Soldier Boy

Chapter Thirty-One

Dean chose to stay with Cas for the next few days.

He refused to leave Cas's house without him. Castiel was elated at the change in Dean's behavior, and they fell into step as if the friends had never been parted. If Castiel clung to Dean a bit too tightly, Dean never uttered a word. If Dean seemed a bit more overprotective, no one else pointed it out. They needed this.

Castiel's family buried their bitterness and protective instincts for the sake of Castiel, knowing Dean would be the one to fix him. Dean and Sam made amends, congratulating each other for finding some shred of happiness. Gabriel left home to live with Sam. Sam finally went back to the home they'd shared with John after the two reconciled through a phone call. John hadn't been able to get away at the time, but he said he'd be checking in frequently.

The first few nights, Castiel would wake up in a cold sweat, crying, believing that Dean had been another dream. On those nights, Dean would wake up and hold him close and promise him that he was never letting go.

This wasn't one of those nights.

Dean had seen war. He'd seen his friends die in the line of duty, and had imagined it happening to him a couple of times. It hadn't affected him as much then, thinking about his own death, but now he had something to live for, someone depending on him.

He'd fallen asleep in the hopes that it would be a light sleep, only the comforting darkness to soothe him. Instead, his mind had turned into a battlefield all its own.

He was back on the battlefield. He and his buddy Diggory were packing up some supplies from a recently-raided enemy base. They'd been ambushed. Diggory went down. A sniper had nailed him right in the forehead. Diggory had his family to go back to. A wife and two kids. Parents who loved him. It was all wiped away by some guy's bullet.

At first, the dream played it out as it happened. Then, things changed. Diggory went down, but now it wasn't Diggory on the ground, staring blankly up at Dean with a hole in his head, but Castiel. His beautiful blue eyes were all glossy, blank of all emotions. His face was dirty and smudged from the dry, dusty terrain, like Diggory's had been, but instead of the gear, he wore the same suit he'd worn to their Junior prom when they'd jokingly been each other's dates, but Dean had ditched him halfway through the night for some pretty face Dean can't even remember; Dean still remembered how handsome Cas had looked that night.

Dean had yelled, screamed, rushed to him even as bullets buzzed overhead. It didn't matter now. Nothing mattered now. Cas was dead. He was laying there and he wasn't breathing and Dean felt like he couldn't breathe either. Dean had clutched at Castiel's dead body, begging him to be alive, to not leave him alone.

Castiel didn't blink. He didn't breathe. He didn't answer Dean's wish.

Dean woke up them, a broken sob choked in his throat, a sound finally emitting from his chest that was barely even attributable to humans.

Castiel woke up sometime before him, and he'd been the one to wake Dean from his living nightmare. He held Dean close now, whispering soft words into his ear.

"It's okay, Dean. You're alright. No one is here but you and me. We're all that matters right now. Come back to me, my Dean," Castiel murmured into Dean's soft hair, his voice a husky, soft, reassuring lull.

Soon, Dean's sobbing quieted, the nightmare finally melting away. Exhaustion ate away at Dean. Within a moment, Dean's breathing evened out, his body becoming limp, Dean falling into a dreamless slumber finally.

Castiel held Dean for a bit longer, then gently set him down on the bed again. Castiel was thankful Dean fell back asleep. He needed rest.

Castiel went to get up, wanting a drink of water, but Dean sensed the warmth emitted from Castiel recede from the bed and the mattress shift, and he whined subconsciously, reaching out blindly to where Castiel was. Castiel smiled, choosing to ignore his concern at Dean's separation anxiety for now, and climbed back into bed. Dean's arms wrapped around Cas on instinct, and Dean sighed contently.

Castiel cuddled deeper into Dean's chest, breathing in his scent, before joining Dean in slumber.