Dean had walked in on plenty weird sights in his life; roommates in college having kinky sex, his mom waxing her eyebrows and even Sam doing sunrise yoga to Celine Dion but none of those compared to walking in on Jo Harvelle crying her eyes out in the middle of the intern's locker room before rounds. Sure Dean had only known her for the best part of a month and a half but he'd never seen her cry in that time. She always seemed so…well she always seemed too much of a badass to weep over something. Seeing her sat in the intern's locker room wailing loudly while Sarah and Charlie pressed cookies and cups of hot chocolate into her hands was certainly a real sight.

"Shit Jo, what's happened?" Dean asked. Jo sniffed loudly, which sounded disgusting, and lifted her head to look up at Dean. Her eyes were bloodshot and there was a serious snot situation going on. As if on cue Charlie wiped away several tears and most of the snot situation. "Someone didn't die or anything like that did they?" he asked cautiously. Sarah had been the first one of them to lose a patient, an eighty-four year old who hadn't woken up after surgery, and it had taken her days to get over it. Jo mumbled something but the crying got in the way so Dean had no idea what she actually said. "Do you wanna say that again for people who don't speak the language of weeping?" Dean asked.

"She said that her landlord is kicking her out." Sarah said as she tried to coax Jo into drinking some hot chocolate. "He told her so this morning before she left for rounds."

"He's selling the building and Jo needs to be out of there by next week." Charlie explained. "She hasn't got enough saved to buy somewhere new or have a deposit for rent. Plus her mom is back down South and she has no family or friends here to stay with."

"You got that all from a few wails?"

"I'm an expert in speaking all the female languages." Charlie said smugly. As Jo let out a particularly loud sob Ruby and several other interns walked in. Ruby stopped dead in her tracks and cocked an eyebrow.

"Whoa, did you get dumped or something Harvelle? Cause you look like shit." She said sauntering over to her locker and pulling her hair, freshly washed by the smell of it, into a high ponytail. "No offence or anything." She added shrugging her shoulders. Jo let out another loud cry and threw nearly a whole cookie into her mouth. "Though if you just got dumped then you shouldn't scarf down a buttload of cookies cause that don't do anything but make your ass expand."

Truthfully, Ruby was right Jo did looked like shit and the wailing was getting seriously annoying but Jo was still Dean's friends. So despite his better judgement Dean decided to act.

"Yeah thanks for that Ruby but you might wanna shut your mouth right now." Dean said shooting the brunette a harsh glare. Ruby shrugged her shoulders and pulled her scrubs from out her locker.

"Fine then Winchester, I'll keep my pretty mouth shut." Ruby said winking at Dean. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her before he turned back to a still sobbing Jo.

"Jo…" Jo carried on crying. "Jo…Jo stop crying because it's kind of alarming everyone. Look I have a spare room…well it's a junk room right now but there's a bed in there somewhere so you could stay with me until you get enough for an apartment." Dean said. Jo hiccupped loudly and looked back up at him, blinking rapidly to get rid of her tears. "You could crash on the couch for a few days then when we've got time we can clear out the room."

"You-" Jo sniffed loudly. "You would do that for me?"

"Dude it's a lumpy couch and a box room, I ain't putting you up in the Ritz." Dean said going red because Jo, Charlie, Sarah and even Ruby were staring at him like he'd just offered her a winning lottery ticket.

"Yeah but it's a place to stay…you would really do that for me?"

"Well yeah…I mean you're gonna have to buy me a shitloads of drinks but I can't just let you go homeless or worse, have Adam offer you a place to crash."

"Seriously?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, seriously."

"Dean Winchester I'd hug you-"

"But you're kinda covered in snot and I don't hug over emotional woman." Dean said taking a step back because the last thing he needed was snot on his clothes.

"You're such a jackass but thank you." Jo said giving him a watery looking smile. Dean gave her a grin and grabbed her hot chocolate. "Hey dude that's my pity coco!"

"This can count as a drink." Dean said with a wink. "Pity and all."

It took Jo less than a day to fully move all her stuff into Dean's apartment. Most of the old furniture had already been in her apartment when she'd moved in so she left it there and only brought her personal stuff. Thankfully Jo was one for packing light. Charlie had called in a favour from some of the nurses, apparently they all loved her, and roped several of them into helping Jo carry boxes from her car up the several flights of stairs to Dean's apartment. Coming home to a fridge full of beer and a box of expensive doughnuts on the counter, a 'Thank You' gift from Jo, made Dean think that this had been the right thing to do. However it turned out that once you did something good for someone that opened the flood gates for everyone else to ask for endless favours. If one more person asked Dean to do something for them he was going to do something so monumentally catastrophic that Dr Novak had no other choice but to kill him then use his body for medical research.

"Dean-"

"No." Was Dean very firm reply as he sat stirring another sugar into his coffee because he desperately needed the sugar and caffeine. It was early Friday evening, around six o'clock and he'd been put in on ER rotation. Jo had done the night before and she had the night after Dean so she was back at the apartment having a resting day.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say." Adam pointed out as he practically threw himself into the chair next to Dean.

"You're using that same pleading voice you use when you're trying to get Jo to notice you." Dean said before he took a generous gulp of coffee. "Whatever it is, I'm not doing it." He added. "I carried you out the bar last week after you got wasted so if anything you owe me."

"You'd do it if I was Jo and I don't remember you carrying me anywhere." Adam said with a pout. An actual pout.

"No, I've already filled my karma quota with Jo for the next year by having her steal my damn bed" Jo had complained about backache after the first two nights and had now taken to sleeping in Dean's room while he tackled the couch. He was gonna sort out the guest room over the weekend even if it killed him. If he didn't go to Heaven or get the first shot at solo surgery after all of this he was going to be complaining to the big guy upstairs; both God and the Chief of Surgery that was. "And you don't remember because you had already passed out by that point." Dean said. "Besides if it means leaving this desk then I'm definitely not doing it. I'm on ER rotation today and if something goes wrong because I was doing you a favour then I'll kill you. Lafitte likes me and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Oh come on Dean! Lafitte has this kickass trauma thing that's gonna start in OR 2 but Novak wants these scans on some old dickish businessman that came in this morning. Please dude, I'll do all your charts for a week." Adam said beseechingly.

"No. I'm on Lafitte's service tonight so that kickass surgery is mine." Dean quickly retorted. He wasn't going to spend time with Novak when he could be watching cool trauma surgery.

"Two weeks." Adam pleaded. The dude looked up at Dean with such big eyes it was like being stared out by a damn puppy. He had no idea where Adam had learnt to do those damn eyes but he gave Sam a real run for his money on that front.

"The answer is still no so quit it with the puppy eyes. Your handwriting is worse than Jo's chicken scrawl so there is no way I'm letting you anywhere near my stuff." Dean said with a snort.

"A month then. Please, this surgery is going to be freaking cool, like 'write home to your mama' cool, and I can't deal with Novak yelling at me because I can't get the hang of cardio."

"You have to do my charts for a month and every time I get a crappy page about a weeping abscess or exploding diarrhoea you're gonna do it instead…and you have to buy me coffee for a week…and a slice of pie from the cafeteria." Dean said.

"Deal." Adam practically yelled gleefully, thrusting the files into Dean's hands outstretched hand.

"Fuck…Novak must be in a real shitty mood if you'd rather deal with exploding diarrhoea than him." Dean muttered.

"I couldn't read one of his scans last night and I thought he was going to stab me with a pen. Broken bones and open wounds I know, but the heart…that freaky organ just doesn't make sense to me."

"That's really comforting seeing as you've been on Novak's service for the past week." Dean said. "Go and scrub in with Lafitte before I change my mind." Adam gave him a joy filed smile as he practically skipped, yeah skipped, off down the hallway. What the hell was Dean getting himself in for here?

Dean found Novak on the cardio ward, in the small room he used as his office by the looks of it. He must have hear Dean's footsteps approaching because he sighed with exasperation as Dean entered the office. "Milligan I asked for those scans an hour- you're not Milligan." He said frowning when he spotted Dean standing in the doorway. Talk about warm welcome. Dean was tempted to tell Adam to forget about this whole thing but the thought of free coffee for a week, let alone a month without having to go gross stuff like help with 'Lumps and Bumps' day, was enough to sway him. Dean sucked in a deep breath and tried to think of positive thoughts, mainly Dr Castiel Novak being shipped off somewhere far away.

"No…Adam got called into a surgery with Lafitte so you've got me instead." Dean said shrugging his shoulders. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"I'm not…" Novak started before shaking his head. "Do you have the scan results I asked Milligan for?" he asked. The clipped tone to his voice made it obvious that he was tired and it was better to just do what he wanted. Dean nodded and handed over the scans. Novak examined them and swore loudly. "Damn it, the man has an aneurysm on his left ventricle that's the size of a golf ball. He's going to need surgery as soon as possible." Castiel said more to himself than anyone else. "Did you have plans for this evening?" He asked looking over at Dean. Where the hell had that come from?

Dean's whole face contorted in confusion as he looked at Dr Novak. "Huh?" he asked completely unsure as to where Novak was going with this.

"Are you busy this evening?" Castiel asked as if he was talking to a small child. Condescending dick.

"No...I mean I was on ER rotation but Adam can take over." Dean said warily. Knowing Novak he was going to make Dean stay all night doing meaningless crap or acting like a scut monkey when he could have been in the ER learning something. Adam really was going to pay for this one way or another.

"That's good. You can scrub in on the aneurysm repair with me." Castiel said. Ok Dean wasn't expecting that.

"You're letting me scrub in with you?" Dean asked. "To remove an aneurysm on a heart?"

"Yes, you were the only one who took notes the other day in the gallery when I did the same procedure so I'm hoping you know what it entails. You'll probably be more useful that Milligan." Castiel said pulling the scans down and fixing Dean with a firm look. "Do you think you're capable of being it that OR?" He asked raising an eyebrow. How the hell did he manage to compliment someone and still make them feel like shit?

"Like you said, I was the only one taking notes. I know what to do." Dean said cockily because he actually did know what to do. Sure Novak would also make him hold a clamp or be on suction duty but Dean was still going to watch heart surgery. Actual heart surgery.

"That's good, you can go and inform Mr Talbot's daughter that her father will need surgery then prep the patient." Castiel said not giving Dean a chance to respond before he waltzed out the room. What a dick. Sure he was letting Dean scrub in on an awesome surgery but he was still acting like a total ass.

Wait...did he say Talbot?

Dean hurried to the patient's room and sure enough he spotted a familiar face. Her hair was slightly longer and she was wearing a suit instead of jeans and a sweater but there was no mistaking her. She stood next to her father's bed, arms folded across her chest, wearing a tired and pinched expression.

"Bela?" Dean asked walking into the room. Bela looked away from her father's bed to where Dean was stood. Surprise flashed across her face we she saw who was standing there.

"Dean? What on earth are you doing here of all places?" She asked in her crisp English accent.

"I could ask you the same thing." Dean shot back. "I work here, I'm doing my surgical internship here." Dean explained. A smile spread across Bela's face.

"That's right, I'm sorry I completely forgot that you moved here." Bela said. "It's good to see you, even under the circumstances." She added shooting a look at the man asleep in the hospital bed.

"Yeah…what's going on? I thought you had gone back to England after you finished up at Yale." Dean said. He had known Bela Talbot since he had started at Yale but he had never heard her mention her parents once, they had never visited her and she had always spent holidays either on campus or with friends so to see her here with her father was kind of a shock.

"I did go back. I have a house in Chelsea with a few friends of mine but my father's assistant called me last week. She told me that my father had fallen ill and that I needed to be here. Once she used his debit card to pay for my First Class ticket I reluctantly came here to keep a silent vigil by his bedside." Bela said. The acerbity over her presence at her father's bedside was not lost on Dean.

"You're living in London now?" Dean asked because that seemed like the safest thing to ask about. Bela rolled her eyes like she had expected Dean's question.

"Yes, and yes I have seen him quite a bit if that's what you're asking. Michael told me that you moved here and that you two still talk occasionally." She said, her eyebrow cocking now. "It's nice you two can still do that despite you breaking up with him just because he moved across the Atlantic. I'm guessing that you're not here for chit chat though are you?" Bela asked. Seeing as her father was on the verge of dying from a huge aneurysm Dean decided to let the comment about him breaking up with Michael slide. Dying parents gave you one free pass to be a total bitch.

"No, I'm not." Dean said glancing over to the bed where Bela's father lay. If Dean hadn't of known the man's last name was Talbot he would have never thought that the man and Bela could be related, they looked nothing alike and from Bela's body language she would have preferred to be anywhere but in the hospital.

"You're here because of my father." Bela stated. "Right?"

"Yeah, he has an aneurysm on his left ventricle which we need to remove. The cardio resident, Dr Novak, will be doing the procedure." Dean said. Bela's whole body curled inwards as she shook her hair, her hair hiding her face.

"This is just perfect…perfect." She muttered sarcastically with a small choking sound. They may not have seen each other in months, and Bela had always been more of Michael's friend than Dean's, but Dean knew that in that moment the woman needed someone there for her.

"Hey come here, it's gonna be ok." Dean said walking over to Bela and hugging her tightly. When they were back at Yale the notion of hugging Bela would have made Dean laugh until his sides split but he knew when someone needed comfort.

"Dean…you're hugging me." Bela said. "We never hugged. We bickered and made Michael want to bash his head against a wall."

"Yeah, well you look like you need it so don't start bitching about it." Dean said. Bela snorted, still managing to sound full of grace as she did so, but wrapped her arms around Dean and hugged him back. "You don't have to be worried, Dr Novak knows what he's doing." Dean added.

"It's nice that you think that Winchester." Speak of the devil. Castiel Novak walked into the room, raising an eyebrow when he saw Bela's arms still wrapped around Dean. They pulled away and Bela smoothed down her suit. "I'm Dr Castiel Novak, I'll be performing your father's surgery."

"Yes, Dean explained it all to me. I assume that you'll want to take him into surgery as soon as you can." Bela said crisply. Dean had no idea what was going between Bela and her father but they clearly didn't get on or Bela didn't get on with him at least.

"Yes, the aneurysm is of a large size and we want to remove it before it bursts."

"And what would happen to my father if it did burst?" Bela asked with a steely look towards Castiel.

"That could be potentially fatal." Castiel said bluntly. If Dean was hearing this about his father he would have been fighting the urge to throw up but Bela took it all in her stride, just nodding along to what Novak was saying with a determined look.

"Very well then." Bela said even shrugging her shoulders. The woman Dean had just hugged to give comfort was long gone and replaced with the woman he'd known at Yale; cold self-confidence but wicked humour and fortitude. "You can operate as soon as you want. I have to make a few phone calls." Bela said hurriedly as she strode out the room. If they were back at Yale Dean would have made Michael go after her to see if she was ok but they weren't at Yale anymore. Dean was in Chicago slowly drowning under his internship and the knowledge that his resident probably hated him, Michael was across a freaking ocean and Bela's father was lying in a bed slowly dying. How things had changed in just a few months.

"That's the go-ahead you were looking for Winchester, prep the patient." Novak said without so much as a glance back at Dean before he too hurried out the room. Dean wasn't sure what had pissed Castiel off but he was going to assume it was something he'd done just to save him the trouble.

Back in medical school one of Dean's teachers had told them how surgery was like a battlefield. It had nothing to do with the pain, or the trauma or the blood. She had said that surgery was like a battlefield because of quickly things changed. One moment you are standing the middle of silent calm, a swell in your chest from knowing how you had conquered that which tried to destroy you; then, like the changing of a rapid tide, a gunshot would ring out across the expanse, pain ripping through your chest and blood spreading across your chest like ink running across a blank page.

You would get that swelling feeling in your chest knowing that the life threatening condition had been conquered but then it would rip into that chest and spill nothing but innocent blood. Dean had thought she was talking absolute bollocks back in medical school but now, now that he'd seen it first-hand he understood what she meant.

"Damn, damn!" Castiel cried as blood splattered across his gloves. "The aneurysm burst. Damn it!" He cursed scrambling to fix the bleeding. "Suction Winchester!" He cried and Dean jumped to attention. Castiel scrambled into action and the machines around him beeped frantically. He called out countless orders and Dean watched with rapt attention as Castiel did everything he could to stop the blood pumping out of Mr Talbot's chest.

As he flat lined a strange hush fell over the room. No one was saying anything apart from Castiel who was still calling out orders despite everyone in the room knowing that Mr Talbot was long gone.

"Dr Novak…he's gone sir." Someone said. Dean wasn't sure who it was, nearly everyone looked the same behind their masks.

"Damn it!" Castiel cried. "Call it." He snapped throwing his instruments down onto the nearest instrument tray. "Somebody call the time of death for Christ's sake!" he yelled making several nurses jump. Dean hadn't seen Castiel react like this before, he was always so robotic or just plain dick-ish. His cool and calm mask had slipped revealing an explosion of emotions dancing across his face frantically.

"Oh. Time of death, twenty-one thirty-four." Dean called out as he watched Castiel rip off his surgical mask.

"I need to inform his daughter." Castiel said sounding as though he was going to be sick. In fact his normally tanned skin had gone deathly pale with a green tinge to it. Beforehand Dean would have been gleeful to see Novak like this but now he felt nothing but pity for the man.

"No, I'll do it." Dean said and Castiel's head whipped round to stare at him. For a second he thought he'd done something wrong, again, but when Castiel have him an appreciative look his stomach stopped sinking. "Bela would probably prefer hearing it from me." Dean added with a shrug. Castiel's smile slipped and the coo mask was firmly placed back on his face.

"Thank you Winchester." Castiel said coolly. The mask slipping back on almost instantly. "You go and tell her while I close up." He added dismissing Dean with a wave of his gloved hand.

Bela was sat in the waiting area, phone clutched in her hands like a life support and several empty paper coffee cups littering the table in front of here. The caffeine had clearly kicked in as her foot was jiggling nervously and tapping against the chair next to her. Dean had seen that nervous twitch so many times in his mother when he was growing up. It was something that most people seemed to do when they were camped out in a hospital waiting to hear about a loved one.

"Bela" Dean called and Bela's head shot up, her eyes focusing on Dean instantly.

"He's dead isn't he?" Bela asked. Dean nodded his head and waited for Bela's reaction. Instead of crying she just sighed heavily and bent her head. "It's over then." She said wiping a hand across her face and looking up at Dean. "Isn't this the part when you say that you did everything you could?"

"Yeah but I get the feeling you don't want to hear it." Dean said walking over it sit down next to Bela. "We did though…well Novak did everything he could but the aneurysm burst and after that there was nothing else we could do to the repair the damage. I'm really sorry."

"Before he fell ill I hadn't spoken to him since I was young. I stayed with other family members then friends before I went off to university. I didn't plan on speaking to him again actually but then his bloody assistant called me and told me that I needed to be here. I'm glad I was here in the end though, I have closure."

"Must be nice."

"To hate your family or to have closure?"

"Closure, I actually like my family." Dean said with a weak smile.

"You know, when you told me that he had an aneurysm the first thing I thought was that I would have to stay here and look after him while he got better. My parents divorced when I was young and I stayed with my mother until I was sixteen and went out on my own, coming from money lets you do that. I hadn't seen my father in years…I didn't even want to come here but my father's bloody assistant insisted, the spiteful cow." Bela said. "Now…now he's dead and I can go home…it feels very strange."

"We knew each other for years, how come you never told me any of this?" Dean asked.

"People are allowed to have secrets. You never told your parents you were gay-"

"Bisexual."

"Bisexual then." Bela said with a nonchalant shrug. "You never told them that and you didn't tell them about Michael until you'd been with him for six months. Everyone has something they don't tell anyone about until there's a necessary time."

"And this was a necessary time for you?"

"The bastard's dead so I get to go home and never hear about him again after the funeral so I'd say it was necessary." Bela said shrugging her delicate looking shoulders. "Don't look so scandalised Winchester. My father was a bastard and no one will miss him apart from maybe his assistant. You and that delectable but grumpy looking surgeon did the world a favour."

"Bela-"

"Dean I mean it." Bela said decisively. "We hugged once, that doesn't mean we're going to be besties and skip gayly through a meadow together. You're still the prick who broke up with my friend." Dean chewed his cheeks to stop himself from saying something incredibly mean.

"I did that for a reason Bela." Dean shot back in a tone just as firm as Bela's. "A long distance relationship, especially that long of a distance, during an intern year would have broken us up anyway. He knows that, he understood that when I ended things. We're cool now though, we're…we're friends still at least."

"Fine but maybe you should tell him that you're moving on. He still thinks that there's a chance you could get back together one day."

"Who says I'm moving on?" Dean asked cocking an eyebrow. He was slowly getting over Michael but he hadn't moved on by any shape of the imagination. He was too busy at the hospital to move on.

"Aren't you living with someone?" Bela asked. "I'm sure I heard someone mention it. One of the nurses or something. Everyone looks the same around here in those pyjama type getups."

"Yeah but she's just a friend. I'm going here a favour by letting her stay with me." Dean said. Sure Jo was pretty damn hot and wicked smart but she was his drinking buddy, thinking of her in other way was just weird. Plus the thought of having 'Mamma Harvelle' kick his ass from here to Texas was not something he was up for.

"And I saw how you were looking at the delectable but grumpy surgeon." Bela pressed with the same knowing look she used to give Dean when he pretended that he hadn't eaten all her fries back in the dining halls at Yale.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Dr Novak. It's a cliché to have the hots for your superior but I can see why you'd choose him, you always did like them dark and pensive looking."

"Bela I haven't a freaking clue what you're on about but I don't have the hots for Novak. The guy is an asshole. And as for Michael…just tell him…just tell him you saw m and that I'm doing ok…it's kind of weird texting him but I'm trying ok? I wanna still be friends with him. I haven't moved on but we ain't getting back together."

"Fine." Bela said rolling her eyes. "I still think you're a dick for breaking up with him." She added as she hauled her oversized handbag onto her shoulder.

"And still think you're an airhead heiress but it was good seeing you…despite the circumstances." Dean said. Calling someone an airhead after their father had died probably wasn't the nicest of things to do but from Bela's faint smile, more of a smirk really, it seemed like she appreciated it.

"It was good seeing you. I know I mocked you when we were at Yale but you're clearly doing well here and that's great. The amount of times Michael went on about how determined you were to do well was actually infuriating." Bela said giving Dean the once over as if she was filing a report to give back to Michael. There was a strong possibility that she would actually. "I'm going to be here for a few days, sorting things out for my father and things like that, before I go back to England. If you're not too busy here then getting coffee or something would be quite nice."

"Really?" Dean said raising his eyebrows in surprise at Bela. "The last time we sat down drinking coffee together it ended up in my lap."

"Your moon eyes at Michael were very annoying, you only had yourself to blame." Bela said innocently. "You should go and find the grumpy surgeon, tell him that he shouldn't beat himself up over this too much. He seemed like the kind of person who would take this to heart, no pun intended." Bela said reaching over to give Dean's arm a squeeze. "I'll see you around Dean." She added smoothing down her clothes and giving Dean a brilliant smile. There was the Bela he'd seen so often back at school, self-assured and very for whatever was about to happen. Dean gave her a small smile in return and hurried off to find Novak.

By the time Dean found him in the hospital reception area Castiel looked completely wrecked. His skin was still pale but it had lost the green tinge to it. The composed look that seemed to always be on his face was gone and replaced with one of anguish. Dean walked over and placed a hand on Castiel's arm by way of comfort.

"I spoke to Bela Talbot and told her about her father." Dean said. Castiel blinked at him for a moment before nodding.

"Oh…thank you. I should have done it though." He said absently as if he wasn't really there.

"It's ok Dr Novak." Dean said shaking his head. If someone wasn't used to Bela and her mannerisms it left them feeling very confused emotionally drained or with the assumption that Bela was just a bitch.

"It's not ok. That was a routine operation and yet he died. One second it looked like everything was going to be ok then the aneurysm burst and he died, my patient died." Novak said looking horrified by the thought. The harrowed look in his eyes sent waves of pity through Dean's stomach. The guy looked so distraught that Dean found himself opening his mouth before he even realised what he was actually saying.

"Dr Novak...do you want to grab a beer? You look like you need one?"

"You're inviting me out for a drink?" Castiel asked furrowing his brow as if the concept was completely lost on him. It probably was as Dean doubted the other doctors were clamouring to ask the guy out for drinks.

"Well yeah, you lost a patient today so you probably need one." Dean said suddenly feeling a blush seeping across his neck and cheeks.

"Oh...thank you but it's getting late and-"

"Dude it's not even half ten and it's gonna be one drink." Dean said and he wasn't sure why he was pressing the matter really because Castiel was a dick but he'd taken Mr Talbot's death so badly and Dean felt kind of sorry for him. If Castiel didn't go out for a drink he would probably just sit and wallow in self-pity for the whole evening and that was just sad.

"Ok...thank you. There's a bar just down the street that several of the other doctors go to."

"I know, Jo and I have been keeping that place open for the past month or so." Dean said zipping up his jacket as they neared the exit. Castiel wrapped a warm looking scarf around his neck. The wind outside was bitter but Dean had grown up with Kansas winters and spent the past few years putting up with the North East winters at med school, he could handle the cold for a few minutes as he walked down the road with Castiel.

"Oh Dr Harvelle? Are you two..."

"Friends? Sort of, she's pretty cool." Dean said with a casual shrug. "You can't help but becoming friends with the other interns in the end."

"I suppose not." Castiel said. "I never really did though. I mean, I was friendly with my fellow interns but we could never be classed as friends."

"No offence sir but that doesn't surprise me." Dean said knowing full well he was toeing the line but instead of reprimanding him Castiel just smiled.

"We're going for a drink so please don't call me 'sir' or 'Novak'. I much prefer 'Cas.'" Castiel said.

"Ok…Cas." Dean said, the name feeling new and strange on his tongue. Calling Castiel anything other than 'Novak' or 'Sir' was going to be difficult. Ok it wasn't as Dean and the other interns had several unkind nicknames for the cardio surgeon but Castiel didn't need to know that.

The bar was full of people when Dean and Castiel entered but no one paid them much attention apart from the bartender who gave Dean a friendly wave. You became friendly with people after you were drinking in the same place until closing several times. Castiel raised his eyebrows at Dean as they found seats in one of the small booths away from the bar.

"Jo and I come in here sometimes." Dean said by way of explanation.

"I am assuming that 'sometimes' means 'most nights'." Castiel said with a knowing look. "Clearly I was right by naming you Budweiser on the very first day even if it did incur your wrath."

"Yeah…sorry about yelling at you like that. I mean I know it was like a month ago and I was really pissed but yelling at you in the OR wasn't the best thing to do." Dean said. "But you could have picked a better nickname, Budweiser is the shittiest of beers."

"I must admit that I wouldn't really know as I don't drink beer that often." Castiel said.

"Aw Jesus fuck. That just makes it even worse, being called a shitty beer by someone who doesn't even drink beer." Dean groaned between laughter.

"I do apologise Winchester." Castiel said smiling himself. He looked a lot less pale now that he was out of the hospital which was a good thing.

"Dude, you asked me to call you 'Cas' so please call me Dean, none of that 'Winchester' bullshit."

"Ok…Dean." Castiel said smiling once again and this time it reached his eyes making them crinkle at the corners and making something in Dean's stomach lurch. True he'd found Castiel good looking on their first day but that had been over a month ago and so much had happened in that time. Still…

"I'm…I'm gonna get you a drink. Beer ok?" Dean said quickly trying to ignore whatever was going on in his brain. Maybe beer would help matters.

"Beer is fine, thank you Dean." Castiel said. Dean slid out the booth as Castiel gave him an appreciative look. This felt totally different from when he was drinking with Jo or the other interns. Then it was usually about letting off steam or ragging about co-workers. Those nights with Jo or Adam or Charlie were spent at the bar, throwing bar nuts at one another or making jokes, usually at Adam's expense. This night wasn't about joking with a friend, it was about comforting a colleague…well boss…who clearly needed the comfort.

"Hey there Dean, no Jo tonight?" the bartender asked.

"Nah man, she's sleeping 'casue she was in the ER all night last night." Dean said. "The girl needs all the beauty sleep she can get."

"That's mean dude, mean. I should refuse to serve you."

"Yeah and the till will be down like fifty bucks compared to every other night. Face it, Jo and I keep this place running." Dean said giving the bartender a cocky grin. "So can I get two Coronas?" he added. The bartender rolled his eyes but handed over two bottles of beer. Dean handed over a couple of notes, grabbed the beers and walked back to the booth were Castiel was was sat.

"You look as though you don't go out much." Dean said noticing Cas' almost perfect posture. He wondered if the guy had ever slouched in his life.

"I rarely have drinks with colleagues if that is what you are asking." Castiel said taking a small sip of his beer. Dean wondered if the guy was loosen up after a drink or two but he doubted it, actually he doubted this whole evening but maybe if he got Castiel to smile for once then the dude would go easier on him.

"So we're colleagues now, I'm not just a dumb intern?" Dean asked with a smirk.

"I understand that I'm hard on my interns but I do that for a reason. My interns finish off their year with the highest results. They become strong residents and brilliant surgeons. Yes I may have made a few of them cry on occasion but at least they don't end up killing patients because they learn enough." Castiel said.

"Dude you're my resident and-"

"And for the record I never said that you were a dumb man Dean and of course we are colleagues. You're not a child so I'm not going to treat you as such. You're going to be a resident in a year and I'm one of the people who will help make that happen and treating you like you're my inferior won't help at all." Castiel said. "I'm tough because I want you to be an extraordinary surgeon Dean."

"Oh...thanks then I guess." Dean said feeling completely perplexed by Castiel's honesty.

"You're welcome. Just to make it clear that was a compliment towards you."

"I got that, don't worry." Dean said chuckling. "About today..."

"There was nothing that we could have done in the end. I'm realising that now. Mr Talbot's condition was severe and even the most skilled surgeon couldn't have stopped that aneurysm from bursting. You did everything right, don't worry." Castiel said. "How did you know the patient's daughter?"

"Bela? We were sort of knew each other at college. She was at Yale the same time as I was."

"Was she an ex-girlfriend?" Castiel asked before taking a sip of his beer.

"What Bela?" Dean asked nearly choking on his own beer. "No! Bela would chew even the strongest man up and spit him out. Braver men than me have tried to go there and failed."

"The two of you were never a thing?" Jesus, and Dean thought that Jo asked a lot of personal questions.

"No way. To tell the truth we couldn't stand each other for at least a year. The closest thing we would have ever got to being a thing would have been if we'd had angry hate sex." Dean said. "We knew the same people at Yale and after a long time we ended up being those kind of friends who mainly take the piss outta each other. It was a surprise seeing her here actually." That was a lot easier than telling Castiel that Bela was one of his ex-boyfriend's best friends who had hated Dean's guts originally because she thought he would string Michael along or was just going through a phase. Dean's bisexuality was a lot of things, confusing to him mainly, but a phase it was not. He had been dating Michael for nearly six months before Bela had understood that.

Castiel's eyebrows raised at Dean's reply. "I got the feeling she didn't get along with her father." He said

"Yeah you hit the nail on the head there. If it wasn't crass I'd say that aneurysm did her a favour." Dean said.

"I should reprimand you for saying that but instead I'll just say that you can get the next round in." Castiel said giving Dean another smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. Those smiles were going to be the death of Dean if he wasn't careful.

One beer turned into another and before Dean realised it both he and Cas had drunk several beers between them. Once Dean had started asking Castiel questions about surgery the conversation had started flowing with both men talking about various surgeries they wanted to perform in their lives. Dean was surprised to hear that they shared several 'dream' surgeries. It was nearing midnight and both of them needed to be awake in four short hours to get ready for rounds. Basically they were both quite drunk and pretty much screwed.

"Cas…Cas…we should get going." Dean said looking down at the numerous bottles littering the booth's table.

"I think I am too drunk to drive my car." Cas said blinking his bright eyes several times in Dean's general direction. "I shall have to sleep in the on call room, thankfully I have spare scrubs in my locker."

"Dude there's no way you're sleeping in the on call room. Those beds are hard as rocks." Dean retorted bringing a hand down on the table. "I can drive you."

"Dean there is no way you are driving drunk. There is also no way I am getting into a car driven by you when drunk. I've seen far too many accidents in my time." Cas said, slurring his words slightly but still managing to sound as authoritarian as always.

"There's a spot on my couch open if you want it, it's comfier than and damn hospital bed that's for sure." Ok it was definitely the alcohol talking now because before the alcohol Dean would never have imagined asking Castiel Novak to bunker down on his couch. The more questionable things Dean did when less than sober the more he thought about contemplating sobriety. Maybe it would do him good.

"You wouldn't have an issue with my sleeping upon your couch?" Cas asked. How was that Castiel still managed to sound completely sober and not a slurring mess?

"Like I said, the hospital beds are hard as rocks and even if you can be a total dick sometimes it's just mean making someone sleep on those damn beds." Dean said shrugging. Castiel's eyes narrowed at Dean calling him a dick but he shrugged his shoulders.

"As long as you don't mind my presence in our house." He said by way of agreement to the matter. Dean gave him a grin and slid out the booth, proud that he didn't stumble when doing so. He gave the bartender a cheerful wave and motioned for Cas to follow him out the bar.

"My apartment ain't too far away." Dean said and before he realised it he started telling Castiel about his search for a decent apartment that not only had a spare room for Sam but was also near to the hospital. In return Castiel told Dean about he lived about fifteen minutes from the hospital though in the morning traffic it felt more like thirty minutes. Castiel lived alone, that didn't surprise Dean at all, apart from a few fish. Apparently he wanted to get a cat but he was never at home enough to look after anything other than fish. They kept up this conversation for the entire walk to Dean's apartment. Maybe it was the alcohol, Dean was sure it was the alcohol, but Castiel was surprisingly easy to talk to.

Dean let them into the apartment, making sure not to make too much noise because Jo was probably asleep in Dean's bedroom. He really needed to sort out the spare room. In fact, with Castiel sleeping on the couch, he would have to move several of the boxes on the spare bed or he'd be sleeping in the bathtub. "Do you want a coffee or something like that?" Dean asked flicking on the light to the main room that served as a kitchen, living room and dining room.

"I'm quite alright. Thank you for this Dean."

"Nah it's fine. Like I said, those hospital beds are shitty."

"No I meant taking my mind off today's surgery. It was very courteous of you."

"Yeah well you took it pretty bad, it was the least I could do." Dean said with a shrug as he flicked on the coffee machine to make himself a cup of coffee.

"I haven't…hadn't lost a patient in over a year you see. It hit me hard that one died during a procedure I've been involved in countless times." Castiel explained sitting down on Dean's couch. Whoa, now Dean was beginning to understand by Cas had taken it so hard. Not losing a single patient in a year was a good streak.

"Damn…that's some streak. You're a freaking good surgeon."

"As will you be one day. You have a lot of talent and are incredibly smart Dean. I'm sorry that I'm hard on you." Castiel said starting to mumble. Tiredness was clearly getting to him. Dean tried to fight the blush that was creeping across his cheeks. Sure he knew he was smart, fuck he had to be to have gotten where he was, but hearing it from Castiel was something different. It was someone, outside of Dean's family, seeing the person Dean really was. He wasn't just some pretty-boy redneck who lucked his way into one of the best medical schools in the country, he was actually damn smart. Drunk, but damn smart. Dena finished up making his coffee and sat down next to Castiel on the couch.

"Thanks I guess…for saying that stuff I mean." Dean said as he placed his coffee mug onto the table in front of him.

"It's quite alright Dean." Castiel said nonchalantly nodding his head. Castiel yawned loudly and stretched out, almost like a cat.

"You sure you don't want a coffee?" Dean asked fighting the desire to yawn as well. Castiel shook his head and gave Dean a small smile.

"No thank you, I'm quite alright one." He said resting his head on the nearest couch cushion. Ok the couch could be uncomfortable after sleeping on it for several days in a row but it wasn't a bad couch. Dean was fighting inside his head, weighing the pros and cons of shifting the stuff off the spare bed. The main con was that he would have to get up and he was quite comfortable sat with Cas. His drunken mind convinced him that all the pros were outweighed by that single con. Yes it was definitely his drunken mind, nothing else.

With a smile directed at Cas Dean closed his eyes for a moment. Today had been a tiring day, his old life colliding with his new one. Despite all that and despite the terrible situation that had occurred Dean couldn't help but feel relieved that for that small moment in time his resident wasn't out for his blood and that there was even a possibility of the tentative friendship forming between the two men.

Maybe Bela was right all along, though Dean would never tell her so. Maybe Dean was moving on with his life.

Medical Terms:

Bela's father had a ventricular aneurysm. They are one of the many complications that may occur after a heart attack. They usually arise from a patch of weakened tissue in a ventricular wall. This swells into a bubble filled with blood. They may block the passageways leading out of the heart, leading to severely constricted blood flow to the body.

If there is anything else you want to know just ask (in case I've missed something!)