The next morning Cas was gone.
Dean had expected that much but it did nothing good to his fear that Cas was not real. Of course somewhere deep down in a very tiny rational part of his emotion-flooded brain he knew that Cas was real and that he probably had some things to do, but still.
It frightened him and he felt bad for what he had said last night. It was really not Cas' fault that he couldn't cope and there hadn't been a real reason to snap like that. But it happened and Dean was eager to drown the memory of last night in some booze.
He was on his way over to the fridge when Sam woke up.
"Morning", Dean said but Sam just grunted. When there was no case or a schedule they had to stick to Sam always needed some time and a coffee before he was able to properly talk. So when Dean got his beer out he also poured a coffee for Sam and shoved it into his hands when he came back out of the bathroom.
Sam eyed the beer. "So, where's Cas?" It did wonders to Dean's psyche that Sam remembered Cas but "Not here", was all he said. Sam sighed heavily and parked his huge form on one of the chairs.
"What did you do?"
"Why do you assume it's something I did? Maybe the dude's just busy. He was dead for six months. Maybe he has some people to see." Sam's eyes flickered back to the beer in Dean's hand and he could almost hear the "Yeah, right", but luckily he didn't press.
"Will he come back?"
"How should I know?", Dean snapped. Sam lifted his hands in a soothing manner and turned his concentration on his coffee and the newspaper.
Dean settled down on his bed again and turned the TV on. Only to find Arathiel stand right in front of it.
"And where the hell have you been?"
"My presence was not required."
"Not required?", Sam asked disbelieving and looked up from the paper. "I could have used your help when my brother was dying in that bed", he said accusingly. "We could have used some explanations when Cas was suddenly knocking on our door."
Arathiel turned his gaze to Sam. "The resurrected worrier is none of my business." Dean leaned forward. "You know what's up with Cas? Who brought him back?"
Arathiel briefly looked at him but averted his eyes. "Like I said, it is none of my business. You should turn to page 16", he directed at Sam and then he was gone again.
"That son of a bitch", Sam muttered but he was already turning the pages. Dean was walking over to him when something hit him.
"Do you realize that Cas and Arathiel never met? Arathiel didn't drop by when Cas was here and now the first day he is actually out, he comes over? A bit of a coincidence, don't you think?"
"Don't know, man, but you should check this out." Dean leaned over Sam's shoulder and scanned the page.
"Does this look like demon to you?" Dean nodded and cursed under his breath.
"We better pack up then, before more people end up dead." Sam agreed and in a matter of minutes everything was packed and they were on the road.
After a few hours of driving Dean nearly fell asleep, so Sam took over the wheel.
Dean woke up when Sam hit the brakes hart. He wasn't even fully awake when Sam was already out of the car. Dean followed a bit slower.
"Cas", Sam said carefully to Cas, who stood lost at the side of the road, "why are you standing here?"
"I wanted to join you again." Dean felt relieved that Cas still wanted to come back, but that did not explain why he played hijacker.
"Why didn't you just show up in the car?" 'Valid question', Dean thought.
Cas frowned. "I seem to have a little problem….zooming in on your location. This", he pointed at the road, "was the best I could do."
"You're having problems with your mojo?"
"That could be one explanation." Sam shot a glance over to Dean. "But you were able to heal Dean."
"And it seemed to have cost me a great deal." Great. Now Cas also drained his powers for his sake. Wasn't that just fantastic.
"But it's not that bad, right? You're still able to smite demons?" Cas seemed slightly offended by that question. "Of course I am still able to smite demons."
Dean could have sworn there was a hint of doubt in his eyes but he wasn't sure. And he was in no position to doubt Cas.
"That's convenient", Sam said as he went back to the car, "because we might have a demon case on our hands."
"Then I will come along", Cas said and walked past Dean to open the back door.
Dean felt the urge to touch Cas again but he restrained himself. He needed to let go of this stupid habit.
Sam seemed to notice that but he didn't comment on it. The warning glare Dean shot him might have added to that.
"I'm going back to sleep", Dean declared as he settled back into his seat.
He got a glance of Cas in the side mirror and he could have sworn he looked somewhat between pleased and worried.