Destiel Trope Collection 2026 | Day 26: Hurt/Comfort and Whump
There are cameras in the Dungeon | @destiel-wings
Rating: General
Word Count: 1,368
Main Tags/Warnings: Dean Winchester Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Canon Compliant, Grief/Mourning, Post-Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth
Summary: Dean realizes there are cameras in the dungeon and rewatches Castiel's confession on tape. Emotions come to surface.
Need for comfort | @youchangedmedestiel
Rating: General
Word Count: 1,650
Main Tags/Warnings: Episode Tag: s14e08 Byzantium, Canon Universe, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Dead Jack Kline, Grieving Dean Winchester, Grieving Castiel (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Needs a Hug, Castiel Needs a Hug (Supernatural), Everyone Needs A Hug, Dean Winchester Needs Castiel, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, First Kiss, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Jack just died. Sam leaves the kitchen first after their drinking session to mourn Jack together as a family, leaving Dean and Cas alone. They drink a little bit more, just the two of them. Then Cas decides to leave the kitchen, but Dean calls him once he is in the hallway. So he turns around and comes back to Dean.
A Fistful of Soul | @envydean
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 1,800
Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Case, Hurt/Comfort, Healing Sex, Magical healing fisting, soul searching, Fisting, bottom!Dean, undetermined supernatural soul nibbling being
Summary: Dean is unwell after a case, luckily Cas figures out that something is after Dean's soul and goes searching for it.
It came from the gog | @hectatess
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 3,204
Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe, Mountains, Fog, Doctor!Castiel, Hypothermia, Eerie use of music, One Shot
Summary: Castiel and his sister are having a well deserved winter break in a mountain-cabin. As they settle in, a thick fog rolls in. Suddenly creepy laughter rings through the pea-soup thick mist. What the hell is out there?
Sam has dragged Dean along on a ski trip but Dean isn’t a fan, to put it mildly. He decides to take a walk, mostly at Sam’s insistence again. However: he isn’t really dressed for the cold and the sudden incoming fog doesn’t help at all.
the wilderness, and other assorted death traps | @mittensmorgul
Rating: Teen & Up
Word Count: 3,924
Main Tags/Warnings: Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, Camping, Fluff
Summary: The film crew of Dean's hit archaeology adventure tv show are just about the toughest people he's ever met. That doesn't mean Dean's not also the biggest mother hen any of them have ever met. Especially when it comes to Cas.
Out of Body, Out of Time | @seidenapfel
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 7,998
Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Psychological Horror, loss of senses, Eldritch Horror, Castiel's True Form (Supernatural), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Mildly Dubious Consent, Tentacle Sex, Angelic Grace-Powered Orgasms (Supernatural), Bottom Dean Winchester
Summary: The door to the Bunker falls shut and Dean finds himself in a place of total darkness. All his senses are gone. Only touch remains, but it quickly dwindles.
Dean is trapped. Confined to a body that isn't his any longer, he starts to question all that ever was, most of all himself.
He has almost given up, when a draft tickles his skin. Something is out there. Laughing. At him.
And, suddenly, blue eyes light up.
(un) masked | @kickflaw
Rating: Teen & Up
Word Count: 10,713
Main Tags/Warnings: POV Castiel (Supernatural), Post-Episode AU: s15e19 Inherit the Earth (Supernatural), Not Finale Compliant, Castiel is Saved from the Empty (Supernatural), Hurt Dean Winchester, Human Castiel (Supernatural), Canon-Typical Violence, Miscommunication, Case Fic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, but they're idiots about it
Summary: You do not walk into the void with a human soul and emerge unaltered.
You do not walk into the void with a human soul, period.
But Dean did. Worse, Dean did it for Castiel. To rescue him. Out of friendship, fraternity. Out of love. Just—not the right kind.
Perhaps it's wrong of him, perhaps it's unfair and petty and all-too-human, but.
Castiel resents him for it.
epiales; lamb to the slaughter | @ksoleil7
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 13,053
Main Tags/Warnings: Whumptober, Whumptober 2025, Blood and Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Child Death, Psychological Horror, Hallucinations, Nightmares, Childhood Trauma, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, One Shot, POV Dean Winchester, Illusions, Gun Violence, Child Abuse, Human Sacrifice, Dean Winchester Needs a Hug, Whump, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Implied Slash, Pre-Slash, Case Fic
Summary: When a hunt for a nightmare creature goes wrong, Dean is forced to face fears he thought he'd buried, and Cas isn't going to let things lie.
Even Broken Things | @whoipretended2b
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 15,431
Main Tags/Warnings: Mer-Shark Dean Winchester, Statue Castiel (Supernatural), Injured Dean Winchester, Loneliness, Isolation, Near Death Experiences, Bittersweet Ending, Angst with a Bittersweet Ending, Grief/Mourning
Summary: Dean learned young to carry what mattered and leave the rest behind. Then he found Cas, and Cas couldn’t be moved. Even so, Dean makes a life from the wreckage and finds beauty even in broken things.
Hell Beckons to Hell | @maxine_1703
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 19,073
Main Tags/Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, possession, blood and gore, hurt/comfort, disabled Dean, chronic pain, post finale, fix it, grief, angst with a happy ending
Summary: Dean survives the rebar but is left to deal with a life of disability and chronic pain. The only upside to all of this is that Cas is alive, albeit human—all thanks to Jack. When a mysterious murder has them to jump back into hunting, bringing them face-to-face with a familiar enemy from the past, Dean is forced to confront his feelings for Cas. Cas, on the other hand, has to come to terms with his humanity and the fact that Dean may never truly reciprocate what Cas feels for him.
The Hunter's Oath | @thefandomsinhalor
Rating: Teen & Up
Word Count: 19,895
Main Tags/Warnings: Cabin Fic AU, Fantasy and Supernatural Elements, Celestial Castiel, Profound Bond, Slow Build, Isolation, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mountains
Summary: Tasked with the important tradition of fulfilling an Oath to a celestial being, Dean is feeling the weight of loneliness more and more, after years of isolation on the mountain. Until one night, he is gifted a surprise: the god himself shows up with the desire to explore their bond for a time.
Red and Black | @junesirius
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 26,060
Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Divergent, Angst, Monster Castiel, Vampire Dean Winchester, Temporary Character Death, Blood, Suicidal Characters, Morally Ambiguous Characters, Body Horror, Caring Dean Winchester, Eventual Happy Ending
Summary: Aren't we all, monsters, in a way?
Some crawl out, some hide deep; some drink red, some bleed black.
In the pure, relentless monsterland, that's all they have -- being monsters themselves.
------
Died as a vampire and woke up in Purgatory with fangs, Dean has to crawl his way out the ugly way. And Castiel, in order to reach him, has to do something far, far worse -- to himself.
Behind These Plastered Walls | @bunheadkitkat19
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 34,328
Main Tags/Warnings: Autistic Castiel, Writer Castiel, Injured Dean Winchester, Flirting, Miscommunication, Healing, past traumas, Mutual Pining, internalized ableism, Slow Burn, is it slow burn if it takes place in a weekmore like they lesbian uhaul but it takes 30k, Vulnerability, First Kiss, First Time, Non-Graphic Smut, content warning for past events in chapter A/N, Getting Together, First Impressions, Cuddling & Snuggling, Sexual Tension, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, neurodivergence, Undiagnosed Autism, POV Castiel
Summary: Author Castiel Novak’s comfortable routine gets completely disrupted when he spots that his neighbor has fallen off his roof. His neighbor with gorgeous green eyes and a smile that always stirs a flutter in his chest. His neighbor of three years, who he always became inexplicably tongue-tied around that he never got a chance to even trade names with. His neighbor, probably the only other person on their street that lives alone and so rarely has guests over, and seemingly none who are from around.
Worried that the man Castiel’s been pining over has no one else to take care of him, Castiel follows him to the hospital and is ready to put everything in his admittedly less than eventful life on hold to ensure the man’s safety. But Dean Winchester isn’t what Castiel expects, and Castiel can’t tell if this disruption will put his career at jeopardy if he fails to meet the upcoming deadline for his next book, or if it’s somehow exactly what he needs.
Forget Me Not | @maxine-1703
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 38,742
Main Tags/Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, alcoholism, aphasia, selective mutism, sign language, established Dean Winchester/Castiel, amnesiac!Castiel, missing persons, disability, angst with a happy ending
Summary: A month after Jack goes missing, Dean and Cas are in a huge fight. That night, Cas walks out of their home and vanishes without a trace. Dean spends the year searching for his husband and son, only for Cas to turn up suddenly one night, gravely injured. As Dean cares for Cas, he ends up discovering parts of Cas’s past that he never knew existed, leading him to question everything about his husband and the life they built together.
How to Muse a Guy in 10 Ways | @niks-fics
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 38,973
Main Tags/Warnings: Top Castiel/Bottom Dean, Hurt Castiel, Pianist Castiel, Muse Dean, Music AU, Hurt/Comfort, Healing and Recovery, Magic
Summary: Dean Winchester loves inspiring the creative output of mankind. Sure, being an entry-level muse mostly means guiding kindergarteners' imaginations and coaxing burnt-out artists back toward their work, but that’s fine. He’s sure he’ll get promoted eventually.
Castiel Novak breathed music his whole life — until an accident stole what had once felt effortless. Now he’s skirting around a piano he still loves and pretending that the quiet, careful world he’s constructed for himself is enough.
And it is — until Dean shows up, bringing with him bad jokes, unexpected kindness, and the unsettling sense that something in Castiel is being gently, deliberately nudged awake.
Gracefully Yours, Always | @thefandomsinhalor
Rating: Teen & Up
Word Count: 39,811
Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Divergence, Episode S09E10, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Temporary Blindness, Hurt Castiel, Hurt Dean, Angelic Grace, Researching Sam
Summary: As Dean hopelessly waits for Gadreel and Crowley to be expelled from Sam’s body, he and Castiel are unexpectedly ambushed by the exiled angel Malachi and the remainder of his soldiers, seeking retribution for what Castiel has done to his faction. Because Castiel gets gravely injured in the fight, Dean resists the urge to isolate himself, and instead returns to the bunker with his friend and Sam, determined to put an end to the fallen angel madness, and also, perhaps, try to understand why, after everything he’s done, Castiel still stands by his side.
Copper Roses | @teeparadigm67
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 45,938
Main Tags/Warnings: Hanahaki Disease, Love Confessions, Curses Breaking, Magic, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst, First Time, Sick Dean Winchester, Caregiving, Happy Ending, Skipable Smut.
Summary: Dean is sick. Has been sick for a few days – ever since they came off their last hunt – and all looks hopelessly bleak as more blood-soaked petals clog his airways. Hanahaki disease is a deadly curse that sees flowers grow and bloom inside a person whose heart is filled with a romantic love for another and the only way to cure it is to have that love returned to them. But Dean is adamant that this person doesn’t love him back and he refuses to speak their name.
If Castiel’s words would impact his condition he would say them loud and proud every day, but that's impossible. There is no way Dean could be in love with a broken-fallen angel. He wishes he was the one who contracted the wretched curse just to take away Dean’s burden, he can't stand watching the man he loves wither and die right before his eyes and will do whatever it takes to see Dean get that cure, even if it means breaking his own heart in the process.
Angel Black Death | @junesirius
Rating: General
Word Count: 66,469
Main Tags/Warnings: S12 Canon Divergent, Temporary Character Death, Main Character Near Death Experience, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Grace-Soul Bonding, Eventual Happy Ending, Profound Bond, Emotional Repression, Angst, Mutual Pining, Self-Sacrifices, Caring Dean Winchester
Summary: Right after the Darkness leaves, when they think the world is finally at peace, angels start dying massively from an unprecedented, deadly, and contagious disease, which they call Angel Black Death, and Heaven is crumbling down, endangering the Earth and the whole world again. The solution they find is "the Brightest Light", which leads to their worst and only plan so far -- reaching out to Michael and Lucifer for help.
What could possibly go wrong?
(Or, in which Castiel needs help, and Dean is desperate to save him. During which they run into so many surprising old faces. All the family and friends are there to help, whatever form they're in. For once, the boys don't have to save the world alone.)
Sail Free | @florianniss
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 66,819
Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, No Jack Kline, Explicit Sexual Content, Terminal Illnesses, No MCD, Dying Castiel (Supernatural), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Castiel is Saved from the Empty (Supernatural), Dean Winchester is Not Okay, Wishes, Road Trips in the Impala (Supernatural), Slow Burn, Healing Sex, Medical Jargon, Sad with a Happy Ending
Summary: Cas senses the moment the dynamic shifts. It's oddly freeing, emboldening. He's overcome by the urge to do something daring.
Not taking one's pills daring.
Ignoring a fatal disease daring.
Exposing scars daring.
Kissing Dean daring.
