"I don't understand, why do I need a cell phone?" Castiel asked, confusion in his gaze as he sat beside Dean and Sam, his fingers running over the thin and sleek looking phone. Dean had used what money he had saved to buy Castiel with a blind-accessible cell phone, and even had Sam work on it to make sure it worked as well as it possibly could with Castiel's disability.

"Well, if I'm going to work, I'm not leaving you on your own without being able to contact me," Dean stated, his hand ghosting over Castiel's. He had gotten a job at a gas station, nothing fancy, but when he went to apply at the mechanic shop down the street, the owner had called an ambulance when he went into the panic attack from all the noise. Finding a job that he was qualified for, and didn't have extremely loud noises was not the easiest thing in the small town.

"I'm sorry to say, Dean, but I don't think I could use this. It's not like I could see the screen," Castiel stated, a little bit of bitterness in his voice. Sam, on the other hand, was bouncing excitedly, happy to show some of the smarts that he had.

"The cell phone provider integrated a screen reader into the cell phone just for blind people," Sam stated, helping Castiel guide his hand to the button to switch the screen. It opened, and Sam wriggled a little bit with a smirk, showing him how long to hold the home button down to pull up the microphone.

"Call Dean," Sam stated, and the phone repeated it back in a monotone woman's voice before Dean's own cell phone began to ring. He switched it off instead of answering, Castiel's eyes showing a little bit of shock at being actually able to work a phone.

"It also will read the text messages you get out loud for you," Sam stated, pulling out a piece of plastic from the box that the cell phone had come from, easing it under Castiel's hand underneath it so the man could feel it, "And this is a keyboard you put over your phone and it had raised buttons so you know what you're typing and if you need it to, it'll say each letter you press or read the message back to you to make sure it sounds right."

Castiel furrowed his brows as Sam put the plastic over the phone, running his fingers over it when it was settled in the right place, "Can I try it then?" Castiel asked, wonder in his voice as he experimentally poked one of the buttons.

"Of course, hold the home button and then say 'text Dean' or whoever you want to text then use the keyboard to type it," Sam offered, sliding the phone closer to Castiel. The blind man nodded, pressing the home button and holding it, a slightly focused look on his face.

"Text Dean," Castiel stated, the words being repeated back at him before there was a slight beep showing that the phone was ready for his typing. He took the phone gently in his hands, and although he was slow about it at first, he found the bumps that signaled 'f' and 'j' and typed, letting his memory of a keyboard guide him.

Dean's phone buzzed when Castiel finished, pressing the power button and letting the phone turn off with a soft click. Dean pulled it out, smiling at Castiel's eager face and pulled up his messages, only for his heart to feel like it stopped.

'I love you.'

Dean blushed, swallowing and ignoring Sam's concerned looks as he typed out his own message, sending it and rubbing the back of his neck as he put his phone back in his pocket. Castiel's phone let out a soft ring, and Castiel, with the guidance of Sam, moved to the bottom of the phone that read out the messages he received.

"From. Dean." The monotonous voice said, its speech a little too clear cut, but it worked decent at least.

"I love you too. End message."

Castiel's smile began growing on his face, and he reached towards Dean, letting Dean catch his hand and pulling him for hug and a gentle kiss. Sam watched them with warm eyes, and Dean only blushed more, burying his head in Castiel's hair and closing his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean could feel the sticky heat clinging to dust-covered skin, flames bathing along his flesh and ripping his skin and muscles from bone. He tossed and turned against the hot and scruffy blanket that rubbed his skin raw, the knife of a soldier dancing close to his eyes, too close, and blood welled in his vision, his body convulsing as he felt his stomach being ripped open and his intestines being removed. His head fell to the side, his one good eye widening when he saw the corpse of Castiel and Sam, their mouths torn and broken so they hung limply, blood dripping from around their lips where their tongues had been ripped out.

Dean woke up with a jerk, a tenseness in his shoulders as he struggled to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. A thin layer of sweat laid over his skin, the poison of the dream bringing out a slight groan as he let his head fall back onto the pillow, heat flooding through him and multiplying until his skin felt like it was burning.

He slipped out of the bed, his footsteps trained to be silent as he walked around the bed towards the bathroom, only casting a single look at Castiel's sleeping form to make sure he was okay. He let the door click quietly shut behind him before flicking on the light, momentarily blinding him, but Dean couldn't wait any longer, peeling his shirt from the dampness on his back and working his boxers off.

He turned on the water, leaving it icy cold and stepping inside the bathtub, shivering against the spray and sitting down, letting his arms curl around his knees as the cool water hit his back and froze the heat that rolled off of his skin. He let out a soft sigh of relief, letting his eyes close as the feeling of dust and blood washed away.

He barely heard the door open, and Castiel was walking on, his hands guiding him from the sink counter to the shower curtain hanging to the side of the tub. He pulled off his own clothes, reaching out and finding where Dean was sitting before climbing in in front of him, working Dean's legs open so he could sit between them.

When Castiel leaned back against his chest, he found that the man was warmer than usual, and when his hand grazed over his chest, he felt the quick patter of Castiel's heartbeat. Dean sighed, resting his nose against the man's shoulder, kissing the skin slow and gentle.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Castiel asked, his voice still rough from sleep, and a slight shiver reaching him from the icy water. Dean shrugged against him, hugging him a bit closer, the water crawling down his temple and the back of his neck and sending goosebumps over his skin.

"It's just hard to get out of my head, you know?" Dean whispered, closing his eyes for just  a moment when Castiel nodded. Of course he knew what it felt like. He had experienced it just like Dean had.

"It changed my world as I know it," Castiel stated, his hands resting over Dean's leaning his head back just the tiniest bit so the water ran in rivulets across his nose and cheeks, cooling the heated red there, "I'm just glad you were there to change it again."

Dean let out a soft chuckle, a bit bitter sounding to him, but filled with nothing but sadness, "I was too late to stop the damage," Dean added on, a bit of guilt in his voice. Still, Castiel shook his head, the tips of his hair swaying back and forth against Dean's cheek.

"You gave me a life beyond the camp. Dean...you gave me my life back," Castiel replied, turning his head just slightly, allowing Dean to move just a little bit to press a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. He could see that Castiel was determined, and he didn't have an argument against it anyways.

"You've done a lot for me too," Dean whispered, kissing him properly, one hand trailing up to touch gently around Castiel's collarbone, "You convinced me to try to reconnect with my brother. You...you let me find someone I could really love...God, Cas, I need you so much."

Dean stopped talking, hiding his face against Castiel's shoulder again. He didn't want to feel as exposed as he did, but sitting naked under an icy shower spray with Castiel was about as exposed as he thought he could actually ever get.

"Dean," Castiel said, gaining his attention with the feelings that echoed in that tone of his voice. The I love you and the You have me as long as you need me was clear in his voice, causing to Dean to squeeze a little tighter, holding the man closer.

The spray froze Dean's skin, goosebumps rising along his flesh and his fingers and nose beginning to go numb, but it was okay. He had Castiel, he had his family, a home, he was working past his nightmares, and he was happy.