I get bored and like to write. Tralalala~
They're not angels. They're just all human. Just so you know. Also an FYI, I know medical zippo besides what I can vaguely pick up from Scrubs, House, various cop shows, and John H. Watson, M.D., so bear with me here.
Any mistakes are my own; I don't have a beta. Unfortunately, that means this is probably riddled with typos that are invisible to me but glaringly obvious to you.
'So, without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, I give to you,' the story!
"Where're you off to, Cas?" Gabriel asked as his brother jerked the keys off of the hook by the door. Castiel stopped and sighed before turning to face Gabriel.
"I'm going to go visit the Winchesters. I told Sam that I would help him with his work today." Cas reached out and lifted his trench coat off of the coat rack.
"I'll come along, I'd love to see Sam." Gabriel heaved himself out of his armchair and made for the door. Cas sighed.
"I'm going to come home. I'm not going to look for Father." Cas told his brother, slipping his arms into his long coat. Gabriel just nodded, grabbing his own worn leather jacket and slipping into it.
"I know. I just want to see Sam." Gabriel took the keys out of Cas' hand. "You're not driving my baby."
Cas rolled his eyes and followed his brother out of the house. He supposed that Gabriel was right to worry; Castiel had only stopped leaving town for weeks at a time about a month ago. He had given up his search for their wayward father, finally caving and trusting Gabriel when his older brother told him that their father really had died. Uriel had moved out on his own a while ago, as had Raphael, Zachariah, Balthazar, Virgil, Rachel, Anna, Michael, and Lucifer. They were a big family. Joshua, too, had moved out, technically; he was living under the same absurd notion that Castiel had been, that their father was still out there. He claimed he got phone calls from their father's cell phone, which they had found under a baseboard recently and then realized that Joshua probably needed help. He was determined to find their father, and not be found himself in the process; no one had heard from him in a couple years, and they were all worried, but they also figured they would get a call if something bad happened to him. Now it was just Gabriel and Castiel left in the huge house that used to be occupied by the eleven siblings and their single father, and it had just recently stopped being just Gabriel alone in it when Castiel would leave.
Finally, Gabriel had convinced Castiel to stay at home and stop looking; he had convinced his brother that their father was either dead or long gone, and Castiel had finally accepted this. Gabriel had had a little help from the Winchesters, with whom the two Novak brothers spent the majority of their time. If Gabriel had his way, Castiel would be dating Dean Winchester and he himself would be dating Sam Winchester. He was getting absolutely sick and tired of Dean and Cas dancing around each other, even though they both clearly wanted a relationship with each other, and he was getting absolutely sick and tired of Sam looking like he wanted to flirt back with Gabe, even though he never did. It pissed the hell out of Gabriel, and he was going to do something about it if it was the last thing he did.
He just hopped over the door; it was a relatively warm May day, and he had a fantastic convertible, so why the hell not? Cas watched his brother leap in and tried the passenger side door handle; his brother, not needing to use the door, had not unlocked the doors. Cas leaped in as his brother did, trying not to get tangled in his trench coat and failing, landing in a heap on the seat. Gabriel laughed and just started up the car while his brother reorganized himself.
"Just going to see Dean?" Gabriel asked as they drove and Cas fumbled with his seat belt.
"I promised Sam that I would help with his work. Law is difficult." Cas hesitated for a moment. "Seeing Dean is just ... an added bonus."
"You two piss me off." Gabriel told him, glancing over at his brother as they drove. "Seriously. Just get on with it. Kiss him or something, at least let him know you're interested."
Castiel sighed and looked ahead, his eyes going wide. "Look out!"
Gabriel jerked his attention forward and swerved around a dog running across the road. Cas was breathing heavily, clutching the door handle and glaring daggers at his brother.
"Please keep your eyes on the road. You're a terrifying driver." Castiel muttered to Gabriel. Gabriel kept both of his hands on the wheel now and scowled.
"I'm not that bad." Gabriel grumbled. "Anyways, what were talking about? ... Right, how much you suck."
"I do not suck!" Cas shouted, letting go of the door handle and throwing his hands in the air. "This is ridiculous. I'll tell Dean how I feel in my own time, alright?"
"You must be able to see that he feels the same way, right?" Gabriel gave his brother a quick look and turned back to the road. "Right?"
"I don't think he does." Cas said quietly. Gabriel's eyebrow went up.
"You must be blind and deaf, my friend." Gabriel told him seriously as they pulled in the driveway of the Winchesters' tiny house. "Just try to lay down some foundation. You already have the groundwork of your obnoxious flirting. Start working on the foundation now, the beginning of a relationship."
"If you start with Sam, I'll start with Dean." Cas told him as he flung himself out of the car. Sam was poking his head out of the front door to see who was in the driveway, so Gabriel just made a face at his younger brother and leaped over the car door. He jogged up to the house, ruffling Sam's long hair and dragging the Sasquatch into the house. Cas followed more slowly, making his way into the house. Dean was at the door for him.
"Hey, Cas." Dean greeted him, slapping him on the back. Cas grinned at him and slipped his coat off, laying it gently onto the chair that held coats and et cetera. "What's up, man? What brings you by?"
"I told Sam I'd help him with his work." Cas slipped his shoes off and left them alongside the wall neatly; being neat was an old habit that was dying hard, and Dean rolled his eyes.
"What, I'm not good enough to get your attention?" Dean asked sarcastically, pushing past Cas to go into the living room where Sam was sitting on the sofa, his laptop on the coffee table in front of him and Gabriel sprawled all over him. "You gonna let my brother get some work done, or just be pains in our asses for several hours before wandering home?"
"I'll do that last part, and Cassie can take care of helping Sammy get some work done." Gabriel answered, leaning forward and playing with Sam's long hair.
"Don't call me Sammy!" Sam exclaimed at the same time Cas muttered, "Do not call me Cassie."
"Well, just get some work done. I'm gonna go grab a beer." Dean told them as he wandered off towards the kitchen. Cas sat down beside Sam and started helping him along.
"Alright, I think that's it." Sam announced six hours later. He leaned back on the sofa with a sigh; Gabriel had been laying spread-eagle on the floor, playing with Sam's socks, but when he heard Sam speak he crawled back onto the couch drowsily. Cas yawned widely and looked down at Dean, who had, at some point, curled around Castiel on the sofa and fallen asleep. Cas smiled at him fondly and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Dean, we're done." Cas said softly. Dean didn't respond, so Cas just slipped out of his grip as gently as he could so as to not wake Dean. He turned to Sam, stretching out his limbs and popping his joints. He turned to Sam and whispered, "I'll just leave a note for him saying goodbye. He gets frustrated if I don't tell him I'm leaving."
"Understandably, since you just kept leaving for a solid three or four years there and just stopped about eighteen days ago." Gabriel muttered, rolling off the sofa onto the floor. "Do we have to leave? Can't we just crash here?"
"Not tonight, Gabe. You have work tomorrow. Come on, I'll drive." Cas heaved his tired brother up off the floor, but he was met with a glare.
"You are not driving my baby, Castiel James Novak. I'll sooner fight you for her then just let you drive her." Gabriel stood up by himself and went to get his jacket and shoes. Cas gave Sam a tired smile, getting one back in return.
"Thanks, Cas. That would've been completely wrong and taken at least twice as long without you." Sam stood up, stretching his arms above him. "Drive safe, alright?"
"You got it, Sammy." Gabriel leaned in, giving Sam a kiss on the cheek. Sam scowled and blushed at the same time; Cas just rolled his eyes and went for the notepad and pen at the edge of the coffee table, scrawling out a note for Dean saying that he had to go and he would see Dean tomorrow. He ripped it off the pad, folded it up, and gently slipped it into Dean's shirt pocket.
"We'll see you tomorrow." Cas told Sam as he slipped his shoes and coat back on. Gabriel grumbled and went outside to start the car, Cas following.
"It's dark and you're tired, I'll drive." Cas insisted, but Gabe made a face.
"We'll be fine, don't worry your pretty little head, brother." Gabe started the car just fine, so Castiel got in the passenger side just as before and they took off down the road, engine snarling. Gabe grinned and leaned back in the seat; Cas fumbled with the seat belt before just giving up and letting it hang back.
"Listen to that engine, Cas. It's beautiful." Gabriel sighed, flicking the headlights to high beams since the road was free of cars. "Like an angelic choir."
"Yeah, yeah. Dean's the same with the Impala." Cas smiled a little at the thought of Dean and his car as he watched the trees pass in the darkness. "What time is it?"
Gabriel looked down at the clock. "It's eleven-"
"Holy shit, Gabriel, watch the road!" Cas shouted, and Gabriel turned his attention back to the road, luckily just in time to swerve away from a young woman crossing in the middle of it. Unluckily, he swerved too far and went careening off the road into a tree. He heard Cas shout something that was incoherent and saw something move past him in his peripheral vision before it all went black.
"Oh my god, you're bleeding. Oh my god. Can you hear me? Sir? Oh my god, please wake up, please." A tearful woman's voice was breaking into Gabriel's skull. He lifted his head groggily and squinted.
"What happened?" Gabriel asked, trying to blink away the blackness, which was fading with reassuring speed.
"You swerved to avoid me, thank you, thank you, but you crashed and-" The woman was tripping over and sobbing through her words before Gabriel jerked up.
"Crashed? Into what?" Gabriel squinted again. "Is my car okay?"
"It's all scrunched in the front. Are you okay? Do you want me to call someone? I already called 9-1-1, but do you have family or something I could call?" The woman's voice was rising with panic. She was pulling her jacket off and pressing it to Gabriel's head, which he just realized was the body part she had been freaking out about when he first heard her.
"No one nearby, just Cas and-" Gabriel immediately sat straight up and looked at the passenger side. No Cas. "Where's Cas?"
"There was someone else in the car?" The woman started looking around her, head snapping back and forth. Her hands were shaking like crazy. "I didn't see anyone-"
"Cas didn't buckle himself in, holy shit." Gabriel breathed as he remembered. He pushed the woman away from him and forced himself over the messed-up door and out of the car. "Help me find-"
"Oh my god." The woman whispered behind him as they found Cas. He had flown out of the car and collided with the tree before sliding to the ground right in front of the car, half under the vehicle. Gabriel's breath caught in his throat; without taking his eyes off his brother as he heard the sirens approach, he fished his - thankfully still working and not mangled - cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to the woman.
"Please call Sam Winchester and tell him what happened." Gabriel said softly. The woman nodded and hurried to do as she was told. Gabriel took the shaky steps to reach his brother and pulled him out from under the car as gently as he could.
Cas didn't move, didn't wince, didn't even do so much as breathe as he was being moved. The sirens got closer, but Gabriel didn't register them any longer. He just let the world move around him while he held onto his brother.
"Please let us by, we know them, we're-" Gabriel looked up when he heard Sam's voice pleading with a police officer he did not want to let the Winchesters onto the scene.
"They're the closest we got to family right now, officer. Please let them through." Gabriel called from the stretcher the paramedics were keeping him strapped to while they made bandages for now that they would replace once he had been transported to the hospital. The officer let the two men in, but she didn't look happy about it. The Winchesters rushed to Gabriel, Dean looking around anxiously.
"Gabe, man, we're so glad you're alright." Sam pat Gabriel's shoulder carefully.
"Where's Cas?" Dean demanded, his voice strong, terrified, and hostile.
"In the third ambulance, trying to have his heart restarted." Gabriel wouldn't look at the brothers.
"No." Dean said only one word, but even the paramedics looked up at him from the weight of the one word. "No, you're lying, you son of a bitch, this isn't funny!"
"Dean-" Sam began, but Dean cut him off, his face turning beat red and his eyes full of tears.
"This ... this son of a bitch, he's saying ... Cas ..." One tear rolled down Dean's face before he forced himself into Gabriel's line of vision. "What the hell happened?"
"I wasn't looking, and Cas yelled to look out, so I swerved to avoid a woman in the road-" Gabriel motioned to the woman who was wrapped in a bright orante blanket on the steps of one of the ambulances, being treated for shock. "And I hit a tree, and Cas wasn't wearing his belt because that belt's messed up and he always gets frustrated with it, I should've fixed it-"
"You couldn't have known." Sam said comfortingly. Dean was almost growling with anger and fear.
"He looked so ... Sam, he looked do different. He just flew out of the car and collided head-first with the tree. He just ... crumpled. He crumpled and got stuck under the car. He wasn't breathing when I got to him. Sam." Gabriel looked up at the taller of the two Winchester brothers. "Sam, he looked so broken."
"He'll be okay, Gabe. I promise." Sam ran his hand through Gabriel's hair, sticky with blood. He grimaced slightly, but kept going.
Dean clenched his fists tightly and stormed away. Sam turned to see his brother disappear behind the trees, punching at the trunks as hard as he could before falling to his knees on the earth, curling up in on himself. Sam sighed and looked back down at Gabriel.
"I'm scared, Sam." Gabriel said quietly, staring straight ahead at nothing. If Sam was being honest, he was scared, too; he had never seen Gabriel so serious, and that was terrifying him more than anything else.
"It's okay, Gabe. I'm scared, too." Sam bent down and pressed a kiss to Gabriel's head without thinking about it. Gabriel tipped his head up to look at Sam, one eyebrow raised.
"You wanna run that by me again, cowboy?" Gabriel had the faintest hint of a smile. Sam looked confused.
"I said-"
"I know what you said." Gabriel cut him off. "Do that again. Kiss me again, Sasquatch."
Sam laughed once. "Why?"
"You know exactly the answer to that. Don't play dumb, lawboy." Gabriel smiled at Sam. Sam made a split-second decision, just so he could keep the smile there, and kissed him. The paramedics looked confused as they were trying to bandage Gabriel, but waited a few moments, since his situation wasn't dire.
"Mr. Novak, I hate to interrupt, but..." A tall, red-haired, slim man that was new to Sam but seemed startlingly familiar to Gabriel was standing beside them.
"He's the paramedic who got to my brother first." Gabriel told San before turning back to the paramedic. "What's going on?"
"Well, his heart started beating again." The ginger paramedic smiled at Gabriel with what seemed like all the happiness he could muster. Gabriel grinned widely.
"Oh, thank Jesus, he's okay." Gabriel let his head fall back on the stretcher. Sam pat his shoulder and looked back at the paramedic.
"Is he going to be okay?" Sam asked. The man shuffled slightly before answering, making Gabriel's head snap back up, worried.
"He's not responding otherwise. We don't know if he'll be okay. But he's alive, and for now, that's fantastic." The paramedic smiled slightly. "We're going to the hospital now, okay?"
"Yeah, that's good." Gabriel adjusted himself slightly on the stretcher. "Sam and Dean can come, right?"
"Yes, but one of them will have to ride up front with the driver." The paramedic told them. Dean came shuffling back then, and Sam looked at him, worried.
"We're going to the hospital, okay? Want to ride up front, or in back with Gabe?" Sam asked. Dean frowned at him.
"Why can't I ride with Cas?" Dean asked angrily. Sam reached out to grip his brother's shoulder; Dean jerked back, and Sam put his hands up like a criminal.
"He's not really here, Dean. Guy says he's not responding. We just have to let them do their job." Sam told him calmly. Dean immediately turned and went off towards the ambulances.
"Is this the one with Castiel Novak?" He demanded of the first paramedic he saw. The man looked confused, but nodded. Dean went to open the door, and the paramedic tried to stop him, attempting to step in front of him.
"Sir, you can't go in there!" The man tried to push him back, but Dean just pushed him away.
"I just need to see him. Please." Dean looked at the man, pleading with him silently. The man opened his mouth to protest again, but closed it, cocking his head in a way that made Dean's heart ache a little.
"How are you related to Mr. Novak?" The man asked. Dean tried not to get over-excited.
"I, uh... I'm his best friend." Dean leaned in slightly. "If it helps my case, I'll tell you something I ain't told nobody before." The man just stared back at Dean, so Dean continued. "I'm in love with him."
The man stared at Dean for a few moments before just nodding. "Do not tell anybody. You can see him really quickly. Okay?"
Dean nodded back at him and allowed the paramedic to open the door. Dean stepped on the stair into the back of the ambulance and just stopped moving. There was Castiel, not moving, strapped onto a stretcher and hooked to a crowd of machines; he was wrapped up in bandages, but the worst part to Dean was his head, his face. His curly black hair was a mess, either hidden by the bandages wrapped around his skull or plastered to his head with blood, sweat, or both. He had cuts that had been stitched together all over his face, bruises littering his pale skin, and he looked whiter than usually. His face was ashen, his lips white, and his eyes were closed.
His energetic best friend was completely still, completely quiet; he wasn't looking at Dean with disapproval for forcing his way into the ambulance, he wasn't giving him that confused look and asking why Dean cared so much. Dean just went back down the step, backed away. He didn't look at the paramedic, didn't thank him, just went back to Sam and Gabriel. He didn't want to remember that, that was the last thing he wanted to see. He would've just kept walking in this haze if Sam hadn't stopped him.
"Hey, Dean, I-" Sam began, but Dean just fell to his knees on the ground and put his head in his hands. Sam was kneeling beside him, saying something quickly and trying to shake him, and Gabriel was asking questions loudly, but Dean zoned away from them.
Castiel pulled up to the driveway of his home, the home Dean had always imagined having someday, despite the childhood he had had; it even had a white picket fence that Dean had insisted on putting up right when they had first bought the house after getting engaged. It was still up and bright white all these years later. He parked the car, the Impala Dean loved so much, got out of it, and looked up at the house.
If you thought "American house", this is the house you would think of. Two floors plus the attic and the basement, a garage. Bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, kitchen, everything that someone could want in a house. Dean had loved it the first time they met it, the perfect example of a house that has a happy family in it. Cas smiled as he looked at it; Dean had definitely got it right. The happiest family he had ever seen lived in that house.
Cas grabbed the plastic bag out of the back seat of the car, shutting the door behind him and locking the car. He smiled at the fresh, messily-planted flowers lining the walkway to the door. He was expecting the usual immediate assault as soon as he opened the front door, and he got it.
His three small daughters slid across the wood floor, tripping over each other and slipping in their socks in their rush to reach him. His small son followed behind, and Dean behind him, looking down at their son warily.
"Hello!" Cas put the bag down beside the door and allowed himself to be climbed all over. The youngest, two-year-old Rosangela, had hurled herself into his arms; three-year-old Samantha was clinging to his neck, and five-year-old Mary was attempting to scale his body, starting with the left leg. Four-year-old Robert hung back, and Cas looked at him with confusion. "What's wrong, Bobby?"
"Bobby got in trouble today for pulling Rosie's hair." Dean told his husband. Cas tsked and held his free arm out, the one that was not holding up Rosie.
"Come here, Bobby." Cas said softly. Bobby shuffled closer and allowed his father to pick him up. "Now, what'd you do that for?"
Bobby averted his bright blue eyes and shrugged. "I dunno."
"You do know, though. Remember, we talked about lying." Cas leaned his forehead against his son's to stop him from looking around, forcing Bobby to look at him. "Now, why did you do it?"
"She said she was going to have a tea party, and I wanted to play, but I didn't want to at the same time because it's a girl's game, so I got upset." Bobby frowned. "I wish I hadn't done it."
"Did you apologize?" Cas asked. Bobby looked at his sister in his father's other arm, and Cas removed his head from his son's.
"I'm sorry, Rosie." Bobby seemed unusually genuine for a four-year-old, but all four children were somewhat unusual. Rosie leaned over and kissed Bobby's cheek.
"I forgive you." Rosie smiled at her older brother before looking up at her father. "Daddy, didja see the flowers? Aren't they pretty?"
"Very pretty, Rosie." Cas kissed her head, and Dean came over to kiss Cas.
"I will never understand how you do that. He's just been pouting at me for hours." Dean frowned for a moment. "You didn't drug him, did you?"
"We made a promise that we wouldn't do that when Mary was born, Dean." Cas smiled and leaned in to kiss him again. "How was your day?"
"Long. Very, very long." Dean looked put-out, and Cas picked up on that, as he picked up on everything. "Haven't even got a call from Sam or Bobby or anyone. How was your day?"
"Don't remember. Trying to focus on right now." Cas winced slightly as his hair got pulled by Sami readjusting herself on his back.
"Must've been pretty bad, then. You usually only do that when it was a pretty bad day." Dean kissed him again. "I'm mad at you."
"Why? What did I do?" Cas pulled back slightly, and Mary had succeeded in getting to his waist before sliding back down again.
"You made me into a stay-at-home mom." Dean stepped back and looked at his husband, still wearing his suit and trench coat, and covered in children. "You, on the other hand ... Bet you never imagined this."
"Not once, I can assure you." Cas smiled at him. "I love you."
"I love you." Dean grinned before looking down, realizing Cas had brought something in with him. "What's in the bag?"
Cas smiled and leaned in close to Dean's ear, whispering as low as he could so the spider-monkey children could not hear, "That's for you for later. I suggest you get to it before the kids do."
Dean leaned down and picked it up quickly; he started to leave before turning back around. "Cas?"
"Yes?" Cas looked back up at Dean, but the whole scene was wavering, shaky, like a mirage; Cas frowned. "What's going on?"
"Cas?" Dean repeated, just louder now. "Cas, are you awake?"
"I'm awake, Dean, you can see me!" Cas was shouting now, and he suddenly felt light; he looked down, and the children were gone from him, all four of them. He really started to panic now. "Dean!"
"Cas?" Dean had disappeared, and all he could hear was Dean's voice. The scene fell away, leaving completely darkness. Cas was panicking, trying to look around for something, finding nothing. His head jerked, and he felt a shot of pain through his skull. "Cas, are you okay? Are you awake?"
"Dean?" Cas felt like he was resurfacing from a long time underwater. There was a long moment of silence, and Cas forced his eyes open, taking a deep breath. Everything was blurry, fuzzy, like it was coming into focus from the scene before. "Was that a dream?"
Dean laughed from somewhere near him, somewhere on his left. "The crash?"
"Crash?" Suddenly, memories came flooding into his mind with almost painful force. "Oh. Is Gabriel-"
"Gabe's fine." Sam's voice came from his right. "I've been seeing to it."
"We named our daughter after you, Sam." Cas said, sounding strange even to himself. His vision was clearing now, returning to normal.
"What's he talking about?" Dean asked, looking at his brother over the hospital bed. Sam shrugged.
"I've been listening to everything you have." Sam answered back. "You thinking straight, Cas?"
"In my dream. There were four kids. There was Samantha, Rosangela, Robert, and Mary." Cas told them both. They exchanged another look.
"I hope these kids had nicknames, they're mouthfuls. Rosangela?" Dean laughed nervously. Cas turned his head slightly to look at him.
"I named her. We called her Rosie. Sami, Rosie, Bobby, and Mary." Cas closed his eyes tightly, feeling a rising overwhelming headache. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Few days. Lost count." Dean yawned and looked out the window. "It's almost night."
"Dean hasn't slept much. Or at all." Sam stood up from his chair; Cas winced at the screeching sound it made. "I'm gonna get some coffee. Be right back."
Cas heard his footsteps track away and the door shut behind Sam. He opened his eyes again to look at Dean. "Can you lean down here?"
"Why? Come on, man, don't make this into some chick flick where you say you've always loved me and then you die." Dean shifted forwards anyways, despite his words, and leaned down closer to Cas. "Yeah?"
"In my dream, we were married." Cas told him quietly, like the walls might overhear. Dean looked surprised. "We had a house, and kids, and a life together, Dean. I hope you realize how strange that all is for me."
"Yeah, I do." Dean shifted uncomfortably in his hard hospital chair. "Why are you telling me?"
"Dean, I would give up anything for you. I fell in love with you when I didn't think I could ever loce anyone. You were always there, no matter what I was going through." Cas felt the weight of this familiar speech hanging between them. "I hope you also realize how strange that all was, too."
Dean closed his eyes. "What're you doin', Cas?"
"I have no idea." Cas leaned up slightly and kissed Dean with as much force as he could. His body was weak and tired, but Castiel was determined to show Dean exactly how he felt. Suddenly, Cas winced and fell back down.
"What's wrong?" Dean sat back slightly. Cas frowned and looked down at his hand.
"I tried to reach my hand up and this tube thing came out of it." Cas moved his hand again. "That hurts."
"Well, shit, Cas. Way to go. Just love ruining moments, don't you?" Dean reached over and pressed a small button attached to the bed.
"I am sorry, Dean." Cas fidgeted slightly. "There is a lot of pain."
"Don't be sorry." Dean leaned down again and kissed Castiel fiercely. "I'm glad you had that dream, hm?"
"Me, too." Cas looked down at his hand again, realizing it had white bandaging on it. "How badly was I injured?"
"You died for a little bit there." Dean told him honestly; he was staring down at his hands now. "Gabe said you were dead when he found you. You just have this incredible resilience, don't you?"
"You're one to talk, Dean Winchester." Cas shifted again in pain. "I'm very tired."
"Go to sleep, then." Dean leaned down and kissed him again. Cas kissed him back before nodding.
"I think I will." Cas closed his eyes again and drifted off. Dean would be lying if he said he wasn't upset that Cas willingly chose to fall asleep and leave him again; he understood that that probably wasn't how Cas thought of it, but that's how he thought of it, ridiculous as it was.
"Did he fall back asleep?" Sam's sudden, deep voice made Dean jump.
"Jesus, Sam, don't sneak up on me." Dean reached up and took one of the two coffees from Sam.
"I didn't. I knocked and made noises and everything. You just kept staring at Cas." Sam sat down again, taking a long drink from his coffee. "What'd he say?"
"He said ... a lot of stuff." Dean said, suddenly wanting to keep it private in case Cas woke up later and realized he had just been babbling half-awake nonsense and took it all back. "We'll talk more later."
"He's okay, though?" Sam asked. Dean leaned back in his seat, taking a drink of his coffee and closing his eyes.
"He's okay." Dean said quietly. Sam readjusted himself in the chair and drank some more.
"Castiel James Novak, you buckle your goddamn ass into that seat or so help me, you will walk." Gabriel threatened as the two brothers climbed into the car that he and Dean had just finished repairing. Cas rolled his eyes, tossing his cane in the back seat and buckling himself in.
"I'm perfectly safe now, see? No more literal head-on collisions with trees for me, as long as you keep your eyes on the road, Gabriel." Cas adjusted the seat belt. Gabriel scowled.
"It's not funny, Cas. You could've died." Gabriel sighed. "When did you start making more jokes than me?"
Cas was almost bouncing in his seat, his small frame buzzing with excitement. "It's a good day, Gabe."
"Yeah, well." Gabriel pulled out of the driveway carefully, keeping his eyes on the road. He was excited to see Cas so excited about something, moving so much. He had spent too much time worrying he wouldn't see that again. "Would be better if I didn't have to wear this ridiculous suit."
Cas leaned back in his seat. "I think you look good."
Gabriel laughed. "Has anyone told you you've loosened up quite a bit since the accident?"
"Dean keeps telling me." Cas looked down at his hand and fingered his ring.
"Having doubts?" Gabriel asked, casting a quick glance at his brother and his anxious hands before turning back to the road. "We can just skip town, there's still time."
"Gabriel." Castiel's voice was full of disapproval. "Don't be an ... asshat."
"Learn that one from Dean, did we?" Gabriel laughed. Cas nodded.
"I have no doubts, Gabriel. I couldn't be more excited." Castiel looked out the window again. "Oh, god, this is going to be..."
"The best day of your life so far." Gabriel supplied for him as they pulled up to the church. Dean immediately was at the car and opening the door for Cas.
"Ready to get married?" Dean asked, waiting for Cas to grab his cane before helping him out of the car.
"Of course." Cas leaned heavily on his cane and gave Dean a kiss. Dean grinned and kissed him back happily.
And there you have it! If I get enough reviews from people who want it, I might continue this, but I can't see myself continuing it of my own ... free will. ;D