A/N: This is for an anonymous requester on Tumblr, wanting to see Cas protecting paralyzed Winchesters. Thank you so much for the prompt! Thank you also to Kathy for your review on the previous drabble :)

Setting: season 11

Summary: There's nothing more paralyzing than fear, and nothing more terrifying than being paralyzed. The boys finally got Cas away from the TV but they might not survive their first hunt back together.

Sam tried to yell a warning to Cas, but his mouth refused to open. His vocal chords were stricken inert, unable to make a sound. No matter how desperately he strained to reach the angel, no matter how insistently he begged his limbs to move, they remained paralyzed.

The only thing still functioning was his vision, able to watch every second as Cas fought to fend off the monster.

The nightmare immersed him so deeply, Sam was drowning in the fear. He willed himself to wake up.

But this wasn't a dream, and the winged half-lion, half-scorpion that could have crawled from some Hell-induced night terror was very real. And Cas was only barely holding his own.

Sam's body was slumped against the back of the shallow cave where he had fallen, unable to move after being stabbed with the tip of the manticore's venomous tail. His eyes tracked sideways to the motionless form next to him; Dean blinked back at him, as full of terror as Sam was himself.

Cas's pained grunt drew both of their silent gazes back to the fight at hand. Sam's heart flooded with dismay as the angel stumbled back with a bleeding gash in his side from the lethal lion claws. As fast as he was, the monster matched him for speed.

Roaring in victory, the manticore sliced down with its scorpion tail. Cas's scream rocked the small cave as it plunged into his chest, and there was nothing, not a single thing, that Sam could do to stop it or to help his friend. Moisture pricked his eyes; this was not how he'd imagined them ending.

The manticore ripped his tail back out, the barbed tip dislodging to remain in Cas's chest. Then with a snort, it turned its attention back towards Sam and Dean. From his research, Sam knew that they were about to be eaten alive, leaving no trace behind, just like what had happened to the missing hikers. If not for them, Cas wouldn't have even come along on this mission. If Sam hadn't insisted that the angel get out of the Bunker instead of continuing his Netflix binge, Cas wouldn't be about to die.

Guilt and shame nearly trampled out the fear in his heart as Sam watched the monster approach.

And then Cas was there.

The angel slid in between the manticore and the Winchesters, one hand pressed against his bleeding side to stem the flow and the other grasping his angel blade.

"No," Cas growled, sinking into a low crouch. "You can't have them."

The beast roared, rearing back on its hind paws in rage at the interruption. Cas only snorted.

"Your venom doesn't seem to work on angels. So you and I aren't finished yet."

It swiped with one massive paw, but Cas dodged aside, slashing with his blade as he went to deter the manticore from trying to slip past him closer to the paralyzed Winchesters. Again and again, he fended the monster off, protecting the hunters, but he was still wounded and flagging. And there was next to nothing that could kill a manticore.

Sam could only watch, heart thudding, gut twisting, fearing each and every slash of the manitcore's claws or swing of its tail would be the blow that ended the fight. But Cas refused to give an inch, no matter how ragged his breaths came. Even when he scored a direct slice with his blade, the manticore did little more than howl in anger and dodge backwards a pace.

If even the angel blade couldn't kill him, then this fight was over.

Suddenly, Cas paused. He looked down at the tip of the scorpion tail still embedded in his sternum, then grasped the exposed end. "Let's see how you like it."

With a cry, he wrenched the barb out of his body and flung himself forward. From Sam's vantage, he couldn't see what was happening, but he heard the manticore roar again—this time in agony and shock. The beast thrashed backwards, roars turning into keens. With the paws flailing wildly, Cas had to throw himself backwards, pulling Sam and Dean both in close to him and covering them with his body to protect them from any incidental slashes of the dangerous claws.

Finally, the manticore fell still and the cave was quiet. Cas sighed as he pushed himself away from the two with a groan, setting a hand on either of their heads.

Sam gasped as feeling slowly started to return, allowing him to at least move his fingers. "C-Cas," he croaked, trying out his voice. He swallowed and tried again. "Cas… you're… bleeding."

Beside him, Dean growled wordlessly and jerked his arms and legs until they moved the direction he wanted. "Hold on, buddy," he murmured as Cas slumped into the same position the hunters had just been in. "I gotcha."

Sam struggled to force himself up, but Dean recovered quicker. He peeled off his flannel, pressing it against Cas's side and chest. The angel hissed in pain.

"Sorry," Dean said, looking away. "Cas, I'm sorry."

"You couldn't move," Cas choked out. "Not your fault."

"It is our fault," Sam argued.

Cas shook his head. "I was… paralyzed, too." Succumbing to the pain, the angel passed out.

Sam and Dean traded a look as Sam finally convinced his legs to get him across the floor to where Cas sat against the wall. He thought back to the angel sitting in the darkened room, motionless on the bed with his eyes glued to the TV. And he knew exactly what Cas meant.

The paralysis of fear, equally as potent as manticore venom, had infected them all at one point.

But just like Cas had placed himself between them and a raging monster, they would protect him from his fears as well. They would stand between him and his demons for as long as it took for him to get back on his feet.

That was what family did.