Title: Lost and Found

Chapter: 18

Part Two: Restoration

Part Two Summary: AU: Castiel and Uzziel have some changes in mind for heaven, but don’t quite agree on those changes. Dean and Jo make an impulsive decision, while Gwen, Sam, and Ellen housesit for Bobby with the usual sort of results.

Notes: Originally, I’d planned to make this a separate story, but after much thought, decided to combine them.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Part Two: Restoration:

Ellen Harvelle stretched in the passenger seat of her car.

For nearly a month, the five of them, Dean, Sam, Gwen, Jo, and Ellen, had worked the pending cases Ellen and Gwen had amassed, moving through each as a team. Castiel had returned to heaven, assuring them he’d be more accessible from now on. He even got the finger quotes right, though in Ellen’s opinion, he was over-doing them now that he’d learned them. Still, with him it was strangely endearing. There was a lot about Castiel that Ellen found appealing.

After hearing all about Dean and Sam’s quest to return Jo’s memories and a bit on the months right after, Ellen wasn’t surprised when Dean and Sam stayed with them, watching Ellen closely.

Dean was anyway.

She smiled to herself and looked out the side window.

He was worried about Jo. That’s what it boiled down to. He was worried that Ellen and Jo would have a falling out before they’d even really gotten to know each other again. It wasn’t a valid worry, but Dean was in love and if he could prevent a problem, he would.

Ellen sighed, glancing at Sam. Jo had admitted to her privately that she thought she was falling in love with Dean. Okay, she hadn’t actually said it. Rather, she’d alluded to it by asking what falling in love was really like, then illustrating with supposedly hypothetical examples that were from her relationship with Dean. Visions of a future were dancing in Jo’s head and Ellen was happy for her. Jo and Dean would have ups and downs as time passed. Ellen knew that well. She and Bill had had plenty of those themselves. She hoped they’d stick it out through the bad times and learn to have a stronger relationship for that.

She wondered, if Bill had lived, would she and Jo have ever gotten as close as they had? Jo had always been her daddy’s little girl. Maybe Ellen wouldn’t have developed that close relationship with Jo. Hell, maybe Bill and John would have stayed friends and John eventually brought Sam and Dean into the Roadhouse. She could imagine how a teenage Jo would have reacted to a teenage Dean and vice-versa. Probably a good thing they hadn’t met then. She could imagine what a holy terror a teenage Dean had been -- lethal to teenage girls with more raging hormones than sense.

Even if Dean didn’t admit it out loud, Ellen had seen the emotion in his eyes when he looked at Jo. He’d passed infatuation already and headed right for love. He was hooked and he didn’t appear to be fighting it.

“Hey, Sam?”

“Yeah?” He glanced at her.

“Jo never actually said…. How long have they been an item?”

He shrugged. “Hard to say really. One day it was friendly flirting and then it was more.”

“Gradual? Good. It should be gradual with those two.”

“I agree.” He glanced in the rearview mirror, then the side mirrors, changing lanes to pass a semi.

They were nearing Sioux Falls now. It’d be another half hour before they reached Bobby’s house and longer before Dean, Jo, and Gwen reached the house. The three were stopping to pick up some party essentials that they all seemed to agree on without a verbal listing of said essentials. Ellen hadn’t even tried to ask what they were going to buy.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Dean has this doubt in his head about the sort of man he can be and the life he can have. A lot of things contributed to it. That doubt isn’t something that can be negated quickly. It has to be slow and I think he has to work through every stumbling block so slowly he won’t realize it’s there until he’s past it and proven it wrong.”

She studied him, eyes narrowing. Did he understand that he had those same issues in regards to who he could be and that life he could have? She’d heard him say several times already that he wasn’t able to have a girlfriend, wife, or children.

It wasn’t just Dean that the crap in their lives had beaten down. Sam had taken his share of beating as well. The two of them were both messed up and certain they couldn’t have their dreams.

“A lot of things contributed,” he repeated, “and I was one of them. You know Lisa? The civilian?”

Ellen nodded. She’d been given the whole long story from her death to the present in stages. Dean told some, Sam, then Jo. She’d heard two points of view on Lisa thus far. Dean’s first. He thought himself a failure and a ton of other things from that relationship. The more Dean had told her about Lisa and how they’d been, the more Ellen wondered if Lisa was a controlling woman. She’d sounded that way. Controlling, manipulative. It sounded to Ellen like there’d been some emotional abuse going on there against Dean.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Dean hadn’t meant what he’d told her to come out with those sort of leanings. She didn’t think he even noticed the pattern in the interactions he’d mentioned. Maybe Lisa was really a nice woman. She’d heard Dean’s side and hadn’t actually seen the two together. Thus far, however, she’d developed a hearty dislike for Lisa Braeden that had everything to do with what Dean had told her.

Jo’s opinion, though she hadn’t ever met the woman, was pure outrage on Dean and Sam’s behalf for something Lisa had said to Dean. Now, it looked like Ellen was finally going to hear from Sam on the relationship.

“I’m the one who sent him to her. I made him promise and it blew up. I was wrong about her and if I hadn’t made him promise….” Sam cleared his throat. “I know I’m not wrong about Jo though. There’s something there and it’s real and it’s doing Dean some real good. I can see that. The change is there and it’s something I never thought I’d see. I want to encourage that. One of us should have a romantic relationship that works. I want him to have that and while I know he can’t leave hunting, it’s possible to have that life in the life, right?”

Ellen opened her water bottle and took a long drink. “Are you asking me, Sam, or telling me?”

“Asking, I guess? I mean, you married a hunter….”

“Sam.” Ellen shifted in the seat. “Bill Harvelle was the love of my life. I’d have gone anywhere, done anything to be with him. If he’d asked me to travel all over the U.S. like a nomad, I’d have done it. The risks, while very real and later felt hard, didn’t outweigh my need for him. With him, I was whole. That doesn’t mean it was roses all the time, because it wasn’t. Bill and I made the decision together to have the life we wanted within the hunting life for as long as we could. We were happy and as much grief as I went through when he died, I can’t regret living that life with him. I treasure those memories. That life with him brought me Jo and later, brought me you, Dean, and Bobby in a different way. Gwen, Castiel…. If I’d not accepted his proposal, I would have lost so much that means everything to me now. My life would have been far less rich.”

He was quiet a long moment. “I can see how you and Gwen get along so well. She gave me the same basic speech about living life awhile back.”

“Gwen can be wise for her age.”

“She can also be a smartass and a know-it-all.”

Ellen smiled. Gwen was indeed all of those things and more. She was a lot like Jo in some ways, probably why the two were getting along so well. She was glad that Jo was developing a friendship with Gwen. It was going to make working together all the easier. Besides, it was good for Jo to have a close friend her own age.

They reached Bobby’s house not long after that discussion and Ellen got out of the car, stretching slowly. Her hips ached a little from the long drive and her shoulder was going to need another of Sam’s rubs later, preferable with some icy-hot. She was discovering that even a couple years was making a difference in how she moved and how fast she recuperated. It took her longer to recover from hunts, she needed more sleep, and she just didn’t have the stamina she’d had the year she’d died.

When did I get old, she thought. In her own mind, she still felt twenty, but her body told her she was way off. It was sobering to consider.

“You go on in,” Sam told her. “I’ll bring in the bags.”

She went in the house, knocking loud on the door as she did so. “Anybody naked in here?”

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” Bobby Singer turned his tv off and rolled his chair back across the floor. “Ellen. You look good.”

She stepped inside the kitchen, pleased to see him get up and walk to her on his own two feet instead of rolling in a wheelchair.

“Hey, Bobby. I see your ugly ass hasn’t changed since I saw you last.” She gestured at him. “Though you mobile is a damn good sight to see.”

“Ain’t it, though?” He peered around. “Where the rest of them?”

“Jo, Gwen, and Dean stopped to buy some party food. They’ll be along in a bit.” She glanced at the window. “Sam’s getting the bags. He’ll be in in a minute.”

His expression softened and he hugged her, a quick embrace that lasted only a couple seconds. “Glad they found you.”

“I’m glad to be found.”

The door opened, Sam stepping in. He carried Ellen, Gwen, and Jo’s bags. “You’re gonna have a houseful, Bobby.”

“You think I don’t have the room or something? The women can take the bedrooms upstairs.”

Ellen cleared her throat as Sam headed up the stairs. “I think Dean might be bedding down with Jo, unless you can make them behave.”

Bobby snorted. “Make either of those two behave? Impossible. Any idea what they’re bringing back?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

They arrived an hour later, with everything from pizza and beer to ice cream and a bakery cake, Jo and Gwen unpacking the food. Jo showed Gwen where to put things and they started in on the pizza.

To Ellen’s surprise, Jo headed upstairs alone and Dean remained in what Bobby called ‘the man’s land’. In other words, Dean and Jo had decided to behave themselves -- for one night at least.

Ellen went to bed not long after Jo and slept straight through until Gwen knocked and asked if Ellen wanted to go to breakfast in town. Bobby had already eaten, but Sam was game, while Dean and Jo remained asleep. Ellen told her to let them sleep and was ready to leave within ten minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dean followed Jo into the kitchen, remembering their last fridge exchange at Bobby’s. It had been the night before she’d died. What better way to smooth over that memory than to make a new one to take it’s place? He set his beer down on the counter next to hers, and grasped her hips, pulling her close. “Let’s go up to bed,” he suggested with a leer and lecherous wiggle of his brows.

While Jo accepted a long, deep kiss, she drew back after it with a shake of her head. “Not here.” Her hands slid across his chest and up to grasp his shoulders. “Not yet anyway.”

It took him a second to realize she was completely serious. “Not yet? Why not?” Her refusal made no sense.

She jerked her head towards the other room. “My mother will be right next door and Bobby right downstairs.”

“You really think they haven’t figured out that we --”

Her fingertips touched his lips. “No, I know they have. Mom probably guessed at a glance. It’s just…. It’s silly, I guess. I’m not ready for them to hear us loud and clear because, sweetheart, we’re…sort of loud.”

Dean kissed her fingertips. “Ellen was in the next room last night,” he pointed out, “and I’m pretty sure she heard us, along with the people three doors down in both directions.”

“You could have been watching porn with the volume at full.”

“True, but not a lot of porn characters in the same film named Dean and Jo. Trust me on this. I’ve made a study of porn over the years.”

“It could happen,” she insisted.

He sighed, the visions of all of the naughty things he’d been planning on doing with her disappearing. “While I like that stubborn streak you have, it’s frustrating as hell.”

Casting a quick glance at the other room, Jo slid her arms around his neck and raised up on tiptoe to kiss him. “Tonight is out, but…. Mom and Bobby are going in to the library tomorrow to look up a few things.”

An all-day task, he knew. Ellen probably had a checklist of things she wanted to cover.

“And Gwen is going out to explore Sioux Falls.”

She’d be gone all day as well.

“Not to mention Sam asked her to give him a ride in.”

“We’ll have the place to ourselves all day.”

Jo slid her hand, the one on the cabinet side of her, down his chest and lower. He sucked in a breath at that bold caress. “We can be as noisy as we like.”

“We could do that anyway.”

“Not tonight we’re not.” Her smile was sweet, that hand sliding back up his body.

“You are a stubborn wench,” he replied, pressed a last kiss to her lips, and released her, snatching up his beer from the counter.

“You love my strong will.” Jo picked up her own bottle.

“Oh, so it’s called a strong will now?”

She shrugged, “Tomato, tomahto,” and sauntered back into the other room to join the others, her hips swaying.

Mmm…the things he was going to do to her tomorrow….

Dean stayed in the kitchen until that rise Jo had caused went down, drinking the rest of his beer and pretending to search through the fridge and cupboards. He went to bed alone awhile later and dreamed about Jo and being marooned with her on a tropical island. In the dream, the beer was plentiful and her bikini almost microscopic. It was a good dream.

~~~~~~~~~~

Gwen came down the stairs slowly. She didn’t want to wake anyone, but couldn’t sleep. The light in the kitchen was on, Sam at the table with a paperback book.

He looked up when she walked in. “Can’t sleep?”

“Give me a nice, impersonal motel and I’m out like a light. Put me in someone’s house? Insomnia. Weird, huh?”

His marked his place in the book and set it aside. “Glasses are in that cupboard,” he pointed, “if you want something. Bobby won’t mind.”

“He did say to help myself to food and drink.” She got a glass of water and joined him at the table. “Can’t sleep yourself?”

“I’ll hit the couch about two, get between four and five hours. One of these nights, maybe I’ll be back to six or eight like I used to sleep.”

“If four or five works, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Well, I didn’t worry really before when I wasn’t sleeping at all, so a little worry is a healthy thing, I think.”

She picked up his book and studied it. It was a techno thriller The cover looked like a dog had been chewing on it. “A lot of people get that amount is all I mean. You’re different now, a different man entirely. Maybe getting your soul back after being without it reset your body. Maybe you were always meant to be a four to five hour sleeper and more than that was your notion of what you needed.”

“Are you saying I let society convince me how much sleep I need?” His brows lifted in skepticism.

Gwen shrugged, putting the book back down. “Could be. Why not?”

A slow grin stretched his lips. “I had no idea you could be such a Pollyanna, all cheerful and glass half full.”

She grinned back. “I’m a complicated woman, Sam.”

“I’m seeing that.”

“I’m not always cheerful, either. I can be a real moody bitch.”

“I’ve seen that one several times.”

Gwen chuckled. They kept the conversation light and soon, she felt the pull back into sleep. “I’m heading back up. See you in the morning.”

When she finally did fall asleep, she slept well and if Gwen dreamed, she didn’t remember them.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jo had feigned sleep when Gwen knocked on the door at the ungodly hour of seven a.m.. In actuality, she’d been awake since six-thirty, daydreaming of the all-day activities with Dean that she had planned. It took less than half an hour for all but Dean and herself to leave. She got out of bed and drew on her robe, then went down to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

Dean was there, making toast with cheese, banana, and bologna between the slices. Noticing the disgusted curl of her lip, he remarked, “Try it before you decide it’s gross.”

“I’ll eat my bananas alone, thank you.” She reached for a banana, the last of the ones she and Gwen had bought. Someone had eaten over ten since the night before. The huge bunches they’d bought were quite a bit slimmer, only three left. Jo wondered who the banana fiend was.

“Can I watch?” He turned with a hopeful expression.

She dragged out eating it just to tease him, nearly choking once when he groaned playfully. As she finished the fruit and threw out the peel, he poured her a cup of coffee and held it out.

“You want some toast?”

“With peanut butter if there’s any.” Jo took the coffee to the table and sat down.

He made her toast, slathering on a thick layer of peanut butter, then brought it to the table. They ate together in silence.

“So….” Dean slid his plate aside. “What’s say we brush our teeth and head back to bed for a day?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

Several hours later, Jo rolled over in bed, stretching. “Mmm…. I’m hungry.”

Dean shifted position, lips moving over her torso in a random pattern of kisses. “Me, too.”

“I mean for food.” She stroked a hand along his shoulders and back.

“Me, too. What’d you think I meant?” The twinkle in his eyes was mischievous.

“We need lunch.”

“I’m open to ideas.”

“Make me pancakes.”

“Pancakes?”

She laughed. “I want you to make me pancakes like you did last fall.”

Slowly, he sat up. “Only if Bobby’s got the ingredients.”

“I’m sure he does.”

They had pancakes half an hour later, with sausage on the side, once more sitting next to each other at the table.

“You three have a plan, yet?” He forked a pancake onto his plate buttered it, and cut it up before reaching for the syrup.

“Something like one. We’re going to pick some cases that might be light and easy and get our bearings together. So far, Gwen and I seem to get along, but who knows what’ll happen out in the field?”

“I think you’ll work fine together. Gwen knows her stuff.”

“She’s pretty cool.” Jo really did like Gwen. They’d clicked within hours of beginning to talk, discovering many similar likes and dislikes. She had a good feeling about this partnership.

They did the dishes, Dean washing and Jo drying, then went back up to bed. There was no need to be silent and they took advantage of that until they exhausted themselves.

She snuggled back against Dean, the covers pulled up over them. “Dean?” Jo glanced over her shoulder. He was warm against her, arm an anchor about her as he slept, his breaths slow and even. She licked her lips and, in the quiet, whispered the three words she couldn’t quite say yet when he was awake, words she’d realized described her feelings for him rather completely. “I love you.”

Jo smiled and snuggled back against him. She closed her eyes and drifted into a satisfied sleep, no longer caring if they were still in bed when everyone returned.

~~~~~~~~~~

Behind her, Dean opened his eyes, a lump growing in his throat that he swallowed hard around. She loved him. She’d said it. It wasn’t a wondering on his behalf anymore. Jo had told him she loved him. Maybe it wasn’t when she thought he was awake, but the important part was that she’d said it. He couldn’t say it out loud to her yet either, so he did the next best thing. He followed her lead and mouthed, ‘I love you, too,’ before closing his eyes and attempting to drift fully into sleep.

He was more content than he’d been in years.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Keep an open mind, Castiel.” Uzziel felt like he’d been saying that quite a lot to Castiel since they’d begun deciding what changes to try first. Shouldn’t Castiel be the one saying that to him? After all, Castiel was the mover and shaker; the progressive one; the one in with the times…or something like that. Uzziel was very afraid that he wasn’t catching on to the way humans talked. Maybe he should study slang?

Castiel sighed. “I don’t see why you can’t perform this task.”

Uzziel leaned forward. The more he learned about humans, the more curious he became. If he’d put away his initial dislike a long time ago, he’d be in a very different position now. Maybe their side would have won a lot faster. However, he’d made his bed and was determined to do well. It was what their Father wanted after all. He’d wanted his angels to care for his humans and so Uzziel would set that up. “I’m busy elsewhere and really, you’re much better with the administrative things than I am. All of those details. Arcane things. You like figuring them out.”

“You were Raphael’s top general, Uzziel. You had to be good at those things then.”

“Oh no, I’m good at faking it. I’m really rather hopeless at organization on an administrative level. Soldiers are one thing, office workers another entirely. Honestly, I’d really rather be out in battle than navigating the administrative waters.” He shuddered. “Desk job. Not in my skill set.”

Castiel quirked a brow and lowered his attention to the page Uzziel had handed him. On it, Uzziel had compiled a neat list of the departments, department heads, a brief description of the departments, and a schedule for him to follow. He could easily be busy for six months earth-time if he actually spoke to all of those angels listed, which would give Uzziel time to try out his latest idea. “I’m not running myself ragged in this endeavor,” Castiel said with a peevish frown.

“I’m not proposing you do. Those are suggestions, Castiel. You visit those you think necessary.”

Folding the page, he slipped it into his coat pocket. “What’ll you be doing while I’m at this task?”

“Sifting through the census and making sense of the odd problems still floating around.”

Castiel stared at Uzziel a long while, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “What are you planning?”

His head dipped in a slow nod. He’d recently thought of a plan that would enable angels to grow closer to humans. It was sort of elaborate and would take weeks of planning. “I do have an idea, but let me plan it out and see if it’ll work before I lay it out for you.”

This was where trust came in. Castiel should trust Uzziel by now. After all, Uzziel had slid him the sword he’d used to kill Raphael. Not only that, but he’d had Castiel’s back throughout the last bits of that battle. The problem was, gaining Castiel’s trust wasn’t an easy thing. Perhaps it was a leftover emotion from previous years of dealing with some of the others?

Castiel drew in a long breath. Uzziel could see this decision to trust him was difficult for Castiel to make. “Very well. You arrange your idea and let me know when you’re ready to present it in full.”

Uzziel’s lips twitched. “You won’t regret this, brother.”

As soon as Castiel was gone to that first department, Uzziel called over some of the angels who’d fled heaven when Michael had gone into the pit with Lucifer. Several had returned, contrite, asking forgiveness for weakness. Uzziel planned to put their experiences on earth to good use and when he had everything in place, he’d begin implementing his plan.