The next morning they were both hungover and knew they shouldn't be heading out to fight one more demon that they were pretty sure was responsible for the destruction of several hundred acres of forest. Dean had to drag himself out of bed while Sam tried as quietly as possible to moan into his pillow.

"Get up Bitch." Dean threw a pillow at his head and could barely grin when Sam actually did groan from being shakin.

"Screw you Dean you're in no better shape than me." It was the truth as Dean looked at himself in the mirror. His bloodshot eyes stared back at him and he was sure that both brothers were reeking of stale liquor.

"Just get your ass up and lets get this over with." Dean barely ran a toothbrush over his teeth, he just needed to get out of here and kill something. Anything.

The Impala was eerily silent, no music, no talking. Both brothers were barely managing with their hangovers. Dean finally broke the silence, "I called Josh last night." He hadn't been planning on bringing it up but suddenly he wanted, needed to talk to someone about the conversation.

Sam's eyebrows rose a little in confusion, "Why?"

"Bobby's been bothering me about it." Sam looked surprised and the older Winchester was a bit annoyed that he was the only one feeling the burnt of Bobby's mother-hening. "Apparently he worries about us."

"Sam frowned, "I don't think--"

"Seriously," Dean cut in knowing exactly what Sam was going to say. "It's none of your business. That's--that's not what I wanted to talk about." Sam motioned for Dean to continue, obviously not ready to drop his part of the conversation but willing to hear his brother out. "He said the angels ruined his life.. Do you think the other vessels are like him. Family that wants nothing to do with them, homes that are no longer there, jobs that are gone."

Sam really thought about it for a moment before answering. "I don't know. I--I never gave it much thought." He looked a bit ashamed with that.

"Yeah neither had I." Dean said simply and they lapsed again into silence.

Josh mopped the sweat from his brow and shoved the dirty rag into his back pocket. He glanced at his watch and as if to agree with the time his stomach growled. He'd been in the yard for six hours already and even with the sun beating down on him and a cool breeze as his only source of relief; it never felt like he'd been out there that long. Josh looked down at the order in his hand and a rare grin twitched at his lips. He'd never get how Bobby was still doing any business when he had back orders almost three months old and some older. Looking at the price of the hard to find part though sort of answered the question. You couldn't very well beat them.

"Kid, get your ass in here." His walkie-talkie crackled to like and Bobby's gruff voice sounded off the wall of cars surrounding him.

"I'm coming," He fumbled with the clunky piece of technology, which was a really kind word for the WWII devices. Only Bobby Singer would still have them in working condition.

"I swear kid," Two grin-twitches in one day was a feat but Bobby calling him kid always got him. Bobby was only half joking with his next statement, "If you keep forgetting to eat I'm gonna tie you to a chair and force-feed you." Josh wasn't forgetting to eat on purpose, he would just forget sometimes that he no longer had an angel sustaining him.

He groaned and then pushed the connect button, "I'm coming. Put coffee on."

"You got it Kid." He quickly finished the order he was filling and made his way back to the house.

Josh liked being called 'kid' and maybe as a thirty-five year old he shouldn't but whenever Bobby called him that it reminded him of his father and he missed him so dearly. It also made the terrible anxiety that he was feeling most of the time ebb for a while. Josh was still trying to figure out where the emotion came from and he had a sinking feeling that it had something to do with his finally three days with the angel. Something had happen during that time he couldn't remember; he'd been mostly aware of his time unless Castiel had been sleeping, or at least the angelic equivalent. Then things had been hazy and the magnitude of voices that overwhelmed him made it hard for him to concentrate on his own thoughts let only that of two dozen angels.

At the house Josh felt his usual small swell of pride at how much the old farmhouse was coming along. They'd replaced some of the siding, Josh had even started repainting some of the worse-for-wear parts of the wood work and trim. He was just about ready to start patching the roof and replaced the old shingles. Bobby wasn't a man to let his house get away from him but as Josh was well aware of the last two years hadn't been the easiest for the older man; any one would be exhausted looking after the Winchester brothers.

He kicked his boots on the bottom step knocking as much dirt from them as possible, he had been taking them off before he went in but one incredulously raised eyebrow from Bobby and Josh had blushed and not done it again. As his Aunt Judith had always said, "Dust is a country accent," And Bobby did not care about a little mud on the floors. The younger man didn't even want to think what he would say if he knew Josh swept and mopped the floors when ever he left on a hunt. The boots were hand-me-downs, well worn and a bit tight. Josh suspected that they belonged to Dean, so did the clothes that he now wore. Bobby had offered to take him to town and give him a credit card to buy himself some of his own clothes but he had turned the offer down. When he woke up the next morning on the kitchen table there had been a set of car keys and a credit card with the name 'Harold Haggle' and an ID to go with it.

Bobby didn't want him to feel trapped at the house.

Josh pulled a coffee mug from the cabinet and poured the coffee until it was nearly spilling over the rim. He loved Bobby Singer's coffee and when he had told the man as much the look he got said that he didn't get that reaction very often. It was as thick as mud and tasted as bitter as motor oil; when he was a boy it was the sort of brew his dad would have comically pounded his chest at and called it, 'Hair-grower.' He stood there alternating between gently blowing on the steaming cup to sipping at the scolding drink.

"You can't survive off coffee alone Josh." Bobby said as he came into the kitchen and pulled a pork loin from the oven. It smelled heavenly and as if to betray his next words his stomach gave a sharp growl.

"I eat," He said with only a hint of defensiveness. "I'm almost finished all the back orders." He said as an after thought.

Bobby nodded his head while putting the meat back in the oven. "The boys called this morning, their doing fine. Just hit the Colorado boarder."

"Oh," Josh nodded his head and didn't offer much more and he should have known that would pique Bobby's interest since he usually grilled the older man for information about the Winchesters, but since his conversation with Dean the other week he hadn't felt like thinking about the man. Let alone talking about him.

"You finally talk to the boy?" Bobby had the patience of a saint if his handling of the Winchester brothers and Josh were any indication. Too bad the man never got any children of his own.

"Something like that." Josh didn't want to explain that he'd lost it on the younger man and practically blamed him for all of Josh's own mistakes. Like it was personally Dean Winchester's fault that Josh was an idiot.

"That's good." Bobby wasn't dense and Josh suspected that he actually saw a lot more than a normal person, and normal in the sense of his normal. Not the happy-go-lucky normal. Bobby knew even if neither men had told him that their first conversation had not gone well.

Josh was finally able to move his mug to the table and sit down. Just as he lowered himself a plate of crackers and cheese appeared in front of him. "Pork'll be done in fifteen minutes munch on those for now." He would have bristled at being treated like a child if his stomach hadn't groan in betrayal again.

"Thanks," He nibbled on the edge of a cracker as his eyes fell on the newspaper still sitting on the table. It was the only reason he went into town; he'd established a beneficially rapport with the owner of the little general store there. She's been so excited to see that the 'wonderful Bobby' had a nephew staying with him she'd been more than happy to hold a weeks worth of the newspapers she carried for him. So on Mondays Josh went to town and got food for the week and the newspapers for all the surrounding areas. "Hey Bobby," He picked up the paper and pushed it towards him. "What's this sound like to you."

Bobby read over the article that had caught Josh's eye. "Sounds like a hunt." Bobby tapped his finger against the wooden table twice before standing and moving to the living room to look through a book. "Probably a simple haunting."

Josh thought he could handle a 'simple haunting' in theory, he was sure that it couldn't be that hard. So with that in mind he asked the question that had been burning in him for the three weeks he'd been with Bobby. "Can I go with you?'

Bobby hesitated and Josh didn't think it would be that hard for him to beg. "I don't know Kid... We haven't even really done any training and just reading about it isn't the sa--"

Josh surprised even himself when he cut Bobby off, "I could do something simple like--like salt and burn or something." Josh finished lamely a bit surprised again that it was so easy for him to think about salt and burning the remains of a person.

Bobby sighed, didn't look convinced but still said, "We'll see about it."

"Dude, I'm sorry. I didn--"

"Stop freaking apologizing," Dean snapped. "I get it, you didn't see it." The brothers were idiots, idiots sporting huge hangovers and shouldn't have been hunting with said hangovers. Dean poked gingerly at the newly dislocated shoulder, "Just help me get it back into place."

Ten minutes and a lot of cursing later they were in the Impala heading back towards their motel room. "We gotta stop doing this Dean. We're gonna end up dead."

Dean grunted not in the mood for a chick-flick moment, but Sam wasn't going to have it and after an intense gaze from his little brother he gave in a fraction. "I know."

"I'll--I'll make you a deal." Sam started quietly and it didn't sound like same wanted to make this praticular suggestion. "You stop mourning Cas--"

"I haven't been mourning; he isn't dead."

"Whatever, stop moping and I'll stop--I'll stop looking for Ruby. We'll focus completely on closing doors." Dean understood now why Sam had been relucant.

"Okay," Dean hadn't thought it would be such an easy thing to agree to but he was tired. Tried of.. moping and wondering 'what if.'

"Okay," Sam scrubbed his hand down his face. "The next door is in Hotspring, Colorado and I think there's a White Lady in Poolsville." They sat in silence a long time and Dean could practically hear Sam mulling over something. "Dean," He started carefully. "Maybe we should focus on the doors and then go back to hunting."

"We still gotta job to do." Dean had never mentioned Michael's visit and when Dean had started splitting his time between doors and finding jobs Sam hadn't questioned it.

"The job can wait Dean." Sam snapped, Dean thought for a moment of telling his little brother that it was a request from Michael and see how quickly he changed his tune. But Dean knew what that would bring; Sam would ask a million questions not one of which would help Dean not think about Castiel.

"We're not talking about this." And to prove a point Dean cranked the stereo and it only took one glare to keep Sam from trying to turn it back down.

Dean fiddled with his phone, he hadn't been able to sleep and had wandered out to the Impala in hopes of a little AC/DC calming his nerves. Finally making a decision he flipped the phone open and brought up Josh's number.

"Hello?" He sounded surprised and even less like Castiel, but Dean was starting to see that as good thing.

"I'm sorry that this happen to you." Dean said quickly before he could lose his nerve.

"I should be the one apologizing to you." Josh said quietly, " I am not angry at you or Castiel."

"Then.." Dean trailed off realizing that this was probably a conversation he should let Josh take at his own pace.

"My self mostly." Dean waited for him to continue. "I didn't think I was worth redemption. I thought to absolve my sins that I would have to become a vessel; surrender myself to God's work. I'm mad at myself for not having more faith in God and in my self." Josh fell silent for a moment. "How's the hunt?"

"Not bad..."

Josh spoke up quickly, "I've been working in the yard, filling all of Bobby's back orders." Dean knew this but he got the feeling that Josh just wanted to talk. "We've been working to put the house back into order. It's an old place and the neglect that it's gotten these pass few years has taken it's toll. I've actually just started patching the roof; it's a big job but it needs to be done."

"You know how to patch a roof?" He doesn't know why this revelation surprised him; he didn't know anything about Josh.

Josh's voice fills with respect and happiness, "My dad was a Jack of all Trades and taught me a lot of what he knew. I could have been a decent carpenter in a different life."

"I wanted to ask you something," Dean said suddenly. He'd thought of calling Bobby and asking the older man his opinion on the matter but now that he was on the phone with Josh he wanted his opinion.

"Go ahead." Josh said carefully and Dean suspected that he thought this question might be on a more personal level.

"Do you think we should quit hunting until we've closed all the gates?"

"No," The response was automatic and Dean wondered how much he believed that with the little thought he'd put in the question. "You should never ignore those who need help." Dean couldn't help but laugh softly, he sounded like an angel himself.

"Thanks."

"You needed justification?" Josh sounded confused.

"I needed to have another human tell me it was the right thing to do." Dean sighed, "Michael came to me and told me my first mission was to save humanity and I just.. I don't.." Dean faltered realizing what he was about to say.

"It's hard to trust them, I know." Josh said softly and it helped to know that Dean wasn't the only one who couldn't completely trust them. "It's getting late.."

"Yeah," Dean thought about it a moment before, "It'll be okay if I call you again?"

"Yeah, uh yeah that would be fine." Josh said quickly. "Uh, goodnight." He hung up before Dean could respond.

Dean flipped the phone shut and turned the music up a little louder. It was late but he still wasn't quite ready to fall asleep. He had a feeling what his dreams would be about.

Not a lot of frills today folks! I just want to say that I'll be closing the poll on May 31 or June 1 if I'm not actually on at midnight ((which would be a shock and a half))

Thank you for the support, you guys rock!!