"What happened out there man?" Dean asked once he caught his breath. He was still lying close to the angel, staring at him, and didn't really feel like moving away. Cas was on his back, but his head was turned to Dean as he kept taking deep breaths. It was so weird to see him like that. As far as Dean knew, angels didn't need to breathe.
"I am uncertain. I suppose the seashell transported us to this location when we both touched it." Cas replied with a ragged breath.
"Yeah, I figure that. I mean with you. What happened? You almost drowned on me, man."
"It appears that my grace is gone. I believe it to most likely be trapped inside that shell right now." Okay, that explained a few things, but not all.
"Why didn't you swim up like me?" Dean asked, wondering if maybe the shell knocked the air out of Cas when it sucked his grace out or something like that, unabling the angel from swimming upward. Maybe he was just too shocked about what happened and just didn't react on time?
But as soon as Dean asked, Cas' eyes slipped away, not making contact with his anymore. He almost seemed… Embarrassed? Dean had no idea why would Cas act like that, wasn't his fault that a freaking shell decided to fuck them off across the globe. "Cas?"
"I can't swim."
"You what?" Dean almost shouted, surprised and propped himself up on his hand to get a better look at the angel.
"I can't swim." Cas replied a little harshly. "I never had the need to swim, as I never had to breathe and when I needed to go into the water, I would either walk on the ocean floor or simply use my wings to get me to the exact location I needed to be."
He sounded so defensive, as if he thought Dean would tease him, or worse, judge him and that made Dean pause. He had done things like that before, teasing him for his lack of social skills and such, but he never knew it affected Cas this much. He must have hid it well. Or he simply hadn't felt that so intensely when he had his grace.
Shit, Cas was human now.
"I'll teach you." Cas' brows shot up at the offer, clearly not having expected Dean to say that. Truth was, Dean hadn't expected to say that either. "When we figure this out and get out of here, I'll teach you."
"Okay." Cas agreed after a few moments of just staring at Dean, studying him like he thought Dean had lost his marbles. Maybe he had.
"Can you stand? Let's check out where we are." Dean slowly rose to his feet, but when Cas tried to move, he hissed, reaching out to his leg. His slacks were ripped and there was a gash on his left leg. Shit. How did he get that, there was nothing in the water, was there?
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay. Wait, let me take a look." The wound was both long and deep and it was bleeding like crazy. Dean knew that before anything, he had to stop the bleeding, but he had absolutely nothing to work with here.
"Shit. It's bad." He let out a frustrated sigh. All he could do now was try and bandage it somehow. He decided to take off his flannel and use his shirt to make a sort of a gauze, leaving himself in his undershirt for now. Cas' tie, which he expertly removed from around the angel's neck, would make a good tie to hold it all together. If he got Cas to elevate the leg and keep it up for a while, it just might work.
Cas hissed a few times, but Dean stayed focused on his work. It was when those sounds turned more into whispers that he looked up at the angel and froze for a moment, seeing tears run freely down his cheeks. Dean had never seen him cry. Angels don't cry.
"It's gonna be okay, Cas. I am gonna wrap this up real tight and then I am gonna help you to that tree line, see that? That spot between the two palm trees? I think it's gonna be perfect for a shelter. I'm gonna build us one after this, okay? It's gonna be okay, I got you. I got you Cas."
The angel's eyes slipped closed, as if he was fighting off another wave of tears. Must be overwhelming for him, the pain and maybe some humiliation. He was a mighty warrior, a freaking angel of the Lord that was now crying like a little baby over a big cut. But Dean understood. It was new and it was scary, not having his powers to rely on. "I got you, Cas. I'll take care of you, I promise."
Cas' eyes snapped open and he stared at Dean for a minute or so, an incredulous look in his eyes before it was replaced with some form of determination. He swallowed hard and nodded, clasping Dean on the shoulder.
"Thank you, Dean."
Dean smiled and nodded back, then checked his work. It was good and tight and the shirt wasn't getting soaked in blood, which was a good sign. Now he had to get Cas under those trees and find something he can put his leg up on comfortably.