"So," Dean says after a long and tense silence, "you're still hunting?"

It's a stupid thing to say. Dean must know that, too. He's probably kicking himself for it right now. But Castiel knows he couldn't do any better than that, so he doesn't judge.

"I am," he says.

And it's silent again.

"Where'd you meet your, uh..." Dean glances at Emma, who's walking by Castiel's side and listening to every word, "your new friends?"

"Oh, Emma shot me."

Emma stifles a laugh at that.

"She —" Dean glances between the two of them. "She shot you. And now you're hunting together." He nods slowly. "Of course."

"You stabbed me when we met," Castiel reminds him.

This time, Emma can't help but laugh. It probably is funny from an outside perspective, though he'd never thought of it like that. Dean doesn't seem to consider that, because he just crosses his arms and glares at her.

"I'm sorry," Emma says, "you guys are having a moment, aren't you?"

Castiel shrugs minutely, hoping she sees it. They may not be having a moment now, but her presence is definitely stopping them from having one in the near future.

"I'm just gonna walk back here," Emma says, taking a few steps backwards. "Just pretend I'm not even here."

This is arguably even more awkward than it was when she was standing next to them, so they lapse into silence again. It doesn't bother Castiel, though. He didn't want to enjoy this. If he did, he may not be able to resist going back.

Unfortunately, Dean doesn't get the memo, because he tries starting another conversation a few minutes later. "So, um, Sam and I were beginning to think you couldn't hear prayers anymore."

"I could," Castiel replies.

"Right..." Dean rubs the back of his neck. He's always done that when he was nervous. "So you heard...?"

Castiel just nods. "I did."

"And you didn't...?"

Dean says it so helplessly. It breaks Castiel's heart to see him this upset, this desperate, no matter how hard Dean is trying to hide it. And the worst part is that Castiel did it to him, and he could fix it if he wanted to.

But all Castiel says is, "It was too little, too late."

Dean sighs. "I guess I deserve that."

Though he doubts this was Dean's intention, Castiel can't help but feel guilty. As much as Dean liked to throw the blame on Castiel, he's always been too hard on himself, too. This certainly isn't helping. He has to keep reminding himself that it's not his job to cheer Dean up.

There's a loud splashing behind them, and they turn around just in time to see two figures retreating through the sewers, and one is clearly putting up a fight. Castiel's heart stops.

It's the shifter.

And it has Emma.