Cas works at a pet rescue shelter and often takes home strays that don't get adopted quickly. He works so hard to look after these lost pets because it breaks his heart to see in their eyes how sad, scared and abandoned they are.

One day after finishing late he has to drop down to the supermarket to pick up some dog food. Hurrying across the car park in the rain he notices a huddled up figure sitting hunched and shuddering in a dark hoodie under the building eaves. He quickly turns back to his parked car, grabs his trench coat from the boot, and hurries back over to the hooded figure.

"Hey! Would a coat help?" he asks kindly, stretching his coat-stuffed fist out to the hooded frame.

A shadowed face looks up slowly. As the young man's head tips back, the hoodie falls to his shoulders, and the reflection from the carpark lamps flash out of the most brilliant apple-green eyes Cas has ever seen: beautiful, sad, haunted green eyes.

Cas's heart skips a beat.

"Thanks" says the young man in a surprisingly deep and gruff voice as he takes the coat.

Catching himself staring, Cas drops down in front of the young man into a deep squat and, wrapping his arms tight around his knees, looks deeply into those heartbreaker eyes.

"I'm Cas", he says gently, hoping to keep the guy talking.

"Dean." The young man sighs wearily as his head lowers to his chest and he wraps Cas's trench coat tightly around his shoulders.

Cas imagines Dean wrapping himself in the coat as if it were the wings of an angel...

"Can I get you anything?" Cas asks hesitantly.

"No I'm good. Thanks for the coat," Dean mumbles into his chest. Not wanting to cause offence Cas gets up awkwardly and, after a brief longing glance at Dean's brown unruly mop of hair, lightly sparkling with drops of rain, he turns away towards the supermarket to finish his shopping. It isn't long before his mind also turns to the two new puppies waiting for a feed at home.

It is several days later, when Cas is softly brushing the unruly coat of a newly rescued dog, that the memory of Dean intrudes into his thoughts. As he gently brushes out the hair of the young Alsatian, he imagines running his fingers through Dean's mop of rain sprinkled hair. He feels how soft Dean's hair is between his fingers. He imagines those beautiful green eyes closing; that strong chin tipping back, lips parting, as Dean emits a contented sigh.

Cas jolts back to reality as the Alsatian plants a long wet doggy tongue right up his cheek - panting happy dog breath into his face. Laughing softly Cas gives the dog a firm scrub behind the ear before returning him to his kennel - freshly cleaned with a new dog bed, full water bowl and a chew bone to play with. Seeing the Alsatian settle happily into his new bed and chewing on his bone fills Cas with a wonderful sense of gratitude and contentment. But just underneath his happy smile there is something else - a lit spark - a fire slowly growing with desire. Cas knew better to dwell on such feelings - he had plenty of work to do here at the shelter. But as he shook his head and walked off to his next task, nothing could deny the whisper of his soul breathing "Dean..."

Dean woke with a start as a huge semi trailer sped past on the highway. Dean had found shelter under the overhanging branches of the endless fir forest that the highway snakes through. After carefully wrapping the trench coat around himself he lay his head on a pillow of wet pine needles and fell into a fitful sleep.

"Must be late," Dean thought as he stretched out the crinks in his neck and shoulders.

Dean Winchester was used to sleeping rough. Ever since his Dad booted his butt out the door after his Mum was killed, Dean had survived on the fringes of life. That's who he was - a survivor. Nothing prepared him for the shock of the street though and it was no secret that Dean had not easily found his feet. People seemed to take a liking to him. Too much of a liking. Fighting his way out of a truck he hitched a ride with about a month back was the last straw. Dean had learnt to keep away from folks. They only ever wanted a piece of him and, Dean mused with a grimace, there wasn't much left to take. He guarded his independence fiercely and made his way between towns sleeping in woods and vacant lots away from people; only stopping in built up areas to get food and shelter when the weather was too rough.

"Don't need no one" Dean breathed emphatically as he folded the trench coat into a neat square. Looking out onto the cars swiftly passing down the motorway he breathed: "Ain't no one need me either".

That night back at Cas's Shelter a strange glow emitted from the Alsatian's kennel. Dogs in the surrounding kennels paced and panted nervously. When a shrieking cry rang out, every dog went beserk - barking and howling furiously, scratching at their kennel doors and scattering their bowls and beds everywhere. Just as suddenly as it began, the shrieking stopped. Total silence hung like an oily fog in the air. The other dogs froze: glassy eyes, dilated pupils, stiff limbs voicing their terror and fear while their throats remained silenced by the veil of night. Far away lightning cracked the sky and simultaneously Dean in the forest and Cas in his home sprung awake with deadly fear like ice in their hearts.

Dean is sprinting through the forest breathing in gasping ragged breaths. He hopes he's heading towards the highway but can only run and dodge the lightning bolts crashing around him and try not to die. He has no idea what is happening. He woke up to a massive crash of lightning that scared the beejesus out of him. Quickly wrapping his stuff up in the trench coat, he bolted away from where he had been sleeping in a small clearing of the forest and rushed into the trees. That's when another strike hit the ground not more than fifty feet away from him knocking him to the ground. As he got up and started running more bolts smashed into trees and the ground around him until he could barely think. Now he was just running for his life.

Cas got out of bed shaking and pulled some clothes on. He went to turn the house lights on but the switch didn't work. Hearing thunder cracking in the distance, he fumbled in the kitchen looking for his car keys in the dark. He needed to get to the kennels before the storm did any damage or the dogs got hurt. He runs out to the car filled with dread that something terrible is about to happen.

Dean trips over and snaps his wrist, crying out in pain. He sees a flash of lightning in front of him and thinks he sees a dog silhouetted against the flash. Shaking his head to clear his ears of the ringing and grabbing hold of his wrist to brace it, he gets up stumbling and starts sprinting again towards the highway.

Cas is speeding down the dark, empty highway when suddenly a crash of lightning hits the road right in front of the car. Cas is blinded and slamming on the brakes, spins the car out of control. Skidding across the road, the car smashes its rear end into the trunk of a giant fir tree. The force of the spin and the impact knocks Cas unconscious against the steering wheel as the car's engine skips and stalls.

Dean sees the lights of Cas's car through the foliage as he runs. He heads instinctively towards it hoping like hell that there's someone who can get him out of here. He stumbles into the car, looks through the passenger window and sees a man passed out with his head on the steering wheel. Alarmed he stumbles around the other side of the car, pulling foliage out of the way with his good hand, and wrenches open the driver side door. The man unconsciously slumps towards him and Dean catches him - crying out in pain as his snapped wrist takes the weight - and slowly lowers him to the ground. Checking for a pulse he sees that the man is alive and, taking his trench coat and rolling it into a ball as best he can with one hand, places the coat gently under the poor guy's neck.

Looking around for anything he can use, he's about to get up and check the rest of the car when Cas moans softly and starts to come around. "Hey hey hey - steady there, just take it slow" he says softly, holding the man's head with his good hand. Cas brings his own hand to his head to wipe his eyes and just barely opens them a crack. He slowly focuses on the face above him in the dark, seeing those incredible green eyes flashing into his soul. "Dean" he croaks before passing out once more.

Dean freezes in surprise as he hears the man speak his name. "Son of a bitch" he cusses under his breath, wracking his brain until he suddenly realises who Cas is when he looks at the trench coat cradling the man's neck. He needs to help this guy.

Getting up, he moves around to where the car boot has popped open from impact. Inside he finds a first aid kit, water, a tarp and a long machete. After taking these around to where Cas lays, he uses the first aid kit to splint his wrist. Finding a couple of pain killers he swallows them dry and after a minute starts setting up a tarp shelter over the unconscious man.

Feeling his head getting light he goes looking through the rest of the car. He finds a couple of packets of Haribos in the front seat and a torch in the dash. Silently thanking the unconscious man for his forethought, Dean moves back over to where the man lays and checks the man's breathing. He looks for blood loss and any damage over the rest of the man's body. He can't help but notice the guy's athletic build as he runs his hands down limbs looking for breaks. Finding none he sits down to eat some of the gummy bears with relief. It's then he notices that the storm has stopped and everything is silent.

Dean decides he needs to get his sugar levels up while his mind tries to process what the hell just happened. A memory of the dog silhouetted against the lightning as it struck in front of him flashes into his mind. "What the actual fuck?!" He whispers and turns to look at Cas as the man moans softly and starts to wake.

"What happened?" Cas moans weakly, trying to sit up. "Where am I?" He looks confused as Dean gently presses him back to lay down.

"You've had a car accident and there was a weird storm..." Dean trails off as Cas looks deeply into his eyes clearly recognising him. How could he not have noticed how blue those eyes were. Remarkable, mesmerising blue eyes.

"Dean," says Cas meaningfully, "I'm so glad you're here".

Dean feels the heat rise in his cheeks, looks down and stammers out "I'm so sorry but I've forgotten your name."

"It's Cas, and it's ok." Cas replies with a kind smile, the type of kind smile Dean hasn't seen since...maybe forever?

"Are you ok Dean?" Cas asks seriously looking at Dean's wrist splint.

"Ugh well apart from a broken wrist and temporary insanity, I guess so" replied Dean.

"Temporary insanity? What do you mean?"

"Well," Dean chuckles a little, "Call me stupid but there was nothing natural about that storm. I'm pretty sure I just got chased by lightning...and I saw this weird dog..."

"A dog?" Cas asks incredulously.

"Yeah" Dean nods. "It was...I dunno...like standing in a lightning bolt or something", Dean shakes his head. He can't believe the words coming out of his mouth. 'I mean a weird lightning dog what the hell is wrong with you,' he thought to himself.

"Cas I think we should get out of here" Dean says suddenly feeling an urgent need to get going. "Do you think you can get back up?"

"Yes, just a second" Cas replies as he slowly lifts himself up. Dean gives him support under his elbow and helps Cas around to the passenger seat.

"I don't know if the car will start" Cas turns to Dean worriedly.

"It's ok Cas, I'll get us going".

Once he seated Cas in the car, he grabbed the gear from their temporary camp and, throwing it in the bent up boot, dropped into the driver's seat and turned the engine over.

"Looks like just cosmetic damage Cas" he said as he revved the engine and moved the car slowly onto the highway. "Let's get you home."

Cas nods and tells Dean the address as Dean pulls the car into a u-turn across the empty highway. Putting his foot down and taking one last look back at the forest, he speeds the car away.

A large black dog, with brilliant green eyes, panting, steps out of the undergrowth. As it watches the car pull off into the distance it sits on its haunches and closes its muzzle. A brief shimmer of white light crackles down its coat before it gets up again and walks back into the forest.

Dean shuts the car engine off and helps Cas to the front door of his home.

"You'll be ok now," Dean says handing over the keys.

"No that's not happening." Cas says firmly, gripping Dean tight on the shoulder.

"The least you deserve is a shower and a decent bed for helping me out."

"I'm ok really and I'm not too good with houses," Dean says uncomfortably.

"Listen I'm not taking no for an answer ok? Just come in."

Dean follows Cas inside the house nervously. The last thing he needs right now is to get caught up with some guy. A warm shower though... he can't remember the last time he took a warm shower and he was suddenly extremely tired.

Cas tries the lights. They switch on fine. 'Huh. Must have been a short power outage from the storm' he thinks to himself.

"C'mon Dean" Cas calls after Dean as he walks down the hall, "I'll show you where to clean up and your bed for the night."

Too weary to argue anymore, Dean follows Cas down the hall. He sure is looking forward to that hot shower and those fresh sheets. Cas leads him to the guest room which has its own ensuite.

"Everything you need is in the cupboard, including fresh pyjamas that will hopefully fit, and a stocked bar fridge next to the bed. I hope you get a great night's sleep and I'll see you in the morning," Cas smiles warmly as he closes the door.

"Night," Dean says in wonder as he looks around. 'Wow, nice setup,' he thinks before stripping off, gently removing the wrist brace, and heading to the shower. Turning the hot water faucet to heat up, he says to himself in the mirror,

"Well Deano, what the fuck happens now?"

"Now you have a hot scrub and hit the sack, that's what!" He replies to himself.

Stepping into the steamy stream of water, Dean let's the pain and suffering wash away from his body with the dirt.

Closing his eyes and lifting his face into the stream of water, his whole body relaxes and for the first time, in what seems like forever, Dean remembers what it feels like to be home.