A/N: Spoiler alert – This story picks up with the end of the last episode of season 6. If you haven't seen it or haven't followed Supernatural, I apologize in advance.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, I just like making those boys dance.

Sam, Dean, and Bobby stared between each other in disbelief. Had Castiel just said what they knew they'd heard? They were having trouble wrapping their minds around what had just happened. Crowley had disappeared and Raphael had been vaporized, just like Castiel had been by Lucifer at the graveyard. All of their nagging suspicions about Castiel had been confirmed. He had gone dark-side. He was no longer the warrior for good that he had been, his path having been corrupted in his ambition to do the right thing. In the absence of his Father, he'd made the wrong decisions, and now he stood before them, demanding that they kneel and profess their love to him in exchange for their lives.

Dean had tried his best to stay loyal to their friend. After all, Castiel had been their protector and their healer as well as their friend since they'd met him. He'd often put himself in harm's way for them, just as they had for him. They had been like family, there for each other through thick and thin.

Now he stood there in front of them, the serene half-smile gracing his ageless face as he waited for them to make their decision. With all the souls he had absorbed from Purgatory, he felt the raw power coursing through him. He felt the souls, each one as they provided him with limitless power. He was all powerful. No one and nothing could stop him.

"My patience is wearing thin with you, Dean," he commented softly, his deep voice washing over them. "Make your choice."

The elder Winchester looked away from Castiel, his eyes meeting those of his brother. Sammy. Sam looked so tired, his face lined with pain. He had showed up just as Castiel had killed Raphael, having woken up through whatever sleep Castiel had put him under. Even as they stood there, Dean could see the occasional flare come to life in Sam's eyes. The memories of Hell were threatening to overtake him. The wall was down and the memories were flooding through. Everything that Lucifer and Michael had done to his soul in the pit had been released at once into his mind and he was having to fight just to remain standing, trying to focus on the present.

The glance they shared seemed to speak volumes, and their surrogate father, Bobby, seemed to echo their sentiments as he stood between them, his eyes never leaving the face of the angel, now god, before them. They had made it so far from the beginning of their journey when their father had left them, leaving two frightened boys to chase in his wake. They had searched for him, and spent their days poring through the journal, finding clues and jobs their father had left for them to do, yet they'd always been two steps behind him.

That had bonded them together, their need to find their lost father, and the driving mission to find the yellow-eyed demon and receive vengeance for the horror he had visited on their family. They had lost their father achieving that goal, leaving only the two of them to clean up the mess that had been left in the wake. Hundreds of demons had escaped from the Devil's Gate, some that had proven most difficult to send back to Hell.

Ruby had swept them along then, addicting Sam to demon blood and unleashing the dormant demon powers that had laid within him since Azazel had killed their mother, the powers that would eventually be used to free Lucifer from his cage. She had kept him close, manipulating him even after Dean's deal had sent him to Hell.

That was when Castiel had came into their lives, reaching into Hell and pulling Dean from its depths. He still had the hand print emblazoned on his shoulder where the angel had gripped him tight. He could still occasionally hear the ringing in his ears from Castiel's first attempts to speak to him, the attempts that had shattered glass and all but leveled an old filling station.

The three of them had been with the angel through his continual struggles with his own humanity. They had been his guide as he'd struggled to find what was right, helping him stand up to his brothers. They'd been his comfort when it appeared his Father had abandoned him.

Castiel now considered their mistrust a betrayal, even though he knew he'd gone about achieving his new found power the wrong way. He should have trusted his first instinct and pushed Crowley aside, instead asking Dean for his help. Crowley's offer, however, had been very persuasive and he'd thought, at the time, he could double cross the demon without having to compromise his intentions. He'd been wrong, terribly so, but had achieved what he wanted in the end, keeping Heaven out of Raphael's control. He knew what was best. He knew what was there. Why shouldn't he step up to the un-captained helm?

"Cas," Dean murmured, tears swimming in his green eyes. He bit his bottom lip as a tear slid down his cheek. "I've loved you like a brother."

"I told you, Dean," Cas pressed, the softness of his voice belying the hardened meaning behind the words, "you are just a man. We could never be brothers."

He met Sam's mossy eyes again, hoping to convey all the brotherly affection he could in that brief moment, catching Sam's almost imperceptible nod, the go-ahead to say whatever was on his mind.

"We were brothers once, Cas, and I stood by you and fought for you even when Sam and Bobby were right. I wanted to believe that one angel could be good, that there was good in the universe somewhere." He knew he was walking on ice, treading a thin line where Castiel's patience was waning.

"I am good, Dean," Castiel stressed, the serene smile growing brighter on his face. "Our father abandoned us and left us to our free will. Now you have someone you know in control of the heavens, of your precious earth. Isn't knowing the ultimate peace? I am here, Dean. Profess your devotion and live. Profess your love to a living god."

"Your Father gave us a will to choose whether to serve him or not, son," Bobby growled, his eyes narrowed as he spoke. "Don't ya think it's a bit ballsy askin' for more than what He would?"

The serene smile faded from Castiel's face and he glowered at the old, grizzled hunter, advancing a pace or two forward. "I went to my Father, I confessed what I had done. If it mattered at all to him, do you think he wouldn't have stopped me?" He raised his arms wide, glaring defiantly at the three men. "Here I am. Savior of Heaven and Earth. Champion. Yet no one thanks me."

"You're playin' with fire, Cas," Dean took a step forward, raising his hand to try to ease the agitated angel. "Those souls are dangerous. That's too much power for your vessel to contain. Somewhere in there, you're still our friend, Cas. You're still the angel that risked everything to stand by us. You helped us stop the Apocalypse." He exhaled shakily. "Come with us. Crowley," he shook his head, "doesn't matter. We can work this out."

"I am...through with your little mind games, Dean." Castiel leveled a cold gaze at the man in front of him, his head tilted slightly to the side as if he were studying something that particularly annoyed him. "You have...degraded me, called me a child. You have used me and taken me for granted, even after I put all of Heaven on hold when you call for me. You do not deserve my reasons. Your only choices now are to obey or to die."

Dean raised his head proudly, feeling the collective, resigned sigh make it's way around the circle. "At one time, not too long ago, I woulda done what you asked me to, Cas. We all would have." He shook his head, cocking his jaw. "But not anymore. We will...not bow to you, Cas. No love, no devotion."

Castiel looked over Bobby, finding the same confirmation on his face. His eyes traveled then to the younger Winchester, who was barely standing on his own. "What about you, Sam? Your past can be forgiven. I can take your pain away."

Sam wavered, his hand finding his head as another memory overtook him. He whimpered, his eyes squeezing shut.

"No more of these memories of your year in the pit with Lucifer and Michael. You will be free to live your life. No monsters. No demons."

Sam clenched his free hand into a fist, his jaw trembling as he forced himself to look up into the inquiring eyes of the angel who had once been their friend. "My place, Castiel, is with my brother," he forced through clenched teeth.

Castiel slowly turned his back on the three, studying the symbols that had been drawn on the wall in preparation for Crowley's ritual. "This is the way it ends then." He cracked his knuckles.

"I guess so, Cas," Dean murmured, moving to stand beside his brother, wrapping a secure arm around his shoulders. He took Bobby's arm, standing stoically, ready to face his fate. "Just...one thing before you do what you're gonna do."

Castiel turned to face them again, his hand raised.

"I forgive you," Dean whispered, closing his eyes as a brilliant, white, searing light engulfed them. He didn't even hear himself scream.

tbc...