Set in Season 5. Castiel and Dean are ambushed by a group of angels trying to kill Castiel, who is cut off from Heaven and joined the Winchesters. I am in no way affiliated with CW writers, crew and publishers. So, I am brand new to fanfics, hope it doesnt suck too bad; feedback is welcomed.

Dean and Castiel stood back to back in the center of the attacking angels. Both were brandishing gleaming swords made of angelic metal. Dean breathed hard, adrenaline rushing through his body as he took in the eerily calm faces of the approaching heavenly host. Castiel's face was as always, stoic and blank, as he reversed his grip on his weapon.

"Are you ready for this Dean?" asked Cas, as the angels began to close in around them.

"Probably not, but it doesn't look like these winged monkeys are gonna wait for me."growled Dean.

With one last look into Dean's emerald green eyes, Castiel launched himself at their attackers. He took down the first one with a quick, decapitating flick of his sword and landed on the ground in a crouch; he may not be a full angel anymore, but his battle skill and agility had not been lost.

Watching Castiel make the first kill, Dean threw himself at the closest angel with a loud battle cry. The female angel he now confronted was staring at him with odd fascination, her own sword hanging limp at her side. Dean stopped in mid-swing and stared back.

Pushing aside his confusion, he slapped on a cocky smile, "I bet you don't have anyone as great looking as me in heaven, huh baby?"

This snarky comment was followed by a wink that the angel laughed away, "No, I was just wondering how such a beautiful angel as Michael has such a scrawny vessel. But hey, I guess miracles are part of heaven's repertoire."

Dean took in an exaggerated breath, "Ouch, I didn't know angels could be so mean." Then he gripped his sword and stabbed the angel through the heart, her eyes glowing as her angelic nature was killed.

While trying to shove his first kill off of his knife, Dean heard Castiel shout something from behind him. Leaving the sword still stuck in the dead angel, Dean spun around and found himself face to face with Ithuliel, the new commander of Castiel's old garrison. Dean clenched his fists and instinctively punched the angel in the face, recoiling as his hand throbbed as if he had punched iron.

Ithuliel in turn, punched Dean and sent him sprawling to the floor, blood flowing from his now-broken nose. Scrabbling backwards, Dean tried to pull his sword from the body of the first angel, cursing as it wouldn't budge.

"Cas!" Dean panicked as Ithuliel stalked closer to him, lifting his sword above his head. But Castiel was busy fighting off the rest of their attackers, and Dean was left alone, cradling his broken wrist in his hand and backing up against a wall. The commander swung his sword down towards the helpless Dean with all of his force.

Moving at just the right moment, the sword missed his heart, but continued its arc downward and opened a large gash in Dean's thigh. He screamed as agony shot through his whole body and blood gushed from the wound. Dean clenched his teeth against another shout and fell, barely conscious, to the floor. He looked up through his fluttering eyelids and saw Ithuliel laughing as the angel threw his sword to the side.

"You meat puppets have always disgusted me," the angel's low voice grated against Dean's ears, "But you are useful for one thing, a source of entertainment." With the final comment, he kicked Dean in the ribs, producing another scream from the poor hunter.

Ithuliel continued to beat him as his screams died to whimpers. Dean's ribs were pulverized and he found it harder and harder to breathe. Just as he was going to pass out, Dean saw Castiel grapple with Ithuliel. The angels fought with such ferocity, Castiel angered at what Ithuliel had done to his friend, and Ithuliel disgusted at his former comrade's feelings towards the humans.

The commander was able to throw Castiel off and addressed him with a finger pointed at Dean lying injured on the floor, "You were my brother! And now you fight for such a feeble creature as this! Castiel, you were our leader, we all looked up to you, then you left us to protect these abominations!"

Castiel looked upon Dean with sorrow filled eyes; the hunter was sprawled on the floor, whimpering in pain, blood pouring from his mouth, and the angel was angered. "No one does that to Dean and gets away alive," he growled, his crystal blue eyes alight with rage.

With one leap, Castiel had brought Ithuliel to his knees and stabbed his sword into his chest. Ithuliel gasped in surprise, and then sank to the floor, eyes glazed over.

Leaving the knife suck in the body, Castiel ran to Dean and cradled his head in his lap. Dean was unconscious, his chest rising and falling in quick, rapid bursts. He had to be healed, but Castiel was cut off from Heaven's power.

He could heal him, but it would require much of his strength and be quite painful for Dean. Sighing as he realized there was no other way, Cas took a deep breath and placed his hands on the hunter's chest.