A/N: I needed some mindless fluff after tonight, but it didn't work out. I still love this, though! Enjoy!
"So, what? Are you back to full mojo now?" Dean asked the angel, entering the bunker behind Charlie.
Cas shrugged. "I suppose so. I haven't experienced any issues so far, and Charlie doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from my healing."
The redhead froze and glared at the angel. "You healed me without knowing what was going to happen? Really, Cas? Who does that?"
"Angels, apparently," Sam answered, stepping into the room and quickly assessing the situation. "Besides, Charlie, you're fine! What's the worst that could happen?"
Charlie rolled her eyes and Cas smiled at Sam appreciatively. "Thank you, Sam. Your faith in my abilities is unrivaled."
Dean smirked and covered the rest of the space between him and Cas, slinking his arms around his boyfriend. "Unrivaled, Cas?" he whispered teasingly.
Charlie groaned and Sam rolled his eyes. "Seriously, guys, there's a whole hall full of rooms right there!" He muttered.
Dean squeezed his (very appreciative) boyfriend even closer and smirked at his brother. "What are you talking about? You love watching us do this," he kissed Cas's flushed cheek, "and this," he kissed his neck, "and, of course," he paused with his lips millimeters away from his boyfriend's.
"Aw, come on, man!" Sammy whined. "There's food out here! Do you have to do it here?"
"Is that an invitation, Sammy?" Dean asked without moving his face away from Cas's. "Because I was just going to kiss him, but if you're so desperate to let us really get it on-"
He was efficiently shut up when Cas closed the distance between their lips quite forcefully.
Sam and Charlie quickly made their escape, realizing that the angel was way too turned on right now to even think of stopping.
"You- fucking- tease," they heard Cas groan out before they ducked into Sam's room and slammed the door.
It was the next morning before either of them dared to unplug their ears, much less venture past the door.
Both of them breathed a sigh of relief to find Cas alone at the table, and he looked up in surprise. "Sam? Charlie? Are you alright? Can you see me?"
Sam frowned and looked at Charlie, but she was just as clueless.
"Why wouldn't we be able to see you, Cas?" Sam asked.
"Dean briefly mentioned that you might wash your eyes with bleach, although, he wouldn't say why, so I'm prepared to heal any burns or wounds of any kind," Cas explained.
Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah, we're going to need to have a talk with Dean," he stated.
"Perhaps it can wait?" The angel cocked his head and analyzed the giant hunter. "You don't seem upset or worried, Sam. What could there be to talk about?"
"Brother stuff," Sam shrugged. "Where is Dean, anyway?" he asked, holding up a hand when Cas opened his mouth. "You know what? Never mind. I don't need to know that badly."
"Relax, Sammy!" Dean walked into the room looking way too happy for Sam's comfort. "I was just in the kitchen! I thought that after making you want to scratch your own eyes out, the least I could do was make you breakfast!"
Sam did a double take. "I'm sorry, who are you, and what have you done with my brother?" he demanded. "Even getting laid never makes you this happy!"
Dean smirked knowingly. "Oh, Sammy, you're just jealous because you know that you've never been, uh, touched by an angel," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Sam felt his face flare bright red. "Dean, shut up," he muttered from between clenched teeth.
Dean just laughed. "Oh, and we've got a case! A simple little haunting. Should be a breeze! Save some lives and be back in time for dinner! Cas can zap us there now, can't you, man?"
The angel suddenly shifted uncomfortably.
"Cas?" Dean asked, slightly worried. "Are you okay, man?"
Cas nodded. "Dean, it's just that," he tried to explain, but apparently words failed him. He hung his head and quietly murmured, "I'd rather spend the time in the car with you than have the journey be over in a second. I'm sorry. I know it's selfish," he apologized softly, not looking up.
Sam rolled his eyes at first, and Charlie and Dean were in shock, but as the angel continued to beat himself up, Sam hissed at his brother out of the corner of his mouth.
"Dean, go kiss your boyfriend for fucks sake!"
Dean, of course, did just that.
"It isn't selfish, Angel," he whispered against Cas's hair, pulling him into a crushing hug as their lips finally broke apart. "It's just, no one ever wanted to actually go on a road trip with me before, and I thought you'd like it better if you could just fly there. I thought you'd want to fly, Angel. It's alright, I like to keep my feet on steady ground anyway."
Cas trembled in Dean's hold, and he made a valiant effort to reclaim his emotions, but it was too late. They were already running down his face, tiny testaments to the humanity that still lingered within the celestial being.
Dean just held him closer. They'd been through so much lately, he couldn't blame the angel for breaking down like this.
Sam and Charlie quietly snuck into the kitchen and helped themselves to the breakfast Dean had worked so hard on: hamburgers and fries.
They chuckled a little, but food was food, and Dean was an excellent, if unimaginative, cook.
"We should uninvite ourselves from this hunt," Charlie suggested, halfway through her second burger.
Sam grunted and kept chewing. After a while, he finally deemed his mouth clear enough to say, "Sounds good!"
Charlie rolled her eyes and punched his arm. "Let me orchestrate a programming emergency," she offered.
Sam nodded. "How long do you need?" he asked.
Charlie snorted. "Please. This is Dean. We could take the batteries out of the remote and convince him that the CD player was disrupting the wifi, and unless we fixed it, no one could listen to music."
Sam chuckled. "So, five minutes?"
The next night found Dean and Cas in a motel room and very upset.
"Dean, I'm sorry! Please, let me heal you!"
"We ganked the fucker eventually, Cas. There's nothing to be sorry about," Dean answered, detached, pulling away from the distraught angel. He hadn't watched Cas's face as he limped from the cemetery to the car, he hadn't seen his expression as he asked for two queens, and he sure as hell wasn't looking now.
"This bed is mine," he decided, dumping all his things onto the nearest bed.
Behind him, Cas sighed and shuffled to the other bed. Both of them sat down and stared aimlessly in any direction except at each other.
"Dean," Cas attempted again.
"I don't understand," Dean cut him off. "Why would you refuse to help me? The ghost was about to kill me, and you still didn't fly me out of there, Cas. What could I have possibly done to warrant that? Huh? How did I drop so far in your esteem?"
Cas shook silently. "Dean, that isn't it," he whispered painfully.
"Then what is?" Dean demanded, ignoring the fierce pain that shot through him as he faced his boyfriend. "Because, dammit, Cas, I don't know what to think anymore!"
Cas hung his head and took a deep, steadying breath before standing and crossing in front of the hunter. "Dean," he said urgently. "Look."
Dean looked up at the angel and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of the broken, mangled wings he was manifesting.
"Cas!" he gasped. "Oh my god, Cas, what happened?"
The angel shrugged and ended the display. "You were right, Dean. Metatron did something to my grace, and now these are the repercussions. I can't fly, I can't save you, and I'm not even worth your affection. So there's the truth you were asking for. Are you happy now?"
Dean shook his head mournfully. "Why didn't you tell me, babe?"
Cas shook at the pet name, and he slumped against the wall, sliding to the floor. "I wanted you to still think that I was useful. After all, without my powers, I'm just a-"
"Don't say it," Dean interrupted firmly, sliding off the bed and reaching for his angel. "Don't you say that, Cas. Even if you don't have your wings, you're still my hero. You always will be, do you hear me? I love you, Cas! I don't care how broken you are, I just need you be here with me, okay?"
Tears were running down both faces as Cas let Dean pull him into a close embrace.
"But, Dean," he whispered brokenly, "I'm an angel. What good is an angel that can't fly?"
Dean frowned and pulled back, tilting Cas's face up with his hand. "Don't you ever say that, Cas. You're worth so much! Cas, you don't even know!"
"I already got you hurt," Cas protested.
Dean placed a gentle finger on his lips and stroked his hair away from his face. "You can heal me," he agreed quietly. "We can heal each other."
And if, on the ride home the next day, Dean turned the radio up just a little louder when the Beatles started singing, neither of them complained.
Dean reached over and linked his fingers with his angel's, mouthing the lyrics to him.
"Take these broken wings and learn to fly."