A/N: So, only one day late, here's my entry for the January writing contest! I don't own, like, anything, I stole the plot, prompt and characters. Ahem. Yeah.

He can't believe he's doing this. It's insane. There is no way he could survive! But nonetheless, he takes a deep breath to prepare himself and walks off toward the abandoned building, trusting that Dean will follow him. After a few steady paces, he hears Dean scrambling after him, face dark and emotional. For a brief moment, Cas considers saying something to the hunter, but he can't think of anything that would help.

He allows the silence to draw out, even as the two of them reached the doors. Dean pushes the door open with his fingertips, immediately on guard for anything that may be lurking in Lucifer's Crypts. Cas, however, doesn't think there's anything there. He pushes Dean aside, entering the Crypts without a moment's hesitation.

After a few seconds, Dean catches up with him. Cas sees by the slightly disgruntled expression on Dean's face, he is a bit peeved at Cas' pushiness, but there is no time for them to waste. Crowley will soon figure out Meg lied to them, and then he will find the right place and stop them. Crowley is already enough of a threat, he cannot have the angel tablet as well.

Dean shoves a flashlight at Cas. Cas stares at it for a few seconds before reaching out to take it. He flicks the switch, and the small bulb flares to life. Dean does the same next to him, and together they walk down the Crypt, lighting the way ahead and pointedly not looking at each other.

They make it halfway through the first hall before Dean breaks the silence between them. "Hey, what did you mean back there, about Sam?" He sounds worried, very worried, but offhand in the way that tells Cas that he's trying to hide his concern. He can't help but be slightly amused, the Winchesters are always denying their feelings for each other but it's very, very obvious. Cas has seen a lifetime of brotherly love, after all.

"It's difficult to say," he says, mostly just to satisfy Dean. He frowns slightly and then gives him a straight answer. "It's something on the subatomic level. His electromagnetic field-"

"Okay, bottom line it for me, Bill Nye. Is it lethal?" He's forgotten Dean's impatience.

"I don't know." His hand, hanging from the sleeve of his trenchcoat, brushes the wall. He frowns, then feels it more carefully. "Wait. There's a draft. There's something behind there." He lays his hand on the door, palm pressed to the stone of the Crypt wall. Dean shines the light at the wall, eyes narrowing as he attempts to see what Cas sensed.

"Stay back," Cas warns, laying his other hand on the wall. Dean's eyes widen in sudden realization and he takes several steps backward, running into the wall on the other side of the hall.

Cas turns and gives the wall a look of concentration. He leans down on it, and hears troom buzz as he calls upon his Grace, filling the air with the high pitched whine of angel call. The entire room shakes as minute cracks open in the wall. Cas keeps his palm on the door, and the cracks grow larger and larger until the entire wall is one pile of rubble at his feet.

Revealed behind the wall is a hallway similar to the one they've just been wandering through. Cas flashes Dean a pointed look, which is returned with a shrug. The light is shone down the hall

illuminating the dusty stone walls, ceiling, and floor.

His light is mostly unnecessary. Not too far down, the hall widens out to become a circular room. The room is well lit from an unknown source, and Cas can feel something in that room pushing him away. Angel warding. This must be it.

Dean slips around Cas and ventures into the room, face clearly showing his mounting apprehension. It's clear that he expects something to be guarding the angel tablet, but it's also clear to Cas that there isn't. He follows Dean, stops the second he enters the round room.

The pushing has gotten stronger, and he looks up at Dean with a touch of desperation. The hunter is examining the room carefully, searching for something and brushing his fingers over the dusty things on the table, sending clouds into the air. Everything in there faintly tingles with angel warding, but only the box on the altar at the front of the room is too well-guarded for him to actually touch.

Then, quick as a flash, he's gone from the Crypt and pushing open the glass doors of Naomi's office. "I found it," he says, intent and focused. Naomi's eyes widen in shock, and she immediately stands, moving closer to Castiel. The female angel looks a little surprised to see him; evidently him coming on his own free will has never happened before.

"Tell the Winchester the Crypt is empty," she instructs, her grey eyes more serious than he's ever seen them before. "Then you can come back and-"

He shakes his head, cuts her off. "It's warded against angels," he says.

She tilts her head and speaks again, more desperately than before. "You can come back-"

He steps closer, trenchcoat billowing behind him. He's beginning to lose control, but at the moment getting the angel tablet before Crowley does is more important than anything Naomi will do to him once this is all over. "Crowley's demons are still in town. We're running out of time. What should I do?" He's never asked her directly for help like this before, and he's hoping she won't question him.

There is a pause that could mean any number of things before she replies. "Handle it," she orders, and Cas is gone.

Back with Dean, he calls the hunter's attention. The flashlight is suddenly aimed at his chest and Cas can see Dean's deep green eyes fixed on him. "There," Cas tells the hunter, pointing at the box on the altar. "That's it."

Dean's flashlight immediately moves to shine on the box, his gaze following it. The box is rather unremarkable. Covered in dust and cobwebs, surrounded by candles and above it is one mirror that would reflect the face of any person standing directly in front of it. Dean looks up at Cas, frowning slightly in speculation. "How do you know?" he inquires.

"It's the only thing in here warded against angels," Cas supplies. He watches as the hunter approaches the box, staying well back and hoping Dean will just attribute that to the angel warding. In fact, it's because he needs to be ready to take the tablet from Dean and go as quickly as possible.

Dean picks up the box and brings it over to the table with a few grunts of exertion. He drops it onto the table with a loud thud that sends dust flying into the air. Cas takes a few more steps, narrowing his eyes at the box. He can feel the tension rising, he knows that something is up, but he can't pinpoint it.

The hunter sets down the flashlight and the small sound that makes reverberates through the dank room. He exhales, looks up at Cas as if seeking reassurance, and then picks up a knife. Jamming the knife sharply into the crevice between the box's lid and the box itself, Dean prises the box open with a satisfying Crack!

Lifting the lid off the box, Dean sets it aside. Inside the box is a piece of clay, large and rectangular, that both men know must be the angel tablet.

Dean looks up and grins widely at Cas. "Winner, winner, chicken dinner," he says, which confuses the angel. What does chicken have to do with this? he almost finds himself asking. Not too long ago, he would have voiced the question, but he's gotten used to hiding his thoughts from Dean and keeps it to himself.

He reaches inside the box and carefully lifts out the clay-covered angel tablet, then tugs the lid back over the box.

Cas gets closer, and feels his face relaxing into a smile. He knows how it twists and seems less sincere than he usually is, and curses himself, because of course Dean notices. Dean's eyes narrow suspiciously and he subconsciously pulls the tablet closer to his chest. Cas swears inwardly. His mistake has cost him time, time enough for Crowley to have made decent headway and gotten even closer to taking the tablet.

"Good," says Cas. He means that, it is good, but the word is just meant as a softener, to try to ease the hunter's suspicions. "Hand it to me and I'll take it to Heaven."

Mistake number 2. Dean, who was looking at the tablet a moment before, glances up sharply at Cas. Now, his eyes aren't suspicious, they're cold and emotionless. Dean is hiding from him, and Cas regretfully realizes that things are going to get ugly.

"No," says Dean, after a few moment's pause. "We will take it to Kevin. So he can translate it."

"Right," Cas says, trying to backtrack. "Give it to me, I'll take it to him right away. No time to waste." He nods slightly, hoping that Dean will just give it to him. Of course, Dean can see that Cas is lying and that he won't take the tablet to Kevin, but Cas tries anyway.

"He's not that far. I've been meaning to go check on him, bring him some supplies." Dean protectively hugs the tablet closer to his chest and turning slightly, away from Cas.

Dean and the Crypt disappear and Cas finds himself back in Naomi's office. She's standing again, her grey eyes intent and terrifying. "If the demons get their hands on the angel tablet they'll kill us all! They'll destroy Heaven!"

"I can reason with Dean. He's a good man." Cas argues, knowing what she's going to say next and dreading it with everything he is.

"Kill him."

"I can resupply the prophet, Dean." Cas is back with Dean in the Crypt. He takes one step closer to Dean, watching as the hunter's arms shift around the tablet, keeping it away from the errant angel.

Dean looks down. "You know, why don't Sam and I take it over to him, and you get back to your mission. Finding the other half of the demon tablet, that is priority, isn't it?" He flashes a weak grin at Cas, but they both know it's merely for show.

Cas's eyes narrow, he gets even closer to the hunter. "I can't let you take that, Dean."

"Can't or won't?" All traces of former good humour are wiped clean from his face. They aren't face to face, but both of them are glaring and it feels like they are closer to each other than they actually are.

"Both."

"How did you get out of Purgatory, Cas?" Dean says, green eyes intent and painfully conflicted.

"There has to be another way!" Cas implores Naomi, hardly noticing that he's been ripped from Earth to Heaven again.

"You have done this a thousand times, Castiel!"

Cas looks down at his shoes, half in shame and half just to avoid Naomi. He doesn't want to hurt Dean, and he still doesn't think he needs to.

"You're ready," she says when it becomes clear Cas isn't going to say anything. "Kill him. Then take the tablet. Bring it home where it belongs."

"I still don't know how you got out of Purgatory. Be honest, for the first time since you've been back, and this is yours." Back with Dean now, who's eyes are guarded. Cas fully believes that Dean isn't lying. If he can tell Dean about Naomi, he can have the tablet. But something in him won't let him tell Dean anything. His face grows stone still, and he moves a few inches closer.

His angel sword drops out of his sleeve and lands neatly in his palm. Dean looks down at it warily, then his eyes glance up and he meets Cas's eyes, fear beginning to cloud his gaze. Cas ignores it. He tightens his grip on the sword, still looking at Dean with a stony, unfeeling expression.

"Cas," Dean speaks now, trying to sway the renegade angel from his decision. This happens every time. "Cas, I don't know what the hell's wrong with you, but if you're in there, and you can hear me, you don't have to do this."

Cas shakes his head, just a little, and brings his arm up to swing his sword at Dean. The hunter blocks the blow with the stone-covered tablet, but, interestingly enough, as soon as the sword strikes the stone, thunder and lightning flash through the room. Desperately, Dean calls Cas's name again, but the angel does not hear him.

He's brought back into Naomi's office, and he glares up at Naomi. "This isn't right!" he shouts.

"Do you realize what the tablet can do for us?" Naomi shoots.

"I-"

"For Heaven?" She's starting to get passionate now, her eyes growing larger.

Cas shakes his head, pauses, then frowns at her, his glittering blue eyes fixed on hers intensely. "I won't hurt Dean!" he shouts.

"Yes, you will. You are."

"Cas, fight this! This is not you! Fight it!" Cas swings the sword again, and like before, Dean grunts and blocks the blow with the tablet. The room shakes with thunder, and the lightning bathes the two figures in hard, white-blue light.

Brought back to Heaven, Cas suddenly presses his hands to the sides of his head, groaning in pain. His head feels like it's about to explode, he can barely think and he's gasping for breath. His eyes have grown wide and panicked. "What have you done to me!?" he shouts, voice all growly and scared

"Just relax, Castiel. Let your vessel do what you know deep down is the right thing." Naomi's voice floats down from above, but he cannot feel it through the splitting agony in his head.

Cas groans again and shouts, voice rising in pitch as he gets more and more agitated"What have you done to me, Naomi!?"

He doesn't realize that he's back into the Crypt until he hears Dean say, "Who's Naomi?" Cas doesn't answer, instead he finds himself being yanked back into her office.

"What have I done to you?" She's shouting now, yelling in fury. "Do you have any idea what it's like out there? There's blood everywhere, and it's on your hands! After everything you did, betraying your brothers, letting the Leviathans walk the Earth! I fixed you, Castiel! I fixed you!"

With that, he's shoved back to Earth. She's getting more forceful now, he can actually feel the transition this time.

"Cas!" Cas is doubled over in the Crypt. Dean puts a hand on Cas's shoulder. Cas looks up with a twisted, desperate expression, then it quickly shifts into anger. Cas finds his arm shooting upward and into Dean. The hunter crashes into the wall, grunting as his spine hits the stony wall. He falls onto the ground, then shakes his head to clear the dust from his short hair and face.

Dean struggles to his feet, fumbles for the tablet, and quickly tries to escape the angel.

He's briefly forgotten about the angel's ability to teleport, but remembers when Cas is suddenly in front of him. Dean's eyes widen and he looks up, calculatingly. He throws a punch at Cas, aiming for the head, with his right hand.

Cas reaches up almost casually, catching Dean's fist easily in his palm. He stares at Dean and Dean stares back for a few small moments. Cas twists his arm suddenly, forcefully, and the snap! of breaking bone echoes through the room. Dean gasps in pain and falls to his knees, dropping the tablet as he falls. The stone shatters with a particularly loud peal of thunder, and the room grows warmer as the Enochian covered stone is broken out of its stone covering.

Cas shoves Dean aside, and he falls back slightly, kneeling position still kept. Even though Cas is now standing between Dean and the stone, Cas can't just grab the stone and leave. He knows Naomi won't just let him leave Dean alone, so he hits Dean's cheekbone with his fist.

Dean groans, and shifts a bit, but Cas hits him again, and again, and again.

"You want it?" Dean moans, after his face is bruised and bleeding. Cas glances down, stony faced, at the still-exposed tablet. "Take it," Dean's voice is low, darkened with emotion."But you're going to have to kill me, first." Their eyes meet. Cas shifts forward, but hesitates. "Come on, you coward!" Dean's voice gains a little strength as he gets angrier. "Do it. Do it!"

Cas blinks and his moment of hesitation is gone. He leans down a bit, then attacks Dean all the more.

Now he's suddenly in Naomi's office, startled to find his angel blade in hand. He angrily palms her desk with the other, looking up desperately. "Please," he begs, his blue eyes filled with pain and anger, and the tiniest bit of hope. This can end, he tells himself. This will end before I have to kill Dean. Please.

She narrows her eyes, imperceptibly shakes her head. "End this, Castiel."

Cas raises his fist in Naomi's office and also finds himself raising his fist in the Crypt. He follows through with an especially forceful hit that has Dean's head lolling and makes him cry out.

"Cas…" It's hard to speak now, and his voice is filled with so much gravel that he's hard to make out. "This isn't you. This isn't you." He's sounding desperate now, desperate and just a little afraid.

Cas raises his fist to hurt Dean again, and is back in Naomi's office. He's leaning on her desk, and once again he pleads with his eyes to please, make it stop!

She ignores his screaming thoughts. "Bring me the tablet!" she orders.

Then he flashes back to the Crypt, looking down at Dean's beaten face. Dean moans, shifting ever so slightly backwards. The skin around his left eye has grown blotched and red, and his eye is swollen shut. He meets Cas's gaze desperately, reaching out one hand and spreading wide his fingers. "Cas," he says in his twisted voice. "Cas. I know you're in there." He stares up brokenly, even though only one eye is visible.

Cas raises his sword over Dean, shifting it minutely in his palm. He's staring down at Dean, preparing to thrust the sword into the hunter's chest like he's done so many times before. But something about this feels different; in the tests, Dean looked at him, begged him to reconsider. He'd look up at Cas with anger, betrayal, fear, and even, the most painful one, hate. But this was different, Dean stared at him pleadingly, and shock, but never before has he seen longing. It's unusual, and Castiel cannot, for the life of him, figure out why this bothers him so much. It's this that gets him to hesitate, and gives the hunter more determination to go on.

"It's me," he stops, gauges his next words carefully, looking up into Cas's dispassionate features. "We're family. We need you." A pause. Neither of them move, and the room is completely silent and still. The static atmosphere just makes Dean's next words, carefully chosen and weighed, that much more impactful. "I need you."

Every time Cas has done this in Heaven, he has never heard Dean say anything similar. Not once. And never in his life has Castiel felt so much doubt, even when he accidentally brought the Leviathans from Purgatory.

But one thing is certain: Cas cannot bring himself to kill Dean. Not this time. He loosens his grip on the sword, fingers uncurling from their grip on the handle. The sword drops from his fingers, and Cas hears the clatter it makes as it hits the stone floor mingle with the sound of Dean's panting for breath.

His head lifts and he finds himself back in Naomi's office. She glares down, mouth curved into a disapproving frown and her eyes cold as stone. "You have to choose, Castiel," she says after a long, tension-filled silence. "Us or them."

He looks up at her, meets her grey-eyed gaze. Their lack of emotion is in such stark contrast to the emotional pools that Dean's eyes were. So different, these two. And as he looks at her, he realizes that he is a tool in a greater scheme for Naomi, but for Dean… he was family. So he allows his lips to curve slightly in triumph, telling Naomi that at last he's breaking free.

Now he's back in the Crypt, and even though Dean's hurt pretty badly and it's Cas's fault, he still feels like he's won an important victory.

I'm free, he thinks. After being brought from Purgatory, only now am I truly free.