"This is such a short drive!" Jack breathes, looking absolutely shocked at that. "It took me, like, 45 minutes to walk there, and we're already back!"

CastieI chuckles. "I take it you don't drive much."

"Well, not here, at least," Jack says. "Dean doesn't like when people park here 'cause he doesn't want to draw attention to us and he's always paranoid some rival gang will realize it's his car and destroy it."

CastieI, who literally parked his car here just moments ago, fights back a sigh. If someone fucks up his car in the next few minutes, Castiel is forcing Dean to buy him a new one. It's the least he could do.

"Now c'mon!" Jack hops out of the car excitedly.

Castiel hesitates. He really only agreed to this because Jack didn't want to walk back alone. He'd gone under the assumption that he'd address Dean directly once they got here, but the more he thinks about it, the less certain he is.

Jack gestures for him to follow. His lips are moving, but Castiel can't hear a word he's saying from in the car.

Castiel rolls down his window. "I think this is as far as I go."

Jack's smile falls from his face. "I thought you wanted to talk to Dean."

"Well, it's not something he'll want to hear," Castiel says. "I think it might be better if you just give him the envelope when I'm not around."

"No way." Jack crosses his arms. "I'm not letting you give him bad news just to let him take it out on us."

"Jack, that's not —"

"Especially because he'll know I saw you if I have the letter, and that's already something he's not gonna like, and I don't want him to take it out on me because you decided you didn't want to deal with it."

Castiel purses his lips. He makes a better point than he knows. The letter is essentially just Castiel admitting that he sent the cops after the Hunters because of the Target shooting. It's possible that Dean will see Castiel's warning as a favor, for both Dean and the Hunters as a whole. It's probably more likely that Dean will focus more on the "pointing out that the suspect is a Hunter" thing instead. If he's wary of leaving Jack alone with Castiel now, that will only get worse if he thinks he sold the Hunters out. He doesn't want Jack to take the heat for that.

Castiel sighs. "Fine, I'll talk to him myself."

Jack immediately perks up, proving that his annoyed speech was nothing more than an act. Castiel has to give him credit; he played that very well.

He looks down at the three letters he put in the cup holder. He won't be needing Dean's anymore, which means Dean doesn't have to find out that there may be questionable content (read: an offer to help his brothers out of the gang if they ever decide they want to leave) in the other letters. With Jack here, he could skirt around having Dean read them at all. He picks them up and licks the flap to seal the envelopes shut, and the other envelope he rips in half and slips inside his glove box.

Castiel scans his car briefly. No valuables in sight. That's what he likes to hear. He steps out of the car, then looks inside again just in case he missed something. Again, there's nothing. He locks the doors, then tries opening the driver's side door just to make sure it worked. This is a very sketchy part of town and he's not taking any chances. He's wary enough just leaving his car here. He doesn't want to make it more of a target.

"Hey, Jack?" Castiel holds out the two envelopes. "Can you give these to your dad and uncle? Preferably when Dean's not around, but if he finds out, that's fine, too."

"Oh, sure." Jack takes them and puts them in his pocket. "Now c'mon. They're right over here."

The "here" in question is a shoddy apartment complex, and it makes Castiel feel better about his own apartment. Dean mentioned that the Hunters have an apartment now. This must be what he was referring to. Dean hasn't been very secretive about trying to keep Castiel away from the Hunters' territory, and showing up at their apartment probably won't go over well. It's too late to do anything about it now; he might as well try to do some semblance of damage control.

"I think I'm gonna stay out here," Castiel says. "Can you ask Dean to come see me?"

"Are you sure?" Jack asks. "You came all this way. You might as well come in."

Castiel shakes his head. "I may have let you force me into a lot of things, but I have to draw the line somewhere."

"That's fair," Jack says. "Wait here. I'll let him know you're here."

The door is unlocked, so Jack has no problem getting inside. Castiel leans against the wall, out of sight from anyone in the room, and crosses his arms. This is probably the most nerve-wracking confrontation he's had with Dean, right up there with the bank robbery. Back there he was worried about how Dean would react seeing him for the first time since he deserted his gang. Now he's worried to see how Dean will react to him calling the cops' attention to him. He's honestly not sure which is a worse crime, and Dean won't exactly have 13 years to cool off this time.

"Hey, buddy!" The cheerful voice inside the apartment is unmistakably Dean's. "You change your mind? I can deal you in next round."

Castiel cocks an eyebrow. It must be poker night. Now he's really glad he didn't head inside. He's not sure he wants to know who else is in there, and he definitely doesn't want to face them. He'd like to avoid making this a bigger deal than he has to.

"No, thanks," Jack says. "Castiel wants to talk to you."

"Um..." Dean pauses, and Castiel wishes he could see the look on his face just for some vague idea of how he feels about that. "Where'd you hear that?"

"He told me," Jack says. "I ran into him earlier."

"You --" Dean cuts himself off with a sigh. "Do you know where he wants to talk to me? Or when?"

"Like, now," Jack says. "He's right outside."

"He's what?"

Castiel frowns. Dean doesn't sound happy about that. He knew he wouldn't, but it doesn't make him feel any better hearing it. He just hopes Dean doesn't get mad at Jack for it. The kid really doesn't know any better.

"Cas is here?" another voice asks. Another familiar voice, though he can't quite place it. It's been too long since he's heard most of these people's voices. He can barely tell them apart.

"Gabe, don't --"

Castiel doesn't even have time to process that name before the door slams open, and out steps a very familiar, very short man. He barely catches a glimpse of the man's smiling face before he throws his arms around the taller man, pulling him in for a big hug. After taking a moment to process it, Castiel hugs him back.

"I can't believe it's really you," Gabriel whispers. "I never thought I'd get to see you again. It's been so long..."

"I know," Castiel murmurs. "I missed you, too."

They stand there for god-only-knows-how-long, and Castiel savors every moment of it. This is the last thing he'd expected when he agreed to come with Jack, and he's never been so glad he listened to a teenager in his life. At this point, he doesn't care what happens next. He gets to see his brother again. What more could he ask for?

"You know," Dean calls out, "you can come in. We won't bite."

The two brothers finally pull apart, and Castiel finds himself holding back tears. He can't believe this day is finally here.

"C'mon," Gabriel says, waving him forward. "I think you're gonna like this."

Castiel cocks his head to the side, puzzled, but Gabriel seems so sure of himself as he steps back inside the apartment that Castiel decides he has to listen. He hopes Gabriel knows what he's talking about, because personally, Castiel has a hard time believing this is going to be anything short of awkward. It's one thing to be reunited with his brother; it's going to be another thing entirely to see the old friends he abandoned without a word.

Castiel steps inside the apartment and looks around. The first thing he notices is that for its messy outward appearance, it's surprisingly well-kept inside. They must be making a hell of a lot of money from their drug sales if they were able to make this place look so nice. There's even a little vase of fresh flowers on the table next to the very-comfortable-looking couch. Does it recline? It looks like a goddamn reclining couch. This place might actually be nicer than his apartment.

The second thing he notices is the Hunters sitting around a table, with what appears to be a half-finished game of poker between them. He scans the faces briefly. He recognizes a few of them. Dean is there, of course, as are Benny and Mick. There are three teenagers as well -- an Asian boy, a blonde girl, and a dark-haired girl. He's not sure whether he should know any of them. If he does, they've changed a lot in the last 13 years. And then there's...

"Luci," Castiel says quietly.

Lucifer smiles. "Hey, Cassie."

If Castiel had been holding back tears earlier, that's nothing compared to how he feels now. It's his brothers. It's both his brothers. He didn't think he'd ever see either of them again, never mind both of them.

"Hooray," the blonde-haired girl deadpans. "The prodigal son returns."

"Hey." Dean shoots her a look. "Play nice."

She just rolls her eyes.

Castiel cocks his head to the side. Is that... "Claire?" Wow, she's grown up a lot. She was so sweet as a child (granted, she was two years old; two-year-olds are usually sweet), but clearly, unlike with Jack, that didn't last for her. Even her outward appearance gives off the same vibes as her sarcasm: her between her leather jacket and smokey eye makeup, she's the perfect picture of a badass.

And, in true I'm-done-with-everything fashion, her response is just an annoyed, "Leave me out of the reunion, will you? I don't know you and you sure as hell don't know me."

Castiel nods once. "That's fair." He's not going to fight that. He can pretty much tell that he and Claire will never have a bonding experience even close to the type he and Jack had. He can tell she doesn't want to. It's not worth trying to change that, especially because he has no plans to ever see her again after today. It's probably best that he remains nothing but a distant memory.

"Actually," Dean says, "I think it's probably best that we skip the reunion entirely -- unless you're back to stay?"

Castiel shakes his head. "Just here to talk to you."

"About what?" Benny asks, knowing damn well that it doesn't involve him.

"About none of your business," Castiel says with a glare. God, he hates this guy.

"Oh, come on, Cas," Benny says mockingly. "Share with the class. I promise we'll only hurt you if it's really bad."

Castiel pulls out his gun and aims it at him, making a show of turning the safety off. "But your honor, I felt threatened by this known criminal. I felt I had no choice but to shoot him. It was merely self-defense."

Benny just chuckles, completely unphased. Castiel had a feeling that would be the extent of a reaction he got. He turns the safety back on and tucks his gun back in his holster. He catches a glimpse of a small smile on Claire's face for the briefest moment.

"Damn," Dean says. "I was really hoping you were gonna pull the trigger."

"Funny," Benny remarks. "I thought the same thing at the bank."

Castiel bites back a smile. He may not like Benny, but he can't deny that the bickering that comes with his presence is usually pretty entertaining.

Dean puts his cards facedown on the table. "You guys finish the round without me."

"We would've done that whether you told us to or not," Claire replies.

As Dean gets up to talk to Castiel, Gabriel gives his brother a brief side-hug. "You better come back in here when you're done talking to Dean because Lucifer needs a hug, too."

Castiel chuckles. "We'll see." It depends on how Dean reacts to this. At least he knows that with his brothers inside, Dean wouldn't actually hurt him. His brothers love Dean, but Castiel holds out hope that if the guy even laid a hand on him in a way Castiel didn't like, Lucifer would beat his ass into next week, consequences be damned.

Dean and Castiel head outside where they can talk privately. After realizing first-hand how easy it is to listen to conversations on the other side of a wall, Castiel decides he'd rather have this conversation further away, so he leads Dean to his car.

After giving it a judgmental once-over, Dean leans against the hood of the car and crosses his arms, an eyebrow cocked. Though Dean left enough room for Castiel to rest against the car as well, he chooses to stand back while they talk. He doesn't expect this conversation to end well, and he'd rather not be shoulder-to-shoulder with him at the end.

"So?" Dean says. "Are they after me?"

"What?" Castiel says, taken aback.

"Are you here to tell me the cops are after me?" Dean asks. "You're obviously not here for a social call, and I figure my recent triumphs have been right up your alley — and not in a good way."

It doesn't take a genius to realize he's referring to Target, but the fact that he seems to expect the cops to be looking for him bodes well. Castiel decides to use that to his advantage in explaining what happened.

"They don't know it's you, but they know they're looking for a Hunter," Castiel says. "And they have a pretty clear picture of you, too — and, for the record, winking at the camera is not a good way to get away with murder."

"Okay, first of all, that was not murder," Dean says indignantly. "You can't hold a teenage girl at gunpoint and expect me not to get involved."

"She wasn't at gunpoint," Castiel says. "He had a gun, but he wasn't holding her at gunpoint."

"Same thing," Dean says with a dismissive wave.

"No, actually, it's not the same thing," Castiel says. "In fact, I think shooting the guy standing right in front of her probably scarred her more than it would have if you'd just left things as they were." He can't really say he blames Dean for wanting to help, but that doesn't change the fact that he really didn't help. He just made a bigger mess — though admittedly, it mostly just makes a mess for the police, which he supposed is probably Dean's idea of a good time.

"You're such a buzzkill," Dean tells him. "There was a time you totally would've cheered me on for that."

"Yeah, there was," Castiel says. "When we were 14 and no one had even heard of us. Now you've got half of homicide trying to hunt you down."

"Okay, first of all," Dean says, "don't say 'us' like you have any stake in this. You've made it very clear that you're above us now."

Castiel narrows his eyes. If Dean wants to be dramatic about this, he can be dramatic, but no amount of bitching is going to make this true.

"My ass is on the line just as much as yours is," Castiel hisses. "I told them it wasn't you in the video. If they find out I lied, I'm fucked, too."

Dean seems taken aback by that. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because if they knew they had a picture of you, they'd never stop looking for you," Castiel says. "At least if they think you're just an ordinary Hunter, they'll give up in a few weeks and move on."

"Well, no shit," Dean says, rolling his eyes. "I mean why are you protecting us?"

"Because..." Castiel shrugs sheepishly. "I may not be a Hunter anymore, but you're still family. I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

A small smile forms on Dean's lips. "Huh."

Castiel cocks his head to the side. "'Huh' what?" That could mean so many different things and he's not sure how to feel about it.

"Just, when I saw you here, I really thought you were done with me — us, I mean," Dean says.

"I am." His white lie to Jody and this little warning doesn't change the fact that he's not a Hunter and that he never will be again.

"I mean really done," Dean says. "I never believed you when you said you were done before. I was so sure it woukd be different this time, that you were going to come here and just tell me off — arrest me, even; I don't know — but you didn't.

Castiel's eyebrows shoot up. "Why would you think I was gonna to arrest you?"

Dean shrugs. "You finally took the ring off. I wasn't sure what that meant for us."

CastieI looks down at his hands. He hadn't realized Dean had noticed him wearing it. He definitely hadn't expected Dean to notice he wasn't wearing it. After a long pause, he says, "If you want me to give it back, I can bring it tomorrow." It's hard to imagine giving up the ring, but he's not Dean's partner anymore. He doesn't need it. He doesn't deserve it.

"Keep it," Dean says, and CastieI looks up at him in surprise. "It doesn't fit my fingers, anyway."

CastieI can tell the fit is the least of his problems — it's not like he's wearing either of the other two rings he took from the bank — but he doesn't protest. If Dean will let him keep the ring, he's going to keep the ring.

"Now, I know you're 'done with us,'" Dean says, making hand-quotes around the words, "but since you're here anyway and we have a couple spots to fill, wanna play a few rounds of poker with us?"

"Really?" CastieI doesn't realize until after he says it that he probably shouldn't sound so excited about it. Hell, he shouldn't be so excited about it. He just can't help himself. A chance to play poker with his brothers again? How could he possibly turn that down?

"'Course," Dean says. "I've missed having a challenge."

CastieI can't stop himself from smiling at that. "Then let's play."