Crowley was dead, to begin with. Sam's perverse mind couldn't help making the joke, despite the fact that he'd always hated The Christmas Carol (growing up as a hunter having left him with a dislike of both Christmas and ghost stories). But now was not the time for his brain—warped from years of having Dean as a brother—to start making poor attempts at black humor. Not when Crowley's body was lying at his feet and Cas was dying in Dean's arms.

After they'd found out that Cas had been hiding things from them, Dean had told Sam and Bobby in no uncertain terms that he planned to save Cas from himself, even if the angel didn't seem to want to be saved. Sam had seen that look on Dean's face before, though he was glad this time that it wasn't put there due to one of his epically stupid screw-ups. Having Cas as a pseudo-brother was helpful, if only to deflect Dean's laser focus off of Sam occasionally.

But, of course, nothing is ever easy for the Winchesters. By the time they'd found where Crowley was, Raphael had found Cas and since Cas and Crowley were together, that meant that Sam and Dean and Bobby were stepping into the middle of yet another battle between Heaven and Hell. This one was made doubly complicated by the addition of Lisa and Ben, snatched from their beds to be used as bait.

Crowley had finally fallen to Sam's blade, but not before he had managed to take more than a few chunks out of Cas, leaving the angel dangerously vulnerable to Raphael. In the end it was Dean and Cas, hands clasped together around the hilt of Cas' angel sword, who defeated the archangel. Before the light from Raphael's dying grace completely faded, Cas had gasped once and collapsed, Dean just barely catching him before he landed on the floor.

The angel's trench coat was shredded, as was the suit under it. Blood and a vivid blue light dribbled from the many deep slices in Cas' torso. Dean hugged him close, his hands trying to cover as many of the wounds as he could. Lisa hurried over to kneel next to them, trying to help. "Come on, Cas, heal yourself," Dean muttered.

"He can't," said a new voice, making everyone jump. Balthazar was standing in the room.

"Where the hell have you been, asshole?" Dean shouted. "And what do you mean, 'he can't'?"

"I," Balthazar replied primly, "have been cleaning up the last of Raphael's henchmen." His voice dropped, taking on an almost sympathetic tone. "And he can't because he's dying."

"Dying?" Dean looked down at Cas, his eyes widening with fear. "Cas, what does he mean? Can't you just take some soul juice or whatever? Recharge the batteries?"

Cas shook his head and croaked, "Too…late…" He coughed, blood splattering onto his chin.

Balthazar nodded, "Taking soul energy to recharge is hard on us as well. He's not strong enough."

"We can't just let him die!" Dean's hands gripped at Cas as if trying to keep him alive through sheer force of will.

"Castiel, brother, I am sorry," Balthazar said formally, staring into Cas' eyes. Cas nodded once, accepting. Sam realized that Balthazar was speaking on behalf of Cas' whole angelic family, not that they'd ever been that good a family to begin with. Hell, he and Dean and Bobby were just human and they had been a better family to Cas.

Wait a minute—that was it! "Cas," Sam shouted, "you need to fall!"

Dean's face screwed up in anger. "Dammit, Sam, what the hell are you talking about? We're trying to save Cas' life, not end it!"

"That's it, though, Dean," Sam said, urgently, "he can fall—like Anna did. She fell and then was born into a human family."

Balthazar was already nodding. "That could work. But there has to be someone to accept Cas once he falls. Anna's mother had been praying for a child, so she was open to receiving Anna. If there isn't anyone to take Cas in—"

"I'll do it."

Everyone turned to look at Lisa, who was still kneeling by Cas' side, holding one of his hands. She met their eyes and said again, firmly, "I'll do it."

"Lisa, you can't…you don't know," Dean started, but she stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm.

"Dean, I do know, or at least I think I do." She smiled, glancing over to where Ben was standing beside Bobby, quietly watching. "I've always wanted more children, since I've had so much fun with the first one." She looked back at Dean. "And I'd be honored to have them with you, if you'll have me."

Dean swallowed hard, tears beginning to run down his cheeks. "Yeah, of course I will."

Lisa squeezed his arm and then looked over at Balthazar. "What do we need to do?"

"You've already done it," he replied quietly, gesturing down to Cas. The angel's body was beginning to glow. Lisa smoothed the messy dark hair off of Cas' forehead. "Cas, sweetie, we're here," she said gently. Dean hugged Cas even tighter. "Do what you gotta do, okay? We'll take care of you. You're family," he said, his voice torn with grief.

Cas nodded once, then his body stiffened and light shot out of him, pouring into Dean and Lisa until all three were so bright that Sam and Bobby and Ben had to look away. When the light died down a few minutes later and they looked back Dean and Lisa were holding each other and weeping over the lifeless body of Jimmy Novak.

Cassie Grace Winchester was born nine months and three days later. She had her mother's dark hair, her father's freckles, and sharp blue eyes that retained their color even as she got older. She was a serious baby with the tendency to cock her head to one side when she was trying to understand something new. Cassie was her father's daughter from day one, quieting her tears when he held her, learning to walk as she followed him around the scrap yard, solemnly playing with his tools while he worked on the Impala. (Sam was worried her first word would be Impala—or worse Metallica—but she threw everyone off by saying "Ben!" in a cheerful voice one day while they were all having supper together.)

Four years after Cas' death, things were still quiet. Heaven seemed to be done with the Winchesters and Hell was giving them a wide berth as well. They hadn't seen a demon and other than one visit from Balthazar a month or two afterward, there had been no angelic contact at all.

Being a dad filled the emptiness that Dean had always struggled with. He was able to stop hunting this time. He moved his new family into Bobby's house and turned Singer Salvage Yard into a profitable business once more. Bobby fell happily into the role of surrogate grandpa, spoiling the kids and allowing Lisa to organize the house as she liked. He still assisted hunters with research and consultation, but otherwise he stayed off the radar.

Sam allowed himself to wander. He hunted some, took odd jobs, saw places he'd wanted to see. Finally he ended up back in South Dakota, working at a college library and finishing up his degree. He still wasn't sure what he wanted to do with himself, but he was enjoying having the chance to find out. And being able to visit his family several times a week for dinner was a nice bonus.

He and Cassie were sitting on the sofa under the window in the library, listening to Lisa and Dean washing dishes in the kitchen. The couple was laughing at something and Sam smiled to hear his brother so happy.

"Uncle Sammy?" Cassie lisped slightly, speaking around her thumb.

"Yeah, Cassie?" He glanced down at her. She was leaning against his side, looking about ready to fall asleep.

"Is Daddy happy?" She gazed up at him, her eyes glowing brilliantly blue. Sam swallowed hard against the sudden lump in his throat and hugged her tight to him.

"Yeah, Cas, he's happy. You don't have to worry about him."

Cassie nodded once, seriously, and then looked away. By the time Dean came into the library, Cassie was asleep. The former hunter looked at his brother, raising his eyebrows at Sam's reddened eyes, but not commenting on them otherwise. Instead he picked up his daughter, settling her against his shoulder and kissing her on top of her head, and took her up to her room.

Sam sat there a long time, remembering, until Lisa called him into the kitchen for pie.