I was stuck after the last chapter so I changed gears in order to pull the story back around. I suppose the biggest disclaimer here is that all I know of flying and feathers is what I've learned from other fanfictions about flying and feathers. So forgive my ignorance.

This certainly isn't a fantastic fanfiction but it is one that I'm motivated to continue. Let's hope, for all our sakes (you three people reading) that the motivation continues to actual completion.


"I can't believe we're doing this," Dean grumbled. His arms were crossed tightly across his chest. He sent sidelong glances to the shirtless, winged man a few feet away. "Crowley and Rowena are probably looking for him-for us right now! And here we are, about as out in the open as we can get!"

Dean's voice rose in a yell as if the demon might be watching them at this moment.

The four intrepid hunters were not currently researching reversal spells for Cas' condition. Nor were they fortifying protection against a demon or a witch. Instead they had followed Cas up a trail behind the bunker ending in a cliff. The angel said that he had walked there before many times for the view. It made him feel 'whole.'

Sam could understand why the view could do that for the angel. He wasn't scared of heights but peeking over was enough for an instinctual vertigo to set in. Everything looked so far away, so small. Trees. Houses. Roads. Sam wondered if it reminded Cas of what it was like before he came to Earth for his extended stay. He wondered if this was at all similar to the view and perspective Cas had of Earth from Heaven.

"He...did say he thought he could fly," Sam said with trepidation when he walked away from the cliff nearer to his brother.

Both of the brothers were feet behind the edge of the cliff. Dean wasn't a fan of heights and Sam was starting to become uncomfortable with them himself. Mary, on the other hand, was sidled in a crouch beside Cas' standing form fearlessly studying the ground below from the very edge of the drop.

"That's supposed to make me feel better!" Dean exclaimed. "So, what, we don't wait for Crowley to do the job himself, we just let him plummet to his death on his own?"

"You are both aware that I can hear you," Castiel stated, looking around at the two. Mary stood up, again, seemingly fearless and nonchalant that she was standing at a precipice of such a vast drop.

"Yeah, okay, so, yes. Yes, we are," Dean said with a little sass. "It just so happens that one, we don't want you to be found and tortured by a demon and his witch mother and two, we'd rather not have you exploding at the bottom of a cliff. I dunno, it's just a weird thing we have about friends and family. Not wanting them to be tortured or exploded."

Sam snorted.

Cas frowned.

"Running from Crowley and Rowena is not a rational choice. We cannot escape their searching forever, nor would I want to. It would be better if they found us where we have the advantage and can better protect ourselves in an altercation. Besides, we already have the upper hand by knowing their true motives and their possible plan.

"If I am not successful in my attempts to fly my grace, despite its current limitations, will not let me die nor will I…'explode,' as you so colorfully put it. I will mend and then I will know the limits of my body," Cas said.

"Why do you wanna fly anyway, huh?" Dean argued. "You got solid ground, right here! Really nice not falling sturdy ground."

"While I am well aware of your issues with flight," Cas ground out, a little frustrated, "I do not share those phobias."

He countered Dean and walked toward him with a staunch disposition what was more than a little intimidating.

"The reason I want to fly, Dean," he continued, tightly, "is because I miss it. I don't think you or Sam or Mary understand the state of my true form's wings. I do not fly, or 'zap' as you call it, because I can't. My wings are skeletal compared to their original condition."

Cas' wings flared as if in example of how full the wings Rowena's spell had given him were.

"This might be the last time I get to feel the exhilaration of flight before...before I'm not able to anymore. So, yes, this might be a petty venture to you. And, yes, it is not the wisest course of action given the time frame of our predicament. But if I am to truly embrace all that is available to me with free will then I plan to do so before it is too late. Too many times I've made terrible decisions using the excuse of free will, mistakes that have caused thousands of lives lost. If the worst that comes out of this flight attempt is to injure myself than at least I have isolated only I to my bad decision," Cas said, giving a challenging squint.

Dean looked the angel up and down. Cas was still shirtless and in his dress pants which, in its own right, was a ridiculous sight. The wings only exacerbated the goofiness of visage.

"It's not only you that would suffer if you got injured or died, Cas," Dean said quietly.

Dean's reply must have startled the angel somewhat because he lost contact with the hunter's gaze.

"I know," Cas admitted softly, eyes flickering to Sam and Mary as well.

"But," Dean sighed, resigned. "You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. So. Go Team Free Will. Just try not to become a Pollock painting on the ground, okay?"

It took a moment but Cas smiled, understanding the reference.

"I'll try my best," he responded. He turned around then and returned to the edge of the cliff.

"My assumption, given the weight and length of my body, is that I would probably be more appropriate to soar as opposed to actually fly, similar to large birds or winged dinosaurs. Given that Kansas is quite windy this time of year, I don't doubt that I can catch some sort of updraft that would provide enough lift for me to drift for a time. I doubt I could take off from the ground which is why I thought taking off from this height would be more logical," Cas said, talking as much to himself as to those around him.

"I guess...it makes sense," Mary said after a moment.

"Jeeze," Dean muttered, turning his upper body away from the cliff for a moment.

"So you're just going to...jump off?" Sam asked with a concerned squint.

"With my wings fully extended, yes," Cas said, taking his shoes and socks off and placing them a foot away from the edge. The less weight the better, he figured. His toes curled into the ground instinctively.

"Can we just...get this over with?" Dean complained, feeling more uneasy by the second.

Castiel mounted the edge of the cliff. Mary gave him a touch to the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Cas nodded with a soft smile and Mary stepped back a little to give his wings room.

Cas turned around to the group, "If I don't make it…"

"Seriously! C'mon! No! No last speeches! Just jump off the damn cliff!" Dean yelled gruffly. He then hid his eyes with his hand. He couldn't watch this. "Gonna give me a friggin' heart attack…"

Cas nodded and bent his knees. He spread his wings their entire span of 20 feet. The wind was already catching them and making them billow. Cas posed almost like a diver before he leapt into the air.

From behind Dean's hand he could hear both Mary and Sam gasp. Then a moment later he heard Sam whisper, "Oh my God!"

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!" Dean chanted, still not looking beyond his hand. "Did he Pollock himself? He Pollock-ed himself, didn't he?"

"Dude, you gotta see this!" Sam exclaimed.

Dean peeked out of his fingers to look at Sam peering over the edge of the cliff, curiosity winning out over fear. He gave Sam a dubious expression. Then he felt hands on his shoulders and met eyes with Mary.

His mother's eyes were glimmering and her mouth was pulled up into the biggest smile Dean had ever seen her make.

"Come on," Mary said softly and took Dean's hand, leading her son to the edge despite his trepidation. "Look."

Mary pointed to what looked, at a distance, to be a large, white bird. But the figure was immediately distinguishable to Dean as Cas. He was circling nearer to the ground but was rising occasionally with what Dean assumed to be wind currents.

Dean's breath quickened, "Holy shit. He's flying." Then he had to step back because he was getting serious vertigo from watching Castiel's form shrink and enlarge as the air carried him up and down in wide spirals. "Son of a bitch…" he whispered, in awe.

Sam had a goofy grin on his face and he let out a sudden 'woot' in childish excitement that Dean had to laugh at.

"Okay," Dean conceded, "gotta admit, that's kinda awesome."

Sam laughed in return and Dean appreciated the look of joy on his younger brother's face.

Sam watched Castiel's form come closer and closer to the top of the cliff and become more and more defined. He and Mary watched in amazement as Cas flapped his wings to attempt to gain altitude. It was taking a lot of work, but the angel was slowly ascending again with the help of the air currents. He crested the edge of the top of the cliff and everyone skittered back as his body toppled forward onto the ground, stirring up dust, and falling awkwardly into the ground, momentum making his landing neither graceful nor efficient. He kept running and toppling forward toward a tree until, realizing what was happening, Dean, Sam and Mary ran to his aid trying to stop his toppling.

"Woah! Woah! Landing gear, man!" Dean yelled as he grabbed at one of Cas' arms while Mary grabbed the other. Sam ran toward the tree and braced himself between it and Castiel, holding his hands out to catch the angel's shoulders before he collided.

They ended up in a heap of arms, legs, and feathers at the base of a tall oak tree breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Mary asked Cas breathlessly as she held his shoulder.

Cas looked up at them grinning ear to ear, most likely the biggest grin he'd ever had.

"I am very very good," Cas replied with a laugh, face flush and eyes glimmering. "I'm...sorry about the landing. I'm not used to...the physics of this physical plane."

"Yeah, well," Sam said, detangling himself from the group and rubbing his back a little. "Minus the landing that was...pretty damn cool."

Castiel laughed again. It was as if a tightness in his chest had loosened and he could breath easier. He looked to Dean who was rubbing his face.

"Dean," he said.

"Yep," Dean replied, looking up, still trying to get his breath back.

"I didn't die or explode," he said a little cockily.

"No. You didn't. Don't suppose I could convince you never to do that again, huh?" Dean said.

"No!" Castiel exclaimed, still grinning.

"Fine, just work on your damn landing," Dean said with a grunt, getting up. Castiel helped him with a nod.


On the way back to the bunker Mary had Castiel talking about his experience and Cas was more than happy to do so. Sam was next, eyeing his older brother's tense posture. Dean was in the front disgruntled at how much Mary and Cas were lagging.

"It was different than flying in the ethereal plane," Cas was saying. "But it was also similar. The rush of air and the feeling of flight was comforting. The unpredictability of the physical plane made it very exciting. I thought I would never feel that sensation again…"

Cas continued as Sam fell in pace with his brother.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just want to get back to the bunker. I feel like we're sitting ducks out here. Didn't bring any extra weapons. That was stupid and careless. Should've thought of that," Dean muttered, his voice hitching with the force which he was stomping his feet.

"Good point," Sam said. It'd been such a spur of the moment urge on Castiel's part that little thought was put into the preparation of the journey. Sure, both Dean and Sam had their basic weapons with them. Dean had Ruby's knife and a gun. Sam had a gun packing salt rounds tucked. But they certainly weren't prepared for an attack.

"The sooner we get back to the bunker, the better," Dean huffed. "Guys! Pick up the pace back there!"

Mary and Cas quickened their walking at the urgency of Dean's voice.

As they reached the door Dean's tenseness eased a little taking the rear of the three to look behind and make sure they weren't being followed as Sam used the key to unlock the bunker. Dean looked at Sam and then looked back behind him.

"Hello, boys," Crowley said inches from Dean's face. As soon as Dean drew his knife Crowley threw it aside with a flick of his hand. "Mary," the demon nodded. Then he grinned, wide and thin. "Feathers," he said to the angel.