"Sam, give me your knife." Castiel sounded frantic and commanding enough to the younger hunter that he didn't think about and simply handed Ruby's knife to the Angel.

"What are you doing, Cas?" Dean demanded to know while keeping one eye on the street and one on the illuminated house in the rear-view mirror. Obviously the Angels were checking out the ramshackle building they had left only minutes ago. The older brother was nervous and jittery, anticipating an attack at any second. And Castiel playing with a sharp knife while he was flooring the gas pedal on a street with questionable pavement in the middle of the night did nothing to soothe his nerves. One bump and... "Cas?"

There was an audible hitch in the Angel's breath before he cared to answer what sounded like through clenched teeth: "I am warding your car..."

"No way you are bleeding..." Dean began, angry, but Castiel interrupted him, sounding a bit breathless.

"I am sorry, but right now I do believe our well-being weights more than the undoubtedly precious upholstery of your car." In the rear-view mirror the older hunter could see the Angel's dark form reaching up to the ceiling and drawing something with his fingers while he continued to reason with Dean: "As soon as I have finished, this vehicle and its occupants will be shielded from prying eyes of both demons and Angels. Albeit the blood has to stay... Perhaps it might prove prudent covering it up with something. Otherwise, bystanders could begin to ask inconvenient questions..."

With clenched teeth Dean drove on until a minute later Castiel started to talk again. But this time his voice sounded... sheepish?

"I am very sorry. I am afraid I might have forgotten I am no longer capable of healing my wounds..."

Dean sighed before he took a look at the figure in the backseat again and frowned as soon as he saw the Angel was clutching his left arm. "Don't tell me you are really bleeding all over the upholstery, Cas!"

"You wouldn't happen to have something to stem the blood loss?"

Dean groaned and stopped the impala while Sam had already gotten the small first aid kit from his bag. The older hunter was about to open his door to go to Castiel when Sam stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Dean, Cas said we are safe inside the impala."

"Great. Now we have to crawl in the back?"

"Looks like it... You're smaller than me. You go. I'll..." Sam gestured at the wheel and waited for his brother to nod.

Although Dean was reluctant to let his brother drive he had to acknowledge that Sam had a valid point. Not only was Dean not as huge as his Sasquatch-sized brother, but they were still way too close to the house with the angry Angels inside. Sam could drive on while he would tend to Castiel's injury.

~*~

Dean tried to clean the vicious looking cut on the Angels forearm but blood kept seeping out quicker than he could wipe it away. "Dammit, Cas! I think you need stitches."

"I am sorry. I got... carried away with the urge to protect us. I forgot I can no longer heal myself as easily as I used to." The Angel sounded genuinely contrite.

While Dean still tried to figure out if he could manage the sewing while Sam was driving, his brother said from the front seat: "No sweat. You'll need time to adjust."

"No sweat... of course not. But a hell of a lot of blood..." Dean muttered while wrapping up the long cut with gauze. It would have to be enough for the next few minutes.

Soon after they entered a city, lights illuminating the dark night and the impala's interior.

"Hey, Sam! Try to find some kind of drive-through... McDonald's or something. We should be going for at least another hour and I think we all are beat and could use some caffeine. And we need to stop in the next few minutes anyway. Slicer-boy here needs stitches pretty soon." Dean had noticed Castiel becoming slightly paler in the last ten minutes. Although Dean did not believe the Angel had lost too much blood he knew what a steadily bleeding wound could do to an already unstable circulatory system.

Castiel kept muttering something in Latin Dean did not fully understand . "Pater noster", "Te adoramus" and "Halleluiah". It somehow sounded like a prayer.

"Cas?" Seeing that the Angel did not react after a few seconds, he cautiously put a hand on Castiel's shoulder. The soft touch made the smaller man flinch violently before he turned his head to the hunter.

"Whoa, easy, Cas. Just wanted to make sure you're still with us."

"I am, Dean. No good will come of leaving the car. Much less the warded and still moving car," the Angel answered softly. "I will stay with you as long as I have to."

The last sentence made Dean frown. "You make it sound as if it's an annoying liability."

"It is indeed my duty. You rescued me and therefore endangered yourself. I will protect you as long as deemed necessary."

Dean sighed. No point in discussing the meaning of duty and debt with an angel. So he changed the topic to the question he wanted to ask in the first place: "How ya feeling, Cas?"

"Still 'dizzy' as you call it."

"You will be better as soon you are patched up and have eaten something." Dean gave the Angel an encouraging smile.

"I do not consider eating a rewarding proposal."

Dean looked at the Angel with raised eyebrows. Just once he wanted Castiel to give him a clear, direct and understandable answer.

The Angel sighed and shot him a ... pleading look. "I do not feel well."

Dean's eyebrows moved even higher. "You mean you are queasy?"

Castiel simply nodded.

"You're not gonna barf?" Dean knew his voice sounded suddenly all tiny and shaken but - damn - this situation was so surreal!

"No, I do not believe I am going to be sick. But I do not want to stress our luck either. So no, thank you. No food for me."

~*~

Ten minutes later they were at the almost deserted parking lot of a small McDrive, the car filled with the marvellous scent of fresh coffee. Castiel had scooted nearer to the now opened window while Dean tried to sew the Angel's forearm together again. Dean was not sure if the fresh air really helped as Sam had suggested or if it was the simple fact that the car had stopped moving but Castiel looked better - despite the pain. Each sting made the Angel shudder softly but Dean could tell he was trying his best. Castiel's teeth were clenched together and the muscle in his jaw twitched. He decided to distract the Angel's attention.

"Hey, Cas, you are still an Angel, but without your mojo what should we... What can you still do and what not? Are you still stronger than Sam and me?"

Castiel answered with a quiet nod obviously not wanting to elaborate any more.

Dean was still thinking about what to ask next as his brother - who was still obviously on the same page - helped him out. "What about your brothers? Can you still hear them?"

"No. When I dispelled Zachariah and helped Dean escape I was banished from Heaven. As an outcast I am no longer able to hear my... kin. It... it feels lonely without their constant voices." The Angel frowned, eyes looking at something long lost in time, his voice was soft and small as he continued in a contemplative tone: "It is the first time I am... alone. Truly alone. I have no family, no friends, no home I can return to. I've lost everything... for nothing. I sacrificed my whole existence in vain. Lucifer has risen. Armageddon is here and your world will be in ashes soon. All of Heaven and Hell are after me... and you. We can not possibly hope to escape their wrath..." Emotions raged on Castiel's face, although it was clear he tried his best to fight them. Anger, fear, loneliness, desperation.

"Cas... Cas, I know it's not all sunshine and ice-cream but you are painting a rather dark picture here. First the Angels have to find us and with your help we will be able to avoid them." Dean finished wrapping gauze around Castiel's arm and tried his best to give the Angel an encouraging gaze. "So. In a few days you're going to be as good as new." He put as much false cheer into his words as he could muster but the Angel only frowned.

"Here. Take these." In Dean's palm were two whitish pills Castiel now eyed wearily. "They'll take the edge off." Since the Angel still did not reach out, Dean continued: "For the pain. Just take them already!" At last Castiel took them reluctantly, popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed them with a sip of coffee from the hunter's cup. He didn't know whether the Angel's disgusted look was because of the pills or the black coffee.

Dean downed what was left of his cold coffee and put it back into the paper bag where Sam's finished cup already was before he gestured for his brother to start the car again. "Cas, close your eyes and get some sleep."

"Angels do not sleep."

Albeit less than five minutes later the hunter could watch Castiel's eyes drop and his head sink to his chest. Dean tried his best to position the softly snoring Angel in a comfortable way although he was sure in the morning Castiel's neck would be stiff and his shoulders wound tight. After all, sleeping in the car still was a bitch.