A/N: The title says it all.
Castiel felt Dean get impaled, felt him break, felt the blood, the ruin, the hot, searing, soreness radiating through his body.
And he went to him.
Without a thought, or a beat of his heart, he went to him.
He found them in a barn, Sam holding Dean, desperately holding back tears, Dean barely able to breathe. He couldn't even get off the nail that was slowly killing him. It was holding him together too.
"Dean."
Dean inhaled deeply, and then grunted from the pain.
"Cas?"
Sam turned, and he moved aside, reaching for Cas' wrist.
"Cas."
There was love in Sam's hazel eyes, friendship, family. A prayer.
Castiel would answer it. A prayer wasn't even needed for what he had to do.
Castiel went to Dean and caressed his face.
Dean's eyes lined with tears.
"I… I didn't say it," he gasped out. "I didn't say it."
"It's okay."
"I didn't…"
"Just hold onto me."
Dean did so, grip surprisingly strong for someone who was dying. Castiel pulled him off the nail, and he held him, lowering him to the ground. He had a hand to his bleeding back, holding it in. He closed his eyes and began to heal. He found all the hurts and the wrongs and the death in Dean, and he washed it away with gold.
When Dean was breathing easy, Castiel opened his eyes, staring down at him. Dean's green eyes were huge, and he just reached up to grip Castiel's jaw.
"Cas."
"You don't have to say it."
"Oh, yes, I do."
Dean reached up and kissed him, and then breathed, breathed as if this moment was all that existed, "I love you."
Castiel held Dean. Sam came and held them both.
They were alright.
"Thanks, Cas," Dean mumbled.
"I didn't sacrifice myself for you to die like a dumbass."
"I love you. Cas, I love you."
"Not that it's in any way the same kind of love," Sam began, slight humor edging into the awe and breathless gratitude in his voice, "I love you too."
Castiel smiled, and he held them. He had his family.