Castiel was dying. His vessel, Jimmy, had been ripped apart by the other Angels in a fierce battle that had started when Castiel had turned his back on Heaven. And now he was dying and Heaven would no longer help him.
He stretched out his torn wings as far as they would go and flew clumsily to Sioux Falls where he knew the Winchesters would be. He knew he was selfish, forcing the brothers to watch as another of their friends died, but for the first time in his existence the Angel was truly scared. He knew nothing of what happened when an angel died, but he would have bet his wings that if there was a special Hell, that's where he would end up. A rough landing caused him to collapse on the floor. He looked up and saw three guns in his face, before they were hastily stashed away, and two strong pairs of hands carried him onto the sofa.
"Wow Cas, you look like crap."
Any further comments from Dean were cut off as he got hit by Sam. Before he could retaliate, Sam put on Bitch Face #17 'Try be more sensitive, Jerk'. Dean rolled his eyes, but his voice was softer has he spoke to Cas again.
"What happened? Was it Angels? Demons? Witches?"
Cas swallowed the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
"Angels. They did not like the fact that I had rebelled. They would have killed me there but I managed to escape. There is not much time left, though."
A shadow fell on the house as the humans seemed to understand. Their Angel, their friend, their family, was about to die. 'You can't save everyone', it was the oldest rule of hunting. It didn't mean that you could ever stop trying.
"Is there anything we can do." Sam's deep voice was so quiet now. The only other sound was the slow breathing of the hunters. Castiel shook his head, his vision turned black for a second with the effort.
"My vessel is almost destroyed, and without it I can not hope to heal my grace."
Cas's breathing got harsher as blood filled his lungs. He looked at Dean, apology in his eyes, as well as something deeper, something that could have been if they had only had more time.
Taking in one last breath, Castiel's vision faded to black.
A/N: Leave a review if you want to see the second half (where gay love pierces through the veil of death and saves the day). If not, then I hope you enjoyed this first bit.