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“Alright, Cas.” Sam shouldered his bag and hesitated halfway out the door, glancing back down to where Dean was sitting at the table, nursing an untouched coffee. “Take care of him, alright?”
Cas nodded. He could do this.
“Hey, and remember.” Sam put his hand firmly on his shoulder, meeting his gaze. “You might not have your abilities anymore but, at the moment, you’re stronger than him. If he gets stubborn, use force.” He grinned, patted Cas' shoulder reassuringly, shouted a last goodbye to Dean and left the bunker with the clang of the door closing.
Cas took a deep breath, let it out slow and walked down the steps, crossing the floor and standing beside Dean.
He looked like, how Dean would say, ‘death warmed over’. His skin was pale and coated in a thin sheen of sweat. His hair was messy and unwashed, sticking in greasy angles and occasionally hanging over bloodshot eyes. His hands shook where they gripped his coffee mug, not even steaming anymore. Not a drop had been drunk in the last half hour since he made it.
Cas sighed, feeling a slight pang of guilt. Usually he could heal Dean with a simple touch but, alas, he longer had any of his angelic abilities besides personal healing and Angel Radio.
“Caaas.” Dean whined, and Cas had to stop himself from smiling. One thing that he and Sam had learnt very quickly was that Dean, when sick, seemed to mentally turn into that of a five year old who needed a nap. He was whiney and grumpy, childishly fascinated and, most endearing of all, very tired.
Dean’s lower lip stuck out in a pout. “My head hurts, Cas, make it stooop.” His forehead fell forward to rest on Cas’ abdomen.
Cas sighed, running his hand through Dean’s hair in the way he knew he liked it. “I am sorry, Dean, but I cannot do that.”
Dean whimpered below him. “Why not?”
“Because-” Cas swallowed the damned human emotion. “Because I lost my powers, remember?”
Dean lifted his head away, his eyes unfocused as he looked up at him. “You lost your magic?”
Once again, Cas was stifling a smile of endearment. “Yes, Dean, I lost my magic. Now, do you wish to watch a movie to take your mind off-”
“THE SHINING!” Dean’ face lit up and he shot to a stand, stumbled slightly and began to make his way to his bedroom.
Cas frowned. He’d been given all pop-culture knowledge by Metatron, and he was fairly certain that The Shining was a horror movie...Cas shrugged, following a stumbling Dean to his bedroom.
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Dean passed out an hour into the movie.
Cas tilted his head throughout almost all of that hour, confused as to why Dean was laughing or flinching violently, but eventually he was met with Dean’s head on his shoulder, breathing slowly and even.
Cas turned the television off and adjusted their position, pausing every now and then when Dean stirred, until he was lying down with Dean against his chest. Dean’s hand curled into Cas shirt and Cas smiled, running his fingers through Dean’s sweat-soaked hair.
Cas was rarely aware of time passing. As an angel, he had no need for mundane tasks like eating or sleeping, so his days weren’t split into three meals and eight unconscious hours, rather by the rise and set of the sun. Due to this, he had no idea how long he had been staring at Dean’s curled form before he began noticing the symptoms.
Dean’s breathing hitched, breaking the steady flow, if only for a second. His hand curled tighter around Cas’ shirt, breathing becoming more uneven, stuttered, staggered, heavy and short. Cas couldn’t see Dean’s face from his position and his heart shattered with human emotion when Dean whimpered against him.
He was having a nightmare.
“Shh, Dean, it’s okay.” Cas blanched slightly, unsure of how to deal with the rapidly increasing situation. He shifted, removing Dean from his chest to sit up next to him, running his hand through his hair and down his face, shushing and whispering to no avail.
Dean’s breathing became more panicked, more laboured. His frown line deepened and the clutch he still had on Cas’ shirt tightened.
“Cas...Sammy…” Single recognizable names and words came through the indecipherable mumbling and Cas’ heart wrenched at how helpless he felt.
A sudden scream ripped through Dean’s throat and he bolted up, eyes wide and unfocused, shooting around the room.
“Dean!” Cas gripped Dean’s wrist and Dean screamed again, thrashing and throwing weak punches to get away from Cas. “Dean, it’s me, stop, Dean!” His skin was burning up under Cas’ and and Cas frowned.
“If he gets too hot, give him a cold shower. You’ll need to hold him down, and he’ll scream bloody murder, but it will help.”
Glancing over, the bathroom was just down the hall.
Steeling himself to get kicked, Cas half dragged, half carried the mess of a human down the hall and into the bathroom, carefully getting Dean into the bathtub and turning the shower on ‘cold’.
Immediately, Dean started crying and screaming, “No, no, please, I’m sorry, please!”
Cas grimaced but continued to hold him down, if only just, muttering, “I’m sorry.” under his breath occasionally. In the words of the great Dean Winchester, ‘this sucked’.
It took a lot longer than Cas was hoping before Dean started to settle, his flushed cheeks returning to a more natural colour. His eyes flickered open, squinting against the splash of the shower. “Cas?”
Cas sighed in relief and smiled, “Yes, Dean, I’m here.”
Dean frowned, gazing tiredly around, scanning the room. “Why are we in the shower?”
“You have a fever, Dean.” Cas explained, wiping loose strands of wet hair from Dean’s eyes. “It got high so I had to cool you down.”
Dean nodded, only half listening, apparently. “Where...where did the demons go?”
Cas tilted his head. “Demons?”
“Hm.” Dean looked back at Cas. “Weren’t we...weren’t we watching a movie?”
“The Shining, yes.”
Dean’s lips grew into a dazed smile. “F’ckin’ love that movie.”
Cas mirrored Dean’s smile. “I noticed that.” he felt Dean’s forehead, the back of his neck, and checked his eyes. “I think we’re okay now.”
He turned off the shower and quickly left to go grab a towel and a change of clothes for Dean, including loose trousers and one of his own hoodies, handing all the items to a dripping Dean, shaky but stable on his feet. “I’ll be outside if you need anything.”
Ten minutes later and they were back in Dean’s room, finishing The Shining, Dean slowly drifting back to sleep in Cas’ lap.