Max is gone¸ Dean thought as he lay in his bed, one hand behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. The other was unconsciously running up and down his smooth chest, still unsure how whatever Max did erased every scar. It had been a week since she'd given her life for his and he still didn't totally understand why. She was a witch, a Nephilim, had an extremely long life. She could do so much good. If, and it was a big if, he were lucky, he might have another 20 years. The human body could only take so much.

His breath would catch every once in a while as he remembered the horrible things Michael did. Dean had killed—a lot. That's not what bothered him. It was all the innocent people Michael had killed, not monsters, just his general disregard for humans. And it was getting harder—not easier—every time he remembered what Michael had done to Max.

Dean took a deep breath, tried to steady his heartbeat. He had Cas, Sam, his mom, Jack was back to full strength, and even Apocalypse World Charlie and Bobby were staying for now. He knew he should be thankful for what he had—and he was—but he didn't feel like he deserved any of it. Was there ever really enough good to out weigh all the bad?

A knock on his door drew him out of his self-loathing. He quickly wiped away the moisture from his eyes and went to open the door.

"Hey, Cas," Dean tried to sound as upbeat as possible. It was a bit odd to see the old Cas, Jimmy Novak Cas, after seeing the angel's true form when possessed by Michael. Dean couldn't even describe it; it was so beautiful. Just another reminder of all that was lost.

Cas looked concerned. "You ok Dean?"

Dean flashed a fake smile. "Nothing like an ol' angel possession to do a body good."

Cas paused for a moment, pondering Dean's sarcasm. The angel had gotten much better at detecting it, but sometimes it was still lost on him.

Dean wasn't in the mood for idle chitchat. "Did you want something?" Dean tried to get to the point.

Cas let out a nervous breath, a habit he'd picked up from when he was human. "Yes," was his only reply.

Dean stood there for a moment, waiting on his friend to say something else, but he was silent. "Well, what do you want?" Dean was getting a bit frustrated.

Cas had been one of God's fiercest angel warriors, faced untold dangers and monsters without batting an eyelash, but when it came to humans, particularly this human, he still had fears. Fears because he needed Dean in his life.

In an uncharacteristic move, Castiel stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Dean. Dean stiffened for a moment at the unexpected touch, then wrapped his arms around Cas as well and started to cry into Cas's shoulder.

Cas was a little stunned, not quite expecting this reaction from Dean. He wanted to say it was ok, but he knew it wasn't. He wanted to say everything was going to be fine, but knew that was probably a lie. He wanted to tell Dean something, anything that would make him feel better, but knew there wasn't any comfort to be found in words.

Instead, Cas moved them one step farther into Dean's room and shut the door behind them. Then he stood there, holding his friend, letting him cry. And he would stay that way for as long as Dean needed.

#####

Her eyes opened and quickly blinked against the light. It wasn't so much that it was bright but the lack of any frame of reference that was messing with her sight. It was empty all around except for her.

"Ahem," a throat was cleared behind her.

She quickly turned to find a man standing where just a breath ago was nothing. He was tall and average looking, with curly hair and beard. She immediately recognized who he was.

"G—Chuck!" She greeted him by his preferred nomenclature "What…where am I? Shouldn't I be in hell?"

Chuck smiled uncomfortably. "He needs you."

Max was confused. "I don't—"

Chuck snapped his fingers and Max was gone.

#####

A/N: Hope you liked it. Had to add the Destiel at the end. All the memes are getting to me! Let me know if you have any thoughts. And I do take requests….