Castiels mouth dropped open as the giant monster pushed off its hind legs to catapult itself high over their heads. He was frozen in place for a moment while he watched this demon animal take off at an incredible speed towards the lake where Castiel knew Deans dream self was resting quietly in his folding chair. Thoughts of protecting Dean are screaming at him to move, to fly as fast as he can to the hunter and shelter his subconscious apparition.

But before he has a chance to even flap his wings, an animalistic scream tears Castiel out of his stupor. He watches, still unmoving, as Sam drops Gabriel and sprints after the beast.

"SAM! STOP!" It appears that the only thing working on Castiel is his mouth.

But Sam either can't hear him or ignores him and he just keeps running.

Whatever the reason, Castiel knows that Sam is going to need his help. But he can't leave Gabriels side without checking him first. A quick glance told Castiel that Gabriel was at least breathing, but he was still unconscious.

Gabriel had fallen on his side when Sam dropped him, one arm pinned underneath him and the other flung up over his face. What troubled Castiel, though, was that Gabriels aura seemed to be different, almost nonexistent. He didn't see the true form of the archangel, just the slumped form of the vessel he had possessed for thousands of years.

He took a quick, yet cautious, step towards his brother to see if he was still ok. But when Castiels foot hits the ground, he hears a sickening crunch, and his mind freezes.

He needs to look down to see what he stepped on, but he already knows. Eyes that were fearsome a few moments ago slid shut tightly. Castiel tilts his head down and reluctantly opens his eyes, and when he does, they are wet and red.

He gazes at the bodies of his bees under his feet, strewn about in the grass. He calls to them with his Grace, begging them to get up. The few survivors of the massive attack start to make their way to Castiel as he falls to his knees, tears slipping past his lashes.

The sound that comes out of Castiel shakes the ground and rattles the leaves off the trees.

Sam can feel the ground trembling under his feet as he runs. He can't tell if can't tell if it's coming from the ground itself or if it's his body quivering with pure fear as he sprints across the fields.

He wasn't thinking when he took off after the Mare. He knows there is nothing, absolutely nothing that he can do to hurt this creature. But as he runs, Sam is thinking through every scrap of information stored away in his mind. Maybe there is some obscure clue buried away, that seemed useless at the time, which could help him save Dean.

He finds nothing.

Sam doesn't notice when the ground stops shaking. All he can feel is the burn in his legs and his throat forcing out a scream.

"NO! DEAN!"

The Mare grabs Dean by the shoulder, razor sharp teeth sinking into the soft skin and muscle. The dream Dean opens his mouth like he's screaming, but no sound comes out. He's shaken like a rag doll as the Mare takes the last few paces towards the end of the dock and leaps towards the center of the lake.

Sam can't catch up to the monster, but the way the world around him is bending, he's not that far behind. The sound of his feet changes from the soft thudding of the dirt under his feet to the hollow banging of wood. Sam takes a few breaths in and out to prepare his lungs for holding a long swallow of air because he is about to do something incredibly stupid.

With one last intake of breath, and no hesitation in his stride, Sam dove off the edge of the dock into the depths of the lake.

His legs kick frantically, propelling Sam deep into the warm water. He cautiously blinks a few times, trying to open his eyes in the water. He expects only to be able to see a blur, for his eyes to not be able to make out anything in the haze of the dark void, but he is surprised that everything is clear. There is no cloudiness, no film over his vision. He can clearly see the Mare swimming deeper and deeper, taking his brother ever farther from his reach.

But Sam keeps swimming down. He will never abandon his brother. Even when all hope seems lost. He has to keep trying.

The last breath of air he took is starting to run out. His lungs are straining as he kicks, screaming for more oxygen.

Through the sound of blood rushing in his ears, Sam can hear a muffled splash behind him. For a moment, he is frightened, no sure of what leapt into the lake after him. Sam's legs kick a little faster, but he is relieved when it's Castiel that swims beside him. The angel pauses for a moment next to Sam, his trench coat floating all around him.

Castiel opens his mouth. "Sam, breathe."

The words are clear in Sams ears, unobstructed by the water. And in a flash, Castiel takes off deeper into the lake, faster than any human could ever hope to keep up with.

Sam is confused. How can he breathe? He's underwater. So he ignores the pains all over his body and keeps swimming, deeper and deeper. He can tell when he starts to pass out, but he can't turn back and leave Dean. I'd rather drown than leave him behind! Sam thinks. A few seconds longer and he can't take any more.

He opened his mouth to suck in a needed breath, and assumed he'd get a swallow of water right into his lungs. Sam expected this was where he died.

But he didn't.

Instead of water, Sam sucked air. Air as fresh as it was in the flower field. He took another unsteady breath, and got more of the same.

"How…?"

The single word escaped Sam, and it sounded as clear as when Castiel spoke to him. He didn't dwell on it too long, he was just grateful, and Sam continued to chase the faint red glow of the Mares mane into the depths.

But, a few more minutes of swimming and Sam began to realize that this was a mission without hope. This lake seemed to have no bottom, that he could swim for a thousand years and never reach it. He hadn't seen Castiel come back up, so he could only assume that even he was still chasing the Mare.

Sam stopped, just floated in the water, thinking. He really didn't want to turn back.

But this was impossible.

Suddenly, his mind returned to Gabriel, passed out and his Grace leaking out of him.

"Castiel will help Dean." Sam told himself, in the strong tone of unsure optimism. He just had to convince himself for a second that it was true, so that he could force his body to turn around and begin the climb towards the surface.

Sam is fairly sure that the world bent around him faster than before, because he breaches the smooth face of the water in what seems like no time at all.

He treads water momentarily, trying to get his bearings, when he notices Gabriels slumped figure on the grass, curled up in himself, his back to the water.

The feelings of fear return and Sam has to fight the panic as he swims over to the edge of the dock and hastily climbs the small attached ladder. He heaves himself a little ungracefully over the edge and water streams off of his body and spills onto the dock. When he reaches down unconsciously to try and squeeze some of the excess water out of his shirt, he is bone dry. The wood is still covered in water but everything on Sam, including his socks and his hair, looks like it never had been wet at all.

It's just another strange thing in this strange place that, in any other situation, Sam would either be cautious of or want to learn everything he could about it. But this situation is far from normal.

Sam ran the short distance to Gabriel, and when he rolled the archangel over to him, was relieved to see he was conscious.

"Gabriel! Hey, are you ok?"

Sams hands were running over Gabriels body, looking for obvious injuries, but found none. That calmed his nerves a little.

But Gabriel wasn't answering him. He was just staring straight up into the blue sky, lying limp on his back, letting Sam jostle and prod him without any resistance.

When Sam noticed the silence dragging on a little too long, he abandoned Gabriels body, bringing his large hands up to cradle Gabriels face.

"Hey, you gotta answer me. Please, Gabriel. Please answer me." Sams voice sounded desperate, and it was starting to crack a little.

But Gabriel still stared blankly skyward, and he still hadn't moved on his own. Sam grabbed him by the shoulders and hauled Gabriel up roughly to a sitting position, letting out a terrified grunt as he did so. He shook Gabriels shoulders, trying to get him to focus.

"Gabriel! Snap out of it! Please! Talk to me!"

Gabriel blinked slowly a few times before his eyes managed to focus on Sam instead of looking through him.

"Hey," Sam said, softer "there he is." He brought a hand up to palm Gabriels face, Sams fingers reaching into his hair. "Scared me for a minute. Are you ok? Please, you have to tell me."

"No."

The word was barely a whisper, and hearing it made any hope Sam had for Gabriel vanish. Sam rocked back onto his heels, his whole body sinking with defeat.

Gabriel slowly lowered his face into his hands, and sat there. He didn't cry, his wasn't shaking. He was just still.

Seeing this once lively angel breaking down in front of him, and knowing that it was just another thing he didn't know how to fix, Sam did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Gabriel over to his chest, and cradled him. Gently rocking them back and forth, he tried to comfort Gabriel with soft words and delicate touches.

They sat there, undisturbed, for what seemed like hours, but in actuality was only minutes. A large sudden splashing from the lake had Sam grasping Gabriel tighter, but the familiar sound of wings declared Castiels return from the depths.

Alone.

Shit.