Dean forced himself out of the chair and trudged away from the desk which was covered, corner to corner, with books, journals, scriptures; the whole enchilada. The boys were clinging to the hope that maybe one of them would give them even some sort of idea about what they were dealing with in The Darkness. Not really hope; more desperation. Metatron was still a no show and Rowena would be just as tricky to locate or help for that matter. So all they could do was research; despite both knowing it was pointless. An entire day spent scouring ancient books and nothing.

'Well that was a whole load of crap', Dean mused as he made his way to bed. Sam had given up hours ago and Cas was still recovering from Rowena's spell. Dean was struggling to keep his eyes open and frankly, sleep was the only thing that distracted him from impending….whatever. He walked past Sam's room and heard mumbling. He assumed his brother was talking in his sleep as he had a tendency to do so during the odd nightmare. Dean was about to move on when he caught wind of one of Sam's sentences.

'You're not my brother-get away from me'. His voice louder and more strained.

Dean remained rooted on the spot. He didn't want to be eavesdropping but curiosity got the better of him. Pushing the door open ever so slightly, he peered inside Sam's bedroom. His younger brother was on his back and unconsciously gripping the bed covers. Even from afar, he could tell sweat was beginning to pump down from Sam's forehead.

'Stop…..stay away…..Dean….no', panic laced through Sam's voice as his body stirred. Dean moved closer, wanting to wake him up but reminding himself that it was only a nightmare. Sam had plenty of them growing up. But still, Dean couldn't ignore the fact that Sam was getting more and more distressed. His breathing was speeding up and he had somehow managed to tangle himself up in his covers.

'NOOOOOO…STOP….HELP ME…AHHHHHHHHH' the words pierced through the bedroom and right through the bunker as Sam bellowed them in his still unconscious state.

'Screw this' he was waking him up.

'Sam…..Sam….wake up buddy…..come on. Sammy' he shook his brothers shoulders, pleading him to open his eyes.

Dean was pushed back and slammed into the bookcase as Sam jolted upright and used his arms to push Dean away. Instinctively he reached for his gun but Dean jumped forward and gripped his arm tightly.

'Hey….hey Sam… stop. Look at me, it was a dream. You're awake.' He looked into Sam's frantic eyes as they darted from one side of the room trying to decipher whether he was really awake or whether it was just another trick. His breathing was shallow and his entire body was drenched in sweat. Still not letting go of his arm, Dean again tried to reassure him.

'Look at me Sammy. It was only a dream or a nightmare or whatever the hell you want to call them. You're back in the bunker now. Ok? Sammy' he searched in Sam's eyes to see if he had come back to reality yet. Slowly he felt Sam's body relax beside him and he loosened his grip on his arm. His breathing became more normal as he tried to compose himself. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths.

Opening them again he reverted to natural Sam mode and moved himself back against the headboard before attempting to give an explanation.

'Sorry, just a bad dream'

'A bad dream? Sam you full on screamed the place down and almost went postal when you woke up. I don't know what your definition of bad dream is but that ain't it. What the hell were you dreaming of?'

'Hell'.

Dean was taken aback. He fully expected Sam to reply with some bullshit answer or totally brush off the question but did not anticipate that reply.

'Hell'

'Yeah….the Cage' Sam had bowed his head as he said the last two words, afraid to show his brother the fear that lay in his eyes.

'As in Lucifer, Michael, infinite torture; that Cage?'

'Unless you know any other metal cells of agony roaming around Hell then yeah that Cage' Sam replied, momentarily finding time to throw in some sarcasm.

Sitting down on the side of the bed, Dean let out a breath. The thought of Sammy reliving the worst experience of his life broke his heart. He'd give anything for his little brother not to go through that again. Sensing a period of openness from Sam he decided to press the issue further.

'You have these dreams often?'

'Not for a long time. I used to get them every night after the wall Death put it was tore down by Cas…'

'Wait, what? Every night? For how long?' Angry rushed through Dean; how could Sam not tell him this?

'Until the trials started' Sam was definitely not meeting his brother's eye this time. He knew not telling Dean something like this was going to cause a fight. He had planned to inform him ages ago but things got in the way (as they usually did in their lives). But what good would it have done? Knowing Dean, he would have gone and tried some hoodoo to erase his dreams and end up selling his soul or some crap. Better for everyone if Sam keep it quiet.

'That's almost two years. You were having dreams about the Cage every night for that long and didn't bother your ass to tell me?'

'What good would it have done? Look what happened after the wall was torn down. If I had told you what would you have done? Gone off and put some spell on me? More angel crap voodoo? I could manage it on my own and I did.

'Well maybe a little memo would have been nice.' Dean was still furious. Over two years having visions of Lucifer and the torture in the cage and not once did Sam think it was worth mentioning to him. He didn't know whether to feel angry or hurt. Was he not trustworthy enough for Sam? They had had their issues, plenty of them, but he thought something like this might slip into conversation at some stage. Running his fingers through his hair, he sighed. No matter how many times it had bitten them in the ass by doing it; keeping secrets from one another was still a number one skill of the Winchesters.

Breaking the silence, Sam sat upright and moved out from the headboard.

'Listen it's too late to change things now. The point is; after the trials I stopped having those nightmares, like I was cleansed of them or something. But since the Darkness was let out I've been having these visions again. I think it means something.'

'Like what?' Dean didn't like where this was going. He was hoping that Sam didn't think what he thought he meant.

'That maybe what we are searching for isn't here. It's down there. It was Lucifer after all who helped God put the Darkness into her box.'

'Ok I'll stop you there daredevil. The Cage is not an option. At all. You can't seriously be considering trying to communication with the devil?' He couldn't believe that Sam was honestly thinking of re-visiting the Apocalypse again. He did not want his brother anywhere near Lucifer after the angel had used him as a personal punching bag for hundreds of years. Standing up, he moved away from the bed and started pacing the room.

'I'm not thrilled about it either but what other options do we have at this point?'

'Oh this isn't even an option Sammy; it's not going to happen. What do you even suggest we do? Somehow I don't hell has a special hotline to the Cage.'

'I don't know, there has to be a spell or something Crowley knows. All I know is that I'm getting these visions for a reason and that reasons seems to be leading us to Lucifer.' Sam seemed adamant in what he wanted to do. That fear that had materialised in his eyes when he woke up had reappeared as determination.

Dean was still pacing back and forth. The room seemed smaller than it was; barely any room to walk off the frustration he was feeling. There was just no way they were bringing Lucifer back into the mix. He was buried in Hell over 5 years ago and he was going to stay there, no matter how bad things got with Amara.

''I just can't go along with this. Lucifer is another can of worms we can't touch dude. If we speak to him then we risk you getting stuck in the Cage or having him whisper crazytalk in your head again. Or you know, the biggie; he gets out and it's suddenly Armageddon take 2 out there.' At this stage he was pleading with Sam. His gut instinct was telling him it was a bad idea and he learnt long ago to trust it. Yes, Lucifer may have some answers but was it worth the risk to the world and Sam? He wasn't prepared to take that leap.

'But I can't ignore what I'm seeing. The visions have to be coming from somewhere and I think God is sending them to me.

Dean had to stop himself rolling his eyes. Not the God crap again. He got that Sam needed to pray to give himself some hope but this was too much.

'How many times have we knocked on God's door and got no answer? Why should this time be any different?

'Because this is what started it all; the Darkness is the beginning. The first thing that God destroyed or whatever. And that thing is back and wants to destroy everything God created. I don't believe he is going to stand back and just let her.'

'It hasn't stopped him before. The Apocalypse? Remember that? He could have stopped it all but he decides to kick back and let others die instead.' He couldn't help get annoyed. The thought of an all- powerful being just looming somewhere in the background and not lifting a finger to help pissed him off. Didn't they deserve a break after everything they had been put through?

Sam shifted uncomfortably in the bed. He was taking in Dean's words but he seemed determined to continue to investigate this Lucifer theory. And once Sam got an idea in his head he had a tendency to run a marathon with it. Dean wasn't prepared to go down that route; not ever. He needed to get it out of Sam's head.

'And even if we manage to talk to Lucifer; why would he help us? We are the ones who put him back in his prison I doubt he's going to want to pair up like the X-Men and tag team the Darkness.'

'We have to at least consider it Dean. We haven't found anything at all. The Darkness is bigger than anything we've ever faced, including Lucifer. He may be our last hope.'

'If the Devil is our last hope than we are screwed.'

'We are screwed regardless. I don't see what is wrong with exploring our options. These visions mean something.'

'We have no clue if they are actually coming from God or not. We can rush into this. Please, just….let's keep looking. And if jack squat comes in then maybe, maybe we will revisit your visions. Come on man, just give it some time.' Honestly, Dean had no intention of revisiting the Cage but he needed to buy some time to come up with something else. There was no way he was letting Lucifer anywhere near Sam.

'Fine…..i'll park the Lucifer thing for now but we can't ignore it.' Sam finally was relenting. He shifted again in his bed, something clearly still on his mind.

'But Dean, what the hell are we going to do?' His expression said it all. He knew that they had nothing and that it looked like nothing would work.

'What we always do Sammy; keep fighting till we got nothing left. It's not much but it's all we have. ' he smiled weakly. It was a pathetic excuse but Sam was right. They had nothing and the signs weren't looking good. But they were Winchesters; they would go down fighting.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments. The pair of them not knowing what they could say to make the situation any better. Dean made to leave when suddenly, Sam grabbed his wrist.

'Dean…'

'What is it?' Dean noticed Sam was struggling to say something. He was avoiding eye contact; never a good sign. Since they were kids, whenever Sam was confessing something or saying sorry he would always look to the floor.

'Sam?' He wanted some sort of explanation.

'I know it means nothing and at this stage I don't expect any forgiveness, I don't deserve it but I'm so sorry. All of this is my fault.'

'Sam….don't.' There was no way Dean was getting into this. Definitely another can of worms that needed to stay shut. So much had happened between the two brothers in the last few years that had driven a wedge between them and bringing up these issues just was not on the table for him.

'No let me say this; I need to say this. I screwed up, like always. And you are paying the price for my recklessness. You don't deserve this.'

Dean tried to move but Sam's grip on his wrist was far too strong.

'I'll fix it; I promise I'll make this right.'

'Sam stop. Can we not do this? This isn't time for pointing fingers. It's a crappy situation but we can't dwell on it. We gotta save the world…..again?'

Sam bowed his head and hunched his shoulders. Still not letting go of Dean he began mumbling to himself. His long hair was covering his face.

'Listen it's late and….'

'If I could go back and change things I would; in a heartbeat.' Sam cut him off with a barely audible remark.

Dean didn't say anything. He knew Sam was talking about the Mark of Cain. It didn't take a rocket scientist to guess that Sam would never have used the Book of the Damned to remove the Mark if he knew the consequences. And not for one second did he begrudge Sam for having those regrets.

'I know you would, there's no shame in it. If we knew removing the Mark was going to this then I would have blasted myself to the Moon.'

'I wasn't talking about removing the Mark. I…..I meant what I said after Gadreel possessed me.'

If he wasn't uncomfortable before, he definitely was now. That conversation with Sam over a year ago still stung every time he thought about it. Hearing his little brother say he would not save him was one of the hardest things he ever had to take. Even thinking about it again was like a punch to the gut. Although Sam had said he was lying and proved with the Mark that he'd do anything to save him, Dean could never un-hear those words.

Sam didn't give him the opportunity to interrupt or brush him off-he continued on;

'I regret what I said so much. More than anything. I was just so angry and messed up. A part of me wanted to hurt you after you let Gadreel possess me; to make you feel how hurt I had been. But I should never have said it, I really didn't mean it. Dean, you have to believe me; there is nothing I wouldn't for you. I'm so sorry. I promise you I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it.' He'd finally raised his head and was looking Dean squarely in the eye.

'It's all my fault. You would have never taken the Mark off Cain if I hadn't of pushed you away. Hell you never would have teamed up with Crowley to find Cain in the first place. I put you through this position and I need to fix this. I just have to. If I thought it would make any difference, I would say sorry every day.'

The air was sucked right out of him; he didn't know what to say. Dean never wanted to think back to the Mark and the moment he took it off Cain. He knew the very second it burned onto his skin that it changed him. But he had never blamed Sam for that. Truthfully, he blamed himself. Sure it was Sam who forced Dean to tag team with Crowley but no one forced him to take the Mark; that was his own doing.

By never thinking of the consequences, Dean always found a way to screw things up and this was just another one to add to the list. He wasn't going to lie though; he still heard the ringing of Sam's words in his head every now and then. It wasn't something you forget; considering how close the brothers used to be.

But listening to his baby bother pour his heart out and admit that he never meant it somehow lifted a small relief off his shoulders. He hated that his relationship with Sam deteriorated so much since the trials. So much had happened since then that they never even got an opportunity to try and mend what was broken.

Even though they were quite possibly facing the end of the road with the darkness, maybe it was better late than never to try fix things.

Sam was still staring at him, trying to gauge his reaction. Dean noticed the tears swelling in his little brother's eyes, and could feel a lump in his own throat.

'We can't change what happened Sammy. There's so much I wish I could take back and do differently but don't carry this guilt around with you. What you said back then hurt a lot, it set me back a lot but you've proved that you didn't mean it.'

Tears were falling fast down Sam's cheeks, his puppy dog eyes still somehow managing look Dean straight in the face. He hadn't cried this much since Dean had been stabbed by Metatron. His shoulders were slightly shaking.

'Sammy…..it's ok I don't blame you for this; I would have done the exact same thing. You're all I've got and I'm all you've got. Whether we like it or not, we're stuck together,' Dean was being honest; Sam was his only family left (along with Cas) and even though they've had their rough patches, he loved the giant man and would still do anything for him. He killed Death for the love of Zeus! At this point, Sam had let go of his wrist and buried his head in his hands, openly sobbing.

What was going on with him? Dean was shocked seeing him so distraught. Even in the church during the final trial he was less emotional. He couldn't stand seeing Sam so upset; his older brother instincts were kicking in.

'It's ok Sammy,' he moved closer and pulled him into a hug, gripping his crying brother tightly. He felt Sam shaking furiously in his arms but was relieved when he returned the embrace. Sam cried onto his shoulder, leaving his shirt damp but he didn't care. Momentarily, everything that was going on was forgotten. This was about comforting Sammy and making him feel better; as a child doing just that was second nature to him. Along the years, the skill lay dormant but was making a comeback just at the right time. He rubbed comforting circles on Sam's back, hoping to calm him down. Whatever caused this outburst worried Dean; he held him closer.

Muffled words were coming through from Sam, most of which Dean couldn't make out.

'…my fault…everything…..the Mark….my….fault,' Sam cried as he clung onto his big brother.

'No….stop it Sam, you can't blame yourself for everything. This isn't your fault', he pleaded for his brother to see some sense but nothing was getting through to him.