Castiel watched the world continue, the people were oblivious to the fact that it almost hadn't. Some laughed and joked with each other while others avoided eye contact as they hurried to their destinations. Above all at the end of each day nearly all of them had some place to go and relax and someone waiting for them,
A feeling passed over him and he didn't like it, Loneliness. Castiel realised he missed Deans annoying habit of having an answer for everything, he missed Sam always trying to do what he believed to be the right thing. He missed the way the humans always fought with every last breath when something was important to them no matter the odds. He even missed the way Bobby looked at him as if it had been his fault when he was in wheelchair. Castiel could still see them all from heaven but it wasn't the same so he began to form a plan.
First he came back to earth despite the fact it was now forbidden and he pulled his old friend from hell.
"Castiel" Sam gasped as he realised he was no longer in hell.
"No need to thank me" Castiel said and was gone before Sam could respond.
Back in heaven Castiel was summoned by his superiors as expected. He knew he had broken the rules by returning to earth and by bringing Sam back from hell. Now it was time for the second part of his plan.
Without giving himself time to change his mind he cut out his grace and began falling. He was surprised by the speed at which he fell to earth, he had known it would be fast but he hadn't been prepared for this. His last thought before he blacked out was that even though he would never remember any of this he was doing the right thing. Been human had been hard but been an angel and watching the world go on without him was even harder.
One month later
It had taken Dean a few days to believe Sam was really back and not evil, possessed or a shape shifter but once it had sunk in, Lisa had helped him get a place nearby for Sam to stay.
They were both finally living the kind of lives that they had given up on a long time ago. Dean with Lisa and Ben and his part out job at the local garage while Sam had been accepted on a Law internship.
"Sam we have some news" Dean tried to hide his excitement as he and Lisa sat across the kitchen table from him "We're having a baby"
"Wow! Sam looked genuinely surprised "Congratulations" he knew how much this meant to Dean to have someone of his own to look after "How far on..?" he began
"One month" Lisa answered "