The battlefield was a bloody mess. Everywhere Dean looked, there were fallen bodies, writhing and moaning, some still gripping useless weapons in their dying hands. He had lost good soldiers in this battle. He looked down and below his feet laid his fallen captain, clutching his injured side, a death wound. The man grabbed Dean's hand and pulled him down so that he could whisper his last orders.

"Hold this position," he groaned. "You have to protect the camp."

"Don't die on me, captain. Hold on, man, help will be here soon." But it was too late. And with the last of his strength, the captain shoved his weapon into Dean's hand as his final act of patriotism.

Dean searched frantically around for the rest of his team but couldn't find anyone still alive. It would be up to him. He ducked behind a crumbling makeshift berm to inventory his ammunition. Damn, he was running low. He would have to collect some from the dead bodies strewn across the battleground. He dropped around the berm and low-crawled to the nearest body, trying to remember all of his combat training.

He dug through the fallen soldier's abandoned ammo bag and found little he could work with. Just then he heard the sounds of approaching soldiers across the battlefield. A glance up told him that they were the enemy. He slowly lowered his head to the ground, staying as low and inconspicuous as possible. He readied his weapon and coiled his muscles like a snake ready to strike, preparing to attack should they come closer.

Then he heard it, the voice of an angel from behind him. "Dean, are you just going to lay there or help me win this battle?" It was Cas and he was standing with his back to a tree, using it for cover. Dean grinned at him. He looked so sexy in his brown leather pants and boots, belted light blue tunic, leather wrist guards and chain mail. Not to mention the duct tape covered foam sword he was yielding like it was Excalibur!

"I'm collecting ammo. Check it out," he held up the two little bean bags with symbols written on them in sharpie pen. "I found a lightning bolt and some magic spell thingy in this fairy's bag!"

"That's not very politically correct of you," Cas smirked back at Dean.

"Very funny, angel. Look, wings and pointy ears?" Dean said as he held up the corner of one of the tulle wings strapped to the LARPers back. Cas' head flung back as he let out a full body laugh. The fairy who was supposed to be playing dead giggled too.

"C'mon, we can rendezvous with Sam's team. I think they are planning a raid." Dean got up and sprinted to Cas, grabbing his elbow and taking off full speed towards the base camp where Sam and team were guarding Queen Charlie. Dean was apprehensive at first when Charlie invited them all to the Moondoor LARPing Battle, but he was officially having the time of his life.

Dean couldn't help stopping on the way back to pull Cas into an empty tent, though, for a quick make out session. Dean pulled Cas to him and crushed their mouths together, groping Cas' ass with his hands. "God, you look so hot like this. I've wanted to do that all day." Dean pulled Cas' hips to his, bucking against his lover, pulling a groan of pleasure from both men.

"Dean, I don't think we have time for ahhhh." Dean's hand groped his erection through the tight leather and Cas lost all thought of time. Dean unbuckled Cas' belt so that he could reach under his tunic to caress around his torso, feeling the curves of those perfectly chiseled abs. Damn, he loved Cas' dancer's body. Cas had his eyes closed and he instinctively reached up to thread his fingers through Dean's hair but ran into a long blonde wig instead and he groaned in frustration.

Dean laughed, a low rumble, "What's wrong, Cas? Don't like my Braveheart look?" Cas shut his lover up with a searing kiss and just moved his hands lower, unbuckling his belt to loosen Dean's pants.

"I have never seen you look anything but exquisite, Dean." With one swift movement, Cas fell to his knees and lowered Dean's pants down to free his already rock hard erection. He licked at the head and pulled Dean into his wet mouth, eliciting a curse from the man above him. He closed his eyes and found a perfect rhythm, rocking back and forth, enjoying the sinful sounds that every movement was pulling from Dean. But Castiel wanted to watch Dean come undone.

He looked up and Dean was caught by the sight of Cas' big blue eyes looking up at him with so much love. He was rapt by the sight of his cock sliding through those perfect wet pink lips and the feeling of Cas' hot tongue swirling and licking and driving him wild. Cas worked his own pants open to free himself, and used his hand to provide some relief from the building pressure.

Cas increased his rhythm, working Dean furiously and hollowing out his cheeks to provide glorious suction. "Fuuuckk, Cas. So fucking good at that."

The sight of Dean watching him encouraged Cas even more and made him want to put on a performance Dean wouldn't soon forget. He hummed onto Dean's cock and caressed his balls with his free hand. Dean gasped and reached for Cas' head, pulling his silky hair gently. A little nod was all Dean needed. Cas was giving him permission to thrust harder, slamming into the back of Cas' throat. Several magnificent thrusts was all it took and Dean was spilling his heat down Cas' throat and Cas swallowed and lapped every drop.

It was so hot and it was all Cas needed before a moment later he was coming as well, dripping thick white liquid over his own hand. Dean dropped down to his knees across from Cas, and cupped the man's face with both hands, pulling their mouths together for a slow, lingering kiss. When they were both breathless, Dean broke away and rested their foreheads together, locking eyes and smiling at this beautiful creature in front of him.

"God, Cas, I..." (love you, adore you, am fucking crazy about you) "think we'd better get back. You know there's no way they're winning the battle without Lancelot and Galahad."

"Dean, Galahad was Lancelot's son. That would make what we just did here rather awkward."

"Geez, between you and Sammy, I don't know who is the bigger nerd."

After a hasty clean-up, they snuck out of the tent to find the rest of their team. They found Pamela, who was leaning against a tree, a beer in one hand, with an orc soldier leaning over her. When she noticed Dean and Castiel she told them, "I'm already dead, blinded by some dark magic spell then stabbed. But I'm totally cool with it because… Benny?" she looked at the orc for confirmation of his name and he nodded, "right, Benny here's keeping me company. I am pretty sure everyone's still alive back at base camp, though." As they took off toward camp, Pamela called out, "Bye, bye, boys. Have fun storming the castle!"

They finally found Sam, Jess, Charlie, and Jo strategizing. They had lost most of their magic in the elf battle, but a few living elves and fairies were finding their way back to camp. Dean and Cas were two of the few remaining Warriors of Yesteryear. Sam, Jess and Jo had all been assigned to Charlie's Followers of the Moon, who still had strong numbers. They decided to combine forces and attack the Shadow Orcs in open combat on the main battlefield.

They sent their swiftest messenger to put forth the challenge. Really, he was the swiftest because he was 12 years old and was willing to run to the Orc's forest where none of the adults were willing to move that fast. Brian (aka Endor the Brave) returned breathless with a scroll in hand, running up to Charlie, who promised should he survive this battle, he would be knighted for his bravery.

Charlie rolled out the scroll and read aloud to her subjects, "We, of the Realm of the Shadow Orc, accept thy challenge. We shall meet thee on the western battlefield at half past the two o'clock hour behind ye olde basketball courts." Dean snickered. Sam elbowed him in the ribs.

The time of the battle had arrived. Warriors stood, battle-ready, on either side of the empty field, weapons at the ready, adrenaline pumping through their veins. This was it, the battle for the kingdom, for their queen. The recently deceased had stopped their tailgating to assemble at the edges of the battlefield, grills and coolers left forgotten, to watch the final battle.

Cas approached Dean, "Charlie wants you to say something to the troops and give the attack order."

Dean smiled at this, he hadn't spent a lifetime memorizing epic movie quotes for nothing! He was born for this! He leaned into Cas and quipped, "As you wish, Buttercup."

Cas squinted at him with that quizzical look he got when he was trying to understand one of Dean's references. "Why would you call me Buttercup?"

"It's… Oh, never mind!" Dean turned around to face the soldiers. His brother stood above everyone else, the giant. Flanking him on either side were Jess and Charlie, swords and shields ready. Jo had her face painted red and white and was wielding a giant foam hammer, which made Dean strangely proud. She was standing next to Cas, who had stepped back into the front line. He was smiling at Dean, sword in hand, ready to attack on his order.

Dean ran through them in his mind, Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, 300, The Patriot, hell even "make them an offer they can't refuse" crossed his mind. In the end, he decided on the most simple and elegant and bad-ass war cry he could think of. With Gladiator in mind, he looked to his team, lowered the register of his voice and growled out in his best Russell Crowe accent, "On my signal, unleash hell!" Then he turned, raised his sword and attacked.

The battle was intense and epic and so much freaking fun. Dean ran forward, fighting and slashing, killing orc after orc. He chanced a look around to see how his team was faring. He smiled when he noticed that Sam and Jess were fighting back to back, protecting each other. Sam towered a foot over his fiancé and guarded her fiercely, but Jess was no wilting flower herself, holding off an orc of her own.

Jo had taken a blow to the arm, which she was now holding behind her back, trying to stay within the rules and swinging with only her left. It was too much though, and an orc snuck up from behind and stabbed her in the back, ending her game. Charlie was holding her own having had way more practice at this than the rest of them, plus she had an adoring bunch of subjects surrounding and defending her.

Dean continued his triumphant battle, picking up a fallen soldier's sword so that he could yield one in each hand. He looked around and finally spotted Cas. He was fucking amazing. He was holding his sword high in front of him with two hands, legs spread apart like a freaking samurai warrior. He could imagine Cas in one of those epic sword fighting scenes from his favorite kung-fu movies. He swung and dove and yielded his sword deftly, spinning around to take out an orc in front of him and one coming up from behind. Dean was surprised and, well, more than a little turned on by his BAMF angel.

Unfortunately, this distracted him just long enough to have a leg cut out from under him. He went down but quickly rolled onto his back just as the sword was coming down, missing him by an inch. As his attacker raised his weapon for another blow, he saw a sword come from over his head right into the orc's gut, killing the attacker. It was Cas, who smiled down at Dean just as a knife appeared at his neck and made a motion of slitting his throat. Cas fell to his knees, grasping his neck and just like that he was gone.

Dean scrambled to his knees, eyes still on Cas but it was too late, before he had a chance to get to his feet, a sword stabbed him in the back and he fell, head resting on Cas' shoulder. Two warriors who fell fighting for one another as Achilles and Patroclus of ancient legend.

In the end, Charlie's soldiers were able to hold off the Orcs so she remained the queen. Sam was one of the few survivors, along with Endor the Brave, who was knighted on the spot.

Exhausted and filthy, Cas pulled Dean up the stairs to his apartment and immediately pushed him against the wall, leaning into him for a slow, lazy kiss. Dean leaned back against the wall and relaxed when Cas nudged a knee between his legs, reveling in the feeling of Cas' mouth as it moved across his jaw and down his neck.

"Mmmm, Cas, you were seriously bad ass out there today. It was really hot. I didn't know you could swordfight."

"I am a dancer," Cas said as he moved his lips across Dean's jaw, "Eskrima is another form of choreography." He placed kisses down Dean's neck, "I am a student of the human body and its movements," Cas dipped his tongue into the hollow between Dean's collarbones, "I have studied several forms of martial arts as they include some of the most exquisite movements."

And that was all kinds of hot! The thought of Cas and those graceful and badass moves was filling Dean's mind with endless ideas. "What do you say we move this to the bedroom?"

Cas leaned back and gave Dean the most seductive smile he had ever seen. "Even better, the bath."

"Lead the way, angel."

Cas laced his fingers with Deans, turned around and pulled him to the bathroom. He turned on the water then turned back to Dean who was loosening his clothes. Cas caught his hands, "No, let me."

Cas turned Dean around so that they were both facing the full length mirror, Dean's back to Cas' chest. Cas reached his hands around Dean and slowly loosened his belt as he placed hot kisses on the back of Dean's neck, sending a shiver up his spine that made him have to grip the edge of the sink. Cas' deft hands then slid under Dean's shirt and explored his chest, swirling over nipples, causing them to become hard at his touch. He dug his fingers into the hard muscles just under Dean's collarbone and rubbed all the way down, massaging the strong muscles and pulling Dean tightly against him with hot pressure as his hands moved all the way south and slipped under the waistband of his pants. Dean closed his eyes and leaned his head back to rest on his lover's shoulder.

"Jesus, Cas, that's so nice."

Cas didn't give him relief, instead he rubbed small circles into the tender skin just above his thighs. Cas' voice was low and sexy when he rumbled, "Open your eyes, Dean, I want you to see how perfect we look together, how good you look to me." As he said this, he slid his hands back up, pulling Dean's shirt off over his head and throwing it to the floor.

Dean never liked to look at himself without clothes, his scars were too obvious, ugly mangled skin reminded him too much of war and fights. But Cas didn't seemed to mind at all, he would touch those scars with reverence and not judgment. Dean reluctantly opened his eyes and took in the sight of himself with Cas over his shoulder locking eyes in the mirror. And at that moment, Dean didn't see scars, he saw Cas with his hands wrapped around him, splayed out over his chest and Cas was right, the image of the two of them like this was flawless.

Dean watched with rapt fascination as those hands moved lower in an agonizingly slow movement as they undid the buttons on Dean's pants and slowly slid them down over his hips. Cas continued to drive Dean crazy with wet hot kisses across his neck and shoulders and between his shoulder blades while his hands worked their way to Dean's erection.

"I want you to see what I see, Dean." Cas whispered as he ran his fingers up the base of Dean's cock and began working the head, rubbing the pre-come around as lubricant. "You are breathtaking like this. Lick." He commanded as he brought his hand up so that Dean could wet it. Dean did as he was told and was rewarded when Cas went to work on his dick, stroking him in swift tender movements. Dean still couldn't take his eyes off the mirror, his breaths were becoming ragged and shallow. And Cas was sucking and nipping at the tender skin behind his ear, driving him wild.

Cas brought his other hand up to thread through Dean's hair, pulling it gently which felt glorious after a day wearing an itchy wig. Cas tilted Dean's head so that Dean's ear connected with his lips. The heat of Cas' breath and the gravel of his baritone sent a quiver up Deans spine as Cas growled, "I want you to watch as I make you come. See how beautiful you are when you come apart for me?"

"God, Cas, yes!"

Cas was focusing on him with that crazy intensity that was pure Cas. His blue eyes were dark and sexy and he smiled, a mischievous grin, as he squeezed Dean's erection harder, causing Dean to gasp. Cas quickened his pace, pulling and rubbing and feeling his lover's body tensing up as Dean fucked into Cas' tight wet fist. Dean wanted to look away, close his eyes, this was too much, too intense, too beautiful but Cas' soft purr of, "Dean, let go, look at us as you come," was hypnotizing and he focused on that voice and those eyes and the glorious pleasure that Cas was sending through him.

And with that, Dean exploded as his hips jerked and he reached behind him to pull Cas close, grounding himself against Cas' strong body. Cas worked him through his orgasm until his body was loose and he could barely stand. His head lulled back onto Cas' shoulder and he turned to kiss his lover but barely had the energy for more than a touch of lips.

"I think our bath is ready," whispered Cas turning Dean toward the tub as he cleaned off his hand. Dean sat down and winced at the hot water, but as he settled in, it surrounded him with soft heat and he let every muscle in his body relax into the water. He laid his head back onto the edge of the tub and closed his eyes.

"I love your bath, Cas." It really was a fantastic bathroom. When Castiel built his apartment, it had plenty of space. It was built over a ballroom, after all. If he had splurged on one thing when he built this apartment, it was the bathroom. He had installed both a walk-in shower and a corner Jacuzzi tub with warming lights and two smoked glass sinks in front of a large full length mirror that Cas would never again be able to look at the same after what had just transpired.

"I went a little crazy when I built this bathroom." Cas said as he undressed himself. "I suppose I like to pamper myself a bit."

Dean opened one eye and smiled at the man who was now standing naked in front of him. "Come here, I can do that."

Cas sat down in front of Dean and laid back against his chest, relaxing his head back onto Dean's shoulder. Dean wrapped his arms around Cas, took a deep breath, and savored this perfect moment.

"Here, Cas, get your hair wet." Castiel leaned back into the water and sat back up, letting Dean massage a handful of shampoo into his hair. Dean took his time, working his scalp with nimble fingers, rubbing small circles and lightly scratching with his fingernails. Cas moaned with the pleasure of it. "Ah, you like that, huh?"

"Mmmm, yes."

Dean chuckled, "OK, lean back and rinse." Which Cas did then leaned back against Dean's chest.

With his hands lathered, Dean slid them down around Cas' neck and over his chest, kneading the muscles there until Cas was liquid beneath his fingers. Next he rubbed his thumbs up and down Cas' neck, across his shoulders and down his arms. One at a time, he worked the tension out of his lover's hands, through the tips of each finger. Dean loved these hands. It was captivating the way that Cas used his hands. He would sometimes just stare at his them as he danced or ate or just turned the pages of a book.

"Dean, tell me something about you I don't know."

"Um, I'm and Aquarius?"

"No, something real. Tell me about…hmmm… your first love."

"You've already met her. She is parked outside." Dean smiled at his joke and sucked on Cas' earlobe.

"No, I want to know who the first person who stole your heart was."

"Hmmm, there was Trisha in the third grade. She let me see her underwear. It was life changing."

"Deeeaan"

Dean laughed, "Fine. I guess that would have been Michael. Actually, he is the only other guy I really dated. He was the typical high school jock, wide receiver for the football team, played second base on the varsity baseball team. We worked together and hung out all the time. And you know one of the things that was so great about him? He was awesome with Sammy.

"We were friends for a few months then… well… my dad found out about us. He hit me and forbid me to see Michael. He never looked at me the same again. And the worst part was that he punched me in the face so I couldn't even hide the bruise from Sam. I never wanted Sammy to know about Dad." Dean's voice had lowered to a whisper as he recalled the memory.

"Dean, I'm so sorry."

"You know, I think about what it would be like, dating you, if he were still alive. I just can't see how something this good in my life could be so hated by my own father. Aren't parents supposed to want their kids to be happy?"

Cas turned his head back and reached behind him to pull Dean's mouth down to his. The kiss was gentle, chaste, comfort. "From the way you described him, your father seemed like a very complicated man. He was capable of both deep love and fierce violence. I don't know what he would have thought of us. All we can do is live our lives the best that we can and let those around us choose to accept us or live with the loss of us if they choose not to."

"You make it sound so simple," Dean replied with a bitterness that he hadn't intended.

"I don't mean to. It's far from simple. As simple as it should be, we live in a world that insists on making it complicated and messy and difficult. Just look at all that happened to me. I just mean that sometimes our choice is peace or freedom. Peace is the status quo, not rocking the boat, that's easy. Freedom is the choice to live as the people we are and sometimes it's the harder path."

Dean made a noncommittal hum with Cas' words in his mind. The fact that there was a need to choose one or the other kind of sucked. One included Cas and the other denied himself this man. Peace was not having to deal with stares, jokes, and judgments. It was "normal" and safe. But it didn't include Cas. Freedom was this, this man that fit perfectly in his arms that made him fucking light up when they were together.

It had been almost a month since their trip to Corpus Christi and Dean had managed to avoid just this conflict. Sam knew about Cas, which of course meant that Jess did too, but he was kind of cruising through on a don't ask don't tell policy with everyone else. He didn't actually lie because no one had asked him outright the nature of his relationship with Cas so it was easy to avoid having to make the choice.

Dean thought about the almost perfect day he had just experienced with Cas. The LARPing was fun and Cas was sexy and fantastic but spending the day with both Cas and family had been nerve-wracking. Everything in him wanted to touch and kiss Cas or even just hold his hand but he had spent the whole day being self-conscious of those touches. He had managed to perch on the edge of that choice today, a precarious balancing act.

Peace or freedom? It wasn't fair and it made Dean's head hurt and he wasn't prepared to make any choices just yet so he shook it off and concentrated on the feeling of the hot water, soft lather of the soap, and the smoothness of Cas' skin against his.

War, huh, good God, y'all
What is it good for?
~War – Edwin Star