Welcome to my world

[flamyshine]

Title: Welcome to my world
Pairing: Dean Winchester/Castiel
Rating: R
Word count: 4,453
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: none
Summary: Everything is finally over and Castiel invites his favorite being into a new world.
Author’s note: Future fic, inspired by Depeche Mode’s ‘Welcome to my world’. Lyrics at the end.


“Cas?” Dean looked around, not sure what he was supposed to do. He was standing in front of a huge golden gate on top of thick clouds that reminded him of typical Heaven gates in movies.

“Come in. The door’s open.”

Dean wondered where the angel was. He couldn’t see anyone around and his voice didn’t seem to be coming from a particular direction. It was more like in his head.

“You’re not going to come out and greet me? It’s been a long trip, you know.” He didn’t remember how he got here but the fatigue told him enough. The last thing that he remembered was picking up a card from the nightstand and reading the invitation to Heaven.

“Cas? You’re still there?” Dean pushed the gate open and took a few steps. He saw the Impala parked nearby and treaded carefully on the clouds. He didn’t need to check the license plate or look inside. At this point, he could recognize his baby just from the cozy feeling that he got whenever he made contact with the car. He was fondly punching the door of the driver’s seat when a familiar face was reflected on the window.

“Cas!” He threw his arms around the angel and smiled. It was always a pleasure to see him when there was no danger to worry about.

“Dean.” Castiel returned the hug and started to change the scenery. He had been busy building other parts of the world.

“Good to see you, buddy. So is this the new Heaven?” Dean stood there, enrapt, as Castiel created things one by one. First came the solid ground under his feet, then came patches of healthy grass, and a sun that didn’t burn his eyes.

“This is your Heaven, Dean. I can change whatever you want.”

Dean chewed over the words, equally stunned and intrigued. “Where’s Sammy? Still asleep at the motel?”

“He’s in his own Heaven, living out his dreams. But I can bring him here if you want.”

Dean wondered how things worked up here. How much time had passed since he got here? Did time even mean something in Heaven? How would his brother know if he was all right? But then, was he all right? Was it safe here? If it was, would he know how to handle such a foreign concept like peace?

“Don’t worry. I informed Sam myself before you entered the gates. He understands. And, yes, it’s safe here.”

Castiel put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Dean jerked back with a hint of unease in his voice. “Whoa. Are you in my head?”

“I can feel your thoughts. We’re in Heaven.” Castiel put a hand over his heart.

Taking a deep breath, Dean tried his best not to freak out. He knew that Castiel wasn’t trying to invade his thoughts; he was trying to understand him and put his mind at ease. He looked at the angel’s appearance and felt a little better. While he had invested in a haircut and a new leather jacket, Castiel still looked the same. The consistency was reassuring, and he loved the trench coat and the soft hairdo on him. But if this was his version of Heaven, couldn’t he be in something else for a change?

“You want me to show some skin?”

“Wow. You really felt that?” Dean thought that perhaps this creepy ability might not be too bad after all. There were some things that he just couldn’t say.

“How about this?” Castiel opened his arms and gave himself a makeover. He was soon wearing a Hawaiian shirt, swimming trunks, and flip flops. By the time Dean’s eyes came up to his face after lingering on his legs, he had thrown in a straw hat and sunglasses to complete the look.

“Yeah, that’s all great, big man, but there’s no sea up…” Dean turned around at the sound of the waves hitting the shore right behind him. “Haha, of course.”

Then he found himself naked, save for a pair of Speedos. “Oh, come on. You think this is fair? Any self-respecting hunter would never look so… vulnerable!”

“But there’s no threat, Dean. Everything’s safe here. It’s okay to be vulnerable.” Castiel pointed at the sun. “For instance, there’s no need to worry about UV rays. I took care of it.”

“And, I’m sure you made the rays extra warm so I wouldn’t freeze my ass off.” Dean looked down at himself and had to admit that he could pull off the look.

“I made them extra warm so I could do this.” Castiel splashed Dean with water, grinning like a devil.

“Oh, yeah? You’re sure about this? Angel powers or not, you’re not going to beat me.” Dean walked into the sea and cupped his hands in the water, ready to fight.

“I think I should be asking you if you’re sure.” Castiel looked to his left and Dean saw a huge wave silently waiting to devour him.

“Hey, if it’s my Heaven, I get to win.”

“But you appreciate the fight in me.”

“Hell yeah, I do.” Trusting the angel to work his mojo, he gathered water and threw it. Much to his satisfaction, a blue jellylike substance was soon sliding off Castiel’s face. “Ahaha! You’ve never looked better, Cas.”

“Really? I should repay the favor then.” Castiel got his revenge with a couple of snowballs and gloated as Dean yelped. The icy balls must’ve felt cold against his bare belly.

“Oh, you’re not getting away with this.” Dean pictured an octopus in his mind and wound up like a baseball player. The poor octopus flew through the air and landed on Castiel’s running back.

“Ahhhck!!”

Dean laughed his heart out as the terrified octopus clung to the angel with its suckers. “So friendly with Mr. Leggy there! I think I’m getting jealous!”

He was still snickering, wiping tears from his eyes, when Castiel appeared right in front of him and smashed his face with a pie.

Dean wiped some of the pie off his cheek and ate it. “Huh, this tastes amazing…” He waited for his face to get cleaned up but nothing happened.

“Seriously?” He tried to open his eyes. “Cas, I’m waiting here.”

“Wait all you want. There’s a reason why I chose a pie.” Castiel didn’t hide his gleeful smile.

“Are you for real? You want me to eat away the pie in the middle of a battle? No way.” Dean walked deeper into the sea and dipped his face in the water to wash it. It was too late when he realized that he had just walked into a trap. The angel was already pushing his head down.

Flailing his arms didn’t do the trick. And, he didn’t want to use force even though the angel was perfectly capable of defending himself. So he went with the only option that he had. He grabbed Castiel’s swimming trunks and yanked them down.

“Dean!!”

Castiel tried to hike up his trunks but Dean was faster, pushing and making him lose his balance. He let out a mad chuckle before ducking underwater to observe the enticing damage. But before he could get an eyeful, a bundle of greyness appeared in the corner of his eyes.

‘Holy shit!’ A saw shark was headed straight for him. He pictured a dagger in his mind but his hands stayed empty until the shark came right in front of his nose. Judging his opponent for ignoring his prayer, he kicked the underside of the shark’s saw. The shark gave him a pained look before vanishing into thin air.

“Ouch. What have you done to that poor creature?” Castiel lightly scolded Dean as he came up for air.

“You sent a shark after me!”

“You threw an octopus at me. Same marine animals.”

“No, Cas. Even a three year old knows that a shark and an octopus aren’t the same.” Dean wanted to argue some more but he noticed that the angel was still trunkless. “Oh…”

“What’s wrong?” Castiel tilted his head.

“You look ridiculous with only half of your body covered.” Dean gestured towards the lower half of the angel’s body in the water.

“Oh, that can be easily fixed.”

Dean reluctantly waited for the swimming trunks to reappear. ‘So much for being my own Heaven.’

But the sight that greeted him was rather unexpected. The angel was stark naked. No shirt, no hat, and no sunglasses.

“Um… It is Heaven, Dean. This should be the proof you’ve been looking for.” Castiel looked a little bit uncomfortable as Dean stared at him unabashedly.

“I’m sorry but it’s a tough sell. You’ll have to do better than that.” Dean considered himself a gentleman but he had lost total control over his eyes and mouth.

“What do you mean? Would you like to see my soul?”

Dean snorted. They could be on such different frequencies sometimes. “No. I want to win and get my hands on the prize.”

Not giving his opponent a chance, he lunged for the angel. Water splashed all over them as they went underwater. Castiel didn’t fight him even when he clutched the angel’s waist to get a proper look at him.

‘Damn, you’re hot.’ Dean slid his hands down to Castiel’s thighs, hoping that he wouldn’t get thrown in Hell again. He hadn’t really allowed himself to think about the angel in such a way. He knew that those thoughts wouldn’t go away once he led them into his head when he had to concentrate on saving lives.

He focused his attention on Castiel as they neither sank nor floated. He wanted to enjoy this without worrying about anything. Just this once, he wanted to have this. He didn’t think that he deserved it but he wanted this too much to let it slip away. It felt too good to finally have the right one in his arms. These eyes, this skin, and these tremors… he didn’t have any right to them but damn if he wasn’t going to try and claim them.

Keeping his eyes on the angel’s, he touched as much as he could. Who knew when this dream would come to an end? He would hang onto it until Castiel was wrenched away from him.

Water wasn’t intrusive. It was rather welcome, letting his hands glide smoothly all over his fantasy. He couldn’t read Castiel’s expression though. So many things were rushing through those blue eyes and he was only human.

‘This is awesome, Cas. But I want more. I need more.’ He brought the angel closer to kiss him on the lips. That was when he noticed that he hadn’t been short of breath during all this time. His confusion didn’t last long as he felt something weird near his ribs.

“Caaas!!”If a shriek could shake an ocean, that was it.

Dean stood up with a jerk and looked at his gills with horror. They went away in an instant but he knew what he had seen. “Way to kill the mood, dude! Gills? Seriously?”

“You needed to breathe.” Castiel shrugged. “And, I can light up some candles for the mood.”

“I don’t need candles. I just need you to stop your angel magic for a while. No more freaky stuff!”

“But that’s what I do, Dean.”

Dean mentally slapped himself before nodding. If he wanted Castiel, he would have to take the full package. “Fine. Then get us some towels so we can dry off.”

“I have a better idea.” Castiel beckoned the sun closer and turned up its warmth.

‘So much for an excuse to grope him.’ Dean sighed as he walked out to the shore. The sand was soft between his toes but he preferred to lay the angel down on something softer. One look at Castiel brought out the trench coat that had seen so many tragedies. But this wasn’t the time to get sad. The coat also held some precious memories and he was going to make sure that today’s would be the best of them all.

He knelt down and arranged for the angel to lie down on the open coat. He had dreamed about this at night more times than he was willing to admit and yet, what was laid in front of him was nothing like what he had imagined. It had to be angelic beauty; something that went far beyond his human imagination. He hoped that all of this was real. Oh, how he hoped it was…

“It’s okay, Dean. I’m not going anywhere.” Castiel ran his hands up Dean’s arms.

“You don’t know that so don’t sweat it. I can take it even if you have to leave again.” Dean hoped that his lie wouldn’t show.

“Actually for once, I know for sure.” Castiel gave him a small reassuring smile. “But if you’re still doubtful, I can freeze time for you.”

Dean laughed. Only Castiel could say such meaningful things so casually. “Thanks, Cas.”

It didn’t take long for words to desert him and all that mattered was touches. One touch to the rosy cheek, flowers bloomed on the sand around the coat. Another touch to the trembling knee, the flutter of big, black wings carried them up in the air.

‘Whoa!’ Dean held onto Castiel’s thighs as they went up higher. Then the wings stole all of his wonder. It had been a while since he had seen them and it was the first time that the wings were more than a shadow.

He only hesitated for a moment before laying his fingers on one of the wings. If the angel minded, he would’ve said something. Careful caresses glided across the feathers as shivers went through both of them. He had always imagined Castiel with white wings but black suited him just as well. He just hoped that black was his natural color and that the wings hadn’t turned dark because of him.

‘Huh, where did that come from… As if I’d have that much influence over him…’ A breath of air near his cheek shook him out of the bitter thought. It turned into a soft breeze as he locked eyes with the angel who was leaning up for a kiss. Unable to deny him anything, Dean met him halfway even though he still wasn’t entirely sure if this was a good idea.

“Stop thinking,” Castiel chastised between kisses as he secured his arms around Dean’s neck. His wings kept them in the air, and whenever Dean seemed to worry, he took them a little bit higher to the sky.

“I better focus or I get the feeling you’re going to drop me.” Dean laughed, relieved that he wasn’t afraid of heights. It would’ve been embarrassing to underperform because of a breathtaking view. Grass and flowers had now replaced most of the sand, and Castiel was adding butterflies and small insects to complete the picture. To be honest, he didn’t think that the scenery was anything special; he just hadn’t been able to appreciate any piece of the nature before. But when he looked back up, the excitement in Castiel’s eyes was better than any view that he had ever seen.

No words were needed as kisses and touches took over again. The breeze grew into a wind as Dean reached out for more. He couldn’t control the pace or the intensity. He couldn’t keep his touches soft. After having been denied for so long, he didn’t want to do soft. He was grateful that he couldn’t hurt the angel. He had to grab and clutch, make sure that Castiel was with him.

The wind rolled them over but Castiel caught Dean with his wings before the kiss got broken. The harder they kissed, the stronger the wind blew. They danced in the air, taking turns in leading each other. Castiel thought that Dean smelled like relief and tasted like rapture. Dean thought that Castiel should be perfectly his.

With a strangled moan, Dean completely buried himself in amazement and happiness. Neither feeling was familiar to him but he was getting used to them rather quickly. As he shook Castiel’s world, the angel started to lose control. Everything around them changed. Seasons overlapped one another and space got torn and rebuilt. Dean wasn’t sure if they were even staying on the same dimension. The only thing that made sense was the angel in his arms.

“Dean!!” A startled cry left Castiel as they spun out of control.

“Hang on.” Dean held him closer to his heart and kissed him hard. After one particularly colorful spark blinded them both, they started to fall. The deeper Dean dove in, the faster they fell. The ground opened up and they kept falling through a waterfall of shared memories.

“Cas…” Dean let out a helpless sound as the memories rushed back to him. It was overwhelming and yet strangely comforting. To know that he could still remember the things that mattered and still feel like a normal person after everything that he had gone through… To know that Castiel was capable of bringing these emotions out of him even without his powers… it was painfully liberating.

Castiel soothed Dean with warm hands on his back and looked up at the sky as their maddening fall continued. It was painted with the colors of dreams. Given that he never slept, they had to be Dean’s. The moment turned impossibly intimate as he soaked up every single color. It wasn’t easy to keep his eyes open but he wanted to see everything.

“Next time you go away, I’m coming with you.”

Castiel swallowed a smile at the tone of finality. The topic wasn’t up for discussion; Dean Winchester had made up his mind and he was going to stick with it. Then it was a good thing that he wasn’t going away this time. He cherished his connection to the most precious creation on Earth and nothing was going to separate them from now on. He closed his eyes and let darkened bliss roll through him before lights exploded in his soul.

A thundering screech from the angel cut the last cord to Dean’s endurance and it wasn’t long before everything came to a halt. No more falling, no more doubt, and surprisingly no more pain.

When Dean recovered enough to recognize his surroundings, he was back at the beach where everything had started. No more flowers, just soft sand underneath him. Wavelets tickled his toes, trying to get his attention, but he was entranced, looking at the stars. They were holding their own despite the brightness of the moon. It was a supermoon, obviously been touched by the angel. Dean bit off a smile. All he needed was Castiel but he wasn’t going to stop him for being cute anytime soon.

“This is nice. I never had time to look at the stars, you know. There was always something to hunt down before someone got hurt.”

“I understand. Would you like more stars?”

Before Dean could laugh about how casual it sounded as if Castiel was offering him another glass of water, they were in the middle of the desert under a thick blanket of stars. The moon was nowhere to be found.

“This is amazing!” Dean gaped. He gazed up appreciatively in comfortable silence until he caught the sight of a shooting star. He remembered how Sam had made wishes upon it whenever he saw one. Sam had always been the more hopeful one of the two.

“You can make a wish. I’ll make any arrangements you need.”

Dean laughed. “Is any of this even real?” Now that he could think clearly again, doubt was seeping back into him.

“It’s all real. Can’t you feel the sand?”

“Of course I can feel the sand. There’s a big grain of sand digging into my back.” Dean shifted in search of more comfort but he wasn’t lying on the ground anymore. They were on a carpet next to a bonfire.

“Why are you doing this, Cas? Is this your new job? Babysitting me? Or am I getting special treatment for my, let’s say, contribution to the Heavenly business.”

Castiel looked away. “I lied to you, Dean.”

“About what? About this being real?”

“No. About how this is your Heaven.”

Dean blanched. He knew that this was too good to be true. Having Castiel all to himself in a world where nobody bothered him simply wasn’t possible. “Are you saying this is my Hell then? Am I going to be alone once you leave again?”

“No, Dean. I’m not leaving you. I have nowhere else to be.” It hurt to think that Dean had so much trouble believing that he was here to stay. “I just wanted to tell you that this is my Heaven as well. This is our Heaven.”

Dean studied the angel’s face. “For how long?”

Castiel thought for a moment before pointing at the sky. “Would you believe me if I said, until all those stars die?”

Dean followed his eyes to the black sky. Something had changed. There seemed to be even more stars now, shining so brightly that he couldn’t imagine any of them would ever die.

“I’m a skeptic, Cas. You know that.” He let out a sigh.

“I do. But I promise that things are going to be different. This is where I end, Dean. Just give me a chance to show you.”

Dean didn’t believe in promises but what other choice did he have? He didn’t think that he could survive another departure from Castiel, but it probably didn’t matter much when he was trapped in this unfamiliar space. His guts told him that this was definitely where he ended.

“You told me you needed me. Well, I need you too, Dean.” Castiel wanted to help Dean with his internal battle. This would go so much easier if he learned to trust and relax. “And, if I ever need to leave, we’ll leave together just like you said,” he added for additional comfort.

Dean looked at the angel for a long while before giving him a nod. “Okay.”

As Dean went back to stargazing, Castiel gathered his thoughts. He felt free like he had never been before. No God, no Naomi, no mission to accomplish. He had never imagined that such a day would come. It would’ve been terrifying to exist without a purpose. But that was where Dean came in.

He turned to his side and watched the man who kept him going. There were already many things that he liked about Dean but he was happy to add one more tonight. It was wonderful to know that he could still find it in himself to appreciate the beauty of stars. He himself didn’t care much about stars but if Dean had a soft spot for them, he would gladly learn to love them. Speaking of love… “Do you think this is love? What we have.”

Dean turned his head in surprise and blinked his eyes in wonder. Castiel’s face was glowing beautifully in the lights of the bonfire. “You’re asking the wrong person, Cas. I never really got the meaning of that word.”

“But humans seem to say ‘I love you’ all the time.”

“Yeah, they’re probably the most overused words along with ‘forever’.” Dean chuckled.

“So if I told you I’d love you forever, it wouldn’t do anything for you.”

Dean sucked in a sharp breath. Whatever they had was evolving and he wasn’t sure if he could handle it. He was getting light-headed and couldn’t slow down his thumping heart. He held onto the angel’s hand even if he was worried that he might end this world with one bad squeeze. “Cas, this is too much.”

A delighted smile found its place on Castiel’s face. He didn’t need a verbal answer; he could already hear it loud and clear. It was in the way that the human heart was beating. It was in the dazzling array of emotions sprinkled on Dean’s face. It was in the desperate grip on his hand.

He linked their fingers together and shifted closer to his favorite being. “We’ll get used to it. We have time.”

Dean fought off the urge to run away and steadied his breathing. It was time that both of them stood their grounds. This was something that he hadn’t been able to even fantasize about and it was here for him to take. He should know better than to pass up the opportunity.

“Yeah, we have time,” he acknowledged. A sense of power and thrill surged through him while he pictured all the things that they could do. He hadn’t even known that he had wanted so many things for them. As a star flickered and fell to the ground, he quickly wished that he would get to do everything that he had just imagined.

“We could always start with a nap.” Sensing the waves of fatigue rolling off Dean’s body, Castiel wrapped his wings around him. A gray feather landed on Dean’s shoulder but he made it disappear before Dean could see it. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he closed his eyes and felt Dean search for his lips. He noticed with joy that Dean thought that it was incredibly romantic to kiss under the star-studded sky.

The only problem that he had with Dean’s opinion was that it wasn’t the sky. If Dean thought that he hadn’t created any backup skies, he was in for a surprise. There were an infinite number of stars waiting to die until their love would even begin to fade away.

Welcome to my world. Step right through the door.
Leave your tranquilizers at home. You don’t need them anymore.
All the drama queens have gone and the devil got dismayed.
He backed up and fled this town, his master plan delayed.

And if you stay awhile, I’ll penetrate your soul.
I’ll bleed into your dreams. You want to lose control.
I’ll weep into your eyes. I’ll make your vision sing.
I'll open endless skies and right your broken wings.

We'll watch the sunrise set and the moon begin to blush.
Our naked innocence, translucently too much.
And I'll hold you in my arms and keep you by my side.
And we'll sleep the devil's sleep, just to keep him satisfied.

‘Welcome to my world’ - Depeche Mode