A phone rang in the Men of Letters bunker. It was in Dean Winchester's back pocket.
Dean surprisingly heard his phone over the cacophony of gunfire. "Hey, take five, guys," he shouted, pulling his phone out. Cas, Adam, and Benny all looked over at him in the firing range.
Dean answered his phone, "Hey, Sherlock. What's going on?"
"Moriarty isn't dead," Sherlock said.
"No shit," Dean said, surprised, "Do you guys want our help with him? Gabriel's out right now, but we can get over there when he gets back."
Sherlock said, "No, it's okay. I think we'll be able to take care of him ourselves. We just felt you may appreciate some advanced warning. Also, I do believe you have enough on your plate with your family."
Dean glanced at Cas, Adam, and Benny all holding pistols. Their targets so far had gone unscathed. Cas never liked guns, always preferring angelic tactics. Adam was raised a civilian, so Dean wasn't expecting high marks from him anyway. Benny, however, insisted that he was better with muskets and that pistols were awkward and small. His family being a handful didn't begin to cover it.
"Why warn us?" Dean asked, "The guy's got a hard on for you and John, not us."
"Cas killed him the last time, and he now knows you exist. He may widen his area of interest. Just be careful," Sherlock said.
Dean met Cas' concerned gaze and said, "Thanks for the head's up, Sherlock. I'll let the others know." He turned away from gun novices and asked quietly, "Are you sure you two can handle a psychopathic demon?"
"I believe we're up to the challenge," Sherlock said.
Dean sighed and said, "Okay. Well, if things get too hairy, give us a call. We're happy to help if you need us."
Sherlock said, "Thank you, Dean. I'll keep that in mind. Take care."
The call cut out.
Dean pocketed his phone, turning back to the others.
Cas asked, "Who was that?"
"That was Sherlock, warning us about a demon that may or may not be after us," Dean said nonchalantly.
Adam's eyes widened, and Benny asked, "Is this not a big deal?"
Dean shrugged and said, "We already have the King of Hell gunning for my ass, and I pissed off most of Heaven pretty recently. What's one more demon?"
"The bunker's safe, right?" Adam asked.
Dean took a few steps toward his half brother and asked, "You worried?"
Adam's jaw clenched. "Just not a fan of dying again," he said.
"Don't worry," Dean said, "It's a dangerous life, but we look out for each other. You work on that aim, and the fear gets easier to deal with."
Adam nodded, aiming his pistol at the target again.
Dean clapped a hand on Adam's shoulder and moved over to Benny, opening a cabinet behind him.
"I think you might prefer these," Dean said to the vampire.
As Adam squeezed off a round, Benny sauntered over. He saw the cabinet full of sharp daggers and throwing knives and grinned at Dean.
Benny gently picked up small silver blade, turned it over in his hand a few times, and threw it at his target, logging the blade right in the target's throat.
"I like these much better," Benny said, grinning widely.
Cas looked at Dean and stared at him in a way that Dean knew Cas wanted him to come over. It jarred him that he knew Cas' looks so well. He kept having to remember that most of his history with the former angel never happened. Or at least, it never happened with this Cas.
On the way over, Dean glanced at Adam's target. The kid had managed to shoot it in the chest. Not a fatal shot, but it was definitely improvement.
"Hey, Cas," Dean said, "What's up?"
"I need to ask you something," Cas said.
Adam and Benny stopped threatening their targets and looked over at Dean and Cas. Dean pretended not to notice.
"Go ahead," Dean said.
Cas said, "I need clarification on something. What exactly is the nature of our relationship?"
Subtlety was never really Cas' style, was it?
Dean dragged Cas into the hallway, ignoring the laughter coming from Adam and Benny.
"What do you mean, Cas?" Dean asked.
"You haven't told me what my copy did while I was in the cage," Cas said, "But you did tell me before waking me up that you loved me. But that was yesterday, and this is the first time since then that we've been alone. You seem on edge with me. You help the others with their shooting but give me no instruction, you let me use your bed but you sleep in the kitchen, you say you're glad I'm out of Lucifer's cage yet you won't look me in the eye. The last I remember, you barely tolerated my presence. Now, I can't tell if we are friends or if you loathe me. It is incredibly confusing."
Dean sighed, frustrated. He really didn't want to tell Cas the things his doppleganger had done. It was hard enough seeing that Cas feel so guilty. Dean was not eager to let the real Cas feel that same sense of responsibility.
One thing at a time.
"Our relationship is complicated," Dean said, "We are definitely friends. I consider you family. Do you really want to talk about this now?"
Cas nodded. Of course he did.
"Alright, let me get Sam to make sure Adam and Benny don't accidentally kill each other," Dean said.
"Sam isn't here," Cas said, "He and Gabriel went out to a restaurant together."
Dean said, "I thought Gabriel said he was just going to pick up some supplies."
"That may be what he told you, but that isn't what he told me. They'll be back later."
Dean swallowed his irritation. He'd have words with the lovebirds later.
"Okay," Dean said, "They'll be fine without supervision for a few minutes. Let's talk."
He led Cas into his bedroom, sat him on the memory foam, and took a seat in the chair across from the bed.
"What do you want to know? Ask me anything," Dean said.
Cas asked, "Were you in a romantic relationship with my copy?"
Cas really was about as subtle as a brick.
"Yes," Dean said, "But it was a very recent development."
"That explains your behavior quite a lot," Cas said, "My copy reciprocated your affection, and you think that I do not."
"Am I wrong?" Dean asked. He meant it as a challenge. He was pretty sure if Cas had had feelings for him from the beginning, he would've said something sooner. Looking at Cas staring at him suddenly made him much less sure. "Wait, am I wrong?" Dean asked again, letting it sound much more like a question this time.
Cas said softly, "I saved you from Hell, I held your soul in my hands, I rebelled against Heaven for you, I died for you twice. How did it take you six years to figure it out?"
Dean got up from his chair and closed the distance between them with two quick steps. He crushed his lips to Cas' without a second thought. He had Cas back. None of the rest mattered. They'd figure it out.
When they separated, Cas asked, "Does this mean we are now in a romantic relationship?"
Dean lay back on the bed and said, "Dating, Cas. It's called dating. And yeah, we are if you want to be."
Cas smiled. "I would like that, yes," he said.
Dean returned the smile. Maybe good things did happen.
Cas lay down next to Dean and met his gaze with a serious expression.
"Could you tell me what my copy did while I was gone?" Cas asked after a moment.
Dean said, "Cliff notes version? Your copy became God, broke Heaven, released leviathans into the world, went to Purgatory with me, got mind controlled by an angel, and accidentally caused all the angels to fall. We fixed it, though."
Cas stared at Dean with widened eyes. "I need more details than that, Dean," he said.
So, he told him. He told him about Cas betraying them, about Sam's insanity, about the demon tablet, the angel tablet, Kevin. He told him about the Mark of Cain, which thankfully had faded from his arm. He told him about being a demon. He told him everything. And when Cas started to feel guilty for not being there, for not being able to help, Dean was there to remind him how loved he was.
About three hours later, Dean was helping Cas make cheeseburgers, showing him how to flip the burgers without burning himself, when Sam and Gabriel came stumbling into the dining room.
Dean saw them through the kitchen door, but he didn't get annoyed until he heard Gabriel say, "Dean's cooking? If I'd known that, I would've taken everyone out for dinner."
Dean stepped away from Cas and into the dining room. "You know, I know how to kill an archangel," he said, giving Gabriel a cold stare.
"Oh, I'm so scared," Gabriel mocked with an impish grin.
"I'm also your boyfriend's brother," Dean said, "You might want to appreciate that."
Sam gave Gabriel a look that clearly said he agreed with Dean.
Gabriel sat next to Adam silently, smiling up at Sam with an innocent grin.
"Besides, I didn't make these burgers," Dean said, "Cas did."
Cas came out of the kitchen with two more cheeseburgers and handed one to Dean.
"Thank you for teaching me, Dean," Cas said, "I feel like I'll need a lot of help with being human, and I'm glad that I have you to guide me through it."
Dean took Cas' hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, glad that he could help Cas unlike when Copy Cas had lost his grace.
"So, are you guys...?" Sam asked, gesturing vaguely between the two of them.
Dean said with a smile, "You bet your ass."
Gabriel hopped up out of his chair, so Cas could have somewhere to sit.
Cas protested, "No, I can stand. I'm fine."
"You have food," Gabriel said, "And I have a seat anyway." Gabriel dropped onto Sam's lap, earning a surprised grunt from Sam.
Dean rolled his eyes and ran his thumb over the back of Cas' knuckles. For a minute, it felt like this could be their lives. They could be happy, surrounded by family. This could be something he could get used to.
"This is cute and all, but don't we have to worry about the king of Hell, or that bit of Heaven you pissed off? Shouldn't we be doing something?" Adam asked.
Dean didn't drop Cas' hand when he said, "You're right. We've got a lot going on. Crowley is plenty pissed that I'm not the demon he wanted me to be, Cain still wants me to kill him, Hannah can't run Heaven by herself, there's a good portion of Heaven that thinks I deserve to die for what happened when Cas chose me over them, we have to figure out how to get the prophet line back up and running, I'm damn sure somebody's heard we opened Lucifer's cage, and then there's the normal family business we'll still need to be taking care of."
"So, what's the plan?" Benny asked.
Dean looked over at Sam.
Sam said, "Well, as far as Heaven goes, Gabriel's the only one equipped to get up there and figure out what's going on and how we can help. No idea what to do about Crowley."
"We'll figure it out," Dean said.
"I could pop up to Heaven and see how Kevin Tran is doing," Gabriel said, "If he's game, I could resurrect him and solve the prophet problem."
Dean nodded, and Gabriel disappeared in a rush of wind and feathers.
"I can see if there are any cases we can work on in the mean time," Cas said. He got up and left the room with Benny close on his heels, asking questions about research and what makes a case stand out as something supernatural.
As Dean watched Cas leave the room, he got that feeling again that this could work. His family breaking off to get shit done felt just so right. Sitting at the table with his brothers, knowing things with Cas were okay, knowing everyone he cared about was safe, made everything they were up against seem so much smaller.
Dean looked at Adam and said, "We definitely need to take you on a few hunts, get you ready for the big leagues." They'd be stronger as a team, so getting Adam up to speed was a high priority.
Sam said quickly, "Don't worry. We won't do anything too crazy until you feel more comfortable."
Adam smiled at his brothers and said, "Then, we've got work to do."