Author's Note:

Just a quick thank you to my readers again! I appreciate it :D

"So we should probably make a list of stuff that needs to get done," Sam sat down across from Dean in the most amazing living room space Dean had ever seen in his life. "I still have school tomorrow so I'll need a way to get there and back. Also, all of our stuff is back at the house so we should move that. Figure out what we want or need, maybe donate the rest of it? Dean and I will need keys made from the main set, we'll have to change our addresses which means we need stamps and to go get our driver's licenses updated and-"

"Wait, so we've decided that this is where we'll live primarily?" Dean had no qualms about interrupting his brother. In truth, he really admired Sam's lack of hesitation in stating outright that he and Dean were entitled to the same things Jet was, like the master keys. For Dean it was always a hope that Jet wouldn't just say 'I earned it, you don't get squat,' but maybe that was just his pessimistic side.

"I don't know about you," Sam didn't skip a beat about being cut off, "but I don't think Cas would do so well living in town right now."

Dean smiled awkwardly and nodded his silent agreement. Jet leaned over the back of Sam's couch and the teen's shoulder at the same time, "I was thinking we could keep a place in town,"

"The old man's town house?" Dean asked, nearly stuttering when Castiel pounced on to his couch and snuggled up close.

"Ew, no." Jet made a face at him, "No, I was thinking we could sell that one and the one we currently rent. Maybe pick out a nice one? Maybe a condo or something?"

"Ooh, we could buy a couple condos and then rent out to people," Sam lit up, "like maybe something close to the college; we could help some students out."

"Before we help strangers I vote we pay Bobby back,"

"Obviously," Sam and Jet looked at Dean with very similar smirks; Dean wondered which one of them had taught it to the other unknowingly.

Castiel kept changing positions on the couch as they talked, all discomfort aimed at Dean until he lifted his arm so Cas could squirm under it with wings strangely folded. Dean figured it probably didn't hurt since Cas didn't fuss about it. It was surprising to him how quickly he was getting used to Castiel being around, it was late and he'd only known Cas for just under 12 hours but he was a fan. Castiel was too cute to be real sometimes, the way he showed affection and looked at Dean like there was nothing else in the room. No one had ever done that before.

Dean put his arm over Cas' shoulders and held him close, smiling to himself as a soft purring rumbled from the peaceful boy in his lap. He felt so much better knowing that Cas wasn't starving anymore, it kinda sucked that Cas ate every last piece of pizza that was left over but that was a small price to pay for so much love. Dean couldn't shake his buddy off his back the rest of the evening; they'd done some more exploring but mostly wanted to hang out. Cas followed him everywhere and was more curious about everything they came across and had to touch majority of the things. Dean settled on the couch when they were done looking around, but of course Cas was too restless and had to scour the room until he'd memorized it. Dean didn't mind, it gave him some time to himself.

He couldn't rightly say he didn't like Castiel's attention; it was all new to him. Dean didn't know what to expect from Cas, though. He hadn't had time to think over what the future would look like or anything relating to his humanly challenged friend. There were a lot of questions he should have been asking about Castiel, like whether or not feeding him pizza was even a good idea, let alone as much as he'd eaten. He had questions about how to teach Cas things, who would do it or if Cas would even learn. He wanted to know more, he knew Sam would figure something out with the computers in the basement but Dean didn't want to wait that long.

Cas' wing twitched a few times until it loosened and draped over his body like a blanket, a limp limb that fell lifeless as he dozed off. Dean kept his unbridled joy to himself; it was like when a kitten or a puppy fell asleep on you for the first time. He looked at Sam and Jet while pointing excitedly down, "He's sleeping," Dean whispered as Cas' purring vibrated against his leg.

Their discussions about what to do with their new found fortune had quieted down and went in a few ridiculous directions, but a few things were certain; they were going to give back to Bobby, they would still go to college, and Dean was keeping Castiel around.

Dean found himself nodding off after the day's excitement, his hand permanently rested on Castiel's shoulder to make sure he was there while Dean's head periodically dropped and scared him awake. Jet's eyes were closed and Dean was pretty sure he could hear the soft snoring, but Sam was still going strong. He was making lists of things he wanted to do and had to do, Dean had no idea what was all on them but was sure he'd find out eventually.

"We should go to bed," he said through a yawn, "I gotta drop Sam off at school in the morning."

Jet opened his eyes slowly and looked over at the two Winchesters drowsily, "Can I sleep in?"

"Someone's gotta watch Cas," Sam shook his head and folded up his lists, "Does this guy have any cars I could just take? I'd drive myself that way you don't have to worry about it and you can both sleep in."

Dean knew Sam's plan was for his own good, waiting for Dean to get out of bed might make him late for class and in Sam's world that was unforgivable. "I'm pretty sure MacLeod had a few, I'll go check to see if any of 'em work." He was about to get up when he realized his dilemma, Castiel was passed the fuck out. He'd even gotten to the dreaming stage where his legs and wings would move; sometimes he even made noises as if talking in his sleep. "I can't move…" Dean said in defeat.

Jet rolled his eyes and stood up, "I'll go look, I'm shit with cars but if it runs it's good enough."

"No, no, no, no," Dean argued quickly, pointing an accusing finger at Jet, "I'd sooner let Sam drive the Impala than let you pick a car for him to take to school."

"Then give me the keys," Sam raised an eyebrow and left Dean at a loss for words, stuttering through the 'but I' and 'I just' fragment compilations until he dropped his head, defeated again in ten seconds.

"Fine," he grumbled and very carefully slipped his hand into his pocket, thankfully it was the one that Castiel wasn't sleeping on. He tossed the set to Sam, "But I swear, if you do anything-"

"I know the rules, Dean." Sam sounded like he was ready to count them off in order to shut Dean up, but it wasn't necessary. At least that time around.

"Good," Dean hadn't kept tabs on his tone enough and felt the disruption in Cas' sleeping. His mute nudist stirred, fluttered a wing and nuzzled back into comfort. Still asleep.

"Well I guess we'll leave you on the couch then?" Sam smirked and started for the stairs, "Have a good night guys, see you tomorrow."

"G'night Sam,"

"Later Sammy,"

Dean and Jet sat in silence for a few minutes, Dean had expected his friend to leave but apparently there was more on his mind. "What's up?" he finally asked, keeping his volume low.

Jet bit lightly on the inside of his cheek, Dean could see how his jaw moved he hadn't noticed he was doing it. That was the sort of thing Jet used to do, when Dean first met him and several years after, he was unconsciously self-harmful. If something bothered him deeply he had a nasty habit of biting himself or not paying attention during actions that could get him hurt. He'd do it in his sleep, which was how Dean first figured it out – scariest sleep over of his life.

"You're chewing on your cheek," Dean pointed out and watched Jet's jaw loosen and cheek move as if his tongue had gone to inspect. "What's bugging you?"

Jet laughed quietly and shrugged as he dropped back against the couch, "I guess this whole thing is bugging me. Mostly though it's MacLeod, he was a psychopath and I had no idea."

"You can't anticipate everything, man." Dean tried to reassure him though it wasn't working too well. Dean took a deep breath and exhaled to ready himself before he spoke again, "Listen, I know you pride yourself as being a 'survivor' and shit, but this kinda stuff is hard to notice."

"Dean," Jet's tone was one of warning, his eyes steady and lying for him. "I could have ended up like Cas. I was probably his next experiment, nothing actually happened that I know of but still, it's pretty messed up."

"But like you said, nothing actually happened."

Jet sighed and ran a hand through his mop of hair, fingers scrunching up half way through as he tugged lightly on it. "I'm frustrated, I guess. If I hadn't seen the lab I would've assumed that this whole thing was a sick plan of his or something. Like maybe he just needed to find a way to lure me here, you guys being here was probably a surprise so that's why he hasn't done anything."

Dean smiled comfortingly, "You're being paranoid, the guy's dead."

"We didn't see a body, what if he's not?"

"He is, don't worry about it." Dean ran his hand over Castiel's wing gently, "Besides, if he tried anything he couldn't really do much. Sam and I live with you, Cas is here, we'd come and get you out so don't worry."

Jet stared at him for a few seconds before his mouth cracked a small smile, "Yeah, you're probably right…"

Dean didn't want to mention any past situations that brought out Jet's paranoia but he was tempted to. He'd lived through some shitty situations, even before Dean became his friend. All three of them had gone through some hell or another as kids, maybe that was why they felt so inseparable as adults. Regardless, Dean knew that if Jet was right in one way or another, he and Sam would do anything to get Jet to safety. And Jet would do the same for either of them, that's just how they worked as their own little family. Dean wasn't scared of the luck that befell them, as far as he was concerned they were due for a win.

"Thanks," Jet's expression was sincere, a rare occasion that Dean cherished each time he saw it. The three of them each had a little wall that they hid behind in their personality, Sam was a smartass, Jet was a jackass, and Dean was a combination of the two. That wall only came down for special situations and special people, Dean had noticed that Sam was more willing to be open than either Jet or himself. In fact, even Jet had more tendencies to expose himself than Dean ever did.

"Anytime,"

Jet smiled and pulled himself upright, "I can sleep a little easier now… do you know which room you wanted? Or which one Sam picked?"

Dean could hear the crack in Jet's voice, it was small and subtle but it begged to be close. "Sam's on the second floor, figured I'd pick one nearby so I can keep an eye on 'im." He knew he'd created a perfect moment for Jet to decide to be on the same floor since Dean already was going to be close to Sam, but that didn't mean Jet would take it. He had to force the situation a little more, clinch it. "You think you could pick one around him too? I'd feel better if we were all together in such a big place."

Jet's gratitude was silent but readable all over his face. "Absolutely," he glanced down at Cas and gestured toward him, "need help with feathers?"

"Maybe," he looked down at Castiel and wondered briefly when the last time was that Cas felt like this. Maybe it was when he was still fully human and remembered how it was to be one.

Dean scratched lightly at Cas' wings, hoping it'd wake him. Castiel shifted but that was the only real reaction. "C'mon Cas, wake up," he still spoke softly but pushed his fingers into the feathers of Cas' wings and scratched deeper.

Castiel made a sound akin to a growl mixed with excitement as he squirmed, his wing flexed and fluttered in an attempt to escape Dean's hand. The small movements didn't do him any good and Cas ended up floundering around on the couch whilst squealing. He sat up and pulled away from Dean, the college student barely attempting to hold back his laughter. Cas snorted contemptuously and swatted Dean with the wrist of his wing, knocking him off the couch.

Jet covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing but it wasn't enough. "Damn," he snickered as Dean groaned.

"That's a strong swing," Dean sat up and looked at Castiel who was preening his messed up wing, "sorry buddy, I was just trying to wake you up."

Cas huffed in response and continued to smooth out his feathers.

"Let's go find our rooms," Jet reached down to help Dean up again.

"Yeah, we got a lot of shit to do tomorrow," Dean took the offer gratefully. He turned to Cas and motioned to the stairs, "Come on Cas, let's find you a room."

Dean and Jet headed for the stairs, Dean kept an eye behind at Castiel who peered over the couch. It was only a few more steps before Cas hopped over and followed Dean up the stairs. It took a few tries to figure out which room was Sam's, but once they knew Jet and Dean chose theirs strategically.

"Good night, man." Jet said from his doorway, watching Dean usher Cas inside the one he'd picked for the winged male.

"'Night," Dean gave a short wave as his friend shut his door. "C'mon Cas," he said for the millionth time that day, trying to be quiet as he pushed Castiel inside. "You can sleep here, okay? It's nice and soft and you'll sleep like a baby."

Cas stood in the room and glanced from Dean to the bed. He somehow managed to put two and two together and hurried to the mattress, sitting on it and smiling.

"Awesome, good night Cas." Dean sighed in relief and closed the door. He started toward his own room but stopped when he heard a sharp whining sound. Castiel's high pitched whimpering went down in a wave and escalated back up to piercing. "Cas it's fine, just go to sleep," Dean called quietly through the door. There was a loud thud against it a second after he spoke, like Cas had run against it. "Go to sleep, I'll be back in the morning." Dean tried to say again but Cas' response was a deafening shriek that only stopped when he opened the door.

"Dude," Jet was stifling laughter again.

"He won't shut up," Dean hissed.

"Just take him to your room, Dean." Sam sounded tired, or just fed up with his brother's thick skull.

Dean rolled his eyes and looked at Cas who had promptly stepped outside the room again, kneeling on the floor behind him. "Okay, you can come with me." He reached down and took Cas' hand, leading him. It took more effort to get Cas inside the next room after what happened with the first one. Dean pulled on his arm but Castiel refused, his feet planted and his wings flared out be too big to fit inside. "Oh my god," Dean groaned and let go, "Fine, come in on your own." He walked over to the bed and dropped onto it, he watched Cas from there.

Castiel waited in the doorway for a little bit, kneeling with his wings stretched out defiantly for several minutes. Slowly he relaxed, shuffling into the room making soft sounds that reminded Dean of a ferret. He peered up over the edge of the bed, his face next to Dean's. It the dark room Dean felt the intensity of Castiel's glow, the soft blue light flickering in his eyes illuminated both their faces. They both remained motionless for a few seconds; Cas leaned close and sniffed lightly at Dean's face. Before he could process the little sniffs Dean was surprised when Cas licked his mouth. It was quick, warm, wet, and made Dean recoil in shock.

Cas cooed and climbed onto the bed, snuggling up close and wrapping his wings around himself. Dean blinked rapidly, his brain unable to focus on what just happened. To help himself get over it he clocked it as 'just a Cas thing' and tried to get comfortable. It was going to be a very weird night.