Dean put his phone in his lap and ran his hand through his hair, thinking. Thinking about Cas. About what would happen if he saw Cas. When, he corrected himself. When he saw Cas. Would it be different now that he was human? Dean felt something closing in on him. No, it was still the same Cas. It had to be.
"So, California?" Dean's thoughts were interrupted by his brother. He nodded and went to get up. "Dean?" Sam asked. "What are you doing?"
Dean was confused. "We're going to get Castiel," he stated.
"We can't get him now, Dean. You know that. We have to finish hunting the vamps nest here. We'll drive down tomorrow." Dean shook his head.
"No, Sammy. I promised Cas I'd - we'd - be there tomorrow."
"Dean, we can't. I care about Cas, too, but we have responsibilites-"
"Sam. I'm going." And with that, Dean grabbed the keys to the Impala and headed out the front door. All he could picture was Cas, Cas all alone, Cas being cut to pieces, the angels finding Cas and leaving him bloody - or worse. He couldn't allow himself to think like that. He waited in the car to see if Sam would show, but eventually he pulled out of the motel alone As he turned up the ACDC, Cas flooded his mind and Dean thought about calling him. About hearing his voice, about seeing those pure blue eyes. Surely nothing could have happened to him, in the minutes it had been. He wanted to call Cas all the same, but he refrained from doing so.
Banishing all thoughts of Cas from his mind, Dean went into auto pilot, and just drove. He stopped along the way and grabbed a couple of burgers, as well as some food for Cas. He'll be needing it now. He hadn't eaten since yesterday. Dean knew what it felt like to be hungry, and bought extra provisions. He was worried about Cas, about what his angel had done in the last few days since the falling.
As Dean stared down the road, he noticed the streets had gone black. He needed somewhere to sleep. However, he couldn't help doing something he was ashamed to admit to anyone but his angel - he started praying. Every night. Not to God, to Cas. He prayed that Cas was safe, that Sam would get better, that Bobby was in Heaven. He prayed his family would be safe.
The hunter stopped in a sketchy hotel in Sacremento, a couple hours away from where he thought the laundromat was, and got his 4 hours. As he drifted off to sleep, he dreamed of Cas.
