Hello everyone. I'm sorry for the wait, as always. The chapter after this one will kick up considerably, I promise.

And thank you so much for all the reviews! I love you all! Also, thank GOD Cas is back! I can't help but be extremely nervous and scared though. I hope the writers give Cas what he deserves or they are going to get some serious whooping!

Chapter Five: Delicious

Dean sat perfectly still, the transformed angel's head cradled tenderly in his cupped hands. His eyes were fixated on Cas's face, mesmerized. Dean had never seen so much beauty in his life, yet alone held it in his hands, the same hands that acted out unimaginable torments.

If he moved, Dean though Cas would shatter like a porcelain doll. The hunter inhaled shallow little breaths, not wanting to rattle Cas even in the most minute way.

A light blue aura hovered around the angel's body. The air surrounding them was humming so low it couldn't be heard—it could only be felt. It gently thrummed his body with a soft vibration like a warm comforting embrace.

Ever so tenderly, Dean slid his hand from the back of Cas's head, combing his fingers through the heavenly white locks as they traveled backwards. Once his hand was free, he gingerly brushed a stray lock of white hair off of Cas's forehead. He returned his hand to the back of the angel's head and released a light, contented sigh.

"I'm back! I'm back!" Sam erupted from the door, immediately crushing the serene and ambient atmosphere. He loudly dumped a full plastic bag on the tiny kitchenette and started pulling out random bottles and first-aid supplies, flashing their labels to Dean, oblivious to his brother's horrified expression. Dean wordlessly tried to shush Sam with his glaring eyes but the younger Winchester rattled on.

"I got some pain meds and narcotics that will hopefully knock him out. How's he doing? Is he alright? He's not convulsing any more, is he?" He hurriedly fumbled with some hydrogen peroxide and cotton balls and brought them over to where Dean sat, unaware to Cas's current comatose state. "I have to clean up those scratches Cas made on your arms. Some of them were bleeding earlier." His boots thudding as he jogged across the room.

His eyes finally found Cas.

The peroxide and cotton balls thumped to the ground.

"Oh my God" Sam's voice came out in a soft whisper, taking in the angel's transformation.

"He's out like a light, Sammy. Keep it quiet." Dean tried as hard as he could to make his whisper sound threatening.

"What-what happened to him? He's…He's…" Sam wrapped his arms around himself, shuddering. "What's that feeling?" He paused for a second, contemplating. "It tingles."

"Yeah, I know Sammy. All I know is that a big light came out of his mouth and it was really bright. I couldn't see. When the light went out he looked like a glow worm."

There was a long, pregnant pause.

Sam quietly whispered, "He looks like an angel."

Dean pursed his lips and quirked his eyebrows, "Well, duh. That's kind of what he is. All that gets me is why this is happening. I mean, why the heck does he have white hair?"

"Wow." Sam stooped down to pick up the items and approached the two men on the bed. He quietly sat down on the bed next to the pair. He reached a strong hand out to touch Cas's face, perplexed at its creamy, radiant complexion. Dean snarled.

"Don't touch him!" Sam shrank back.

"Sorry, sorry. Gosh, touchy." He rolled his eyes. "He's not going to break, Dean."

"You don't know that." He growled under his breath. The two men sat there for a few minutes in a contemplative silence, staring at a loss of words at the angel. The aura around his body pulsed subtly and warm air puffed slowly out of his nose while he exhaled.

Sam broke the deep silence. "Uh, should we wake him up?" Dean continued to stare at Cas as he answered.

"I think we should. But I'm going to do it, not you." He didn't want to wake the slumbering angel at all, but if it had to be done, he was going to do it.

"Whatever, man. Maybe he knows what happened. Go ahead." Dean shifted his hands once again and rested them of Cas's shoulders, shaking them slightly. Sam glanced at the long red scratches on Dean's arms.

"Hey, Cas. Can you wake up? Come on, man. Don't leave us in the dark." When Cas didn't respond, he shook a little harder.

Cas inhaled sharply and jerked his head to the right. A low, disgruntled grumble erupted from deep within his throat. "You here with us, Cas?" Castiel's eyes hazily fluttered open and his white eyebrows furrowed. Dean was stunned by his eye's stark cobalt color. Next to the angel's pristine skin, his eyes were like swarovski crystals. They were alien.

Cas visibly shuddered when he and his charge made eye contact. "Dean?"

"Yeah, it's me. Sam is here with us too." Cas looked over and met Sam's awestruck gaze. Cas's eyes narrowed immediately in scrutiny.

"Samuel, what did you do? Earlier when I was with Dean my memory failed me. Now… I-I remember you called me. Why were you in another dimension?"

Sam gawked, flabbergasted. Under Cas's piercing, other-worldly gaze, Sam felt like a mouse under an eagle's stare. He answered slowly and carefully. "I don't know what you are talking about." Dean stayed still, hands continuing to rest on Cas's shoulders.

Cas replied simply. "Black horses."

Both Winchesters repeated the two words simultaneously in question.

Cas frowned at Sam. "You don't remember."

"No, Cas." Sam said, "I don't know anything about black horses and I don't remember being in another dimension." He scoffed lightly, trying to lighten the mysterious looks Cas and Dean were giving him. Cas closed his eyes. His aura wavered, flickering slightly.

"I don't understand. I remember being alone and in pain and then I heard you call me. I found you in another dimension and I brought you back here with…with the car. Then I woke up with you, Dean…With the—with the letters. I didn't remember then, but I do now… And then there were black horses. The black horses were everywhere." He mumbled towards the end of his ramble.

Dean spoke up, "I don't know anything about the horses but you have to tell us why you suddenly look like a human light-bulb." Cas looked back up with him with more confusion. Then he took a peek down at himself and slowly lifted his hands, touching his fingers to his snow white hair. He gasped lightly and clenched his eyes shut again in deep focus. They shot open again in an epiphany.

"My grace has surfaced." His voice quivered. "It is not inside of me anymore. I must not have buried it properly after finding it. I didn't keep it safe when I crashed. That's why I didn't remember being in another dimension." His eyes glittered.

"Wait, wait, wait…What?" Dean stopped Cas from talking by placing a gentle hand over his forehead, checking for a fever. Cas was pleasantly warm and his hand tingled from the contact with the angel's skin. "So, your mojo is in your skin or something? Is that why you are all white and glowing? You look like a polished baby's butt." Sam scoffed at the disrespectful metaphor.

"Yes, I believe so. " He flexed his shoulders smoothly, obviously testing his wings. "My wings are healing. I can't believe it. I…I didn't think they'd ever be what they once were after…After…" His face crumpled slightly, eyes watering.

"Hey, hey Cas. It's okay. You're here now." Dean massaged Cas's shoulders gently. He was thoroughly confused at this point.

"Dean," Sam whispered specifically to his brother, "he's like a prisoner of war. Who knows what happened to him or what they did to him." He sighed, feeling like a third wheel between the intense eye contact Dean and Cas started to share. "I'm going to go out again. I'm goin' to get some ice-cream. Maybe Cas would like some too." He stood up and walked briskly out of the room, quietly shutting the door on his way. Dean barely noticed his departure, lost in the angel's gaze.

Cas's eyes were glossy crystals, pristine and clear. The air around them hummed louder, making the hair on Dean's neck and arms stand erect. Cas's aura spread out and enveloped Dean in a hug, joining their energies together. The hunter relaxed immediately. It felt like he was pure and holy. He felt like a child again. He lost himself in the sensation, vaguely noticing the tears that dripped down his cheeks. He felt free.

"Cas."

"Yes, Dean?"

"We're going to figure this out, okay?"

Cas reached a hand up and grazed Dean's cheek. "Okay, Dean."

They stayed like that for a while, sharing comfort in each other's energy. Slowly the tears running down the hunter's cheeks stopped. His tension and worry were gone. He ended up slumping forwards and lying next to Cas, and they both relaxed into sort of yin and yang positions, Dean's head next to Cas's feet and vice-versa.

Dean patted the angel's leg. "It's nice to see you awake and okay, man. It's been a long night." Cas peered down at Dean. "You look so different."

Cas turned his head away from Dean. "Is it unpleasant?"

Dean scoffed. "No, it's just weird." They were silent again, but it wasn't uncomfortable. "Tell me about the dimension thing. Tell me what you remember."

Cas swallowed nervously, his subtle adams-apple dipping. "I was bound and I couldn't fly. I was left to be alone and then I heard Sam call me from another dimension. He needed help. I rushed to get him by searching for my grace. When I found it and him, I brought him back here. He was hurt somehow and he needed to be with you. When I woke up, I had totally forgotten what had transpired. But when I was sleeping…When I was hurting…It was from black horses. I can't help but believe that maybe Sam was involved with a demon." Cas peered into Dean's eyes. "It hurt."

Dean instantly sat up and cupped Castiel's face in his hands. He felt extremely out of character right now and was—oddly- very comfortable with touching his angel.

He gazed deep into his friend's eyes in reassurance. Cas gazed shamelessly back into Deans before he fluttered his eyelids shut and breathed out a supple, indulgent sigh. Electric tingling coursed through Dean's fingertips and into his shoulders, but most of it collected in his hand-print scar. Cas nuzzled his face deeper into Dean's warm palms. This whole situation was very unusual feeling, but in a good way. With Cas in his hands, Dean felt like he could conquer the world.

"You know everything is going to be okay, right Cas?"

"When I'm with you, I know it will be."

Dean chuckled light-heartedly and set his forehead to the angel's.

"Because it will be, it will be. I'll make sure of it, buddy." He pushed himself off of the angel to lie back down next to him. Together, they slipped into a blissful sleep.

Gleaming leather shoes clacked against cold stone. Tiny water puddles slinked drudgingly through the cracks in the stone floors, repelled from the energy radiating from the powerful creature in the fancy shoes. The being's stride was long and determined. The hallway it traveled in was a wormhole, dark, damp, and never ending. Echoes of its footsteps resounded through the hall like evil resounds in the hearts of every living soul. They were hollow and cold, and distantly threatening. It was beautifully sinister, its steps calculated and deadly.

The tunnel became narrow and a red glow emulated from its end. The color and shadows licked the walls like snake tongues. The creature smirked. It was getting closer.

Its steps intensified, long legs kicking forward gracefully and seductively. It approached the light and opened its arms in a welcoming gesture, embracing the heat of the flame and the cries of tormented souls. They screeched and writhed in its presence. It smiled. The sight was exquisite. The richness of their screams and the color of the blood were purely delightful. The creature wanted to taste the blood and to taste their rotting flesh-simply delicious.

The being was raising them, his children. It was harvesting their souls. They had a grand purpose and a bloody purpose. It would be glorious and oh, so delicious.