So he was alive at least, Dean had to think to console himself. That was just enough to keep him from breaking the door down right then and destroying Naomi as slowly and painfully as he could manage.

But Naomi's next words sent all of the calm and patience from his body, in fact, a few chills trembled down and around his spine: "I'm embarrassed to not think of it sooner. Angels without their grace. Mortals…" She said the word with disdain and what Dean was sure was a sneer, "well, they're just so easy to torture. Practically anything is sharp enough to break the skin!" Her excitement at the prospect was disgusting. Sam had elected to place another restraining hand Dean's way and now both hands were gripping Dean's shoulders.

When a pained gasp followed by a strained whimper punctuated her words, Dean was livid. No amount of strength on Sam's part would keep him from entering that room and tearing the bitch limb from limb.

With his hands on the door, about to yank it open, Sammy frustrated beside him, a resentful groan, Naomi's, gave them pause. "Don't worry Castiel, I won't be long." The following flutter of wings was even audible through the door. She must have caught wind of the drama they'd left in their wake and gone to investigate.

Dean couldn't open the door fast enough, desperate to get to the man he could now hear hyperventilating and struggling against whatever was restraining him.

Dean's mouth popped open as his eyes got ahold of the scene. Cas, held down in what looked like a dentist's chair, had hundreds of skinny, shiny, bleeding cuts marking his bare arms. The hatred that flared inside of him blinded him for a moment, rendering his vision as red as the blood now staining Castiel's clothes. He rushed forwards, putting a hand on each of Cas' cheeks. Recognition and relief flooded his pale face and eyes at the contact. "Dean," was all he could offer in a whisper as acknowledgment. He leaned into Dean's touch.

"Shit," Sam marveled. It took him a minute to find the key to the wrist restraints because, by God, nothing about this could possible turn out to be easy.

When they pulled Cas up to stand, he tried to hold back a tortured cry and he almost fell before Dean caught him in a protective hold. The goddamn angel had broken both of his legs.

"Let's get him out of here," Sam urged, putting a shoulder under Cas' other arm. They both supported half of him and Dean willed himself to ignore the tears streaming down Cas' face until they were out of this hellhole.

"We gotta get Meg," Dean grunted back through his teeth. Considering the part she played in all of this, it wasn't right to leave her. Plus, if he did, he just knew Cas would be pissed about it later. They started shuffling towards the door when the familiar sound of wings made Dean's heart sink. "On second thought…" he whispered, barely making a sound.

Naomi took in the three of them, a smug edge to the set of her mouth and in those sharp eyebrows. She was positioned between them and the door, just begging Dean to destroy her. "Can't say I'm pleased to see that you survived, Dean. You're what we like to call 'an abomination', taking in an angel's grace like that."

Dean wasn't about to stick around for the small talk, but when he tried to transport them out of there without success, he figured their lack of a getaway was the source of the pleased look on her face. "I've always been a rebel," he kept his voice calm and he even slipped in a wink for her benefit.

She turned her attention to the broken man between him and Sam, "Leaving so soon, Castiel?" Her words sent a shiver through Cas that tightened Dean's fingers around the blade in his jacket.

"I assume you Winchesters are the source of all the chaos? All for this hollow, graceless angel?" She scoffed, like a friggin' villain in a Batman movie. "I'm sorry to say I haven't quite finished with him. He still has quite a bit to learn about authority. If anything, I can make him into an example." Her eyes were piercing, trained on Cas' face, who tried to hide in Dean's shoulder. If he didn't have the fragile man clinging to him, Dean probably would've charged across the room, thrashing at her blindly.

Cas' fragility had less of an effect on Sam, making him less hesitant to face the angel. He carefully removed his shoulder from under Cas' arm. Dean turned to hold Cas up as he began to slip. When Sam barely got within inches of Naomi, he was thrown back and he landed hard on his shoulders, his head was thrown back against the hard, ceramic floor with a nauseating crack.

"Come on!" Naomi chided, "You think a weak, little human is any kind of challenge for me?" She looked incredulous and Dean was eager to wipe the look off of her face.

Dean retained enough presence of mind to touch two of his fingers to Cas' forehead before lowering him steadily to the ground, unwilling for him to experience anymore pain as it seemed they wouldn't be getting out of this mess as soon as he'd hoped. He met eyes with his adversary. He revenge he craved there for the taking, a small glimmer of thankfulness rising up inside him due to his brother's failure.

Naomi seemed pleased to have her shot at him, too. A wide smile showed her sickeningly white teeth and she moved her hand, letting the bright lights in the room reflect off of the silver blade she held. Whether it was an invitation or a threat, he accepted the former and pressed forward. As he lunged for her, he noticed the smaller, less eye-catching knife in her other hand a moment too late. He'd been prepared for a jab from the bigger knife but the smaller was the one she raised to stab into his right arm, forcing him to drop his own weapon as he reached to cover the open wound with his left hand.

Time seemed sort of slowed down as Naomi raised her other blade, ready to strike. Dean wasn't ready to accept his defeat, his brother and the man he loved mere feet away on the floor with no chance of escape after his death. He didn't want to accept it, but that didn't mean he had a choice. Naomi probably would've seen it as cowardly, heck, anyone would have, but when Dean smashed his eyelids down to try and push himself to be peaceful, to take the death that he'd managed to stave off for so long. He did his best to stifle the feeling of failure, that lurking feeling of not being able to save the ones he loves. He was sure that is would probably follow his soul wherever it went, that is if he still had a soul now that he had grace.

The strike he'd been expecting didn't come right away, and his eyes shot open to see a sliver of silver poking out of Naomi's chest, her mouth slack as a flash of light overtook the room, burning her wings to the floor and walls.

"Surprise," Meg drawled as the angel dropped to her knees, revealing the petite demon behind her.

Are you serious? Dean thought. Actually, he might have even said it out loud considering Meg's eye roll. Sure he was grateful to not be reduced to a corpse with matching wing markings bordering his dead body, but he was definitely not grateful enough to ignore the fact that Meg, MEG, got to waste the bitch after all the shit he'd been through to get here and face her. It was super annoying, but considering the situation, he could afford to save his annoyance for later.

He practically ran to Sammy, pulling him to his feet after giving him his consciousness back. Sam shook his head a bit, investigated the room, then he helped Dean lift Cas up again. Dean ignored the sharp pain in his arm and suggested that Meg grab on before he left her in heaven, vainly hoping she'd let go mid-transport and that something terrible would happen to her.

He'd taken them to his own room in the bunker when they all opened their eyes (it was closest to the kitchen and the front door). Dean carefully deposited Cas on his bed but paused with his hands on the man's chest before healing him.

"What are you waiting for?" Sam prodded. Meg simply crossed her arms and tapped her foot to accomplish the same thing.

"Hold up," Dean explained. He grabbed Sam's arm and tugged him closer. "I need to copy Cas' angel scratched." He looked thoroughly at the markings littering Sam's ribs and committed them to memory. He then turned to Cas to print them on his ribs as well before he was awake to feel it. The deed done, e turned to Meg. "Unless you wanna have heavenly brands on you, too, get out of here. You'll lead 'em right to us if anyone caught wind of us."

Meg seemed to deliberate for a second before she stalked out of the room. "That was a hell of a 'thank you'," she grumbled. "Whatever, angel-boy," she then sighed, resigned.

Relieved to have her gone at last, he got back to the task at hand. He tenderly laid his hands on Cas' chest. After some concentration, his wide eyes popped open.

First the deep blues were tinged with blankness but they quickle shifted to fearful as he looked around and started to sit up. "Naomi?"

After Dean gave him a pointed look, Sam left the room, placated by Cas' consciousness and awareness.

Dean took the opportunity to sit on the side of the bed, his hand stroking the hair on the side of Cas' head. "You're safe now, Cas." He considered other ways of saying it, but "She's dead," was all that came out.

He wasn't sure how he'd take it. She was a member of his family, after all (not to mention all the other angels who got in their way – but that could wait for later). To Dean's relief, Cas threw his arms around Dean's waist and pulled him closer, snuggling into his side.

They were all counting on the hope that everyone who had been connected the ecents of the day had no knowledge of their whereabouts, but there was always the chance that they were wrong. So for the first time since he'd been forced to give of all of his human-y things, Dean was actually glad he didn't feel the slightest pull of lethargy as Castiel slept off the day's stress beside him.

While one of his hands lazily scratched Cas' back to keep him relaxed and asleep, the other tightly gripped the blade that had practically been glued to his hand for the whole day. His eyes meticulously scanned to room and he listened for any disturbance throughout the bunker.

But just because he was thankful for his easy wakefulness, didn't mean that he didn't desperately want to crouch down with Cas and revel in the sleepy bliss with him. He would have if he could have. He would've simply protected him in sleep with just his enclosing arms and legs. As nice as that would be, the precious cargo nestled into his side meant he didn't mind being on watch all too much. So he laid still, with his back at an awkward angle that would've hurt if he was mortal, his shoes still on, and with Cas' hands tangled in his shirt. He stayed like that until Cas' squinty eyes opened and a shy smile stretched across his lips.

"What were you dreaming about?" Dean asked with an easy smile, remembering.

"What? Do you get your freak on watching other people sleep?" Cas responded, his smile growing wider as he crawled up onto Dean's chest. Dean chuckled in his ear at their shared memory.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So that's all folks! Not really though, because I'm planning to write an epilogue, that will undoubtedly be too short and unsatisfying. But anywho, thank you all for reading! I really appreciate all of the good feedback you guys gave. Sorry about the lack of *ahem* mature scenes regarding Dean and Cas, but I kinda sorta gave my sister the link to this story and I was hoping to be able to look her in the face the next time I saw her. I might write an accompanying mature scenario if you guys are interested (which you are so not allowed to read, Coty, if you made it this far). Alright, back on topic.

I hope you guys were satisfied by the ending, look forward to writing more stories in the future!