"Hey, anyone sitting here?"
Cas blinked drowsily, trying to regain his bearings. It had been a long day, and a long time since getting a decent night's sleep. His fork was sliding dangerously close to the meat sauce that was, supposedly, stroganoff.
"You hear me?"
Cas looked up to find Dean standing over him, tray in hand. Hastily, Cas regained control of his fork. "Yeah, it's open."
Dean nodded, then sat down next to Cas, taking no time to start digging into his meal. Cas looked back at his own, unappealing dinner and took a slow bite.
"You really mean what you said?" Dean asked, his mouth half full.
Cas frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"At group," Dean said, between bites, "Right before you passed out you said you'd killed your family."
Ah. Suddenly the surprise meeting with Naomi made a lot more sense.
"Did you?"
Cas looked to see Dean staring intently at him. "I don't see how it's any of your business," he replied, breaking eye contact.
"It's just that..." Dean paused, "They think I killed my family, too."
Cas put down his fork. "Did you?"
"Did you?" Dean replied.
Cas sighed. "Honestly, I'm not sure. It's so hard to tell what's real anymore."
"Sometimes I feel the same way," Dean admitted. He looked down at his meal, taking a few more bites, then back at Cas. "It was a house fire. Killed my mom and my little brother. They think I started it."
"Sam?" Cas asked, then mentally cursed himself. Dean already thought he was crazy.
Dean gaped at him. "How did you know my little brother's name?"
"I-it's hard to explain..."
Dean stood. "What game are you playing, anyway?"
As he turned to leave, Cas stood too, gripping him on the shoulder. "Dean, please, wait!"
As soon as his hand made contact, energy pulsed. It felt like lightning.
I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.
Cas jerked his hand away, groaning in pain. Dean stared at him, breathing heavily. "What happened?" he whispered hoarsely, "What did you just do?"
"Did you see it, too?" Cas asked, heart racing. "You did, didn't you? You have to remember-"
He was cut off by a nurse. "If you boys don't sit, you're going to have to finish dinner in your rooms."
They sat, Dean avoiding eye contact. "Please, you have to remember something," Cas continued. It was his only hope.
There was a long silence. Then- "Was Sammy alive?"
"What?"
"In your...the other world. Was Sam alive?"
"Yes," Cas replied. He remembered the strange occurrence in the high security ward and suddenly something slid into place. "And I think he's alive here, too."
"What do you mean?"
Cas tried his best to explain the incident, but it was difficult. Dean had no real recollection of his brother. Not in this world, anyway, though Dean still appeared to retain an unyielding need to protect him.
"So, what's real?" Dean asked after Cas finished. "Are we just both the same dose of crazy?"
"I don't know," Cas replied. "Realities are becoming so thin to me. All I know is that things make more sense when I'm near you."
Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to come up with something to say. Cas braced himself for the worst. "Me, too," Dean said, finally. Cas blinked. "I can't explain it, but...you're right. We know each other. And whatever's going on, we're connected to it."
The bell rang, signalling dinner was almost to a close. "Meet at group games, tomorrow?" Dean asked. Cas nodded vaguely, his mind jumping to other things. If the other reality was true, and it was looking more and more like it could be, then at some point...they would need to find Sam.