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Sunshine and Explosions

a/n: forewarning; this story is incomplete

Castiel POV

The heat was blazing, it was loud all the time, the constant fear of death hung overhead. There were air raids and attacks, there were dead men. Castiel wasn't really a soldier, he wasn't sure how a fresh kid from Michigan ended up in an Afghanistan base in the middle of the sandy desert. He wasn't the type who killed in the name of his county, in fact he wasn't even that patriotic. Castiel was a doctor, he just wanted to help people and save lives.

He had been stationed here for the past four months, he had saved a lot of people, and had equally had to let a lot of people go. The job was really hard for him at times, but he always got though it. Mostly Castiel was still adjusting to life on the base - and it wasn't easy. Especially with his secret.

"Novak!"
Castiel lurched awake, the hot summer heat was already burning through the small windows of the barracks, it made his sleepy eyes sting and he rubbed them.
"Novak!!"
"Would you calm down Walden! It's only the second-"
"Novak, if you think I give a shit you are sorely mistaken. You've overslept again - SOMEHOW - and on MY watch! Get your ass out of bed." Walden was pissed, he seemed like he always was.
"Wal, would you get the stick out of your ass I'm getting up." Castiel groaned, somehow he just couldn't get his sleeping schedule fitted.
"You better be, god damn it!" Walden scolded as he walked away from Castiel's bunk, dusty boots shuffling across the wooden slats. He slammed the door.
Sighing Castiel dragged his hands across his face, he checked his digital watch and sighed again. It was still one hour until he had to start his shift, it had been an extra late night last night. He sat up in bed and resigned himself to starting the day, hopefully it wouldn't be too bloody.

Dean POV

The air was scorching, it seemed to suck all the moisture out of Deans lungs, making every breath singe the back of his throat. He stopped and drank the last drops from his canteen, they did nothing to alleviate the burning sensation.
"Winchester! You're slacking," barked his commander from the front of the line.
"Sorry sir," he apologized, even though he was going the same pace as all his other comrades. Commander Leon just liked to pick on him, for anything. Recently it had been really bad because there was a rumour drifting around camp that Dean had slept with a soldier at the last base they had stayed at. Even though it was an extremely low level rumour it had still made him drop a notch in his Commanders eyes.

Dean wiped his brow, and hid a smile, little did anyone know that he actually HAD slept with another soldier, more than once and that wasn't all. He was in love with him too. Dean couldn't wait to get back to home camp and find some private time with Andy again. He gazed ahead, Andy was right in front of him. His lovely ass was outlined by his high-waisted army pants and tight t-shirt, oh the things he could think of doing... Dean shook off his daydreams, knowing that as much as he wished he was back at home camp, they still had many miles to go, so he kept trudging through the hot ground, the promise of Andy's warm lips against his awaiting him.

Dean's thighs were burning and his feet sunk into the sand and slipped with every step. The sand got under his socks and in between his boots, rubbing against his sweaty skin and making his ankles raw. Dean couldn't remember what it was like not to be covered in the stuff all the time. Suddenly Leon held up a fist, the group halted abruptly and Dean felt a familiar chill run up the back of his legs. Commander Leon made some gestures with his hand quickly and the troops lined up against an opposing embankment.

The desert sand blew, making an eerie dusty sounding noise, other than that it was dead quiet. No one knew what the Commander had seen, but they could all feel the tension in the air. The sound of the wind waned a little bit, then carried something else - men shouting far off in the distance, the sound of truck engines revving. If it was possible the troop became stiller as they waited for orders. Dean watched Leon intently, his heart was racing, he just wanted to know what he was up against. His commander turned to a man they called Gibson, he whispered some things before giving a couple more hand signals to the rest of the group. They fell into line with what he said as Leon army crawled up the embankment to get a better look. The sun continued to beat down and Dean felt his hair sticking to his tan skin as he ran an apprehensive hand along his stubbled  jawline. There was silence for a minute more, until without warning, everything spiralled into motion.

A truck engine burst to life, and loud shouting bounced over the embankment. Dean felt like someone had plunged his heart into an ice bucket, he felt the fear envelop him. This was bad, very, very bad.There had been Taliban members sitting right on top of the crest of the hill, they were close, and they had seen Leon. Bullets hit the sand and the loud gunfire roared, everyone in Leon's troop was yelling and shouting as they got into formation and started running, they were vulnerable as hell - their escort vehicle hadn't shown up. Dean's skin tingled as he realized that there had been more than just those men up there, there was probably a camp just a little further off. What the fuck had gone wrong?! They should have been informed if any new camps had cropped up between them and their base! His assault rifle at the ready, he ran as fast as he could with his other troop members. The trucks and gunfire continued to roar like angry beasts behind them, fear coursed through his body, he had to get away, THEY had to get away. Commander Leon was screaming into a radio as they ran at full speed, some of his friends were lagging, worn out from walking so far in the desert heat. Dean spun around and let off a few shots, as he did he saw two more jeeps bouncing over the dune they had just been behind, the earlier one was gaining on them but that wasn't the worst of it. He saw Andy stumble in the deep sand, he was furthest behind.

Everything slowed down, he felt himself scream, he felt himself stop running, he heard Leon still screaming into the radio and out of the corner of his eye he saw the other two trucks rounding to corner the group off. He saw Andy, he saw the truck coming up fast behind him. Dean screamed again, loud and guttural.
"ANDY!"
The truck stopped, abruptly spraying sand everywhere and all hell broke loose. Bullets came from everywhere like a deadly snowstorm of wasps. About six Taliban leaped out of the truck in front of him and started firing, he squeezed the trigger of his own gun. Dean felt rage boil inside of him, Andy was important. The cold fear burned through him, he wasn't sure how he hadn't been hit yet but he managed to take out two of the gaining men. He heard Andy scream, a stray bullet had hit him in the leg as he was trying to get up.
"DEAN! YOU HAVE TO RUN!" Andy screamed, his voice mixed with mortal fear and pain.
Dean was still running full force towards Andy when the man he'd thought he'd taken out turned on his side and fired off a single shot. Dean felt his blood run cold, it was like someone punched him in the stomach and thrown him into the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
"ANDY!!"
Everything spun around him and he felt his throat tighten again but he wasn't aware he was screaming. Andy was dead.

Somewhere behind Dean the battle was still going on, he heard dying men, he heard the sound of american choppers coming, he kept running. Why was Andy so far away? Finally managing to pick off the last two Taliban that were still in front of him Dean came within ten feet of Andy. He didn't even have time to touch his face before he heard it, a bullet. It was like slow motion again. It whizzed by him, cutting though the air. He heard the metallic plunk, and then he heard the explosion.

Fire bloomed out of the truck in front of him, the shock wave ripped through the air and slammed him to the ground - it took the breath out of him, it took out all the sound from his ears. The fire hit him next as he felt it wash over him in a scathing rush, he felt his skin blister, he felt his lungs burn unbearably. Everything was white hot and then everything was black, and it was silent. Very silent.

A/N: Don't worry, destielllllly stuff is happening in the next cchhhAaaapterr (I mean, if Dean's not dead)