After the fight with the witch the brothers needed a small break to recover. Castiel assured them that the false trail he had created would keep the monster occupied for a while. More so now, that the witch was dead and couldn't support it with her powers anymore. It wouldn't find him again until he wanted it to. That gave the three of them time to prepare.

They agreed that the two hunters needed to get some rest and the night was almost over. So they all decided to hunt the creature during the next night. They chose a remote location in order to prevent any innocent people from coming across their little battle.

That was really all they could do. Setting the time and the location. They had no idea how to kill the creature so they would bring every weapon available to them. It was always good to be on the safe side, especially when dealing with something entirely new.

Sam and Dean went to bed after they had devised their meager plan for the next night. They both fell asleep almost immediately. Nearly dying once again had made them very tired. Castiel stayed with them, sitting silently in a corner of the room, watching over the sleeping brothers, because as an angel he didn't need to sleep.

Looking out the window he enjoyed this rare moment of peace, right before the next dangerous fight. He wished he didn't have to put the Winchesters in this kind of danger, but he knew that he would surely die if he attempted to take care of the creature by himself. And Dean would never let him go alone anyway, should he ever suggest it to the hunter.

The older Winchester had a very protective streak when it came to people he cared about and Castiel was fairly sure that he belonged in that category by now. Dean would rather die himself than watching someone else get hurt, if he could have prevented it. This was why Castiel had pulled Dean out of hell and this was why he loved the human so much, that he even contemplated to do the same thing Dean would do in his situation.

Only, it would really hurt Dean and if they all went together there was at least a small chance that they might all make it. That was the reason why the angel was still sitting in the corner, watching over the Winchester brothers and counting the hours of the new day.

After having watched the brothers sleep for a few hours he got up, walked over to Sam and lightly touched two fingers to Sam's forehead. He wanted to make sure that he younger Winchester would be asleep for a little while longer. Then he went over to Dean and also touched two of his fingers to his forehead as well, though for a different reason.

Shortly after this Dean woke up and found he was no longer lying in a reasonably comfortable bed, but on solid rock instead. Confused he sat up and looked around him. He was no longer in a motel room at all. It looked like he was on the top of a mountain and he wasn't alone.

"Cas, what the hell?" he asked as he spotted the angel standing nearby, his back to Dean.

Cas turned to his head briefly to look at him. "Good morning, Dean." He didn't say anymore and kept staring ahead across the mountains. Dean had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he got up from the ground and went to stand next to Castiel. When he reached him Dean stopped and stared himself. They were indeed on the top of a mountain, standing on a ledge, looking out over seemingly endless more mountains. The view was absolutely breathtaking.

"What are we doing here? Where's Sam?" Dean asked again.

"Sam is fine. He is asleep in his bed I imagine." the angel answered the second question.

"Alright, good." Dean was relieved that his brother was okay. It had been a bit of a shock to wake up on a mountain without Sam being there as well. Freakin' angels, he thought to himself. One would think he'd be used to these kinds of stunts, but Castiel still managed to surprise him occasionally.

"But what are we doing here in the freaking middle of nowhere? I should be asleep in my bed right now, too, don't you think?" he had no idea how he felt at the moment. He had gone from confused to worried to relieved and to confused again in a matter of seconds. Finally he settled on being pissed at the angel who had just pretty much abducted him in his sleep.

"Don't you feel it?" Cas asked, ignoring Dean's rapid mood swings and causing the hunter to become confused again.

"Feel what?" he demanded looking at the angel standing next to him.

"All that." Castiel motioned over the mountain tops in the distance and all around them, but did not turn his head towards Dean. "The quiet, the peace. Things might be different tomorrow for some of us."

Dean followed Castiel's gesture and for the first time really looked around him. Finally he understood what the angel was trying to tell him. At night they would confront a monster with unknown strengths. I'm such a dick sometimes, he thought as the realization hit him. Castiel was obviously worried that one of them might not survive the night.

Without looking at the angel next to him he slowly felt for his hand and took it firmly in his own, squeezing it lightly in reassurance. Only now did Castiel turn towards Dean, looking at him directly for the first time since he'd brought them there.

Dean turned, too, and they stood there just looking at each other. "We will beat this son of a bitch. We will all be fine." Dean fiercely said after a while. It almost broke his heart to see his angel so worried.

"You can't know that." Castiel answered sadly, looking away from Dean again. This was very unusual behavior for him. Dean let go of his hand and reached for Castiel's face. He put his hand under the angel's chin and turned his head back, so he could look him in the eyes again.

"No, I can't know that, but I have to believe it. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to even enter this fight." A spark of hope ignited in Castiel's eyes and Dean let go of his face and reached for the other man's hands again. "We have won so many fights that looked like a lost cause. I mean, come on Cas, we stopped the goddamn apocalypse. We can kill one lousy monster."

Castiel gave him a cautious smile. "Thanks." He hadn't really known why he had taken Dean to this remote place, just that he had needed some time alone with him. He hadn't expected to need the kind of comfort Dean had just offered him, but he had needed it, badly, and now he felt a lot better about the oncoming battle.

For a long while they just stood there, fingers intertwined, looking at each other. Gradually they moved ever closer together. How it happened, who was responsible for it, neither of them knew. It was like a gravitational pull. Finally they were standing so close that if one of them just leaned forward slightly…

Dean's thoughts were interrupted when Castiel suddenly lifted his head to the sky and took a step back. Dean felt a sharp stab of hurt at this perceived rejection. It surprised him a lot. He hadn't admitted to himself how much he had wanted for one of them to really lean forward those last few inches.

"Sam is awake and he is calling me. He's worried that something happened. We should go back now." Castiel explained what was suddenly going on, making Dean instantly feel better again. The moment was gone though and Cas zapped them back into the motel room where Sam waited. They told him some phony story about scoping out the area where they wanted to ice the monster that night and Sam seemed to buy it. The rest of the day was spent with preparations for the battle that was only hours away anymore.

Yay, I could finally log on again and update the story. I would have updated sooner if I could have. But here it is Chapter 5. There is Destiel coming up, can you feel it? Too bad Sam woke up when he did this time.