"So uh, I'm just going to put you in here for a while, Sam. Just until I'm sure that the devil isn't being your bunker buddy anymore."
Sam smiled up at Dean with one of those delusional smiles that you only see on people who have really lost it. It killed Dean. "Don't worry," Sam grabbed his arm from the bedside, "I like being his buddy." Dean just smiled, and wiped his hand across his face slowly.
"Yeah, well, um... I'm going to go take a walk for a while. You just stay here and... don't go anywhere, Sam." He pleaded. After Sam had lost it and had started seeing Lucifer again, Dean didn't have anything left. Everything dear to him had been taken away, just like it had been done all throughout his life.
Looking straight forward as he walked down the hall, Dean didn't even stop to look at the hot nurses passing by who would have at an earlier time caught his attention. You've lost him, Dean. His thoughts were starting to unwind – Dean was losing it every second that passed. You've lost... everything. Grabbing a window sill edge, Dean shut his eyes forcefully, breathing deeply.
"Sir, you can't be wandering the halls. You know Dr. Speight wants you to stay in your room for right now and rest."
"But I'm angel of the lord. I have business-"
Dean snapped his neck to the side where the voices were coming from, making a small noise when he felt pain pound against him.
He knew that voice.
"Cas?" He called out weakly, rubbing his neck.
One of the figures at the end of the hall looked towards him and God -
"Castiel?" Dean stammered, pushing away from the wall and started to run towards the male. He knew it was him. Fuck, it was him.
The man looked alarmingly at the woman besides him who quickly barred Dean from getting by her when he came sprinting down the hall to Cas. "Excuse me! I would be extremely thankful if you didn't patronize our patients by pretending that you know them."
Dean glared at her, turning his frantic gaze back to Castiel who, for his part, looked very confused and a little bit scared.
"Cas, it's me." Dean started, "Cas?"
But the angel only stared. And all Dean could do was stare back.
"I'm sorry, I... I don't know who you are."
Dean's mouth hung open, his eyes wide as a shiver ran down his spine. "I don't know who you are." But it was Cas... it had to be.
"You're Castiel though. You're angel of the lord. You pulled me out of Perdition and gave me a hand print, and... and..." Dean's breathing was speeding up, his heart pounding in his chest out of anxiety.
"Sir, please, he doesn't know you."
"Shut up!" Dean lashed out, surprising her by making her back up a few feet. Dean closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." Looking at Cas again, he tried once more. "You are Castiel, aren't you?"
The angel only stared at him, his eyes running across Dean as he tried to figure out how Dean knew this. "I am. How do you know this?"
"I'm your friend-"
"I've never met you."
Dean stopped. Cas was... Cas was gone. "Goddammit!" He punched the wall. "What have I done?" He looked up at sky, desperately calling out to a God that had long since abandoned them. "I've saved the world from the apocalypse; from Luifer; from demons. I've put up with all the deaths and the destruction, but goddammit I am done. I'm done." His screaming became silent sobs as he rested his head against the wall, with his hands balled up into fists.
A cool hand cautiously touched his back, making him jump. "Dean..." Cas said hesitantly, as the unfamiliar name rolled off his tongue. "What was I to you?"
Dean laughed, all emotion gone. In a sudden move he turned and wrapped his arms around Castiel's back. He buried his head into the angel's shoulder, letting the tears come down.
"You were my best friend."