Five Years Later

Chapter Twelve: The Collapse

"I'm not bringing Sam back, Cas." Gabriel rolled his eyes, arms crossed indignantly in front of his chest, and leaned back against the wall as he tapped his foot impatiently. "Can I please go now? I've answered your question eight different times and the response is not going to change."

"Gabriel, brother—" Cas sighed, tilting his head to the side and widening his eyes so that he might appear more charming. This led to a corresponding chuckle from Gabriel, who immediately caught on to Cas' game. "I need your help. Dean and I will find it all the harder to fix what is broken if we are shaming Sam's memory by leaving Jess with Negan. If you won't do it for her, do it for us."

"You and Dean have already forgiven each other—that's all I wanted. You're on the path to healing what was lost and all that love crap, and I'm happy for you. I don't see what Jess has to do with it. Honestly, you guys are bugging me, always bringing her into our family conversations. I have half a mind to tell God she needs to be crossed off his list if you keep it up." Gabriel muttered, scraping his sneaker against the floor so that it grated against the tile with a terrible squeaking noise. "Give up already. I'm not bringing Sam back."

"If you won't do us that kindness, at least apologize to Jess." Cas pleaded. "She is making herself sick over all of this stress—you promised her Sam. She had so much faith in you and so much love for him that she married Negan, only to have you turn her away when she came to you for help."

"Shows that you shouldn't trust everyone." Gabriel winked. "It's a valuable moral lesson that you should take from all of this. The only person I can tell that you can trust is Dean, all the way. Forget Katharine, Negan, Sam, me, everybody—Dean wants you to love him, and he won't lie to you because it'll only make the chasm between the two of you wider."

"Are you saying I can't trust you?" Cas narrowed his eyes. "What kind of—"

"Watch your language, Cas." Gabriel cracked a smile, but it wasn't happy or sad—it was a sort of mysterious smirk that gave Cas the answer to his question, the kind of smile that made you run the other way. "Cursing isn't the best habit you picked up during your time with Negan."

"Fuck you." Cas hissed in reply. He glared at Gabriel indignantly. "If you can't respect my damn—"

"It's unbecoming, brother." Gabriel's smile faded away, as did he. With a flex of his wings, he had vanished into thin air, leaving Cas alone in the supply closet with the burden to tell Dean what he had learned.

***

"Dean, I need to talk to you."

"Not now, Cas. I don't feel well."

"Dean, it's important."

"Come on, Cas. Seriously."

"Dean!"

The bedside lamp flickered on and Dean sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes and cursing at the brightness that stung them. When he had fully come to, he looked at Cas apprehensively, who was standing in the doorway with a nervous air about him.

"What is it?" Dean asked, his voice husky from sleep, and Cas dared to step inside the room and close the door behind him. Most of the men in the shared space were asleep at that point, and none of them knew about Dean and Cas.

"Gabriel says that he can't get Sam back." Cas said, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn't hear. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more for your brother when he has done so much for me."

"It's okay, Cas. Really." Dean patted the bed, motioning for Cas to sit instead of awkwardly hover by the doorway as though he was waiting for an opportunity to escape. "Listen, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."