"Live."

The words were like music in Dean's ears as he struggled back into consciousness. Darkness and confusion surrounded him, and all he could feel was a hot hand creep along his shoulder-blade, coming to a rest on the scarred hand print that remained there. It was like fire against him.

"Please, live."

His eyelids were so heavy and, God, he was freezing. He breathed in, but his lungs felt like they were coated with ice. A shiver broke out over him and he realized he was shaking. But the hand resting on him slowly became colder as warmth began to slowly wash over his body. It was slight, but still there. But, he couldn't remember why he was even cold at all….

Life slipped over him slowly and he opened his mouth to try and speak. Warm air flowed down his throat, unleashing a guttural groan in pain. The hand on his shoulder shot away.

"Dean," Relief was in the strangers voice. At least… he thought he was a stranger. Who was it?

Dean forced open his eyes, even though he was so drowsy he just wanted to pass out again. He was on the floor, and the light and heat gave away that there was a fire nearbye. Kneeling over him was the dark haired, blue eyed angel he knew too well, drenched head to toe in water.

"Cas, what the hell?" his voice was low and rough, he imagined his throat was pretty raw. He successfully leaned upwards onto his elbows, but a chill washed over him. He must have winced, because Castiel's face went from relieved to worried within seconds.

"You fell under the ice," His voice was shaky and also very raspy, "I flew under to get you, but I couldn't find you and we were under too long. I think we may be experiencing the early signs of hypothermia, and you almost drowned."

"Fuck," Dean squeezed his eyes shut, his memories coming back. He and Cas had gone up the mountain after a particularly troublesome group of vampires, when it started to snow really badly. When they finally caught up to one of the vamps, he had tossed Dean across the riverbed and through the ice. He remembered being swept away underneath, struggling to hold his breath in the freezing water….

He shuddered again, this time, not from the cold.

"Did you kill them?" He looked up at his angelic friend.

Cas tilted his head in annoyance, "I was a little busy saving you." Dean detected a little bit of possible sarcasm, but before he could reply, Cas' looked sick. Suddenly, he doubled over in a fit of coughing. Dean sat up quickly, even though his body ached and he had to fight back tremors of cold.

"Cas, where are we?" He looked around, trying to decide the best course of action. He was dizzy and disoriented and freezing, but something about seeing Cas in pain seemed much more important. Besides the fireplace and a small couch, the room was completely empty.

"Cabin," Castiel shivered and got to his knees slowly, "It was the nearest place to where we were. It is currently vacant."

"Can't imagine why," Dean grumbled sarcastically. This whole experience was ruining whatever love he previously felt for cold weather. The cabin, however, was actually pretty nice. Probably one of those vacation homes for rich people. He bet it had a really nice… Bathroom.

"Cas," He half-gasped, an idea clicking into him. "Where's the bathroom?"

"The…" He looked up curiously and furrowed his eyebrows, "Is this really the time?"

"Just tell me," Dean growled impatiently.

Cas nodded towards one of the halls, "Down there." He looked like he was about to fall over again.

"Can you get up?" Dean half-asked Cas, also kind of asking himself the same question.

"I… Maybe," He tried to stand up, Dean doing the same. Besides dizziness, they seemed to be fine. After standing, Dean actually felt a lot better, ready to take control of the situation. Cas grabbed his arm and leaned into him oddly.

Together they limped across the hallway, Dean supporting his angelic friend as well as he could, until they finally reached the bathroom. As he had suspected, the bathroom was huge. It was dimly lit by the flickering lights above the mirror, but it was enough light to see the huge, jacuzzi-like bathtub. He let Cas lean against the sink while he went to the tub, turning on the hot water to let it fill up.

As he began to strip down from his wet clothes, Castiel eyed him with a look that was both curious and lusting. His obsession with Deans bare body was something he had noticed before, but now it just made Dean roll his eyes.

"This is the fastest way to get warm," He said without really thinking, "Join or freeze to death. I'll leave that one up to you."

Castiel immediately began to strip down layer by layer. As Dean removed his own pants, he watched the angel carefully, his own desire rumbling from below. Castiel's -or rather, Jimmy's- body, was lean, and yet tight. Probably because Cas was just a really tense person. However, he was rippling with muscle, especially along his shoulders. Dean caught himself staring and looked away, feeling embarassed.

The tub was half-filled and Dean, who was now only in boxers, stepped inside. The warmth almost made him cry out in sweet relief, and then the pain hit him. His frozen limbs started to lose numbness, and he slumped in the tub, closing his eyes, just happy to feel.

A few seconds later, the water moved and he opened his eyes, remembering Castiel. The dark haired angel stepped in across from him, shuddering and merging himself completely in the steaming water, closing his eyes.

A comfortable silence stretched across them. In the dim light, Castiel looked unbelievably pale. Dean watched his lips, which looked the most cold. They were a blue-ish color that Dean had only ever seen on the dead. He wondered why, if he was the one who had nearly drowned, Cas looked so dead.

"Cas," Dean stared at him and waited for his eyes to open. When they didn't, he continued, "Why did you save me?"

"What else could I do?" He sounded exhausted, "Leave you to die?"

Dean didn't reply. Of course he was glad Castiel had saved him when he did, but he had never seen him fall over coughing, look so cold… sound so dead. He didn't want him to be in pain.

He sighed and moved along the side of the tub until he was pulling in next to Castiel. He ached, but the steaming water seemed to sooth his muscles. He half-wondered if there was a bed or any chance of sleeping soon. As he relaxed next to the angel, their knees brushed under the surface. The water suddenly began to bubble unnaturally. Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Excited, Cas?" His voice was clearly amused.

"Sorry," Cas opened his eyes adn the water stopped moving. He turned his head and stared at his brown haired friend, making him feel nervous, "What are you doing?"

"Helping," He stretched his hands along either side of Cas' jawline. Cas felt like ice under his hands, but the warmth must have pleased the angel, because he closed his eyes in pleasure. The expression made Dean's heart melt, "You're cold."

"I sacrificed my own heat to warm you," he said it so matter-of-factly, "To increase your circulation." And now everything made more sense. Cas WOULD be the one to donate his own heat.

Dean gulped, "You're a fucking idiot, Cas." but his voice was so soft, he couldn't possibly mean it.

"Dean," Castiel's ice eyes caught him again, and he tilted his head, leaning into Dean's hands, "My lips are cold."

He didn't need much more permission then that. Dean closed the distance between them and kissed Castiel. His lips were frosty, but almost seemed to melt under the heat.

It was soft at first, until Castiel pulled on Dean's lip hungrily, inviting him in. He slid his tongue between his teeth, and a tiny moan escaped Cas' throat. The angel slid one arm around him, holding him close with a scary strength. The other hand trailed up his arms and fell upon his own hand print perfectly.

It was like lightning zipped through Dean. He saw red behind his eyelids, and pain rumbled throught his chest. He felt it travel through him, and felt it on his lips right before it vanished as quickly as it had come. Cas shot away from Dean, screaming in pain. His true voice shone through, making Dean slam his palms around his ears. The flickering light bulbs exploded and the mirror shattered into shards of glass. Cas stopped screaming, choking in pain.

Silence ate into Deans skin as he stared, wide eyed and in shock, at his messy haired best friend, who looked like he was going to vomit. Suddenly, Cas' eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward. Dean caught him.

"Cas?" his voice was a whisper, "Cas!"

In the darkness, he held his only companion in his arms, who was clinging onto life. And Dean felt fine.