality.

He couldn't blame Cas, not really. Cas had only been trying to save his life. Sure, his motives had been selfish, not thinking about how the rest of Dean's family would feel about his transformation, but really that worry should've been in the forefront of Dean's mind. So he couldn't blame Cas. There was only himself to blame.

And if he did anything well, it was blaming himself.

"Oh," Samandrial continued, "I think we have a winner. Now why didn't you tell him this, Cassie? Afraid he wasn't gonna choose you?"

Cas didn't acknowledge the question. "You obviously don't see me as very clever, Samandrial," he growled. "Do you really expect us to believe this is some kind of party in our honor? And what, is the ceremonial table of execution out to hold snacks?"

"Oh!" piped up Gadreel. "I was gonna guess that next!"

Dean squeezed their clasped, gloved hands and smirked, proud that he was using the awesome weapon of sarcasm.

Samandrial, on the other hand, was not so amused.

"Seize them."