The storm raging outside his window was loud enough to wake Dean up. He wasn't one of those light sleepers that woke up the second there was noise, but he wasn't one of those people that were practically in a coma, like his brother. It was entirely feasible that Sam would sleep through the end of the world. Dean would only sleep through the first half of it.

So, when the thunder had gotten to the point that it was actually shaking the walls his hopes of falling back to sleep again were dashed. He had already forced himself to go back to sleep three times. His phone had been sending him warnings loud enough to disturb him, and this was probably his last chance.

Dean rolled over again, trying to find a more comfortable sleeping position, in hopes that he would be able to force himself anyway. It was useless. No matter how many times he changed position, or how deep in the pillows he buried his phone, he knew his chances of sleep were pretty thin. Then the tornado sirens began to sound, and he knew it was all over.

The knock at the door wasn't entirely unexpected, but that didn't make it any less irritating. Yes, the sirens were going off; and yeah it sounded pretty bad out there, but that didn't change the fact that it was an ungodly hour of the morning.

Dean groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. He knew it was a fruitless attempt as the knock came even louder the second time. He couldn't actually believe this was happening to him. He just wanted some sleep before work, damnit!

The knock came again, more insistent this time, and Dean gave up. He threw his blanket off, and stomped all the way to the door. Sure, Dean had caught himself feeling rather protective of the man upstairs. Sometimes it was almost as bad as it was with Sammy. That did not change the fact that it was the butt crack of dawn, and Dean had never really been a morning person.

When he threw open the door he was greeted with the familiar sight of Castiel and Gabriel, soaking wet. Castiel had that desperate look in his eye that always made Dean's heart melt, but it wasn't going to work this time.

"Dude. It's not even seven yet." Dean grumbled at the interlopers.

Castiel's eyes widened at the gruff tone of voice. "But Dean, this is serious. We waited as long as we could. There has already been a touchdown outside of town!"

Dean was in the process of rolling his eyes at the tone of the other man's voice when tiny pieces of frozen water began falling from the sky. "God damnit, get in here." He pulled the other two men physically into his apartment.

"Fucking hail. Are you kidding? The one time I didn't cover the car." Dean peered anxiously out at his baby, trying to decide if it was worth running back out there to cover it. The ping of the ice hitting metal made him cringe. It didn't help that the pieces were clearly getting much bigger, very quickly.

"Dean! This is more serious than your car! The sky is green!" Castiel grabbed his arm while he yelled at him, pointing toward the part of the sky that was barely lit from the sun coming up.

He was not exaggerating. The sky had a distinctly green tinge to it, and the clouds were moving very quickly. The smaller trees that had been planted around the parking lot were bent almost to the ground in the strong winds gusting through.

"Well, fuck." Dean was instantly on alert. For once this wasn't just Castiel's fear causing an overreaction. This was serious. Dean slammed the front door shut, locking both of the deadbolts behind him. "Let's go."

Gabriel seemed just as scared as Castiel, and Dean's reaction to the color of the sky didn't seem to be helping. He was not a docile man, but he didn't say anything as he was steered in the direction of Dean's bedroom. Castiel led the way, and Gabriel just followed like a baby duck.

Dean passed his own bedroom door and headed a bit farther down the hall. He threw open his brother's door as soon as he reached it.

"Get the hell up, Sammy!" He yelled, shoving at the mountain of a shoulder that made up the highest point on the bed. Of course, Sam just grunted and rolled out of his grasp.

"This is not a drill, Sam! Get your ass up and get it into the closet."

Sam groaned and pulled a pillow over his head instead.

"Dude! I am not kidding! Get the fuck up!"

"Dean, seriously! It's like seven! I have to be up in an hour for school."

"I'm pretty fucking sure that school will be cancelled since there is a god damned tornado tearing through the area right the fuck now." Yeah, he might have been being a little overdramatic, but his brother was a beast to wake up when he wanted to be. And if he didn't use a little urgency Sam might pass right back out.

Dean was fed up with waiting for his brother to catch on, and the sound of the hail hitting the window was so loud there was no way it wasn't at least golf-ball sized by now. Maybe bigger. Luckily, he had always been stronger than he looked, so he grabbed his brother's arm, throwing it over his shoulder and wrapping his own arm around Sam's torso forcing him into a sitting position.

"Do not make me carry your ass all the way there." he growled as he physically lifted his brother onto his feet.

"Are you being serious?" Sam still sounded confused, but finally seemed to be catching on. He got his own feet beneath him and started walking the direction Dean was pointing him in.

Dean's voice lost almost all of it's impatience as Sam finally seemed to understand. "Yeah buddy! This is the real deal. I thought it was just Cas acting like a nut too, but you should see the sky, man. No joke."

They made their way to Dean's closet quickly. The glare Dean received upon entering was proof that Castiel had heard the comment he'd made on the way. Dean cringed as he took his seat on the floor. "Sorry, Cas."

They arranged themselves into their, now established, positions on the floor. It was only seconds before all of their phones were making that horrible noise that signaled a weather alert.

Dean hadn't even looked at his phone since he'd gotten up, so when he opened it, there were a bunch of warnings above the one that had just made his phone go off.

Thunderstorm warning

Tornado watch

Flash flood warning

Tornado warning

Tornado warning

He pressed on the last one, and was a little alarmed by the scene that opened on his phone. The warning was actually in red, and below it there were instructions.

TORNADO WARNING!-

Severity: Extreme. Take action immediately. Tornados are extremely difficult to see at night. Do not wait until you can see or hear the tornado. Take cover now. Remain indoors. Move to the innermost room in your home.

Hazard: Tornado with golf ball sized hail

Source: A rotation has been indicated by radar just south and west of the metroplex. This storm is moving toward the city at 30 mph.

Impact: Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.

Locations impacted include: …

And of course their location was the second one mentioned.

"Son of a bitch!"

Everyone was busy staring at their phones, so Dean's outburst made them all startle a bit.

"Damage to vehicles will occur. It will, not it might. And of course it will. Because my lazy ass didn't want to get out of bed to cover the car." Dean dropped his head into his hands and sighed.

When the silence in the closet was only interrupted by the continuous thumping of hail into the side of the building, he lifted his head to look at the other occupants of the closet. There were varying expressions on their faces, with Sam's bitch-face, and Castiel's shock.

"Dude. There is a fucking tornado headed straight for us. How is the car your number one concern?" Sam said it with such irritation in his voice.

"Don't talk about Baby like she's not part of the family!" Although Dean actually was kind of upset about the way Sam was talking about his car, he was only making a big deal out of it for one reason: distraction. As long as they were all talking, no one would be thinking too much.

"Oh my god. Your relationship with that car is really starting to worry me. How will you ever have a real relationship if all of your love is for your car?"

"Shut up, Sam." There was no need for his brother to be so rude about it. "And I worry about your ability to get laid with the amount of kale you stuff your face with." He didn't stick his tongue out in retaliation, but it was close.

"Kale is very good for you, Dean." Castiel's input was quiet, but it was confirmation that Dean's ability to distract him from his fears was at least partially working.

He groaned dramatically in response.

"Oh, no! Not you too, Cas!" He knew the look on his face was pathetic and pleading, and he was overplaying his role just a bit, but it brought a smile to Castiel's face.

"I'm sorry, Dean." The other man's smile was soft and apologetic, while still giving the impression that he wasn't truly sorry at all.

Dean sent an amused look toward Gabriel who seemed to enjoy his brother's strange sense of humor the most. Oddly enough, the other man was in Castiel's usual position of staring at the door.

"What about you, Gabriel? Are you jumping on the kale bandwagon?" The distraction technique only worked if everyone was on board.

Gabriel swung his head around to send Dean a look of utter disgust. "Hell no! Don't be ridiculous. As far as I know, there is no sugar in that crap."

Dean grinned at Gabriel's response, and the way he had uncurled a little from his previous position.

All of Dean's efforts were immediately squashed as a crack of thunder rocked the foundation of the building, and the light above them flickered out. Dean sighed as the air in the closet became very tense, very quickly.

"It's alright, guys." Dean flicked on the flashlight for his phone, pointing the light toward the wall so it wouldn't blind anyone. "It's just a power outage. Surely you had those in Cleveland?"

He did his best to make his voice sound as casual as possible, even while he was beginning to worry himself. The thunder rumbled through again, which only showed how close the storm really was. He sent a quick glance at Sam, and couldn't mistake the wrinkle across his forehead as anything but worry.

Dean took a chance and opened the weather application on his phone, sending his brother a nod to indicate that he should talk in his place.

The radar was flashing just to the west of them, showing a rotation and a line pointing where the tornado was projected to travel. That line was much too close to home for Dean's comfort. He tried to zoom the map closer. He could hope that the line was at least not pointing directly at their current location, right?

The thing about tornadoes was that they didn't really care. You could go to the ground floor. You could hide in the most interior room. You could do all of the things that were advised, but it wasn't as if a tornado was going to be stopped. No, a tornado will rip through the entire building, and not leave anything but rubble. The only way that any of that advice was going to help, is if they were only on the outskirts of the actual funnel.

Dean was slightly relieved to see that the line crossed the main street at least a mile north of their location. Not that those lines were entirely accurate, but it was enough to make him feel a little better at least. He set his phone back up to be the light in the closet.

He looked back at the other occupants of the closet and found them all staring at him expectantly. Sam was not doing his distraction duties, apparently. They all jumped at another loud boom of ground shaking sound.

"It's heading north of us." He told them, which wasn't really a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. The last thing they needed was a whole closet full of stressed out people though. "It'll be passing in just a minute."

As if waiting for it's cue, the thunder turned into a rumble that didn't stop. The groan of the walls at the pressure of the wind outside was not helping Dean's plans at all, and he met three pairs of fearful eyes.

"You too, Sammy?" Great.

Sam just nodded, and then moved toward him, unexpectedly. He squeezed his way between the wall and where Dean was seated, although there certainly wasn't enough space for him there.

Alright. Everything was fine. Just because his giant brother was cuddling up to him in fear, didn't mean that Dean was allowed to crumble as well. His rock status was only solidified when Castiel came to arrange himself on Dean's other side.

"Do you want to get in on this?" Dean asked, realizing that Gabriel had barely spoken the entire time he'd been in their apartment, and he had a look on his face that was clearly trying to hide his fear. Dean had been mostly sarcastic, but Gabriel moved to somehow wedge himself in on Castiel's other side.

Once they had all rearranged it was deathly silent in the room. The only sounds heard were from outside. The windows were rattling loudly in their frames, but at least the sounds of hail hitting them could no longer be heard. Dean knew that had more to do with them being so close to the center of the storm than any kind of good news, but hoped that their neighbors didn't know that.

The continuous rumbling got a little louder, and Dean felt his brother tense beside him. Castiel's hand wrapped around his forearm, and Dean tried not to react to the unexpected contact.

He had to compose himself if he was going to be able to calm any of the others, so he took a steadying breath before he spoke again.

"It's passing north of us now." He said it as if he were some sort of storm expert. As if he could see the storm passing, and that they were all in a safe place.

They were all silent again, listening for the rumble that had actually begun to soften. Or maybe that was just Dean believing his own hype. No, it was definitely not as loud as it had been.

The sound was clearly quieting when suddenly the hail began to fall again, spattering against the windows with enough force to be heard in their hiding spot.

Castiel's grip tightened, and Gabriel seemed to be leaning in toward his brother a little more, but both of the Winchester brother's let loose audible noises of relief at the sound.

"See, guys? No big deal."

Their neighbors seemed to share an incredulous look before turning it on Dean.

"The hail is a good sign." Sam informed them, pulling himself out of the corner he'd shoved himself in. He stretched his long limbs as he got up. They probably weren't used to being in such confined spaces. "It means the tornado has passed. And the storm is probably almost over."

Now that Sam wasn't part of the pile, Dean felt strange about how close he and Castiel were sitting. It wasn't until he moved to get up as well that he was reminded of the other man's hand gripping his arm.

"Uh, Cas. Can I have my arm back now?" Dean knew there was no way either of them were walking away from that without embarrassment, but he said it as quietly as he could anyway.

Castiel's eyes shot down to where his hand was, as if he had no idea how it had gotten there. He let go quickly, and even the incredibly poor lighting of Dean's phone couldn't hide the blush that spread across his cheeks.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

Dean tried to give him a small smile in reply, but felt his own cheeks warming so he aborted it quickly. He turned his attention toward putting some space between them instead.

"How are you doing, Gabriel?" Sam asked. In his current position, standing over the other man, their considerable size difference was accentuated. Gabriel had that unnerved expression that they were used to seeing on Castiel.

"I'm alright." He didn't show any signs of wishing to continue the conversation, which was also strange for him.

"Good, cuz it's over now." And because Dean apparently had the word of God during this storm, the light above them flickered on. They were all momentarily blinded.

"See?" Dean grinned at his newfound powers. "Now, who's hungry?"

Dean was glad to finally have someone to try some of his breakfast recipes on. Sam was always too concerned about the health aspect to truly enjoy the foods that Dean really wanted to prepare, and it took all the fun out of it sometimes. Gabriel, on the other hand, was a complete glutton. He would eat anything and everything that Dean put in front of him. Castiel seemed to be somewhere in between. He enjoyed the foods that Dean prepared for him, but wasn't much for overindulgence.

While Dean whipped them up some breakfast, Sam was trying to get Gabriel to come back out of his shell. Dean understood why he was having such a rough time of it, he was an older brother after all. The embarrassment that Gabriel must have felt, especially after all the times that he'd made fun of Castiel for freaking out, was likely the culprit. It was going to be fairly difficult to save face after the way he'd acted this morning.

By the time he'd finished the food, though, he could hear Gabriel's raucous laughter. That was a good sign. He called Sam in to help him serve breakfast to their guests.

"I guess Gabe is feeling better." He commented as his brother picked up the two plates he'd left on the counter.

Sam rolled his eyes and huffed half a laugh. "Yeah, he's fine. Just got a little more worked up about that storm than he thought he would, I expect."

Dean just hummed his agreement and headed to the living area. When he handed over Castiel's plate, he heard a gasp.

Castiel was staring down at his forearm, and when Dean followed his line of sight, he understood the other man's reaction. There was a dark bruise on his arm in the distinct shape of fingers.

"Dean! I am so sorry." This time the apologetic look was completely sincere. Dean's eyes met Castiel's, and he gave him a little smile that he hoped conveyed his forgiveness.

"No biggie, Cas." He watched as Castiel reached out, and then gentle fingers were dancing across the purpled skin of his arm.

"I can't believe I did that." Castiel's voice was quiet, but the emotion was still decipherable.

"It's alright. I think I'll live." Dean may have gotten the sarcastic words out, but the tone was all wrong. Something about the gentle glide of the other man's long fingers across his flesh was short circuiting his brain.

He found himself staring down into the oceans of Castiel's eyes. Castiel's face was unreadable at times, but his eyes always said so much. Now they said he was full of regret.

"I promise it's not a problem. If I had been that worried about it, I would have told you to stop." Although, the truth was, Dean hadn't even realized at the time how hard those fingers must have been squeezing to leave a bruise like that.

It took him a moment to feel the eyes on his back, and then another to realize he was standing in front of Castiel, staring into his eyes, while the other man ran his fingers along his arm. That was already two moments too many. Plus, however many he'd already spent doing it before he'd clued in.

He pulled his arm out of Castiel's grasp, pretending that he needed it to cough, and using the motions to not only escape from the situation, but also cover the blush that was no doubt trying to form. Damn, he was smooth.

Dean took his seat on the other end of the couch and proceeded to pretend like the whole thing had never happened for the rest of the day.