I hope there are still a few people reading this? It's time for some help sent from Heaven, I think ;)

10: We do have choices

The rest of the group followed their leader deeper into the forest, and Dean made to march with them, trying in vain to not look at the lifeless form of Fíli hanging limply over Thorin's shoulders. His mind was in a haze as he stepped forwards. This could not be happening. He knew he ought to be used to it by now, for he had witnessed many people die throughout the years, young and old, good and evil, healthy and sick. But only few of them had died in order to protect him. His father, of course, had given his life for his son's, and sometimes that knowledge still haunted the hunter, making him ask himself how he could have ever deserved this sacrifice. He also thought of Jo, and his heart ached when he remembered that first and last kiss and the salty taste of tears as his lips had met hers.

Who was he that he deserved to live, when others had to die for it?

For a brief moment he saw Kíli's face before his eyes, the fear in his dark eyes and the tear streaks on his young face. He was almost still a child, and just the thought that he might have to watch his brother die took Dean's breath away. Deep down he knew that he wouldn't let it come to this.

What am I supposed to do?

"Dean?"

He flinched when Sam's voice made him snap out of his dark thoughts. The tall Winchester pulled at his sleeve, and Dean halted.

"What is it?"

"Dean, I know you won't like this, but we should stay here. If there's even the tiniest chance of Cas finding us, it'll be here."

"Damn right I don't like it!" grumbled Dean, following the group of dwarves with his eyes. Balin had noticed their stopping and turned around. He approached the two men and looked at them questioningly.

"Don't be stupid, Dean!" said Sam irritated, running his hand through his hair. "If we go with them –"

"I need to make sure he's alright, Sam!" snapped Dean. He knew the look on Sam's face, and he also knew that he was probably right, but it didn't matter in that moment. All that mattered was the young dwarf's fate, because somehow Dean knew that his fate was entwined not only with his brother's, but with all the dwarves.

"Maybe your brother is right, Sam," spoke Balin. "The spiders might quite well return, for they will want to avenge the deaths of their kin, and there might still be orcs running around for all we know. You might be safer with us. Your guide hasn't shown up yet, and though I don't mean to be disrespectful, chances are he will never do so."

Sam glanced at Dean when Balin referred to Castiel as their guide. The older one just shrugged and raised his eyebrows to make Sam understand that he'd have to play along. It wasn't the first time, after all.

"He will find us," rejected Sam stubbornly, but already Dean could see him being stirred from his resolve.

"Balin!" yelled someone, and the old dwarf looked at the men intently.

"I need to go. And I strongly advise you to follow me."

With that he turned around again, hurrying after his companions. Without a further word to Sam, Dean followed him. He smiled briefly when he heard his brother's footsteps behind him.

Thorin was walking at the front, with Kíli by his side whose hand never left his brother's. The dwarven leader staggered from time to time, and Dean wondered how long it would take for the so-called elves to appear in front of them. There was no sight of any other living beings, and one part of Dean was grateful for that. He'd had his fair share of evil creatures to last for the rest of his life – not that he expected that to happen – and would rather walk the forest road in peace. But he also knew that Fíli didn't stand a chance if they didn't find help soon. Thorin seemed to share this thought.

"Where are you hiding, you beardless folk?" he cried angrily into the woods, which earned him a reproachful look from Bilbo who was trying to keep up with the dwarf. But Thorin didn't see it, and even if he had, Dean doubted that he would have cared. "Show yourselves, you skinny woodland walkers! We need help!"

"No elf will come to our aid if you keep insulting them!" muttered Bilbo, more to himself than to Thorin, but the dwarf stopped dead in his tracks, causing the hobbit to almost stumble into him.

"I stand by my word that I don't trust the elves," growled Thorin, "and they not coming to our help just proves it. They know nothing of honour and loyalty. Isn't that so?" he shouted into the forest. "You just turn your heads when your help is needed, isn't it so?" His voice grew louder, making Dean worry that instead of elves other beings might be drawn towards them. "I know you're out there, so show yourselves! Show yourselves, come on!"

The last words were but a strangled cry as his shouts were met with silence. All that could be heard was the sound of birds and the rustling of the trees, and Dean's heart sank. Everything around him seemed to be drowned out, as if there was nothing in that lonely place but him and Sam and the dwarves. Thorin was standing rigidly as he stared into the black nothingness among the trees, Kíli was grasping his brother's hand so tightly that his knuckles stood out white, and from Fíli's pale lips red blood dropped onto the forest floor.

It was in that moment that the trees seemed to grow louder. It took Dean two seconds to realise that this wasn't the rustling of trees.

"Cas!"

Sam's shout of delight pierced the silence, and hastily Dean turned on the spot. The dwarves stopped, too, and within a split second swords and axes were drawn. Dwalin stood before Thorin, his glinting axe raised above his bald head, and Dori pushed Ori away and stepped in front of him.

All this Dean only saw from the corner of his eyes. He stared at the angel who had literally appeared out of thin air, for a moment not believing what he was seeing. Castiel looked equally surprised for a second, but immediately walked over to him and Dean without taking further notice of the dwarves.

"At last I found you!" he exclaimed, at which Balin bravely stepped forward with narrowed eyes.

"You are their companion? How could you sneak up on us like that?"

"I do not sneak. I searched many worlds until I came here," replied Castiel, ignoring or probably not noticing the confusion on the dwarves' faces. "We need to go now!" he urged Sam and Dean, and grabbed Dean's arm. But the hunter wrestled himself free from his grip.

"No! No, Cas, listen," he stammered as the angel looked at him in disbelief, "we can't leave just now. Someone's injured, and we need to make sure that..." His words caught in his throat when he saw the kind, blue eyes of his friend. Castiel was there. The angel was here. "You can help him!" he cried out. He could see Kíli's eyes widening, while several dwarves gasped. Only Thorin remained still.

Castiel looked at Dean wearily.

"I'm not sure if I can, Dean."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Dean sharply. "Just look at him and do the awkward touching thing and all will be fine!"

He pulled him towards Thorin, only to find himself eye to eye with Dwalin's axe.

"This stranger will not go further," he growled threateningly.

"He can help!"

"I don't like the looks of him!"

"He's our –"

"He's a wizard!"

All heads turned into Sam's direction, including Dean's. A wizard? What was he thinking? Dwalin stood with his mouth slightly open, the axe still held above his head; Ori and Dori were staring at Castiel with wide eyes; Kíli looked as if he had just woken from a nightmare to find he was still alive.

"Is that true?" he asked quietly, his tear-rimmed eyes focused on Castiel while he maintained the iron grip on his brother's hand. "Can you save my brother?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Kíli, look at him, does he look like a wizard to you?" barked Dwalin, the surprise on his face having been replaced by his usual stony and sceptical expression.

"I am –"

"I don't care what he looks like!" said Kíli, ignoring Castiel's attempted interruption.

Thorin hadn't said anything until now. He watched the angel sternly, as if he could read his mind. There was something about the dwarven leader that had Dean believe that maybe Thorin could really read people's thoughts. His brightly blue eyes seemed to pierce through everyone he looked at.

"What proof do I have that you are what your friend says you are?" he asked calmly. "How can I trust you?"

"You can't!" shouted Dori.

"Sam and Dean trust him!" retorted Ori, earning himself an approving nod from Kíli and Bofur.

"Now that changes everything, of course," snorted Dwalin, "let's just forget his weird looks and his appearing out of nowhere!"

"Wizards can appear out of thin air!"

"Gandalf can't!"

"But Gandalf's not here!"

"Thorin, knock some sense into him, he's –"

"Silence!"

Castiel's voice roared through the forest, and the effect was immediate. Dean gasped when he looked around. Time seemed to be frozen for everyone but the three men from that far away world. The dwarves were motionless, and the woods had fallen silent.

Sam exhaled audibly, following Castiel with his eyes as the angel walked towards Thorin and Fíli and laid his hand onto the injured dwarf's head.

"Alright, Cas, tell the truth! Can you help him or not?"

"Of course he can!" shouted Dean, "I mean, you can, Cas, right?"

The angel turned around, and when his blue eyes met Dean's the older Winchester felt a pit in his stomach that he knew boded ill. He knew his hopes were shattered even before Castiel shook his head.

"I don't think I can, Dean. I'm sorry."

Disbelievingly Dean stared at his friend, then at the motionless form of Fíli. Blood was frozen in mid-air on its way to the ground, and Fíli's face was grey and contorted with pain. He took in the frail figure of Kíli, the silvery lines on his young face and the despair mirrored in his brown eyes. He saw Thorin's exhaustion and fear in the king's posture.

"No."

He refused to believe what he knew was true. There had to be a way.

"Dean, I'm sorry, but I'm not back to my old self. I thought I would have time to 'recharge my batteries', as you would say, while you're gone. Searching the universe for you has drained me pretty much, and we're lucky if I can summon enough power to bring you both back to your world."

"Then leave me here!"

Dean hadn't intended to say this, hadn't even known the thought existed, but it didn't feel wrong, either. From the expressions on Sam's and Castiel's faces, though, he knew that they didn't approve.

"You've got to be joking!" exclaimed Sam, and Castiel simply shook his head once more.

"I can't leave you here, Dean. I might not make it here a second time."

"Of course you will!" shouted Dean in exasperation, "You're a soldier of Heaven, for God's sake! This boy –" he pointed at Fíli, "saved my life! I need to make it up to him, and this is the only way I can, so don't look at me as if I'm stupid!"

He was panting heavily, standing before his brother and his friend, and somehow he knew that he was being foolish, but he didn't care. He'd made it out of a lost place before, he would make it out again. But Fíli wouldn't make it if he didn't act now.

"Dean –"

"No, Sam. This is my choice. If I can do anything, anything at all, to save him, to make sure than this kid over there doesn't have to lose his brother, I'll do it."

"This isn't just your choice!" yelled Sam furiously. "I will not let you stay here on your own! This isn't just some forest, this is a whole different world! And you know nothing of it!"

"Like that bothered you before!"

He knew he had gone too far. Sam's face fell at his harsh words, and part of Dean regretted them in that very instant. But some part of him enjoyed the hurt on his little brother's face.

Sam had let him down. Sam didn't care. Sam deserved this.

"You know why I did what I did, or rather did not do," said Sam quietly. "I never meant to let you down. But for once in my life I decided to go on and have a future rather than kill myself holding on to the past. Is that so wrong?"

He couldn't answer that. He knew he ought to understand, but he couldn't shake off that bitter feeling of betrayal, the hurt he'd felt when he'd realised that Sam hadn't moved Heaven and Hell in order to find him.

"That was your choice," Dean replied evasively, "and this is mine. I'll save him. Kíli won't watch his brother die!"

Sam opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but remained silent. There was something in his eyes that Dean couldn't quite determine, a shadow of grief or fear that would have gone unnoticed by anyone but the older Winchester.

"What is it, Sammy?" he asked. Sam looked at him in surprise, and Dean remembered that he hadn't used that childhood nickname for a long time.

"Nothing."

Sam was lying, and Dean knew he ought to insist to get to know the truth. But before he could ask further, Castiel stepped forward.

"Those boys are brothers?" he asked puzzled. He creased his forehead as he looked intently at the blonde and the brunette. Dean nodded impatiently.

"Yes, they are, and I don't know what you did to them all, but your whoodoo seems to be wearing off!"

Indeed he could hear noises again, and Dwalin's muscular arm was twitching. Thorin blinked. Fíli coughed quietly.

"I might be able to help him after all," said Castiel, his eyes resting on Kíli as he spoke. "Unless it's not too late."

A/N:

1) Did I mention I love overly-protective, grumpy Dwalin?

2) "We do have choices" is a quote from season 3. "Honestly, I think the world's going to end bloody. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't fight. We do have choices. I choose to go down swingin'." (Dean in 3x12, "Jus in Bello") Kind of fits for our favourite dwarves as well, doesn't it? (not sure if a winking emoticon or a crying emoticon is more appropriate here...)