Cas stumbled out of the hospital, wounds covering his body, all bleeding out. He was dying, slowly. But he had to find Dean; he felt like reprimanding that man - so changed over the years - for sending his friends to die like that. So cold and callous this Winchester had become, and Cas, though he knew the events that had made him this way, couldn't fully believe it.
He wandered into the garden and found him. Dean's body was on the ground, his head twisted the wrong way. Cas fell to his knees next to his closest friend and, like he had so many times before, touched his forehead to heal him. But it was no use. Cas' powers were gone for good.
Cas could feel himself pulling away, returning to heaven, when a voice distracted him. "Castiel? Brother." Cas turned his head toward the voice of Sam Winchester, but he knew Lucifer had killed Sam long ago. "You have returned. Let me heal you-"
"No," Cas said roughly. "Don't touch me." He turned to look at Dean again, hoping Lucifer would go away.
"Why shouldn't I? You are my brother, and we are the same." Lucifer's voice was smooth, as it always had been.
"We are nothing alike."
"Aren't we? We both betrayed our father. We both feel because of these apes that he created."
"No, brother. You fell because of jealousy. I fell because of love. We are nothing alike," he repeated, emphasizing each word. Castiel would not look at his brother, could not look at what was once Sam Winchester, his friend.
Castiel closed his eyes, eliminating the images of his dead friends and that godforsaken garden. When he opened them, he was no longer in the garden. He was at Bobby Singer's home, and waiting for him was all of Team Free Will. Bobby and Sam smiled at him from the doorway while Dean, young and happy again, walked towards him. "Well it's about time you showed up. Come on, Bobby's got some cold ones waiting for us." Dean put his arm around Cas' shoulders and they both smiled as they joined their family.