SIMON'S POV

The first thing I heard was a thump behind me, followed by a male's voice with an unfamiliar American accent. A groan. "Somebody help." I jumped, spinning around to see a middle-aged man, presumably human, wearing a trench coat. His lower face was coated in brown stubble and his chocolate hair cropped short. The attractive gentleman was sprawled across the grassy earth, his small hands rubbed at his temples. I reached for the sacred hand to pull him up from the damp ground that was damp after the morning's slight rainshower. He thanked me, and I shrugged it off, eyeing him up. He was most definitely not a PDS sufferer. So what was he doing here with us, the PDS sufferers at work on the give-back scheme?

"I haven't seen you around here," I stated suspiciously. The man smiled, seeming to take pleasure in my thick Irish accent. I repeated the statement louder, and he replied,

"I'm Castiel," he introduced himself, and held out his hand again.

"Simon," I replied, taking his hand and momentarily feeling the many calluses, before he flinched and withdrew his hand. "You're a PDS."

"Well observed, Sherlock. Does that bother you?" I said accusingly. My voice remained calm as I couldn't afford another enemy. Not after my confrontation with Gary earlier.

"No. I've seen stranger things."

Just then, Kieren returned from giving a hand to some of the other workers. "Who are you talking to?" he asked. I gestured to Castiel, who looked strange amongst all of the pale faces.

"Who?" Kieren asked again, his eyebrows raising in concern. I pointed again to the man standing behind me. "This is Castiel."

Kieren furrowed his eyebrows. "There's nobody there, Simon. You aren't turning rabid on me, are you?" He said this in a joking manner, and I tried not to take offence.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. I turned to Castiel for an explanation, however he was staring at the ground, confusion etched upon his mature face.

"Castiel! What are you doing? I shouted, although I felt a tinge of regret looking at his innocent eyes, and with that, he vanished.

I spun around in bewilderment. The man had simply disappeared, there was no doubt about it. I could feel Kieren's pale white eyes boring into the back of my skull.

"Simon? You haven't gone and taken Blue Oblivion, have you? I know our breakup hurt you but I've apologised, there isn't much more I can do. I do care about you, Si," he said in a hushed tone.

"No, no, it's nothing like that, don't worry about it," I denied. "I.. I didn't get much sleep last night. I must have had a funny turn, I'm okay, really." I was trying to convince myself this as much as Kieren. We both stood motionless before he gave me a sad smile and turned back to his work. I entered a state of daydream. Kieren looked angelic, but there were moments when his angel was more fallen than flying.

As I attempted to draw my thoughts away from the wondrous man who was once mine, my limbs became heavy and soon all of my senses turned to blackness. I let out a half-conscious moan, reminiscent of waking up in my untreated state, before I passed out, where my fears soon drifted away.

-oo0oo-

He was having one of those dreams. The dreams where he wasn't entirely sure whether it was a dream or not, whether I was awake or in a deep trance. It felt like he was awake, staring into the blue sky above him. But Simon's head was fuzzy as if he was mid-dream. And the words he was hearing sounded vague and dreamy, almost as if an angel was speaking them. Simon let out a long, moaning sigh and tried to stand up, then wavered and fell to his scarred knees. One limp hand braced the base of a thick oak tree for support, the other shot out limply to reach out for Cas, the mysterious man who seemed to understand him. They were in a field together, the filed where Simon had been working with the give-back scheme, but everyone else had disappeared. Simon didn't question this, however, only focusing in Castiel. The way Castiel's gaze comforted him like nobody else could, not even Kieren's. It captivated him, made him want to be around the otherworldly man for the rest of eternity. Despite the familiarity of Castiel, Simon had no recollection of him. Something at the back of his mind tugged, telling him that associating eith Cas was a bad idea, that deep down he was dangerous. Nevertheless, Simon was relieved to see him, not even an hour had passed since their meeting, and he waslonging to see those green eyes and chestnut hair once more. Simon wanted to lock eyes with him again and feel the shiver of excitement, yes Cas' eyes drifted and would not focus on him.

"We can be together, Simon" The words did not come from Castiel's mouth, but were still spoken in his sweet voice. They entered Simon's mind directly, not needing to travel through the thick air that arrived with dreams. He felt closer to him than they had ever been before, though they were physically a world away. "There are some conditions that we need to follow, but after that, we can be together again. We can love each other without anybody else to interfere. Simon, we can make this work." Cas' voice, along with the apparition, fluttered away. Leaving Simon in a misty haze, only to jolt away.

-oo0oo-

I awoke in a dark in a dark setting. My location was difficult to decipher due to the pure darkness, covering me like a sheet, both blinding and suffocating me. I stood up slowly, as not to trip over. My attentiveness returned to me partly and I became aware of a slight green light being filtered from above. I was in a forest. As I tried in vain to recollect any memories of reaching this place, I felt a pressure push against my leg - my mobile phone vibrating in my back pocket. I quickly pulled it out, and felt a tingling sensation as I saw that it was Kieren, and then felt bad seeing the many missed calls over the period of two hours. I pondered over if I should answer it or not, to be truthful, I was scared. Scared of all the different possibilities. Would he be mad at me? How could I explain all of the strange happenings? But most of all, I was scared of him deeming me as untrustworthy. Kieren had problems, too, but how could he confess them to me, how could I console him, when I, myself, was turning into a monster?

"Simon, where are you? Si! Are you okay? What's going on?" Kieren's voice sounded more than worried. I hadn't realised I accepted the call for all of the thoughts running through my mind.

"Kieren, I.. I don't know where I am. I don't know how I got here! Kieren, help me!" I grew hysterical. "Kieren, I think I'm going mad, I don't remember how I ended up here." I didn't realise I was crying until I was full-on sobbing down the phone to him. I felt pathetic.

"Stay where you are! Don't move, I'm coming to get you." From the other end, I heard only the soothing sound of Kieren's breathing, and I knew he was going to save me.