"You're insane," Sam reminded his brother. Dean grinned and adamantly agreed. The brothers took a deep breath, readied their weapons, and stepped into the cavern. They were halfway across the room before they were spotted. Several of the creatures shrieked, dropping from the roof and shrieking towards the two men. Sam sprayed the canister of insect repellent and held a match before the chemicals. A dozen Psychevors burst into flames.
Dean raced on determinedly. Thirty feet. Twenty. Ten.
Two rather large demons slammed to the stone floor, blocking his path. Without breaking stride, Dean pulled his guns and shot them in the eyes. Nothing could stop him now. Not when Cas was relying on him. And this was the quickest way to return him to the surface.
Once the beasts caught on to the Winchester's destination, they redoubled their efforts to annihilate him, virtually ignoring Sammy. The younger man had an easy time blasting them from behind. Dean battled his way through, lighting a Molotov cocktail as he ran. He had to stop for a moment to take aim, then hefted the bottle over his head. It sailed perfectly into the crack in the wall, burst, and ignited immediately. A high-pitched shriek rose to an unbearable frequency; Dean and Sam dropped to their knees, covering their ears. It didn't help much.
Something large, hard, and extremely heavy slammed into Dean from behind, toppling him over. A heavy claw closed around his right forearm, squeezing painfully. Dean screamed when the bone shattered under the force. He was vaguely aware of Sam shooting at the demon on his back; then, suddenly, the weight disappeared. Literally. What was left of the beast fell as dust around the hunter. Groaning, cradling his broken arm, Dean struggled to his feet and surveyed the cavern. A fine mist hovered in the air-all that was left of the hive. A few flames still flickered in the dead queen's lair.
"Cas?" Dean called, coughing. His fiance peeked out from the other cave and came forward as soon as he saw Dean.
"Are-are they...?"
"Yeah. Dead and gone," he grinned, embracing Castiel with his one good arm. The smaller man snuggled against him. "Sam?"
"Hm?" The younger Winchester was staring at the remains of the queen bee curiously. Leave it to the college boy.
"Let's get the hell out of here."
Grunting in agreement, the brothers led the way out into the crisp night air.
"Dean?"
"Hm?"
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Pfft! How hard can it possibly be?"
Cas shifted nervously on his seat. He was stuffed, he was clean, his face was shaved. All that remained was the tangles of thick hair on his head. Dean stood above him, scissors in his good hand. It can't be that bad. It's not like it can be worse than it was.
Without warning, Dean plunged his blades into Cas' wild locks and started hacking away. He flinched at every shink! shink! of the scissors.
Gradually the slashing stopped. Dean set the scissors on the table. "Um. Well, it could be worse. At least it's short..."
Castiel raised his hand and ran it through his hair. There were a couple long spots, and it was very ragged, but it was one more step on the road to where he used to be. He didn't know if he would ever be exactly the same, but he doubted it. He had been through too much, felt too much pain. All he knew for certain was that the love of his life would be with him every step of the way.
AN: Sorry it's a little short, and that it took so long. There will be one more chapter after this. Thanks for sticking it out this long.