Thanks to Crowley, Sam and Dean had gotten their hands on a demon named Brady, who apparently Sam had a past with. Brady was the one who introduced him to Jessica and subsequently burned her on the ceiling for Azazel. They needed him because he was the one who kept track of the Horsemen's itineraries. So, after giving them the address of where Pestilence would be, Sam ended up killing him. Back at Bobby's Sam revealed his new plan for locking Lucifer away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean asked when he'd finished explaining. "Dean-"
"No, don't 'Dean' me. I mean, you- you have had some stupid ideas in the past, but this-" he turned to look at Bobby, "did you know about this?" Bobby looked up at him, "What?" Dean glared right back, "About Sam's genius plan to cram the devil down his throat?" Bobby nodded his head guiltily and Dean threw up his hands in frustration. "Well, thanks for the heads up!" It wasn't really their fault he was so frustrated right now. Well, not completely, anyway. He still didn't like the idea of Sam saying yes to Satan and tricking him into jumping into the cage. However, he was mostly frustrated because the devil still had Mack.
It had been nearly a week since the Gods Hotel incident. Nearly a whole week that Lucifer had Mack in his clutches. It was driving the father insane. "Hey, this ain't about me," Bobby argued, unaware of Dean's internal turmoil that never really went away. "You can't do this," Dean pointed a finger at Sam. "That's the consensus," Sam nodded morosely. "Alright. Awesome. Then, end of discussion." Dean's phone began to ring. "This isn't over. Hello?"
"Dean?"
That one word did him in. A rush of relief flooded his entire system so completely that he was suddenly weak in the knees. "Cas?" he asked softly, not trusting his voice entirely. "Is he okay?" Sam asked, alert at the sound of the angel's name, but Dean ignored him because Cas had called him. "We thought you were dead," Dean continued in disbelief. "Where the hell are you, man?"
"A hospital," Cas replied and Dean's heart dropped out of his chest. A hospital? "Are you okay?" he asked, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. Both Sam and Bobby were staring at him, wondering what Cas was saying on the other end of the line. "No," Cas answered. Dean swallowed, "You wanna elaborate?" There was a sigh from the angel. "I just woke up here. The doctors were fairly surprised. They thought I was brain-dead." Dean ran his free hand through his hair, shaking his head. "S-so a hospital?" Sam and Bobby's eyes widened in shock.
"Apparently, after Van Nuys, I suddenly appeared bloody and unconscious, on a shrimping boat off Delacroix. I'm told it upset the sailors." Dean let out a single, 'heh', still shaking his head in disbelief. So many emotions were flooding his senses right now. He still felt relief and happiness that Cas was alive and alright, but was also very worried. "Uh, well, I got to tell you, man- You're just in time. We figured out a way to pop Satan's box." Cas sounded surprised, "How?"
"It's a long story, but, look- we're going after Pestilence now. So if you want to zap over here…" he trailed off hopefully. "I can't 'zap' anywhere," Cas answered sadly. "What do you mean?" Dean went on the alert. "You could say my batteries are- are drained." Dean took a moment to process that. "What do you mean? You're out of angel mojo?" Cas sighed, "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 I'm just incredibly…"
"Human," Dean breathed. "Wow. Sorry." Cas pressed on. "Well, my point is- I can't go anywhere without money for… an airplane ride. And food. And more pain medication, ideally." Dean chewed on his bottom lip, taking a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. "Alright. Well, look, no worries. Uh, Bobby's here. He'll wire you the cash."
"Dean, wait," Cas said as Bobby gave him a sharp look of surprise, "I will?" Dean ignored him, focusing on what his angel was saying. "You said 'no' to Michael. I owe you an apology." Dean immediately protested, "Cas… I-it's okay." Cas wasn't finished. "You are not the burnt and broken shell of a man I believed you to have become." Dean swallowed an unexpected lump in his throat. "Thank you. I appreciate that," he choked out. "You're welcome," Cas replied fondly.
Dean glanced at his brother and surrogate uncle and headed out the door so he could keep talking without eavesdroppers. "Uh, Cas… there's something… something else." Goddamnit, now he was starting to cry. "What is it, Dean?" Stupid lump in his throat making it hard for him to talk… "It's…" he swallowed hard, the action painful. "It's Mack…" Cas suddenly sounded on high alert. "What happened to her? Is she hurt?" Dean closed his eyes, fighting the tears that were forming and threatening to escape. "L-Lucifer… Lucifer has her…"
The angel fell deadly silent on the other end and Dean felt a tear slip down his cheek. "What?" Cas whispered. "How? When?" Dean let out a gasping breath as more tears fell. "A-about a week ago… C-Cas, I can't… I don't…" His sobs were getting more and more hysterical… Son of a bitch, he couldn't friggin' breathe. He couldn't do this. "Dean, you need to take some deep breaths," Cas instructed gently. "Follow me…" Dean did. As Cas let out exaggerated breaths over the phone, he matched him, in through his nose and out through his mouth. Just like the way Sam had coached Mack before… Nope. Keep breathing. Just focus on Cas, and keep breathing.
"You said you're going after Pestilence," Cas changed the subject as soon as he'd calmed down. "Where is he?" Dean swallowed, "Serenity Valley Convalescent Home in Davenport, Iowa. Sam and I are going to head out soon. You don't have to meet us there, though. Just come back to Bobby's and we'll see you after." Cas argued with him, "No, Dean. I'll see you there as soon as I'm able to get out of this hospital." Dean just nodded lamely, muttering a defeated, "Yeah, okay, Cas." He didn't have it in him to pick a fight with the angel right now. "And Dean?" Cas said before hanging up. "I love you. I understand if you can't say it back, I just wanted you to know." The line went dead before Dean could come up with a response.
Sam and Dean watched the Serenity Valley Convalescent Home through binoculars inside the Impala. Sam had tried to bring up the conversation with Cas a few times on the way down, but Dean had turned up the volume on the radio up a notch every time until Sam took the hint. "So, this is Dr. Evil's lair, huh?" Dean mused. "It kind of looks more depressing than evil," Sam commented. "It's like a four-color brochure for dying young. Of course, to Pestilence, it's probably Dollywood in there." Sam sighed, "Great. A whole building full of people. We don't know who's human, who's demon, and who's Pestilence. So what do we do?"
"Hang on," Dean told him. He entered the Home ahead of Sam, approaching a security guard. "Hey. Hi. Uh, I'm looking for my Nana. Uh, her name is Eunice Kennedy." The guard appeared unamused. "Go around front and see the nurse," he told Dean. "You mind just helping me out, sir? Uh, she's about, uh, about that small and gray hair, wears diapers." Without warning, Dean sent a right hook at the guard, knocking him out. "Eunice Kennedy?" Sam questioned, coming up behind him. "That's the beauty about improv, Sammy. You never know what's gonna come out of your mouth."
They set up shop in the security room, watching the monitors for anybody who could be Pestilence. "So, what are-" Sam hit Dean's arm, noticing how he'd begun to doze off. "Hey. What are we even looking for?" Dean leaned forward, scrubbing a hand over his face tiredly. "Well, he's Pestilence, so he probably looks sick." Sam gave him a look. "Everybody looks sick," he deadpanned, then pointed at a distortion on one of the cameras. "Hey." Dean grinned, " Oh, now we're talking."
Together they headed in the direction they'd seen the man with the camera distortion in. As they rounded a corner, they found a doctor and a nurse who were on the floor. The doctor was throwing up and the nurse was covered in spots and was gasping for air. Sam began to cough up blood, "Ugh… Must be getting close." Dean glanced at him sidelong, covering his mouth with his shirt. "You think?" He began to sink to the floor as the effects of Pestilence hit him. "Dean?" Sam tried to help Dean, but stumbled and Dean fell to the floor. "Get up."
A nurse stepped forward in the doorway of the room they'd been attempting to get to, looking down at them. "The doctor will see you now," she informed them. Behind her, Pestilence grinned at the brothers. "Sam. Dean." Sam raised his knife, but immediately keeled over next to Dean. "Come on in." They gasped, trying to drag themselves further into the room, but were unable to due to the pain.
"Hmm," Pestilence mused. "You boys don't look well. It might be the, uh, Scarlet fever. Or, uh, the meningitis. Oh! Or the syphilis. That's no fun. However you feel right now? It's gonna get so very, very much worse. Questions? Disease gets a bad rap, don't you think? For being filthy. Chaotic. Uh, but, really, t-that just describes people who get sick. Disease itself… Very… Pure… Single-minded. Bacteria has one purpose- divide and conquer." He stepped on Dean's hand, breaking his bones. "That's why, in the end… It always wins. So, you've got to wonder why God pours all his love into something so messy… And weak. It's ridiculous. All I can do is show him he's wrong, one epidemic at a time. Now… On a scale of one to ten, how's your pain?"
Just then, Cas came storming into the room. "Cas," Dean called out to him weakly. "How'd you get here?" Pestilence asked Cas. "I took a bus. Don't worry, I-" Cas collapsed to the floor in a coughing fit. "Well, look at that," Pestilence smirked. "An occupied vessel, but powerless. Oh, that's fascinating. There's not a speck of angel in you, is there?" Cas snatched up Sam's knife where he'd dropped it and surged forward, cutting off Pestilence's ring and pinky fingers. "Oh!" Pestilence cried, clutching the bloody hand to his chest. "Maybe just a speck," Cas glared at him.
"It doesn't matter," Pestilence grinned ominously. "It's too late."
They ended up getting a motel room on the way back to Bobby's because of how late it was. Actually, they got two rooms. Sam had booked his own room separate from Dean and Cas claiming he needed some 'me time', but Dean had a feeling he really did it to give him and Cas some privacy to talk without him around. He'd been too tired to argue about it. He stripped out of his jacket as he entered his and Cas' room, throwing it down on a chair and then sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands and elbows resting on his knees.
Cas shut the door behind him, then studied Dean curiously. "Dean?" Dean didn't answer, fighting a war in his head. He was just so damn tired, and really needed to sleep, but now that they'd gotten the ring from Pestilence, he was filled with an overwhelming state of depression. They didn't have a lead on Death, so for the time being they were at a stand-still, which meant that they weren't getting any closer to being able to save Mack. "Dean, we're going to save her." Dean dropped his hands so they were crossed at the wrist between his legs and lifted his head to look at Cas. Of course Cas would see through him to the root of the problem.
"How do you know?" Dean asked, voice breaking. "Without a lead on Death, we can't get the last ring to open Lucifer's cage. If we can't open Lucifer's cage, we have no shot in hell at stopping him. And if we don't stop him…" Cas walked forward, taking a seat next to him on the edge of the bed. "I know because I know you love her more than anything else in the world," he began fervently. "I know because I know you won't give up until she's back safely in your arms. We may not know where Death is right now, but we'll find him, Dean, and we'll get the last ring from him."
Despite the words of encouragement, Dean still felt himself breaking down. The complete and utter feelings of hopelessness, of helplessness threatened to drown him. He couldn't even fully process and appreciate that Cas was back. He was here, beside him, attempting to give him words of comfort. He was practically human. That thought was almost enough to jolt Dean out of his depression. Apparently, carving a banishing sigil into his chest and blasting him and the other angels away had weakened him so completely, that Cas was, for all intents and purposes, no longer an angel.
Cas reached out, taking Dean's hand gently in one of his when he still hadn't responded to him. Not wanting to think about Mack any more at the moment, Dean attempted to change the subject. "Why do you l…?" The word caught in Dean's throat, unable to voice the complete thought. "Why…?" he attempted again, but still couldn't bring himself to finish. Cas seemed to understand what he was trying to ask. "I love you because you care, Dean. I know how you see yourself. You see yourself the same way your enemies see you. You're destructive, and you're angry, and you're broken. You're 'Daddy's blunt instrument'. And you think that hate and anger, that's… that's what drives you, that's who you are. It's not. And in the short time we've come to know each other, I've seen it.
"I see how everything you've ever done, you've done for love. You raised your little brother for love. You take care of your daughter for love. You're fighting for this whole world, for love. That is who you are. You are the most selfless, loving human being I will ever know."
"C-Cas," Dean whispered, tears in his eyes, "I-" Cas cut him off, pressing their lips gently together in a brief, chaste kiss. "I love you, Dean," Cas whispered, pulling back. "I'll do anything for you. And I swear to you, we will save Mckinley from Lucifer. No matter what it takes." With that vow, they allowed themselves to get lost in each other's arms, and for the first time ever, Cas fell asleep beside Dean in a tangle of limbs and sheets.
"Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it?" Bobby said when they showed up with Pestilence's ring the next day. When they all just remained somber, he raised an eyebrow. "What?" Sam was the one to break the news, "Last thing Pestilence said. 'It's too late.'" Bobby frowned, "He get specific?" Sam shook his head, "No." Dean sighed, sitting on the couch and acting oddly comfortable leaning against Cas in front of Sam and Bobby. "We're just a little freaked out that he might have left a bomb somewhere. So please tell us you have actual good news."
"Chicago's about to be wiped off the map. Storm of the millennium. Sets off a daisy chain of natural disasters. Three million people are gonna die." Cas stopped drawing patterns on the back of Dean's hand, tilting his head curiously as he stared at Bobby. "Huh," Dean mused. "I don't understand your definition of good news," Cas added. "Well… Death, the Horseman- he's gonna be there," Bobby explained. "And if we can stop him before he kick-starts this storm, get his ring back-"
"Yeah, you make it sound so easy," Dean cut him off, giving a barely audible sigh of content as Cas went back to doodling on his hand. "Hell, I'm just trying to put a spin on it," Bobby defended himself, eyeing the pair on the couch oddly. Sam was also staring at his brother and Cas with a perplexed expression. It seemed very out of character for Dean to be rolling with that kind of PDA in front of them. "Well…" Sam forced himself to look away at Bobby. "Bobby, h-how'd you put all this together, anyways?" Bobby squirmed in his wheelchair. "I had, you know… Help."
"Don't be so modest," Crowley purred, appearing in the study doorway. "I barely helped at all. Hello, boys. Pleasure, et cetera. Go ahead. Tell them. There's no shame in it." Dean had lifted himself away from Cas and he and Sam were staring at Bobby with identical what the hell faces. "Bobby? Tell us what?" Sam asked. "World's gonna end," Bobby muttered, unable to look them in the eye. "Seems stupid to get all precious over one little… Soul." Dean predictably blew up. "You sold your soul?!"
"Oh, more like pawned it," Crowley piped up. "I fully intend to give it back." Dean was on his feet, glaring at the demon. "Well, then give it back!" Behind him, Cas had also stood, ready to step in if things got out of hand between Dean and Crowley. "I will," the demon said. "Now!"
"Did you kiss him?"
Dean gaped at his brother incredulously at the question. "Sam!" Sam shrugged, "Just wondering." They looked over at Bobby, waiting for an answer. "No!" he cried. However, Crowley cleared his throat, drawing the attention to his phone which he was holding up displaying a picture of him and Bobby in a lip-lock. Bobby's eyes were closed, while Crowley was staring straight into the camera as he took the picture. "Why'd you have to take a picture?" Bobby grumbled. "Why'd you have to use tongue?" Crowley shot back, glancing at the phone screen.
"Alright. You know what? I'm sick of this," Dean glared at Crowley again. "Give him his soul back now." Crowley shook his head, "I'm sorry. I can't." That earned him an even more angry reaction from the elder Winchester. "Can't or won't?" Dean hissed. "I won't, alright? It's insurance."
"What are you talking about?"
"You kill demons. Gigantor over there has a temper issue about it. But you won't kill me… As long as I have that soul in the deposit box." Bobby fumed, "You son of a bitch." Crowley pressed on, "I'll return it. After all this is over, and I can walk safely away. Do we all understand each other?"
"Unbelievable, that little piece of shit!"
"Dean, you need to calm down," Cas said. Dean was pacing the length of Bobby's study. Sam and Bobby had gone outside to start getting preparations together to go after Death, and Cas had requested to talk to Dean alone. "Calm down?! That no good, two-timing son of a bitch has Bobby's soul!" Cas stepped forward so he was blocking Dean's path as he paced and grabbed Dean's wrists in order to stop him in front of him. "I know the situation isn't ideal, and we will figure it out, but for now, you need to remain calm. This is what you wanted. We know where Death is, we can get the final ring so we can save Mack."
Dean took a deep breath, acknowledging that Cas had a point. It wouldn't do anyone any good for him to be riled up right now, and they were nearly to the point where they had some glimmer of a chance at stopping Lucifer and getting Mack back. Cas let go of his wrists as he collapsed forward into his arms, wrapping them around Dean tightly as he fought back tears. Dean allowed himself only a few moments of vulnerability, and then he forced himself to regain his composure. "Alright," he said, pulling back away from Cas. "Let's do this thing."