"You did what?" said Sam, eyes wide with disbelief.
A sudden wind began to blow around the room, picking up magazines, clothes and other miscellanea and flinging them around. The sheets whipped around Dean where he sat on the bed, stock still with eyes still aglow.
"My Grace, Sam. I gave him my Grace. I wasn't expecting this, however," replied Cas, getting to his own feet. He looked at Dean with equal parts confusion and worry.
"What do you mean? What's happening to him?"
Dean still did not move, but the wind was getting stronger. The high pitched whine was extremely loud now and began to hurt their ears.
"I don't know," said the angel.
"VA TE CA RA," began Dean. His voice was flat and emotionless.
"Enochian," said Sam.
"Yes. He's reciting his angel commands. My angel commands."
"Well, what do we do? How do we fix it?"
"Normally I would suggest inserting pins. I don't think that would be a good idea in this instance."
"Well we can't leave him like this!" said Sam, exasperated. The feeling of being so powerless was really grating on him, as was his severe lack of sleep. Warily, he stepped closer to the bed and bent down beside Dean's face.
"VA TE CA RA," boomed Dean, oblivious. Sam flinched.
"Dean? Dean, can you hear me? Wake up!"
"SAL VL D. Z BALIT SA TVLE," said Dean.
"Dean!" Sam tried waving his hand in front of his brother's face. He tried poking him in the chest. He tried pinching him. He pulled at his eyelids, held his nose shut, shouted in his ear – Dean was rock solid. He sat on the bed, defeated, as his brother continued to chant in Enochian.
On the other side of the room, Castiel had watched this display in silent contemplation. When Sam gave up he made a thoughtful noise, then stepped close and socked Dean in the face. The wind died as he fell back into the pillows, unconscious once more. Sam's jaw dropped.
"What? At least now he's stopped chanting," said Cas.
"And when he wakes up again?"
"I don't know."
Cas stood at the foot of the bed, leaning heavily on the footboard. Sam looked at him with concern.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes," said Cas, doing his best to straighten up. "No. Sort of. Something very strange happened. I think perhaps I still have some small part of my Grace. I don't feel like an angel any more, but I don't feel human either."
"So, what does that mean? What about Dean?" frowned Sam.
"I don't know. To my knowledge this has never been done before. Why would an angel ever give up his grace for a human?"
"Why did you?" asked Sam, looking sideways at him.
"Wouldn't you do anything in your power to save him?" Castiel asked.
"I'd do what I could. But he's my brother, I love him," Sam said.
"Yes," Cas replied simply.
It wasn't long before Dean woke again, but this time there was no mighty wind or strange glow, he simply opened his eyes and groaned.
"Dean!" said Sam and Cas in unison, peering down at him.
"What is this, a slumber party?" said Dean, pushing himself upright. "Give me some room, jeez."
Hunter and angel scrambled back out of Dean's way, both watching him as if he could explode at any moment. Dean frowned at them.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?"
Sam said nothing and simply hugged his big brother, squeezing him tightly for a moment then parting with a few pats on the neck. Dean looked confused, but hugged back.
Almost as soon as Sam had let him go he found Cas in his arms instead. His confusion doubled, but he hugged back all the same, a slight smile pulling at his lips.
"Is someone gonna tell me what all this is about?" he asked, looking between them.
"What do you remember?" asked Sam.
"We were in the motel… Then, nothing," he shrugged. "Why, what happened?"
"It's not important," said Cas, hurriedly. "How do you feel? Are you alright?"
Dean's entire body ached and his head was fuzzier than a bad hangover. His chest felt like it was full of angry bees, and his face felt like it had been hit by an angry bear. On top of that his stomach growled like he hadn't eaten in a week.
"Peachy," he said. "A cheeseburger couldn't hurt, though."
"You don't feel… different?" persisted Cas.
"Should I?"
"Uh, no. No, just checking," he replied, avoiding Sam's pointed look.
"Ooookay then. Well, you guys can fill me in on everything, but first I gotta take a leak and get some eats," Dean said, smiling goofily at his rhyme. Cas returned the smile. Sam rolled his eyes.
"Welcome back, Dean."
"So what you're telling me is that this Raguel guy, this Angel of Vengeance or whatever he calls himself, arranged the whole thing just to lure us out and kill us? Seems like overkill, if you ask me," said Dean. He leaned back in his chair, popping the top off his beer with a satisfying hiss.
"Strictly speaking Raguel is not the 'Angel of Vengeance'," said Cas. "He was appointed by God to keep everyone in accordance with His laws. He has always been a little theatrical, but there's something wrong with him. He is… Well, he appears to have gone mad."
"Great, just what we need. Another crazy friggin angel with a vendetta against us."
"He got the jump on us this time," said Sam, "but we know he's out there now. We've killed angels before, we can take him down just the same."
Sam yawned loudly. His eyes were getting increasingly hard to keep open. He noticed Castiel move awkwardly, as if he were trying to stifle his own yawn, and shot him a look. Cas looked back, giving him an almost imperceptible shake of the head before looking back towards Dean.
"Dude, when was the last time you got some shut-eye?" asked Dean, noticing for the first time the dark circles under his brother's eyes. "Go to bed. I'm fine, I promise."
Sam hesitated, but Dean appeared to be normal now and it had been a very long week. With a muttered g'night and a slap on the shoulder as he passed, he excused himself for bed.
Dean and Castiel sat in silence for a little while after Sam had left. It was a testament to their friendship that they were able to enjoy each other's company without talking. But eventually, as usual, Dean spoke.
"I, uh, I heard you, you know. Talking to me, when I was unconscious."
"You did? I wasn't sure if you would. I'm glad," replied Cas, smiling faintly.
"You're glad? I figured some of that stuff was kinda, well, private," Dean said, somewhat awkwardly.
"Private? I was talking to you, Dean. Why wouldn't I want you to hear it?"
"See, this is the crap I was talking about in Minnesota. This is why I asked you not to come back here. Do you even know what you're saying half the time? Do you know how it comes off?"
"I don't understand," said Cas, brow furrowed. "Am I not supposed to tell you how I feel? We have talked about our feelings many times, Dean."
"I know, but before it was always… Well, now I realise… And you never… Ah, damn it, I don't know," said Dean, frustrated.
"What's the matter?" asked Cas, concerned. He wondered if the Grace inside Dean was beginning to have adverse effects.
"Nothing, don't worry," said Dean. With a sigh, he put down his near-empty bottle and stood up.
"For the record, I don't know what I'd do without you either, buddy," he said, patting Cas on the shoulder as he walked towards his bedroom.
A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting this part. I've had a block about it and no matter how many times I rewrite it something feels off, so I figured I'd just release it and see how the next part plays out. I know this part was very stationary and dialogue heavy too, so let me know how you feel about that.