Nine days
By the time they had gotten to Denver around midnight, they were all exhausted. Ten hour drives had been nothing for the Winchesters, but Dean was out of practice and Sam thought Amelia still needed to get used to being human. There had been a lengthy discussion about sleeping arrangements. Sharing a room with head-over-heels-in-love Sam and Amelia wasn't something Dean was looking forward to; but he also didn't want to be alone on his second night out of Purgatory. Amelia, again, seemed to come up with a practical solution; they got two adjoining rooms and had the clerk open the dividing door. That way they were all together but had a modicum of privacy.
Crowley and Death had also been major topics of discussion during the first leg of their trip. Dean had again declared his adoration of Amelia when he heard how she had dealt the King of Hell; although he had really wanted to kill that prick himself after how he had screwed them. Since Amelia was no longer on speaking terms with Death, they had no way of knowing if he had released Crowley or not.
But, they all knew it was only a matter of time before some demon came after them again. So, first thing in the morning, they had found a tattoo parlor and Amelia had gotten a tattoo like Sam and Dean's. As badly as it had hurt, she had a much deeper appreciation for all her former acolytes that had had her symbol inked into their bodies. They were back on the road before 10 AM and made it to Billings for a few hours sleep, a shower; then back on the road and reached the cabin before noon the third day.
Dean had started calling for Cas as soon as they were unpacked. It was now six days later; nine days since they had come out of Purgatory together. Sam and Amelia had used most of that time to clean up the basement and convert it into their bedroom, leaving the upstairs loft for Dean.
They had all been surprised to find the former Mother Nature was both a terrible house-keeper, which they guessed wasn't really that surprising, considering her past lives and former powers; but she could hardly boil water without hurting herself. The woman was the biggest klutz in the kitchen they had ever seen. Dean actually broke down and went into Whitefish to get her some boots to protect her feet; he couldn't stand how often she was stubbing a toe or dropping something heavy on her foot.
It was while Dean was away from the cabin that Amelia told Sam what had happened during the ritual, when he had almost lost Dean and Cas. "Apsu told me, the angel had been struggling, resisting Dean bringing him back. He managed to get away, and Dean had been so desperate to get his friend out that he took control from Apsu long enough to grab him again." She looked at Sam. "That was why the beam was broken and you had to dive into the hole to get them."
"Why would Cas not want to get out of Purgatory?"
"He didn't think he was worthy to come back, that I hadn't forgiven him." Dean said from the stairs down to the basement. Sam and Amelia hadn't heard him come back.
"Dean." Sam said in that tone of voice that meant 'sorry', 'we can talk about it' and 'I love you no matter what', all at the same time. It hadn't taken Amelia very long to realize these brothers had their own form of mind-reading and telepathy, and was just as powerful as hers had ever been.
"I need to get… something upstairs." Amelia said, and then she headed up to leave them alone.
"No. Stay. You should hear this too." Dean said as he put his hand on her arm to stop her. "And, I guess I should apologize for blaming his leaving on you, back at the cemetery. I knew he wanted to stay, to keep doing his frickin' penance. But, I couldn't, despite everything he'd done, I couldn't leave him there." He stopped and looked up at his brother. "Sammy, that place…. I just couldn't leave him there."
Sam grabbed his brother in a hug and Dean finally broke down and started telling him about his ordeal. Amelia slipped upstairs and gave them the time alone they hadn't really had since they had been reunited.
As Amelia sat alone upstairs, she thought about being part of family. It reminded her she owed Amelia Stone's mother a phone call. Well, she owed her and the sisterhood a whole lot more than just a phone call; but she needed to let Amelia's mother know her daughter would not be coming home. But, she also made a silent promise to take her daughter to Spokane one day, to meet 'her side of the family'.