Chapter 2

"You know how much I hate doing this to you, Castiel," Zachariah said as he absently cleaned blood from his fingernails with the end of an angel blade. He was standing only a few feet away from a chained Castiel.

Cas moaned as he tried to recall how it was that Zachariah could have captured him like this, but his mind was swimming in a haze of pain. Wounds covered his vessel to the point he could hardly keep up with healing them. It didn't help that the wounds were being inflicted with an angel blade so his true form was being hurt as well, weakening him even further.

"Brother…" Cas sighed as he closed his eyes to the sight of his tormentor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Castiel," Zachariah said with mock sympathy as he moved forward to place the point of the blade against the battered angel's shoulder. "But I can't stop… not yet anyway. You haven't yet told me what I want to know."

Cas shook his head adamantly. "No, I won't tell you," he practically choked out.

"Then there is nothing else I can do for you," the elder angel replied.

The stench of holy oil suddenly invaded Castiel's senses. His eyes flew open as he watched Zachariah pour the liquid down the surface of the blade still resting against his shoulder. "I think you may be changing your answer fairly soon, Castiel," Zachariah said and then with a blink of his eye, ignited the oil on the blade and used it to slice into Castiel some more.

Though his screams of agony, Castiel could hear his brother saying, "We've been here before, Castiel. And we both know that you're going to eventually tell me everything I want to know."

XXX

"Cas?" Sam asked as he walked into the living room again a few hours later and heard the angel muttering something. His normally pale skin was flushed and he was beginning to stir in his sleep. "Cas, you alright?" Sam asked worriedly as he walked over to the couch.

By the time he was kneeling beside the angel, Castiel was gasping and nearly thrashing in his sleep all while chanting something in Enochian.

"Castiel!" Sam called as he placed his hands on the angel's shoulders and gave him a shake. But that had apparently been the wrong move as Cas violently shook Sam off, causing the Winchester to fall backward and slide across the floor a few feet.

"Shit," Sam muttered as he rubbed at his sore backside even as he made his way cautiously back to Castiel's side. "Cas, come on," he called, trying to find an opening to get a hold of the angel again. "You're safe, Cas. You need to calm down."

"What the hell is going on now?" Bobby snapped as he suddenly made an appearance in the doorway.

Sam finally managed to stand over the vexed angel and pinned his shoulders down into the couch to keep him from trashing too violently but it was clear that Sam was nearly outmatched for strength to keep that up for long. "Get Dean," Sam snapped as he looked up briefly at Bobby. "He's having some kind of fit."

Bobby didn't need any more explanation as he quickly backed up and hurried off to find Dean.

"Cas… hey, Cas, come on. You've gotta snap out of it," Sam called. He frowned as he realized that a few of the deeper wounds on the angel's chest that had yet to fully heal were bleeding again.

Sam's hold was slipping so he slid his fingers down and wrapped them around to the back of Castiel's shoulders to try and get a better grip. It was then that he felt the fabric of the back of the dress shirt was wet and sticky.

"What the…" he muttered as he pulled one hand back up and saw the red liquid that his fingers had picked up. "Shit," he gasped as he quickly dropped back to the floor and used all of his strength to roll the still struggling Cas up off of his back and onto his side, facing towards the couch so that Sam could see his back.

"What the hell!?" Sam heard Dean yell even as he was still trying to register exactly what he was looking at.

The entire backside of the shirt was soaked in blood but there didn't seem to be any clear source. Sam was pulling the shirt off to see the bare back as Dean rushed up and grabbed the struggling angel's arms and pinned him up against the back of the couch so Sam could work.

Sam simply grabbed at one of the tears in the shirt and ripped it open, not bothering to struggle with removing it. But he was still at a loss when he could see the back. There were a few faint lines like the ones that were covering the angel's chest, but the mass of blood that was coating most of his backside did not seem to have any originating point.

"Damn it," Dean said through gritted teeth as he struggled to hold the much stronger angel in place. "It's his wing."

"Can't exactly see to do much about it," Sam said agitatedly.

"Cas! Hey, Cas!" Dean yelled as he shook him hard. "Damn it, Cas, wake the hell up!"

"Dean, he's burning up. I think he's got a fever," Sam said.

"I'll get ice," they heard Bobby say from behind them.

"No, Zachariah," Cas started to mutter. "Please… brother…"

"Would you knock that whole brother stuff off, Cas?!" Dean yelled at him while still trying to keep him from struggling. "He's a dick and not here anyway!" his hand slid from his grip on the tops of Cas' shoulders and slipped down his wet back.

Cas suddenly arched and cried out in pain but his eyes also flew open and his struggles started to slacken.

"Cas?" Dean gasped, quickly pulling his hand away from the shoulder blade that it had slipped to and returned it to the top of the angel's shoulder. "Cas, you back with us?"

Dean didn't like the fine shivers that were running through Castiel's body right then but he was feeling a little better that Cas wasn't muttering incoherently or trashing about so violently anymore.

"Hey, Castiel?" Sam asked as he leaned over to get a look at the angel's face.

"Sam," he breathed as he was able to see the younger Winchester looking at him.

"Yeah, Cas," Sam said as he smiled down at him. "Good to see you're awake."

Cas turned his head slightly and frowned at Dean who was still holding him up. "Why are you holding me, Dean?" he asked in confusion.

"You were kind of scaring us, Cas," Dean said as he started to gently roll the angel down to his back again. "You were freaking out and muttering…"

But Castiel's sudden cry of pain and arching of his back as soon as he was lying against the couch again cut Dean off. The hunter was quick to move him back onto his side but it was a few moments of gasping breaths from the angel before he could speak again.

"Shit, sorry, Cas," Dean was saying over and over again in some variation or other until Castiel was finally able to respond.

"Not… your fault," he gasped. "My wing…where is joins… can't take pressure…"

"Cas, is that why you're bleeding so badly?" Sam asked. He heard Bobby come back and he turned around to take towel filled with ice from him.

Cas nodded and said, "Sorry. Injured wings are difficult to heal." He suddenly hissed as Sam placed the towel on his head.

"Sorry… sorry, Cas, but you're too hot. You need to cool down," Sam quickly explained.

Cas blinked blearily as he seemed to try and process that information. "My grace…" he finally said. "Healing wings takes too much of it for this body to safely handle."

"What are you saying, Cas?" Dean asked.

"Wing injury is rare enough as it is," Cas explained. "But it is even rarer for the angel to be in a vessel as it is healing. The grace that is required to heal wings is extreme. That must be why my vessel's temperature is rising."

"So you're basically cooking Jimmy to heal yourself?" Dean asked.

Cas shook his head, "Jimmy has not been in this vessel since Raphael killed me last year. This is completely my own vessel now."

"So what would happen if you leave it to heal?" Sam asked. "Without your physical body to get in the way…"

Cas shook his head again, cutting Sam off. "I am in no condition to be outside of my vessel at this time. Not only would I lose all cohesion due to my weakened state, but I would attract all the other angels' attention to me and they would find us immediately."

"So… what?" Dean asked. "If you don't have to worry about cooking Jimmy then does it really matter if you run a fever as you heal?"

"I am nearly as affected by physical ailments as any human at the moment, Dean," Cas replied. "I believe that the fever is the reason for my outburst a moment ago."

"Angelic fever dreams… great," Dean muttered.

"Ok, you two Idgits," Bobby butted into the conversation. "I think you both know what to do about a bad fever."

Dean and Sam exchanged a look before they nodded. "Yeah," Sam sighed. "Cas, you're not going to like this, but it's the best way to keep you cool."

Dean nodded and said, "I'll head over to the gas station and grab a few bags, you get him upstairs and ready."

"Bags?" Cas asked. "Bags of what?"

"Ice," both brothers said in unison before Dean made sure that Sam had a hold on Cas before he turned to leave.

"Dean?" Cas suddenly said as he craned his neck over his shoulder to see the elder brother.

Dean stopped and looked back at him. Cas met his eyes and then shifted his gaze to Sam who was still supporting him. "Sam?" he asked.

Sam quickly glanced back and exchanged a worried look with Dean before nodding to the angel. "Yeah, Cas. What is it?" Sam asked gently.

His gaze shifted between the two brothers a moment before he asked, "You're actually here, correct? I… I'm here? This isn't Zachariah…"

"You're here, Cas," Dean quickly said as he strode back over and put a hand on the top of Castiel's shoulder. "You're here, I promise," Dean said firmly. "And you're in pretty rough shape, but we're gonna patch you back up. Got it?"

Cas returned Dean's determined gaze placidly for a moment before he nodded once. "Yes, Dean. I got it." He relaxed back onto his side and turned to face the couch again. "Thank you," he said softly.

Dean stood a moment more, staring at the back of Castiel's head a moment before he looked down at Sam. Sam didn't have anything to offer his brother as he just looked back with a worried expression. Dean shook his head in frustration and then quickly turned, "No bursting into flames while I'm gone," he muttered before he fled from the room. The soft thud of the screen door closing was all the indication that they had that Dean was now gone.

"What about your wing, Cas?" Sam asked gently after a moment of silence. "You're bleeding and loss of blood isn't good for a human either."

Cas shuddered and closed his eyes. "Have to bandage, I suppose," he said softly.

"But I can't…" and then Sam gasped and nearly lost his hold as two faint outlines of wings appeared to either side where he was holding Cas.

"Cas… I still can't…" Sam was saying but then he felt another shudder run through the angel's back just before he could see the wings clearly. The left one seemed perfectly fine, if tucked at an awkward angle beside him, but the right one was a bloodied mess. There were only a few scant feathers remaining near the very top edge of this wing. The rest was raw, bloody skin pulled taut over the ridged bones beneath.

"Shit, Cas," Sam breathed as he tentatively raised one hand up to the batter wing. His fingers had just barely touched the skin when the angel gasped and snapped his wing away from the touch. "Oh god, sorry," Sam quickly apologized. "It's that bad?"

Cas nodded and then said through gritted teeth. "Please, work quickly. It takes much energy to keep them on this plane."

Sam nodded and turned to ask Bobby for supplies but the older hunter was already returning with his med kit. "I have to say," Bobby said as he eyed the wing. "I don't know the first thing about bandaging an angel wing. How about you?" he asked Sam as he handed the kit over.

Sam shook his head and said, "Best I figure is clean the blood up and keep the open wounds covered," he said.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea in theory," Bobby replied as Sam pulled out a square of gauze and raised it to swipe at the blood. "But if he can hardly stand you touching…"

Cas suddenly stiffened and curled in on himself, choking off a cry of pain, as Sam made the first swipe.

"Yeah, that's what I was worried about," Bobby said with a shake of his head.

"Damn," Sam said, pulling his hand back. "I can't touch him without making things worse."

"Have to, Sam," Cas replied into the ratty throw pillow that he was curled around. "You're right, can't bleed much more. It's too much of a strain on my grace to both heal my wing and other injuries and combat blood loss."

"Cas," Sam said. "You realize that the way bandages work is to apply pressure to a wound to stop the blood flow, right?"

He felt another tremor through the angel before he said, "Yes, I am aware. Please, get on with this."

Sam sighed and then returned to his task, trying to blot out the sounds of Castiel's moans and mutters of pain.

About halfway done, Sam gave Cas a slight break as Bobby went to change the now heavily blood tainted bowl of water for fresh. "Cas?" Sam asked softly, not sure if the angel was even still conscious.

"Yes, Sam?" he replied after only a short pause.

Sam shifted in the chair that he was now sitting in beside the couch and leaned forward. He took a deep breath and looked away as he let it out. "Cas, how long did Zachariah have you?" he asked when he finally managed to look back.

Castiel was quiet for another long stretch before he replied very softly and with far more gravel in his voice than normal. "I am… uncertain. Some days… a week maybe?"

Sam swallowed hard and said, "You left us nine days ago, Cas."

Cas sighed and said, "Then, eight days," he replied.

Sam tightened his jaw as he stood up and walked a few steps away in agitation. He took deep breaths as he paced a few steps, back a forth, not far from where the angel was lying. Finally, he turned back and returned to his seat. "Why did he do this?" Sam asked quietly but with obvious rage in his voice. "I get it, you disobeyed. But why the hell did he have to torture you?"

Cas shifted and turned his head to look at Sam. Sam was taken aback by the sorrow in those eyes but Cas only looked at him a moment before he turned back. "He can't find you or your brother," he said. "He was certain that I could tell him where you were."

Sam stared wide eyed at the angel's back a moment. He didn't even hardly notice when Bobby had returned until the older hunter tapped his arm to get his attention. "You in there, boy?" he asked Sam as he held the bowl out to him.

Sam blinked and looked at Bobby. It took him another moment to get his head around what Bobby was offering him before he quickly took it. "Thanks Bobby," Sam said before turning back to face the task in front of him.

He dipped the cloth in the warm water again and began to raise it to the wing. He paused just before he touched it, however and said very softly, "I'm so sorry, Castiel."

XXX

Through the rest of the cleaning, the angel was managing to keep most of his pain contained but as soon as Sam started to wrap his wing with the bandages, he started to writhe and struggle away.

"Cas! Shit, come on, I can't…"

"No…no, no, please… Sam… Please, stop…" he was begging as he tried to get up from the couch.

Bobby was there then, pinning the angel's hip down so that he couldn't rise. "Come on, boy," he snapped at the angel. "You've come this far, just let Sam finish."

"Hurts…" Castiel choked out through a sob.

"Ok," Sam said, swallowing hard and leaning back. "Ok, the bleeding looks like its slowing on its own now that you're cleaned up," he said. "We'll leave you alone for now but you have to tell us if the blood loss is getting too much for you, ok, Cas?"

"Yes, Sam… I promise," he said with a sigh and then the vision of the wings flickered and disappeared again.

"I'm not going to accidentally touch them, am I?" Sam asked.

Cas shook his head, rubbing the sweat that was gathering on his forehead onto the couch cushions. "No, out of reach," he muttered.

Sam wasn't quite sure what that meant but he nodded and finally stood up, shaking out his cramped muscles from leaning over for so long. "Alright, let's get you upstairs then."

"Think you can manage that on your own?" Bobby asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Sam said. "Why don't you give Dean a call and see what's taking him so long?"

Bobby nodded and wheeled out of the room for the wall of phones.

"Come on, Cas," Sam said as he leaned over and wrapped his arm around Castiel's shoulders and under his left arm. "Need to get you upstairs for when Dean gets back."

"Wh…why?" Cas asked blurrily as Sam grunted and lifted Cas up to a seated position.

"Have to get your fever down, Cas," Sam panted with the effort. "Ice bath is the best way to do that." He struggled a moment with the angel before saying, "Come on, help me out here."

Cas moved jerkily and with very out of character gracelessness while he tried to shift himself so that his feet were on the floor again. "This is… I feel… strange."

"It's the fever and blood loss," Sam tried to assure him. "You're probably pretty dizzy right now. Should get some fluids into you pretty soon too," Sam talked as he pulled Castiel's other arm over his shoulders and slowly lifted the angel to a stand. Cas swayed in Sam's hold for a moment as he seemed to have to remind himself how his legs worked.

"I do not like this, Sam," he muttered when he finally seemed to find the ground again.

"Yeah, being sick and injured is not something you're supposed to like, Cas."

"How do you humans deal with this all the time?" he asked as he started to shuffle along drunkenly beside the taller human.

"It's just something we have to live with from time to time."

They had just made it to the first step and Cas was struggling to get his foot to lift that far up when Bobby suddenly appeared beside them. "Dean's not answering his phone," he said softly but with barely contained panic.

Sam stopped dead, leaving Cas to sway haphazardly halfway through his step. "What…" Sam started to ask and then suddenly he found himself shoved away from the angel. "Cas!" Sam exclaimed as his shoulder bumped into the opposite wall.

Cas swayed in place a moment and then he took a faltering step towards the door. "Something's wrong," he muttered. "Have to find Dean."

"Cas, you're not in any shape…" but then there was a flutter of wind and Cas was gone from sight.

"Shit," Sam yelled as he turned to Bobby. "I need a car, Bobby," he said quickly.

"Yeah, figured as much," the older hunter said as he was already rolling himself back into the kitchen.

Sam went back into the living room and snatched up his jacket that had the demon knife in it and pulled out a shot gun from one of the many weapon hiding places in the room. Bobby had fished out a set of keys from a drawer in the kitchen and quickly tossed them to Sam when he came back through.

"Red Chevy out there," Bobby quickly informed Sam.

"Thanks Bobby. I'll call as soon as I know anything."

"You'll call every ten minutes if you know what's good for ya," Bobby called after Sam.

XXX

Sam sped down the road, racing towards the gas station that was only a few miles away from the salvage yard. The tires squealed under him as he yanked the wheel around, swerving into the parking lot of the gas station at full throttle. He slammed on the breaks when he saw the Impala parked alongside the building but there was no sign of any life.

He quickly climbed out of the cab of the truck and had the shot gun at the ready in one hand and the demon knife clutched in his other.

He glanced through the bank of windows of the station to the inside and saw that the place was trashed. There were shelves of items tossed to the floor, scattering cans and bags of chips and bottles of motor oil all over the place. There was no sign of movement inside but Sam's stomach clenched when he noticed a few sprays of blood across some of the walls and against the inside of one of the windows.

Just then he heard a soft moan from the other side of the Impala. He immediately crouched down and readied himself as he came up alongside the car and peered around the edge.

"Castiel!" he exclaimed when he saw the angel leaning against the car, gasping as his arms wrapped around himself as if he were trying to hold his own body together. Sam was worried that assessment might not be far from the mark when he hurried to the angel's side and saw how violently he was shivering.

"Cas! What the hell happened?!" Sam demanded. "Where's Dean?"

"Demons," Cas said through clenched teeth. "Took him… Couldn't… couldn't fight…"

"Damn it, Cas," Sam breathed as he pulled his jacket off and slung it around Castiel's bare shoulders. "You shouldn't have flown off like that."

"No time… Dean…"

"Yeah, he's going to be pissed at me for letting you get worse. Now, do you know where they took him?"

Cas shook his head. "Can track them, though."

"Cas…" Sam said with trepidation. "You're not in any shape…" but he stopped short when Cas finally snapped his head up and looked Sam in the eye. The hunter could see the immense pain that the angel was suffering but he knew that determined look. It was the same look that Dean would give whenever he was in trouble and Sam knew that, no matter what it cost, Dean was going to make sure that his baby brother was alright before he let himself fall apart. That was the look the angel had now and Sam knew that there was going to be no arguing with this celestial being until Dean was safe again.

"Ok," Sam sighed and held up his hands in surrender. "But you're not flying anymore. I hate to think what that probably did to your already injured wing."

"It was… unpleasant," Cas said through gritted teeth.

"Master of understatement, as usual," Sam sighed as he reached down and helped Cas to his feet again. Castiel groaned as he moved but there was no actual protest to the movement.

"South," Cas muttered as Sam reached over and opened passenger door of the Impala. "They are heading South."

"Ok then," Sam said, helping the angel inside and then closing the door. He hurried around and jumped into the driver's seat. It was a little worrying that Dean had left the keys in the ignition but Sam was glad he wasn't going to have to hotwire his brother's beloved vehicle. "South it is," he said and then quickly pulled away from the station and onto the road.

"He was fighting when I showed up," Cas said after a moment of silence. "Cut two of them. Shot a third. But he didn't have the knife… he couldn't kill them. I could barely stand when I got there. Tried to smite one… didn't have the strength."

Sam sighed and said, "Why'd they leave you?"

"Don't think they realized I was an angel," Cas said bitterly as he looked out the window. "Thought I was good as dead."

"Good as…" Sam quickly looked over and realized that Cas was still holding onto his stomach tightly with both hands. It was then that he realized that there was blood sliding out from under his hold. "Shit! Cas!" he yelled as he quickly pulled the car over before he reached out to pull the angel's arms away. "What the hell…"

"There's no time…" Castiel started to argue but Sam had forced his arms away from his body then and revealed the deep puncture wound just under Cas' left bottom rib.

"Cas, we're not going anywhere until that stops bleeding," Sam snapped as he jumped out of the car and hurried for the trunk. He was only gone a moment before he returned with another med kit. "For an angel of the Lord you're awfully stupid, Cas," Sam admonished as he cleared away as much blood as he could.

"Sam, I'll live," Cas said in exasperation. "Dean may not."

Sam paused and then shook his head and returned to the task of patching the angel up again. "Yeah, if he does, though… he's going to kill me if I let you bleed out trying to get to him."

Cas didn't respond to that and simply sat there, gritting his teeth, as Sam worked. "Any idea why they wanted him?" Sam asked.

Cas sighed and then said, "Probably the same reason the angels want you, Sam."

Sam paused again and then swore under his breath as he hurriedly finished wrapping the bandage around Castiel. "Great, bait… why the hell?"

"…Because that's what works," Cas responded. "Michael wants Dean to say yes so he uses you against Dean. Lucifer wants you to agree so he's going to use Dean against you. They both know that you are each other's weak points, Sam."

"Well, welcome to the club, Cas," Sam said angrily as he closed the kit and tossed it into the back seat. He turned back in his spot and then got the Impala going again and onto the road. "How close did Dean come to saying yes when they were tearing into you?" he asked the angel.

Cas remained silent as he frowned. "You're a bargaining chip now too, Cas, so you need to be just as careful with yourself. Dean and I don't want to see you hurt in this either. You've sacrificed too much for us as it is."

"I have done what I believe to be right. Neither you nor Dean owe me anything."

"Yeah, well, that's bull crap and you know it. Doesn't matter if we owe you or not. What matters is we care about what happens to you. And you coming along on this little trip while you're in this state is only going to put you in harm's way again."

"Would you rather I left you to track the demons on your own?" Cas snapped back. "I can tell where their trail goes, Sam. You need me to find Dean again."

Sam sighed and then asked softly, "Don't you think that's exactly what the demons want? They need Dean to get to me; don't you think that we're probably just driving right into a trap?"

Cas was silent again before he nodded slowly. "Perhaps they were aware of who I am after all."

Sam shrugged, "Not sure about that. I can't imagine demons purposefully leaving an angel alive when they may have had a chance to kill you. I think your first guess was probably more accurate. Which means that we're going to find them sooner than they intended. If they aren't expecting me to be able to track them right away, they are probably heading somewhere they think is safe before letting me know where to go. That means we can get the jump on them if we hurry."

"Glad I came along now?" Cas asked with a humorless smile.

Sam laughed and said, "Only a little. Dean's still going to have a fit for bringing you."