A.N: First Supernatural ffic. I have so much love for Castiel. And Dean. And the two of them *hint hint*. Was going for DeanxCastiel but ended up more LuciferxCastiel. Ups :3

This piece was inspired by some awesome art by chjkiasato on deviantART. Check her out for some nice Dean/LuciferxCastiel stuff.
It is set around the events of S4E22 (Lucifer Rising) and S5E10 (Abandon all Hope).

Enjoy! Feedback would be lovely as it's my first SPN fic.

xx

I got myself into some trouble tonight, guess I'm just feeling blue.
It's been so long since I've seen your face, this distance between me and you.

I guess it feels like you're always alone, and I feel that way too.
It's so hard to explain to you, please understand what I do.

I burn for you…
What am I gonna do?
I burn for you.
Burn for you.

xx

"You're 'Sorry'?"

His fist came out of nowhere, catching Castiel square across the jaw. The pain that followed seemed to take a lifetime to arrive, numbness throbbing in the angel's cheek. Dean turned his face away, cradling the fist that had struck his friend.

"Destiny?" He scoffed. "Don't gimme that holy crap. Destiny, God's plan, it's all a bunch of lies, you poor stupid son of a bitch! It's just a way for your bosses to keep me and you in line!" He turned his face back to show Castiel the flames burning in his eyes. "You know what's real?! People. Families. That's real. And you're gonna just watch them all burn?"

The angel stared back at him, wide eyes searching Dean's face, desperately trying to understand what fuelled the terrible passion that was the constant driving force behind every action of the man he so admired.

"What is so worth saving?" Castiel exclaimed in frustration. "I see nothing but pain here! I see inside you, I see your guilt, your anger, confusion. In paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace. Even with Sam." He looked away, knowing that he would not be forgiven for what he was suggesting.

Dean cocked his head his head slightly, catching those blue grey eyes again.

"You can take your peace, and shove it up your lily-white ass." Dean wasn't shouting, his fury was quiet now. "'Cause I'll take the pain, and the guilt, I'll even take Sam as is. It's a lot better than being some Stepford Bitch in paradise! This is simple, Cas!"

But I wasn't simple at all, not for the angel who was becoming more human with every moment spent with the Winchesters. Castiel turned away, away from Dean, away from the truth that he was scared to accept.

"No more crap about being a good soldier, there is a right and there is a wrong here, and you know it!" Castiel could almost taste the exasperation in his voice, the undercurrent of stubbornness which would not be swayed. He felt strong hands on his shoulders, gripping him as tightly as he had when he pulled the man back from hell. Dean spun him around to face him, hands still holding tight to his shoulders.

"Look at me!" he growled, "You know it! Now you were gonna help me once, weren't you? You were gonna warn me about all this before they dragged you back to Bible Camp." Castiel shuddered involuntarily at the mention of that place. "Help me, now. Please!"

The angel's face twisted in a painful expression, his voice was low and weary as he asked,

"What would you have me do?"

"Get me to Sam." Dean pleaded, "We can stop this before it's too late!"

"I do that, we will all be hunted." Castiel was desperately trying to make him understand. "We'll all be killed!"

"If there is anything worth dyin' for, this is it." Dean was exasperated, and Castiel knew that he didn't think that the angel understood him. But he did. Despite what he had already been through as a consequence of helping the Winchesters, he would put his life on the line a million times over to keep them safe. He knew what it felt like now, to have something, someone, worth dying for.

But he would not let Dean die, not like that.

Silence hung in the air like a lead weight, pulling them both under. Castiel shut his eyes and bowed his head, looking away for the last time

Dean's words cut into him like a knife, a serrated blade dragging across his heart.

"You spineless, soulless son of a bitch." He spat, anger swelling in his veins, darkening the colour in his face. He pushed Castiel against the wall, slamming his right fist into the bricks beside his head. "What do you care about dying? You're already dead." His eyes burned with pain and disgust. "We're done."

"Dean..." He pleaded with every fibre of his being, pleaded that, after all this, everything that they had been through together, that Dean would not forsake him. He could feel the angry heat coming off of the human body so close to his own, could feel the warmth of his breath exhaled in heavy gasps against his lips. Their faces so close that he could just…

"We're done!" Dean shouted in his face and he felt the blade dig in deeper, tearing a wound in his most fragile muscle.

The sharp pain in his insides increased, and he knew that there was no reasoning with his friend now. He let his heart fall back against the cold brick wall as he looked into those deep, fiery chasms and wondered if they would ever look at him again with such warmth.

He closed his eyes and whispered.

"I only wanted to protect you."

When he opened them again he was standing at the entrance to St. Mary's Convent, and he would never know if Dean had heard him. What he did know was that no matter how hard he had tried, he would never have been able to get through to Dean. When it came to Sam, there was no reasoning with him, no deterring him for whatever foolish, suicidal path he had set himself upon. It was a stupid, human trait that he both admired and despised.

The wind blew cold that night, freezing him to the bone as he wrestled duty and conscience.

He closed his eyes.

xx

"Oh come on, Bobby." Ellen sighed, "Nobody wants their picture taken."

"Hear hear." Sam chipped in, taking another swig of his already warm beer as he spoke.

"Shut up." Bobby drawled. "You're drinkin' my beer. Anyway, I'm gonna need somethin' to remember your sorry asses by." Ellen laughed.

"Hah, it's always good to have an optimist around." Her smile was warm but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She was worried. They all were.

"Bobby's right." Castiel's gravelly voice sobered up the atmosphere in the room as immediately as he spoke. Dean looked at him, his expression unreadable. "Tomorrow we hunt the Devil." Their eyes met. "This is our last night on Earth."

The camera snapped a picture with a loud click which seemed to echo in the tense atmosphere. The blinding flash bleached the colours from the room and captured the expressions of six people prepared to face death.

And in that moment now captured forever in the picture, Dean was still looking at the angel, that strange expression still on his face.

xx

Despite the fire burning all around him, the room was filled with a cold darkness, a chilling sensation that seemed to emanate from his mere presence.

"Lucifer." Castiel growled, narrowing his eyes at his captor. Lucifer smirked, twisting the mouth of his vessel in a sly expression.

"So I take it you're here with the Winchesters?" He drawled. A pointless question; he already knew what the Winchester's pet angel would say.

"I came alone." Castiel knew that he wouldn't be fooling anyone with his little performance, but he also knew that that did not make it meaningless.

"Loyalty." Lucifer smiled predatorily, an expression which set off a little spark of something resembling fear in the pit of Castiel's stomach. "Hm. Such a nice quality to see in this day and age." He moved closer to his captive, standing just outside the ring of holy fire. Dark, possessed eyes danced over his surrogate body, looking deeper into him, looking right into the soul of the being that inhabited the dying body of Jimmy Novak. The smirk on the face of Lucifer's vessel widened, "What a peculiar thing you are."

Castiel frowned; even before Lucifer had fallen he had never been easy to deal with, he'd always been the unpredictable child. And even though Castiel had himself rebelled against the angels, he still felt no goodwill towards this monster, and being so close to him now was causing bubbles of nervousness to build up, popping inside of him one by one.

It was then that he noticed the lesions dotted across the face of Lucifer's unfortunate container, and his heart sunk as he realised what was happening to the body of the man whom his brother possessed.

"What's wrong with your vessel?" His rough voice gave away no indication of inner turmoil as he swallowed the lump forming in his throat, for now was no time to freeze up. He had to keep Lucifer busy, keep him distracted and away from the Winchesters until they had time to prepare.

"Yes, um… Nick…" Lucifer had to pause for a moment to remember the name of the unfortunate man who was currently serving as his vessel. Castiel felt an instant twitch of irritation at the sheer arrogance of his former brother. "He's wearing a bit thin, I'm afraid. He can't contain me forever, so..."

"You..!" A mixture of fear and hot fury flooded his insides at the mention of the end game. He started forward in anger, almost forgetting about the holy fire that burned red hot around about him, trapping him in the flaming circle. He grit his teeth and spoke low and hoarse, "You are not taking Sam Winchester. I won't let you."

"Well…" The smirk on his lips widened until it threatened to split the delicate skin of his weakening vessel. He stepped inside the circle, paying no heed to the flames which licked at his body and should've repelled him from their centre. "Why don't I just take you instead?"

Castiel frowned, taking his vessel made no sense; Jimmy would never be able to contain the sheer power and magnitude of Lucifer's soul.

The angel's eyes widened as Lucifer reached out to cradle his face in his cold hand, resting his thumb against the curve of his bottom lip, and a kind of numb realisation began to set in in Castiel's mind, freezing him to his core.

"Join me Castiel." The skin on his face was crawling and suddenly Castiel was feeling that fear creep in around the edge of his mind. He narrowed his eyes at the crumbling vessel touching his face in such a strange manner.

"I'll die first." He stared the Devil in the eyes but his voice did not tremble or crack. Because he had something important to protect; an emotion that he had only recently discovered he had the capacity to feel. It was different from protecting something because his Father told him to, because it was his duty. Now he knew the truly human feeling of wanting to protect something because it was important to him. It was more than duty, more powerful than obedience and he would die to stand by it.

Dean had taught him that.

A smirk cracked Lucifer's face, as though he could read his mind and was amused at the mere trivialities that so troubled the angel who was usually so stoic and dispassionate.

"Yes… I suppose you will." The smirk grew wider. "But before that, I have something else in mind."

He stepped further into the circle, so close that their bodies were pressed together, the hand cupping his rough jaw gripped harder as the other came up to grasp his shoulder. Castiel started and moved back as far as he could, only succeeding in trapping himself as Lucifer moved forward, pushing him to the edge of the flaming ring, unwittingly sandwiching himself between the Devil and the hot fire that encircled them. Lucifer's hand moved from his shoulder to grasp the hairs at the nape of his neck, twisting them so that the angel hissed in pain. He tried to push the hands anyway but against Lucifer he was practically helpless, he felt drained and the Devil's arms were like steel holding him in their grasp.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, a cold fear sensation icing over the pit of his stomach as the face of Lucifer's vessel came to within inches of his own. Too close for Castiel's comfort, dangerously close. Castiel waited anxiously, expecting the Devil to speak, to skewer him with insults and threats. Instead his eyes widened in shock and fright as rough lips smothered his, a warm tongue taking advantage of his momentary lapse in brain function to force its way into his mouth.

He tried to struggle, tried to push Lucifer from him but the Devil's grip was like steel as he held Castiel's head in place. He was trapped in that harsh embrace as the kiss grew darker, becoming violent as Lucifer's sharp teeth snapped at his bottom lip, drawing a thin trail of blood from broken skin. The fallen angel pulled back at the taste of blood, a cruel smile curling his mouth as he surveyed the damage he had caused.

"Don't!" Castiel choked out protests the moment his mouth was free. The panic was setting in now, coiling around his stomach like a poisonous snake and strangling him from the inside out. "Don't touch me!"

"That's a nice expression on your face." Lucifer's grin made the angel's blood run cold as the buttons of his shirt were pulled away, exposing his chest. "Your loyalty really is admirable, even to someone who has simply used you and thrown you away." A stab of pain, of hurt, in Castiel's heart as his words hit home.

"I'll never submit to you." He hissed as his wrists were easily caught in one hand, his arms forced above his head. His eyes narrowed to slits as two strong fingers hooked over the top of his belt buckle, into his waistband, sending hellfire shooting throughout the angel's body, contradicting the coldness of his touch. The Devil chuckled.

"I had hoped that you would, but it's too late now." His lips hovered within a hairs breadth of Castiel's ear, disgustingly warm breath caressing his skin. "I'm afraid our guest has already arrived."

Castiel's eyes snapped open, panic coiling in his innards as he sensed that presence, suddenly close, too close. The all too familiar feeling of the human suddenly and unceremoniously shoved in the room with them. His hands were bound behind his back, but nothing in heaven or hell could bind his temper, nor his mouth.

"You bastard!" He growled, it was all that he could do, ensnared like an animal as he was.

And Castiel just wanted to close his eyes, to block out what was happening around him. But no matter how good he was at hiding from the truth he knew that he could not escape this. The Devil all but crowed in delight.

"So nice to see you, Dean." Lucifer smirked, his grip tightening on his captive's wrists. Castiel tried to speak, but his words caught in his throat.

"Let go of him!" Dean snarled, blood trickling down his face from a deep cut across his eyebrow. His body trembled with pain and anger and Castiel wondered how badly injured he was. He fought frantically against the rope strangling his wrists, never taking his eyes from the scene in front of him, from the Devil that held his friend, his angel, so tightly and so perversely in his grasp.

"Why should I?" The Devil taunted, his tongue flicking out against the skin of Castiel's neck. "You abandoned him." His grip tightened on the angel's wrists, his touch like blistering fire, burning cloth and skin. The angel opened his mouth to try to speak, but Lucifer was too quick, moving like lightning behind him, gagging him with one hand, the other creeping round to brush the skin of his chest with scorching fingertips.

"Castiel has always belonged to me." He smiled at the expression on Dean's face. A painful mixture of rage and confusion. He moved his hand down from the angel's mouth to grip his chin, turning his head to bring his lips close to his own. "Isn't that right, Cas?"

"No…" Castiel nearly choked, unable to tear his gaze away from the man struggling to stand before them. The fingers that played upon his chest slipped lower, returning to dip below the waistband of his trousers, staining his face crimson. "Dean. I'm sorry." He was cut off, his mouth smothered by moist burning lips.

"CASTIEL!" Dean could barely stand now, his injuries overcoming him, his legs struggling to hold him up.

Castiel was pushed down upon his knees as the fire burned around them, trapping him with his captor, separating him from his saviour. The Devil's body was pressed against his own as that hand slipped lower, deeper. Lucifer grinned as he nipped at his earlobe.

"Dean… Don't look at me." He pleaded mournfully before his voice was lost to the demon, the words always left unspoken would always remain that way. A single drop of water flooded the blue irises, and ran down the curve of his stubble peppered jaw. All he could feel was fire and all he could see was Dean.

He closed his eyes.

xx

It was all over in a haze of blood and fire.

He closed his eyes and let the pain wash over him. The sound of Dean's heartbeat and the rising and falling of his breath filled the room. He closed his eyes and listened.

The demon was gone and they were alone together once more.

The holy fire had burnt out; the smouldering ashes could contain him no longer. The bruised and broken skin of his vessel was already healing, the angel leaking out from the inside. The room felt colder now, the presence of the Devil dissipating, burning up in the atmosphere.

The warm light of morning seeped into the room, caressing the pains of his body. Dean was there somewhere, lying beside him, flittering in and out of consciousness. Soon the angel would be able to move again, and soon he would rise and carry Dean home once more, broken and bloodied, and he would bear the burden of all their sins. But for now he would lie on the cold dirt floor and recuperate, letting the sound of such fragile life fill his empty soul.

He closed his eyes.

xx