Piper's guts churned at the sound of Dean's voice. He addressed her sister in a menacing tone, nothing like the Dean she had known before. Dean had patronized her sisters, he had been cold and distant, but there was something new in his voice now, an amusement, that had not been there before. It was as if the brooding, angry part of Dean, the part that had rejected everything the Mark of Cain could do to him, was gone. Now, he relished in the feeling the Mark gave him. She could tell.

"Dean," Sam said, taking a step toward his brother, and snatching back the First Blade before Dean could react.

"Sammaaayyyy!" Dean slurred his brother's name, a heinous grin on his face, clearly unfazed by his weapon being confiscated. "So, here we are again huh? You, me, demon blood coursing through my veins. Wanna cure me this time before or after I chase you around the bunker with an axe?"

Demon Dean's laughter was sharp and maniacal, and it cut through the air like a shard of glass. It sent shivers up Piper's spine, but she knew she had to stand her ground.

"You're not chasing anyone around," she said and watched as Dean's head whipped around to face her. "In fact, you aren't going to do anything of your own free will while your eyes are still black."

"Is that so?" Dean laughed again. "And who, sweet cheeks, is going to stop me?"

"This Devil's Trap, for one," Paige muttered.

"This devil's trap for one," Dean mocked the youngest Halliwell. "Please. I'll be out of here sooner or later. This trap couldn't stop me before, what makes you think it'll stop me now?"

"Because last time I wasn't here," Phoebe chimed in, not making eye contact with her now demonic lover. Piper couldn't imagine the pain she was going through at this moment. To see not one, but two people that she loved become evil beyond reason, to have to fight or control the person she cares for most, had to be excruciating.

"And what exactly are you going to do, sweetie? Empathize me into submission. You can't stop a Knight of Hell. No one can."

Phoebe looked up then, meeting the black eyes of the man she loved. "I know you're slow to learn, Dean Winchester, but I think you forgot, again, that you are not dealing with the average here."

Dean's eyebrows shot up, but his face remained smug. He said nothing.

"Our job is to defeat evil that has never been defeated before. We're the Charmed Ones you asshole, and we are going to defeat Lucifer, using you, and then cure your demonic disease so that I can have back the man I actually care about. Capeesh?"

"Phoebe-" Sam started.

"No Sammy, let the skinny one talk. I like it when she's feisty. It gets me all hot and bothered," Dean chuckled.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and turned to her sisters, "Can we test this out? The longer I have to listen to this loser, the faster my energy is going to drain. He's exhausting."

Dean scowled, and this time it was Sam's turn for a laugh.

Piper took her sisters' hands, "So remember, you need to direct his anger toward a specific person in this room. We need him to want to kill Lucifer, who he now worships. Our spell will protect you from absorbing most of his anger, but some may sneak through. Just stay calm if it does. Channel your happy place."

Phoebe nodded, "Let's do this."

The three of them turned toward Dean, hands still clasped in one another's, Phoebe standing between her sisters. Slowly Paige and Piper began to chant in an ancient language that would bring them closer to their Wiccan ancestors, increasing the strength of the spell. They continued to chant as Phoebe reached out to Dean empathically.

At first Phoebe was extremely cautious, probing the edge of his consciousness as if she were looking for booby traps. When she finally felt his emotions hit her full force, it was as if the wind had been knocked out of her. All of the rage, spite, and pure evil within him filled her own consciousness, and it was nothing short of terrifying.

"Phoebe, are you alright?" Castiel asked.

Phoebe nodded, taking a deep breath and allowing Dean's emotions to simply wash over her. Then she began to open her emotions to Dean. She let him feel her grief, her agony over what he had become, but also her optimism and hope that this was the right course to take. That he would come back to her.

Dean's haughty expression faltered as Phoebe fed him her own emotions. "What- what is this?" he asked.

"It's everything I'm feeling, except now, you're feeling it too," Phoebe replied, her concentration like stone.

"How are you doing that?" Dean said, putting his head in his hands.

"Magic," Piper said, winking.

"Now," Castiel said, "We know you can calm his anger, subdue him somewhat, but the true test will be whether or not you can direct his feelings to a certain place. Try to get him to direct all of his anger at me."

Phoebe felt their linked emotions, though, thanks to her sisters, his anger was not affecting her the way that her sadness was him. She prodded at that link carefully, wondering if she could manipulate his feelings. The only way she could, she thought, would be to let her own anger feed his, but she wasn't ready to give him that anger just yet.

"I can do it," Phoebe said.

"Okay," Castiel said, bracing himself.

"But not now."

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"I would need to feed his anger with my own, and direct that anger toward Lucifer. I can't let that anger go now. I will never get it back in the same way. I haven't truly processed my anger, but once I do it will not be the same. It won't work the same way. I need to wait until Lucifer comes."

Sam and Castiel looked at each other uneasily, "Are you sure you'll be able to do that?" Sam asked her.

Phoebe nodded, "The feeling is there. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I don't think we have another choice."

Dean looked up then, his face twisted in a cross between rage and devastation, "You think you're so smart. Freaking witches. You can't do this to me!"

"Break your link with him Phoebe," Cas said. "I am afraid of what he will try if provoked for too long."

Phoebe pulled back and felt herself double over as she became extremely dizzy. Her emotions all came flooding back into herself, and it was hard to take all at once. Settling into her own mind, she stood up straight and caught the eye of a stone-faced Dean. His lack of emotion in that moment scared her more than all of the vengeful rage in the world. She turned away from him.

"I need to go rest," she said abruptly.

Piper nodded. "That's a good idea. I think we could all use some rest before we meet the Prince of Darkness. Everything has been going a little non-stop lately."

"Who wants to take the first watch?" Sam questioned. "I think it would be best to have two people on him at a time."

"I do not need to sleep, so I will volunteer," Castiel offered.

"I'll stay with Cas," Leila chimed in.

Sam nodded, "You're sure Leila?"

"I've spent my fair share of time sleeping this past week. I'll be okay. I'm just back up tomorrow anyway. Those of you with bigger parts to play should recuperate."

"I'll come relieve you in a few hours okay," Sam told her.

"Oh great," Dean sneered. "I get to spend the night with Robot Angel and his teenage sidekick, Wannabe Girl."

"Hey!" Phoebe yelled. "Shut it, before my sisters and I cast a silencing spell."

Dean winked and smiled his unsettling, demonic smile at the middle Halliwell, but said nothing. Sam suspected that smile said more than words could anyway.

"Piper and I are going to go see the boys," Leo said, taking the attention away from their resident demon. "We'll orb back in the early morning with information on Lucifer's whereabouts. It will be easier on us if we can take this fight to him."

Piper took hold of her husband's hand. She was ready to see her babies, and take some of the stress away from the little one growing inside her. If only for a night they could be at peace. But, she knew that in the morning a whole new version of hell would be waiting for them.

Paige gripped Sam's hand as they exited the room that held what used to be Dean Winchester. The witch had seen a lot in her day, and was used to the terrifying, hidden parts of the world. But nothing had made her more unsettled, more unnerved than the thing that now inhabited the body of Sam's brother. Whatever it was, it was not Dean, not really.

As the others dispersed to their rooms, Paige kept hold of Sam's steady hand, completely unable to understand how it remained steady. She looked up at him. He was over a head taller than she was, but that didn't stop her from seeing the hard, distant look in his eyes. She squeezed his hand, bringing his gaze down to her. Sam gave a small smile and squeezed back.

"You should go get some sleep," he said warily.

"What about you?" Paige asked.

"I don't think sleep is going to find me tonight."

Paige felt her heart stutter. She knew that he wasn't okay, so she didn't ask him if he was. Instead she pulled him into her, wrapping her arms around his muscular torso, sliding her fingers up and down his back, burying her face into his chest with the hope that she could bring him the least bit of comfort. Sam returned her embrace, and she felt the familiar touch of his lips to her forehead.

"I want to stay with you tonight," she said suddenly.

"Paige, you need to rest," Sam replied.

"Sam," she pleaded, knowing that after tomorrow, no matter the outcome, their world would look different. "I don't want to be alone."

Sam nodded, "Me either."

Entering Sam's room, Paige was surprised at how cozy he had made a room that had essentially started out as a small basement. There were area rugs and floor lamps giving the room an inviting glow. In one corner sat a plush, green armchair that had clearly been well loved while in Sam's care. In the other sat a small, oak desk covered in books on ancient languages and lore she was unfamiliar with. His bed was covered in a grey down comforter that practically begged Paige to lay down, her mind finally giving into what her body had been trying to tell her for hours. The walls were bare except for a few small photographs that Sam had taped up on the wall. Paige walked over to get a closer look.

"Is that you and Dean?" she asked, looking at a picture of two young boys, no older than ten or eleven. They were smiling, genuine smiles that Paige somehow knew had been a rarity for them growing up.

"Yeah," Sam replied with a chuckle. "We had just moved to Texas with our Dad for some kind of hunting thing he had going on. He took one day off to take us to see the rodeo. I don't remember Dean being happier as a kid than he was that day."

Paige could hear his voice fall as he began to talk about his brother's happiness. She turned to him and reached up to put her hands on either side of Sam's face. "He's going to be okay, honey. We are going to figure a way out of all of this, I promise you."

Sam nodded and a few silent tears escaped his eyes, "I never wanted to have to do this to him once, much less again."

"I know, Sam," Paige wiped the tears from his face with her fingers. "I can't even imagine how you must be feeling."

"I just don't want to think about it anymore," he said helplessly, and Paige's heart broke for him. "I want this to be over."

"Soon, honey. Very soon it will be. And, until then I'll… well, I'll be here with you. I know that's not much, but at least you know you're not alone."

"Paige," he said, and grabbed her hands, "That means more to me than I think I'll ever be able to tell you."

Sam leaned down and took her head in his hands. He kissed her, but it wasn't like any kiss she'd received from him before. It had urgency behind it, like he was trying to convey how much she meant to him through this act. It consumed her. She did everything she could to show him the exact same thing as she kissed him back. Paige felt him wrap his arms around her, and soon there wasn't an inch of space left between them. In that moment Lucifer, Dean, their families, and the rest of their lives became irrelevant. There was just the two of them, and that's all there needed to be.

They fell into bed, and made love, both knowing they might never get another chance. When all was said and done and the two of them lay in a tangle of sheets and limbs, attempting to catch their breath, Paige realized in that moment that she felt safer than she ever had before. She nuzzled her face into Sam's neck and breathed in the scent of coffee, books, and Old Spice. It was a smell she wished she could bottle for a rainy day.

"Tell me something," she asked.

"Like what?"

"Something happy."

He smiled and trailed his fingers down her bare arm. She shivered.

"I love you."

Paige looked up at him and couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. "I love you too."

She kissed him, slowly this time, memorizing the feeling of his lips on hers. It was hard to believe that two weeks ago, Sam Winchester hadn't even been a part of her life. Now, her life would be missing it's most important piece, besides her sisters, without him. She wondered then if Chris had known the two of them would end up falling for one another before he passed away. She had the distinct feeling he had.

"So what happens next," she asked pulling back.

"Next, you sleep, and I go relieve Leila until the morning."

"Can you stay until I'm asleep? Please."

"Of course."

"Be careful, my love," she told him, trying out their new word and enjoying the way it flowed off her tongue. Laying back onto his shoulder she felt fatigue overtake her, and she didn't fight it. Paige knew that she needed to be well-rested in the morning if they were going to defeat Lucifer. And they had to defeat him. They had no other choice.

Author's Note:

Hello lovely readers! I know this chapter was a bit shorter than usual, however I really wanted to tie up the few loose ends we had left with Demon!Dean before heading into the group's inevitable showdown with Lucifer. I was also extremely committed to get in a little bit of Sam/Paige fluff before things get wild again, and it was even more fun to write than I thought. For those of you here for monsters and magick, never fear, the next chapter will be more your speed!

Thank you so much for reading, as always! PLEASE review if you liked my fluff (or if you hated it TBH, I'm looking for honesty)!

XOXO Arya