Moisture seeped into his jeans, his knees pressed into the grass, his head bowed in silent despair.
"Sammy." His throat constricted over the name.
He knelt on the ground that, just moments before, had been a screaming chasm, shivering against the cold, pain, and hopelessness. The breeze carried the low murmurings of his voice repeating his brothers name over and over, across the old graveyard and through the tombstones. Whispering it to the long since dead.
He leaned forward and dug his fingers into the earth, clutching blades of grass and soft dirt.
A despondent wail grew in his chest. "Sam." He drew the word out, almost fearing when he fell silent he would truly have lost him forever.
"It's okay Dean." Sam's voice echoed in his mind. "Everything's going to be okay..."
"No it's not Sammy!" Dean was shouting now. "How can everything be alright?"
Tears streamed over his beaten, swollen face, streaking through blood and leaving diluted red paths behind as they rolled down his throat.
His eyes landed on a broken body lying off to one side. The remains of a man he once considered a second father.
Droplets of blood clung to grass and leaves in an uneven circle, like grotesque dollops of morning dew. All that was left of a beloved friend who betrayed his own kind to assist him and his brother. His family, everyone he cared about, was gone.
"Tell me! In what way is this gonna turn out okay?"
The burning ache in his heart overwhelmed the physical pain assaulting his body. He cried until tears could no longer fall, staring down at the patch of ground that had swallowed Sammy.
"It's never going to be okay."
Dean lost track of the time. He could have been kneeling there for an hour, or just a few mere minutes, he didn't care, the events of the past few days broke him.
A footstep startled him. He craned his neck to look over his shoulder.
"Cas." He breathed. "Your alive?"
The angel regarded the broken man at his feet, looking up at him with one dull green eye. The other had swollen shut after Lucifer used his face as a punching bag.
"Better then that." He said and touched his fore and middle fingers to Dean's forehead. Immediately the swelling receded, the abrasions closed and the stains from blood and tears disappeared. Castiel also touched his hand to Bobby, waking him from his sleep. The two men regarded each other with a nod, and Cas returned to Dean.
Bobby left after patting Dean's shoulder letting him know he was no longer completely alone.
Alone, Castiel pulled Dean into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Dean."
Dean couldn't respond, he just sobbed uncontrollably into the angel's shoulder. A weight lifted off Dean's shoulders as he clutched desperately at Castiel's coat. He lost his brother, but his angel had returned; losing them both had threatened to destroy him completely. Now a few small pieces of himself began to re-unite themselves, but the greater portion had plunged into the pit along with Sammy.
"Cas... Sam..." Dean choked.
The angel lowered himself and Dean to the ground, wrapping his arms protectively around the Hunter's shaking shoulders. "You promised him, Dean." He ran his fingers through Dean's hair, blue eyes misting over. "I know it hurts."
"I don't know what to do."
"You made him a promise."
Dean's fingers gathered Castiel's sleeve, and met his eyes. "Apple pie life."
Cas smiled and brushed his fingertips over Dean's forehead and cheek. "Apple pie." He pressed his lips to the skin he had just passed his fingers over, then to Dean's mouth. He tasted the salt of the Hunter's tears, and felt the dampness as fresh ones tumbled over his cheeks.
He held the grief stricken man in his arms slowly rocking back and forth, letting him cry, his own tears mixing in with Dean's.