Author's note: This story started as a little one-shot I wrote to celebrate my one year anniversary of FFNet membership on April 30th. I contracted influenza, however, and that meant missing school, which meant my laptop was taken away for much of this week. Then, there was last Wednesday's episode, which ended with Dean almost running over Cas. In my story, I had originally had him out of juice saving Dean from exsanguination, but then I saw the episode and voila. Happy one year of fanfiction to me~!

"Cas? You okay? Talk to me, Cas." Dean clutched Cas on the cold pavement, careful not to jostle him too badly for fear of injuring him.

"Is this what it's like to be human?" Cas gazed up at Dean, glassy-eyed and weary.

"What are you talking about, man?" Dean was unsure whether to cry from relief or slap Cas until he started making sense. Sam leaned against the Impala, feeling as if he'd be intruding if he came closer.

"Help me, Dean. I got shot." Cas is giggling, eyes glassy and feverish. "Got a melted knife bullet to the stomach were I hid the Word," he babbles.

"Um, Dean? I hate to, uh, interrupt, but, uh, there's a car coming." Sam finally wandered closer to his friend and his brother.

"Let's get you home, Cas."

"He almost got her with a knife bullet. I hate him but he hates her and she flew away," Cas was in hysterics. "At a restaurant I got a lot of coffee and they burned out their eyes. Told me to stop." Dean dragged him to the car, motioning for Sam to sit in the back with Cas, to keep him upright.

"Dude, I think he's in shock or something," Sam said, eyebrows knit together.

"Can angels, like, do that?"

"I dunno, but you almost turned him into holy roadkill."

"I got a melted knife bullet." Cas grinned. Blood was flowing from his nose now. He held something out for Sam to see.

"Uh, that's nice, Cas, but you need to get in the car." Dean all but shoved him into the backseat and Sam fumbled with the seat belt.

"Cas, what happened?" Sam asked as Dean turned the key in the ignition. The Impala rumbled to life and they were back on their way.

"I sat at a lot of those turducken places." Cas clutched his bloodied torso in one hand and opened his button-down with the other, trying to assess the damage.

"Turducken?" Dean repeated incredulously.

"You mean Biggerson's?" Sam asked.

"Yes. They've got thousands and Naomi can't tell what city I sat at," the angel slurred, poking at his open wound. Sam slapped his hands away, inspecting the damage.

"You look like a surgical dummy," the younger Winchester said.

"And then what, Cas?"

"They bled everyone's eyes and the coffee lady told me to stop so they snapped her neck. She was nice. I told her about the goats."

"The goats?" Dean sighed. "Cas, are you cuckoo for cocoa puffs again?"

"No, they found coffee beans, not 'cocoa puffs', Dean," he said, giggling. Sam bunched up the bloodied remnants of Cas's shirt and pressed it to his side.

"Apply pressure to that, Cas. Keep talking."

"So then Naomi was talking about Pesach and she wanted my tablet. But I didn't give it to her."

"Pay-sack?" Dean enunciated.

"Passover," supplied Sam. "When all of the Jewish families in Egypt put lamb's blood over their doors so that the angel of death would move on to the next house in their quest for firstborns."

"Were you there?" Dean asked, a little awed.

"I don't know. Naomi scrambled things up a lot."

"Okay, so you talked about killing Egyptian kids. Then what?" Dean asked impatiently.

"I wouldn't let her get the tablet."

"And she shot you?"

"No. Crowley showed up and shot her friends with his knife gun."

"Knife gun?" Sam repeated.

"He turned a knife into bullets. He shot me."

"Wait. Crowley was there? And he shot you?" Dean shook his head.

"He almost got her, Dean. So close," Cas wheezed.

"Dean, maybe we should let him rest," Sam ventured.

"Cas, are you gonna live for the next hour or so?"

"Yeah. I got the bullet out. I'll be fine."

Five minutes later Cas was hunched against the window, snoring lightly. Sam was nodding off, exhaustion setting in. Dean waited until they were both asleep to take a good look in the backseat. He watched his brother and his best friend slumber for a few minutes, silently thanking whatever god was listening that they were both still alive and breathing and that they were all together.

For now, at least.