Title: Guardian Angel

Author: xascasfellx

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Dean/Castiel

Spoilers: 8x02

Word Count: 2, 494

Warning: Purgatory

Day Two of 12 Days of Destiel

The heat was unimaginable. The smell even worse. Everything a child feared, thought was hiding in their closet, under their bed, everything from Hell and back, was all located in these woods. Purgatory.

There had been monsters hunting him from the moment he arrived, leviathan. The things he'd done to them, eating them, along with every God forsaken thing in this place, it made him a number one candidate for their kill list. They were at the top of the kill list, not just him. Despite him being a human in a world of monsters, it was Castiel being an Angel that really put out the signal. Every living creature, hiding, seeking, sleeping, eating, they all knew he was there. They could feel it. Just like he could feel them. He knew when they were close, when they were searching for him. He knew when they were close to Dean. He knew when they were searching for him. Being an Angel of the Lord in a land full of Hell's least wanted, it wasn't a picnic.

But despite the things trying to kill them, despite knowing Dean was off with a vampire, despite knowing he would never return home, the worst possible thing about being in Purgatory was hearing Dean's prayers ever night. Dean didn't know he left him to keep the monsters away from him. He didn't know that everything Castiel was doing at this point was trying to keep Dean safe and alive. He didn't know that. All he knew was Cas left him, right in the beginning. At first it was an act of fear, for himself. At first he thought that if he left Dean, being the human, it would stop them from coming after Cas, but he was wrong. They continued their search. But destroyed Cas'. He was too worried, too preoccupied with Dean that he'd almost died a number of times. If it wasn't for Dean's prayers, he was sure he would have let the monsters kill him.

But Dean kept him going.

It was painful to hear Dean call out to him in his mind and to not be able to go to him. The things he said, the things he told Cas, they made him feel like no angel should. His heart, or rather—jimmy's—would work at double the rate whenever he heard Dean, whenever Dean spoke directly, only to him. His stomach would flutter and he would begin to sweat more than he already was. It wasn't something he was familiar with, but he had heard of it somewhere. It was a human feeling. He wasn't human. He shouldn't be feeling anything. But now, in Purgatory, he was feeling fear. Loneliness. Want. Desire—things he'd never thought possible to him.

Castiel was in a tree, one of the highest he'd come across so far, waiting; waiting for them to leave. They weren't a threat. He wasn't scared for his life either. He had that same stomach feeling when he looked down on the traveler, and burning hatred when he saw his companion.

Dean threw down his blade, sitting beside it with a large huff. Benny, the vampire Cas had heard Dean was traveling with, began to place twigs and branches in a circle before hitting a rock upon another, sparking a flame in the dried firewood. The smoke reached Cas' nose in an instant. Anyone could see it. But the men didn't care. They were the most feared things in the wood. He knew a few who had told him stories of the human, hunting Cas'. He made sure to go in the opposite direction. He couldn't come anywhere near Dean. He had been so careless, so stupid. He hadn't known Dean was this close. He would flash out, but with the running and the near death experience he encountered less than an hour ago, he was drained. The vampire sat down beside Dean, putting a hunk of meat through a stick, placing it over the fire. He wasn't far away and could easily hear their conversation.

"Dinner's gonna be ready soon. Got ourselves a nice piece of meat here." Just hearing the vampire speak to Dean made Cas' skin crawl.

"Not hungry." Dean leaned back against the bark of Cas' tree, closing his eyes. To Benny it probably seemed like he was trying to sleep, but Cas knew otherwise. He heard Dean.

Cas…you listening buddy…where are you man? I'm…I'm doin' the best I can here…but you gotta give me something. I can't do this by myself man. So, if you're even listening to me you son-of- a- bitch…please...just let's do this together. We have a way out…we can go home. I'm not leaving here without you Castiel. Damn it. Please…

And just like that Dean was asleep. He never went to bed without praying to Cas. It was like he couldn't bring himself to do it without telling Cas what was going on. Maybe it was just his way of dealing with things. Cas felt bad enough for leaving Dean when they first got there, he didn't need Dean praying to him every night to make him feel worse. He was going to wait till they were both asleep for Cas to leave.

….

It was late. Finally Benny couldn't stand it anymore and hit 'the sack' about an hour ago. Cas moved quickly but silently down the tree with as much mojo as he could spare to use, to just get the hell out of there without waking up either one of them. When he made it to the ground, Cas should have just made a break for it, going as far away from them as possible. But he couldn't bring his feet to move. Dean was still leaning against the tree with his blade by his side, head held low. He breathed deep, snoring just slightly. His eyes fluttered underneath his eyelids. Cas could tell he was having a bad dream. It was about him. The moment his body—his useless vessel carrying the leviathan—walked into the lake, evaporating. He still didn't know how he made it back. But that scene kept haunting Dean over and over again like a broken record. A low, angry grunt came from Dean. The scene changed in Dean's mind. He was seeing Cas when he was in the mental institution. It was the day they brought the Word of God to him. Cas was on the floor cleaning up the Sorry game, while Dean watched him. He couldn't watch anymore. Castiel blocked out Dean's thoughts, backing away from his sleeping form. He wanted to reach out and brush a strand of his hair away—it was getting longer. He wanted to take away the nightmares from him. He wanted to go home, to leave this place with Dean. But he moved further away from him, turning around to make a break for it.

"Cas…" His body ran cold. His heart began to pound in his chest. The clearing was a little ways off. If he could just make it, make it past the clearing, he could fly out of there, away from Dean, away from his prayers. If only. "Cas…it's really…please look at me…" His voice was broken and tired. Cas slowly turned towards him, keeping his distance.

"Hello Dean." He whispered, not sure if Dean could hear him. Cas turned his head towards the sleeping vampire. Dean looked at him as well.

"Can we talk? Somewhere else." He should have turned around and left then. He should have used what little power he had left to fly somewhere else, but the way Dean looked at him, he couldn't bring himself to do it. It'd been so long since he heard Dean's voice, up close and personal, real; not a prayer. His real voice. Timidly, Cas nodded his head. They walked together about a yard away into the trees. When they stopped, Dean leaned against a tree, arms crossed, watching Cas with a fixed glare. Castiel hugged himself tightly as if trying to make himself smaller than what he was. Dean didn't say anything for a while. He just watched Cas like he'd never seen him before.

"I can't believe you're here. I've been looking for you, everyday Cas. Where have you been?" With every word Dean came closer. Castiel stayed put.

"Around. It's been hard Dean. Really hard."

"Yah, well welcome to the club. It hasn't been a fucking picnic over on this end either. News flash we're in Purgatory! It would have been nice to not have to worry that you were dead somewhere because you couldn't stay with me!"

"You seemed to be content with your vampire."

"Damn right I am, Cas! He saved my life more times than I can count, all while, I might add, I was looking for your ass!" Dean was a few inches away from him now. He could feel Dean's breathe on his face. His body heat radiated off of him worse than a blazing fire. His beard had grown out more than usual. His hair nearly covered his forehead. He was painted in blood and dirt. His clothes were torn and frayed. He looked nothing like the old Dean Cas knew.

"Dean…" Before he knew what was coming, Dean's body was wrapped around him, his hands pulling him closer than possible. He was shaking, but no tears fell. Dean held on so long Cas felt his body starting to ache. Right as Dean was about to release him, Cas wrapped his own arms around Dean, pulling him just as close. It felt good to have Dean so close, so real and concrete. He could hear Dean's own heart racing. When they leaned out, their faces were just inches apart. He looked deep into Dean's eyes, seeing the longing in them. He'd missed Cas just as much as Cas missed him. Cas leaned in languidly, pressing his lips to Dean's. It was just a brush of skin on skin, but it was enough. Dean pushed forward with more force, knocking Cas back onto the nearest tree. His hands roamed Cas' hair, pulling his head closer. Dean's tongue traced his bottom lip, slipping in to find Cas'. Just as abruptly as it started, the kiss ended. Dean pulled away glaring at Cas.

"You can't leave again Cas. You can't." Despite knowing that he was a beacon for leviathan, despite knowing he was putting Dean in danger by even being here, he couldn't say no to him. He could never say no to Dean.

"Okay." His lips were pressing to Cas' again; this time with more force and devotion.

"Okay." Dean mumbled against them, grabbing at his sides through the worn trenchcoat. He slid his hands under the patient shirt he still wore, rubbing at the warm, flushed skin of Cas' chest. "Okay." He whispered again in Cas' mouth. It was nearly hysteric. Dean was about to break down. Cas was the only thing holding him up. Little did he know, Dean was doing the same for him. Flipping sides, Cas had Dean pinned against the bark of the tree, not breaking their kiss for a second. With one hand brushing the side of Dean's face, the other moved down to undo Dean's jeans. He was already hard and leaking precome over the front of his pants and Cas' hand. Castiel wrapped his hand around the base of Dean's cock, looking him straight in the eyes. Even through the darkness he could see the green become completely taken over by darkness. His mouth was ajar; his breathing haltered. There wasn't much room to do the things he wanted to do to Dean, but safety came first. If they were ambushed, and Cas would know before it happened, there would still be no time to redress.

He began to pump firmly and carefully on Dean's cock, rubbing his thumb over the tip, getting it wet with precome. He moved a finger down the vein, cupping his balls in his hand. Dean's eyes became wide, a low grunt sounding out of his mouth. He began to pick up his pace, biting down on the side of Dean's neck. Cas kissed up the side, up his jaw line, till he placed a light peck on his lip. Dean's eyes were rolling in the back of his head, digging his fingers into Cas' side. He'd never done this before. He'd only seen it done whenever he accidently flew in on Dean masturbating. But doing this to Dean, it felt right. It just came to him. Making Dean squirm and moan, it was like second nature to him. Cas pressed his lips against Dean's again, sucking out his groan, breathing it into his own lungs.

"Come for me…"

"Oh fuck Cas." Dean nearly cried, throwing his head back onto the tree. Cas jerked faster, pressing his body up to Dean's rubbing his hands up Dean's side, till he was cupping Dean's face.

"Dean…" He made his voice a lower octave, knowing it turned Dean on when he did—Dean didn't know Cas' knew that.

"Fuck fuck fuck." He thrust his hips forward, needing to release. Cas bit down on his collar bone, sucking a bruise in the shape of his mouth.

"Please Dean." And with that, Dean's come covered Cas' hand inside his pants. He shook from the ecstasy, nearly screaming Cas' name—he silenced him by covering Dean's mouth with his.

"Holy fuck Cas…shit…" Cas removed his hand, wiping the seamen on the end of his coat. Dean zipped himself back up, still panting like crazy. Castiel moved backwards away from Dean. He looked at Cas with confusion, probably wondering if he was about to leave. He wasn't—not yet anyway.

"It's late. You should probably sleep." Cas turned around to walk back towards the campfire; Benny was still fast asleep, unaware of what had just happened. Dean had followed behind just to sit back in the spot Cas had watched him sleep at earlier. Hesitantly, Cas sat beside Dean, facing him.

"You'll stay right?"

"Of course." And he planned on it. He truly did plan on staying with Dean this time, but as odds would have it, that didn't turn out as planned. About an hour after Dean had fallen asleep, up against Cas, they were on their way. They were a few miles off. He could feel them. His fear kicked in overdrive. It wasn't easy getting off of Dean without waking him up, but he managed. Cas was a little under halfway charged up again meaning he was able to get away, not as far as he would like, but far enough to lead them from Dean. Before he left, Cas bent down to Dean, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. When Dean woke up Castiel wouldn't be there. He knew Dean would be hurt. He'd be angry. But most of all, most importantly, he'd be safe.