Castiel suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. As soon as he was visible, it was clear that something was very wrong. He staggered to the floor with a grunt, clutching his head with his jaw clenched in pain.

'Cas! Are you okay? What happened?' Dean asked sharply, lifting the angel under the arms and hauling him onto the bed.

'It was Michael, he tore my wing.'

'He tore your wing?' Sam repeated, his eyebrows raised. 'Somehow I forgot you had those.'

'Stand back,' Castiel insisted feebly, and, after exchanging a look, both Sam and Dean complied.

Once they were about six feet away, Castiel closed his eyes and a pair of great feathery black wings became tangible before them, each wing raised to the ceiling at least fifteen feet apart. The room seemed to shrink into their sheer size.

'Whoa,' Dean breathed, following their length with his eyes.

Seeing Castiel, that awkward man in his trench coat, sitting at the base of these two majestic wings made Dean look at the angel in a different light. It was a sad and yet beautiful sight; too often did Dean forget how powerful Castiel really was. The wings seemed to say it all.

'There,' said Cas, wincing slightly as he raised his arm to point to where a few feathers stuck out at an odd angle, stuck together with congealed blood. 'That's where he grabbed me. I can't reach, would one of you –?'

'Ah, sure,' shrugged Dean, attempting nonchalance despite being desperately curious.

'I'll, erm, go grab the first aid kit from the car,' said Sam.

He cast Cas another look of surprise before exiting the room.

'So, what happened?' Dean pressed.

'Michael didn't want me to leave. He tried to force me but I got away.'

Castiel slumped against the pillows with his neck crooked at an odd angle. Dean looked over in alarm.

'Hey,' he murmured, grabbing a pillow from the other bed to put under the angel's head. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm still seeing double but that may be the painkillers,' he replied, his voice weak and croaky.

'You took aspirin?'

Castiel nodded.

'Three,' he said.

'It wouldn't take three to mess with you head –'

'Three boxes.'

'Oh.'

Dean squatted down by his head, his hand lingering on Castiel's wrist. The angel was staring right at him but his eyes kept shifting in and out of focus. Dean couldn't help but notice how Cas's long black wings folded in around him as though of their own accord; it was as though he and Cas were suddenly locked away, hidden from the world in their own little bubble, perfectly private and alone together.

'Well, you don't have to worry about anything except getting yourself back together,' Dean told him firmly, stroking his thumb over Castiel's skin. 'I'm gonna take care of you.'

'I know,' Castiel mumbled. 'I was never worried.'

A bubble of blood burst at the corner of his mouth and Dean raised his hand to wipe the trickle away. The tip of his forefinger hovered at Castiel's lips, a mere inch above them, as a boiling urge seized hold of Dean and told him to touch the angel's mouth again. Desire throbbed through his body as he stared at Cas's slightly parted lips. He looked up and received a bolt of shock upon realising Cas was still looking at him; something burned behind the angel's eyes as he drank in Dean's indecision. A wall came crashing down – no, it dissolved between them as Dean's breath washed over Castiel's neck, as his hand smoothed over his jaw to hold his face firmly in place for the moment they had both privately been anticipating for a very long time.

'I got it,' said Sam's hurried voice, and the tension shattered immediately.

Castiel's wings unfolded so quickly he knocked the bedside lamp to the floor where it smashed.

'Whoops,' he croaked. 'One of the main reasons I never have these out.'

Sam began bandaging the damaged wing but Dean was preoccupied by the thoughts that now consumed his mind. He sat back and watched Sam's progress without really seeing it. Castiel was a friend – more like a brother, nothing more; then why did Dean feel suddenly so overwhelmed with the desire to touch the guy?

He looked up at Cas and saw the angel looking back at him. Castiel smiled a serene sort of smile, and Dean could not help but smile back. They both were well aware that their brief encounter was far from over.