"Any idea what we're up against?" Sam asked. Personally, he was flat out of ideas. This thing left no clues to what it might be, and they were no closer to figuring it out than they were to stopping the apocalypse. Sam's thoughts once again unwillingly dragged him into those familiar feelings of blame and guilt. And we all know whose fault that was, the voice in his head reminded him.

Sam was silent as Dean thought for a moment.

"I got nothing."

"Great," Sam scoffed. "All we've got is two attacks in two neighbouring towns in the middle of nowhere. The only thing connecting them is a patch of woods."

Dean's head snapped up as an idea struck him.

"What? Found something?" Sam asked.

"What the hell! Why didn't I see this before? The thing has to travel from place to place, right? There must be some kind of trail in the woods between the two!"

Sam, although pleased to have some kind of lead on the case, felt slightly disappointed at how it hadn't occurred to either of them before now. This was the time to be razor sharp, not complacent.

"Sure, that makes sense," Sam said, closing his laptop and grabbing his jacket from around the back of his chair. Dean got up and walked over to the table to grab their father's journal, running a hand through his hair.

"Right," Dean instructed. "Plan – you take the Impala and ride round to the other end of the woods, it's only about a half hour drive. I'll walk to the beginning of the woods this end and we'll meet in the middle."

Dean was already heading towards the door as Sam struggled to catch up, grabbing the Impala keys from the bed where Dean had left them.

"Oh, and keep your phone on."

Sam sighed as a response. It irritated him when Dean treated him like his kid brother. In fairness, Dean had been trying harder not to do so since Sam had put his foot down after reuniting with his brother, having split up for a couple of weeks previously. But that over-protective, authoritative tone still crept through every now and again, especially when Dean was stressed, angry or both.

Sam slipped the Impala keys into his jacket pocket; by the time he was out the door Dean was already nearly out of sight, having just reached the motel car park's entrance. Dean seemed to either be in a hurry to get away from his brother, or in a hurry to get to somewhere else. Sam shook his head as he locked their motel room door. He gave up sometimes.

Dean felt the cold breeze of the evening push against his face as he approached the entrance to the woods, the dark, unwelcoming towers of the trees in front of him seeming intimidating and daunting. Having seen all he had seen in his life, he firmly reassured himself that it took a lot more to scare Dean Winchester...but he was getting shivers with what he was about to do nonetheless.

Dean had realised a short while ago that is was much more likely that whatever they were hunting would be at the other end of the woods, as it had last attacked in the town further away from them. The reason for splitting himself from Sam was partly because recently Sam had been getting on his nerves slightly; he wanted a few hours' break from it all. But the other reason...he didn't intend to spend those few hours alone.

He stopped walking, a fair few minutes into the woods now, so that trees were surrounding him on all sides. He leaned against the tree closes to him and took a deep breath.

"Cas...I need your help."

Nothing.

"...please...it's important."

Dean looked down at his feet in embarrassment and humiliation. Castiel wasn't going to show? After everything? After what Dean wanted – no, needed – to tell him? Dean tried to stop himself getting angry; there were plenty of reasons why Cas couldn't make it right now. He shouldn't take his anger out on him. His anger subsided substantially as he pictured Cas in his infamous tan trenchcoat. He kicked a twig half-heartedly and began to start walking again, but the one sound he wanted to hear stopped him in his tracks.

"Dean."

Dean spun round and saw Castiel a few metres away, standing in his ever faithful trenchcoat with a look of curiosity in his eyes. Dean couldn't help but stare at the beauty the moonlight had given him as it accentuated his facial features, gave depth to his dark hair and seemed to glint defiantly against his bright blue eyes.

"You know why I called?"

Cas looked down as Dean took a few steps towards him.

"I know." he said quietly; he hadn't wanted to admit his feelings for Dean again so soon...but he could not deny the overwhelming sense of protection and longing he had for him.

Dean raised a hand and gently lifted up Castiel's chin so their eyes met, feeling the angel's stubble as he did so.

"I...I just can't do this alone anymore, Cas. I need...I need you."

Cas let his own hand touch Dean's as it moved up to his cheek and felt the warmth of Dean's skin pulsating through him at the contact of it. He'd made his decision.

"And I want you."

Without another word, Dean gripped the back of Castiel's neck and kissed him firmly, hungrily. The electrifying sensation they both felt as their tongues played around in their mouths was amazing. Dean hadn't felt this amount of desire in a very long time.

The kissing became more and more passionate and intense as Dean and Cas started to groan in pleasure at the ecstasy of their emotions. Dean ran his hand through Castiel's hair as Cas kissed him gratefully back. Never had he felt anything like this before. As the kissing reached its climax, Dean grabbed Cas by the shoulder and threw him roughly against a tree, encouraging his trenchcoat off as he did so. Cas let his head roll back as Dean kissed his neck affectionately over and over again. He allowed Dean to begin undoing his tie as he caressed Dean's muscles under the warmth of his leather jacket.

Dean slid his leather jacket and shirt off as Cas kicked off his trousers, the two of them continuing to kiss and grip each other passionately as eventually, they were pushing against the tree, both naked. The cold didn't bother either of them; if anything it just made the whole experience more exhilarating.

Dean pushed Castiel's body against the tree over and over, both angel and hunter groaning in pleasure as they finally knew that this was the right thing to do. Dean's hips and groin grinded against Cas' and his hands felt their way down Cas' smooth back down to his ass and Cas continued kissing Dean eagerly in reply. Cas felt a burning sensation in his groin area as Dean pushed his back further and harder against the tree. The moon shone down on both of them through the branches like some illuminating light from Heaven. How fitting.

Dean barely had time to think as he felt himself licking Castiel's chest and around his nipples. Cas had never felt anything so intimate and personal before, but he didn't mind Dean invading his body, exploring every cavity with his hands and his tongue. There was something about Dean that made Cas feel normal. Like Dean. Almost...human.

"Dean –"

"Don't stop, Cas."

God, don't stop. Dean wanted this to last forever. Cas had been waiting millennia for these moments.