Thanks to my lovely Ninjakittee for her Beta work... You were really patient with me this chapter hun, my punctuation will improve, I solemnly promise! *serious face* And now enjoy haha ;)

For the life of him Dean could not stop staring.

He felt weird doing it, cause usually it was Cas' thing to stare; keeping his unblinking eyes glued to him sometimes for hours. He couldn't remember how many times in total he had snapped at the confused angel, informing him of the inevitable creepiness of having someone watch your every move. Castiel never really had grasped the concept of personal space.

But now Castiel himself was subject to an eternal stare, Dean's eyes glazed and unblinking. The hunter couldn't stop himself from taking in every detail of his friend's posture, every change however slight that took place on his face. He clung to Cas' every word as they sat across from each other in the little tool shed in Lisa's back yard, discussing the nature of his sudden appearance.

Dean couldn't help but notice Castiel's undignified position as he sat on the pile of boxes, shoulders slumped and elbows placed on his knees, making his hands fall loosely before his body. It was as far from the powerful being he had first met in the broken down barn years ago, displaying its gigantic and otherworldly wings in a highly fearsome way, as anything ever could be. Almost nothing about the angel's defeated position indicated that he had ever even possessed such power. It was yet another reminder of how far Cas had truly fallen, even with his restored angelic mojo. And Dean couldn't stop himself from wondering… why.

Maybe that was where the staring came from. The shock of suddenly seeing him again, a friend who had spoken his final goodbyes in the aftermath of their all-consuming battle. Seeing as his mind had been mostly tied up with grieving for his brother and honoring his promise, he hadn't really given it much thought, but it became clear to him now that he hadn't expected to ever see the angel again. Castiel had seemed so powerful at the time, so full of resolve and purpose… Put back into all his angelic glory, his once shattered faith now wonderfully renewed. And through it all, he had finally been able to return to heaven. Home.

Their paths weren't supposed to cross anymore. So how in the fucking world was it possible that he was suddenly so lost?

Of course the how became more and more obvious the longer Dean listened to his friend speak. It pained him to hear the sorrow in the angel's every word as he told him about his return to heaven and the events that had followed. It had started out alright apparently. A faint, nostalgic smile lay upon Cas' lips as he recounted his reunion with his former garrison. He seemed fondly amused at the fact that none of his brothers and sisters had been able to grasp the concept of freedom, as opposed to Dean who did not find it surprising at all that all those feathered dicks were good for was standing in line. He almost felt the urge to grin at the image of the excited and triumphant angel trying to bring the idea of free will into that soldier factory that was heaven. Now that was something that he'd die to see. Pun fully intended.

But within a few weeks of having returned home, Castiel had come to discover that heaven was by no means to be the leaderless chaos that he had suspected it to be. Cause in all their equations considering the apocalypse, there was still one archangel left that none of them had even bothered to think about. Raphael.

And that wasn't everything.

As Dean listened to Castiel's deep, gloomy voice cautiously utter the path that Raphael was set on following in his new position as leader of heaven, he finally put his finger on where the staring came from. It was the shock. The horror. The deep-seeded dread that was slowly working its way through every fiber of his body, rendering him incapable of any other activity than staying frozen on the spot. The hunter's eyes grew ever wider in terror as Castiel finally finished his grave tale; now raising his gaze up from the ground to meet Dean's with a remorseful and terrifyingly hopeless expression.

Silence hovered over them for several minutes while Dean slowly tried to process everything that he had learned in the past half and hour. When he finally spoke, it was with a hoarse and cracked voice.

"No," he choked out, the words barely louder than a breath of air as they escaped his quivering lips. "They can't… C-can they do that?"

Castiel's sad eyes briefly pondered over the hunter's agitated behavior, carefully calculating his answer.

"I don't know," he then said quietly.

For all the sincerity his voice was trying to convey, Dean was not fooled by the response. The carefully chosen and frankly meaningless words were nothing more than a veil designed to cover up the angel's true opinion. It was obvious that even though he probably wasn't sure, Cas did think that it was very possible. Possible that the forces of heaven could reopen the cage, release Michael and Lucifer and go through with the apocalypse. Possible that everything they had suffered and sacrificed, everything that Sammy had sacrificed… would be completely in vain.

Within a matter of seconds the cage around his chest was back. The terrifying crushing sensation, threatening to cut him off from all possibility of breathing. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. Forcing his lungs to perform the necessary movements, Dean straightened himself up, finally snapping out of the frozen state he had spent the last twenty minutes in.

"Great!" he vented, feeling a weird satisfaction at the fact that his voice was back to its usual strength. "That's… That's friggin' great!"

He got up from where he was sitting to pace through the small shed with a large sigh, rubbing his hand slowly over his mouth and jaw in frustration. He couldn't even catch a break after he had stopped the fucking apocalypse!

"I'm sorry, Dean," came the honest and sad response from the angel still sitting on the boxes, his eyes fixed ruefully on his hands once more. Cas knew that Dean had seen right through him. Of course he knew. But what else could he say, really?

Dean shook his head slightly while facing the wall, indicating that he did not blame his friend for any of this. It wasn't his fault; it was nobody's fault. Both he and Sam had been so keen on jumping on the only possible solution that Gabriel had offered them in the face of imminent doom, that none of them had taken the time to consider what any of the other parties thought about it. Why would they even? The whole plan had been completely reckless if not suicidal to begin with. It had been the desperate last act of a group of stubborn men that knew no other way out. So naturally none of them had even bothered to contemplate what could go wrong after the plan had succeeded.

But it was obvious, now that Dean thought about it. Had they really thought that it would be that easy? That heaven was just gonna stand by and let their Oh-so-destined-prizefighters be locked away in the cage? As Castiel had once tried to explain, it had all been long foretold. And the feathered sons of bitches were planning on going through with it, no matter what.

"All right," Dean spoke up, turning around again to face the seated angel. "So how do we stop it?"

Castiel looked up at him, his big blue eyes mirroring the gloom that was lingering in the depths beyond them. "I'm not sure that we can," he admitted reluctantly, knowing full well that it was not what Dean wanted to hear.

"Are you kidding me?" The hunter instantly responded with all the disbelief he could muster up.

Cas dropped his gaze back to the ground again, hesitating to speak at the prospect of Dean's simmering anger. "Dean…" He tried to explain slowly. "Raphael is extremely powerful…"

"I don't care, Cas!" Dean instantly shot back. He was starting to get seriously pissed off at the angel's defeated attitude. "We can't just sit around and do nothing!"

He took a step closer to him, throwing his hands up in anger as he spoke. "Sam died for this," he started with a tone that was both menacing and full of pain. "He jumped in that friggin' hole so this would all be over! And now your telling me those dicks can just go through with it anyway?"

Dean stared at the silent angel in agitation, wanting nothing more than to snap him out of his crestfallen state. "There's gotta be a way to stop it! I mean, we found one before, didn't we?" he demanded, his face now shifting to grim determination. "We can do it again! We'll figure something out, we've still got time"-

"I don't, Dean!"

When Castiel's voice finally interrupted him, it carried with it all the power and abundance that belonged to the true nature of his being. Along with these distinct words the angel lifted his head, his brilliant blue eyes piercing the hunter with an intense stare. There was a sense of absolute finality within his gaze; something that could not be questioned, whether for truth or severity.

Dean blinked several times in surprise before answering. "What?"

Cas sighed gravely, lowering his voice back down to normal talking volume. "I don't have time." He stated it factually, eying the back of his folded hands while he explained. "Raphael has made it very clear that… Freedom ends tomorrow. Tomorrow I either pledge allegiance to his flag or…" His voice trailed off quietly as he stared gloomily into the distance.

"Or they kill you." Dean completed the sentence for him. In response Castiel turned his head to meet the hunter's gaze with sad blue eyes, once more leaving no room for doubt.

The silence in the room seemed almost tangible through the weight of its sorrow. Green eyes stared into blue as Dean gave a barely noticeable shake of his head, his face speaking volumes of the fear and pain he felt at the prospect of losing yet another of the few people that meant anything at all to him in this world. One single break, just once in a while, was that too much to ask? It seemed that there was hardly anything left that had not been taken from him. He had lost allies, friends, his mother, his father, his brother… And now he was about to lose his best friend as well.

Dean slowly lowered himself back onto the bench opposite Cas and sighed. "I'm sorry, man." The words seemed so meaningless, so little, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Castiel gave a slight shrug, having assumed his activity of staring at his vessel's hands once again. "It was to be expected," he said indifferently, his deep voice taking on the tone of casual bitterness. "I'm surprised they've even given me a choice. Heaven is not very forgiving."

Dean snorted. "No kidding," he responded sardonically. "You'd think with all that preaching-bible-crap they'd be more into the business…"

The angel naturally ignored the blasphemous quip, his eyes unfocused from deep thought. Biting back another provocative comment, Dean decided to remain silent and give his friend time to further address the dire situation. He was the one with his head on the chopping block after all.

After several moments of hesitation Castiel slowly started speaking again, the sound of his voice now turned from bitter to utterly lost. "I don't know what to do, Dean," he admitted painfully. "I'm not sure there's anything I can do. I…" He turned remorseful eyes toward his friend, making it seem as though he was asking for forgiveness. "I should not be putting this on your shoulders. I'm sorry, Dean."

Dean vigorously shook his head and answered roughly. "Don't you dare, Cas. I'm your friend! I'd be kicking your ass if you hadn't come to me!"

"Well, technically in that case you wouldn't know, Dean, so you could hardly"-

"Shut up!" Dean complained in annoyance, feeling rather pleased with himself as the corner of Castiel's mouth twitched up into a feeble smile. Faint, yes, but still it was there. He shook his head with a slight chuckle, still amused at the angel's confused comment. It was just so Cas.

However the welcome refuge of amicable banter did not last very long, for within a moment's notice Castiel's face was back to its initial gloomy expression. "You have sacrificed so much already…" he continued guiltily. "I should not be asking for more. If I could handle it myself I would."

Dean felt the urge to argue with his friend once again, to tell him that he didn't have to apologize, but something about the angel's tone told him to hold back. It was the same air of finality, which had shone through so clearly before.

"But I can't," he concluded with grim certainty. "I'm not ashamed to say that my big brother knocked me into next week. I can't fight him. So it seems I have only two options… Bow down… or die."

For a brief moment Dean observed his friend with a frown, contemplating his response to the utterly crushing words that he had uttered. But there wasn't much to think about really. Because despite all the subtler and understanding approaches that might have been more fitting, Dean Winchester knew from the core of his being that there was only one thing he wanted to say.

"That's a load of crap!" the hunter stated gruffly, anger slowly working its way into his voice again as Cas' eyes met his in confusion.

"What?" The angel blinked, seeming slightly taken aback from the harsh response.

"All this only-two-options-shit you're yapping about – crap!" Dean went on mercilessly, staring his friend down with a pissed off stare. "It sounds like you're giving up and I don't like it!"

"Dean, I said I need your help"-

"Well, I can't help you if you come here with your tail stuck between your legs from the get-go!" Dean interrupted him angrily, finally letting out his frustration over the angel's defeated attitude, which had been bugging him ever since he arrived. He got up from his seat to pace the shed once more, feeling far too agitated to sit still at the moment. "Cas, the choice isn't bow down or roll over, you've got a third option here! You can fight!"

Castiel's eyes narrowed as they followed the hunter's jerky movements. "Haven't you been listening, Dean? I can't!"

"The hell you can't!" Dean vented, throwing out his arms in anger. "You're a frickin' soldier, Cas! You can always keep fighting!"

"Dean…" At this point Cas was obviously struggling to keep his voice calm, for he too was starting to get rather angry at Dean's lack of understanding. "Raphael 'kicked my ass'!" he pressed out, raising his hands to make unfitting air quotes with his fingers while he spoke.

Dean found himself temporarily distracted from their argument, his eyes fixed on Castiel's raised fingers. He almost felt the urge to grin at the awkward, completely out of place gesture, which was once again so typical of the socially inept angel. He might've done so if the situation hadn't been so dire. But in light of the more pressing issues at hand, he simply let it pass, feeling only a slight sting at the thought of much Sammy would've enjoyed this as well.

Cas didn't seem to notice the hunter's brief absence of mind and therefore kept pressing his point. "I don't stand a chance against him, Dean! Even if I did chose to fight… the third option would also result in my being killed."

"So?" Dean asked with a shrug. "We'll find another option, then! There are different ways to fight, Cas. I don't think I need to tell you about all the steep odds Sammy and me faced over the years. Damn it, the three of us stopped the friggin' apocalypse! He gave his life for it, so that our sorry asses could go on doing… Whatever it is we're doing!" His ribs howled silently in protest to the pressing sensation threatening to snap them. "And now he's down there going through God knows what"- When had his voice decided to sound so desperate? –"and we are not gonna let it be for nothing, you hear me? There's always a way!"

Castiel remained silent for a moment, his blue eyes full of guilt at the pain he was causing the hunter. It was clear that he wanted to do something to help, to find the words to somehow make it all better, but in addition to his social ineptness couldn't think of anything useful.

"So what do you propose?" he then wanted to know, not sounding very hopeful despite Dean's effort to cause the opposite, but at least trying to pull himself together all the same.

"I don't know, do what you do best," Dean responded, feeling slightly exasperated at the fact that he was the one that had to explain the best course of action to a fucking angel of the Lord.

"Disobey?" Cas huffed with a slightly petulant edge to his voice.

"Rebel!" Dean almost yelled in response, frustration and annoyance mixing on his face as he took a threatening step closer to the angel. "Fight! Show them you're not their bitch!"

"They already know that, Dean, otherwise they wouldn't resort to killing me." Castiel quietly remarked, highly aware of how the nitpicky words were raising Dean's already boiling rage to a level dangerously close to explosion. The hunter appeared like he had a nasty insult on the tip of his tongue, but managed to hold it back through taking a deep breath. "I told you," Cas went on. "I can't survive a straight fight."

"Ok, maybe not a straight fight" Dean immediately jumped at the next possibility. "So don't face him! Don't give him the chance to gank you."

This earned him an incredulous stare from Cas, indicating that Dean was the last person in the world that he had expected to hear this from. "You're telling me to run away?" he asked in a highly skeptical voice, as if he was wondering if Dean was perhaps not well.

"No, just… Live to fight another frickin' day!" Dean insisted, frowning to himself over his half-dramatic statement. Maybe he was developing a poetic streak. "You know, play it safe for now and… Buy us some time to come up with a plan B."

The angel seemed to contemplate this for a moment, letting the idea slowly fester inside a mind full of hopelessness. "And what would you suggest as a plan B?" he asked softly, consequently pointing out the weak point in Dean's plan.

Dean opened and closed his mouth again before showing a humorless smirk with a slight shake of his head. "I'm working on it," he grumbled, as always not wanting to admit that he had no idea what to do.

The two of them lingered in depressing silence for a while, not really sure what further words to say to each other. Dean felt that there was so much he still wanted to tell his friend, so many things he wanted to get off his chest. His insides were practically screaming for him to have Castiel help him where he couldn't ask Lisa because he didn't want to be more of a burden to her than he already was. Cas had seen him at his darkest and most horrible moments and somehow still managed not to judge him for it. There was probably no one else in the world besides Sam and Bobby who knew him as well as the angel did. And with Sammy gone… He wasn't sure he could take it much longer. He hated to admit it to himself, but he knew that he needed help.

Dean was ripped from his train of thought by the sound of Castiel's voice cautiously speaking again. "How… How are you, Dean?" He asked softly, genuine affection and concern shining from the brilliant blue eyes on his otherwise stoic face.

This was his chance. Cas was even offering it, he could tell him everything if he only wanted to. And still the hunter hesitated. Once again he failed to put into words that which was bothering him most. So instead he simply shrugged with a nonchalant expression. "All right," he said.

He felt the angel's worried eyes still resting on him, but before either of them had a chance to say another word, they were both distracted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway on the front side of the house. Dean found himself extremely surprised that Lisa was already back from her errands, because only now did he realize how much time had passed since Cas had first appeared in the yard behind him.

Castiel got to his feet and watched as Dean paced over to the little window of the shed, looking out across the lawn and over to the car where he saw the slender brunette in the process of slamming the door shut. She would probably need some help carrying in her grocery bags.

His eyes still watching Lisa out the window, Dean addressed the angel again. "All right, Cas, listen, whatever you do, don't do anything…" He turned around to face his friend only to be met by a completely empty space in front of him. "…Stupid."

Dean looked back and forth in the small tool shed, in which he was now entirely on his own and shook his head in exasperation.

"Frickin' angels."

Author's Note: Just wanted to give a quick thanks to all you awesome people who already favorited and followed my story :) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you will like where I'm going with this haha!

Thanks also to Abby-Jade-Love and roy23 for giving me my first reviews *virtual hug* ^.^ I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the support! I know the plot is still moving a bit slowly right now, but I do have one worked out in my head and will try to update as often as possible!

Oh and thanks of course to Ninjakittee for all her amazing Beta work and support haha! You rock, hun :D

Alrighty, hope you guys will keep on liking it, please review and tell me what you think! :)