It only took a few hours for Sam to start seeing Lucifer again, he was pushing quarters into a vending machine when Satan started critiquing his choice of soda. It was different this time though, it was really more like a day dream then a hallucination. It was easy to ignore and eventually Lucifer disappeared on his own, cutting out mid-sentence. He didn't say anything to Dean because he thought maybe it was a one time thing.

The next time was in the middle of the night when he woke up covered in flames. Not hot enough to burn him and he knew it wasn't real but it still terrified him and he yelled for Dean. Dean tried to talk him down but Sam's heart was beating so fast he could barely hear him. Instead he tightly shut his eyes and silently told himself that everything was fine and that it couldn't hurt him. When he opened his eyes everything was normal, except for the fact Dean was roughly shaking him back and forth. The whole episode lasted only a few minutes but they still didn't head out for Chicago because Dean said it was probably a fluke.

A few days later when Sam was stuck listening to Lucifer talk about the pointlessness of this whole 'hunter' thing, Sam slammed his book down and told him to shut up and go away. There wasn't any laughter or snide remarks Sam looked up and he was alone in the room. So when Dean came home Sam already had a map of Chicago laid on the table highlighting possible locations they could check when they got there. They were on the road in less then an hour but they were just north of New York which meant they had at least a thirteen hour drive.

By the time they were in Chicago it was over a week since Rachmiel had popped into their lives. Dean silently counted 162 days since he last saw Castiel lying bloody and dead on the floor, his skin still blistered and broken from all the souls that were slowly burning his flesh away. It wasn't like they checked for a pulse then walked right out the door, the three of them had waited over an hour thinking that eventually he'd wake up. And maybe they should have buried him or cremated him but then Sam started freaking out and Bobby convinced him that nobody was going to take a body that was seconds away from bursting.

"I'm glad to see you rushing so quickly to my brother's aid." There was a time when Dean was used to angels randomly showing up in his car without any warning. But he had gotten accustomed to an empty back seat and sped right through a red light when Rachmiel suddenly spoke.

"Jesus!" he swore pulling the car over so he could turn and glare at the angel behind him.

"Dean, Dean, Dean." She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I'd be carful what you say in front of one of heaven's soldiers."

"Ya? You gonna rain some holy fire down on me? Who'd you get to play detective for you then."

"You're replaceable."

"You could have dozens of hunters all searching for Cas but you picked us." Sam said pulling out the map of Chicago. "I think that shows you're a bit desperate."

"Satan treating you all right Sammy?" Rachmiel taunted.

"Okay, okay you two. Look unless you have anything helpful to add get out so we can do our job."

"It's been over-"

"We've worked with enough angels to know to you might not hold up your end of the bargain."

"I wouldn't-"

"We've heard that before."

"Dean-"

"Ya, ya, ya, you're an angel of the Lord and blah, blah, blah."

"Will you stop interrupting me!" She snapped. "If you would have gotten those sticks out of your asses I wouldn't have to bribe you."

"You're right clearly I'm the problem here." Dean rolled his eyes and started his car back up. "We have a whole city to search so why don't you poof back to wherever you go and leave us the hell alone."

The car fell into silence but the brothers knew the angel hadn't left. They decided to just give her the cold shoulder till she got the hint but they drove good twenty minutes before she said in a tiny very un-angelic like voice, "I really do wish I could help…"

"You said you can't locate him," Sam sighed "that he's hidden from you. So what if you figured out what part of the city is hidden from you too."

"What are you going on about Sam?"

"He's right." Rachmiel looked surprised though Sam wasn't sure if it was because she didn't think of it or that a 'stupid hairless ape' thought of it first.

"If she looks all over the city but a certain part is blocked then we know it's covered in angel sigils to keep her out." The angel looked at him for a moment contemplating before disappearing.

"And five, four, three, two, one." Dean counted.

"I found it." Rachmiel smiled reappearing in the car quickly grabbing the map from Sam and pointing to the south-west part of the city. "Just outside the city, I couldn't get very close but it's near a very small section of forest."

"Perfect, saves us time. Might actually make it back in time for the super bowl." Rachmiel gave a bit of a cough and tapped the marker against the map. "I said we might even make it back in time for the super bowl."

"You certainly won't be looking for Castiel that long…"

"I sense a but coming."

"I'm being called to duty."

"And that means?"

"It means I won't be able to take care of Castiel if he is injured."

"Hey now you didn't say anything about that. You said find him, not play babysitter."

"I didn't expect this to happen."

"Well tell them that you're busy! They won't give you a pass to help out Castiel?" Sam jumped in hitting his brother on the shoulder so he'd slow the car down.

"To be honest I think that is why I'm being given a new assignment."

"We had a deal!" Sam grabbed the map back and threw it on the front seat.

"Well I'm making you a new deal." Rachmiel snapped. "I agreed to come back once Sam, just once. You want that sigil to keep working then you keep Castiel safe." She was gone before either of them could argue anymore.

When they finally reached their destination they were exhausted but still so furious at Rachmiel that they eagerly began their search. What Rachmiel describe as a small forest was barely a couple dozen of trees behind some shitty abandoned houses. Dean didn't have to walk ten feet before he started seeing carvings and chalk outlines to ward of any angels.

They saw some junkies in the first building and skipped it leaving only three other houses. They didn't look much in the first one, as soon as they walked in they saw that is was empty and more importantly didn't have wards inside it. Same with the middle house. When they entered the last one they saw that nearly every available wall was covered in symbols, it was basically a less creapy replica of the hell house from way back when. Enochian, Hebrew, Sanskrit, it looked like whoever had Castiel was covering all their bases.

They went straight to the basement, knowing from experience that's where you keep a hostage. It was the same as upstairs all covered in seals, no windows, dirt floor, a perfect place to keep someone hidden. It was empty though; no angels or demons and Dean had already turned around to head back up the stairs when Sam pointed to the far wall. Some one was smart enough to move an old dresser in front of the door but dumb enough to not pack the dirt back down there were drag marks. Sam put his gun away and pushed against the dirty dresser till it slid away from the wall.

They both paused before entering, drawing their guns up and ready to take on whatever was on the other side. No one attacked them though, behind the door was a room that was barley a few square feet. It was pitch black but because of the tininess of the room they quickly found the light bulb hanging in the center of the room. Light flooded the small face illuminating the bloody corner that Castiel was passed out in.

"Cas!" Dean rushed to his side not expecting to find the angel in such a state. He tried to shake him awake but Castiel barely moved and Dean found his left hand covered in blood. He quickly ripped open Cas's dress shirt to find the source of the blood, on his side was a long deep cut starting just right of his navel and stretching all the way over to his side. Around the wound it looked like someone had scribbled Enochian writings in black marker, Dean had smudged it when he tried to rouse Cas awake but it looked like there had once been a bloody handprint pressed over the wound.

"Uh, Dean?" Dean looked up to where Sam had his flashlight pointed at and saw the dirty walls covered in writing. Not symbols or seals but actual writing covered every square inch of the walls, starting in a deep black and fading to grey as the marker began to run out.

"What the hell is that?"

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest." Sam ran his finger along the wall as he read from it. "It's the book of Psalms, I think he wrote the entire thing out."

"Well good thing he wrote down something useful instead of crap like, sorry for being a dick or by the way the demon who took was named…" Dean slipped his arm behind Castiel's back ready to pick him up when the other man grounded. "Cas? Hey, Cas can you hear me?"

Dean was kind of relieved that Cas was okay though he reasoned it was because he didn't want Rachmiel to freak and stop helping Sam. He was actually just about laugh and ask Cas what kind of idiot writes bible verses on walls when the angels eyes snapped open and his fist flew at the hunter's jaw. Dean was knocked back by the force while Castiel tried to push himself up of the ground. Sam took a step towards Cas hoping to calm him but Cas took one look at him tripped over Dean's body in panic.

"There are two of you?" He choked out his voice sounding gruffer then usual.

"The fuck?" Dean swore rubbing his jaw while Sam helped him to his feet.

"I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean…" Cas stuttered trying to crawl backwards as best he could with only one arm. He stared up at the brothers completely terrified like Lucifer himself had walked in.

"Cas," Sam said calmly too confused to be angry at the man that tore down his walls. "don't you know who we are?"

"I know who you look like." He gulped. "You said you were leaving."

"Damn it Cas, I'm not having another 'I'm really me' conversation again." Sam flinched at the comment knowing it was partly directed towards him.

"I do not…you…" Cas began to mumble finally feeling the consequence of being so active with such a deep wound. Dean and Sam didn't have time to catch him before his body went limp and he slumped to the floor.

There was a tiny part of Dean's brain that protested putting a bloody Cas in the back seat of his car. He ran his hand over the steering and assured his baby he'd clean her up as soon as they found a hotel. The closest one was frankly not much better then the room they found Cas in but they needed to check his wounds before they had a dead body on their hands.

They dumped Cas on the bed and stripped him of everything but his underwear and Dean noticed for the first time his trench coat was no where to be seen. The gash on his side was the worst but hardly the only injury. Bruises and cuts where littered across his body some mostly healed others pretty fresh. Dean knew his left shoulder was dislocated and guessed his upper arm was fractured if not fully broken. "Okay I can work with this."

"What should I do?"

"Go clean up the back seat before it stains. Get food, good food" He tossed a towel at Sam who shrugged and went outside. Dean surveyed Cas's body trying to figure out where to start, he decided to fix his shoulder first since it was easiest. He sat down next to Castiel and placed one hand on his chest and the other gripped his shoulder. He gave it a quick jerk, popping it back in place and the quick motion was enough to rouse Castiel out of his sleep with an ear piercing scream. "Quiet you want everyone to think there's an axe-murderer in here?"

"Dean?" he asked holding his shoulder in pain and looking suspiciously at the hunter.

"Here you need this to support your shoulder." Dean tied an old rag around Castiel's neck forming a sling for Cas's injured arm. He tried to ignore the intense look Castiel was giving him, like he was trying to decide if he should run or not. He felt slender fingers slide against in cheek and poke his chest. "Will you stop that?"

"Where are my clothes?" Cas asked finally convincing himself that Dean was actually there.

"I needed to see what the damage was." He reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle of booze, a needle and thread. "I can't take you to the hospital but we need close that gash you have."

"I tried to heal it…" Castiel whispered looking down at the smudged writing on his torso.

"Hate to break it to you but it didn't seem to work."

"It held out long enough. The demon thought leaving me the marker would be funny instead it is the only reason I'm still alive."

"It didn't even close the wound."

"No," he agreed nodding his head "this particular sigil needs angel blood to work."

"And you're not an angel anymore?" Castiel didn't answer simply turned his head away in a mixture of shame and embarrassment. Dean dropped down to his knees next to the bed and handed the bottle to Castiel. "Guess daddy decided to knock you down a few pegs."

It was probably a low blow but Dean's sympathy was slowly wearing thin. Castiel took a swig from the bottle and handed it back to Dean who promptly poured it on Cas's side. He hissed in pain but Dean ignored him and started to sterilize the needle against his lighter's flame. "Lie down, this is going to hurt like a bitch."

Castiel slowly lowered himself down onto the bed wincing when his left shoulder grind in its socket. Dean started pushing the needle into Castiel's skin, whose hand came up to grip Dean's shoulder trying to remain silent. Every time Dean tugged to get the string through and tighten the stitch Cas's claw like hand tightened. He could feel his nails through the thin material of his shirt but would rather have that then Cas wiggling around and crying like a baby over a few stitches. It ended up taking seventeen stitches though Dean guessed a real doctor would have added more to Dean's sloppy work. Sam was really the one who knew how to stitch a man back together, but Dean thought the risk of him stabbing the needle into Cas's eye was too likely.

"Thank you." Cas managed to grit out when Dean stood up. He tossed the bloody needle into the trashcan and covered it with some tissue so he didn't freak out any cleaning ladies. Sam walked in carrying a bag and dropped it on the bed next to Castiel but didn't acknowledge the other man.

The brothers started whispering to each other discussing what their next move should be while Castiel inspected the contents of the bag. He took out a smaller greasy paper bag with a smiling cartoon man on the side. Dean and Sam were momentarily distracted by the comical sight of Cas trying to open a foil wrapped burger with only one arm. After a great amount of effort he managed to free the burger but was finding it nearly impossible to pick it up with only one hand, sauce and lettuce spilling onto the bed on his first attempt. Sam had gotten Dean a double bacon cheeseburger and probably should have mentioned to Castiel that he hadn't gotten him anything, more because of the fact he didn't think angels ate anything then out of spite. When Castiel laid the burger out on the wrapped and ate it piece by piece instead, the thought of Dean going hungry escaped his mind though, instead he watched in both fascination and disgust as wolfed down the food like a hungry street dog.

"I think we're going to need a bib." Dean handed Cas a towel to clean up the mess he had made and looked into the rest of the bag pulling out a pair of sweatpants and an over-sized t-shirt. Once Cas had cleaned himself up Dean helped him into the pants but didn't bother to do the shirt, instead taking all the garbage off the bed. "Try to get some sleep, we'll talk in the morning."

It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep, exhaustion over taking him in minutes. Once they were sure he was oblivious to world around him they sat on the two remaining beds.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked kicking his boots off.

"Hell if I know. Make sure he doesn't bleed out till the end on month I guess."

Sam had some security when he was awake, even before Rachmiel came along he could distract himself and ignore Lucifer some of the time. At night though when he was deep inside his own head dreaming of hell and burning all he could do was pray that he'd soon wake up.

"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy." Lucifer hummed dragging the bloody knife down Sam's torso. "Does this feel like a dream to you?"

He tried to scream but blood poured out instead, dripping down his chin and onto the devil's hand.

"Sam." He couldn't struggle, weak from blood lose and exhaustion. He could feel Lucifer's fingers pushing inside him, through the hole he had cut into Sam.

"Sam." Flames nipped at his skin, close enough that he burned and blistered.

"Samuel." Suddenly he was awake, the cool night air soothing his hot skin. Castiel sat on the bed besides Sam's, looking at him with furrowed brows and his head tilted slightly to the side. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no it's fine go back to sleep." Sam panted rolling onto his side away from Castiel.

"Is there something I can do?"

"I don't need your help."

"I could get you a glass of water."

"I don't want your help either." Castiel didn't reply and Sam tried to fall back to sleep but when he heard footsteps shuffle over to him he have a groan and pulled his thin blanket tighter around himself.

"Sam…I'm sorry. What I did was…" He paused unsure on how to finish. He placed his hand on Sam's shoulder. "I should have-"

"Don't touch me!" Sam snapped smacking Castiel's hand off him. Dean groaned slightly on the bed next to him, nearly woken up by the noise but soon settled back down.

"I only…I only want to help."

"You've down enough." He said pretending to have fallen asleep till Castiel gave up and went back to his own bed.