AN: This is my first (published) attempt at an AU. I dreamed this up and I had to write it. I may or may not write a prequel where you get more backstory. Please don't hate, all my cowboy knowledge comes from Young Guns and American Outlaws. And this one time I may have played a gay Clint Eastwood's Man in a western version of 12th Night (I was Antonio.) Unbeta'd. Song title comes from Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi.

When Dean heard the gunshot he felt his heart stop.

Which was stupid, really, because he hadn't been the one that had been shot. Really though, it would have been better for everyone involved if it had been him. But the things that are better for everyone are never the things that actually happen.

"Cas!" he screamed as he watched the smaller man crumple. He was tilting dangerously on his saddle and Dean snapped Baby's reins furiously, urging her forward with his heels. He reached Cas's side just in time to keep him from hitting the ground. Cas slumped into him Dean somehow managed to hold him up and take his reins, rushing the horses away from Raphael's gang and towards what he hoped was safety. He could hear two sets of hoof beats behind him and he knew Sam and Jo were following.

It seemed like it took days but merely ten minutes later they were at Cas and Dean's tiny farmhouse. Dean managed to dismount without relinquishing his grip on Cas, pulling Cas into his arms bridal style. Baby snorted and a cursory glance caused him to realize he'd been riding the sleek black horse hard and fast. Sam and Jo were just figures in the distance. As much as he loves that horse he didn't have time to worry about her. He carefully carried Cas into the house, laying him gently on the bed in the corner. Only then did he allow himself to look at Cas's injuries.

"Oh God," he said softly as he realized Cas's white shirt had been soaked a dark crimson. He could see the offending bullet wound and the thick blood oozing from it. He quickly yanked his shirt off and put pressure on the wound, but he knew it was too late. "Cas," he whispered, eyes filling with tears. "Please don't die…"

"Dean," Cas groaned weakly, brilliant blue eyes fluttering open to lock onto Dean's. Cas coughed and Dean's heart lurched at the trace of blood now on his lips. "'M sorry, Dean…"

"Shhhh," Dean shushed, falling to his knees beside the bed. He ran the fingers of his free hand through Cas's thick dark hair. Sam and Jo appeared behind him but Dean didn't acknowledge them and they kept quiet. "You need to conserve you're strength Cas."

Cas's hand found Dean's, pulling it away from the bloody mess of shirt and gripping it surprisingly tight. "I love you Dean," he whispered. Dean could feel the tears sliding down his face now.

"I love you too, Cas. So much," he said without hesitation. Dean leaned in and kissed him softly, knowing it would be their last. He pulled back and Cas's lips turned up in a small smile, intense eyes locking back onto Dean's. Dean felt the grip on his hand tighten for a fraction of a second and then become lax just as Cas's eyes lost their focus.

"Cas…" Dean whimpered brokenly, face crumpling. He carefully shut Cas's eyes, hand sliding down the soft skin as he broke, silent sobs wracking his shoulders as he dropped his head onto the straw mattress.

Sam could feel a few tears of his own slide down his face and Jo turned to him, burying her face in his chest. He lifted her chin with his thumb and tilted his head towards the door and she nodded.

They stepped out in the cool Kansas night and Jo wiped her eyes. "I should probably get back to the Roadhouse, tell Mom and Bobby what happened. They'll want to know," she said, mounting her horse before Sam could protest. She turned to Sam. "Just…" she started, but the words 'don't let him do anything stupid' died on her lips. They both knew Dean was a near unstoppable force before and that now there would be no stopping him. "I'll see you," she said instead, kicking her heels and sending her horse into a quick trot.

Sam gave Dean a few more minutes, he knew his brother wouldn't want him to see him like that. But then he ran a hand through his shaggy hair and went back into the small house.

Dean knelt, one hand threaded through Cas's hair, the other still holding Cas's hand, which was steadily growing colder. Dean felt like he could kneel there forever, but that wouldn't kill the son of a bitch that had done this - Raphael.

"You're going after him alone, aren't you?" Sam asked from behind him.

"Yes," he answered, voice absent of any inflection. He didn't even bother turning to look at his brother, just stared numbly at Cas's eyelids, hoping against hope that they would open and reveal the blue depths hiding behind them, but they remained closed.

"If you go alone you won't make it back alive," Sam said in the tone of voice that said that he already knew Dean knew this.

"That's what I'm hoping for Sammy."

Both Winchesters were silent for a few minutes, but then Sam spoke up again. "So you're just going to leave me here alone." It was a statement, not a question.

"You won't be alone Sammy. You'll still have Bobby, Ellen, and Jo."

"They try, Dean, but they aren't my family. You are, and you expect me to just let you go to your death, no fight?"

"Sammy, I'm sorry. I truly am. But Cas is gone. And I can't make it without him, Sammy, I just can't. Everything hurts so goddamn much, and if I can end this pain while taking out the bastard that caused it? I'm going to do it."

Sam was silent again for a long while before he spoke. "Y'know," he began softly. "After you killed Uriel and Raphael was gonna see you hanged, Cas told me that if we couldn't save you he was going to kill himself. Told me plain as day he planned to put a bullet in his brain if you died."

Dean could feel his eyes welling up again. "You got a point in telling me this?"

"I guess I'm just saying that if you're going to die for someone, I'm glad it's for someone that loved you as much as you loved him. For someone that would've died for you too."

"I loved him so much Sammy."

"I know."

"Are you going to try to come with me when I go to kill Raphael?"

There was silence for a moment. "No," Sam said finally. "I know you won't let me. And I know this is something you have to do on your own."

Dean let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Thanks Sammy. I can't lose you too. I'm gonna go down fighting, you know."

"I wouldn't expect any less," Sam said calmly.

"I should probably go hunt him down now before he has a chance to skip town. I want this over with tonight." Neither of them pointed out that by 'this' he meant both Raphael's tyranny and his own life. Neither of them had to.

"I'll be outside," Sam said, giving his brother time alone.

Dean remained kneeling beside the bed for a few more minutes, unable to tear himself away. But finally he stood, folding Cas's hands over his stomach. He leaned down and kissed his cool forehead. "I'll see you soon, Cas," he promised. He took a deep breath and then turned, following his brother's footsteps out of the house.

EPILOGUE

Sam buried Dean and Cas side by side in the small Winchester cemetery behind where their home had been before it had burned to the ground some years before.

True to his word he had gone down fighting, and had taken Raphael out with him in an epic showdown in the middle of the street. Lawrence was free of it's tyrannical land baron and Dean was free of an existence without Cas. If asked by a stranger, Bobby Singer, the town drunk, would tell you his last words had been for Bobby to tell Sam to take care of Baby. But if asked by a friend he'd tell a different story, and that was that with his last breath Dean Winchester had told the late Castiel Collins that he would be with him as soon as St. Peter could hurry his ass up.