Dean's stomach rumbled, reminding the human how he still hadn't eaten anything since getting back from the road trip. After getting Cas settled back into his room and allowing him the extra time needed to recover from the poison he'd ingested, Dean had texted Sam that it was probably okay for him to go back to the grocery store and get the food that he'd had to abandon the first time he was there earlier in the day.

Dean would go himself but Cas was currently leaning against him, sound asleep. The angel was getting a bit of drool on Dean's shoulder but he didn't mind.

He really was getting hungry, though.

After shutting off his laptop—the movie he'd been playing was more for Cas's benefit than his own, and clearly the angel wasn't watching it anymore—Dean decided to carefully maneuver his way out of bed to see if Sam had gotten back with the food yet.

Cas's wings—magnificent, warm despite not being fully corporeal, colored the deepest onyx and exuding a natural shimmer—were draped loosely around Dean. The human didn't know if it was intentional or not, but in any case he did feel a bit safer under the angel's protection. Which was a bit silly, considering how Cas was the person currently in danger and being hunted down.

Upon gently lifting Cas's head from his shoulder and easing him back over against his own pillow, Dean felt a slight brush of... something as he moved toward the edge of the bed. It wasn't possible, and yet he seemed to be brushing up against the angel's wings. He could feel the feathers graze his arm and cheek. They were extraordinarily soft.

Taking a chance, Dean reached out a hand to try and touch a portion of Cas's wing. He could see it, at least partially. It wasn't entirely opaque. His hand phased right through, though, as he'd expected it would. Dean found it a little unfair that he could see them and feel their warmth and just now he'd felt their soft texture, but he still couldn't touch them himself.

The physics of angel wings are weird, he decided.

Dean finally stood up and cast a glance over at Cas's sleeping form. The angel was propped upright against his pillow now, sitting up in bed. He looked quite peaceful, which made the human smile to himself. Actually, now that Dean was thinking about it, this was one of the few rare moments where he'd seen the angel sleep.

The other times Cas either wasn't an angel or was very ill. Dean supposed that he was technically ill now. Hopefully the poison would be out of his system soon, though.

Dean left Cas's room and quietly shut the door behind him, not wanting to accidentally wake the angel up with any loud sounds. He made his way to the kitchen and found it stocked with fresh food, much to his delight. Sam was sitting at the table, munching on a salad.

"Hey," he said when his older brother walked in. "How's Cas doing?"

"Better, I think," Dean answered, walking over to the fridge and opening it. "He's sleeping now."

Dean made himself a sandwich and ate it while his younger brother talked about the logistics of getting the mysterious and dangerous box from New York. They'd agreed it would be easiest if Cas zapped them to the auction site, but considered what risks that might put the angel in, what with Heaven still being after him and all.

In the end both Sam and Dean decided that they could probably retrieve the object in a timely enough manner to not notify any unwanted guests of their presence. To keep the bunker safe Sam had added more angel wardings—specifically wardings against angels currently using the power of Heaven for their abilities, since Cas's angel mojo was independent from Heaven and therefore his abilities wouldn't be affected by the magic—earlier in the day.

After he was done eating Dean thought he should probably check on Cas. The angel was still asleep, though it looked like he was having some kind of unpleasant dream. His face was scrunched up in pain or something similar and his hands were clenched tightly against the bedsheets.

"Cas," Dean said softly, approaching the bed. "Cas, wake up."

He reached out a hand to tap the angel on the shoulder, which turned out to be a very bad idea, because Cas's eyes suddenly flicked open and without even registering the situation he grabbed Dean's outstretched arm and twisted it behind the human's back in such a way that something popped.

Dean hissed in pain but said, "Cas, it's me. It's okay. You were having a nightmare."

Cas's eyes were a fiery blue and for a few more tense seconds he stared the human down—a hand still pinning Dean's arm behind his back—before recognition finally seemed to set in.

"Dean?" the angel said, momentarily confused.

"It's okay," Dean said again, trying to ignore the pain in his arm. "It was just a nightmare. Whatever happened... it wasn't real."

Cas opened his mouth slightly, still confused. He saw the position he'd put Dean in and let go of his arm.

"I... You were..." the angel shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "Sorry... You frightened me, I guess."

Dean managed a chuckle, "I guess so. I think you popped my shoulder out."

Cas's expression turned from one of confusion to one of concern. "I hurt you," he frowned. "I'm so sorry, Dean. Let me heal you."

He started to put a hand on Dean's injured arm, his skin glowing faintly blue with its angelic healing light. Dean didn't want Cas to use his strength for this, though, when he still seemed to be suffering from the poison.

"It's all right," the human said with a smile. "Save your strength, Cas. Just pop my shoulder back in the old-fashioned way."

"But it'll hurt," Cas argued, his mouth forming a pout.

"I've dealt with much worse," Dean reminded him.

"I know... but I hurt you," Cas said again. "I don't... That's not supposed to happen. I'm supposed to protect you. Always."

"It's okay, Cas," Dean tried to reassure him. "It's not a big deal. Really. I know it was an accident."

Cas still looked like he wanted to argue the point further but Dean silenced him with a kiss.

"I love you, Cas," Dean said after they pulled away from each other. "You'll always be my guardian angel."

That got a small smile out of Cas, though it was clear that he still felt bad. He finally obliged and popped Dean's shoulder back into place—to which the human admittedly winced but tried to look unaffected for the angel's benefit.

"Can I ask what the nightmare was about?" Dean said, crawling into bed next to Cas.

The angel looked away from him for a moment, his gaze distant. "I would rather not talk about it," Cas said quietly. "It was..." he trailed off and shook his head. "It's not the first nightmare I've ever had, but it was one of the worst."

Dean nodded, "Well... if you ever do wanna talk about it... I'm here for you."

Dean still wasn't very good with the whole talking about feelings thing, but he could see that whatever nightmare the angel had had seriously messed him up.

Cas looked back over at the human and managed a faint smile. "I guess I should probably try to go back to sleep. When are we gonna leave for New York, by the way?"

"The auction is this weekend, so tomorrow, I guess. You think you'll be strong enough to zap all three of us there?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I think so," the angel replied. "I feel mostly okay now. The poison was potent but its effects must not last long."

"Okay. That's good. Um, I'll let you rest up for tomorrow, then," Dean said, patting the angel's shoulder. "Do you... do you want me to stay? I can sleep here for the rest of the night if you'd like me to."

Cas smiled, "I'd appreciate that, Dean."

And so Dean shrugged off his flannel and chucked off his jeans before crawling underneath the covers. He realized a few beats too late that Cas might be uncomfortable with Dean lying beside him half-naked, but the angel was too busy adjusting his pillow and wriggling his way into a more comfortable position on his side of the bed to even notice.

"Sleep well, Cas," Dean said softly.

"You too, Dean."

(Author's Note: sorry this chapter is pretty short compared to a lot of the others. It's mostly a filler chapter. Big things are gonna happen very soon, though, so stay tuned for that. Also be sure to give me your feedback about this chapter! I love hearing from you guys!)