Dean and Sam watched on helplessly as their friend fought a losing battle with the Devil. The Brothers watched on, injured and helpless as Castiel's vessel crumbled before their eyes. They swore they could hear the cracking of ribs and other bones as the two Angels fought for control over Jimmy Novak's body.
Amara, the Darkness had fallen dead and defeated before the Devil victorious had rounded on the Winchesters. The battle had taken place in a clearing, a few miles away from the nearest road. The Winchesters drove as close as they could to ground zero, a huddling of trees lining the field halted them, they had to take the rest of the journey on foot. It was a warmer day than most for this time of the year, but the shine that covered the human's skins was more out of fear and agitation than from the humid air.
The battle between Lucifer and Amara had seemingly made the earth stand still, and Sam couldn't recall feeling a single fresh breeze blow through the trees since she fell to the ground.
When Lucifer had rounded on the Winchesters, he had been talking to himself or more likely, Cas. Before he acknowledged them. Castiel had done something 'bad' and Lucifer muttered about it as he left Amara's body on the ground rounding to them, a cruel slick grin on Cas's usually kind and gentle face.
The brothers had been standing and watching from a few meters from where they were currently hiding within and behind the crumbled remnants of an old cabin. The wooden walls would do little to protect them from anything, let alone the Devil but Dean was wounded too, and he could only drag his little brother so far.
Castiel's punishment for his transgression was to be, having to watch his only two companions, be slain by his very own hands. First Sam, then Dean, part of the torture for him was to watch Dean being broken watching Sam die. Lucifer wanted Cas to know that even if he did manage to take control, his hunter would never forgive him after that. Dean had tried to step in but found himself flung into one of the few remaining walls of the crumbled cabin. When he woke, Sam was screaming angrily at Lucifer yet promising Cas that he forgave him, while Lucifer broke the bones of one leg before starting on the second.
Dean blinked away the pain and grogginess of his previous unconscious state and had tried to move through the pain. Lucifer turned to him as he stumbled to stand but something else joined the party. Sam was suddenly distracted by the pain in awe of the bright white light that was shooting down from the sky above encircling Amara's body.
Lucifer tilted his head, assessing the situation, his movement reminded Dean and Sam of what Castiel did when he was confused or bewildered. "Daddy's home." He said twitching his eyebrows at Sam before turning his back and walking towards the light. However, it withdrew before he reached it taking Amara with it. Lucifer wasn't impressed.
Dean had taken that moment to drag Sam behind the half-broken wall of the cabin. They could still both see the situation unfolding but as Dean fell to the floor gripping his chest and his suspected broken ribs, besides Sam, who was positioning his broken and bloody limbs there was little they could do to help their friend.
"Dean" Sam had whispered urgently, "You're bleeding."
Dean lifted his arm to assess the damage to the injured he sustained while landing on a pile of wooden floorboards, a deep gash from almost his hip to his armpit.
"M' fine Sammy." Dean had said with a shake of his head watching Cas and Lucifer though a hole in the wall. He let Sam start to remove the splinters of wood from bleeding skin despite his protest.
Before Lucifer could turn back to the Winchesters, even more, infuriated than before, the shared vessel began to shake; blood began dripping down his body, where it originated they didn't know. His shoulders and knees were straightening and cracking in ways that wouldn't hold a human up, but yet the Vessel remained standing.
The brothers had become all too accustomed to the difference between voices used by Castiel and the Devil. Every time in the past two months since they discovered the intruder, every time Castiel regained control his deep raspy voice had washed over them both like a wave of relief compared to when they heard the most natural tone of voice leave the same lips when Lucifer had won over again. Unfortunately, it also made it clear to them both, that the cries of pain that were leaving the mouth of the vessel were Castiel's and not the Devils. Lucifer had questioned them about how long they thought Cas could hold out, how much his already weakened vessel could bare. The memory had Dean crawling to his feet; he didn't know what he was going to do, but he had to do something.
A pained whine, one that made the onlookers cringe broke through the air, followed by another horrible cry as blood began soaking into the white dress shirt that Lucifer had remained in after ditching Cas's trench coat.
"CAS!" Dean cried out before Sam grabbed his arm and tugged him desperately, trying with all his remaining strength to pull Dean back to the limited safely. Dean remained standing; he couldn't walk away, not from this, not from Cas.
Deans cry had captured attention, whether it was that of the Angels or the Devil, Dean didn't know yet. The man turned slowly; Dean was scared at who would greet him. His face was splattered with blood, a line of it dripped from his hairline and down his face.
It took Dean several precious seconds to recognize to one who turned to him. Cas.
Castiel looked, even in this state, so different from Lucifer that Dean doubted, if they even survived this battle, that he would ever forgive himself for not noticing the second they walked out of Hell. It was probably Dean's heart-broken and drained mind, but he was different from the way Lucifer carried himself in every way, from the way he stood even in his injured state, to the way Castiel's eyes shone. The blue eyes sparkled when Cas was feeling any and all emotions, emotions he learnt from humanity, but Dean's favourite was when the Angel smiled. A proper smile, gums and all, those were Dean's favourites. It hit him like a ton of bricks that unless some miracle happened, he would never see Cas smiling again, he would never see Cas again.
It wasn't like in the movies, every moment of their time together, good or bad, didn't flash through his mind, although, only staring at Cas's eyes for their limited time Dean did feel almost relief washing over him. Then he realised, Castiel was healing them. He looked down at Sam, who was watching Cas shaking his head in disbelief, "No Cas, save your strength" Sam pleaded weakly, but it was done. It happened in what seemed like an instant, but the sensation of his flesh moulding back together and bones reforming was something that still unnerved them.
Suddenly there was a piercing scream, Dean and Sam covered their ears in pain; the thin wooden walls shook around them. Another scream, it hurt them physically less this time, as if their ears were adjusting to the angelic cries. Then Jimmy Novak or Castiel or Lucifer, Dean and Sam didn't know anymore, but the vessel fell to the ground in a heap, and there it stayed.
"CASTIEL!" Dean screamed, but Sam jumped to his feet just as Dean had and used his larger body to halt his brother physically. "Cas!" Dean yelled, but Sam pulled him down until they both landed on the ground.
"Dean! No!" Sam yelled, "Look!" Sam said pushing Dean to look over the crumbling wood.
A murky dirty yellow smoke of grace was rising from the fallen body, the grace of the Devil.
Mere seconds later a second grace rose following its brother. Castiel. It wasn't any longer the blindingly pure blue-white light that it once was, and it was evident, even in the way the grace glided through the air, that he was weak.
Despite how obviously this simple action affected him, Castiel rose, facing his brother. The two angels, the two brothers began circling like two boxers in a ring before a battle.
The Winchesters stood up, the shock of the sight before them instinctively making them both take a few steps back blindly.
A surprised too loud cry from Sam as he stepped on a crumbled panel of floorboard breaking through the small drop to the ground below, caught the attention of Lucifer. It wasn't one of pain, just surprise, Sam tugged his foot back up desperately as the boys prepared to run, where, they didn't yet know.
They would never make it to the Impala, and Dean doubted he would have the strength to drive away and leave Castiel here, alone to die at the hands of his own brother. There wasn't much Dean could do for Cas, but he felt, at least, he could make sure his best friend didn't die alone.
The Angels stopped their circling, the sight of the angels became clearer to the humans the longer they remained in one place. They could now see that Castiel is still a remarkable figure, but his form represented the shape of a man much more than Lucifer's did. Despite their differences, both the angels had soft shadows of wings, Lucifer more so than Cas. Cas's looked burnt and broken with missing feathers in many spots. What had once been a screeching sound coming from both Angels was now becoming clearer and clearer as words to the Humans. It was still hard to listen to, and only certain words would be coherent to the brothers ears.
They heard the words 'brother,' and 'humans' repeated, the latter spoke with almost disbelief as if Lucifer still questioned with whom Castiel's loyalties lied.
Then, after a few seconds of calm, the Angels met in the middle, cries of war rang through the silence as they fought in their mid-air battlefield. Clashes of a body on another, yelps of pain, anguish, and as Castiel fell again, taunts to Castiel from Lucifer regarding the painful ways that the Devil was going to torture the Winchesters after Castiel was dead, specifically what he was going to do to Dean.
The almost human shape his grace was now taking made it easier to see the way the Angel pushed himself up as he approached the other angel who was laughing mirthlessly his back to his brother now approaching where the Winchesters sit.
Before he got much further, Castiel launched himself from behind and enveloped Lucifer's murky grace within his. Seconds past, the cries grew louder and most desperate to the point that Dean had to cover his ears trying to deafen himself to cries he knew belonged to Castiel.
"Dean, we need to move," Sam said grabbing him again and trying to tug him.
Dean didn't reply, he stayed stock still, his hands covering his ears, his eyes pinned to the battling Angels.
"Dean look up! Look at the sky! We need to move, now!" Sam said desperately, and Dean finally looked away from the battle and was greeted by an all too familiar sight.
The clouds above the battling angels were circling, the clouds ripe with pure power and grace. The preparation for a smiting.
Dean's shock lapse as he processed what was happening allowed Sam to lead him to run away, they got to the cover of the trees before Dean stopped and turned back. He couldn't leave.
"Dean c'mon!" Sam begged but Dean couldn't.
"I can't leave him here Sam, not alone, not if he's gonna die. He's doing it for us." Dean spoke while turning, his words dying in his throat as he turned to see the light above the Angels.
Lucifer, still confined within Castiel but flaws were appearing in the angels grace, holes which showed the sick contents of the twisted Arch-Angel.
Suddenly a thunderous boom cracked through the air, and it was almost a fireball that remained in the angels places. Embers of the explosion of grace rained down upon Jimmy's body.
"CAS!" Dean screamed, but Sam grabbed him around the waist and held Dean back.
As the white-light withdrew again, Dean hit and kick at any of Sam that he could reach, when he finally broke free, he ran towards the body of his best friend.