Kevin was behind the wheel of his mom's prius a they sped down the road, with Dean in the passenger's seat and tiny Sam sitting in the back. ('Do you need a carseat?' Dean had quipped, and Sam replied with a heavy stomp of his ballet-shoed foot onto Dean's dress shoes. 'Cas occupied a little girl once too, Dean!' He retorted sourly, as if that would help).

The car sped down the road, and it was like they had fallen into a different world. The blast radius had everything blackened, trees had fallen, everything was flattened and burnt and ashes kicked up from the breeze left behind from the fast-moving car.

Dean got a shiver down his spine as he looked at the surroundings, at the place he and his brother had died. He decided that after this, he never ever wanted to come back here.

"We need something pure if you want to cut open the seal. You can't rip through it all the way either, because you might tear the thin seal too. You might have to only go part way, and see if he can do the rest on his own." Kevin quickly explained, before they veered off road and the car jerked violently over gravel and pebbles of things left over from the blast. The car swung to a stop, spraying blackened junk that littered the ground as it did.

"Think this will work?" Sam asked, flashing the silver blade that had appeared out of nowhere. He was a much faster learner than Dean, who still needed that rush of adrenaline for his to appear.

Kevin looked momentarily surprised. "I keep forgetting that you're, you know..." Kevin still seemed a little weirded out by the new Winchesters. "I think that could work. Just try it."

They all climbed from the car, kicking up clouds of charcoally smoke as they walked. Dean scanned the area, amazed still that this was the result of them closing off hell. Especially being back on Earth with a pair of feet firmly planted on the ground and in a body, it was hard to believe any of that had really happened to him. Maybe this was all just some really long, really strange, alcohol induced dream.

"Hey, are you coming?" Kevin called after Dean, breaking his daydream. "Yeah, just hold on a second."

They all met in a circle, and Sam handed Dean his blade. "So, what exactly am I supposed to do?" He asked Kevin skeptically. He weighed Sam's blade in his hand; for looking so similiar, it felt so different in his palm. Maybe all angels had their own signature blades.

Kevin screwed up his eyebrows, deep in thought. "Some things just come to me. But with this, I'm sort of blanking. Try...maybe waving it around or something?"

Dean rolled his eyes and began flashing the blade around, feeling stupid. At this rate, Michael would probably become a devil twice over before they figured it out.

"C'mon, Dean. Put a little more thought into it," Sam scolded, brushing back a strand of long brown hair from his round face. Dean slowed down his movements, moving the blade as if he were painting, feeling for something.

Nothing seemed to be happening. Dean was ready to hand the blade back to Sam when he suddenly felt a tiny catch, and he had the largest epifany and rush of angelic learning that he'd ever had.

Wavelengths and frequencies. Dean's head felt close to bursting with all the new information that was suddenly pouring into it. Brain waves, radio waves, sound waves, light waves... Dean finally understood when Castiel had said "they're all just waves" as he'd listened into the police radio.

Noises and voices came from everywhere, the air was being criss crossed by all radio stations, ebbing and flowing like a fluid plaid pattern. He saw all types of light unfold before him; UV rays bounced off all material substances, he saw colors far off the spectrum of human eyes. Sam spoke, Dean saw the vibrating of his vocal chords and could pinpoint about fifteen different sound waves that escaped into the air. He saw the little girl's body and Sam's grace simutaneously, he looked to Kevin and saw his blood pumping, saw his digestion working, saw synapses firing in his brain which emitted their own waves into the air.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked, tilting his head to the side. Dean somehow filtered out the information he was getting to just see what he wanted to see- the tiny incision he had already made to the thick seal, which existed on a different plane that he was only able to open if he looked at the frequencies.

He tried to open the seal a bit more, but the blade didn't seem to be working. Dean felt frusterated all over again, when Kevin suddenly spoke up, looking like something had occured to him. "It has to be from Earth. A substance from Earth was used in the original spell, it has to be the same," He said, looking up and squinting to the area that Dean kept poking around at. He strained his eyes to see something, but he was unable to see anything.

Dean snatched up Kevin's hand, which he held limp while Dean traced it in the air, trying to see if he, being from Earth, would be able to get a hold of it. Kevin haphazardly extended his fingers, feeling like one of those people who were blindfolded and forced to stick their hands in jars full of unknown substances. He shivered when just the very tip of his middle finger brushed the rough edge of the seal as he felt the tiny rip made by Sam's blade.

He subconsciously jerked his hand back, but Dean held it there by his wrist. "What the hell!" Kevin exclaimed when he felt the sense of touch even though his eyes saw absolutely nothing. "Just... I don't know! Pull on it or something!" Dean demanded, and Kevin screwed up his face as he felt the rough, sticky surface and made an even worse face when he slid his fingers into the tiny cut and pulled down, just enough for Dean to get a grip on it. "You might want to close your eyes," Dean warned Kevin quickly, as Sam rushed to the opening and jammed both of his hands inside as well. They both pulled outward as hard as they could, energy draining from themselves instantly.

...

Meanwhile,

"So, Andy." Gabriel said in a low voice, propping the little boy up on the chair and crouching beside him, looking into his face with twinkling hazel eyes. The kid stared straight ahead and blinked sleepily, his face absolutely flat and almost doll-like. "Give me the stats."

Papers were strewn all across the table. Maps had been drawn in great detail with arrows and numbers and plans written along the back, along with names of commanders and pretty much anything that could be helpful.

"One hundred sixty-two remain." Gabriel scratched the number down quickly. It was quiet inside the small room/tent, but din outside sometimes came in, people rushing around, yelling, booms came from far away.

"And Raphael?" He said, not even looking up from the paper. "Same as yesterday. Preparing B3 troops for attack on Melchoir."

"Now, why don't you update me on positions of troop A2?" "Westward leading, slow speed, consists of fourty-three. Possibility of merging with troop B1 by nightfall."

"Perfect," Gabriel said under his breath, crossing out and redrawing arrows. Abruptly, he set down the pen. Something was happening. Oh my god, were they really doing it? This soon too?

The archangel stood up quickly and did not say one word to Samandriel, but excused him with a curt motion of his hand. Dammit, the thing he had been dreading had finally come to pass. Might as well get it over with.

He sat down at the chair that had formerly seated Samandriel and shut his eyes tightly. He took in a sharp breath, and dove in, straight into the heart of the network. His body was instantly seized with pain and he fought to keep going. Michael. Can you hear me?

Gabriel could suddenly see his brother in his mind's eye as if he were staring at him from the ceiling. He screamed endlessly, letting out pulses of cries for help, his pain overriding the entire network. There was not one inch of free space, the place was packed so densely with black demons. They scratched and clawed through anything they saw, ripping out feathers, hair, flesh, anything they could get their ebony claws on. The angel looked like he wanted to reply but couldn't. He was chained down by the wrists and ankles, and splayed apart too. Without a vessel, they were able to not have to go through flesh and blood but could get directly to his grace, which looked bad already. It was skinned alive and looked like the scars had tried to heal, only to be torn open again. Scars upon scars upon scars thickened his whole body, some places chunks were missing, his blood never stayed inside his body for very long.

They are opening the seal. But you are the only one who can help yourself. He gave him the message quickly, being connected to the network for this long was already overwhelming and exhausting him. There was the tiniest glint of acknowledgement in his tormented eyes. He had just one primal motivation; break the bonds, and fly with the last of his strength just to get out of there. Gabe could see just the tiniest chink of light from far away, like a star in the sky. Gabriel quickly receded, the pain being too great, opening his eyes to a bland and empty room. He exhaled and got up, and exited the tent.

Wounded angels were rushing about, disappearing with the flaps of wings, or angels were throwing weapons from hand to hand as they'd sprint back to the battlefield. Gabriel passed through all of them, walking calmly, as he went to make his way down to the battlefeild. It was probably around a half a mile away, and an amazing tactical feat if Gabriel did say so himself. With their little weapon, he was able find out absolutely everything from the other side. They had pitched this one; attacking a group of angels first who were planning on ambushing them later today. Most of them had probably been slaughtered by now. But boy, when he got there, he'd clear the floor really quick.

Gabriel had been right. It was a fierce but quick battle; especially with Calcifer at the lead. The angel had insisted on heading the raid, and Gabriel couldn't turn him down, he'd always had a soft spot for those twins who he saw a lot of himself in. He saw that something was just a smidge off about him, but that was no matter. He'd liked that look of pure determination that shone bright behind those lovely golden eyes.

Castiel went along, but got more and more worried as the battle unfolded. They'd silently snuck through the trees, moving quickly and low to the ground. Calcifer was in the lead, and without hesitation lept and viciously slit across the first enemy again he saw. He had sprinted unnaturally fast to the next one, leaving his first victim before it had even hit the ground. Castiel's deep blue eyes flashed as he weilded his own weapon, running shoulder-to-shoulder with another, and helping in a team to take down a few that had rushed out at them. They clearly were not prepared this time, as the only whizzing of bullets could be heard receding from them and at the enemy.

Suddenly the woman that was by Cas's side was suddenly ran through, and Cas felt a deep tug down at the base of his heart as he whipped around to see one of the enemy directly behind him, its blade dug deep into the she-angel's back. Castiel thought quickly, and snatched the gun from his sister's limp hand and deflected the enemy's next blow with his own blade, before turning to look at the it. He cocked the gun and aimed right between the eyes of the angel's middle face, which was that of a goat, and fired with a tiny cringe. Boom. The bullet pierced his body and a pair of charred wings appeared on the ground. He looked briefly at the body before it was to be spirited away. Those rectangular goat eyes stared blankly through him, all three of his mouths (a goat, a lion and a raven's) agape just slightly. Castiel remembered when having numerous different animal parts had been beautiful, a sign of power and age. Now, he felt disgusted just looking at this creature. Why had this had to happen in the first place? Why couldn't they have felt emotion like he did?

He looked up just in time to see Calcifer create a gigantic barrier of snow with just a sweep of his arms, the snow seized up and made a wall like a wave. Sometimes it was hard for Castiel to remember how powerful Calcifer was because of the way he acted most of the time. Other angels started streaming into the hastily made shelter, but Calcifer was suddenly shot right through the shoulder. Castiel's head jerked backward in surprise when he saw it happen. The bullet had come out of nowhere, zipping right through Calcifer's shoulder and leaving his grace to burst out the other side.

Calcifer stopped in his tracks for half a second, before lunging quickly at his attacker. He sliced across his whole chest, but not deep enough to kill him. Cas knew right away that he'd done this on purpose. The tall young man ripped the gun from the trembling hand, that of an orangutan's. Castiel caught that crazy glint in his eye and felt his chest leap in fear. Calcifer steadied the gun on top of the middle of the creature's chest, which was that of a white horse's. The angel rasped in and out. Calcifer looked deep into its eyes and pulled the trigger of its own gun against him, with not so much of a flinch.

Cas had caught up to him, and grabbed him upper arm just as he was about to rush off to another enemy. Cal whipped his head back to look at him, and the fierceness that Gabriel had seen before had clearly crossed the line into crazy and obsessed.

"I'm fine! Let go!" He told Cas, trying to shake his grip by violently whipping his arm away.

"Stop. No, you're not." Castiel dragged him harshly to go behind the bank of snow he'd created. A few other angels were sniping from behind it, taking down anything that was trying to get toward them.

"Let me go back!" He said angrily, finally shaking the hand off. Castiel gripped the sides of his head and looked deep down into his eyes. "No." Calcifer bit his lip in frustration and tears started to well in his eyes, as he tried to look beyond Castiel to what was happening.

"I'm fine!" He said again in protest, and Cas looked down to see his shoulder. At least it had only zipped through and hadn't killed him. But there was a clear hole in his grace, and light was streaming out as silver blood poured out, it had already wicked into most of his shoulder.

"Look at you, Calcifer. You've already done well. Stop pushing yourself like this." The tear that had been brimming finally dropped from his eye. "You don't understand. I can't stop. I don't want to stop until every single one is dead." He said the last word through gritted teeth. Castiel reached around and hugged his brother, pulling his head into his chest and putting a palm on the back of his head. Calcifer let him for a second, before struggling to pull away.

"It gets better. Just be patient. You can't lose yourself like this." Castiel tried to tell him, but he got that look of complete irritation and frustration on his face again. "How would you know? The only people you've ever loved are perfectly fine." He hissed, looking away. Castiel didn't say anything as he reached out to gingerly touch the commander's shoulder and poured a little bit of energy into healing the shattered hole. Calcifer sighed deeply, leaning with his back to the snowbank, as if he finally realized how much his shoulder really hurt. He seemed to calm down a little bit. I guess you're right. He sent the thought out, as if he didn't want to say it aloud. That was just fine with Cas.

Castiel felt a sharp tug on his heart and looked to his right; the angel who had been sniping crumpled, and quickly vanished. Cas saw just the edge of one of the enemy's shoulder, and he leapt out, stabbing deep into its chest, and it was killed quickly. But it had been too late. Cas looked down in horror to see it had been holding a Lev gun, and he felt a piercing line of pain on top of his ribcage. He lifted his coat to see the damage. Thank god the bullet had only grazed him, leaving an ugly dark black horizontal line on top of his ribcage. The bullet had exploded in a tarry bloom harmlessly in the snow.

Then, all the angels perked up as they felt the same occurance. Hell was being opened. Castiel didn't even have to think twice before hurling himself toward earth, knowing that his friends would not be able to return on their own. He caught just a glimpse from Calcifer, an apprciative glance that seemed to say 'thanks for not letting me run myself into the ground'. Castiel was gone before he could acknowledge it back, but knowing that he had helped made him happy. He only hoped it would not get worse. It was hard to rationalize with someone who felt they had nothing to lose. He couldn't forget that cold, crazy murderous look that glinted in his eyes as he killed that angel in cold blood with its own gun.

...

Sam and Dean ripped downward and outward at the protective layer that they had worked so hard to put in place. Right away, the stench and feel of evil immediately poured out and filled the air. Kevin sheilded his eyes from the deep black streaming from the tear. Sam pulled it larger with all his strength, and he shed his little girl body, which collapsed unconcious to the ground, as he grew tall and big again as he returned to his normal form, letting out beams of bright light. Dean felt the body he was occupying fall off of him easily as well, as Sam had retracted his own blade and they were both pulling as hard a they could, the light from their graces reaching very far and burning very bright, as they watched the tear as they both pulled it apart with all their strength.

Inside, a shiny white veil-like seal could be seen, appearing somewhat flexible and permeable. Sam and Dean felt themselves getting weaker as they felt thousands and thousands of demons near, as well as from all the energy they were expending just to keep the thing open. The demons had seen the opening and tried to free themselves, pushing and prodding against the curtain in a mass of ugly, demonic pushing and shoving, with so many it looked like boiling water. They weren't sure how much longer they could hold it open, when they saw the only white light begin to surface from deep, deep within the evil and pitch black.

The angel shot up like a rocket, ripping demons apart as he tore and forced himself upwards, leaving silver-blood stained feathers behind. Even from far away, Dean could tell Michael had been roughed up pretty badly, he looked like something that had been put in the blender wasn't completely liquidized yet. Slices covered every inch of his body, which could be seen even from this far away.

The brothers felt their energy sapping out even quicker now, and with a huge burst of light, the tortured angel was able to burst out on torn and tattered wings just seconds before the seal forced itself closed again, quickly knitting together and reasealing its wound. Dean and Sam were thrown backwards, and they were still where they lay, being completely sapped of energy.

The fleeing archangel now knew he was out of hell, which had been the sole motivation to push himself beyond the limit of strength that he knew he could go to. Feeling he was out, he collapsed mid-flight, leaving a gigantic scar on the ground as he impacted and slid deep into the dirt. The man's face was handsome, with a sharp jawline and facial features looking like they'd been carved out of marble by someone brilliant in the renaissance. Now his face looked pained and fearful, his cheek smudged with dirt from his fall. His wings looked like they had once been beautiful, but now the six of them looked like they had seen better days. All of them were a pure white with an unmistakeable silver sheen, but many, many feathers were missing, and even chunks of skin were missing, leaving unsightly silvery bald spots. His remaining feathers were tweaked and dirty, and one of his wings was broken, poking out at an awkward angle like a peice of crumpled paper.

The ground rumbled, and again the blackened ground was illuminated with pure white, lighting up the entire sky.

Kevin had fallen to his knees, his eyes shut tight and protected tightly by his arms. When he felt the ground finally stop shaking and he felt the heat leave his back, he finally opened his eyes to look around. The gangly teenager and little girl lay unconcious on the ground, and Kevin got up and brushed his pants from the ash.

The news crews will get a load out of this, he thought to himself as he went to drag the kids back to his car and drop them off at the nearest hospital. Oh, Sam and Dean. Angels or not, they'd never change.

...

Dean slowly opened his eyes. He knew he wasn't lying in some field on earth anymore, and he vaguely remembered that he had passed out, and somehow been brought back here.

He felt a familiar grace next to him; he turned slightly to look. He saw a tuft of jet black hair and a pale, familiar face. Castiel. But something felt wrong, Dean could feel that his friend was growing weaker.

He turned to his side to get a better look, and he saw a mist of white flowing from Castiel into him. He felt a jolt of shock and tried to wave it away, but his fingers passed right through. "Cas, stop it! You're killing yourself!" He pleaded, hating that he was the one making Castiel weaker. He then suddenly caught scent of something and felt a rush of nausea like a punch to the stomach.

He quickly rolled off their bed and saw why; Cas was bleeding a gooey, tar-like black, a huge stain had already spread and soaked into most of the mattress. Castiel opened his deep blue eyes slowly when he felt that Dean had moved.

"Dean," He called out weakly, coughing. The misty white stream slowed and finally stopped. Dean fought back the vicious nausea he got from the poison and came to Cas's bedside.

"What the hell happened?" He asked, and his fright leaked through into his words.

"It only grazed me. I thought there was no immediate concern. I needed to heal you after you'd freed Michael." He replied softly, it almost annoyed Dean how calmly.

"You spent all your energy to heal me?" He asked in an accusatory tone, and Castiel nodded weakly.

"Cas, you stupid son of a bitch!" Dean cried angrily, but his actions were contradictory when he was as gentle as possible in helping him stand up off the bed.

Dean physically retched when he pulled Cas up and the sticky poison pouring from Cas's ribcage pulled slowly away from the bed, like when a caramel is pulled apart.

"We need to get you help," Dean said in a low voice, letting Cas lean on him heavily, even though the poison started to wick into his clothes and it made his head spin.

In his panic he was able to think more clearly for some reason; he was able to scan all of heaven in a few seconds, searching for Adam. He especially knew it had to be his half-brother's from the hellish glow that surrounded his heaven, the shield that was keeping the enemy angels away.

Dean spread his dark butterscotch wings as wide as they could go, closed his eyes, hoped, and flew.

His eyes snapped open, and there they were at Adam's front door. Dean reached out with a shaking hand to ring the doorbell, an action he knew would have Adam jumping in fear inside.

The white door was quickly swung open to reveal Adam's tired and anxious face. It lit up just a tiny bit when he saw his eldest brother.

"Dean!" He cried, rushing forward and giving him a hug. "What's the matter? What happened? The angels here started talking about you two a lot, but they refused to tell me anything-"

Dean shouldered Cas and looked into his friend's face, which was pale and drained of most blood. Adam's face dropped when he saw.

"I don't know how it got this bad. He said it only nicked him, but he doesn't look good at all..." Dean explained, stepping into the house as Adam quickly took off Cas's Leviathan-soaked trench coat and sat him down on the closest bed in the living room. Adam ripped part of his shirt to see the wound, which while they looked it bubbled and oozed out a great deal of tar. Dean curled up and retched, but having not eaten since he'd died, nothing came out. The poison made him queazier than anything he'd ever experienced in life, even airplane flying.

"Dean, you're not going to like this." Adam said gravely as he dug around in his toolbox.

"What? Is he going to be okay?" Dean thought back to what Calcifer had said to him; once an angel's gone, they're gone forever. He really didn't want to lose Cas.

"I think so. But because he left it alone and because he expended most of his energy on something, the poison has gone much deeper than it should have. We'll have to carve it."

Dean didn't like the sound of that. "He spent his energy on me, dammit! And now look what happened!" Dean had to avoid Adam's gaze. If Cas died, he'd carry that blame forever. He couldn't die.

"Is it painful?" Dean asked softly, his stomach twisting in knots. "I'm not going to lie, it's very painful." Adam placed a wooden bit into Castiel's mouth, which the dark-haired angel weakly opened just enough to get it in. Dean got one look at the tool Adam was about to use, and he didn't even think twice as he grabbed Cas's limp hand tightly.

"I'm right here, Cas. I'm not going to leave, okay?" Cas barely nodded, looking so pitiful with those weary eyes and that bit in his mouth. He was breathing shallowly, his blue eyes half-closed and his wings shuffling slightly, he looked like a little bird who had slammed full speed into a glass window.

Adam brought the angel-blade scalpel up to Cas's ribcage, where the wound was. "I'm going to do this as fast as I can, okay? I'm sorry," Adam said the last two words as he gritted up his teeth and swiftly punctured the angel's side, tearing down and carving out the area tainted with poison. Cas screamed out, it was only slightly muffled by the wood. He squeezed Dean's hand tightly, and Dean tried to squeeze reassuringly back, but wondered if he even felt it. Adam was working as fast as he could, but it almost looked like a substance that was extremely hard to cut, as he sawed, ripped, and tugged to try and cut the affected area out entirely. Cas screamed even louder, tears had started to stream from his eyes, as he tried to shy away from the blade and into Dean, squeezing his hand harder and harder. Cas was in so much pain that Dean could feel some of it himself through the network they shared. The wall behind them and the floor underneath their feet popped loudly with a large crack, which began splintering quickly toward the far wall. With a boom, all the windows in a twenty foot diameter shattered. Wallpaper started to peel and rip from the walls, and the lamps and light overhead began flaring brightly. A circular breeze started to pick up, Dean felt it rustle through his hair.

Dean wrapped his free arm around Cas's shoulder, holding him still for Adam. "I'm not leaving you. I'm right here," Dean told him softly, hoping that he heard him through all the pain. Adam was almost done, and he ripped the last bit connecting the grace, and quickly collected the poisoned lump of grace into a steel box, snapping the lid closed harshly and turning all the locks.

Cas collapsed into Dean's chest, shutting his eyes tightly, breathing heavily as beads of sweat rolled down his temples. Everything stopped, and the house was filled with a nice absence of noise. Dean gently pulled the wood from his mouth and put it aside, and he slowly unwound his fingers from Cas's now limp hand, which had been a death grip before.

"It's all over, Cas. You're going to be fine." Castiel still didn't open his eyes, as he breathed heavily and was clearly trying to slow it down as he gulped at the air hungrily. Dean looked down and noticed Cas's grace was swirling at three times the normal speed, prodding and searching and swirling around the empty chunk like fish competing for food.

"Thank you for staying." He said on exhale, still not opening his eyes. Dean didn't even want to imagine what going through that first hand must have been like.

"Why would I leave?" He asked softly. "But I'm telling you, don't ever do something that stupid again." Dean suddenly remebered that Sam had told him basically the same thing after he'd gotten those burns. Now he understood his brother's frustration. Cas looked sad.

"I'm sorry that I made you angry. I was only trying to help, I'm sorry, I did not know the infection would spread this much...I'm so-"

"Cas, stop apologizing to me. I'm not angry at you."

Castiel finally opened his eyes, which were washed with tears from the carving, and looked at Dean. "Thank you for taking me here," He said so softly that it was almost hard to hear. He still did not look well enough to stand up, so they stayed there, Cas's head resting heavily on Dean's chest, until Adam came back. Dean, for some strange reason he could not comprehend, felt a very strong urge to run his hands through that jet black hair. He quickly fought it back, refusing to move either of his hands. Don't be ridiculous, he scolded himself.

When he felt that Castiel was ready, Dean gently helped Castiel to his feet. Cas swayed just a tiny bit, but steadied himself and was okay.

Adam came back, and without saying anything came up and gave Dean a huge hug. "Oof!" Dean let out as the kid knocked into him.

"Stay safe, okay? Promise me?" He asked in a fearful voice, looking up at his brother with those light blue eyes. "I don't want to see you back here until after the war is over."

"I'll try my best, okay Adam?" The teenager nodded and pulled away from the hug.

"Dad would have been proud of you. I'm proud of you."

Adam finally smiled, lighting up his weary face. With that Dean spread his wings again and flew back to their little tent.

Right when they arrived, Castiel sheepishly began clearing the sticky black sheets from the bed. He was purposely avoiding Dean's gaze, and Dean knew it. "Okay, Cas. What's going on?"

Castiel bunched the sheets up and pressed his lips together. He looked exhausted from the operation, and was hunched just slightly over his missing piece.

"I do not want you to be angry with me again," he said softly.

"Just tell me, please. I won't get mad, I promise."

Castiel paused, looking at the black poison on the sheets with downcast eyes.

"I have not been looking after Samandriel as well as I should have. Gabriel had been overworking him, but I was so concerned with watching over you two on earth, and then there was a battle, and I got injured... it escaped my notice..." He looked like a guilty dog after they'd ripped up half the sofa.

"What do you mean overworked? What happened?" Dean asked.

Castiel completely avoided his look now, turning away. "I don't know. Every day. I'm not sure for how long, hours maybe. He wouldn't stop until he got all the information. Maps, locations of troops, numbers, everything." Dean knew that this would definitely not rest well with a certain someone.

"Where's Sam?" Dean asked, and simultaneously he heard a crash outside and yelling voices. Dean and Cas rushed to peek outside and see what was happening.

Sam was holding Samandriel tightly with one arm, and in the other he wielded his blade.

"No, you stay away from him!" Sam yelled to Gabriel, twisting to shield the child away from the archangel. He still looked a bit void of energy, dark circles tainted his usually bright eyes. "Can't you see what you've done to him? How could you, Gabe? He's your family!"

Gabriel strode up dangerously close to Sam. "We've all made sacrifices, Sam. What, you don't think killing my own brother is enough? We've lost so much more than one tiny angel!"

"Fuck you!" Sam spat, clutching Samandriel tightly. Dean picked up easily on Gabriel's thoughts; had anyone but Sam said that, he would have lunged right there. But he figured that he somewhat deserved it after all the shit he'd put Sam through. And he liked Sam, just not right now.

Dean noticed a difference in Samandriel, his eyes were vacant, and for the cuddly kid he usually was, he was strangely stiff in Sam's arms.

"Keep it down or you'll wake Michael!" Gabreil hissed, giving Sam a death glare.

"Fine. I was just leaving." Sam said coldly, and when he saw Dean he motioned for him to come with him with a tiny beckoning nod. Dean felt torn for a second; he really didn't want to get on Gabe's bad side, but he needed to be with Sam. Was it even a question? He followed his brother out into the snow, jogging to catch up and stride next to him.

Sam looked extremely angry. "What happened?" Dean asked, but he could basically infer what had happened. Samandriel could basically be a porcelain doll for all the emotions he was feeling at the moment.

"I can't believe he could do that to him. He's just a little kid, Dean. And every single day, drilling him, refusing to stop, he just..." Dean looked up to see tears sparkling in Sam's eyes, and he knew that look. It was a look often seen on his own face, the big brother look.

"I know." He replied, and they saw a hazy heaven approaching them in the woods. Dean could tell it wasn't someone that he knew.

"This is the only thing I could think to try," Sam said sadly, as they stepped through the barrier, and Dean's eyes met Alfie's.

Samandriel blinked slowly, but began to stir, looking as if there was a battle being fought within himself. Finally, he wriggled out of Sam's arms and ran to Alfie.

He barreled into Alfie's legs and hugged them tight, and he started to cry.

"Alfie! I'm so, so sorry! I was the one who pushed you down, I was the one who killed you..." The little boy buried his face into the teenager's legs. Alfie did look somewhat surprized at seeing what Samandriel looked like in his true form. I guess he was expecting something a little less vulnerable, a little more powerful.

"It's okay, buddy. At least I know it was for something good." Samandriel reached up for a hug, biting his lips as his eyes watered. Alfie reached down and picked him up by the armpits, and the baby angel instantly wrapped his former vessel into a giant hug.

"It was so scary. It didn't feel like me," He said in a tiny voice as he buried his face into Alfie's shoulder. Alfie wrapped his arms around the little angel and smiled. "I thought you'd look different. Maybe bigger," He said with a small smile.

Samandriel sniffled and looked into his face. "Did you think I acted like a grown-up?"

"You did. You're very smart and kind." The two hugged for a while, and Alfie had a small smile on his face. "I'm so sorry," The little angel whispered again. Alfie shook his head slowly and then lay his chin on top of the mass of soft dark brown hair. "Don't. It's okay." They both didn't speak as they only allowed themselves to shed one last tear.

"You should go, Samandriel. There is still some work for you to do," The teen said, pulling the small white-winged angel off of him gently.

"I know," He sniffled. Alfie gently placed him back on the ground, where he did a spin and looked right at Sam. Sam knelt down and opened his arms wide, and Samandriel ran as fast as he could into them. Sam wrapped him up and spun in a tiny circle, light dancing behind his eyes again. "Oof! There you are," He laughed, hugging the small kid who Dean knew he considered to be his baby brother, and Samandriel cuddled him right back, like he usually did. Sam kissed him on the hair that coated his forehead and tucked a strand behind his ear. "You're okay now? Are you feeling alright?"

The little boy nodded and buried his face into Sam's chest. "Please don't leave me with him again. It was so scary, It wasn't me." He said in a tiny voice, which was muffled by Sam's shirt. "It's okay now, I'm here." They stepped out of the heaven and back into the freezing cold, heading back to camp. Sam would probably come into Dean's tent now, and try to avoid confronting Gabriel for as long as possible.

Dean looked up at Sam, and Sam instantly picked up on Dean's worry. "What's the matter?" He piped up, turning his eyes to Dean now.

"It's Cas. You should have seen him." Sam was able to seamlessly pick up on the memory and see what had happened. "I just, I'm afraid. I don't want anyone I care about getting hurt," Dean admitted. Sam looked up at him with his typical innocent blue eyes.

"We just got Michael out, right? I'm sure everything is going to be over soon. And with two archangels, maybe we won't even have to fight." Dean knew right away that he didn't believe that last part one bit.

"You're right. I should stop worrying." Dean replied anyway, as he tucked his hands deep into his coat pockets. Damn, it was getting cold out here. It felt like it was getting colder and colder everyday. But, with the deep of winter, there always had to be a spring, right? Then again, this isn't Earth. Dean exhaled, his breath puffing almost opaque in the freezing air. What a strange world he'd been thrust into. But he refused to believe that things would continue to go downhill. For once in his life, he felt just a tiny bit optimistic. After everything he'd done, was it wrong to wish for a happy ending?

Hello everyone! I wanted to seriously thank everyone for the reviews! (I haven't been putting an author's note on every chapter because they basically all say the same thing, but seriously thanks!) Without you guys, I doubt I would have continued this story, and yet now I get new ideas that just pour into my head practically everyday. Where the heck do they even come from? I don't know! But I like having such a crazy active imagination. Please keep reviewing! I am not lying when I say that my heart skips a beat whenever I see a new review, and when I open it and see what it says its like opening tiny little presents! Thank you everyone for reading, even if you don't review. I can't wait to finish this story and have you guys see what I have in store for you. Thanks again~!