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Dean was hanging by his wrists, bleeding from his arms and head. His head was stained with blood all the way down his right cheek and his jaw was swollen. His wrists were bloody and bruised from the ropes he was hung up in. He was disoriented and mere moments from passing out. He looked around the room, but he couldn't make out any fine details. Everything was hazy and he couldn't focus. He'd lost a lot of blood after trying to take out a den of vampires on his own. He thought he could do it, he could do it without putting Sam in danger. Turns out he could've really used some backup. His eyelids started getting heavier and the room was going dark when he felt a punch to the side of his head. His left temple started to bleed. He could barely make out the conversation going on between a few of the vampires standing near him.
"Why are we keeping him alive?" one of the vamps asked angrily.
"We need him for bait. With him here, Sam Winchester is sure to show." the other replied.
Dean couldn't let them get Sam, but with barely any consciousness left he could only hope for someone else to come help him.
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"Cas, I need your help... Yes it's important... It's Dean. He supposedly went to check in with the local wildlife rangers and he hasn't been answering his phone... Great thanks." Sam hung up his phone and ran his hands through his hair. Dean had left at about noon and now it was nine at night and still no word. Something had gone wrong or Dean had done something incredibly stupid. Either way he was missing and Sam had narrowed down the monsters to being vampires and the den being in an abandoned factory house on the outskirts of town.
He waited for another hour in the motel for Cas to arrive. Without his wings he had to drive, and Dean had of course taken the Impala so Sam would've had to walk to the factory.
Sam explained the whole situation to Cas and Cas stared blankly at him. But behind his blank expression was anger and concern.
"How could you let Dean go off into the Den alone?" Cas paced the room.
"I didn't, he said he was going to talk to the local rangers and he gave me no reason to think otherwise." Sam tried to defend himself but Cas always got like this whenever something happened to Dean.
Cas opened the door, "Let's go, who knows what's happened to him already." He climbed into the driver's seat of his truck and barely waited for Sam to get in.
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Cas sped down the highway trying to get to the factory as quickly as possible. He'd felt a longing for him that was stronger than usual, and he knew it was from Dean, but he hadn't realized it was because Dean was in danger. He had just thought it'd been a tough day, or a rough hunt. Dean's longing for him seemed to spike during those times but he should've known that this level of it meant something had happened. He should've come sooner. He mentally cursed himself out and sped up. Sam must've noticed that he was going upwards of 80 mph because he started talking.
"I'm sure we can save Dean, okay?" Sam flashed him a nervous smile.
"Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"I figured Dean had gone to a bar, but when he didn't answer his phone the third time I knew he was in trouble."
"I should've known." Cas mumbled.
"Cas, you couldn't have possibly known that Dean was in danger. You were at least a state away. I was barely a city away and I didn't know for about nine hours."
Cas sighed and hurriedly pulled into the factory parking lot.
"Okay, I'll go around back, you try and find Dean." Sam grabbed his machete and got out of the truck. Cas readied his angel blade and snuck into the front entrance of the factory before cutting off one vampire's head at the door. He looked both ways before walking down the hallway. He heard a couple voices coming from a door on the left. He his on one side of the door and tried to eavesdrop on the vampire's conversation.
"Did you hear that? Sounds like little brother is here." one vampire said, and Cas knew he was talking to Dean. Another voice laughed and Cas felt his anger rising. He heard footsteps coming toward the door. It swung open and Cas beheaded the vamp as soon as it stepped into his field of vision. Three more came to the door, teeth bared but Cas sliced off each one of their heads with ease and pure adrenaline running through his veins.
Dean had fallen unconscious and was had blood covering his swollen cheeks and a black eye. His shirt was torn and bloodied as well and Cas could tell he'd been badly tortured. He untied the ropes that were around Dean's wrists and caught him when he collapsed to the ground. Dean blinked open his eyes and squinted at him.
"Cas?" he said hoarsely.
"Hello Dean, I'm going to get you out of here. Can you stand?" Dean nodded softly. Cas wrapped his arm around Dean and held him up. He helped carry most of Dean's weight to the truck. Sam came around the back of the building with bloodstains on his jacket and machete.
"Is he okay?" Sam asked quietly as Dean had gone unconscious again.
"He will be, I'll be able to heal him better at the motel. You should drive the Impala back, I'll take Dean in my truck." Same nodded and got into his brother's car. Cas drove away first and Sam followed behind. When they reached the beginning of town Dean woke up.
"Cas? Cas what happened?" Dean rubbed his eyes and winced in pain.
"You were tortured by a den of vampires, I got you out and killed most of the remaining ones. Sam killed the rest." Cas looked over at Dean to make sure he was okay.
"Oh," Dean looked down, "I'm sorry, I was trying to keep you and Sam out of this one."
"Dean we're perfectly capable of working a vampire den."
"No, I know it's just I thought I could do this one on my own, and the we could get back to the big picture, ya know?"
"No, I don't know. But it was a very stupid thing, you could've died." Cas gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter.
"I know Cas, and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking but I'm glad you showed up." Dean smiled a little bit and Cas couldn't help but smile back. "But if you're going to lecture me about it, can it wait until morning. I'm just really tired and..." Dean didn't finish his sentence before falling asleep on Cas's shoulder. Cas smiled at Dean and drove as smoothly as he could back to the motel. He parked and carried Dean into the room. He laid him on the bed and healed him. Cas knew it was a risk but he decided to place a kiss on Dean's forehead. Dean woke up moments after and Cas looked away, feeling quite flustered.
"I'm sorry, you just looked so peaceful and I thought-" Cas was cut off by Dean pulling him into another kiss.
"I'm glad you did," Dean smiled and he kissed Cas again. Sam had stepped inside the motel but neither of them had noticed. They failed to notice him back out of the room too.