A/N: Forgive me for updating so late. I've been super busy and haven't been able to do much of anything. I hope this chapter makes up for it. I worked really hard on it. Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.

Dean jolted awake and sat up with a gasp, his arm outstretched and reaching. The foggy effects of the dream were slowly fading as he came back to reality. It had all felt so real, especially the longing throb in his chest. Dean placed a shaky hand over his heart and felt its wild, hammering thuds against his palm.

He knew that he hadn't imagined that lonely ache tugging at him from deep within himself. "Cas...were you there? I thought I could feel you, but I guess I was just being stupid," Dean murmured softly. The silence of the empty room made his stomach churn. He ran a hand through his hair and took in a deep breath.

As he exhaled, something clicked in his mind. Dean frowned in thought and stared at the ceiling. If he hadn't imagined his angel's presence, Castiel would have figured out a way to make contact with Dean. Knowing Cas like he did, Dean realized that something must've prevented Cas from completing his mission.

A chorus of emotion fluttered through him; Cas was trying to get him back. That meant that Sam was helping. They did care and they were worried about him. Worry and guilt wormed their way into the warm and relieved cloud, making Dean also understand that he had managed to put his family in danger. Again.

Groaning, Dean covered his face with his hands. 'How long have I even been here?' he thought. Frowning, he counted back the days, using his fingers as aids, and realized that he had been here for only a few days. To the hunter, it felt like he'd been there for years.

Dean listened to the silence of the house and decided to try to replay the course of events that had taken place during his stay in the mirror's dimension. He sat there on the other Sam's bed, contemplating any details he might have missed or any that held some significance. Everything seemed like a blur and, for a split second, Dean thought he'd forgotten something important.

'Back to the place where it began, your angel will fall again.'

Dean's face scrunched up in befuddlement; why had he chosen now of all times to remember that stupid riddle? He was about to shove the thought away when he paused. If he'd been in one of those cartoon shows young Sammy used to watch, he would surely have a light bulb shining brightly above his head.

"The sicko must have meant Cas. The kidnapper took away the Castiel from this dimension. I met that Cas...in that fucking alleyway! That's where I fell from the rift, where all this crap started! Cas has to be in that alleyway, in one of those locked places!" Dean exclaimed, leaping to his feet animatedly.

Then he remembered what Sam had said. He sat down again, his thumb brushing absently across his lower lip. Dean was stumped again and it irritated the hell out of him. Grumbling under his breath, he decided to go downstairs to check over that riddle one final time.

As he descended the creaky wooden staircase, an ominous impression that something was terribly amiss struck him. "Sam?" There was no answer. His heart beginning to thump faster in his panic, Dean quickened his step and nearly tumbled down the few final steps. The taller man was no where to be seen.

"Sam? Where are you?" Dean called out again, cursing the note of panic in his voice. If he hadn't been standing still, he might not have heard the small exhausted whimper from the other side of the room. Rushing towards the sound, Dean discovered Sam curled in the fetal position behind the armchair with the phone clutched in his right hand.

"Sammy! Sam, hey, can you hear me?" Dean slid to the floor beside Sam, his knees burning from the action. Sam looked up at the hunter with emotionless eyes then went back to staring at the phone. He didn't say a word as Dean checked him for any signs of injury. A single steady tear trailed down Sam's cheek.

"Sam, wha-?"

"Cas,"

Dean froze. The way Sam had said his friend's name...Dean frowned and caught the droning of the dial tone from the phone. Putting two and two together, the shorter man felt the color drain from his face.

"He called," Sam said in the same unfeeling, flat voice, "A woman took him. I failed. Riddle means nothing. He's going to die. No one left." A series of chills shivered through Dean as Sam repeated this mantra in an empty tone. It sounded like the younger of the two had lost his mind, speaking with a sort of tick that made the hairs on Dean's arms to stand up.

He did not like Sam's behavior, but he refused to let him see how badly it affected him. Reaching over, Dean pried the phone from Sam's death grip and placed it back on its perch beside the television. Then he gently grasped Sam by the shoulders and lifted him into a sitting position.

It was more difficult than Dean had expected and he let out a harsh grunt at Sam's dead weight. "Okay," he panted, "Sam, listen to me. You need to tell me what happened when I was asleep." Sam's head bobbled to the side and Dean carefully brought it back up, watching as Sam's eyes lifted to meet his.

For a moment, there was nothing but an empty glazed over look in those hazel depths. Then recognition sparked and Sam took in a sharp, shuddering breath. He glanced around as though he didn't know where he was then looked back over at Dean. "I- when did you get down here?" he asked.

Instead of answering, Dean jerked his head towards the telephone. "Cas called?" he said. Sam seemed genuinely startled then rubbed his hand over his face with the ghost of his previous exhausted expression. "Yeah, yeah," he said clearing his throat, "He tried to warn me not to go looking for him. Said that it was a trap. Then this woman came on the line...

"She asked if I had figured out that riddle yet and I thought I had the answer. But before I could even say anything, she said that I was wrong and that Cas was suffering and dying because of me."

He had to take a few moments to compose himself. Sam squeezed his eyes shut and his mouth pressed into a thin line. He looked older, in a way that made uneasiness knot in Dean's stomach. Taking a few deep breaths, Sam reopened his eyes.

"She told me that she was moving locations. Then...then she said that my brother says hello," Sam said. A tense silence filled the air as Sam finished talking and Dean cleared his throat rather obnoxiously. "Dean, I heard him. I heard Cas dying. I don't care what he says or where she moves him to. We've gotta get him back," Sam said, tears welling up in his eyes again, "He's the only family I've got left. I can't lose him, too."

Of course, Dean understood completely. That wasn't the issue. What bothered Dean and rendered him speechless was the words the woman had spoken to Sam. 'Your brother says hello...Does that mean that Dean is alive?' he thought. If that were the case, then that meant the woman had to be some sort of supernatural being that could communicate with the dead.

Unless...Dean stood abruptly, his jaw clenched and his eyes hard with deadly concentration. Sam, who had seen the same expression on his own Dean, quickly scrambled up to follow. Spinning on his heel, Dean went over to the table and picked up the note.

After rereading the riddle thrice, Dean realized, with a jolt, that he had been right; the kidnapper had been talking to him. Or rather, she was referring to the Dean from this dimension. Somehow, she had figured that, by contacting him, the other Dean would get the message. She must have thought that the two were linked.

"That explains the weird detached feelings I've been having," he muttered. Sam sent him a puzzled look, which Dean ignored. 'It explains much more than just my emotions,' he realized, 'It explains why I keep thinking about my Cas and all those sappy feelings. It explains why I'm able to feel injuries that aren't really there and why I'm so damn tired.'

But what he couldn't understand was how he could possibly have linked with his doppelgänger. Dean couldn't recall ever meeting the replica since his landing in this world. He had only met Cas and Sam. The only other thing that could even remotely come close to being considered another meeting would be the...

Dean slammed his hand on the table, scaring Sam so bad, the taller of the two jumped about five feet. "The fucking shadow thing that tossed my ass in here must've been your Dean," he said. When he looked at Sam excitedly, he found him staring at Dean like he'd gone crazy. Rolling his eyes, Dean motioned for Sam to sit down, which he did.

"Remember when I said that something from the mirror shoved me through?" Dean asked. When Sam nodded, Dean slammed his hand on the table again. "It had to have been your brother!" Sam could not have looked more confused if he tried. So, Dean explained in vigorous detail about the strange emotions and feelings he had been having since he'd set foot in the dimension.

Sam listened intently, though his expression only slightly shifted from confused to concerned. "Okay, before you punch the poor dining room table again, I have a question. How could my brother have formed a link with you if he's dead?" he asked. Dean opened his mouth then closed it again. He didn't have a single clue.

Thunder suddenly boomed loudly, shaking the windows of the house. Sam and Dean would never admit that they both yelped like startled little girls, no sir. The high pitched screams and the ninja stance from Dean were both very masculine reactions. Ask anyone and they'd tell you the same.

After the two recovered from their manly poses of cowering in fear, Sam got up and looked out the window. Rain was pounding viciously from the sky and was melting the few inches of snow that blanketed the ground. Dean peered over Sam's shoulder and watched the rain fall.

"Dean," Sam said suddenly, "if what you're saying is true and you think that my brother might still be alive, then we really have to find Cas. She could be using him as bait." Dean nodded in agreement, a serious expression tightening his features. Then, for some reason, an image of Castiel, the angel, popped into Dean's mind.

A sense of overpowering longing, fear, and desperation came over him so strongly that tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. He shut them and bit the inside of his cheek to stifle the whimper rising in his throat. Dean was worried for the angel's safety, though he was unsure as to why.

Surely Cas was safe in their world. The woman- or whatever she was- couldn't possibly reach him and Sam, right? Although Dean told himself that, worry still gnawed at his belly and he, without thinking, sent a prayer. He had been doing so a lot lately, so it didn't feel too unnatural.

Cas.

I miss you.

Dean's entire being froze. Had he just heard...what he thought he heard? It sounded like Cas' voice. But that was impossible. Cas couldn't be here. He was back on the other side of the mirror. Shaking his head, the hunter felt a stab of disappointment in his chest, followed by a tugging sensation.

Dean.

He definitely hadn't been hearing things. His heart sped up and he nearly fell to his knees. "You were there. I knew I'd felt you," Dean whispered. Sam barely paid attention to Dean muttering to himself for something outside had caught his eye. A bright green circle of light had appeared some distance away, swirling ominously in the sky like a portal.

Before Sam could inform Dean of his sightings, a shock wave rumbled through the house so violently that they both flew back, each landing hard enough to pass out cold. The phone tumbled to the floor, its dial tone loud in the now eerily silent room. Shards of broken glass littered the floor as the window burst from the celestial scream screeched from the outside.

What the unconscious hunters did not know was that, a few hours before the portal appeared, the three people on the other side of the mirror had been locked in a heated discussion. Once the other Dean's words had left his lips, Castiel and Sam had both looked at him with identical expressions of dread.

"What do you mean by obliterated?" Sam asked as he and Cas both hurried to the collapsing Dean's side. The injured man wheezed out a breathy reply that neither of the two could decipher. They got Dean onto the couch and propped him into a sitting position. His face was ghostly pale and had beads of sweat glistening on his skin.

"Sam, get him something to eat and drink. He needs to recover his energy," Castiel said, kneeling beside Dean. Sam hesitated for a moment and the angel sent him a sharp look. "Now, Sam!" he barked, his voice filled with authority. Normally, Sam would stubbornly refuse to follow an order, but he turned tail and hurried to the kitchen like an obedient puppy.

Turning his attention on the wounded Dean, Cas noticed that the back of the hunter's head was bleeding profusely. "Shit," he growled. Head injuries were almost always fatal or they ended in a concussion. The angel gritted his teeth; such injuries also took a great deal of his angelic energy to heal.

At the sound of Dean's pitiful groan of pain, Cas placed a hand on the hunter's cheek and focused. He could physically feel the ebb of his grace and, after the deed was complete, Cas slumped to the floor with sweat soaking through his clothes. He took deep, calming breaths and allowed his head to loll onto his shoulder.

"Hey,"

"Hmm?"

Cas looked up at the sound of Dean's voice. His throat constricted at the warm, loving green gaze met his eyes. "You didn't have to do that, you know," Dean said. Cas bristled and he found enough strength to pull himself onto the couch next to the hunter. Dean followed his movements with concerned yet amused eyes.

"Of course I had to do that! You were hurt and were dying," Cas snapped. To his shock, Dean threw his head back and laughed. It was more weak and breathy than the other time he'd laughed in front of Castiel, but it was the same nonetheless.

"You're just like my Cas at home," Dean murmured as he came down from his chuckle fit, "Always fussing over me, making sure that I had everything that I need, even yelling at poor Sammy." He trailed off, a nostalgic, wistful expression on his face. Castiel tilted his head, watching the hunter with unabashed curiosity.

"I've been to your home," Cas said without thinking. Dean glanced at him incredulously. The angel wanted to halt his words, but they spilled from his lips like an open floodgate. "I have the ability to walk in other people's dreams. I ended up in your dimension while attempting to walk in my Dean's dreams," he began, "I saw the photos you hung in your hallway.

"There are three bedrooms, though one of them was locked and I couldn't gain access to it. Another was at the end of the hallway, but something had gone terribly wrong in that room. It looked like there had been a great battle and a piece of wood covered a window. For what reason, I don't know, but-," Cas didn't get another chance to continue for Dean had gripped his arms in a tight vise.

His eyes were huge and panicked and his breaths were coming out in fearful pants. "Was there anyone in that room? Did you see someone?" he asked in a sharp voice. Cas stared at the panicking Dean and shook his head mutely. The hunter slumped back onto the couch and covered his face with his hands.

Castiel could hear him whispering the word 'no' over and over under his breath. Sam chose that moment to walk in, his arms full with three beers and a sandwich. He sent Cas a questioning look, but the angel quickly shook his head. Quietly, Sam set the things in his hands onto the coffee table and sat down on the other side of Dean.

"Hey, Dean, you okay?" he asked softly. Dean slowly dragged his hands down his face and blew out a breath. "She's taken Cas," he said flatly. The angel and Sam both sat up straighter with twin looks of shock. Dean hung his head and pressed his fingers to his temples.

"I know exactly what she's doing," he muttered, "She knows that I will try to save him and she knows that your Dean will do the same. Cas is being used as bait for both of us. And...and you, Castiel."

Cas frowned; Sam's theory was clicking into place. One look at the long-haired hunter showed that he felt the same. Dean glanced over at the beer and grimaced. "I'm not complaining, but do you have anything else besides beer?" he asked. Sam nearly had an aneurysm.

"You don't want beer? Are you sure you're Dean Winchester?" he asked. Dean visibly looked pained as he took the beer from the table. He held it in his palm for a moment, staring intently as the condensation slid down the side. Clenching his teeth, he popped open the bottle using his ring and chugged about half of its contents.

Sam and Cas both drew back in confusion as Dean's expression of relief instantly shifted to overwhelming guilt. He set the bottle down as far away from him as he could and sat back, covering his eyes with the heels of his palms. "I shouldn't have liked that so much," he muttered.

Cas tilted his head. "Why do you not want to have the beer?" he asked. Sam sent the angel a sharp look that clearly said 'don't ask that'. Before Cas could apologize, a bitter smile curled up Dean's lips. "You ever wonder why that door was locked?" he asked.

Cas quietly voice his response of 'yes' and Dean chuckled dryly. "That was my room," he said, "Now, I know what you're thinking: I thought you and Cas were married? Shouldn't you have shared a room? We are and we did, but I was also having an affair with all the alcohol we had in the house.

"It had been a rough couple of weeks and I had decided to have a few drinks to calm my nerves. Well, my brain decided that it meant the whole liquor cabinet as a small amount. Long story short, I got drunk and did something that I will never forget or forgive myself for. I moved out of our room and didn't even get a chance to make things right because that whole shit with the rift happened.

"Now, I've gotta save Cas, even if it's what the rift wants," Dean finished. The bunker was quiet as no one spoke. Sam cleared his throat after a few moments, drawing the attention to him. "The rift also wants our Cas. It could be a lure for both of you and for him. I'm not sure it's wise for you to go back," he said.

Castiel, who had been quiet for some time, finally looked up at Sam and the other Dean. Sam knew from the moment the angel's blue gaze of resolve rested on him that there would be no changing his mind. "I will go with Dean back to his dimension. We will find our Dean there and inform him of our findings and theories. If we can defeat the rift, then Dean and I will return home and the other one can stay in his," he said.

Cas turned his attention on Dean, ignoring Sam's beginning protests. The hunter was looking at the angel with an unreadable expression. "Can you get me into the mirror?" Cas asked. Dean nodded warily, glancing at Sam. The taller hunter looked as though he had just bitten into a lemon.

"Sam," Cas said, "I need you to watch the energy levels of the mirror and make sure that nothing goes wrong during Dean and my passage. Can you do that?" Sam threw his hands up in defeat and nodded. Cas sighed in relief and looked over his shoulder at the mirror. It stood coldly watching them, its shiny glass surface shimmering in the light.

"Cas, I-,"

"I'll be careful, Sam,"

The younger of the Winchesters snapped his mouth shut with his brows furrowed. 'Jeez, I can't even try to talk him out of it,' he thought in annoyance. He pondered for a minute then his face relaxed in realization. Of course he wouldn't be able to convince Cas to stay; it was Dean they were talking about saving.

The angel would give everything thing in his power to get him back. No amount of persuasion would convince him otherwise. He was just as stubborn as Sam when it came to his love for his brother. Then again, Castiel held a different sort of love for Dean, one that could've even surpassed Sam's.

So, with that in mind, Sam stood by as the other Dean and Castiel grabbed each other's hands and stepped through the mirror. As their physical forms vanished from his view, Sam closed his eyes and bowed his head. He prayed that he'd used good judgement and that he hadn't just let them face death without a fighting chance.

Within the mirror, Cas had almost immediately fell to the glass floor. Dean, thanks to the angel's healing, had enough strength to hoist the half comatosed man up against his hip and wrapped his arm around the hunter's shoulder. "Come on, angel, I've got you," he murmured. He could feel the smooth, coldness of the item hidden in the inner folds of his jacket bump against his ribs.

Dean smiled and held on to Cas tightly as he opened the portal into his dimension. At the entrance, he hesitated; he hadn't ever tried to return for he had always figured that it would cause a rip in time or something. Nervousness curled within his belly and part of him wanted to back out.

But, looking at the stirring angel in his arms, Dean knew that he could do no such thing; his baby was waiting for him and there was no way in hell that anything, not even self-doubt, would keep Dean away any longer. He clenched his jaw and jumped into the portal, hearing Castiel's true voice screech in terror as they plummeted into the other side of the mirror.

A/N: I am, again, so very sorry for the wait. Between the weather and my internet glitching up, I just haven't found the time to update. But I will seriously put the pedal to the metal for next chapter. Thanks so much! I love you guys!