AN: Please don't hate me! I really did try to write this chapter a lot sooner. My brain took a vacation from mindless fluff for the most part after the last two episodes. And speaking of episodes; as far as this series (and my sanity) is concerned 6x19, 6x20 and probably the finale too at this rate, never happened. Oh, and before I forget; whoever finds the Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference gets cookies! So at long last, I present you with the final chapter of this story. Enjoy! :)

Silence filled the room; even the familiars were oddly quiet. Dean sat staring at Gabriel, Castiel was staring at Dean, Sam and Bobby were gaping while their eyes shifted from Dean to Gabe to Cas. Balthazar sat in the corner sipping his scotch and watching everyone.

"Bull shit." Dean finally said, "I can't be a familiar. I'm not an animal."

"Well technically-"

"I'm not an animal!"

"Never actually said you were buddy, chillax will ya?" Gabe waited for him to visibly calm down.

"How is this possible Gabriel?" Castiel asked, looking away from Dean to his older brother finally.

"Well think about it, that whole 'Profound bond' thing that Sammy mentioned earlier isn't just cause you were getting each other all hot and bothered. It's your link, the Bond. And apparently you two actually getting hot and bothered over each other brought it out of dormancy."

"Did not need that mental image." Sam groaned from the other side of the room. Balthazar snorted in agreement.

"Dean's never done any of that freaky angel stuff that these damn familiars keep doing all the time." Bobby stated.

"Point being?..." Gabriel prompted, waving his hands in the air in a manner that asked for further explanation.

"If he's a familiar, shouldn't he be, oh I don't know, teleporting around everywhere and what not?"

"Oooooo. I see what you're getting at. I'm picking up what you're laying down. I'm getting the 411. I'm-"

"Gabe!" Sam shouted, "we get that you get it. Care to explain now?"

"You are such a party pooper Sam." Gabriel pouted.

"Get on with it!" Everyone growled, including several of the familiars who literally growled.

"Ok, jeesh, tough crowd. So everyone knows that Cas here griped his new found lover tight and raised him from perdition, right? And when he put Deanie's soul back in his body, he had to use his Grace to repair it. Buuuuuuuut, little bro was a little sloppy and left part of his Grace with him. In the form of a type of marking, like a hand print per say."

"We get that, Balthazar said something along the lines of Dean having some of Cas' Grace in him awhile ago. How does that make Dean a familiar?" Sam proded, trying to move the archangel along to a proper explanation for everyone's sake.

"Ugh, ok. Dean, like a familiar, is harboring some of Castiel's Grace. Now, typically a familiar is created when an angel and animal meet. Chosen animals essentially have an empty pocket of sorts in their souls that are just waiting for an angel's Grace to fill it. It's a totally random selection, so Don't ask me for any details, I honestly don't know how it works. Dead never shared that knowledge with anyone. All I know is that this link doesn't exist in humans, since their souls are whole from the get-go. So yeah."

"Soooo, what you're saying is that when Cas saved me from hell, he accidently left part of his Grace in me? And that shouldn't have happened cause I'm human and therefore my soul is whole." Dean clarified.

"Well will you look at that, he can be smarter than he looks! Let's give him a round of applause." Gabe teased, with a quick series of claps before he conjured a licorice rope and started nibbling on it. Cas' hand on his shoulder stopped the hunter from launching himself at the Trickster.

"If that were the case Gabriel, I would have been able to sense my Grace within Dean." The younger angel stated with a stern look.

"Did I not just say something about it being dormant? Besides, when it comes to familiars, even your own, you have to look deep for it and you have to know to look for it before you can sense it. That's pretty much familiar 101 bro. And who, Dean-O, why so brooding over there all of a sudden?"

"I was just thinking about something."

"Did it hurt?" Balthazar jibbed. Dean did the grown-up thing and ignored the snooty angel and shared his thoughts instead.

"When we were hunting the Horsemen, Famine said that part of me was left in the Pit. And if that was true, then that's probably the reason why part of Cas' Grace is in me, it repaired some of my soul as well as my body."

"That… Actually makes a lot of sense. Dean, you're starting to worry me." Sam interrupted, mild concern plastered on his face.

"Why? Cause he's actually getting it?" Balthazar and Gabriel say at the same time. A quick glare was exchanged before both of them started cracking up.

"What? No!"

"Then what is it Sam? Cause I'm over here trying to wrap my head around what happened- is happening." Dean asked aggressively.

"I know, I'm not trying to say anything insulting here. What I mean is, it's just that you were starting to flip out before over being called a familiar not twenty minutes ago and now you seem almost fine with it. I know you man, and you do not calm down or accept shit like this that fast. This isn't like you, at all. So you can see why I might be concerned her."

"He's right, ya know. You don't take something this big in stride boy." Bobby said in agreement.

"Hm, now that you mention it, I've started feeling a lot calmer than I was…" Trailing off, Dean glanced up at Cas, "You're doing some crazy angel mojo thing, aren't you?" He demanded.

"If I was able to control your emotions like this with just my Grace, I would have started doing it a long time ago. I am merely projecting tranquility to you right now, through our link, so as that you may think through all of this rationally. Especially since you have the tendency of letting your anger cloud your thoughts in situations like this. And my being able to do this proves that Gabriel is right, the link I have with you is starting to feel similar to the ones I share with Hilary and Jensen." Cas explained seriously.

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to work out what all of it meant.

"Well, all of this has been very interesting and what not. And no offense, but I'm starting to get a little bored of all of you, so ciao!" With a mock salute Balthazar, Victor and the Impala vanished.

"Did- did he just call me boring?" Gabe asked in shock. In an instant he was on his feet, arms crossed and familiars at his feet, "Challenge accepted. I gotta go now, so you kids have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

A snap of the fingers and the Trickster and his companions were gone. The hunters and remaining angel didn't say or do anything for a few minutes. The quiet was broken when Hilary took off flying and calling. Bobby got to his feet with a loud groan and stretched.

"Well, as exciting as today has been, I still have some work to do in the yard. Sam, come give me a hand." He said as he walked out of the room. Sam reluctantly followed, understanding what Bobby and Hilary were doing. When they left the room, Hilary finally quieted down and landed on the desk.

"Why do you think Sam and Bobby left?" Cas asked, head tilted to the side as he moved to stand in front of Dean.

"Heh, I think it was partly cause of Hilary's little spaz out. But they apparently think we need some alone time to talk about stuff." He offered, "And they're right, we do need to talk about what we're gonna do Cas."

"I don't understand."

"Well, you and me, we're kinda in a relationship now. We gotta figure out how we're gonna make it work. Cause you can't go and disappear for weeks at a time without so much as a phone call. It'll drive me crazy, not knowing if you're alright or not. Cause I realize that you're not going to be able to stay here all the time, that you need to be in Heaven fighting that damn war. And it's not like I've been able to wrap my head around that yet and Gabriel just had to dump this familiar crap on us too. What are we supposed to do about that even?" Dean rambled before pausing, a look of scrutiny passing on his face, "Wow. I so did not realize how chick flicky that sounded until I said it out loud."

Castiel just gave him that small, soft smile of his, "It's fine Dean. Even though I know I must return to Heaven, I am more reluctant to than ever." He walked up to Dean's chair and sat on the arm of it, "However, since you are now one of my Familiars, I feel that it would be more beneficial to the war effort right now if I stayed for a time to delve into the advantages our Bond can yield. Balthazar can handle the troops till I can return."

Dean couldn't help but chuckle at the angel's justification and pulled him down into his lap, "You could have just said you're going to use this whole familiar thing as an excuse to spend more time with me. You don't have to sell the idea to me."

"But that is what I said." Cas' face scrunched up in something akin to confusion with a hint of a pout. Dean smiled fondly at him and leaned in for a kiss. Pulling back, he motioned for Cas to get up before he stood up himself and stretched.

"Gah. I need a beer after everything today. Actually, whiskey might be a better option." He said as he started walking to the kitchen.

"We should discuss what we're going to do with Sam and Bobby." The angel stated suddenly. Dean stopped and turned back to look at him questioningly.

"It would be best if you and I were on our own together until we are able to assess what you will be capable of." Cas continued, a sly grin on his face.

"You sly dog. Alright, sounds like a plan. We'll sit them down and figure something out later." Dean was about to return to his quest for alcohol but stopped, "Does this mean I get to learn how to teleport?"

Cas actually rolled his eyes at that and instead of answering he picked Hilary up and started stroking her feathers while Jensen nibbled at his pants leg. Smiling and shaking his head, Dean walked into the kitchen. After finding some Jack and taking a shot of it, he leaned back against a counter and let himself start daydreaming about the advantages of taking an angelic road trip without Sam. His little brother was going to be pissed about being left behind, of course, but really it would probably be best if he wasn't around. And not just because of Cas' reasoning either, no, it was more along the lines of saving his brother from having to go to therapy for the rest of his life.

AN: And so ends The Problem with Pets! :D I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone who's reviewed, favorited and alterted; you guys are awesome! I hope everyone enjoyed it and I was able to make you smile at least once or twice. I'll leave an update when I start the next part, so keep an eye out for that.