Dean opened his eyes and just stared out the window at the scenery passing by. The dream had been a good one, too bad it hadn't been real. With a sigh he sat up and looked over at Sam;

"So how far out are we?"

"Another half hour at most"

Dean nodded and went back to looking out the window. Sam glanced over at Dean, worried because Dean was a bit quieter than usual. He wanted to say something, but didn't know how to broach the subject with Dean. So Sam kept his eyes on the road, trying to think of how he was going to ask Dean.

Zoning out, Sam didn't see the person in a tan trench coat lying on the side of the road.

Seeing the familiar flash of color, Dean sat up and gripped the door handle.

"Sammy, stop. Stop the car."

Wondering what Dean was freaking out about, Sam slowed the Impala and pulled her over less than a mile ahead of the tan pile.

As soon as Sam slowed enough for him not to injure himself, Dean vaulted out of the car and ran back to crumpled form. When he got there, Dean saw that it wasn't his imagination, it really was Cas.

Dean cupped Cas' head in both hands, tilted his face upwards. Cas' eyes were closed and his face was relaxed. Dean rested his forehead against his angel's and whispered, "C'mon Cas you've gotta show me your alive. Just do this one thing for me, don't be dead."

At that moment Castiel gasped and opened his eyes, one of his hands flew up to his face and gripped Dean's wrist. Cas looked panicked until his brain registered the familiar green eyes; Cas continued to stare into Dean's eyes.

"Dean", he sighed.

"Hey buddy" Dean said with a soft smile, "You alright?"

"I'm fine."

Cas let go of Dean's wrist and sat up; when he went to push off the ground to stand, he felt a sharp pain in his right leg.

"It seems I have a broken leg."

Dean sat back on his heels when Cas went to get up. Upon hearing his angel's latest comment, Dean stood up and walked behind Cas. Dean crouched down, hooked one of Cas' arms across his shoulder, put his own arm under Cas' opposite armpit and lifted him up from the ground.

"Lean in to me so you don't put any weight on that leg."

As Cas leaned his weight into Dean and they walk back to the Impala. Sam was standing outside of the car one arm hooked over the door, the other on the roof of the car, gaping because he couldn't believe that they found Cas on the side of the road so close to the bunker.

Dean helped Cas into the back seat and smiled at Sam right before he climbed in.

"C'mon Sam, let's get home."

Sam closed his mouth and climbed in the car and drove off.

xXx

Back at the bunker, Dean took Cas to his room to help clean him up.

After stitching up 5 gashes on Cas' chest, Dean set the bone in Cas' leg and strapped on a brace.

Cas is sitting on the bed in a pair of old sweats and t-shirt that's too big for his frame. Dean sits down on the chair facing his bed and stares Cas down. Cas stares back and after a few minutes, sighs.

"Whatever it is that you want to ask me Dean, ask."

After staring for a few seconds more Dean asks.

"What happened after you left with the Angel Tablet?"

Cas' eyes flicked to the floor.

"I wanted to figure out what to do with it. I-I wanted to figure this out on my own, without yours or anyone else's opinions influencing my decision."

"Okay…" Dean said slowly.

"I found Metatron, and she was able to translate it for me. It gave me knowledge of Heaven that was hidden for good reason. It had a spell on how to resurrect my dead brethren. I knew bringing everyone back would've been folly, but there were certain angels I had to bring back, if not to restore order to Heaven."

Cas opened his mouth to continue on, but Dean put up a hand.

"Wait, wait. Who did you bring back?"

"Most of them you would not know because I killed them while filled with the souls of Purgatory. But I did bring back Samandriel, Balthazar, and Gabriel."

Dean stared at Cas a little dumbstruck. When Dean didn't say anything, Cas continued with his tale.

"After I had brought them back to life, I hid the Tablet."

At this Dean perked up.

"No Dean, I won't tell you where it is. It's safe, especially now that Hell is closed."

Dean sighed and relaxed back into his chair. He waved a hand, indicating for Cas to continue.

"After I hid the Tablet I decided to use one last spell I had learned from it. I knew Naomi wasn't going to stop looking for the Tablet, so I planned to use the last spell to trap her in cage, much like Lucifer's."

Dean sat forward in his chair eyes glued on the angel.

"She showed up while I was performing the ritual to trap her. We fought, but I was able to finish it in the end."

Cas sighed and lay back on the bed. He closed his eyes and let Dean soak up all the information.

Dean sat in silence, staring at the far wall, processing everything he had just heard.

"How'd you end up on the side of the road where we found you?"

Cas opened his eyes and propped himself up by his elbows, just enough to look Dean in the eyes.

"I was looking for you."

Dean smiles softly at this.

"And now that you've found me?"

"I don't have any plans of going anywhere; Gabriel can take care of Heaven."

Dean got up from his chair and hovered over Cas, their faces inches apart. Dean gazed softly into Cas' deep blue eyes.

"Good" he whispers and closed the gap between them, capturing Cas' mouth with his own.

Cas leaned up into the kiss, his hand cupping the back of Deans neck, pulling him down on the bed next to him. They continued kissing softly, no urgency in their actions.

They would've stayed there forever, but there was a knock at the door.

Dean tore himself from Cas with an annoyed huff, and walked to the door, opening it with a tug.

"What Sammy?"

Sam took in the sight of Dean's ruffled hair and kiss swollen lips, and coughed.

"I just wanted to see how Cas was doing, didn't mean to disturb anything."

Dean shot Sam a glare, and Sam snorted.

"Anyway, I was wondering if we were eating here or do you want me to run out and get some food?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I was going to start dinner in a bit, anyways."

Sam smirked, mumbled something along the lines of "sure you were" and walked towards the library.

"You cook?" Cas asked, sitting up at the edge of the bed.

"Yeah I do. If you want I can teach you." Dean said looking back at Cas.

"Seeing as I'm human now, that would be practical."

Dean was moving out the room, but froze at Castiel's last sentence.

"What?"

"The spell to trap Naomi needed a sacrifice to work. So I gave up my grace."

Dean didn't know how to respond to this information. After a few minutes of staring at the space above Cas' head, Dean nodded and left for the kitchen to start dinner.

Castiel sat alone in silence, before he decided to get up and follow Dean to the kitchen.

Dean is in the middle of chopping some vegetables, when he hears a chair scrapping across the floor. He peered over his shoulder as Cas was settling into a chair, his broken leg propped up on another.

Dean continued with his cooking, Cas watched Dean with a sense of wonder. Dean was moving gracefully and with ease as he chopped and stirred. Cas stayed like this until Sam popped his head in the doorway.

"That smells good. It almost done?"

"Yeah, so why don't you make yourself useful and set the table."

In a manner of minutes they were all seated at the table eating the cornbread and chili Dean had made.

"So Cas what have you been up to?" Sam asked in between mouthfuls of chili.

Cas and Dean shared a glance, before the former angel recounted his tale to Sam. By the end, Sam was staring at Castiel, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. Cas darted his eyes down to his food and resumed eating. Sam snapped out of it.

"So you mean to tell me that Naomi is trapped in a cage similar to Lucifer's; Gabriel is alive and running Heaven and you're stuck on Earth a human."

Cas looked up, "Yes".

"So what do you plan on doing with your newfound humanity?"

"I was thinking, once I healed, I could become a hunter."