The drive back seemed to take an eternity. Everyone was quite, Sam focused on the road and Bobby and I focused on keeping Cas alive.

At last we finally turn into Bobby's, Sam running ahead to open the door while Bobby and I carry Cas inside.

We lay him down on the couch, Bobby replaces the soaked bandages as Sam and I gather everything we need for the ritual. No one says a word.

Once everything is in place and Cas is bandaged properly, we just sit there. We don't know what to do. Cas is dying, there is no doubt about it. There is no way he'll have the strength to do the ritual, even if they could wake him up, he wouldn't be able to do it.

So what now?

We can't perform the ritual for him, only he can do it.

For once, none of us know what to do.

We can't lose him, we just can't.

I walk over to where Cas is resting on the couch, his breathing is shallow and ragged. His skin is pale and covered in sweat. I put my hand on his forehead, he's got a fever. A bad one.

I look at Sam and without a word he heads off to the kitchen to get a cold rag.

I turn back to Cas and sigh. We need to so something, and soon.

Bobby lays a hand on my shoulder, I know what he means. There is nothing we can do tonight.

I lay the cloth Sam brought on his head and hope that he doesn't get any worse through the night.

Cas is no better in the morning, but he's no worse either, which is good.

Everything is set up for the ritual, all we need is Cas.

"I've tried rousing him Bobby, but I've gotten nothing."

Bobby looks at Cas "I don't know what to tell you Dean, maybe this injury on top of his grace being hurt cause him to slip into some sort of weird angel sleep."

I snort "Oh yes, thank you. That makes me feel so much better. What about you Sam? Any more helpful ideas?"

Sam shrugs "Maybe his body is just resting. We should try again in a little while."

I nod "Sounds like a plan." I head off to the kitchen to grab a beer.

It's now midmorning and Cas hasn't so much as flinched. It's starting to worry us. Even when Bobby checked his wounds he didn't move.

I choke back a sob, I won't cry over this. Cas will be fine, he always is. And since when did I start being so worked up over this kind of thing? Probably since Cas and I have finally stopped hiding from each other. That's the big problem. I finally have Cas. I have him and I'm losing him. I'm going to lose my angel. I don't know when I started calling him my angel but it isn't going to stop, because that's exactly what he is. And I refuse to lose my angel. So, it's time to try and wake him again.

I return to the living room to find that Sam and Bobby have disappeared, that's fine. Whatever. I have bigger things to think about.

I kneel down next to the couch and I carefully put my hand on his arm, low enough to not bother the bite marks on his shoulder.

"Cas? Hey Cas, can you hear me? It's Dean?"

I wait a minute before continuing. "Hey, I know you're in there. I need you to wake up. You need to do the ritual. My soul is not going to wait forever for you to touch it." I smile a little before trying to think of what else to say.

"Come on man. Please wake up." I squeeze his arm a little, my head lowering. Until I hear a groan.

I look up to find Cas's face scrunched up in pain. "Cas!"

His eyes flutter open and he winces "Dean?"

I smile a little more "Yeah, it's me angel, it's me."

He groans again and I know it's gonna be painful but I also know he needs to do the ritual.

"Hey Cas, I need you to listen to me. I know you're hurting and I know this sucks, but you need to get up long enough to do that ritual okay?"

Cas closes his eyes in pain and nods.

"Okay, you rest for a moment and I'm gonna go get Sam and Bobby, we'll all help you."

I head out before he can answer me. I find them both in the backyard doing something to some car.

"Hey! Cas is awake and we need to do this thing now!"

They exchange a look before dropping what their doing and rushing inside.

They join me in the living room where I've already coaxed Cas into a sitting position.

Bobby starts to add the ingredients together as Sam and I help Cas to his feet.

"Okay, what do we need to do?"

"Cas takes a breath before answering. "I need to holy water. I will need you two to help me stay standing as I pour it in. Afterwards I need someone to pass me the relic and then I must touch Dean's soul."

I pass him the flask of holy water "Sounds fun. You ready?"

He nods and opens the flask as Sam and I support him on either side. Bobby is standing on the other side of the bowl, ready to pass him the relic.

Cas starts pouring the holy water in, speaking enochian. As he does that the liquids start to smoke and fill the room.

Once the he is finished he holds his hand out for the relic. Bobby passes it to him while passing a piece of leather to me. "You're gonna need it."

I nod and bite down on it as Cas turns to me. He looks me in the eyes, one hand on my shoulder holding the relic, the other one right in front of my abdomen. "This is going to hurt. I'm sorry."

I nod and Cas starts to push his hand into me. I groan in pain, squeezing my eyes shut. I can see a light behind my eyelids so I open my eyes despite the pain. There is light coming from me but also Cas. It is traveling up his arm and into his eyes. The smoke from the ingredients is swirling around him like a mini tornado. Suddenly Cas's eyes open and a blinding light shoots out of them, the smoke disperses and I have to close my eyes from the brightness of the light.

When I open them again, Cas is laying in Sam's arms, one hand still curled around the relic. His wounds and the blood and tears on his clothes are all gone and he looks healthy. Slowly he opens his eyes.

He stands up with Sam's help, still a little wobbly on his feet. He takes a deep breath "Thank you." He addresses the whole room.

I nod for a moment before my instincts takeover and I punch him in the shoulder. "You idiot! What were you thinking! We almost lose you! I almost lost you!"

He looks down, rubbing his shoulder though I'm sure it didn't really hurt "I'm sorry Dean."

"Damn right you're sorry." I take a moment to calm down before I act before I can think about it. Screw everyone else in the room. I pull Cas to me and kiss him. I kiss him like I almost lost him. Which I almost did the idiot. I know Sam and Bobby are looking away uncomfortably, but I can't find it in myself to care. I've got my angel back and he's kissing me with as much force as I am kissing him. I finally pull away and rest my forehead against his "Don't you ever and I mean EVER do that to me again. Do you hear me angel?" Cas nods and I pull him into a hug, holding on as tightly as I can.

And I am never letting go again.