Dean pulled Castiel behind him as he stepped back. There were far too many of them... What were they going to do?

"Sam?"

"Hang on...I'm thinking."

"Well, don't hurt yourself," he hissed back.

"Shut up."

Cas had a death-grip on his fiancé's arm. Dean turned and pulled him close. "It's okay. We'll get out of here ASAP."

He turned to Sam; they started a silent conversation that began with there's hundreds of them! to how the eff are we going to do this? They finally settled on a simple plan. The book mentioned that many of the things went out at night-scoping out potential victims-with enough of them gone, they had a better chance at escaping. So all they had to do was wait. The Psychevors in the other cavern seemed unaware that their two comrades were dead and their meal was roaming free. The three of them ducked behind a rock and settled on the ground. Dean and Cas tried to sit as closely as possible before giving up. Castiel crawled into his fiancé's lap and snuggled close.

"So..." Sam said awkwardly, "what are we going to do 'til then?"

The other two glanced at each other; they knew what they wanted to do. But the younger Winchester was present. It would have to wait until later.

"Um. Tell me what I missed."

Dean pressed his nose into Cas' hair and mulled over what he was going to say. "Hm. Let's see, what did I do, besides training and looking for you? Couple good movies came out, so watched a few. Got a new car...Your turtle died. Sorry 'bout that."

Castiel gasped, twisting around to glare at him. "You let Tommy die?!"

"I'm sorry! I don't know how to take care of a friggin' turtle!"

"It's not that hard," Castiel growled, exasperated. Sam chuckled to himself, drawing Cas' attention. "Oh. You're...Sam, right? It's nice to meet you."

Sam smiled and returned the nicety. He had been busy with college when his brother had gotten engaged, and had never met the man.

"How do you know Dean?" he asked curiously. Sam shot a glance at his older brother in disbelief. Dean pressed a kiss to his fiance's cheek and told him who Sam was. "Oh. Oh! That Sam. Hello."

Amused, Sam grinned and gave a little wave. "Hello again."

Feeling self-conscious, he brushed a hand across his beard. "We'll have to meet again when I look civilized..."

"You look fine," Dean assured him, kissing his head. In fact, he looked better than fine. His scruffy lover was the most wonderful sight he'd seen in over three years.

"Y-yeah," Sam agreed hastily.

"You hesitated."

"Did not!"

"Did-did you hear that?"

The brothers froze, tilting their heads. A high-pitched whine came to their highly trained ears. Sam chanced a glance into the outer cavern.

The demons were flying in an organized swarm around the stalactites. Suddenly, at an unspoken cue, the current changed and the majority of the bugs flew up the tunnel. Dean found himself wondering how no one had ever noticed the beasts, especially in these numbers.

Once the cave had quieted some, the three men stood. Dean and Sam gathered all of their flares, guns, matches, bug spray, and the last couple of Molotov cocktails.

"How do we tell which one is the queen?" Dean murmured. Sam squinted at the bugs, carefully observing their patterns before answering.

"Do you see that crack in the wall over there?" he asked, pointing to the wall opposite their crevice. The couple nodded. "A lot of them have been crawling in there, and when they come back out, they're holding something in their mandibles."

"Their mandi-what?"

"Mandibles," Sam explained, exasperated. He put his hands to his mouth, making snapping motions. "Their mouth parts? Jeez, Dean. You went to school."

"Doesn't mean I remember what a mandible is! I have more important things to worry about."

Castiel interrupted the bickering brothers by tugging on Dean's plaid shirt. "What are they carrying?"

"I'm guessing eggs," Sam answered. "And the only one who lays eggs in a hive is the queen."

Dean nodded. "So here's the plan..."

With each word, Cas grew paler and paler.