"Divine retribution," Castiel stated again, and when the creases in Dean and Sam's foreheads only deepened, he sighed, continuing. "You've heard of Noah's Ark..."

"Of course we've heard of Noah's Ark," Dean said, seeming annoyed.

"It's like that. Only with...these," He kicked the corpse at his feet lightly. "God's form of mass genocide."

"So he's just trying to kill a bunch of people...Why?"

"Perhaps to start over. Survival of the fittest. Only those worthy will make it into his new civilization."

"Great," Dean rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"Survive..."

Sam, Dean and Castiel appeared in front of the safe house they had been staying in, the angel's hand on their shoulders and he weakly sagged against Dean. Wrapping his arm around him immediately, the hunter righted him.

"Woah, woah. Cas, what's wrong?"

Sam awkwardly held his arms out, not quite touching the angel, just in case; but it seemed Dean had him well enough, so his arms dropped to his side as he looked at them anxiously.

"I...believe that took more out of me than I expected." Castiel looked up at Dean, still leaning against him. "I have had to use a lot of excess energy as of late..."

"Okay. We need to get inside. Do you think you can get us in there...?" Dean was trying to act calm, but the fact of the matter was, he didn't think Castiel could do anything. And, since they'd had him, they had boarded up the doors and windows so that anyone without angel powers couldn't get in or out.

Castiel stared into Dean's eyes for a long moment before he reaching over to grab Sam, who had been shifting awkwardly. "I will do my best." He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they had moved to stand directly in front of the door, two feet from where they had been before. Cas promptly slid to the ground.

Dean was immediately on his knees next to the angel, who appeared to be unconscious. "Cas? Cas, wake up!" He grabbed his shoulders, shaking him roughly. "Cas, we don't have much time. It's getting dark. I need you to wake up for me."

"Dean?" Sam spoke, quietly, standing over the two men, concern plain on his face. "We need to do something." He gestured to the open land, where infected were slowly making their way in the three's direction.

"Right. You start working on a window, I'll watch out for these fuckers. We'll board the window up again once we're inside."

Sam nodded, no time to argue, and picked up an ax they had, working at the boards on the closest window. Dean gave Castiel's shoulder a squeeze, though he didn't know why, and pulled out his gun, turning his back to the angel to watch every other direction. Anything that got within 10 yards was immediately shot; and Dean was reloading when his brother shouted his name. He turned to see Sam climbing in the window with their bags. Tossing the guns in after him, Dean ran over to Cas, gathering him up in his arms, bridal style and climbing through the window with him.

"Sam, I'm taking him to my bedroom!" Dean called to his brother, who had already gone off to get wood from another room in the house. When he heard a response that sounded something like okay, Dean walked carefully, not wanting to trip and drop the angel. He gently set Castiel down on the bed and got on his knees next to it, staring at him.

"Cas, you gotta wake up, man..." He whispered. "You're scaring the hell out of me. We can't do this without you. I can't do this without you."

Dean bit back tears, swiping at his eyes. He reached out and took the angel's hand for a second, squeezing it quickly before letting it drop back to his side. "I'm gonna go help Sammy. I'll be back to check on you in a couple minutes, Cas."

"He'll be okay, Dean." Sam said, hammering nails into the wood. "This has happened before. He just needs to rest for a little bit. Don't worry so much."

"I know he will," Dean snapped, sighing. "It's just this situation. The fucking zombie apocalypse, man...It makes me extra worried. And you two are all I've got." He glanced back towards the room, anxiously.

"Well, we're not going anywhere," Noticing the look, he waved Dean away. "Go on. I got this. Be there to kiss him when he wakes up."

His head snapped back to face Sam. "What?! I don't wanna-"

"I'm kidding," Sam rolled his eyes, only half lying. "You wanna know when he wakes up. That's cool. Don't worry about it. Go be with him. He might need you more than I do when he does wake up." Dean glanced back towards the room and to Sam again. "Just go."

Dean was on the floor next to Cas, head on the bed and eyes closed when Sam walked in half an hour later. As the floor creaked, Dean shifted, grabbing Castiel's arm protectively. Smiling and shaking his head at the sight, Sam turned to walk out of the room, wondering when his brother would stop living in denial.

Castiel rolled on his side, eyes slowly fluttering open. Dean was still there, snoring quietly, now holding the angel's arm in both of his. His head rested gently on Castiel's hand, giving him the opportunity to lightly stroke his cheek as he stared at the hunter. Dean let out a tiny moan, nuzzling into his hand. He looked so peaceful, a sight that Castiel never saw anymore.

They stayed that way for a long time before Castiel decided that he should wake him. "Dean..." He said in a small, soothing voice. The hunter groaned in response, gripping his arm more tightly. "Dean, wake up."

Dean's eyes snapped open and he was immediately standing up, looking around urgently, causing Castiel to regret his decision to wake him.

"Dean," He repeated and the hunter's eyes finally fell on him. He sat on the edge of the bed, quickly feeling Castiel's face as if checking for a fever. "Dean, I'm fine."

He shook his head in disagreement. "We can't risk this again, Cas."

Castiel frowned. "If we do not, how will you and your brother eat?"

"We'll figure something else out. I can't have you getting hurt."

Sighing, Castiel nodded. He was far too tired to argue with Dean right now, and wanted nothing more than to see the peaceful look on his face once more.

Normally the angel didn't require sleep, but that night Dean urged him to stay in his room. "You've had a long day and you're still recovering-don't try to lie-you're going to sleep. I'll be in here if you need me. I'll sleep on the floor."

Castiel sighed, knowing this was another argument he wouldn't win and he didn't really want to anyway. Truth be told, he was still extremely tired. "If you insist that I sleep, at least sleep on the bed. If you are concerned about it, I can assure you that I will stay to my side."

Dean paused, thoughtfully, before nodding. "Okay. I guess that wouldn't be too bad." He frowned, looking at the angel, "You need to get more comfortable though. Come on, sit up."

"How will sitting up improve my ability to sleep?" Cas protested, but Dean just rolled his eyes, gesturing for him to move and he did as he was told.

Trying not to think about what he was doing, Dean slid the trench coat off of the angel, more slowly than he intended, his hands moving along Castiel's arms. "You'll be more comfortable with less clothes."

Castiel stared up at Dean as he removed his various tops, looking down as he tugged on his tie and pulled it over his head. He started working on the buttons of the shirt, but his hands shook and he stood up straight again. "You can get that. I'll be right back."

The angel watched curiously as Dean disappeared from the room after grabbing something from the dresser and resumed where he had left off. When he was finished, he pulled the dress shirt off, folded it nicely and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. He looked around the room that Dean had made his own, waiting patiently for his return.

When Dean came back, he was wearing on pajama pants and had the clothes he'd been wearing a few moments earlier and two water bottles in his hand. He froze as his gaze caught the angel's naked torso, taking in all the details. When he finally pulled his eyes away, Castiel was staring at Dean, head tilted to the side.

"Drink this," Dean said, clearing his throat and tossing a water bottle towards him, turning away to toss his clothes in the corner. "D-do you want a shirt to sleep in?" He asked, rummaging through his dresser again.

The angel pondered this for a moment before nodded. "Yes, that would be nice. Thank you, Dean." He had never worn any clothes than what he usually wore. Perhaps this would feel different.

Nodding, Dean pulled out another pair of pajama pants and a Metallica shirt, tossing them on the bed. "Change into those." Dean opened his water bottle, taking a swig and almost choked when Castiel pulled his pants and boxers down, leaving him completely naked as he stared at the clothes on the bed. He swallowed hard, turning away and rubbing his neck.

"You done?" He asked after a couple minutes and when the angel confirmed it, he turned around.

All of Castiel's clothes were piled nicely on the nightstand. But what really got Dean's attention was how the angel looked in his clothes. He stared at him for a long moment with a mixture of adoration and longing that he stubbornly ignored, climbing in under the blankets and patting the other side of the bed to tell Cas to do the same.

When Dean woke up a few hours later, Cas was still on his side of the bed, as promised. What confused him was why that was slightly disappointing. Before he could stare at the angel's face for too long, he quickly close his eyes, trying to fall back asleep. He was just about to slip back in unconsciousness when he heard a quiet whimper. Dean opened his eyes to see Cas shifting uncomfortably in his sleep. He let out another whimper and Dean cringed. Scooting slightly closer, he reached out, pulling Cas into his arms.

"Shhh," He whispered, softly, as Cas clung to him. "It's okay."

The angel shook and twitched in his arms, holding him tightly and Dean rubbed circles on his back, until he finally stopped moving and his breathing returned to a steady pace. "Cas?"

"Dean...?" The angel said, lips moving against his chest.

"You're okay, Cas. I got you."

The angel nodded against him, arms still wrapped tightly around him and, within a few moments, he fell back in a peaceful slumber.

They continued like this regularly. It helped Castiel have more energy and, to be honest, it helped Dean sleep better. Every night, they would get ready for bed, Cas in Dean's clothes, and they would eventually find their way into each other's arms, nightmares or not. When the angel did have nightmares, Dean would pull him out of it and calmed him down. It was a couple weeks after the first time that Dean sleepily asked what he had nightmares about.

"You leaving me..." Cas said, quietly, face buried in Dean's chest, breath only newly steadied after his nightmare.

Dean froze, his hands that had been rubbing the angel's back stopping completely. For a minute he allowed himself to freak out over what that meant before thinking he was probably reading too much into it.

"I'm right here, Cas. I'm not going anywhere," He promised, lips pressing against the angel's head before he had the chance to give it much thought.

Cas simply nuzzled into him, sighing contently.

"No." Dean interrupted Sam, not giving him the chance to finish his thought.

"Dean, we need food..." Sam sighed. "Look, I don't like it either. But it's either that or we starve in here."

"Or we find another way!" Dean crossed his arms, stubbornly.

"Sam is right," A voice said from behind him and Dean spun around to see Cas, hair messier than usual from sleep, in the hunter's plaid blue pajama pants and black t-shirt.

Dean fought the urge to walk straight up to the angel and envelope him in his arms, forcing him to stay. Instead, he simply stared at him and shook his head. "There has to be something else we can do."

"Like break the boards down again? And then leave the house empty so that when we return the infected could be inside? No." Cas sighed at Dean's obvious discontent and his voice softened, "I assure you, Dean. I will be fine. If I go alone, I will not use as much of my energy and I will return safely."

"Hell no!" Dean stomped, maturely, "You are not going out there by yourself. I won't allow it!"

"Do you honestly believe that you can stop me, Dean?"

"I swear to god, Cas. I'll set up a holy fire to keep you here."

"Dean..."

"Fine! Whatever. Go," Dean stalked off to his room, not bothering to look at either of the two as he walked away.

Dean lay on the bed, arm across his forehead, staring at the ceiling blankly. He didn't even notice that Cas had entered the room or sat on the edge of the bed until he felt a hand on his arm. He looked, mutely, at the angel.

"I cannot allow you and Sam to go without food," Cas said, staring at him, trying to make him understand.

"I don't like it, Cas..." He said, quietly. "I've got a bad feeling."

"I promise to be back in under five minutes."

Dean groaned, staring at Castiel with a pained expression. Finally he closed his eyes and sighed, licking his lips. "You better be..."

Giving an almost smile, Cas began to stand up, but Dean quickly grabbed his arm. "Wait." Tilting his head to the side, the angel looked at him, trying to understand. Dean shifted into a seated position and placed a hand to Castiel's cheek, lightly stroking it with his thumb.

"Dean...?" Cas said his name as a question and Dean leaned forward as an answer, lightly pressing their lips together. He felt the soft press of Castiel's lips, leaning into the kiss and smiled to himself before pulling away. "What was-"

"For good luck," Dean said, stroking his cheek one last time before letting his hands. "Be careful."

Castiel nodded, fingers touching his lips and stood up, disappearing before Dean could say another word.

"It's been four minutes!" Dean complained to Sam, who was now sitting in the room with him.

The younger Winchester rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and he said he would be back in five."

"Under five," Dean corrected.

"Which means that, now, he still has about 30 seconds before he's lying."

Dean groaned, tapping his foot on the floor and suddenly heard a large clattering from behind him and felt a weight on the bed. When he turned to see what it was, there were cans scattered across the floor and Cas was laying on the other side of the bed, bleeding.

Quickly flipping so that he was facing Cas, he crawled up next to him and saw a large bite mark on the angel's neck. "Cas?" His voice panicked, green eyes huge and already filling with tears, his body shaking.

Castiel lifted a hand to stroke Dean's face and he closed his eyes tightly, holding the hand to his face. "Don't do this to me, Cas," He said, shaking his head. "Can't lose you..."

"You'll be fine," He croaked. "You have Sam. I've made sure you will be save."

"I don't give a shit about being save!" Dean shouted, tears falling from his eyes. "I just want you! Don't leave me, Cas. I..." He swallowed hard, "I love you, okay?"

"I love you too, Dean." A small hint of a smile flashed across the angel's face and suddenly there was no blood. None on him or the bed. His neck was completely clean of any sign of a bite.

"What the...?" Dean started. He'd assumed that Castiel couldn't heal himself. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because, I wanted to hear you say it." The angel admitted, looking away from Dean, cheeks slightly pink.

Noting that everything was okay, Sam excused himself. And he couldn't have had better timing, because as soon as he was out the door, Dean was straddling the angel, pinning him to the bed. "You sneaky bastard," He whispered, shaking his head. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

Before he could respond, Dean was kissing him passionately. "I love you, you stupid angel."

Cas leaned up into the kiss, only pulling back to respond. "I love you too, you idiotic hunter."