Dean reached as Cas fell back from the impact, landing so that he was still sitting up slightly.

"Cas!" Dean panicked.

Then another arrow grazed Dean's protective arm and buried itself into Cas' chest, a little left of the first arrow. Dean knew he had to find cover from the archer who was obviously Billy, but Dean only saw river and some trees on the other side of the winding raging water. Dean got an idea but wasn't too thrilled about it but given only a few seconds to think he rolled with it. Dean picked up Cas who was holding a loose hand around the arrows in his chest and screaming through his teeth while the other arm was tossed over Dean's strong shoulders. Dean jumped into the river! He held Cas' back against his chest making sure his face was above the water. Cas didn't lose consciousness but Dean didn't expect him to be able to swim in his condition. The current swiftly took them away from the strike zone just as Dean had hoped. As they drifted, between getting splashed in the face, Dean saw Billy with a recurve bow and a full quiver standing between trees on the opposite side of the river. She didn't jump into the water after them. This river was deep, a dozen feet deep at its shallowest. Smooth rocks and mud covered the riverbed but the water was too dark and thick for anyone to ever know that.

"Dean!" Cas yelled at the expense of swallowing a bit of the absolutely appalling river water. Dean gripped Cas' coat in one fist holding him tighter to his own body and tried to swim with the other. The water was wild and the blackness of it was unpleasantly tart in Dean and Cas' mouths. There was nothing Dean could have done to keep them from being pulled under this particular undertow. Dean clung on tight and Cas held fast to Dean's arm that was across his front in a desperate effort to not get separated. Neither man tried to swim once they were pulled under the water, there really was no point. They were pushed and pulled anyway the river wanted. The river took a sharp turn to the left and the waters calmed and Dean struggled to get them to shore. The water started to become shallow enough to stand and quickly was only up to his knees. Castiel collapsed there in the shallow water landing on his hands and knees. Dean didn't have the strength to keep him up. They both coughed black polluted water out of their lungs and stomachs. Dean remembered Benny telling him the water in the black river of purgatory was poisonous. Dean caught his breath soon and laid a hand on Cas' back who was throwing up the gunk back into the river.

"That's good. Get it all out." Dean implored him gently while rubbing his soaked back. After Cas' retching had calmed down Dean lifted his arm over his shoulder and helped him ashore. Dean looked around and was lucky to find a small space no bigger than a hotel bathroom between two large boulders that were at least twelve or so feet high. The stones came together at the back forming a nice open triangle shape however the tops were separated and therefore there was no roof. The gigantic stones' point back up against dirt that mounded up like a dune that was covered with grass at the top.

"Well, it's not four walls and a roof but I'll take two walls over nothing any day. C'mon Cas I found us a place to rest. This way." He marched them up the sandy bank and into the angular cove where he finally lay Cas down.

"Dean…" Cas grasped Dean's arms desperately in hopes to keep him close.

"Hey, bud. Hey." Dean was trying to stay positive and keep a brave face to help Cas calm down. It was going to be difficult to get the arrows out if his muscles were tense.

"Don't leave me." Cas hissed in pain.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Dean spoke calmly. "But hey, I'm just going to go back to the shore and try to find some wood or anything else to help us fortify our new place. Okay?" Cas shook his head no and squeezed his eyes. "I can't take out those arrows till I'm ready, if I do it now you'll bleed out. Got it? That bitch is on the other side of the river and I don't think she's going to risk crossing it. From what I can tell we made it a few miles riding the waves. I have time to get us organized before she catches up by foot. I won't be ten minutes. Kay?"

Cas looked up and was comforted by Dean's expression. "A beer run?" Cas whispered with a grin.

"Yeah, but minus the beer." Dean agreed with another smile. "Be right back."

Dean got up and walked towards the shore that was full of sticks and branches, since it was where the water calmed down there was all sorts of debris. Dean found long branches good for patching up a roof some with pine needles still attached. He piled them up in one place away from the water. He grabbed an armful of good sticks and wood that could be used to start a fire. Waterlogged wood burns for a long time one their dried in the sun but he would need smaller dry stuff to start the fire. Dean unloaded the fire fodder near the entrance of their little place then dragged the long branches up around to the top of the dirt dune and placed them across the stones while balancing on their edges.

"Be careful." Cas said looking up and hoping nothing would fall on him or especially his best friend. Dean took the opportunity to go look under the pine trees resting beyond the river bed. He didn't tell Cas he was going up there but he wouldn't be long. He found pineneedles that he stuffed into his jeans pockets and he gathered more sticks and small bark pieces. He could come back later to look for more things but he had to get back to Cas.

Dean got everything together to get a fire going. Without asking, Cas handed Dean his angel blade to strike against the stone to get sparks. After seventeen tries Dean finally got some smoke and slowly fed the tiny fire more dry pine needles. They snapped and cracked quickly as they burned and Dean added more sticks and finally a log to the fire.

"Okay. Now the arrows."

"Why did you make a fire to get arrows out?"

"Just lie still, Cas. Try not to think about it. Close your eyes." Dean watched Cas' face tense and release. "One, two-" He pulled out on two. Then Dean tossed the arrow carelessly to quickly grab and yank the other out without warning. Castiel didn't have time to complain. The arrows' holes were screaming pain into him. He couldn't stand how much it hurt. He grit his teeth at first, trying to not make too much noise but then Cas' eyes flung open at the sudden new pain on his chest. Dean was holding the burning end of small log against him. Cas writhed but Dean had already expected that and already had most of his weight on Cas' shoulder with the other hand and also his knee on Castiel's hip weighing him down.

Cas screamed attaching a single name onto the end. "DEEEEAN!" Tears streaked from the corners of his eyes down towards his ears. Dean pulled the hot stick off of him and spoke a single stern word.

"Breathe." And that was all the warning Castiel received before a second new stick from the fire was placed against the second hole for what seemed like eternity instead of seconds.

"C'mon Cas, breathe dammit!"

Cas was so tense underneath Dean's touch. But cauterizing his wounds was the only way method he could think of to save his angel. Castiel finally let out a long held breath and Dean removed the now blood stained stick and tossed it back into the fire.

Cas laid motionless but tense. His still clenched his eyes shut and he breathed heavily through his teeth and nose. "You didn't… tell me…that was your plan."

"I know. But you did great! It's going to be okay. The arrows didn't go far I think your ribs just perfectly protected you. She was also pretty far away." Dean was right. The first arrow was aimed perfectly for the heart but Billy's arrows, were shot from too far away to break through bone. The second arrow was stopped by Castiel's sternum. "I'm sorry though. I didn't like tricking you but I knew it had to be done."

Cas was starting to calm down and he poured out angelic forgiveness with a simple head nod. It didn't match the seriousness of the situation but it would do for now.

Dean sat next to Cas and watched his chest heave up and down from the trauma he had just caused. Cas turned his head to be able to watch Dean's overly concerned and guilty expression.

"Thank you, Dean." He spoke quietly.

"Thank you?" Dean spat.

"You provided excellent care." Cas shifted to look more directly at Dean.

"Yeah right." Dean mumbled. "Hey, don't be moving around so much or I'll have to do that again." Cas froze in place making wide eyes. "Okay, just relax you can move a little. Actually we should get out of these wet clothes. Dean carefully removed Cas' coat and suit jacket to dry first along with his own shirt. After those were dry Cas removed his own pants and shirt with minimal help and Dean covered him with his now dry trench coat.

"That was very thoughtful of you, Dean."

"Yeah well don't get used to it." Dean removed his jeans to dry next after putting his dry black T-shirt back on. "Sorry, dude." Dean apologized for being in skivvies.

"I do not mind." Cas said nonchalantly.

"Huh?" Dean made an uncomfortable face and tried to cover his lower half with his hands. "What are you trying to say, man?"

"Just that I don't mind. Dean, I put you back together after I pulled you from the pit. Piece by piece. It's nothing I haven't seen before."

"So you're telling me not to be worried that another dude just said he likes looking at me naked because you've done it before while I was passed out?!?"

"...Yes…" Castiel squinted while he replied unsure if that was the correct answer that Dean wanted. "You're angry."

"I...no. I'm sorry for freaking out. I'm just not totally open to that kind of stuff."

"What? Homosexuality?" Cas put it simply. Dean was all flustered at the mention of it and turned away. Cas continued. "You know there really is no difference. Love is love is love. Doesn't matter it's source or it's intended recipient. That doesn't change the love."

"No no. That's not it. People can do whatever they want. I don't give a shit. It just makes my skin crawl when it's about me."

"So the topic of homosexuality doesn't perturb you just the concept of you yourself possibly being homosexual?"

Dean stared for a moment then jerked to his answer. "YES! Can we drop the subject now?"

"You know Dean, I am technically genderless. Only my vessel is male. And my gender doesn't really have anything to do with my sexuality."

"Good for you."

"I can understand how that's hard for you to look past that because you've only ever known me to be in this vessel, but-"

"Cas!" Dean cut him off. "Cas, please can we drop it for now. Listen if you want to… get something off your chest please wait until we're back home. Okay?"

"Understood, Dean." Cas kept his monotone voice and his vague expression so Dean couldn't tell if he really had something else to say to him.

Dean patted the warmed clothes that were hung near the fire with sticks that he had dug into the ground. "Here." He tossed Cas' mostly dry pants and white shirt over next to him. "You get that back on and I'm going to go get more wood or something." Dean stepped out of view to get his jeans back on and huffed up the dune to the trees. Purgatory had always been this constant not-quite-day but not-quite-night feeling. Even then, Benny and Cas would let Dean get some sleep every now and again. Purgatory wasn't made for humans after all. The tree hung still with no wind whatsoever and Dean scoured around the area. It was when he heard something rustle to his left that he really jumped into action. Dean thought it must be Billy and he crouched low to the ground to avoid getting shot. He went over to the nearest tree and hid behind its wide trunk. Dean looked over his left shoulder and saw nothing and heard nothing else but right as he turned back forward a creature grabbed him fiercely and banged his head on the tree. It was a vampire. The vamp tried to grab Dean's short hair to pull his neck open but Dean put up his arm to block. Then suddenly the vamp let go and backed off. She stood there and looked wearily for a moment then ran away as if Dean was going to attack her back at any moment. She ran for her life. Dean didn't understand till he saw. The place where the arrow grazed his arm before getting Cas was terribly blackened. Benny said the river was poisonous. Maybe that's why they haven't seen any other creatures because they were so close to the river this whole time and they were all scared. Besides Dean had seen remnants of creatures and their clothing washed into the river. It was naive to think no one else was there. Dean recollected himself and jogged back to the miniature safe house where Cas was. Dean looked at the underside of his arm again. The black mixed with dry blood on the surface but below the cut you could see a black pool of gunk gathering around the abrasion like the nastiest bruise even Dean had ever seen. Dean made it back to the large stones and lost his balance a bit as he was coming down the dune too quickly.

"Cas!" Dean called as he made it to the gap by the fire but there was no reply. "Cas?" Dean feel to his knees alongside Castiel and came to realize he was not awake. "Cas!" Dean tried to rouse him by taking his face into his hands and slapping lightly. It worked.

"D-Dean?" Cas moaned.

"Dude, what happened?"

"It's so c-c-cold..." Cas shivered.

"What?" Dean whispered to himself and began unbuttoning the shirt that Cas had only just finished putting back on before Dean had left. Dean pulled the shirt apart to see the burnt marks he had made. Then he noticed the same vague black gunk just under Cas' skin bulging and spreading. "Shit. You got the crap too. We're poisoned Cas. The river water must have gotten into the wounds." Cas could barely keep his eyes open but made a tiny audible sound in response to Dean. "Shit, you're like ice." Dean ran back to the riverfront and grabbed as much wood as he could carry, stumbling on his own two feet again, and threw it all onto the established fire. Dean would never admit it but he was feeling dizzy. He thought it was the adrenaline rush from the vamp attack but if he was honest with himself it was the poison.

"Dean?"

"Hey, hey bud. It's okay. I'm here." Dean rubbed Cas' hair back and held his face with his palm. Cas looked up into Dean's eyes and passed out.

"Cas? CAS! Speak to me buddy!" Dean started to panic. "CAAS! Shit. No! No-no-no-no-no." Dean looked down at his friend that was now cradled close in his arms. "You can't do this to me buddy. You just can't…" Dean was struggling to hold back tears and failing. He then breathed down towards Castiel's unmoving face. "I was almost ready to hear what you had to get off your chest earlier. Please, Cas. Let's go home. I won't leave this place without you. Not again." Dean didn't catch Cas' light shallow breathing under his own silent sobs stifled. His lost his ability to feel such a subtle movement while he cried. Castiel was still just barely alive but Dean thought he was dead.

Just then, an arrow flew into the shelter and bounced off the boulder landing on the sand.

"HEY!" A loud scream came from across the river. It was an irate Billy.

"Good." Dean mumbled to himself and gently laid Cas down looking at him one last time before he got up to face her. Dean grabbed Castiel's angel blade and marched toward the calm river bend.

"Still scared to get a little wet, BITCH?!" Dean raved. "Come and face me like a WOMAN!" Dean was still marching towards the river. An arrow came right at him and he managed to actually dodge it by glancing back his shoulder. It did not impede his march whatsoever. Dean began to walk right into the water.

"That's poison you know!" Billy yelled setting a new arrow out of her quiver onto her bow.

"I ain't got nothin' to lose!!" Dean said before diving in under the water, angel blade first. An arrow splashed into the water near him but he was a few feet under and the arrow had lost all it's speed. Then another arrow that fell in front of him, again with no power. When Dean surfaced he was just able to stand with his chest above the top of the blackness and he marched forward while the water became shallower with every step. Billy shot another arrow at him landing directly into his gut that Dean didn't even bother to dodge. He was close enough. Billy reached back for another arrow only to find she only had one more left. She struggled to get it in place before Dean got any closer. Too late. Dean gripped it in his fist before she even pulled back the string. He took the arrow and snapped it in half.

"No." Billy couldn't believe it. "You should be dead. The water. The blackness. It kills all the monsters here!"

"I'm no monster." He seethed and pushed Billy to the ground and straddled her pinning her down. "That was your mistake. I'm no monster and neither was Cas. We're not meant to be in purgatory. It wasn't made for humans and angels." He slowly raised Castiel's angel blade up over his head with both hands. "I'm sending you to the abyss for killing my angel." Then Dean thoroughly swiped the blade down so hard that is made its way into the ground underneath Billy's body.

"...was?" Billy breathed her last breath.

Dean got up and stepped back. His dizziness was taking over and his arm and stomach felt like a huge chunks of ice. He grabbed his arm before blacking out and falling down.