The fear fell away, and what replaced it was far different. The relief felt like a physical presence inside him, but rather than weighty, it seemed that his chest had grown lighter. He took a breath. His thoughts had stopped running in guttural, bloody Russian strings. The changes in his head were noticeable, but it had never once been painful - nothing like what he'd been conditioned to expect.
"Thank you," James said, feeling like the words were thin and weak in comparison to the emotion he felt behind them. The gratitude was so deep that Castiel could have asked James for anything in the moment, and he'd have given it.
He didn't know what else to say. The relief was nearly overwhelming. He wanted to drop to his knees and lean into the new restfulness inside him. It wasn't quite peace, but it was close enough for him that he would call it that to anyone who might have asked him. He stayed standing, but only because he couldn't bear to show physical weakness to anyone.