[video]

[happytobleed]

[ It's a different type of disorientation from the last time he'd left and come back. The last time, he'd been hurt, his grace half-torn from his body.

He's no stronger this time, even if it's on borrowed grace, but he's more composed and it's easy enough to reach into his pocket for the device that hadn't been there a moment earlier. ]

Can anyone tell me how long I've been gone? The last time I remember being here was shortly after we left the town. Maybe a few weeks.

[ It's clear that he's walking through a dim hall as he speaks, heading towards his living space. ]


[ Private to Dean ]

Dean, are you here?

Comments

[ video ]

[happytobleed]

I remember the way.

[ He cuts the video and shows up soon after, pushing her door open without knocking. ]

Dean is dead.

[foundacause]

[ Meg's first instinct is to laugh. Not because it's good news or because she's happy about it - because she's not. She might be in that word that begins with l, ends in e and has ov in the middle with Dean. No big deal or anything. But, no, she wants to laugh because Dean Winchester is like the eye of the storm, always fine while everything around him gets ripped apart. Death is supposed to be a day trip for a Winchester. ]

Dead-dead, Heaven-dead, Hell-dead? [ There's a difference, after all. ]

[happytobleed]

He's dead, Meg. An angel killed him.

[ He's not sure what bothers him more, that he couldn't be there to say goodbye or that he'll truly never see Dean again, not the Dean from his own time, anyway. ]

[foundacause]

Oh Cas baby, I'm sorry.

Hey, never know, maybe he'll be able to give Death a reach-around and get a ticket straight back to living. He is a Winchester, after all.

[ Hey, at least she's trying to be sympathetic. ]

[happytobleed]

I don't know if he can this time.

[ He only hopes that Dean is at peace, but there's still a selfish part of him that would rather have Dean by his side. He wants Meg there, too, and he's reminded by this place that he's lost them both now. ]

[foundacause]

[ There's a selfish part of Meg that hopes this new revelation back home will be enough to keep Cas from actively seeking a way back there. There's nothing but death waiting for her back there and she rather likes being alive. Maybe if death is all that awaits Cas's precious Dean too, he'll try and make sure neither he or Dean leaves...

She's allowed to be selfish. She's a demon. ]

You know what you need? Alcohol. A lot of it.

[happytobleed]

[ Castiel has just a little too much faith to give up on life, even after everything. He'll find a way to get to Dean and bring him back, because there has to be one. Maybe he can even find it here. ]

I don't know about that.

[foundacause]

Trust me, I'm a nurse.

[ Maybe Cas doesn't need a drink, but after news like that Meg definitely does.

And hey, it's not like Dean's going to get more dead while they drink! ]

[happytobleed]

I do trust you.

[ Somewhat. Mostly. About certain things. He cares for Meg and he knows that Meg cares for him, but he holds no illusions that she's no longer capable of repeating past actions. In this, he thinks he can trust her, though. ]

[foundacause]

[ What would be the point in going back to her old ways? It's not going to bring her back to life back home and it would alienate her from the one person who has ever really given a damn about her.

That's not to say she's not going to be a bad girl in other situations. Playing nice with the Winchesters is one thing. Playing nice with the whole of humanity? That's too much to ask of any demon.

She leans up on tiptoes to press a kiss against Cas's temple. ]

Let's get drunk.

[happytobleed]

Fine.

[ He bends his head to press their foreheads together. Back home there hadn't been much time since her death to think of her, but having her with him here reminds him of that spark that she has and the fact that she really had been there at one of his lowest moments, whether it had been self-serving or not. ]

[foundacause]

[ Sure, her actions had been self-serving in the beginning, maybe partly still are. But to her credit she has never hidden that fact. At least they can trust her to be untrustworthy.

He has done something to her though. He's touched something inside of her. Woken some small spark of humanity left within the tattered remains of her broken, twisted soul and nurtured it.

She takes his hand to lead him to the kitchen even though his hand dwarfs hers. ]