CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE: Decisions Have Consequences

Sam was pacing outside the Dungeon door, biting at his nails as he started to wonder if he had just royally fucked up.

The more he thought about it, he can't imagine them doing anything else. Dean needed to be saved, and this was their best and only shot at doing just that.

Sam couldn't just watch his brother give up which is exactly what the middle Winchester had been planning on doing. But, once Dean found out what he had done, there's no guarantee he will ever want to see Sam again.

The long-haired demon ran large hands through his brown locks, starting to feel very nervous. Finally with a deep breath, he gripped the door handle and walked in.

He made his way through the multiple shelves that were stacked completely full with boxes, folders, and ancient objects. He could hear his brother stir in the other half of the room before he gathered up the courage to slide open the shelving.

"Sammy, you're listening skills need some work." Dean growled, obsidian orbs fixating on him the second he emerged into the dim lighting of the small space. "I told you, no visitors."

Sam gulped, feeling his nerves skyrocket as he realized his brother hadn't gotten better after the injections from Tim, if anything he had gotten worse.

The youngest Winchester stared at his brother with desperation and guilt as he took a step forward and retrieved a small knife from his front pocket. "I can't just let you give up." He said softly but with conviction. Sam then leaned down and scraped some of the spray paint away to break the devil's trap on the floor.

Dean instantly stiffened as he eyed his brother warily as he took out a pair of warded cuffs. "Sam." He said dangerously, a threat obvious in his tone as his brother approached and quickly bound his wrists, the metal digging into the elder demon's skin. "What are you doing?" He demanded as he watched his brother unlock the shackles around his ankles and then his wrists. "Sam! Get off of me!" He yelled angrily as the youngest Winchester hauled him up by his arm, making sure to keep a firm grip so he couldn't wiggle free.

Sam refused to speak as he tried to drown out his brother's threats and questions, knowing that if he let Dean in, he would back down.

And he couldn't do that.

"Sam, what the hell?" Dean barked, his brows shooting up in confusion when he looked at his brother to see tears glistening in his eyes.

The younger demon glanced at his brother before muttering pitifully, "I'm sorry..." right before he and Dean disappeared.

…

Castiel felt a dull pain in the back of his head as he slowly pried his heavy eyelids open, feeling soft warmth touch his face.

As his eyes adjusted, he quickly noticed the heat was coming from the ring of holy fire surrounding him.

"Castiel." A gruff voice greeted, a smugness underlying the tone.

The dark-haired angel got to his feet, narrowing his eyes in irritation as his fierce gaze landed on the man standing in between two other armed angels, one being Uriel. "Raphael." He spat, utter animosity evident in his voice. "What is the meaning of this?" He questioned as he took in his environment, noting the peeling walls of the foreclosed home.

Uriel chuckled humorlessly as he shot the trapped man a smug glance. "Did you really think he would just forgive you for your crimes against Heaven?" He wondered incredulously.

Cas barely acknowledged that Uriel had spoken as he kept his gaze locked on Raphael. "Is it a battle you want?" He asked, curiosity overcoming his logic.

Raphael shook his head and moved to where he was an inch from the deadly flames. "What I want, is to see you suffer." He said slowly, a promise able to be heard in the threat. "If I recall correctly," He began, switching gears. "You were supposed to bring Dean Winchester to Heaven months ago. Yet, on Earth he remains where he has caused carnage and pain. But do you show any regret?" He took a moment to study Castiel up and down, a sense of disgust radiating off of him. "Not even a trace."

Raphael began circling the ring of Holy fire, trying to intimidate his captive. "Now we have a leader with no vessel and Lucifer walking around, a rogue angel who wants to consort with humans and demons, and for what?" He paused as his blade fell into his awaiting palm. "So a self-righteous sapling can go through a rebellious stage?" His features twisted into absolute hatred while he twirled his silver weapon in his hand. "Well, we must set an example of what happens when you defy God's will."

As Raphael went to put out the flames, a burst of light engulfed the pair, forcing them to clench their eyes shut as a roar of pair escaped one of Raphael's minions.

Castiel and his captor turned towards the newcomer, surprised to see a blond angel of about mid-thirties standing there, a corpse at his feet.

The stranger held out his arms, confusion causing his brows to scrunch together. "What? He was going to tell you I was here. What was I supposed to do?" He spoke with a British accent with fake innocence as he stepped over the fallen angel's body. "Now, I hope you plan on letting him go. It'd be a shame for Heaven to have one less Arch Angel."

Raphael's lip twitched in anger as he saw that Uriel had already disappeared, cursing the coward under his breath. With a short glance behind him at Castiel, the arch angel vanished.

The stranger snapped his fingers, the flames instantly doused and freeing Cas who immediately went over to his savior.

"Balthazar, it is good to see you my friend."

…

Sam made sure Dean was in the warehouse before he vanished himself, remembering Lucifer saying something about his brother being able to sense that he was there.

So the youngest Winchester decided to wait a couple hundred feet away from where Lucifer was going to remove the Mark, just to be safe. He was content with just waiting when he felt a slight breeze at the back of his neck.

Without so much of a glance over his shoulder, Sam addressed the newcomer. "Meg, you've got a lot of nerve showing up anywhere near me. What do you want?" He asked, annoyance creeping into his tone as the brunette sauntered in front of him.

Meg smiled menacingly as she took a step towards the youngest Winchester. "I'm supposed to keep you away from that warehouse so Lucifer can take his sweet ass time with that brother of yours." She said, a hidden meaning in her words that Sam caught on to.

Wide, concerned eyes lifted to the large building off in the distance and as if reading his thoughts, Meg quickly buried a bullet in his chest with a gun he hadn't even noticed her take out.

The youngest Winchester went to move but found himself immobilized, cursing silently as he figured out just what he had been shot with.

"How original." Sam spat, although his words lacked any real anger as the fact that his brother was trapped with Lucifer dawned on him.

How could I have been so stupid?

…

Dean felt his boots hit hard concrete with a thud and Sam's tight hold on his arm completely dissipate. He glanced around at the abandoned warehouse he appeared to be in and saw no sign of his brother, only an occasionally knocked over box or crate and mysterious puddles spaced sporadically around the large open space.

"Sam?" He said hesitantly, starting to feel panic sink in as he felt an odd shift in the air. "Sammy?" He called out a little more urgently as the doors on the far end of the room banged open and a clap of thunder was heard off in the distance.

Rain started coming in and Dean took on a defensive stance although he wasn't sure how much good it would do him with his wrists still effectively bound.

Without much warning, the middle Winchester was thrown across the room, his body sliding on the rough floor as he came to a stop in the middle of the open space. He grunted and stood up before he felt his heart in his throat.

"Dean-o, glad to meet you."

The young demon swallowed loudly as he took a retreating step back, keeping his fists up in hopes of defending himself. "Who the hell let you out?" He asked, trying to sound confidant and strong but by the look of amusement on the man in front of him, he wasn't doing a great job.

Dean watched as he shrugged lazily, a sly grin tugging at his lips. "That blonde play thing you've been hanging out with the past few months. You two are quite the pair, you broke the first seal and she broke the final one. A job well done." The smug bastard proceeded to do a slow clap, arrogance coming off of him in waves.

"What do you want, Lucifer?" Dean hissed, his teeth clenched as the man in front of him burst into laughter.

Composing himself, the devil lashed out almost imperceptibly and caused the young demon to stumble backward, cradling his jaw. "You see, Dean." He started, rushing forward and landing another harsh hit to the middle Winchester's face who grunted as he fell into a crate, using it to steady himself. "That brother of yours really screwed you over." Lucifer laughed slightly at the look of bewilderment on the young demon's face. "Oh, you didn't know? Dear old Sammy might as well have just committed suicide."

"You're lying." Dean managed to get out before he felt a fist collide with his nose, a horrifying crack echoing off the walls as he fell to the ground as blood gushed from his nostrils.

"That's where you're wrong. Sam gave me his consent as long as I removed that tacky tribal tat you've got there." Lucifer stated cruelly, knowing full well the affect it would have on the demon currently at his mercy.

"Where is he?" Dean asked with loathing lacing his words.

"Sam? Oh, he's a little preoccupied right now. I couldn't have him coming in and interrupting us!" Lucifer reminded, leaning down and ruffling Dean's hair patronizingly.

"Just remove it already!" The middle Winchester ordered, instantly regretting his bold words when Lucifer hauled him up by his collar and smashed his knuckles against his right eye.

Lucifer seemed surprised that Dean had even suggested such an idea. "But Dean, I never promised Sam I wouldn't have some fun with you first." He whispered viciously as he snapped his fingers, causing the warded cuffs to disappear from his wrists.

At first Dean didn't understand until he saw the almost hungry look in the devil's eyes, knowing he must be getting bored of playing with him if he can't fight back.

Well, the demon would be damned if he just rolled over and took the beating.

Charging forward, Dean tackled Lucifer to the ground, raising his fist for an attack when Satan caught his hand before it could make contact.

The middle Winchester's eyes widened in fear as Lucifer squeezed, snap of bones breaking sounding in his ears. With a quick movement, the devil flipped them to where he was the one straddling Dean.

Lucifer began to beat the defenseless man horribly, both his fists sending pulses of pain through the demon's system.

Just when Dean thought he was going to lose consciousness, he opened his only good eye to watch as Lucifer stood with a look of satisfaction.

"Not that this hasn't been fun, but I'm on a tight schedule."

Dean felt more than saw the devil yank him up indelicately by his right arm, grabbing a hold of his forearm roughly with great force.

Instantaneously, agony shot through his veins in hot red tendrils, lacing up and down his arm as Lucifer began the taxing job of removing the Mark.

Well, taxing on the Mark of Cain bearer.

Dean clenched his teeth as fire danced up his arm and through his shoulder and down into his chest, causing his body to stiffen uncontrollably.

The devil watched as the veins around the middle Winchester's eyes turned scarlet, his mouth open in a silent scream as the Mark was burned off of his arm.

Just as abruptly as it had started, Lucifer was removing his hand from him and standing up straight, looking down at Dean with self-pride.

The young demon was panting hard as he clutched his right arm with his left hand, wondering why the roaring anguish hadn't left him yet.

"If I were you, I'd enjoy the time you have left with your brother. He'll be mine soon enough."

The last thing Dean remembers before blacking out was Sam's cries of concern and Lucifer chuckling before he disappeared.

…

"Balthazar, what are you doing here?" Castiel asked, walking side by side his lost friend out of the rundown house.

"I've been trying to find you for a couple weeks now, but for some reason you seemed to be untraceable." The angel explained, giving Cas a sideways glance before continuing. "Then, out of the blue, there you were, like a beacon."

The messy-haired angel nodded in understanding, knowing full well the reason he was unable to be tracked was thanks to the Men of Letter's bunker. "Why were you looking for me?" He asked, tilting his head.

The British angel nodded as if he was waiting for the question. "I am afraid I am in dire need of your assistance my friend." He began, gesturing as they came to a steady stop. "I have managed to piss Raphael off by saving you. Now, as you may know, that is most certainly not good for me. Even before this I wanted to get the bastard out of power but now? Well I'd be bloody stupid not to eradicate the obnoxious older brother we've had to deal with for centuries."

"You think I could be of help with removing Raphael from his position?" Castiel questioned slowly, making sure he got the gist of what his fellow angel had been saying.

Balthazar looked pleased that his friend was able to pick up on his oh so subtle hints. "Precisely! With all those hunters and demons by your side, you'd be unstoppable." He paused, already guessing the next question to come out of Cas's mouth. "Everyone knows who you've spent the past couple months with, don't be so shocked."

"I am afraid they wouldn't help me." The dark-haired angel said regrettably with a hint of guilt as he found his shoes suddenly interesting.

"Excuse me?" Balthazar asked, growing worried that maybe he shouldn't have just risked his skin to save the angel before him.

Cas hesitated before sighing deeply. "The last time I asked for their aid, I ended up being a pawn in raising Lucifer from Hell. If I ask for help, they may not trust me enough to have faith in my words." He trailed off, genuinely seeming bothered by the fact he may have lost the trust of the people he now considered family.

The blond angel rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Castiel, I'm sure you raising Dean from Hell is enough for them to put aside the unfortunate act of raising Luci." When he saw the man before him shrug unconvinced, he decided to move on. "Just think on it and let me know what they say, okay?"

Cas nodded and then watched as the angel winked at him and then disappeared. With a shuddering breath, Castiel thought it would be best to return home.

…

TBC

Holy crap Lindsay, you go from not updating for a month to two updates in one week? I know! I just felt so bad for leaving you guys hanging for so long before I really worked my butt off this past week. (Although, I may have neglected to do a homework assignment or two.) But, I only have five days of school left in my senior year of high school so at this point, I'm sorta over it. Thanks again for reading and I hope you leave a review to let me know you are still enjoying it. Have a good week!