Gabriel stared in astonishment at Lucifer. When his brother said he had been tortured this was not at all what he had expected. "Brother," he whispered. "Oh Lucifer, I am so, so sorry."

Lucifer sighed, looking weary and drawn. "Don't be, I made my chose. I protected Sam because he and I, we are bound." Sam made a choked noise.

"How?" his eyes were mistrustful still, his words hesitant.

"We are bound through past and present, not a strong bond like Castiel and Dean share but a bond none the less. My fate is your future and we both want to avoid it and we will both try to. Don't get me wrong Sam, I absolutely despise you but I can't hurt you, for the same way Dean couldn't hurt Amara- minus the weird-ass romance. Unless you killed someone I loved, truly loved, I couldn't hurt you anymore than I did out of anger and Michael's control in the cage."

"So Michael will bring about the Apocalypse?" Dean asked. "Really?"

Lucifer nodded gravely. "Yes. I fear you will have harsh times ahead of you Dean Winchester."

Sam sidestepped closer. "And you will stop it?" He sounded confused, tired, shocked.

"I don't know. Humanity itself is a broken and dreadful thing but I don't think I have it in me any longer to not fight on the side of Earth and her children. My Father wanted this to go down and so it will be. I don't think He or anyone else ever imagined Michael and I would switch."

Gabriel let out a low whistle. "But you and Sam paralleled, both of you rebelled against your Fathers, wanted something different, both of you are highly intelligent and I do suppose family still remains for you Lucifer, but it is not the first thing. Sam mirrors that when Dean was in Purgatory when everyday you missed him but never looked for him. Both of you also chose the right thing at the end of all, Lucifer chose to stop trying to destroy Humanity and Sam, you prove that by just being here. And Sam, I know you wanted the power Lucifer held way back when he was released, I know you were tempted. Sam, I've been in your mind even if you didn't know, you could have taken him and let him battle Michael but you chose Human kind."

Sam grimaced.

"You were tempted by Lucifer?" Dean asked, appalled.

"Look okay, when I went cold turkey from Demon blood I had visions...people telling me Lucifer would make me stronger, that I was already the strongest man on the planet. And yeah, I wanted it, just like you loved and hated the Mark for what it made you. I wanted more power and I knew only Lucifer could provide me with that."

An awkward silence descended.

"Okay," Dean said, shattering the quiet. "Okay that's...that's okay." He cleared his throat. "How would I parallel Michael?"

Asmodei ticked off his fingers as he began to list. "Loyal to an absent Father, family before everything but the whole entire planet, brave, steadfast loyalty, strong..."

"...dick," Gabe interrupted.

"Hey!" said Dean. "Right but how will it affect my future? I'm sure as Hell not taking Michael."

Lucifer sighed and rubbed his eyes with one shaking hand. "I don't know. From what happened in the cage between me and him, I can only guess Cain was right and even without the Mark you will kill or torture your brother."

"No," Dean whispered. "Never."

"Dean-" Sam began.

"No!" Dean interrupted. "You must have guessed wrong Lucifer. You have to had guessed wrong. Everything the Marks ever had on me is gone."

"Not everything. It has a permanent almost poison that leeches into the human body, only human. It spreads and lies dormant until it's around the Blade, you still have it even if it's no longer on your arm."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Dean asked suspiciously.

Lucifer growled deep in his throat. "You've forgotten that I saved your brother."

"I haven't forgotten Lucifer," Dean replied. "But I'm still not sure if its true or not."

Asmodei moved towards Dean. "Remember Winchester," he defended. "That's my brother you speak of. Would you lie about this?"

"Maybe. What even is it?" Dean asked, changing the subject. "What is it with you and Lucifer anyways? Who are you?"

Asmodei looked surprised. "You want my story?"

"I'll consider trusting Satan over here if I know your history with him." Dean stepped back. "Sam, you good?"

The younger Winchester was shaky and pale, the bags under his eyes stood out starkly from his death white skin. "I'm good," he whispered.

"Bullshit."

"I'm fine Dean," Sam insisted.

Dean gave an exaggerated nod. "Sure you are. Now go sit down before you pass out."

Sam sank into the chair Dean had pulled out for him, secretly relieved to have an excuse to get off his feet. "Thanks," he told Dean who responded by laying a hand on Sam's shoulder.

Asmodei sighed. "Alright. You want my story? Okay then, it's not a pretty one."

"Has there even been a happy backstory for Angels?" Gabriel asked. "Asmodei, leave out the hardest bits if you need."

Asmodei shuddered. "I might have to."

"That's perfectly okay little brother," Lucifer said gently. "Both Gabe and I know about it, don't mention anything that's too hard."

Dean watched them talk. Lucifer gently speaking to his baby brother, Gabriel cracking a suck-ass joke and earning a small smile, Asmodei staring at his brother like they were God come back to redeem all of them. He glanced at Sam, pale faced, eyes staring straight ahead, eyes worried. Dean squeezed his arm. "It's okay Sammy," Dean whispered. "Relax. I won't let him do anything to you."

Sam gave him a tight lipped smile. "I know."

Dean turned his attention back to the Angels once he saw that Sam had relaxed. They were still talking and he cleared his throat, drawing their attention. "Think we could get on with the story?"

Asmodei glared briefly at Dean, his eyes burning through Dean's soul. "Of course. I was one of the earlier Seraph Angels created. The third actually. Lucifer and I, we spoke, we shared a common opinion- Angels would always be the highest creatures, above all else God created. So when we heard of Mankind coming and how we would worship and love them, Lucifer and I were angry. Inferior beings they were, so much less than Heaven, and we devised a plan. Gadreel helped us for he loved us as all brothers do."

"You were in it with Gadreel?" Dean exclaimed, taking note of the way Sam stiffened, his hand twitching as if he remembered laying that palm on Kevin Tran's forehead.

"Doing such was one of my greatest regrets," Asmodei said softly. "We bribed him to let us in the Garden of Eden, after Lucifer had taken the Mark." Dean shuddered as Asmodei continued. "He tempted Eve to disobey God and I watched him swear on his Grace that it was only Gadreel and him, that nobody else had been helping them. I watched Gadreel get locked away in that prison, I heard his screams. I saw Lucifer, bright as the Morning Star for which he is called, fall from the sky, saw the Earth open her lips to swallow him into the bowels of Hell."

"Graphic image there brother," Lucifer muttered.

"Lucifer," he said sternly. "Shut up."

Gabriel hid a smile that faded the second he saw the hollowness in Asmodei's eyes.

"Okay," Asmodei recovered himself and began to speak again. "Years after the Fall, millions of years during the Golden Ages of the Earth, I took my first human vessel. A man by the name of Augustus, he was from Southeast Asia, an orphan, no family. He thought letting me in was a blessing but he cast me out, screaming in agony. I told him Heavens Angel deserved a better vessel anyways and I killed him." His voice broke. "My first human kill. A single year later I came back and took on a young man whose name I cannot remember but I still wear him, his body is long dead, like Jimmy Novak he now resides in his own Heaven."

Sam glanced over and Lucifer whose eyes were filled with sorrow. "Brother," the Archangel said. "Asmodei, I know this next part. I can say it. Don't torture yourself."

"It's fine Lucifer. I took this man and I walked the Earth in his shell. I traveled across oceans to Greece where I met a young woman. Her name was Esmerelda, the daughter of a middle class family." His voice shook and he paused. "Castiel wasn't the only Angel to fall in love with a human."

Dean knuckles were white as he clenched the back of Sam's chair. He felt the wood digging into his hands, slowly cutting at the skin. "You..." Dean heard his voice shaking. He closed his eyes. "You loved a human?"

"I do still," Asmodei said softly. "Esmerelda was the most beautiful mortal I had ever laid eyes on. Her hair was blonde and coppery, her eyes were a soft green and blue, like where the Nile meets the Mediterranean Sea. She had freckles dancing up soft white arms like fireflies to a hill. For many months we met in secret by the ruins of an ancient temple. She told me how much she loved me and I told her it back. We did many human...things...together but one day she didn't come. I snuck to her house and asked to see her. Turns up, she was engaged to a man called Julius Richards. They were to be wed in three days time. She had just learned of the arrangement. Anyways, I came back from Heaven months afterward to discover her pregnant, with my child."

Sam's eyes widened. "Nephilim?"

"Quite. I introduced myself as an old friend and got to know what had happened to them over the time I had been absent. Two days later, she went into labor. In all of my life I had never not been able to heal someone but the powers of the Nephilim were too strong and blocked my powers. She died, the horrendous creatures eating her from the inside out." He closed his eyes for a long moment. "I killed them. Two and I slaughtered them. My children. I returned to Heaven where I have stayed ever since, unable to look down upon the cruel and beautiful works of the Earth without thinking of her."

Dean felt chilled, almost violated. This Angel was unmistakably telling the truth and it reminded him of everything that had happened with him and Cas. His heart ached. "You really loved her didn't you?" he asked.

"I would have fallen for her, I'd have pulled the stars down." Asmodei looked soulfully down, his eyes sparkling.

Dean thought back to Cas, his raggedy trench coat and blue eyes.

I do everything you ask. I always come when you call.

I'm hunted. I rebelled, and I did it, all of it, for you.

Dean...

I'll find a way to redeem myself to you.

He rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Right. I think I believe you now."

Asmodei relaxed. "You and Castiel? What happened?"

Dean shook his head, not wanting to speak of it. Asmodei thankful took the queue.

"Thank you. Sam? Do you believe me?"

Sam glanced up from his hands. "Fine. I believe you, and I'm grateful to Lucifer if what he said is true. I don't know how much if it is, I can't remember that part of the cage."

Lucifer gave him a tight smile. "Thank you Sam," he said. "I would bring those memories back but I fear they would break you again. With my brother and perhaps more at stake I will not risk loosing a strong warrior. I know you will never fully forgive me and I'm absolutely fine with that, just know I did try and help you to the point I nearly broke under Michael's hand."

Sam nodded, still awkward but more comfortable around the Archangel, knowing what he knew now. Finally he asked the question that had been plaguing him:"How do you plan on getting Cas?"

AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while! We had tons of school work but summer break begins today so I'll update more often! Enjoy!