Dean wakes up in psychiatric hospital where he's been since he was 21, or has he? When he goes to bed does he start to dream or does he wake up from one? Sam and Castiel urgently try to help Dean as he becomes more and more convinced it's all in his mind. Dean needs an anchor to tie him down and to choose one reality, trouble is, he has one for each and they are the same person. Dean needs to choose and his time is running out, one will set him free and one will kill him which is which?

Thank you to rnl1993 for betaing this story x

After an extremely vivid dream, one that Dean's had for the fourth time now he slowly lifted up the heavy lids that covered his sleepy green eyes. The sunlight forcing him awake and the uncomfortable motel bed forcing him to get up, Dean sighed as he got to his feet and advanced towards the small grubby bathroom. On the way he glanced at Sam still asleep and dreaming like a freaking baby, that damn boy could sleep through anything. When Dean left the bathroom he found Sam up and on his laptop. Some things never change Dean smiled to himself glad of that fact. He scanned the room, hoping Castiel was standing in the corner or something. He wasn't, this made Dean feel slightly sad, he would never tell Sam, but he missed Cas when he went away and he has been gone for a whole week now.

This didn't improve his already gloomy mood and could tell it was going to be a lousy day. Dean was feeling out of sorts since their last job. They were up against a witch; she was getting her own revenge back on the bullies that tormented her at school. Then when she got a taste for it and they always do. She started going after anyone that looked like they fit the profile of 'bully'. Sam and Dean unfortunately had to kill her. That fact of killing someone doesn't usually bother Dean; she was evil, they kill evil things, that's their job, their life. However ever since then he's been feeling off. This was running through his mind as he sat in the edge of his bed, he looked up at Sam.

"Did we really have to gank her?" He abruptly asked his brother.

Sam looked up from his laptop to meet the gaze of his brother, feeling a little confused at where the question was coming from.

"Who?"

"That kid from Illinois"

"You mean that witch from Illinois, come on dude we had no choice, it's not like I wanted to do it either"

"Yeah I know, I just feel bad for the kid, she was bullied and only trying to get some pay back"

"Dean, many people are bullied and have tragic childhoods, not everyone turns into a homicidal witch, if they did we might have to employ an assistant"

Dean laughed he knew Sam was telling the truth, he was just being stupid.

"Yeah… hey I could hire Cas to be my P.A."

"Dude do you hate him that much?"

"I would be an awesome employer, all the things he would do"

Dean was picturing Cas cooking him burgers zapping to Italy for a pizza, the endless supply of beer. It was only after he said this and spotted Sam's worried expression did he realize how dirty that sounded, and for once it was meant in an almost completely innocent way.

"Dude come on, you're sick" Dean immediately told his brother after seeing the look he was being given.

Sam laughed, and decided not to pursue an innocent sentence cock up; or at least he hoped it was.

"Yeah well, you'd be worse than those douches we P.A'ed for."

"What? That was truly awesome" Dean said a grin on his face as he remembered when he was P.A.

Sam seemed to know what Dean was thinking of, all the massive piles of free food he had constantly been munching on during that job.

"Whatever you still can't have Cas as your PA, I bet you wouldn't even pay him for his services" Sam said and gave Dean a suggestive look that had both the hunters laughing at the thought.

"What's a PA?" a familiar voice asked them.

Their laughter was soon stopped at the sound of Cas' voice. Cas wasn't the best at hello or goodbye or any sort of pleasantries so him just popping up like this was normal expected behavior from Cas. But still the timing could have been better.

"Oh, nothing." Dean said quickly. Cas was deeply confused he zapped himself in the room at exactly the wrong moment.

"Well as I understand it their kind of like slaves, do you want me to be your slave Dean?" Castiel asked his with the usual innocent tilt of his head.

At this Sam burst out laughing he just couldn't hold it in. Dean flashed him a glare that told him to keep quiet.

"No, no Cas I don't" Dean told the angel and then quickly picked a pillow from his bed and harshly threw it at Sam who was still in fits of laughter.

"But I am glad you're here Cas." Dean said looking at the angel after making sure the pillow hit Sam square in the face.

"Thank you Dean." Castiel said although that confused look was still firmly placed on his face.

Sam was finally coming down from his random laughing session, although it annoyed and embarrassed Dean, he realized how much he missed Sam's laughter, he hadn't heard it in so long.

"Now shall we go hunt those stupid sorry ass vamps down then?" Dean asked and used this line to try and regain some professionalism in the motel room. It seemed to work as Sam got up to pack a bag. They were soon in the impala and Dean was turning the key of his baby and letting her purr.

They were driving for about 40 minutes mainly off road, when the impala was pulled to a stop near the woods.

"The nest should be around 10 minutes north" Dean told Sam and Cas as they were standing on the edge of the dense forest they were about to enter.

During their mini hike they enjoyed the comfortable silence. Dean's mind started wondering though as they walked. He thought of the dream he had last night, it was roughly the same as one he had yesterday and a couple he had last week. They were beginning to freak Dean out a little. He wanted to ask Cas about whether dreams meant anything because if anyone knew, it would be Cas. But he didn't want to embarrass himself, and then he thought what the hell, he was probably going to ask him sooner or later anyway and there was no time like the present.

"Cas?" Dean asked breaking the silence.

"Yes."

"Do dreams mean anything?" Dean asked as casually as he possibly could.

Castiel looked at Dream, stunned at the randomness of the question as well as the seriousness of which it was asked.

"They can, messages and destinies can be put into someone's head in a dream to lead certain people to do certain things. That was more common of course when people believed in the meanings of dreams. Now they are generally all just random unpredictable dreams, why?"

"It's just I keep having this really strange recurring dream." Dean began to hesitantly explain.

"Hey guys, can you to have your girly bonding moment another time, please" Sam interjected.

They weren't close to the vampires; Sam just didn't want to hear about it, which was fair enough Dean didn't really want to talk about it.

"No, go on Dean, it could mean something important, something to do with Michael maybe." Castiel said having no regard for what Sam had just said.

"Okay…but you'll think I'm crazy. I dream I'm in this room its white and clean there's a bed but nothing else really, the bed has restraints and I'm being restrained by these straps and by 3 other guys all in white. There's this other guy he looks like, like Gabriel he's also in white shoving this huge ass needle into me and I feel dozy and then I wake up." Dean explained.

"Hmmmmm, it's a random unpredictable dream Dean." Cas reassured him, as Sam snickered non to subtly.

"Dean your right about one thing, you are crazy" Sam said to his brother with a cheeky grin.

"Fuck off Sammy!" Dean snapped at him in a good natured way.

The boys smiled at each other and continued the rest of the way, without talking. They came to a small hut in the middle of the dense green forest. They pulled out their weapons and advanced.

Things got bad quick. The vampires were smart and separated them; Dean was up against the wall getting the holy hell punched out of him. As he heard a woman's voice in his head he thought he was dying. Dean could hear a woman's voice in his head say, "doctor" and she shouted again and again. Every part of his body was throbbing with pain, his head spinning, and he could start to feel pins and needles in his fingers, and he choking on his blood as he tried to call for help. Dean closed his eyes to block out the pain, he tried to re-open them again but could barley open them he only managed to weakly peer through the tiny slits in-between his eyelids.

Suddenly he was not thinking straight, he was disoriented; he was in that white room. Three men all in white were standing holding him down, his body violently twitching from pain, head dangerously swinging from side to side as the vampire was punching him in the face although there was no creature in front of him as he peered to the room, he sure as hell could feel his fist though. Dean screamed he was in so much pain

"Doctor, it's a bad one." The nurse told Gabriel's double of a doctor as he came in the room.

"Bring him out, if we don't he'll be in there for months again, its time. Bring him out!" The Gabriel look alike said.

The nurse nodded and the doctor set to work. Dean had increasingly less and less energy he could no longer struggle against the weight of the men.

"He'll come to in a few hours." Dean over heard the very familiar slim blonde nurse say, before he fell into deep, black, dreamless, unconsciousness.