Fingers trailing up and down his back awoke Dean. Unlike the last time he awoke, he knew everything that had happened. There was no lag in this thoughts as he tried to figure out who it was he was wrapped around, or who's hand it was that had awoken him. Each slide of the fingers along his spine seemed to echo his companion's name: Castiel.

A quick glance at the clock let Dean know that it was easily the next day. He didn't know what time it was when he'd last awoken, since he'd not had the courage to check the clock then, but he dimly recalled that Gabriel had brought Castiel to the bunker just after lunch time. They'd spent around 12 hours in bed together, longer than he'd ever spent in bed with someone without extracurricular activities being involved. Part, if not most. of that had been him simply trying to heal Castiel from the consequences that had come from when the angel had broken their bond what felt like centuries ago now. At the time he could recall the feeling of basically trying to hold the angel together, somehow feeling like maybe if he held on just a little tighter then it would increase the angel's chances of recovery.

When Castiel had awoken him then, there had been a flood of relief that he could remember. Seeing the angel awake and out of the woods, so to speak, had lent him some of the courage that he'd needed for their conversation. He remembered the tightening in his chest as Castiel explained the bond, what it meant exactly. Then what had followed when Castiel placed the bond back on his arm...

Sighing, Dean let his eyes fall back shut and turned his head to press it more firmly into Castiel's shoulder. The move managed to get a small huff of almost silent laughter in response. Wanting to know what Castiel looked like at that moment, sleepy and amused (Dean assumed that Castiel had slept) Dean tilted his head up to look at Castiel. Blue eyes looked down on him, the angel's face looking more relaxed than Dean could ever really remember seeing it.

A flash to realization ran through Dean at that moment. He was content. Scratch that, he was happy to have woken up next to the angel...the rather obviously male angel. He wasn't about to say that he hadn't messed around in his youth. He'd experimented like many guys did, but he'd always gone for the ladies. To suddenly be at ease with waking up next to a very male person should have been odd. Part of him was telling him that he should be having a big gay freak out right about now.

He couldn't muster up the energy to do so, though. Everything about this just felt...right. Like they'd been fighting it for so long, or like he'd been ignoring the connection for so long that it had just slid right into place now that he'd accepted it.

He could remember once or twice when Castiel had described his connection to Dean as a 'profound bond' and now that Dean really knew what was going on, he was inclined to agree.

Pushing the thoughts from his mind for the moment, Dean gave Castiel a small smile.

Tentative fingers lifted and traced against Dean's stubbled jaw, Castiel's face turning contemplative and perhaps a bit nervous. Turning his head, Dean let his eyes drift close again and nuzzled against the hand on his face, trying to let Castiel know that it was okay. They were okay. Yeah, he wasn't really sure what to do with where they were, but he was happy and they were okay.

The fingers firmed slightly, guiding Dean's head back up and before the hunter knew what was happening and could argue, after all morning breath was gross and his probably worse since he'd not had a chance to brush his teeth the night before with everything happening, lips met his. For a moment neither of them moved. Castiel's lips were warmer than any that Dean's had felt before and the chapped, plush skin gave slightly against this own. It almost felt like electricity surged through him, as their lips pressed together, and it was with a gasp that he finally broke the kiss.

Instead of backing off, Dean couldn't help but drift forward again, meeting Castiel's lips once more with his, starting them along a slow dance of lips and tongue. It seemed to go on forever, but at the same time it didn't seem like any time had passed before the kisses grew more aggressive, more demanding. Hands started drifting, mapping out exposed flesh, testing and giving in equal measures.

Pulling back, breath coming in heavy pants and eyes flashing open to look up at the angel once more, Dean smirked slightly and let his hand drift down to tap at the belt around Castiel's waist. "You feel up to more?" He was met with a sharp grin and a hand grabbing the back of his neck, tugging his head back to mash lips together once more.

DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC

With Castiel laying next to Dean, one arm and leg thrown across the hunter and his head buried in his shoulder, the two of them laid there as their heart rates slowed and their breaths evened out again. Sluggishly, Dean let one of his hands trace up and down the angel's back while his eyes blinked slowly up at the ceiling. He wasn't in any rush to move, to break the calm, peaceful bliss that weighed his body down and kept his mind just foggy enough to be pleasant.

Then their peace ran out. Why either of them thought that they were going to get the chance to just laze around without interruption was beyond them, as it didn't seem to ever be in their cards.

Dean's bedroom door was suddenly swung open, hitting the wall and bouncing back slightly though Sam strode through quick enough to avoid being hit. Of course, when Sam's eyes landed on the two of them – naked and sprawled against each other, Dean with a look of mild panic and Castiel blissfully content to just lay there – his eyes grew wide and his hand immediately slapped over them.

"Oh my god, Dean! Put on some clothes." Sam practically shrieked, spinning sharply on his heel so he wasn't facing them anymore, though he still kept his hand over his eyes.

Grunting and rolling his eyes, Dean carefully disengaged from Castiel and moved over to his dresser to grab a pair of boxers and sweats. After pulling them on, he grabbed another pair of sweats and threw them at Castiel, who shot him a questioning, confused look, though thankfully he put on the pants and sat up on the bed. It was still obvious what they were doing, but Dean figured that there was no point in trying to straighten up with Sam in the room having already seen.

Turning his attention back to his brother, who was still standing there red faced with his hand held firmly over his eyes, Dean couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his lips. "I guess that will teach you to enter my room without permission again, huh? Now, what are you ruining my afterglow for?"

Sam turned his head to look in Dean's direction, parting his fingers just enough to peek through to make sure he was dressed before dropping his hand entirely and turning to face him fully. "Gabriel showed up yesterday in the bunker without any warning, but said that you'd let him in and Castiel was hurt. I wanted to come and see if he was doing any better. I would have come yesterday when I found out, but Gabe was pretty insistent that I give you some time to 'let the mojo work' and to not bother you two. I guess I understand why now."

Dean wasn't sure what to say, he wasn't sure if he was thankful that Gabriel had kept Sam away last night, or upset that the archangel hadn't done so again this morning. Would it have been worse if Sam had just seem them cuddling before the bond had been made again, or was it worse that Sam had come in afterwards and after they'd obviously been getting it on?

Thankfully he was saved from having to saying anything by Castiel, who decided to draw Sam's attention with a gravely thank you in that tone that meant the angel wasn't sure if he was saying the right thing or not. "I do not know how much Gabriel told you about what was wrong with me, but Dean was quite capable of handling the issues and I'm feeling stronger than I have in some time."

Sam looked amused and like he was about to say some smartass comment, but thankfully the tall man bit back the automatic response and nodded slightly. "He said something about a bond and hand print, but quite frankly he got distracted by the pie that Dean made and I don't think we ever got back to the topic."

Deciding that Castiel had this, Dean started to collect things together to go take a shower. With half an ear he listened to see what the angel would tell his brother about what was going on.

"When I raised Dean from perdition, the contact was enough to leave the start of a bond upon his soul which had called to my grace. Typically these bonds cannot be broken, but as I had not received his permission when the bond had been created, once I had the power I broke it. The hand print is a physical representation of the bond." Castiel seemed to pause at this point, and Sam had flicked his eyes over to Dean who was moving around the room shirtless, the redish-pink hand print standing out starkly against his shoulder. "As with anything powerful enough to bind two beings together, when the bond was broken there were repercussions. Since the bond was of my own making and Dean had no part in making it beyond the calling of his soul, I was affected more deeply. When I tracked down Gabriel and went to him, my powers were nearing their limit from attempting to hold back the symptoms and my vessel and grace were both starting to shut down. I do not believe that I would have lasted more than a week or two more had I not been brought back to Dean."

Silence grew in the room at that implication. Both brothers had always thought of the angel as immortal, dealing with injuries and the like as if they were simple bug bites instead of something that would have killed another being. It had only been as Castiel's powers had been weaning that they'd started to see the man as mortal, but once his grace had been restored to it's former glory and more, both of them had fallen back into old habits. The idea that Castiel could have died was a startling prospect. Dean had had time to deal with it the day before, but Sam had not and the younger of the brothers was struggling to realign his thought process.

Dean was about to say something, to break the silence, when Sam spoke up, having finally found his voice again. "So Dean allowed you to place the bond again?"

"Yes, the new bond is stronger than before as well, having been made willingly and knowingly by both of us. It will move past the profound bond that we once had, to something more extraordinary." Castiel's voice had lost the flat tone that he normally spoke with when he was conveying facts, turning into something with more reverence and awe.

Sam seemed to have picked up on the tone, eyebrows lifting almost to his hairline as he took in the fond look that Dean shot the angel and started to piece what he knew together. It didn't take long. "I am going to go out on a limb here and say that you're not just talking about a normal bond. You're talking something more permanent and...personal. Are you saying that the two of you are married?" The younger Winchester's voice went up in pitch slightly and an almost disbelieving note came into his voice at the last word.

Shooting his brother a tense, almost nasty look, Dean clinched his jaw even has he worked it slightly, trying to keep his quick temper in check. "You trying to say something, Sammy?"

Castiel looked on, confused, as the two brothers stared at each other. Dean looked angry and tense while Sam looked on in disbelief and surprise. Eventually, though, Sam's shoulders seemed to sag and his look gave way into amusement and almost some kind of relief.

"No, no. I'm happy for you, Dean. At least I don't have to watch you two eye fucking each other anymore and I wont have to listen to your conquest stories. I really don't want any more details, thank you. Just...put a sock on the door knob or something so I know when to avoid this hallway in the future." Sam was laughing as he turned and left the room, leaving Dean to roll his eyes and Castiel to sit on the bed, still confused as to what just happened. Sometimes the angel thought that he'd never understand humans.

A/N: Please note that while I did read through this for errors, I'm only human and very well could have missed things. If you find errors, please let me know. This has not been beta read.

If you would like to read the full version of this (smut included) please to go my AO3 account. You can find it under the penname Alex_Write.