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At first, Castiel assumes she's one of them. Her expression is dark and vengeful, the barest hint of fear in her eyes. But then she pulls out a gun and takes aim; she doesn't know he's an angel, so she can't be one of them.
"Who are you?" She hisses, "Who the hell are you?!"
He opens his mouth to speak, but then it suddenly hits him like a ton of bricks. This isn't some strange woman who somehow stumbled upon the bunker. His grace tingles with energy, memories surging through his mind. He sees a family – the woman standing over a cot, smiling down at the child inside. There's a man, too, arms wrapped around the young boy clinging to his neck. It's shockingly familiar… But it can't be. Surely it can't be.
"Wait!" They both turn towards the other voice in the room, "It's alright!"
Castiel almost loses his footing when he sees the other man standing in the doorway. He's just as he was before, only not dead. Why isn't he dead?
"Dean?" His words are rougher than usual.
The hunter looks at him, green eyes more vibrant and beautiful than ever, and smiles, "Hey, Cas."
"How are you here?"
"Amara," He begins to explain, "She, uh… Turns out she isn't all that bad after all."
It doesn't make sense; none of this makes sense. Less than an hour ago, he hugged Dean for supposedly the last time. They said goodbye. Dean was gone. But now he's back, looking exactly the same, and everything has changed.
He flits his eyes between Dean and the mystery woman, "Is that –?"
"Yeah," Dean says, "Yeah, it is."
"But how?"
"Like I said… Amara's really not that bad."
The woman – Mary – lowers her gun, but her stance is still uncertain, ready to make a move if necessary. He thinks maybe he should be offended, but then he remembers how Dean had first reacted to him, and instead offers her his hand. She looks down at it with wide eyes, and rushes back over to Dean's side.
"Who is he?"
Dean shakes his head a little, "He's fine, mom. You can trust him."
"Who is he, Dean?"
"I'm Castiel," He says, stepping forward reluctantly, "I'm an angel of the Lord."
This is apparently the wrong thing to say, because the gun is back in his face, and Mary is looking down at him like he's some kind of monster. Before she can pull the trigger though, Dean grabs the gun from her hands and does it himself. Castiel can feel the slightest pinch as the bullet drives straight through his flesh, but there's no lasting pain.
Mary covers her mouth, "Why did you –?"
"Bullets don't work on angels," Dean says, rather tiredly, "They don't die the same way humans do."
Castiel isn't quite sure how to react, but he doesn't have much time to ponder it before Dean is walking towards him, arms outstretched. He welcomes the hug with a sigh of relief, nuzzling his head against Dean's shoulder.
"Sorry 'bout that, man," Dean says as he pulls away, touching Castiel face's for a split second, "I didn't know how else to convince her, ya know?"
He smiles, still in shocked awe at seeing Dean again, "It's okay."
"You good?"
"I'm fine, Dean. What about you?"
The hunter draws in a shaky breath and glances back at his mother, "Mostly confused. But yeah, I'm alright."
"I can't believe you're alive," He says, almost giddy, "I missed you."
Dean chuckles, "I've only been gone for five minutes, Cas…"
"I never thought I'd see you again."
A sad smile tugs at Dean's lips, and he reaches forward again to touch his face. He leans into the warmth of Dean's hand, eyes slipping closed as he commits the sensation to memory. If Dean should ever have to leave again, he never wants to forget what this feels like.
"Well, I'm back now," Dean says with a smirk, but his eyes are soft and tender, "You're stuck with me."
Mary clears her throat and steps down to join them, hands still trembling with the shock of everything. Castiel feels for her; he knows what it's like to be an outsider, all alone and confused with what's going on, not sure what to think or feel. He imagines he can see Dean in her face somewhere, but the pale fragility of her expression is nothing like her son's warm smile.
"Where's Sam?" She asks after a beat of silence.
Dean drops his hand and takes a step back, eyes bright at the mention of his brother, "I bet he cried like a bitch when I was gone, right?"
Castiel smiles despite himself, but his shoulders slump with the weight of everything that happened while Dean was gone. He doesn't want to ruin his newfound happiness with more bad news, but he can't put it off any longer. Dean would never forgive him for wasting time.
"I'm sorry," He says, eyes shifting between them both, "He's gone."
Dean freezes, "Gone where?"
"There was a woman waiting here for us when we got back," He explains, "She expelled me from the room before I could do anything… Sam was alive when I last saw him, but she had a gun."
"Oh, shit," Dean stumbles back a little bit, but Castiel is quick to steady him before he falls.
"Don't worry, Dean. We'll get him back, I promise."
And just like that, their next mission begins…