"So, what did you think of the show?" Liam asked, lifting a piece of meat lovers pizza to his mouth.

Castiel, who was sitting in the booth next to him, took a big bite of his own pizza and uttered, "I found the moral dilemma fascinating." He chewed a few times and continued to talk with his mouth full. "I am glad Elphaba and Fiyero escaped in the end."

"Dude." Dean, sitting across from Castiel, gave the angel a disparaging look. "Chew with your mouth closed."

Castiel blinked. "Okay."

Liam smiled at Castiel and then looked at Sam and Dean. "What did you think?"

Sam sucked Coke through his straw and swallowed. "It was really good. Kinda sad Galinda never found out that Elphaba and Fiyero escaped."

Liam made a face. "Yeah. I never liked that part." He took another bite of pizza and waited until he swallowed to continue. "But it's still good."

Sam nodded in agreement.

Liam wet his lips a bit nervously and looked at Dean.

"I liked it," Dean confirmed, hypocritically talking with his mouth full. "That 'Dancing Through Life' song is my kinda jam."

Liam fidgeted in his seat, pulling his lip between his teeth and chewing on it. "So… it wasn't too girly?"

Dean stopped, surprise crossing his features. He swallowed and shook his head, a little smile pulling on the corner of his mouth. "No, buddy. I mean, musicals aren't really my thing, but I liked it."

Liam felt relief wash over him, a little slouch tugging on his shoulders. "Good."

Dean and Sam exchanged a look, and then Dean looked at Liam. "Lee, if you like what you like and don't let anyone tell you different, then you're being about as manly as you can be."

Liam was pretty sure Dean was just trying to make him feel better, but the kind words made him smile nonetheless. "Thanks, Dean."

Dean shrugged and took another bite of pizza. "It's the truth."

Liam didn't say anything, but he kept smiling.

Several minutes passed, the four devouring almost an entire pizza along with some mozzarella sticks as they sat around, talking and sipping on their sodas. They talked about the show some more, asked Castiel if he liked the pizza, talked about the weather, and discussed what might be next on their agenda. And then Liam worked up the courage to ask something that had been on his mind for a while.

"Um, so, uh, I was wondering…" Liam took a breath and tried to calm the racing of his heart. "I was—I was wondering—"

"Liam." Sam smiled kindly, nothing but warmth in his hazel eyes. "It's okay. Just say what you want to say."

Liam took another breath and nodded, wetting his lips. "I, uh… I was wondering… if I could…" he winced preemptively, "…learn to shoot?"

Sam and Dean both stared for a moment, Dean recovering first.

"Of course you can." Dean seemed to realize what he was saying as he was saying it, and he looked at Sam with an apologetic expression. "Sorry. Should've asked first."

Sam didn't say anything right away, and Liam felt his throat close up a little. Then Sam slowly opened his mouth, and Liam had no idea what to expect, because he couldn't read Sam's expression.

"Why do you… want to learn to shoot?" Sam held out a hand in a placating gesture. "It's okay, I'm not mad. I just want to know."

Liam shrugged his shoulders and sank down in his seat a little. "I just think it's cool, and…" he sank a little lower, "…and someday… maybe when I'm older… I'd kinda like…" his voice went down to a near whisper, "…to help you guys."

Sam smiled softly. "Liam, it's okay. I'm not upset or disappointed."

Liam swallowed and watched Sam's face, but he didn't see any sign of dishonesty or anger.

Sam paused for a moment, and then he slowly started talking again. "I think it would be fine if you learned how to shoot. I just want to make sure you don't feel like you have to be a hunter just because we are."

Liam shook his head. "No, I just… I just think it's really cool." He fidgeted where he sat. "I like the idea of hunting monsters. Like I could be some kind of superhero."

Sam smiled, sipping through his straw. "A superhero, huh?"

"Yeah." Liam smiled faintly, still nervous about his request. "Don't you think you guys are like superheroes?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, and then Dean shrugged.

"We're just guys doing a job," he said, reaching for his cup. "But I think it's cool that you think we're like superheroes."

Liam smiled. It made him happy when he made Sam and Dean happy, even if it was just a little bit.

"So." Sam arched a brow, his lips turned up into a little grin. "What do you want to learn to shoot?"

Liam pursed his lips and thought about it for a moment. "I definitely want to learn to shoot a shotgun someday. But… maybe we could start with a pistol?"

Sam nodded his head a few times, and he really didn't look mad, which made Liam breathe a little easier.

"We can start with a pistol," Sam said. "Dean and I started with pistols."

Liam smiled, kicking his legs slightly. "What kind of pistol are we gonna use?" He looked between Sam and Dean. "Like, a revolver, or an automatic, or a semi-automatic, or…?"

Dean's eyebrows shot up. "Woah, listen to you."

Liam gave a sheepish look. "I did some research."

"You've been thinking about this for a while," Sam commented. He gave Liam a reassuring smile and shook his head. "Lee, you never have to be afraid to ask for something you want or need. If I need to say no, I'll say it without yelling."

Liam nodded feeling a subtle warmth spread through his chest. "Okay."

Dean grinned devilishly. "And if you're ever too scared to ask Sam, you can ask your super cool uncle who isn't nearly as stiff and un-fun."

Liam laughed, and he felt a little more of the weight leave his shoulders.

Castiel turned his head to look at Liam and nodded seriously. "You can also come to me. I don't really have a temper." He looked at Sam and Dean then. "And I, too, would like to learn to shoot. I don't know how long it will take for my Grace to replenish, and until it does, I am effectively… ah…"

"Helpless?" Sam offered, smirking.

"A baby in a trench coat?" Dean said, grinning even wider.

Castiel scowled. "No. I am simply… limited in my number of fighting methods."

"Uh-huh." Dean rolled his eyes.

Liam reached over and patted Castiel on the back. "It's okay, Castiel. You're still my super-strong, super-awesome guardian angel."

"That's right." Castiel leveled a glare at Sam and Dean and wrapped an arm around Liam, pulling him close. "I'm Liam's guardian angel."

Dean huffed out a laugh. "Well, thank goodness for that."

Castiel kept glaring, but Liam smiled and snuggled in close. He knew Sam and Dean were still adjusting to Castiel's presence, and they were struggling to trust him, but as far as Liam was concerned, Castiel was his best friend.

After all, Castiel was the one who had helped Liam with his nightmares. Castiel was the one who held him and rocked him and soothed him when he was upset. When Liam had scratched up his arms with the broken statue, Castiel had healed him and eased his symptoms and stayed by his side until he fell asleep. Sam and Dean didn't know about those parts of Liam and Castiel's time together.

"Oh, get off your high horse and eat your pizza," Dean snapped, giving Castiel a dirty look Liam was pretty sure was fake.

Castiel grabbed the last slice of meat lovers pizza and took a large bite, glaring at Dean as he chewed emphatically.

Sam rolled his eyes and gave Liam a look like, 'Can you believe them?'

Liam laughed and leaned into Castiel's side, taking a big bite of his own pizza. He chewed contentedly, looking between Sam and Dean and Castiel with curious eyes.

Castiel just kept on chewing, his eyes slightly narrowed to show his displeasure with Dean. Dean kept looking at Castiel with a quirked brow and pursed lips, sipping on his soda and shaking his head at the angel. Sam rolled his eyes again and popped half of a mozzarella stick into his mouth, also shaking his head at Castiel.

Liam took another bite and smiled to himself, feeling completely at peace. He hadn't been entirely sure of what to do when they were in the town influenced by War, but he had known he was out of his element. Sitting in a pizza shop and talking about guns with a Broadway show in their recent past… now, that felt right.

It felt perfect.

"Sam?"

Sam gasped for air, clutching his shirt and looking down at himself. What was that? He looked to the right and saw Castiel sitting up in the bed he shared with Dean. "Castiel?" he uttered dumbly, still stuck in the nightmare that had woken him.

Castiel squinted in the dark, concern creasing his brow. "Sam, are you alright?"

Sam shook his head, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and getting to his feet. "Wake Dean." He grabbed Dean by the shoulders even as he said it. "Dean," he whispered harshly. "Dean!"

Dean startled, his eyes snapping open, and he instinctively grabbed onto Sam's wrists. "Wha—?"

"Dean." Sam gripped Dean's shoulders, still struggling to catch his breath. "I just had a dream. Lucifer was in it."

Dean stared at Sam for a moment, his expression twisted with confusion, and it seemed he was still trying to wake himself up. "Lucifer?"

Sam nodded, letting go of Dean's shoulders and straightening up. "Yes. It was like… we had some kind of telepathic connection. He was telling me I'm his vessel and that he needs my consent, just like Michael needs yours."

Dean slowly sat up in bed, eyes squinting in the darkness. "What?"

Castiel, who had stood up and was standing next to the bed, looked at Sam intensely. "What did you tell him?"

"I pretended I didn't know anything," Sam responded, trying to calm his racing heart.

Dean ran a hand through his hair, and then he looked at Sam. "Did he say anything about knowing where you are or how to find you?"

Sam shook his head, and it was amazing how much he felt like a toddler running to his big brother for help with a nightmare. "No, he said he can't find me."

Dean nodded a few times. "Okay, so that means whatever Cas did to us is still working. Did he—"

"Where's Liam?" Castiel asked suddenly.

Sam turned to the bed he had woken up in. "He's right—" Sam came to an abrupt stop as he realized Liam wasn't lying there, and the panic that seized him came fast and hard. "Liam?"

Thankfully, Sam's fear only lasted for a second because he quickly realized the bathroom door was closed and the light was on.

"Liam?" Sam walked around the bed and approached the bathroom door, knocking lightly. "Liam, are you okay in there?"

"Yeah," came a small, congested voice from the other side. "I couldn't sleep, so I took a bath. I'm just drying off now."

Sam nodded a few times and, after a moment of hesitation, backed away from the door a little. "Okay. Well, holler if you need anything."

"Okay," Liam said back.

Sam walked away from the door and sat down on the bed facing Dean and Castiel. "We have a little time to talk about it before Liam comes out," he said, keeping his voice low. "What do we do?"

Dean took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shaking his head as the reality of the situation settled over him. "Sammy, I don't think there's anything we can do. Not until we know more. We know he can't find us, and we already decided to take a break from hunting."

"But what if he keeps invading my dreams?" Sam argued, feeling a flicker of worry in his chest. "I can't go without sleeping."

Castiel reached up and rubbed the back of his head, a thoughtful expression crossing his features. "It might take me a little while, but I can look into some wards or spells that might keep intruders from getting into your dreams."

Dean frowned. "What, like witchcraft?" He looked at Sam and then looked back at Castiel. "I don't think introducing more supernatural mumbo-jumbo is the best idea."

Castiel met Dean's gaze unwaveringly. "We may not have a choice, Dean. Lucifer isn't going to give up on possessing Sam, and we can't allow Sam's health to suffer until something is done to stop Lucifer."

"I'm not saying I want Sam to suffer," Dean defended. "I'm just saying, trying to put the supernatural on our side is what got us into this mess. It doesn't seem like the best idea to try it again and hope for a different result."

Castiel frowned and gestured to both brothers. "You didn't object when I put Enochian sigils on your ribs. This would be almost the exact same thing."

Sam held a hand out toward each of them, trying to calm the waters before things could escalate. "How about we play it safe and wait to see what happens? We don't know for sure yet what Lucifer is going to do."

Dean and Castiel exchanged a look, and then Dean pursed his lips with a shrug. "Sounds like an okay plan to me."

Castiel looked at Sam, his arms hanging limply at his sides. "I can agree with that. But if he invades your dreams again, I am going to begin looking for the necessary ingredients for the wards I have in mind."

Sam nodded a few times. "Okay, I can agree to that…" He opened his mouth to ask a question of Castiel, but he was cut off by the bathroom doorknob turning.

Liam stuck his head into the hotel room and looked between his three guardians, a wary light in his sky blue eyes. "Is it okay to come out now?"

Sam smiled warmly and patted the bed behind him. "Yup. We were just talking about some angel trouble. It's nothing you need to worry about."

Liam gave them all a suspicious look, but then his shoulders relaxed. He eased into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed he shared with Sam, sitting cross-legged and putting his hands on his knees. "Are there angels after us again?"

Sam wet his lips, debating just how much he wanted to tell Liam. On one hand, Liam was almost thirteen, and he could handle a lot more than most kids his age. On another hand, just because Liam could handle it, that didn't mean he should have been saddled with a problem he couldn't do anything to fix.

Sam was still debating what to say when Castiel opened his mouth and, in true Castiel fashion, blurted out the truth as simply as he could.

"Even though Sam and Dean have decided to take a break from hunting, angels will still be looking for us. We must decide how we want to handle this situation."

That actually wasn't too terrible of an explanation, and Sam looked at Liam with a calm smile to reassure him.

Liam watched Sam's smile for a moment, and then his eyes wandered over to Castiel. "So…" Liam looked back at Sam, his brow scrunched and his lips puckered. "How do we know when an angel is onto us?"

Sam pressed his lips together and turned his head to look at Dean and Castiel. "That's… an excellent question. Guys?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders and looked at their resident angel. "Cas?"

Castiel stood very still, his expression thoughtful, and then his lips slowly started to move. "It has been a very long time, but I believe I could make charms that burn hot in the presence of angels."

"Really? More magic?" Dean questioned.

"Like for a necklace?" Liam asked at the same time.

Castiel nodded his head a few times, and he seemed certain of himself. "Yes. It would take some time, and I may need some help, but… I believe I could do it." He held his hands out in front of himself and looked at them. "It's been a while since I tried to use my powers. Perhaps it is time."

"Wait." Sam held out a hand. "Aren't we hidden from you, just like any other angel?"

Castiel nodded twice, dropping his hands to his sides again.

"Well." Dean leaned back, bracing his arms on the mattress. "Time to add you to the family plan, Cas."

Castiel blinked his wide, owlish eyes and stared in blank-faced confusion.

"We need to get you a phone," Dean clarified.

"Ah." Castiel nodded again. "I see."

Sam moved toward the head of the bed and started situating himself so he was in a proper sleeping position. "For tonight, let's just go back to sleep."

Castiel walked back to his side of the bed he shared with Dean. "I wasn't sleeping in the first place." He laid down and interlocked his fingers, settling his hands on his stomach. "I think it's a sign my powers are returning."

Sam grabbed the blankets and started adjusting them while Liam crawled over and settled down on the mattress beside him. "Well, you could probably still use the rest."

Castiel hummed in response, and he didn't move from his somewhat stiff position on the bed.

Dean laid down on the mattress and pulled the blankets up to his chest before reaching out and nudging Castiel on the arm. "Come on, Cas. Get under the blanket and make yourself comfortable."

"Oh." Castiel sat up slightly and began wrestling with the blankets, trying to get the comforter pulled over his legs.

Sam couldn't help but smile, wondering if Castiel knew just how awkward he was, and when Sam spared a glance at Liam, he found Liam was smiling, too.

He really likes Castiel.

Exactly how that had come to be, Sam didn't know, but he knew it was true. He could tell from the way they gravitated toward each other—from the way Liam would cling to Castiel's arm and the way Castiel would hover over Liam's shoulder. He could tell from the way they whispered back and forth during the Broadway show. He could tell from their closeness at the pizza shop. He could tell by the way one was always looking for the other.

"That's right. I'm Liam's guardian angel."

Sam wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be grateful or not. After all, Castiel had been part of the plot to kidnap Liam, and Castiel had helped the angels keep Liam in captivity. But, then again, Castiel had also done what he could to keep Liam happy and safe, and it had been Castiel who had finally brought Liam home.

"I don't regret following orders, and I don't wish it was different. Some angels do, but not me, not ever, not in seven thousand years."

At least, that was what Castiel said and what he showed them. He could have been lying. It could have all been a trap of some kind.

Sam let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead with his free hand.

"Sorzie?" Liam snuggled a little closer, resting his head on Sam's chest. "You okay?"

"Mhm." Sam draped his free arm over Liam, his other arm pinned by Liam's body, and he planted a kiss on the top of Liam's head. "Just tired."

Liam squeezed Sam a little and let out a soft sigh of his own. "Okay. Just making sure." He squeezed Sam again, and then he relaxed, his little body going limp as he began drifting off to sleep.

Sam glanced over at the bed Dean was sharing with Castiel, and he let his thoughts linger on the angel for another moment or two, but then he closed his eyes and decided it was time to get some sleep. Worrying about Castiel's intentions wouldn't do anything about them one way or the other. Sam would just have to keep a very close eye on the angel until he was certain Castiel could be trusted.

A very close eye.