A/N: I threw in some Balthazar feels. Remember: REVIEW if you have good ideas for the story!

Chapter Ten—Dean POV

I stood completely still as Castiel stood in front of me. Don't take me back there. We were so close to happiness. Don't make me do those things again. I can't go back there. Cas won't let them take me. We can fight. He's an angel, for Christ's sake. Surely he can take on a demon. One demon.

"Don't even try angel radio, Castiel," the demon warned. Angel radio? "We'll know." Something slipped from Cas' sleeve. A silver knife? He's not a werewolf, Cas. "Angel blade, Castiel? I'm the king of Hell." The king of Hell? What the fuck? How do you kill the king of Hell? How are we going to get out of this one, Cas? I know you're an angel and all, but the king of Hell? Isn't he going to be hard to kill? "Do you think that's going to hurt me?" Cas grabbed my hand. What the fuck is an angel blade?

"Wanna find out?" Cas asked menacingly. He's so hot when he's pissed. What the fuck am I saying? Life or death, here, Dean! Get your shit together. "Lucifer and Gabriel know we're here." They do? "If they don't get a call from me in two minutes, they'll be here in less than a second. You know my brothers. Do you really want a fight here today?" Crowley didn't look scared, but I could tell he was intimidated. I'd be intimidated, too. Damn. "Last chance to get out of here alive, Crowley. You're no match for three angels." Crowley spread his hands out from his body in a "bring it on" motion.

"I'm the king of Hell. Three angels is nothing. Even if it is Heaven's three favourites. You're not the only one with backup." Backup? There are more demons here? Oh, God. "I'm not here to kill you, Dean," he said addressing me, now. I stood up straighter, plastering a defiant look on my face. "You're such a good little bitch. Wouldn't want that to go to waste." Cas took a step toward him threateningly.

"Do not talk to my Mate like that," he said in a low growl. Crowley didn't flinch, but I could tell he was having second thoughts about whatever the hell his plan was. Can Cas take him?

"Get the hell out of my house, demon," Cas said through bared teeth.

"This isn't over," he said, looking at me. "I'll get you back, one way or another." And then he disappeared. I instantly sank to the floor, face dropping into my hands. Loud sobs racked my body as the floodgates opened on my emotions. I can't, I can't, I can't. Cas knelt beside me, taking his phone out and texting furiously for all of ten seconds before wrapping me in his arms. Don't ever leave me.

"Shh, Dean. He's gone." He rocked my back and forth for a few minutes until I calmed down. "You're okay, baby. I wasn't going to let him hurt you." I eyed the blade on the floor next to us. "It kills angels and demons," Cas explained. "And 'angel radio,' as demons call it, is how angels communicate with each other. I rarely use it, but I could if need be." I nodded quietly. As suddenly as the lust had gone upon seeing Crowley, it came back. I mean, I was off of my suppressants. I lunged at Cas, knocking him onto the floor with me on top of him, kissing him fiercely.

"You're so hot when you're pissed," I murmured around his lips. "I want you to rip all my clothes off and fuck me, right here." His eyes widened, but he began undressing me in a frenzy. As soon as we were both naked, I took him in my mouth, sucking hard.

"Ungh," he groaned, threading his hands through my hair. I hummed around his cock, and he thrust up into my throat. I held back a gag and took him as deep as I could, working my tongue over the head and underside of his shaft. "Dean . . ." he said in warning, but I flicked my tongue along the head, and he was coming in my mouth. My dick was impossibly hard as I swallowed, and Cas brought me up to kiss me. "Agh, I can taste myself on you," he moaned. His words were so hot. "Bed. Now." We scrambled to the bedroom and he laid me down, kissing up and down my neck. My nails raked down his back as his fingers slid into my ass.

"Cas," I breathed, letting my eyes flutter closed.

"Just feel, baby." And feel, I did. I felt one finger, then two, then three. I felt the air shudder as he unfolded his wings. I felt his lips on the skin at the base of my neck. I felt every movement as he pulled his fingers out of my hole and slid his cock gently into my body. I let out a low moan, my head thrashing side to side. My hands found his ass and I used the leverage to pull him deeper. "That's it, baby. Tell me what you want." He stilled inside of me, and I groaned. "Tell me," he whispered.

"I want you to fuck me," I breathed, my eyes finding his. He began moving again, but nowhere near the pace I needed.

"What else do you want?"

"I want you to . . ." My voice trembled as he pulled out and slammed into me. "I want you to mark me." He began moving faster, one hand on my bicep and one hand holding himself up. "Ugnhh," I moaned when he found my prostate. He slowed down, but his thrusts were deeper. His lips caught mine in a loving, tender kiss. I was so close, so close, so close.

"I'm going to mark you now," he said, his voice wrecked. I found the idea so intimate, so possessive, that it knocked me right over the edge. I saw white and came hard, screaming his name and arching my back off the bed. I heard Cas call out through a fog of post-orgasm bliss, and he collapsed beside me.

A few minutes later, after we had calmed out breathing, I felt heat on my arm. I twisted so I could see it, and gasped. A handprint, Castiel's exact handprint, had been burned into my skin. I felt no pain, but the mark was a dark red, like a scar or a burn. Wordlessly, Cas placed his hand over the mark. I sucked in a breath in astonishment. I was in his head.

"Cas . . ."

"It strengthens the bond," he said, removing his hand. "With the bond, you can tell my mood and general state of being. But with this mark, when I touch it, you can literally read my thoughts, and I you. It's a very . . . rare thing for Angels to do, but I love you, and I feel that it is a unique thing for us to share." I smiled and kissed him softly.

"I love you," I whispered, snuggling into his wings. After a few moments, the events of earlier that night really hit me. Punched me right in the gut. I couldn't breathe. Crowley's back, Crowley's back, Crowley's back.

"Dean?" Cas asked, concerned. I tuned so I was facing him and pressed my face into his chest. His wings came around me, forming a cocoon. "Hey. It's okay. I won't let him take you. I promise." His hands ran along my back soothingly.

"Cas," I choked out. "I can't." He brushed chaste kisses along my cheek bones, my forehead, my nose.

"Match your breaths to mine," he murmured. I tried. I could feel the steady thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump of his heartbeat. After a few minutes of deep breathing, my panic attack died down and I sank into Cas' arms. He held me, whispering soothing nonsense into my ear until someone knocked at the door. "That'll be Lucifer and Gabe." We heaved ourselves out of bed and threw on sweatpants. He grabbed the angel blade off of the nightstand and I looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Just in case. Stand behind me." Wings still out, he led me down the stairs and to the door. He opened it slowly, and sighed in relief when we saw Lucifer and Gabriel on the porch. They walked in, and Cas shut the door.

"Goddamnit, Castiel. It smells like sex in here." Cas laughed.

"What'd you expect?" Gabe asked, nudging Cas with his elbow. "Just because you're not getting any doesn't mean Cassy can't get it on with his Mate." I laughed out loud at that. Balthazar walked in and ushered me into the kitchen. I sat at the breakfast bar while he made hot chocolate. I could hear the Alphas whispering in the other room, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was still shaking when Balthazar pressed a steaming mug into my hands.

"So what exactly happened?" he asked carefully.

"We opened the door and Crowley was just . . . here." I paused to sip from the cup. It was delicious, rich chocolate—sweet, but not too sweet. "Cas had this . . . silver dagger—an angel blade?" Balthazar nodded.

"We all carry those. They kill both angels and demons." I nodded.

"Crowley said Cas' angel radio wouldn't work. And from what I understand, angel radio is how you communicate with each other?"

"Sometimes. We mostly keep off of it so that others can't find us." I took a deep swallow from the mug and continued.

"Then Cas showed Crowley the angel blade and said that if Lucifer didn't get a call from us in two minutes, he would be here. And then Crowley said there were more demons to back him up. Then he told me . . ." I trailed off.

"It's okay, Dean," Balthazar encouraged quietly.

"He told me I was such a good little bitch that he was going to get me back, whatever it took." I took a deep breath. "Then Cas told him to get out and he said, 'This isn't over,' and left." I couldn't control my shaking now. The hot chocolate splashed over the rim of the mug and onto the cool marble of the breakfast bar. Balthazar gently took it out of my hands and led me to the couch. I sat and he put an arm around my shoulder, throwing a blanket over my half-naked body. He held me gently while I tried to calm myself down.

"It'll be okay, Dean. Lucifer and Gabriel are going to do a perimeter check, and stay close and keep an eye on things. Ash and Bobby are working on locating their base, and then we'll rid ourselves of Crowley and Azazel forever." I shuddered at the thought of all these people I loved laying their lives on the line for me.

"I don't want any of you to get hurt," I whispered. Balthazar looked at me sternly.

"This is what we do for family, Dean. We look after one another. You're strong, Dean. But together, we're stronger. I know what you're thinking. Don't try to go off and deal with this yourself. We're in this together. You're family now. You've been our family. And you will always be our family."

"He's right, Dean," Lucifer said, walking into the room. "You're our family, and we're not going to back down from this. We're going to fight for you." I was overwhelmed at the emotion in his voice. Lucifer was usually detached and indifferent on the surface.

"Thank you," I whispered. "All of you." Cas came to sit next to me, putting his hand on my thigh. Lust exploded in my gut, my heat rising up again.

"Now we're gonna get outta here before y'all get it on again," Gabe joked, and the three angels got up to leave. As soon as they were gone, I was all over Cas. It wasn't just the heat, but my need to be close to him. This man . . . this angel who I loved so much, who would do anything for me . . . I didn't want to be anywhere else. We would fight Crowley. And we would win.