They were about a half a mile into the darkness when Cas and Ben appeared in their path. "She isn't in the cave," said Cas.

"I thought Wendigos hunted alone!" cried Ben.

"They do," reassured Sam. "This is ridiculous!"

Suddenly, a voice that sounded too much like Claire's yelled, "Help me! Help me!"

"Claire!" Ben yelled. He ran towards the screaming.

"Ben, don't!" warned Dean, but Ben didn't stop. Dean sighed angrily and ran after him. Ben was fast. Faster than Dean. He zig zagged through the trees, determined to find Claire. Dean was heaving, blood pounding in his ears. The Mark on his arm burned. His vision started to go red. Dean kept shaking his head, trying to keep his mind safe from the Mark's influence, but it was relentless. He ran faster than he ever had. He felt like he was chasing Ben not to stop him, but to-

A searing pain erupted from Dean's shoulder, throwing him off his feet. He slammed into a tree, knocking the wind out of him. He felt his shoulder, which was bleeding. The Wendigo had made him its next target, and it was closely circling, ready to finish the job. Dean's vision was still blurred and red, but when the Wendigo showed its taunt and disfigured face, Dean's right arm acted on its own and sucker punched the ugly sonovabitch in the jaw. The Wendigo howled, thrown back temporarily.

The red disappeared from Dean's eyes. He was in awe of his own body. The Wendigo stumbled to its feet. Dean quickly patted his coat pockets for the flamethrower, but realized it had been flung about five feet away when he hit the tree. The Wendigo snarled, and lunged for Dean.

A white hot blast of flame hit the monster in the back of the head. It gave inhuman shrieks as it crumbled onto the forest floor, burning. Illuminated by the dying creature's flames was Sam, holding the flame thrower. "Nice shot, Sammy," said Dean, trying to keep his cool. Sam took his eyes off of the burning corpse. He gave Dean a look that said That wasn't me.

Ben stepped out from behind Sam with the same incredulous look on his face. In his hands were a lighter and Hannah Montana hairspray.

Dean smiled. He walked over to Ben and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder. "Nice job," he said. Ben smiled back.

Cas came trotting through the trees, his trench coat flapping behind him like his wings. "We still need to find Claire."

"Right," said Sam. "Let's split up. I'll take Ben and Dean can go with Cas." Sam nodded at Dean, waiting for his approval. Dean nodded back. They split up, Sam and Ben going West, Dean and Cas going East. They searched for nearly forty minutes when Sam called Dean, saying they found Claire unconscious, but otherwise alright. Dean breathed a sigh of relief, and holding the phone to his chest, repeated the new to Cas, who instantly relaxed and sat down on a stump. Dean promised to meet them back at the hotel and hung up. He turned with his back facing Cas. "Cas," he said. A soft grunt from Cas told him he was listening. "Can I tell you something? And you won't repeat it to Sam?"

Cas stood, walked over to Dean and placed a firm yet gentle hand on his left shoulder. "Of course, Dean. You can tell me anything."

Dean shrugged off his hand begrudgingly. He unknowingly scratched at the Mark under his sleeve. "I don't know how much longer I can last. The Mark is trying to... possess me. We need to find another way to fix this."

Cas opened his mouth, then closed it. Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "No, I don't expect you to say anything. It's just, I don't think I have a lot of time left. I'm going to try to find a way to get rid of it before I hurt someone."

"Dean," Cas said. He paused. "The Book of the Damned is still in tact. Sam and I have brought a team together to try to fix this."

"The Book of the Damned?" Dean roared. He took a threatening step towards Cas who did not flinch. "You know that if you use that, something bad will happen? Like, Biblically bad?"

"Well what else can we do?"

Dean started to walk away angrily, but Cas grabbed his wrist. "Dean."

Dean looked over his shoulder. Cas was staring at him with those blue eyes. He swallowed hard. Cas pulled him closer. He didn't say anything. Dean began to lean in, but he wasn't sure. What if this isn't what Cas wanted? What if he was just acting... crazy?

Cas kissed him.

Cas gripped Dean tightly by his leather jacket, his eyes shut, small lines around his eyes visible. His lips were forceful on Dean's. Dean's green eyes were wide with shock, but the softness of Cas's lips slowly made him give in. He close his eyes and placed a hand on Cas's back and the other on the back of his head.

Ages passed. Dean felt like he was strapped to a comet, flying through the cold atmosphere, falling into infinite space before Cas lifted him with his powerful, shadowy wings. Cas broke away. Dean opened his eyes, gasping, dazed.

"I love you, Dean," Cas said. Dean snapped out of his haze. He couldn't find the words to speak. "I- I-"

In the corner of his eye was a familiar heavenly glow. Cas raised his bright hand. "I'm sorry, Dean."

"Cas, wait-!"

***

Cas materialized in the motel parking lot with Dean asleep in his arms. He looked at each boyish freckle on his face, the manly stubble on his chin, and the long dark eyelashes that hid the bright green eyes Cas loved so much.

He kicked his foot into the motel door. Sam answered, panicked to find his brother unconscious. "Cas! What happened?!"

"Me," replied Cas. He pushed his way passed Sam and laid Dean on the bed. "I told him."

"About?"

"The Book of the Damned."

Sam rolled his eyes in exasperation, "You what?"

"He had the right to know. Obviously he wasn't happy, so I took away his memories," Cas was staring at Dean, remembering the kiss they shared, knowing that Dean would never look at him and do the same. He turned around to face Sam. "If he asks what happened, say he just collapsed."

"Oh yeah, that clears things up. Listen, Cas, Charlie called and-" Sam didn't finish. Cas was already gone.

Cas stood in a clearing in the forest, blessing and cursing Dean because if he never met him, he would have never known what love was, but he never would have known true pain, either.

***

Dean arranged his guns in the trunk of the Impala. Sam walked up to him. "Hey, how's your head?"

"Fuzzy. Claire's a pretty good shot. Ben, too. I think they'll be just fine hunting," claimed Dean. He watched Ben try to carry Claire's backpack for her, but she took it back, shoving his shoulder playfully. He kissed her cheek. Dean smirked. "Good kids."

Ben slammed his trunk. Claire held out her palm. "Can I drive?"

"I'd like to get to Nevada is one piece, thank you very much," Ben said. She glared, but then smiled, and got in the passenger's side. Ben gazed at her through the window, then looked at Dean. "Hey, um," he said.

"Nevada?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, we think there's a vampire hive down in Vegas. We're going to check it out," Ben explained.

"Okay, but don't do anything Dean would do," said Sam. Dean gave him an over-the-shoulder look. Sam shrugged and gave him the puppy dog eyes. Ben laughed. "Don't worry, I think we'll be fine."

"You will be," came Cas's voice. He walked out from behind the Impala, folding a map and staring intently at Ben. He handed the map to him and brought his face closer. "Because if you mess up, and she doesn't make you pay, I will."

Ben swallowed hard, at a loss for words. He quickly nodded his head and choked out, "Yes, sir."

They exchanged phone numbers and soon the only thing left of Ben and Claire were tire tracks in the mud. Dean leaned back on the Impala for a while, then got into the car. "You coming, Cas?"

"I have business to attend to," he replied. Dean nodded and started the Impala. As he and Sam were leaving the parking lot, Dean watched Cas in the mirror. Cas had a pained expression on his face, different than his usual squinted eyes and taunt mouth. Dean blinked and he was gone.

They drove in silence for about an hour, until Sam piped up. "So, um, Cas said you fainted."

"I didn't faint, I passed out."
"Yeah, whatever, but, do you think it has something to do with the Mark?"

The silence had returned for what seemed like an eternity until Dean cleared his throat. "I don't know. I told you, I don't remember."

Sam looked at Dean. "You know, I'm going to find a way to cure this. We got this, okay?" Dean nodded and smiled, but not with his eyes. Sam knew it was a fake. Silence.

"I thought Ben was going to crap himself when Cas threatened him," said Dean. Sam laughed and the two of them joked while the radio blared.

Carryon my wayward son...