I'm sorry this took so long – the holidays, exams, some medical issues, and Life in General got a hold of me and wouldn't let go!

This is unbeta'd, as freespirit is super busy at the moment and doesn't have a lot of time, but once it passes through her capable hands and is all shiny and beautiful I will repost this. However, I felt bad about how much time had passed since the last chapter and felt like I needed to post this.

As usual, I don't own Supernatural or anything else you might possibly recognize.

000

It isn't until the day Sam calls him out on it that Cas realizes that he hums.

Well, 'calls him out on it' might be too strong of a phrase.

"What song is that?" Sam asked as Cas scanned the bookshelves in front of him. They were working once more on organizing the library.

"Hm? What song?" Cas asked absently, squinting at the titles in search of a particular one.

"That one you were humming just now."

"I wasn't –" he turned to Sam, intending to protest that no, he hadn't been humming, but then he realized that the tune that had been circling through his mind practically since he had arrived had made it out of his mouth without permission. A light blush lit his cheeks as he turned back to the books. "I was humming?"

It was more of a question to himself then Sam, but the hunter answered anyways. "Yeah, you do it all the time. Sometimes it sounds like a Led Zepplin or Metallica song, but more often than not it's that one you were just humming. I could swear I've heard it before, but I can't quite place it." When Cas remained silent, Sam stood up and walked over to the former angel. "So, what song is it?"

Cas hesitated, unsure of how to answer. 'It's the song Dean played when I found the bunker again'? 'It's the song Dean rewrote about me'? 'It's my song'?

"It's 'Hey There, Delilah'." He settled on a somewhat neutral answer. "Have you not heard of it?"

"No, I have. It's just that sometimes you sing words. And they aren't the conventional lyrics. That's why I couldn't quite figure out what it was."

Cas blushed. This was either going to get extremely awkward or he was going to have to lie.

"I, uh, I don't really know the words," he explained, which wasn't a total lie. He didn't know the lyrics to the original song. "So, just, whatever fits, I guess. I didn't even realize I was singing."

Sam raised an eyebrow and gave Cas one of his famous bitchfaces. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

"I –"

"Sam!" Kevin rushed in, unknowingly saving Cas from trying to explain himself further. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. Look, I was in one of the archives and I found this really weird book…" Kevin led the younger Winchester away, still talking rapidly. Cas breathed a sigh of relief and made a mental note to thank the prophet later.

However, the question of what, exactly, the song was circled through his mind. And, more importantly, what did it mean to Dean? The original was largely considered a love song, Cas knew, and some of the lines from Dean's rewrite hinted at something more than friendship…but the hunter couldn't possibly…at least, not with him, Heaven's problem child, the false god who released the Leviathans, who all but abandoned Dean in Purgatory, and broke his heart when he didn't try to escape. Not the brainwashed angel who tried to kill him, and actually did kill countless copies of him. Not one of the 'junkless, winged dicks' who had put Dean through so much, before, after, and during the Apocalypse. Not the fallen angel who was of no use to anyone now, not without his 'mojo'.

No. Not him, never him. Besides, Castiel concluded with a self-deprecating sigh, Dean deserved better anyways.

000

That night, when Cas slipped into Dean's room, he found the hunter strumming his guitar as usual, playing the song that Cas had been humming earlier. As he sank into his usual spot, Cas found words running through his mind. Not the lyrics Dean had sang that night outside the bunker – these were different, set to the same tune but directed at the opposite person this time.

He was only a few lines in when Dean's hands stilled, the last few notes fading into the air. Cas remained silent, unsure whether to break their customary quiet or not now that the music had stopped.

It was several still moments before Dean finally spoke. "Hey, Cas?"

"Yes, Dean?"

Silence fell again – Dean had either lost his nerve or was trying to collect his thoughts. Maybe both.

It seemed an age and a half before Dean was ready to speak again.

"D'you," he stopped and cleared his throat, running his fingers up and down the strings with just enough pressure to make a barely-there tinny sound. It made the hair on the back of Cas' neck stand up. "Who's Ambriel?"

Cas, having been expecting something much different, was startled into answering immediately. "He's an angel, of clear communication and general protection. Why?"

"No reason, just, uh," Dean fidgeted uncomfortably, "Well, you've said his name a few times, while you're asleep, and I was just wondering…"

"Ambriel was one of the angels that presided over the Nursery when I was young," Cas explained, leaning back against the headboard and closing his eyes as old, old memories flashed through his mind. "Back before my wings had even fully come in."

"Wait," Dean smiled at Cas, though his friend's eyes were still closed. "You were a kid once? You didn't just spring into existence as a full angel, including the stick up your ass that has since been thankfully removed?"

"Everyone has a beginning, Dean," Cas smiled lightly. "I was a fledgling before I was an angel."

Dean laughed softly, but not cruelly. "I bet you were adorable."

Cas hesitated for a moment, waiting for the hunter to take back his words, but he didn't, and he chuckled along with him.

"I didn't look like this, of course," he said after a few moments, when their laughter had trailed off.

"Yeah," Dean mused, eyeing him thoughtfully. "I forget sometimes, y'know, that you have a vessel…or, well, had…it's your body now, I suppose…unless Jimmy's still along for the ride…" he frowned down at his guitar, worry and guilt creasing his forehead.

"Dean," Cas said softly, trying to catch the hunter's eye. "It's – it's just me in here. Has been for a long time. Jimmy…I sent him to his Heaven that night, when the demons attacked his family. He earned his rest, and I made sure he got it."

"Yeah?" Dean looked up with a small, crooked smile.

"Yes." The concern Dean Winchester still held for human life – after everything he had gone through, all the horrors he had seen, not all of them supernatural, and after being the angels' scapegoat for humanity – amazed Castiel. He knew plenty of others would have thrown in the proverbial towel by now, settled down in a rusty old trailer in the middle of the woods with a loaded shotgun, a bottle of Jack, and fifty handmade 'no trespassing' signs, but not Dean. He kept soldiering on, protecting people, caring about them, putting everyone else first. It's actually kind of astounding.

"What is?"

Cas bit his lip to hide his grimace – he hadn't meant to say that out loud, but the last bit had apparently slipped out. "You," he said honestly.

"Me?" Dean snorted. "I've been called a lot of things, Cas, most of them unsavory, and none ever including the word 'astounding'."

"Well, it should be a welcome addition to your list, then."

"I'm not saying it's not, I'm just wondering why."

"Because you are," Cas shrugged, unsure how to put everything into words.

Dean shook his head with a small smile. "Gonna need some more enlightenment then that, Confucius."

"I understood that reference," Cas informed his hunter smugly.

"Fantastic. You want a gold star now?"

"What?"

"Never mind. You were going to explain how I'm astounding?"

"Right." Cas frowned down at his hands, thinking. "You are astounding, Dean Winchester," he said, choosing his words as carefully as an art student chooses colors, "because you…still care."

"Because I care?" Dean raised an incredulous eyebrow.

"Yes," Cas nodded, feeling more sure of his words now. "You still have empathy, sympathy, all those wonderfully devastating human capabilities that help you interact with one another. Despite all that you have been through and born witness to, you still care about humans as both individuals and as a whole, and many others would not be so strong."

"Yeah, well," Dean looked down, trying to process everything Cas had said. "Someone has to, right? If I don't, who will?"

"Dean," Cas smiled softly, studying his pale hands, "More and more, you're the reason I'm glad I heeded Gabriel's warning all those years ago, when a grey fish heaved itself out of the ocean onto the sand. 'Don't step on that fish, Castiel,' he told me, 'Big plans for that fish'."

Dean bumped Cas' shoulder with his own. "You callin' me a fish?" he asked teasingly.

"Will you take offence if I say yes?" The former angel bumped Dean back, matching his tone.

The hunter laughed and slung his arm over his friend's shoulders, holding them together for a moment before releasing him and picking up the guitar again. Cas leaned back against the headboard as Dean started playing 'Enter, Sandman', the conversation clearly over for now. He felt oddly lighter, though they hadn't talked much of anything with weight. Maybe it was just the fact that he could talk with Dean.

Cas decided it didn't matter either way and closed his eyes as the music continued.

000

Probably not as good as usual, but like I said, it's unbeta'd as of yet. A review would still be appreciated though!

And might I take this chance to congratulate us all on helping make last week's episode the most watched since 2010? Take note, Beliebers and all others who oppose us: we have the support of other fandoms! We'll never let you down, JarPad!