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"Well, this feels like a decidedly Winchesterian decision. Which is to say, deranged," Meg said. She stood in the bunker hallway and eyeballed the wall tiles and light fixtures with tremendous skepticism. "You can't possibly have thought this was a good idea."
Dean hadn't, in fact, but now was not the time to mention it. He was busy helping yoink his kid out of a giant cosmic fissure.
Jack finished pulling the wretched rift to the Empty shut with his fingernails and was tugged backward into the hall as well, the last in a chain that started with Cas and ran to Dean, Eileen, and Sam, who was literally tied to Jack by what seemed to be a golden rope.
A couple of weeks ago Dean had chosen Wonder Woman for movie night. He wasn't regretting it per se, though the new accessories Jack had created were slightly unnerving.
"Hey, Sam," Meg called. "How many hair styling products do you use daily?"
"Eight," he confessed through clamped-together teeth.
"Cool lasso of truth, god-toddler," Meg said to Jack. "Is the invisible plane spoken for or can anyone call dibs?"
Jack made a gurgling sound from his spot on the floor. Before allowing Cas to wrap him in his trench coat, Jack flipped Meg the bird.
"Taught him that," Dean told Meg.
"Must make you proud," Meg murmured in her usual way. She fixed her eyes on Cas and Dean squared his jaw. She saw; she raised her hands like white flags. "Just wanted to say hello to our dear Clarence."
"Hello, Meg." Cas had his arms around Jack and was trying to rub warmth back into the kid's shoulders. The look he gave Meg was far too fond for Dean's liking. "Welcome back."
Meg's eyes lit up, as much with sarcasm as with gratefulness. "Thanks. I will admit that when you described this place, Castiel, I was expecting it to be less...gray."
"Sorry we haven't had much time to redecorate an access hallway to your exalted standards," Dean said.
"I appreciate the apology, Dean; sweet of you." Meg tugged at one of her leather jacket sleeves and for the first time, glancing down at her own hands, looked discomfited.
"Meg?" Cas asked.
It was the way he said her name -- like he genuinely cared how Meg was feeling -- that made Dean a little light-headed with love for him.
"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head as if to clear away any lingering malaise. As if to convince herself.
Cas stood and helped Jack up, and Sam and Eileen led Jack away to the bedrooms.
"Meg," Cas started.
She held up a hand again. "No. No. I am fine. You don't have to worry about me."
"In what way?" Dean said, giving her a hard look and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Dean," Cas said.
"You think I wanna go back there? Into the absolute horror of that vacancy? The endless, cold black void, every bad piece of shit that ever hit the fan, spinning over and over and over? That monstrous nothingness that wore me like a skin to hurt Castiel, and your son, and fuck only knows how many others?" Meg growled. "I will keep my fucking nose clean, thank you for asking."
Dean decided he wouldn’t dwell overmuch about her description of the Empty, because if he thought about it in the context of Cas trapped there, all those months, Dean would lose his mind.
"All right," he said. "You helped Cas escape." He was gritting his teeth like Sam. "You deserve a chance at redemption."
Meg's mouth quirked and her eyes flashed with humor.
"You're still a grade-A d-bag," Dean said.
"Love you too, cupcake." She blew him a kiss.
Cas let out a patient breath Dean chose to believe was aimed more at Meg than at him.
"Let's show you to your room," Cas said, taking Meg's elbow kindly.
As they passed, she turned and shot Dean the slyest possible expression.
He wouldn't kill her after they'd taken such pains to rescue her -- wouldn't kill her within the hour, anyway. Dean prayed to no-one in particular for forbearance and followed his husband, and his husband's demon friend, down the hallway.