Lisa stood there, her arms by her side, breathing slightly irregularly as she caught sight of the hunter for the first time in weeks. She froze, and then let her smile unravel into a nervous smile, relieved that he was still alive.

"Dean…" she said, laughing slightly at the end of the word as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hesitated to react, still shocked at her unexpected appearance. After a moment he reciprocated the embrace, and rested his arms around her waist.

He coughed, waking himself from the state of surprise. "Lisa… What are you doing here?" he asked, unwrapping his arms and taking a step back to look at her.

"When you left, I thought something had gone terribly wrong. I was gonna let you take a few days to figure whatever it was out, but then I didn't hear from you… Dean, I thought you were dead." Her voice cracked at these words and droplets of tears welled up on her bottom eye lids. She reached out and hooked her small fingers around his, smiling sadly as he looked at the floor.

"I called Bobby, and he said you went to Chicago. I've been looking everywhere, I-I had to make sure you were okay."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving, I just-" he started, but Lisa caught sight of Sam as he woke up disgruntled from his position on the floor. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. Then her eyes softened as she understood the reason for Dean's absence. Sam stood, and clutched at his abdomen, running into the bathroom to deal with his hangover nausea.

"Well, come on in, Lisa."

Dean opened the door entirely, stepping to the side, allowing Lisa to walk past. He watched her as her eyes darted around the disheveled motel room, littered with articles of clothing, food wrappers, and empty beer her eyes looked across to the kitchen, where she saw a man in a trench coat, with blue eyes.

"Oh… Hi, I'm Lisa. I don't believe we've met." Lisa greeted Cas with a smile, holding out her gentle hand to him. He watched her intently, and silently shook her hand. He didn't reply and simply gave Dean a saddened look, then retreated into the bedroom. Lisa looked disheartened due to the angel's cold greeting, but flicked her dark hair over her shoulder and turned to Dean.

Dean's eyes were focused on the door the angel had just walked through, laced with a pleading concern. The brush of Lisa's finger tips against his check pulled his attention back to her.

"It's so good to see that you're okay, Dean."

He placed his hand on his own cheek, covering her fingers. He smiled nervously, and then slid her fingers off, dropping them back to her side, and taking a step back. She looked uncomfortable at the distance, frowning at the reaction she hadn't expected upon her arrival.

"Look, Lisa. We need to talk."

Castiel sat on the unmade bed, his legs slung over the side, and his forehead resting on his palms. He listened to the muffled sound of Dean's voice as he spoke to Lisa. The angels eyes tightened in pain, realizing that his time with Dean was over. He suspected their fling existed primarily because Dean had been lonely, and drunk for the better part of the last few weeks, and because Castiel was convenient.

He pictured Dean smothering him with loving kisses, and imagined their naked bodies pressed against one another. He savored each memory delicately, praying they could at least return to a platonic friendship.

He rubbed his eyes, but withdrew his hands as he felt something cold and wet hit his skin. He looked down to see a small puddle of water, slipping down the lines in his hands, and continuing down the veins on his wrist. He ran a smooth finger under his eye, and felt the liquid caught in his eyelashes. Cas had never cried before.

Rather than having to face the sheer awkwardness of Dean ending their brief romance, Cas decided to leave before the the conversation was over. He would return when the brother's needed him, but would refuse to acknowledge what had transpired between him and Dean.

Cas slowly walked over to the chair where he had neatly laid his tan trench coat, and draped it over his arm. He set a shaky hand on the door and sighed deeply.

"Goodbye, Dean. I love you." he whispered, and felt a vibration through the wood as the front door of the motel room slammed closed.

He turned away solemnly, and was just about to vanish before a figure burst through the door and tackled him to the bed.

"You going somewhere?" Dean chuckled, his smile hovering inches away from Cas' confused brow.

"But-but… Lisa…" Cas stuttered, radiating in the warmth of Dean's musk as his body pressed down.

Dean scoffed, and ran his finger tips behind the top of Castiel's ear. "How many damn times do I have to tell you? I love you, Cas. It's just you and me. It's always been you. This is real, and I'm not going anywhere."

Cas felt his emotions overwhelm him at the hunter's words. His mouth stretched into a smile so warm and genuine that it gave the angel an expression that was nothing less than human. Castiel rolled his body over, pinning Dean on his back under the weight.

He traced his lips upon the hunter's and then moved his mouth just over Dean's ear. A hot breath escaped his mouth that sent a chill up the human's spine.

"I will love you until the end of time," was all he whispered before diving his lips back upon the hunter's mouth.

They laid there, in this seemingly perfect moment, relishing in unmistakable love. For even just these few minutes, they would not care about the future's grim possibilities, because they had each other.

Castiel looked around. He was standing in the center of a dim room without windows, facing a single black door. The only source of light in the room was a bulb that hung from a wire above, emitting a eerie orange glow as it flickered. The walls and floors were a light gray concrete.

A gust of wind tousled his hair, and freckled his skin with goosebumps. A chilling laugh echoed through his ears, and as he blinked, an angel appeared before him. It was Raphael.

The laugh came again, this time causing Castiel to grind his teeth together. He urged to leap forward and attack Raphael, but something was paralyzing his body, forcing him to remain in place.

"Castiel… It's been a while brother." the other angel spoke with an empty voice.

"Let me go." Cas demanded angrily.

Raphael laughed a third time, allowing Cas' frozen body to tremble in fury.

"In good time, Castiel. I brought you here because I learned something fascinating from my soldier, who came to visit you."

"You know, I killed the other." Cas said, attempting to strike fear in the heart of his opposer.

"Yes, I know. And soon you will pay for that." Raphael said, his eyes still lacking any emotion. "But what I learned is that you have grown a certain fondness for a human, named Dean Winchester."

The sound of Raphael speaking the human's name with so much disgust caused Cas' body to buck against the paralysis, but to no success. He curled his lip in anger.

"You dare touch him." Cas muttered hatefully.

Raphael's eyes widened at the vehement behind the angel's words. "So it is true." He took a step to the left, steadily pacing around Castiel's position in the room.

"You see, Castiel, I may not, at this point, be able to defeat you myself, but I do have an advantage over you."

"What's that?"

"I know your weakness."

A blinding flash of white caused Cas to keel over, his body free from the bond. When he opened his eyes he was laying in a bed in the familiar motel room, to his relief. He looked to his left and there saw Dean, peacefully dreaming with his leg draped around Cas'. That was the first time Castiel had dreamt.

And the human, that contently slept next to him, that was his weakness.