Castiel woke with a start to the sound of screaming, his heart hammering in his chest. It felt foreign to him, both sleeping and waking, and he felt groggy and disoriented, his breath struggling to catch up. Then he heard the scream again, felt the pain, and knew that Dean was in trouble.

It took mere seconds and a light flap of wings for Castiel to appear beside Dean's bed, his eyes searching fearfully for the source of the problem - until he realised it was the man himself.

Dean was still asleep, but he was far from peaceful. He lay on his back, hands fisted in the blanket underneath him. His head thrashed side to side, tears marking their tracks quickly through the sheen of sweat that covered him. The grey shirt he had changed into was soaked through, despite that the room was relatively cool. His broken voice alternated between screaming and babbling, breaking Castiel's heart with the words that he could understand.

"Don't touch.. Get away- Leave him alone- NoNoNo-CAS!"

"DEAN!" Castiel shouted, fear flickering in his eyes when the man didn't respond, just kept babbling. "Dean, WAKE UP!"

"CAS!" Dean screamed, then dissolved into incoherent sobs.

"Dean?!" A fist was banging on the door, the doorknob rattling. "Dean open the door!"

"Sam-" Castiel called, but cut off. He didn't know what to do.

Dean had moved his hands to grip his own arms, and he was leaving nail marks where his fingers dragged across the skin. He still thrashed, calling for Cas between sobs and incoherent words. He just stared at the man, tears gathering in his eyes, frozen by shock.

Suddenly the lock clicked and the door flew open, and Sam charged into the room, only to come to a sudden halt as he stared at the scene before him. Castiel turned and met Sam's eyes, his own riddled with fear and doubt.

"Sam, I don't know what to do!"

Sam looked between the angel and his brother, realising that Dean was still asleep and having a particularly horrible nightmare. Nightmare or memory, anyway. He knew he couldn't wake his brother - even when they were kids Dean never woke from a nightmare until it was over. Dean had caused some serious harm to himself, on bad nights.

Sam realised he could only do what he had always done - He threw himself down beside his brother and grabbed his wrists, tearing his hands away from his arms and pinning them down beside him so he couldn't hurt himself again. Then realisation dawned and he looked back at the angel, hope flaring in his eyes.

"Yes, you do. Cas, he needs you. You have to help him - like you did before."

"But I don't know how!" Castiel yelled in frustration. "It was an accident before, I don't-"

"CAS!" Dean screamed out again, staring to get more violent again with his thrashing and grabbing. Sam struggled to hold him down.

"You can do it, Cas, I know you can. But hurry." Sam wasn't sure how long he could hold him without hurting him. "Please."

Castiel shook slightly as he approached the bed, then sat down at the top, next to the pillow. He took a deep, steadying breath as he looked back down at the man, who had turned back to sobbing uncontrollably. It was so unlike Dean that he barely believed it was him - but he supposed this was the side Dean never let out. The side that he hid behind a stoic mask and a carefree attitude.

"Please let this work," Castiel whispered as he reached out a hand and carefully laid it on Dean's forehead.

As soon as they touched, he took a sharp breath. It was just like before, the emotions of fear assaulting him as they washed into him. He felt his grace activating, his eyes burning bright. This time, though, the room filled with light and suddenly he was no longer looking down at Dean. He was seeing through his eyes, inside the nightmare, and it was so real.

There were demons on either side of him, holding him against a wall while he struggled fiercely. On the floor in front of him was Castiel's own body, beaten and bloody. A faceless demon stood over him, arm poised with an angel blade in hand. A scream tore from his mouth, his own name in Dean's voice, fear flooding through his body like ice.

Castiel's heart surged, refusing to allow this image to torment Dean - and even as he thought it the room became brighter, first like an overexposed photo, then growing brighter and brighter until the image was completely obliterated by white light.

Suddenly the room he sat in with Dean and Sam came back into focus, and he gasped as the tidal wave of Dean's emotions slammed into him again. He felt his wings retracting back into his vessel, unsure at what point they had come out. He bowed his head, panting slightly as he let the feelings wash through him, slowly weakening until he could think clearly again.

When he could finally look up, he noticed that unlike the night before, his hand was still on Dean's skin. He gently pushed the wet hair back from his now calm face. The sheen of sweat was slowly drying, and it made Castiel smile slightly. He'd done it - taken the nightmare away so that dean could sleep peacefully. His thumb gently rubbed across Dean's hairline, soothing - impulsively, he shifted his weight forward and pressed a feather soft kiss to the man's forehead.

Then he sat back, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and looked at Sam.

"You love him, don't you?" Sam whispered, staring at the angel in awe.

Castiel didn't answer - he dropped his eyes to the ground and twisted his fingers together. What could he say? Yes, even though he was sure the hunter would never return his feelings? So he stayed silent.

Sam just nodded and stood up, clapping a hand on his shoulder supportively as he left the room.

Castiel glanced down at Dean again, quiet and peaceful. He sighed to himself, thinking how he should really get up and move, go back to bed and rest. But he was just so damned tired. He leant his head back against the wall and let his eyes slip closed. Just for a moment, he told himself. Then he'd leave. But he was exhausted and he quickly crossed into sleep, leaning back against the bed head and wall.


Dean found himself waking very slowly the next morning, sleep leaving him groggy and contented, which was unusual. He welcomed the feeling, however, keeping his eyes closed as he drifted in the sleepy morning haze. He nuzzled his head against the warm pillow, fingers gripping the silky fabric of it. It was comfortable and warm, and the hand resting in his hair made him feel safe. Wait- what?

Dean's eyes shot open and his body tensed as his fight or flight response came into play. He didn't move just yet, waiting until he figured out what was going on. Blinking his eyes into focus, he concentrated. He could see two legs covered in dark, business style slacks - his warm pillow was actually one of those legs, and his hand was holding onto the fabric at the knee.

He didn't really have to - he knew who it was, could feel it - but he carefully, slowly shifted himself to laying on his back, the hand slipping from his hair to rest on his collarbone as he looked up into Castiel's face. His breath hitched - he hadn't been this close to the man since he kissed him, that he knew of. But he couldn't bring himself to pull away.

Instead he found himself studying the lines of his cheekbones and the way his lashes rested on his cheeks. There were dark circles under his eyes, shadows that Dean could swear weren't there before. His nostrils flared slightly as he breathed almost silently in his sleep, pink lips slightly parted.

He felt heat pool deep in his abdomen as he stared, remembering how it had felt to kiss those perfect lips, and the way Cas's skin had felt under his hands. He closed his eyes and bit his lip, hard, trying to drive away the memory. He shouldn't, couldn't think that way about his friend, for fear it would ruin what they had. Because he didn't have feelings for Cas - He didn't - He was obviously just confused and over reacting to his friend's return.

And yet, his body moved of it's own will, and he couldn't stop himself reaching a hand up to gently run the pad of his thumb across Castiel's bottom lip, tracing the curve lightly. As soon as he touched the man he knew he wouldn't stop - intensity flooded through him and he wanted Cas like nothing before. He remembered how soft those lips were, despite his rough appearance. He moved his fingers, tips gently tracing along his cheekbone, then down through the slight stubble - he'd have to get Cas some razors - down the line of his jaw, curling under his chin as his thumb still rubbed gently over his lower lip.

Dean could feel a strange lightness in his chest, his heart squeezing, something he hadn't felt since Lisa. His heart gave a terrifying jolt as he realised that he wanted those lips on his again, wanted to swallow those soft breaths with his own mouth - then everything froze in time as he felt fingers close around his wrist in a gentle, but firm grip.

"Dean.."

A jolt like lightning shot through him from his abdomen to his toes at the sound of his name dropping from Cas's lips in a breathy, almost lusty whisper. His eyes lifted to the angel's face - Castiel still had his eyes closed, but he was most definitely awake, and Dean wondered how he hadn't noticed the short, sharp breaths that were now parting his lips. They stayed frozen, neither daring to move until Castiel's hand on his shirt at his collarbone slipped, brushing against his bare skin, and his eyes flashed open to focus on dean.

"Caaas..." Dean groaned, the sound full of a deep longing as feelings of want, need, lust ripped through him.

It was everything he realised he'd been feeling this whole time, only multiplied in a way Dean didn't understand, the moment Cas' eyes met his. A fluttering heat worked its way across his skin now; he could feel his pants getting tight, and he knew that everything he was trying to deny about his friend could come undone at any moment.

Then Cas blinked, and reality crashed down on Dean like a tidal wave.

In one fluid movement he was up and off the bed, struggling to get his heavy breathing under control, facing away from Cas so that he wouldn't see the evidence of his desire for the angel.

Cas closed his eyes, letting his head fall back against the wall with a soft thump. "Dean-"

"What the hell are you doing in my room, Cas?!" Dean near growled, still not facing him. "Wait-no, scratch that. I don't wanna know. Just... Don't be here when I get back."

And with that he strode towards the door, leaving Castiel sitting on the bed wishing he had gotten up and gone to bed before he passed out.