Chapter 2

Castiel waited until he was sure Sam was asleep before he attempted to move him. Technically he could fly them both to his desired location with nothing more than a pinkie finger touching the young man, but somehow that didn't seem like it would ever be enough to support him. Without really thinking about it he found himself wrapping his arm around Sam's back and tightening his grip.

He needed to make sure Lucifer left him alone tonight.

He paused as he unravelled his wings, wondering where to take him.

Recalling where the Winchesters slept last time he visited the house, Castiel flew them downstairs and gently re arranged Sam so he was laying on his back on the all too small sofa, pillows propped underneath his head to prevent neck strain.

Looking around, he grabbed a throw from the back of an arm chair and carefully placed it over him. Lucifer ran cold, it was important Sam stayed warm. He needed to be able to separate reality with what was happening inside his own mind.

When he was sure he was comfortable, he perched himself on the arm rest. His hand automatically reaching down to Sam's shoulder, rubbing small circles just below the arm socket. He couldn't reach his back like this, so this would have to do. Hopefully it didn't make too much of a difference. He was still unsure whether there were rules on what areas could be caressed. He figured as long as he stayed away from the 'Private regions' that Dean had explained, then he should be fine.

An echo from the kitchen caused Castiel to divert his attention to the doorway, his angel senses picking up on what his vessels ears could not. It took him a moment to register what it was he could hear as he zoned in on the two hunter's actions. The scrapping of chairs as they stood up, heavier footsteps- Bobby's- heading towards the sink, glasses being submerged in water, Dean knocking into a table, then them both turning and heading towards the room he and Sam currently occupied.

In the blink of an eye, Castiel changed his celestial awareness, preventing the human form from picking up on him. Dean liked to call it his invisibility clock, though this reference made no sense to the angel, he did not put on a coat he simply used his grace to alter what they could see.

After failing Sam as badly as he had, he was determined to stay for as long as the boy needed to sleep for tonight. He had a funny feeling Dean would completely object to this though. He had a issue with being watched while he slept. They had found this out the hard way.

So he kept himself hidden, just to be on the safe side.

"Kid fell asleep then" Bobby affirmed as he walked though the room, pausing as he headed to the stairway to take a long look at Sam's sleeping form. Castiel had to fight the sudden desire to stand in front of him. Had to remind himself that he had no reason to have to protect Sam from them.

"Thank god for that." Dean replied, his eyebrows raising as he removed his top layer of clothing. Castiel could not fandom why Bobby seeing him in his undergarments was acceptable but for Castiel it was not. Humans were such bizarre creatures. He didn't think he would ever truly understand them.

Still, Dean had been quite clear, so Castiel adverted his eyes, instead focusing on the top of Sam's head.

" He's been trying to hide it, but he's been having nightmares for weeks." Dean continued.

The angel felt this temper flare, a hot burning rage shooting though his very being.

Dean knew?

Then why wasn't he helping Sam? Why was he forcing his brother to suffer though this in silence? Thinking he was protecting him from knowledge he already had? That was just cruel.

"Always was prone to them"

"I thought it was due to withdrawal at first. We were on a hunt over in Louisiana and he got demon blood on him. Never seen him stare at something with so much conviction before. I left it on the blade that night, just to see what he'd do."Dean admitted and it took all of Castiel's self control not to snap back into a form they could perceive and smack him in the face.

"And?" Bobby asked, causing the angel to shift his scowl to him too. That was not an acceptable response.

Dean shook his head and shrugged a shoulder indicating if he was on the juice again, he had a good way of hiding it.

Castiel, found himself gripping hold of the edge of the sofa, his grace swimming with desire to smite them. He didn't understand much about human customs but he damn well knew you didn't just leave someone to deal with things like this alone. Dean might know Sam better than he ever would but testing his resolve like that was asking for trouble.

Any ... guilt he did feel about not telling Dean what was going on quickly vanished. He didn't deserve to know the whole story, not when he so easily jumped to such awful conclusions.

The two said nothing else as they departed ways for the night but Dean shifted uncomfortably and kept looking over his shoulder suspiciously. Castiel realised his grace was reaching out to him in anger and quickly reigned it in. Dean was his friend, the one destined to stop the apocalypse. He had to remember that.

Still, he could not stop himself giving the man diarrhoea that night and watching in great satisfaction every time he had to run to the bathroom.

Asshole.

Sam slept for 36 hours straight, showing just how exhausted he really had been. Castiel kept his promise. He did not once leave Sam's side. Instead he sat there, whispering reassurances and rubbing circles on his arm, brushing his hand up and down his shoulder every time he so much as stirred. They had a few instances where Castiel really had to fight to calm Sam down, but he had managed each time.

He glared daggers when Dean and Bobby awoke and did nothing but watch Sam when he tossed or threw his head to the side in distress.

Whether they thought he was on the Demon blood again or not, that didn't give them an excuse to do nothing.

When talk turned to maybe having to tie him down 'just encase', Castiel couldn't contain himself and a light above them smashed.

It provided a good distraction.

They had been hunting a none existing ghost since.

When Sam began to stir Castiel stood up slowly, not wanting to jar him awake.

He should have flown off, he had done what he had came to. There was no reason for him to stay.

He did though.

He took barely two steps over to the arm chair and took a seat, his eyes never once leaving Sam's face.

He did not want him to awaken alone. His last memories being of the people around him saying or even doing, such horrible things.

"Hello Sam." He said as Sam sat up and wiped at his eyes.

The young Winchester turned to gaze in his direction, confused as he fought of the last remains of sleep.

"Hey?" Sam replied sleepily and Castiel had to admit it was one of the nicest sights he had ever seen. Sam cranked his neck from side to side, flexed his fingers and stretched his arms and back. Castiel gave him a moment to regain his bearings before he spoke again.

"You've been out thirty six hours, seven minutes and twelve seconds. I moved you down here after you fell asleep." He explained causing Sam to blink as he tried to register what he just said. His mind was still slightly foggy.

Then his cheeks flushed bright pink and he cringed.

"Oh g...shoot... Cas... sorry... man I fell asleep on you... oh my g...SORRY!" He garbled, jumping to his feet. Unfortunately he moved to quickly for his limbs to follow properly and he soon found himself falling back down onto the edge of the couch. As he landed, the seat cushion did a flip and quickly sent him flying to the floor. Seconds later it landed on top of him with a thump.

It was Castiel's turn to just blink.

The corners of his mouth twitched and his shoulders shook once.

Now that was amusing.

Sam rubbed at the back of his head as he looked up at the angel sheepishly, his hair falling over his eyes.

"It's quite alright Sam." Castiel settled on eventually saying.

Humans got embarrassed over the strangest of things.

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked looking around, the old farm house was far too quiet for his liking.

"Grave digging I believe. He may be under the impression this place is haunted."

"What gave him that idea?"

"I did." He stated simply and Sam was slightly taken aback by the honesty. "He was, getting, under my skin." He continued, chewing on the phasing carefully.

Sam snorted.

Castiel's lips twitched into a half smile.

He supposed he got the context of it right after all.

They stayed silent for a moment before Sam broke it by clumsily getting to his feet.

"Urrr I think I need to freshen up... I'm just gunna..." He pointed up the stairs, running a hand though his hair to move it out of his line of vision.

Castiel nodded.

"Right, of course." Though he didn't understand at all what Sam was referring to. " I'll make you a sandwich for when you are done. Your stomach has been quite loudly protesting for several hours now."

Sam blushed again as he placed his hand on his belly, his hair falling back into his face and his eyes briefly squeezing shut in an expression the angel had yet to come to recognise.

He muffled out a thanks as he quickly ascended the stairs.

Castiel turned to make his way into the kitchen, then paused as a flop of hair came back into his vision.

"Wait, angel's know how to make sandwiches?"

"I'm celestial being Sam, how difficult can it be?"

It turned out it was very difficult. Very difficult indeed.

He understood the mechanics of it.

Bread

Filling

More bread.

But he did not know what Sam liked and Bobby had many options.

Did he want pressed curds of cow milk? The meat of a pig? Crushed strawberries? The fridge was full of choice and Castiel had no experience of the taste of such things to be able to tell what was a good combination and what would make the man sick.

If it was Dean, he would have demanded pie, he was quite vocal in his likes and dislikes. Made sure everyone around him knew his preferences whenever he was presented with anything.

But Sam was not Dean and Castiel was clueless.

It wasn't as simple as just allowing himself to throw something together.

Sam would eat it whether he liked what was put in front of him or not, rather than come across as rude and refuse it.

And Castiel did not want to put him in that position.

So he stared at the contents of the fridge for as long as he heard the shower going for.

He had to get this right.

When Sam entered the room, hair damp and in a change of clothes, Cas seated himself at the table and waited for him to do the same.

The second Sam saw the tray of food, his mouth dropped.

When Cas had said a sandwich, he was pretty much assuming he meant it in the singular terms. Instead laid out untouching in the centre of Bobby's old oak, were piles of the stuff.

"I was unsure what you would like." Cas said simply, watching Sam's expression with unease.

He knew he would get it wrong.

Sam's mouth remained agape as he slowly pulled up a chair.

"When you grow up on diner food you learn to eat anything." He replied with a small smile. He glanced up at Castiel and seemed to quickly realise that this meant something to him. Reaching over he grabbed the nearest one and quickly took a bite out of it. "Thanks Castiel this is great! But you didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"It was no trouble Sam."

Sam smiled and took a look at each loaf individually, trying to work out what ingredients he had used and if he needed to go shopping to replace Bobby's fridge before they left.

"Just one question." he continued, his brows knitting together as his eyes landed on something at the far edge of the tray. "What on earth is that one?"

He pointed towards a soggy brown roll that quite frankly looked like it was oozing out vinegar and smelt like the contents of Dean's stomach after a night out.

"Dean says everything taste better with beer, I am not sure the bread agrees with that." Castiel answered seriously.

The angel had not expected the laugh which came next.

Or the way Sam threw his head back as his whole body shook from the sound he emitted.

It was pleasant sound Castiel decided.

It made his chest feel warm.

"Dude, your unbelievable!"

As Sam picked up another sandwich, Castiel eyed the food warily. As he took a bite, the angel reached out and hesitantly picked one up himself. He studied it for a moment before bringing it to his lips and sinking his teeth in.

It tasted of molecules.

With a hint of something sweet.

It wasn't as bad as he thought, Jimmy's stomach certainly seemed to be enjoying it.

Castiel felt eyes on him and looked up from the snack to find Sam's disbelieving ones.

He tilted his head and Sam seemed to realise he was staring.

"Sorry... but since when do you eat?"

Castiel swallowed hard.

Now that was a question.

He thought about ignoring him.

He thought about lying to him.

He did neither.

"My rebellion has cut me off from heaven. My grace is...fading."

"What?"

"Eventually I will lose it completely." He admitted.

He couldn't bring himself to remain looking at Sam, he was hoping to keep this fact from the Winchesters for as long as possible.

"There must be something we can do?"

Castiel didn't need to have Sam's face in his vision to be able to see the horror written on it, it was wound into his very voice.

"I knew the consequences of defying Michaels orders. Of siding with you and Dean."

"Cas, I'm sorry" Sam stammered, at a loss of what else to say.

"Do not be sorry Sam, I made the decision, not you."

It wasn't a decision he had come to regret either. So long as he could continue to be of assistance to them in stopping the apocalypse.

"What happens when it fades? To you I mean." The younger Winchester questioned, concern replacing horror in his tone. It felt strange to Castiel, to be the one someone was concerned about for a change.

He didn't like it.

"I am unsure, but I feel I won't be any use to either of you when it happens."

"Use to us? Cas.."

"Its fine Sam."

"No its not, Your one of us, you're always going to be one of us. Family doesn't mean having uses for each other. It's so much more. Castiel your stuck with us, Angel, human, cyborg swimming in the ocean, whatever you are, your with us. Family doesn't end with blood, and it certainly doesn't end with power."

Castiel felt something catch in his throat and he had to double check he had not just wrongly swallowed something.

He hadn't, but that didn't help him place the feeling.

The corners of his mouth twitched once, twice, three times before they broke out into his first proper smile.

If anyone was to ever ask him why he made the choices he did, he had a feeling this moment would be the one he told them off.

Especially when Sam smiled back.

(a/n) Thank so much to everyone whose reading this 3