Title: to dust returneth

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: spoilers for season 5

Pairings: onesided Castiel/Dean, Michael/Lucifer, Dean/Sam

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 535

Point of view: third

Prompt: Dean/Castiel, Dean dreams of Hell while Castiel dreams of Heaven but they're both having nightmares.

He can remember when he had no thoughts but to worship and obey God. He was not happy then; he had no emotions at all, no hope or fear or anger or love. He thought he loved God then, but looking back now, he knows it was not love. How could it be?

He remembers the first war, how bright and beautiful Lucifer shone, not yet Fallen, not yet Satan. Lucifer's words made such sense, but Castiel followed Michael in all things then, and Michael, though tempted, stayed loyal to their Father.

(He still does follow Michael, he thinks, watching Dean lay unnaturally still on the bed, fully dressed and above the covers, shaking in his sleep as Alistair carves in his dreams. Michael is still his world, far more real than God, even as he searches for his absent Father. Michael his brother, Michael his—friend? Besides Anachel and Uriel, Michael is the closest thing, he thinks, to a friend he had before Dean.

Except… Michael is Dean. Clutching Dean's amulet in his hand, feeling the love and adoration and hope of the one who wore it for twenty-odd years and the one who gave it, he knows that Michael is in Dean, lying dormant. He will awaken when Sam says yes to Lucifer.)

Castiel remembers Heaven. He has had more fun with Dean in the past year than he had during the millennia he walked God's perfect streets.

He stands by Dean, peeking into Dean's dreamscape: it is the same nightmare as always, Dean cutting with Alistair's razor while a Sam-shaped soul screams for mercy.

"Peace, brother," he murmurs, placing a hand to Dean's brow. "Peace."

He remembers Heaven, in all its glory and wonder, and he would rather remain by Dean's side, even in Hell, than return there again without him.

(Michael is in Dean, and Lucifer will one day fill Sam to the brim. Castiel does not think any of them will have to worry about returning to Heaven.

Zachariah is such a fool. Castiel remembers Michael and Lucifer, when they flew through the cosmos together. He knows Dean and Sam—

The end of the world is coming, yes. But Castiel wonders just how Zachariah thinks it will turn out, with the two greatest angels going home to two of the most interesting humans ever born, two brothers who have bled and died for each other without hesitating. The amulet in his hand is testament to the Winchester bond.

Zachariah will fail.)

"Peace," he whispers, pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of Dean's head. "Remember how you painted the sky, and how bright the MorningStar shone beside you. Remember and do not fear."

Dean sighs and Castiel closes his eyes. In Heaven, he did not feel love. Or regret. Because of this man, he has now felt both, and will continue to do so until at last he returns to the cosmic dust from which he came.

Castiel wishes he could sleep. Maybe in his dreamscape, he could have Dean Winchester. In the waking world, he knows, Dean will only ever belong to his brother.

(Michael, too, Castiel knows. Only the MorningStar could ever shine with glory equal to Michael's light.)