- I'm sorry about the cliffhanger for last chapter...


Cas groans brokenly at the sound of Dean's voice, and Dean panics.

"Shit. Shit. Fuck! What do we do?!" He knows he's shouting, but he can't seem to stop.

Gabe is less than impressed. "First of all, calm down, princess. Your white knight is gonna be fine. We've just gotta get him cleaned up a little. Come on, help me get him inside."

Having someone be so calm in the face of a bloodied and beaten Cas has a sort of soothing effect on Dean. If Cas can be there for me, I can be there for him, he thinks, determined to help his boyfriend.

He holds the door open for Gabe, who scoops Cas up into a bridal carry (which Dean will find funny later, much later). The shorter vampire carries Cas up the stairs to the bathroom. He sets Cas down on the toilet lid, sort of partially propped against the wall. He appears to be pretty much completely unconscious.

"Is he really gonna be okay?" Why do I sound like a fretting housewife?

Because you are a fretting housewife.

Shut up.

"Yeah," Gabe says kneeling to pull the first aid kit out from under the sink. "He'll be fine. Just gotta clean him up for aesthetic and get him fed."

Dean blinks. "Fed?"

Gabe gives him the side-eye even as he's opening the first aid kit. "Yeah, and speaking of, you might wanna get that blood sugar up, kiddo."

The finger points of dating a vampire, Dean thinks with just a touch of hysteria as he nods. He spares another glance for Cas, but he's still pretty out of it, and this bathroom really isn't big enough for three full-grown men. Well, two full-grown men and Gabe.

Keenly feeling a sense of total uselessness, Dean goes down to the kitchen. On autopilot, he makes orange juice from frozen concentrate and pulls a few of Balthazar's homemade cookies from the jar.

As he tries to get his blood sugar up enough for Cas, Dean struggles to remain calm.

Who did this? It had to be another vampire, right? From what Cas told Bobby, there's nothing else it could have been. Was it Alistair? Did he get the drop on Cas? He had to have, Cas is too good. I mean, that's what Gabe and Bal keep saying. Right?

He's gonna be fine.

Right?

He's not sure how long he stays there, munching on cookies and sipping orange juice (in his head, he knows it should taste weird, but everything just tastes like panic right now) while he stews. Finally, Gabe comes back downstairs, wiping blood from his hands with the towel from the bathroom. There are spatters and smears of it on his clothes, too, making Dean's stomach clench around the cookies he just ate.

He swallows hard. "Is he-"

"He's fine, kiddo, I told ya he would be. He's even sort of conscious now." He throws the hand towel into the kitchen sink. "I put him in your bedroom on the bed, but I got him cleaned up, first. He's just gonna need to feed."

Dean nods. I hope that stuff was enough. Everyone is feeding me pretty well still, though, so I should be all right. Cas always says he doesn't need much, but he just got hurt, so I'm thinking he might-

"Uh… Dean?"

"Yeah, Gabe?"

Gabriel's golden eyebrow is cocked, and he's starting to smirk. "You waiting on anything specific, princess?"

Dean feels his cheeks heat in a blush as he mumbles an excuse and gets to his feet. Dammit. The last hour has him feeling frazzled and overwhelmed, and he tells himself that's the reason he wasn't already up the stairs by the time Gabe was done.

When he gets to his bedroom, the sight that greets him has his heart stuttering in his chest. Cas is lying on his back on Dean's bed, his pale, muscled torso bare. Low on his hips ride a pair of Dean's pajama pants, and if he's not mistaken, there's nothing else on the vampire. The pants pool charmingly at Cas' ankles, just a smidge too long.

The gashes on Cas' belly and chest stand out starkly, red and strangely bloodless. Cas has tried to explain to Dean a hundred times how the blood he takes from humans works more efficiently for him because of the magic in his body, old magic that has had centuries to sink into Cas' bones and perfect the way his system works. Dean doesn't get it.

It doesn't matter, though, because what he does know is that Cas needs blood for those terrible wounds to close up, so Cas can be healed and Dean never has to see them again.

Feeling overdressed, Dean strips his own shirt off and crawls into bed next to his vampire in just his jeans. It's the first time he's been this bare in front of Cas, but he tries to keep any shyness at bay. What's important here is Cas.

The vampire turns his head weakly to look at Dean. His blue eyes are unfocused and half-closed.

"... Dean?"

"Yeah, babe," Dean says, smiling gently and trying to suppress some of the emotions that are welling up in him. "Right here."

"You should go," Cas says softly.

Dean, who kinda saw this coming, rolls his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. You need to feed, Cas."

"I don't want you to feel pressured." Dean can see the struggle it is for Cas to keep his eyes on him.

"I want to help you," Dean whispers, scooting closer. He props himself up on his elbow and puts his other wrist in front of Cas' face, waving it around a little. He knows Cas can smell the blood pumping in his veins from the way he groans weakly. "Come on, Cas, you've been doing all this work to make sure I'm all blooded up. The hell was all that or if not for this?"

Cas' pretty mouth frowns. "It wasn't beca-"

"I know, I know, it wasn't just so you can feed. I'm teasing you, Cas." Dr. Moseley has been scolding Dean for not believing Cas when he says stuff like that, and he really has been working on it, but come on. What's the point of feeding your boyfriend iron-rich foods if you're not gonna feed from him?

"Please," he says finally, holding his wrist up again. "Come on, Cas, I hate seeing you like this." He makes a fist with his hand and squeezes, sending blood rushing to the appendage (yeah, he did some research, it's what one does when one's boyfriend drinks blood for sustenance). That must be what does it.

Even exhausted, injured, and starving, Castiel is still a vampire. Dean finds himself shoved onto his back in seconds with an armful of sexy vampiric strength. Cas is sniffing up the artery in Dean's neck, breathing in deeply. It's all Dean can do to stop himself from moaning outright in some sort of Pavlovian response. Cas nuzzles at the right spot for just a moment, and before Dean can really prepare himself, fangs are sinking into his neck.

He's completely unable to help his whimper, or the way he arches up into Cas. Oh, Jesus. They've never done this lying down, they're always standing or sitting next to one another. The way he feels pinned down, totally wrapped in everything that is Cas, is intoxicating. Cas' weight holds him immobile, and Dean is suddenly way too aroused to fight the way his legs part a little to make room for Cas between them.

One of Cas' hands is cradling Dean's head on the opposite side from his fangs, fingers sinking into his hair to hold him in place. As Cas drinks and gets stronger, his thumb begins to stroke the flesh just behind Dean's ear, effectively driving him insane.

This time when Dean arches into Cas, he realizes that he's hard, which isn't surprising at all. He usually gets at least half hard when Cas is feeding, but with the vampire on top of him, shirtless to boot? There was no chance of anything else.

He also realizes that most of Cas' injuries have already healed. The skin that's against his own chest and belly is smooth again, cold pressed up to his own warmth.

Most importantly, however, Dean realizes that Cas is hard.

Oh, holy Jesus fuck, he thinks, hot and delirious. His hands find Cas' hips and hold the vampire still as he grinds up into him, all composure lost. "Cas," he moans breathy and whimpery.

Cas growls against his neck, never disengaging from where he's bitten down. The draining feeling is still there, but it's almost completely overshadowed by the lust and want that's sparkling through Dean's limbs, starting at his dick and ending in his fingers and toes. It makes it hard to think, hard to do anything but mindlessly press against Cas again and again.

Finally, finally, after long minutes of just Dean moaning and grinding, Cas takes his other hand and settles it on Dean's hip, stilling him. Dean only has a beat to worry that he's gone too far and pushed Cas away before the vampire is grinding back down, making fireworks go off behind Dean's eyelids, which he realizes now that he's squeezed shut.

Cas pulls his fangs out of Dean's neck, which is incredibly sensual, and licks the wound closed. Dean moans shamelessly at the feeling of Cas' tongue on his skin, writhing beneath him.

Cas pulls away just enough to whisper in Dean's ear. "You're intoxicating, dearheart," he purrs. He hooks one hand around Dean's knee and pulls his leg up to wrap around Cas' waist, giving him better access to grind down against him. When Dean whimpers, he can feel Cas' wicked smile against his skin. "Such beautiful noises you're making for me."

"Cas, Jesus Christ," Dean gasps, rolling up into every move Cas makes, meeting him thrust for thrust. He can't believe how close he already is, just from a little dry humping. Again.

Vampire magic, his mind supplies hazily, and he rolls with it.

Dean reaches one hand down to cup Cas' ass, urging him to move faster. When Cas obliges, Dean buries the fingers of his other hand into Cas' hair, turning the vampire's head so he can finally kiss him.

Cas gives a shuddering moan, then throws everything he has into the kiss. Dean opens for him immediately and is invaded in the absolute best way. He can taste Cas, but also just a hint of copper, and when he realizes that's blood, his blood, his heart stops for just a moment before kicking into overdrive.

Dean bucks his hips and Cas lets them roll over, easily taking the position Dean had before. Dean feels a little wild as he bucks down, unable to stop his actions or the way his orgasm is hurtling towards him. His cock is aching, straining against the zipper on his jeans, but he can't even slow down enough to think, much less take any clothes off.

"Cas," he pants. "Cas, gonna come."

Cas smirks as much as possible while still kissing Dean. "Just from this, dearheart?" he asks, his hand cupping Dean's ass in an echo of his own move from moments before. "I haven't even touched you properly, my love." He pulls away enough to speak clearly, thoughtfully. "Think of what you'll do when I get my hands on you for real."

Dean groans and leans down to bury his teeth in Cas' shoulder as he comes, the vampire's words ricocheting through him and leaving trails of pleasure and heat in their wake. He pants and shudders, his hands tightening convulsively where he's holding onto Cas for dear life.

Cas' breath stops completely for a moment before Dean finds himself on his back again. Cas kisses him harshly, their teeth clicking together, and they both moan when just a bit of blood is introduced to the kiss. Cas thrusts down viciously a few more times before groaning and grinding against Dean hard, hard enough that Dean can feel Cas' cock pulse through his pants as he comes.

Cas seems to find it in himself to roll off of Dean before he collapses. His chest is heaving, but Dean thinks that it's more from habit than need, since Cas doesn't actually need to breathe at all.

After a few moments of catching their breath, Dean wrinkles his nose at the sticky, cooling mess in his jeans. He turns to look at Cas, and is completely unsurprised to see the vampire already looking back at him. He smiles as warmth spreads through his chest at the soft affection in Cas' eyes.

"We should clean up," Dean says, his voice almost a whisper to avoid breaking the peace that has gathered around them.

"Indeed." Cas reaches to entwine their fingers. "In just a moment." When Dean cocks an eyebrow, Cas blushes prettily (that's my blood) (down boy, there's no way we can get it up again that quick). "I'd… Like to lie here for a while longer with you."

Dean finds himself blushing, too. "Yeah, all right."


Once they take turns in the bathroom cleaning up (Dean finds himself strangely hesitant to get completely naked in front of Cas yet, which is entirely ridiculous, but he feels better about it when Cas acts like he feels the same way), they get back into Dean's bed, with Cas claiming the need to rest and Dean just feeling the need for closeness.

They're lying under the covers, facing one another, sharing a pillow. It's easily the sappiest, girliest thing Dean's ever done, and it's probably one of his favorites at the same time.

"So," he says in an effort to get out of his own thoughts, "what happened?"

Cas sighs. "Alastair." When Dean physically flinches, Cas reaches forward and laces their fingers again. "Shh, dearheart, I'm all right." Dean fights himself for only a moment before he scoots forward and tucks his head under Cas' chin, wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing himself against Cas. The vampire's chuckle rumbles through his chest and he tucks Dean close.

"What happened?" Dean repeats, his lips brushing against Cas' chest as he speaks this time.

"He ambushed me. If he hadn't done so, the fight would have been much fairer. As it is, he got a decent blow to my head and took advantage of my impaired ability to maneuver with what was probably a concussion."

The casual way Cas talks about the altercation has Dean wincing again and holding Cas even closer. He doesn't complain, just lets Dean squeeze him (although that might be another thing to chalk up to the fact that Cas doesn't have to breathe, now that Dean thinks about it).

Once he calms down a little, Dean asks, "Do you think he'll leave town now?"

"Things are rarely that simple," Cas says ruefully. "I would love to believe that, but no. He was… Driven. Insane. I don't think he's got all his wits about him. He said some disturbing things."

"Like what?"

Cas shrugs, but Dean can tell it's a little forced. "Things about 'returning to our former glory,' or 'leaving behind the life in the shadows.' Nonsense, I'm sure, but it did make me… Uneasy."

"Any reason why?"

Cas shakes his head. "I can't put my finger on it, but I'm sure it will come to me."

Dean sighs and rubs his hand up and down Cas' back. "We should probably get some sleep, Cas."

Cas smiles and presses a gentle kiss to Dean's forehead. "I agree, dearheart."

Cas doesn't need nearly as much sleep as Dean, and he knows that Cas usually spends the time that Dean's asleep watching over him (and that level of adoration is something Dean tries not to think about, lest it make him dizzy and his chest ache). Given his recent injuries, however, Dean thinks his vampire probably will finally sleep a little, even with all of the blood he took.

Dean presses his face into Cas' chest. "'Night, Cas."

"Good night, Dean."


When Dean wakes up, his cheek is pillowed on Cas' chest. Cas' arm is wrapped around his shoulders, the other flung out to the side. Dean's arm is laid across Cas' belly, as is his leg, holding him close. It takes a few minutes, but as Dean's brain boots back up, he smiles at the cuddling. Damn, I missed this.

However, he drank a lot of orange juice last night, so he gently extracts himself from the bed. Before he goes downstairs, though, he stands and stares at Cas.

It's so rare that he gets to look at Cas without him staring back. His dark hair is wild against the pillow, and his skin is pale and smooth. His eyes are closed, but his eyelashes cast long shadows against his cheeks, and Dean has the color of them memorized, so he can picture them easily.

After looking as much as his bladder can stand (but not his fill, he'll never get his fill of looking at Cas), Dean silently leaves the bedroom and goes down the hall to the bathroom.

Once he's done in there, he goes down into the kitchen for coffee. Gabe and Bal are absent, so the house is quiet, peaceful, for the first time in ages. Dean soaks it up as he fills the coffeemaker and putters around the kitchen. He feels… Good. He feels really, really good for the first time in a long time. He thinks about texting Dr. Moseley to let her know, but he knows it's her day off, so he relents.

He's pouring a cup of coffee, thinking about what he needs to get together so he can get to class (maybe Cas can "escort" me today?), when a rock comes hurling through the kitchen window. The glass shatters, and along with it, the peaceful morning.

"Hey!" Dean shouts after a beat, running towards the back door, anger burning in his veins. Some of it is probably from fear, a reaction to the unexpected, but a lot of it is from the feeling of this is his damn house! He doesn't take heed of the broken glass he goes over except to note that there's the sort of distant feeling of stinging cuts opening on the soles of his feet when he opens the back door.

He steps out onto the porch, glaring. He almost walks right into a tall, thin man with unsettling eyes that seem to absolutely devour Dean, and not in the fun way. He's dressed in a white button-down shirt and black slacks, but it's not nearly as appealing as it is on Cas. His hair is cut close, and when he smiles, his teeth are crooked and jagged.

And long. They're too long.

Oh. Oh, fuck.

"Dean," the slimy voice says, "how delightful of you to meet me outside your home."

Like he's in a trance, Dean looks down to his bare feet, standing just outside the back door. Fuck.

Before he can cry out, pain blossoms in his temple and everything goes dark.


- ... aaaaaaand I'm sorry about this one.
- Things I can promise: You will not have to wait a month for update. There will be plenty of hurt/comfort. There will be loads of Cas being a stone-cold badass. Just be patient, my beautifuls, I will MAKE THIS WORTH IT.