#purgatory

"Dean, it's a human portal. There's still no proof that an angel can pass." "Stow it, Cas. You're coming. That's final." "I'm just saying… if it doesn't wor … thank you. For everything." "Save the Hallmark. Okay? It's gonna work. Nobody gets left behind."

For a moment, Dean tried to hold on to that stubborn certainty, but Cas’s eyes wouldn’t let him. There was something in them, something too final, like a shadow already written in the future.

The forest was hushed, shafts of pale light breaking through the trees, dust motes drifting like falling ash. Dean felt a knot in his chest, the kind he couldn’t punch his way out of.

“Cas…” he whispered, softer than he meant to.

Cas tilted his head in that familiar way, but the gesture carried a weight now. Like he was memorizing Dean’s face, burning every detail into eternity.

Dean’s throat worked, anger and grief tangling in equal measure. He grabbed Cas by the collar, dragging him closer, pushing a huff out of him.

"I feel like, Cas, I - Ah fuck it"

Dean kissed him.

Cas pressed back, steady and unyielding, clawing his hands into Dean's jacket.

When they parted, their breaths lingered in the cold air between them. Dean’s hand stayed on Cas’s jaw, trembling. “You’re not leaving me,” he said, almost a prayer. “You hear me? You’re not.”

Cas’s lips quirked in the faintest, sorrowful smile. “Then perhaps… I’ll see you on the other side.”

And before Dean could answer, the light from the portal flared, swallowing the space around them in silence and shadow.

💚💙💚