Chapter Twenty-One
Scrambling Home

Dean Winchester, bloodied and dizzy from the head shot that dropped him cold, woke next to a pile of bodies. On instinct, he assessed the situation as best he could.

'Chaos' failed to capture the true condition of the scene.

Dean was in the middle of a courtyard surrounded by smoldering walls. Fire and stone actually rained down from the south, a byproduct of buildings still in the process of crumbling. Beaten and mangled bodies spattered the ground. He didn't recognize anyone around him.

"Cas! Sammy!" Dean cried out, staggering to his feet. "Sam!"

The rasp in his voice confused him, and the lack of balance just pissed him off. He coughed, then doubled over. Falling to his knees, he saw a sprinkle of his own blood over his hand. He was coughing blood.

The hiss of flame, the rumble of collapsing walls, the devastating screech of the winds knitted a cacophony that could drown out any sound. Yet, he felt words touch his ears, like a close whisper.

"Dean? You are alive. Dean... you are alive."

With all the demons, monsters, witches, spells, and creepy crawly things Dean had killed, he knew better than to trust a disembodied voice, but this time - he didn't know how, since he couldn't really hear enough to identify the voice - this time he knew that the words were from Castiel.

As this revelation dawned on the concussed and collapsed Winchester, he pushed himself to scramble forward. He waded through the corpses, yelling "Cas!" over and over again, occasionally punctuated by a coughing fit.

Dean stumbled over a body and jolted at the sight of a dead werewolf. His head throbbed unnecessarily as memories bubbled up.

They departed on this mission as a trio, leaving the prophet Kevin Tran and his mother in the care of a swarm of hunters rounded up by Garth. Yet for whatever reason - monster mash meet up, chain letters, or creepily expedient gossip - monsters learned about the Last Winchester Stand against Hell, and the trio found themselves in odd company.

The mod squad consisted of a little bit of everything: werewolves, shape-shifters, ghouls, skin-walkers, arachnes, djinns, and vampires. They were ready for a chance to retaliate against Crowley for his little quest for Purgatory, when he killed off alpha after alpha and crippled monster populations everywhere.

As far as Dean could tell, every monster that accompanied them was now dead.

Dean felt too weak to stand, so he crawled instead. Cas was here, he knew it.

Again, words hovered close to his ear, and Dean turned his head to listen better, "Dean, I'm so sorry. Dean. I'm..."

The signature trench coat caught Dean's eye. Castiel was there, under a pile of vampires and werewolves who had apparently come to his aid during the fray. Scrambling, half-crawling, half-running, Dean collapsed next to the angel, pulling bodies off him.

Dean had seen plenty of heinous injuries, but none of them prepared him to see the angel in his present state. His entire right side was swollen and bruised from a horrific beating, which seemed like nothing when compared to the multiple stab wounds that had only partially healed.

Dean pulled Castiel's head into his lap.

"Cas, man, I'm here, okay? You're gonna be okay? Okay? Cas? Damnit! Cas!"

His voice echoed hugely throughout the courtyard.

The angel opened his one good eye and smiled with the good half of his face.

"Hello, Dean," he said before his eye fluttered shut.

"Cas, you gotta hold on, okay?"

Cas pushed his eye open again, trying to fixate on Dean, but the weakness was spreading.

There was a moment, when the swirling abyss around them suddenly became a wilted flower. The air cleared. Simplicity set in, and Castiel and Dean were the only things in all the universe.

Some would attribute this moment to the amazing power of love; however, in this instance, it was attributed to a combination of air pollutants from the smoking rubble and a solid pair of head injuries.

"Listen to me, you angelic bastard. You made me watch you die after the Leviathan took you over. Then you made me leave you behind in Purgatory as that portal ripped me away, and the guilt from that nearly killed me. You can't make me leave you again. You can't make me watch you die again. You understand me, you bastard? You can't do this to me."

Dean felt helpless as Cas's good eye drifted shut.

"Cas? Don't close your eyes. Look at me," Dean brought his face as close as possible. "Look at me. Stay with me."

"I've been poisoned. I'm dying, Dean..."

"Shut up," he whispered back. "Just, look at me, Cas. Stay with me. I need you... to stay with me. You hear me? I. Need. You."

A firecracker lit up Castiel's chest cavity. The words 'I need you' from Dean Winchester were rare, and his desperation jolted Cas even more. Of all the things he could've said, 'I need you' shook Cas awake. His entire body vibrated with pain. Each heartbeat intensified his agony, but Dean held him and demanded to be seen. So Castiel stared into his green eyes, unsure of how much longer his body would hold out.

"Dean," Castiel pressed, "I..."

Dean made a soothing noise that the angel recognized as a sign to be quiet.

Sam ran into the courtyard, shouting, "Dean!"

"Sam?" Dean looked up at his brother, genuinely surprised. "You're alive?"

"Better," he replied. "I did it. The Gates, they're closed."

"You - you closed the Gates of Hell?" Dean asked. "And you're alive?"

Sam nodded, and before he could respond, Cas turned to him, "Take Dean and go. Please - "

Dean cut him off, "You shut up you sonova bitch, shut up and rest, because we're not leaving you here to die."

"Think about..." Cas huffed, "...the Impala."

"What?" Sam and Dean replied simultaneously.

"Think about the Impala," the angel said. "And take my hand."

The brothers exchanged looks of utter confusion. Castiel seeped exasperation as he continued, "I might be able to get there if you both concentrate on the Impala."

Dean pulled the angel up, almost into a sitting position, and Sam reached out and took Cas's good hand. Together they concentrated on the Impala, which they chose to park in a particularly shady, well-hidden place off I-5.

Suddenly, all three whisked away, and just as abruptly, they were dropped on their asses by the car.

"Way to stick the landing, there, Cas," Dean joked.

Sam was less amused, mostly because he was unconscious, having smashed into a tree.

"My apologies," Cas whispered. "It's harder to do with passengers and when dying."

"Shut up," Dean said. "Okay? Just hold on a little longer."

After checking Sam's pulse, Dean made it to walkie stowed in the car door.

"Charlie? Garth? We - we made it out. But, uh, none of us can really drive so we'll need a pick up."

"You're alive?" came Garth's voice. "Hallelujah!"

"We'll be there for pickup in twenty, roger?" Charlie's voice came next.

"Charlie, you still got that favor due from Gilda?" Dean asked.

"Totally," she replied. "Fairies are big on repayment for things like saving their lives and freeing them from total d-bags."

"Any chance you'd be willing to cash it in? Cas is outa angel mojo, and he ain't looking too good - "

" - I'm on it. Over!" she replied.

Dean still felt badly about interrupting Charlie and Gilda's tryst and stopping it before it began. Maybe now she'll get a second chance.

"Thanks, Charlie."

"See you ASAP," Garth replied.

Dean put the walkie down and turned back to Cas, "You okay there buddy?"

"I'm still here," the angel mumbled. "What happened to Sam?"

"He's knocked out from the landing," Dean replied. "He'll be fine. It's - "

A rustle of wings interrupted him as the angel Naomi appeared.

"You missed it," Dean said with bravado to cover his cough. "The whole battle-to-end-battles, closing the Gates of Hell? Yeah. But a bunch of Eve's freaks joined us for the fun."

"I saw," she commented tritely.

"And didn't think an extra angel or two would be a good idea on this one?" Dean shot at her. When she didn't respond, he continued, "Are you here to help us out or what? How's about a little healing?"

Naomi replied, "I am here to help you and Sam."

"Sam's fine, he's just knocked out. Cas is the one who needs a hand here - "

" - she's not here to help me, Dean," Castiel rasped from the ground. "She's here to kill me."

Naomi closed in, "I'm sorry, Dean, but he was given a choice, and this - "

"No freaking way," Dean snapped, stumbling between her and Cas. "After everything we've done, there's no way - "

"Do you really think you can stop me, Dean?" Naomi kept her voice level and calm. "You don't have an angel blade, and even if you did, you can barely stand."

"So, what? You wait till we're all broken and bloody to make your move, lady? That's a bitch move on your part."

"Please, this isn't about you," Naomi said.

"If it's about Cas, then it is about me."

"Castiel has fallen over and over again, and every chance for redemption - "

"Screw redemption," Dean interrupted. "You screwed with my brother's head so he'd leave me to die in Purgatory, and let both of us think that was his choice for months before the truth came out. What have you done to redeem yourself for that?"

Naomi's patience wore thin. It's not often she dealt with her dirty laundry being aired, and it made it difficult to maintain her composure. "Like I said, I'm not here for you Dean, I'm here to take Castiel - "

"Back off, bitch, you're not taking him."

She moved closer as she spoke because Sam stirred, and she didn't want to deal with both belligerent hunters.

"I am," she said. "I just wanted you to know that I am sorry, Dean."

She reached up to touch his forehead to put him to sleep.

But before she touched him, Dean said, "Then there's something you need to know."

"Oh?"

"Azazel. Lilith. Zachariah. Lucifer. Eve. Dick Roman. Crowley. Oh, and freaking Zeus."

"I'm sorry?" Naomi asked, wondering if Dean's head injury was more substantial than she detected.

"At the time, they all thought they could do whatever they wanted to whoever they wanted. They told me I couldn't stop them. They were un-fucking-touchable. You know what they have in common now?"

"Dean - "

" - they're all dead or stuck in a box. All of them. That's what happens to high-and-mighty assholes who go after my family. And Cas here, he's family. You touch him, try to hurt him, and I will drop your name on that list without even thinking about it."

Dean was bloody and bruised, not to mention swaying off balance, but the venom he put into his words made his intent clear. "You want to kill Cas and live, then you'd better kill all three of us, otherwise - "

" - I admire your loyalty, Dean," Naomi interrupted. "But a fair warning. Now that Hell is closed, the other angels may be less amenable to your threats."

"You mean you'll send your soldiers after him?" Dean demanded. "Wow, that's classy."

An approaching car covered the sound of Naomi's departure.

"Dean," Cas sputtered. "Thank you."

"Shut up," he replied. "No thank you required."

Garth pulled up in his pickup, Charlie and the fairy Gilda riding in the bed of truck.