Title: ten for the devil his own self
Disclaimer: not my characters; the title is from one version of a children's nursery rhyme.
Warnings: AU from "Lazarus Rising"
Pairings: none stated
Rating: PGish
Wordcount: 300
Point of view: third
"Last one opens, and?" Dean asked, all wide-eyed innocence and disbelief. He had his doubts, and was wise to do so.
"Lucifer walks free," Castiel intoned, solemn and righteous, an Angel of the Lord.
A liar, and a traitor, and a desecration to all that was once holy, once pure.
He looked deep into Dean's soul and smiled a secret, well-hidden smile.
We have work for you, he'd said, giving Dean something he craved and needed—a task. Let Sam have his quest for vengeance; Dean needed a purpose. Castiel and Ruby shared glances in passing, pretending to not see each other, and all was so very wrong in the world.
"Last one opens, and?" Dean asked, not wanting to believe but beginning to nonetheless.
"Lucifer walks free," Castiel answered, guide and guardian, savior, the Angel of the Lord who pulled Dean from the Pit.
Tempter without a fruit, leading astray one of the most important men since Judas Iscariot collected a bag of silver.
Castiel rescued him from Hell. Castiel gave him a task. Castiel offered guidance often rejected, and accepted Dean as a flawed man who still tried his hardest all the same.
And when the final choice came, when Castiel chose Dean over Heaven and helped him against everyone—it was the sweetest victory since Eve bit into that powerless fruit and damned the world.
"Last one opens, and?" Dean asked, still so innocent despite Alistair's careful ministrations. So young compared to Castiel, to Alistair, to the being whose door he had begun to open when he took that bloody razor from Alistair's hand.
"Lucifer walks free," Castiel lied.
Even Ruby, that darling girl, didn't fully understand, but when she led Sam to Lilith, they all won, and Lucifer's wings finally stretched completely free of their cage.