Summary: Dean spends time with Cassie and MJ.

Notes: I'm so sorry. It's not beta'ed and it's so late but I started a new college and gah, damn. I've been busy and sad in equal amounts. I haven't able to write in more than a week. :(

The day at the Robinson house began at six in the morning when Nathan, Cassie's nurse friend, let himself inside the house and made breakfast. He made all the preparations for the day. Putting food into Tupperware, he took it up to Cassie's room for the rest of the day and cleared the ones from the day before. He cleaned her room in general and got her bathed and into new clothes. Giving her the medication, he sat with her for an hour, just chatting and making her laugh. Before leaving with MJ, he always made sure that she had everything in reach. At two in the afternoon, MJ returned with her friend's mother and would take care of her mom. At eight in the night, they'd say grace and eat their food.

Someone was talking in hushed tones around him. He chalked it up to being the water and the trees rustling.

The breeze ruffled Castiel's trenchcoat and Dean grinned at the familiarity.

"You know, Cas, you can sit down for your first lesson," Dean said, looking up at Castiel.

Castiel smirked at Dean and after a blink, he was sitting on a recliner similar to Dean's. Dean grinned out at the lake around them. Leaning over to the icebox beside him, Dean pulled out two beers and offered one to Castiel. Castiel scrunched his nose, taking the bottle.

"It smells of fish," he said, bringing the bottle closer to smell it and disgustedly, holding it away from himself.

"Well, I just got one icebox," Dean replied, embarrassedly, trying to hide it by shrugging.

Castiel chuckled and flipped the metal cap with his super strength.

"Hey, no fair," Dean grumbled, pouting slightly.

Castiel chuckled and flipped off the cover off of Dean's beer as well. Dean grimaced at him, unimpressed. Castiel just grinned, cleaning the top to try and take the smell of the fish off it. Dean grimaced as the first sip tasted like raw fish but sting of the beer was still there. Gradually, the fish smell and taste weaned off.

"Are you going to teach me or are we going to just sit here?" Castiel asked, a little cheeky lilt to his voice.

Dean laughed, turning to look over at Castiel. "Sure, just stand up," Dean said, throwing the bottle in the direction of the lake.

He noticed a second to late that the bottle had frozen a foot over the water and was making its way towards him.

"Holy shit!" he shouted, ducking sideways, his arms raised over his face.

Castiel started to laugh, hovering the bottle to rest over the ice box.

"Cas, you manipulative son of a bitch," Dean panted, glaring at him.

Castiel just grinned wide and whole. Dean smiled inspite of himself. He looked so free and unburdened that Dean's heart clenched.

"You shouldn't dirty the world you fought so hard to save, Dean," Castiel told him, stoically.

Dean nodded. "Fair point. Now, stand up. We're going to add fishing to your skills among humor that you recently discovered."

"I learnt from the best," Castiel answered, standing up and making their recliners vanish.

"Dean!" Castiel whispered, furiously, his face an inch from Dean's.

Dean jolted awake, almost smashing head first into Castiel. He blinked a couple of times before the room swam into view. He was in Cassie's room where, apparently, he had fallen asleep in an awkward position in the chair.

Cassie was grinning wide at him. She almost looked her young self when she smiled this way, but somehow even better. There was an unfamiliar man standing next to the bed, getting pills out of their containers and counting them on his palm. Dean guessed that he was Nathan.

"Good morning," Cassie greeted, turning slightly in her bed to face him.

"Morning," Dean croaked, scrubbing a hand over his face.

He straightened in the chair, grimacing at the kinks in his spine. Stretching, he heard the pops in his neck and back.

"Sorry, I fell asleep here," he murmured, smiling at Castiel who handed him a steaming cup of black coffee. It was just how he liked it. "Did you make it?" he asked Castiel.

Castiel smiled and nodded. "I didn't- couldn't," he corrected, looking sidelong at Nathan. "Sleep."

"Thanks," Dean replied, gulping down the coffee and coughed as it scalded his throat.

"Slow, Dean," Cassie reprimanded in what was obviously her mom voice.

Dean stared at her and she stared back. Dean had to bow out of the competition. Apparently, being a mom meant you had immense pools of patience and staring-into-acquiescence abilities. She grinned at him, knowing she had won. He grumbled and drank his coffee slower.

"Sit up, Cas," Nathan said, looking up finally and sighing.

Castiel looked up, confused. "I am standing."

Dean threw his head back and laughed. Cassie joined in, her laugh wheezy.

"He meant me, darling," Cassie told him, taking Nathan's proffered hand and sitting up slowly.

Dean got up to keep a strong hand between her shoulder blades. He was creeped out by how much of her bones he could feel. He swallowed thickly, watching her as she swallowed the tablets with a glass of water courtesy Castiel. Nathan and Dean let Cassie back down after a couple of moments.

"You're Dean, right?" Nathan asked, holding a hand out.

Dean shook his hand. He smiled at the strong grip. "The one and only."

Nathan smiled, rolling his eyes. "Can you come with me for a second?" he asked, nodding his head towards the door. "I need help."

Cassie huffed at him. "I'm not a child, you know. I know you want to talk to him about my condition, dumbass."

Nathan grinned at her and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "You always were smart, Cassie," he said, squeezing her frail hand.

She slapped his stomach, halfheartedly. "Go on, now."

Nathan grinned again and led Dean out. Castiel shifted uncomfortably, following Dean with his eyes. Dean smiled reassuringly and gestured towards the chair beside Cassie. He followed Nathan out and down the stairs. Nathan started to pack MJ's lunch.

"Dean, I know you've been away for a while," he began, puffing as the tiffin box closed on his finger. "And Cassie's in pretty bad shape. I can't sugarcoat because it's too hard. I'm too close to her. She has Glioblastoma multiforme. It's a sort of brain cancer." He turned around; his eyes rimmed red. He wouldn't meet Dean's eyes. "She started medication at third stage. It was already too late. We tried…" He huffed a wry laugh. "We tried so hard. But it metastasized and they sent her back. They-" He laughed dryly again, finally meeting his eyes. They were brimming with hurt and pain. "They told her that she required hospice care. With absolutely no family and one child! No job, even! She was supposed to get hospice care. I tried to convince them… Obviously, couldn't. Actually, there wasn't much they could do… I warred with myself about letting my job go but I decided I could help her. I'm trying, Dean and it will only be better with you here to take care of them."

Dean opened his mouth and closed it. He did for a couple of minutes like a goldfish. He looked away from Nathan. His eyes held no judgment and that just somehow made it a lot worse. He sucked in a deep breath. Nathan was close to him in a second, patting his back.

"It's hard. I know. I've known her a year and I know. I'd take MJ but Cassie wants you to make the choice. Besides, man, I'm not the one for kids. I'm a workaholic," Nathan continued.

Only Castiel ever stands this close to Dean, he realized and took a step back, nodding. "Thanks, Nate," he expressed, continuing to nod his head. "I really mean it. I didn't- know about this. Else I would have come earlier but… Uh, could you send Cas down here? I mean the guy Cas."

Nathan gave him a weird look and nodded once. He took the tiffin box up, shouting instructions to MJ on the way. Before Castiel came down, though, MJ was there. She was dressed in a pretty red dress, playing the frayed edge of the ribbon around its waist. The red little boots on her feet squeaked against the polished wood as she moved it incessantly, stealing glances at Dean.

Dean bent in front of her.

"Are you my daddy?" she questioned, softly.

"I… I'm your father, yes," he answered, nodding. "MJ, I'll tell you one thing," he murmured, putting his large hand on her little shoulder. "You call me Dean. You call me Dean until you think I deserve to be called 'dad'."

"How will I know?" she asked, simply, tilting her head that reminded Dean too much of Castiel.

"You'll just know," he promised with a smile.

She smiled back at him. "Will you take me with you after… After mommy?"

There was no question in Dean's mind. He wasn't leaving her in an orphanage and Nathan had made it clear that he couldn't take care of her. He bit the inner side of his cheek, thinking about how amazingly Sam could handle children.

"Only if you want to."

"I don't know," she replied, truthfully.

"Take your time," he reassured with a smile.

She nodded and walked quietly towards the door, waiting for Nathan. Dean straightened and saw Castiel waiting for him at the bottom stair. He smiled awkwardly at being caught.

"Can we take a walk outside?" Dean asked, ignoring Castiel's apparent discomfort.

Castiel nodded and followed Dean out the back door. Dropping the idea of the walk altogether, Dean fell onto the plush swing by on the porch.

"You gonna join me or what?" Dean asked, patting the place beside him.

Castiel nodded, jerkily again. Dean, offhandedly, thought that everyone was suddenly turning into Noddy around here. The swing creaked a little out of disuse as Castiel sank into it. Even though he had started wearing 'normal people clothes' on Dean' insistence in the past few months, he still held himself as though he was wearing the trench coat. He did defy Dean's orders sometimes by wearing it.

"I had a dream that I was teaching you how to fish," Dean sighed, looking out at the dying garden.

"The only time I went fishing, my brother asked me not to step on 'that' fish," he said, complete with the quote marks.

Dean chuckled lightly, observing Castiel from the side of his eyes. "Well, I'd teach you how to fish properly. With the bait and stuff. We'd catch a huge fish and cook it. You could try that fish recipe you found two week ago."

Castiel smiled softly, staring at the dry grass. "I'd like that," he agreed.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. It was comfortable but the thoughts were brewing to the rim inside Dean.

"It's fourth stage."

"I know."

"It meta-meta…"

"Metastasized. I know, Dean."

"Cas, she's dying."

"I'm sorry, Dean."

"I… I can't have this on me."

Castiel turned around and rested a palm right over his mark on Dean's shoulder. "Dean, it's not on you. It happened. You are not responsible for everyone you meet. It is not your fault that the treatment did not work. It is not your fault that you didn't know about your child until now."

Dean wrung his hands, glaring at them. "Why can't I save her?"

"As much as I would like to have an answer for every question you ask, I don't. I'm sorry, Dean. I'm sorry I can't heal her."

Dean sighed and shifted in his seat to face the garden. He wanted to say that Castiel had nothing to be sorry about. He had never been one for feelings and emotions. That was Sam's job, not his. He was the 'bad cop'. Always. Because it was easier for him. Feelings made everything messy and Dean didn't want to be caught in the middle of it. So, he vowed on silence, feeling Castiel's shoulder brush against his.

Besides, Castiel already knew, didn't he. Even without his mojo, he'd always read Dean better than anyone else in his life, leave Sam.

"Dean," Cassie said, softly, garnering his attention from flitting his eyes around to follow Castiel.

"Yeah?" Dean started.

Castiel had spent the past hour clearing Cassie's room and doing everything else Nathan didn't have time for. Dean had been incessantly tapping his foot against the linoleum and looking at Castiel.

Cassie laughed. It was a beautiful sound. Dean smiled instantly.

"Honey, you're worried."

Dean reddened, looking at his thumbnails. He played with the jagged end of his nail.

"Dean, you know I don't blame for any of this, right?" she questioned, taking Dean's hand with effort.

Dean bent forwards to take her hand in both of his. Castiel stilled in his task of clearing away the empty medicine boxes. Dean just stared at her open mouthed. On one part he knew that Cassie wasn't blaming him, no one was. On the other, he considered it obvious that she was. He had hoped it was the latter. It was easier than the resonant sound of blaming himself.

"I don't blame you, Dean." She spoke every word slowly, as if explaining something to a four year old. "You are a good man." She smiled fondly at him.

Dean swallowed thickly and looked away from the intensity.

"Cas, sweetheart, could you get us a glass of water?" she requested.

Castiel nodded stiffly and walked away.

"He was too uncomfortable," she murmured, conversationally, smiling at Dean as though they were sharing a huge secret. "Dean Winchester, stop blaming yourself. You carry so much weight. You have to let some things go. It's not easy but I know you can do it."

Dean gritted his teeth. "Alright," he whispers, not trusting his voice to say much.

"When MJ was five, I told her about you. She didn't get up from the bed until I went and got her. She said the monster under her bed would get her leg. There wasn't any, I checked. But the day after that, I found her downstairs, sitting all by herself, drawing… You what she said when I asked her whether the monsters were gone? She told me that daddy saved her."

Dean looked up, his breath hitching. This stung. He should have been there for his daughter.

"Dean," she cajoled. "I didn't tell you this to make you feel bad. I told you this because she loved you then. We loved you then."

"How could you have loved me when you couldn't find me?" he asked, hoarsely.

"There were times when I hated you so much… The day I found I was pregnant, I broke the cutlery. The next day I called your old number and left an angry message. Mom helped me through it. When MJ turned six, I first found out about the cancer. I was broken. I was scared…" She looked at Dean, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "I dusted myself off and got treatment. It was only a couple of weeks ago that they decided I couldn't be helped anymore. About loving you… I think it came naturally. I could see you in her. I loved her and I couldn't imagine her hating you. It wasn't right. For all I knew, you were dead and how could I teach my child to hate someone she didn't know."

Dean flexed his jaw, staring at the ground. "I'm so sorry, Cassie."

"Dean…" she wheedled, tugging his hand. "Come here and give me a hug, you giant dork."

His eyes widened as he looked at her but leaned in to hug her. She put everything he couldn't hear in the hug, stroking his back reassuringly. When they parted, she smiled at him. He smiled back.

"Can you take her with you?" she asked, tilting her head on the pillow.

"I… I am willing to, of course. If-if she wants to. But Cassie… I'm not father material."

Cassie stared at Dean, raising a single eyebrow. Even with how frail she looked, she was intimidating. "And exactly how many kids have you had in the past eight years, Dean?" she asks, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Two," he answers with a tight smile. He almost laughs at the way her eyes widen and she stares at him but not intimidating anymore.

"Care to explain?"

Five hours later, Cassie had finally calmed down enough for Dean to not fret around her with water and her pills at ready. He even thought about mouth to mouth resuscitation at one point but she beat him away, shouting louder. Now, save for the 'holy shit's after every ten minutes or so, they were mostly quiet.

"So, you're telling me that a demon killed your mom and your dad went looking for it, teaching you the art of hunting on the way and then he died against your life and then you died to save your brother. You tortured someone in Hell breaking the first deal? Seal? No! Let me complete! You've had your time," she stopped for a minute, coughing. She waved her hand dismissively at Dean handing her a cup of water. "And then you were resurrected by that cutie next door and he rebelled against Heaven to save you both from becoming the archangels' vessels. You stopped the apocalypse and no, no, no. It's just five years. After that, Sam was resurrected without a soul and you lived with some chick and her kid for a year before Sam found you and you guys then saw that angel guy next door, with our child, turn into God. Like who even does that! Oh my God! He's that 'sexy dude in a trenchcoat' from a couple of years ago. Oh my God! I had thought if I'd have told you, you'd have laughed with me. Who knew that was true all along!" She stopped for a while, catching her breath and grinning like an idiot. "And, then he let the leviathans out and died for a while and he comes back, saves Sam from his Satan, God bless me, and then that angel cutie is crazy for a while but you two were in Purgatory? Yeah, Purgatory for a year and then you returned with a vampire but Cas chose to punish himself by staying behind and then you all closed the Gates of Hell and Heaven…"

"Yeah, that's about it," Dean said, clearing his throat, uncomfortably.

"Don't get me wrong but you need help," she uttered finally, clapping Dean's shoulder genially as though he had told her about all the college tournaments he had won.

He chuckled, inspite of himself. "I guess I do."

"Oh, wait, I forgot Emma. Your Wonder Woman child or something…"

"Yeah," Dean murmured, frowning at the floor.

"It was necessary, Dean," she wheedled, taking his hand. "All of it. It's hard to digest but I guess I get why we didn't meet in so many years." She squeezed his hand.

"I thought about you but I couldn't put you in danger. I expected you to be married," he said, smiling slightly at her.

"I almost did… He ran when I got the cancer," she told him, shrugging her little shoulders.

Dean felt a flare of anger shoot through him. "He's an asshole," he growled.

She shrugged again. "I figured."

They fell silent, Dean stewing in anger and Cassie looking thoughtful. She squeezed his hand tightly whenever he frowned too hard. His forehead instantly cleared out when she did so. The freaky thing was that she didn't even need to look at him to know.

"You know, you always forget one child," she started, hesitantly.

Dean frowned. He did the calculation in his head. "Two?" he asked, confused.

"Three," she answered, shaking her head. When Dean just looked even more befuddled, she smiled at him and tugged him closer by his hand. "You raised your brother, Dean."

Dean reddened and shook his head. "Of course not."

"Kids don't just grow up, Dean. You are the only constant in his life."

He shook his head again, looking at the floor. "He's my brother… Even if I did, I raised him wrong. He chugged demon blood for a year and trusted a demon."

"Oh, Dean," she murmured, smiling and patting his cheek. "He's your brother but that doesn't mean you didn't raise him and you raised him right. Don't forget how kind he is. He's sacrificed so much to save us." She fell silent but he knew that it wasn't over yet. She was just waiting for the words to settle. And she was right in doing so; they were reverberating constantly in his mind, drawing all noise out. "So, don't ever tell me that you aren't father material. I already know one person who would disagree."

Dean scuffs his boot against the floor. He doesn't know what to say to such a confession. He could joke about it or change the topic but he's sure that Cassie would cuff him on the jaw if he did so. She could pack a punch.

She squeezed his hand, making him look up again into her beautiful brown eyes. She smiled at him. Her eyes were so expressive. It relaxed him instantly. He knew he didn't have to fill the silence anymore. She didn't require any explanations or any quips; she just wanted him to know. He was glad.

Dean's entire life had been about a monster followed by another. Sometimes the monster was rhetorical and, most often, it wasn't. He had braved an Apocalypse twice and had lived to tell the tale. If asked, he would still say that his brother sacrificed everything the first time and his angel; the second. Of course, both men had broken the world in the first place (excluding the part where Dean broke the first seal and was practically unapproachable after his brother's death) but they gave everything to save it. They lost their minds; they lost their lives.

Even when the end seemed nigh, there had always been a way to get out of it. Maybe not always together but in some way. It hurt now that Dean was so helpless. There was no chance of deals with demons or begging the angels. Castiel was drained of his power and there weren't any miracle healers of particularly good values. Besides, Cassie wouldn't want that. She would want to go peacefully. Well, as much peace as a cancer patient could get through the pain and the medications.

She had lost five pounds in the week Dean and Castiel had been here. She was eating less and had already talked to each of them in private. Dean hated calling it 'saying goodbye'. How could he just do that? How could he just give up on a life?

Cassie was an amazing person and an even better mom. MJ adored her. She idolized her mom. The more Dean looked at her, the more he realized that MJ was falling apart under the weight of what she was being put through. And Dean didn't have the facilities to put his daughter back together. He saw her with Castiel sometimes. The two of them would spend a lot of time together; MJ drawing and Castiel praising. He was good. MJ smiled when Castiel was with her.

He had more faith in Castiel and Sam than he had in himself. It wasn't new obviously but the reasons were different. Not for the first time, he was glad that Sam and Castiel were in his life.

For the first time in years, Dean acknowledged the wish for his mother to be alive.

Nathan had broken down crying after his talk with Cassie. MJ had shut herself in her room and opened three hours later to take Castiel inside. Dean had spent fifteen hours, hacking the dry grass with a kitchen knife and in general, tending to it. Castiel had been surprised when Cassie had asked for him and came out looking overwhelmed. Angels didn't cry.

Cassie stopped eating on a Saturday. She stopped taking fluids on a Sunday. Nathan cried when she refused to eat. She promised she was trying but she couldn't. Not anymore.

The house was silent for those days, finality ringing in every creak and in every sigh of breath. Dean broke three cups and Castiel bandaged the cuts every time. Nathan spent more and more time at the house, till he was living with them. MJ was silent through the ordeal, curled up on her mother's side at all hours. Cassie just stared at the ceiling. A happy look would steal over her face sometimes. When asked, she would say that Castiel's home was beautiful. Castiel would shrink up at the words.

"I hear… Your… Praise," she rasped with difficulty but the smile on her face was dazzling.

It was the first time Dean had seen Castiel tear up. No tears, but it was close.

Cassie Robinson died on a Thursday. Castiel blessed her after she was buried. The ceremony consisted of four people. They didn't have the heart to call others. And Nathan promised that he'd take care of it.

It was only on Saturday that they could convince MJ to get up from her mother's bed and accompany Castiel and Dean to their home.

Notes: Please, please tell me if you liked it and the pacing.