lt_indigo

lt_indigo

“What the…?”

Dean turned on the spot, taking in his surroundings in disbelief.

“Where the hell am I?”

This was not what he had been expecting when that dickbag Crowley had finally gotten the better of him. To be fair to Dean, though, pushing sixty when the demon was ageless hardly made things a fair fight.

“Not Hell, boy,” Bobby announced with a grin.

“Congratulations,” Ellen said, raising a glass of whiskey to him, “you made it upstairs.” He was standing in the middle of Harvelle’s, surrounded by hunters: Ellen, Jo, Ash, Bobby, Chrissy Chambers, Rufus, Sam…

He was enveloped in a hug before he had even really processed seeing his brother, whole and hale and young and all arms swamping him, and reaching out and grabbing someone else; someone small and blonde.

“Mom.”

Mary squeezed him tightly, so, so reassuringly. “I’m so proud of you, Dean,” she said into his chest. “You’ve done so well.”

He clung to her for a long while, breathing her in scent. But she pulled away from him eventually, and Sam took a step back too. Both of them were smiling, their eyes shining. As if they had choreographed the move, they moved apart, allowing someone else in.

The angel looked the same as ever, with his dark hair and blue eyes, but here in Heaven there was clearly something different about him. He actually had a halo, all the time. Dean had only ever seen it before when he was showing off; generally in a pissing contest with Crowley.

“Cas!”

Cas smiled, that tiny little smile that barely even registered on his face, but shone brightly in his eyes.

“You did not think I would allow you to come to my home without me, did you?”

Dean laughed and swept Cas into his arms.

Cas shone even more brightly as he leaned in to kiss his lover. Vaguely, Dean heard Rufus curse, Bobby chuckle, and the sound of money changing hands.

.oOo.

Dean got the whole story from Ash and the Harvelles over a few drinks. Apparently Castiel had decided that the whole solitary Heaven thing was bullshit and, with Gabriel’s help, had set up a trial joined Heaven, building on the groundwork that Ash had already set up. Apparently it had taken his human ingenuity to change the fundamentals of what God had made, but Gabriel’s juice to make it stable and permanent.

Apparently they all had their own rooms to retreat to, and could even get to their individual Heavens through said rooms, but in general they all preferred to mingle. It had been Sam’s death, ten years previously, that had given Cas the impetus to pull everyone together, but they had worked quickly after that, finding hunters and bringing them together. Samuel Colt popped in every now and then, and a whole handful of Gabriel’s descendants from a family he had had back in the Victorian times were currently off with him, trying to find his son, Juriaan Van Helsing.

The fact that Gabriel had been a hunter was mind-boggling. That he had actually cared enough to raise a child was even more staggering. Throw in the fact that Gabriel Van Helsing had actually existed, even if he looked nothing like Hugh Jackman, was completely ridiculous, and Cas could see that Dean was struggling to deal. He gently took his hand and led him upstairs to a door that had never existed in real life.

“This is our room,” he said, opening the door to reveal a simple, comfortable bedroom. “You have had a lot to deal with today.”

Dean nodded and allowed Cas to guide him.

Once the door was closed and they were finally alone, Castiel looked almost shy.

“There is one more thing I would show you, if you are willing,” he said slowly. “Now that you are here in Heaven, it is possible for you to see me as I truly am.”

Dean blinked slowly. “Are… Cas, are you sure?”

Cas raised an eyebrow. “Would I have suggested it if I had any doubts?”

True, Dean realised. Cas never purposefully did anything that would cause any harm. Not that harm didn’t happen, but Cas was the expert here, not Dean. And the possibility of Cas being himself?

“Yes,” he blurted out. “Please, Cas: I want to see you.”

The room filled with Cas’ aura as he unfolded himself, his wings spreading wide, enveloping Dean tenderly. Dean was speechless: Castiel was more beautiful, more wondrous than he had ever realised. And now he could have all of his lover.