Dean yelled in pain. His body burned and he tried to get away from the heat only to realize that he was chained and could not move. His eyes cracked open to see the hooks in him that he knew would be there, along with the black emptiness all around him. He yelled in anger this time and struggled against the chains even though he knew it was pointless. He only succeeded in causing himself more pain.
He didn't know how long he hung there suspended over the endless darkness. Could have been only minutes but it felt like hours, days, or even weeks. His skin was sticky with his own blood and he shivered like he was cold except he was burning up. He could hear the screams of other tormented souls all around him but he could not see anyone else. Occasionally the shadows would shift as a demon pass by, but he never clearly saw them.
Eventually a bright light appeared, chasing the shadows and demons away, and he had to close his eyes against it. Even with his eyes closed they burned from the intensity of the light, but he could not move his hands to cover his face. A moment later he was able to crack them open very slowly, and it was then that he saw the light.
The light burned softly now and was warm and full of life. His body stopped shivering and the pain vanished. Soon he felt completely calm even though he was still chained up in Hell. His mouth moved to speak but no sound came out.
"Dean Winchester." a voice spoke, rough and raspy but soothing at the same time. "You do not belong in this place. I have come to free you."
As his eyes adjusted to the light fully, Dean could start to make out features inside of it. There was a face but he couldn't make out the features aside from a pair of bright blue eyes. He could see most of a body and then wings. Large, beautiful, bright wings, at least three pair of them. They spread out of the body like rays of light and kept the shadows and demons at bay.
Tendrils of that light reached out to him and started wrapping around his body and attacked the chains. He looked down when he heard one snap and watched as they slowly fell away from him. With every chain that fell away, the lighter he felt. He could feel heat on his shoulder and turned to see a hand gripping him tightly. It wasn't painful, but rather soothing and he found himself leaning into the touch.
The being made of light began chanting something in an unknown language and the rest of the chains all snapped at once and the hooks disappeared from his body. He found himself instinctively moving even closer to the light and wrapping his arms around it. The light wrapped around him like a cocoon and he felt himself being lifted, raised out of the pits of Hell. He could see the shadows and demons chasing them but they were too far away to catch them.
He turned his face into the beings neck and let out a little sigh as he felt a comforting hand in his hair.
"It is alright, Dean Winchester. You have been saved."
…..
"Dean, are you okay?" Castiel asked, his voice soft as he waited for the hunter to come out of the dream. He was cupping the others cheeks now, using his thumbs to wipe away some tears that had escaped his eyes. He could hear the hunters heartbeat had calmed back down to normal again and all the tension had left his body.
Dean pulled away from him with a groan of pain and grabbed his shoulder. He held still for a few minutes until he stopped trembling. Slowly he opened his eyes when his head stopped spinning and he found Castiels face inches from his own, eyes filled with concern.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." he gave the angel a shaky smile. "I just wasn't expecting it to be so intense." he took a couple of deep breaths before he could breathe normally again. His hand still gripped his shoulder and he frowned. "I can still feel it. Is that normal?"
Castiel frowned as he looked to where Dean held his shoulder, exactly where the angels mark had been. "Take off your shirt." The hunter gave him an odd look before doing as he was told. Blue eyes went wide as he saw the red skin. "That should not be possible."
"Shit!" Deans own eyes went wide as he saw Castiels handprint once again marking his skin. He touched the raised flesh and shivered at how sensitive it was.
Then Castiel was reaching out and touching it and the hunter had to bite his lip to keep another noise from slipping out. The angel grabbed Deans arm and pulled him closer, then smirked. Seeing his mark on Dean again made him happy. To him, it was proof of the bond that they shared and he wanted everyone to see it. When he lay his hand over the mark fully, Dean let out a choked moan, then looked away, cheeks flushed.
"Do you regret it, Dean?" Castiel asked, leaning close enough to the other that his breath ghosted over his face.
Dean gave a shake of his head, "No. You're beautiful, Cas." Normally he would not say such a thing to a man, but Castiel wasn't exactly a man and no other word suited what he had seen. "It was worth it. Thank you."
Castiels fingers continued to trail across his handprint, watching in fascination as Dean shivered and his breath kept getting caught in his throat only to come out in a pleased sigh. He was surprised that the hunter had not pulled away from him yet, only sat there while he was touched.
Unable to pass up the opportunity, Castiel leaned forward and brushed his lips across the mark. At the same time, his Grace reached out to wrap around Dean like when he'd pulled him from Hell, pulling another choked moan from him. When Castiel looked up at him, his eyes locked onto green ones filled with lust and some confusion. He leaned up and gently brushed his lips acrossed Deans and the hunter shivered.
"Cas." Deans voice came out in a whisper and he leaned forward to press their lips together. This time it was the angel letting out a soft moan as the pressure increased and Deans fingers slid into his hair.
Before the kiss could go further, the door to the room opened and Sam came in. Dean was instantly on his feet and a few steps away before his brother had fully entered the room. His back was to the door as he got himself under control while Castiel still sat on the bed looking confused. When their eyes met, Dean cleared his throat and turned to face his brother.
"Hey, I got us some coffee." Sam stopped just inside the room, giving his brother an odd look. "Why is your shirt off?" his eyes then spotted the handprint and they went wide. "What the hell? Did I miss something?"
"No." Dean basically snapped and grabbed his shirt from the bed and pulled it back on, then pulled on his over shirt. His cheeks were still burning and he refused to meet his brothers eyes.
Sam raised a brow and looked between his brother and Castiel who was now looking a bit awkward. He gave Dean his coffee and then one to Castiel before he took his seat back at the table behind his computer. When he looked to Castiel hoping the other would explain, he looked away and drank his coffee.
"Anyway, Bobby called me while I was out. He basically said the same thing Cas did about not being able to kill the Sandman." as Sam spoke, he watched the other two males and how they were avoiding looking at each other. Or Dean was avoiding looking at Castiel. Castiel was staring at Dean but that was normal. "He said there has been some unusual activity going on today just outside of town that we should check out. He thinks it could be a demon nest of some kind."
Dean had finally collected himself and was acting like nothing had happened. He grabbed his keys and moved towards the door. "What are we waiting for? Let's go."