Whoops - seems like ages since I updated.. Anyways, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy.

By the time what little light the sun gave off disappeared, a fire was burning steadily. Finally happy that Sam's temperature was slowly rising, Dean let him fall asleep. Fili looked across the fire at him. He was staring straight ahead into the flames, his eyebrows drawn together. Fili sighed and looked away, knowing he wouldn't get any conversation. He glanced sideways at Kili, who was propping himself up against a tree. Fili watched as his brother got comfy and closed his eyes. When Fili looked back, he caught Dean looking sideways at Sam. With the light from the fire illuminating the side of his face, Fili could see how tired Dean looked.

"You should sleep," Fili said, tensing slightly when Dean looked at him, "I've been the big brother long enough to know when someone's tired."

"Then you've also been the big brother long enough to know I'm not gonna sleep while he's like this," Dean replied, giving Fili a dark look.

Fili smiled a little, not knowing what else to say. Dean looked down. Fili looked around.

"So, where you from?" Fili asked quietly, as if not to wake their sleeping brothers. He smiled when Dean frowned at him, "Anyone with eyes can see you two aren't from anywhere around here."

Dean smiled, "You wouldn't believe me."

"Wouldn't I?" Fili asked.

"Another world," Dean told him after a while, "This isn't the first time we've been to a different one."

"You have a habit of... world travelling?" Fili asked with a frown.

"I think it's more of a habit of pissing off people who, themselves, are capable of world travelling," Dean replied, pursing his lips slightly, "But I do have to say we've never been dropped off in the middle of a forest."

"What do you do?" Fili asked incredulously, glancing Dean up and down.

Dean looked down, not saying anything. He ran a hand through his hair, "We hunt monsters. Not the kind of monsters you have here, I think."

"We? Just you and Sam?" Fili drew his eyebrows together again, "For how long?"

"Our father taught us how to hunt them," Dean started, staring at the ground like he was trying to burn a hole in it, "He spent his whole life hunting the thing that killed our mother. It got him first."

Fili heard him force a short quiet laugh, like it was the only thing keeping him together. Thanks to the glow of the fire, he could see what could have passed for a smile but seemed more simply like bared teeth that were cracking. He swallowed, his chest feeling tight.

"It wasn't always just us," Dean continued, almost like he couldn't stop the words once they'd started. For a second, his smile was genuine, "We did have some friends. They're dead because of us. Sometimes I don't even think it was worth it."

Dean closed his eyes. Was it? So much blood stained his hands. Too much. His hands bunched into fists, his nostrils flaring. Why should he be saved time and time again instead of Jo? Or Ellen, or Bobby, or Ash? He felt his arms beginning to shake as he went through their faces in his head, his lips quivering.

Fili looked away. Did he say anything? Did he comfort this man who was practically a stranger or did he change the conversation completely? Instead, he said nothing, going with the thought Dean could calm himself down.

Sam watched through half closed eyes. He wanted to argue his brother – to tell him it was all worth it. He wanted to believe they could do something right. He closed his eyes, thinking of all the times he'd tried to do something right and had gotten someone killed. He'd tried telling himself he had been doing what seemed to be the right thing. Over and over he told himself that. And every time in the corner of his mind he knew that clear consciences aren't built on good intentions.

Dean opened his eyes and glanced at his brother. He knew straight away he wasn't sleeping but said nothing. He looked at the fire. Memories flooded over him. Burning dad, Adam, Kevin.

No.

He shook his head slightly, refusing to think about them any longer. He sighed, trying to sort through all the shit in his head to focus on finding a way back. After a few minutes of thinking, he stopped – every idea he thought of coming back to asking Cas, the angel who never had his ears on.

Dean frowned – surely not all the angels they knew were dead.

"Gabriel!"

Fili almost jumped into the fire. Kili propelled himself away from the tree, half drawing his sword. He whirled around, looking for whatever he thought was attacking them, eyes full of sleep but wide open. Sam threw his brother his best bitch face, having been just on the verge of falling asleep.

"Dude, what the hell?" Sam demanded.

"Sorry," Dean smiled at his pissed little brother before looking at the other two, "Didn't mean to uh… terrify anyone."

Kili glanced at his sword and sheathed it again, "Should've thought about that before giving a battle cry."

Fili smiled at his brother, "So why did you terrify everyone?"

"I half thought up a plan," Dean told them.

"Gabriel is your plan?" Sam asked, staring daggers at his brother, "Are we thinking of the same Gabriel here? If we are, how is he your plan A?"

"Oh come on Sammy, he's not my plan A. Who d'you take me for?" he smiled at the second bitch face he received in less than five minutes, "No, Cas was my plan A but, you know Cas. I swear his radio needs new batteries."

"He's probably just done with your shit," Sam replied, crossing his arms and laying his head back on the tree he was leaning against.

"MY shi-" Dean cut himself off, holding his hands up, "Does anyone else have an idea? No? That's what I thought."

"Can this wonderful plan of yours wait 'til morning?" Kili asked yawning. He fell back against the tree he was sleeping against, "Some of us like sleeping."

Without waiting for an answer, Kili folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes. Dean looked at Sam.

"You're going to talk to Gabriel, aren't you?" Sam asked with a knowing smile.

"You betcha," Dean grinned.

"Great. Tell me about it in the morning."

Dean's grin fell, knowing something was clearly wrong if his brother was letting him carry out his plan without an argument. He was going to say something but realised Sam was already sleeping. Actually sleeping this time. Dean looked at Fili, not surprised to find him watching them.

"Here," Fili said as Dean went to say something. He tossed a dagger over the fire to Dean, hoping years of hunting monsters meant he could catch a dagger, "Don't go too far. Mirkwood's a dangerous place when you can see more than three foot in front of you."

Dean nodded his thanks and climbed to his feet, sliding the dagger through his belt.

Dean walked until he could just about see the glow of the fire. He stood in silence for a while, listening for anything that would try and kill him. He was relatively good at that. Once he was sure he was alone, he went to call to the angel. Before he could get a word out, he heard wings.

"Ready to send us back yet?" Dean asked, turning round slowly until he was facing the archangel, who seemed to have a faintly glowing silhouette.

"I might have been if you and Sasquatch would leave me alone for five goddamn minutes," Gabriel rolled his eyes, "You have no idea how tempting it is to keep you here."

"Look," Dean took a step towards the angel, "You've had your fun. Send us back."

"Wrong!" Gabriel smiled, "I've had some of my fun. I was thinking about sending you back. Then I had a much better idea. See, there are so many different universes out there I think it's a shame you only get to see a few. I hear Westeros is lovely this time of year."

"Listen to me you son of a bitch," Dean closed the gap between them in a second. He grabbed Gabriel's shirt collar, "Send us back or I swear-"

"You'll what, Deano?" Gabriel asked with a smirk, his eyes shining.

Dean drew the dagger and held it at the angel's throat, hoping whatever it was made of had some effect on angels, "I don't care if I have to rip you limb from limb I will kill you."

"Then you would be stuck here forever,"

Dean jabbed the dagger in to Gabriel's neck slightly. At that same moment, he was sent flying backwards. The dagger was flung away from his grasp. He looked up at the archangel and couldn't help gasping.

The same faint glow that had surrounded the angel had spread out around his, outlining huge wings. The golden glow seemed to pour out into them. A few threads of silver shot through the gold.

"I'm an archangel you dumbass,"

Dean squinted at Gabriel, wondering if the whole flaunt your angel alter ego was a contributing factor as to why God left.

"Not every angel loves you as much as Cassie. Bear that in mind."

The wings closed in around the angel, golden sparks flying off them. Dean looked away, the glow turning blinding. When he looked back, the archangel was gone, leaving only a few burning sparks on the ground where he had stood.

"Great," Dean sighed and stood up.

He looked around and shook his head, seeing a single golden ember laying on top of the dagger. When he went over to it, he frowned, realising it wasn't an ember. He knelt down and picked it up carefully. He almost smiled, realising it was a feather. He was going to leave it when he remembered it was still glowing. He shrugged to himself and picked up the dagger. Still holding the feather, Dean made his way back to the others.

Fili looked worriedly at the golden light that had just appeared in the direction Dean had gone. A moment later, it was gone. Fili glanced at Sam and Kili, who were both still fast asleep. He shook his head, not understanding how they could still be sleeping.

He looked back to where Dean had gone, now seeing a small glowing light making its way towards them. Fili relaxed when he realised it was Dean. He said nothing as the man sat down, the glowing object in his hand.

"So, how did your plan go?" Fili asked, guessing by the defeated look on Dean's face it hadn't gone well.

"About as well as he thought it would," Dean looked at Sam, then at the glowing object in his hand. He put it down beside the fire and stifled a yawn.

Fili smiled, "You should sleep," he ignored the look of death Dean gave him, "You're tired. I can keep look out by myself. I'll wake you if anything happens."

Dean studied the dwarf's face. Realising he meant it, Dean nodded, "Anything and you tell me,"

"I swear,"

Dean laid down, facing towards the fire. He closed his eyes, listening to everything and doubting he would fall asleep. The crackling of the fire drowned out Kili's soft snoring and Dean could picture it burning. After what felt like an eternity, sleep finally came.

Dean stood up. It was daylight. All the remained of the fire was its smouldering embers. He looked at where Sam had been laying and almost screamed. He wasn't there. Neither was Fili. Or Kili. Dean reached for the dagger in his belt and panicked slightly when it wasn't there. He looked around.

Everything else was the same. He was still in the forest. Even the feather was still where he'd left it. He frowned and began walking in the direction he'd gone when he went to meet Gabriel. All the golden feathers were still where they'd fallen; still faintly glowing. Dean froze when he heard wings.

He glanced over his shoulder briefly before turning around and facing the angel. Relief flooded him when he spotted the trench coat.

"You took your sweet time,"

"You're dreaming, Dean," Castiel told him, sounding bored, "I can't find you. Gabriel has made sure of that."

"Wait, you knew Gabriel was alive?" Dean asked, staring at his friend, "And you didn't think to tell us?"

"No because you would have tried to find him," Cas replied, returning Dean's gaze, "And then something like this would have happened."

"But we weren't trying to find him," Dean said, taking a step towards Cas, "We were just hunting a-"

"A trickster," Cas finished. He sighed, "Gabriel wouldn't just send you here because he can,"

"Really? And you know that because you are so close,"

"You know I can understand why he doesn't like you," Cas said, looking at Dean.

Dean looked at the angel, "You have any idea how we can get back?"

"Whatever Gabriel was doing, he didn't want you or Sam interrupting," Cas told Dean, "He will send you back when he is done."

Dean frowned, "And you're sure about that?"

"If you don't give him any reason to keep you here longer," Cas ignored the face Dean made, "He's an archangel, Dean. Be careful."

With that, Cas disappeared. Dean sighed. A second later, he heard someone shout his name. He whirled around, running towards where the fire had been. Just as he reached it, he tripped on a fallen branch.

The fall seemed to last forever.

"Dean!" Fili shook the man awake, jumping back with his hands up when Dean shot up, "I heard something."

Dean nodded. He stood up, Fili following his lead. Dean glanced at his brother before looking back to Fili. The dwarf put his finger to his lips and began picking his way towards the sound.

Dean followed, drawing the dagger. He squinted through the darkness, trying to see where Fili was leading him. A few seconds later, he heard voices. He glanced sideways at Fili, who had drawn one of his swords. When they came to a cluster of boulders, they ducked behind them.

Fili signalled for Dean to stay down and braved glancing over the top of the boulders. He slapped his hand over his mouth and dropped back down beside Dean.

"What is it?" Dean whispered, seeing the fear in Fili's eyes through the darkness.

Without waiting for an answer, Dean peered over the boulders.

There was a campfire in the middle, something roasting over it. There were three blob like figures laying down surrounding the fire, moving with every breath they took. The voices belonged to several silhouettes. Dean narrowed his eyes, trying to work out what they were. His eyes widened and he ducked back behind the boulders, seeing a machete like object in one of their hands.

He turned and looked at Fili, making his voice as quiet as he could, "What are they?"

Fili looked at him in a way that made the hairs on the back of Dean's neck stand up.

"Orcs."

Hope you liked it! As always, feel free to leave a review and thank you for reading :) X