Hello.

Here be the sixth story, albeit a few days late. But, compared to the other ones, this one is a couple hundred words longer and was difficult difficult lemon difficult to write, for some fucking reason. But hey, it be done now.

Theme: Stars. Have you ever tried to find Pegasus before? What I described in here was a milder and abridged version of what trouble I actually went through to find the stupid constellation. With a shit fucking camera on top of it. It was all so fun. I swear. I still haven't gotten all the mud off my shoes yet.

Speaking of! Warnings: Swearing, excessive blood, multiple character deaths… That about covers it. Also, Amelia in this story isn't any of the Amelia's in the actual show. Just so you know.

Now, read on, mes chers.

All Nightmare Long

"Dean, I need your help."

"With what?"

"For stars."

"Stars."

"Yes."

"Why would you ask me for help with stars, Cas?"

"Because you live in the countryside, where there isn't as much light pollutionas in the city."

"Still don't see where I come into this."

"I need to come over tonight to take a picture of a constellation."

"Why?"

"A school assignment."

"Fine."

"Great. I'll be there at eight tonight."

"Seeya, Cas."

"Bye, Dean."

Dean huffed as the line clicked on the other end. Sometimes he wondered how it was that he had ever found himself the raven's friend to begin with. He was hardly a socially skilled person back then, and that hadn't improved in the five years they had known each other, as he was now reminded of.

His phone rang again, and he answered without even having to look at who it was.

"Yes, I'll be there in half an hour to get you, Cas."

"… Thank you, Dean."

And they hung up again. The blond sighed andheaved himself out of the comfort of his bed to get his boots and jacket on. He grabbed his keys and went out to where his baby car was parked in the yard. He slid behind the wheel easily and smiled warmly when the engine roared to life. The Impala had been given to him by his father as a graduation present three years ago, on the promise that he treat the car with the utmost care. So far, Dean had been doing a pretty decent job of it, if he did say so himself.

Dean pulled out of the drive way, wheels kicking up gravel from the road in a way that he knew made his mother cringe. He sped down the short unpaved road, music already blasting and the windows down, and veered onto one of the main roads that led into Lawrence. As promised, he got to Castiel's apartment in little less than half an hour. He glanced at the time on his phone as he sent a quick text to his friend that he was waiting in the parking lot. He leaned against the driver's door and lit up a cigarette as he waited.

"You know those will kill you, right?" Castiel said from his right in his uniquely rough voice.

Dean turned and took an appreciative look of the raven as he blew out smoke. He was dressed in the dark jeans that clung just right to his hips, ripped at the knees from years of use. He had on a loose black T-shirt under his ever-present beige trench coat, hair artfully tussled – 'artfully' meaning that he just didn't touch it since getting out of bed – that fell over his eyes a little, but not quite hiding their bright azure depths. Dean wanted nothing more than to run his hands through it, to feel the scratch of his stubble against his lips as he-

He cut his train of thought short. Instead, the blond plucked the stick from his lips and replied sassily, "You're just as bad as me."

He snatched it from Dean's fingers and took a pull. "Not true."

Dean smirked and left it to him as they got in the car and drove back to his house. The sun was just setting behind the distant treeline when they pulled in. Mary and Sam had left not long ago for his little brother's parent-teacher conference at his school, and his father was out at the bar until way later, so the blond was in no hurry to butch his smoke while Castiel gathered his bag and books. They walked to the door slowly sharing the cigarette, until it was done and Dean flicked it far into the bushes where he knew his mother never went when taking care of the yard and entered the house.

The pair went to the kitchen table and Castiel set up his laptop and camera, as well as adjusted his star wheel to the right position. Dean plopped down across him, fiddling idly with the plastic contraption. Castiel sent him a sideways glance from behind his screen.

"Do you know how to use that?" he asked, still clicking at stuff on his computer.

"Not a clue." He replied and spun the outermost ring.

The raven clicked one last thing and moved the device out of his way. He plucked the star wheel from Dean's hands and set about explaining how it worked to him. "The biggest ring we don't use. The second one is the date. Today we are October second, so I turn this until it's on the meridian. Next is the time…"

"Eight o' two." Dean supplied.

"Let's say eight. So same as the date, we put it in line with the meridian as well. Then, you see this circle that is paler than the rest? It contains all the stars we can see on October second, at eight o'clock." He looked up at Dean to make sure he was following.

The blond pointed to the kind of tab thing in the middle. "What's that for?"

"Not sure. Our teacher was a little vague on how to use that one." Castiel didn't seem perturbed in the least.

"And which constellation to have to find?"

"Pegasus."

"Like the horse with the wings?"

"Yes."

Dean leaned back in his chair, a light chuckle on his lips. "Man, they must've been smoking some good shit to see a fucking flying horse in the sky."

The raven frowned. "I don't believe marijuana was used when they named the constellation, Dean."

He snorted. "You sure? You weren't there."

"It was probably more with mushrooms or special brews." He smirked.

"Not as innocent as ya look, huh Cas?" Dean returned the grin wholeheartedly.

The grabbed the camera and the tripod, along with the star wheel and went outside in the field behind Dean's house. They set it up and then tried to find Pegasus in the sky. Thankfully, it was beautiful night for stargazing, but with so many stars out, it was difficult trying the find which on was theirs. The poured over their map and looked up so much Dean's neck was starting to get an ache.

"It's supposed to be right above Pisces." The raven said, frowning down at the plastic contraption in his hands. "And Pisces is supposed to be right… There." He pointed vaguely to the west above them.

Dean leaned over his shoulder to look at the map in the raven's hands, close enough to share heat, but not quite touching. He pointed to the square of Pegasus' body. "Look, those four make a big square just between the two fish. Can't be that hard to spot a giant fucking square in the sky."

Castiel looked up along with Dean to stare at the sky once again. "Apparently it is." He frowned.

He straightened and pointed at the sky again. "Well, we know that the left fish is right there, at the end of that line," he drew a curve from the starting point of the constellation. "So the other fish is laying more to the right, meaning that Pegasus should be smack down in the middle between them."

"Yes, logically." He didn't sound convinced.

"Right." He squinted up at the stars far above.

For a long moment, both friends stared up, the noise of crickets and distant cars occasionally passing by the only sounds.

"Do you think it's because it's not dark enough out here?" Dean asked, still trying to find the stupid square.

"That may be… Is there somewhere darker we can go?" Castiel looked at him.

The blond returned the look, vacantly as he searched his memory of places where there was absolutely no light for miles. The something came up. "There's a place, a little while from here, by the river, where there really isn't anything around for miles."

"Is it dark?"

"Very." Dean said gravely, trying hard not to laugh at the faint expression of discomfort of his friend.

"… Ok. I'll go get my laptop and we can go." He busied himself picking up the school-rented equipment.

"What's wrong, Cas?" Dean prompted, even if he knew what was bothering the raven.

"It's very dark out."

"Yeah?"

"There are… animals around here that hunt at night." He was dancing around the subject.

"Yep." Dean drawled and popped the 'p' at the end.

Castiel twitched and turned sharply to the blond. "What is your problem?" he snapped.

"Me?" he feigned surprise. "Nothing. But you, on the other hand…"

"Hey! It's perfectly rational to be a little nervous when in the middle of bloody nowhere after sundown!" he defended and made a move to walk past Dean. "It has been proven that fear is hereditary. In a lad, they exposed mice to the scent of cherry blossoms, and then shocked them. Those mice learned to fear the scent of cherry blossoms, as did the next generation, even if they hadn't been shocked immediately after like their predecessors had."

"Pretty sure there ain't any cherry blossoms around here, Cas." Dean replied, still with a mocking smirk.

"What I'm saying is that there is a reason that I am uncomfortable in dark places, particularly those surrounded with trees or plenty of cover for things that may be lurking around." He snapped at last as he yanked open the Impala's back door on the passenger side.

He slammed in closed and stood staring at Dean, irritated, a hand on his hip. Dean came around the car and slung an arm over his shoulder, guiding him to the house to get his computer. "Don't worry, sweetheart," he drawled. "I'll protect ya."

Castiel snorted, though some of the rigidity in his stance melted a little under his friend's touch. "I doubt that. If anything, you'd be killed first, and I'll wind up saving you."

Dean gasped. "I never knew that you thought so little of me, Cas! That hurts!" he removed his arm from around his shoulders as though he was insulted.

Castiel shut his computer and stuffed in in his bag before truing back to Dean. He looked like he was going to retort, but then clamped his jaw shut and his stance became rigid again, distant. Dean frowned at the sudden change in attitude. He knew the raven could be a little mercurial at times, but this was different.

"Look dude," Dean softened. "I'm only kidding. Nothing bad is gonna happen."

"I know." Was all he said and exited the house.

Dean gave a long sigh, utterly confused by his behavior, and followed him out to the Impala. The took off in the direction of the place Dean had in mind, music filling the uncomfortable silence that had settled between them in the car. The gravel road flowed beneath them as they drove, Castiel looking out the window, looking at the passing trees and fields, ready to be harvested soon. Dean occasionally stole glances at him, noting the sharp outline of his nose and jaw, the heavy set to his brow and the slight downward curve of his mouth as though he was thinking intensely.

"Are you okay, Cas?" Dean turned down the music and asked in a soft voice.

"I'm fine." He said without looking at him.

"No, you're not. I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

He glanced at the raven again, and found him looking at Dean with eyebrows in his hairline. "Dean Winchester, apologizing? What's the occasion?" He laid the sarcasm on heavily.

Dean pulled a bitchface. "Ha ha, jerk. But seriously, I am sorry."

"And I said I was fine," Castiel repeated.

"Are you?" Dean prodded.

"Yes."

"Sure?"

"Yes." He ground out, trying not to return his friend's stupid grin.

"A hundred percent positive?"

The raven turned to him with a deadly serious intent. "I'm not only sure, Dean. I'm HIV positive."

Dean barked out and ugly laugh and Castiel followed suit. "I'm afraid I don't have a hundred and eighty thousand bucks to cure you, buddy."

They chatted on about stuff like they always do, Dean happy that he got the raven out his momentary shell of isolation and silence. After a while, Dean turned downa narrow dirt path and eventually into a field entrance, where no human civilization could be seen for miles. They climbed out of the car and grabbed the camera and tripod. They walked a little ways into the field, far enough that the power lines would not get in the shot, but close enough that they still had the car in sight, glinting like a dark diamond under the night sky. The river's gentle murmur joined itself to the orchestra of night life.

Castiel set up the camera and Dean fiddled with the star wheel, trying to remember his friend's explanations earlier. An arm snaked its way around him to grab the plastic guide and adjusted one of the wheels. It made Dean start a little, the sudden proximity of the raven.

"According to this, it should be just about… There." He pointed to the sky.

Dean followed his hand, searching for one of the two fish of Pisces. He could now find those easily, but the square of Pegasus was still another story. The sky was indeed darker here and he could see even more stars than he could in the field behind his house. But still, he couldn't pinpoint the constellation.

"Can you see it yet?" he asked, trying hard not to lean in to Castiel.

He let his arm drop. "No." he sighed, defeat heavy in his voice.

Dean turned around to face him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find it, Cas. Come on," he added, a wry smile playing on his lips. "If you're having trouble, imagine the rest of the idiots in your class."

A corner of his mouth lifted. "I still can't believe one of them actually asked if the stars were really linked together by physical lines."

"Neither can I." the blond laughed and went over to the camera.

After a few more minutes of staring at the sky like it was a puzzle, they finally made out the square of Pegasus. From there, they saw where the rest of the constellation spread out. Now was the problem of taking a picture of the accursed thing. They had nothing to guide their aim, so they just took a bunch of pictures of what they thought was about the right place. Once done and starting to get fed up, they picked up the equipment and went back over to the car. While Castiel took out his laptop, Dean sat down the hood and took out a cigarette.

The raven came back and plunked down beside his friend, unabashedly taking the smoke, puffing an giving it back. He opened up his computer.

"The nerve of you." Dean said and blew out a small white cloud that enveloped them, disgust on his features.

"Admit it: you like it." Castiel teased seriously without looking up from connecting the camera.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

Dean snorted beside him. Not that he would ever say otherwise, but he had to keep up appearances. He had reputation to maintain – kinda. Whatever.

The raven clicked on the first of the pictures. "Okay so… Here's Pisces," he gestured with the mouse in a vague V shape across two lines of stars. "So then… These four must be Pegasus, and then these and these must be the head and the legs, and this one is the tail!" he said victorious at last.

Dean looked over at the screen and flicked ash from the cigarette. He still couldn't see it, but he nodded along. "See? I told you you'd find it!"

Castiel looked at him, face flat, so long that it made the blond uncomfortable. "You still can't see it, can you?"

Dean was glad for the cover of the night when he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment at being caught. "Uh, no. Not really."

Castiel sighed with amusement. "You don't ever listen to what I say, Dean."

"Not true!" he defended. "I know that your birthday is July tenth and that you like hamburgers with a passion. You like musical movies and hate hearing people chew." He listed.

"I just can't fucking stand it." He shuddered.

"I know that you lip sing to every song in the South Park movie, even when you think I'm not looking."

"I do not!" he recoiled, guilty insult on his features.

"Yes, you do, Cas."

"Yeah well… You know every damn line of every Doctor Sexy episode!" he fired back.

"It's a good show!" Dean snapped. "Besides, you're just as bad with Doctor Who! Particularity with the Tenth Doctor."

"I like David Tennant!"

"So much you watched Casanova. And that thing sucked." Dean chuckled.

"It did not! One would think you'd be able to relate to him." He crossed his arms over his chest, a smug smirk on his lips.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Dean narrowed his eyes at the raven.

"Just that you've been through half of the girls in our senior ."

"Just 'cause I couldn't have the one I wanted." He mumbled under his breath.

Castiel narrowed his eyes in turn. He had caught that. "And who was it that you so lusted after but couldn't have?"

Dean took a breath, his heart suddenly beating fast in his chest. "You remember that night you got really drunk at Jo's birthday?"

His face morphed into a frown. "Yeah?"

"Well, what do you remember about that night?" the blond asked, looking out into the night towards the river.

He huffed and gazed blankly down at his screen. "Not much, to be honest. The tequila was pretty good. I think I danced? But I don't remember with who."

"You danced with me."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"You told me you'd thought of…" Dean swallowed. It was usually easy for him to say vulgar shit, but when it came to Castiel, it seemed that he suddenly grew a conscience. "You thought of fucking me, a few times."

The silence that fell between them was almost palpable it was so thick. The sound of the crickets was near deafening. Dean clenched his hands into tight fists on his knees, waiting for Castiel to say or do anything. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest and his mind was racing so fast he couldn't focus on a single thought at a time. He felt panic rising within him. Why did he bring this up? Why couldn't he just learn to fucking shut up sometimes? Why did he always have to fuck up everything all the time? He did it with school, he did it with Lisa, he did it with his dad, and that was still a damn touchy subject, even years after the fact. Shit. And now he'd done it with Cas. Why-

He jumped when he heard the raven snap his laptop shut and hop off the Impala's hood. He went to the back, threw his computer in along with the camera and tripod. He slammed the door shut and climbed into the passenger's side. Dean remained seated on the car, gazing vacantly at his lap.

"Can you at least take me home?" Castiel's gruff voice brought him back to reality.

He looked back through the windshield at the raven, a hard set to his face that decidedly did not fit him well. "What?" he said stupidly.

"You don't want to be around me right now, I get it." His tone was hard. "Can you at least take me home? Or would you rather I call a cab?"

The blond jumped off the hood, his legs unsteady beneath him. He collapsed in the driver's seat, but made no move to take out the keys. The raven huffed impatiently in the seat beside him before reaching for the door handle.

"Why wouldn't I want to be around you?" he finally asked.

Castiel froze. "Because of what I said.

"So?"

"'So'? I told you I wanted to fuck you, Dean." The words sounded harsh in his mouth. Not at all alike the first time he said them. "You should hate me for even thinking it in the first place."

"I don't."

"Bullshit." He spat and yanked the door open.

Dean grabbed the sleeve of his coat. "I don't he repeated and looked into Castiel's eyes. His mind was struggling to find something to add, anything to keep him from leaving. The fact that he would rather go out into the dark than spend another second with Dean was truly wounding. "If I didn't want you around me, I wouldn't have stuck around so long. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I didn't you thinking about me like that?" he paused and steeled his nerves. "That maybe I… I thought about you too?"

Castiel was breathing heavily, rigid under Dean's touch. His blue eyes flick from Dean's let to his right, down to his lips and to his hand still on his arm. He looked back up to his eyes and stared intently, face carefully blank. He still didn't believe him.

"It's true, Cas. The one you said I 'lusted after but couldn't have' – that's you."

"No."

"Yes."

"It can't be." He still refused.

"Stop saying that. I mean it."

"But it can't, Dean!" he finally shouted.

"Why not?!" He returned, equally as loud.

"Because!"

"Because what?!"

"Because God is dead and miracles don't fucking happen!"

Dean pulled him in close and smashed their lips together. It shocked Castiel still, and Dean took advantage of the split second to wrap him up in his arms so he couldn't get away even if he tried. Once the shock passed, though, he pulled back roughly and stared the blond down. He looked like he was fighting a losing battle against tears, if the watery glaze in their blue depths were anything to go by.

"Why?"

"Because I-" Dean faltered. "I love you, Cas."

He snorted. "Since when?" It was meant as sarcasm, but it flew over Dean's head.

"About three years, I think."

"Hilarious."He didn't laugh.

"I mean it."

And he proved his point by pressing his mouth to Castiel's once more. He lifted one hand to his jaw, the rough stubble tickling the pads of his fingers. The raven took a shuddering breath and twitched his lips against Dean's, which only encouraged his desire to prove to him that he did love him. He relaxed and leaned into the blond, giving in to the kiss.

After having gotten over each other, they got busy, and Dean had never been more thankful for the long seats of the Impala. He leaned Castiel back and climbed on top of him, one leg between his. It was messy, frantic, all teeth and tongue, but it was perfect. Dean carded his hands through his hair, reveled at its softness. Castiel responded perfectly to him, eager and near desperate, like he needed to be reassured that it was real, that this was really happening, and Dean felt his heart ache for the raven. He should have told him sooner, how he felt.

Instead, he showed him now, in the way he caressed his jaw, in the way he nipped at his lips and trailed kisses down his neck, eliciting small gasps from the raven beneath him. Fine fingers wound their way into his shorter hair and tugged lightly, which added fuel to Dean's fire that was already blazing pretty hot.

Then Castiel pushed him away, both hands on his chest, and Dean couldn't help the sting of rejection that spiked through him. But it quickly passed when he saw the raven looking up at him, breathless, but worried.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"Listen!" the raven hissed.

Both stood absolutely still, even held their breath, and they listened. The sound of night life was all they heard, along with the quiet hum of the nearby river, but nothing perturbed the otherwise silent night. Just as the blond was about to roll his eyes at Castiel, who was once again imagining things that weren't there, he heard a loud splash of water and a cry that broke the peace.

Dean scrambled back from the raven and the pair ran out to the river with the light of their phones. The blond twisted an ankle in the process and almost fell flat on his face, saved at the expense of feeling like he broke his arm, but kept going despite the sharp pain that shot through his leg every time his foot hit the ground. Castiel burst through the small thicket of trees on the river's edge first, followed shortly by Dean. He stopped to catch his breath and hobbled on one foot, letting the injured one rest while they tried to locate the source of the cry.

A little ways to east, there was another splash, this time accompanied by a garbled yell. They pointed their lights in that direction, and sure enough, they saw small arms flailing in the deeper part of the river. Castiel took off without regards for Dean, who painfully limped along as fast as he could.

"Cas!" he shouted. "Cas, wait! Fuck!" he swore as he nearly fell again because of an unearthed root.

"We have to get him out!" Castiel called from the riverbank, where the recent lack of rain had left large expanses of sand that led fairly far into the river, but at the center, where the kid was struggling, it was still very deep.

"Cas, don't!" he hurried over to where the raven was standing and griped him with a heavy hand.

"He's drowning, Dean!" the raven hurriedly kicked off his shoes and dropped his phone in the sand, blinding Dean a second as it fell.

"I'll go-"

"Your ankle is hurt and you probably fractured your arm." He cut off. "Just stay here and keep the light on us."

He gave no time for the blond to protest before running into the water. Thankfully, the current wasn't too strong, so the child was a relatively stationary objective, but that didn't stop Dean's stomach from clenching with nerves as he felt useless on the riverbank, just illuminating the raven's path to the kid. As he swam ever farther into the dark waters, all the things that could be lurking beneath the surface came to mind. Suddenly he understood Castiel's fear of the dark.

He was close now, to the kid, almost within arm's reach, and then he went under. Castiel wasted no time in plunging under, thus disappearing from Dean's view. His heart stopped. For long minutes, he waited on the river's edge, the light trembling in his hands, and it was actually painful to hear the crickets and the frogs sing on without a care that two people were potentially dead.

"Cas?" he called out, even though he knew it was useless. He couldn't possibly hear him under the water. "Castiel?" he tried again.

"That's a lovely name." A soft voice said from his right.

Dean whirled around to see a young woman with soft features and brown hair drawn into a ponytail over her shoulder standing beside him, staring out over the river with a small, sad smile. She was dressed in old clothes, like those he'd seen in history books at school during the colonial times, tattered and the hem of the dress soaked like she had wadded knee-deep in the water. She clutched her hands together over her chest.

"Who are?"

"My name is Amelia." She replied just as quietly.

"My friend Cas, he went in to save a kid from drowning."

"That would be my son, Thomas."

"What the fuck is your son doing out here in the middle of the night?!" he rose his voice to a panicked pitch.

"He is a very lonely boy. He was looking for a friend." Amelia smiled at him sadly. "I've brought him many before, but… They never quite got along."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Dean felt the cold fingers of dread wrap themselves around the base of his spine.

"Your friend, Castiel… He is a nice boy. I think Thomas will like him." She returned her gaze to where the raven still hadn't resurfaced.

Realization hit him like a sledgehammer. "No…" he breathed. He ran into the water and his ankle protested with every step he wadded further into the chilling water. "No! You can't do this!" He shouted without looking at the spectral woman. "Cas! Castiel!"

He got about waist deep and then he awkardy swam to where he'd seen them go under. His arm hurt like a bitch, but he pushed through the pain, desperate to find him. He had never had a chance to use his phone like this before, and he was now immensely grateful that it was water resistant. He shined the light down and around the place, though the water seemed only to drink in the light hungrily, the bottom apapprently a longer way down than was reality. It seemed endless, and made Dean's stomach pitch.

"He won't like you." The woman called from the shore, her voice unnaturally loud for the distance.

"And I don't like him." The blond spat back venmously with one last glare at Amelia.

And he dove down into the abyss.

X

Dean woke with a spluttering gasp, bolting straight up in his bed. He was covered in sweat, the sheets tangled around his legs and threatning to strangle him. He yanked them away, taking in deep gulps of air as he tried to calm his thundering heart. His hand instinctively went to his injured arm and rubbed. No pain. He moved his bad ankle. Nothing.

A dream. It was all just a dream.

He looked to Castiel's sleeping form beside him, curled in the blankets facing away from Dean. He took a deep breath, counted to three, and let it out. Inhale, count to four, exhale. Count to five. He closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand over his face before he lay back down and curled up against the raven. Dean wraped an arm around his chest and found his hand to twine their fingers together.

He froze.

Water.

There was water eveywhere. Castiel was soaking wet. Dean recoiled violently, and the motion sent the raven rolling back towards him on his back. His face was pale, his lips blue and trickling water, hair a dark mess plastered to his head and sticking out at odd angles on the pillows, blue eyes open but so, so hauntingly empty. Dean shireked in horror and fell out of the bed, knocking his head painfully on the wall behind.

"I said he wouldn't like you, Dean…" Amelia's voice flitted across the room to his ears in a chilling tone.

"W-what?" He somehow managed to stutter. He could still see the outline of Castiel's body on the bad above him. Dean wanted to throw up.

"My Thomas was always a picky one. He treasures the ones who love him, but the ones he doesn't… Well, you can see what happens."

She chuckled, sorrow tainting the musical sound.

X

"Dean! Wake up!" Hands shook him roughly. "Damn it, Dean! Wake the fuck up, will you?!"

A harsh slap to the face did it. "Ow! Fuck!" he sputtered and brought a hand to his stinging cheek.

"Finaly!" Castiel exclaimed and heaved a sigh as he fell back on his heels.

They were back in the Impala, laying across the front seat. Dean looked at the raven. He was alive. He was safe. He was dry. The sun was rising behind him, casting the raven with a halo of golden light. If there was ever a time Dean saw an angel, it was definetly now.

He flung himself at him to envelop his thinner frame in his arms. "Oh, thank fuck." He breathed against his neck, fingers tangled in the hair at the back of his head.

"Dean," Castiel tried, tapping his shoulder gently. "I can't breathe." He wheezed theatrically.

"Sorry," he mumbled and eased up. "I just had a couple really bad dreams, dude, you wouldn't believe."

"Ha, I hear you. I just woke up from a really-"

A lound shot was heard, like a gun, and warmth splattered Dean's front. When he opened his eyes, he saw the seeping blood from the multiple holes his Castiel's chest, his shirt torn to shreds, an expression of utter shock on his face. He looked down, then back up at Dean, who could only scramble away from him into the passenger side fo the car, his knees to his chest.

"Dean-"

Blood dribbled down his chin, staining his lips red. He reached a hand towards him, his breath wheezing and laborious. If possible, the blond backed even farther away, horror stopping his heart and twisting is stomach like a knife. Castiel fell face-first into the seat, crimson liquid pooling on the beige leather and revealing the ugly hole in his back. He jerked a few times, fighting to cling to life even as it fought to flee him. At last, he stilled.

Dean did not move. He could only stare at the lifeless body of his friend, sprawled inelegantly across the driver's seat. He didn't know how much time passed that he stayed there as shock numbed his mind, the sun rose above the horizon, glinting in the red pools spreading from the wounds. He felt blood dry on his skin, caking his lashes and making it difficult to see.

"I told you, Dean." A gentle voice flitted to him.

He didn't even blink as he responded vacantly. "Fuck off."

"It's never going to end." She said, and then stepped to enter the Impala. She sat on the back seat and gazed at him sadly. "Once he has you, there is no escaping. Your own personal Hell, I've heard some call it."

Dean could only breathe.

Yep, that's that. Ghosts, man. Real fuckers when you don't know how to take care of 'em. Anyway, happy season 13 tomorrow night! I've been stressing for like two months, because my Angel of Floof went and done gooffed in season 12, and left me on such a fucking cliff I wanted to throw myself down it. But now, we get answers at last!

-Miri.