Castiel tore at his own skin, trying to rip it off. He wanted to scream, he needed to scream. But if he did they would find him. His brothers and the Winchesters couldn't see him, they had to leave. Blood pooled under Castiel's nails, slipping down his skin, he felt the thick, hot liquid running down his cheeks. Blood from his eyes.

"No," he hissed. If he was loosing that, it meant he was weakening. He didn't know how he knew but he did, he wouldn't be vulnerable again.

Castiel heard the sounds of the forest branches brokenly grating on one another, mocking his rasping breath. He heard the trickle of some black river, a laugh bubbling from its depth. The ex Angel lashed out with anything and everything inside him. There was an explosion and the trees caught fire. Grace, whatever bits of it were left in him, had thrown themselves out of his now human body, destroying, and Cas could see it was no longer the blue of sky but red, red as the dawn. Red as blood.

He looked up at the sky were smoke was pouring into, a clear beacon to the Winchesters and his brothers. At first he was angry at blowing his cover but then a slow, heartless smile crept over his face. This might not be a bad thing, he realized. This was a way to lure them here and then, well, then he could kill them.

Asmodei stood in front of Dean, Lucifer to the left, Gabriel to the right, and Sam directly behind him. The position they were in directly insured that Dean was shielded from all sides, he needed to be, being the key to getting Cas back after all.

Dean stopped suddenly, causing a jostle in the ring around him. "What?" growled Lucifer.

Dean held up a hand, silencing them. He raised his head to the sky and inhaled through his nose deeply. "Smoke," he said softly. "Fire."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "Do you think it's Cas?"

"Who else would it be?" Dean asked.

Sam raked a hand through his long hair. "Billie did mention that there were things here, dangerous things. It could be them."

"No," Lucifer said, his voice partly in awe. "That's Grace right there, that's the energy it puts out when the Angel is mad." His shrugged as eyes turned to him. "I may not be an Archangel anymore but I knew that power when I was..." He trailed off, seeing Dean shoot him a glare as Sam fidgeted behind him. Lucifer cleared his throat. "Okay then, we'll head that way."

"You good?" Dean asked softly, nudging Sam.

"Yeah," Sam replied. "You?"

"Fine." Sam could tell Dean was lying but he knew it was for Sam's sake, to keeping him from worrying too much. Nodding, he accepted the false answer.

"Good."

Castiel waited, crouched behind a hedge. He had been there for a good fifteen minutes before he first heard hints of the voices. They spoke quietly, trying to avoid being overheard by anything. Castiel felt a smile twist his lips. Not quiet enough.

"You sure you're up for this?" came Sam's voice.

A pause.

Dean. "Yeah," he said. "I'm sure. We need him back, don't we?"

Yeah, Castiel thought. Sure you do. How do I need to bleed for you this time? He thought the words with venom but he knew, deep, deep inside that no matter the risk, the cost, the simple absurdness of whatever they were doing, Cas- that horrible soft and human part of him- would be happy to bleed to save them. Castiel shook him away. He wasn't 'Cas' anymore.

The voices faded. Castiel froze. He listened, hearing quiet footsteps drawing nearer and nearer to the burning trees. He gripped the knife in his right hand even tighter and crept to the left slowly, away from the flashlights prying gaze. He hissed softly as the light grazed his trench coat tail but thankfully none of them seemed to notice.

Lucifer emerged into Castiel's line of sight. "Do you think he's here?" he asked softly.

"I'll bet," Gabriel said, following Lucifer. "It seems to have Grace written all over it and there have been no other Angels who have ever gone in here."

"Stop rationalizing things," Lucifer said teasingly. "It's bugs the shit out of me."

Castiel felt a stake go through his heart as he remembered his brothers bantering with good humor when all was right. A long time ago, long before even Mary or John were born. He shook off the nostalgia and adjusted his positioning, waiting.

"Ok," a voice he hadn't heard in ages said. "What's the plan?"

Asmodei. He and the Angel were never the closest but he owed him his life. Those events had occurred long ago when Eden was beautiful, before Eve ate the apple. He crept forward again, the toe of his shoe catching a stray pebble and sending it downhill.

Dean turned quickly, heart in his throat, his light trained on the gentle slope of the hill where the pebble had come from. At first he saw nothing, then he shone the light upwards, tracing the curves of the hill, then there was undeniable movement. He caught his breath and readied his voice, it was a risk, what he was about to do. There was a chance it was not Cas who had made the noise, perhaps an accompaniment but Cas was definitely there. Dean could feel him, just feet away. "Cas," he called, voice hard as an rock. "Castiel."

Castiel cursed internally. One wrong move, one, and he had given himself away. He stayed still but could feel all eyes on him. He stood up, giving in, shrugging his trench coat off to gain more freedom of movement, the blade in hand. As he emerged from behind the tree he heard the sharp intake of breath from Gabriel.

"Cassie..."

The nickname spiked a sharp feeling of anger. He was not 'Cassie' or 'Cas' but 'Castiel', the twisted soldier, the cold blooded killer. He was not weak like 'Cas' had been, nor was he naive as 'Cassie' was. He knew the pain of love, or caring, and he swore to never know it again. "Don't call me that." Castiel's voice came out sharp and ragged.

"Cas?" tried Sam. "Hey, it's us."

Castiel snarled. "Don't call me that either. I know it's you Sam Winchester."

Sam flinched at the hardness in his voice.

"Castiel," Lucifer said. "What has Eden done to you?"

Eden. Ah, so that is what this place is, Castiel thought. Good to know. "Eden hadn't done anything to me," he said softly. "Rather it's what they did." He raised an accusing finger at the Winchesters.

Dean looked shocked. "What did we do?"

Castiel threw back his head, letting out a beast-like scream of laughter. "You don't think I know? I was never family, I was never important to you- not like Charlie or Kevin were- I was a tool! You never cared about me."

Every word Cas said pierced Dean's heart like a knife. He wanted to run to him, shake the Angel until he realized just how much he meant. Sam looked stricken, horrified at what he was hearing.

"That's not true," Dean heard himself saying through what seemed to be water in his ears. "Cas-Castiel- that was never true."

"Don't lie to me Dean!" Cas shouted. There was so much raw emotion in his words, so much pain.

"Dammit Castiel!" Dean yelled, careful to use his full name despite how unnatural it felt on his lips. "No! Eden is twisting you, it's using us against you!"

Cas stared at him for a moment. Then he lunged, angel blade poised right above Dean's heart.

AN: I hope you didn't think this would go smoothly! Hope you enjoy because , OMFG, I am so excited to post these next few chapters!