Castiel woke up, surprised he had managed to fall asleep in the car, so soon after they left. He turned and found Dean staring at him, back and forth with the road, a grin plastered across his face.

"Look who decided to join the world of the living again."

"Where are we?"

"You've only been asleep a little over an hour." Dean slowed down ahead of a steep curve. "You could've slept more. Nothing interesting happening."

Cas looked ahead, seeing the flurries picking up speed. "Snow?"

"Hardly." the hunter scoffed. "Nah, just flurries. Roads are a bit slick, but nothing Baby can't handle."

"As I understand it, rear wheel drive vehicles are less than ideal in winter driving conditions."

Cas' statement was met with a rolling of eyes. "Yeah, well your google level understanding of car buying leaves a little to be desired. I've driven in much worse than this before."

"I believe you." Castiel stated simply.

"Well, if you aren't going to sleep-" Dean turned, reaching down with one hand, intent on flicking the radio on when suddenly the air around them cracked with power. It was as if a flash-bang went off, bright as the sun and loud as a siren. Cas shut his eyes, hands clamping over his ears. Dean cursed, trying his best to come to a stop as he lost all visibility on the road. Instead he felt the car sliding despite the brakes, tires losing purchase as they sailed over the now icy roads. The black car fishtailed, and Dean tried to steer through it, keeping it as close to where he remembered the road to be as possible, but it didn't help.

As the hunter's vision slowly started to clear, he could see the moment they pitched off the road. The impala started slipping down the embankment, sideways, before the right wheels sunk into the deep snow and mud and she rolled. Both occupants were helpless as the vehicle went wheels up and finally ended up righted again as it hit the tree. The crack as the glass splintered and groan of twisting metal pushed through the night. Then silence and blackness.

It was cold when Cas started to come back to consciousness. He opened his eyes, blinking, trying to clear his head. It was dark, but then, Cas remembered that it had been dark before he was knocked out. It was still dark, but not unusually so. "Dean?" He grunted through clenched teeth. He got no response and he took a few short breaths, bracing himself to try his luck at opening his eyes again.

He turned his head towards the driver side, trying to see the hunter. His eyes found him. "Dean." He repeated. He gritted his teeth, pulling his arm up, hand shaking Dean's shoulder gently. "Dean?" Dean's head listed bonelessly to the side, revealing a truly alarming amount of blood washing down the side of his head and over his ear from a cut in his hairline. His cheek also boasted a rather large piece of glass, and Cas could only guess that his head had been what busted through that side window. He could see Dean's breath in the cold air though, so he knew at least the hunter was alive.

Cas tried his best to orient himself, take stock of their situation rationally. He looked for the source of light that allowed him to see anything. Through the cracked windshield he could make out the trees. The headlights were still on, one buried, but the other shone across the white snow ahead of them to create the gentle glow, reflected to illuminate the cabin of the car. He could tell the roof was a little closer than it used to be, and the sides of the car were bent out of shape. More importantly, the dash was bent in, and the angel was dismayed to find his leg pinned underneath. He could feel his foot beyond it, but could tell it was warm and sticky with his own blood. His ribs felt a stabbing pain through them, and he wasn't sure what was up with his right arm, but any movement sent searing hot pain shooting across his body. He hissed as he tried to shift his position.

He thought back to their last moments before they crashed, and remembered the light and noise. He looked around outside the car, trying to find any danger he could immediately see. Nothing seemed to be there though, nothing trying to kill them at this moment. He let his body relax a little, but kept a part of his mind on high alert.

Cas turned his attention back to the hunter. "Dean… you need to wake up…" He tried again to give him a light shake. Nothing. Cas found himself beginning to panic. A closer inspection of the hunter turned up an overwhelming amount of blood pooling against the inner door, and the sight made Cas just a little queasy.

Cas rummaged around the bench, pulling out the hat Dean had gotten him in Buffalo. He leaned over as best he could, pressing the cloth to the hunter's head, trying to stem the flow. It didn't seem to do anything. Cas cursed, trying to think of his options. He tried his door. Maybe if I can get it open, I can get the leverage I need to move…. It was no use. The damage to the exterior kept him trapped.

A sound startled Cas. A phone. Dean's phone! Cas felt his heart fill with hope as he started to look for the source of the sound. That hope turned to ice as he saw the phone, resting on the back bench of the car, where it must have landed as the impala flipped. He reached back, falling almost a foot short of reaching it. Straining against his pinned leg, he pushed himself further, trying to grab the phone. He let out an involuntary scream as the movement ripped at every large and small bit of pain and injury in his body. Still he fell short. Tears now readily escaping his eyes from the exertion, he listened to the device stop ringing and let a little chirp to alert them to the voicemail.

The angel let himself sink down for a moment. He had never felt so helpless. He had laid siege to hell, fought countless angels, and stared down Lucifer himself before. He had died no less than three times and spent a year in purgatory, and yet nothing had scared him as much as this. Time was, he could grab Dean and fly them to safety. He could use his angelic healing, and take Dean's injuries away. Hell, he could even just use his strength to bend back the metal cage collapsed around them, and let them out. Now… he could do nothing. Nothing but sit, and wait, and very possibly die here. Dean was next to him, bleeding out, probably dying. He was pinned by the car, nursing a few dozen injuries of his own. And his only hope of getting help was so close but completely out of reach. Cas felt the renewed cold cross his face as more tears trailed down his cheeks. He took a few deep breaths, trying to ground himself and limit the panic.

It was time to problem solve. He couldn't get them out of here, and he couldn't call for help. He had to buy them time. Time to be discovered. Time for help to reach them.

One problem at a time. It was freezing. The engine didn't seem to be on anymore, even if the battery was still supplying power to the lights. The heat wasn't blowing, and Cas fiddling with the key in the ignition did nothing. The first danger to both their lives was simply freezing to death.

Groaning with pain, Cas carefully shifted his weight forward, using slow deliberate movements to wiggle out of his tan coat. He bit his lip, shifting even further as he slipped the cloth out from under and around him. By the time he had the coat completely free he was pale, and panting with the effort. He had to swallow back the nausea that threatened to overtake him, but he succeeded. Step one down, he reached up, grabbing the hunter's shoulder, and pulling him towards himself. Dean slid across the back of the bench, gently falling onto Cas' good shoulder, then closer to his chest, The former angel pulled the coat over him, to halfway cover them both. Problem one was sorted to the best of his ability.

Problem two. Dean's head was still losing blood at an alarming rate. The new position Cas found them in made it a little easier to help though, and he pressed the hat back to the wound, finding pressure easier to maintain. He wasn't sure it was enough, but it was all he could do. He could hear Dean's breath getting less even, more ragged, but he couldn't do anything about that.

He tried his best to keep calm and alert in the face of their circumstances. Though as temperatures continued to fall, Cas found his eyes pulling shut for longer and longer periods of time. He didn't think he nodded off, but he was suddenly alert to sounds outside the car. His first response was fear, that whatever had set off that light was back to finish the job, but he recognized the flashing emergency lights for what they were.

He jumped as a fireman knocked on the window next to him, and he turned his head, making eye contact as he continued to hold the freezing hunter close to his chest.

"We're going to get you out of here as soon as we can, okay buddy?"

Cas nodded weakly.

"Try not to move your head. You got a name?"

"Cas." he managed, his voice sounding strained even to his ears.

"Cas, good to meet you. I'm Jeff." The voice replied, starting a routine to keep the occupants calm and alert, per his training. "And him?"

"Dean." He responded, feeling reassured by the closeness of another human who was there to help. "He hit his head… it won't stop bleeding."

"Okay, that's okay. As soon as we get these doors open, we have an ambulance waiting to take you both to get some help, okay?"

Cas nodded again, despite Jeff's insistence he didn't. "The door won't open… I can't feel my leg." He mused, noticing the warm sticky feeling had given way to numbness.

"We're going to get through the doors. It's just going to take a few more minutes, you hold on." He leaned down, listening to a muffled voice coming from the radio that Cas couldn't make out. "Rescue just pulled up. They're going to be down here to get these doors off in just a second."

Cas tried to respond, but was fading back into the darkness quickly.

"Cas, try and stay with me." Jeff's voice sounded further away, though he hadn't moved.

Cas couldn't obey, his eyes slipping shut again. When he woke next, the door was just being removed from next to him, cold air and snow whipping into his side. The firemen discarded the door with the heavy machinery used to cut it off. He tightened his grip on Dean, dismayed to find the hunter still unconscious.

Cas focused again at the sounds, voices clearing up as his mind pulled itself from sleep. "Help him…" He muttered, not sure who exactly he was directing his request to.

"We got both of you." Jeff's soothing voice filtered through the chaos. "We gotta get your leg loose so we can get the both of you out. Steering column has you both trapped." He gestured and Cas finally saw that Dean's own legs were stuck under the wheel, though thankfully less than his own. "We installed a hydraulic piston here to push the dash back so we can get you out." He explained, though his words meant nothing to the newly human angel. "It's going to be a little loud, and it's probably going to hurt like hell, but it'll be over before you know it."

Cas managed a weak grin. They'd both been to hell, this couldn't hurt like that. Before he could think of a decent response, the piston activated and the dash began to lift off his leg. His mind whited out in pain, and it took a few moments to realize that the screaming he heard was coming from him. Hell or not, his new mortal body hadn't experienced much pain, and he felt like his nerve endings were on fire. Angels felt pain so infrequently, and he had to admit, never like this. None of the dulled angelic pain came even close to this.

Just when he thought he was going to pass out again, he felt something being slipped around his neck, immobilizing his head. He tried to catch what was being said to him, but his ears were just ringing with his pulse. He felt his body begin to be pulled from the car, his arms being pulled from Dean in the meantime. He felt fear, suddenly alone without the comforting contact he had with the hunter, but he was also relieved, knowing now they could reach him to help.

He let them tie him to a stretcher, catching a glimpse of the wrecked car as they carried him up the hill towards the road.