Author's Note: This one-shot alternates between the past and present where the past is italicised. This was inspired by episode 18, "Frontierland" and is sort of a coda to the episode, so it does contain spoilers to the episode. Also, there is slight slash between Dean/Castiel, but it can be more or less described as pre-slash. Rating is mostly for language and whumped!Castiel.

Angel of the Lake

By: Sailor Moonac

Time travel was weird. Especially now since Heaven's rule book was thrown out to be used as kindle to torch human remains with. Butterfly effects [but we're never going to acknowledge that Kutcher reference], packages from 150 years ago, and ancient creatures that beget new creatures—all of it was a little too much of a mind fuck for Dean. But none the less, Dean drank his stale beer with a grimace and returned his attention to his laptop in an attempt to track down Eve.

Currently, the elder Winchester brother was perusing through a page listing of mysterious attacks in a small town in Colorado. Glancing at the heavily used notepad beside him, Dean crossed off 'Karina' and threw his pen down in frustration, attracting his brother's attention.

"Dean? Not a Karina?"

Dean leaned back on his chair and shrugged. "Who the hell knows? A mysterious large bird swooping down at night to grab a person and then fly off. The corpses are usually found mutilated and eaten several miles out of town a few days later. I mean," started Dean as he pulled a well beaten text from the Campbell family library towards him to read aloud. "'A Karina is a female demonic creature, typically in the form of a large bird or owl who swoops down at night to capture her prey before flying it back to her lair and draining it of its blood.' I mean, we got half of it right. But we've got mutilated remains, not drained corpse."

"True," acknowledged Sam. "And we really can't say if the Mother, Eve, is even related to this. Hell, it could even be a pterodactyl for all we know."

"Such a geek—" Suddenly a loud crash was heard from the motel bathroom. Dean quickly exchanged a look with Sam before reaching for the shotgun in his bag on the bed. Throwing Sam a handgun, Dean led the way to the bathroom door that was partially open. Carefully, Dean pushed the door open, mentally wincing at the loud squeak produced by the door, and entered with the shotgun cocked.

Inside, there were blood stains on the floor and a visible bloody handprint that lead from the sink to the shower curtain. The shower curtain was half pulled off its rings, wrapping around whatever it was that fell into the bathtub.

Dean and Sam exchanged a look before Sam tiptoed to the side of the bathtub and grabbed what was left of the shower curtain that was still hanging. Dean and Sam nodded as Dean readied himself to shoot whatever it was that had appeared in their bathroom. Sam tugged hard on the shower curtain, ripping the shower curtain completely off its rings and from whatever it was obscuring.

"Cas!" Dean dropped his shotgun immediately as Sam hissed Castiel's name and hastily stuffed his gun into the back of his jeans. Castiel had clearly landed in the bathroom severely injured with a profusely bleeding wound on his lower abdomen. Castiel had obviously stumbled from the landing and grabbed the shower curtain to steady himself to no avail. Currently, Castiel lay crumpled in the small bathtub, breathing harshly as he clutched his steadily bleeding wound. Castiel mumbled Dean's name softly as Dean quickly grabbed some clean towels to press against his bleeding wound.

"Sam help me!" Dean got into the tub behind Castiel's head and wrapped both arms around the fallen angel's shoulder. Sam too got into the tub carefully and grabbed Castiel's protruding legs. The angel hissed in obvious pain, to which Dean whispered a hastily made apology into the angel's shoulder, and mouthed 'lift' to Sam. Together they heaved Castiel out from the tub and carefully maneuverer the angel out of the cramped motel bathroom and onto Dean's bed.

Castiel groaned in pain, fingers clutching the towels over his wound trembling as he breathed laboriously. Castiel opened his eyes and turned to meet Dean's eyes. "I'm sorry," started Castiel, evidently in great pain. "I'm sorry I brought her to the lake."

"Yeah, sure Cas. It's no problem" answered Dean automatically as Sam shot Dean a confused look. Dean shrugged absently as he pulled off Castiel's tie and unbuttoned his dress shirt to see the wound. Sam shot Castiel a worried look before rushing to retrieve the medical kit from their bag and to fetch warm water from the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Dean had unbuttoned Castiel's shirt entirely and was slowly pulling it from Castiel's body, winching in sympathy when the shirt stuck to some of the congealed blood around the wound. Dean glanced up and saw Castiel had passed out again and mumbled another apology to the unresponsive angel before sharply tugging the shirt away from the wound. Castiel didn't even flinch.

"Damn Cas…"

"What's that?" asked Sam as he set down the basin of warm water on the bedside table. "Is that a plaster?" Dean turned the ruined dress shirt over to reveal medical tape attached to a bloody plaster and the inside of the dress shirt Castiel was wearing. "Did Cas try to patch up his own wound?" asked Sam as he passed Dean a warm wet towel.

Dean shrugged as he dislodged the plaster from Castiel's shirt and passed it to Sam, who accepted it with a look of disgust. "Doubt it. Cas looks totally out of it. And if someone did it for him, they sure did a shitty job."

"Dean look! It looks like his grace is healing his wound." And indeed it was. Glowing blue grace was leaking from the neat eight-pointed star wound, slowly closing the wound from outward in.

"Well that's a relief. I wasn't ready to play Dr. Angel-medicine-woman on Cas just yet."

"Yeah, not to mention how would you even care for a probably-angel-inflicted injury in the first place?"

Dean snorted solemnly as he sat down by Castiel's side to wipe away the excess blood from the angel's body. Sam stifled a snigger as he watched Dean tend to Castiel tenderly with his eyebrows creased in worry. "So, yeah. I'll go get some mare gauze from the Impala—"

"Doesn't this look familiar to you?"

"Uh what? Cas? Well he is male."

Dean turned around and shot his brother an annoyed look. "No shit Sherlock. I meant his wound! Look, doesn't it look familiar!"

Sam stepped up beside Dean and peered at the wound, cocking his head in Castiel's familiar display of confusion with a single brow drawn up. "Not really. I mean, it sort of looks like a bullet wound from a high calibre gun, but it's obviously a stab wound seeing how neat and deep it is."

"No, no! Not that. The shape! You know, the shape!" insisted Dean as he traced the outline of Castiel's wound as if that clearly explained what Dean saw to Sam.

"Uh…it looks like an eight-pointed star?"

"No! I mean it looks like a wound dad had years ago."

"Dad?" Sam sat down on the opposite bed. "Wait, when? I don't remember dad ever getting such a severe wound. Not to mention, if he had a wound like that, it would have definitely left some scars. I mean it's nearly three inches across. Last I checked, dad didn't have that kind of scar."

Dean paused and pulled his finger away from Castiel's wound before resuming cleaning blood from Castiel's body. "You're right. Dad doesn't have a scar, but I know I've seen this wound before…"

"That wound, or a wound like it? You know what, Dean it really doesn't matter. Cas is going to heal and then we can ask him about it." Sam stood up from the bed to retrieve another clean towel and exchanged it with Dean. "More importantly, what did Cas mean by that apology? 'Brought her to the lake?' Who's her? And what lake—woah Dean!" Dean had stood up abruptly and collided into Sam. "Dean—" Dean pressed the bloody towel into Sam's chest, who quickly grabbed it as he stared after Dean. Dean had dived to the rubbish bin and pulled out Castiel's bloody plaster, holding the plaster up and staring at it in shock. "Uh, Dean? You're…kind of scaring me. What are you doing with Cas's plaster?"

"This, Sam. Look at this!" Dean held the bloody plaster to Sam and pointed insistently at it. Sam took it and squinted as he examined the plaster. "It looks like someone wrote something on it. It's hidden under all of that blood. Let's see, I think the end part says 'well' and the next line says 'e-a-n'—"

"Yeah. For 'Please get well, Love Dean.'"

"What?" Sam looked up at his smirking brother in shock before looking back down at the plaster. Scratching away some of the congealed blood, Sam began to see the exact phrase Dean had said. "How? More importantly, 'Love Dean?'"

Dean grabbed the bloody plaster from Sam's hand in annoyance as he sat back down by Castiel's side and glanced at the healing wound. "I was ten okay. I kind of thought the guy was cool and what's-her-name, Jeanie Fischer had broken her arm a few months before and insisted I write 'love Dean' on her cast."

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. You lost me at ten—what?" Sam sat down on his bed again, looking between his brother watching Castiel, and Castiel himself. "You were ten years old…so I was six?"

Dean nodded. "You may not remember since you were so young. But it was the summer of what, '89? We were up in Alexandria Bay, NY with dad, who was hunting some ghost at the courthouse that had a habit of throwing people through windows—"

"And we were at that really nice motel with the pier and that old boathouse right outside our room!" Sam slapped his knee in sudden recollection. "And Mr. and Mrs. Gardner had that dog and gave us the row boat to play with—"

"Though dad wasn't too happy about that. You remember Sam?"

"Yeah—well vaguely. I remember some things, only because Alexandria Bay was so beautiful in the summer. There was a tornado right? Wait, but that!" asked Sam, pointing at the bloody plaster in Dean's hand. "Cas was there?"

Dean nodded. "I had always thought it was dad, which was one of the reasons why I wanted to grow up so fast. So I could protect dad from something like that happening again."

"Wait, slow down! Are you telling me Cas just came from the summer of '89? From our past?"

Dean let out a poignant chuckle. "Damn angel pulled a Samuel Colt."

Life was great for ten year old Dean Winchester. Alexandria Bay was absolutely stunning and the motel had a pier and an old tyre tied to a tree for a swing. The best part was the fact that it was summer—so no school! Though his dad was always out of the motel, Mr and Mrs. Gardner, the elderly owners of the motel he and Sam were staying at were really nice. The Gardners invited Dean and Sam to dinner every night and promised their dad they would take good care of them. What's more, Sam liked them. 's cooking was almost as good as mum's [from what Dean could remember] and quite frankly, anything was better than microwaved dinners. Best of all, the Gardners had a large Scottish Deerhound named Dannie that obviously loved the two young Winchesters more than the two elderly Gardners, or so Dean speculated.

Playing in the lake behind the motel was a common pastime for Dean and Sam. For one thing, their motel room was sweltering from the lack of an air conditioner and there was always a nice cool breeze that blew in from across the lake. Furthermore, the Gardners had allowed the two young Winchesters to play on their row boat, so long as Dean promised not to untie the row boat from the pier. Dean was fine with that since the rope stretched over a fifty feet. Sam was always eager to take the boat out and Dean was always happy to oblige, especially since Dannie always came with them happily.

Dean and Sam had already stayed at the Gardner's motel a week, and quite frankly, Dean wasn't averse to staying the rest of the summer. Secretly, Dean hoped the ghost at the Courthouse would give his dad a little bit of trouble…well at least in terms of finding it. Dean didn't want his dad to get hurt. But Sam doesn't need to know anything about ghosts. Not now, and hopefully not ever.

"Dean!" Sam's childish voice snapped Dean out of reverie and he looked up from where he was sitting at the edge of the pier fishing. "Look what I caught!" Sam was holding his own kid fishing rod at the edge of the lake. Attached to the hook was a small silver fish twitching in an attempt to escape.

"That's great Sammy!" Dean pulled his reel back in and set his rod down on the pier before running to his little brother by the lake's edge.

"Ahh Dean, it's stuck," complained Sam as he tried to remove the hook from the fish's mouth. Dean walked up to his brother and took the fish from him and carefully unhooked the fish before tossing it back into the lake. "Dean! I wanted to keep it!"

"We can't! Remember what Mr. Gardner said? Anything we catch we have to let go and let it be free! Isn't that right Dannie?" The Scottish Deerhound by Sam's side barked dutifully. "Come on, I'm tired of fishing today. Let's go put our fishing gear back in the boathouse."

"That's because you're mad you didn't catch anything and I did!"

Dean frowned in annoyance briefly before smiling at Sam and wrapping an arm around him. "Just a little, but I'm proud of you Sammy!"

Sam smiled cheerfully as he walked with his brother back to the pier to retrieve Dean's fishing rod, Dannie barking and chasing dragonflies beside them. Dean quickly hopped up onto the pier and retrieved his fishing rod.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning cleaved through the mid-afternoon sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Sam screamed in shock as Dannie stopped chasing dragonflies and instead whined, peering over the lake. Dean suppressed the urge to shiver and pressed a hand to his racing heart to still his heart before jumping off the pier to return to his brother's side. "Definitely a good idea to return. It might thunderstorm."

Sam nodded and took his brother's hand to walk towards the old boathouse a little ways from the pier. Half way to the boathouse, Dannie suddenly broke off into a run towards the lake edge by the boathouse.

"Dannie! Wait up! Where are you going?" Sam and Dean ran after Dannie who was attempting to pull something brownish in colour from the water. "Dannie, what are you doing?" Dannie turned and headed back towards Dean and whined before biting Dean's shorts, tugging him towards the brown thing at the water edge. Overhead, thunder clapped announcing the incoming storm.

"Dean, what's that over there?" asked Sam pointing to the brown thing Dannie was previously trying to pull from the water.

Dean looked down at Dannie who was still insistently tugging at Dean's shorts. "I don't know. Stay here with Dannie, Sam." Dean pressed his hand to Dannie's head who heeled and whined as Sam sat down beside the dog, clutching his and Dean's fishing rod with tight fists.

Cautiously, Dean slowly made his way closer to the brown thing at the lake's edge. Nearing whatever it was, Dean could see it was actually more of a tan colour and it was half way washed up onto the shore. Dean stooped to pick up a stick as he neared it and nearly screamed when whatever it was moved. The tan colour thing moved and rolled over.

Dean gasped and screamed for Sam. "Sammy! Help me! It's a man!"

Sam and Dannie ran towards Dean, who had grabbed the man's arm and was attempting to pull him onto dry land completely. Dannie reached Dean first and wound its powerful jaws into the collar of the tan trench coat the man was wearing and gave a mighty heave. Sam joined Dean and Dannie shortly and together, they pulled the man onto dry land completely.

"Dean, he's hurt," whispered Sam sacredly. Sam looked up as another louder clap of thunder roared across the sky, bringing a drizzle with it. "And it's raining!" whined Sam as he tried to cover his head with his small arms.

"I know Sammy! The boathouse! Help me get him into the boathouse!"

Sam reached down and grabbed the other man's other arm and squeaked, dropping the arm with a thump. "Dean! Is he dead?"

"No you dummy!" growled Dean in frustration as he tried to drag the much larger man by his arm. "He rolled over earlier—woah!" Dean hastily released the man's arm as the said man groaned and opened his eyes. Dean leaned down by the man's head. "Hey mister? Are you okay?"

"Dean," rasped the man in the tan trench coat.

"How do you know my name—" Another clap of thunder sounded overhead and the man abruptly sat up. He clutched his abdomen and quickly surveyed the surrounding, spotting the boathouse a few feet away. Without another word, the man struggled to push himself up and started stumbling towards the boathouse. "Hey!" Dean quickly grabbed the man's arm as he started to fall.

"Thank you, Dean." The man in the tan trench coat turned to look towards the sky as lightning flashed overhead. The man looked past Dean and saw the whining dog with a scared Sam before returning his gaze down at the young boy beside him clutching his arm. "Dean, you and Sam must come with me at once. Into here." The man waved his hand in the direction of the boathouse and the boathouse door sprang wide open. "Please, quickly. Dean, for your brother's sake!"

Dean had been taught at a very young age that there were monsters in the world. That a monster had killed his mum and may want to hurt Sam. Always keep salt and iron near, and aim carefully with a gun. Never talk to strangers because strangers may be monsters, and always be afraid of the night, but never be afraid to fight back in the night. That was what Dean was taught by his dad growing up. But the most important thing Dean was taught was to always protect Sammy. The man who's arm Dean was currently holding to help him stay upright was everything his dad taught him to avoid, to fight. But Sammy may be in danger, according to this man. To this stranger. To this possible monster in the night.

But Dannie seemed to make the decision for Dean, grabbing a hold of Sam's shorts within its powerful jaws and tugging Sam towards the boathouse. "Sammy!"

"Dean, please." The stranger turned his pained, imploring blue eyes towards Dean, who gripped the stranger's arm shakily with uncertainty. Dean bit his lips and glanced sideways to Sam, who was standing under the shelter of the boathouse and wringing his wet clothes out.

"Okay, come on mister!" Dean turned back to look up at the stranger and caught the fleeting edge of a fond smile. Instead, the man crumbled to his knees and clutched his abdomen painfully. "Hey mister?" Another flash of lightening neared and actually struck a tree across the lake, causing Dean and Sam to both scream and clutch their ears as the obligatory clap of thunder followed in a deafening howl.

Dean suddenly felt arms envelope him and he screamed, mentally scolding himself for getting too relaxed—what if this stranger is a monster? What if he hurts Sammy? What if—?

But Dean was suddenly out of the rain and could only hear the dulled thud of rain hitting a solid surface. Dean opened his eyes as the stranger released him and the doors to the boathouse slammed shut on its own. The man quickly crawled to the wall and pressed his bloody hand to it. Sammy ran up to Dean and clutched his older brother as both Winchester brothers watched the injured man paint a weird circular symbol on the wall with his blood. Upon finishing, the man turned himself painfully so that he was leaning against the wall, and shut his eyes.

Sam tugged insistently at Dean towards to door and Dean wrapped his arms around his little brother tightly before leading him towards the boathouse door.

"You cannot leave."

Sam yelped and Dean barely caught his yelp before it escaped from his lips. Dean turned to look at the stranger. The stranger looked up to meet Dean's eyes, and Dean gulped.

Wearily, the strange man in the tan trench coat sighed and closed his eyes, visibly suppressing any display of pain. "There is a thunderstorm outside. It is not safe for you to leave at this time. Please stay and bear with me for a little while longer."

Dean gulped and pushed Sam behind him further. "How do you know my name?"

The man reopened his eyes to meet Dean's. The man gave a small, half smile full of fondness. "I am a friend—"

"No you're not. I don't know you."

The man in the trench coat shook his head. "No you don't. Just understand…just understand I mean you no harm. I will be here only until…the storm passes." The man fell silent and closed his eyes again. Dannie made a small whining noise again before moving from Dean and Sam's side to the stranger's to rest its head on the stranger's lap. The injured man opened his eyes in surprise and looked down at the dog, muttering a small 'thank you' before closing his eyes again.

"What's your name?"

"Sam!"

Sam peered up at Dean and pointed at Dannie. "Dannie likes him."

"Dannie is a dog, Sam!"

"My name is Castiel." Both Winchester brothers looked back at the injured man who was watching the two quarrelling siblings with a wistful expression. "You may call me 'Cas' if you so wish."

"Okay Cas."

"Sam!" Dean tugged Sam insistently behind him and clung tighter to him, shivering as another clap of thunder broke the steady echo of rain pattering.

"Are you hurt?" asked Sam curiously, peering behind Dean.

"Yes, I am."

"Does it hurt?"

"Yes, it does."

Sam timidly moved out from behind Dean, who insistently held onto Sam and hissed a reproach. "But Dean, Cas is hurt. And you're really good at helping dad when he gets hurt working. Why can't you help him?"

Dean bit his lips uncertainly and looked up at the injured man. Dannie looked up at Dean and whined, giving Dean puppy dog eyes in pleading. Dean looked down at Sam, who also mirrored the puppy dog eyes. Dean sighed in defeat. He could never say no to Sam. And Dannie could always tell the bad guests from the good guests at the motel. So Castiel is good, right?

"That is not necessary, Dean. If you are not comfortable with my presence, please stay away."

"No way Cas!" Sam pulled away from Dean and moved to kneel next to Dannie. "Where does it hurt…?"

"Fine, I'll go look for a med kit on the boats!" called Dean as he turned around to climb onto the nearest boat that bobbed in the turbulent water. Muttering to himself, Dean turned back to look down at the huddled figures by the wall. Sam was helping Castiel pull off his trench coat and once it was removed, Castiel shook it a few times before wrapping it around Sam's shivering form. Castiel visibly winced, pressing his hand to his abdomen tighter and closed his eyes. 'Okay, so maybe Castiel isn't that bad,' thought Dean.

Dean resumed his search for a medical kit and found one on the deck. Carefully climbing off the boat, Dean made his way back to his brother and the strange man. Dean knelt by Castiel's other side and opened the medical kit.

"Dean," interrupted Castiel. "You…you really do not have to do anything you are not comfortable with—"

"It's fine," muttered Dean, suddenly feeling shy. "It's not like I haven't done this before. And besides, I'm going to grow up to help people! So this is nothing…"

"Yes, you will Dean." Dean felt himself blush and suddenly why wondered he felt so wary of the injured man sitting before him. For one thing, he looked as weak as a tax accountant! And he was injured. If he tried to hurt Sammy, Dean was certain he would be able to stop him.

Dean reached out and started to unbutton the injured man's dress shirt, mentally wincing in sympathy when he revealed an eight-pointed star stab wound. Sam audibly expressed his amazement before asking tactlessly, "How did you get that injury?"

Castiel turned away and looked down. "It was an accident. I was careless."

Dean snorted softly to himself as he pressed the anti-septic agent to Castiel's wound. Dean could tell a mile away that Castiel was lying. Dean paused, struck with the cold realisation that Castiel could be lying about not wanting to hurt Sammy. He could be a monster—how did Dean get inside the boathouse so suddenly? How did—?

"Dean, you're pressing too hard! You're hurting Cas."

"It is fine. I just need to rest for a little bit…" Castiel closed his eyes again and his shoulders visibly slumped.

Dean peered up into Castiel's face. "Cas?" But the injured man was unresponsive.

"Dean?" Dean and Sam exchanged looks before Dean shrugged and figured the man was better unconscious anyway. At least that way, he won't be able to hurt Sammy. Silently, Dean finished cleaning the wound and placed a thick piece of plaster over the large eight-pointed star wound before taping it down with haphazardly ripped pieces of medical tape. Then, Dean made his way over to Sam, who held the surprisingly dry trench coat tightly around him to fight off the chill. Actually, all of Castiel's clothing was dried to Dean's surprise. Dean shrugged it off and instead sat next to his brother and pulled Dannie onto his lap for warmth. Sam snuggled up next to Dean who wrapped an arm around his brother in an attempt to keep him warm.

"Dean?" piped up Sam beside him in a small voice. "How long do we have to stay here?" As if in answer, another loud thunder clap shook the building.

Dean looked up at the ceiling of the old boathouse and saw the wood panels were shaking violently in the storm. The boats that were docked were bobbing up and down violently in the water and occasionally collided against the concrete floor of the boathouse, chipping paint from its stern. Dean looked to his opposite side and to watch the sleeping man and finally shrugged. "Probably until the storm passes. Dad said he was going to be late tonight, and he may be even later with this storm. Right after this storm, we better get Cas some help."

Sam made a noise of acknowledgement beside Dean and fell silent for a few minutes. "Dean?"

"Hmn?"

"What is that supposed to be?" asked Sam as he pointed to his left.

Dean peered over his brother and his heart jolted violently. Dean had forgotten about the weird bloody circle Castiel had painted on the wall, in his own blood none the less. Dean glanced to his right, unconsciously gripping Sam and Dannie tighter as he tried to surreptitiously scoot his shoulder away from Castiel's side. Dean may not be old enough to hunt with his dad yet [but he certainly knows how to shoot a gun!], but he knows enough to recognise a weird, monster sign when he sees it.

"Sam, come on."

"Dean?"

Dean pushed Dannie off his lap and moved to stand up when Castiel grabbed his arm in a firm grip. Dean resisted the urge to scream as he turned to face Castiel, who had his eyes at half-mast and seemed unfocused. Castiel relaxed his grip on Dean's arm before releasing it and allowing his hand to fall back into his lap. Castiel blinked a few times before focusing his bright blue eyes back on Dean's terrified green ones.

"It is not safe for you to leave this boathouse, Dean. Please…please just stay until I leave. Please stay until the storm passes. I promise you, Dean, I will not allow any harm to come to you or your brother."

"But you're a—" Dean stopped himself. Sammy didn't know monsters lived in the dark. And Dean doesn't want Sam to know, not now or ever.

Castiel bowed his head. "Please, Dean."

Dean's heart jolted again, but this time it wasn't in fear. There was just something, something, about the way he said his name that sounded both familiar and foreign. Chewing his lower lips in his nervous habit, Dean finally sat back down between his brother and Castiel, carefully ensuring no part of his body touched the mysterious injured man beside him. Castiel visibly relaxed beside Dean and closed his eyes again, but Dean wasn't so sure if he was unconscious like last time.

Meanwhile, Sam seemed to have forgotten his question entirely and was instead clutching Dannie tightly and fighting off the urge to sleep. Dean pulled his brother close again and Sam leaned his head on Dean's shoulder, mumbling for permission to sleep. Dean gave his permission and pulled the injured man's trench coat tighter around Sam as Sam quickly fell asleep despite the storm outside.

"He must be very tired, since he is so very young."

Dean startled and cursed himself for visibly showing it as he turned to look at a wide awake Castiel beside him. "Are you trying to wait for us to fall asleep before you attack us?"

Castiel tilted his head in a careful frown. "As I have stated, I have no intention of hurting you or your brother. But…" Castiel looked up to the shaking ceiling with a deepening frown. "But I must stay awake and ensure that you are safe from…this storm. This is my fault that you are in such danger."

Dean shrugged. "Well, I suppose me and Sammy would have taken shelter in here anyway since that storm came so fast."

"That's not what I meant," answered Castiel, who didn't offer any other details.

Dean shifted Sam so that he was sleeping on his lap next to Dannie's furry body and pointed to Castiel's injury. "You never answered how you got that?"

Castiel looked down at his exposed abdomen and frowned. "I was careless."

"You already said that."

"I did." But Castiel didn't offer up any other explanation.

Dean absently combed his fingers through Sam's wet hair and then pointed to the blood sigil on the wall. "What are you?"

Castiel looked down beside him to Dean. "A friend."

"And I said I don't know you. So you're not a friend." Dean stopped combing his hand through Sam's wet locks. "I guess what I mean is, are you a monster?"

Castiel bowed his head and pressed a hand to his wound. "I suppose I am. I have done…regrettable things. But please, Dean. Just know that all I do is for you and your future. The right to make your own destiny…"

Dean frowned in confusion and wondered if the injured man beside him had hit his head too. Dean leaned back to look up at the back of Castiel's head, but didn't see any blood in his brown hair. Castiel turned to meet Dean's eyes in confusion before leaning back and closing his eyes.

"I am uncertain how long this storm will last. But once I recover enough, I will leave this boathouse. The storm should pass shortly afterwards."

"You're weird. You make no sense."

A corner of Castiel's lips tugged upward as he turned his head to look down at Dean again. "I have been told that before by someone…very similar to you. I apologise."

Dean twirled a lock of his brother's hair absently between his finger as Dannie whined nervously, looking around the shaking boathouse. Dean followed Dannie's gaze and stopped to stare out a distant window. Lightening flashed brightly, illuminating the entire window in a blinding light that didn't seem to fade with time.

"Don't look."

"Huh?" Dean snapped his gaze back to Castiel who had gently tugged on Dean's arm.

"I said don't look. That is something…you don't need to see." Castiel released Dean's arm and instead turned to stare keenly out the window he had just told Dean not to look at.

Dean snorted but didn't look. There was something…terrifying about that light. Dean has seen many thunderstorms before, but this one just seemed much more…dangerous. Dean shivered unconsciously.

A warm dry arm wrapped around Dean's shoulder, gently pulling him to lean into Castiel's warm body. Dean blinked and looked up at Castiel as he allowed himself to be pulled into a half-embrace. What is this weird guy doing?

"You're cold," replied Castiel to the unasked question.

"Not really," muttered Dean bitterly, but didn't remove himself from Castiel's side regardless. Despite the fact that man beside him just admitted to being a monster…sort of, Dean didn't feel scared by him. The way he said Dean's name…Dean felt like it was somehow calling to his core, like something deep within his heart that longed for…something! Dean couldn't place the words jumbled in his head correctly, but Dean did recognise he felt safe and warm within this weird man's half-embrace. It was sturdy and strong like dad, but warm and almost loving like his long deceased mum…

"Why are you so weird Cas?"

The injured man seemed to snort in amusement before answering. "I am…rusty with my people skills."

"Why?"

"My…work requires I remain away from human civilisation for long periods of time, quite to the umbrage of my dear friends."

Dean blinked up in confusion. "You use too many big words."

"I apologise. What I mean to say is that I am away quite often because of my work. My friends are not happy about that."

"Why?"

Castiel stiffened with his arms around Dean before giving Dean a forlorn look. "Because they are humans. And humans can be very selfish creatures. But I suppose, I am being quite selfish too despite the cause I am fighting for. I wish, very much, to be able to remain here and enjoy the peace and serenity of this lake with you. But now…" Castiel drifted off and turned to watch the boats bob violently in the war. "I must leave as soon as I can."

The word 'human' again reminded Dean that the man currently holding him in a half-embrace was not human. He didn't say what he was and he didn't completely act human either, but he certainly did act a little human too. Dean turned back to the blood sigil. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

Castiel followed Dean's gaze. "It is supposed to protect us for the time being." Castiel frowned and moved his free hand to cover his wound briefly before pulling back and examining his hand.

"You're bleeding again."

"It never did stop bleeding."

Dean shifted and pulled aside Castiel's dress shirt to reveal the plaster was soaked through with blood. Dean looked around and spotted the medical kit on Castiel's other side. Dean pointed it out to Castiel who reached over and passed it to Dean. Carefully, Dean moved Sam off of his lap, who instead shifted to wrap an arm around Dannie and fell back asleep. Dean carefully pulled the trench coat tighter around his brother before returning his attention to Castiel.

Dean pulled off the bloody plaster to reveal the wound. Castiel frowned and pressed a finger to his wound, barely suppressing a hiss of pain. Dean slapped Castiel's hand away with a mutter of 'stupid' before cleaning the wound again with an antiseptic agent. After cleaning the wound again, Dean pressed a piece of gauze to the wound to prevent any particles from entering the cleaned wound and unwound some more plaster. Digging around the medical kit, Dean exhaled a soft exclaim as he found a medical marker pen. Dean held the plaster over the clean surface of the medical kit and pulled off the pen cap with his teeth.

"Jeanie said you're supposed to write on someone's cast to help them get better faster. So…'Please get well, Dean'." Dean nodded, satisfied with himself and pressed it atop of the gauze over Castiel's wound. Dean then struggled to tear the medical tape to tape the plaster down and in the end, used his teeth to tear several pieces. Dean then taped the plaster on with great difficulty, half taping the plaster to Castiel's once pristine white dress shirt.

Castiel watched quietly, a fond half smile tugging on his lips. "Thank you, Dean. I appreciate this greatly."

Dean sat back and scowled at his work. "It's too dark to see too well. And—" Dean glanced sideways to the discarded medical marker pen. Nodding to himself, Dean picked up the pen again and leaned into Castiel's wound. "Jeanie also said that if you write your love on the cast, they heal even faster. But she's a girl, so she's probably just being girly. But she was out of her cast before me and dad and Sammy moved again. So maybe this does work…" Carefully pressing his fingers to Castiel's uninjured abdomen, Dean carefully wrote 'Love' before his name on the second line of the plaster. "There!"

Castiel traced the plaster edge carefully before closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall. "Thank you, Dean. I will cherish this."

"Yeah, yeah—" A loud of clap of thunder cut Dean off and trembled the boathouse violently.

"Dean?" Sam woke up and pushed himself off as Dannie, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Is it still raining?"

"Yeah, sounds like it's getting worse—oi Dannie what's wrong?" Dannie had started barking wildly at the ceiling. Dean looked up as the ceiling creaked dangerously on the verge of coming off. Another loud roar of thunder sounded near immediately, followed by another, and another.

"Dean…" whimpered Sam as he moved to hug Dean.

"Sam—" Suddenly, the window at the end of the boathouse blew out and a gust of wind and rain blew into the boathouse. Dean grabbed a hold of Sam and pulled him tight to him, shielding him from the window and the elements it brought in through it.

The wind howled louder and the boat house creaked dangerously until the loud crack of wood breaking broke the thunderous boom. Dean pulled himself over Sam as Dannie barked madly beside him, panic evident in the Scottish Deerhound's bark. Dean clenched his eyes shut tightly, Sam's panic voice below him lost in the howl of the wind.

"Dean!" A large body covered Dean's and arms enveloped both Winchester brothers.

"Cas!" Dean couldn't even hear his own scream as an odd, high-pitched piercing began over the holler of the storm. The wind picked up around him Dean who felt the ground below his feet tremble as though it were an earthquake. Dean squinted through the gust of wind and rain and watched in horror as the walls of the boathouse crumbled in the storm.

"Dean, Dean!" Dean could vaguely make out Castiel's insistent voice calling to him. "Dean, I need you to trust me. Cover your ears and close your eyes. Have Sam do the same!"

Without hesitation, Dean clenched his eyes shut again and pressed his lips to his brothers temple as he shouted Castiel's instructions to him. Not even a moment later, the high pitched screeching became even louder and white light enveloped Dean's vision with Dannie's scared barks fading away…

That evening, rescue workers and John were finally able to lift the debris of the obliterated boathouse with Mr. and Mrs. Gardner looking on anxiously. Inside, the boats were all shattered into unrecognisable fragments and the pillars that once held the boathouse up were all toppled. But somehow, the pillars had all fallen in a way that protected the two young children that were fast asleep with a scared Scottish Deerhound barking anxiously for attention. John exhaled a sigh of relief when Sam and Dean awoke, slightly disoriented and hungry, but none the less, well. Especially since they somehow survived being in the eye of a powerful tornado, or so witnesses say…

Sam blinked and he nodded. "I remember…dad was furious. I mean, that's why he didn't allow us to leave the motel room or whatever dump we were staying at from then on. Not for anything aside from school and the grocery store, and even then he was usually with us. Oh my God…" Sam sat himself on the opposite bed again after having paced the expanse of the room multiple times. "It was Cas…that strange man was Cas."

Dean nodded. "I remember there was a man with us, but the tornado was kind of a little more memorable than a strange man who rescue workers thought had probably been blown away. Of course now we know why there was a storm in the first place—"

"Raphael," scowled Sam.

"Yeah. Rapha-fucking-el. Cas was trying to protect us from him—her, and she decided to drop a fucking tornado on us!"

"But hey," started Sam as he went to the refrigerator to fetch a pair of beer bottles and passed one to Dean. "At least we know how we made it out of there alive, and…" Sam turned to look at the unconscious angel resting on Dean's bed. "We know that Cas is all right. Sort of."

Dean turned around to look back at Castiel. Silently, he scooped up the discarded plaster and shook his head. "I still can't believe it. Damn this time travel shit is weird."

"I know…" Both brothers fell silent as they drank their beers, both remembering that summer over twenty years ago. "It was fun. That summer I mean."

Dean snorted. "I guess…"

Sam coughed and Dean mentally groaned, recognising that cough as 'Sam's going to ask something girly'. "Well…that still doesn't explain why you wrote 'Love Dean' on the plaster."

"You know what Sam, shut it!"

Castiel didn't wake again until the next day when Sam was out buying lunch for the pair. Castiel groaned as he blinked awake, hand briefly covering his nearly closed wound before turning his head to see Dean propped up on the bed with a laptop.

Dean, upon seeing Castiel was awake, gave a half wave before offering, "Sam's gone out to get some food so I'm going to take this opportunity to catch up on my Dr. Sexy MD porn spoof."

"What?" asked Castiel gravelly as he struggled to pushed himself upright.

"Woah, woah, Cas. You were pretty badly injured by old Raphy, so I think you need to take it easy for a little while." Castiel glanced at Dean briefly before allowing himself to be set back down on the bed.

"Why did you not tell me before that I had met you previously before raising you from Hell?"

"Sheesh you really do cut to the chase don't you Cas?" Castiel turned to give Dean an annoyed glare. Dean rolled his eyes. "I was a kid okay? I didn't remember. Hell I thought you were killed by the tornado, so I didn't really remember much of the details until I saw that—" Dean pointed to the wound under Castiel's hand. "Again yesterday. Then I kind of remembered. For me, it wasn't important. The fact that Sam and I survived the tornado was important. No offense. Which reminds me…" Dean set his laptop on the bedside table, revealing research material and not porn as Dean had teased. Dean then scooted down so that he was laying on the bed beside Castiel. Dean rested both of his hands under his head as he addressed the ceiling. "Thanks. For saving me and Sam that day—"

"There is no need for gratitude. It was my fault in the first place."

Dean cast his eyes at Castiel who turned to meet his eyes. "Raphael had launched a powerful assault, and I was careless. I fled, thinking I should go to you, before realising I would only bring trouble for you. My indecision and my injury caused me to fall into the flow of time during flight and I fell to the summer of 1989 when you were 10 years old."

Dean blinked. "And here I thought you said time travel was hard." Dean wet his lips nervously before beginning. "Cas. What the hell is going up there?"

Castiel turned his head to break eye contact with Dean.

"Cas? Come on man, you haven't told us anything! Every time you say you'll tell us the next time and yet you say the same damn thing the next time—"

"That is…that is because I don't want to get you involved. These are my brothers; this is the war I helped start. I don't want to involve you or your brother. You've already done enough. What's more…"

"What's more?"

Castiel closed his wearily. "I have done regrettable things in this war, and I wish I do not have to do these things. But I am doing this for your sake. So you and your brother won't have to be involved in this Heavenly civil war. All I can ask for is your trust."

Dean frowned and turned to face the ceiling again. "You've asked for my trust many times Cas. And what have I done every time?"

"You trusted me. Thank you Dean, but—"

"No buts Cas. I trusted you then, and I still trust you. So…" Dean pulled his hand out from under his head and griped Castiel's free hand. "Whatever 'regrettable things' you've done. I trust that you believe whatever you're doing is for good. And what's more," smirked Dean as he turned to meet Castiel's gaze, who turned at the same time. "I trust I'll make you see things my way in the end if I don't like what you're doing."

Castiel gave a small glimmer of a smile as he closed his eyes to rest. "Thank you…"

"Hey, that's what friends are for," whispered Dean as he watched Castiel's body relax into sleep. Dean smiled fondly. "Ah, look at the little angel…" Dean closed his eyes as he felt the day's exhaustive research on the Mother catch up to him. He could always research for some more leads later after a nap and some food.

Later when Sam came back with the food, he spotted Dean and Castiel asleep on Dean's bed, hands still held together. Sniggering quietly, Sam pulled out his mobile and snapped a picture of the sleeping pair and captioned the picture 'Love Dean.' Now all Sam had to do was find a time to use the picture against Dean.

Ah, spontaneous one-shots, how much I hate you. This ended up being 18 pages long, and it is mostly a result of me loving some whump!Cas and thinking that it should have been Dean that caught Cas as he fell injured in Frontierland instead of Bobby! Now for some notes.

The flashback scene takes place before Sam was attacked by the Shtriga. And in case you didn't realise, the storm and the tornado was caused by Raphael in an attempt to destroy the boathouse and the angel blood ward that Castiel had painted with his blood. Also, the warding symbol was the one he used at Bobby's in episode 18.

Also, a Karina as mentioned, is an Islamic demonic creature mostly found in African beliefs. I basically pulled that out of my encyclopaedia of supernatural and magical creatures (which is right beside my Pharmacology book). Depending on what source you use, a Karina can be anything from an elfish woman to a snake to an owl.

Spoilers are discussed after this point, so don't read after this if you don't want to be spoiled.

Castiel has been doing some shady things this season, so I wanted to write this one-shot as a happy, cute, bonding fic before, according to Sera Gamble, the really heart breaking things occur later this season.

Judging from what Castiel told Sam and Dean after re-sinking the Titanic and what Rachel implied in Frontierland, I kind of feel Castiel is doing regrettable things, but for the greater good. That of course, is to stop Raphael to prevent another Apocalypse. But what he's doing probably goes against Dean and Sam's principals (not soulless!Sam of course). Inherently, I believe Castiel is good but I speculate by the end of the season, he and the Winchesters are going to have a huge fall out. Although as implied by my little [okay not little since it's over 8,300 words] fic, there is trust between Dean and Cas, so they will hopefully work through it again. Please? Because otherwise I'm going to have to write to Sera Gamble about how she's breaking my heart.

-Sailor Moonac