Hi!

This fic is about Dean's thoughts and feelings when Castiel calls him at the start of Two Minutes to Midnight. No slash.

Please read and review- I love hearing your thoughts.

Enjoy!

Onwards...

Dean looked angrily at his brother, who was stood leaning against Bobby's kitchen counter, as though he didn't have a care in the world; it's not as if he had just suggested he let the devil take him over and was planning on jumping into hell itself.

He opened his mouth to say something else when he was cut off by his phone ringing. Frustrated, he dug into his pocket, fishing out his phone. He turned back to Sam, who was watching him.

'This isn't over.' He answered his phone. 'Hello?'

A deep, familiar and very welcome voice filled his ear. 'Dean'

'Cas?' Dean's stomach did a somersault. He was sure the angel wasn't coming back to him; that he was dead.

He watched Sam stand up abruptly; through all their differences, the angel between them would always bring the warring brothers together. 'Is he ok?'

Dean shushed him, concentrating on listening to Cas on the other end of the phone.

'We all thought you were dead. Where the hell are you, man?' he asked, confused as to why Castiel hadn't tried to contact him before if he'd been around.

'A hospital.' His voice sounded heavy, as though he was wracked with pain.

'Are you ok?'A hospital? Since when did angels need a hospital?

'No' Castiel answered matter-of-factly, as though talking about the weather.

Dean waited for a few seconds before realising that Castiel wasn't going to say anymore. He put a frustrated hand in the air, impatient. 'You wanna elaborate?' he asked.

'I just woke up here. The doctor's were fairly surprised; they thought I was brain-dead.'

Dean blew air out of his mouth. Brain-dead? What the hell had Cas been through since they had last seen him?

'So, a hospital?' he knew the angel didn't talk much; he needed to give him as many open questions as he possibly could.

'Apparently' Dean heard Cas break off, as though in a great deal of pain. He himself winced slightly; he didn't like the idea of Castiel being in any amount of pain. 'After Van Nuys I suddenly appeared, bloody and unconscious on a shrimping boat off Delacroix. I was told it upset the sailors.'

Dean stood with open confusion and shock on his face. Shrimping boats? Sailors? He put a hand to his forehead, trying to fish for something else to say. He shook his head, feeling defeated. No matter how bad things got for them, they couldn't put off the looming apocalypse. And Castiel needed to know the facts.

'Uh, well, I gotta tell you, you're just in time. We figured out a way to pop Satan's box.' He told the angel, hoping this would cheer him up slightly.

'How?' Again, the angel broke off, and this time Dean heard him groan in pain. He wanted to ask him if was ok, but he knew he had to give him the information. He head told him to carry on, while his heart was screaming at him to stop, to take care of Cas first. But he knew he had to carry on.

'Long story' Cas didn't need to know all the details now; they could wait. 'But look, we're going after Pestilence now, so if you wanna zap over here-'

He was cut of by a depressed sigh from the other end of the phone. 'I can't zap anywhere'

Dean frowned. 'What do you mean?' he asked. He felt his stomach sink, as if he knew what was coming.

'You could say my batteries are drained.' Castiel told him in monotone. He sounded as though he hadn't a hope left in the world.

'What do you mean, you outta angel mojo?' Dean didn't really understand.

'I'm saying I'm thirsty and my head aches. I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch it. I'm saying that that I'm incredibly-' the angel broke off, sounding more desperate as he went on.

'Human' Dean answered for him. He sat down heavily, putting a hand to his head. His stomach felt as if he had just swallowed a bucket of lead. How could he have let it get this bad? After all the angel had done for him, he'd been rewarded by falling completely? Becoming human? He felt like a complete jerk. And it's not as if he had been too nice to the angel the last time he had seen him; he'd used his own Banishing Sigil against him.

He was brought back by a loud sigh, a depressed, low sound coming from the phone.

'Wow, sorry.'

Castiel answered quickly, perhaps not wanting to spend too much time thinking about his dire situation. 'What I'm saying is I can't go anywhere without money for an aeroplane ride. And food. More pain medication ideally.'

Dean closed his eyes, shaking his head. He felt so guilty at this moment of time that he could hardly say anything.

'All right, no worries, Bobby's here, he'll wire you the cash.'

He looked up at the older hunter, who looked at him indignantly. 'I will?'

Dean looked at him, annoyed and tired. They had to help Castiel now. After all he had done for them, they owed him that much.

'Dean, wait!' Cas sounded desperate, as though he had to get everything out he needed to say before something else happened. 'You said no to Michael. I owe you an apology.'

Dean shook his head, heart feeling heavily. Now Castiel felt he had to apologise? It's not as if he had anything to apologise for; he was entitled to his opinion, even if Dean didn't like it. 'Cas. That's ok'

Castiel carried on regardless. 'You're not the burnt, broken shell of a man I believed you to be.'

Dean didn't quite know what to say to that, only that he knew he didn't deserve such as compliment. Especially from a friend he had recently betrayed. 'Thank you.' He said. That feeling too weak a thing to say, feeling as though the angel wouldn't have know he had taken him seriously, he added 'I appreciate that'

'You're welcome' Cas' low voice came back down the phone. Dean started to say something else, something to make the angel realise just what he meant for him, what his sacrifice meant to him, but closed his mouth when Castiel abruptly hung up.

He pressed his phone and stared at it for a moment. He put it back in his pocket, shaking his head. He heard Sam move towards him.

'Well? Is he ok?' he sounded confused, annoyed that Dean hadn't told him anything yet.

Dean kept quiet for a few moments, blood coursing through his veins from guilt and anger.

'Dean!' Sam shook his shoulder. His head snapped around to face his younger sibling.

'We'll talk about it in the car' he snapped, standing up abruptly, pushing his phone firmly back into his pocket. He strode past Sam, who was staring at him with an open mouth.

He walked straight out of Bobby's house without saying a word, approaching his Baby and slamming the door. He sat in his seat, his stomach still heavy with guilt.

When Castiel came back to him, as he knew he would, he'd make it up to him. He had to.

He owed him that much.

So, I could do a second chapter, perhaps if Dean decides to go to the hospital to pick Cas up himself- let me know if you want to read that, and I will write it!

Thanks a lot for reading, please don't forget to review!

I hope you enjoyed it,

Luckypixi

xxxx