"Are you sure he's going to be okay?"

Castiel tightened his lips as he turned to Sam. "We have no choice. There are monetary issues to consider."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better."

Castiel gave a short sigh. "I know. But Dean has sufficient shelter, food, water, and a way to contact us if necessary."

"And you're sure these blood spells will hold?" Sam added as an afterthought.

Castiel stared at Sam without blinking. "Your brother trusts my judgment."

Sam scoffed in return. "Yeah, but dude, you had a lot more power last time you had to go on a hunt with us. It seems like a practical nightmare to do this with Dean laid up and you barely recovered from the transport."

"I know. If there were a different option, it would be easier to take. But we'll only be gone for a short time. Dean is resourceful. The best way to assist right now is to keep him safe and give him space to process whats happened."

Sam reached for the doorknob after putting his coat on. "I hate it when you're right sometimes."

Castiel followed him out of the door with a look back to Dean. "That does not mean there will be a less correct choice to follow."

Dean heard the conversations in jagged bouts of consciousness. His eyes blinked slowly as he took in the room, though he were an underwater diver. Dean was disconcerted with not knowing exactly how long he had been asleep, even aware that his body needed to heal and that Sam and Cas had been looking out for him. Truth was, he was never sure he would feel physically freshed again after something like this happened.

Trying to lift himself up from the covers, the first sensation Dean felt was his atrophied muscles. He growled to himself as he fell back onto the bed. He sighed, just registering the fact that his torturer now had one of his fake wallets that he took on missions. Luckily, he knew that identification linked that person to a jail cell in Oklahoma, so he was at least in a different state. Hopefully, that would dissuade the monster from chasing him across state lines, which would be enough for now.

He could hear the voice of Angelus in his head, taunting him, which caused Dean to wretch into his pillow. He could feel the acid boiling over in his system and he gasped for breath when he was done. Dragging himself away from the vomit, he tried to stand on his knees and found they were the only part of his body that wasn't weak. He tried to walk, even though he was dragging the blankets off the bed with him.

Dean couldn't think of a time that he'd seen himself more banged up without any sort of mark on himself. He was glad for the privacy of the room and for whatever reason Sam and Cas had left. Dean could smell the blood spells all around the place and he ducked his head into the sink as he vomited a second time. Fumbling with his thin fingers, he turned on the cold tap. He tried to gulp in the stinging air and the colder water, but nothing would go down his throat. He trembled at the thought that he might have blacked out during the torture and not remembered everything.

Nothing as bad as what happened in hell. Nothing as bad as what happened in hell. Dean tried to keep repeating the phrase to himself, as though it would ward him from the diseases he was imagining crawling over his skin, through his very pores. Angelus had touched him, literally, cutting him open and sewing him back up. He could have left God knows what bacteria under the skin.

An irrational moment of panic struck the Winchester boy and he tore back the curtain on the shower, turning the water as hot as it would go. He watched the air as it became steam and watched the steam fill the space, fill his pores, and all the rest of the room besides. Dean stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain tight, as thought it were a protective barrier.

His entire body screamed as it turned red and raw with the heat, just short of any kind of burn. Ripping savagely into the small bar of wrapped soap, he hoped for a scent to cover the stench and found nothing. He began with his scalp, working his way over every surface with a sort of futile desperation that left every knot of tension in his back and his abs and his ass with further pain. He wanted to inhale the bar, absorb it.

But there was no time. There was a burst of activity, shouts and the slam of a door. Dean reacted quickly, turning the water off and pushing the curtain back.

"Dean?"

He breathed easier. It was Sammy's voice.

"I'm okay." His gruff voice sounded foreign, even to him. "Just in here."

He took a towel from the bar even though parts of his body were still caked with soap. He rubbed himself quickly so that Sam and Castiel would not be alarmed and then wrapped the towel around his waist.

Castiel's voice couldn't hide the surprise and relief he felt. "You're awake."

Dean nodded. "Yeah and no worse for wear."

There was a moment as they took each other in. Sam and Castiel on one side, covered in deep green goo and feeling like they needed to apologize for something while Dean stood there, raw and silent and hurting without even knowing how to express it.

Sam broke the spell, afraid that the green goo was seeping in his ears. "Is there any hot water left?"

Dean nodded hesitantly. "Wasn't in there too long."

Sam nodded in return as he walked past Dean, almost putting a hand on his shoulder and then thinking the better of it. Closing the door behind him, Dean and Castiel continued staring at each other.

"How are you, Dean?"

Dean shrugged. "Not covered in green goo, so I guess I have one leg up on you guys."

Castiel walked over toward the table and took a swig of water. "I have two legs, Dean."

Dean ignored Castiel's inability to process pop culture references and turned away from the angel, opening a dresser drawer on the other side of the room. He stopped as he opened the drawer where his boxers and pants were. His pulse started to race as though he were having a panic attack.

"Cas..."

Cas stopped where he was at the table. "Did you need something, Dean?"

"Don't...don't look at me..."

"Dean, I..."

"Damn it, Cas!" Dean growled harshly. "Just do it."

Castiel nodded slowly. "Okay."

Dean parted his lips as he listened to Castiel's feet walk over the carpet and then the sound of an opening and closing door behind. He heard a yowl from the startled Sam as Castiel handed him a towel. The thought brought a slight smirk to his lips and yet....

Pulling the clothes from the drawer, they felt thick in his hands. They were beautiful to feel against his skin, a protective layer. He imagined the feeling of the Colt like it was an extension of his own righteous indignation and he suddenly felt that warmth that always came with the assurance that things could turn out all right.

Sam exited the bathroom, towel slung over his shoulder. "Man, next time you're gonna send Cas in..."

Dean turned to Sam and interrupted the start of Sam's thought. "We need to know who the guy was and what he was after. Then we decide if we regroup and take him down or if we make a wide path out of his way."

Sam's face popped with an oh as he walked over the dresser and opened up a drawer near Dean. Dean stepped back, not wanting Sam to be too near him. "Okay. We'll follow your lead on this."

"I suspect we've used up all the hot water." Castiel announced this as he opened the door stark naked and found Sam throwing a shirt and a pair of jeans at him.

"Yeah. Thats what happens when you come in looking like you battled Slimer. What the hell were you guys up too?" Dean folded his arms as he waited for a response.

Sam shrugged. "We found this kid that was conjuring up deadly food he didn't like when his mom was trying to feed him. Had to exorcise him, but the demon didn't fight too hard. Made enough to keep us afloat for a little while."

"Way to think on your feet, Sammy."

Castiel broke into the moment. "What do we know about the man that took your wallet?"

Dean looked down at the carpet. "I think we might need to look for his name. Um...Angles? Anlegis? Angelus....yeah, lets try that."

Sam headed to the laptop, opening it up and taking it from standby mode. Typing the name into a database he had found, Castiel had to back up when Sam scooted back from the screen.

"What is it?" Dean's voice piqued with curiosity.

"Dean, this guy is bad news. He has his own listing in a variety of demonic encyclopedia. Maybe we should just leave this be."

Castiel caught Dean's glance. "I'm afraid that I must concur with Sam. Gathering information on this man may raise red flags, which will garner attention to ourselves."

"Yeah, I know. But this guy knows who I am and I will not be afraid of something, hiding in the dark like a coward. We're gonna do the search and see what we find."

Sam took a deep breath and clicked on the first link. "Alright."