AN: *hangs head in shame* So hi guys! I'm back. Sorry for the wait; a special apology to bentdogwood32 whom I told that I would have the third chapter pretty soon, but sorry to all of you because, well, you had to wait. Anyway, here's the third chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Dean ran his hand down his face.

Sam looked at him, concerned.

"You alright?" Sam finally asked.

"Fine," Dean mumbled, stalking down the hall.

A minute later Sam heard the rumbling of the Impala's engine outside and the faint sound of music being played.

Sam shook his head and returned to the bunker kitchen to do some more research.

Sam had just started up his computer and was staring blankly at the screen, not really feeling in the mood to do something when one of his brothers was out drinking his life away while blasting Metallica or some other rock nonsense and the other was lying upstairs in unimaginable pain.

A guy could only do so much.

A moan broke through his conflicted thoughts, coming from upstairs in Cas' room.

(God, the guy actually had a room. When had that happened.)

Sam sighed.

He supposed the brother in unimaginable pain was more important at the moment.

He considered calling Dean, but decided he would just be met with Dean's out of tune singing and he really didn't want to deal with that right now.

So upstairs it was.

Sam groaned.

He had never felt comfortable around Cas; after all, he was the abomination.

So it was with an apprehensive spirit that Sam tentatively knocked on Cas' door as the groans intensified.

When there was no response, Sam nudged open the door.

Cas was tangled in the covers in a way that looked in no way to be comfortable.

A sheen of sweat covered his entire body, even though he was shivering.

Apparently Cas was in a fever-induced nightmare.

Great.

Just what Sam needed to deal with WITHOUT Dean there.

But again, he forewent calling him because there was something in Sam that couldn't deny Dean his escape.

So he steeled himself and walked up to the bed.

"Cas," He called gently, grabbing the ex-angel's shoulders and shaking them slightly.

Castiel moaned one last time and his eyelids fluttered open.

His glaze was glassy, his shoulders tense.

"Dean?" Cas mumbled.

Sam smiled in sympathy.

"No, just the boy with the demon blood."

"Not- anymore," Cas gasped out, "You went past that a long time ago."

Sam's smile turned a little more genuine at that.

But he didn't have a chance to say anything more as Cas started coughing violently, clutching at his stomach in obvious pain.

"Hey," Sam soothed, helping Cas struggle into an upright position while the coughing ran itself out.

Sam gradually began to massage Cas' shoulders, marveling at how tense they were.

"That feels- nice," Cas admitted.

Sam smiled at the praise.

"I got used to it with Dean."

At Cas's confused head tilt, he continued, "A long time ago, when everything wasn't so screwed up and we actually used to have a brief respite between hunts, I would do this for Dean when he couldn't sleep after an adrenaline high. Apparently helped. He was snoring within minutes," Sam smiled slightly at the memory, then he went more sober. "Of course he'd never let me do it now. I've messed everything up since then."

Cas said nothing.

Apparently him and Dean were similar in that way also; both asleep within minutes.

Sam gently laid Cas on his side, pulling a blanket gently over him.

Sam felt Cas' forehead and noticed it was hot, so he wet some cloths and placed them on his forehead, then settled in a chair beside the bed.

Dean, coming in hours later to check in one them, found both snoring pleasantly.

He smiled and left, leaving them to get some rest himself.

They may not be out of the water just yet, but at least his brothers were safe.

And that's what mattered.

AN: Okay I realize that Sam SHOULD be over his whole "I'm an abomination" by this point, as my good friend Jade pointed out. But I mean, he just went through the trials and never completed them and you know he did kind of want to die in that last scene... So he's kind of emotional currently, and he might be tentative to whether or not Cas still thinks of him that way. So yeah. Take it or leave it, like it or not, it's there, and it's AU so...

Anyway please leave a review. They make my day.