Dean didn't like this job already. A dead shmuck had dropped dead of a heart attack for no apparent reason. The douchebag Sheriff hadn't given them any useful information to where they had no clue what had killed the three victims. For some reason Dean was feeling more and more on edge ever since leaving the morgue.

The visit to Frank's neighbor had made his skin crawl what with all the reptiles around the room. What had not helped was when the giant yellow Burmese python slithered over the back of the couch and down Dean's leg.

They got a bit of a clue to the case when they were driving and Sam's EMF started going off when it was near Dean.

Knowing it was ghost sickness didn't help Dean's fear.

Just before entering the lumber mill Dean muttered, "Lord give me strength".

The cat jumping out of the locker had been scary, but the large ghost in the corner had been so terrifying that Dean ran out of the mill muttering "Please Lord keep me safe" over and over again until he reached the Impala and the figure in a tan trench coat.

Happy to see Castiel, Dean hugged the angel, burying his face into his chest.

"I am so glad to see you man" Dean breathed into the fabric.

"Are you alright Dean?" Castiel asked concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine just a little sick." Dean replied pulling back from Cas.

"You don't look ill."

"I know, I'm fine, really."

"If so I must be going."

In the blink of an eye Castiel disappeared and that made Dean jump. He pulled the bottle of alcohol out of his pocket and started downing the rest.

xXx

Dean had left Sam next to the Impala a bit shocked by his rant. He had walked around a corner and froze when he heard growling behind him.

"Oh please don't let that be what I think it is." Dean muttered to himself.

Dean looked over his shoulder as subtly as he could. Seeing a hell hound ready to pounce on him, he broke out into a run.

"I don't want to go back to hell!" Dean yelled out as he ran, trying to keep ahead of the hell hound.

He skidded around a corner to a deserted street and kept running. He didn't slow when a figure in tan appeared in front of him.

Seeing the familiar face Dean sped up and leapt at Castiel wrapping his legs around his waist, knowing the angel would keep him safe from the hell hound.

"Dean what are you doing?" Castiel asked in his deep monotone, unintentionally grabbing Dean's ass to keep his balance.

"What do you think? I'm running from a hell hound!" Dean cried out, his voice a few octaves higher than normal.

"Dean can you get down, there is no hell hound." Cas stated. Dean unraveled himself from the angel and turned around seeing the hell hound sitting a few feet away glaring at him with glowing eyes.

Dean let out a squeak of fear and quickly hid under the back of Cas' trench coat.

"Dean what are you doing? Can you not hide there?" Cas asked annoyed.

"I thought you said there wasn't a hell hound?!"

"There isn't, it's just a hound."

Dean looked around Cas' legs to see a Yorkie with a pink bow on its head sitting where the hell hound had been. He let out a relieved breath and got out from under Cas' trench coat.

"I'm sorry, my mistake." Dean said trying to play it cool.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Cas asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Never better." Dean deflected. He turned to walk towards the hotel then turned back to Cas.

"Why did you come?"

"I thought you were being chased by hell hounds and it would've been counterproductive for you to go back to Hell."

Dean nodded, "Thanks."

Castiel nodded slightly then disappeared.

xXx

Dean had put a blanket over the dead Sheriff and his heart was racing. He sat down on the edge of one of the beds. He was scratching his arms, his hallucinations were getting worse when he saw a bible on the floor. He quickly picked it up and started silently praying.

"Hi Dean" said a sugary sweet voice.

Dean looked over to where he heard the voice and gasped.

"No, no" Dean pleaded looking away and closing his eyes.

"Yes it's me Lilith." The blonde little girl hugged his shoulder, "Oh I missed you so much. It's time to go back now."

Dean cringed and shrugged out of the obvious hallucination's grip, standing up. Still not looking at her he exclaimed, "Yo-You are not real!"

"What's the matter Dean? Don't you remember all the fun you had down there?"

Dean terrified glanced at the hallucination as she stood up from the bed.

"You do remember. 4 months is like 40 years in hell. Like doggy years, and you remember every second."

Dean felt his heart beating so fast that it physically hurt. He bent over in pain and slowly collapsed to his knees.

"You are not real." Dean insisted.

"It doesn't matter, you're still gonna die. You're still gonna burn." The hallucination grabbed his face as she said this and all Dean could see was her white demonic eyes.

"Why me? Why'd I get infected?" Dean asked in a last ditch effort to understand why he had to die.

"Silly goose. You know why Dean. Listen to your heart."

"What?" Dean asked confused.

"Ba-boom." The Lilith hallucination said and he felt a stab of pain in his chest.

Lilith continued and with each Ba-boom he felt a more intense pain and breathing got harder. All that existed to Dean was the pain and fearful certainty that he was going to die. That is until a pair of arms wrapped around him and he was pulled into a lap.

Dean vaguely registered the tan coat clad arms wrapped around him and the humming of Hey Jude in a deep tone.

Dean's heart was still beating painfully fast but Lilith had disappeared. He turned his head and sobbed into the tan cloth, registering that he was being rocked back and forth while the humming continued.

Suddenly his heart stopped beating rapidly. It was still for a second before picking up a significantly less painful pace when Dean gasped in a breath.

Dean had his eyes closed and was breathing slow deep breathes, tears of panic now replaced with ones of joy that he was alive. As he came back to himself and stopped crying, Dean realized someone was slowly rocking him back and forth humming a song his mom always sung to him for comfort.

Dean slowly opened his eyes seeing that he had been crying into a familiar tan trench coat. The humming and rocking stopped and Dean looked up. He was met with a set of familiar blue eyes looking down at him concerned.

Up close those eyes reminded Dean of the way the ocean sparkled when the sun hit it just right.

"Dean, are you alright?"

"I am now." Dean whispered out, lost in Cas' eyes.

"Are you sure?" Cas asked skeptically.

"Of course" Dean said and acted on an impulse he normally wouldn't have.

Dean leaned his head up to Cas' and kissed the angel. There was a moment's hesitation before Cas was kissing Dean back. The kiss was innocent and gentle, Cas' soft lips pressed against Dean's chapped ones, and was over much too soon for the angel's liking.

Dean blushed as he pulled away and tried to scoot off Cas' lap, but the angel's arms were still wrapped around him.

"I'm sorry, I had meant to say thank you." Dean apologized, looking away from Cas' face. The angel smiled and unwrapped one of his arms from Dean's body. He tilted the green eyed hunter's head up to his and captured Dean's lips with his own.

This kiss was a little more insistent than the last and surprised Dean a bit but he leaned into it. When Dean felt Cas' tongue swipe across his lower lip, there was no hesitation as he opened his mouth and invited the angel in. The next few minutes were filled with the gentle slide of tongues and lips between the hunter and angel.

Dean reluctantly pulled away from Cas when the need for air became too much. When he'd caught his breath Dean asked, "What was that?"

"You're thank you was quite adequate, I was merely saying you're welcome in a similar fashion." Cas replied.

Dean chuckled in response before wrapping his arms around Cas' neck and pulling the angel in for another kiss, content to spend eternity like this.