Dean was awake but he didn't want to be. He was snug and warm, being held against a warm chest. Despite Dean's instructions, Cass had apparently started spooning him at some point during the night. Now he was tangled in the dragon-man's arms and legs while Cass softly snored into his hair. With any other man, it would have been creepy. With Cass and his childlike nature, it was mostly amusing. "Cass?" he called sleepily. "Time to get up. Good morning, Sunshine."

Cass grumbled something that might have been "good morning" or simply clearing his throat. He didn't open his eyes and seemed less than eager to do so.

Dean chuckled, patted Cass's arms and got up. He stretched, wincing as several joints popped. "Ooo, what I wouldn't give for a decent mattress," he moaned. "Eh, at least it was better than the floor." He straightened, looking back at Cass, who frowned at him. "Busy day today. I was getting my ass reamed out yesterday and actually thought I was getting shipped straight to the stockades. They ordered me back to my quarters to pack before they suddenly showed up and rushed me in here with you. Seems like they need me around, for whatever reason." He rubbed his hands gleefully together. "Awesome. Problem is, even if I've got a golden ticket right now, I don't know how long before it expires."

"I don't understand that reference," Cass complained, sitting up on the bed.

Dean waved a hand. "Doesn't matter. My point is, I got away with this latest fuck-up, but moving forward, I'd better mind my P's and Q's. When we head out for training today, we need to make really sure that there are no more disasters." He looked at Cass. "That means we need to communicate better, ok? Like, don't just talk about how cool bees are, tell me, 'Hey Dean, there's a hornets' nest down here.' For my part, I'll tell you I'm unhooking my harness and climbing down before I do it. That way, if I accidentally hit some controls, you know to ignore them." He grinned. "Sound good?"

"Sounds good!" Castiel cheerfully bounded up and hugged his bondmate. Dean wasn't afraid of him. He wasn't going to just order him to carry Ketch. He wasn't leaving. Dean was staying with him, and making plans so they'd be a better team. All was right with the world.

Dean chuckled and patted Cass on the back. Then he pulled away from the dragon and moved to one wall of the cage. "Hey!" he yelled, waving at the cameras. "I know you can see me. Someone get in here and let me out. I want breakfast and I really gotta pee."

"There's a toilet right over there," Cass pointed out.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm not about to whip it out right in front of the… cameras…" Dean's voice trailed off, looking from the toilet back to Cass and realizing the obvious. "Oh man, that's precisely what you'll have to do, isn't it? You don't have any privacy at all in here, and as long as they keep you locked in, you can't change back. That's bullshit."

"It's alright," Castiel offered, avoiding Dean's eyes. He'd already realized his own lack of privacy. In his dragon form, he wasn't bothered by it, but in his human form, he keenly felt the exposure. His face flushed, knowing that eventually he'd be forced to expose himself to the cameras.

Dean's hand gripped his chin, bringing his face up for inspection. "It is not alright," Dean declared. "It's not alright at all, and I'm doing something about it."

"But you just said we need to mind our P's and Q's," Cass reminded. "How are you going to do that if you're planning to protest my living conditions?"

"Some things are worth going to the stockades for. Hey, finally!" This last was to the person in a lab coat that was currently coming to the door from the base, keys in hand. "Hurry up, would you?" Dean told the person. "I really have to pee."

The woman, who was already busy unlocking the door, frowned. "You know there's a full bath right behind you? The humanoid habitat is fully equipped."

"You mean the toilet where absolutely every camera in this giant room can see everything God blessed me with? Yeah, no thanks." He made impatient hurry-up motions with his hand, dancing a little. "Come on, would you?"

The woman rolled her eyes and unlocked the door. But her eyes widened in alarm when Dean immediately took Cass by the hand and pulled him through the door as well. "What are you doing?!" she shrieked. "You can't bring the dragon into the base!"

"He's not 'the dragon,' he's my friend, and watch me, lady," Dean announced, pushing past her with Castiel in tow. "Nobody who isn't a convicted criminal deserves to live in a cage with no privacy like that."

Castiel wasn't quite sure what was happening. The woman sputtered behind them but made no move to stop Dean as he continued to lead the fascinated dragon into the base. Castiel had never been inside of the human portion of the base before. Most of the people they passed did not seem to recognize Castiel at all. Those who did stopped and stared in shock. Castiel waved at them, continuing to follow Dean until Dean led him into an odd room. The room had some sinks and toilets in stalls, along with odd devices on the wall that stunk strongly of urine to Castiel's sensitive nose.

Dean let go of Castiel's hand and went straight to one of the stinking devices. There he did something with the front of his pants, and soon, a stream of urine was flowing into the device. Dean breathed a sigh of relief. Curious, Castiel came closer, peering over Dean's shoulder. This seemed to upset Dean. "Um, no," he said, holding out one hand to gently push Castiel away. "You go to that one, I'm over here."

Castiel approached the device. He couldn't remember what it was called, but now that he'd seen Dean do it, he remembered that it was used for urination. Castiel got into his pants and soon was relieving himself into the thing, just like Dean had done. He felt quite proud of himself, turning to Dean when he was finished for approval.

Dean's face went pink. "Um, Cass? You gotta to tuck yourself back in when you're done. It's not polite to leave your dick hanging out like that."

"Oh. Sorry." Castiel quickly straightened his clothing.

Dean headed for one of the stalls. "Sorry, just need to take my usual morning shit," he called from behind the door he'd just closed in Castiel's face. "Go ahead if you need to."

Ah. That was another human necessity Castiel barely remembered. As a dragon, he'd simply squatted over the grate. This was much nicer. He was glad to be able to flush his waste away. That was considerably better than letting it stink until a handler came in with a hose to wash it away. Finished, he followed Dean to the sink to wash his hands and was glad when Dean once again took his hand and led him back out into the main building.

Dean's next destination was the mess hall. The smell of food made Castiel's mouth water. "Dean, can I get peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" he asked hopefully.

"For lunch, sure," Dean confirmed. "You don't want that for breakfast, though. PB isn't a good breakfast food. Here." He selected a tray, added a plate and silverware, and handed it to Castiel before getting the same for himself. Then he led the way to the food.

Castiel's eyes went wide, looking over the food. "I remember some of this," he confided. "I would like to eat some."

"Then eat some!" Dean was already piling his plate high with food. He seemed especially fond of bacon and had a heap of it on the corner of his plate, spilling over onto the tray. Castiel followed suit, putting everything onto his own tray that he saw Dean doing. As a dragon, this wouldn't have even made a mouthful. As a human, though, Castiel wasn't sure he'd be able to eat it all. Well, he'd do his best if it made his bondmate happy. He followed Dean to a table and sat down next to him. Dean slid over a little, which disappointed Castiel until Dean picked up his silverware and began to eat. Ah. Dean needed room to manipulate his food. That made sense.

Dean, it seemed, ate with a ferocity that any dragon could admire. His food was halfway gone before Castiel had finished a third of his own. Dean didn't seem to mind. He was chatting away as he ate, talking about someone he called Sam and how they used to always eat their fill any time they were at a motel that served breakfast. "It didn't matter how bad it was," he was saying. "We were always traveling, and until we got properly moved in, we spent a lot of time in motels. To growing boys, food was food."

"Why were you always traveling?"

The question seemed to make Dean unhappy. He actually slowed down a bit in his eating. "When you've got a parent in the military, you move a lot," he explained. "With us, it wasn't really an option because for most of my childhood, we only had our dad. Someone broke into our house one night when I was a kid. My dad wasn't home because he was deployed. Mom surprised him and he attacked her. It happened in my brother's room. Since Sam was just a baby and it was an old house with heat that wasn't all that reliable, we had a space heater in his nursery. During the struggle, one of them knocked it over and started a fire. I remember hearing the noise and looking out in the hall to see the guy go running out. Then Mom was calling me, telling me to get Sammy and get out of the house. I was able to get my brother out, but Mom…?" He went quiet. "Dad married my stepmom some time later. I never really forgave him for it. I guess it felt like he was betraying my mom's memory."

"I'm sorry," Castiel said, reaching for Dean's arm. "I never knew my mother as a dragon, and as a human, she didn't have much time for me."

"Yeah, you told me," Dean recalled, wincing. "Holy shit, here I am talking about my shitty childhood when yours was a hell of a lot worse, both your human and your dragon version. Did you grow up as a dragon here on base?"

"No," Castiel explained. "There was another base where I was hatched before I came here. Understand, before I merged with Jimmy Novak, I couldn't really think the way I can now. It was mostly emotions and vague images. I don't remember much," he confessed. "What I do remember, I don't really want to."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a doctor here, Dr. Naomi Tapping," Castiel recalled, poking moodily at his eggs. "While I was maturing, she experimented on me. She told me yesterday it was to find ways for them to defend themselves from my kind. It hurt."

Dean had stopped eating altogether. "What did she do to you?"

Castiel played with his fork. "Tests to see what my scales could withstand in terms of temperature or chemicals, different metals cutting me, different drugs, electric shocks…"

Dean sucked in his breath. "Son of a bitch!"

"No, I don't recall that she had a son there?"

Dean shook his head. "That would be funny if it wasn't so damned serious. That bitch and her staff tortured you, flat-out tortured you, to try to figure out what your weaknesses are? That's fucked up."

Castiel didn't know what to say to that.

There was a commotion near the entrance. General Thompson himself was storming in, Col. Stephens and, to Castiel's discomfort, Dr. Tapping closely trailing him. "I don't fucking believe this!" Col. Stephens roared, silencing the mess hall. "You are seriously that stupid, Winchester? You not only took that dragon out of its cage, you actually brought it into the general living quarters?"

Dean picked up a piece of bacon and munched on it like he didn't have a care in the world. "You may be an exhibitionist, Colonel, but I'm not and neither is he. We weren't going to whip out our dicks in front of the cameras. We came in to pee and then came for breakfast. What's the problem?"

Stephens gaped at him. "You see no problem with anything you did?"

"No, and if you don't like it, go find another dragon," Dean declared. "If you want to keep using Castiel, then I suggest you start treating him like the human being he halfway is, not like an animal you can keep in a zoo and throw peanuts at."

The colonel looked like a man in imminent danger of a massive coronary. He turned to the woman, who looked equally upset. "That synthetic hormone. When can we try it?"

"No!" Castiel yelled, surprising them. "You lied to me. Dean isn't afraid of me. He still wants to be my bondmate and I'm not bonding with anyone else."

"Bonding with anyone else?" Dean echoed. He turned to the general. "Wait, were you part of that bullshit, telling Cass I was afraid of him? That nearly killed him! You can't play around with something you don't understand. That's precisely how you lost two other dragons, you stupid son of a…!"

The general held up a hand for silence. He pulled out a chair at the table and waved the other two away. "Let me talk to him."

The colonel and Dr. Tapping reluctantly left, sending numerous worried glances back at the table. Castiel waved pleasantly at them. He was an amicable dragon. No need to be rude, even if they had lied to him. Neither waved back, but Castiel decided he wasn't offended. He turned and smiled at the general.

The general did not smile back. His eyes were locked on Dean. "Private Winchester, you seem to believe that you have us over a bit of a barrel here."

"Yeah, it does seem that way, at least for right now," Dean replied. He was busy scooping eggs onto his toast now. Castiel thought that was a clever idea and did the same, taking a bite when his bondmate did. Delicious.

"There are a few things that you need to understand," the general continued. "First and foremost, you are only valuable as long as the dragon is. The minute, the very second, that we decide it's more trouble than it's worth, we will not hesitate to get rid of both of you."

"Oh, believe me, I'm well aware of that," Dean said. Castiel frowned. He seemed to recall something about not talking when one's mouth was full. Still, if Dean was doing it, it must be alright. "I'm pretty sure that you were about to boot me out yesterday before Cass had his fainting spell," Dean continued, still talking around a mouthful of half-chewed food. "The thing is, I actually do want this project to work."

"Oh?" The general had what Castiel's deep memories referred to as a "poker face." "Well, I'm glad to hear that."

Dean, Castiel was glad to see, took a drink before speaking again, swallowing what was in his mouth. "Let's talk," he began. "Yesterday, I fucked up. I'm the first one to admit that. Like I told you in between people screaming at me, that whole thing was just a series of unfortunate events. Well," he amended, "flaming the training field to kill those hornets was all on me. You want me to scrub some toilets or peel some potatoes or whatever, I certainly earned it." He shook his head. "Look, I understand completely that I am not even close to what you wanted for this project. I'd be the first to admit it. But unfortunately for everyone involved, especially Cass here? I'm all you've got."

"You're wonderful, Dean," Castiel protested.

Dean smiled and patted his arm. "You're awesome too, Cass, but neither of us is what these guys need us to be. So we gotta work hard, ok?"

"Of course." Whatever Dean wanted.

The general was looking at Castiel now. "It does seem very willing to do what you ask."

"Ok, we're setting some ground rules, and that's the first one," Dean said sharply. "Stop calling him an it. Yeah, he's brain damaged and it really shows. Yeah, he's naive, something you assholes tried to exploit that I am still seriously pissed off about. Now, I'm willing to forgive and forget about that if you're willing to do the same about the mess I made on the training field yesterday. But all of it is secondary to one thing." He pointed a finger at the general. "You guys need to acknowledge that, whatever he is now, however brain damaged he might be? Jimmy Novak is still there. Here he is." He pointed at Castiel. "That's him, a living, breathing, thinking human being. Yeah, he turns into a dragon, but that's Jimmy in there. Cass has a lot of his memories, his gestures, the way he talks, it's crazy how much of him is Jimmy. So if you want us to help you? Then you need to acknowledge that. That means you stop locking him in a fucking cage with zero privacy and nothing to do but stare at walls all day."

"You do realize that we can't just let it… let him," he corrected, seeing Dean's face darken, "roam freely around the base like this. Yes, he has a human component, but the rest of him is very much a dragon. Especially after what happened to Gabriel and Michael, it is vital that he remains contained."

"I don't mind as long as you're with me, Dean," Castiel offered. "I'll stay in the cage with you."

The general grinned, even as Dean's face paled. "Agreed. We'll contain you both. That will ensure both of your safety, as well."

"No way I'm staying in that cage and letting all the cameras see my junk!" Dean protested.

"Why not? You seemed to have no problem being naked in front of cameras when you climbed that radio tower," the general retorted. "Those pictures are all over the base. Everyone and my grandmother has already seen all you have to offer, and I do not mean that figuratively. But in all seriousness," he relented, seeing Dean's expression, "I will agree to more humane conditions, including privacy curtains. I also wasn't serious about locking you up, Private, at least not all the time." He leaned back, folding his hands across his chest. "You were already told that this was your last chance to avoid the stockade. As far as I'm concerned, you blew it. However, we can't exactly send you to the stockade and still have you train Castiel, so we'll compromise. You're already confined to base. In exchange for you continuing in his training, I will advise partial confinement with your dragon in lieu of prison time. That means you'll be free for a total of four hours a day to pursue your own interests here on base." His expression grew stern. "But you're going into the humanoid habitat with him every night, and if you pull another stunt like that last one? It's going down to two hours."

Dean grimaced. "Then can we get a second bunk? It's crowded as hell with two of us on one."

"There's no room for a second bunk," the general countered. "I'll give you a double. That's the best I can do."

Dean grimaced. "Fine, as long as we get privacy curtains." He brightened. "Oh, and how about some stuff to make it a bit more tolerable?"

"You're not getting a damned memory foam mattress, Private."

"I just mean basic stuff like you'd find in a hotel," Dean explained. "Towels, wash cloths, shampoo, and a TV or something so we don't go crazy staring at the walls."

The general leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "That seems reasonable. I'll see what I can arrange."

Dean scowled. "It's a guarantee or no deal."

"Winchester," the general warned sitting up straighter to level a finger at Dean, "do not push me right now. I told you that I would see what I can do, but I cannot guarantee you get everything right away."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine, at least give us some sheets to hang up so we can get some privacy until we get curtains?" he pleaded.

"That, I can do." The general stood up.

"Oh, one more thing," Dean dared, standing up as well. "Don't ever lie to Cass about me again. You already ruined the little bit of trust he still had for you after you let that bitch Tapping torture him. Don't fuck with his head anymore."

"Duly noted." The man's piercing blue eyes rested for a moment on Castiel. "For what it's worth, Warrant Officer Novak? I apologize."

Castiel smiled. "Thank you."