Castiel glided gracefully through the air. The sound of his feathers catching the wind were lost in the wind itself. It was cold this morning. Dean was wearing his warmest flying gear, including padded ear muffs and goggles. Even so, he was warm. His body rested in the odd divot between Castiel's spikes, a short distance behind where the saddle had once sat back when he'd first mounted the great dragon. The spikes here were narrowly spaced and strangely shaped. It wasn't until they'd finally seen Donny settled into the same place riding bareback on his dragon that they'd finally understood. Dragons were meant to be ridden by their bondmates. They were literally built for it. From the moment the bond was formed, the dragons' bodies shifted to accommodate. Now Dean was resting forward, chest against the spike before him, lower body comfortably seated on the spike behind with his legs bent down and around the curves that perfectly matched his body. His hands clung easily to the protruding lumps on the spike before him that were clearly designed specifically for the purpose. Even the feathers on the upper forward portion of the wings here were spaced perfectly to partially cover Dean's lower body, shielding him from the cold just as the spike he rested against protected him from the wind. With his cheek pressed against the warm spike, Dean couldn't see anything. That didn't matter. His eyes were closed anyway.

Dean's vision was that of Castiel. Through the dragon's eyes, he could once again see the currents and eddies of the wind that Cass had shown him in his dream of flying the Impala. Now Dean was as comfortable on Cass's back as he'd ever been in his Baby. Far below, he could see the herd of elk spooked by the great shadow passing over them. Castiel's wings beat. His talons flexed. Then, choice made, the wings tucked back. Dean thrilled to the speed of their dive. The dragon's talons sank into the elk, quickly piercing the animal's heart. Then the mighty wings beat, Castiel rising with their dinner held tight.

"Good catch," Dean cheered. "That buck will feed us for a while."

Castiel purred happily at the praise. He turned in the air, heading back to the small group of cabins they now called home.

While Dean refused to admit it, once he'd considered the possibility of flying with Castiel, he'd taken to it quickly. Of course, being cradled against the dragon's neck the way he was helped a lot, as did his ability to see through Castiel's eyes. But even when the dragon dared to fly upside-down, Dean had quickly realized he was in no danger of falling. He barely even had to hang on. His body was held so well against the giant neck that he never even got jostled. Their bodies worked together. The only thing better than flying with Castiel was their nights together in their bed.

Dean smiled to himself, remembering those nights. At Adam's pleading and Sam's insistence, Dean had finally grudgingly reached out to his father. As he'd expected, Col. Winchester's reaction to Dean having a homosexual relationship was not a good one. Sam and Adam were both working on it.

Sam and Gabriel were flying just above the cabins when Dean and Cass arrived. They quickly landed, Gabriel going human form to help Sam take the carcass when Castiel landed. Dean climbed down, putting an arm around Cass when he also resumed human form. "How's that?" Dean asked, grinning. "Nice elk, huh?"

"Good job," Sam praised.

"Eh," Gabriel said, appearing unimpressed, "it's not as nice as the one I caught, but it'll do."

Sam rolled his eyes.

A few hours later, after they'd all pitched in to butcher the elk and process the hide, their little group gathered in Bobby's cabin for supper. Afterward, Bobby led everyone to the big family room. He settled with a groan into his big chair. "Balls, I ate too much again," he complained, patting his stomach. "I'm going to be big as a house if I keep this up."

"Wouldn't matter if we actually had houses," Gabriel grumbled. "I get that we needed to find a place to live well away from prying eyes, but don't you think this is taking things a little far? I mean, the boondocks of Canada, really? We're so far out that we've got well water, solar panels and an electric generator, and our only contact with the outside world is via satellite. We have to drive for nearly an hour just to get to town."

"Which you do fairly often to see a certain lady, so it seems your social life has not suffered," Lanette pointed out.

Gabriel harrumphed. "I'd be able to see a lot more of her if we were just a little closer to town instead of hiding out here."

Sam poked the grumpy illusion dragon. "Gabe, would you knock it off already? We're not hashing this out again."

"Well, it's hard not to think about," Gabriel complained. He had the remote for the big screen television and was clicking through channels. "I mean, every time I turn around, I hear about more scandals. There was another one just this morning. I'll bet it's… Yup, sure enough, there it is again." Gabriel threw himself backward onto the couch next to Sam, looking disgusted.

Sure enough, Dick Roman's picture was on the screen. "Yet another shocking revelation has come about from the legal battle at Roman Enterprises," the newscaster announced. "The FBI has announced the arrest of two high-ranking executives with close ties to President Rooney. Once again, the President has denied any involvement with the alleged illegal activities of Dick Roman. The FBI issued a press release this morning asking for anyone with information to immediately contact…"

"They're not going to be able to ever fully unravel Roman's bullshit unless we come forward!" Gabriel exclaimed.

A loud groan echoed around the room.

"I'm going to tell you this one more time," Bobby warned. "If you come forward with what you know, yes, it would unravel a lot of what that bastard did. But it would also expose all of you…"

"…Which would put not only us, but everyone close to us in danger," Gabriel sighed. "I get it. I do. I really wanted to take the whole thing down, all those bastards behind the projects, the money men, and especially everyone who profited from Roman's deals. Hell, I had a press conference all set up where we would tell the world…"

"We know," called multiple people at once.

"Gabe, it never could have happened," Sam insisted. "I still cannot believe you really planned to go dragon on national television."

"I will admit, I did not completely think it through," Gabriel grumbled. "I mean, I recognized that the Finnermans needed to stay hidden, but I guess I thought the rest of us…"

"We'd all end up in the same situation that Jack and I were in with Roman," Adam reminded. "If the world knew about us, then too many people would only view us as tools to be used. Mom already gave up her position after what happened to me, and Col. Winchester is retiring. But that means they're both unprotected. If people found out about us, they'd go after them, they'd go after Bobby…"

"They'd try," Bobby snorted. "But Adam's right. Everyone around you would be in danger, even that lady you've been seeing in town, Gabe. You think she'd be safe if anyone really knew the truth?"

"It just rankles, that's all," Gabriel sighed. "Roman's people did for most of the assholes at that base where they stole Dean and Cass and the Finnermans, so they got theirs. We took care of Roman's little army and Lanette made sure Roman's blackmail material will never get out. But now there's no proof, nothing to really take down the biggest players. I mean, the idea that President Rooney himself…?"

Sam put a calming hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "If there's proof out there, sooner or later it will come out," he said. "We knew that, for the projects to even happen the way they did, that the real masterminds behind it at the Army had to be high up. While we never knew it could have gone as high as the Commander-In-Chief, in retrospect, it does seem impossible that those at the very top didn't know. Someone had to approve the budgets and personnel, right?"

"If nothing else, Rooney's finished as a politician," Donnie said, looking smug. "Look, they're showing his poll numbers. No one trusts him now. If he doesn't get impeached, he's not getting re-elected."

"It doesn't matter," Castiel declared. "Whatever happens over Roman Enterprises, it doesn't affect what we're doing. Speaking of which?" He looked pointedly at Bobby.

"Right." Bobby sighed and pulled up his laptop. With a few keystrokes, he brought a series of images up on the television screen. "This is Amy Jordan. She's the mayor of a little town called Hillside, up in the northwest portion of Maine. And this bastard is Ronald Humphry, owner of Humphry Mining. He's rich, powerful, and currently polluting the hell out of the water supply of Hillside. But Mayor Jordan's not having any luck with the courts. Even though it seems like her case is pretty open and shut, twice she's filed to halt the mining and twice she's been refused. This lady and her town need help."

Gabriel clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Sounds like a job for us!"

The best and worst thing about Gabriel, in Dean's opinion, was his enthusiasm. Where a minute ago he'd been grumpy about the possibility of Rooney getting away with whatever he'd been doing for Roman, now he was happily discussing plans with Sam for how they could help the town.

"It is what we're for," Castiel reminded him in a low voice, leaning over to speak in Dean's ear. "We're here to help people, remember?"

"Man's best friend," Dean recalled. "Right." Dean returned his attention to the discussion. He had no doubt they could help these people. After all, they practically had angels on their shoulders.