Author's Note:

I feel a little bad because I haven't added any sexy-times in a while but the story is kind of not in a space where that would make sense lol So sorry to my fellow perverts, none for you today.

One other thing that I feel should be mentioned, I won't be mad or hate you if you want to leave a bad review or criticism okay? But if you can't tell me what you think with at least a username attached then I can't say that I'll take your opinion seriously in any way. Thanks again guys, for reading the story and taking time to read these notes :)


Dean stared at the large TV screen in the lounge, it was the last day of sign ups and he finally got to see something that had apparently been all over the news that week. "Sammy?" He stared at the slightly nervous face of his brother as a reporter inched closer to him. "Is that Sam in a sign up building?"

"Yes..." Castiel muttered slowly, his eyes fixed on something entirely different. "But that's Lucifer."

Dean spun to look at Castiel's wide and mostly terrified eyes, his angel swallowed roughly and lifted a shaky hand to point at him though Sam had promptly introduced everyone present as well. "Sam has two archangels?" Dean stared back at the screen, "Sam has Lucifer!"

"Yes, it appears Lucifer is on his team... But something is..." He tilted his head and watched the way Sam looked ahead, that beautiful clarity was missing. The shine that Castiel remembered seeing the first day, the one he saw in Sam's nightmarish video. They must have retrieved Lucifer very recently, only one angel could have that kind of influence on a human. Then again, Sam would never hinder an angel's strength, Lucifer was as free as he'd ever been in the past and he was doing something to Sam. "He doesn't look so good, actually." Castiel stepped closer to the screen and touched where Sam's face was located though of course it didn't make a difference. "Sam..." Castiel shook his head, "You poor thing..."

"What?" Dean grabbed Castiel's shoulder with conviction, his heart pounded painfully at the thought of what his angel could have meant. "Why?"

"Lucifer's in his head like you and I can do. He's connected inside Sam's head but it's... It's wrong. Something isn't sitting right and it's hard to tell but Sam isn't the same with Lucifer around. To put it in simpler terms, he's ill." Castiel explained, "We need to get Lucifer away from him as soon as we can."

"Well the next time we see him will be on the cruise ship heading into the world tournament island thing, it'll be another month before we can actually see him." Dean muttered, "Unless we go and meet up with him during the qualifiers, he'll still have to take those."

"No, bad idea." Castiel shook his head quickly, "He might be hostile toward us which would only cause a big fight in a space not ready for it. The island will be away from civilians and innocents, only teams who can fight and defend themselves will be present so if anything does happen at least they'll be prepared. We should wait until the tournament."

"But you said as soon as possible." Dean frowned, "Now is as soon as possible!"

"It's not possible if you consider the situation, so calm down. Sam's not dying; it's not that kind of illness. He'll be okay as soon as Lucifer's away from him, out of him. The longer we wait doesn't mean it'll irreversible, it just means Sam might not be thinking like Sam when we do finally approach him. Just be prepared for that." Castiel insisted, his hands grabbing Dean's shoulders and holding him firmly in place. "It'll be okay, we'll find a way to get rid of him without hurting Sam."

Dean nodded, "Is it fast? This... illness?"

"That all depends on Lucifer." Castiel stepped back again and looked at the screen, watching the reporter's swift retreat. "He seems patient for now but he'll probably push it to the limits as soon as Sam comes close to you, if anyone can change Sam's mind or influence him, it's you."

Dean smiled sadly, "Yeah? I guess it's hard to see it for me."

"That makes sense too." Castiel kissed his cheek and took his hand, "It'll be okay, we'll get Sam yet."

Dean nodded again and clenched his fingers around Castiel's, wishing it'd give him more comfort than it was. The news anchor came on and announced some specifics about the qualifying locations and set ups though Dean and Castiel weren't terribly concerned with them.

Castiel curled his bottom lip in, his mind racing and stumbling over itself. Yes they needed to get Lucifer away from Sam to save the younger Winchester from a manipulative poison, but how on earth could they do it? The only idea he had was to beat Lucifer in a fight and break into the connection space in Sam's conscience and tear the archangel out. But that involved fighting and beating Lucifer. Castiel knew that he and Dean had been labelled the 'perfect team', their bond was perfect, he was Dean's destined guardian angel and they were soul mates but even with all of that... Even with possible blessings from his Father, Castiel still wasn't certain they could beat the devil.

In fact, Lucifer would have to have made contact with Sam's mental state for the boy to know anything about Lucifer's whereabouts. The whole thing was a mess of questions and overpowering fear, Castiel didn't want to think about it.


Time seemed to blur together for the next few days, Sam sat anxiously waiting for the stupid qualifiers to start, his heart beating and pounding against his ribcage like a stressed man smashing his head into a wall. His hands were sweaty as he sat on a bench in the room set up for the contestants, they were up next and he was far from ready. His leg bobbed up and down as the stress rushed through him like an ocean of nerves bundled together and throbbing.

"Calm down, Sam." Gabriel smiled sadly, Sam had been allowed to sign up with both angels but only two angels were allowed in the arena at a time so he had to choose one to fight with. He'd chosen Lucifer, he refused to put Gabriel through something like this and Lucifer really seemed to want to do it.

Sam looked over at his angel, the bags under his eyes making him look older than he was, "How can I calm down? I'm about to walk into the arena of a place I hate to do something I can't stand. What the hell am I doing in here?" He dropped his head into his hands and sighed heavily, still attempting to calm himself regardless.

Gabriel sighed and wrapped his arms around the stressing giant, "It'll be fine... And hey, Lucifer says he knows what he's doing so don't worry about it."

"Right," Sam nodded slowly, a hand running through his hair. Because Lucifer was a perfect thing to depend on. Though at that moment he felt too weird to really do anything about it. Lucifer walked up beside him and stroked the side of his face gently. Sam glanced up at the surprisingly comforting smile of his second angel.

"Gabriel's right, you know. I'm positive it won't be an issue, just do what you always do."

"And that is what, exactly?" Sam asked tiredly.

"You're a bright kid, you've come up with all sorts of battle plans and strategies before, this is no different. You might take a moment to get used to the strength of our bond but that's it really." Lucifer shrugged.

Sam bit his bottom lip; somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that it had been a bad idea. He'd made the connection accidentally with Lucifer the first time before he'd managed to do it with Gabriel, that little foggy dream he'd had was proof enough. But now, because he was only allowed to use one angel, he'd had to use the spell to bind Lucifer to him as well. That spell wasn't just something to keep an angel tied down it locked them into the human's soul, increasing the strength of the bond and therefore increasing their chances of winning and making it to the tournament. Gabriel had originally be the only one that close to Sam and he would have regretted destroying that closeness but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to care as much as he wanted to, or as much as he knew he should.

Gabriel could feel the distance and as much as he wanted to say something he knew it wasn't his place, not anymore. He swallowed hard and looked away as his brother touched the human he'd fallen for, not just touch but mentally grope. Gabriel wanted to run away, he wanted to leave but he couldn't leave Sam alone with something like this. But then again, since he hadn't stopped it and had said nothing up to that point and would continue to say nothing about it, how was Sam not alone with this?

The sound of a bell rang and Lucifer headed toward the doors indicated to them earlier, "Come on then."

Sam rose to his feet, feeling shaky and out of sorts, completely out of his element of control and strength. He was used to running the show, used to knowing how things were supposed to play out and what was going on. Now he just felt like a sheep following the rest of the herd. He didn't even turn around when Gabriel shouted after him.

"Good luck."

The stadium was in a state of confusion when Sam walked out, Lucifer's many wings spread proudly and his walk confident but Sam couldn't say the same for himself. He stumbled and nearly froze when the full view of the arena overwhelmed him. He could hear his heart beating against his ear drums and shook his head. "No..." he whispered.

Lucifer reached over and touched his face again, "Go back to sleep." He said smoothly.

Sam's eyes popped wide open, he stared up at Lucifer as he remembered the foggy nightmare he'd had a long time back. "What?" He mumbled but his mouth barely moved for him and before he knew it the world seemed to blur together and he found himself standing at the ring's side. He felt like he was watching the fight unfold but every single thing that happened was deliberate, their connection was strong and somehow, even though he didn't understand or realize he was doing it, he was the one in control of the fight. Or was Lucifer in control of him in control of the fight?

"Oh my god... Sam and Lucifer win. Someone get a medic over there!"

The call was made already and Sam could barely recognize that it had begun at all. He mouthed the same 'what' he had earlier but he didn't say it, or at least no one answered it so he couldn't really be sure it had been heard or if he'd spoken the word at all.

Even though all of this should alarm him, frighten him to no end and make him want out, he felt calm He was mentally okay with it as he walked back toward the arena's exit. As he did he'd passed by Gabriel standing in the doorway and somehow had completely missed the horror stricken expression his angel wore.

Lucifer followed Sam with a sinister smile, not giving Gabriel the slightest glance as he passed.

Gabriel couldn't take his eyes away from the mess that had been made during the fight. Lucifer hadn't harmed the angel in any way but every human in the stadium had been. A large hole had been blasted through the stands by a ricocheted shot; one Gabriel knew had been on purpose. He watched as medical teams rushed in, some of them shaking their heads as they looked at the mangled body of the human who had been Sam's opponent. Or was it Lucifer's opponent? Gabriel had come to know the gentle soul that was Sam Winchester and there was no way that boy would ever do something so hideous, not on purpose. He'd die first, Gabriel was certain of it.

He turned away from the bloodied room and followed Sam and Lucifer in the corridor. Part of him wanted to scream and shout about how Sam had left him behind, had betrayed him and went off with another angel. Part of him wanted to curl into a ball, or run away and forget this ever happened but he knew better than any of that. He hadn't protected Sam, he hadn't done what he swore he'd do and now the love of his life had been overrun by his brother, the devil. Sam was losing himself if he hadn't already lost. Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut and smacked the wall with a balled fist, "Damn it!" he cursed, slumping to his knees. What the hell could he do?