【Ａｓｈｅｓ Ｔｏ Ａｓｈｅｓ】

-𝔹𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘-

"Castiel?"

The voice seems distant as it calls out to him, its tender tone barely heard through the deafening pound of his heart within his chest. However, it's familiar enough to reel him back into a state of wary consciousness, mouth stretched into a thin frown as he strained to find the name he was looking for. After all, it was the least he could do after threatening her life, remember her name. With his body held close to the woman's side, the phoenix's natural warmth a strange comfort to the angel who could not control the shivers that wracked his form in aching waves, Castiel sways his head to the side to meet the woman's almost overwhelmingly benevolent (e/c) eyes. Mumbling out an incoherent response, a groan of pain quick to accompany it, the woman furrows her brows in concern.

"Castiel-?" she pauses for a moment, letting the deformed angel shake off the haze that had overtaken his mind for a moment before continuing slowly, "I know you're in a lot of pain, but we need to know what to do next."

What to do next? He processes her words as quickly as he can manage, the confusion he feels slow in its transformation to understanding when he is finally able to register what is going on. They were at the lab again, bodies clinging to one another in the center of the tiled room as the hunters he had once been close with frantically shoved rusted equipment to the surrounding walls. The ritual, he remembers. They needed to open the doors to purgatory before the eclipse ended, the moon's haunting shadow already growing fainter with every second that passed. Swallowing down the lump that had grown in his throat, stubbled face twisted in discomfort, the angel finally manages to find his voice.

"We need b-blood" he stumbles slightly in the phoenix's arms when he tries to turn towards the pair of brothers waiting on his direction, the woman quick to adjust her hold, "There's a-a jar. End of the hall, s-supply closet."

"I'm on it," Sam announces, quick to take on the task without a second thought. Using his long legs to carry him across the room, the youngest hunter disappears through the shadowed hallway in a matter of seconds, the sound of his leather boots against the linoleum the only indication that he was still within the building. Just as (y/n) is watching him leave, Dean and Bobby electing to continue their own tasks while Sam was gone, the angel lurches over suddenly to paint a scarlet streak across the palm of his hand. He gags violently, body trembling in her arms as he continues to cough up the blood that had found its way into his decaying lungs.

"Here-" (y/n), eyebrows shooting up at the sight of his bloodied lips, gingerly leads the angel over to one of the empty walls. Slowly crouching down, she gently props him up against the cool tile. "Is that any better?"

When he meets her gaze, almost instinctively drawn to the genuine compassion he finds there, Castiel can't bring himself to tell her the truth. So, instead of admitting that he felt as if he were burning alive, every cell in his body set ablaze from the rapid deterioration of his vessel, he lets out a resigned sigh, "Yes, thank you..."

However, when the phoenix offers a single nod in response and begins to stand from his side, Castiel is compelled to reach out and grab a hold of her sleeve. Weak in his grip, barely able to curl his fingers around the fabric, he tugs lightly onto her arm. Thankfully, she notices the pull and turns back towards him, her soft features illuminated by the flickering light bulb above.

"Are you okay?" she questions quietly, worry evident in her face as she quickly scans over his blood-stained body, "Do you need something?"

"I just-" he struggles to form the sentence, his hold on her arm weakening from the pain of his condition that was growing nearly unbearable to manage, "What is your name?"

Staring at him through widened eyes, the phoenix can't help the way her heart tightens at the almost desperate look on his face as he asks this, "It's...(y/n)."