Castiel was sent home the next day to recover. His brother, Gabriel, had been the one to pick him up and take him home. He had glanced back at Dean when he picked up Cas, and their eyes had met. Then, Gabriel had nodded in gratitude at Dean and left.

Dean was still trying to piece everything together. He had expected that something bad had happened to the angel once, but slavery was the one thing he had hoped was not what had happened. Slavery was banned seven years ago, though some people still had illegal slaves in their homes.

Slavery explained why Cas' left wing still had a scar, and why he had not healed himself from the injuries stated in the medical files until after he was released from his slavery. Slave owners would bind their angels with special collars which contained sigils made to suppress the angel's powers – and thus also slow their ability to heal. Often, the angel-killing sword was used to as a weapon of torture. Wounds from that sword were hard for angels to heal, sometimes they would never heal. That was why Cas' wing had never healed fully.

Dean felt an unbelievable amount of anger and disgust towards the guy that had 'owned' Castiel. Humans, who had slaves for their own personal pleasure and for status, were the most despicable humans to walk this Earth, in Dean's mind.

He felt himself kicking random objects in his apartment in his rage before he finally calmed down.

At work, his boss had given him Jo as a temporary help on his cases until Castiel was able to return to work. It would only be a week before he had healed enough to come back, and Dean actually found himself looking forward to it. Jo was giving him a hard time…

Four days into Castiel's recovery, Dean decided he better drop by at his place and see how it was going. He wondered how his partner would take his visit, but he couldn't just stay away. Not after what had happened…

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Castiel was grateful for Gabriel's help. His brother had taken vacation from his work and moved in with him for the week to take care of him.

Castiel's wings were recovering and weren't as painful anymore. He had Dean to thank for that.

Right. Dean.

Castiel had sworn one thing to himself – he would never let any human touch him ever again. Not ever. And yet he had allowed Dean to touch one of the most vulnerable places on his body.

He had tried so hard not to get too close to the humans at his work – especially to Dean. But there was something about this human… something that made him different from the other humans Castiel had met. Dean was kind, caring, righteous – he stood up for the weak and seemed to care a lot for the people around him. He was selfless, in many ways. A quality Castiel had never seen in a human before. He hated humans more than anything else, and yet he felt himself drawn to this particular human somehow, and it scared him. It scared him how much he started to feel himself care for Dean and trust him.

When Dean had first put his hand on his broken wing, Castiel had flinched. But then he had felt how gentle Dean's touch was; how careful he had been not to hurt him, and how his warm hand had felt so good and comforting. The human had muttered words of comfort to him, and Castiel relaxed into his touch. Dean's touch was warm and gentle, and it scared Castiel how he had leant into it… savored it, even though he had been in immense pain.

He hadn't been able to look Dean in the eye after that.

He had let Dean do something he had sworn he would never let anyone do.

It frightened him.

Castiel groaned and shifted where he was lying on his belly on the couch. Thank god it was a couch made for angels – you could put down the back of it so it wouldn't be in the way of the wings. Now, he was able to rest his wings on either side of him as he lay there.

After the slavery, angels – as they only kind of Creature – had been accepted into the human society, because the humans needed their help to gain control over the creatures that had started to terrorize the world. Though, there was still a lot of discrimination and racism going on towards angels.

At least the acceptance meant that they made angel-friendly furniture.

Castiel was lying on the couch, watching TV, when the doorbell suddenly rang. He looked over his shoulder at Gabriel, who emerged from the bathroom and went towards the front door.

"You expecting anyone, bro?" Gabriel asked, eyebrow raised.

"No," Castiel replied.

He frowned. Who on earth would be visiting him?

/

Dean rang the doorbell to Castiel's apartment. He had gotten the address from work. He shifted nervously. He wasn't sure how Cas would react to seeing him there.

When the door was opened, he noticed it was the same brown-winged angel he had seen Cas with in the supermarket a few days ago. Cas' brother.

The brown-winged angel looked slightly surprised to see him there, but the surprised look was soon replaced by a raise of his eyebrow.

"Dean, right?"

"Um, yeah," Dean answered. Why was he so nervous? "I came here to check on Cas… If that's okay."

"Sure, come on in," Gabriel grinned and let him inside.

The door led right into the living room of Castiel's small apartment, and when he entered, he spotted the angel on a bed, – no, couch – on his back. His wings were resting on the furniture under him, and Dean's eyes fell to the injured wing, which was still bandaged, before seeking out the angel's eyes.

Castiel stared back over his shoulder at Dean. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw him, and he immediately moved to sit up. His wings instinctively tried to wrap around his body, but the injured wing made him hiss and stop the movement.

"Dean? What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on you," Dean answered and shifted nervously.

"Cassie, can I borrow your human for a second?" Gabriel suddenly asked, and grabbed a hold of Dean's arm. The younger angel grimaced at the term but nodded. Dean felt himself being dragged into the kitchen by the elder angel. He hated to admit it, but the guy sure had a strong grip and it made him wince in pain.

When they were in the kitchen, Gabriel released him and turned to face him. He stood a bit too close for Dean's liking.

"Listen, pal," Gabriel growled. "You're the first human I've ever seen my brother as much as even look at – so if you hurt him, or by any means destroy his new-found trust, I'll cut your fucking balls off."

Dean stared back at the angel in shock. He hadn't expected that. When Gabriel's eyes kept boring into his, Dean finally nodded.

"Yeah, okay, I promise."

Suddenly the angel's expression changed into a huge grin. "Good!" he exclaimed and hit Dean hard in the back. "Now go see my brother – and keep it in your pants."

"Wha…?" Dean's eyes widened in almost shock and Gabriel pushed him into the living room until he was standing in front of Cas, who was watching them suspiciously from where he was sitting on the couch.

"Well, I'll be going now," Gabriel announced when they came back to the living room. "Got a few things to take care of, and I imagine you guys wonna be alone for this. Call me if you need me, Cassie," he said. Castiel nodded and the other angel disappeared out the door.

Dean shifted nervously before sitting down in the chair across from the couch. Castiel moved to the edge of the couch so his feet touched the ground. His wings were behind him, resting on the soft couch.

"Your brother is pretty scary," Dean said after a minute.

"Gabriel is very protective of me," Castiel answered. He stared at the ground.

"Yeah, so I noticed," Dean smiled. "So, how are you feeling? Better?"

Castiel nodded. "I'm recovering. My wing is much less painful, but it'll be a few days before I can return to work."

"That's okay. Take your time," Dean said, shrugging. "The boss decided to let Jo assist me while you're gone. She's a real pain in the ass, keeps bossing me around."

Castiel smiled a little at that and it was the first time Dean had ever seen him smile. He felt his eyes focus on the change in the angel's lips before snapping out of it.

After a moment of silence, Castiel spoke, "Yesterday… You saved me from the archangel. He might have hurt me further, had you not intervened." He looked up at Dean. "Thank you."

Dean was taken a little aback by that. "You're welcome, Cas, any time," he smiled. Castiel nodded. "How come he could hurt you? Are archangels really that much stronger than you?" Dean asked, wondering.

"Archangels are the strongest kind of angel, much stronger than I am. I was… powerless against him," Castiel and lowered his head in shame.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I wouldn't have lasted one second with that guy – I just got lucky enough to catch him off-guard."

"No, you were smart," Castiel pointed out.

"Yeah, well… I'm sorry I didn't get to him sooner…"

"It's alright. What matters is that you did, and for that I am grateful."

"So… Maybe we can work better together in the future…?" Dean asked, uncertainly and feeling a little hopeful.

Castiel hesitated a little, but eventually said, "Yes, I'd like that."

Dean smiled. Hopefully they'd get along a little better from now on.

Castiel's expression turned pained, and Dean became concerned. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I… It's the bandages," Castiel said. "My wing is healing and the bandages are turning uncomfortable. It itches…"

"Want me to take them off for you?" Dean asked.

The angel hesitated. "I'm not sure it's time yet."

"Well, the doctor told me you should take them off after three to five days and let the rest get some air while it's healing, so I guess it's okay to take it off. It's been four days, after all," Dean said and shrugged.

Castiel thought about it for a moment before he nodded. "Help me, please?"

Dean nodded and stood up. Castiel stood up as well, and they moved away from the furniture to get more space. The angel slowly turned his back to him to give Dean better access to get the bandages off. It would also reduce the risk of him accidentally brushing his hand against the wound if he stood behind him.

Dean approached him slowly, not wanting to scare the angel. When he laid a supporting hand on at the base of the wing bone, Castiel flinched. Dean drew his hand back immediately.

"Whoa, it's okay, it's just to steady your wing while I remove the bandages," Dean said, soothingly.

"Oh." Castiel felt a little embarrassed. He relaxed once again, and Dean slowly placed his hand back where it was before.

Castiel looked back over his shoulder to see where he was and what he was doing, but as soon as Dean started to remove the bandages and supported the wing with a gentle hand, the angel relaxed and looked away.

"Cas?" Dean suddenly asked while he was removing the bandages. Castiel's head jerked up in attention. "Why did you… Why did you want me to operate you? You screamed and flinched from everyone else. Why not from me?"

Castiel's froze and tensed. He thought about the answer for a moment before replying, "I… I don't know." He stared at the ground in front of him. "You just… You just seem so different from other humans. Your soul is bright and pure, and you don't seem to be a bad person. I guess that is why I trusted you to do it."

Dean let the words sink in, as he carefully removed the bandages. The feathers were still soft under his hands, but he could see that some of them were still covered in dried blood. It would be tough for Cas to clean that up later.

His gaze fell to the scarred tissue on the left wing, and he remembered the files he had read.

"You were a slave once, weren't you?" he then asked softly, already knowing the answer.

Castiel tensed up under his touch. He was silent for a moment before he nodded weakly.

"Is that why you wanted to keep your distance to me? Why you wouldn't let the doctors anywhere near you at the hospital?" Dean asked, almost done removing the bandages.

Castiel nodded silently.

"I'm sorry, Cas. About what happened to you. I can't even imagine what it was like or what he did to you…" Dean trailed off, holding back the anger he felt towards the person who hurt Cas so badly. Castiel tensed a little at his words.

"But I would never hurt you. I'm not like those stupid, status-craving bastards that keep slaves, and I never will be. Not over my dead body," Dean said, and growled the last part.

"I know you aren't, Dean," Castiel said, softly. When the last part of the bandages fell to the ground, he turned around to face Dean, and the blue eyes met the green ones. "But I am still not sure I am ready to fully trust a human yet, even if it's just a colleague."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Dean said. "It'll take time, I know."

There was silence between them again, and Dean felt like something between them had changed. Something was there which wasn't there before.

After a while, Castiel slowly brought his hand forward, hesitantly, and placed it carefully on Dean's chest, right over his heart. It was an odd gesture, but it meant a lot to Castiel. He had never purposefully touched a human before, and the feel of Dean's strong heart under his hand was… fascinating.

Dean's heart started pumping faster inside of him. He didn't know why. They were standing so close, closer than ever, with the angel's warm hand placed over his heart. He stared back at the angel who was staring at hand on his chest, before he finally looked up into Dean's eyes.

It was a very intimate moment for them both and it seemed to last forever.

Suddenly, the door opened, and they both stepped back abruptly; staring at each other with wide eyes.

"Hey guys, are you still—"

Gabriel trailed off as he saw the two pull away from each other.

"Wow, I was not expecting that," he said, surprised. He took a moment to stare between them – looking from Cas' now un-bandaged wing to the guilty expressions of them both. "He didn't force you into anything, did he bro?" he asked with a growl.

"No! Nothing happened," Castiel said before Dean could protest. "Dean was taking the bandages off for me. They were getting uncomfortable."

"Right," Gabriel said, not quite convinced. He glared at Dean before he went to the kitchen.

"Um, I should probably head home. Sam's probably getting worried," Dean said.

"Sam?" Castiel asked, tilting his head and frowning.

"My brother," Dean explained. "He's such a girl sometimes," he chuckled. Castiel's lips curled into a little smile.

"So, I'm going. Get well, Cas, see you at work soon," Dean said, heading for the door.

"Thank you. See you, Dean," Castiel answered and smiled, before Dean left the apartment.

Both had the feeling that working together would be a little different from now on.

To be continued…

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Personally, I don't like this chapter as much, but that's probably because I find it so hard to write chapters where the characters try to get along again. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Thanks for all your reviews so far, they make me very happy and motivate me to write, so keep them coming :)

I won't be posting this on Livejournal just yet because it is totally messed up over there. Can't post without double spacing and I can't edit anything because then all the text just appears in one big line with no break. So yeah, I'll be posting only here until LJ fixes its screw up.