Alternate Ending

Note: So, this is a first for me. Over the course of my long and sordid ficcing career I've never given an alternate ending to a fic, but I can't seem to let this go and dump it in the recycle bin like I've done three times-and then recovered. *rolls eyes* Yes, apparently I have issues with letting go.

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Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket, flipping it open and making a call.

"Cas." Dean was half-surprised he even answered. His expectations hadn't been high after the way he'd poof-ed after they got back to ground zero.

"Now isn't a good time Dean." Cas paused.

"Yes." Dean said.

"Yes." Cas agreed, "Thank you for understanding-"

"No." Dean's voice was rough and gravely, blinking against the still burning feeling in his eyes. "Yes. Yes, Cas. I-I'll do whatever you guys want me to. Yes, yes, yes."

There was such utter silence that Dean thought Cas truly hadn't understood and hung up on him.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean flung his phone across the room, only realizing that he wasn't alone in the room when Castiel ducked the projectile.

Quickly, he wiped his sleeve across his eyes, rubbing away some of the moisture that had condensed at the corner of his eyes.

"So." Dean said. "What now?"

Castiel shook his head. "No, no Dean. You don't mean it."

"Fuck I don't. I do. Hell, I'll scream it from the rooftops if I have to, Cas." Dean's voice broke, "Yes. Yes…yes!"

"No." Cas told him. "I understand-"

"No." Dean said roughly, getting up from the bed and closing the gap between himself and Cas. "You're the one who doesn't understand. I'm done-finished. I-I told you…"

Dean paused, his voice cracking as he admitted the truth. "I told you. It's too much-too big. I can't do this, I can't do this alone."

"What do you mean? You're not alone Dean, you have your brother."

"Shut up." Dean's nose twitched angrily at the mention. Not anymore. "You're the one who said I had to do this-me. Not Sam and Dean-not a hunting trio-me."

"I was wrong." Castiel said calmly, and yet Dean could feel his eyes burning into him. "Where's Sam?"

"Don't know. It doesn't matter." Dean said, lips pulled tight over his teeth in frustration. "I thought this is what I'm supposed to do. What you want."

"You're upset." Cas stated.

"I'm pissed, okay?" Dean told him, "On levels you can not possibly fucking imagine, but I'm one hundred percent right in my head and I say yes, okay Cas? Y.E.S."

"Then…" Cas' voice trailed off, "I guess there's nothing left."

"No." Dean's voice was hollow. "Nothing."

"You might want to give your brother a running start." Castiel warned him. "He's your brother after all."

He knew he was going to regret it, but he couldn't pretend-he couldn't pretend he'd never heard it.

"What do you mean?" He asked quietly, practically whispering.

"The first thing Michael is going to do is kill him, and send him to hell. He won't have a chance." Cas paused, "Sam's earned a fighting chance, I think.",

Dean closed his eyes squeezing them shut tightly, and wishing he could empty out everything he'd seen, everything Cas had said as easily as not seeing Cas in front of him.

"Whatever you think you saw, Dean…" Cas told him quietly. "Heaven, and Zachariah above all, are not above playing tricks on your mind. Your not alone, and Sam-"

"Doesn't need me to take care of him." Dean said in a chilling tone. "Proved that one, haven't we Cas."

"You need each other now, more than ever." Cas told him, "Don't think that your brother feels any different about you than you feel about him-he's never doubted you, and he will lay down his life for you."

"How would you know?" Dean argued back, his voice thick.

"Because I've seen his soul. And I have faith, Dean-faith in you and Sam."