As soon as Castiel, Dean, and Charlie have entered the building, Sam runs up and pulls his brother into a hug. Castiel stands back with a smile on his face. He never expected to see the Winchesters back together. The fact that almost 14 years of radio silence between them didn't dampen their relationship at all makes him so happy.

"That was the longest couple hours of my life," Sam tells him.

"Tell me about it," Dean mutters. "I told you I wouldn't die out there. I do so much stupid shit in my life, I'm practically immune to death."

"'Immortal,' dumbass," Sam says, though he says it much more fondly than the words would make it seem. "The word you're looking for is 'immortal.'"

"Potato, tomahto," Dean says dismissively.

The two brothers finally pull apart, and the younger Winchester turns to Castiel. "And look at you! You're —" His face falls when he sees the flannel wrapped around his arm. "What...?"

"It's a flannel, Sam," Castiel says. "You should know that. You wear 'em all the time." He's actually not sure Sam wears flannels all the time anymore now that he's a fancy schmancy lawyer, but he's wearing flannel now, at least. Castiel would like to think that means he still dresses like a lumberjack on his off days.

Sam rolls his eyes. "Thanks, Cas. That was exactly what I meant."

"I mean, he's not wrong," Dean says. "It is a flannel. It just happens to be covering a gunshot wound."

"But not a bad one," Castiel says quickly. "Barely even feel it." That was a lie the first time he said it, and it's even more of a lie now. He'd thought the adrenaline had worn off earlier, but he has unfortunately proved himself wrong. Everything just hurts. It's not just his arm, either; his back and his chest hurt like a bitch, too. Bulletproof vests are really not all that they're cracked up to be, that's for sure.

Sam raises an eyebrow. "I don't know if I believe that, but you know what? You're not dead. I'll take it."

They put the reunion on pause (at Jody's request) to take off their bulletproof vests, and Castiel excuses himself to do so in the bathroom. There's no one else in here; it seems like as good a place as any to assess the damage. He carefully removes the vest, trying not to aggravate his wounds in the process, and pulls up his shirt to take a look.

If he's beginning to bruise, he can't see it; no amount of maneuvering in front of the mirror with his phone camera open can get him a decent look at his back. It just causes him a hell of a lot more pain, and it's really not worth the effort. Still, he'd like to think that if his back really was dark blue, he would have noticed even with his shitty-quality phone camera. It doesn't mean he won't wake up with a giant bruise tomorrow, but he'd like to think he looks okay now.

He's just dropped his shirt back down when the bathroom door opens. He grabs his bulletproof vest and prepares to make a hasty exit before he's forced to socialize when he realizes it's only Dean. That's a type of socialization he can handle.

"Oh, so you are alive," Dean remarks. "It's been so long, I was starting to think you passed out from blood loss or something."

"It's been, like, five minutes," he says defensively. "And I do only have one fully-functioning arm." That's not the reason he's been in here so long, but it's as good an excuse as any.

"Facts and logic will not stop me from making fun of you, thank you very much," Dean says. "But for real, you ready to go?"

Castiel nods. He usually enjoys working, at least a little bit, but right now, he just wants to go home. He could really go for a nice cold bath. Err, maybe he'd rather take a cold shower. His arm might turn the bath water red, and that doesn't sound quite as comfortable.

Jody's not in her office, so Castiel brings his vest over to his desk. He's sure he'll find her eventually to give it back. Dean doesn't have his; she must have taken it while he was in the bathroom.

Sam is at Castiel's desk and Charlie is at theirs, close enough together that they could be talking but not so close that it looks awkward that they're not.

Charlie hops to her feet when Castiel approaches. "Ah, the prodigal son returns."

"The prodigal son is in dire need of some Advil," Castiel says.

"Ooh, I might be able to help the prodigal son with that one." Charlie digs through the top drawers of her desk for a minute. "I gotta have Advil somewhere."

"If you don't, that's fine," Castiel says. "I can wait 'til I get home."

Charlie pulls out a small bottle of Advil, a proud smile on her face. "Drugs!"

Castiel chuckles as he takes the bottle. "Because yelling 'drugs' in a police station is always a good idea."

"If you want actual drugs, though..." Dean bounces his eyebrows.

"Do I even need to dignify that with a response?" He had more than his fair share of illegal drugs in his teenage years. He's not in a rush to use any more. Castiel dumps a few pills into his hand and gives Charlie the bottle back. He's glad he left his water bottle at his desk while he was out; it makes popping pills infinitely easier.

"So, you guys did it, right?" Sam asks. "No more Vamps?"

"No more Vamps," Dean confirms. He pauses. "Probably. We don't really know for sure — but if there are any, the cops don't know it so there's nothing stopping me from just putting a bullet in their heads if they start causing problems."

"Dean..." Castiel shoots him a warning look.

"C'mon, admit it, you'd kill them if you had the chance, too," Dean says. "I mean, after what they did to Jack..."

"Of course I would," Castiel says. "But I wouldn't say that in a police station."

Dean frowns. "Okay, point taken. I stand by it, but point taken."

Sam pinches the bridge of his nose. "You better commit my number my memory because you're definitely gonna do something stupid and need a lawyer again."

"And I already have a volunteer!" Dean beams. "Love that for me!"

"Yeah, yeah." Sam rolls his eyes. "I will admit, this was less painful than I thought it was going to be — probably because I didn't have to deal with you most of the day." Dean punches his shoulder playfully, and he chuckles. "It looks you guys are okay, though — mostly — so I guess I'm done here. It was nice to see you guys again."

"You too, Sam," Castiel says. "I'd give you a hug, but..." He gestures vaguely to his arm, though really, he's sure it would hurt his back and his chest more than it would his arm.

Sam nods in understanding. He holds a hand out. "Handshake?"

Castiel cracks a smile and shakes Sam's hand. "Thanks for coming, Sam. Keep in touch, okay? Don't go disappearing on us after this."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sam says.

"You know," Dean says, "if you don't have a plane to catch or whatever, you could stick around for a little bit. It's poker night tonight, and I'm sure there are a few people around who'd be happy to see you again."

Sam hesitates. "I don't want to intrude if you —"

"If it was intruding, I wouldn't have mentioned it," Dean says. "C'mon, it'll be fun."

Sam shakes his head, a small smile on his face. "Alright, sure. I'm sure it'll be easier to get a plane ride home tomorrow, anyway."

"That's what I like to hear," Dean says, beaming. "Cas, you coming, too?"

Castiel sighs. "Dean, you know I can't do that."

"Why not?" Dean whines. "Can't we get one night out together before I'm a wanted man again?"

"One night out with a bunch of people who are wanted by the police?" Castiel shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Dean. I wish I could, but honestly, I think it's best for all of us if we go our separate ways, stay out of trouble."

Dean scoffs. "So you're gonna keep in touch with Sam but you can't swing by for one poker night?"

"You and I both know I wouldn't be able to stop at one poker night," Castiel says.

Jody comes out of nowhere and squeezes between him and Dean to grab the bulletproof vest off his desk. He gives a polite nod.

"Novak," she says, "get out of here and go play your goddamn poker game."

Castiel sputters incomprehensibly, but he can't think of a single thing to say to that.

"Bradbury." Jody gestures for Charlie to come with her, then walks away, not even checking to make sure she followed.

Charlie mouths "Help me" to Castiel before reluctantly following Jody to her office. Castiel watches with a frown. He's not sure what this is about, but he's sure he doesn't like it.

Once Jody is out of earshot, Dean nudges him playfully. "See? Now you have to come. Boss's orders."

Castiel heaves a dramatic sigh. "Okay, fine, I guess I can play a few rounds." There's no way Jody didn't realize this was about playing with the Hunters. If she really has no problem with him spending half the night with them, maybe there's no reason not to.

"I'm gonna go grab an Uber and hit up a motel," Sam says. "Someone text me the details?"

"Can do," Dean says. "Hey, are you gonna take an Uber to the poker?"

"Yeah, why?"

Dean fishes out his wallet from his back pocket, and Castiel cocks his head to the side. What the fuck is he doing? Dean fishes out a 100-dollar bill and hands it to his brother. "People hate going to that part of town. Tip 'em well."

Sam raises an eyebrow. "Wow, you're very charitable today." He folds the bill up and slips it in his pocket. "See you tonight." To Charlie, he adds an awkward and probably-not-sincere, "It was nice to meet you," and then he's gone.

"Hey, Cas," Dean says, "Can I head home with you?"

Castiel shrugs. "Yeah, sure, I can drop you off." Or, in a perfect world, Charlie can drop him off and Castiel won't have to drive. He hopes that's where her conversation with Jody is heading right now.

"No, I mean, can I go home with you?" Dean asks again. "To your home. I want to check on Jack."

"Jack's fine," Castiel assures him. "I'm sure he's watching Scooby Doo or something as we speak."

"And that's great and all," Dean says, "but can I go see him?"

"I don't think he wants to see you right now," Castiel says, which probably sounds kind of rude but it's true. Jack doesn't even want Dean to know where he is. It's probably safe to assume he doesn't want to talk to him, either.

"Okay, but can I go see him?" Dean asks again.

Castiel groans. "I swear, it's like talking to a brick wall."

"Cas, come on," Dean says. "I'm sure you're telling the truth. I'm sure he's fine. But he's also my responsibility, and I want to see him for myself."

"You're not his dad, you know," Castiel says. "My responsibility" his ass. Lucifer's responsibility, sure, but Dean's? He's not sure about that.

"Neither are you," Dean reminds him. "You're just a near-stranger who happens to share some of his DNA."

Castiel narrows his eyes. They're getting dangerously close to returning to the territory they'd found themselves in yesterday when Dean first found out that Jack had been at Castiel's apartment for a few days. He didn't appreciate the implication that he had no right to give Jack a safe place then, and he doesn't appreciate it any more this time around. He's still family, whether Dean likes it or not, and Jack chose to come to him for a reason.

"Look," Dean says, "if you want to keep him there and he wants to stick around, that's fine. I don't care. I just want to see him."

"No."

Dean scoffs, and to say he looks surprised would be an understatement. "No?"

"No," Castiel repeats. "Because I don't want you trying to subtly convince him to leave when he's not ready to. I'll tell him about the Vamps, I'll see how he feels, and if he doesn't want to go home, then I'll ask if he wants to see you."

Dean sighs. "Okay, look, I'll make it simple. Either you bring me to your place, or I go get my car, drive there myself, and let myself in. It's your call."

Castiel scowls. "God, I hate you." He's fucking impossible. There's no reasoning with the guy; he always gets his way. It's great when Castiel also wants things to go his way, but it's not so great on the other side of things.

"That's not what you said an hour ago," Dean says with a wink.

"Yeah, and I was lying an hour ago," Castiel deadpans, though in reality, the way he played up their relationship was probably more truthful than his "I hate you" was. He may not be hopelessly in love with Dean Romeo-and-Juliet-style, but he does like him. Usually.

"Mm, sure you were." Dean boops him on the nose. "So, can I hitch a ride?"

Castiel lolls his head back with a groan. "Fine, but leave the kid alone and let him make his own choices, okay?"

Dean gives a mock salute. "You got it, boss."

Castiel rolls his eyes, but he can't hide the small smile on his lips. He's so fucking annoying, but it's kind of cute at the same time. How he manages to be both adorable and a pain in the ass, Castiel does not understand, but he sure as fuck does it.