This chapter has been edited.

The sun was low in the sky when they stopped to grab a bite to eat, Dean had been driving all night (save for four hours when he had Sam drive due to the fact that he was beginning to fall asleep at the wheel) and they were going over the plan one last time.

"Okay," Sam began around a mouthful of salad. "So, you and I will go around back," he gestured at his brother from across the table with his fork "kill whatever's guarding the door back there, since there's always something. Go in, find Pestilence and slice the ring off his finger?"

"Yep." Dean responded around his mouthful of burger.

"And what will I do?" Cas chimed in from his place beside Sam, he popped his ketchup smothered fry into his mouth and began chewing slowly, staring expectantly at Dean.

"You stay in the car." Dean replied without missing a beat.

"Dean-"

"Cas," Dean put down his burger and leaned his elbows onto the table, looking seriously back at Cas, Sam shifted uncomfortably. "You're human and vulnerable. Without your powers, you're practically a baby in a trenchcoat. You stay in the car." Castiel looked indignant, he opened his mouth to retort but shut it with a snap. He huffed and turned to face the window, completely ignoring the meal in front of him. Dean shook his head and Sam turned from one to the other, biting back a sarcastic comment.

Sam had fallen asleep shortly after departing Bobby's house, he supposed he must have been worn out after the beating he took. What the other men at the table didn't know, however, was that he had woken up. And, with the best timing in the world, he had just heard the former angel confess his love for his brother. I know, was what Dean had replied. From the back seat Sam scoffed and adjusted so he could hear better. Neither of them said a word after that, and after a while of craning his neck, he finally laid his head back down and let his thoughts wander. It was just then that he realized that he had never actually heard Dean say those words, I love you. Not for lack of anyone else trying, plenty of his bed mates had told him those words, but he only ever replied with a chuckle and a change of subject. He hadn't said it about Lisa or Cassie either, and Sam knew he had felt it. Even Sam himself had tried to get his brother to say those three little words that meant so much. He remembered when he was little, one night when their father was out on a hunt Dean had read him "I Love You Forever" as a bed time story, and right as he was nodding off at the end of the story Sam whispered "I love you forever Dean" and he had gotten the same reply Cas had gotten, I know Sammy. Dean had said I know to him, his own brother, and of course Dean loved him. Now Dean had said it to his angel, because he thought just those two words were enough, but Sam knew that this went deeper than his brother would ever admit.

"So, we gank the guy at the back door and snatch the ring, all while Cas stays in the car." Dean recapped as he stuffed the last bit of burger in his mouth and smiled at Sam, who nodded.

"Then we can all go out for ice cream and strippers, right Dean?" Sam responded with an easy smile. He scooted out of the booth and stood, waiting for the other two men.

"You know it Sammy." Dean smiled and winked as he followed Sam into a standing position, plopped some bills on the table, and walked out the door with Sam and Cas in tow.

They pulled up at Serenity Valley Convalescent Home shortly after darkness had fallen.

In the driver's seat Dean was feeling good, this was the second to last horsemen ring they had to get. He supposed he had even forgiven his little brother. No, forgiven was too strong a word, he had begun to understand Sam's reasons, even if he didn't agree with them.

In the passenger's seat Sam was feeling a little easier around Dean; before he had felt as though he was walking on eggshells, but Dean never called him "Sammy" when he was angry, so he must be getting over it. As far as Pestilence went, he supposed that it would be pretty easy, Dean and Sam had both gone on a hunt while sick before, and sure it was a little more difficult, but it wasn't that hard, so how hard could this be?

In the backseat Castiel was sulking about his inability to convince Dean to let him go with them, and he was frustrated by his unreciprocated feelings toward Dean. He didn't understand, after all those books that he had poured over in his studies, how did Dean not love him back? It didn't make any sense to him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, so he pushed it to the back of his brain, brooding would do him no good.

Both Winchester boys stepped out of the Impala and began walking up to the back door of the white building, ignoring the dark glares Castiel sent them. There was a guard standing there, and he seemed to be human. They sensed nothing supernatural about him.

"Hey. Hi. Uh, I'm looking for my Nana. Uh, her name is Eunice Kennedy."

"Go around front and see the nurse." The security guard responded lazily.

"You mind just helping me out sir?" Dean replied, balling his fist and swinging hard at the man's face, knocking him unconscious.

"Eunice Kennedy?" Sam said, walking around from his spot beside the building.

Dean smiled at Sam who had come to stand beside him. "That's the beauty of improv Sammy, you never know what's going to come out of your mouth." He reached out and opened the back door and stepped inside, pulling out the pistol in his waistband with his free hand.

"What're we looking for exactly?"

"Well, he's Pestilence, so he probably looks sick."

"Everyone looks sick." Sam looked up just in time to see a distortion on the monitor on the wall, right over a man's face. He nudged Dean and pointed with Ruby's knife. Dean looked up and nodded, walking down the white hall straight in front of them. After about five minutes they rounded a corner and found the bodies of a nurse and doctor on the floor. Sam had a violent coughing jag, he removed his hand from his mouth when he could breathe again and glanced to see that it was speckled with blood. He wiped it on his jacket, a disgusted look on his face. "Ugh.. Must be getting close." But Dean could barely hear him over his own coughing, his mouth lined with blood. Sam looked over at his brother just in time to see him fall against the wall. He stumbled over, vision blurring, and grabbed his jacket. "Come on Dean. Get up." He hauled him a couple steps, coughing raggedly, when Dean went limp beneath him. He let go of the fabric and stood up, he felt his lungs tighten as he took another step. Felt blood trickling from his mouth, another step. Felt his head get fuzzy and slip into blackness, another step. He reached a door and a nurse opened it.

"The doctor will see you now." She said, eyes flashing black. He looked beyond her to the old man sitting on the bed, he said something, maybe his name, Sam didn't know. He lifted up Ruby's knife when the worst sickness he'd ever felt fell over him, he blacked out and fell forward.

When Dean awoke he was in a room on the floor. He groaned at the white floor and looked up to see the blurred figures of a man and a woman, trying to ignore the horrible wrenching in his gut, as well as the pain in his limbs. It felt like every inch of his body, inside and out, was on fire. He felt weak, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. The taller blurred figure, who he'd assumed was Pestilence, bent down began speaking. "Hmm. You boys don't look well. It might be the, uh, Scarlet fever. Or, uh, the meningitis. Oh! Or the syphilis." He paused and clicked his tongue, shaking his head before he continued. "That's no fun. However you feel right now? It's gonna get so very, very much worse." He grabbed Sam's hair, pulling his head up to look at him. "Questions?" He let go and stood. Dean looked around hazily at his surroundings, maybe he could grab the table and… And do what? That wouldn't work. "… just describes… get sick." Pestilence was speaking, the words ebbing and flowing in Dean's brain as he swept the room with his eyes. Suddenly, he could make out the shape of Ruby's knife, he reached for it slowly. "… divide and conquer." Pestilence stepped on Dean's hand which gave out a nasty cracked, Dean hissed in pain as he watched the knife get kicked away by the other boot. "… in the end…. So weak…." Dean pulled his hand back to his body as soon as it was free and rested his head down on the floor, thankful for the coolness of the linoleum on his hot face. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the shuddering, trying to ignore the pain. "… one epidemic at a time…." Pulling breath into his body was getting more laborious, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on. He opened his eyes finally, squinting at Sam's pale, still body. "Now… On a scale of one to ten, how's your pain right now?" He finished silkily. Just then the door flew open and Dean looked toward the figure draped in tan.

"Cas?" Dean croaked. "I told you to-" but that was all he could muster as he started coughing again, his eyes welled up and soft tears flowed down his face. Castiel advanced toward Pestilence and was halfway through the room when he doubled over, coughing up blood. Dean watched the red drops fall on the white floor and felt a surge of protectiveness flow through him. Pestilence bent down and looked the newcomer in the face.

"Well, look at that. An occupied vessel, but powerless. Oh, that's fascinating. There's not a speck of angel in you, is there?" In a flash Castiel grabbed the knife to his left and stood, forcing the other man's hand onto the table and slicing off his fingers.

"Maybe just a speck." He forced through gritted teeth, the horseman's ring finger clattered onto the table in a pool of blood. The nurse let out an unearthly scream and tackled Castiel to the ground, fortunately she landed right on the knife still in his hand and died with a crackle of electricity.

Dean suddenly felt fine, save for the taste of blood in his mouth. He stood quickly, glad to be off the floor. They looked to where Pestilence stood hunched against the wall. "It's too late." He said and disappeared. Dean whirled around on Cas, now standing, all but ignoring Pestilence's ominous words entirely.

"I told you to wait in the car!" He bellowed, stepping over Sam and pulling Cas up by his lapels.

"Dean-" Sam began, standing up slowly.

Dean turned back to Sam momentarily, not letting go of the murderous-looking Castiel. "Shut up Sam!" He turned back to Cas. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Dean, I did what I thought was best." Castiel said forcefully. They were inches apart, and Dean could feel the former angel's heat seeping into him.

"You're human now Cas! Don't you get that?!"

"So are you Dean."

"I can handle myself. You could've died!" He let go and Castiel stumbled a moment before righting himself. Dean spun to storm out of the room when he felt a hand grab his shoulder with surprising strength and wheel him around, and once again he felt powerless as Castiel gripped his jacket and pulled him around until he was flat against the wall. Cas pushed forward until they were chest to chest and their faces were a mere inch apart. He felt Cas's hot breath on his lips as those blue eyes bored into his.

"You would be dead had I not shown up Dean. Do not forget who I used to be." Castiel sneered. He released the elder Winchester and turned around, coat billowing dramatically. He pushed past Sam and out the door. Sam paused, eyes wide, before he turned on his heel and followed. Dean waited a few moments before following both men; he grabbed the Horseman's finger and willed his arousal to go away before he finally set off behind his brother.