Thank you firegods7 and MDarKspIrIt for the reviews! Well now we're back up to present time, so enjoy =)


Four men stood in the forest, looking upon the Air shinobi village before them.

Dean looked over to his brother, who sat against a tree, writing in his journal like always.

"Sam quit writing in your diary and get ready. Sun's setting, we'll be heading out soon."

"Not a diary," Sam mumbled, but tucked it away in his backpack anyway. Dean then turned to his other comrades on this mission, Gordon and Andy.

"So do we all know the plan? Once we get into the village, me and Gordon will slip into their Intel base and destroy the stolen security scroll. Sammy and Andy, you'll be keeping a lookout for us and taking out anyone who sees us."

"We're all fully capable of remembering our mission." Gordon sneered. Of all his comrades on the mission, scratch that, off all his comrades in the village, Gordon was perhaps the one Dean liked the least. But he didn't get to choose his team, and a mission was a mission. He would never complain.

"I hate to say it, but Gordon's right Dean," Andy piped in. "You need to relax a bit, you look a little wound up."

Andy quickly closed his mouth when Dean sent a glare at him. "Why don't you just worry about yourself?"

"Stop being such a woman and tell us the activity level of the village." Gordon commented.

"Why don't you do it?" he snapped, rising to the bait.

"Dean," Sam said lazily, telling his brother to cool it. He knew why Dean was so tense right now.

Dean was the only one in the group who was able to distinguish the vibrations in the earth. All earthbenders had this potential, yet it was rare to find one who could actually do it. If it wasn't picked up at an early age, it was near impossible to learn.

Dean sent a glare at his brother as well, but seemed to calm down a little. Grumbling he removed the boots from his feet and closed his eyes, concentrating on the vibrations of the earth. The farther away something was, the harder it was to pick up the signals.

"There's too many people walking around now."

"The sun hasn't set completely yet," said Sam. "People are probably finishing up their day's work now." He returned his focus to Dean. "Tell us when the traffic slows."

Dean grunted in agreement.

Sam looked into the distance at the village. "If we don't complete this mission quick we might not make it out alive."

"You all worry too much," Andy commented, brushing off what Sam had said. "It'll be fine."


A ripple of vibrations in the earth alerted Dean. "Behind us!" he yelled to Sam. He would have noticed them sooner were it not for the confines of his boots, dulling the signals.

Just in time, his brother rose a wall of earth from the ground to catch the incoming weapons.

"Dean?" Sam questioned frantically.

"There's eight of them and they have us surrounded!" Dean swore under his breath. He pulled his arm away from Sam, and got into a fighting stance.

"Dean, you can't fight in your condition!"

"The hell I can't."

Sam hesitated, but after a quick assessment of their situation, he realized Dean was right. If Dean didn't join the fight he'd have to take down eight Air shinobi by himself... He turned so he was back to back with his brother and entered into his fighting stance. He didn't have to wait long before another wave of attacks were sent at them.


Castiel arrived to the scene to see two of his comrades already taken down by the earthbenders. Whether they were dead or unconscious he didn't know. Landing on the branch of a tree, he looked down to the Earth shinobi with a growing sense of awe. The two benders moved as one. All their actions were in sync, as if they could read each others thoughts. It was quite the spectacle. But as a third comrade was taken down, he decided enough was enough.

Pulling a kunai from his leg pouch, he threw it at the closest of the Earth shinobi, the taller one. Throwing blades in the hands of an Air shinobi were lethal. Because they're able to push the air behind the weapon, it's able to reach lightning-fast speeds, making it extremely hard to dodge. Surprise was once again on his side, and he hit directly where he was aiming; the earthbenders upper leg. He screamed out in what Castiel guessed was both surprise and pain. As expected, one of his Air shinobi used the opportunity to make a move, sending a powerful blow to the same leg, undoubtedly breaking it.

That takes care of one of them, he thought as the man dropped to the ground, unable to support himself. Castiel jumped down to the clearing. "Stop."

His shinobi sprang back, forming a wide circle around the intruders. He walked inside the circle, aware of the glare he was receiving from the enemy. "You are surrounded and injured. Surrender."

The earthbender looked at him with hard eyes. "Over my dead body," he spat out.

"Thatcan be arranged. But I would prefer it didn't."

There was such hatred in this man's glare. Castiel supposed he did kill two of his comrades tonight... But this man killed ten Air shinobi, maybe more. That was the life of a shinobi, he must know that. No, there was no grief in his eyes. Castiel pushed the thought back and analyzed his enemy. The one on the ground was clutching his leg and his breathing was ragged. Earthbenders relied heavily on their stance to gain their power; if this one couldn't stand he wasn't much of a threat. He had to be careful though, he could still earthbend. The other was now standing defensively in front of the taller one. It seemed as if he cared for this comrade more than the others. The way they fought together, there was no doubt they had a history. The shorter one's right arm hung limp. He saw him use it earlier, but he knew it was useless for the most part. His breathing came out in heavy pants; his energy levels were low. One more heavy blow and he should be fairly incapacitated.

"Will you surrender?" he asked once more.

Replying with a hard "No", the earthbender planted his leg and thrust his good hand forward, sending an attack at Castiel. With incredible speed, Castiel was easily able to dodge it. In one smooth motion, he swung his staff his to send a quick torrent of air at his opponent. He raised a shield from the earth, but the stream of air broke through. The attack hit him and sent him flying backwards, into a tree. He hit the ground with a loud thud and a grunt of pain.

"Stop," the other earthbender panted out, but Castiel ignored him for now.

Castiel walked passed the earthbender with the broken leg to finish the other off. Though before he could reach him, rock suddenly formed around his foot. He looked back to see the taller earthbender with his palm to the ground.

"I said don't," he grit out. Castiel outstretched his hand to send a wave of air at him. With the Earth shinobi's position and his speed, the earthbender wouldn't be able to block it. He then used his airbending to break the rock constraining him.

The Air shinobi continued over to the other intruder, who was slowly attempting to get to his feet. Gathering his strength, he sent a blow to the earthbenders head, hard enough to knock him out. The Earth shinobi slumped back to the ground. Castiel flipped him over with his foot, inspecting him to make sure he was unconscious.

He now turned to the conscious Earth shinobi. "Now will you surrender, or must I do the same thing twice?"

The earthbender glowered at him. His eyes flicked toward his comrade and then down to the ground. "I surrender."

Castiel nodded, satisfied. "Bring them back into the village."


The next morning, Castiel made his way to Lisa Braeden's house where the earthbender who saved the child was being held.

"Lisa, how is he doing?" Castiel questioned, entering the house.

"He is an earthbending brute and he doesn't belong in my home," she complained, dabbing the earthbenders head with a wet cloth. The Earth shinobi lay motionless on the bed, all clothes but his pants were stripped from him. Bandages covered the multiple wounds on his body.

"What are the extent of his injuries?"

"He has multiple burns, mostly on the back of his legs and arms. They're not deep, there shouldn't be any issues with those. He had an injury on his head from where you hit him, I put bandages on that, there should be no problem there. The worst of his wounds is his right arm, where the kunai hit. It was deep, I had to stitch that up. It will be difficult for him to use that arm for a while."

"What of that band below his shoulder? Shouldn't you remove it?"

"I would remove it but it's made of rock and formed to his arm. Only an earthbender could remove it without injuring him any further. It was over his clothes so I had to cut his shirt around it."

Continuing to dab his head with a wet cloth, she froze when he began to moan.

"Mom?" he moaned out weakly, eyes only halfway open. When she said nothing the earthbender continued. "Mom? Is Sammy okay?"

Her features softened. "Just get some rest." The earthbender groaned again but seemed to fall unconscious once more. Castiel doubted he even heard what Lisa had said.

She turned to Castiel. "Jesus, how hard did you hit him?"

"Hard enough." Castiel took a moment to study his captive. He had a strong body, like most earthbenders, hard like a rock. His feet are what caught Castiel's attention, however. He bent to examine them, reaching out to one of them and touching it. "Why are his feet so calloused?" he asked with interest.

"How am I supposed to know?" she replied angrily. "He probably runs around without shoes on, like a mindless ape." A moment passed as Castiel curiously inspected Dean's feet, as if they were one of the world's greatest mysteries. "Castiel?" He looked up to see apprehension on Lisa's face. "Have I dishonored you in any way? Why did you choose my house to hold this...barbarian in?"

"Lisa, I chose you because you are a skilled healer. I need him alive. Not only that but you have room to spare."

"There are others with room to spare!"

"Lisa." Castiel reprimanded sternly. She silenced herself yet there was still a fire in her eyes. "Your husband died many years ago. Would you rather I house him in another's home? One who's husband has just recently died at the hand of his people?"

"What of Carla's house-"

"Carla is housing the other and does not have any more room."

Lisa lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, Castiel. I did not consider... I acted shamefully. It will not happen again."

Castiel inclined his head and gave a stern nod.

"If I may ask... What is he doing here? Why are we keeping him alive?"

"I have my reasons."

"...Yes... Of course," she replied, downtrodden that Castiel was keeping her in the dark.


Dean felt his brow being dabbed with cool water. He was filled with relief... Why was that?... What happened?... Why did his head hurt so much?...

...

He remembered... He was in a fight... with... Who was he in a fight with?...

...

... Airbenders... He was on a mission... He must have made it home... His wounds were being cared for... there's only one person it could be... Mom...

...

But what about Sammy?... What happened to him?... Was he alright?... God his head hurt... Everywhere... Everywhere seemed to hurt...

...

He hoped Sam was okay...

...

Dean groggily opened his eyes. There was a woman standing over him, checking the bandages on...his arm. His arm hurt like hell. And who was this woman? She wasn't... "Who're you?" Talking...hurt his head.

"My name is Lisa Braeden. You should get some more rest."

Lisa... What? He didn't know any Lisa's...

"Where... Where am I?"

"You're in the Air Nation."

"The..." Dean took a second to process this. "Air Nation?" He jerked awake. Sitting up on the bed he frantically took in his surroundings. In the back of his mind he registered the woman saying something to him about getting more rest. Panic overtook him as he hopped off the bed. A second later he crashed to the floor with a grunt of pain, it was as if every muscle in his body was spent. He first tried to pick himself up with his right arm, but winced when pain shot through it with movement. He clumsily pushed himself up with his left arm, leaning heavily on a table nearby. His legs shook slightly from the effort of holding himself up.

Attempting to help him back on the bed, Lisa said, "Hey, you're not ready to get up yet-"

"You stay the hell away from me," Dean demanded harshly. His mind was ruled by panic now. He was in the Air Nation, injured... And Sam! What did these bastards do to Sam? He had to get out of here, he had to find his brother. He stumbled out of the room, the woman yelling after him. Spotting a door that led outside, he staggered over to it. Half way there he fell to his knees, exhausted. Black spots danced across his vision, threatening to take over. His head was pounding, his arm was screaming at him, every muscle in his body ached. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing himself to continue. A hand lightly touched his back, to which he violently jerked away from. "I said back off!"

He pushed himself to his feet, feeling the rush in his head as he stood too quickly. He made it about two more steps before the ground came up to greet him. He vaguely remembered a person walking through the door before his vision faded and he was lost to the world.


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