Disclaimer: Supernatural doesn't belong to me, unfortunately :(

Hi! I'm so so sorry for the long absence; I'll try to make it up to you with this chapter. And this is what we've been waiting for! Time to know what happens with Cas, the Winchester brothers and the evil stranger… dun, dun, duuuun.

Masterlokiseverus159: Thank you for your lovely review ;)

Salintha: thanks so much, I'm glad you liked it!

Enjoy!

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Tension filled the room.

No one dared to speak.

The fight began.

The stranger moved faster than any other demon the brothers had seen, maybe because it wasn't a demon. Cas, always ready, waited until the man was nearly at arm's length to vanish and appear right behind him. The redhead turned around and blocked Cas' death blow with his own blade. The man hit once, twice, three times; none of them reaching its destination. Cas blocked and avoided his enemy's blade every time. It had been centuries since he had to fight someone like him. But they say, what you learn you never really forget.

Dean was dying to help the angel. This man was something new, something neither Sam nor him had fought before; therefore he couldn't know whether Cas could win or not. And it was making him very anxious. Sam noticed, and stood ready to stop his brother from doing something stupid. They had promised Cas they wouldn't intervene, and they wouldn't. Unless the situation got all critical, which they hoped it didn't. Then a loud hiss brought Sam back to earth, and just in time, because Dean was about to launch himself against the madman. The red haired man had cut Cas on his midsection, somewhere to his left. Castiel lifted a bloodied hand from his side and narrowed his eyes.

"Ready to give up?" the stranger asked.

"Never" was the angel's reply.

And so they kept fighting, Cas winning some, but also losing some. The stranger seemed unstoppable. Even though Cas had hit him multiple times, he didn't look weakened at all. The brothers couldn't say the same about their friend. Castiel was a bit paler, blood stained his clothes and Dean feared he wouldn't last for much longer. Each cut made by the blade meant less strength to keep fighting.

Until the strange man made a mistake; as he turned to attack Cas, the angel stopped the arm holding the blade with his hand, and with supernatural force stabbed the red haired in the stomach. The man opened his mouth, though not a sound came out. Then he started laughing. Why wasn't he dead?

"Oh, it will take more than that to kill me, Castiel" the man said.

Sam and Dean watched speechless as the man threw Cas across the room, and then pulled the blade from his abdomen as if it were nothing, throwing it to the farthest corner of the room. Cas got on his feet and tried to reach his blade, but the stranger was faster and hit Cas so hard he fell to the ground again. The man hauled Castiel by the neck and whispered to his ear, "You should've accepted the deal"

Cas thought he heard someone far away shouting "Dean!", but his ears were buzzing and he didn't feel like trying to find out what was happening. He could barely breathe, his hands clasped around his attacker's arm, trying to shake it off his neck. And his enemy's blade was oh so close to his chest. Then the man gave a cry of frustration, and dropped Cas. The angel understood then why he had let him go. Dean was behind the stranger, holding Cas' angel blade, and it was stained with a ruddy colour. The man turned around slowly and Cas could see the spot, right in the middle of the back, where the blade had been inserted.

Cas sighed and swore under his breath. Now he would kill Dean. Great.

'Red hair' approached the older Winchester, each forward step meant a backwards step by Dean. He didn't know what to do, he could fight, alright; but then, what? If Cas hadn't been able to kill him, how could he? Unexpectedly, a knife was thrown and it hit the man right in the chest. Dean turned to find Sam standing next to him. Now the stranger was truly pissed, he screamed and launched himself against the brothers. Dean took Sam by the arm and then…

Then, they were on an alley.

"Sammy, you alright?" Dean asked. Sam nodded and tried to figure out where they were.

"Impeccable timing, Cas" Sam said, and hearing no response looked around "Where's Cas?"

"Oh no, you didn't" Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "You son of a…"

Back at Mordoré's warehouse the man had been left alone. He shook his head and looked at the ceiling, as if he could see beyond it. And maybe he could.

"This isn't over, Castiel"

"Of course it isn't, Beelzebub"

The man, called Beelzebub, turned fast on his heels. There was Castiel, a lit match in his right hand. With his left he tore a gas pipe open and threw the match at it. It took less than 3 seconds for the flame to travel all the way through the pipe and blow up the whole building. The blast threw both Cas and Beelzebub flying across the room until they hit a wall. The ceiling was falling down, and the flames were creeping up from the stairs, consuming the floor and the walls. Cas didn't wait to see what happened next.

He appeared on the same alley where he had left Sam and Dean. Their backs were turned on him, they were looking at the burning warehouse some blocks away. As soon as they heard the shuffle of wings they turned around. Expressions of uncertainty and fear replaced by ones of worry and relief. Cas tried to get to them, but after having taken only two steps his legs gave out and he fell on his knees. Dean ran and kneeled in front of him, Sam stayed a few steps behind.

"I believe I told you not to intervene"

"I know. But God only knows what would become of me if I lost you, knowing I could have done something to prevent it" Dean held Cas' shoulders, staring right into his eyes, as if he could see deep into his soul; and then hugged him.

The angel silently gasped both from pain and the unexpected display of sentiment. He knew this was wrong, it had been a terrible mistake letting himself get attached to this man. But it had been even worse letting Dean get attached to him. An angel can't express his feelings the way humans do. Sure, they were friends and they cared about each other. But there couldn't be something more than an unusual friendship. And those words? They had been said due to an extremely dangerous situation, which they had barely survived. So, he didn't actually mean it, did he? It was just the heat of the moment.

"I've lost so many people, Cas. I can't lose you too" said Dean, as he pulled away.

Beautiful blue eyes bored into green ones, doubt clear in their gaze.

Heartbeats that had slowed down quickly rising up. Heavy breathing. Dizziness. Internal bleeding... It all hit the weakened angel at once. Stars flew in front of his eyes, and they lost focus.

"Cas?" Dean asked. "Cas, are you ok?"

The hunter gave his angel a little shake, trying to bring him back to earth, as he was apparently lost in his own thoughts. Cas heard his friend's words, he opened his mouth to say he was alright but the only thing that came out was, "Dean?"

And all too soon he was gone. It seemed he was falling in slow motion; lights blurred, darkness taking over.

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Well, I hope you liked it :)

Keep sending beautiful reviews, they make my day and inspire me! x

-CLR