"Uhh.. Cas?" a confused Sam uttered when he walked into the motel room.

"Hello, Sam."

Sam put the boxes of pizza down on the table, and looked around the room before raising his eyebrows. "Where's Dean?"

"He.. he left."

"Yeah, I noticed. Could you maybe elaborate, Cas?" Sam said, irritated.

Cas looked up at him. "I don't know where he went. If I were you, I would call him. I doubt he wants to see me."

Sam frowned. "Why? What did you-" He broke off, annoyed as the sound of wings flapping interrupted him, and the angel disappeared.

Sighing, he grabbed his mobile, dialling Dean's number. After about three rings, Dean finally picked up the phone.

"Sammy?"

"Dean! Where the hell are you? Cas said you took off."

"Yeah. I'm at a bar, Sam. At least.. I think it's a bar. It might also be Heaven."

Sam paused. "Dean, are you drunk?"

"No, no, no. No. No.."

"Dean."

"..Yes. But so what? We just finished a case, we deserve some fun, Sammy!" Dean yelled into the phone.

"Um, all right. I'll pass," Sam said with a small chuckle. "The bar's just across the road from the motel, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. At least I'll know where to find you if you're not home tomorrow. Bye, Dean."

"Bye Sammy."

With that, Dean put his phone back into his pocket. "Sorry 'bout that, honey," he winked at the girl sitting across from him.

"No problem, sugar," she replied with a smile.

"So, you were saying?"

"I said.. maybe we could head over to my place, for a little privacy?" she repeated, smirking.

He grinned back at her. "Sure. Let's go."

A weird, nagging feeling was settling in his stomach, but he ignored it. At least, he managed to ignore it right up until they were actually in the girl's – Lola's – house, when he began to be afraid it might be a little issue with his bowels. Now that would just be fucking embarrassing.

He pulled away from kissing her.

"Hey, sweetheart, where's your bathroom?" he asked rather abruptly. She didn't seem to notice, though.

"Down the hall, second door to the right," Lola replied breathlessly.

"I'll be right back," Dean promised, giving her another kiss before leaving the room.

He locked the bathroom door behind him, leaning onto the sink and staring into the mirror. What the hell was wrong with him? Dean took a deep breath, willing the weird pain in his stomach to subside. It felt like a tugging in his gut – and his heart sunk as he realised exactly what it was.

"God damn it, Cas," he hissed.

Why the fuck did the dick have to go and show his wings? Now Dean couldn't even enjoy nice, drunk sex with a nice, drunk girl because he was too busy thinking of how much he wanted to be with a certain angel – a male angel, at that.

No. No, fuck that. He was going in there, and he was going to have him some great sex, and he wasn't going to think of that douchebag.

Dean threw some water into his face before taking another deep breath and leaving the bathroom. He pushed Lola back onto the bed fiercely, kissing her harshly. He'd be damned if he was letting a stupid angel ruin his life.

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Dean awoke with a mouthful of soft, dark hair. He groaned a little, before gently pulling himself away and rubbing his eyes. He nearly yelled when he opened them. Standing at the foot of the bed was a certain angel, looking puzzled. He clamped a hand over his mouth, willing his heartbeat and breathing to slow down.

"Cas," he finally hissed. "What the fuck are you doing here?! Fuck off!"

Cas just tilted his head and blinked, and Dean felt that awful twinge in his gut.

"Get out!" he snapped, a bit more loudly, and Lola twitched next to him.

That seemed to shake Cas, and Dean blinked, and he was gone. The hunter glanced down at the sleeping girl. Time for him to do the same.

Half an hour later he was knocking on their motel room door. A tired looking Sam opened it after a while, blinking at him.

"Dude, it's eight thirty. Why the hell did you forget the key?" he muttered, letting Dean step inside.

The latter shrugged. "Forgot. Nice hair."

Sam frowned, and a hand went up to his awfully messed up hair. "Shut up. What're you doing home so early, anyway?"

"I'm gonna go get some breakfast. You want anything?" Dean said, sticking the motel key into his pocket and avoiding his brother's eyes.

"Just a coffee," Sam said warily after a pause, being too tired to even ask.

Dean nodded vaguely, and took a step towards the door before jumping back. Castiel appeared in front of the doorway, startling both of the brothers.

"Cas, you really need to stop doing that!" Sam exclaimed.

"I'm.. sorry," the angel said, not taking his eyes off Dean.

The latter glared at him. "What the hell was that all about, Cas? Huh?"

"I.. don't know."

"You don't fucking know? How can you not know?!" Dean snarled.

Cas bristled, and suddenly he was mere inches away from the hunter, narrowing his eyes at him. "I don't know, Dean! I felt like I was being pulled towards you – I thought you were in danger so I responded. I don't know why it led me to that!" he hissed, backing Dean up against the wall.

The two glared at each other for a while, breathing heavily. He suddenly noticed that Cas' hands were gripping his arms, and he could feel the heat coming from them. Their grip loosened, but Cas didn't let go. He could feel the scar on his arm tingle, and it sent shivers down his spine. Dean's heart was pumping wildly, and he realised with vague shock that it wasn't caused by fear. He swallowed, and licked his lips nervously. Cas' eyes followed every movement his tongue made.

"Uh.. guys? I'm still here," Sam offered hesitantly.

Dean jumped. "So? We weren't-"

"Whatever. I'm going to the bathroom," Sam said, shaking his head as Dean moved away from Cas.

As soon as Sam was inside the bathroom, Cas neared Dean again. "You're feeling it," he said with a low voice.

"Feeling what?" Dean asked stubbornly.

The angel glared at him. "The bond. You're feeling it, Dean. I know you are."

"Can we not have this conversation here?" Dean snapped.

"Fine."

Before the hunter could object, Cas touched his forehead with his fingers. The next moment, they were in a forest, completely alone.

"Wha.. where are we?" Dean asked, startled.

"We are alone. Now, you were saying?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. "You being smart, you son of a bitch?"

Cas didn't reply. To his surprise, Dean cracked a smile.

"You've been walking around with us mud monkeys for too long, Cas."

Cas smiled back. "So I've been told."

They stood in silence for a while, looking at each other. "Dean.."

"Cas, don't say it."

"I know you're feeling it. You're feeling it right now. You can't lie to me, Dean," Castiel said, his voice twinged with sorrow.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I ain't feeling shit. And even if I was, it would be no big deal. Because I'd ignore it, get that? I'd never acknowledge these feelings. And neither should you," the hunter said shortly.

Cas just looked at him sadly. "You can't keep this up. I'm sorry."

"Screw you. You don't know me. You don't know anything about me," Dean hissed. As soon as the words had left his lips, he realised how desperate they sounded, and he immediately regretted saying them. But it was too late.

Castiel's gaze turned from sadness to anger, and a quick flash of hurt that Dean had managed to see before the angel skilfully hid it. He neared him slowly, and Dean felt like he would melt under his glare.

"I rebuilt you. I rebuilt every single cell in that body, every atom, every nerve, vein, muscle, bone, every single hair – need I go on? Do not tell me that I don't know you, Dean Winchester. I know you better than you know yourself. You can not lie to me," he growled, grabbing the lapels of Dean's jacket and shoving him against a nearby tree.

Dean waited for his own heart and Cas to calm down slightly, before saying, "Right. Zap me back."

A muscle in Cas' jaw clenched, but he didn't say a word as he touched Dean's forehead, bringing him back to the motel room. He was alone.

He sat down on the bed with his head in his hands. The scar on his arm was throbbing, his body felt like it was twitching internally. It was fine. This was fine. It wasn't too bad. Nothing he couldn't live with.. endlessly.. for the rest of his life..

"Dean? You all right?" Sam's worried voice pierced through his thoughts, and he jerked up.

"Yeah.. I'm fine," he muttered.

"What the hell's going on between you two? You're being even weirder than before," Sam said with a frown.

"It's nothing, Sam. Drop it," Dean snapped.

His younger brother glared at him. "If you don't tell me, I'll just ask Cas."

"He won't tell you."

"Really? All right, if you're so sure about it, fine. I'll just pray for him now."

"No!" Dean exclaimed.

Sam raised his eyebrows triumphantly. "So?"

The eldest Winchester sighed heavily. "Damn it, Sam."

"What's wrong?" Sam then asked quietly.

Dean took a long time before replying. "You remember that night when Cas was all beat up and shit? And then all the lights went out?"

Sam nodded curiously.

"I saw.. I saw his wings. And I wasn't supposed to. Apparently, no one's allowed to see an angel's wings except.."

"Except what?"

"Except.. the angel's they're bonded with," Dean mumbled.

Sam was silent for a moment. "So you mean like their mates?" he then sniggered.

"Shut the fuck up, Sam! And I wasn't fucking done. He said it was something like.. I've seen some of his soul by seeing his wings, and he left a mark on mine. We.. I have to.. we're.." Dean couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"You have to bond," Sam finished for him.

The hunter bowed his head, sighing in defeat.

"Aw, you're blushing," the youngest Winchester smirked.

Dean jumped up and Sam dodged the punch coming towards his eye. "You son of a bitch!"

"Whoa, calm down! I was just kidding!" Sam yelled, trying to keep his laughter under control.

"I'll kill you!" Dean snarled, lunging for his brother.

"Okay, okay! Jesus Christ, Dean. You're obviously sensitive about this shit. I'm sorry," Sam offered, raising his hands.

Dean glared at him, and Sam decided it was safer to keep some distance between them for the moment.

"There's no way to undo this?" he asked.

Dean sighed again, the anger seeming to drain out of him. "Cas doesn't think so. There's this.. feeling in the pit of my stomach, like.. all twitchy. I.. I think that's gonna transform into pain soon, Sammy. Being away from that son of a bitch is actually going to put me in pain. And my fucking scar keeps throbbing. I hate that dick."

Now that it was all out, he realised how good it felt to finally vent. Sam looked at him, now in pity.

"Well, it explains a lot. But hey, you said Cas didn't know for sure there wasn't a cure, right?"

Dean nodded.

"That doesn't mean there isn't one. We'll find it, don't worry. I'll call Bobby to help us-"

"You are not telling Bobby shit!" Dean yelled, panicking.

"All right, so we'll do it," Sam replied calmly. "There's gotta be some kind of cure. We'll fix this, Dean."

"Thanks, Sammy."

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Castiel listened to the brothers' conversation, hidden from their sight. He was furious with Dean, and the things he was saying were only making that worse. He was.. hurt. Dean saying he hated him was what struck him the most. He didn't intentionally cause Dean – or himself – this suffering, so why should he be the one to blame? If anything, Dean should have closed his eyes. Castiel always warns him to close his eyes. It wasn't fair.

Another thing that had hurt Cas was the fact that Dean seemed so incredibly unwilling to even think about bonding with him. It was rather insulting. Castiel understood that the hunter wasn't happy, of course – but there was no need to be so hurtful about it towards the angel. Especially since he was suffering so.. so much.

He grit his teeth as he felt the pain inside his chest intensify briefly. His eyes followed Dean, and he strongly resisted the urge to reach out and touch him. Especially that one spot.. No. He would go nowhere near the hand print. He would forbid himself from even thinking it. He let out a short gasp as Dean passed right in front of him, his scent intoxicating.

The hunter turned sharply, staring directly at him. He froze. He was still invisible, wasn't he? He didn't know anything about bonds doing this.

"Dean?" Sam said curiously.

"I.. I thought I heard.." Dean shook his head. "Never mind."

His eyes kept straying towards the angel, though, and he decided to take his leave. He was sick of all this, and he'd had enough for one day. He would take a nice break in one of the tropical rainforests in India. Right now, he needed to be as far away from Dean as possible.

Thank you for reading, please leave reviews and let me know what you think!