Title: Consequences of Action

Chapter: 12

~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps he’d been too harsh.

Jimmy watched Claire eat the sandwich that Jo had brought and decided that he hadn’t been too harsh. Despite having been on her own, Claire wasn’t an adult and questioning not only his decisions, but Castiel’s was not acceptable. She didn’t fully understand the situation, nor did she have the life experience to understand. Claire still thought love was a romance novel.

He’d made it clear that Jo was there to stay. If Claire decided not to accept Jo’s role in his and Castiel’s shared life, then fine. However, he expected her to treat Jo with respect regardless. Considering that she’d liked Jo just fine until discovering they’d exchanged vows, Jo and Castiel anyway, that shouldn’t be difficult.

He hated that they’d argued; that she was being stubborn, difficult, and such a teenager. Jimmy recalled joking with Amelia several times about that future day when Claire would get the teenage girl attitude. Well, it was here. The day had come and he wasn’t about to put up with it.

Jimmy had laid down the law. No matter the situation, he was still her father, retaining that parental authority over her and he was clear that Castiel spoke for him. If Castiel told Claire she was out of line, she was out of line and she’d better straighten up fast.

Then, after all of the drama of that was over, he’d explained Jo’s expectant state, stressing that the baby was Castiel and Jo’s, not his and Jo’s. He’d told her that Castiel’s presence in his body subtly changed his genetic makeup, a supernatural matter, and while she’d seemed to understand, he wondered if she truly did. Her reaction to the news was better than he’d expected after her reaction about Jo. She thought about it and asked how he thought she should treat the baby when it came. A half-sibling perhaps?

All afternoon, he watched Claire, observing how she behaved with Jo. She was exactly what he wanted from her: respectful, courteous, kind. Sure, she cringed a little when Cas kissed Jo, but that was to be expected, at least for awhile.

It was with relief that Jimmy let himself slide into sleep when night came. Concentrating on Claire had exhausted him.

~~~~~~~~~~

While it was difficult for Claire to witness Castiel being affectionate with Jo, mainly because she remembered her dad kissing her mom and it was her dad’s body, she ultimately decided to approach the situation as she would if Jo was her stepmother. Her dad approved of Jo and said he’d taken the same vow as Castiel, so that approach made sense to her.

Besides, she really did like Jo. Jo had nursed her through her first real crush, taught her how to survive, and listened to her teenage worries. Jo was like a mother and friend rolled into one anyway.

Claire wanted to be happy for them. She knew Jo had been lonely and Castiel had to be too with the link to his brothers severed. They both needed someone and why not each other, especially since Jo was pregnant.

She tried not to think of the baby as her dad’s, because when she did, she felt horrible, like he’d started an entire new life that didn’t include her. She wanted to be included and feel like she was a part of his strange half-life. He’d tried to stress that the baby was Castiel’s, which did help some, but she had to approach that the same way she approached Jo: extended family. The baby was a half-sibling and she was going to be a big sister.

It was easier not to try to understand the situation between her dad, Castiel, and Jo; to think of Castiel and her dad as one person, not two, which inevitably brought her back to the baby.

The more she thought about the baby, the more her feelings went round and round on the subject. She was happy for them, yet sad, and even though they began to include her in day-to-day activities, she felt like it was temporary. It wasn’t going to last. With each day that passed and each conversation that seemed to center largely on the baby, Claire began to feel worse.

She began to feel alone.

She remained with Risa and Dean, one night stretching into more as they tried to find a place for her where she’d feel comfortable. She watched them go through lists in the evenings, making notations, moving names around, discussing people she could room with. It wasn’t a quick process. If one didn’t have an objection, the other did and even if they agreed, it seemed Castiel and her dad had objections. They all wanted her to have other people around, though truthfully, she’d be more comfortable by herself.

The solution was for her to move in to one of those little cabins right by Castiel’s cabin.

Claire sat down one rainy afternoon and wrote out an argument for one of those cabins. She knew there were a couple empty, one even still had some of Jo’s things in it. It would be close, they could easily see if she kept her light on too late or something, and she could move out of Dean and Risa’s cabin. They had to be wanting time alone with each other. Later that day, she presented the plan to Dean, while Risa popped popcorn in the air popper across the room.

He looked the paper over, lips twitching as he read. “Time alone, huh?”

“I’m not dumb, Dean. Married people do things when they’re alone together. It’s like an integral part of married life.”

“Who told you that?”

The air popper stopped, the scent of fresh popped popcorn in the air.

She shrugged. “My mom. And Ellen. Ellen had a few words on that subject, too.” Claire glanced at Risa, mischief rising. “You’re married. That means you do sex things and need time alone with each other for that. Am I right or not?”

Risa turned, a confused expression on her face and two bowls in her hands. She came to the couch. “What are you two talking about?”

“Sex between a married couple.” Claire bit back a smile at Risa’s resulting disapproving stare from the tone she’d used. If her dad was there, she’d never have said it the way she had. She felt a slight twinge of shame for trying to shock them somehow when they’d both been very accepting and welcoming of her in their cabin, but ignored it. “What? It’s not like the two of you don’t do it, right?”

Dean crossed his arms. “Not in the way she just said that, Risa, just in a general ‘it’s what married couples do’ way.”

“Oh really?” Her gaze turned speculative and she sat down between them, handing one bowl to Claire and balancing the other bowl against her leg and Dean’s.

“Claire has a proposal and one of her reasons listed…. Here. Just read it yourself.” He handed her the paper. “I see no reason not to put the plan before Cas and Jimmy. What do you think?”

Risa fixed a stare upon her that wasn’t amused and Claire shifted uncomfortably. It was that same stare her mother used to use when Claire had done something she knew she shouldn’t. “I think Claire’s butt would be blistered if she was in the house I grew up in. If I’d ever spoken to adults with the tone she just used, I wouldn’t have been able to sit for a week.” She glanced at the paper and handed it back. “Fine. Why don’t you run that over to them now? We’ll wait here.”

Claire watched with some trepidation as Dean got up and left without saying another word. Pushing was one thing, but she suspected that pushing Risa too hard was another entirely.

After a moment, Risa sighed. “I understand all about trying to shock adults and stir up trouble for attention, kiddo. I was that way myself at your age for largely the same reason, but if you think you’re going to act like that out of your dad and Castiel’s sight, you’ve got another thing coming. I have no qualms about informing them of your behavior.”

“I wasn’t --”

“You were. However nice, and calm, and accepting of Jo’s pregnancy you were earlier, it’s hitting you now. I know what it’s like to feel like that new baby is going to take your place and you’ll be forgotten completely.”

Claire set her popcorn bowl on the side table and crossed her arms, hunching her shoulders a little. “It’s all they talk about together. I mean, I was looking forward to talking to Jo and telling her things, but she’s always in baby mode.”

“And it will be all they talk about for awhile. It’s still new to them, Claire. Jo’s a first-time mama and Castiel’s a first-time daddy, so they’re going to want to discuss it. I know Dean and I would if it was us. Your dad though…. Maybe you could request time to talk to him without any mention of the baby or of Jo. I think he’ll understand that you need the time with him. From the little I know about him, he seems the sort of man to grasp such things.”

Claire shook her head, recalling how he’d yelled at her. “He’ll be mad. He says he’s happy and he wants me to be happy for him and for Jo and Castiel, but if I say anything negative, he’ll be mad. I know he will and I don’t want him mad at me. I don’t like it when he yells.”

“No child likes to have their father yelling at them.” Stretching out a hand, Risa touched Claire’s shoulder. “Would you like me to explain for you, be an intermediary? I’ll be happy to if you like.”

“Would you?” It was a generous offer and one she hadn’t expected.

“Of course. You, however, have to promise me you won’t behave that way around us again.”

She agreed and when Castiel came back with Dean to talk to her, she was surprised when Risa seized the opportunity to bring it up right then.

~~~~~~~~~~

There was no reason to wait or beat around the bush. Risa asked Dean to sit with Claire and Castiel to join her at the table for a few minutes. When they were all settled, she folded her arms on the edge of the table, lowering her voice to speak quietly with him.

“Is Jimmy awake and listening?” At his nod, she continued. “Here me out before you say anything. There’s the potential for a bad situation to quickly develop with Claire if it’s not taken care of immediately.”

“What would that be?”

“She needs to spend time with Jimmy that does not include a discussion of either Jo or the baby and she needs to spend time with you and Jo, together and separate, without discussion of the baby.” She held up a hand. “Listen to the voice of experience here. She’s already feeling neglected and like the baby is taking all of your time, Jo’s, and her father’s. That will only grow as the months pass. Trust me. I’ve been in her position…sort of. I was about her age when my folks decided to have a couple more kids. I didn’t take it well. We had an incident a little while ago --”

“Dean said she made an inappropriate remark?”

“It was extremely mild, but enough to alert me. She’s a good kid, but she needs attention focused on her. Remember, she’s been on her own, too. A little independence in there, but a continued desire to be daddy’s little princess and the only little princess, especially since he wasn’t there by necessity for a few years. She’s fragile, Castiel. She wants her family. It’s very scary to think of a brother or sister taking time away from you and to walk into the situation like she did….”

He thought a long moment, then nodded. “Jo and I will talk about it and make further arrangements. Was there anything else?”

“No, that’s all.”

He stood and turned to Claire. “I came to see if you’d like to take a walk in the rain. Your father tells me the two of you would sometimes do that when you were little.”

She stood with a cautious expression, as though afraid he was going to yell at her. “A walk?”

“Yes.” He smiled and shrugged, an easy going gesture. “Just a walk. If you don’t care to, I’ll go by myself.”

“Can I take an umbrella?”

“If you like. I’m sure you can borrow Dean’s.”

Risa watched the two leave, then got up and returned to the couch.

Dean put an arm around her shoulders. “Do you think she’ll be fine?”

“I think she will if they take my advice.”

He pressed his cheek to hers. “I was little when my mom was pregnant with my brother, but I remember a little bit of that feeling.” He sighed. “It’s going to be tough for all four of them.”

They sat together in silence for long minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dean Winchester had built quite a camp. It was one thing to view it from heaven and another entirely to walk through it and take in the pieces of it from a human level. Gabriel strolled the camp as most people slept -- snagging few cookies that were in a container in the dining hall, looking over the garden and animals, visiting Dean’s beloved Impala, replenishing their ammunition stores with a snap of his fingers. He took his time in a long, casual tour and when he’d seen all he wished, he went to Dean’s cabin, plucked the location of the ring from his mind while he slept and found it. He held it up. One down, three to go. This ring was the easy one.

For weeks after nabbing it, Dean had taken it out, looked at it, and wondered if it was important in some way other than how the Horseman had used it, yet every time he put it away with the feeling that he needed to keep it. Gabriel read all of that in the time it took to blink.

His glance turned to Dean’s wife. Risa. She was certainly a looker, with an exotic air about her. The two were twined together, Risa on her back and Dean’s head resting on her breasts. Dean had an arm about her waist. They were peaceful in sleep, their breaths nearly in unison.

Gabriel turned to leave them and paused. The girl sleeping on their couch was awake, her eyes wide and frightened. Stepping to her, he crouched down, speaking in a low whisper. “Don’t be afraid, Claire. I mean you no harm.”

“Who are you?” She pulled the blanket tighter to her.

“A friend. Go back to sleep.” Stretching out a hand, he made her sleep, and took the memory of his visit from her. She looked well and was in a far better emotional state than many who’d been out in the world. He stood. Claire Novak came from good stock. She’d make it through whatever trouble came her way.

Leaving the cabin, he decided to make one last stop while he was here. Why wait when he could take care of two things in one trip? He willed himself to Castiel’s cabin, materializing beside the wide bed.

Curious, Gabriel glanced around. The furnishings were typical Apocalypse chic, not much different than Dean’s cabin. He sighed and returned his gaze to the bed. Castiel was sprawled on his back, snoring ever so gently, the covers bunched at his waist. His chest was bare. Beside him, lay Jo Harvelle, curled against him and mostly covered by the sheet and bedspread. Gabriel could see the strap of some sort of sleepwear on her shoulder. Hands on his hips, he assessed Jo first. She was in good health, the baby as well, a little deficient in iron, but a snap of his fingers righted that.

As for Castiel…. Gabriel frowned and studied what Zachariah had done to him. The ‘battery’ was still there, emitting a level of power almost too low to register -- a residual hum of power, though nothing that gave him any real abilities. He could probably sense some things in a human psychic twinge sort of way. It was with some relief that he realized all he needed to do was turn the tap back on so Castiel’s ‘angel battery’ could charge back to full strength. Gabriel had half feared Zachariah had made unfixable changes.

He gave the tap a little turn, just enough to start the charging process. Castiel’s powers should start returning. Then, he made a few more changes, little tweaks really, each one sanctioned and fully approved by heaven, returning pieces of Castiel to his original state.

The vessel stirred inside Castiel and woke in a panic. What was that? What’s going on?

Gabriel tsked and soothed him. “Sshh. It’s okay, Jimmy. Just a little reorganizing.”

What? Why? Who are you?

“A friend. You’ll be fine. Trust me. This will be much better than your current arrangement if all goes well. Now, forget all about me having been here and go back to sleep.” A touch to Castiel’s forehead achieved that end and also served to put Castiel into a deeper sleep, enabling Gabriel to complete his task faster.

Like he’d told Jimmy, the new arrangement would be much better for all of them. He wondered how long before Castiel realized he had the power to let Jimmy surface fully for brief periods.

With a smug little smile, he took the key to Michael and headed after the next one.

~~~~~~~~~~

Across the camp, Mya tossed and turned in her sleep, her dreams interrupted by bursts of static that made her cry out.

She woke with a throbbing pain all through her head, unable to think for the static, unable to move from that pain. It gripped her entire body and with a certainty she realized that something was in the camp.

She cried silently until, in a single second, the pain was gone as though it had never been there to begin with.

Mya rolled over and looked at Rick. He was still asleep. Her incident hadn’t woken him. She sat up. Her hands were shaking and she felt vaguely nauseated. Tossing aside the covers, she got out of bed and padded to the window. She opened the curtain and stared out at the clearing until dawn came and the memory of the pain began to fade.

Whatever it was that had been there was gone, taking the hurting pulse of static with it, yet she still felt a humming in the air, gentle and almost soothing after that painful static.

Her attention turned to Castiel and Jo’s cabin, remained there a moment. She felt like if she stood still enough and focused enough she could pinpoint the location of that hum…. It seemed to be coming from…. Mya shook her head and returned to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~

He found the answers, satisfaction in a task well completed rolling over him and eager anticipation rising. It was time. He was finally ready. He stood and moved towards the exit.

Castiel rolled over in his sleep, frowning, head moving on his pillow.

“Stop.” It was Michael before him, blocking the path.

He paused, because when Michael ordered, all obeyed. “Yes?”

“You’re to come with me. You’ve been reassigned, effective immediately.”

“Why?” The word blurted out before he could stop it. He hadn’t meant to question the archangel. Strange. He felt angry and didn’t understand. Why was he feeling anger? Michael ordered, he should obey without question, without anger.

“It’s been decided, Castiel.”

“By who?” There he went again, unable to keep a grip on his tongue.

“You question me?”

“I simply wish to know why I’ve been reassigned. Did I commit an offense?” He didn’t understand.

“You don’t question me,” Michael replied, reaching out. Castiel knew what Michael was going to do was going to hurt and there was nothing he could do to stop him….

Castiel woke with a gasp. It was only a dream, but vivid, like a memory, continuing to replay in his mind as he gathered Jo closer. He turned his face into her hair, breathing in the pleasant scent of her shampoo and letting the familiar smell comfort him. It wasn’t the first time he’d had that dream. It hadn’t made sense the first time he’d had it and still made no sense. He’d never been reassigned, nor did he recall ever being singled out by Michael for anything close to a personal conversation. For as long as Cas could remember, he’d been in Anna’s garrison.

He slipped back into sleep and when he woke at dawn, he had the strangest sensation of being more awake than he’d been in years now. He felt energized and very alive.

~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, Castiel was the second personality of a man named Jimmy. That was the first story. The second one was that he was a former angel who’d used Jimmy as a host and become trapped with him.

Both ideas made Kylie’s head hurt. Knowing some things going on in the world -- hello, Lucifer -- she chose the second explanation. Lucifer was an angel, which meant there were angels, so it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that Castiel could have been one. Besides, the second explanation had more romance in it and Kylie liked romance.

Either way, whichever Jimmy was, he had a daughter. Claire. It sort of bent Kylie’s mind a little to realize she’d had sex with a guy who had a kid and not just a kid, but one who was a teenager. That wasn’t much younger than Kylie herself.

She made a point of meeting Claire and discovered that she was really nice. Polite and sweet, but with an edge. She was so brave, having survived, like, forever out there on her own. It was something out of an adventure novel. Kylie attempted to make friends with Claire, because surely she needed someone closer to her age to talk to, right? She asked about what Claire had gone through on the outside. The stories Claire told were wild, like facing a vengeful demon and living through it. She was like the heroine in a novel or movie. Really. Kylie decided she liked Claire even as her friendship with Vanessa deteriorated in bursts.

For some reason, Claire’s arrival and Jo’s pregnancy seemed to spur Vanessa on to greater heights in her idea that Castiel would come back to her. She was sliding into full-out delusional now. Cas had become a family man and that was that. He wasn’t going to come back to Vanessa and though Kylie tried to convince her of that, Van didn’t believe her.

Kylie avoided her as much as possible now, which was sometimes hard to do seeing as how they were still roommates. She made a mental note to approach Dean about finding a new cabin to live in. Besides, Jo wasn’t what Kylie had thought she was. She was kind of nice in an adult, nearly thirty way. Certainly not the man-stealing bitch she’d assumed Jo to be.

She was willing to admit she was wrong and had even come through a few casual conversations with Jo unscathed. Jo wasn’t scary and she certainly wasn’t a bitch. She just had that leadership attitude thing going on sometimes, like Risa did, only Jo seemed to be more amused by Kylie than Risa ever was.

It was kind of sweet to watch how concerned Cas was about her, bringing her food or something to drink in the dining hall, taking walks with her, and holding her hand. Not that he hadn’t been sweet when Kylie had been with him. He had been, but this was extra sweetness. Kylie decided that she’d watch Vanessa and if she ever did anything to hurt anyone, she’d be there to stop her, because really, Kylie thought of herself as a good friend. Weren’t good friends the ones that watched out for you and if you were going to do something bad, talked you out of it? She was going to be there if Van ever needed talked out of something bad.

~~~~~~~~~~

He was being followed.

Zachariah strolled about heaven, watching carefully for a possible tail. He took a roundabout path, sneaking glances behind him every so often. It didn’t take him long to identify Raphael as the one behind him. Of all the angels that could have been chosen to follow him…Raphael? He about laughed. Raphael was about as subtle as Dean Winchester on a bad day. Fierce, but not good at being sneaky. Raphael had always preferred the more direct approach.

A quick tour of the obvious exits made it clear that he was going to have to do some fast maneuvering when it was time to take his leave.

Soon.

He had a plan in mind, one that he thought would work, but needed a little more consideration before being enacted.

Soon, he’d leave and soon, he’d achieve all he’d ever dreamed of.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Let me see it.” Jo held out her hand, snapping her fingers several times when Chuck shook his head in refusal. “Chuck.”

Chuck kept the binder close to his chest. “I wouldn’t, Jo.”

“Please.”

He bit his lip. While he hadn’t seen any of this, it didn’t take visions to know this wasn’t going to end well. He hadn’t expected Jo to overhear he and Dean talking, nor had he expected her to demand to see the binders. The voice hadn’t told him this either. “Jo --”

“You’re a prophet, I get that. You write it all down because you have to or suffer crippling migraines. We’ve been through all of that, now I want to read what you saw about me. Is that too much to ask?”

Castiel and Dean exchanged an alarmed glance.

With a gulp, Chuck held out the binder.

Jo took it and flipped it open. Her reaction was pretty much what he expected. Complete horror with a healthy tinge of embarrassment. “Who’s read this?” Her glance flicked up. “Cas?”

Castiel shook his head. “No. I feel no need at present to --”

“Dean?”

Dean took a couple steps towards her. “I think you should know that --”

“Tell me. Did you read this, Dean?”

He raised his hands, held them up. “Take a breath, Jo, and calm down.”

“I’m calm.” She sounded anything but, voice tight. Her attention returned to the pages, fingers turning those pages one by one, skimming, stalling on one page, rereading it, her head tilting to the left and lips parting. She sucked in a breath. “I want an answer now, Dean. Did you read these pages?”

Dean looked at the floor, licked his lips, and nodded. “Yes, Jo, I’ve read them. I…read it all. Three binders full.”

She made a gasping, half-choking sob.

Reaching out, Dean grasped the binder, trying to take it from her.

~~~~~~~~~

It was bad enough to see her first night with Castiel down on paper in intimate detail and hear Dean admit to having read it. Then, she read about that one thing Cas hadn’t admitted to her.

He’d forgotten the birth control.

It wasn’t that it had failed exactly, but rather he hadn’t remembered it.

Sound seemed to fade in and out. Jo felt like she couldn’t breathe, gasping. Black spots danced on the edge of her vision. She heard Chuck apologizing for having to write it all, Castiel asking if she was okay, and Dean….

She felt the prickling of tears in the corners of her eyes. Dean’s hands were on the other end of the binder, trying to take it from her. He didn’t tug hard, but gently, as though he understood her reaction.

He broke off with a sharp gasp, realizing he’d neglected the spermicidal jelly they’d been using.

“Jo?”

Sound snapped back into clarity and Jo turned her head, looking up into Castiel’s clear blue eyes and shrugging his hand from her shoulder. “Don’t touch me,” she snapped.

His eyes widened and he staggered back a little, his hand dropping away. “Jo….”

Thrusting the binder at Dean, Jo fled the cabin, not caring if he caught it or it fell to the floor. She didn’t cry often, but when she did, it wasn’t pretty. Once she got going, she really wasn’t one of those women who cried prettily. By the time she reached the sobbing, gasping for breath, unable to see for the tears stage, she was a mess.

She headed for the one place she didn’t think anyone would look for her -- the Impala -- and picked the lock to the building. Inside, she lifted the tarp on the side opposite the window, opened the back door and slid inside. Jo laid on the back seat, crying out her humiliation of all those things Chuck and Dean knew. Her mortification of knowing that Dean knew some of those very private things was high. When she’d read about Jimmy predicting her pregnancy because Castiel had neglected birth control in his half asleep, very roused state…. Jo wanted to hide.

And so she did.

She stayed in the Impala even when she heard the frantic tone of Castiel’s calls outside. He was worried about her she knew, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to come out yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~

In his extreme distress for being unable to find Jo in the camp, Castiel found himself shaking as he paced. A thousand fears crept into his mind. Jo was gone. She’d fled. Whatever she’d seen on the pages she’d looked at had sent her running from him. She’d left him. She’d taken herself and their baby and gone. She wasn’t coming back.

Stop, Castiel. Think about this. She’s not gone. She’s still here somewhere. None of her clothes are missing from the trunk, nor is her bag gone. She’s here.

While he could hear Jimmy, he couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the words and make them make sense. Jo was gone. She’d left him.

Castiel? Can you hear me? Come on, listen to me!

He paced in the cabin while Dean sent a team around to look for her. Just a few men and women who’d keep the search to themselves. Rick, Natalie, Carrie and others. Two hours had passed already. Where was she?

They aren’t going to find her. That thought rang through his mind in an unceasing chorus. What had she read that made her so upset? He tried to think of everything that would cause such a reaction and came up with nothing. He simply didn’t know the cause of her distress.

Cas saw Risa look at the map with a thoughtful expression and leave without saying a word to either him or Dean.

Cas!

He stopped pacing…but he was still pacing, his strides slowing, one hand raking through his hair. While he could feel the weight of their body, he couldn’t consciously make any part of it move. He tried to move and couldn’t. Jimmy? What’s happening? I can’t…I’m not….

He wasn’t in control anymore.

You need to calm down, Jimmy said in a stern, commanding tone. Breathe.

They took a long, slow breath. It was Jimmy in control now, taking those breaths, calming their racing heart, relaxing their limbs. All Castiel could do was sit and wait.

Think about this. Really think. Her things are still here. Whatever she read embarrassed her. Remember Dean and Sam’s initial reactions to discovering the books? It made them uncomfortable too. Jo’s upset and she doesn’t want to be found right now. All she’s doing is hiding out somewhere until she’s ready to come out. She hasn’t left you. She’ll calm down. You need to too.

How did you take control just now?

I don’t know. It wasn’t something I consciously did. It just sort of happened while you were panicking. Jimmy took them to the table where Dean sat and laid their hands on the surface, palms down. He leaned against them, bending a little, head lowering. They continued to breathe.

“Cas? How you doin’ buddy?”

He felt Dean’s hand pat their shoulder several times. After a long moment, he was able to lift their head and slide their hands across the tabletop, Jimmy slipping back and switching places with him. Castiel could feel it happen, a slight shifting sensation in their body, almost like a full bodily shiver. “I’m…enduring,” he replied, feeling much calmer despite all of those fears still being present.

Thank you, Jimmy.

What affects you, affects me, remember?

You believe she’s still here? That she’ll be back?

Yes. Stay calm. Jo will be back when she’s ready.

“We’ll find her,” Dean replied with a certainty in his voice that wasn’t reflected in his eyes. If Jo wanted to disappear, she could and they both knew it. He peered at Cas. “You sure calmed down quick.”

“Her belongings remain here. If she was going to leave camp, she would have packed no matter how upset she was.”

“True. Very good point.”

Cas sat in one chair and folded his arms on the table edge, then laid his head down. He was beginning to feel tired, like he needed to lie down and sleep for several hours.

Probably the adrenaline is wearing off.

Can you take control again?

There was silence for several minutes. No. I don’t think it was me doing it, Castiel. You try.

As they waited for someone to come with word that they’d found Jo, Cas discovered that somehow, he now had the ability to let Jimmy surface. At one point in their wait, Jimmy took his place for a full quarter hour before Cas couldn’t hold the switch back.

If he’d entertained any doubts that heaven was regaining interest in the earth, they were smashed as he and Jimmy discussed their new situation and what it meant.

~~~~~~~~~~

Risa watched Castiel pace and Dean mark off sections on a map. They were both worried for Jo, practically tearing the camp apart in an effort to find her. Castiel was more worried and fearful than Risa had ever seen him, unable to sit still, constantly pacing when efforts to find Jo fell flat.

He was afraid she’d left the camp and him both, nearly incoherent with that fear.

She glanced at the map and had an idea. There was no way Jo would leave the camp. She’d told Risa that her days of wandering were pretty much over. Nor would she leave Castiel. Where would Jo go that would give her a measure of comfort in her severe embarrassment over Chuck’s visions? What place would be a familiar, quiet, private, and ultimately perfect to hide until she was ready to come out? The Impala.

Why hadn’t Dean thought of it himself? The Impala was all of those things, and also a symbol of the part of her life that wasn’t in Chuck’s binders. No invasion of her privacy.

Quietly, Risa slipped away, not saying anything. She found the lock on the shed open and went inside, standing still a moment and listening before moving to the opposite side and raising the tarp.

Jo was there, sitting up when she saw Risa.

Risa opened the door. “Castiel and Dean are frantic to find you. They’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Can’t Chuck tell them I’m here,” she said in a bitter tone. “He knows everything else.”

She slid onto the seat beside Jo, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t think it works that way. He said he doesn’t always see things in order.”

Jo wiped her eyes. “How about you, Risa? Do you know too? Did you read it all?”

“No, I haven’t and I don’t plan to. I’m aware that Chuck’s a prophet and all of that, but I’m fully behind the ignorance is bliss idea. Dean, however, has a need to know, not to embarrass anyone, either you or Castiel, but to try to figure out how all of it’s fitting together.”

“He read it, Risa, no matter his intentions. He knows things I told Cas on impulse. He knows private thoughts I had. Chuck I can sort of excuse because he has no control over what he sees and Jimmy for the same, but Dean? He had the choice not to read it and he did read it.”

“Hurting you wasn’t his intention. You know Dean wouldn’t hurt you on purpose. I imagine he only admitted to reading it because he was being honest with you?”

Jo was silent a moment, then nodded. “He didn’t want to. I insisted he tell me.”

They sat quietly awhile. Risa fought the urge to sneeze from the dust.

“I’m pregnant because Cas neglected the birth control,” Jo told her.

Honestly,” she turned her head to look at Jo, “I think you’re pregnant for other reasons besides that. Plenty of women have tried and failed to get pregnant for a good year now, and it happens to you by accident? No, I think there’s more to it than that.”

“Maybe, but he didn’t tell me. He let me think the jelly failed.”

She smiled. “If I had a dollar for all of the things Dean didn’t tell me…. Think about male logic, Jo. He probably didn’t think it was important because you were already pregnant. The jelly failing or him forgetting it to begin with didn’t really matter because the result was the same.”

She was rewarded by a small, tentative smile. “That is male logic,” Jo agreed.

“Are you calm enough to go back now?”

“I just want to go to my cabin and sleep for awhile.”

They slid from the car, left the building and closed it back up.

Risa walked with Jo all the way to the cabin. “I’ll tell Castiel where you are.” She sincerely hoped there weren’t anymore surprises in store for Jo anytime soon. She had to have about hit her limit.

Jo nodded, went up the steps and through the beads and Risa headed back across camp.

~~~~~~~~~~

Gabriel was pacing, hands gesturing as he spoke.

“Okay, the first ring? Easy. Famine? A little tricky. Bony fingers like talons. Pestilence? There’s a guy who doesn’t know when to stop with the puke jokes. For the record, Mike, vomiting? Not fun. Projectile vomiting? Still not fun. Death, though. Talk about a buzz kill.”

“Did you get them all?”

Gabriel wasn’t finished, however. “We had coffee. Have you ever had coffee with Death, Mike?”

He started to answer, but it appeared Gabriel meant it as a rhetorical question, for he continued before Michael could speak.

“It’s not an experience I care to repeat, let me put it that way. I thought you were humorless, but Death really has no sense of humor. I mean at all. He didn’t appreciate any of my best lines and threatened to reap me if we failed. Said we’d all be reaped eventually anyway. Quite an ego, that Death.”

“And?”

“He handed it over. Apparently, Lucifer’s no better with pets now than he was before he was locked up.”

“Are you calling the Horsemen pets?” He blinked.

Gabriel shrugged and snorted. “If the shoe fits.”

“Gabriel.” The Horsemen were horrific, fierce and powerful agents, yet Gabriel blithely called them pets.

“What? He has collars on them, they’re pets. He commands, they go. Sic ‘em, Fluffy.” He held out the rings. “Here. Take these. I need a drink. Preferably something sweet and tasty. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind a sweet and tasty blond to go with that.”

He took the rings, studied them a moment and put them away. “Your other task? Have you completed it yet?”

“Done.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes, Mike, I’m certain. Castiel is good to go, or he will be soon.”

Michael shook his head. “I’m still not certain I like that idea.”

“Dad’s got something up his sleeve, that’s for sure, but it’s not ours to question is it?”

Over the next few days, Michael reviewed Castiel’s service file, remembering things he’d forgotten and discovering things he’d not known. There was much there to consider. Try as he might, he couldn’t figure out the big picture. Where was Castiel in that endgame between Michael and Lucifer?

Michael was puzzled and though he waited, there was no revelation available for him on the subject. He would have to wait and see how it all played out.