Author's Note:

Thanks for all the support guys, I wouldn't have gotten to chapter 53 without your help :3

To the new readers, welcome! To readers who are reading this ages after I've updated and finished the story; I love you too and your support helps me in whatever current endeavors I'm involved in. I've had countless times where a review of an old old old story reminded me of either how far I've come or the things I'm capable of. It always helps, so please don't be afraid to tell me something you're thinking or message me or whatever else. I hope you all have a great day!

The next day…

"I don't know…" Dean folded his arms over his chest and stared at Jet's newest contraption. It was a legitimate harness, something a real person might wear and it fit Cas pretty well, there were even additions to make it look like the wings were an attachment of some kind. Dean had no idea how Jet did it, really. He didn't know his best friend had the know-how to do something like that.

"C'mon," Jet urged as he finished fastening everything to Cas' body. It looked legit. "It's awesome, no one would know!"

"You sure?" Dean was skeptical, he had to be. Cas was important to him and there were so many ways this whole thing could go wrong.

"Dude we're students at a college in this city," Jet walked around to where Dean was standing and looked at Cas from that angle. "We could just as easily say we're working on an assignment for a thesis or some shit, show our IDs if we have to and we're golden. Hell, call it a social experiment and film the whole thing."

Dean wasn't sure he had a decent comeback for why it was a bad idea. It just seemed like a bad idea, the whole thing reeked of bad idea, so then why was Jet better at telling him it was a great one? Though it didn't help how excited Cas looked about the whole thing.

Castiel was fussing with the straps though it was due more so to not being used to them than anything else. When he looked up at Dean there was a bright look to his eyes, not in the glowing kind of way but something else. It made him look so alive, so ready to get out there. How could he say no to that face?

"Fine," he finally admitted defeat and Jet punched the air with a resounding 'YES!' before going to high-five Cas. Dean seriously wished he'd had a camera on when Jet was teaching Cas how to do that in the first place; needless to say it resulted in Jet's frustration and being hit in the face at least once.

"Really, Dee? You mean it?" Cas looked at Dean with the biggest smile. Those were similar words he'd used to ask if Dean was serious about dating him. Dean's response was the same; of course he meant it, though he wasn't sure how to bring up that bit of information with the others. He imagined Michael would string him up by his balls first and foremost. Charlie would stare at him skeptically but might trust him, he hoped anyway. Either that or she'd help Michael figure out the best way to torture him without killing him too quickly.

Sam would be disapproving, he was certain of that much. Sam would just stare at him with that bitchy face and say 'Really Dean?' Like it was the most obvious thing in the world to not fall in love with Cas or something. He imagined Jet would be alright with it, seeing as how Jet was the one who treated Cas as straightforwardly as he treated anyone.

"This is gonna be so fun!" Cas cheered and hugged Dean, his cheek nuzzling Dean's in the roughest cuteness he'd ever experienced.

"Yeah, yeah," he laughed, ignoring the scratchy feeling on his face. "What are we even going to do in town?" he asked after kissing Cas' cheek, a move he thought was pretty stealthy but the look Jet gave him said otherwise. Dean wasn't the best liar but when it came to Jet he was transparent as hell.

"Thinking just a drive around town," Sam piped up, he was looking at his phone and had missed it but Dean couldn't shake Jet's gaze and knew that Sam would know any second. He gestured to Jet to keep his mouth shut and got a raised eyebrow as a response, but to his delight Jet didn't say anything.

"That sounds fun," Cas added, unaware of Dean's struggle.

"You'd probably say that about anything," Jet smirked at him and Cas shrugged.

While they stood in the entrance together, neither Dean, Sam, Jet, or Cas noticed Michael's approach until the elder Novak opened his mouth.

"You're going to cram him into a car? Isn't this supposed to be an experiencing stuff kinda thing?"

"Yeah," Dean felt like he had to be the one to answer, after all he was Cas' boyfriend now. Maybe that title was getting to his head? He wasn't sure in what way but he knew it had nestled there regardless. "My car's pretty big so he'll fit fine."

"We'll stop once we get to a nice spot and walk around," Jet clarified, "There's a pretty nice park I was thinking of."

Michael nodded, his arms crossed and his expression neutral. Dean couldn't read him, maybe that was his goal. Though he did look tired, it was the same kind of tired Charlie often had. He hadn't slept his first night in the mansion, which meant he wasn't acquainted with Cas' nightmares yet. That night's nightmare was spent in Cas' cage for the most part, it was dark and cold and majorly uncomfortable. Dean wasn't too affected by it though, mostly because he could feel Cas there and it was somewhat comforting. Castiel didn't speak to him that time but he knew Cas was there, it was enough to get through it. Dean had woken up after everyone else too, he hadn't seen if anyone got stuck that time around but Jet seemed fairly calm that morning so he wasn't too worried.

Cas was kind of avoiding Michael's gaze, almost like they'd had a weird breakup or something. This didn't slip by Michael's notice but he didn't mention it, "So what're you going to do if someone recognizes him?"

Dean opened his mouth to reply but had nothing to really say to that. He looked to Jet and Sam for an answer and they were looking at him for the same. Well shit.

"You remember that he went missing, right?" Michael's voice took on a more condescending tone for that sentence, and though it was annoying Dean couldn't say it wasn't well deserved in this particular case.

"Yeah we remember," Jet's tone was more dangerous than Michael's and Sam quickly raised his hand to shush his boyfriend.

"Down, Jet." He said playfully to which Jet just snapped his jaw like a dog might, unable to hide a smile. "We know Cas was loved by a lot of people," Sam turned to Michael again, "I guess we just figured the main people we'd have to answer to would be you or Charlie. Garth recognized him, which surprised us. I knew we'd need a better answer, I was actually hoping you might be able to help with that."

Michael was taken aback by Sam's comment but it worked in settling him down. He looked away; Dean would've guessed there was a feeling of shame for being a bit of a dick, though maybe that was just his hopeful idealism. "If I went along with you I'd suggest stating he popped up recently with amnesia and leave it at that."

Sam nodded, he knew better than to ask whether or not Michael wanted to come. Cas wasn't comfortable enough with him yet. "Sorry you can't come along, would you feel better if we brought Charlie?"

Michael smiled; it was small but still there. Dean could see clearer that Michael was really tired. "Actually, I would. Thank you Sam."

"Of course," Sam looked at the others, "I'll go get her, be right back."

"Do you know where she is?" Jet furrowed his brow and Sam scoffed at him.

"Where else? She's always in the basement."

With that Sam walked off and Dean was left with the other two, plus Cas who was still very intrigued with the harness set up. Michael looked it over and pursed his lips but kept silent. His expression remained pretty much the same and Dean could tell it was slowly getting on Jet's nerves. Dean knew that Jet wasn't the best crafter but whenever he did something creative he always demanded praise for it; mostly though he just didn't take criticism well in that regard. The longer Michael stood looking without speaking the more Jet's jimmies were rustled.

"You like it?" Jet finally asked after another few seconds of silence, Dean tried not to laugh at the barely hidden bitchiness in his voice.

Michael shrugged; an action that could've set off a nuke in Jet if he hadn't followed with "It's pretty cool, actually."

"Yeah?" his friend's tone did a 180 and Dean had to snort back a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm guessing the idea behind it is pretending his wings are actually fake?"

"Yep," Jet regained his aloof-cool tone and Dean had to take a short walk away while Michael got the run-down about how the thing was made. Cas followed him, trotting along the grass with no shoes and reminding Dean that he needed to get those at some point.

"You okay, Dee?"

"I'm good," he smiled and put his arm around Cas' waist. He didn't really care that much if the others found out, they would anyway and it wasn't worth Cas' feelings to try and hide it to make sure he wouldn't get beat up. "You're sure you want to go to town? I know it was your idea but you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I want to," Cas snuggled up close, he wrapped his arms around Dean's shoulders and was close enough that their stomachs were touching. Dean wished he could focus on anything else but Cas was so warm and he felt his face was starting to burn a little. Castiel looked at him, holding eye contact for several silent seconds until all Dean could hear was his own heartbeat. "Are you okay with me going?"

Dean stuttered first and shook his head to try and rid himself of his stumbling, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine with you going. You can do whatever you want Cas, I just… I want to keep you safe."

"You promised you would," Cas smiled and Dean felt like it had more meaning than just a shallow expression. It looked deeper, more conscious and Dean wished he could figure out what Cas' mind was made of to make it through so much crap and still be so beautiful. "Do you think maybe it's too much work?"

"To protect you? Never."

"Even if I cause the trouble myself?"

Dean kissed him without hesitation, loving how Cas fell right into it. They held each other like that for an amount of time Dean didn't count; when he pulled away he ghosted his fingers over Cas' cheek. "You could cause as much trouble as you wanted, I'd still be there to protect you. You couldn't stop me."

"I wouldn't want to," Cas kissed him back and then buried his face in the crook of Dean's neck. "I love you,"

"I know," Dean knew the rules, even if the words burned at that back of his tongue waiting to roll out he wouldn't let it. Not until Cas would believe him.

Cas let a purring sound escape him, recognition of Dean's verbal struggle and appreciation at the same time. "You're amazing."

Dean laughed a little, "Yeah, I wish I was half as awesome as you." He dared look over to where Jet was talking to Michael and realized his friend had Michael's back facing their little display. Michael hadn't seen them kissing or anything. He owed Jet a few more cupcakes at the very least for that.

Dean and Cas rejoined the others when Sam walked out with Charlie in tow, "I am so ready!" Charlie beamed at them, like she'd been waiting to reintroduce Cas to society for ages. "Let's do this!"

"Yeah!" Cas joined in with her energy and hugged her.

Sam looked over at Jet, "So… is Desirae coming with?"

"No," Jet shook his head and glanced up at the mansion, "not yet, I don't have a clever explanation just yet."

Cas looked back and forth from Sam to Jet for a moment and Dean watched his wings slowly droop, "So she can't go?"

"One at a time," Jet smiled at him, "It's your turn first, she can wait."

Cas glanced at Dean and for a moment he felt like he should've had all the answers. He tried to smile convincingly and nodded as confidently as he could, "It's okay, she'll get her chance later."

That seemed to do the trick, Cas' wings perked up again and he was antsy all over again about the trip.

Sam bit at the inside of his cheek and looked at his boyfriend again, "You think one of us should stay here with her?"

Jet pouted, "But Cas is gonna get to go to town!"

"Yeah!" Cas cheered again.

"Right," Sam smiled at Cas who clamped onto Dean and started tugging, "But you sure she'll be okay here by herself? She came out with more memories than Cas but she's just a kid, and-"

"Okay, okay," Jet raised his hands, "I'll stay here, but Dean you better record some of that so I can see it later."

"You got it, man."

Sam kissed Jet's cheek, "Thanks, babe."

"Yeah, yeah," Jet stole a kiss on the lips, his lips pulled up in a grin, "I'm still a little grumpy about it though."

"Aww," Cas pouted a bit and went over to hug Jet, "thank you, Chet."

Jet hugged him back, that little tinge of bitterness fading, "You're welcome, buddy. Have fun, okay?"

"I will," Cas smiled brightly at him, and then paused to look at Michael.

There was another awkward silence where Dean could swear he saw Michael's heart tearing slowly in half. But Cas' brother smiled tiredly and gave a small wave without stepping forward. Not that he didn't want to; there was a small sway in his legs that indicated the thought as well as the thinking better of it.

Charlie cleared her throat gently, "Shall we then?"

"Yeah," Dean took Cas' hand, leading his boyfriend happily though he couldn't help a small glance back at Michael and Jet.

"Don't worry," Jet said without provocation, a very subtle nod toward Michael that Dean barely caught but knew meant 'I've got him.'

Author's Note2:

So I was saying Cas is going to town for this chapter and I decided that there was more set up needed to make that happen than just 'they're in town now!' So here it is, next chapter will have the first part of Cas' trip into the real world again :D