E M P T Y

Everything Ends

And that was it that's how Castiel got taken.

*24 hours earlier*

Castiel had been staying in the bunker more often. Dean had been staying in his room. A lot. Every time he saw Cas he was just waiting for him to disappear. He didn't want Castiel"s disappearance to be his fault. He would pass by Cas in the halls having a light conversation before returning back to his room. As he would walk back he would turn around expecting him to be gone.

---

Cas was in his room going through some of his things. He had been hearing the empty more and more. Castiel was in the library. He was sitting with his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap. Family, he was thinking about family. All of his life, or what he could remember from his long life, he thought about the word family. He had been told the angels were his family.

He had been told so many times to forget the Winchesters. He had been told that they were just humans, that they were just using him. He never really knew family till the Winchesters. He has had the time of his life with them. Angels were like humans. They could eat, sleep, feel, but they blocked it out. It's not that the couldn't it's that they didn't have to. They were built to be soldiers.

Castiel followed angel etiquette until the Winchesters. Dean feels things more acutely than any human he has ever known. He would make a good angel Cas thought. When Castiel met Dean it was one of the first things he noticed. It always made him think about angels and how stupid their rules were.

He thinks that was when he started becoming more "human." He looked up to both Dean and Sam so he picked up things from them. Best experience of his life. Living with the Winchesters gave Castiel a better view of things. Dean once told him that Cas was the best angel because he had the view of both sides. He had the view of great power and despair.

Cas thought about the best times he had. Driving the Impala. Dean actually let him drive the Impala. Driving that car was different than anything he had ever felt. He had driven a car but that car, that car was different. When Crowley told him he smelled like the Impala he felt proud. He felt like that made him a real Winchester. He was a Winchester.

This family had been the best family he ever had. They have been the best family. He was sad to see it go but he felt like he left his mark. He could have never asked for a better experience on Earth. All the angels talked about how much they hated Earth. They always said that felt out of place. Cas never felt like that. Even when someone would say Cas didn't belong here, the Winchesters made sure they regretted those words. He smiled thinking about his family.

A damaged, flannel-wearing, messed up family. They were both so damaged he was surprised they were even still going. He often envied their strength. Castiel was an angel and he sometimes had troubles but the Winchesters are so used to it it's like nothing ever happened. Cas had oftentimes thought about erasing the memories of himself from the Winchester's minds.

He thought it would be better that way, but he could never bring himself to do it. He had to take Ben and Lisa away from Dean and he had to watch how much pain that brought Dean. It was worse than death. He didn't want to do that to the Winchesters. He didn't want to leave them like that. That is why he is in the bunker, he wanted to spend as much time with them as possible before he gets taken.

Cas was completely lost in his own head. He probably sat there for hours just thinking about his life.

---

Dean was sitting in his room trying to fall asleep but he couldn't. Every night he thought he would wake up to the news that Cas was gone. He was watching his ceiling when he heard a knock. "Come in," He said. He sat up as Sam came in and closed the door behind him. "Hey," Sam said sitting at the foot of Dean's bed. "Hey," Dean responded. "Cas has been sitting in the library for hours," Sam said. "I know," Dean answered quietly rubbing his face.