Chapter 13

Bobby's house had never looked so wonderful and inviting in all of Dean's life. It was late afternoon when they pulled into Singer Salvage Yard and they were all exhausted. Dean felt a pang of guilt as he glanced in the rearview mirror to check Castiel and saw how weak the fallen angel was. It really had been too far of a drive for him, especially in his condition, but what choice had they had? And then there was Sam. He had been fine for most of the trip, but Dean could see the lack of demon blood was beginning to affect him. The younger brother had bitten his nails down to nubs and couldn't stop jiggling his right leg for the last few hours. He had told Dean he was fine a million times, even when the question was raised merely by Dean giving Sam a look. But now, hopefully since they reached some point of safety, Sam would acknowledge the problem and do what was necessary.

As they parked in front of the house Bobby appeared on the porch, looking obviously relieved.

"About time!" The older hunter yelled to them as they got out of the car. "I was starting to worry!"

"Sorry, Bobby!" Dean replied as he shut his door. "It's a long drive from Maryland!"

Bobby came down the steps and stopped a few feet away. Both he and Dean looked over at Sam who was standing meekly behind his open door.

"Hey, Bobby," Sam said quietly, not quite able to meet Bobby's gaze.

"Sam," Bobby replied with a nod. "Glad to see you're safe, son."

Sam swallowed nervously before forcing himself to step around the door. "Bobby… look… I'm sorry about-"

Bobby held up a hand to quiet him. "No need to say another word, Sam. Time to put that behind us and move on. I'm just glad to see you made it back in one piece."

He then walked over and gave Sam a fatherly hug, an action nearly moving Sam to tears as he hugged Bobby back. When they finally stepped back Sam cleared his throat and gave Bobby a watery smile.

"Well… um…" Bobby said as he cleared his throat, trying not to appear overly emotional. "There's someone else here who wants to see you boys."

He gestured towards the porch and they saw an older woman with long dirty blond hair come out the front door, hands on her hips. She was dressed in blue jeans and a faded button-down green shirt. A wry smile touched her lips.

"Sam and Dean Winchester. 'Bout time you boys finally showed up."

"Ellen!" Sam and Dean said in unison, broad smiles on their faces.

Ellen Harvelle smiled as she came down the steps and came over to give each brother a hug.

"Bobby got a hold of me and filled me in on what you boys have been up to," She said after hugging them. "I've been busy keeping an eye on Jo and making sure she doesn't get herself into too much trouble, but after talking to Bobby I figured you boys could use all the help you could get!"

"Thanks, Ellen," Sam said, obviously relieved.

"Yeah, we definitely need the help," Dean said with a nod.

Ellen nodded and then looked around Dean into the back of the car.

"And I'm guessing that back there is the angel Bobby told me about."

Dean turned around and saw Castiel sitting timidly in the back seat, his eyes downcast. Dean sighed.

"Yeah, that's Cas. He... well… he got hurt pretty bad and…"

Ellen patted Dean on his arm. "Bobby already filled me in, Dean. Just help bring him inside and I'll check him over."

Dean gave her a grateful smile before going over to Castiel's door and opening it. He knelt down next to Castiel and put his hand out.

"Come on, Cas, I'll help you inside."

Castiel looked at Dean, his eyes filled with fear. "I… I don't know…"

Dean frowned. "Don't know what, Cas?"

"Your friend… Bobby… he doesn't like me…"

"What?" Dean looked at him incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

Castiel swallowed nervously. "From our first meeting… when I rendered him unconscious… he was angry at me for that."

Dean sighed. "Cas, he's not mad at you anymore. He got over it."

Castiel looked at Dean uncertainly. "He's no longer angry?"

"No."

"How do you know for sure?"

Dean rolled his eyes and stood up. Leaning on the roof of the car he looked over at Bobby.

"Bobby, are you mad at Castiel for anything?" Dean yelled to Bobby, ignoring Castiel's shocked gasp.

Bobby looked back at Dean startled. "Uh… no… why? Am I supposed to be?"

Dean shook his head. "Nope. Just clearing up a few things."

He knelt back down and gently put his hand on Castiel's arm.

"There. See? Everything's fine. So let's go inside cuz you've been in riding around too long already. You need to lay down on something besides a backseat!"

Castiel still didn't look entirely convinced, but he allowed himself to be led by Dean out of the car. He tensed slightly at Dean's touch when the hunter grabbed him as stumbled getting up, but was too weak to do much else. He kept his eyes lowered as they entered the house.

Bobby led them inside and into the kitchen where he motioned for them to sit down at the table. He then pulled out three shot glasses from the cupboard and a flask. Sitting down across the table from them he filled up each glass and passed one to each of them without saying a word. Both Sam and Dean sighed, knowing the routine, and drank theirs down with a quick gulp. Castiel looked at his drink, his head cocked in confusion.

"What is this?" Castiel asked.

"It's just water, Castiel. Don't worry about it. Just go ahead and drink it," Dean said reassuringly.

Castiel glanced at Bobby and Ellen who were watching him expectantly. He looked back down at the glass and slowly raised it to his lips and drank it in the same manner he had watched Dean use. His eyes widened as he tasted the liquid. It was warm and sweet, filling his insides with a warmth he hadn't felt since he had battled the archangel. The pain that had seared through his body lessened as he felt the liquid course through him. He looked at Bobby wide-eyed and held the empty glass out to him.

"May I have more, please?" Castiel asked hopefully.

Everyone stared him for a moment, baffled by his reaction. Finally Bobby nodded and poured more water into the glass. Castiel quickly took it and drank it down, sighing contently at the liquids effects. He quickly held out the glass again, his eyes lit up hopefully.

"I… uh… I need to make some more first," Bobby said hesitantly, looking at Dean.

Dean saw the look of disappoint cloud Castiel's features and he quickly put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You can have more later, Cas. Right now we need to go over a few things," Dean said firmly.

Bobby nodded. "I'll say. Like what the heck happened? And I mean start from the beginning. One minute you and I are standing there having a discussion and when I turn around you're gone! I don't hear from you for a few days and then next thing I know you're calling saying you have Sam and that the Apocalypse has begun… and then you call back later saying that you have him with you." He pointed to Castiel. "And he lost his powers and is hurt. So… yeah. I need you to fill in a few details."

Sam cleared his throat. "Hey, uh, Bobby? Do you mind getting the details from Dean? I… I really need to… um… I need to be alone… for a while…"

Bobby frowned. "That's fine; Sam, but I can't put you back in the panic room again. Unless you want to fill me in on how you Houdini'd your way out of there?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know how I got out. I was shackled to the bed when suddenly the shackles fell off and then the door opened. I don't know how."

"Was it Ruby?"

"She said she had nothing to do with it."

"She was telling the truth."

Everyone turned to look at Castiel who had quietly spoken. His eyes were downcast and his form was notably tense.

"Castiel," Dean said slowly. "You know how Sam got out?"

Castiel nodded, the guilt clearly written on his face.

"I let him out," He said quietly. "Zachariah ordered for me to release him."

"You what?!" Bobby growled furiously. Ellen put a hand on his arm to try to calm him.

"I… I'm sorry." He looked at Dean sadly. "I told you… I told you I had betrayed you… I do not deserve your forgiveness. Or Sam's help. I deserve the fate I have received."

Dean closed his eyes, a feeling of rage washing over him at the idea that Castiel had been responsible for nearly killing Sam. But the feeling quickly passed and then he just felt sad. Sad knowing that Castiel had been betrayed and manipulated to do Zachariah's bidding. And Dean also felt overwhelmingly tired. Tired of being angry at the people he cared about.

"You know what," Dean said quietly. He opened his eyes and looked at Castiel directly. "It's done with. I know why you did it. You did everything you could to make up for it. Sam's alive and we're here. And I'm too damn tired to be pissed at you. So we're putting all that behind us."

Everyone stared at Dean dumbfounded. Dean turned to look at Sam.

"Do you forgive him, Sam?"

It took Sam a moment to formulate a response.

"Yeah… yeah… I do."

"There ya go," Dean said looking back at Bobby. "Castiel is sorry. Sam and I both forgive him. So what I think we need to do is get Sam set up downstairs before things get too bad and Ellen needs to check Cas over to make sure he's OK. And then I'll fill you in on what's happened."

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OK, this chapter was a bitch to write! My brain has NOT been wanting to function! I'm also trying not to think about some of the spoilers I've read for season 5! : (

Anyway, I'm hoping I'm past the rough part and start getting back into story like I want to! Those of you who gave me suggestions and feedback totally rock and I can't wait to use them (although I did use one of them in this chapter!).

Thanks for reading! : )