Chapter Text
5 years later
"Professor!" Dean turned around, readjusting his heavy bag. He found Charlie Bradbury, a promising Master case student who had transferred into the Men of Letters faculty from out of country, hurrying down the stairs, still careful enough to mind the snow on the steps.
She shuddered when she reached Dean, rubbing her arms.
"Something wrong? Did another catalogue card get stuck?" Dean wondered, then he looked up into the sky because it started snowing. He smiled into the sky.
"Like clockwork," he mumbled and Charlie looked at him, then up into the sky.
"We've had pretty steady snow this winter. I had heard that Campbell had mild winter, with moderate snowfall," she said.
"Our winters are kind," Dean said gently and Charlie studied him, but didn't comment. Instead she held out her hand. Dean found the amulet dangling in front of his eyes. "Did you mean to take this along? It was still on your table."
Dean looked at the amulet in surprise. He couldn't remember putting it on his desk.
"Huh, I thought I had given it to Chuck," Dean said, but he took the necklace and put it around his neck and then stuffing it under his jacket.
"It's pretty ugly, so maybe he returned it," Charlie joked, then she punched his shoulder. "Have fun on your trip!"
"I will. You enjoy working on your filing system," he answered and Charlie waved at him before she dashed back up the stairs. Dean touched his chest, feeling the shape of the amulet under the fabric.
He walked through the city and headed out to the station. It was a long familiar journey out to Mills and he took his familiar seat on the bench outside the station house. It was chilly this early in the year, but not too cold to sit out for an hour or two and wonder if this was the day he would get into the train that would take him further.
Maybe this was the day to give up his human life, board the train to Queen's Fall and join Cas in Holle's lonely estate. He had discussed it at length with Sam and with his father. He knew what leaving meant. He knew that he would probably be changed by the magic, he knew that every blissful day he would be able to spend with Cas, would also be a torment. Within months of his stay with Cas, everyone he knew in the human realm would be dead.
So he sat at the station of Mills and waited and knew in his heart that the train to Queens Fall wouldn't come for him.
"Hello?" Dean startled and looked up. He hadn't noticed anyone approaching, but there was a woman wrapped in a dark coat and a black shawl around her head and neck. Snow was clinging to her clothes.
"Oh, hi. Sorry," Dean said, scooting over so that there was enough space on the bench. The woman smiled at him and walked through the snow until she reached the part of the platform sheltered by the roof of the station house. She pushed down the shawl when she was out of the snow, her brown curls falling freely around her face. She was beautiful to look at, with dark brown eyes and a smile for Dean. Dean felt some of the tension bleed out of him. Maybe it was nice to not sit here alone.
"The weather here is nice," the woman commented, then she looked around her, at the light dusting of snow covering the country side of Mills. "Even though it's mild."
"That's true," he answered, glad for the conversation but it was hard to swipe away the sadness and longing. But he had to at least try. He couldn't spend the rest of his life moping and miserable. He turned towards the woman and studied her. She didn't seem to be having any kind of luggage on her. "Are you travelling?"
"Yes," she answered with a fond smile. "I get lonely sometimes, so I want to see the world." Dean nodded. He could understand loneliness now and the urge to just leave everything behind to chase the slightest hope of reprieve. Dean unclasped the bag that was between his legs. He pulled out a bundle and held it out to the woman. She lifted her eyebrow in confusion.
"It's food and some other necessities. I always bring something with me in case I finally take the train out to Queens Fall," he sighed. "But I don't have the guts. Not today." He saw her lower her eyes to the bundle. "So if you've still have a way to travel, you can have it." The woman lifted her hands and gingerly took the bundle out of his hands.
"Thank you," she said with a smile at Dean, seemingly touched. She wiped her hand over the bundle and then she looked up at Dean. "Spring will bring growth and love," she insisted. Dean looked at her in confusion, but still smiled, nodding at her. There was a peculiar warmth in his chest but he wasn't sure just what he was feeling. The stranger got up, holding the bundle to her chest. "Good deeds will be rewarded." Dean sent her a look, but then something bright caught the corner of his eye. He grabbed under his shirt, pulling out the amulet. It was glowing brightly in his palm. Startled, Dean looked up, but the woman was gone.
The amulet's warm glow lingered.
Dean didn't know if he should hope, but he awaited the first spots of green to peek through the snow with a sense of exhilaration that he hadn't felt in five years.
On this particular morning he woke up early, when the sun had not yet risen. Through the open window he could hear Meg making a ruckus down in the yard. He frowned, got out of bed and stumbled to the window. When he looked down he saw that Meg's coop was open and for a second he was terrified that something might have gotten into the yard to eat her.
There was something in the yard. Or someone. A figure in an old-fashioned dress, with pale, long hair spilling over her back. Dean felt his breath stuck in his throat.
"Cas…!" he managed to breathe out and the woman down in the yard turned her head. She looked up and Dean thought he could see the smile. But then he blinked and she was gone. Meg's coop was closed, the chicken quiet, the yard deserted. Dean stared down into the yard, leaning out of the window. Was he hallucinating now?
"Dean."
Dean turned around and there he was, Cas, in his human form, smiling brightly at Dean, his eyes shining an unnatural blue. Dean couldn't speak. He wasn't sure if this was real. "I'm back," Cas said.
"Cas… Is it really you?" Dean asked, but he didn't wait for an answer, already reaching out to pull Cas close. It was like the ice inside of Dean thawed the moment he had Cas wrapped up in a hug. He wanted to stay like this forever, but he needed answers first.
"I think I saw Amara, maybe a month ago," Dean started and Cas nodded at him. "Was that really her?"
"She has returned to the estate," Castiel said. "She said she had wandered among humans and had found you worthy."
"Good deeds will be rewarded," Dean muttered and Cas nodded.
"She was pleased with my work and my... sense of duty."
"Sacrifice and irritating selflessness," Dean grumbled.
"She offered me my rewards. Power or gold… My own dominion even," Cas told Dean and Dean waited how Cas would continue with bated breath. He shouldn't have worried though because Cas grinned at him, kissing Dean fondly. "I asked to return to the human world and to be with you."
"Oh Cas," Dean said, pulling Cas in for another hug.
"If you still will have me. It's been years in your world, Dean…"
"Of course I still want you, sunshine. I never wanted anyone else," he said, laughing now and kissing the side of Cas' face. "And now that you finally found Frau Holle, we can go ahead with the wedding."
"Oh, I'd like that, Dean," Cas said and Dean knew that he meant it.
Outside the snow fell in soft flakes, a last hurrah of winter before spring would push through, coaxing the world from slumber under its blanket of snow.
End