Dean stared at Castiel, eyes wide as his friend continued to utter Lucifer's name with a helplessness and fear he had never heard in his voice. It was so unlike Cas to show this much emotion, much less such raw unabashed horror. Dean kneeled, unmoving, petrified while Castiel kept gripping his hair tightly, muttering like a frightened child. Finally, a sound brought Dean back from his trance, and he felt his heart clench as he recognized it for what it was.

A sob.

Castiel's breath came out in strangled quiet sobs, blue eyes still wide and terrified. And Dean had had enough. Pulling on his friend's shoulders, he brought Cas to his chest, holding him tightly, moving in slow rocking motions, trying his hardest to soothe him.

"Shhh, it's okay. " he struggled to sound confident, to reassure Cas that he was safe, but it only got harder as it all sank in and Castiel started crying against his jacket. "It's okay, Cas. You're safe. He's not going to get to you. He won't get to you. I'll keep you safe, all right buddy? Sam, Gabe and I. We'll keep you safe." Dean closed his eyes as Castiel's sobs quieted down, his breathing calming as he nodded numbly. Looking down at his friend, Dean winced at how much he was shivering and looked around helplessly. Putting an arm around Cas's back and one under his knees, Dean rose to his feet, carrying a mostly limp Castiel in his arms.

Grunting from the effort, he walked around the building to find his car, "Man, you're heavy." He mumbled to himself as he somehow managed to get the passenger's door open and carefully placed his friend inside, covering him with his jacket. Once that was done, he walked around to the driver's seat, stepping into the car and immediately turning the heat up as high as it could go. Taking a brief look at Cas, he reversed out of the parking lot and sped towards Gabriel's house.

"Hang in there, Cas." He assured him, not sure if the man could even hear him, "You'll be home in a minute."


The wheels of the impala screeched against the road as they made it to the Café. As he rushed to the passenger's seat, Dean was glad to see Gabriel running towards him.

"I think he's in shock," he said as they pulled Cas up, each taking an arm and placing it around their shoulders. "And he might have hypothermia too. He was in the snow for some time."

"Alright, let's take him inside." Gabriel's face was serious as they dragged his little brother into the warm establishment and up the stairs into their apartment.

Neither of them uttered a word on the way up. Dean chanced a few brief looks at Castiel, and his worry only increased as the fear that had been written on his face before was substituted by a numb, almost dead-like expression in his eyes.

What the hell happened to you, Cas? What did he do to you?

He was going to get answers. No matter how hard Gabriel tried to hide it this time, Dean would know the truth. If the monster that had instilled so much panic into his best friend was out and about, Dean wanted to be ready. No way was he letting that son of a bitch get his claws anywhere near Cas.

As they walked into Cas's room, they took off his cold, wet trench coat, shoes, shirt and pants, and lied him on the bed, quickly covering him with blankets. After that, Gabriel rushed out the room, an undecipherable expression in his face. Dean glanced briefly after him before turning his eyes to his friend. Cas's blue eyes were dark, half closed as he stared at nothing, lost in memories that were unknown to Dean.

Heaving a sigh, he turned from he sat at the edge of his bed, looking down at the carpeted floor as he ran a hand through his short hair. This was wrong. This was all wrong. He knew there was no way he could have done anything to protect Cas, because he himself hadn't known what the man's traumatizing memories were (and still didn't, although he knew that this guy Lucifer was involved). But maybe he could have pushed a bit harder, tried to convince Cas to let him in on his pain. Maybe then Cas wouldn't have been so scared. Maybe then Dean wouldn't feel the cold bite of failure strangle his lungs.

Gabriel's muffled voice snapped him out of his self-deprecating trance, and he frowned as he noticed the anger in the pie maker's voice. Standing slowly, Dean glanced at Cas. He had fallen into an uneasy sleep, and the detective considered staying, but Gabriel sounded more furious than he'd ever heard him, and that just couldn't be good.

Walking to the door, he sent a last look at the sleeping Cas before turning the lights off, leaving the door open in case Castiel woke up. He could hear Gabriel more clearly now, and as he made it to the living room, he stopped to listen.

"No, don't you even go there, because that's just bullsh—" Dean had never seen Gabe so frustrated, "Michael!" The name made Dean's blood run cold, "Castiel is in shock, okay? He's shivering in his room because he sat in the snow for God knows how long after seeing him on the fucking news! So don't tell me you have it all under control, because if you did, he wouldn't even be out of prison!" Gabriel roared, fire in his eyes, but Michael must have said something, because suddenly he deflated, bringing a hand to his forehead. "I can't do that. You know that's the first place he'll check. Besides, Castiel's made friends here, he was happy until today. Sending him back would only make him more miserable."

He was quiet for a moment, listening to the muffled voice on the phone before his lip curled up in a snarl. "So that's it?" he laughed, and Dean almost flinched at the bitterness of the sound, "Why am I not surprised. Of course you do. That's just what you do, isn't it Mike? Work before family. Before everything." He snorted, looking away at the window while Michael talked. Gabriel frowned, "What? Who? Micha—" The bastard must have hung up on him, and by the way Gabriel glared at the phone – like he was deliberating whether to throw it out the window or not –, Dean guessed he hadn't said anything helpful.

He stood quietly for a second, giving Gabriel time to cool down before clearing his throat. The shorter man startled, and turned to look at him with slight surprise, as though he'd forgotten Dean was still there. Not even bothering to put on a smile, Gabriel sighed, "So, I take it you were listening."

Dean shrugged, "Hard not to." he paused, "Was that you brother?" The man nodded, and Dean walked into the living room, pressing his hands to the back of the sofa. "What's going on, Gabe?" he asked, his eyes dark with the look he usually gave the people he questioned in his job, "Who's Lucifer? And what the hell did he do to Cas?"

Gabriel eyed him carefully, obviously hesitating to share Castiel's dark past with him. Finally, he let himself fall on his armchair, and motioned for Dean to sit down. Dean narrowed his eyes, but obliged and walked around to sit on the sofa.

"His name is not actually Lucifer," he started, eyes lost, staring at a lost point in the distance, "Dad might have had a thing for angels, but he wouldn't go to the extreme of calling a child with the name of the devil." His chuckle was empty and humorless, "His real name is Lucius." And Dean couldn't help but think that it was close enough. By the look Gabriel sent his way, the other man thought so too. "He's the second oldest after Michael and…well," dark golden eyes were hazed in lost memories, "He adored Castiel."

Dean's eyes widened, but Gabriel didn't notice or care to acknowledge it.

"Ever since Cassie was born, he took care of him practically with all his being. He helped him walk, taught him his first words. Dad was never home, and Mom became very ill after Castiel was born. I was barely eight then, but I helped as much as I could. But…Lucifer," it seemed like Gabriel hesitated before using his brother's name, "He was the one that really looked after him, more than any of us."

Dean frowned, "Sounds like a nice kid," he commented, actually thinking of him and Sam, and how he'd practically raised him as well. "What happened?"

Gabriel paused briefly, "When Castiel was around ten, my mother died. Dad left the company to Michael and Lucifer, then disappeared." The pain of loss and neglect was barely noticeable in his voice, but Dean recognized it almost immediately; if only because he himself had sounded like that for many years when he was younger. "Lucifer suddenly became very protective of Castiel. To the point where it was starting to get scary." Dean frowned, "He wouldn't let him go outside, he barely allowed any of us to spend time alone with him. But the poor kid barely complained. He just did what he was told, all wide eyed and trusting."

"Finally, after a lot of coaxing on our part (especially Michael), Lucifer let him go to school again." Gabriel's eyes bright, and he blinked up to the ceiling, clearing his throat before continuing, "Then, when Cas was around fifteen, he came home with a big smile on his face…" he breathed out a chuckle, "Kid said he'd kissed this girl…Amelia, I think it was…"


"Alright, Feathers," Gabriel grinned, nudging the teen as he blushed furiously, trying without succeeding to escape is brother's knowing look, "Aw, come on! don't be shy. You know you can tell me anything."

"You won't tell Lucius, right? Or anyone else?" Castiel's voice was slightly dubious, but there was trust in there. "

"You have my word as a Trickster," he joked.

"I uh…" Castiel looked down, red as a tomato, his voice quiet, "I kissed Ames today." Aah, Amelia... Cassie had had a crush on that girl for some time. Gabriel grinned before gasping in mock surprise, wiping an invisible tear from his eye. "My little bro is all grown up," he winked, stepping back from a suddenly suspicious Castiel, "Just wait until the others find out. Anna will be so proud of you!" he called as he darted down the hall.

"Gabriel! Gabriel, you promised!" Castiel yelled after him, but Gabriel soon lost him, the house being too big for Cassie to spot him as he ran to the gardens. There had been something in his brother's voice. Like fear. And Gabriel briefly thought about keeping his secret, not wanting to cause his brother any real distress. But amusement won over worry, and Gabriel kept running to the gardens.

"Gabriel!" Anna exclaimed, startling as he jumped out of nowhere. She was reading a book on the porch, Mike and Lu actually taking a break from work to play chess. So boring.

Lu chuckled, "You shouldn't scare her like that, Gabriel." But the twenty-three-year-old only stuck out his tongue, his grin widening to that of the Cheshire cat as the redhead pouted.

"Annie gets scared too easily. It's fun." He laughed, earning himself a glare from the eighteen-year-old, "But anyway, where's Raph?" he asked, looking around, "I need to make a family announcement."

Michael raised an eyebrow, "He's studying. But don't bother him, you can tell him later." Gabriel scowled slightly, mumbling something about boring and no fun.

Lucius smiled, "Just spit it out, Gabriel."

"Fine, fine." He grinned, turning as he heard the quick steps of someone running, then Castiel appeared next to him, breathing heavily from trying to catch up. "Oh, look who's here? The man of the hour." He beamed, putting an arm around his brother's shoulders and pulling him straight next to him. "Why don't we tell them what happened today at school, Cassie Cat?"

"No, please, Gabriel," Castiel sounded truly mortified, but as an older brother, it was Gabriel's mission to embarrass his little brother, and so he went on.

"What is it?" Anna was giggling, and Michael was looking at Cas with mild amusement. Lu was also smiling, but his eyes were dead set on Castiel as Gabe delivered the news.

"Cas kissed a girl." He announced, pride and amusement dripping from his voice, "Our little brother has become a man!" he laughed, patting the teen's shoulder harshly.

Anna cheered, letting Castiel know that he wouldn't let him be until he told her everything, while Gabriel sung stupidly, "Cassie and Amelia, sitting on a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g~". Michael smiled, shaking his head slightly before moving back to the game. It was his turn to move.

As he glanced down at his brother, Gabriel noticed that he was alternating between looking at the ground and at Lucius, something that he now definitely recognized as fear in his eyes. Frowning slightly, he turned to his older brother.

There was a small smile on Lu's lips. "That's great, Castiel." Cassie tensed beside him, "Good to know you and Amelia are getting so close." Lucius' smile widened slightly, but there was no warmth there. "You should invite her over sometime."

Castiel nodded hastily, excusing himself before quickly walking inside the house, mumbling something about homework. Gabriel stared after him, slightly puzzled by the way he was acting. With a shrug, he walked over to flop down beside Anna and tickled her with the sole purpose of keeping her from reading.


"After that day, Castiel started acting very strange," Gabriel said, a frown in his face, "He seemed scared." Dean frowned, "He stopped seeing Amelia practically the next day." He paused, "And he started wearing long sleeve at all times, assuring me he was cold when it was practically 100 degrees outside." And at that, Dean was speechless.

"He beat Cas?" he asked, feeling anger rise inside him. "He hit him just for having a girlfriend?"

Possessive son of a bitch.

Gabriel nodded, heaving a sigh, "I'd ask about the bruises and he'd say he'd fallen down the stairs, or that he'd played football in school." He shook his head, "And I was kind of scared to look into it, because I had a feeling of what was really happening. But I couldn't bear the thought." He rubbed his forehead, "I was a coward."

"Then what?" Dean urged him. He had a feeling that Gabriel was leaving out the worst part.

"Then Lucifer gave him the beating of his life one day. No one knows why. Maybe Castiel confronted him. But I was home early, so I heard him scream and…" he closed his eyes, "God, he was…" he shook his head, obviously not wanting to talk about it. "After that, I told Michael, and there was just too much proof against Lucifer to prove me wrong. There was a trial, and Lucifer was found guilty. Michael said he would make sure that Lucifer wouldn't leave. Ever." He sighed, "But I guess Lucifer has his own ways."

Dean looked down. He still didn't know what exactly Lucifer had done to Cas before he was put in jail, and something told him he didn't want to know, but if he was going to protect Cas, he needed to know what kind of a maniac he'd be dealing with. However, as he looked at Gabriel, he knew he couldn't ask him that. And so he stood on his feet.

"Get some rest." He took his jacket from the chair by the entrance, "I'll come to check up on him tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay." Gabriel nodded, following him down the stairs and to the door of the café. "Dean!" he called as the detective walked to his car. Dean turned, eyes tired and questioning. Gabe managed a small smile, "Thank you."

Dean shook his head, opening the door to the car. There really wasn't anything to thank him for. Cas was his best friend, and Dean knew that if their situations had been reversed, Castiel would have done the same for him. But as he met the pie maker's eyes, he sighed. "You're welcome."


"And you're saying his name is Lucifer?" Sam asked incredulously, turning on his laptop as he sat in the living room while Jessica made breakfast.

"That's what he calls himself. His real name is Lucius Novak." Dean replied. He sounded exhausted, and Sam could tell from his voice that he hadn't gotten any sleep. Still, the fact that Castiel's brother was some sort of psychopath was nothing short of overwhelming.

"Alright. So, what do you want me to do?" He typed in his password.

"Just…see if you can find out exactly what he did. Cas is still out of it, and Gabe is crushed. I can't ask them." Sam ran a hand through his long bangs, letting out a long breath. Glancing down, he noticed the huge folder that he'd been given to work over the break. He'd been called out of the city a lot recently, to work on more important cases. He'd agreed to a couple, but only to those that were relatively close.

Still…if Lucifer had broken out of jail, then surely there would be a file on him in there.

"Okay, wait a second. I think I might have something." Placing the folder on his lap, he flipped through the pages, looking for the file he was looking for. Aha. A frown on his face, he flipped the smaller folder open. Passing over the most recent case in his file, he went to the sheet that described the trial that actually put him in jail.

Dark hazel eyes ran through the words quickly, his frown deepening as he read a detailed description of Cas's injuries. He'd ended up in the hospital for almost a month and a half.

"Jesus…" he whispered, wincing as he glanced at the three pictures clipped to the file. The face of a much younger Castiel was covered in bruises. In the other two, Cas was shirtless. The first one was taken from the front, in which there could be seen a painful amount of heavy bruising on his chest, something that hinted to broken ribs. There also seemed to be a thickly stitched stab wound in his abdomen.

"What? What is it?"

He barely registered Dean's voice as he looked at the picture. But as he glanced at the one of Castiel's back, Sam actually gasped. There were two thick cuts on Castiel's shoulder blades, the skin practically having been carved out in two perfectly straight lines of almost a foot long.

As he read down to the bottom of the file, Sam's eyes widened as he read the last lines. The color drained from his face as he read them over and over again, not trusting his eyes.

Apart from all the lacerations on his torso and face, there is also evidence of brutal sexual abuse. The doctors' annotations from their exams describe it as the boy's insides having been left "raw".

Rape.

Cas had been raped.

"Shit."

"What? Sam, what the hell is it? What did he do to him?" Dean's angry voice managed to snap him out of his horror, and he finally dropped the file on the table.

"Dean, this is…" he whispered, clearing his throat, "This is bad. I can't even explain it to you. You're going to have to see this, I can't—shit." He ran a hand through his hair, clenching his eyes as he rubbed his forehead.

"Alright. Come over to my place. I don't think we should talk about this with Jessica there." Sam nodded numbly.

"Yeah, you're right." His voice was slightly shaken as he glanced at the file again, "I'll be there in a minute." He hung up, dropping the phone on the sofa and putting his face in his hands.

This was serious. If this guy was after Cas…

They couldn't let Lucifer find him.

They wouldn't let Lucifer find him.