After leaving a note for Sammy on the windshield of the mud-encrusted Impala saying they were taking the rest of the weekend off (and demanding that the Impala be all nice and shiny when they returned), Dean told Cas that he'd always wanted to go to Hawaii. The next thing he knew, they were standing outside the Lucky Lei Oceanside Resort and Casino, where the sun had yet to set and the breeze ruffled warmly through their hair.

"You're kidding me! We're seriously in Hawaii?" Dean sputtered, his eyes roaming everywhere, trying to take in everything at once.

"I said we could go anywhere," Castiel replied, sounding unsure. "Was there someplace else you'd rather go?"

"No!" Dean assured him fervently. He felt like a little kid in Disneyland. The winding path leading to the front door of the hotel was lit with tiki torches, and as they stood there, a smiling, exotic-looking girl wearing next to nothing approached them and draped leis around their necks. "This is Hawaii !"

Next to him, Castiel chuckled, and it sounded amazing. Dean was going to make him do that more often, even if they were facing the Apocalypse.

"I assume you want to do some exploring?" Castiel asked, nodding his head towards the beach where there was a bar set up and people were dancing in the sand under colourful lanterns.

"Damn right, I do," Dean replied with a sly smile and began dragging Castiel towards the hotel. "And you're the first thing on my list of things to explore."

Then out of nowhere, Dean's arm was nearly jerked out of its socket, forcing him to stop. Looking back, he saw that Cas had planted his feet and was staring at him with wide and slightly terrified eyes. "Cas? What's wrong?"

"It's just that…after what you'd said earlier, I didn't think you'd want to, you know, copulate with me."

"Geez, Cas! You gotta cut it out with the dirty talk when we're in public, okay?" said Dean, starting to feel like the blush creeping up onto his face was going to become a permanent fixture from now on. "And if you hadn't noticed," he added in a harsh whisper, "I was completely on board with the kissing, and it can only get better from there."

The stark fear still rounded out the angel's eyes, and it was then that Dean flashed back to a night that seemed like a lifetime ago – a night when Cas was faced with the prospect of losing his cherry in the brothel he'd been dragged into. It was the same look of doom that was on his face now.

"Wait a minute," Dean said, "you're not freaking out over the whole losing your virginity thing, are you?" Sure enough, Castiel shifted his gaze down and away, and…yep, there it was – the nervous rubbing of the back of his neck. "Tell me one thing, Cas. Do you trust me?"

Large blue eyes locked onto his, and Dean could actually feel Castiel searching his mind, reading his thoughts and his feelings. And to his great surprise, Dean found that he could likewise read Castiel. He felt the intense vulnerability that came from being thousands of years old and yet being so new to the minefield that was human emotions. He knew that this was an act that Cas had always held as sacred, and had never once believed he would experience. Dean also felt the moment when the angel let go of it all and unequivocally relinquished his heart into his care. To be shown that much trust was humbling in the extreme, and Dean made a promise right then and there that he would safeguard it with his life, and then some, if need be.

No more needed to be said, as Castiel willing followed him into the lobby of the swanky tourist resort. At the front desk, Dean slapped down a newly minted Visa onto the counter and asked the unshakable, seen-it-all-before hotel manager for the honeymoon suite. The slick-haired man looked down his nose at them, and Dean could tell he was about to tell them that suite was already booked, when something flashed on his computer monitor that clearly took him by surprise.

"Yes Sir," he said, suddenly all solicitous. "Of course, Sir; please, if you'll follow me."

As the now-grovelling hotel manager led them to the elevators, yammering on about the hotel's unending list of amenities, Dean cast a questioning glance at Castiel. The angel, however, seemed to be as nonplussed as he was.

The honeymoon suite, it turned out, was also a penthouse suite, and when the manager opened the door for them and stepped aside, Dean's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. To say it was vast would be an understatement. It was downright decadent. One whole wall was solid glass and sliding doors, with a balcony that stretched the entire length and a view that was simply breathtaking. And the bed…

There was no way the Visa Dean had forged would cover even an hour in this room, let alone a weekend, and Dean was about to tell the hotel manager there'd been a mistake, when the man in question drew his attention to the enormous gift basket that adorned the round breakfast table near the window.

"Compliments of your benefactor," the manager said with a polite bow and then made a bee-line for the door, leaving them to their own devices.

Castiel raised an eyebrow at him and Dean nodded, giving him the go-ahead to check out the basket. It was a decadent arrangement filled with bath and massage oils, fluffy white bath robes and more chocolate and sweets than they could consume in a year. Castiel plucked out the note that was wedged between a pair of slippers and a coffee mug filled with gourmet coffee beans. He read it quickly and handed it over to Dean.

"Congrats on the holy vows, bro. Wish I could have been there. Not. Thanks for royally pissing off Mike, Lucy and the entire brat pack. Watching the fall-out has been a real thrill. Enjoy your honeymoon. My treat. And don't say I never did anything for you.

"Yours sincerely, Gabriel."

Dean frowned and turned over the note, hoping there was more to it. "What was that all about?" he asked Cas.

Castiel shrugged back at him and deftly snuck a mini Toblerone out of the basket and cracked it open. Two of the chocolaty peaks disappeared into the angel's mouth, but before Dean could demand his fair share, there was a knock at their door.

Warily, Dean approached the door, peering out through the peep hole to see who it was. On the other side of the fish-eyed lens a pubescent bell hop stared back at him, holding up a bottle of champagne nested in a bucket of ice. Dean cautiously opened the door, figuring that if Gabriel knew how to find them, then anybody could, and the kid could be some kind of decoy.

"Can you sign for this, Sir," the young man squeaked out, trembling a little under Dean's piercing glare.

Dean narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him, but he took the receipt and the pen that were held out for him and signed 'John Bonham' on the bottom line. The kid snatched back the paper and pen and handed over the champagne with visible relief.

"Huh, would ya look at this," Dean said, shutting the door behind him. "We're here five minutes and already we're being showered with presents."

"Who's it from?" Castiel asked, sauntering over to join him and licking the remains of the chocolate bar from his fingers. Dean stifled a groan at the sight and reluctantly refocused on the champagne he was holding.

There was a note tied to the ribbon around the neck of the bottle, and Dean read it aloud. "Hi guys. Congratulations on tying the knot. I saw the whole thing in brain-splitting Technicolor, so thanks for that. Talk about an ingenious way to take Dean off the vessel market! Kudos! I'd just like to ask, as a personal favour, if you would mind keeping the lights off tonight. There are some things even a prophet doesn't need to know. Oh, and FYI, Gabriel was here when I got the message, so don't be surprised if you get a call from him. Yours truly, Chuck."

"Okay," Dean growled in frustration, "am I missing something here?" A light went off behind Cas' eyes, quickly followed by a sneaky-assed smile. "What? Let me in on the joke, already."

"This is the first time since the dawn of creation that an angel and a human have become bonded souls," Castiel said, as if he'd been stupid not to see it before. "We're inseparable, Dean," he explained.

"Yeah, I got that. So?" asked Dean with some annoyance.

"So, nothing on Earth or in Heaven can come between us. Not even Michael."

And there it was – the light bulb going off over Dean's head as he finally got it. "I can't be his vessel anymore."

"And I can no longer be denied access to Heaven, which is where our souls will ultimately reside," Castiel added with a hint of smugness.

"Well, I for one think that calls for a celebration," Dean declared. "Where, oh where should we start? Champagne? Chocolates? Bubble ba…" Dean's stream of babble was abruptly cut off by Castiel's lips smashing into his in a bruising kiss.

"To hell with the champagne," Castiel grumbled out between hungry kisses.

"Couldn't agree more," Dean gasped back, attacking Castiel's trench coat and suit with single-minded glee. "And tomorrow I'm taking you shopping for a new outfit. Preferably something with fewer buttons," he groused, fumbling with the angel's stubborn clothing.

Without batting an eye, Castiel ripped his shirt open, buttons flying every which direction. "Whatever you say," the angel agreed with an evil grin before eagerly resuming their kiss.

In the hallway outside, a bell hop who looked suspiciously like the Trickster hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on their doorknob. "Best of luck, baby bro," he said with a smirk and then vanished into thin air.