A/N: Set during 18 - Point of No Return – Alternate ending where Dean reacts to Cas throwing punches in a completely different way. Cas sees an opportunity to bring Dean back to life.

His shoulder blades crunched as his body was slammed against the brick wall with the force of Castiel's anger.

"I rebelled for this?! So that you could surrender to them?" Cas screamed at him, his face inches away and his mouth contorted in a snarl. Dean was shoved over, his back scraping the rough wall, and then a fist slammed against his face and pain exploded into his cheek bone. His eye felt like it would pop from the pressure.

"Cas! Please!" He cried, unable to stand the disappointment emanating from his best friend. Another blow landed on him, and he felt the blood burst through broken skin on his lower lip. His vision clouded as his eye began to swell.

"I gave everything for you. And this is what you give to me!" Dean was thrown onto the ground. Castiel hovered above him and a fist came flying towards him again. The crack sent his head whipping to the side. He hardly felt the pain in his head and face, it was the way Cas was looking at him that really killed him.

The beating didn't matter. There was only a small spark left inside him with the will to fight and trying to grab hold of it was like trying to climb up a greased metal pipe. He wanted Cas to hurt him, he wanted the angel to make him as broken on the outside as he felt on the inside. But as another lick of pain shot into him as his shoulders and head were lifted off the ground only to be quickly reacquainted with it again – he realized that it wasn't enough.

Using the little strength that his body still had, he reached up to Cas who was straddled across his stomach, and grabbed the front of his shirt and tie, just below his neck, and cranked him down good and low so they were face to face.

"If you want to hurt me, this isn't the way to do it." He choked out raggedly through his banged up face. He felt raw and let go of the man, pushing him back so that the angel was now sitting on his lap, while Dean remained crumpled on the ground beneath him.

Dean moved his hips in an effort to convey what he wanted.

The impending death made him reckless, and the disappointment and hatred he saw in Castiel's face made him needy.

And so he begged… for what? He wasn't sure exactly. He wanted Cas to use him, to be with him, because it would rip his heart out. Because no matter how many times he'd pushed out the weird vibe he felt between himself and the angel, he could no longer deny it was there. What was the point, anyway - it would be irrelevant in less than twenty-four hours.

"Dean?!" Cas's expression was one of complete and utter shock, as if this was the last thing he'd expected when he started the whole fist-to-face dance. And really… Dean hadn't expected it either. But the thought of Cas tearing him down with his fists was one thing… he could handle that.

This… he couldn't.

Castiel disappeared and Dean let out a half grunt, half sob, and threw an arm across his eyes to hide from himself. The pressure of his arm lit off sparks of pain in and around his eye. The little points of sharp sensation ebbing as each nerve was irritated by the increased pressure from the flow of blood to the area. He focused on that. Dean looked into the blackness that was his eyelids and felt the pain in his face, his shoulders. Everything was empty and lost. He had nothing. Sam was going to lose to Lucifer –so why shouldn't he say yes to Michael. It was the only option left. At least he had a measure of hope of saving some of the world… maybe. Probably not. A fight between Lucifer and Michael would probably rip the planet to shreds.

A/N: This could have been one really long single story, but I preferred the layout broken into smaller individual chapters. Enjoy and please review. Thanks!