Dean had taken them up to the condo and then told Cas that he was going to go get the guys to help him take the van's contents to storage. Cas acknowledged all of this with a nod and he and Lil quietly went about preparing a light supper. They decided to heat a can of soup. It seemed fitting as Cas remembered all the times that his own mother made soup for him when he had been sick. True, they weren't sick, but it felt the same anyway.

Lil joined him at the table and he placed the overly large bowl in front of her. Her face stared back at him beyond the steam that was rising from its surface."You may want to blow on it. It is hot." Cas muttered.

She lifted the spoon but did not eat. She just seemed to be fiddling with it. She finally lifted a small spoonful to her lips. She sipped at it and then set it back in the bowl. "Will I be living with you for always?"

"Yes. Is that okay with you?" Cas set down his spoon and looked across the table at her.

"Yes." She raised the spoon to her lips again and blew on the contents a little. The steam from the bowl seemed to part and flow out around her face a little.

"Lil, I hope that you know that you are my favorite little person in the world." Cas smiled at her. She looked at him like he was strange.

"I am not that little."

"Okay, then you are my favorite person in the world."

"What about Dean?" She sipped some more soup.

"He's okay." Cas smiled at her again. "I will do anything to make you happy and to keep you safe. Do you understand?"

"Uh huh." They each dipped into their bowls and fell into a prolonged silence. After they had finished their food, Cas had decided to unpack the one box of Lil's that they had carried up to the condo. They put her clothes into the drawers and laid out her toys on top of the dresser. Cas was making a mental note on how to make this room less like a guest room and more like a kid's room. Once they got the room all squared away, Cas went into the guest closet and pulled out an old electronic keyboard. He set it on the dresser and plugged it in.

"This can be for you, for if you want to play songs or sing." He was thinking about what she had said about feeling connected to her mom. He switched it on and pressed a key. It sounded okay for an electronic keyboard.

"I don't know how to play. Will you teach me?" She reached out to it and pressed a couple of keys. The discordant sound made her let go quickly.

"Of course. Maybe we can get you lessons. That might be nice, huh?" Cas brushed a hand across her head.

"Play something." She plopped up on the bed and waited.

"What should I play?" His mind was going blank. He knew a great many songs, but somehow they were all fleeing from his mind.

"I don't know. Something pretty."

Cas decided then, that he would be able to play "In the Still of the Night." It was simple enough and he could fake his way through some of it if he forgot the tune or the lyrics. He ran his fingers over the keys and gave himself an elongated prelude that did not normally exist. Then he sang. The tune was warm and melodious. He closed his eyes and slipped through each verse. He let his mind wander over the words. He remembered holding M in the alley. He thought about holding Dean in the hospital. He thought about holding Lil on the front porch of her house. They had each spent so much time holding on. The words of the song wrapped around his thoughts and he sang them out until the last note fell into silence. He opened his eyes and looked at Lil. "Was that okay."

"Yes." She smiled at him. "I hope that I can sound like that when I grow up." She hugged him and they sat together taking comfort from the warmth of each other.

The evening wore on and eventually Lil let a little yawn escape her lips. She was trying not to sleep, and Cas was starting to see that this was going to be a continual struggle for him. Are you sleepy yet?"

"No." But her eyes were hardly opened when she responded.

"Here let me help you get your pjs on." He helped her pull her shirt up over her head and he replaced it with a long black and white striped nightgown. It had a large Jack Skellington on the front. Cas asked her about it, and she had claimed that her mom bought it for her for Halloween. Cas had said something about Halloween being just around the corner, so she decided to wear it.

"I'm not tired yet." Lil shared again.

"I know, but you still have to get ready for bed." She went along with his efforts and even brushed her teeth without too much coaxing. Eventually he convinced her to crawl into bed. Her eyes fell shut, and Cas was able to tip-toe out to the kitchen. He dished up a little more of the soup from earlier and popped it into the microwave for a late night snack. He wondered if Dean would come back tonight or if he was still bristling about the earlier torment. Cas felt bad, but it was too late to fix it now. I shouldn't have to put on a show for his people. It is all I can do to just put on this show of being fine for Lil. Cas felt himself growing irritated with his thoughts. It had been a rollercoaster of emotions today.

It was then that he wondered why Dean had not returned yet. He scooped up his phone from the counter and looked at it for messages. There was nothing. He sat at the table with his soup and thought about calling, or texting. He can't still be angry. Then he remembered that he was still angry so why would Dean be any different. He tried to push aside the conflicting emotions in order to just focus on eating and maybe sleep. He glanced over at the box on the floor and thought about reading through the contents.

When he finished with the soup he got up and rummaged through the box on the floor until he came to the special box at the bottom. He pulled it out and carried it to his bedroom. He set it on the bed and changed for sleep. He plumped up some pillows and sat against them with his legs folded beneath him. He pulled the box to him and spread its contents out. Finding the file on Dean, Cas decided to begin there. It was not a lengthy file, but it was telling. M had, in fact, prepared it. He wondered if it had been seen by anyone else. If it had been shared, would she have hidden it in the secret desk compartment? Who was she hiding it from? These were the questions that had been plaguing him since he first set eyes on it. He wondered why she had a file on Dean, and then he remembered with a half smile playing out on his face, how she had joked about his dossier containing information about past relationships. I guess that it wasn't entirely a joke. He began reading the notes that she had scrawled into the file though and the smile quickly fell from his face.

Dean Winchester is not who he claims to be. It is unclear, yet whether or not Mr. Novak is aware of the other life that his boyfriend is leading. He has been in law enforcement for at least ten years. Sam Winchester is most definitely aware. It seems that he was accused of passing case information off to his brother on Adrien Salvatore. Salvatore claims to have seen Sam talking with the DEA. The description that he provided of the agent sounded more like Dean though. This knowledge is useful as it may afford an opportunity for information to flow into the right hands.

Cas paused in his reading and wondered what she meant by "the right hands." He felt like he was growing more confused by the reading instead of enlightened. M knew. How could she have known all of this? He took a deep breath and began reading again.

Dean Winchester is working primarily as a warehouse grunt at Niveus' distribution center. We did not do an adequate background check on him. Someone on the inside must have been helping him to make that happen. He has been on-site for a little over a year as a part-time employee. I can't tell what he is investigating, or what he has unearthed. I can't imagine that he will find anyting. The warehouse contains none of the secrets.

The next chunk of notes were written in a different ink. Cas assumed that they were added later. They just seemed to be general notes.

The deed is done and now we wait. I don't think that Cas knows anything about Dean's being a cop. It doesn't matter though, since Sam is on the team now. It is easy to convince people that you aren't so bright when you introduce alcohol into the equation. This group tends to accept people at face value. It is odd how comfortable they have been with me. It is disconcerting at times and also something more profound. I don't know how to feel about it.

Cas turned to his dossier to look for notes and found one scrawled on the back in long form.

At first I found him to be a run-of-the-mill attorney. Later, he turned out to be something more. He is a man of compassion and ethics in a sad, disgusting world. I think that this world was not meant for someone like him.

He felt sadness descending on him again and he let himself cry a little. He pushed the papers aside and thought. It is you that were too good for this sad, disgusting world. He was trying to piece together what he had read when he heard the front door open. It was Dean. Cas had given him a key earlier. Cas stared out past his open bedroom door into the living room. He watched Dean walk with a pained look on his face. The stumbling movements as he made his way to the couch convinced Cas that Dean had overexerted himself. He really wasn't supposed to be walking on that leg without his crutches, but he was stubborn. Cas considered getting up to talk with him, but he decided against it. Instead he gathered up the papers and put them back into the box. He slipped it under the bed and switched off the lights.

Now he could go to bed, knowing that the people that he cared about were safe under one roof. He may not want to argue or talk about the day, but that didn't change the fact that he loved the people in his home at this moment. Besides, it will be easier to talk after a good night's sleep. He felt his mind drifting off into sleep with one final thought, or maybe he'll come to bed and we won't need to talk. That did not happen though. Cas' only company as he slept came to him in the form of his dreams.

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Thanks Mummabro for the thoughts. Yeah, Dean is not always clued into what people perceive about him. I hope that although he was a little jerky, that I didn't make him too jerky. Thanks Master's daughter too. I didn't like the feels in that last chapter either, but it seemed like it worked. Glad you were okay with it:) Yesterday was a good writing day. I am feeling great about the last couple of chapters and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for all of the support. 'Till tomorrow.