Dean stopped dead, his eyes sweeping the alleyway with desperation blazing in their green depths. His face was already smeared with blood and dirt, and his body was tense with mixed fear and exhilaration. "Cass?" His voice broke slightly and he cleared his throat and tried again. "Cass!"

"I'm here, Dean," Castiel appeared with a rustling of feathers, his blue eyes wide and alert, "They're coming. We have to run. Now!"

"Run where, Cass?" Dean said, his voice rough with desperation, "Back the way I came? Because last time I checked, waiting for you back there is what almost got me killed."

Cass shook his head, a look of grim defeat settling on his face. "They're already here. I'll hold them off for as long as I can; you have to..."

"No way, man. There's no way in hell I'm going to..."

"Dean!" Cass snarled, turning to face his human charge with fear and anger dancing in his eyes. "This isn't your fight."

Dean grit his teeth and shook his head, standing his ground firmly. "I know, Cass, but I'm not leaving you here alone."

With a rustle, three dark figures appeared before Dean and Castiel, the newcomers' eyes full of a cold sort of satisfaction. "Hello, Castiel," one of them said with a small, fake smile, "I see that you have your favorite pet with you today. Not such a good place for him to be."

"Your quarrel is with me, not him," Cass growled, "Dean is not a part of this."

The other angel grinned. "Oh, I think you'll find that he is a very big part of this. Especially since having him here makes my mission a lot simpler. As we all know, breaking an angel can be very hard. But you, Castiel... Cass... Your weaknesses are actually quite easy to identify." The angel laughed coldly, drawing forth an angel blade from beneath his jacket. "When the right pressure is applied to the right areas, anything can be broken."

Cass's eyes blazed and he moved into a protective stance in front of Dean. In one swift motion he drew a silver blade of his own, gripping it tightly in one fist as he waited for his opponent to make the first move. "I'm not afraid to fight you, Natheriel. I am the superior warrior. We both know it."

The other angel laughed, shaking his head at Cass with an almost irritated look on his smug face. "Do you really think I'm going to let you fight me one-on-one? I'm not that stupid, Castiel." He nodded to either side, and the other two angels quickly drew their angel blades, holding them in a threatening way. "You betrayed us. And now you will pay for your disobedience."

The other two angels smiled coldly, and together the three angels closed in on Cass and Dean with grim determination.

The first angel to speak was the first to strike, darting in with his blade in an attempt to draw Cass into the fight. Cass had no choice but to parry Natheriel's move, slashing out fiercely while still managing to hold his position.

Dean, who up until this point had all but been shielded from sight, now took the opportunity to distract their opponents. Stepping backwards until he was pressed against the grimy alley wall, he slowly began to move away from Cass and into the other angels' view, his green eyes glaring a challenge.

"The human's trying to get away!" one angel cried out, momentarily turning his attention to Dean.

For Cass, this split second of distraction was all he needed. Twisting around, he buried the angel blade deep in the other's side, stumbling backward as his opponent screamed and fell to the ground, light streaming out of his eyes and mouth.

Natheriel let out a snarl of fury, and before Cass could spin back to face him he had darted in to wrap his fingers around the fallen angel's momentarily exposed throat. With a snarl of satisfaction, he slammed Castiel back against the wall, lifting his blade so that the tip rested under his prisoner's jaw. With his other hand he grabbed Cass's right wrist, immobilizing the latter's weapon hand. Natheriel smirked with icy triumph. "Grab the human," he growled at his companion, "Make sure he can't try anything while I give this traitor what he deserves."

"No!" Dean yelled as the second angel managed to wrestle the hunter's arms behind his back, "Let me go, you sonuvabitch!"

Cass tensed at Dean's screams, turning a pleading gaze on his captor. "Let Dean go, and I will not fight you, Natheriel. I will follow you back to Heaven and take whatever punishment you think I deserve, as long as you leave him unharmed."

Natheriel laughed bitterly. "I'm not returning you to Heaven, my friend. Actually, I was hoping there would be a little accident before I could bring you home, an incident most likely involving the slow and painful death of my prisoners."

Cass tried not to be afraid, but the truth was that he was barely keeping it together. Not because he feared for himself, but because he had failed Dean. He had let his human charge down and endangered his life, and it was this that scared him beyond all else. He had put his best friend in danger, and now he couldn't save him.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Natheriel pulled from his pocket a small, intricately carven silver wristband, which was inlaid with enochian symbols and sigils. He grabbed Cass's left wrist and firmly secured the metal band around it, tightening it cruelly. "Now you're powerless, my friend. Powerless to save yourself... Powerless to save Dean."

Cass stared at Natheriel in disbelief, his blue eyes full of pain and fear. "Why?" Was all he managed to get out.

"Because you betrayed us, Castiel. You betrayed your own kind." With a snarl, Natheriel slashed down Cass's jawline, leaving a deep gash.

"You betrayed us all, and for that you must pay." His fingers tightened around Cass's throat, crushing the fallen angel's airways until Cass could no longer draw breath.

"Cass!" Dean yelled, struggling against his captor's strong grip, "Leave him alone, you sonuvabitch!"

Natheriel laughed coldly, shaking his head as he lowered his own angel blade, his fingers closing around the hilt of his opponent's as he pried the weapon from Cass's fingers. "And now," he hissed, "You will feel the pain of your Grace draining out of your body." Cass tried to cry out as Natheriel's blade sunk deep into his shoulder, pinning him against the wall, but his throat was too tight to make any sound at all. An even more excruciating pain lit up Cass's right side as the second blade was slashed forcefully across his body, leaving a deep gash from his rib cage all the way down to his hip. Natheriel grinned with satisfaction as he forcefully pulled the blade out of Castiel's shoulder, twisting it until a stain of blood spread across the tan trench coat. Cass screamed in his True Voice, a sound of pure agony.

"Cass!" Dean was yelling his name, and through the blinding pain it was the only thing that the fallen angel heard. The hunter was snarling threats at Natheriel, most of them violent and obscene. "Get away from him, or I swear...!"

Natheriel lifted his blade again, this time cutting Cass from the base of his throat to the bottom of his ribs. And then, almost as an afterthought, he drew back his fist and slammed it across Castiel's face, once, twice, three times. He smirked with satisfaction as blood ran from Cass's nose and lips, smearing across his bruised and cut face. Castiel gasped with pain, fighting to draw breath. His vision was going black, his world spinning out of control...

Dimly, Cass heard a faint voice speaking, and he was barely able to make out the words through the excruciating pain. "Let the human go," Natheriel was saying, "We really have no reason to kill him. But Castiel must be finished properly." That's when Cass felt the angel blade enter his abdomen, striking deep into his flesh. And then there was a rustling of wings, and the angels were gone.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .