OK, this is just gonna be a few chapters of one-shots. Hopefully I'll be updating every couple of days (or maybe every day if people like it). c:

Dean prays hard for Cas, because Cas has been gone for a month now. And Dean knows that Cas can't hear him, because Cas is human, and Cas is probably hungry and cold and alone.

Dean drops to the ground, clutching his knees, huddling with dull eyes. Dean can feel his brother watching from the corner of the room, his brow furrowed but his face cleared of blood and his body healed from the trials.

Cas. Cas, come back to me. Cas, bud, are you listening?

But there is no shadow of movement, no Cas.

Dean rocks back and forth on the carpet, not letting himself cry.

"We'll keep looking for him, man," Sam says, his voice resilient. "We're not going to give up until we find him."

Dean nods.

…

Castiel has taken to walking on the sides of big roads. He remembers roads like these, but he can't remember where they were leading, or who he was traveling with.

He'd woken up a month ago on the ground with one word in his mouth. One name. Dean. Maybe he'd been traveling with a man named Dean.

But he doesn't remember anything else except the color of Dean's eyes. Green, green like summer grass. He'd left the place he was in, scouring the roads for this Dean. He can feel the memory of Dean, but he can't see him in his mind's eye. His chest hurts when he thinks about it.

Since he woke up he's been to many places, many dingy towns alongside his wide roads with pavement faded and overused. Castiel likes to imagine the stories of people in the cars. His favorite scenario is pretending two young brothers drive an old car across the country. He wonders where that scene came from, because he truly can't remember.

…

Dean watches Sam come out of the hospital empty-handed.

"I'm sorry, Dean," says his brother apologetically as he gets into the passenger seat of Dean's Impala. Dean's heart sinks to his toes. "He might not even be in a hospital, Dean. He could be walking around, so we just gotta pay real close attention to the roads."

"Somebody's gonna catch on to the fact that we're the Winchesters," Dean muses, his voice miserable. "And that we're looking for him. Then I'm never gonna see him again."

Dean can feel that Sam is looking at him anxiously. Dean rolls his eyes, but his throat burns. "I'm okay, Sammy. Just worried."

"Yeah," his brother mutters skeptically. "Just worried."

Dean smiles sadly. "Any more hospitals you know of?"

…

Castiel jerks awake. He's been dreaming again. He dreamed of wings this time. I used to have wings, he says to himself. He stands up and brushes some twigs off of his trench coat.

"Hello," says a voice behind him. Castiel jumps. A dark-skinned woman is standing there, maybe thirty, with a car bearing the words "Taft County Hospital" behind her. She has an easy smile that makes Cas want to trust her. "You alright, sir?"

Castiel bobs his head. "I'm… I cannot remember. I'm lost."

The woman's face softens. "Do you have any relatives? I have a phone you could use."

Castiel shakes his head. "My relatives have fallen," he says, unsure how he knows this. Unsure what this means. "But Dean," Castiel adds, wondering if this woman knows Dean. "I remember… Dean."

The woman smiles gently. "Okay, sir. There's a hospital near here. If you're not in critical condition, I can drive you. I'm a registered surgeon. My name is Mirah. You're safe now."

…

Sam comes sprinting out of the hospital this time, a wide smile on his face. "Dean, bingo. Tall-ish, dark-haired, blue-eyed man came in yesterday, accompanied by one of the hospital staff. Being released in a few minutes."

Dean feels like the breath has been crushed out of him. He can't get his hopes up, he needs to remember that. He follows Sam into the hotel lobby. Can't get his hopes -

But Cas is standing there, at the front desk. He's still wearing the coat. And the tie. And his hair is all mussed up.

"Cas," Dean breathes, and rockets toward his fallen angel, pulling him into a bear hug. Not caring that the whole lobby is watching, not caring that he's the biggest girl in the whole world, because his Cas is all right.

"Who…" Cas pushes away slightly, his eyes bright. Even though he's not an angel anymore, Cas's eyes glow with a piercing blue light. He tilts his head and Dean swallows. He had counted on Cas remembering him, but what if…?