Castiel came crashing through the doors of the bunker, he staggered from side to side, trying desperately to get some form of balance. Sam came sprinting to the source of the noise and found Castiel in a bloodied, crumpled up heap on the floor.

"Cas. Cas...speak to me. What happened?" Cas looked up at Sam, trying to respond he gurgled spitting out some blood as he did so. "DEAN YOU'D BETTER GET DOWN HERE, CAS IS NOT LOOKING SO GOOD"

Not 30 seconds after Sam had spoken the older Winchester came bolting down stairs towards them. He sat down on the floor and cradled Cas in one of his arms while gently patting his face with the free hand.

"Cas buddy. What happened? Who did this to you?" Upon hearing no response Dean shook him lightly "Come on man, wake up, talk to me. Castiel!"

"Dean?" Cas coughed out.

"Cas? What happened?"

"I ... I was attacked" Cas continued to speak but it was low and strained "I didn't see who by but I don't have enough power to heal myself fully yet"

"Son of a bitch. Where were you when they attacked you? I'll find them Cas and I'll..." Cas began to lose consciousness again. " Cas? CAS!"

Sam interrupted. "We need to get him cleaned up Dean. We can sort out details later but right now trying to get Cas even a little better is our priority"

"You're right Sammy. I just. I want to help."

"Carry him to the bathroom, we will get his wounds cleaned first"

Dean lifted Cas trying to be as gentle as he could with the angel's fragile body. When he got to the bathroom he set Cas down leaning against the bathtub. Dean reached out and stroked lightly along Cas' bruised jawline, all the way down to his bloodied lips. He fought back the tears prickling the corners of his eyes and he fought back the urge to go kick the living shit out of whoever had done this.

"Dean come on, focus we need to get him cleaned up. His wounds need cleaning. His clothes will need washing and probably repairing."

Dean hadn't even noticed the clothes yet but now he was looking and realising that Sam was right. The shirt was soaked in blood, the trousers were ripped at one knee and the trench coat had a tear down one arm and a few buttons missing. Seeing the trench coat ripped triggered another burst of rage in Dean. The trench coat was pretty much part of Castiel.

"Sam. Wash the clothes I'm useless at that household stuff"

Sam reached out his hands to start and remove the clothes to be washed but Dean's own hands shot out and grabbed Sam's wrists.

"No. I am the only one who gets to touch him right now."

Sam nodded he didn't need to question it, he understood, Dean had always been protective of the angel. Dean reached out his trembling hands and slid the tie down until it was undone. He worked on the shirt buttons and then shrugged the shirt, blazer and trench coat off in one go and passed them to Sam. He then grabbed the nearest towels and balled them up into make shift pillows while he laid Cas down to remove the torn trousers. He passed them to Sam too and with that Sam left the room. Dean stared at Cas, dipping in and out of consciousness, sprawled out in a pair of boxer shorts on the bathroom floor looking more fragile than Dean had ever seen. He reached for a wash cloth and rubbed over Cas' lips, his jawline, under his nose. He cleaned every inch of his face until there was no dirt or blood. All that was left was bruising and a couple of cuts. He moved onto his body which wasn't bleeding badly but was badly bruised. He dabbed over the grazes and worked his way from his neck all the way down to his toes taking care to clean every tiny inch of dirt or blood off. He even tried to rinse his hair a little by gently holding him over the bathtub. He looked down at the angel who was once again cradled in his arms as he carried him into his bedroom, he grabbed his dressing gown and wrapped Cas up in it. He tucked him into bed and sat trying to talk to Cas but it appeared Cas was unconscious again.

"Please Cas. Wake up and say one little word for me. I don't care what it is. Hell you can swear at me if you like but just please say something." Dean was now close to sobbing. He held emotions relatively at bay while he was cleaning Cas but now all he could do was sit and stare and hope that Cas would wake up soon.

After what seemed like hours a voice broke the silence "Dean?"

"Cas?! You're awake. Thank god"

"I'm so tired Dean."

"Are you okay? You wanna sleep? Are you sure? You'll wake up right?"

"I'm not going to die Dean. I am just weak from the attack and using my last bit of powers to transport myself here."

"You sure that's all you need? Just rest?"

"I promise Dean"

"Then rest. I'll be here when you wake up. As soon as you wake up I'll be right by your side"

Cas smiled a tiny smile and drifted off to sleep. Dean sat for a while and just watched Cas. He sat and thought about ways he could help and then it came to him. He stood up and crept to the bedroom door. Taking extra care not to make loud noises, as soon as he was out of the door he rushed downstairs to the laundry room and picked up the trench coat. As he was leaving the room with it he bumped into Sam.

"I can't get the shirt clean and the trousers have pretty much had it Dean."

"Sammy I wouldn't ask if it wasn't desperate but please go buy him some more. I'll pay I don't care but I can't leave here. I need to be here when he wakes up" Sam looked at Dean. How could he say no when Dean looked so concerned. He nodded and left. Dean headed back upstairs to Cas.

Dean had been sat next to the bed for about an hour and a half waiting for Cas to wake up. He wanted to wake him but he knew Cas needed to sleep so he focused his attention on fixing the trench coat. He had never been one for sewing but he wanted to fix it for Cas, he thought it must be important to him cause he never took it off. He had searched the drawers and found some thread and some buttons, sure they didn't match perfectly but he hoped Cas wouldn't mind. He set to work slumped over the trench coat trying to do the neatest stitching he could. The stitches proved to be easy but the buttons were another story. They were so fiddly and he kept missing the hole and pulling the buttons slightly off centre. He was still fighting with buttons when Cas woke up. Cas looked over and saw Dean who was deep in concentration, his eyes staring daggers at the buttons and his bottom lip was slightly stuck out like he was pouting. Cas had to smile, even though it hurt his lips and jaw to smile he just couldn't help it. Cas let out a small cough to alert Dean that he was awake. Dean's head snapped up and in the process he jammed the needle into the end of his finger. He didn't know if to curse or laugh. He stood and placed the coat on a nearby chair then made his way over to Cas. He pulled Cas into a tight (but still gentle) hug and for a few moments neither man moved, Dean held Castiel feeling like he was shielding him from everything else and Cas was genuinely touched by the amount of care and affection he was receiving. At that moment Sam knocked on the bedroom door.

"Come in Sammy"

"How's he doing?"

"I am fine Sam, slightly sore but fine. Thank you for asking"

"I got the things you asked for Dean" Sam handed Dean a couple of bags as he spoke.

"Thanks Sammy" Dean placed the bags next to the bed "We got you some new shirts and stuff, yours were pretty wrecked so, oh yeah also, I fixed...well I mean I tried to fix your coat too" Dean gingerly passed the coat to Castiel. Cas looked at the slightly wonky stitching and mismatched buttons and he couldn't remember a time he had liked the coat more than he did right now.

"You both did these things just for me?" Cas smiled a soft smile while looking between the two Winchesters

"Of course we did, we care about you Cas, you're like our family" Sam spoke "Anyway I have some research to be getting on with for the case so I'll leave you to it"

Sam left the room and pulled the door closed behind him, leaving Dean and Cas sat on the bed.

"Dean, do you care about me too?" Cas looked up at him with wide blue eyes. Deans face flushed a slight pink shade.

"I care about you more than pretty much anything else Cas, you saved me from hell, you pieced me back together, you gave up everything for me and I can never never repay you for that. I will always care about you" At this point Cas started to well up, Dean noticed and reached out his thumb and brushed away the tiny tears in the corners of Cas' eyes. He slipped his hand from Cas' eye to behind his ear, just resting on the side of his head and he leaned in so their noses were just brushing together. Cas broke out in a blush of his own at the close proximity.

"Dean what are you doing?" He whispered in a barely audible voice.

"Cas, I can't explain what I'm doing just please trust me" Cas nodded, Dean leant forward and closed the small gap that was left between them. Their lips touched softly and almost cautiously for a few seconds and then Dean pulled back. "So...erm...what did you think?" Dean was staring at his feet and blushing, not daring to make eye contact with Cas. Cas didn't respond with words though, Cas reached for Dean's face and pulled him into a kiss, it was gentle and sweet. Dean crawled into bed next to Cas and draped his arms around him, pulling Cas in loosely under his chin. Cas wriggled up so he was nose to nose with Dean, Dean met Cas' lips again.

"I love you Dean"

"I love you too Cas, I think I always have"

Sam was starting to get worried, he hadn't heard anything from Dean or Cas and it was way past dinner time, he creeped upstairs and looked into the room, Dean was fully clothed, laid on his back with Cas tucked into him under one arm, still wearing Dean's dressing gown. Both men were fast asleep and had smiles on their faces. Sam grinned to himself and went back downstairs, leaving the older Winchester and his angel to have some peace.