Author's Note:

I know many of you are curious about demons and stuff but I didn't want to include them in this story. Anyone who was a demon in the show I'm using as a human here because it's easier heh heh

Also, you caught me on the song references ^_^ But writing's so hard when you're doing it in silence! I'm allowed to like music XD

"Castiel wins! One more and they move on to Athens!"

"Dean Winchester and Castiel win again! On to Athens they go!"

The last two fights weren't anything special, it was tough and there were several rough patches but all in all Castiel got out of there mostly unscathed. They were on the tour bus to Athens in no time, Dean seeming to be much more comfortable with this form of transportation. He'd dropped his head against the window and successfully began napping, not bothered by the bumps and sounds of the bus. Castiel wasn't quite as fortunate, he sat quietly, staring forward and trying not to look at his brothers and sisters.

Of course, aside from some of the big competition, all the angels were present once again, this time in a confining space together for a longer period of time. Castiel looked at their faces and waved a little at the ones who tried to greet him. Overall the angels were quiet during the trip, at least until it was dark, the humans all attempting to get their rest.

"Castiel, how have you been?" His brothers inched closer; those who hadn't faced him in battle hadn't seen much of him aside from on the television.

"I've been lucky," Castiel admits quietly, "My human is a kind, gentle man." As he spoke he glanced up and noticed a face he hadn't seen in far too long.

"Run Castiel! GO!"

He remembered the urgency in his brother's tone, the angel that saved him immediate capture that first day. "Balthazar!" He couldn't help but raise his voice, tears rushing to his eyes as he scrambled to the back of the bus.

His old friend smiled and stood, lifting his arms slowly. "Castiel," he caught the smaller angel as Castiel practically leapt into his arms, burying his face against Balthazar's chest. "I'm sorry to see you here…"

Castiel lifted his head after a moment, clear distress on his face, "I've come to save you, all of you."

"I've heard." Balthazar's voice was soft, as though he were speaking to a child with dreams so far out of his reach.

Castiel bit his bottom lip and turned his face away, "You don't believe I can do it… do you?"

"It's a lovely thought, my dear Castiel. But look around you, these people are lost, they can't ever accept what you have in mind."

"They can be found again, Balthazar! Nothing is lost forever." Castiel hated the tone in his voice, he sounded like he was pleading, like his endeavors were useless and he was just trying to convince someone of something he himself knew was futile. But no, that's not how he felt. So why then did it sound that way? "I'll show you," Castiel growled out with determination, forcing it to the surface. "I won't fail here, I can't. Our father left us to die but I won't let that happen! I won't let them control us!"

Balthazar looked a little surprised; he'd thought Castiel's shouting on TV was just something his human had pushed for, something Castiel had been saying to get more recognition since he was new to the Angel Battles. Apparently he'd been wrong. "I'm sorry, Castiel." He smiled, "I shouldn't have doubted you, I'm behind you one hundred percent."

Castiel smiled, "Thank you, Balthazar." He was about to walk back to his seat when something dawned on him. He glanced back, "You can call me Cas."

Balthazar raised an eyebrow amusedly, "Alrighty."


The next battles began and this time Castiel decided to sit in the stands with Dean, watching from the crowd's perspective. He knew the rules, just because you lost one fight didn't mean you lost the entire tournament, you had to lose three to lose the round and be kicked out. He crinkled his brow as he watched Zachariah face off against Uriel. He wasn't surprised to see Uriel lose; Zachariah had been their boss back in the day and was stronger. Granted Castiel had been voting for Uriel, Zachariah pushed a few buttons in their last match.

"Not bad," Dean smiled, getting up and making his way out of the crowd. On his way someone recognized him and tugged at his sleeve.

"Are you Dean?" The kid was probably about 13, a baseball cap on his head.

"Yeah, that's me." Dean smiled, "You a fan?"

The kid smiled and nodded, blushing and looking away, "Can you ask Castiel if I can call him Cas?"

Dean smirked and pulled Castiel closer, "Why don't you ask him?"

Castiel looked down at the boy and touched the rim of his cap, lifting it slightly as he peered under. "You may call me Cas if you wish. But first, would you tell me why?"

"You got mad at that announcer when he called you that so I wanted to ask you if it was okay." The kid smiled sheepishly at Castiel, his cheeks only reddening. "You're really awesome."

"Thank you, I appreciate your support. And you know something?" He knelt down next to the boy's seat as the kid shook his head curiously, "Only people I care about are allowed to call me that, so protect it." With that he stood again and followed Dean out of the crowd and into the waiting area for their fight.

"Cute." Dean chuckled.

"What?" Castiel raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Nothing, just your little 'protect it' bit."

Castiel rolled his eyes, "Okay I'm sorry, I wanted to say something… The 'Cas' thing is important to me." He stuttered angrily.

Dean ran his hands along Castiel's midsection and slipped them down, following his hiplines until he reached the soft, tender flesh dangling between Castiel's legs. "Don't be mad, I'm just playing."

Castiel moaned and leaned back into Dean's arms, his hips bucking forward, his legs trembling. "Dean…" he huffed, eyes half lidded in a lustful gaze as he glanced over his shoulder at his man. "We're up next, you can't… we can't…un… Ah!"

Dean groped and stroked Castiel's swelling cock, taking in the sweet sounds, the shaky breaths and feeling of Castiel hardening. "You're beautiful, Cas." He whispered deeply, breathing heavily into his angel's ear and soaking in the shudder that erupted. "Let me take you apart, it won't take long."

Castiel whined softly, bucking into Dean's hand, letting his white cashmere pants slip down his hips. Dean wriggled his prize free from the fabric and palmed it, stroked it faster until Castiel's humping couldn't keep up, his legs nearly giving out, leaving him helplessly dependent on Dean's strength.

As he managed to successfully pull himself from his pants, Dean leaned Castiel over, "Lean on the wall, baby." He groaned, letting his angel support himself. Dean roughly worked Castiel open with a wet finger and pushed inside.

Castiel cried out, dragging his fingers down the wall. He loved feeling so full; his cheeks flushed red as he thrust backward. He nearly screamed when Dean struck his prostate, he could barely see past the stars flashing behind his eyelids. "More… More…" he whimpered, begging subtly as he shifted his hips, hoping for a chance encounter between his prostate and Dean's cock.

Dean smiled and adjusted his position to hammer Castiel home, enjoying the cries and moans a little more than he should. He flinched when Castiel's wings burst out of his back, right on time before their fight as always. The higher tech stadiums had certain controls over the angels' posture for when they entered the ring; Castiel's wings spread wide and erect, trembling more than his legs.

Dean removed his hand from the slick, leaking member he'd been massaging and started scratching at the sensitive skin on Castiel's back, paying close attention to where the feathers connected to flesh. Castiel's yelped and shuddered, his release spilling immediately, a surprising amount splashing to the floor around their feet. He gasped and shivered, letting Dean finish him off. Dean sighed into Castiel's neck, resting his head for a moment.

With a little angel mojo they were clean in time for the doors to open, Castiel's cheeks still a little flushed, Dean's grin impossible to remove.

This was their third fight after Castiel's match against Azrael; everyone had been relieved to see him up and about again. The angels cheered for him, several humans joined in and before they knew it the stadium had erupted with noise. Castiel took a slow breath and readied himself for this, trying to push the sex from his mind. He couldn't believe they'd done that right before their match. He tried to focus on the fact that he didn't know who his next opponent was, the trick to finishing off the round in Athens was that no one knew who their last opponents were.

"And introducing their opponents, Azazel and his angel Balthazar."

Castiel's eyes widen slowly, his heart pounding in his ears. "Baltha…zar…?" He squeaked quietly, his fingers tingling.

"Aw we got this," Dean grinned, "He looks pretty scrawny."

Castiel shot a glare back at Dean, or at least what he thought was a glare. However the expression he'd received in return told him his torment was displayed clearly in his eyes. He looked up at his old friend, Balthazar's wings displayed magnificently as he strode into the ring.

"I'm sorry, Cas." Balthazar said smoothly, he shifted into an offensive stance, his face twisted with remorse.

"Me too." Castiel said just before the bell rang.

They both remained still for several moments, staring at one another. Dean wasn't sure what to do, his mind was clouded completely by Castiel's mixed emotions, he couldn't give a single order. "Cas!" he shouted instead, "CAS! Clear your head!"

Of course he was too late, Azazel stopped wasting his time and sent Balthazar hurdling forward, a loud, glass shattering screech was all the crowd could hear before they understood what had happened. Castiel shrieked and stumbled, shaking against Balthazar's stiff form, the taller angel closing his eyes and whispering his apology one more time.

Balthazar shifted his hand slowly, looking at it sticking out the backside of Castiel, shoved through the front of him. He tried to pull it out painlessly but there was no way to do that judging by the sharp cries Castiel was making.

"CAS!" Dean shouted, his heart nearly stopping. He thought he'd seen all he could take when Azrael knocked Castiel out for days. Seeing his lover impaled was more than Dean could handle, Dean climbed into the ring and booked it to Castiel's side, taking him from Balthazar's arms and into his own. "Cas, Cas say something!"

Castiel lifted a hand to Dean's lips, "I'm okay, Dean." He strained to say, flinching with every breath. "I-I just…" He looked up at Balthazar, he didn't know what to say, or if he could even really say anything. His old friend, the one who'd warned him ten years ago to run and in the process saved him, now stood over him with an arm coated in his blood. "Balthazar…" he managed to groan out, shuddering from a sudden chill. His entire body felt like it was going numb.

"You'll be okay, Cas. I only ran you through with my arm, none of my grace was involved." He looked over at the referee who'd already called the match, "But your human entered the ring before they'd counted to ten, you've lost the match."

Castiel blinked tiredly, his hand finding Dean's and holding it closely. "It's… fine with me." He gasped, his other hand grasping at the hole left in his gut.

Dean held him closer, not liking the way these matches had been ending. "Cas, we can't do this anymore," he whispered, watching Balthazar step out of the ring. "I can't let you get hurt anymore."

Castiel struggled to reply but instead passed out, his head dropping against Dean's chest. Dean picked him up, trying hard not to recall how his angel had felt after Azrael, the limp, lifeless body of his lover. Balthazar said he'd be fine but that didn't stop the nightmares from pestering Dean that night. He'd changed Castiel's bandages several times, cleaned the wound and watched it slowly close, all the while Castiel slept and rested.

"We're done…" Dean tossed Castiel's ruined tournament clothes into the trash.

Author's Note:

One more thing: I know Sam hasn't made an appearance for a while, you'll have to wait 'til later, it's gonna be a little bit.