The sound of wood splintering reached his ears, though the sound was muffled and far away. He didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified though he felt neither emotion. The world moved as though it was in slow motion, like the movies he'd watched with his friend. Why is this happening? The thought trickled it's way through his mind as he attempted to pull himself up off the ground. His limbs felt leaden and he looked at them with a an odd expression, his head tilted to the side. Stumbling, he tried to move forward towards the noise only to fall on his face. He groaned. The thudding sound of colliding limbs grew closer along with the occasional shout. Any attempts he made to move were futile. Annoyance flashed through him and he tried to pick himself up again in vain. Light exploded around him, and if he could move he might have covered his eyes out of reflex. Someone was shouting again, over and over, a deep voiced filled with anger and another emotion he couldn't quite identify. It sounded like his name.

Here, I'm here! He wanted to scream but his body wouldn't cooperate and he couldn't make his mouth form the words. The light that had blinded him was going out, or rather he felt his eyes closing against his will. His entire body was revolting against him. Everything grew dimmer, shouts turned into whispers and light turned to shadows until almost everything had slowly faded away. This shouldn't be happening. What is happening? I can't move... He tried to remember how he got here, in this room. How he had ended up on the cold floor, alone. Memories flashed through his mind. A black car, old and beloved and a tall man with serious expressions. Then there he was, warm and opinionated with eyes as green as forests. You'll come for me won't you? His body felt cold, and if he'd had control of his limbs he would have shivered. His mind was shutting down, quickly now. He whimpered as one last thought entered his head.

I am afraid.

"Cas!"

Dean Winchester was angry, which wasn't anything new. "Dammit Cas." He muttered, a phrase he'd become used to saying whenever the angel was around. "Where the hell are you?" Somehow they gotten split up, after he'd specifically warned Cas to stay close to him. The hunter moved his flashlight around the dark room. What was it with monsters and abandoned houses? Dust swirled around him, illuminated by the beam of light. The room was clear, but not clean. It looked as if it had been deserted for many years, layer of dust covered every surface and he'd run into a few spider webs on the way through. He shivered at the thought. One of the worst things he could imagine was the feel of a spider web caressing your face and the panic that came with it. The place smelled like mold and dirty water and the hunter was pretty sure he'd just stepped on a rotting rat. Well someone forgot to call housekeeping for the last few… oh I don't know, centuries.

"Dean!" His brother's voice rang out.

"Sam?" His legs were already moving and propelling him towards the sound. Could neither of them take care of themselves for once? First Cas has disappeared and now Sam was yelling his name. Well, it wasn't the first time he'd have to save their asses. That was the routine. Find a monster, go on a hunt, kick some ass and save Sam. Well sometimes. Dean wasn't too proud to admit that in some situations it was his brother who did the saving. As he searched through the house he felt a lump grow in the pit of his stomach. "Sam?" He called. His question was met with only a grunt and the sound of flesh against flesh and a faint hissing sound. Dammit. Dean quickened his pace and cursed as his toe met the side of a fallen dresser.

"Dean!" His brother called again. He was closer to the noise and found his brother soon after, wrapped in the grip of what he assumed was the thing they'd been hunting. His face brother was on the other side of the room, battered and bleeding. The creature hovered in the middle of the room, eyes flickering back and forth between the two hunters. If Dean covered his eyes and only looked at half of it's body it was an angry woman, the bottom half however was that of snake. He grimaced. "What is it and how do we kill her Sam?" Dean asked. The younger Winchester had spent most of the day buried in the bunker's library researching this creature while he and Castiel had gone around to question the families of it's victims.

"She's a Naga. Cut off her head!" Dean slid his knife from out of the inner pocket of his coat and grinned. "This is my favorite part." His said, his grin turning dark as he lunged at the creature. She's stronger than she looks, the hunter thought as he wrestled with the monster, using his knife to block her as she attempted to strike at him with her fangs. After a few precarious minutes of tussling Dean managed to get behind her. He whipped the blade around and pressed it back against the front of her neck, and then he pulled. Well that was easier than normal, he mused as the snake woman's head detached from her body and went rolling across the floor only to stop at the younger hunters feet. Dean wiped the Naga's blood off on his jeans, stopping to groan as he realized that the blood was a very bright shade of green. Doubt that's going to come out. He moved to check on Sam, bending over and hooking his arm through his before pulling him to his feet.. "You okay?" Sam shrugged him off, brushing dust from his coat.

"I'm fine, but where is Cas?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Dean cursed under his breath. This was not good. He moved through the house, worry began to pool in his chest and make him feel nauseous. "Cas?" He yelled again. His voiced seemed to echo back to him. Several curse words left Dean's lips. The Angel of Thursday had been going on hunts with them a lot more frequently lately. It was as if he wanted to keep an eye on them. As if after everything Castiel still didn't think they could take care of themselves. Dean hadn't complained because hey, having a badass angel who could mow down armies in the blink of an eye on your team was pretty cool. Dean was running out of rooms to check and he'd almost given up when he opened a door to find Cas laid out of the floor. "Cas!" He knelt down, and pulled the limp body of his friend close. Something in the hunter felt as if it was going to burst. It was an emotion he'd never felt and it startled him. As he stared down at the motionless body in his arms Dean felt a mixture of emotions flow through him.

"Sam! I found him." He yelled. Pounding footsteps followed his shout and Sam's large frame filled the doorway moments later, breathing hard and still bleeding. His brother knelt down beside them and put his fingers on the angel's wrist. Time all but stopped for Dean as he waited for his brother to say something.

"His pulse is way too slow, she must have bit him. Her venom is slowing his heart." Worry flashed in Sam's eyes and Dean's heart felt as if it was being wrenched from his chest. Dean lifted Castiel and held him bundled bridal style chest against his chest.

"What the fuck did she do to him? Is he going to die Sam?" Dean choked on his last few words and looked down at the angel in his arms. Castiel's face was set in an expression that screamed fear, his eyes were gripped shut and his mouth was a grimace.

"I don't know… but we need to get him to the bunker and see if we can figure out what's happening." As soon as the words left Sam's mouth Dean was running through the house with Castiel still in his arms. Particles of dust and spiderwebs assaulted his face but none of them made him stop. In no time at all he was out the front door and running to the car. Using one hand to support Cas he wrenched the back door of the impala open and quickly, but gently laid the unconscious male down.

"Sam if you don't get in this car in less than thirty seconds I will leave your ass here." Seconds later Sam skidded out of the front door and bounded over to the car. Dean shut the back door and opened the front as Sam slid into the seat next to him. He fumbled with the keys, cursing once or twice before he managed to find the right one and crank the car. A load roar filled the air as the engine turned over.

"Are you okay?" Same asked, giving him that look he got when he was either worried about Dean, or scared of him. At this point he wasn't sure which look was which. Gravel flew as Dean slammed on the gas and sent the impala lurching forward. He drove with one hand on the wheel and the other sliding over his face roughly.

"I'm fine." Liar, liar, pants on fire. "Why wouldn't I be?" Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Why would he be freaking out to such an extent over an angel who's died and been brought back at least three times before? Why was his chest so tight breathing felt painful?

"I don't know Dean." That was a statement not a question but to Dean it had felt like one. He swallowed in an effort to wet his throat that was suddenly dry. He'd driven like a bat out of hell before, and sure at times something big had been at stake. This was different. This was Castiel. This was his freaking angel. The man that had fused a very piece of his essence inside of Dean when he'd dragged him out of hell. This was the man he'd come to admire, secretly. The man that had fought by his side and saved him countless times. "Cas, can you hear me buddy?" He called to the back seat. The world rushed by them, a blur of images that Dean only cared to focus on long enough to determine if he was going in the right direction. He was thankful then of how close this case had been to the hunters' makeshift home when only hours earlier he'd been complaining about it. Dean jammed the button for the bunker garage and flew through the door just as it had opened enough to allow them through. Once he reached the end of the garage he slid into a parking place, and threw the car in park before cutting the engine. "Let's get him inside quickly," Sam said as he jumped from the car. Moments later they were carrying the weight between them, moving through the bunker and towards the library.

"Set him on the table." Dean nodded and swiped the contents of the table into the floor unceremoniously. Loose papers fluttered to the ground as Sam gently set him down on the cool wood.

"What the hell was that thing?" He asked as he looked over Castiel for injuries. There was no blood on the angel anywhere, but he did find two puncture wounds on his neck. The area around them was red and irritated, puckering up from inflammation. Dean touched the skin beside the wounds, his fingers brushing over it lightly.

"That thing was a Naga. Half woman, half snake. They used to be pretty powerful deities." Dean scoffed. And now they killed teenage girls for fun.

"Didn't seem so powerful when I was chopping her head off."

"Well they aren't worshiped very often anymore, and as the same with all older gods they lost a lot of their power of the centuries." Dean ground his teeth and look up at Sam.

"Look I don't care about all that. All I care about right now is saving Cas." Sam nodded and pulled out his phone as he moved away from Dean and Castiel to look through the books around them. Again Dean ran his hand over his face, this time running it through his hair too. That unfamiliar emotion ran through him again and he yanked a chair out from under the table and sank into it. He tried to calm his breathing but he just couldn't. Sam's voice was in the background, and it was laced with what sounded like fear. Dean felt numb. His mind was racing and his heart was pounding, but he felt numb. Everything around him was muffled, he could barely hear Sam's voice anymore, and his eyes would focus on nothing but the body in front of them. He watched as the angels chest rose in a pitiful attempt to breath. The air caused his body to shudder almost painfully on the way out and Dean shut his eyes and squeezed them tight.

The loud clapping of a book jerked him back to reality, his eyes snapped opened and looked for Sam. "Okay thanks, no we're fine. Talk to you later." He look over at Dean with what was most certainly pity in his eyes. No. "No one knows Dean. No one knows as much about angels as we do and they certainly don't know if a Naga's poison can kill one." He shouldn't have been angry but he was. Dean Winchester had problem with emotions and right now he was feeling too many at once to decide on one. He felt them all. He was angry and hurt, but he also felt he'd failed Cas and that devastated the hunter.

"So he's going to die?" Dean said quietly. "Just like that?" His breathing faltered and his chest shook in response. Sam looked to Castiel and moved closer to Dean.

"I really don't know. His body may be able to withstand the poison and fight it off but there's not a whole lot we can do for him other than to just make sure he keeps breathing." Dean nodded. He turned back to Castiel's limp form and gently set his hand across his forehead. It was hot to the touch and Dean pulled his hand away quickly. In an instant the skin had turned to welts that began to throb red.

"He's got a hell of a fever. Go grab me a bowl of water and a washcloth will ya?" He asked his brother. "And a blanket." Dean began rolling up the sleeves of his shirt as Sam went off to grab the things he'd asked for. "I may not be able to cure you Cas, or magically make the poison disappear but I'll be damned if I don't try to help you somehow." Sam returned, his arms full with the items Dean had requested. He muttered his thanks and took the blanket, throwing it over the angel and tucking it under him snugly. The bowl he sat on the table next to Cas before dipping the cloth into it. He wrung out the excess water. With gentle strokes he wiped the cool water over Casitel's face. Sam stood behind him, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes slightly narrowed. The boy didn't see his brother like this often. This was a side of Dean he kept hidden very well, the side that was afraid. The side that cared more than he wanted anyone to know. Emotion was a hard thing for Dean, it always had been. Opening himself up to emotions had always ended badly for him and so he'd learned to keep his emotions in check.

"He'll probably be fine Dean, maybe he'll sweat it out and wake up." The key word there was maybe. Maybe made Dean's heart skip a beat at the thought of losing the dark headed male. "All we can do now is wait, why don't I do that and you can get some rest?" Dean's head jerked towards where his brother was standing, his eyes dark.

"No. I'm not leaving his side until he wakes up." The tone of Dean's voice told Sam he was serious about that statement and Sam sighed deeply.

"Fine, I'll be in the control room if you need me." Dean ignored him, instead he stared down at the table blankly for a moment before returning the washcloth to the man's face. When his brother had left the room Dean set down the discolored washcloth and leaned in close to the angel's face. "Don't you die on me Castiel, not yet. Please." He begged. The dam in his mind overflowed and he felt himself blinking back tears. I owe you too much to let you die now. There's so much I wanted to show you, so much I needed to tell you. Dean felt sick with disappointment. Castiel's ragged breath tickled his face, and he breathed in the smell of it. It was fresh, a smell that he identified with Castiel. A smell that was soothing but didn't smell like anything he'd ever smelt before. Dean lightly drug his fingers down Castiel's face, moving over his cheeks and across his lips before he gripped the table with his hand.

"You can't leave yet," he muttered, his face inches above the other males. "I never even told you I love you." He dipped his head lower, closing the space between his lips and the angels.