This chapter has been edited.

Sam was pacing, the weathered floor groaning in agony under each step he took, and sunlight had long since replaced the moonlight flooding the room through the dirty window. Of course Sam was worried about the increasingly long absence of his brother, but as he touched a finger to his fat lip, he found that he was more worried about what would happen when he got back. He sat down hard on the dusty couch in the living room, ignoring the puff of dust it let out and put his head in his hands. He sighed, trying –and failing- once again to stop the loop of thoughts going through his mind on repeat telling him all the ways he could have avoided this exact thing. I could have kept my mouth shut! I could have told Dean to give himself space from Cas. I could have just turned around and left them alone that first time I saw them together! That thought brought up images of his brother panting and moaning underneath those giant black wings that attached to Castiel, he grimaced and shook his head. "I was just trying to help," he groaned at the empty room, rubbing his eyes vigorously. "I guess I shouldn't have been so nosy in the first place. If I could take it back I would."

"You're right about the nosy part." Sam whipped his head up to face the source of the voice, it was Dean. Behind him was a smug Crowley, smiling in his crisp suit.

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Where the hell did you go? What happened?"

"There was a demon," He paused and looked over at Crowley who nodded. "He gave us the coordinates of Pestilence." Dean spoke lazily, a dead look in his eyes, as though he was giving a lecture about the physics of molecular biology, not telling Sam about how they were going to stop the apocalypse. Sam narrowed his eyes and looked between the two blood spattered men.

"That's it. He just gave them to you." Sam responded skeptically.

"Well, no. Not exactly." Crowley pushed past Dean to speak to Sam. "That's why it took so long, we had to do a bit of… Negotiating." He turned back to Dean and smiled devilishly. "Your brother is quite practiced," He turned back to a frowning Sam. "But not as much as I."

"Dean..?" Sam asked, Dean shook his head at the wall he was mostly facing.

"Well boys, it's been entertaining, as always. But it would seem I've got some business to attend to, a client." He looked between the two of them. "Until next time." And with that the demon was gone.

"Dean..?" Sam stepped forward and reached out, placing his hand on his brothers' shoulder. Dean finally looked up to face him. "What happened?" Dean sagged slightly.

"The demon's name was Brady."

"Brady? No, not like…"

"Yeah. Crowley told me about how you two were friends, but he was a demon man." He tried to shrug Sam's hand off, and it was only then that Sam realized he was clutching Dean's shoulder hard. Anger boiled hot under his skin as understanding swept over him. Dean reached up and grabbed Sam's hand, forcing it off his shoulder.

"I can't believe that," Sam gasped. "He was my friend! He introduced me to Jess! And he was a demon the whole friggin time?!"

"Yeah, looks that way."

"Is he dead?" Dean nodded slowly and Sam felt relief mix in with his anger. "Dude, why didn't you just come back here?"

"After Crowley told me who he was, we both decided it'd be better if you weren't there." Dean turned toward the door and took a step, Sam flared.

"What so you don't trust me now?" He grabbed Dean's shoulder again, but was shrugged off quickly.

"No Sam, I don't." He turned to look at Sam, his eyes were hard and his brow was furrowed. He opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it and headed for the door. Sam followed numbly, his hands hanging limply by his sides. He felt as though he had just gotten slapped across the face. He climbed in the Impala and shut the door as Dean keyed the ignition and the engine roared with life. They sped off down the highway toward Sioux Falls.

"What happened?" Bobby asked as soon as they had settled in the living room. The ride back had been uneventful, and extremely quiet.

"We got some – help – finding out where Pestilence will be soon."

"Help? From who?"

Sam and Dean exchanged looks "Crowley." Dean said under his breath. Bobby paused for a second before his face got dark red beneath his beard.

"Are you stupid?" He began, his gaze flicking back and forth between the two boys who both suddenly felt twelve again. "Have you both gone completely insane? Trusting a demon?!" Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the door and all three men looked at the front door. Sam and Dean looked back at Bobby questioningly; when the old hunters' face hardened they both stood slowly and pulled the guns out of their belt. They walked up to the door cautiously, holding their pistols ready, aimed at the door as Bobby reached over with his left hand, placing his hand on the knob. He nodded at the boys and when they nodded back, signifying they were ready, he wrenched the door open. What they saw was enough to make them all gasp. Dean and Sam lowered their pistols slowly.

"… Cas?" Dean whispered, picking his jaw up off the floor. He gaped at the man standing in the doorway, seemingly unable to speak, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down futilely while the cogs spun in his head. He shook his head and mentally righted himself. "How the hell are you alive though?"

"I was told that I appeared, bloody and unconscious on a shrimping boat off Delacroix. I'm told it upset the sailors. After that, I woke up in a hospital." Dean sputtered for a moment before putting his pistol in his belt and frowning at the angel in the doorway.

"Okay, but how'd you get here?"

"I took a bus." Castiel stated matter-of-factly.

"But I-how…" Dean fumbled for a moment. "Why didn't you just zap here?" Castiel shifted uncomfortably.

"It would seem that my 'batteries' are drained." Cas answered providing air quotes.

"What do you mean, you're out of angel mojo?

"I'm saying that I am thirsty and my head aches. I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch it, and I'm saying that I'm just incredibly..."

"Human." Dean finished. "Wow." He took a step forward and clapped a hand on the former angel's shoulder and shook him a little, smiling sadly. "Sorry man." Cas's gaze flickered to the hand and back to Dean.

"Dean," He began. "I want to stay, but if you need more space, I will leave." Dean glared at Sam momentarily before looking back at Castiel. He cleared his throat, dropped his hand from Cas' shoulder and took a step back.

"No, we need all hands on deck for this one. We figured out how to pop Satan back in the box." Cas looked relieved as he stepped inside, Bobby backed up and rolled himself into the living room apparently bored with the conversation.

"How?" He shut the door behind himself and cocked his head at Dean who turned to follow Bobby into the living room.

"It's a long story, I'll fill you in." He beckoned to Cas who followed diligently into the living room. Sam hesitated and looked out the window at the setting sun before following the other three men and sitting down on the couch while Dean brought the now human Castiel up to speed on everything that had happened since he had gone.

It was shortly after midnight, the moon was high in the night sky and shining a ghostly glow over the three men in the black 1967 Impala speeding down the highway. Dean Winchester sat in the driver's seat, Castiel next to him in the passengers, and Sam Winchester lying down and softly snoring in the back. Team Free Will Dean mused to himself. He had felt an enormous weight taken off of his shoulders at the sight of the angel in the doorway, but after putting so much effort into infuriating himself, and Cas, he couldn't quite think of how things were going to go back to normal. Which, he supposed, wasn't quite normal to begin with considering that he was just screwing around with someone. A man, no less. His thoughts drifted off as he stared out over the open expanse of black pavement. If life were like a movie I would have pulled him into a big hug and kissed him right there for the whole world to see. Friggin' chick flick moments like that make me sick. And he's a guy, I'm Dean freakin' Winchester, ladies man. I've had sex with more women than I can count, and I can count pretty high. He chuckled softly to himself, just barely audible over the radio. But it's Cas, he's my best friend. That's the issue! He's a HE! I'm not gay! I thought things may have been getting back to normal when I find out my own brother drove him away. He glanced in the rearview mirror and could see the scab on his brothers lip where he had bloodied it, he quickly looked back at the road. And then he shows up at my door expecting things to be just the way we left them. How did we leave them? I just wanted him to be out of my life, then he left and I wanted him back, now he's back and I just don't know. He sighed to himself. All I know is I'm not gay, and he's a man. And everyone I've ever cared about has died. He's my best friend.

"Dean?" Cas spoke over the radio, shaking Dean out of his inner turmoil.

"Yeah?"

"I have read up on the subject of love and sex and therefore know a lot about it. Although I haven't known human emotions for very long, I still feel that I know my emotions well enough to analyze them rationally. We have engaged in intercourse and, as an angel of the lord, I would not have been able to engage in it with you had I not felt a certain level of affection for you." He paused. "What I'm trying to ask is if you have come to terms with your homosexuality? Do you love me Dean?"

I'm not gay.

"I-" Dean broke off, feeling an icy cold pit settling itself in his stomach. He groped around in his mind trying to figure out what best to say. No, because you'll die. No, because I can't recall a single moment in time when I have told someone that. No, because you're a man. No, because it's just going to cause something horrendous to happen that I won't be able to forgive myself for. Noes and reasons clanged and clashed around in his head, but none of them were any good and he knew that. He heard a small yes in the back of his mind and squashed it down quickly, in this business there was no room for that. "I can't." He said finally, gripping the steering wheel a little harder. "I just can't."

"Of course Dean." Castiel replied stonily, the glint of hope in his eye masked over by his usual stoic manner. Metallica floated over their heads and Sam shifted in the back seat, but neither of them spoke. After about a mile it was Cas who broke the thick silence between them. "I just want you to know that, according to all definitions of the phrase, I love you Dean." At this declaration Dean felt his heart sink. He felt Cas' gaze on the side of his face and forced himself to show no emotion. That was exactly the last thing he had wanted to hear tonight, and yet a portion of him was elated. A portion of him felt fuzzy and hot in his cheeks, but that portion of him wasn't rational, and he was in the wrong business for that portion of him to ever surface.

"I know, Cas." Dean said softly. He's my best friend. "I know." Everyone I care about dies.