Supernatural and its characters are not mine
"My God, Cas! How long does it take a guy to shower?" Dean groaned through the bathroom door, although it was likely his voice didn't carry over the sound of the water beating on the floor.
He tapped his finger against the olive wall, in rhythm with the drumming of the drops. "I know you're some pretty boy ex-angel an all, but unlike you, the rest of us need to actually put an effort into our appearance."
The white door swung open in an instant and a different Castiel stepped out than the one who had entered the washroom nearly an hour ago. This one was cleaner and quieter. The freshly- made human Dean and Sam had rushed into the bathroom earlier with numerous gashes covering his body accompanied by black bruises along his ribs and the most terrifying moans.
"As soon as I clean up we can had out for breakfast and then we'll get you situated, okay?" Castiel seemed to have heard Dean's words but didn't bother looking up at him.
Dean took Castiel's face in his hands and raised his head so that their eyes met. "It'll be fine, Cas. I've got you." He took the broken man in his arms. Cas buried his face in Dean's shoulder before breaking away and crossing to the bedroom.
Puddles filled Dean's eyes but he didn't dare let them travel any further than that. Cas will be fine. He will. We'll get this all figured out and he'll be fine. A voice in his head repeated thousands of times. But still he didn't know how to believe this voice. What did it know? How was there any way to know that just because Cas was alive that somehow mean the was fine? What was "fine" anymore?
Not wanting to dig around the topic any longer in his mind, Dean slammed the bathroom door behind him and let his clothes fall to the cold gray tiles. The pitter- patter of the water felt warm and inviting against his body and he let it surround him. His eyes shut and he succumbed to allowing the water to take over his thoughts. As the water fell in streams down his face and his back, he felt more relaxed than he had in ages. The time slipped away from Dean and he barely noticed it until the water was no longer hot, but rather icy cold.
He wondered just how long he had actually been in the shower and then felt bad for nagging at Cas previously. It wasn't as if he hadn't left the after running longer than he should plenty of times before.
What he really couldn't keep himself from wondering about was whether he would be able to deal with trying to help Cas accommodate to the human lifestyle. One more damn body to have to look out for. He thought.
The familiar footsteps of another person coming towards the bathroom caused Dean to hurriedly shut off the awter, wrap a towel around his frame and exit the steamy bathroom.
"Sorry, I just sort of-"Dean searched for words but Sam nodded at him as if he understood what Dean was trying to say so he gave up his sentence.
"So what are you thinking?' A look of confusion crossed Dean's face. "About Cas? What are we gonna do now that he's..you know..human?" Sam asked.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? I say we just make it up on the way and see what happens."
Sam laughed mockingly at Dean's suggestion. "Yeah, because that's worked out great every time we did that in the past!" he replied.
"Well what other option do we have, Sam? What are we supposed to do? Go begging for his grace back? Heaven itself has collapsed!" his fists pounded against the wall. He pushed past Sam and walked to his bedroom where he shut his door with enough force to put a crack in it.
"Dean, you need to quit avoiding this sometime! We have to actually deal with it!" Sam yelled.
Two hours later, a more lively Dean opened the driver's side door of his Impala and slid in. He still hadn't said anything to Sam about plans for Castiel. The idea of not knowing what was next scared the shit out of him and he wasn't sure he was ready to face it.
Contrary to normality, Castiel picked the front passenger's seat next to Dean, mostly likely because when he was near Dean he felt very safe. Dean was like a warm, fuzzy blanket that he could bury himself in and hide from all the monsters in his head. He debated whether to be social, to show Dean that his fall hadn't made him an emotionless robot, but decided he was too tired to say anything and that words were useless. They just took up awkward spaces.
The Impala smoothly turned and filled up a vacant parking space in front of a lonely looking diner. "They have a special today. It's called eat something now that you're human and you wont starve!" Dean said jokingly to Castiel, although his eyes proved he was serious. Castiel managed a small smile. He knew that Dean wanted to just get this over with as quickly as possible. Dean wanted the whole process of angel to human to go silky and smooth without conflict, but that was inevitable. "I know- I know you aren't really used to hunger or desire to eat anything, but soon you will be. So for now just get something small and try to enjoy it." Dean's hand intertwined itself with Castiel's for a second but quickly let it go.
Castiel stopped suddenly in front of the glass door of the diner as if he expected it to open by itself, to which Sam rolled his eyes and pushed past Castiel to open it. "You're going to have to open doors yourself, now, Princess." Sam laughed.
"Howdy, boys! I'm Katherine and I'll be your server today! If you'll follow me, I'll seat you. Table for three?" a young woman with a much-too-effervescent- to- be- real attitude asked Sam as Cas and Dean entered the establishment.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks." Sam replied, although his wandering eyes showed that he wasn't particularly interested in what she was saying.
Once they were seated, Katherine placed three crystal glasses frilled to the brim with water around the table and took out three menus. "Here are your menus, I'll be back in a little bit to take your orders." She smiled and turned on her heel and left them alone.
Except for Castiel, Sam and Dean, the restaurant was seemingly vacant. "Weird. It's a Sunday. Usually these places are filled with church- goers and old people by now." Dean commented.
"Yeah. I guess it's easier for us this way?" Sam said questioningly. Castiel excused himself from the table and rushed himself to the bathroom after explaining he didn't feel well.
Castiel's head felt as if it was on fire. The burning sensation spread to his arms, chest and legs and his knees buckled. The broken man fell to his knees on the floor, struggling not to scream out in pain. He wasn't sure if this was a natural thing that humans went through or if it was a side effect of his wings burning off.
He crawled over to the wall and pressed his back against its cool surface and let out a sigh of relief. There was a knock on the door immediately followed by Dean barging into the bathroom. Apparently Castiel hadn't quite managed to keep himself from crying out from pain.
"Cas, what's the matter?" Dean asked, panicked.
"It's- it's nothing. I'm fine. Probably just.. after effects, you know?" Cast replied and Dean nodded but held his arm out to touch Castiel and comfort him. But when he touched Cas, his hand burned like he had just stuck it in an oven.
"Shit, Cas! What the hell is going on?" Dean yelped.
"I'm not sure. I think it-it's probably just.. .." Instead of finishing his sentence, Castiel pointed to his back pathetically. Dean turned Cas around and lifted the back of his shirt up to reveal two black burn marks where he assumed Castiel's wings were. When he saw them he gasped and almost bumped into the wall.
"Why-why didn't you tell me about this? How long has this pain been going on?" Dean asked.
"Well.. that was why I was in the shower for so long… it- it hurts all the time, Dean!" Castiel cried.
"Hey it's okay, we'll fix it. We'll make the pain go away." Dean assured him.
"NO! Not just the physical pain, but knowing what I did. How many lives I destroyed. Heaven's crashed and there isn't anything I can do now. This puny vessel has nothing more to offer!" he screamed, almost spitting in Dean's face.
Dean sat Castiel down and pulled him closer. Castiel's tears stained Dean's navy blue shirt and Dean himself almost broke out into soft tears. "Cas- Cas, it'll be okay. We're going to be okay. Just- let me help you. I'm going to help you."
Castiel didn't reply but laid his head on Dean's shoulder and let it rest there for awhile before he looked up into Dean's strong but fearful green eyes. They were beautiful, like little planets. He felt as if they were swallowing him. Castiel felt something, something he wasn't able to identify. But instead of trying to figure out what it was, he let his lips touch the tips of Dean's before wrapping his arms around Dean's neck and pushing him against the bathroom wall. Dean's hands cupped Castiel's face and let his tongue venture into Castiel's mouth and collide with his. They pressed their chests together and let their bodies become one. Dean didn't understand, but it made him feel so good. So alive, it made him genuinely happy.
