'Dean, I'm gonna need you to go solo on this one. I'll distract Dumb and Dumber, just find Castiel!'

Scrambling to his feet, Dean barely registered the fact that Gabriel's voice came from inside his own head. Instead, Dean focused on struggling out of the tan trench coat he didn't remember putting on. The instant his wings were free of the coarse polyester he began his ascent, propelling himself high enough he could land on a nearby rooftop and start running. He couldn't resist a smirk as internally he whooped in sheer joy and excitement. Using his wings, he was running towards the church along the rooftops, gliding over any gaps he couldn't jump. It was like the kick ass chase scenes from his favorite movies, something Dean had never really saw himself reenacting but now that he was he made a mental note to do it again.

Gabriel had never been much of a fighter. Then again, his Father hadn't made him that way. Finding himself where he was now, fighting two of Heaven's foot soldiers, he silently wished that he had done something about that. Using his powers, he created another Gabriel to even the playing field a bit. Hesther continued to fight him, doing so with ferocity that terrified him. Despite his higher rank, he wasn't sure he could walk out of this unscathed – especially not after the flight here had him handicapped. Dodging another swing, he went to his haunches before he used his wings to throw his sister to the ground.

"Hesther, please! There is more to this than you know; I don't want to kill you, sister."

"Then perhaps you should not have sided with Lucifer."

She spat the words at him before using her position on the ground to jump at him. Grabbing her wrist, he twisted and pulled, disarming her as he tossed her across the road. It wasn't until that moment he noticed how quiet the once bustling road had become. Throwing another fake at Uriel before he could destroy the first, he tossed two at Hesther to keep her busy while he flew to a better vantage point nearby. Gabriel stared down in horror at the hordes of Demons overrunning the town. He found it doubtful that they had missed the arrival of three and a half(because Dean hardly counted) Angels, but why would they not react? Why did they continue with the façade? What were they-

"Dean…"

Dean stood on the rooftop overlooking the church entrance. He didn't know where to go from here, only having the initial plan of finding Castiel's mother and drilling her for information to go on. Now he was alone on a rooftop with the sun sliding down the horizon. Settling onto the edge, he tried not to wallow in the immense feeling of being alienated.

Had it not been for Hesther destroying both of the fakes and launching herself towards him, Gabriel would have flown the instant he had realized what was happening. How had they known? These were clearly the Angels of this time, the wear and tear of war not apparent on their Grace. Then again, it had been so long since he had been in Heaven. He didn't remember Hesther, or Uriel for that matter, being in Heaven prior to Castiel's fall. Trying to work out the possibility of being in some kind of integral time loop was proving to be too much of a distraction, the battle slowly destroying his stamina. Gabriel needed to put an end to this and he needed to do it now.

Dodging a blow but just barely, he feigned a wound and waited for her to approach for a finishing blow. She didn't keep him waiting. Creating another fake behind her, he slid the Angel blade across the ground to himself and the fake drove it home before she had the time to realize what he had done. His world erupted in the light of Grace dying before her hollowed vessel slumped to the ground.

Dean felt a warmth behind him, a light brighter than the setting sun flaring once before disappearing. He didn't know what was happening, but it couldn't be good. Grabbing the coat he had laid beside himself, he rose and turned to go back to Gabriel's aide. It wasn't until that moment he realized that he had problems of his own.

"Hey there, Big Boy. Mind handing yourself over or are we going to have to get nasty?"

Gabriel had not anticipated Uriel to last out after the death of his Garrison member. A growl escaped the younger Angel's throat as he threw himself towards Gabriel. He'd never been so happy for his vessel's smaller size until the moment he stepped aside and Uriel's momentum sent him sailing into a nearby wall. Using all of his wings, he pinned the larger man where he crashed, the blade he had recovered from his double pressed into Uriel's back.

"Why,Gabriel? Why have you turned against our Father's Will for a mud monkey, an insignificant-"

"I'm not doing this for him, brother."

"Then why? Why are you forsaking yourself?"

"Because Armageddon? The Apocalypse? It's wrong and Dad knew it."

"Then why did he abandon us, his most faithful children?"

"I dunno, maybe he wanted us to grow up."

Uriel seemed to think a moment before he continued, perhaps weighing the merit in this explanation.

"I will not stop. The bastardized thing must be taken to Heaven. We must allow history to run its course."

"I know."

Thrusting his blade into the vessel's heart, he knew better than apologizing for this. He couldn't be sorry for something he did not regret. He had lost two siblings, a brother and a sister in arms, but it was a small price to pay if it meant he could put a stop to this madness. Now his only hope was that Dean was still safe.

Something had changed, a searing pain in his arm that wouldn't stop. Clutching the handprint, the pain intensified as he curled in on himself. There was a continuous noise, something loud and ringing that washed out the words Balthazar appeared to be yelling to him. His heart was beating erratically, the frantic pace it set like the beating of a marching drum. As his mind fought its way to clarity he realized the noise was his own voice crying out for something, someone.

"Dean!"

"So, how about you give in, Dean? It's only going to get worse from here."

He hurt all over, his body pummeled and his face pretty damn demolished. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even his breathing, the ache in his ribs nothing compared to the pain where the bone of his left wing broke skin. The blonde demon stood over him, her black eyes roaming while she lifted her foot before dropping it onto the broken appendage. Fuck pride, Dean screamed until his voice went hoarse and he tasted blood in the back of his throat, sobbing from the pain in the effort.

"Fuck you, bitch."

"Aren't you just a sweet talker? I'm flattered."

"Bite me."

"Is that an invitation?"

"The answer is no."

"Then what good are you?"

Raising her foot again, possibly to smash in his face, she stopped short before dropping to the ground. Through his left eye, only slightly less swollen than the other, he watched Gabriel move to touch her again only to have her roll across the injured wing. Dean screamed again as black began to eat away at his vision. Straining to keep conscious as she continued to roll until she was out of view, she loomed over his face as she smirked at Gabriel.

"I'll be back for him."

Gabriel watched as the demon broke the woman's neck in its haste to escape her body, nothing he could do in this weakened state as the smoke billowed from her and then disappeared. Dropping to his knees, he found Dean alive but damaged beyond his capacity to heal with hours left to find Castiel's mother.

"Fuck."

Balthazar had not seen anything like this, completely at a loss on what to do. Castiel was not injured, the pains wracking his body foreign and he didn't know how to stop it. It wasn't until he noticed the mark on his forearm, the print he barely covered with his own, that Balthazar had a revelation.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

Dean didn't know where he was when he opened his eyes, only that it was dark and cold in a way that made his bones rattle, his wings quivering above his nude form. The darkness was all consuming a void in all directions without the faintest hint of light.

"Cass?"

His voice did not travel far, the sound devoured by the darkness surrounding him. He didn't know where he was, but he was well and truly alone.