Hey everyone! So, this is a one-shot that may turn into more. The title is taken from AC/DC's song "Highway to Hell".

I do not own Supernatural.

I hope you enjoy!

Dean shivered, stuffing his hands deeper into his jacket pockets as howling broke out. It sounded hauntingly familiar, and he wondered what poor soul was going to Hell tonight. Ignoring it - Sam said no hunting Sam said no hunting Sam said - Dean hurried faster along the sidewalk and resisted sighing in relief when he saw the Braeden House a block away. A moment later, however, the breath left his lungs in a rush as a figure appeared out of the shadows. "Cas!" Dean shouted, ready to explode at the angel - what was he doing here, hadn't he learned anything about flying places - but before he could, the angel slowly folded in on himself as he collapsed to the pavement, and Dean found himself rather busy with catching Cas before he could face plant into concrete.

A mile outside of Cicero, Indiana a giant black shape slipped from shadow to shadow, silent as the grave. Pausing for the second time in five minutes, his head tilted back in a howl - a warning to others that his prey was off limits.

Dean grunted as he heaved the unconscious angel up the final steps to the house, only to freeze as the howl came again - and he would swear it was closer than before. Frowning, he wondered if Cas showing up had anything to do with tonight's Hunt as he opened the door. "Lisa? Ben?" he called, before sighing in relief as he remembered the two were visiting family over the weekend. Dragging the angel over to the couch, he groaned and rolled his shoulders, cracking his back, as he straightened up. If Sam were here he'd say - no hunting Sam would say no hunting Sam would say - that Dean was getting old, and Dean would growl in fake anger and call him 'bitch', and Sam would laugh as he choked out 'grandpa jerk', and Dean would… If Sam were here Dean would hold him tight, and he'd never let him go.

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, sniffing at the scent trail of motor oil copper gunpowder burning rubber. 'Dean. Dean. Dean. Dean.'

Cas snored, long and deep, and Dean jolted back to the present. Eyebrows furrowing in confusion, he wondered if angels normally snored. Although… Dean snorted and turned away. Cas wasn't unconscious because of some hidden injury. He was sleeping because he was tired. His guess, Cas did something that exhausted even his reserves. The only question left was… what exhausted an angel to the point they were nearly human?

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, picking up speed and howling once more as the scent grew stronger.

Dean jerked as a howl split the night air for the third time that night, and the hairs on his neck rose. That was definitely closer, and for the first time that night he finally acknowledged what he'd been afraid of since the first one. The hellhound was after him. For what reason, he didn't know - but he did know he needed more information, and they needed to move.

Shaking his head and deciding to screw the angel's beauty sleep, Dean reached out and shook the angel. "Cas! Hey, wake up! I need to know what you did. I need to know what you did Cas."

Blinking blurry-eyed up at Dean, Cas muttered, "The Cage."

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, ears pricked, panting, tongue hanging and drawing in deep gulps of the familiar scent.

Dean drew back, stumbled as the back of his calves hit the coffee table, and sat down on it. "The Cage?" he rasped. "Cas, what do you mean? What did you do?"

Cas breathed in deeply, and when he breathed out he was sitting, back ramrod straight, on the couch with eyes completely focused on the Righteous Man. "I attempted to rescue Sam from the Cage."

Dean took a shaky breath, nowhere near as strong as the angel's, and passed his hand over his face. Through his hair. Clenched both his hands together in his lap. Stared at them for as long as possible when a hellhound was hunting him. "Attempted?"

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, baying as a familiar house came into sight.

"While I was able to reach the Cage, I was unable to retrieve Sam, intact, from the Cage."

The angel spoke with no emotion, but the howl that sounded simultaneously was full to the brim with happy success.

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, howling continuously. He would not be quiet until he'd reached Dean. 'Dean. Dean. Dean.'

"'Intact'?" Dean repeated, flinching as the hellhound sounded its triumph and wishing he had goofer dust. "What do you mean by 'intact', Cas? Did you succeed or didn't you? There is no halfway! Sam's either in Hell with Michael and Lucifer or he's here with me! Which one is it?!"

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, ramming headfirst into the door and breaking off his howling to whine when it held. 'Dean. Dean. Dean.' Backing up, and shaking his head to clear the sparks, the hellhound rammed the door again - this time with his shoulder - and whined again when it held the second time. 'Dean. Dean. Dean.'

Dean and Cas both flinched as a crash sounded from the front, the hunter - Sam said no hunting Sam said no hunting Sam said - wondering how long the thick oak door with six reinforced locks would hold. A second crash, accompanied by the sound of creaking wood, told him not long. "Cas?!" He demanded, bringing the angel's attention from the door to him. "Where is Sam?"

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, and with a running start rammed his shoulder into and through the door, pushing it off its hinges and crashing into the entrance way on the other side. 'Dean. Dean. Dean.'

Dean jolted to his feet, ignoring Cas's guilty face. Obviously, the angel hadn't succeeded in the rescue mission. It didn't matter. From the sound of the hellhound breaking in, he'd soon be joining Sammy in Hell.

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, rounding the corner and baying happily at the sight before him. 'Dean. Dean. Dean.'

As the hellhound - a giant one, Dean noted, possibly the largest he'd ever seen - leapt into the air, still howling, the hunter - Sam said no hunting Sam said no hunting Sam said - drew Ruby's knife and prepared himself. However, he couldn't possibly have anticipated Cas's panicked face, the angel wrenching the demon-killing knife from his hands uncaring of the blood it drew from Cas's own hands and leaving Dean to face the hellhound defenseless.

'Dean,' the hellhound thought, landing solidly on the man and knocking him to the ground. 'Dean. Dean. Dean.'

Dean cried out, pushing his hands up in a futile attempt to hold the hellhound's teeth at bay, but the muzzle kept coming down until - Dean froze, shock on his face as a giant tongue cleaned it from chin to forehead.

'Dean!' the hellhound thought, settling in for a long cleaning. 'Dean! Dean! Dean!'

"I tried to tell you," Dean heard Cas say, as if from underwater - which it kind of was, considering how much drool had dripped into his ears. "I failed to bring Sam back human. However, I did not fail to bring him back completely."

'Dean,' the hellhound sighed happily, backing off satisfied that the man now smelled clean and like Pack again. Lying on the ground beside him, the hellhound rested his chin on Dean's stomach and leaned into the calloused hands hesitantly scratching behind his ears. 'Dean.'

Dean didn't care what it looked like as he abandoned scratching duty and gathered the giant hellhound in his arms. He didn't care that Cas was still there. He didn't care that Sam obviously had a long way to go before he acted like himself again, considering the first thing he did was cover him in slobber. Dean held Sammy tight, and he was never letting him go.

I hope you enjoyed, and please review! Ideas for connected one-shots are more than welcome.