Hey guys! I know it has been over a month since I last updated, so I am very sorry! I am currently writing three Supernatural stories at once, which is probably a bad idea :O I just read your reviews ordering me to update, so I got back to work. Enjoy!

Thank you very much for reviewing: KiaCoral, EvilGeniusBookWorm13, IzzyGirl45, OrangeRules Autumn, AilovU.

IzzyGirl45- Don't worry, that will be cleared up in this chapter!

"Into the Woods"

Castiel sat up slowly. His head spun and he felt a damp chill in the air that had been given time to settle deep into his body. Pain nestled in his head and trickled out of gash that was beginning to close over. His wrists were bound tightly with a scratchy material and he couldn't tell if it was cutting off his circulation or he was just cold. He was lying on top of a bedroll but had kicked off a blanket. A strange cry echoed in the deep forest and it was then that Castiel snapped back to attention. Where was he?

"So you're awake." Adam pocked at a fire as Castiel watched him with guarded guys. "Are you up for eating anything? You hit your head when we landed." Castiel shook his head slightly, only worsening the pain.

"Where is Dean?"

Adam rolled his eyes. "Why don't you worry about yourself instead?"

"Because Dean would worry about me too." Castiel squinted around the tent as if expecting Dean to appear in there due to his intense scrutiny of the tent's contents.

"He's in another tent. As are Sam and Gabriel."

Castiel noticed that everything in this tent was made of rather expensive material. A folding table sat in the middle under a weighty amount of documents and maps. Another bed was made up opposite to where Castiel was. "Where are we?"

"Blackveil forest. We have been here for only a few hours and we have a long trek ahead of us. I suggest that you eat something or go back to sleep." Adam rolled up a piece of parchment looking tired.

"No. I want to see the others to make sure that they are not harmed." Castiel sat there looking stubborn as Adam sighed.

"Suit yourself."

"Will you at least tell me that they are all unharmed?"

Adam nodded. "We did however have to…erm…restrain Dean a bit." Castiel's eyes narrowed but he felt comforted when he heard a shout of 'sonofabitch!' break through the quiet of the forest.

"Why are we here Adam? Is this some mistake?"

"No." Adam passed Castiel a steaming mug of stew before sitting down in a chair. The Enochian proceeded to ignore the offering as he stared unblinking up at the blond man. "We are here on Lucifer's orders."

"And those are?"

Adam gave him a tight smile. "You are not going to make this easy are you? I will not tell you everything but it is clear that we must continue deeper in the forest. It is important that you be there."

"And to what purpose will this amount to?"

"You will see when you get there." Castiel frowned. He figured that Lucifer hadn't told Adam much or it was something the young man didn't want to do. Dark circles were under his eyes and he looked strained.

"Does Lucifer always over work his followers?"

Adam looked angry. "Of course not. I do my work to the best of my ability and at times he…asks for more. In this situation I am captain and it is my job to see this through."

"And what is your consolation for such work?"

"A throne. Eat up, I will return." Castiel frowned at the contents of the cup and got to work on fidgeting with the bonds that were cutting through his wrists.

.

"Kubrick? How is Sam Winchester?"

"Fine boss. Sleeping like a baby." He gave Adam one of his usual creepy smiles.

Adam nodded. "And the other Winchester?"

"Right here you stupid son of a bitch!" Dean strained against the ties on his wrists. "Let me out of here so I can kick your ugly ass!"

"Calm down Winchester. I have no need to kill you now, so don't give me one." Adam eyed him coolly.

"Then kill me. I would like to see your fairy ass try!"

Adam rolled his eyes. "Keep him tied up. He will learn to shut his mouth if he wants to be treated like a human again."

"Wait Adam! Turn around you dumb son of a bitch!"

"Changed your mind so soon? I'm surprised Winchester. I had heard better things about you."

Dean looked furious. "It's not that!" Dean took in a shaky breath as he tried to calm himself down. "Okay. I just want to know where Cas is. He's okay?"

"He is fine. Get the prisoners ready, we are moving in deeper into the forest." Adam turned on his heel and left the tent as Dean glowered.

"What do you guys get off on tying other dudes up?"

"Shut up Winchester." Hendrickson hit Dean across the back of the face as Kubrick and Gordon smirked.

"Sammy boy? Hey long, tall, and handsome."

"Haha. You're stupid. Are you alright?"

"All the goods are intact. Glad you asked."

"Any word on the others?"

"Nada. I was spying on the guards earlier and I found out where we are."

"Where?"

"You don't want to know. Trust me."

"Come on. Look, if you're going to say something like that you have to tell me."

"Fine, but if you piss your pants I warned you! Blackveil."

"WHAT?"

"Blackveil forest."

"….how are we going to get out of here?"

"Don't worry your big moose head about it. We'll get out!"

"I hope so."

.

The tents were packed and the prisoners dragged in a line with their wrists still bound. They were suspicious of everything. Strange sounds flitted through the forest and sly bright eyes watched them from the undergrowth. It was dark. A thick canopy lay overhead and blocked out much of the suns warm rays. Something rushed over Castiel's foot and he glanced down at it in surprise. He spent most of the march trying to get a good look at Dean. The prince had a painful looking black eye that caught Cas' and winked.

"How are you holding up Cas?"

"I am fine Dean. And you?"

"Doin' just peachy Cas. No place I would rather be then this rotten forest."

Adam pushed Dean in the back with the tip of his sword. "Keep quiet. We don't know who or what is in the forest. Let's not make more trouble for ourselves."

"Then how about you shutting that damn mouth of yours? And where is your boss? It seems that you feel pretty high and mighty without him here."

"You really are a slow one. While we are in the forest Lucifer is claiming the Sacoridian throne."

Dean looked furious. "My father-"

"Your father is gone, possibly dead. Either way no one will be brave or strong enough to resist him. Especially not after we complete our task here."

"And what is that task?"

Adam glanced over at Castiel. "Just wait and see Winchester."

Castiel gritted his teeth as he felt his head throbbing and the wound on his knee bleeding once more. It had been healing slowly but hadn't been given the time to properly heal. The path was long and overgrown. Treacherous rocks jutted out towards tired limbs and unsuspecting ankles. Poor lanky Sam stumbled and tripped over a branch and took down the rest of the prisoners. The rare slivers of sun seemed to give up as the night swallowed the forest. Something rustled in the bush near them.

"Hold together!" Adam pulled out his sword as the other soldiers surrounded the prisoners. Something human-like pulled a Mirwell soldier into the overgrowth. A flash of red eyes and it was gone. The sickening sound of flesh tearing and bones snapping broke through the dark silence. A scream barely had time to escape from the man's throat before his blood sprayed across the trees.

"You'd better let us out you son of a bitch! Come one Adam, we can help you!" Dean struggled with his bond hands as another monster slipped away with a distracted soldier.

"No!" Adam nearly got pulled into the forest by a clammy hand.

"Look, we aren't going to run. We just want to live!" Sam loosened the rope around his wrists. "Those are Rugarus out there. If we don't try and team up, we're next."

Adam bit the inside of his mouth and then nodded. "Release them!"

"But our orders…we let the Winchesters go and our lives will be forfeit!"

"Silence Gordon. No use planning the future if we aren't going to have one." Adam grabbed Castiel by the arm and sliced the bonds. He did the same to Sam as Hendrickson grudgingly let Dean out of his. Extra weapons were tossed to the prisoners and they were forced to grapple with knives.

"What are they?"

"Rugarus."

A black eyed monster lunged at Adam. "Is it just me or do they look sort of human?"

"They are, or used to be! Now shut your pie hole and kill them!" More monsters slunk into the clearing, starving mouths gaped open at the promise of flesh. Dean fought furiously with a Rugaru as it bit into his forearm. "Son of a bitch!" He kicked it in the ribs and got a satisfying crack of ribs in response.

"How are we supposed to kill them?" Adam kicked away the cold bloody hand of a Rugaru.

"Dress in drag and do the hoola?" Gabriel kept barely dodging every attempt of the monsters. One let out a frustrated low growl as he wacked it on the head with a branch.

"Man Gabriel I always knew you were gay, but not that gay!"

"Fire is best. We don't have that on us, so just hold them back!" Sam was backed into a thicket as the pale beings lunged for the blood they heard pounding through his body.

"Close your eyes!" Castiel extended his hand and light streamed through the clearing. Leaves curled under the heat and monsters screamed as their bodies twisted and fell twitching on the ground.

"Nice one Cas!" Dean grasped his knife tighter in his hand as he made his way towards Hendrickson. "Okay, fair fight between us now. We win, we get to leave this dump. Deal?" Hendrickson came forward with his sword as Dean circled him. Sam matched up with Kubrick and Gabriel taunted Gordon. Castiel found himself next to Adam and he gave him an awkward smile. Adam grasped him around the waist and covered his mouth with his other hand. He hit the Enochian on the head with a rock before slinging him over the shoulder that wasn't weighted down with his pack.

Adam dragged the unconscious Enochian away from the scene. Dean's machoistic shouts began to leave ear shot and the forest was its creepy quiet once more. For hours Adam tramped along as he dragged Castiel along. It was slow going, but with determination he put some miles between him and the Winchesters.

"Adam…what is going on?" Castiel gripped onto Adam's shoulder as he felt a wave of nausea course through his body.

"You're awake. I guess we can stop here." Adam settled Castiel against a tree as he began to dig around in his pack. He found a rag and tossed it to Castiel. "Try and stop some of that bleeding."

"Where is Dean? Adam, why did you separate us?"

Adam set up two bed rolls quietly as Castiel watched him owlishly. He sighed. "I needed to get you away from the Winchesters. The two of them are better than the entire group of soldiers Lucifer sent with us. If they remained with us it would be a matter of days before they killed me. This way they will die in the forest and we will complete the task."

"And what task is that?" Castiel pressed the towel against his forehead as red sunk through the tattered cloth. His knee bleed freely once more and he was dizzy.

"To collect the power of the old ones. Here drink this." Adam passed a flask to Castiel. He peeked inside it and handed it back looking suspicious. "You can trust me Castiel. I have no purpose in killing you."

Castiel nodded and took a sip. He spit it out on horror as Adam actually laughed. "That is horrible." Castiel handed the flask back looking rather crabby.

"It's not that bad when you get used to it."

"Why would you want to get used to it?"

Adam smiled. "Good point." He scrounged in his pack and passed Castiel a chunk of bread before he pulled out a small kit. Adam opened up a small bottle and poured some of the liquid onto another clean rag. "Let me see that knee."

"No."

"I know it's screwed up. I saw you gimping around when we were fighting the Rugarus. Let me see it."

Castiel stubbornly wrapped his cloak closer around himself as he frowned at Adam. "No."

Adam gritted his teeth before sitting in front of the glaring Enochian. He roughly rolled up the blood soaked pant leg as Castiel took in a shaky breath. "What did you do to this?" He pressed his fingers lightly around the wound as Castiel pulled away with a whimper. "This isn't any ordinary wound, is it. The first time I met you I noticed that you looked ill. From this?"

"Yes. I am sure that it will heal eventually."

Adam shook his head. "Not if you got it from a creature of Blackveil."

Castiel's eyes narrowed. "How do you know about that?"

"I've seen what those monsters can do. The one's with the pinchers get bigger than a barn."

Castiel nodded as Adam began to clean the jagged wound. He held back tears of pain as he dug his nails into his palms. Adam reached over and gripped one of Castiel's hands as he held the cloth down over the wound with one hand. Castiel leaned back against a tree as he felt a darkness tugging at the corners of his eyes.

"Adam…"

"Hang in there." He wrapped up the damaged knee to the best of his abilities before he cleaned up the gash on the Enochian's forehead. Adam winced every time Castiel did and felt guilty for hitting him over the head twice within one day. He helped Castiel lay down on one of the bed rolls and tucked him in under a thick blanket.

Castiel leaned over and gripped Adam's wrist tightly as he fell asleep. "Dean."

Adam frowned but pulled him closer as quiet of the night began to swallow them. He felt comforted by having the Enochian sleep peacefully beside him. He had been part of the plot against him and still Castiel treated him without well-deserved anger. The Enochian was strange. He didn't seem to know very much about humans and he was a little slow in the learning department but damn if there wasn't something sort of…beautiful about him. Adam blamed his weariness on the strange path his thoughts began to take as he accidently fell asleep on watch. Blue eyes haunted his dreams even as another man forced his way through the unforgiving forest just to look into them once more.

Dean Winchester relentlessly crashed through brambles thirsty for fresh blood as he yelled at Sam and Gabriel to hurry up. The guards were left unconscious in the clearing but with their weapons upon them. Sam figured that they deserved a fighting chance and he knew Dean would have normally agreed. But now he fought past low branches and fear of the endless night. He would rescue Castiel and this time he was going to get things right. He loved the Enochian and no longer cared who knew as long as Castiel could be his and his alone. Forward they moved into the black nightmare of a forest and hoped that the path they stumbled along would not lead them astray.

*I swear that there will be more in a much nearer future! Especially when Finals are over, bring on summer break please!