Chapter Two

Castiel watched on in silence.

He took in the sight of Dean quite clearly wrestling with his own nightmares, sweat visibly running down his face as he slept and his features graced with a look of hurt and confusion.

The angel knew exactly what Dean would be dreaming about, this wasn't the first time he had called in to see the hunter and found him visibly shaken in his sleep and yet again Castiel noted that Sam was not present at 2am, much like he hadn't been the last few times Cas called in.

Dean was completely unaware of the times Castiel had visited during the long nights and watched over him. In the beginning, he would often make a soft attempt at soothing his nightmares by sending him into a more restful sleep, but Castiel thought better of it these days.

Cas couldn't be there all the time and he didn't want to mess with Dean's head too often for fear of hurting the human. The fact Dean hadn't consented to Cas using his "angel mojo" on him, made it worse and the angel needed Dean to trust him, he figured the hunter might not be too happy to find out what Cas had been doing on odd occasions, no matter how good his intentions were.

As much as it pained Castiel to see Dean struggling with his own mind, he felt it best to do nothing and he would simply settle for watching over the eldest Winchester brother, making a swift exit before Dean woke up or Sam returned.

Tonight was different; each time the angel visited he noticed a new feeling of loneliness and hurt surrounding Dean each time.

Castiel used to visit on a nightly basis when both Winchesters were sound asleep, he watched over both his charges. Yet the more time went on Dean seemed to be doing a lot worst than the last time, Sam was more frequently absent and this left Castiel with less time to visit, knowing that Sam could come back at any moment.

The sound of Dean whimpering pulled the angel out of his deep thoughts and he made his way to the side of the bed, looking down at his human charge and feeling the discomfort practically radiating from his sleeping form.

Dean seemed to wrestle with invisible demons in his sleep, beginning to toss and turn furiously while he slept and it took all of Castiel's strength to not use his angel power to soothe the hunter.

Castiel ran a hand lightly over Dean's forehead, not using any form of magic, just quite simply attempting to calm the man down.

The moment Cas' hand touched Dean, he was awake with an abrupt gasp and now staring up at the angel curiously.

Busted.

Cas wasn't expecting Dean to wake up, this was the first time it had happened before the angel had chance to make a quick exit and now he had to explain himself to a suspicious Dean Winchester.

"Cas?" Dean croaked out, still half asleep and shaken by his most recent nightmare.

Dean pushed himself into a sitting position and Castiel instinctively moved away from the bed, now feeling slightly embarrassed by his actions.

"Yes…I'm sorry Dean, I jus-…" Cas started to explain before being cut off by Dean's voice.

"What are you doing here?"

The angel stumbled in his mind to find the right words, before delivering his excuse calmly to Dean.

"I felt a great deal of sadness reaching out to me; I called by to check you and Sam were ok."

Dean shook his head slightly confused, but let it slide anyway…he really wasn't in the mood for Cas' weirdness.

"Whatever…nothing to write home about…we're f-…"

Dean stopped mid sentence and briefly cast a glance over to Sam's bed, once again noting he was absent and sighed before continuing.

"…I'm fine. So thanks for your concern and whatever, but it's all good…you can go" He finished with a wave of his hand as though dismissing Castiel, which the angel didn't take too kindly too, responding with a frown and a slight huff of annoyance.

"You were dreaming of hell" Cas stated bluntly, not letting his eyes off Dean for a moment.

Dean rolled his eyes in frustration, not wanting to talk about his issues right now and yet somewhere in the back of his mind, Dean found it endearing that Cas even cared enough to come running when he thought something was wrong. He was beginning to consider the angel a friend, no matter how odd their friendship seemed to outsiders and even to Sam.

"I know I'm right Dean, maybe you should talk about it."

The hunter was soon on his feet, tossing the bed sheets aside and storming past Castiel, throwing an annoyed glare in his direction. He paused before reaching the bathroom and turned back to the angel.

"You're right…so what? Talking about it doesn't make it go away, I'm not gonna have a big sappy heart to heart with the angel who raised me from hell. I'll cope…I always do."

"Dean you are clearly distressed…"

Turning around on his heels, Dean marched towards Castiel and stopped inches away from him.

"You know what Cas, fuck you! So what if I'm distressed…so what if I haven't had a decent nights sleep in months…I have been through hell literally and still am…so I'm allowed to be all of those things and more. What I don't want is to talk about it. So leave!" Dean ranted angrily, throwing his hands up in the air and staring directly into Cas' eyes while he spoke, before sighing heavily and sitting with a defeated thud on the end of the bed.

Castiel watched as Dean slumped helplessly onto the bed, with his face buried in both his hands.

"I will never begin to understand why you feel the need to isolate yourself Dean. You have people that love you…that could help you. Bobby…Sam…"

Dean huffed out a humourless laugh and looked up at Cas.

"Sam? Oh yeah cause he's the ever doting brother these days. Screwing a demon bitch screams normal, he's got even more issues than me."

The angel had no response to that, of course he had noticed Sam's activities, all the angels had and they were incredibly displeased with his actions recently. Castiel turned his head away from Dean in silent agreement and the hunter sighed heavily, shaking his head and turning his own stare to his feet.

"I don't know what to say. I just wish you would let me help you Dean, I understand your pain and believe me I care." Cas stated, turning his head back to look at Dean.

He silently stepped forward and bent down, laying a soft kiss on Dean's forehead.

"I'm here for you Dean, whenever you're ready. Angels are watching over you, always." Castiel whispered against Dean's forehead, causing the hunter to gasp at his actions and before Dean could reply Castiel disappeared in a flutter of wings.