Pairings: Dean & Cas

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural

A/N: Yeah, I really haven't had a lot of motivation to write this but I guess a sugar rush and a desire to do something other than study for finals moved me along :/

Cas still remembered when he first met Dean. Even as "God", even when going against him to work with Crowley, and even through purgatory, he never forgot the burnt and broken soul he first laid a solitary hand upon in hell. He'd never forgotten all he'd done for Dean, and all Dean had done for him. He never forgot his one job: to be the Winchester's guardian.

Over the years, his position as an angel had made him incredibly irascible. He'd been longing for, waiting for a way out. And he was assigned Dean, and fell for him instantly. Cas was supposed to be Dean's saviour, the one who raised him from perdition, the one who saved him from demons, and the one who always came when he called. But what Dean didn't know, was that he was also Cas' saviour. The one who made him realize why he wanted to be alive, even as a human. Even after all he'd done. Dean made him feel loved.

Dean returned to the motel room in the wee hours of the night, clearly and utterly wasted. Cas hated when Dean drank, he did it so often as a result of his hunter lifestyle, but when Cas became human and Sam took it off, he'd ceased it. Alcohol meant something was wrong, it meant Dean had lost a willingness to be sober, lost the energy to deal with life as it was.

"Dean..." Cas whispered.

"Cas, you're still awake?" Dean asked, the tone of his voice like razors.

Cas received a surprise. Dean stumbled slightly over the floor as he dropped into bed with Cas, and nuzzled up to his shoulder, lethargic. It was something Cas had witnessed Sam doing whenever he needed comfort, but not Dean. Dean was the comforting one. Right now, though, Dean needed Cas. And Cas would be there for him.

"Good night, angel." Dean said as he drifted off into another nightmarish sleep.

Dean whimpered as he relived the horrible events of the day before. It should've been a routine hunt; some ghoul was killing people and all he and Cas had to do was gank the son-of-a-bitch. But it wasn't routine, it was Cas' first hunt since becoming human.

Cas assured him he would be fine, but then again Cas could be more stubborn then even Dean himself sometimes. It wasn't like he was worrying for no reason; he had every damn right in the world to be worried.

They'd found the ghoul in record time, she'd taken a liking to Cas at the hospital ("A nurse!" Dean had said, "Brilliant, she can have all the dead bodies she wants.") and even gave him her number. Cas went with her to her apartment, only to discover she was intent on killing him. Dean, having realized this when his 'Cas radar' went off (eerily similar to his 'Sammy radar'), he burst in the door just as Nurse Nancy Bitch's a Lot was ripping into Cas.

His instinct quickly kicked in, and he shot her in the head with rock salt.

But Cas was... Everywhere. A deep crimson color cascaded gently over his body and the floor, and Dean could've sworn, even if just for a moment, Cas wasn't breathing nor moving.

He picked him up off the floor and guided him to his baby.

And then Dean woke up.

"Ugh," were the first words out of his mouth. 'Result of five shots at a bar,' he thought. He struggled to move, as he realized something equal to his size was directly on top of him: Cas.

He quickly jumped up, "Cas! What're you... What's going on?"

Cas let out an indignant sigh and recounted the events of the night past.

"So, nothing happened here?" Dean begged.

"No."

"Oh..." For a moment, Dean almost looked disappointed, "How're you feeling?"

"Fine," Cas quipped.

"That ghoul... She, she really ripped into you there, huh." Dean said.

"Yes, I suppose." Cas whispered, crestfallen.

"Good thing I got there in time, huh?" Dean asked, almost as if he were demanding a thank you but wasn't expecting one.

"Yes."

"Alright, I'm going take a shower. Wash the bar off me. Don't go too hard on yourself." Dean scolded.

Cas stared at the man in front of him, broken still in so many ways. Dean had saved Cas. Dean thought he needed to protect Cas. But the whole time, Cas was protecting Dean.

He just wanted him to know that.

TBC?