The next time the blackness vanished, Cas was already prepared for that. New surroundings, no one around.

He sighed.

He was doing that quite often in the last few hours. Was it really just a few hours? It felt longer to Cas.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Cas looked around.

This time it was a house. Or apartment. At least it was a living room.

It looked, appropriately to its name, lived in. There were stacks of books all over the couch table and magazines and a few cushions on the sofa. All in all, that living room looked appealing to Cas, way more comfortable than what Dean and Sam had built in the bunker.

Deciding that it was time for himself to do something about his situation, Dean went around roaming through the apartment.

Sam and Dean needed to have something useful somewhere in there.

How he knew that it was Dean's and Sam's apartment he ignored for the moment.

But as he was about to open one of the cupboards that looked quite promising to contain useful stuff, whatever that could be, the door of the apartment opened.

Cas' head shot up and he was frantically looking for something to defend himself with, as he really looked at who had come through the door.

"Sam? You home?" the man asked.

Cas furrowed his brow.

"No, it's me, Cas. Don't you recognise me, Dean?"

Then Dean actually looked at the man standing in his living room and took a double take, putting the bags he'd had in his hands on the ground.

"Cas?"

Cas grinned.

"Yes" he said. For once, everything seemed to go in the right direction. Dean recognised him, Dean actually knew him. Maybe he would even get to working towards a solution this time around. Maybe…

"What are you doing here?"

Cas' smile vanished again.

„Why wouldn't I be here?" he asked.

"Well…" Dean said, fidgeting about. „This is mine and Sam's apartment... You don't usually come here anymore."

Cas frowned.

„Why?" he asked.

„Well, you know, since you found out..." Dean said.

Cas still didn't get it.

"Since I found out what?"

Dean paused in his fidgeting and stared at Cas.

"Wait, you don't remember?" he asked.

"Remember what?"

Dean grinned.

„Even though that's weird, this is a chance to get it right this time, you know?" He winked at Cas. "Maybe we can change the past" he said in a mysterious voice that did more to confuse Cas than everything he'd said before.

"What?"

"Just ignore me" Dean said and continued walking towards the couch. He passed Cas, who was standing a few steps in front of the couch, and slumped himself on it. He patted beside him. "Come on, sit."

Cas sat down, shooting occasional glances at Dean. He was weary, sitting on the edge of the couch seat. He didn't have time to talk with Dean right now, he had to figure out what was happening with him and how to get out of this mess. But he also knew Dean, and he knew that if Dean wanted to talk about something, then there was no way around it.

So, he decided to just stick it out and wait until Dean had gotten off his chest what he had on his mind.

"So how are you?" asked Dean finally, when the silence was nearly becoming too heavy for Cas to bear.

"Fine" answered Cas the Winchester's usual phrase. He was never sure if they actually meant it or if they were trying to communicate that they were not fine. Only Sam and Dean seemed to know the code to that secret language.

Dean laughed, and for a second Cas thought that Dean had read his mind. But then he patted him on the leg, and the moment was gone.

"Good good" he said. "How is work going?"

Cas stared at him. As Dean didn't continue, he raised one eyebrow and glanced at Dean in confusion.

"Work?"

„Yes, work. You know, where you spend your days hours giving service in return for money?" Dean specified.

"I don't work" Cas stated. „And you don't either. We kill monsters."

Dean laughed, but as he saw that Cas was not laughing with him, he went serious again.

"Not for a very long time, Cas." Then he knit his brows together. "Don't you remember any of that, Cas? What's wrong with you? You alright?"

"I'm fine" Cas repeated. „Why don't we hunt monsters anymore?"

Cas didn't understand anything anymore. Dean and Sam's lives basically consisted of hunting monsters. The family business, everyone knew that. What could have happened to change that?

"Why?" he simply asked, knowing instinctively that Dean would know what he meant, know what he was thinking. "Why would you stop hunting monsters?"

Dean didn't answer right away. Instead, he stared at the TV even though it wasn't even on. Then, as if he couldn't take it anymore to sit still, he jumped up and started pacing in the little room. From the door to the couch, back to the door and back to the couch. Cas followed him with his eyes but didn't dare to interrupt him.

"Well, you know about Lisa, right?" Cas nodded, not understanding where Dean was going. "Well, it's something like that, just different. Kinda a lot different."

Cas faltered. If Dean was in love, then that would explain why he'd given up something so important in his life. But if it wasn't Lisa, then who…?

Suddenly, the door opened.

„Honey, I'm home!" said a voice and before either Cas or Dean could react Sam had entered the living room and smacked a kiss on Dean's lips.

Then his eyes went over to the couch and the visitor that sat petrified on it.

"Cas?!"

Dean shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I think there is no way to get this right" he sighed.

This time Castiel knew that the blackness was because he was fainting.


Hi there!

And here I am again as promised with a new chapter, and it didn't take me that long! *proud*

Please tell me what you thought, it would mean the world to me (also I'm a bit nervous about this one, it's completly new territory for me...)

The next chapter is nearly done already, so you'll get it soon-ish.

I still have a few ideas for a couple more chapters, but then I'm out. So if you have an idea that you'd want me to do, send me a PM!

Until next time, if you want