"Dean, I got somethin'." Dean Winchester is pulled away from the newest episode of Dr. Sexy ,M.D. when Sam calls to him using his researcher voice. Or as Dean likes to call it, his I-went-to-college-and-I-do-better-research-than-you voice. He gets up from the couch reluctantly and sets down his beer, taking one last glance at the television. Dr. Sexy had an affair with a new nurse at Seattle Mercy Hospital and his fiancé was about to find out. He makes mental note to get Sam back for making him miss it.

"What's up, Sammy?" he calls back.

As soon as Dean steps out of the room, Cas relaxes back into his chair, relieved that he can take his eyes off of the screen. Dean talked in him into watching the show with him and, even though he finds it dull and uninteresting, he'd been intently focusing on it for the last hour. He didn't want to hurt Dean's feelings.

In the other room, Sam turns his laptop towards his brother.

"Bobby just sent me the demon radar from our area." Dean squints at the screen. Small red dots sporadically cover the map, all surrounding one big, red cluster.

"Well that's new. So 42nd and Cordell is where we wanna hit?"

"I guess so. It's the best lead we've had in this case." Two weeks ago, Bobby had called them up, asking them to go check out a few demonic possessions in a small town in Ohio. It turned out there'd been more than a few. More like ten. They still had no idea why there were so many demons in one place, and eventually decided that demons are destructive bastards and will wreak havoc whenever and wherever they choose. But even after interviewing everyone that seemed connected to the possessions, they had no leads on where to find them, until now.

"But get this," Sam continues, "all that's at the address is a huge abandoned office building. Apparently part of it was destroyed in some sort of gas line explosion in 1990 and no one ever bothered to knock it down. It's practically in the middle of nowhere now 'cause the city was built up pretty far from it."

"They're using is as a fortress, you think?"

"I guess so," Sam replies, semi-impressed with the demons choice of a hideout. "So what's our plan of attack, Captain?" he says mockingly to his older brother.

"We ride at dawn!" Dean yells triumphantly, thrusting his fist in the air and turning back to his soap opera. Sam just laughs and shakes his head at his nerd of a brother.

In the front room, Dean's face falls when he sees that the credits are already rolling. He turns to Cas, who's still sitting in his chair.

"If you tell me what happened, I swear to God I will kick your former feathery ass all the way to Seattle Mercy Hospital." Sam laughs so hard he had to close his computer, which makes Dean's face break out in a grin, ruining his tough-guy demeanor. Cas only squints at him and cocks his head to the side.

"But, Dean, Seattle Mercy Hospital is a fictional setting. It would be physically impossible to kick me there." Dean rolls his eyes dramatically.

"It's just an expression, buddy."

"Oh…" He laughs softly and walks back to his seat, taking a long, final drag of his beer and collapsing onto the couch. As he flings his arm over his eyes to block out the light, Cas speaks up again.

"And, just to remind you, my 'feathery ass' is no longer feathery." Dean can't help but grin.

A few months ago, Cas lost his grace. Apparently, defying heaven and borrowing Dean's choice words of 'feathery headed dicks' to use as an insult when the other angels told him he was getting to close to humans was enough to get him thrown out. He'd taken it really hard at first, and Dean is glad he's recovered enough to be able to joke about it.

"That's why I said former," he retorts. When he gets no reply, he uncovers his eyes to see Cas staring down at his hands and smiling to himself. Dean's pleased to see him happy and back to normal. Actually, he's more than pleased. He's overjoyed to have his Cas back.

Closing his eyes, he readjusts his position on the couch and mumbles, "'Night, Cas."

"Goodnight, Dean."

He falls asleep with a smile on his face.

Cas smiles softly up at him and wraps his arms around his neck. Dean bends down and kisses his jaw gently, his lips trailing down to his bare neck and shoulder.

"Dean…" Cas murmurs softly.

"Mm hm?" Dean lifts his head to kiss Cas' cheek softly and runs his fingers through his hair.

"Dean…" Cas says again, louder than before.

"What is it?" He draws away to look at his angel, but, suddenly, Cas began to fade away. Dean panics as Cas slowly disappears but before he can cry out, he opens his eyes to darkness.

Damn, another one of those dreams? He thinks to himself.

He knows that he and Cas have always had a strong relationship, a "profound bond" as Cas puts it, but ever since the angel fell, his feelings for him have grown stronger. He started having these types dreams, ones that he'd usually only had about Ginger from Gilligan's Island. And as much as he tries to convince himself otherwise, he really likes them.

Dean sits up on the couch, stretching and hearing his joints pop as he does. He glances around and sees a little bit of light pouring through the closed blinds across the room, illuminating a figure curled up in the chair in front of it. Dean smiles to himself. Maybe he'd tell Cas how he feels someday. But that's a huge maybe.

"Up 'n at 'em, Sammy!" Sam squints and groans as he's woken by his brother shouting in his ear.

"Wha' time is it?" he asks sleepily.

"Time to gank some demon ass!" Blinking hard and running his hands through his hair, Sam looks down and realizes he fell asleep at his computer. Again. A paper plate covered in a crusty, yellow substance lands on his keyboard a few seconds later. He looks up, confused, and sees Dean smirking down at him.

"Breakfast of champions," he explains, handing him a fork. "Eat up!" Sam glances down at the plate and his stomach clenches. What looks like overcooked eggs are clumped on it, dry, flaky, and brown in a few spots.

"Dude, did you microwave these?" Dean shrugs.

"Couldn't find a pan to use." Before Sam takes a bite, the third person in their trio walks into the room.

"Eggs?" Cas stand in the doorway, blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His hair sticks up, more so than usual, and he squints hard at the light. Dean beams at him.

"'Mornin', sleepy head." Cas grunts in reply, obviously unhappy with the rude awakening, and walks over to the table, pulling up a chair across from Sam. Within seconds, there's a plate identical to his in front of him. Sam's stomach grumbles, prompting him to finally take a bite. He almost gags as he swallows.

"Holy crap, these are disgusting." Dean glares at him.

"Then next time, you get up at the crack of dawn and make breakfast," he retorts through a mouthful of egg.

"I like them, Dean," Cas says, sleep still laced through his voice. Dean swallows and grins.

"At least someone around here appreciates me." He shoots another look at Sam.

"Jerk," he mumbles, smiling.

"Bitch," Dean replies, turning back to his breakfast.

When they're all full of overcooked egg, Dean fills in Cas on the plan.

"Wait, how many demons?"

"Oh, ten, maybe fifteen at the most." Cas swallows hard, nervousness creeping up inside of him.

"Maybe I should just stay here…" he suggests quietly. Within a week of his fall, Dean started training Cas to be a hunter, but he'd barely been on any hunts so far. Recently, Dean started to become unwilling to let him stay back at the motel while he and Sam killed whatever monster they had hunted down.

"No way," he replied sternly. "You're coming with us." Wringing his hands, Cas nods slowly, and Dean immediately feels guilty.

"Cas, you'll do fine," he adds, clapping him on the shoulder. "I've got your back the whole time, okay?" Cas glances up and his heart skips a beat when he sees Dean grinning down at him. He nods again and Dean gets up, walking away from the table. Cas looks after him, studying the way he saunters when he's in a good mood, completely transfixed. Ever since becoming human, the feelings he had for Dean before blossomed, well, more like exploded into something much greater. Cas just isn't sure what. It's definitely a much deeper physical attraction, given that he is now fully human, but there's something else that he can't quite put into words. He doesn't yet have enough experience with human emotions to know that it's love.

A half hour later, Dean is sitting at the kitchen table, loading and unloading the Colt while waiting for the other men. Cas insisted on taking a shower before they left. The hot water calms his nerves like nothing else and Dean, knowing how nervous he is about his first demon hunt, let him.

The water shut off, and Dean glanced up seconds later when the door opened. What he saw took his breath away. Cas walked out, bare chest still noticeably wet and Dean's old jeans riding low on his hips. He threw a towel over his head and dried his hair roughly as he stepped out into the kitchen. Dean couldn't help but stare. He had always considered their relationship platonic in the friendliest sense but at times like this, God damn, did he wish it wasn't.

But I'm not gay, he tells himself. I definitely love women. But I guess I do love pie… and sometimes a-a delicious piece 'a cake comes along and I just wanna… Cas' voice pulls him from his thoughts.

"Dean?" Blinking a few times, his face grows red when he realizes he'd been staring.

"Uh, sorry… What's up?" His words come out strained as he tries to hide his embarrassment. Cas gazes at him, confused for a moment, before continuing.

"Can I borrow one of your shirts?"

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Dean jumps up way too enthusiastically and walks out of the room, thankful for a chance to regain his composure. Seconds later, he tosses an old AC/DC t-shirt back to him, and Cas pulls it over his head.

"Thanks." Dean clears his throat and looks the man up and down. After all these months, he still finds pleasure in seeing Cas wear his clothes.

"No problem, buddy."

The abandoned building at 42nd and Cordell is as eerie as it sounded, especially in the gray overcast of the morning. The front is covered with reflective glass that has been blown out in many places. From that angel, the damage to it is barely visible, but if anyone had stepped a couple paces in the right direction, they would see a huge, charred, and gaping hole where the rear parts of top floors should have been.

Out in the parking lot, Dean pops open the arsenal in the back of the Impala, propping up the hood. He hands a loaded rock salt shot gun to his brother.

"You got the gun?" Sam yanks aside the flap of his jacket, revealing the Colt tucked neatly into his jeans. Dean nods. Ruby's knife is already tucked away on him, ready to be used. As Sam grabs another knife, Dean picks up a second shotgun, cocking it so it's ready to be fired.

"Cas?"

Tearing his eye away from the lightning flashing in the distance, he turns to Dean, taking the gun with shaking hands.

"You got your angel blade?" He nods, letting the silver dagger fall from the sleeve of his trench coat into his free hand. Dean grins at him, trying to calm him down. It's extremely obvious how nervous Cas is.

"One more thing." He reaches into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulls out a silver charm hanging on a thin, red string. "Since you ain't got an anti-possession tattoo yet, wear this. It'll keep those bastards from getting to you."

"Thank you, Dean," he mumbled, taking the necklace. As soon as he does, thunder claps overhead, rattling the earth and rain begins to pour down. All three men are drenched in seconds. Dean quickly grabs a third shotgun and slams the trunk closed.

"Let's go!" he yells over the pounding rain. Sam and Dean stride ahead and Cas takes a shaky breath. He's never been a fan of thunderstorms and this one only adds to his nervousness. As anxiety claws at his insides and a thousand scenarios of his death run through his mind, he forgets what Dean told him and absentmindedly pockets the necklace, following the brothers into battle.

Inside the building is cold and damp and the smell of mildew and sulfur mixes in the heavy air. Dean steps in first, gun poised in case something is waiting. Sam follows him, and Cas is close behind. As the trio moves through the front hallway, they come to what looks like the remains of a lobby. Navy blue carpeting is torn in dozens of places and pieces of plastic chairs from behind the front desk are strewn about. To their right, a hallway stretches to the rest of the ground floor and to their left, a staircase leads to the upper floors.

"Sam, you take down here and me 'n Cas'll go up."

"Sounds good." Sam walks silently down the hallways with the colt held up, his finger on the trigger.

"Be careful, Sammy."

"Yeah, yeah," he answers nonchalantly, disappearing around the corner. Dean smirks and turns towards the stairway. Cas watches him, willing himself to move forwards, but his feet won't budge.

"Dean…" The hunter glances back when he hears a quiet voice call out. Sympathy courses through him when he sees Cas standing there, weapons in hand, frozen in absolute terror.

"It'll be fine," he responded, grabbing the arm of his trench coat and pulling him forward.

"You go in front," he insists, pushing his forward. "I can't risk you freezing up behind me again." He laughs softly, trying to lighten the mood, but Cas only gulps, eyes wide with fear. Finally, he starts moving forward.

"I don't get it," Dean wonders aloud as he follows the man up the stairs. "Why are you so afraid of demons? You fought a shit load of them as an angel." Cas frowned, not sure how to answer him.

"I-I guess I just feel more vulnerable without my angelic powers. Now I'm just a-"

"A meat suit?" Dean finished, smirking.

"Well, in your terms, yes." The hunter chuckled softly.

"You've got no reason to worry. I taught you everything I know and-" His sentence was cut short by a door slamming behind them. A black-eyed man stormed through the door way and started taking the stairs two at a time. Dean immediately fires, hitting him square in the chest and the rock salt slows him down.

"Cas, go!" He races up the remaining stairs and watches as Dean barrels into the demon, disorienting it enough to plunge Ruby's knife into its chest. He pulls out the knife and rushes towards Cas, slamming the door to the second floor behind them.

"This way." Dean pulls him down the hallway on their left. The walls on either side of them are cracked and stained and most of the rooms that they pass have only the remains doors, if any at all. They turn another corner and come to a larger area, much like the one they had been in on the ground floor.

The two men only have a second to catch their breath before an office door is thrown open, revealing a small group of black eyed beasts. They charge and the hunters met them half way. Swinging hard at one of the demon's jaw, Dean catches it, knocking the man backwards before plunging the knife into his stomach. But before he can turn, he is kicked from behind and knocked forward in the corpse. Spinning around, a knee comes up hard into his chest, making him groan and bend over. A blow to the head knocks him back to his senses and he uses the momentum to do a full turn and come up swinging. He bashes the woman's chin backwards and sinks the knife into her neck. Blood spurts out of her mouth as she falls. Glancing around quickly, he sees Cas wrestling with a heavy set man on the other side of the room. And Cas is losing.

"Hey, Asshat!" he shouts as he rushes over, distracting the demon enough for Cas to shove him off. He starts to charge at Dean but, before he can take a step, Cas stabs the angel blade into his back. The man collapses next to a second demon Cas had already taken care of. That seems to be the last of them.

Both hunters are breathing hard and Dean can feel blood trickling down his temple. He glances at Cas. The anxiety in his eyes is gone, replaced with a vengeful fire Dean hasn't seen in a long time. Cas smiles triumphantly at him, relishing the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and Dean grins back.

"Nice job," he remarks, eyeing the demons lying on the floor. Cas opens his mouth to thank him, but is quickly cut off.

"Dean!" The older hunter's blood runs cold at the sound of his brother's voice. "Dean, help me!" The cry is strangled, laced with agony.

"Sam…" he whispers. Without another word, he sprints down the hallway, towards the voice.

"Dean, wait!" Cas calls out, racing after the hunter. Neither of them notice another demon stepping out of the room behind them, holding a jagged, bloodstained knife. The possessed woman's bloody face twists into a villainous smile. She steps over the corpses covering the floor and silently trails them.

With each step, Dean's heart pumps harder. He knows it is Sam's voice he hears. The calls keep coming every few seconds and he shoots down the halls, following them. He focuses on the rhythm of his feet hitting the ground and his steady breathing because, if he doesn't, he knows that the worst possible scenarios will flood his mind. Within minutes, he comes to a door and hears another muffled shout from behind it. He flings it open, dashing in, and almost falls off the side of the building.

"Shit!" He plants his feet, skidding on the exposed concrete floor, and throws himself backwards. The wind is knocked out of him and he gasps, shutting his eyes and grimacing. When he opens them, the sight is startling. Instead of the ceiling that should have been there, there is only gray, cloudy sky.

What the hell? He thinks, and then remembers what Sam told him about the building being partially destroyed. Glancing around, it's obvious that the remains of the room are empty. He is sure that he heard Sam's calls from in here, but there's no way he could have left the room without being seen. And he would have been able to hear if Sam fell off the side, right? Dean grimaces the thought. Reluctantly, he stands and peeks over the ledge, letting out a breath when he sees that the wet ground below is clear.

Suddenly, the door behind him creaks open. He draws out his knife, but, before he can turn, he hears an all too familiar voice.

"Drop the knife or he dies." His breath catches in his throat. It couldn't be… "I said drop it!" Dean lowers the knife to the ground and turns slowly.

Standing in the doorway is Cas, holding a knife to his chest. When Dean's eyes land on him, his face contorts into a twisted, malicious smile. And his blue eyes turn black.

A/N: I hope the first chapter was enjoyable! The second and final chapter will (hopefully) be finished within a week.