Later (seconds, days, years), there is a sound. A rumble that reminds him of the hiss and growl of demons as he fought through hell for Dean (his throat tightens, he chokes on a sob). The sounds stay behind him and then there are more sounds—metal hitting metal, boots crunching gravel. He curls in on himself more.
"Hey Cas."
Castiel, Angel of the Lord who found a broken soul in the depths of hell, who rebelled against heaven and saved the world, who killed his brothers, who fought Raphael's attempt to restart the apocalypse, who ingested souls from purgatory, who lost everything then lost it again, who did everything for the right reasons, who does not know what he is, let alone who, that Castiel, that Cas, he rolls on his back and croaks out, raspy and dry, "Dean."
When Dean and Sam take him to the Impala, Sam at the wheel while Dean tends to him, Cas wonders if he's worth saving.
There's a pressure on his temple. The 'Always' is whispered into his skin.
Cas lets himself sleep.
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