Spoilers for season 8/9. But, this is my own version of what I would've wanted to happen at the end of season 8.
Destiel.
Dean/Cas
Hurt/Comfort
Sick!Cas
Fluff
Castiel felt dazed as he laid beside the road, face down in the dirt. He put some pressure on his arm, attempting to push himself over on to his back and immediately felt pain radiate through his entire body. He froze and tried to breathe steadily, waiting for the pain to subside, but his breath quickened when he realized the fact that not only was he breathing but he needed to breathe, an experience that was completely new to him. He could feel his, well, Jimmy's heart racing and Castiel started to panic. It was getting increasingly harder to catch his breath and he wondered vaguely if he was doing it wrong. Slowly, he reached in to his trench coat pocket to find the phone Dean had given him awhile back. He managed to find Dean's name and initiate a call.
"Cas, what the hell man? Why's it raining angels?"
"Dean," Cas gasped out. "Can't…"
"Cas? What's wrong? Where are you?"
"I don't know. Dean, I don't know how to breathe. Human…" Castiel inhaled sharply.
"Whoa, okay, you need to calm down. I'll come and get you, do you have any idea where you might be?" Dean pulled the laptop over to him and logged in to the mobile phone company's website.
"Dean, please," Cas managed to reply. Dean could hear the fear in the angel's voice and realized he'd never heard that from him before.
"All right, buddy. I'm tracking the GPS on your phone now. Looks like I'm about twenty minutes from your location. I'm gonna head out now, just hold on, okay?"
"Don't go, Dean."
Dean sighed. "I'll stay on the phone." Dean got in the Impala and sped off in Cas's direction. "Try and breathe slow, okay? In and out, nice and steady." He heard Castiel try to do just that without much success. Twenty minutes seemed like an eternity to Dean as he listened to Cas gasp and whimper through the line, but finally the little red dot on his screen that was Cas's phone seemed to be right on top of him.
"I'm close, Cas. Can you tell me anything about where you are?" Dean heard a rustling as the phone moved, presumably so Cas could look around. Cas finally managed to sit up.
"I'm on the side of a road in the grass. There's just…trees." Cas trailed off.
"I'm gonna need more than that, buddy." Dean kept an eye on the sides of the road looking for his friend.
"Um…there's a mile marker sign, down the road a little. I think it says 3."
"Perfect," Dean replied. "I'll be there any minute, I passed mile 1 a few seconds ago." He sped up a little to close the distance between him and Cas and soon he was able to see a figure sitting in the brush beside the deserted roadway. Dean pulled to the side and jumped out of the car, racing to Castiel's side. Cas dropped the phone once he saw Dean and collapsed against him when Dean crouched down to help.
Castiel was a mess, Dean observed. He was dirty and bloody. His hair was a mess and his face was streaked with tears, eyes red and puffy. He placed his arm around Cas and squeezed his shoulder lightly.
"You think you can stand?" Dean asked after a minute.
"I don't know," Cas stuttered, shaking slightly.
Dean stood, gripping Cas under one arm with his other hand steadying Cas on his back. Dean did most of the work but managed to get Cas up and over to the car.
"Why don't you lie down in the back, okay?"
"No," Cas declared loudly, trying to reach for the front door handle.
"But," Dean started, but Cas looked at him then, tears suddenly in his eyes, silently pleading. Dean stopped talking and helped Cas in to the passenger seat. Once settled Dean walked around and got into the driver's side.
"Just want to stay next to you," Cas whispered, body slumped to the side and head resting against the door.
Dean looked sadly over at Cas who, at the moment, looked more broken then he had ever seen.
"Listen, I passed a motel about a mile back. We're just gonna stop there and get a room because I want to look you over, see if you're badly hurt."
Cas made a sound in acknowledgment but said nothing else. Dean figured the millions of questions he had could wait til later.
Once inside the motel room, Dean helped Cas over to the nearest bed and stripped the coat off of him before sitting him down. Dean knelt in front of Cas and put his hands on his knees.
"How's the breathing going? Sounds a little fast to me."
"How do I change it?" Cas sounded so innocent and scared that Deans heart broke a little.
"Uh, you breathed before didn't you?" Dean asked, at a loss as to how to help.
"I didn't have to, I guess I breathed as I talked but it wasn't automatic and it wasn't for survival. Dean, I don't like this," Castiel buried his face in his hands.
"I know, but come on, you'll get the hang of this, I promise." Dean thought for a second. "I have an idea." Dean sat himself at the top of the bed against the headboard, legs outstretched. "Scoot up here, come on," he gestured with his hand to Castiel, who had turned to see where Dean was going. Castiel pulled himself up toward Dean, who spread his legs to let Cas sit between them. He maneuvered Cas so that his back was resting against Deans chest.
"Can you feel me breathing?" Dean asked.
"Yes," Cas replied breathily.
"Try to match it." Dean could feel Cas's breath hitching as he tried to change the rhythm. Dean had rested his hands on Cas's hips and was momentarily glad that his brother wasn't there to make fun of him for this.
"Dean?" Cas's voice brought his thoughts back to the problem at hand. "I'm sorry."
"What?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen. The angels…" Cas's voice broke.
"Hey, I know. Okay? I know you didn't want this," Dean assured him. "Honestly, just try and let it go, just for tonight. Tonight, we get you feeling better. Tomorrow, we'll deal with the fallout."
"Thank you, Dean."
Dean patted the hip he was holding on to. "It's okay, man." Cas sighed, leaning back in to Dean comfortably.
A few minutes passed and Castiel's breathing evened out. Dean wondered if he fell asleep since that was something he would have to do now. He tapped Cas's shoulder lightly and Cas's eyes flew open, looking around quickly before remembering where he was and what happened.
"Sorry, Cas," Dean smirked.
"What was I doing, Dean?" Cas turned his head so he was almost nose to nose with Dean.
"Um, sleeping," Dean replied, leaving the personal space comment out for now. Cas appeared to consider that and then turned back to snuggle in to Dean again. "Before you get too comfortable, I think it's time I check out your injuries and make sure there's nothing too serious." Cas mumbled a complaint that Dean couldn't quite hear from where Cas's face was buried against his chest. Cas reluctantly sat up and moved out of Dean's way so he could stand, and then Cas sat on the edge of the bed and waited. "Clothes off," Dean added when Cas made no attempt to do anything else. Cas took off his suit coat and shirt and then looked up at Dean questioningly.
"Okay, we'll start there." Dean stepped up to Cas examining his chest and noting all of the bruises that had started to form, some of them deep black and blue. He reached out and gingerly touched one of them and Cas gasped and flinched away from his touch. "Sorry," Dean said softly. "All right, I'll have to stitch the gash on your arm. As for the bruises I can give you something for the pain and inflammation but you're just gonna have to wait them out, unfortunately." Dean leaned over Cas and checked out his back, which looked much the same as his chest. "Anything else cut or hurting you right now?"
Cas thought seriously about that, as if taking a quick inventory of his vessel. He reached up slowly and touched the side of his head causing himself to wince. "I think-" he motioned to his head. Dean tilted Cas's head so he could get a closer look, parting the hair with both hands trying to get a look at his scalp. Cas whimpered when Dean pressed too close to a good size lump that had formed.
"You should put some ice on that, we need to get the swelling down. And it looks pretty bad so you shouldn't sleep in case you have a concussion."
"It's bad?" Cas asked nervously.
"No, I mean, you'll be fine. But when you get knocked in the head it's good to stay awake for a few hours. That's all. I'm going to get some ice." Dean grabbed the ice bucket and walked to the door. "Don't worry," he added before closing the door behind him. He came back as quickly as possible and Cas was still watching the door. Dean wrapped some ice in a towel and sat next to Cas on the bed. He placed the pouch of ice against Cas's head and Cas leaned into the weight. Dean absently started rubbing his thumb back and forth against Cas's temple and he noticed Cas close his eyes.
"Anything else that's bothering you now that you're human?" Dean asked quietly.
"I can't tell. Everything feels different, I don't know what's normal or not."
"Well, anything you wanna run by me, just ask, okay? Here, hold this against your head." Dean passed the ice off to Cas and then got a glass of water and some aspirin out of his duffle which he brought over to Cas. "Here, put these in your mouth then take a sip of water and swallow it all." He held his hand out to Cas who took the two small pills off of Deans palm and placed them on his tongue. He had his tongue sticking out when he reached back for the glass of water and Dean resisted the urge to laugh at him. When he was sure Cas had got the pills down he took the water and put it on the nightstand. "That'll help with any pain you're feeling, just give it a little time to start working." Castiel nodded.
"Thank you, Dean." It was Dean's turn to nod, and he quickly went back to his duffle to get the first aid kit.
"I'll stitch up your shoulder now. I'm not gonna lie it's gonna hurt but it's gotta be done." He gave Cas a sympathetic look as he sat beside him on the bed once more.
"I understand," Castiel replied. Dean cleaned the wound which elicited a couple of gasps from Cas, as careful as he was.
Cas looked anxiously at the needle as Dean threaded it. "Ready?" Castiel visibly gulped but he trusted Dean and he knew he didn't have a choice so he nodded, and then squeezed his eyes tightly shut.
When the needle first entered his skin, Castiel took a very deep breath. Dean continued the stitching as quickly as safely possible and after three passes with the needle he realized Castiel had stopped breathing.
"Dude! Breath out," Dean snapped. Castiel let his breath out in a rush. "You can't do that Cas, not for more than a few seconds." Dean shook his head. Castiel was still breathing erratically trying to make up for the oxygen he lost. "I'm gonna keep going. Don't stop breathing."
He pulled the needle through again and Cas grasped onto Dean's thigh and held him with a death grip. Dean made a surprised noise and luckily was able to keep his hand steady. Castiel looked sheepishly at Dean.
"Is this okay? I'm still breathing," he told Dean seriously.
"Yeah. Yeah, fine." Dean took a breath and continued his work. It only took him a few minutes to finish but when he was done Cas looked like he'd been through a brutal round of torture. His skin was pale, he was sweating. Dean could feel him shivering slightly.
"All done," he announced, cutting off the remaining thread. "How do you feel?"
"Not well," Cas admitted. He glanced at his shoulder. "I see you and Sam do this all the time, I don't know why it bothers me so much, I'm sorry."
"Hey, stop apologizing for everything okay? Me and Sam are products of a bad upbringing where we needed to be stitched every week. We may have got used to it, but it's never pleasant. Trust me, you did fine for your first time," Dean assured him. Castiel looked like he doubted that but said nothing more on the subject.
"You hungry?" Dean added.
Castiel considered that seriously. "I think so," he finally replied.
"Think you can manage a trip to the diner down the road? I don't want to leave you alone with a head injury."
"Yes," Castiel stood up, but wobbled a little so Dean reached out to steady him.
"Just keep it slow, buddy. Here," Dean rifled through his duffle and found one of his clean t-shirt's. "Throw this on for now, we'll wash your stuff later." Castiel caught the white shirt that was tossed to him and looked at it uncertainly. Seeing this, Dean walked over and grabbed the shirt back. "I got it." He put the shirt over Cas's head and eased the injured arm through, the rest went on easy enough. Castiel looked in the mirror that hung on the wall behind Dean. He fingered the lettering on the shirt, Led Zepplin. Cas appeared to be studying the image. Dean cleared his throat. "Ready?"
Cas looked at his reflection again. "I'm very dirty, Dean." Dean laughed.
"Yeah, you definitely need a shower, but food first. Just wash your face in the sink to get the blood off so you don't look quite so scary."
Castiel walked to the sink in the bathroom. "I'm scary?" He studied his reflection again. Dean rolled his eyes.
"People tend to react badly to blood, just wash it off."
Cas rinsed his face with water from the tap. Dean watched him from the doorway, noticing how awkward it seemed for him, like he had never had to do anything other than snap his fingers to get clean before. Cas stood up straight, his face dripping water on the previously dry shirt.
"Dude," Dean mumbled under his breath, throwing a hand towel at Cas's face.
They climbed in to the Impala and Dean motioned for Cas to use his seatbelt. "Buckle up, man. You're breakable now." Cas sighed and did as he was told.
When they entered the diner, Cas squinted at the harsh fluorescent lighting. They walked over to the nearest booth and sat across from one another.
"So, anything you want, on me," Dean said as he slid the menu in to Cas's hands.
"On you?" Cas's eyes narrowed.
"I'm paying," Dean clarified. "Get your mind out of the gutter." He smirked, but Cas just had that same he confused glare he always had when he didn't understand something.
Cas was flipping through the pages slowly when the waitress approached them.
"What can I get you boys tonight?"
"I'll have the bacon double cheeseburger with fries and a coke. Cas, what do you want?" Cas looked up at Dean with a slightly panicked look. He leaned forward as if to keep what he was about to tell a secret, even though clearly the waitress could still hear him.
"I don't know what I'll like, Dean."
Dean smiled at the waitress. "He'll have the same as me, thanks." Cas sat back, relieved that the choice was taken out of his hands.
When their burgers arrived, Cas looked at his plate skeptically.
"You've had burgers before, man. I've seen you, it was gross."
"Yes, but my vessel was craving that. I have no idea whether I'll share Jimmy's affinity for red meat."
"Only one way to find out," Dean illustrated his point by taking a large bite of his own burger.
Hesitantly, Cas picked up a fry as if it were dangerous, and took the smallest bite possible. Apparently, deeming the fry safe, he took a bigger bite. "I enjoy this, Dean."
"See, look at that. One fry in and your first meal as a human is a success. Try the burger."
Castiel awkwardly held the burger and took a bite, chewing slowly, his full concentration on what he was experiencing. Dean was watching him and could see the moment he went from doubtful to full on delight.
"This tastes amazing, Dean. I can see why you enjoy them so much." Dean laughed.
"Aw, my little angel's growing up. I'm so proud." Castiel's eyes narrowed and head tilted as he studied Dean. He opened his mouth but before he could correct Dean on the many things that seemed wrong about that sentence Dean waved him off. "Forget it. When you try the next fry use ketchup."
"Oh, I didn't know," Cas replied seriously, taking the glass bottle from Dean.
"No, you don't have to use it, it's just preference. But, I always use ketchup."
Dean waited a full minute, patiently, as Cas struggled to pour ketchup from the bottle before showing him how to hit the bottom to get the flow going. Cas decided that he liked ketchup on his fries very much.
They both finished their meals rather quickly, starving after the excitement of the day, and headed back to the motel.
Dean called Sam who was back at the bunker resting and let him now that everything was fine and he and Castiel would head there in the morning. When Dean hung up from his brother he turned around to see Castiel sitting on the end of one of the beds breathing heavily.
"Hey, hey," Dean uttered as he went to stand in front of the former angel. "Trouble breathing again?"
"No," Cas answered. "I think…something is wrong."
Dean sighed heavily. He knelt down so he was more at eye level with Cas. "What's wrong? Are you in pain? Is it your head?" Dean automatically reached his hand out to the injury on Cas's head but Cas was already shaking his head no.
"Not my head," he replied nervously. "I don't feel well, Dean."
"All right, whatever is we'll take care of it, okay? But you gotta try to tell me what's bothering you, man." Having retrieved his hand from its path to Cas's head he placed it instead on Cas's knee.
Cas looked it as if considering the meaning of it's placement but said nothing of it.
"Cas, where do you hurt?"
"Um, here," he placed his hand on his abdomen. "I can't stop shaking. I'm scared, Dean."
"Okay, hey. Would I let anything happen to you? Huh?" Dean lifted the shirt Cas was wearing to make sure any of the bruises didn't look worse. When he lowered it again he looked up to see Cas staring at him intently, fear clearly evident in his features. "Don't worry," Dean told him sincerely. Cas nodded slowly. "Is it pain? Like when you've been stabbed, that kind of pain?"
"No," Cas answered slowly. "It's different. Indescribable."
"Yeah, well, unfortunately I think I may have figured out your problem."
"Really? Unfortunately, why? Is it bad? Am I dying, Dean?" Cas's rapid fire questions made Dean smirk despite the situation.
"You'll be fine, I promise. Come on," he stood holding a hand out to Cas. Cas continued to look at Dean thoroughly confused. "Quickly, come on," Dean added.
Cas grabbed Deans hand standing so quickly that he wobbled a little and groaned. Dean pulled him the short way to the bathroom.
"What's going on?" Cas asked once the two of them were inside the tiny motel bathroom.
"Face the toilet," Dean told him as he maneuvered him around. "It's the food. You had a lot of greasy junk food. Bacon double cheeseburger and fries? Probably not the best first meal as a human." Cas paled at Dean's words, confirming to Dean that he was in fact correct, and Cas was nauseous. "This one's on me, buddy. I should have thought of this, I'm sorry."
Cas looked over his shoulder at Dean questioningly. "You're sorry?"
"Yeah. Kneel down in front of the toilet. Your stomach is upset. It happens," Dean shrugged.
Cas looked at the toilet he was now facing. "Now what?"
"Now we wait. You're shaky, your stomach feels weird, so you're probably going to throw up. Try and get it in the toilet." Cas stared at Dean, squinting as he did when something was unfamiliar to him. "It won't hurt," Dean added. "It's just gross." Cas nodded again.
For a few minutes they stayed there quietly doing nothing. Suddenly, Cas gripped the sides of the toilet bowl and moaned, looking over to Dean for help.
"All right, just let it happen," Dean told him as he knelt down next to Cas.
"Dean, I don't-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off as he vomited in to the bowl. He gasped when the first bout ended but a second gush of partially digested food and fluid came up quickly once again. "Dean!" Cas was finally able to force out.
Dean put his hand on Cas's back soothingly. "I'm right here. You'll be okay soon."
Cas coughed a few times and spit into the toilet. "Am I done?"
"I don't know, let's just hang out here for a bit." Dean reached around him and flushed the toilet.
"I still feel….not well," Cas told him.
"Yeah, next time you eat we're gonna start you on something nice and light so this won't happen again." Dean sighed. "In the meantime, just hang in there. I know it sucks but you'll feel better soon." Dean ran his hand up and down Cas's back, hoping it was some comfort, though it was hard to tell because Cas looked so distraught at the situation.
"I think it's going to happen again," Cas warned as he leaned in closer to the toilet. Dean could feel Cas's muscles tense and his body shudder before he vomited for the third time. When he finished he made a sound that Dean thought might be a sob, though he couldn't see because Cas was still facing away from him.
"Cas?" Dean pulled on Cas's shoulders a little to turn him. When he could finally see the blue eyes Dean immediately noticed the tears. "Shh, it's gonna be okay," Dean whispered. "How do you feel now? Do you think you're gonna throw up again?"
"I don't think so, it doesn't feel that way at the moment," Cas replied seriously.
"Good." Dean stood, pulling Castiel with him and made him wash his face and rinse his mouth. Then he brought him back to the bed and instructed him to lie down. "Listen, the trash can is here, right next to you. If you get that feeling again, use this. Got it?"
"Got it."
Dean walked over to the sitting area and dragged the old TV set over to the end of Cas's bed. He threw the remote next to Cas who looked at it then back to Dean.
"What is this for?"
"Find something to watch," Dean answered. "I don't want you to go to sleep yet because of your head. Plus, it'll take your mind off the fact that you feel crappy." Cas watched as Dean completed his nightly routine, washing up, brushing his teeth. He got a glass of water and put it on the nightstand next to Cas.
"Thank you, Dean."
"Just sip it slow, okay?"
Cas nodded but said, "Not just the water."
Dean smiled at him and the blue eyes gazed back it him intensely. Dean felt the moment getting a little to intimate so he turned away. "Turn the TV on," he said gruffly.
Cas did as he was told and a news anchors voice filled the room broadcasting about the falling angels, though she of course didn't know that's what they were. Dean spun back around and saw Castiel's face anguished at the footage of his brothers and sisters falling. Dean went to the side of the bed, kneeling over Cas to get the remote out of his opposite hand and immediately changed the channel to a random movie. He stayed there frozen, not sure what to say to comfort his friend. Not sure there was anything that could even comfort him.
"I'm sorry," he finally settled on.
Cas shook his head and rolling onto his side, facing Dean. "I just want to sleep. I think I'm feeling exhaustion."
"I'm sure you are, but like I said you should stay up awhile. I'll stay up with you." Dean rearranged himself so he was leaning back against the headboard with his legs out straight. "Come on, we'll watch this movie."
Dean watched as Cas considered this, a small pout on his face, but he finally pulled himself up a little, turning over so he could see the tv. Dean smiled.
After about ten minutes, Cas's head lolled to the side as he lost his battle fighting sleep and he bumped in to Dean's arm. His eyes opened wide. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"S'okay," Dean answered, engrossed in the movie. Cas tried to focus on the movie but was so tired that he wasn't even sure what was going on. He forced himself to keep his eyes open and tried to get comfortable. He sunk lower on the bed to lay out flat on his pillow, so that he was now facing Dean's hip. He huffed in exasperation as the t-shirt got twisted when he moved and it felt like it was stangling him. His throat hurt from being sick, he was beyond tired, he ruined heaven and now he was uncomfortable.
In a move that was so sudden it made Dean jump, Castiel sat up straight and took his shirt off with surprising speed, throwing it across the room. "I just want to sleep, Dean," he pleaded, in a much more whiney tone than he would admit to later.
Dean raised his hands in a placating manner. "Calm down. What the hell just happened?"
"I'm just not comfortable. Everything hurts. I just want to sleep. Please, let me sleep." Castiel looked at Dean earnestly. Dean felt his heart break a little.
"Fine. But, I'm waking you up every hour to check on you, deal?"
"Yes, I agree to that," Castiel replied, lying back down. Dean moved to get off Castiel's bed and get on his own, but Cas reached out grabbing a handful of the front of Dean's shirt. "You can stay and watch the movie. If you want." Dean knew just as well as Castiel did that he could see the movie from his bed a mere three feet away, but seeing the statement for what it was, Dean just nodded and stayed put. Castiel's hand stayed where it was and Dean thought he had fallen asleep until a few minutes later Cas was moving closer, lining his body up along the side of Deans legs. Cas's forehead was now resting on his arm. Dean looked down at the top of Castiel's head and as if he could sense it Cas looked up at him and smiled.
"Sit up for a minute," Dean told him, making a decision.
Cas looked hurt momentarily until he realized what Dean was doing. Cas moved and Dean put his arm out and slouched down a bit so Cas could snuggle against his side. Once he was situated he placed his arm around Cas, hand resting on his shoulder. Cas's hand never let go of Dean's shirt and he was sound asleep in seconds.