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The sword was in his midsection and out again so quickly that Cas barely even registered what was happening before his attacker was being barrelled to the floor, screaming as Dean hacked his head off with the very same blade. The screaming ceased immediately, replaced by the sound of rushing blood and Dean calling Castiel’s name.
“Cas!” Cas took a trembling step forward, hands clutching his stomach and knees buckling, landing in Dean’s shaking out held arms. “You’re going to be fine Cas, it’s only a scratch. You’re fine.” Dean whispered desperately in his ear, arms gripping Cas’s back and squeezing as hard as possible to put as much pressure as he could on the open wound. His right hand reached up to clutch the back of Cas’s head, his fingers combing through his hair shakily.
“Dean-” Cas wheezed. The pain was finally starting to set in and it was all he could do to not scream.
“No, shh baby, shh it’s okay you don’t have to say anything. You’re not dying on me now. Not after everything we’ve been through. I won’t let you.” Cas slumped against Dean, forcing them both to the ground. A shock of pain ripped through him. He gasped into Dean’s shoulder as a tear slid from his eye and dripped onto the concrete.
“Dean, I love you. I love you so much Dean and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Dean.” He gasped again and this time it was Dean’s tears that fell to the ground in huge droplets.
“Don’t, please Cas, don’t leave me.” He begged. The deep red stain on Cas’s front was growing no matter how much pressure they both put on it. “I love you so much, please, I don’t know what I’ll do without you.” As long as Cas was still breathing, Dean wouldn’t give up. He wouldn’t.
“No, Dean. Don’t-” Cas shuddered “don’t think like that. You have to – have to keep living. Promise me you’ll do that Dean.” He removed a bloody hand from his stomach and reached up to cup Dean’s face, the smattering of blood mixing with the tears still streaming down his cheeks. “Promise me.” He gasped; the pain was slowly becoming unbearable and he knew he didn’t have very long left.
“Okay, okay Cas I promise. Just try and hold on. Sam’s gonna get here any minute and then we can get you out of here and everything will be fine.” But even as he said it, Dean could tell it was hopeless: Cas clearly didn’t have much time left, not even five minutes. Dean breathed in sharply through his nose, trying to stop the flow of tears but instead doing the opposite as sobs began wracking his body. He clutched Cas to him and their tears mingled as their lips crashed together in a desperate last-minute kiss. Dean knew that it would be their last kiss and he didn’t want to stop, didn’t want to ever forget the feeling of Castiel’s lips pressing against his; soft and gentle one second and firm and commanding the next.
“Dean-” Cas doubled over in pain, coughing violently and struggling to breath, violently breaking the kiss.
“What, what is it Cas?” Dean asked hurriedly, knowing they had very limited time. When Cas stopped coughing he rested his head on Dean’s chest, his ear over Dean’s heart.
“Will you sing to me?” Cas rasped. “You have such a – a nice voice.” He wasn’t even trying to staunch the flow of blood anymore, knowing it was pointless.
‘The other night dear, as I lay sleeping,’ Dean couldn’t help the flood of emotion that shot through him: fear, anger, sadness, but most of all pain because he would never get to hold Cas again, never get to kiss him or make love to him. ‘I dreamed I held you in my arms.’
Dean almost stopped singing at the sound of a pained whine coming from Castiel but he kept going. It was what Cas wanted and he would be damned if he didn’t give Cas his one final wish.
‘When I awoke dear, I was mistaken,’ they would never get married. Dean had thought about asking Cas multiple times but every time he didn’t have the guts to do it. Now he would never get the chance to. ‘so I bowed my head and I cried.’
Dean slowly began to rock Cas side to side in his arms, gently so as not to cause him any more pain.
‘You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,’ it was true: Cas was the light of Dean’s life, his world, his everything. He didn’t know what he would do without Cas there by his side. What would the human race do if someday the sun just disappeared from the sky or all the water evaporated? ‘you make me happy, when skies are grey.’
Cas’s breathing was so shallow now that Dean could barely hear it. It was as if he could physically feel his body dying with Cas’s, following him up to the pearly white gates.
‘You’ll never know dear, how much I love you, please don’t take my sunshine away…”
“I love you so much Cas, please don’t leave me. I need you.” Dean sobbed as Cas’s body went slack, his last breath leaving him with a whispered ‘I love you too’.
“Come back to me! Please come back…” Dean’s voice shattered as he begged endlessly for his everything to return to him. He begged and begged for what seemed like hours until finally Sam showed up to find Dean curled protectively around Cas’s limp body. “Please.” He sobbed one last time, staring intently into Cas’s deep blue eyes, glazed over with the effects of Death.
‘Please don’t take my sunshine away…’