AN: Set after Season 8 episode 7. Castiel has just arrived back from purgatory, he is still a spy unknowingly, and Dean and him are still on questionable terms. My stories tend to get quite smutty, though there is a fair amount of fluff in them too. Hope you enjoy! Please leave comments, suggestions, etc. I am not really sure where I am going with this one (excpet the smut and fluff).

Dean was used to waking up with pain in his body. For years he had fought alongside his brother, defeating the things that went bump in the night. It was his only job, and for the most part he was good at it. More blood had stained his hands over the years than the average hunter could boast. Pain was nothing new to the game, but when Dean woke up that morning, he realized he had never felt pain before. And that was really saying something... he had been tortured in hell.

His back didn't just ache, it was as if every muscle had been pulled at the same time, every inch of his chiseled white skin felt like it was slowly being peeled away. He was laying face down on the mattress, and with effort he tried to stand... he quickly realized that wasn't going to happen when fire spread through his entire being.

"Sam!" He screamed, the noise coming out more like a wail than a word.

He heard Sam's footsteps thud through the crappy hotel they were staying in. "Dean what is..." Sam trailed off, stopped dead in his tracks the moment he entered the room.

"Sam I can't stand... what the hell is going on?" Dean all but cried, the pain in his back making him feel like he was going to pass out.

Sam stood in the doorway, slack jawed and eyes bugging out of his head. "SAM!"

Sam shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "Um, Dean..." He trailed off, staring at his brother unsure of what to say.

"What is it? Why can't I stand?" He tried to lift his body again, but it was like a weight pushed him back down onto the mattress.

"Dean... you have wings..." Sam took a few steps forward.

Dean shook his head. No, no it wasn't possible. Why would he have wings.

He reached behind himself slowly, shifting his arm above his other shoulder and wincing as agony shot through his aching body. Soft, thick feathers tickled his fingers, and weirder than that... Dean felt them shift. They were sensitive to the touch, and Dean couldn't help the tears that poured from his eyes onto his cheeks. He did not usually cry from pain, but this white hot burning was unlike anything he had ever felt. It centered in his back and spread through his fingers, his legs ached and everything felt... new. Like he could feel every molecule around him.

Without thinking, the excruciating waves of pain shooting though him, he called out to the only creature on earth that could possibly help. "Cas!" He screamed, unable to keep the sob from his voice. "Cas please, I need you buddy." With a flutter of wings, the angel appeared in his room.

"Dean, I..." Castiel took in the sight of his hunter, sprawled on his bed, unable to lift himself up for the weight of his wings. He took in a sharp breath, unable to deny the beauty of the sight. "You're an angel." He stated simply.

"Yeah I gathered that!" Snapped Dean, his aching body making him too tired for games. "What the hell is going on!?"

"I... I wish I knew." Castiel said earnestly. He stepped forward, reaching a hand out and running it down Dean's satiny white wings. Dean groaned, shifting his body towards the gentle touch. "You are still thinking too much like a human, Dean. The pain is in your mind, because your human body would be in pain. You're not a human, though."

Dean shook his head, he didn't know what Cas meant 'thinking too much like a human'. What the hell did that even mean. "How exactly am I supposed to think like anything but a human, Cas?" Dean bit out angrily.

But something clicked in his mind; Cas was right, he realized. He closed his eyes, willing the pain to go away, and truly believing that it would. And it did. Just like that, like it was being drawn from his body, the pain subsided. He stood, and met Castiel's burning gaze, which caused his stomach to do an uncomfortable flip flop. Dean rolled his shoulders back, finding new muscles there to support his wings. Dean flexed them, and his wings shot straight out, knocking a lamp and several beer bottles to the floor. They landed with a crash, and Sam jumped back.

"Shit!" Dean exclaimed, unflexing his new muscles, his wings whooshed back to his sides into a more relaxed stance. "Sorry..." He mumbled.

Castiel let out a bellow of a laugh. For some reason, this was exceedingly funny to him, watching Dean who was so full of grace usually, be so clumsy with his new wings. "You will get used to them. If you want to, you can pull them all the way into yourself, as I have mine now." Castiel told him.

Sure enough, the moment Dean thought about his wings disappearing, they did. When he wished them back, they reappeared with a woosh. Dean looked absolutely thrilled with this new development, like a little kid who just found his favorite new toy.

Sam looked utterly perplexed. They had been through a lot together, but it wasn't exactly average for a human to suddenly sprout wings. Fear bubbled up inside him, watching his brother test his new muscles. Something was changing him already, Sam could see, and that thought terrified him. His mind went a million miles a minute, wondering what on earth had happened to cause the sudden transformation. It wasn't exactly like God was handing out wings on a regular basis. "Guys, we should get to work on research... I, for one, would like to know what on earth is happening.

"Yes." Castiel agreed dutifully. "But first, I am going to teach your brother how to fly."

"Don't you think this is a little more important?" Sam asked impatiently.

"No." Cas responded firmly. "I assure you, if this is a curse, or it is short lived, he will never forgive himself for missing this opportunity. There is nothing more amazing in the world than spreading your wings and taking to the sky." Castiel looked pensive, possibly even nostalgic, like he was remembering his own first flight fondly.

"Whatever." Sam said, shaking his head. "I'm gonna go hit the books. You guys... do whatever the hell it is you're gonna do."

Dean glared at his little brother, knowing exactly what he was insinuating, but unable to come up with a clever retort before he had already fled the room.

"So!" Dean exclaimed, sounding perhaps a little more eager than he probably should. "Let's get this show on the road, I want to see what these babies can do."

Cas gave him a wolfish grin. "Oh, I plan to show you."

Something about the way Cas said that made Dean nervous, a little fire burning in his belly as his favorite angel stared him down.

"Let's go."