Hey! Sorry, another busy week! But here it is, the last chapter of this story *sigh* Thank you to all the reviewers who have followed this story through, you guys are awesome. Don't worry, I plan on writing plenty more Destiel stories, so keep your eyes open. I am currently writing "The Winged Rider" if you want to check that out ;) Oh and if you are reading this story months from now, go ahead and review, I will love to get them!

Forbidenlover1- Haha yeah that is my favorite thing about Sam and Dean. I looove their back and forth banter and Dean's bad jokes and awkward references. Yup I tidied up things so I hope they look better, thanks for the pointers!

Casismyfavorite- Thank you very much! Oh btw love your ff name, I agree!

ChelseaEllie- I know, poor Sweetie! Good thing he has his Winchesters!

Haventmetmyangelyet- Thanks! Yeah but I can definitely see why the Wendigo wants to eat him up ;) Haha glad you like the references, I love the idea of Dean secretly watching Dora. Who knows, maybe he learned some Spanish from it?

"In the Light"

Sam ran peered over the edge worriedly before he felt claws around his neck. Sam wrestled with the clammy body of the Wendigo as he felt its claws digging into his neck. Stars started at his eyes. He saw the Wendigo's pale face within his blurring vision and whipped open his lighter. The monster let out a horrible scream before it pulled away its singed face. Sam felt around for the Molotov before he heard it clunk down into the pit. The Wendigo was faster than him.

"Dean? Hey! Are you alright?"

Dean sat up groggily. "Yeah Sammy. I think I busted some ribs and my wrist but my legs are mostly good." Dean climbed to his feet and ignored the throbbing in his body. "Where did that son of a bitch go?"

"I don't know Dean. Hey, do you still have your lighter?"

"Yeah, it's still in my pocket." Dean opened the lighter and spied around the hole. As the light warmed the walls around him he noticed that he was not in a hole at all. It looked like he was in the open piece of a long tunnel. "I'm going to check it out down here. See if you can find a way down that isn't jumping?"

"Yeah man. Be careful." Dean heard his brother's footsteps get fainter as he began to walk through the tunnel. He tucked his painful wrist against his chest as he wandered along with one hand to the wall. "Damn it Cas, where are you?"

It was hard to tell time in the darkness but Dean felt like he had been wandering for hours when he came upon a more open area. Dean heard crunching beneath his boot and glanced down at the skeleton below it.

"Uggh gross."

He kept going and raised the light above his head. He felt horror tunnel through every nerve fiber and the need to retch out everything he had ever eaten. Bodies hung from old wooden beams in varied states of decay. Dean passed by one body that looked to be recently deceased and shuttered, barely tearing his eyes away. He heard something move in the darkness near him and he quickly raised the lighter, about to attack, when the light fell upon the pale and trembling body of the angel Castiel.

Overcoat gone and clothes ripped to shreds, Dean had never seen him look so small and pathetic. The rips in his clothing emphasized the horrible wounds all over his body and dirt was smeared across his face. Dean felt his heart clench when he noticed that the dirt had recorded previous tracts of tears on Castiel's face. His blue eyes held all the hope in the world now no matter how tired and sickly they looked at the moment.

"Damn it Cas. What the hell did that monster do to you?" Dean reached over to Castiel and placed a hand on his cheek. Castiel closed his eyes and rested his head against Dean's hand as relief washed over him. Dean untied the rag and pulled the other one out of his mouth. The angel took in a deep breath as Dean cut the ropes off of his hands.

"Dean you did come."

"Yeah I did. What did you think you dumb son of a bitch? That I would just leave you?" Dean stubbornly sniffed everything back up his nose and rubbed at his eyes furiously. This was not the time for a chick flick moment.

"No. I knew that you would. I thought you had earlier but it wasn't you."

Dean nodded. "Yeah same thing happened to us. That sick son of a bitch sure had us fooled. Thought I heard you calling for me."

"I did."

Dean pulled him down and into his arms. "I know Cas. I know. Even when I didn't hear you I knew that you were trapped and scared down here waiting for me." Castiel nodded as he rested his head against Dean's shoulder.

"Where is Sam?"

Dean looked stricken. "Shit I don't know. We got separated on our way down here. I fell down a tunnel thing thanks to that Wendigo dick and Sam ran off to find a way down. We can retrace my steps and see if that bitch isn't still in the place I left him."

Castiel placed his hand on Dean's shoulder as he began to drag them out of the tunnel. "You are hurt."

"Yeah. It's okay Cas. We can't worry about that until we get out of this shit hole." He glanced back at him. "And you are worse off than I am. I want you to worry about yourself for once, do you understand?"

Castiel shook his head. "But you never do. Will you let me worry about you?"

Dean grinned. "Only if you let me save your cute little ass this time." Castiel smiled back and gripped Dean's uninjured hand as they wandered away from the Wendigo's trash pile.

"Hey Sammy? Where are you? Samsquatch?"

"Dean! Hey man, I'm heading over!" They heard Sam's call echo across the tunnels.

"Okay, we are not going to let that son of a bitch trick us again, so tell me something about you only I would know!"

There was silence for a while and Dean looked triumphant at Castiel. "See, I sure fooled that Wendigo!"

"In kindergarten you peed your pants on one of the playground slides. You were so embarrassed that you lied to the other kids and told them that it was a water slide." Sam's voice echoed off the walls and sounded like he was much closer.

Dean looked embarrassed and glanced down at Castiel, catching the amused look on his face. "What is a water slide?"

"Now don't you start on that Cas. Okay Sammy! You're in the clear! Come on over and I will consider not blowing out your brains."

Sam hurried over grinning. "Great, you found him!" Sam leaned over and hugged a surprised Castiel.

Dean smiled. "Yup and he was much harder to find than Waldo too. Let's jet, I'm sick of being in this dump."

"No argument here." The boys hurried as fast as their injured bodies allowed through the series of tunnels.

"Man, I bet we all look like crap." Sam smiled at the others as he helped them towards and over the edge of a hole.

"Yeah but you always do Sammy."

"Shut up Dean! Well if I look like crap than you must look li-" Dean nearly fell over as he felt Sam ripped away from under him.

"Dean it's the Wendigo!" Sam sounded winded.

"No shit Sherlock! I'm coming down there." Dean quickly turned to Castiel. "Stay there Cas. I don't want you getting into this." He hopped down after his brother.

Dean hurriedly flicked open his lighter and was horrified to discover that it was no longer working. "Son of a bitch! This piece of crap isn't working. Hang in there Sammy!"

"Dean I can't breathe!" Sam gasped out as the monster placed its hands over the bruises on his neck it left earlier. "Dean!"

"Dammit Sammy I'm trying! What about your lighter? Where is it?" Sam jerked his head towards his pocket.

Dean took a deep breath. "Watch out Samsquatch!"

Dean jumped on top of their writhing forms in an attempt to wrestle the monster off his brother. His head knocked against the wall and he saw stars. He found his way to Sam's jacket and dug through his left pocket. Nothing. He struggled to get into the other one and yet again he was met with an empty cotton pocket. "Where is it? Damn it!"

"Dean! What kills a Wendigo?" Castiel scooted closer to the ledge. His friends were in trouble and it was all his fault. He figured that he was the worst guardian angel ever since it was his charge saving him and not the other way around. He wasn't going to let his Winchesters die. Not ever, and especially not at the hands of that lowly grotesque creature.

"Not now Cas!" Dean bellowed. "Not now. This is not the time to teach you all the crap you don't know!"

Castiel bit back the feeling of hurt. Feelings were not important now, but his friend's life was. "What kills a Wendigo?" He shouted back at Dean.

"Fire or too much light! Don't try and use my gun won't work." Dean fiercely kicked the Wendigo in the side but it simply brushed him off. He watched Sam begin to slow down and concentrate on every rare breath he could get into his burning lungs. He blinked back tears.

"Sammy don't give up damn you, don't you dare give up!" The Wendigo pulled away from Sam long enough to sink its teeth in Dean's broken wrist. He hollered with pain and tried to get back to his brother when a brilliant light filled the cavern. Dean looked up to see Castiel sitting on the ground with his head thrown back, light spilling out of his eyes and mouth. Dean could now actually see his wings as they billowed out behind him and cut into the painful white surrounding them.

"Cas? Cas!" Dean was blinded by the whiteness for what felt like minutes. The light felt hot and he could feel its burn against his skin. He could hear the Wendigo make a horrible sound next to him and he watched the outline of the monster contort and stretch. He closed his eyes and huddled on the ground.

"Cas! It's dead. Stop it! Stop!" Dean crawled over to where he had last seen the angel when the light suddenly went out. He blindly felt around until he felt a thin arm under his hand. The angel's eyes were wide open and a light trickle of blood trailed from his nose. Dean gasped when he saw the angel banishing design cut into his chest and a jagged rock in his hand.

"CAS? Cas!" Dean shook him furiously. "Come on get up!"

Sam crawled over. "Is he dead? What did he do?"

Dean shook his head with tears in his eyes. "I don't know Sammy. I-I don't know. I think he zapped himself back to heaven."

"It must have been too much for him Dean. Look man, I'm sorry but his batteries were too fried."

He pulled the angel against his chest and ran a hand through the messy brown hair. "Come on Cas. Come on." Dean fiercely kissed him when he felt Castiel struggle in his arms.

"Mmmhrmmmph!" Castiel's eyes opened wide as he stared into Dean's"

Dean sat back in surprise. "Cas? What the hell was that?" Castiel sat there taking deep breaths and looking wide at him. "I thought you were all out of angle juice?"

Castiel nodded. "I thought so too. I tried out the spell anyway and there must be enough angel in me to send me back home."

"Did you go back to heaven?" Sam looked at the angel in wonder.

Castiel shook his head slowly. "I don't think so. I heard Dean and I came back." He stared solemnly into Dean's eyes. "I couldn't leave."

Dean hugged him to his chest. "I'm glad you didn't. I don't even know what the hell they would have done to you if they got you back into Stepford bitch paradise."

Castiel smiled against his shoulder and held out a hand to Sam. The boys sat there huddled for a few minutes and forgot about the evil monster who's ruined body lay nearby.

"Let's go. I'm sure Cas would like to see some real sunlight." Castiel nodded as they helped each other up. Dean and Sam glanced down at the body of the Wendigo but Castiel took a few steps away, towards the light that he knew lay outside. He felt Dean grip one of his hands and Sam the other as they left it once more to its loneliness.

It took them less than an hour to find their way out of the twisted cavern. But this time they could feel that the menace no longer lay behind them. Dean reluctantly let Sam carry the angel piggy back style for a while but kept shooting jealous looks. Cas peeked at him occasionally from Sam's back looking rather pleased. He was with his boys once more. They stepped into the sunlight and felt its warmth on their cold bodies.

"Dean."

"Yeah Cas?"

"I hear them." Castiel leaned against him with his eyes closed. The birds had started up again once more and they were even greeted with the curious twitching nose of a rabbit. Life had returned to the area. The boys were able to truly appreciate the beauty of the area without fear. They passed the river they had fished at and a large Northern Pike leapt out of the water.

"Hey Cas, wanna go fishing? Maybe you can catch him again."

Castiel shook his head looking serious. "No I don't think I want to go camping for a while."

Sam and Dean shared looks and smiled at him. "That's okay." Dean put an arm around him. "Me either."

They stumbled along the path and were relieved to come upon their camp once more. It was still in disarray but everything in the trunk of the Impala remained untouched. "Good. That son of a bitch left my baby alone. If it hadn't I would have had Cas bring him back so I could kill him again."

"Why would I do that?"

Dean shook his head. "Good to have you back buddy. C'mon guys, let's get cleaned up. I'm tired of being somewhere that doesn't sell cheeseburgers."

"I'll back you up on that one Dean. Take care of Cas, I'll start tidying things up." He winked at Dean before heading over to the Impala.

Dean glared at him. "Shut up bitch. Come here Cas." Dean pulled the angel into the tent with him. He rummaged around in his duffle bag and through a few things in it. "Okay one last trip to the river and we can head out. Sam's going to get things rolling so we have some time to get cleaned up. You are a mess."

Castiel looked shamefaced down at the ground. "I know. I must look terrible."

Dean grinned and glanced at him. "Nah. Cas, even after being the Wendigo's chew toy, you look as stunning as always." Dean gripped his hand and ran the thumb over it lightly. He dropped the duffle bag by the river and pulled Castiel into his arms for a few minutes. "I thought I lost you for good," Dean whispered into the angel's tousled hair.

"I'm glad you didn't." Castiel looked surprised as Dean gently pulled his ruined shirt off of him.

"Good thing we got you out of those other clothes. I can hardly even tell what color your shirt was before." This time when Dean reached down to the zipper he undid it with confidence. Castiel looked back at him in surprise as he stepped out of the jeans. He rested his hands on Dean's shoulders before leaning over and kissing him softly on the mouth. Now Dean took his time. Before he had been frantic with the need to taste and touch. The hunger was there, but now Dean wanted to learn everything he could about his angel.

The apocalypse was coming. He had just learned the brutal lesson that even an angel of the lord could be powerless sometimes. He knew to be afraid of things. He knew how it felt to be alone and scared. He had felt hours of pain at the Wendigo. Dean saw that in his eyes as he slipped out of his own clothes and led Castiel by the hand into the cool river. He washed off traces of blood and dirt from fair skin. He ran soap through the angel's soft brown hair and planted kisses across his face and neck. Slowly he washed away as much physical evidence as he could from the tortures of the monster.

But when his fingers ran over delicate skin the felt the edges of wounds unhealed. He saw something different in the angel's eyes. But even with the newly gained knowledge in his blue eyes Dean could see that innocence still remained. Castiel was as curious as ever and Dean vowed to keep it that way. He would do whatever he could to keep Castiel from the darkness he saw everywhere. He wanted the angel to be still in love with the world. Fascinated with the things Dean had either forgotten about or never given much thought to. Dean could be bitter. He could lose faith in everything and then Cas was there to remind him of what he turned a blind eye to. Everything about the angel was beautiful. It was up to Dean to save him in the same way he had saved himself.

Castiel watched him the entire time, entranced by the love he saw in Dean's eyes. Dean muttered to himself as he gently went over the torn up skin and Castiel smiled softly at him.

"Dean stop hurting yourself over this. You saved me."

Dean shook his head and took both of Castiel's hands in his own. "I shouldn't have lost you in the first place. I really am a dumb son of a bitch sometimes." He ran his thumb over Castiel's hand and looked down at the water.

"Dean. You did not lose me. I did. If I didn't trust you would I be here? I am prepared to give you everything I have and I believe that you would do the same for me."

Dean smiled and pressed his nose against Castiel's. "What would I do without you?" Dean kissed his mouth slowly and felt the angel wrap his arms around his neck. "Want to head back to camp? We can send Samsquatch out and spend some time together before we get out of the woods?"Castiel smiled and wandered out of the water without realizing that Dean was still staring at him.

"Hey guys, are you already to go?" Sam looked cheerful at them as they wandered over to the Impala. Castiel sat in the back of the Impala with the door still open as he watched Sam look scrutinizing at them.

"We are but you look like shit. Go get cleaned up first Sammy, I don't want you dirtying up my baby." Dean looked tenderly over at the car as Sam caught Castiel's eye and shook his head. Castiel copied Sam's overdone eye roll even though he wasn't sure what it meant.

"Okay I get it. But look man, you do it in the Impala and I am walking home."

"Yeah whatever Sammy. You know that we would never do that." Castiel believed Dean was being sincere so he nodded solemnly at Sam. Sam shook his head at them as he grabbed his duffle bag. Dean spied after Sam until he was sure that his gigantor brother was gone. He glanced over his shoulder one more time before climbing on top of a startled Castiel in the Impala's back seat. Soon Dean's mouth was everywhere and the Wendigo became a shadow in Castiel's mind. Dean was once more lost inside him and Castiel could think of nothing else as Dean proved his love to him with every thrust inside him. All Castiel could do was grip on tightly to the man as Dean found his way deeper. Drunk off of each other and reeling they both came in a dizzying frenzy.

As Dean caught his breath above him Castiel decided that it was all worth it. If Dean could be his he would survive this war. Castiel and Dean reluctantly cleaned each other up and were dressed and looking casual by the time Sam came over. He looked at both of them with their tousled hair and nonchalant attitudes and sighed.

"The Impala Dean, seriously?"

Dean grinned and put an arm around Castiel's shoulders. "I have no idea what you are talking about Sammy. Are you sure you washed your mind along with behind your ears? It's pretty dirty."

Sam looked pinched. "Nice Dean. Really nice."

"Are you sure you still want to walk out of here Sammy boy?" Sam got in the car with a sigh as Dean winked at Castiel.

The Impala started up with a low rumble and Castiel watched as the trees began to move past once more. He admired the beauty of the forest once more, but this time with some trepidation. Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You played on the stereo as the rain started up. Castiel found Dean's eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled softly as Dean grinned at him.

"Okay, I am still in the car. Enough with the bed room eyes. I'm glad Cas is with us, I really am, but you'd better keep your eyes on the road before you hit something." Dean smiled and put his foot on the brakes just in time to allow an elk to cross the road. It turned its antlered head towards them and stared at the boys for a few moments. As it lumbered to the other side a few does and a gangly calf trailed behind, each glancing at the Impala before disappearing into the deeper parts of the forest. They almost looked like they knew who had killed the monster in their forest and were grateful to them. They knew to bring back their families into the woods once more, or so it seemed. They were only animals after all…

"Hey, that last one looked like you Sammy."

"Shut up Dean."

"Only if you do bitch."

Castiel looked at them and smiled at his Winchesters as they drove along the road once more. He had found himself a family and now he truly was one of them. The road eventually led them to the highway and the boys were back to the real world with not only one less threat to the world but a loving connection that would serve them in later battles. In this moment they were a family. Two brothers and their angel would face the world and survive. One monster down, one apocalypse to go.

Thanks again guys! I will def. write more stories, and I would love if you checked those out too. Oh and if anyone knows why stars or underlines refuse to show up on ff, tell me. I put them in and they always disappear! Maybe it's a format thing? Hmmm… anywho, peace out!

-Paperganstah