It has officially gotten so late that it's now early: it's nearly four in the morning and Jack is sleeping soundly on the couch. CastieI had been hesitant to let him, but he's (mostly) done bleeding and seemed to be doing okay, and it felt kind of rude to force him to stay up.

Castiel and Charlie, meanwhile, are both (rather reluctantly) awake, sitting on the floor on their third round of Scrabble. They'd almost started watching Star Wars again, but they were afraid it would get too loud and Jack would wake up. Scrabble seemed like a decent alternative. It's certainly a quieter one, though their debates over whether some things count as a word have gotten a little louder than necessary.

"You know," Castiel says quietly, "you really don't have to stay."

"I want to," she whispers back. "I really like this kid. I want to make sure he's okay."

"I can just text you updates," Castiel says.

She shakes her head. "I won't believe it if I don't see it. Hell, I barely believe he's okay now and I do see it."

Castiel glances over at the kid. He does look rather comfortable. He has to be careful how he lies down with his cuts and he said his ankle hurt too much to move his leg, but he seems to have figured it out.

"I've kind of figured out by now that you don't trust me with most of this shit," Charlie says, "so if you don't want to tell me, that's fine, I'll make up my own stories, but can I just ask a question real quick?"

"Go for it."

"How do you know him?" they ask. "You said he's, what, 16? Wouldn't he have been a baby when you left?"

"Yeah, he was," CastieI says, though three years old isn't quite a baby so much as a toddler. "It's complicated."

"Right..." Charlie looks down at her game tiles, but not before he catches the disheartened look on her face.

Castiel hesitates. This is probably a very stupid idea, but she looks so sad that he can't help himself. "This stays between us, right? You won't tell Jody?"

Charlie perks up at that. "Yeah, 'course!"

Well, here goes nothing. "I've seen Dean a couple of times since the bank. He reintroduced us."

"You what?"

Castiel shushes them. "Jack's trying to sleep!"

While that doesn't calm her down, she is a lot quieter when she says an angry, "You said you were done with him! You're a cop, Cas! The only reason you should be seeing Dean Winchester is to put him in handcuffs — and not in a kinky way!"

Castiel scoffs. "You get upset when I don't get you shit and you get upset when I do. Will you please just make up your mind?"

Charlie clenches her jaw. Though she's clearly not happy about this, she's far less hostile when she asks, "What did he want with you?"

"A friend?" Or something more, but he doesn't think that's worth mentioning.

"He wanted a friend," Charlie repeats skeptically. "He threatened to shoot you at the bank, and now he wants to be your friend?"

Castiel shrugs. "He has a weird way of showing affection." It really was his way of showing affection. If he'd really wanted Castiel dead, he would have pulled the trigger. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have given him any extra attention. He's not entirely sure Dean knew it was affectionate — he's not entirely sure Dean knew how he felt at all; he's not very in-touch with his emotions — but Castiel knew.

"Call me crazy," Charlie says, "but that sounds like a big red flag to me."

"Dean Winchester is a big red flag," Castiel replies.

"Oh, thank god," they mutter. "I can't believe it took you this long to figure out, but better late than never."

"I figured it out a long time ago," Castiel tells her. "It's not my fault red is such a pretty color."

Charlie facepalms. "At least tell me you're done with him."

"I am," Castiel says. Probably.

"And the rest of the Hunters?" they ask. "Are you still hanging out with them? Do I even want to know that answer?"

"I never reconnected with the other Hunters," Castiel says. She doesn't need to know about poker night. "I don't know what they're up to and I don't care."

"Even your brothers?"

Castiel frowns. While they are also included in the "people he's no longer in contact with" group, he can't say he doesn't want to know what they're up to. "They each wrote me a letter. I wrote them a letter back. Haven't heard from them since and I don't expect to hear from them again." It's the gloomy truth (excluding poker, of course), and it's almost painful to admit.

"And you're telling the truth this time?" Charlie asks. "You're not just saying that because you think it's what I want to hear?"

"It is what you want to hear, but yes, it's the truth," Castiel replies. "As far as I know, I'm done with the Hunters. Unless someone else comes knocking on my door or Jack needs a ride home, I think Jack is the last Hunter I'm ever going to talk to." He glances over at the boy, still fast asleep on the couch. He supposes it could be worse; if he can only see one Hunter before he cuts off contact again, he's glad it's this kid (and he's glad he can make himself useful, too. It's nice to feel like he's contributing something to his old friend group).

They lapse into a silence for a few minutes, and though they each get the chance to play a couple of words in Scrabble, it's far from enough to keep him from feeling like he's going to fall asleep. Maybe if they'd been doing something that involved moving -- or even just standing -- he wouldn't be struggling so much, but they can't stop halfway through a game (and Castiel is losing and he refuses to end it until he wins).

Eventually, Charlie asks, "Were you and Jack's parents close?"

Castiel nods. "His mother died during childbirth, but we were really close before then." He's always wondered if she would have survived had they brought her to a hospital. There's no way to know for sure, but the question haunts him every time he thinks of her. "And his dad and I..." He shrugs halfheartedly. "He was one of my best friends. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him." And god, is that the truth. He would do anything to be able to see Lucifer again, to be able to talk to him whenever he wanted. He's not sure he'll ever get over the fact that he can't do that anymore.

"His dad must be a great person if he raised a son like Jack," Charlie says.

"He is," Castiel replies. "He really, really is."

Charlie is silent for a few moments, thinking, before they ask, "Are you sure you don't want to call his dad now? Whoever that was at the door earlier, they really seemed to think he was worried. Jack doesn't have to know."

Castiel shakes his head. "I'd have to tell him what happened, and you really don't want to see what he would do if he knew." There would be a lot of new bodies to look at, that's for sure. He'd like to think none of those bodies would belong to his brothers or Dean, but honestly, he's not sure. They have a habit of jumping into things head-first without thinking them through. It's doubtlessly going to get them killed one day.

"Can I know what happened?" Charlie asks. "You've been really keeping me in the dark about... well, everything -- and I promise I won't get mad."

Castiel sighs. "I don't know. It's just, you know, gang wars and shit. The Hunters have a lot of enemies. The police barely crack the list." That's true even on a normal day; after what happened with Alex a few months ago, he's sure it's only grown worse. He doesn't mention that, though. He loves Charlie, but he's not sure he trusts her quite that much.

"Damn." She glances back at the boy. "I can't even imagine the shit he's had to deal with, growing up with the Hunters. The fact that he still seems so nice..."

"I just can't wait to get him out of this," Castiel says. "If it hadn't been for the other gangs roaming the streets, I don't think I'd care too much, but as it is, I don't know how much longer I expect him to survive out there." At least while he's here he's safe, but if he decides to go back to the Hunters -- and he probably will before he lets Castiel take him to California -- he's practically a sitting duck. The best case scenario is that he gets some crutches and can navigate around on his own at a reasonable speed, but that would draw more attention to him on gang territory than Castiel is comfortable with.

"I'm gonna miss the hell out of you," Charlie says, "but honestly, the more I think about it, the more I agree. You gotta get this kid somewhere safe."