Dean wasn't sure what he had expected, but this was not it. He had been around babies before. He vaguely remembered Sam growing up. They had had Faith for a week and Dean didn't know what to expect anymore. She never cried, she had slept once so far, and she already figured out her powers. It only took one afternoon of them frantically searching the house and surrounding area after she disappeared for them to cover the cabin in angel binding spells. She had flown off for an hour and reappeared bouncing happily and clapping her tiny hands in pure glee.

Combining this and the very real threat of some monster deciding to finally kick their door in, Dean hadn't slept much more than Faith. He knew it would only be a matter of time before a big job or threat finally tore all of them away and then where would that leave Faith?

A rustle and mumble from the bed beside him snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked down as Cas turned and wrapped the covers closer to him. He was jealous of the fallen angel's ability to sleep so much and so comfortably. Cas seemed to feel his stare and cracked open an eye.

"Dean?" His voice cracked from sleep and Dean knew he wasn't fully awake. "What are you doing?"

"Can't sleep." He smiled as Cas's eyes drifted shut again.

Cas hummed in understanding as he rolled back to face Dean. "Come here." He slid a hand over the mattress.

"I'm not tired, Cas. Go back to sleep."

"Lay down." Cas patted the bed lightly, eyes still closed.

Dean sighed before reluctantly sliding down on the mattress. He was already in his pajamas and he wanted to sleep while Faith was asleep for the second time in the past week, he just didn't think he could. Cas curled into Dean, running a hand up his chest and nuzzling his neck. Dean smiled and wrapped an arm around Cas's back.

"Go to sleep, Dean."

"Shh," Dean ran his fingers through Cas's hair gently, "you just go back to sleep. Don't worry about me. I'm not tired."

Cas groaned. "Yes you are." He pushed up to look at Dean. "Your eyes are red, you have dark circles, and I know you haven't slept in two days." His head dropped tiredly onto Dean's shoulder. "Sleep while you can."

"I want to." He shifted to accommodate Cas as he tried to get comfortable. "I just don't think my body wants to cooperate."

Cas hummed thoughtfully against his chest. "You want some help?"

Dean furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He was about to ask what Cas meant when the sleepy man started kissing his neck. Dean smiled. "Cas, what…?" Dean felt his heart beating faster when Cas draped a leg over him and a hand made its way down his chest and lower. "Hey, Cas," Dean grabbed his wrist, "that's okay." He fought off a laugh as Cas's head dropped against his shoulder in half-sleep.

Cas moved against Dean's side and ran his lips over the exposed skin on his shoulder. Dean shivered involuntarily. Cas pulled his hand free and slipped it under Dean's boxers.

"Cas," Dean gasped, "you're not even fully awake." He closed his eyes as pleasure washed over him from Cas's kisses and slow strokes. "I'm having weird consent issues right now."

"Shut up, Dean." Cas ran his teeth across Dean's earlobe as he spoke, making Dean shiver again. "I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, I got that." Dean bit his lip to hold back the moan threatening to escape as the blood in his body rushed south. Cas's hand sped up the more Dean reacted and tried to keep still. His hands weaved through Cas's hair and pulled his face up for a heated kiss.

Dean's back arched off the bed as he felt his release getting closer. He moaned and kissed Cas again. "Cas." Hot breath played over both men's faces and Dean knew it wouldn't take much more.

Cas captured Dean's lips in a kiss again, more aggressively this time. He pushed Dean's head back into the pillow, nipping and licking until Dean was panting and cursing.

"Fuck, Cas I'm…" With a cry muffled by Cas's lips, Dean came over his hand.

Cas stroked Dean through his orgasm and kissed his neck softly. He then pulled his hand out of Dean's underwear, wiping it clean on the other man. Dean felt his body go lax as content warmth spread through him. Cas had closed his eyes again and gone still in almost-sleep.

When Dean tried to slip away to clean up, Cas tightened his arms around him and groaned, "Stay. Go to sleep."

"I will, Cas." Dean smiled. "I just need to clean up first." Cas didn't let go. "I promise. I'll be right back." Cas must have believed that enough, or he just finally fell asleep fully and released Dean.

After Dean changed and rinsed off quickly, he slipped back into bed and soon fell asleep with Cas curled around his side.

He woke up and knew immediately that he was alone. Fear immediately shot through him as he bolted up in bed. It took him a minute to shake off the sleep haze and every instinct telling him that something was wrong. He got out of bed and headed out to the living room. Before he saw them, he could hear Sam and Cas talking loudly with Faith's small noises joining them. He relaxed.

"Hey, Dean." Sam smiled as Dean shuffled into the living room. "Sleep well?"

Dean looked at Cas briefly before nodded to Sam. "Yeah. When did you get up?"

"A couple hours ago." He crouched to pick up a small stuffed tiger Faith had just tossed to him. "Faith was already up, just watching me." He knelt beside his niece and gave a small roar as he moved the tiger's paws at Faith. She just squealed happily and waved her hands.

"She must get that from Cas." Dean laughed while his brother played with Faith.

"Dean," Cas picked up a newspaper on the coffee table next to them, "Sam and I think we might have found a job nearby."

The fear we had woken up to clenched inside him again. None of them had gone hunting since they got Faith and Dean was terrified of what could happen. He knew they would have to eventually, but he didn't want to face it. "Tell me about it."

Cas handed him the paper with the article. "A man, Jake Hale, was found brutally murdered in his apartment. He's been the third this week to be found. All of them seem to have had their chests ripped apart. Cops say it looks like an animal attack."

Dean snorted. "Right, a wild animal that targets certain people in a house. What else is strange about it besides the chest being ripped open?"

"Apparently, the hearts of all the victims were missing."

Dean lowered the paper. "A werewolf?"

Cas nodded solemnly. "The lunar cycle fits as well as the deaths."

"How far away did this happen?" Dean glanced at the paper, trying to find a location.

"About two hours from here."

"Okay, werewolf," Dean tried to smile despite the fear swimming inside him. These monsters are tough SOBs. "Sounds good. Who's going on this one?"

Sam and Cas exchanged a short look. Sam stood, leaving the tiger with Faith on the floor. "Cas and I can handle this, Dean. Why don't you stay here and entertain Faith?"

Dean lowered his eyebrows in worry. "You sure? Cas has never faced a werewolf." He felt the annoyed look. "No offense, Cas. These things are hard to find and killing them requires a good shot."

"I've gotten much better at using firearms, Dean." Irritation was clear in Cas's voice. "You don't think I can handle it?"

"No, Cas, that's not what I meant." Dean did think Cas was plenty capable of killing a werewolf, but all he could imagine was a worst case scenario of one or both of them not coming back and Dean would be left to raise Faith alone, not knowing what to expect from the nephilim. "It's just…Sam and I have taken down a few of these guys before and," he added the last part with fake enthusiasm in his voice, "I've been itching for a hunt."

Either they both bought his lie, or they didn't want to argue because they nodded. It was agreed that Cas stayed with Faith and Sam and Dean left to catch the monster before the full moon passed.

Cas didn't believe for one second that Dean was eager to hunt. Not after the worried looks, the lack of sleep, and the increase of nightmares, but he thought maybe he could get it out of his system after having a successful hunt behind him.

He sat on the floor across from his daughter, smiling as she tried copying the sounds Sam had made while walking her tiger along the carpet. Dean had bought that for her the first night she had slept, laying it in her crib while she was sleeping. She woke up cuddling the stuffed tiger that was almost as big as she was.

Cas put his phone on the table, hoping not to hear anything until they had taken out the werewolf. Anything before that would mean trouble.

*Three days later*

Cas ran to the phone as it rang loudly in the kitchen. Faith had just fallen asleep and Cas didn't want to deal with a rudely awoken angel baby. "Hello?"

"Cas," Sam's voice chilled Cas immediately, something was wrong, "you need to get here, fast."

"What happened?"

"It's Dean." Sam sniffed and a choked sob escaped him, "Please hurry. I need help."

Cas gripped the phone tightly, white hot fear piercing his heart. "Tell me exactly where you are."

With one more phone call and a favor owed to Sheriff Mills, Cas was speeding his way to the brothers.

Cas pulled up to the address Sam had given him. The run down house didn't help the nerves Cas was feeling. A shaking Sam was waiting in the doorway as Cas ran from the car.

"Where is he?" Sam pointed back into the house. Cas's heart pounded loudly in his ears. He stopped mid-stride when he saw the state Dean was in. His face was ripped open with distinct claw marks, his jacket was in shreds, and his chest and stomach was wrapped in bloody bandages.

"Dean." Cas rushed to his side. He knelt beside the table Sam had put him on. He carefully touched his hair, dried blood sticking to his hand. "What happened?" He looked back to Sam, who was still standing in the doorway, face pale.

"There were two of them." He barely got the sentence out. Seeing Dean get torn up that bad had really shaken him. "We thought there was only one…we didn't know…we should've known."

"Sam." Cas snapped him out of it. "Did you get them both?"

He shook his head. "No. We killed the wife, but then the husband came out of nowhere and attacked Dean. I got a couple shots off, but it didn't kill him, he ran."

"Where's the wife?" He hadn't seen a body when he came in.

"I burned her."

"Did he bite him?" He saw Sam turn paler at the question. "Sam," Cas stood up, fear increasing, "was Dean bitten?"

Sam looked at his brother, his mouth open. "I don't…I didn't see a bite, but…" Wide eyes turned back to him. "You need to get him to a hospital. I couldn't move him by myself without making it worse."

Cas wanted to do that, but he was worried about the werewolf coming back. Then again, he didn't know how long Dean would make it without real help. "Help me get him in the car. The werewolf won't be back tonight. We can get him tomorrow."

They carried him carefully to the Impala. Cas sat in the backseat, laying Dean's head on his lap as Sam drove to the nearest hospital. Dean groaned in pain when they started moving. He reached a hand out, "Sam?"

"He's driving, Dean. We're taking you to a hospital."

"Cas?" He tried to open his eyes while brushing a hand up to Cas's chest. He wasn't strong enough to grab his shirt, but Cas grabbed his hand.

"Just take it easy."

"Where's Faith?" His voice was getting weaker and talking seemed to pain him now. He coughed and choked.

"Don't talk, Dean." Cas ran a hand through his hair. "Faith is safe. Jody is watching her."

"Good." He took a wheezing breath. He smiled and brushed Cas's cheek. "At least I got to see you before…"

"Dean, don't say that. We're taking you to the hospital. You're gonna be fine." Dean just laughed softly, sending him into a small coughing fit.

"I can't breathe very well."

"Just hang in there, okay?" Cas took his hand again. "Dean, Sam wasn't sure, but do you remember the werewolf biting you?"

Dean huffed out a laugh. "I don't remember, Cas. Kind of had other things on my mind while he was ripping me apart."

"We didn't see a bite mark, but…"

"Well, I didn't wolf out tonight, right? That has to be a good sign."

Cas wasn't sure it would happen that fast if he had been bitten, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah, I'm sure you're fine."

"I think he was more interested in killing me than turning me."

Sam pulled into the emergency entrance, jumping out of the car and calling for help. Someone Sam's size and level of panic easily caught the attention of the staff, who then rushed out to help them get Dean on a stretcher and inside. They told them that he had been attacked by a wolf. They had received the victims of the werewolves anyway, so they bought their story.

Cas tapped his fingers on the counter beside him while Sam paced up and down the hall as they waited for them to tell them how bad Dean was. The sun was peaking through the windows when the doctor came out to meet them.

Sam met him first. "How is he?"

"He's stable. He lost a lot of blood and the lacerations are very deep. We've stitched him up and he will heal." Cas and Sam let out relieved sighs. "He did have some internal injuries that we need to keep an eye on. His lungs especially appear slightly damaged. It's possible one or both of them could collapse."

"So, how long until we know if he's safe?"

The doctor shook his head. "If he doesn't stress himself or cause more injury, he could be moved from the ICU in a couple days. We just have to wait and see."

"Can we see him?"

He hesitated. "Briefly. He needs to rest and he's on morphine now so he won't be too alert."

They nodded and followed the doctor to Dean's room. Flashbacks of Bobby's stay made them both nervous. Cas had always hated hospitals, but now he had awful memories to support his feelings. Dean's eyes were closed when they walked up to him. He heard them coming and cracked his eyes open.

"Hey." His voice sounded worse then when Alastair beat him to a pulp.

"Don't talk, Dean." Cas sat beside the bed. "You need to rest."

Sam stood on the other side of the bed. Tears were welling in his eyes. Dean turned to him and frowned. "Don't, Sammy. I'll be up and out in a few days, you'll see."

Sam nodded and smiled weakly. "You better."

"Ain't no damn werewolf gonna take me out."

Cas and Sam smiled. "Rest, Dean." Cas squeezed his hand briefly. "Sam and I will take care of the husband and then we'll be back."

Sam and Cas left to let Dean rest and to plan what they wanted to do. They drove back to where Dean was attacked.

"Why are we waiting?" Cas loaded his gun. "Wouldn't it be easier to kill the husband before he becomes stronger than us?"

Sam turned a surprised look to him. "Cas, he doesn't know what he is. Werewolves don't know what happens to them at night. If we kill him, it would be like shooting a fully awake person who was sleep-walking when they killed someone. They don't realize what they've done."

"That doesn't make them less guilty." Cas stood up. "You've killed demons inside innocent human bodies. How is this different? You'll kill the human either way. Do you want one of us to end up like Dean so you can feel okay with killing this monster?"

"No, Cas." Sam put a hand up. "I get it. I've heard this from Dean multiple times." He looked at the ground. "We'll kill him."

Cas nodded. "Good. Where does he live?"

"You wanna go now?"

"Why not? What are we waiting for? He almost killed Dean. He's killed others. If we know where he is, we should stop him."

Sam was reminded of what Cas was deep down still: a soldier. For longer than humans had existed, Cas had been a blindly obedient soldier. Even as a human, he could still be the cold angel when something happened to someone he cared about. He and Dean really were practically the same person sometimes.

"I'll drive." Sam led Cas out to the Impala and they drove the mile to the man's house.

To keep out of the eye of the neighbors, they went to the back door, guns drawn. A trail of blood led them to the door from the patch of trees on the side of the yard.

Sam pushed the door open slowly. He followed the blood trail through the living room and into the kitchen. A sound behind them made them both turn, guns raised. Cas moved toward the sound and checked the hallway. It was clear.

Cas had taken a couple steps back into the kitchen when a shot rang out, shattering into the wall next to Cas. He dropped and ran to hide behind the counter next to a crouching Sam. "What the hell was that?"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" The voice of the husband carried up the hall.

"Great." Sam rolled his eyes. "This is all we need."

"He's injured though, right?" Cas jumped when another shot went off. "You shot him a couple times and there's blood everywhere and his wife is gone. He has to be confused as to what happened."

"I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"

"Shit." Sam stood up and ran to the doorway, barely missing another bullet flying through the frame. "Hey, listen." Sam had an idea. "I'm not looking for trouble, okay? Don't call the police and I'll put down my gun."

There was silence for a minute. "Throw it down the hall and come out with your hands out."

"Okay." Sam caught Cas's eye and nodded to him. "I'm coming out." He tossed his gun down the hallway and stepped out with raised arms. "Don't shoot."

Cas waited behind the counter. The man still sounded panicked. "That's close enough." Sam stopped, still in Cas's eyesight. "What are you doing here?"

"You don't have to hide. I can't hurt you." Sam tried to get him to come out. The man was hiding in his room, only his gun and part of his face visible around the doorframe. "There's a lot of blood in here and outside. Are you injured?"

"That's none of your business!" He looked more terrified than a second ago. "Just get out of my house. If you don't leave now, I'll kill you."

Sam nodded slowly. This man didn't seem like the type that really would shoot an intruder. All his shots before had practically hit the ceiling, he wasn't aiming to kill. "I will. I promise, but you need help don't you? Something happened to you and you can't explain it?"

The man's gun lowered a little. "Who are you?"

"Someone who can explain everything to you. Please." He lowered his hands. "Your wife is missing isn't she?"

His gun pointed back up. "How do you know that? Where is she!?" He stepped out of the doorway then. Blood had soaked through his shirt from the shots Sam had landed on him the night before.

"Put the gun down and we can talk about it." The man thought about it for a while when curiosity finally won and he dropped his gun. "Thank you. Come in here and we can talk." Sam turned to the kitchen.

It was all the warning Cas needed. He stood and took aim. When the main entered the doorway, Cas shot him in the heart. Sam had jumped to the side to avoid the ricochets. He came back as the werewolf dropped to the floor.

"Cas!"

"What?" He laid the gun on the counter. "What were you gonna do, Sam? Talk to him for an hour first? Make him feel better about what he did?"

"That man wasn't going to hurt anyone."

"He killed people, Sam. He almost killed Dean."

"I know, but I was gonna at least explain everything to him. Tell him what happened to his wife."

"What, that you shot her? Yeah, he would have taken that well."

"I just wanted him to know what was happening to him before he died, to know why this happened."

Cas took a calming breath. "Sam," he stepped closer to him, "you know better than anyone that knowing makes no difference once you die. His soul will go to Purgatory and he will spend the rest of eternity as a lost werewolf tearing apart other monsters."

Sam nodded. He really did understand, but it seemed cold to just shoot the man in his own kitchen with no explanation.

"Get your gun and let's go before the police show up." Cas picked up his gun and waited for Sam outside. Now they could go back to Dean and make sure he recovered.

Sam checked out of the motel as Cas returned to the hospital. Dean was sleeping so Cas just sat silently by his side. Dean didn't stir for a couple hours.

"Cas, hey." He reached a hand over. "Back already? Didn't you just leave?"

Cas smiled. "It's been a few hours, Dean. The husband's dead."

"Good. I wish I could have seen that." He shifted in the bed tirelessly. "You know, I thought I would like this. I could just sleep and lay around all day while people bring me food, but this sucks. I'm already going nuts." Cas laughed. Dean made a face and twitched his nose. "My face feels funny."

"That's because you have claw marks across it that have been stitched. It's gonna feel weird for a while."

Dean hummed in thought. "They'll leave some nasty scars, huh?"

"Not as bad as the ones on your chest."

Dean felt his chest gently and hissed from the dull pain slipping past his meds. He turned his face to Cas. "I'm still hot though, right?"

Cas smiled and shook his head. "I can't even see the marks." Dean closed his eyes and laughed quietly. Cas reached out and brushed his hand on Dean's cheek. His eyes sparkled for a moment, until he tried to reach a hand up to grab Cas but wasn't strong enough to raise his hand up that far.

"Where's Sam?" He turned his face away, looking around the room.

"Getting coffee." He pulled his hand back. "We're gonna be here with you until you're released."

"Thanks." He was already drifting off again and Cas let him. Sam returned with coffee a few minutes later. The two of them sat by him as he came in and out of sleep for the next couple days.

Dean was moved from the ICU and was just under observation for another day. He had already talked his doctors into letting him check out, but he agreed to stay for the one day. Cas had been checking on Faith every morning and night. When Dean was out of the ICU, he told Jody to bring her there so she could go home.

Jody walked into Dean's room with an excited Faith in her arms. She flew to Cas's arms when she saw him, thankfully nobody else was in the room.

"Thanks for everything, Jody. I hope she didn't give you any trouble."

"Oh please," she waved the concern off, "she was perfect. She was a little upset initially when she couldn't find any of you, but she warmed up to me pretty fast. It must be a girl thing." She smiled at the baby and then at Dean. "You look awful."

"Thanks."

"Is there anything else I can do for you boys?" They all shook their heads and thanked her again. "You're welcome." She smacked the side of Dean's leg. "And don't let me hear about any of you in the hospital again, okay?"

"Yes, sheriff." Dean saluted her. She left with a wave.

Faith reached out for Dean from Cas's arms. "Sorry, honey." Cas held her tight. "He's hurt and you don't want to make it worse right?"

She whined and reached out with more force, nearly causing Cas to drop her. Dean had to look away. He wanted to hold her, more than he would admit, but Cas was right she would just hurt him without meaning to.

"Faith," Cas tried to contain his daughter as she grew more frustrated. He finally sat down and slid as close to the bed as he could. She leaned against the bed and reached for Dean.

"Hey, baby." He touched her head gently. She whined loudly and tried to grab his arm. "What is it?"

She managed to crawl out of Cas's grip and up to lean against Dean's chest. Her face was swimming with worry as she stared at Dean. She frowned and placed a small hand on his face. The effect was instantaneous.

Dean took in a sharp breath as he felt warmth spread through him like he had only ever felt from one other person. "Faith." Dean felt the pain in his face and body disappear and judging by the looks from Sam and Cas, he was right in guessing what she had done.

Cas stood with wide, shocked eyes. "She healed you."

Dean ran a hand over his face, feeling nothing but smooth skin. A few pats to his chest told him that everything was healed. He smiled brightly and looked at his daughter. She looked nervous, not sure how he would react to her powers. "That's my girl." He pulled her close for a tight hug. She made a happy noise and buried her face in his neck.

"I didn't think she could do something that powerful yet." Cas was astonished. Healing a full grown man was not easy for an angel, let alone a half-angel baby. "She is much more advanced than I expected."

"I wish we would have known she could do this earlier." Sam thought of all the trouble and pain it would have saved.

"Well, we know now." Dean beamed at Faith. "Let's get me out of here."

It was actually easier than they thought it would be to sneak Dean out. They waited for the staff to switch shifts and Dean got dressed and the four of them practically just walked out the front door.

A couple hours later, they were back at the cabin. Faith wanted to stay with Dean, throwing a fit if he put her down. He sat on the couch with her beside him. She was laughing as he played with her and her tiger.

Sam went to sleep while Cas sat next to Faith on the couch. She seemed happy to be between her dads. "You're sure you're okay, Dean?"

"Yeah, I feel great."

He nodded. "Good, 'cause I'm terrified." Dean looked up in surprise. "I guess it hadn't really crossed my mind until now, but I could lose you so fast. You or Sam, or both of you, and I don't know what I would do." He played his finger through Faith's short, light, hair. "I wouldn't have any idea how to raise her, or how to teach her anything other than how to be an angel."

"You would do better than you think." Cas shook his head. "You would." He took a breath. He really hadn't wanted to talk about this, but Cas had brought it up. "You think I'm not scared of the same thing? I would be out of my element as much as you. But we can't just not hunt. Something will come for us or her eventually. We need to be ready and when she's old enough, she'll be ready too. We just need to fight like hell and watch out for each other. We'll keep each other alive."

Cas smiled. He was glad Dean could believe that so strongly. He would fight to the end to protect any of them, and he prayed that it would be enough.