This is it, the final chapter and I have to admit that it's a relief to get it out. Bits and pieces of it have been lurking on my hard drive since I started. Other parts just wrote themselves and I think I may even have cried at one point while writing it. It's over now, though, and I get to write a proper Hellatus fic. So what will it be. Destiel heavy post 5.22 story? Or more Gabe and Hecate in the story of Gabriel up to his untimely death? Both? Let me know!

Lucifer Rising.

Betrayal hurts, Dean knows this because he has experienced it in the past. This time is different, however, this time it cuts closer and deeper and no matter what his friend says or does Castiel cannot break through the wall of injury to the vulnerable man within. Dean cannot let Cas see this side of him, the broken part that clings so tightly to his family, because he fears that if he does the former angel will conclude that the hunter is too damaged to bother with. He fears that if Cas sees the truth then the angel will walk away from him as surely as Sam did.

Bobby is less than sympathetic, though Dean does not know why he expected his surrogate father to be anything else. This whole situation with Sam has been building for a long time, probably since even before the youngest Winchester went to college, and, like his father, Dean has handled it badly.

They have come to Bobby because they have no where else to go where they can think, no one else to turn to who might be able to help them find a way to get Sam back before he pushes himself over the edge. The older hunter is trying to convince Dean to call his brother as the remainig Winchester stares silently off to one side, his eyes resting blankly on Castiel as he tries to figure out where everything has gone so wrong lately.

"You listen to a word I said?" Bobby demands as the younger man jolts back to reality, sees Castiel's eyes slide away to assess the decor of the room rather then continue to rest on him and he feels a flash of hurt.

"I heard you," the hunter mumbles, "I'm not calling him." He can feel Bobby's disbelieving gaze turn on him as Castiel looks back at him sharply, blue eyes narrowing as he tilts his head and tries to understand. Dean does not think that he wants the angel to get it.

"Don't make me get my gun, boy," Bobby responds, voice tight and Dean knows that it is a threat but nothing more. He hopes that it is nothing more.

"We are damn near kickoff for Armageddon," he reminds his friend, "don't you think we got bigger fish at the moment?"

"I know you're pissed," which is most likely an understatement and he can see Castiel flinch a little at that, "and I'm not making apologies for what he's done, but he's your..."

"Blood?" The hunter finishes. "He's my blood, is that what you were gonna say?"

"Dean..." Castiel starts, trying to gain some measure of control over the situation.

"He's your brother. And he's drowning," the older man insists.

"I gotta face the facts," Dean knows that he sounds resigned."Sam never wanted part of this family. He hated this life. Ran away to Stanford the first chance he got. Now it's like deja vu all over again. Well, I am sick and tired of chasing him. Screw him, he can do what he wants."

"You don't mean that," Castiel responds before Bobby can. "Dean, I know that you have your differences but I don't believe that abandoning your brother to the manipulations of this demon is the wisest course."

"Maybe not, Cas, but Sam's gone. He's gone. I'm not even sure if he's still my brother anymore. If he ever was."

Which is when he realises that maybe he has taken the pity party a touch too far, because Bobby turns his back and clears his desk of papers in one sweep of his arms and Castiel simply backs away with a scowl. Neither of his companions is impressed and he cannot face further disapproval from Castiel when the fallen angel's opinion of him is the one that really matters right now.

"You stupid, stupid son of a bitch!" Bobby turns back to look at him, face contorted with rage and eyes filled with the kind of anguish that Dean never thought another human could feel. "Well, boo hoo, I am so sorry your feelings are hurt, princess! Are you under the impression that family's supposed to make you feel good? Make you an apple pie, maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable! That's why they're family!"

"I told him, "you walk out that door, don't come back" and he walked out anyway! That was his choice!" He is not entirely certain who it is that he is trying to convince anymore, but he is positive that it is not Bobby or Cas. Neither one of them are buying this act for a moment and he wonders when Castiel came to understand the bonds of brotherhood so deeply.

"You sound like a whiny brat. No, you sound like your dad," Bobby is not impressed in the least and Dean feels the bottom drop out of his stomach when the older man says those words. All of his life he has wanted to be like his father, wanted to be the man that his father wanted him to be and now the man who took them in and cared for them in the absence of John Winchester is making it sound like the worst thing in the world. "Well, let me tell you something. Your dad was a coward."

"My dad was a lot of things, Bobby, but a coward?" He does not want to believe it, does not want to think anything bad of his own father when he knows that the same thought has crossed his mind a number of time in the past. He has thought it in the darkest moments between hunts when Sam has been gone, or missing, in the days when John had run from the responsibility of his children. Still, he tries to deny that Bobby is right.

"He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him. That don't strike me as brave. You are a better man than your daddy ever was. So you do both of us a favor. Don't be him."

Bobby's plea is heartfelt and Dean wishes that he could believe that he is a better man than his father, but he cannot be certain that is true. Not after Hell. Not after he broke and unlocked everything that Lillith needed to begin the Apocalypse. Not after he failed to be the big brother that Sam needed.

"You are a better man, Dean," Castiel cuts in, one hand resting on the hunter's shoulder so very close to the brand that the fallen angel left there. "You simply need to have more faith in yourself. You will be the one to end this."

"Cas, you don't," he turns to look at his friend and it is as he does that the whole room seems to melt and shift into something else, somewhere else and it is not a place that he finds comforting. It would appear that Cas does not either because the fallen angel whispers something that sounds suspiciously like 'no' and that fills Dean with utter dread.

SPN

"All of it, Sam," Ruby tells him, blue eyes wide and watching him with a frightening intensity. He sits back from the weakly struggling body of the nurse Lillith's chef is possessing and regards the demon he calls friend.

"There's an innocent woman in there, Ruby," he mutters and the blonde haired demon drops down beside him.

"I know," she mutters as she presses his head closer to the sluggishly bleeding wound, "and I wish we didn't have to kill her to do this. We don't have a choice, Lillith has to be stopped."

"Dean thinks there's another way," Sam resists for a moment longer, trouble is that Ruby has only been giving him enough blood over the last few days to take the edge off and even though he has had his fill part of him still wants more.

"He's been listening to the angels," she tells him as he gives in to his desire for the blood, feeling need of another kind coiling low in his stomach in a way that sickens him, "and they haven't exactly done a stellar job of stopping her so far."

She is right, he knows that she is, and he finishes draining the now still demon as she talks about the plan. She tells him how they are going to play this, tells him why she could not sacrifice herself if they are going to stop Lillith. He listens to her with only half an ear and when she starts going over things that he already knows, and the body is drained of everything useful, he covers her lips with his bloodstained ones.

"We don't have time for this," she breathes against him, lips softly parted and she gasps as he makes quick work of her jeans.

"We'll make time," he orders and she acquiesces beneath him in the leaves and the dirt just down the road from the convent.

Later, when he is satiated and his mind bleary with power rather than lust, the pair of them sneak into the convent. Ruby is nervous, twitchy, and, for all her bravado earlier about Sam being able to do this, the hunter is suddenly worried that she does not quite have the faith in him that she claims. He puts it from his mind, wipes the demons guarding Lillith from the corridor with little more than a thought, and bursts into the abandoned chapel.

If he did not know better, he would almost say that the leader of his enemies had been waiting for him. He does not hesitate when he reaches out his hand and slams her back against the alter. He does not think as he clenches his fist and begins to squeeze at that black spark that is Lillith's unnatural life and he does not register the fact that the whole time he is killing her she does not once beg for her life. She does not offer him anything and that should jar something deep within the hunter, that should stop him. It does not and it is not until she falls with a triumphant smile on her stolen face and he feels the final shard of her shatter that he realises that something is wrong.

"You did it," Ruby's voice is exultant, her blackened eyes bright. "You did it!" She laughs, watching as the blood pouring from Lillith's broken body begins to swirl and pool in a way that should not be possible.

"What?" He demands because now that the blood is used up, the power is drained, he knows that this is not right, that this is very, very wrong. "What did I do?"

"You opened the door," if she weren't a demon Sam would say that Ruby's eyes are almost fever bright, "and now he's free at last. He's free at last!" He knows what that means, knows it means that he has just let Lucifer out of the cage and even as he is babbling and Ruby is telling him about Lillith being the final seal, Sam is wondering how he could have been so stupid. He is wondering how he could have been so blind.

"You bitch," he whispers, "you lying bitch." He tries, Sam will always insist in the deepest recesses of his mind that he tried, to kill Ruby except that it is all gone. Everything that made him strong enough to kill a demon has been spent upon Lillith and the blood is still swirling and light is beginning to flood the room.

"Sticks and stones," she sing-songs. "He's going to reward you, Sam," she grins, "he's going to give you anything you want and all you have to do is say 'yes'. All you have to do is let him in."

"You know I won't do that," the light is blinding and there is a scream inside his mind that hurts his ears and terrifies him. At the same time it is familiar, it is safe, and it calls to him with the promise of revenge and love and fulfilment. It calls to him with the understanding of one utterly abandoned by his family and he finds himself drawn to it. There is a promise that the dark and angry part of his mind cannot help but give in to.

It does not take much longer for the rest of him to follow, promises of love and happiness, revenge and acceptance fills his mind with stars and dreams. He reaches for them.

SPN

Castiel knows exactly what being in this place means, he knows how close they are to the end and he knows that his presence in this room with Dean can only mean bad things for the both of them. Until a short time ago Henriksen was here with them, pacing like a caged beast and glancing at the walls with an expression of utter frustration on his face. It worries the former angel because Castiel knows that the former FBI agent has been Zachariah's creature for a long time, Castiel knows that the older man was placed among them to discover Dean's weaknesses and that can only mean even worse things.

Now, however, Henriksen is gone and the former angel and his hunter are alone. Many times since his fall Castiel has been alone with the man who was his downfall, many times he has thought of things that he should say and truths that he should tell and every time his voice has failed him. Much of it is nothing more than suspicion, the faint niggle of disbelief and the concern that seals were lost that never should have been. The more he thinks on it, the more it begins to make sense and the fallen angel stares at the man he calls 'friend' and feels the bottom drop out of his stomach.

This was never about saving the world, this was always about ending it and he wonders how he has been so blind.

What he realises quickly after that is that he has been ignorant of the plan because he has faith in his Father and he once had trust in his superiors. He was everything that Zachariah needed him to be and even in his moment of disobedience he became something to be used. He became something that they could use to manipulate Dean and that can only something potentially terrible.

"Any ideas?" The hunter demands and Castiel knows that the man wants a way out. He wishes that he could give it to him and is already trying to come up with some way of managing it as Dean speaks again. "This isn't a good thing, is it?"

"No," he lays a hand against one wall and looks back at his friend.

"Do you think Sam's okay?" It warms the former angel that even after their argument, even after Dean telling his little brother to leave, the hunter can still fall back on the family first.

"I don't know," he responds honestly, going back to Dean's side and laying a careful hand on the man's shoulder. "But if we're here then it's near the end. Zachariah still needs you to end this and he'll use Sam, Bobby, anyone that you care about to get you to do as he wishes."

"You too?" Dean whispers and for a moment Castiel thinks that he has heard wrong. There is something, however, in the way that Dean looks at him that tells the angel that the hunter is genuinely concerned and he nods.

"Yes, although quite why," whatever else he is going to say is cut off by the feel of Dean's dry lips on his own. The kiss is hard and desperate and Castiel knows that this one will go as unspoken of as the others since Dean told Sam to leave. He returns it, embracing the feeling that races through him, because this is why he had his grace taken from him.

"How touching," the voice of his former leader cuts through Castiel as the two men part with startled oaths. The fallen angel is not far from the hunter, however, his hand still lightly grasping Dean's arm.

"Zachariah," the disgust in Dean's voice is clear and Castiel wishes that the hunter would learn to keep a handle on his emotions, wishes that he would learn to keep his opinions to himself. "To what do we owe the inconvenience?"

"It's the end of the world," the angel smirks. "Judgement day has arrived and you know something? It's all your fault."

"How dare you," Castiel hisses and feels Zachariah's sharp eyes fall on him, feels the contempt there.

"I'll get to you in a minute," the angel snaps his fingers and Castiel finds his voice halted, the words forming on his lips but no sound issuing. He knows that he could be screaming in agony and no one would ever hear a sound.

"What the hell?" Dean demands, taking a step closer and Zachariah tuts.

"We need to talk, without interruptions from Castiel." Dean's expression sends chills down the fallen angel's spine, but he knows that his former superior is unconcerned by the hunter's murderous dislike. "This is your fault you know."

"Oh really?"

"Of course. You broke the first seal. You couldn't get your brother away from a demon whore. You subverted the loyalties of one of my most trusted soldiers and you drove Sam straight into Lucifer's waiting arms. Naturally it's your fault."

Castiel wants to scream at Dean to turn his back, wants to yell at the hunter to ignore Zachariah in this. He wants to call out for Gabriel and hope that his brother will respond and he knows that it is a fruitless dream. From Dean's pinched expression and dangerously vulnerable eyes Castiel knows that the words of the angel have hit home hard and viciously.

"You son of a bitch!" Dean snaps and Castiel takes hold of his arm to prevent him from lashing out at Zachariah, knows that it will not do either of them any good and wishes that he could do the same. He wishes that he were brave enough to do that same.

"Ah, but, Dean, we're giving you a chance to fix this," there is a gleam in the angel's eyes that makes Castiel tighten his hold on Dean and pull him back. It makes the fallen angel's stomach clench and his breath catch in his silenced throat because he knows what Zachariah is about to offer and he is terrified that Dean is about to take him up on it. "You can fix all of your screw ups and do what you're best at, you can clean up after Sam too."

"Sam's a grown man, he can make his own mistakes," Dean insists and Castiel feels a moment of pride at that even though he knows that it is all false bravado.

"So you'll let the world burn for your pride?" There is a sneer and a joy in Zachariah's words, the justification of so many centuries of silent dislike and overt distrust in the human race. "All you have to do is give up control of your body for a few short days, you just have to say 'yes' to Michael and when Lucifer is laid to waste by him you can have paradise. We'll give you everything you ever wanted and all the things you never knew you did."

"And if I say no?" Dean asks and Castiel cheers him for having that thought because there has to be a way of stopping this without resorting to the final battle. He wonders where their Father is in all of this, he wonders why He has not put a stop to this.

"Lucifer wins, the world burns and everyone dies." Zachariah's summery of what could happen is quick, precise, and Castiel knows that he is running out of patience with this. Gone are the days, however, when the word of an angel would be enough to send whole armies into battle. Gone are the days when man would obey their orders to the letter for fear of angering a Father they could neither see nor hear.

"If I do this, what'll happen to Cas?" The fallen angel looks at him sharply, can see the intensity in Dean's eyes that means that the man has a plan and that this will not end well for Castiel.

"He disobeyed," Zachariah shrugs, "he'll stay as he is, grow old, die and more than likely he'll end up in Hell."

"No," the word is sharp, decisive and Castiel knows that Zachariah has won this time. The angel has won everything because he can feel what is coming, can feel the condition that Dean is going to make, and as loud as he tries to shout there is nothing coming out. The frantic movements of his lips, the terror in his eyes, is doing nothing to stop Dean from destroying himself. "I do this," Dean hesitates and glances at Castiel with an apology in his eyes, "I do this and you give Cas his mojo back. You take him back into the garrison, or whatever, and don't punish him anymore for helping me."

"What makes you think you can bargain with me, boy?"

"Because you need me to say 'yes'," there is a coolness to Dean's tone that Castiel knows is all a lie, knows that it is not fooling the angel in the room and he wants to warn the hunter to end this foolishness.

"There are other ways of making you agree."

"I survived ninety years on the rack, you willing to risk it taking that long again to break me?"

Castiel may not know exactly what the plan is, but he knows that the angels do not have that kind of time. Dean may not realise it, but he has struck on the one thing that could make Zachariah agree to any of his crazy terms.

"Anything else?" Zachariah demands and Dean's lips quirk as Castiel feels his heart sink through the floor. This is the end of it all and there is nothing more that he can do. His mind is screaming and he can feel his soul trying to reach for Dean as the anguish and despair clamour through his head.

"Sam..."

"Is already beyond us," the hunter is cut off, "but if you do this there may be a way to get him back."

"Alright," Dean mumbles, "yes."

There is triumph on the face of the angel as he begins to chant and summon the highest of the archangels to the room. Castiel covers his eyes, still too human and alone, the words no and please, don't and Dean skittering through his mind and forming soundless in the shriek that is his leader. The brilliance of Michael infuses him as grace returns and the voices of his brethren clash together in his head.

He wishes that it could be the glory it once was.

He wishes that he did not have to watch the world burn.

SPN

Gabriel feels the instant that Lucifer gains his true vessel, feels it in that deep and bone chilling ache that calls him to the side of the one who was once the most beautiful of them all. Hecate hears him hiss, must feel his body shudder, and sits up in the soft white sand, turning a tanned hand to touch the pale expanse of his chest. He takes hers in his own and squeezes, finding comfort in the touch of one who will not force him to chose.

"What is it?" She whispers, flicking a strand of hair from her face with her free hand.

"Lucifer."

"Will you go to him?" The question is valid and he shakes his head as he sits up. "Should we warn the others?"

"No," they have tried that once already and it nearly got Hecate killed, will get him killed if Lucifer finds him and Gabriel has no interest in dying just yet. "I'm sure they'll do just fine on their own."

"Alright," Hecate snaps and her blood red bikini changes into a dress of deep green, "what now?"

"One last hurrah?" He offers and he knows that there is a twinkle in his eye by the way that she smiles. Her other hand slips into his and a soft finger caresses his knuckles. It startles him for a second and he knows that he does not quite keep the surprise from his face. Her answering grin is challenging and for the first time in centuries he whisks them both away under the true power of his many wings.

Hecate's delighted laugh is something that he knows he will carry with him.

They fling leprechauns at a group of bankers for a couple of hours until they grow bored, then they replace all the horses at a riding school which mistreats it's animals with unicorns. Turns out that not even half the people using the place are qualified to ride one, although Gabriel does not know whether he feels respect or pity for the sixty year old woman who does manage a ride. He has to laugh, however, when two nuns cannot even get close to he animals.

All to soon he feels that bizarre pleasure pain of Michael singing through him, the call of a brother he has not seen in centuries. Hecate feels it too, this time, feels the way that the energy in the earth that she draws a measure of her strength from shifts. He knows that she senses it from the way that she stumbles to her knees as the pair of them arrive near Lawrence, Kansas, where the final big battle is to take place. Gabriel just wants to be there for a moment, a brief second where he can feel his brothers in one place and hope that they can work it out between them.

He pulls his pagan goddess close as the first tendrils of his brothers combined grace begins to seep from the graveyard, feels the ground at his feet warm with holy fire and the body in his arms shudder. He turns her face up so that he can look at her dark eyes and lets her see the tears that shine in his own amber orbs as he gently brushes salty liquid from her cheeks with the tiniest of kisses.

He weeps for his brothers. She weeps for the world and they stand together at the graveyard and watch. They stand as brother turns upon brother, they watch as swords flash and grace flickers and they hold each other as the screams of angels fills the air.

The world burns around them and silently an archangel wraps his wings around a pagan goddess. The world burns and they weep for it.

Fin.

Umm, I think I broke the world, but that last line has been written since I finished the first chapter. And now I'm going to hide from flying objects. Please don't fling too many sharp things in my direction.

Artemis