Dean knew the instant he heard the man utter the words that he had fucked up. Then the man started coming at him, faster this time and with enough force that he knew if he did not dodge it would cause damage. For yet another time in the last week, Dean felt truly terrified. Dean dodged a hit to the face only to receive a kidney shot that made his entire right side explode with agony. Instinctively, Dean grabbed the man's face and was almost blinded by the light that spilled forth. Slumping onto a stool before letting go, he watched the man fall to the floor before finally taking in his surroundings.

The bar was dead silent, all eyes on him as the patrons stared in horror at the scene they had just witnessed. It wasn't busy, maybe ten people tops, but as he witnessed all of the eyes of go black and their faces contort into furious grimaces he realized that he was well and truly fucked.

"Son of a bitch."

Gabriel was lost in thought as he searched for the winged man in vain. He knew that withholding information from Castiel would not end pleasantly, but he did not want Dean to hear his suspicions just yet. After all, who wouldn't take the idea that their little brother was Lucifer's vessel badly?

The demons rose from their seats while Dean mentally prepared himself for the worst. Slowly edging his way so that he was in front of the unconscious priest, he heard the tell tale sound of fluttering wings somewhere to his right.

"Gabriel, thank fuck-"

"Sorry to disappoint, but no."

Flipping his head around, Dean recognized the Angel beside him from the dream he'd eavesdropped on.

"Balthazar?"

"I'm…not going to ask how you know that. I take it Cassie positively talks about me all the time?"

"Is now really-"

"The time? No. Will I anyways? Oh yes."

Dean didn't see him do it, but it was then that he saw Castiel under the blonde man's arm while he reached the other out and grabbed Dean's shoulder. Again with the sickening feeling of the world dropping from beneath him, one moment he was in the middle of the Demon infested bar and the next they were in the cabin from before. Balthazar practically threw the unconscious priest onto him before addressing him once more.

"Check his wounds, won't you? I believe he may have ripped a stitch or two."

"Wha-"

The Angel didn't bother waiting for a reply, just disappeared leaving Dean talking to the stale evening air with his arms full of priest.

"Dick."

Dragging him into the first room he found, Dean laid Castiel down on a cot in the corner of the room, still having not resolved the mess of emotions he had left him in but even Dean had the decency to know that now was not the time. Wrestling Cass out of his clerical shirt, he sucked in a pained breath of sympathy.

"You sure can take a punch."

His fingers ghosted over the red mark on the white flesh of his stomach, knowing full well that it would bruise in a few hours. Struggling with his newly acquired coat, he stretched his wings as he folded it carefully and laid it down so as to cushion his stomach before rolling him onto it. The healing coloration of Castiel's bruises made them more grotesque, his back a mess of green and yellow marbled skin.

Just by looking at the bandages covering the stitched wounds Dean could see the one that burst, his shoulder coated with dried blood and a bandage that looked crusted and hard. Covering the unconscious man with the tan trench coat, he searched the cabin for a bathroom or sink of any kind. It took him a minute, finding a few barren rooms and closets with abandoned boxes inside. In one he even managed to find a travel sized sewing kit, stuffing it into the waist band of his pants and knowing full well that he would need it soon.

He found the bathroom first, eternally grateful for the towels left behind, discovering the miracle that was running water so that he could make the clean up a little easier on everyone involved. The cupboards at first yielded nothing until he found a discarded First Aid Kit hidden behind the feminine products and hair dryer. Immediately he returned to Castiel's side, afraid of what might happen so long as they were separated. The situation seemed more fucked up by the minute, but at least with Castiel he knew he was safe.

Kneeling beside his companion, the priest's skin felt cool against his own. He needed to do this quickly, needed to find a way to return some heat to him. He dabbed the dried blood off, wetting down the used bandage in an attempt to ensure it would not rip out any stitches when he pulled it off. Instead, the cotton swatch clung to the skin beneath, making him wince every time he had to pull a little harder to remove it.

He cleaned the wound quietly; grateful that at least it was not infected again but only reopened. Three stitches had burst, having completely tore through the skin they kept together. Dean had some medical knowledge, this he knew, but broken stitches were beyond his pay grade.

"Gabe, I could really use your help right about now. Cass and I are shacked up-"

The flutter of wings was deafening in comparison to the previous silence.

"Dean, I may have been expecting a happy announcement, but isn't it a bit soon?"

"Cass is hurt."

Gabriel dropped his jovial attitude as he let his eyes flit to his baby brother. He had known about the wounds, hard to miss with him parading around in his underwear, but he had also known that Castiel would have been furious if he had healed him. This, however, was different. The Demon had fractured his skull, possibly putting him in a coma from shock and the wound on his shoulder was to the point further stitching would only prove to make it worse. Quite frankly, he could give two fucks what Castiel thought.

Shoving Dean aside, he sat beside his brother and laid his hand on the middle of his back. Gabriel would fix what he could.

Dean would never get used to the instantaneous healing. The bruises were gone, the gash scabbed to the point where movement would not cause bad damage and would even leave a pink raised scar upon removal. Relief washed over the winged man as he would be damned if he let what they had talked about taking that away.

Castiel woke feeling better than he knew he should, huddled against something warm and comfortable. Without thought he curled into that heat, rubbing his face along the smooth exterior. It moved then, a sudden intake of breath sounding from above his head.

"Dude, watch where you go rubbing your stubble, feels like a friggin' Brillo pad."

Castiel recoiled; horrified at the position he was in with Dean. Wait, Dean?

"Dean, what are you – what happened?"

The winged man sat up, stretching his previously sprawled wings as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. It was strange, surreal to see him so relaxed after they last spoke. Seeing the tired smile that Dean graced him with only enhanced the feeling.

"It's really good to see you up and about, man; I thought you were gonna be Mr. Comatose for sure."

"Dean, what is going on?"

"The Demon, I think Balthazar said he was Wrath-"

"Balthazar was here?"

"Yeah, but that's a little later on. The Demon put you out for the count, punched my kidney – which fucking hurt, by the way – and-"

"Did you have Gabriel heal you?"

"No. Look, I'm fine-"

"Let me see it."

"No, Cass-"

"Dean."

They stared at one another a few tense minutes until Dean relented and shifted to give Castiel a better view. The mark was horrendous, a mottled patch of black, blue and red that looked more like jam than anything.

"Dean, you-"

"I'm fine. I'll have Balthazar look at it later."

"What happened?"

"Uh, right, where was I? Umm…He went for a kidney shot, I slammed my palm on his face and then weird ability number four shows up: I can banish the fuckers. Turns out, the rest of the bar? Not really human. So then Balthazar pops in, drops us here and leaves me to tend to you."

Dean looks at him again, obvious worry in his eyes.

"It was bad, Cass. There was nothing I could do."

"So then-"

"I called Gabe, he fixed you enough so you'd be okay but still scar and then…we talked."

"You…talked?"

"Yeah."

"About what?"

"…Stuff."

"Dean."

"Oh, give him a break, Castiel; he's had quite the ordeal."

Flipping around, Castiel saw Gabriel leaning nonchalantly in the doorway. There was that grin again.

"How about you lovebirds-"

"We-"

"I-"

"-get some clothes on and we can talk over breakfast?"

Simultaneously they scrambled off the cot in search of clothes that neither had really noticed they were lacking. This was the second time Gabriel had to alert them – particularly Castiel – of this absence, something that made him flush with embarrassment. Throwing on his jeans and the first shirt he could find he was greeted with Dean looking particularly put out as he worked his way back into the dress shirt.

"If you'd like I can-"

"Nah, I got it."

In the shirt at last, Dean turned towards the door. Before he could put distance between them, Castiel grabbed his arm and turned him so that they were face to face while he searched his eyes.

"We will finish that discussion later."

"Yeah, okay."