When Crowley got back to the little lair he had Dean holed up in, he found two angels glowing with holy light.

"Winchesters," Crowley hissed.

"You don't have any hold over me, Crowley." Dean said. "So I'm sure you won't mind if these guys help me go see my brother?"

The demon stared up at the two angels, he saw one that he recognised – he saw two angels that he recognised, actually, but one of them was more fearsome than the other.

The angel who had defied Lucifer before the first Fall stood before him. The angel who had Fallen before the Apocalypse. The angel Crowley thought he could turn to for help in caging Lucifer.

The angel who'd killed all his supporters, so he'd had to start all over again. The angel who would easily smite him if he ever saw reason to – and no deals or blackmail would stop him.

In retrospect, Crowley didn't really need Dean and the Blade's help anyway. "Sure."

It was a long process that took many months, but eventually Sam cured his brother of being a demon. It was hard for both of them – demons drunk on human blood had a lot more 'chick-flick moments' than either of them were comfortable with, but they both survived.

And then it was time for Castiel to take the Mark from Dean.

Sam frowned. "Are you sure you both want this enough?"

"Yes," Castiel said without hesitation.

"Of course, Sammy," Dean added with a little more hesitation. Being cured of demonhood hadn't got rid of Dean's urges – in fact, it had made them worse – and he didn't want losing the Mark to work the same way.

Sam saw the uncertainty in Dean's eyes. "This will kill you if you aren't completely certain, Dean."

Dean looked at Shamsiel, who stood at Castiel's back like he had since their own ritual had linked them. The angel smiled his usual encouragement, and Dean knew that the angel was right. He deserved to live, or at least to try – if he himself didn't deserve it, then all the friends who had helped him get there did. "I'm certain."

Castiel put one hand over Dean's Mark and one hand on his arm, exactly where he'd held him when he raised him from perdition. "I forgive you."

"I wish to be forgiven." Dean closed his eyes as a blast of light his him right in the chest; he was finally free.