Disclaimer: I own nothing aside from Sgt Calgary.
Warning: This is a graphic story with possibly offensive terminology and language.
Castiel knew instantly when he was banished from the Winchester's location on the strange television-esc set that the creature the two hunters were dealing with was most certainly not a trickster; The power that was manifested could not have been mustered by some low-level demigod. The creature must be something more powerful, something closer to an angle or a god rather than an Earth bound being.
The world was flashing by instantaneously before Castiels eyes. He has traveled this way before, by banishment to some unforeseen location, but it was unnerving nonetheless to arrive at some unknown location. Castiel felt his movement stop abruptly, stumbling just a fraction of a second, he managed to assess his surrounding.
The sun was almost blindingly bright and the wave of heat that washed over him was smothering. Compacted dirt and fine sand swirled teasingly about his feet, blown away by a slight desert wind that did little to abate the overwhelming heat. The smell of dirt and gunpowder reached his nostrils, gunpowder? Finally the last of his senses caught up with his vessels mind as the sound of gunfire and war erupted all around him.
Suddenly it became clear that the dust and sand kicking up around his feet was not only due to the desert breeze, but also due to the rounds that were burying themselves into the sandy dirt around him. Having fought through many of Heavens battles, the gunfight did not frighten or even startle Castiel. Lifting his eyes from the ground he calmly scanned the surrounding area for the source of the attack.
"Shift fire! Shift fire! Civilian in the FPL!" There was yelling coming from directly in front of Castiel, firing from the front ceased immediately and was instead concentrated to the flanks of their position. He determined he was in a small village, most likely in the Middle East judging by the arid climate and the mud/sand huts that the individuals who ceased firing in his direction were currently taking cover behind.
Castiel felt a round pierce his shoulder from his rear. It appeared that he had literally been banished to the center of a warzone. Turning to counter the threat from his posterior, Castiel heard screaming from his flank position. "Get down! You're in the cross fire!" he felt himself being hit from the side, not by a stray round but by a mass smaller than his own but powerful enough to send him tumbling off balance and onto the sandy ground. "Stay low and follow me!" The smaller figure crouched and pulled Castiel up from the ground and forced him behind a small mud brick wall by which they had landed. The strength and demeanor of this individual who had essentially tackled Castiel encouraged him to follow their commands.
Castiel ran steadily behind the camouflage clad individual, until gradually the sounds of snapping bullets turned into the occasional whizzing of a stray round near by. The two ground to a halt in a secluded corner of the village with cover on all three sides. The person in the camouflage uniform rounded on Castiel "What the hell are you doing here!? Are you a contractor!?" Castiel was surprised to discover that the soldier he had been following was indeed a female. With out waiting for s reply, she continued to question him. "Were you hit!?" her hands were on him in an instant, probing his upper body for injury "You are in shock, try and focus on my voice." Castiel was surprised by this female's abruptness; he grasped her wrist "I do not require attention to any wounds." His words came out colder than he had intended, but then again Dean always did say he was not very personable. "I saw you get shot, let me help you, I am a combat medic." Castiel was surprised by this woman's tenacity; he looked closer at her, at her dirty face, which was covered in grime, sweat and splatters of blood. Her gear looked heavy and cumbersome, it was covered in filth and blood stains but under all the grime he nametape was still visible. "Calgary. That is your name?" "Correct." The stood silent for a moment, the sounds of the gun battle still raging in the distance. Castiel examined the female further, looking her over from top to bottom, coming to rest his vision on her eyes. This woman's eyes, this female named Calgary, were the strangest shade of blue and green that he had ever seen. "Where are we?" "Iraq. 40 clicks outside Fallujah." The cradle of civilization, whoever had banished him here had a sense of what Dean would call humor. "Who are you?" The question was more of a demand from her, given by someone who was used to taking control of situations, Castiel recognized this, and he embraced it. This woman was a soldier like himself- she was like him. "I am an angel of the Lord. My name is Castiel." He expected a witty retort like the Winchester brothers would have given, but instead received silence and a critical stare. "How long have you been here Castiel?" Her words were calculated. She was trying to determine his mental state; he could not blame her he supposed. "Not long. Minutes. I must return to the Winchesters." "Who? You can't go anywhere her bud we were ambushed! This place is crawling with Hodgies! We are completely cut off. You need to follow me back to our rally point and pray to God we all make it out alive!" "I doubt God is listening." Castiel said very matter of fact like. "Excuse me?" Calgary was confused, "Good luck Calgary." Castiel released Calgary's wrists and stepped back. Then in a fraction of a second he was gone with the sound of wings. Travelling faster that the speed of light back to Sam and Dean Winchester. Yet even with his mind focused on the task at hand, Castiels mind hummed with the female Calgary's parting words "Pray to God we all make it out alive." Deep down Castiel hoped she survived the battle.
Sgt Calgary stood dumbfounded in the deserted alleyway, the civilian man in the tan overcoat who was just standing in front of her moments ago was suddenly gone. Who the hell was he? "I am an angel of the Lord. My name is Castiel…" Really. This was ridiculous. She couldn't deal with this at the moment, not here, not now. Calgary shook her head, clearing her thoughts, time to focus on the mission. Calgary adjusted her Kevlar, pulling her ballistic goggles down over her eyes. The tingles stringing down her forearms were slowly dissipating, it was almost like electricity was exchanging through that "angels" touch, she scoffed at this… what in the hell was going on. Calgary raised her M4 to low ready, pieing the corners to make her way back to her squad.
Iraq had been quite for almost a year, in fact the US government was gearing up to pull out of Iraq, but all that had gone to hell the past few months. Horrific amounts of insurgents had been coming out of the woodwork. Convoys were being overtaken right and left, attacks on US bases had tripled and deaths of service members, civilians and insurgents had spiked to an all time high. It was as if the world was going to hell in a hand basket. Wars, famine and natural disasters were occurring on a global scale, and here Calgary was- fighting amped up insurgents in some no name village in the middle of the suck.
Her squad was cut off, calling for air support and medi-vacs were both denied. Apparently their convoy was not the only supply line ambushed. Calgary's team was sent as a security element to protect essential equipment being transferred from Baghdad to Tikrit, but the initial ambush, which forced their convoy off the main travel route onto an alternate road which was a choke point, the two thirteen man squads had been shattered. First squad had sustained the heaviest damage with five of their members KIA and four seriously wounded upon their initial contact. Calgary's squad, second squad, had sustained only two KIA's, but being the security element on the retreat into the village for cover had inflicted heavy damage on her team. Under normal circumstances Calgary would have pushed the convoy forward, only stopping to secure secret or critical components and personnel, but the insurgents had planned this assault to the letter, and all but one HMMV was destroyed by IED's and shoulder fired RPG's. The two squads had no choice but to dismount their vehicles and retreat to cover at the nearby village.
Calgary was apprehensive however, she knew with how coordinated the roadside attacks were, that the insurgents were more than likely trying to funnel the squads into the village- it was an ambush and she knew it. Calgary made the call, with the convoy commander KIA and coms completely unreliable, she made the call to fallback. They were sitting ducks out in the open with only their big metal bullet traps as protection- Calgary knew that in the village they stood a better chance at holding off the enemy advances, at least until relief arrived.. if it ever arrived.
So the remaining squad members gathered all the ammunition they could, rounded up what civilian contractors were left (they had been driving the supply vehicles) and made a break for the village. They made it the majority of the way into the center of the village when they were assaulted. The attack came from the rear and flanks. Her squad scrambled for cover, dragging the civilians with them. "Return fire!" Calgary was yelling orders while assaulting the enemy, giving them back what they were giving. "Charlie teams secure the rear! Squad one alpha and bravo secure the flanks, squad two alpha and bravo teams assault forward! We hold the line here!" Calgary was proud of her squad; they fell in line like a well-oiled machine. All those hours of battle drills paid off, but the odds were certainly against them and she did not know just how long they could last with out reinforcements. Calgary had just sighted in on a hodgie in a second story window when one of her squad members blurted out "What the fuck!?" Calgary took her shot and watched through her M68 as pink mist dusted the wall behind the insurgent's head. Dropping her M4 down to low ready Calgary turned her attention to what caused her team member's surprised reaction.
"Who the fuck?!" Calgary did not believe what she was seeing, this guy in a trench coat standing disoriented right smack in the center of a firefight. Calgary reacted on instinct "Shift fire! Shift fire! Civilian in the FPL!" Her legs reacted before her brain fully comprehended her actions, she had to get to this guy and she had to save him.