His first instinct was to run. He knew he wouldn't get very far, not with Cas looking for him.

Castiel was sitting on the bed in steely silence. Dean was still standing in the doorway trying to figure out how much distance he could put between him and the angel before he got mojoed. His rumbled shirt and underwear were in his hands, his feet shoved in boots haphazardly, his belt wasn't fastened properly on his jeans.
There was no way he could escape this, and he knew it.

"Cas! Hey. What a surprise," he was genuinely surprised, but considering he'd been standing there for at least sixty seconds trying to figure out how to react it was more lie than truth. He shut and bolted the door.

"I told you I was coming, you knew or you wouldn't have gotten a separate room."

"Yeah, but you hadn't showed for a couple days. I figured you had, you know, gotten tied up…"

The other man was silent. Dean moved to set his things down on the small table in the room. His back was to Castiel. Maybe he doesn't know, he thought.

"Now that you're done with your wanton betrayal, do you have time for me?" his voice was as cold as ice and it hit Dean like a punch in the gut.

"Cas, I—"

"It was a yes or no question," the voice was calm and even. He was sitting on the bed, still facing the door. Dean was watching him, but the angel would not turn to meet him.

"Yes."

"Would you like to tell me why you would commit infidelity?"

"I cou—"

"Yes or no, Dean."

Dean was going from terrified to angry at a breakneck speed. Castiel was trying to control a tornado of anger and confusion. He stomped to a position in front of the angel.

The hunter gritted his teeth, "Yes, Cas."

"Speak."

"It was an accident. I couldn't help myself."

"Was she a siren or a succubus?" he still would not look at Dean, instead focusing on the door. His calm was like being stabbed with icicle.

"No."

"Did she put a spell on you?"

"No."

Castiel said nothing. Dean's hands were clenched in tight fist, he was simmering with rage.

"With the adrenaline from the raid, and the situation I was in. Come on, Cas. The hormones, pheromones. It was instinct!"

"Instinct?" The angel's voice was dripping with venom. Suddenly everything flashed white as the back of Dean's head hit the wall. The hand that had been so gentle to him previously had a vice grip on his throat. "You know what my instinct is, Dean?"

Dean was wide eyed with shock.

"Answer me," he growled.

Dean attempted to shake his head under the angel's unrelenting hand.

"It's to kill, Dean. It's to kill people who betray me," Castiel was looking him straight in the eyes, the hunter was too scared, too angry to look away. "You forget I am a soldier, Dean. My life is killing. I don't even have to move a muscle. I just have to wish it," the hand gripped tighter around his throat. He couldn't breathe.

"Cas," he rasped out.

The hand didn't move. The blue eyes looked like the bottoms of flames.

"I have done everything you have ever asked of me, Dean Winchester. I gave up everything for you. I gave you back your life."

Lack of oxygen was freckling Dean's vision with black spots.

"You made a promise to me, Dean Winchester."

The hand disappeared from around his throat; he collapsed on the floor gasping for air. The angel was back on the bed, staring at the wall.

"Please," Dean begged for the first time in his life, his voice weak from the crushing fingers of his lover. "Cas, I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."

He would not look at the man kneeling before him, but softly said, "I know you called out my name. I heard you yelling for me. It's why I came. I thought you needed me," He looked at Dean, the clear blue eyes overflowed as he did. Dean wasn't aware angels could cry or that they ever did, his heart sank.

"I do need you. Fuck, I don't know. I wasn't thinking. Cas…Castiel, please."

He reached to put a hand on Cas's leg, but he pulled it away, shunning him. His eyes went back to the door. Like he expected something else to come through it and change what had happened. Dean shrank back defeated. He was still on his knees, pleading to the angel with his eyes. It went unseen. Castiel couldn't bear to face him, not right now. He'd trusted him. He loved him. But he could not abide this.

"What is that rule in baseball?" his lips hardly moved he spoke so quietly, "Three strikes and you're out?" He looked at the man on the floor, "Strike one."

And he was gone.

Author's note: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate them. I'll try to keep updating most days, but with classes begun again and traveling home for a funeral this weekend it might be a little tough. thank you again for all the support, it means a lot to me.