Dean is woken up by nothing in particular at 3:15 in the morning. He rubs his eyes and looks at the clock. "Ugh," he groans. He hates waking up so early; he's lucky is he can fall asleep once. He does his routine check of the shitty motel room. Sam sleeping in the bed opposite to his, Cas sitting on the couch, trying to stay awake and watch over Dean, refusing to accept the fact that he will have to go to sleep sooner or later. But Cas isn't on the couch. Dean sits up and looks around the small room; Cas is nowhere to be found.
Dean scrawls a note to Sam saying he took the Impala and will be back soon. He quietly gets out of bed and leaves the room. Unlike Sam, Dean always sleeps in his clothes in case they need to leave quickly. Dean insists it's a safety precaution, but Sam correctly identifies it as complete paranoia.
Dean starts up the impala, though there is no way to do this quietly. He pulls out of the motel parking lot and starts driving down the back road.
Fifteen minutes pass, then twenty. No sign of Cas. Dean tries blasting some ACDC to calm himself down- how far could Cas have gone?- but it doesn't work. He's more worried than he'd like to admit. Half an hour after Dean began his search, he sees a figure hobbling through the fog. Getting closer, he sees that it is a drunken Cas.
"Cas, man, what the hell are you doing?" Dean yells out the window, relieved to see him but pissed at Cas for giving him such a scare. To his disappointment, Cas says nothing and continues meandering down the road. "Cas, just get in the damn car." Still no answer.
With a sigh, Dean slows to a stop and gets out of the impala, catching up with Castiel.
"Cas." Dean grabs his arm and turns him around. The ex-angel's eyes are red and puffy, it's obvious he's been crying. He looks even worse than when Dean saw him last; his unshaven face dirty and wet. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Go back, Dean." A tear escapes Cas' eye and he continues walking, freeing his arm from Dean's grasp. Dean sighs. This is going to be difficult.
Cas continues walking, Dean following closely behind, until Cas almost falls over. Dean catches him just in time, and Cas shows no effort in trying to keep his footing.
"Cas, will you just tell me what the hell-" Dean stops short when he sees Cas' face. He had never seen him cry before; not like this. Castiel's mouth was pouting like that of a child. His eyes were wet and squinted, and he was gasping for air.
"Don't act like you don't know why I'm here, Dean," Cas manages to say in a hoarse voice.
Dean throws his arms up, at a loss. "I really don't."
Cas shuts his eyes tight as his sobbing contorts his mouth. "I'm not an angel anymore."
Dean waits for Cas to finish, but there does not seem to be a follow up. "Yeah? What's your point?" he asks, breaking the silence.
"You and Sam, you don't need me anymore. I'm nothing."
Dean is taken aback and struggles to find the right words. "Cas, you are everything." It comes out a bit more emotional than he had hoped, but it stops Cas from crying so hard. "Please just come back to the motel."
Cas says nothing but begins walking alongside Dean in the direction of the Impala. Without any warning, Dean slips his hand into Cas's. Dean is dumbstruck at his own action, but not for long. At that moment, everything was perfect.