The bunker was still and silent, the lights dim. The minute hand of the clock on the wall finished its hourly revolution, and the hour hand slid from two to three.

Sam was at the stove heating a pot of milk when Castiel entered the kitchen, his hair mussed and pyjamas rumpled from sleep.

"Oh!" he said, stopping short when he caught sight of the younger Winchester. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize anyone else was up."

Sam smiled.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

Castiel shook his head.

"You want some warm milk?"

Cas frowned in confusion.

"It's supposed to help you sleep."

"Oh." Castiel's eyebrows rose in interest. "Actually, that would be very helpful."

Sam turned back, fetching another mug from the cupboard and filling it and his own with the warmed milk.

"Thank you." Cas accepted the beverage as he took a seat at the table, Sam settling across from him.

"No problem." Sam smiled. "Dean used to make it for me all the time when I was little so it's nice to be able to make it for someone else for a change."

Castiel regarded the hunter over the rim of his cup.

"Dean took care of you a lot when you were a child?"

Sam's face screwed up in dislike.

"Yeah, and he hasn't managed to break the habit. Even though I can take care of myself, he still insists on going behind my back to protect me."

Sam huffed in annoyance, still angry at his brother for what had happened with Metatron and the fact that he had almost got himself killed. Actually, had got himself killed, come to think of it.

Cas shook his head.

"A parent never ceases to protect their child, Sam, even when that child is grown." An odd melancholic tone crept into his voice as he spoke; whispers of the memories and emotions of Jimmy Novak flooded through him. The way he had begged, pleaded with Castiel to take him instead of his daughter, willingly sacrificing everything, his entire existence, to save Claire.

Sam frowned.

"Dean's not my parent, Cas, he's my brother."

"But he was also your carer," Cas contested, "burdened with the task of protecting you. Think about how young he was when he first started looking after you all on his own. Eight? Nine? It is something Dean has been doing almost his entire life and it has become an integral part of who he is. I have seen his thoughts and feelings towards you in times of great danger and distress and they are comparable to that of a parent and their child. It is not a habit to be broken, Sam. It is instinct."

Sam stared into his mug as he considered Castiel's words. He knew Dean had sacrificed a lot for him over the years including his own childhood and Sam still carried the guilt of that.

"What about you? What's kept you up?"

Castiel looked up from his milk and sighed.

"Before, when I became human, I always had the hope that I might one day restore my grace. It wasn't a great hope, and for the most part I was content to live out my life as a human, especially since Dean and I..." He sighed and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "But there was a chance, there was still hope that my grace was still out there."

He locked eyes with Sam and smiled.

"I am grateful for my life, I am. I am grateful for Dean, and you, and this bunker. But I still feel the loss, I still..." he trailed off, his shoulders drooping as he cupped the mug of steadily cooling milk.

"I'm sorry, Cas." Sam said in the silence.

The former angel smiled and lifted his eyes to the younger Winchester brother.

"Thank you."

Shuffling footsteps sounded in the doorway and Sam and Cas looked around to see a still half-asleep Dean leaning against the doorframe, rubbing his eyes.

"Cas?"

His voice was thick with sleep and he looked to Sam like an overgrown child waking their parents up after a nightmare.

"Dean." Castiel answered and Dean shuffled forward and collapsed onto the bench seat of the kitchen table, straddling it and resting his head against Cas' shoulder.

"Whazz goin' on?" he asked, his words slurring in exhaustion as he closed his eyes.

"I was just making some warm milk." Sam explained.

"Mmmm." Dean hummed. "'Member making it for you when you were little. 'Member you asking me why we didn't have a mom to tuck us in so I made you warm milk and tucked you in and I told you she was with the angels and she was watching over you." He turned his head and glanced sleepily over at his brother. "You always asked so many questions."

Sam smiled at his brother's rambling speech.

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Hmm." Dean's eyes fell shut once more and Cas leaned his head to rest his cheek against the hunter's dark blonde hair.

"Thanks." The words were soft, almost inaudible, but Dean looked round anyway, blinking sleepily.

"There's nothing to thank, Sammy. Was my job."

"No, it wasn't." Sam answered. "Or at least it shouldn't have been. So thanks."

"Whatever, bitch."

Dean's eyes fell closed once more.

"Jerk."

The elder Winchester cracked an eye. The corner of Sam's mouth was turned up and Dean sent him a soft smile.

"Perhaps we should go to bed." Cas murmured.

Dean hummed in agreement with the former angel and then moaned in displeasure when he stood, ridding Dean of his head rest.

"Come on." Cas chuckled, urging the sleepy Winchester to his feet, Dean rose and immediately snuggled into Cas' side, wrapping an arm around his back and resting his head once again in the crook of his neck. "Thank you Sam, and good night."

"Night, Sammy." Dean yawned as they made their way out of the kitchen.

"Night, Dean. Night Cas." Sam smiled, watching as Cas and his brother left. He felt a weight lift as he realized for the first time in a very long time, nothing was actively trying to kill them, no catastrophe was imminent, and all three were alive and together.

"Maybe good things do happen to Winchesters." he murmured to himself as he drained the last of his milk.

...

"I hope I didn't wake you." Cas whispered as they made their way slowly to their bedroom.

"Mmm no." Dean answered. "Woke up and you weren't there. Didn't like it." Dean lifted his head to plant a sideways kiss on the angel's head.

"I apologize."

Cas could feel Dean smile against his head as they entered the bedroom. Dean stopped and faced the now human angel.

"You okay?" he asked softly, his hand resting comfortingly on his shoulder, thumb stroking over the soft fabric of his t-shirt.

Castiel met his gaze and smiled.

"Yes." he answered earnestly, his blue eyes sparkling and, despite the fact that the connection had been severed when Gabriel had extracted the last of Castiel's stolen grace, Dean still fancied he could sense the love pouring off the angel in droves. Or maybe he was just being horribly sentimental.

They settled into the bed, Cas wrapping his whole body around Dean and burying his face in the crook of his neck.

"Cas?" Dean's voice was soft, almost inaudible.

"Yes, Dean?" Cas's answer sounded deep in Dean's stomach, the vibrations of the low bass thrumming through his bones like a tuning fork.

"I don't ever wanna wake up without you."

"You won't. I promise."

Dean's whole body tensed at the words and Castiel pulled back to look up at him.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." He said softly, almost inaudibly, his expression closed off and guarded.

Cas frowned and Dean sighed, shifting up so he was resting against the headboard.

"When I was little, on my first day of preschool, I didn't want to go because I was afraid my mom would disappear when I was there and never come back. So I refused to go and she knelt down and hugged me and promised me she would never leave. Two months later she was dead." Dean took in a shaky breath, willing his eyes to stop burning. Beside him, Castiel lay silent in the semi-darkness. "After that, I had nightmares where I was burning and I could see Mom and Dad and Sammy just standing there while I burned. I used to wake up screaming, and Dad...Dad would hold me and he'd tell me I was safe. That he'd never let anything hurt me." Dean turned his head, his eyes glistening as he looked over at the man lying next to him. "He promised."

Cas' heart broke at the pain he could hear in Dean's voice. He stretched out his hand and laid it on the hunter's chest, feeling the heart that beat beneath it, the heart that he had given freely to so many who had not deserved it.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I'm sorry."

Dean sighed and shifted.

"It's all right. It's stupid anyhow."

"It's not stupid." Cas protested as Dean avoided looking at him. "You have the most generous heart and it has been hurt far more times than it deserves. And for my part, I am sorry to have contributed to that."

Dean looked over, sadness shining in his emerald eyes. His sigh was bone weary and he blinked, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion.

"Thanks." he murmured in a flat tone that seemed devoid of any emotion.

"I mean it." Cas repeated, "You have never deserved any of the terrible things that have happened to you."

Dean's expression was dubious but he smiled and nodded, leaning over to place a soft kiss on Cas' mouth. He shut his eyes and relaxed into the arms of the angel who held him. It was all still there, the pain of his father's betrayal and the shame of his own weakness. It was a constant presence, a part of him that he knew would never fully leave. But here, in Castiel's arms, it felt...distant. Here he was safe. Here he was loved. Here his nightmares couldn't touch him. Not so long as he had his angel to watch over him.

Cas felt Dean's breathing slow as he drifted into sleep and he tightened his hold. It terrified him sometimes, the depths of his feelings for the man he held in his arms. That had been his downfall after all, that he had begun to love Dean over all else, over loyalty, over duty, over the greater good.

But it all seemed worth it somehow, just to be able to lie here with this man in his arms. To give up eternity for one man was worth it for moments like these when it was just the two of them.

A part of him missed heaven. It was a loss that ached within him, echoing in the hollow space where his grace used to be. He missed the way he had been able to see the world, every part of it, all connected, all operating as one. He missed heaven, the home he had known for longer than any human could comprehend. But at the same time, this bunker and this bed and this man sleeping in his arms had somehow come to represent home more than heaven ever had or ever would. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting his body relax as he slipped into sleep.

Dean was his home.

Heaven could wait.

...

There it is! I can't believe it's over.

Please take the time to let me know what you thought, feedback is always loved and appreciated. Thank you to everyone who followed, favourited, and most especially reviewed you guys make the time I spend on this seem so worth it.

Thank you to Rainbow-fruit-loop for betaing, you're awesome!

There will be a sequel as soon as I figure out how to start it.

If You ever want to stop by and say hi, I'm on Tumblr at cas-in-a-leather-jacket.

Lots of love and happy Groundhog Day!