Dean was sitting at the bar, drowning himself in shots and suppressing his emotions more than usual. Well, at least that was his intention, but the alcohol seemed to be permeating his fears through the mask he always wore. His thoughts were being pulled in two directions. One half of his mind was concentrating on Sam, and replaying the scene of his younger brother watching Dean be bitten by a freakin' vampire. Just standing there and watching, smirking. That was not his brother. It couldn't be.

The other half of his brain consisted of Castiel. He hadn't seen the angel in awhile, despite his calls for help regarding Sam, and then Cas shows up because of the possibility of some magical angel horn being passed around on Earth. Dean had been harsh with Cas, but he had a right to be didn't he? He was so, utterly alone in all of this. Bobby didn't seem to be as worried about Sam as Dean was, he couldn't confide in Lisa, and now he didn't even have Castiel by his side. Dean tried to understand the importance of the war in Heaven and the toll it was taking on Cas, he really did try, but why should he care? What did Heaven really ever give him? Certainly nothing worth fighting for. He had decided what to fight for on his own and with Sam.

But Dean felt bad for being unfriendly toward Castiel and he wished he didn't feel anything at all right now. It was too much. He wanted his brother back the way he was before, and he wanted Castiel by his side.

"I'd just like the freakin' truth," Dean muttered aloud, knocking back the rest of his drink.

"But I'll settle for another one," he told the bartender.

"Sometimes I think I can't get pregnant 'cause God knows my marriage is a sham. Why'd I say that? I mean, I've been snorting oxy all day. Why'd I say that?" the bartender rambled on, confusion written across her face.

"I'm pretty sure I know," stated Dean, taking his leave of the bar, pausing to note the busty patron informing him of her new breasts and how she needs a lot of attention.

He went back to the motel after testing his theory on Bobby, learning much more about the man than he ever needed to remember. It was working though. He just needed to get to Sam and talk to him, ask him a few questions now. While Sam was interviewing one of the victim's relatives, Dean decided to call Castiel again and try out the power of truth on an angel. He entered the motel room and called,

"Castiel! Get your feathery ass down here." A moment's pause, a faint fluttering of wings, and there was Castiel, standing a few feet away from Dean.

"Hello, Dean. Did you find the cause of the current situation?" Castiel asked, shifting a little uncomfortably Dean noted.

"Not exactly, but I think I invoked it or something. Cas, are you okay, man?"

"I…" the angel started to look flushed. "What do you mean you 'invoked' it?" Cas asked, eyes widening and mouth clamping shut tightly.

"Well, I said I wanted the truth and that's what happened. I mean, it worked at the bar and over the phone with Bobby. So, I wanted to try it on Sam, but I thought I would ask you if there's anything you want to tell me first, Cas? Maybe something about my brother that your Heavenly friends upstairs might have let slipped? Hmm?" inquired Dean, arms crossed against his chest.

"This magic is very powerful. It shouldn't…shouldn't work on angels. Your eyes are as green as the finest emeralds I have ever seen. It gives me great joy to look into them and bask in the warmth of your soul," blathered Castiel, attempting to clamp his mouth shut again.

"Uh, uhm Cas. That's very…thank you. I think," Dean stuttered. "So, so if you don't know anything about Sam, maybe you should, just…go back to your war. I shouldn't have called you down anyway..."

"I can't," stated Cas, tugging at his vessel's tie, loosening the constraining article of clothing.

"Can't what?" asked a very confused Dean.

"I can't leave, Dean! The magic from whatever is going on here, it has my powers on some sort of lockdown. Probably that I have to keep telling the truth until you kill yourself like the other victims."

"Oh that's just great. Look, come with me to get Sam and—"

"Dean, you cannot kill yourself. I will not lose you."

"I'm not going to off myself, Cas! Calm down, man," Dean said, laying a comforting hand on the angel's shoulder. Castiel looked at the hand, then stared intensely into Dean's eyes. Dean pressed the back of his against Cas' forehead.

"Man, you're burning up. You sure you're okay?" asked Dean, taking his hand away.

"I enjoy the sensation of your hand upon this vessel's skin," Cas said matter-of-factly.

"Uhm, I…Er," came Dean's profound response.

"I like that your flesh bears the imprint of my hand when I gripped you tight from Perdition. It will forever serve as a reminder to you of who saved you from the fires of Hell," Cas was turning a gentle shade of pink by now. Dean would have found the blushing angel endearing if he wasn't so damn confused right now and wondering just how platonic Castiel's feelings were. Hell, angels weren't even suppose to have feelings like that, but Cas had come close to being human before so maybe he was more attuned to human emotions?

Dean stopped his flow of thoughts and just said, "Cas, we're going to kill this thing and then you'll be fine. Promise."

"I know I will be fine, Dean because you always come through for me. When I thought you were going to say yes to Michael, you stopped it and proved to me that my faith in you was rightly justified. Even though my powers were restored to me when I was revived, I still retain my feelings of warmth and gratitude to you."

"Cas…"

"And as far as humans go, your form is aesthetically pleasing," Cas was in full panic mode now, eyes wide with terror just as when Dean had tried to set him up with a hooker. Castiel bolted across the room toward the door, but Dean was faster. He blocked the angel's path, which may not have been a great idea. Cas may not have been able to fly off, but Dean was certain he could still knock Dean out with a strong blow to the head.

"Cas, man, it's fine. You're allowed to…be curious or whatever. I'm grateful to you too, but you can't just run off. Help me out here. I need a friend, okay?" Dean confessed, feeling like a 15-year-old girl at this point.

"When you took me to the den of iniquity to lay with a woman, I was glad it did not work out because the only human I had a desire to be that close to was, and I believe still is, would be yo—"

"Cas! Don't finish that sentence," Dean nearly shouted, panicked. He only wanted help from Castiel, not another messed up thing to add to his pile of weird things to think about for later. Dean knew how that sentence was going to end and to his astonishment he didn't feel disgust, or repelled. It was just too much right now.

"Dean, I can't control…if I was human I would like to adopt a pet kitten with you. When you and Anna copulated I had my first stirrings of jealously, but I did not know what the emotion was at the time. Sometimes I randomly crave a burger from White Castle after our dealings with Famine. The tattoo on your chest is a, I believe the correct term is, a 'turn-on' for me," Cas continued on, beaming a brilliant shade of cherry red. He clapped his hands over his mouth, still muttering something, but all Dean could pick out where the words "pie," "lace," and "wings." Dean just stood there in complete shock. If any other man had said those things to him he would have shot them with rock salt and continued on his merry way, but this was Cas for God's sake!

"Dean, make it stop! I can't…I am so sorry. Please, please let me leave," Cas pleaded. Dean noted his magnificent blue eyes where shining with unshed tears. Oh Jesus, he had made Cas freaking cry! Feeling like an ass, Dean moved away from the door, prepared to let Cas leave until he got this mess straightened out.

"Wait," Dean said quietly as Castiel pulled on the door handle.

"Dean, please, I—" Cas started to say, but was cut off by Dean's lips as the hunter pressed the most chaste kiss he had ever given anybody to Castiel's lips. The angel stood stock still, head tilted to the side in shocked confusion. He grabbed the hunter's coat, pulled Dean to him and kissed him back hard and ungracefully. Then he bolted out the door with inhuman speed and Dean just stood there, bewildered beyond belief.

He wasn't sure why he had kissed Cas. The poor thing just looked so damn sad and Dean couldn't stand being the cause of that. A part of his brain hummed with the knowledge that the simple kiss was more than that, but Dean just did what he did best: beat down his emotions into the darkest corner of his mind, composed himself, and went into hunter mode. He would figure it out, if there was something to figure out, after he got this other shit crossed off his list of things to deal with it. He walked out toward his car, spring in his step and unmistakable smirk plastered onto his face.