Chapter 25

Dream a Little Dream of Me

The two of them lay in bed, listening to the faint sounds of the others in the kitchen finishing up dinner. Dean dozed a little, not quite asleep but certainly not up to speed. Cas wasn't much better, but the tacky feel of his stomach made him squirm a little. The heat in his skin cooling a little too fast and keeping him from slumbering. If he wasn't laying on all the covers, he probably would have just covered them both up and slept till morning but as it was, Dean and he were a mess and his empty stomach was now fully awake and demanding food.

Dean grumbled underneath his hand at the gurgling sounds coming from deep inside his 'bed', his own stomach protesting now that it could smell the promise of food coming from the kitchen.

'Caasss...' Dean whined. 'Go get us some food.'

"You get it. It's your fault I can't move." The chest rumbling underneath him with the low sex rough voice.

'Caaaaaasssssss...' Dean wailed a little, aiming his head towards the huge head to his left. He was snug in his little hand cave with the built in heated floor made out of Cas's chest but he felt that all that hard work deserved something in return. 'I'll buy, you fly?' he snickered. Something that he and Sam would hedge out between them, one would buy the dinner if the other went and got it.

Cas gave a raised eyebrow and with his fingers he lifted up one of Dean's limp wings. Amused at how light and pliant his partner felt, his other hand came up and Dean grumped at the loss of heat while Cas made his wings flap a little. Dean let him, kinda hoping that Cas would start rubbing them again cause that was awesome.

"Hmmm." Cas thought loudly, "Well, until we get your wings in working order, I suppose I'll be the one to 'fly'." his fingers lifting in air quotes.

'Cool. Just gimme a few minutes in your warmed bed.' Dean mumbled, already half asleep.

"I don't think so, you are a mess. I am gonna clean you up because you've never had a good thorough cleaning in your life." Cas said and let go of the wings to cup his hands around the tired dragon.

'I bathed!' Dean balked a little lazily.

"In a stream. That's hardly sanitary."

'Mountain fresh water.' He defended. 'Some people would pay a lot of money to drink that. It can't be much worse then the stagnant well water here at the cabin.'

"There's soap and the water has no doubt been treated. It's safe to drink and trust me, a nice hot bath make you feel better. Maybe with the soapy water we can scrub off the rest of those metal flakes from your scales." he whispered, thumb brushing lightly over the dusting of iron and aluminum spots that marred his mate's skin. He felt so close to Dean that anything wrong with Dean, physically, emotionally, mentally, he had to fix. Dean mentioned a 'profound bond' earlier in his dream when it was just the two of them at the fishing dock. Castiel supposed that had something to do with this connection. Something in the research he and Balth conducted ages ago, alluded to dragons willingly bonding with so called, 'masters'. Even though he never thought of himself as Dean's 'master' he couldn't deny that they were connected. Maybe it was more like Familiar's and their Witches. Equal partners with archaic names for their titles. One is no better then the other, however, both are very important to each other. In the now confirmed stories, if a Witch or Familiar dies, the other dies too. Sam and Bobby had met their fair share of good and bad monsters and not all witches were evil. One actually helped them out with a few spells for Dean's current predicament.

Cas found himself pondering what it would be like if Dean was his Familiar as he stroked the tired dragon. His fingers lightly grazed down his partner's wings, still feeling a little slick from the lotion. Another thing he wanted to clean off...

Dean turned his head and frowned at the few remaining metal spots. He shrugged and waved his hand for Cas to get it over with. He decided to close his eyes for the trip to the bathroom, not wanting to see how far down the ground is anymore then he absolutely has to. Besides, he was still tired as hell. The glove covers over his hands were getting annoying though, the ones on his feet now removed and brought along towards the sink.

Cas deposited Dean down onto an old hand towel next to the sink and made sure that the door to the other bedroom was locked. Cas then helped Dean out of the mittens and laid them next to the leather booties. The water was cold for a little while so he used it to wash the leather pieces first so the water wasn't going to waste. The water finally warmed up and Dean inhaled the nice steam coming from the plugged sink. Some soap was added to the water and Cas's fingers swished around to make it into a kind of bubble bath.

'Man, I haven't had one of these in ages. Why can't I just join you in the shower?'

"Because the force of the water droplets hitting you would be like liquid meteors." Cas intoned and left the bathroom to find himself a change of cloths in the closet. Planning on finally washing his old ones in the sink later. "Now, do you need help?"

Dean petulantly stuck his forked tongue out but did need help getting in since he wasn't used to walking down anything steeper then an inch on four legs. He felt as though at any minute he would tumble head first. Cas lifted him easily and put in into the shoulder deep warm water. Dean practically melted into it. Wings stretching out and taking up more room then the sink had. He flapped them lazily under the water, feeling the tiny currents flow along his wing fingers and membrane. He bet he could swim like a mutha fucker with these things if given half a chance. Castiel's fingers probed around and started to rub at the membrane, earning a purr from Dean who stopped moving the rest of his body, just to focus on the sensations. He jerked his head upwards again when it dipped below the hidden waterline. Sputtering and coughing and sending death threats to all things bubbly. Cas chuckled a little and moved on from his wings to drag his finger along the neck and spine. The lotion and residue from the fire was finally coming off.

Dean felt like he was a child being bathed in the sink but he was honestly too tired to care or move much. All the excitement from the day and probably the last whole 6 months were just being washed away like they never happened. Cas had to drain the water and fill it up again, Dean leaning under the nearly hot stream from the faucet to simulate a shower, rinsing off the bubbles. Cas cut a piece of cloth from a clean rag and used that to scrub at the scales. Several of the metal pieces came off and he hummed happily at being able to remove them. Picking them up with his fingers and placing them aside. Dean used his nails and picked at what metal he could reach and they too came off with relative ease.

'I guess I just needed to get the smoke residue off of my skin first, the metal attached to dirty scales, now that the water and soap are helping they're coming right off. Thanks Cas.' he trilled.

"You're welcome, Dean." he grinned down and a few more metal pieces came off without a fuss. Dean's skin never looked so clean. The tiny dapples and changes in color were clearer now, the sound of his fingers running along the smooth snakelike scales actually started to squeak with the finger ridges. If he looked close enough, he could see the freckles again instead of the specks of dirt.

Dean grabbed the floating tiny rag and curled his tail inward to help him sit down while jutting one leg up. He scrubbed one foot at a time, between toes and under the claws where Cas's fingers were just too large to get to. Cas cut another piece of fabric and set about cleaning the spines along his backbone and neck, everywhere Dean couldn't reach. Dean inspected himself over and Cas lowered a hand for him to perch his front half on while he checked out his lower half that was hidden under the water. Dean even flipped onto his back, water splashing everywhere with his flailing wings, and made sure his underside was clean as well. At least he could still keep his head above the waterline as he inspected the base of his tail and the insides of his legs and feet. Cas felt like teasing and tickled Dean's exposed belly, earning him a full wing flap from both that sent water up at his face. He sent back down a halfhearted glare with a quirked grin as Dean righted himself again in the slippery sink, sending even more water everywhere. A hearty wing flap to get them back in order.

When each was satisfied, Cas let the light brown water out again and started up the faucet, letting Dean rinse himself off thoroughly as he turned to get his own shower started. There was water everywhere but he planned on wiping everything down with his towel once he's done.

He heard a tentative knocking on the bathroom door leading to the other bedroom and Balthazar's voice on the other side. "Hurry up, Cassie, there's more then one dirty bastard in this house. You better not use up all the hot water."

"Of course, Balth." Cas said back and reached for Dean's faucet, turning it off on a protesting dragon and then lifted him up from the sink and onto the used hand towel. He searched around and found a fresh towel and washcloth and gave the later to Dean to dry himself off. "I'll be out in a minute." he announced to Dean and Balth and got into the shower. Thankful that it was equipped with at least an old half filled bottle of shampoo. The hot water felt heavenly but he forced himself to add as much cold as he could stand so that the others would have some heat. Who knew how long the hot water would last. At least Dean got his luxurious bath, he was the only one that had probably never had a hot bath in his whole dragon life. He deserved it after everything he went through. He's now literally squeaky clean.

Cas's shower was quick and he dried off in record time, hearing the pacing beyond the door. Dean was practically laying down on the counter, wet washcloth next to him and wings fanning slowly to help dry himself. 'That was awesome. Thanks, Cas.'

"Anytime." he grinned and got dressed to the sound of Dean pouting about how it was a shame he had to cover up.

Once the door to the bathroom was opened up, Balth was inside it in a blur, Castiel just barely scooped Dean up before Balthazar's pants were unzipped and he was aiming for the toilet. "'bout bloody time, Cassie." he muttered and Cas respectfully closed the door behind him.

Dean folded into himself again in the bowl of Castiel's hand, feeling the cooler air in the other bedroom and they went through to the kitchen. Bobby looked up from the pot on the stove and frowned at them. "All washed up for dinner? Clean behind your ears?"
'What's got your panties in a twist, Bobby?' Dean asked and Cas translated.

"Dean is curious as to why you are upset."

"Nothin'. Just waiting on you. And need I remind you that there is only one bathroom in this cabin." Bobby lowered his brow to them and continued, "You could have just put a tie on the door and shut the other bathroom one to your room. Dunno 'bout you but I'm not one for exhibitionism while answering mother nature's call."

"Sorry, Bobby. Where's Sam?"

"From what he texted, somethin' about setting up animal traps outside." Bobby then texted Sam back to say that the lovebirds were done for the night and that it was safe to come back.

Castiel brought Dean over to the stove and they both looked into the pot to see a mountain of potatoes infused with spices and in another baking pan was a slab of venison over top vegetables, a maroon hued homemade sauce on the side.

"Next time you go hunting Boy, try and take down a cow. I'm starting to miss a proper t-bone." Bobby chided.

'I did that?' Dean asked, looking at the massive pile of meat. He knew logically that the dragon side had hunted before, but he couldn't comprehend just how he did it. Did he use his teeth to kill it? Or claws? Or did he just sit on the damned thing?

"Yup." Bobby said with a healthy dose of pride. "You're pretty good at it too, thanks to your uncle Bobby of course." Bobby's knuckles polished on his flannel shirt.

"Dadfriend." Balth corrected, coming back from the bathroom and thumbing at it for Bobby's turn.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Bobby mumbled, a gleam in his eye at the reminder that Dean considered him like a father. So much so that when they met him again, that was one of the things that stayed with the baby dragon, the fact that he thought so highly of the old hunter. Remembered him when most everything else was gone.

The memory of old Dean's voice after a low time in his life, the 10th anniversary of his wife's death. A time when Bobby was considering ending it all, and Dean begging him not to."Bobby, you're like a father to me. You're family. I don't know if you've noticed, but me and Sam, we don't have much left. I can't do this without you. I can't. So don't you dare think about checking out. I don't want to hear that again."

Bobby's tear filled reply of, "Ok." still echo's in his head every once in awhile. His promise not to give up.

Dean scented the air and could tell what Bobby must be thinking about and ducked his head a little out of embarrassment and understanding, he never liked chick flick moments but that needed to be said back then. Bobby needed to hear that he was needed, loved, and that his life was worth living.

Bobby send Dean a little head nod and Dean returned it.

Sam opened up the front door and shrugged off his jacket onto the coat rack, seeing everyone else in the kitchen standing around the table. He couldn't really look Cas in the eyes and Dean was too small to tell where his green eyes were focusing on. He nodded at the others and picked up his bag from the hall and took it immediately into the other bedroom.

A complicated look exchanged between Balth and Bobby, they both would discuss who all would sleep where that night.

"Don't get too comfy in there Sam, we're gonna play some cards later for who gets what bed." Bobby announced and Dean huff laughed. "What's so funny, Spyro?"

'I'm gonna beat you guy's asses so bad, all y'all are gonna sleep on the floor!' Dean trill-chirruped. Cas loosely translating for him.

"If you could hold up more then two cards at a time, that is." Bobby smirked.

'No problem, Cas and me are a team.' Dean straightened up on the palms and aimed his head straight up to Cas's jawline. 'Right Cas?'

"Uh, yeah." Castiel looked up and said, "We are a team." With a nod down to Dean. Glad for the boost in talent for the card game. Of course, with Dean being so small, it didn't really matter who got the beds, he could sleep comfortably on a pillow, or Cas's chest, wherever Cas decided to bunk down. He's good in any case, he just wanted Cas to be comfortable too.

"Cassie here's never been that great with cards. This should be entertaining." Balth had a wicked grin and clapped, then rubbed his hands together like a card shark picking his next mark.

Dean looked over to Balth's loud hand motions and then to the hands he was sitting in, picturing them being suddenly smashed together with unimaginable forces, and him being helpless to stop it. He squirmed in his seat and looked over to see how far down the table was from where he was sitting. Cas quirked an eyebrow but brought Dean closer to the table top and watched him hastily climb off. Wondering why he felt so uneasy all of the sudden.

Dean backed up to Cas's side once he saw where the food was going to be placed on the table. Balth and Bobby and now Cas were placing plates and glasses and silverware all around him and every new bang and clang of the things made the table tremble a little. His heart started to pound again, just when he thought he was getting used to this oversized world.

Sam came back into the kitchen and was the first one to notice Dean's unease. He sat down behind his brother and scooted his chair up. He slowly slid his arm in next to Dean, pretending not to notice how Dean seemed to be grateful for the protective boundary between his little body and the huge movements. His wings stopped fidgeting and folded up along with his tail wrapping around his legs. Twitching only a little when the huge pan holding the meat and veggies was placed in the middle, the potatoes and sauce pot not far behind. Each one as big as various hotel rooms he and Sam had stayed at.

A little tingle of fear made its way back into Dean's head at the idea that all of this food is going to be consumed in no time at all by these 4 giants all looming around him. He still couldn't believe that he had been the one that took down the deer who's flank they were now cutting into with knives longer then he was tall. The tantalizing juices dripped down and the scents were amazing but when he looked from the meat to the others hungry expressions he shrank back a little. An old haunting memory of when he was literally swallowed whole. People just don't get over that kind of thing.

He wondered if the others had ever felt uneasy when he would eat such large things. Back when he would hunt down and kill huge animals with the fluidity and ease of a major predator. It must have been even more jarring, but still, he was just one big giant, now, he was completely surrounded by four giants. All armed with sharp knives. If they wanted, they could kill him in seconds and have him as an appetizer.

All of the men made appreciative noises at the feast in front of them and Bobby motioned for them to dig in. The sounds of chewing, cutting, moaning in delight at the tastes, sent him creeping backwards from them. Inch by inch so that they wouldn't notice their potential prey getting away.

Logically, he knew that everyone at this table was putting their own lives on the line for his protection, but seeing them now dig into the meat with such huge teeth and knives and everything, it just made him feel so vulnerable.

Sam saw that Dean was only a couple of inches from the table's edge and how he tensed up when Sam looked directly at him. He gave a reassuring grin, swallowed his food and motioned with his fork towards the meal. "Better grab some while it's still hot." He urged.

Dean nodded uneasily and swallowed. He didn't move a muscle, waiting for Sam's attention to go away. Sam frowned a little and laid his fork down, trying not to startle him.. Regarding Dean's quickening breath. He tried to think of it from Dean's point of view and his frown deepened. Of course this would look different from down there. Cas was eating a piece of meat that was longer then Dean's leg, Balthazar a chunk of potato dripping with sauce that was larger then his head. Even the act of Bobby cutting up his chunk of meat into smaller bites would just remind Dean that even if he was currently too big for one mouth, he could easily be cut up into more manageable pieces as well. Apparently even though the fact remains that he was amazingly far from appetizing, he could still theoretically be eaten.

"Dean..." Sam started, not knowing how to quell his fears. "Did you uh, did you want to eat somewhere else?" Sam offered, using his hand still resting on the table to point to the counter top.

The others eyes immediately shot down to Dean and he felt ten times more nervous. Two of them were still chewing. 'No... no I'm good.' he forced out, 'Just uh, I didn't know what to eat first.' he wheedled nervously.

"What's that?" Balth said around a mouthful.

"Dean was just saying that he hopes there's enough for him after you." Sam chuckled and saw the confused glance from Castiel who knew that's not what Dean meant.

"Blow me, Sam, I am the picture of health." Balthazar straightened in his seat and cut a portion of venison from the bulk. "Deer meat is very healthy and lean, better for you then beef. We could eat this all day and not gain a pound. Thank you, Dean." he added with a respectful nod. "You picked the best one for this feast. I doubt anyone could have found such an fine animal in its prime. Cheers." he lifted up his beer bottle and tilted it towards Dean. The others dropped their utensils and toasted Dean as well.

Dean was distracted by the compliments. Glad that he did something so well, and that he's able to feed them. A memory surfaced from his early days as a dragon of him hunting down deer in the backwoods at Bobby's. Bobby showing them how to prepare the deer and Dean cooking it up for them using his flames.

It was still very odd to think that he used to be able to just set fires wherever he wanted. He tongued the holes where his wisdom teeth used to be as more memories were coming up. He found himself coming to terms with the other parts of himself, locked away but now harmlessly seeping through bit by bit. So long as they don't change who he is, he figured he can let his animosity towards them go for now. They haven't tried to take over yet, so they can't be totally evil. After all, it was the hybrid that caught this deer specifically for the others. He was told that the pure dragon just wanted to help protect Cas and his brother, and then the second he sees Bobby and Balthazar, he wanted to protect them as well. Even if it was from an imaginary foe, the Impala. So, he can't really fault the other sides, but it still gnawed at him that they were able to be 'out' for so long when he was locked away in the sub-psyche. Really, he needs to give Balth and Cas a box of cigars or some fancy wine for doing that hypnosis thing on him. Otherwise he would probably still be locked inside his own head.

Cas eased up his grip on his fork when he felt Dean relax around them all. He hated seeing that look of fear in Dean over and over again. But what other way to prove that they are on his side then to act normally around him. Careful, yes, but not like he's anything but their friend and family.

Dean was still standing next to Cas's plate, less timid, now wondering how he was going to get some of the food before the others packed it all away. He needn't have worried because Balth seemed to jolt to the fact that there were only 4 plates on the table and came back with a slightly smaller one for teacups. He took a measuring spoon off the counter and rinsed it off before dishing out some of the smaller slivers of deer meat, and pouring a bit of the blood sauce into a shot glass, adding the smallest bit of seasoned potato. Eying up Dean and giving him another couple chunks of meat on the side. Dean had thrown up his last meal and needs more food to bring his bulk back up. The dragon always looked too thin, a life of near starvation at the hands of Alistair and then the military, and now that they could, they wanted him to be nicely plump with full muscles. It's actually too bad that the deer meat was so lean, Dean needs calories and fat from meat. He wished he could just give Dean some sweets but he'd probably throw it up again just like the pies back at the hanger. Which makes sense, Dean is primarily a carnivore, his stomach not equipped to handle vegetables or fruits in large quantities.

Balth got up from the table and rooted around the cooler, finding and bringing back some warmed up fatty sausage links for Dean. Balth grinned at the light in Dean's eyes when the two links were placed on his little plate next to his deer cutlets and single potato cube swimming in a shot glass of his own recipe for cooked blood sauce, looking for all the world like the tiniest bowl of soup. Dean looked like he wanted to cry. The kid really likes his food.

Balth preened at the nonverbal compliment to his cooking, and placed the full small plate and measuring spoon in front of Dean, who sat down a few inches away from Castiel's beer bottle. Balth nodded at him and went back to his end of the table and dug into his own food without another word.

The others ate in peace for a bit, hunger abating as Dean tried to figure out if he was strong enough to lift the 3 inch long ½ teaspoon so he could start in with the soup. It handled like one of those novelty spoon and fork decorations from some 70's style kitchen. Just massive sitting there, the whole thing was not even half the length of the spoon that Cas was holding. The other utensils were clearly longer then he was tall and he frowned at that. The words weak and pathetic echoing in his head as he glared at the measuring spoon.

Castiel noticed Dean didn't even touch his food yet, even thought he knew he must be hungry. Then saw the measuring spoon being glared at as if it personally offended Dean's mother, grandmother, and humanity in general. Cas laid down his spoon and dug into his food with his bare hands, dipping the deer meat in the sauce and eating it that way. Sam raised an eyebrow but Cas just looked at him then to Dean to get the message across. Sam too started eating the food with his fingers and the others followed suit soon after.

Dean looked up when he could no longer hear the clinking of silverware and saw that the others were still eating, but with their hands. He hid a grin and picked up one of the sausage links in his hands, using his wings flattened to his sides to balance himself on the table, and started to eat it like a 4 foot long sub sandwich, propped up on the table.

If the others noticed his tail wagging happily, they didn't comment on it.

Since it was so late at night, and everyone was simply exhausted, they decided to go with rock paper scissors for who gets the two twin beds. Sam and Bobby got the beds, and Balthazar got the surprisingly comfortable folding cot. Cas won the couch and Dean of course decided to stay with Cas on his chest as promised. Cas wouldn't make Dean sleep anywhere where it could be dangerous and open. There could be rats and mice everywhere and none would dare harm the slumbering humans. Dean was sold with the idea before outside dangers were even mentioned. Cas settled down on the couch and covered up with a thin blanket and his trench coat over top for warmth. Dean waited on the back of the couch before bravely jumping down to Castiel's chest and burrowing in under the blanket and coat.

'Better not move in your sleep, Babe.' Dean mumbled half asleep.

"Never do," Cas yawned, apologizing for the sight of the open mouth. Dean shrugged. Getting used to the sights and sounds a little. The strong heartbeat slowed underneath him and the warmth just sapped all energy out of his little body. The calm chest, steadily raising and falling, the scent from someone that truly cares about him, combined with the soft sounds of air whooshing in and out, and especially the soft warmth, all lulled him into the best sleep of his life.

Castiel evened out his breathing as he watched Dean curl up on his chest, content and trusting were words that he'd use to describe Dean right now. He waited until Dean was deep asleep before lightly resting his right hand over him, an added layer of protection and a guarantee that Dean wont fall off or roll over in his sleep. He yawned again and let the soft snores bring him peace of mind.

All of their troubles are going to be a distant memory, and their lives can finally start anew.

Dean found himself sitting in a folding chair, dressed in a simple black tuxedo and his hair slicked back instead of spiked up like his normal style. He pulls the single half full glass of wine up to his lips and takes another sip. Unsurprised that it doesn't really taste like anything and when he's done, the wine level is the same. He looks across the crowded decorated room and waves when people see him sitting and they wave back. Holding up their own wine glasses and nodding happily before going back to the snack table or conversing with others. The murmur of the crowd is kinda nice. The bass thrum of music thumping at a steady rhythm. Not really dancing music, but that's fine, the people more content to stand around and talk amiably. Everyone's having a good time and dressed up for the event.

Sam and Jess are at the other end of the great hall and are both dressed their best. The decorations that litter the entire area point to only one conclusion, this is the after party of their wedding. Dean feels his grin get wider and he wipes away a single tear that falls from his cheek. If he can't have this in real life, at least he can dream it.

Sam is holding Jess close to his side and is all smiles and dimples. He's got that stupid long haircut still, at least it's been tamed a little, brushed behind his ears. Dean plans on hog-tying him and cutting it off before the honeymoon. Sam doesn't notice Dean yet, too engrossed in chatting up some people he doesn't recognize because they're facing the other way. The DJ is in the corner, mixing it up and playing something that doesn't really sound like Sam or Jess's style but he likes it, maybe Sam threw in a few songs for his brother's sanity.

Dean goes back to his wine and nearly spits it out when he feels a hand on his shoulder. His head whips up and he sees someone that he didn't really expect to see in here.

"Cas?!" he sputters a little and looks around. No one else here thinks it's odd that he just showed up and he calms a little. Cas is wearing that trench coat again and looks about as lost as possible.

Dean grins at him. Glad that his subconscious decided to give him someone to talk to and from underneath the table, he kicks out a chair in Castiel's direction. Cas gives another cursory glance around and takes the seat. Dean can see a black suit underneath the trench coat before it's being pulled around him once he's seated.

Castiel turns to face Dean again and give a little smile. "Hello, Dean."

"Hey." Dean grins again and offers an untouched glass towards him and angles his own glass towards the bottle of wine he must have stolen from the kitchen. "It doesn't taste like anything, but who cares. This is one of the happiest days of my life." Dean is all toothy smiles and nods towards Sam and Jess. "Don't they look awesome?"

Castiel pours himself some of the wine and like Dean said, it is tasteless but he drinks it anyway. The glass looks as empty as before he poured the wine. Resetting to zero again. "Who is that next to Sam?"

"That's Jess. Sam's sweetheart from law school. I haven't seen her in years... not since..." Dean paused and his smile dropped a few fractions before he shook his head and downed his wine glass which between one blink and another was half full again. "But that's nothing to worry about. Today is a good day." Dean's smile is back, if a little forced.

Castiel looks around himself and squints at some of the guests. He actually recognizes a few but before he can say something, they are gone, assimilated into the small crowds. He shrugs and lifts his glass empty to fill it again and tops Dean's off even though a second later it's back to being half full.

"That's Rufus over there, Bobby is here somewhere too. Saw him sneaking around, trying to find out if the kitchen had anymore peach cobbler. He was with a lady, and I assume it was his wife but I never met her. She looks like the photo's he has around his house. So it's kinda weird with him being 50 something with a 30 something date, but, he's happy." Dean smiles again and there's a slight sadness in his eyes. Dean turns to Cas who hasn't said much since showing up here. "So, what brings you to the wedding?"

Cas squirms a little in his seat. "You don't know?" He asked and looked towards the table with the wedding cake. It is covered with blue and green sugar based flowers and designs. Something he would have picked out. Small and to the point. Dean's eyes trail to the table as well before landing once again on Sam and Jess.

"The cake's pretty cool, I would have preferred pie myself." Dean stated and held out his arms to show how big of a pie would be a substitute for a wedding cake. "Maybe have one of those stack-able things, several pies instead of the pyramid of cakes. What do you think?"

Cas noticed some people walking in front of the table in question and when they passed, a new cake was on the table, one that had four layers, bottom cake in the same design as before, but with a pie for the second and third with a small cake at the top. Two figures were on top, and from their table, it was hard to make out exactly what it looked like. Cas quickly looked to Dean who looked to the table as well.

"Yeah! Kinda like that." Dean said and his eyes danced around the room again. "Good to know Jess has some taste. Sammy thinks that cake is the same as pie. I think he purposefully botches up the grocery list when it's his turn to stock the mini-fridge at the hotel. Little bitch." Dean huffs an affectionate laugh.

"Dean..." Castiel starts and leans forward a little. "Do you know... where we are?"

That got Dean's attention and he angled his body towards Cas again. "Of course I do, we are at Sam and Jess's wedding. You should know this, you're just here because I'm here. My mind wanted you here." Dean scooted his chair closer to Cas's and he bumped his elbow into Cas's and rubbed his foot along the black pant leg next to him. "Gotta have my date to the wedding." and winked at Cas's head tilt and squint. "Adorable." he mumbled into his never-ending wine glass.

Cas was at a loss of words for a moment. His eyes drifted around the room again. Seeing Balthazar talking to the DJ who looked a hell of a lot like Brandon. Wes was now seen hooking up or messing with some speakers. He noticed that Dean didn't give them much attention.

"Hey Bro!" A jovial voice called out and both Dean and Cas turned to see a long haired blond man come up to their table with a cocky swagger. He approached on Dean's side and leaned against the back of his metal folding chair. "How's it hanging?"

Dean's brow furrowed and he noticed that the short man was facing Cas who could catch flies with how far his jaw had dropped.

"Gabriel?" Castiel nearly sputtered. His gaze went from Dean to his brother and back. Gabriel looked just like he did the day he ran away from home. He'd gotten some letters and gifts over the years but he wasn't one for 'selfies' so Castiel didn't know what he would look like now. His eyes studied the twenty something critically and in one instant to the next, he was aged a little more reasonably. Still youngish looking but with a few more wrinkles around the eyes.

"Aren't you going to dance?" Gabriel asked, one eyebrow quirked.

Dean leaned a little away from the hand on his seat. The dude changed a little in front of his eyes, it must have been the lights overhead. He saw that Cas was squirming a little in his seat but not from embarrassment. He was nervous. "Cas? Are you going to introduce us?" he looked up and over to the blond's face and was clearly confused as to why this joker was hanging off of his chair.

"Uh, Dean? This.. this is my brother, Gabriel."

Dean turned his head up and gave an assessing look before grinning a little and holding out his right hand. "Good to meet you." he said and Gabriel shook his hand with the energy of a puppy and the guile of a cat. "Cas told me about you, I just didn't think you two would look so different... in any case, feel free to grab some food from the snack table." he waved his free hand to the table in question and Gabriel practically skipped on over to it.

Cas said, "You know that was a big mistake right? He will clean us out of everything sugar based before the night's over."

"No problem. It's just a dream. I ain't sweating the calories." Dean raised his wine glass and then stood up. He stretched his back a little and noticed Balthazar again, going over to the guest book table and signing it. "Good to see everyone turned up for Sam and Jess's big day."

"Dean." Cas said a little sternly like he was missing the point. "Why would my brother be at Sam's wedding?"

Dean shrugged a little. "I figured he was your 'plus one'."

Cas motioned at the DJ stand in the corner, "And who are they?"

Dean shrugged again, leaning against the table. "Who knows, probably just hired hands."

"You don't recognize them?"

"Why would I?"

"Dean," Cas stood up too and closed the distance between them, facing the main bulk of people at the hall. "Did you know, that your mind is completely incapable of coming up with human faces? Everyone you see in a dream is someone you met in real life."

"Sounds like something Cas would say." Dean mumbled and kept his eyes on Sam and Jess.

"That's because I am Cas." Castiel sighed and then pointed out the DJ's again. "That one is Wes and that is Brandon. They are close friends of Balthazar's and I met them a few times when I was trying to find you and Sam and information about the dragons."

Dean looked like he ate something sour and frowned, turning away. "No. We are not going to talk about dragons or monsters or anything else supernatural at my brother's wedding."

"We aren't, because it's not your brother's wedding." Cas sighed a little. Apparently Dean was missing something very important. "Follow me." he stated and grabbed a hold of Dean's tuxedo sleeve. Dean jerked out of the grip and glared at Cas.

"I don't want to go over there and screw up this time Sam has with his poor dead girlfriend. He deserves some happiness and all I'll do is screw it up again. Let him be happy Cas." Dean grit out and said, "My fault she died in the first place. The least I can do is let him have..." he sighed again and waved his hand towards the front of the room. Part of the white decorations faded a little to gray and the shadows darkened. The guests didn't seem to notice anything. "Doesn't matter. I'ts not real." and he walked towards the liquor table and tried to down a full bottle of wine. Thumping it on the table and practically growling at how full it is again. "Can't a guy get a drink around here?" he nearly shouted at the bartender's back.

"Deepest apologies, Sir." a nasally voice said and turned around with a bottle of clear liquid with an old fashioned skull and crossbones as a label. "I think this is what you're after?"

Dean stumbled a step or two away from the man and ran into Cas who approached from behind, laying a hand on his trembling shoulder. "Not you. You're not real. You can't be here because Sam would never have invited you. You're not welcome here!"

"Dean." Cas sounded upset, "Alistair, get the fuck away from him." his voice turned into a threatening growl, Cas raised up his hand and aimed it at the sneering face of the torturer and a white glow engulfed the man and he disappeared as if he was never there. Cas lowered his hand again and took a deep breath. "Dean? Are you alright?"

Dean was staggering backwards and panting, hands came up from people standing around him and patted him on the back, shoulders and arms. He waved the others off but when Cas was about to retreat his own hand, Dean clutched it and held firm. "Cas... Cas that was.. fuck.. that was.."

"Alistair, I know." Castiel sighed as if he wasn't surprised to see the grand torturer in this place. "He's here because of you. He haunts your thoughts, dreams, but as long as I'm here, I can help."

"What? You're just a part of this dream too. You're not really here." dean started to crumble down, hopelessness in every move and word. "Not really here. Not here. Can't help..."

Castiel took a breath and held onto Dean's shoulder, his other hand going to help him up from his crouch. "It's going to be alright. He's gone and not coming back. I swear I'll protect you in here," Castiel leaned his forehead closer to Dean's lowered brow and motioned with his hand to some other place, "and out there. But, you need to see something." he stated and once Dean got his feet stable underneath him, he was urged towards the cake table again.

Sam looked over and grinned at them, raising his glass. The others he was conversing with turned to look at Dean and Cas as well and raised up their glasses. Once Sam got both of their attention, and everyone in the hall, he stated proudly, "Here's to the handsome couple!" and everyone else joined in with, "Here, here!" before nodding in their direction and taking a drink.

Dean's eyebrows lifted at the sight of everyone looking their way before he noticed the flush of embarrassment on Castiel's face. "Cas?"

Castiel nodded at everyone still turned their way before grabbing Dean's arm a little more firmly, angling him back to the table. A couple of people parted and Dean and Cas finally got a good look at the wedding pie/cake.

"Dean, why would Sam have two grooms on a cake?" and waved his hand to the sight. A little plastic couple of husbands holding hands and facing Dean and Cas. He then saw Cas slide his hand down the arm to grab that hand and the other reached for Dean's free hand. Cas looked up into Dean's widening green eyes as they went from cake to Cas and back again. Mirroring the pose the plastic figures were making.

"Cas?"

"Yes, my Husband?" Castiel said with so much affection and cockiness that Dean was torn between punching him and kissing him.

"What is this?" Dean asked, his hand grabbed Cas's, but not quite the way Cas was hoping. "What's going on here?" he started to demand while looking around again as if all of the guests were going to start transforming into beasts.

"This is... uh, what our wedding could look like."

"Why did I do this? I'm not marriage material."

"Apparently I think you are. And you do to, this isn't just a cake, this is a pie cake." Cas couldn't help the chuckle at the pure Dean-ness of having a pie cake instead of a regular one. He also figured that Dean would have a little panic attack at the idea of being suddenly married when neither of them actually proposed. "Or, we could go with just pie if you like." Cas suggested and then the cake parts disappeared and were replaced with pumpkin on the bottom and cherry pie for the top. The plastic grooms were now sinking into the red filling and up to their waists. "I'm sure we can come up with something."

"Not real, not real. This is my dream. Mine. I wanted to see Sam and Jess get married. That's why they're here. To get married."

"Uh, that," Cas started, looking over to Sam and the blond at his arm. "Yes, I can see how that would look. She's beautiful, Sam is a lucky guy."

"Was." Dean snorted and stormed off to the front entrance.

Castiel followed after and once they were outside the doors, the bright sunny day turned cloudy. "Maybe we should go inside?"

Dean didn't seem to hear him, or didn't care. "This is just like the lake isn't it? You show up out of the blue and say that you're real, that you're actually in my dream."

"I think, well, it's both of our dreams. Think of the DJ's, my brother, if this were just your dream, you wouldn't have put them in it. The cake wouldn't have changed like that because you believed this was your brother's wedding."

"So this is all your fault?"

Cas didn't see it like that at first. Maybe it is. He got in the way of Dean's dream. A shadow covered them for a second before it moved on quickly towards the gardens and then beyond. A shape in the sky that was blotting out the weak sunlight. A gust of air. A rumble in the clouds.

"Dean?" Cas started to sound worried and then turned when he heard the door open again and Sam step out.

"Hey guys, what's going on? Why did you leave?" Sam hugged his arms and walked over to them.

"Sam." Dean demanded, "Tell Cas that he's not real, that you're not. That this is just my dream and my fucked up way of handling stress."

"Dean? Your dream?" Sam looked confused as hell but was distracted a second later. "Do you hear that?" Sam asked and looked up at the clouding sky. The rumbling getting louder. The others followed suit and when they turned back around, Sam was gone. They both went to the glass doors of the hall, looking for Sam but saw that a portion of people were gone too. None of the ones left even noticed the loss. The wedding pie was still there, and Balthazar was now apparently chatting with Gabriel who had a candy bar hanging out of his mouth.

"Oh." Castiel breathed.

"Oh? Oh what? You know what's going on?"

"I suspect Sam woke up." Castiel said and looked to the sky again. A shadow was now seen flying overhead again, circling the hall.

"What do you mean 'he woke up'?"

"We were all sleeping, Dean, we took the potion so that we could communicate with you, but something I didn't expect to happen is for us to be joined when we are all sleeping as well. The first time you dreamed it was of Alistair torturing you. I saw it in my mind's eye. It was fuzzy but I knew you were in distress so I comforted you, your dream eased from the nightmare and you eventually started dreaming of fishing by a lake. I know you saw me there too. It was when I nodded off holding you in my arms."

Dean was now pacing back and forth on the patio. "So this is real, you are really talking to me in my dream."

"Our dream." Cas corrected.

"Our dream is to get married?"

"Sam's as well, since he was here too and congratulating us. It's not just my dream because I never knew what Sam's girlfriend looked like. I also didn't recognize most of the people here. You and Sam do, so it makes sense that this was a joined dream."

"Oh sure, that makes sense. So what's that? Who's idea is this?" he pointed up into the sky as the black shape came around again. He could feel Castiel tense up and move back towards the doors. Dean heard words in the rumbling thunder, he somehow heard them and understood. "Mother." he whispered at the black figure in the sky. His whole demeanor softening, the only anxiety there was now a hopeful one.

"Dean? We have to leave." Cas sounded scared.

"It's ok." Dean said, reaching for Cas's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "She's not gonna hurt us." he found himself saying, actually looking forward to seeing her. "She wanted to see me."

"Who? That?" Cas aimed his hand to the sky, holding it up as if he was going to dispel it like he did Alistair.

Dean didn't try and dissect how he was able to make things disappear in dreams but felt a little angry that Cas would want to make her go away like she was the enemy. "Cas. Put your hand down. She's my mother. She's not here to hurt anyone. She likes bipeds."

"Bipeds? Dean? What are you talking about?"

The massive black form came down with grace and thunder, landing in the empty parking lot and folding in her wings with gentle care. She took a few elegant steps closer to them and purred softly at Dean. Love shining in her eyes as she looked at him and then turned her massive head towards Cas. She chirped in greeting and her long nose dipped down to nuzzle Dean's chest. Dean lifted up his hands and laid them on her nose, rubbing the bridge of it and he bent down to hug as much of her muzzle as he could. Unconcerned with how massive and terrifying she could easily look if she meant harm. Now she was like a tranquil panther.

"So glad you could make it, Mother." he whispered and his eyes were squeezed shut. She rumbled underneath him and nuzzled him right back, breath coming out in near gusts past his legs.

Castiel hesitated where he stood, torn between escape and rescue. "Dean?" Worry lacing his voice. He couldn't take his eyes off of the enormous black dragon in front of him. She was easily 40 feet tall, sleek, beautiful and the resemblance was clear that Dean's dragon form came from her's. If he were painted black, he'd look just like her, she was the female version of his form. 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' Came to Cas's mind and suddenly there was an apple at his feet, dropped from nowhere. 'Just a dream.' He reminded himself that he wasn't really in any danger here. It was uncanny how real it felt to him, Dean's influence on him making it feel more solid. Mainly because Dean isn't some thing he can control in this dream. People and events in the real world would throw obstacles at him that he wasn't expecting. Here it was taken literally. Cas tossed the apple away from himself and watched it disappear.

He learned a few tricks years ago on how to control his dreams if he was to become aware of them. Recognizing the differences between the two. A few facts were that words can not be read, lighting cannot be changed by his own hands, and changes in scenery usually were instantaneous, connected to his moods more then will. Once he figured out he was dreaming, the hardest trick to master first was to remain asleep. Then he is free to make small changes here and there. It's rarely a conscious effort, but apparently he got a mental boost when he's connected to someone else's mind. A much larger sandbox. Dean was changing his half of the dream, but only somewhat aware of that fact.

Lucid dreaming was a favorite pastime of Castiel's. Balthazar first showed him how to do it back in college and every once in awhile he'd try it out again. Manipulating the dream into whatever he wanted. It was how he was able to get rid of Alistair, and he was just about to do the same to the massive dragon on the steps. But then he saw how happy Dean was.

Dean, who had been cursing her memory out for days, 'If it weren't for her, I'd still be normal and none of these bad things would have happened.' But now it looks like he's forgotten all of that hate and is actually glad to see her.

"Mother? This is my mate, this is Castiel." Dean stood next to the sharp fanged mouth attached to the long head that was at least 6 feet tall, not including the horns, and he looked at peace standing there. "He's a nerdy little scientist dude."

Cas scowled at him for a second before looking back at the monster.

Dean's huffing laugh was full of mirthful teasing, "But he's cool. And one day I'm gonna marry this short little guy." Dean grinned and motioned towards the hall, no one inside seemed concerned with the dragon on the steps, now leaning forward for a better look inside. "Wish you could be there when it happens for real." he said, stroking his hand along her nose and rubbing his knuckles at the end in the same way he liked it done for himself.

Castiel took a breath and approached the others, hand held out as if he was going to shake her's but at Dean's snicker he realized what he was doing and his hand hovered awkwardly in the air in front of himself.

"See what I mean, Mother?" Dean practically chirped and she chirped back.

Cas's face flushed hotly at Dean and he was about to storm off when Dean grabbed his retreating hand, pulling him closer. Without a word, Cas let Dean pull him over to the black dragon and forced his hand onto her nose and he awkwardly rubbed along the bridge, getting a cooing purr as response. He knew from dealing with Dean's dragon speech for so long meant that she was basically saying, 'Pleased to meet you.'

"And you as well." Cas said and got a raised eyebrow from Dean.

Dean rumble chirped, 'You understood that?'

"Yes, well, no, I figured that's what she said." Cas explained and cocked his head at Dean. "That wasn't English." he stated.

'Of course not, she's a dragon, Dude.' Dean rumbled. Movement behind his back made Cas startle.

"Dean?" he said, worriedly, "There's something at your back."

'Hmm?' Dean hummed and turned around to reveal to Cas a set of long bat like wings coming from his shoulders and draping down his back and legs. Flexing open and shut a little. Dean's wings, bumpy camouflage an all. Dean turned to face Cas again and shrugged both sets of shoulders.

"Dean? Are you ok?"

'Why wouldn't I be, I have my mother here and my mate. I'm the happiest little monster this side of Brothers Grimm street.' he chirped and rested an elbow on his mother's snout. Suddenly, both of them were gone from his sight. Vanished before his eyes as if they were never there. Cas turned quickly and saw that half of the building was missing as well, before everything fell into darkness and he felt as if he was falling.

Cas woke up from the floor, sprawled out and aching from the rough landing. He looked over and saw a pair of long white legs nearby and jolted a little more awake. From this angle, Sam looked like a towering skyscraper with something in his cupped hands.

"Cas? Man, are you alright?" Sam asked, leaning forward to drop off whatever he had in his hands onto the back of the couch. He reached a hand down and Castiel took it to help right himself. Then got a better hold and stood up.

"Fine, we're fine. Apologies." Cas mumbled, turning to see Dean yawning and his wings flaring at the same time.

Sam swayed a little, clearly not fully awake himself, "Well, ok then. Just letting you guys know breakfast is being made." Sam said and stumbled off into the bedroom closest to the kitchen. Bobby lost that one and had to deal with Dean and Castiel's bed, with new sheets of course. Those were thrown at Cas to deal with for the night.

Dean made his way to the edge of the couch and rumbled, 'He said he had a dream that we were in trouble. Woke up to check on us. He doesn't remember much beyond it was at a nice decorated hall and everyone was dressed up when a violent storm struck outside.' Dean sighed and said, 'What did you dream about?'

Castiel could tell that Dean was still unsure about what went on while they were asleep, but rather then lie, he decided he might as well tell the truth. "Our wedding day." he stated and saw Dean's green eyes get wide again, "Your mother seems nice."