{Cas's POV}
I felt so alone. It hurt so much to not see Dean every day, but it seemed to be even worse if we were together. Everything had changed, and I wanted things to go back to how they were before.
I had to solve the problem with the Mark. I had to make this work again. Everything was broken, and I needed to fix it.
But how?
Sam had been reading through some of the books and files in the bunker; maybe I could help him. Whenever Sam brought my food about an hour ago, he told me what he's learned about the Mark. Well... he learned pretty much nothing. But he also gave me a list of what he had read and what parts of the bunker he hadn't gotten a chance to search through. After he left my room, he came back and said that he and Dean were going on a hunt and that dinner was ready whenever I wanted it.
I was still stuck on the Mark. Surely there was something that would help us. There had to be a little bit of information in this building of knowledge. There had to be something that we were missing.
With that in mind, I walked into the deeper parts of the bunker. Sam had never gotten this far because he didn't know about this entire floor. Everything was classified and only a handful of Men of Letters knew about it. When my brother's and sisters learned that Sam and Dean had found this bunker, they ordered me to secure this floor and make sure they never found it. I used my powers to hide the doorway from mortals and to make a key that only we would have.
The task was given to one of my brothers to guard the key, but it didn't take much persuading to get it back. Once it was in my possession, I didn't let it out of my sight. Actually, I kept it in one of the pockets in my trenchcoat. I had forgotten all about the key to the secret floor over the past few months. I only remembered it last night when I got cold and walked down the hall to get my trenchcoat. I couldn't believe that the answer may have been a few floors under us the entire time, and I just didn't connect the dots.
I reached the spot where the door was hidden; the only reason I knew was because of my previous memories. Since I was a human, I couldn't actually see it. I unlocked the door and walked down the dark set of steep, narrow stairs.
This bottom level to the bunker was very small: it was only about a fifteen foot square. There were a dozen bookcases filled with books, files, notebooks, and other random objects deemed too dangerous for the public. I pulled the string on the single bare light bulb, and the room brightened a bit.
I sat down with stacks of information from the first bookshelf piled around me.
I had to learn the truth.
~~~
When I made it through six of the twelve bookcases and I hadn't found a single thing, I decided to call it a night. I walked back upstairs, locking the door on the way, and stepped into my room that I shared with Dean. I rummaged through one of my boyfriend's drawers and pulled out an old shirt. After I changed my shirt for Dean's, I went to bed, sleeping on Dean's side.
With the familiar scent of my boyfriend surrounding me, I quickly fell asleep.
~~~
I got up around nine and immediately went back to the confidential floor. I spent another eight hours reading through the rest of the bookshelves.
The only thing that I could find on the Mark was a brief description of how dangerous it was. The small file said that it was a lock keeping the worst evil in the history of our universe at bay.
Included with that was an index card that read, "THERE IS NO CURE."
~~~
A little after five thirty, I went to the kitchen in search of food. When I got to the refrigerator, I saw a sticky note.
Dean made me dinner. I opened the door to find a BLT. A moment later, I found Dean's letter on the table. I read it as I ate, and tears started slipping down my cheeks.
I don't know how long I sat at the table after I finished eating, just rereading Dean's words. Eventually, the door swung open.
Without thinking, I launched myself into my boyfriend's arms.
"I love you too, Dean."