Dean supported Castiel's body gingerly as the angel retched over the grassy roadside. He held Cas's shoulders, wanting to pat his back but what with the wings, he felt slightly...awkward.

"It's alright, Cas. I'm here buddy, that's it, just get it out." After a moment Cas's body stilled. "You okay?"

"No. Dean, I cannot travel like this any further. I need to...rest."

The hunter took in his angel's gaunt face, eyes bruised, skin cut and torn; a thick layer of blood, sweat and grime slicked his body. Vibrant blue irises looked pale and that made Dean's heart squeeze tighter than any of Cas's injuries. His angel was kneeling on the verge, blackened feathers placed on the back seat behind him; the smaller man's arms seemed to unconsciously move to cross over his own chest. Dean blinked, realising how naked Castiel was. Ears heating, the hunter cleared his throat, shrugging out of his leather jacket he placed it over Cas's chest, noting how the angel gripped it tightly, brought the collar to his chin and breathed deeply; his purpled eyelids fluttering closed.

"Okay Cas, there'll be a motel nearby. We can stop off, I'll call Sammy, and it'll be fine, okay?"

Dean's jacket smelt delicious. The worn leather scented by sweet blood, salty skin and Dean's musky aftershave. All home smells; all Dean. Castiel sighed to himself as the soft fabric warmed his aching body. Dean was muttering something to him but Cas just wanted to- he didn't know this feeling. His empty stomach made him feel weak, his grace too tired to replenish his nutritional levels. For once the angel's mind felt foggy, as he blinked, the verge pitched and churned and rushed up to meet him.

Castiel fell forward into the grass, smoky wings spilling out over his body like choking smoke, bound in brown leather; storm clouds over the moon. At once Dean lunged down to his partner's side, shaking the slim shoulders of Cas's vessel and then he stopped. Soft breathing met his ears, peaceful breathing; sleepy breathing.

Castiel had fallen asleep.

As gently as possible -considering the man-size, feathered appendages plus the actual man himself- the hunter bundled his angel into the back seat, front side down; leather jacket still firmly clasped between Cas's fingers. Rushing back into the driver's seat, Dean kicked the engine to life, in immediate search of the nearest motel.

An hour later Dean had successfully transferred his angel into the king bed suite, laying the smaller man down on his front; slowly and with as much care as he could he slipped his belt from around Cas's waist - Dean glanced over at Cas before bringing the phone to his ear.

"Detective Ryan-"

"Hey Sammy, it's me."

"Dean! Where the hell are you? You know how late you are, right? I thought you'd been ganked you asshole." Sam ranted, adding as an after note, his voice quiet and uncertain, "What about Cas?"

"We're fine Sammy. Well...Cas has been better but he's okay. He couldn't handle the drive after- err...new stuff came up. Sammy, I've got to go, Cas is waking up."

"Cas is asleep? Dean what-?"

Dean promptly hung up, cutting his not-so-little brother off, mid complaint. "Bitch," he muttered before heading toward the basin. Snapping a towel from the rack, Dean bunched it and stuck the cheap fabric under half-warm torrent; it would have to do.

Castiel could feel a sharp sensation on his leg, hot and sore. The flow of heat burned through him, over him, consuming him in one aching wave. His body shuddered, long wings trembling and splaying above him.

A soft gasp snapped Castiel out of his sleepy stupor.

His aches became much more incredibly apparent, his wounds itching and stinging, the burns heating as they brushed over the bedding when he moved. Turning onto a wing he shoved his back up against a headboard; appendages cocooning him defensively.

"Cas- hey, it's me! You okay? Castiel?" Dean held a soiled towel in one hand, the other raised in a calming motion, like taming an animal.

"What are you doing, Dean?" Castiel murmured, eyes fixed on his hunter.

"I'm just trying to clean you up a bit," Cas noticed a light pink tinge rising in Dean's cheeks as the taller man averted his eyes. Tilting his head, Cas studied the colour change curiously. "Trying to clean your cuts." Slowly, Castiel relaxed his newly manifested limbs, allowing them to spread out either side of him. The angel watched as Dean's eyes raked down his body cataloguing every laceration. The hunter's cheeks reddened further as his eyes lingered over Castiel's hips.

"Dean," the angel's heart stuttered as the green eyed man's attention snapped back up to his face. "Would you...continue, please?"

Dean cursed himself for taking advantage of his innocent angel. Castiel's eyes -that had only recently been round with terror-blinked back at him, soft and gentle. Nodding slowly, Dean crawled up the bed until he was kneeling by Cas's hip; the shredded wings preventing him going any further.

"This might sting, Cas." Gently, the hunter brought the towel down onto the angel's arm, softly dabbing at a particularly bloody bruise. The angel hissed as the coarse fabric ran over his raw skin and jerked his arm away. "Dammit, Cas, sorry. I'm sorry," After all the pain his angel had been through and now Dean was just making it worse. "I gotta clean these,"

"My grace will do it-"

"Castiel, you are exhausted, let me help. What can I do?" The hunter glared at the smaller man while Cas thought.

"There is one thing but...Dean, you won't like it." The angel avoided his gaze, a red tinge rising in his pallid cheeks.

"God dammit Cas, tell me, I want to help." Sitting back on his heels, Dean noticed Cas's wing curling back to cover the lithe body. "Don't hide from me Castiel. Come on man, don't make me beg." Cas seemed to consider this a moment then, as usual, staring straight through Dean's eyes into his soul, Cas spoke.

"Well Dean, as you are the righteous man your soul is brighter than even the most devout being. And I am, in all the ways that count, your Guardian angel. We have a particular bond between your soul and my grace meaning I can heal you with my energy and you-"

"I can heal you with mine... right?" Dean scrutinised his angel's face, that didn't seem so bad. "Okay, what do I do?" The hunter hovered his hands in the air, ready to dive into action at any moment.

"Well, I have to touch your soul-" Dean winced at the thought, Bobby had told him how that felt. Cas seemed to sense his fear, "Dean, it will not hurt you. Unlike Bobby, we are connected through your soul already. Energy from your soul will transfer through just your skin, my grace and your soul already know one another intimately enough for contact to be enough." The hunter cringed slightly, he didn't think he knew Cas's grace all that 'intimately'...his brow furrowed.

"So...that's it? I just have to touch you?"

Castiel nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off of Dean for even one second. Hesitantly, the hunter placed a finger just below the welt on his wrist.

Nothing happened.

He looked back up to the angel's face, "I don't think-" Castiel's eyes had already fluttered closed, his breath deepening.

"It is working."