HI! Three cheers for the longest chapter I have ever written :) Also, I am a day early…a nice treat for you all as a thank you for the reviews, they really inspire me and make me very very happy ;)

I am really pleased with this chapter so I hope that you enjoy it, please let me know how I did in a review, I am open to any plot requests.

So Cold

Ben Cocks – So Cold

Oh, you can hear me cry,

See my dreams all die,

From where you're standing,

On your own.

It's so quiet here,

And I feel so cold.

This house no longer,

Feels like home.

Oh, when you told me you'd leave,

I felt like I couldn't breath,

My aching body fell to the floor.

It was three days later and there had been no progress on the Castiel front. The boy was still completely traumatised, jumping at every loud noise and screaming out in his sleep. He spent most of his time curled up in bed, pouring through the Bible as if searching for answers, hidden meanings between the lines which he had missed during the first four times he had read it from page to page.

Despite Sam and Dean's joint best efforts of encouragement and reassurance, Cas only got out of bed to eat, or shower. Even when he ate, Castiel was on edge, poised as if he were about to take part in a 100m sprint. He avoided all eye contact, only eating a few mouthfuls when he thought the Winchesters weren't looking, at it tore the brothers apart to see Castiel waste away in front of their eyes without being able to do anything about it. Cas was now showering obsessively, locking himself into the motel bathroom for hours at a time at least twice a day, and for a few dreadful moments on their second day, Dean was convinced that the boy had drowned himself in there.

When Castiel eventually left the bathroom, having scrubbed his skin until it was beet-red, he would scoot around the Winchesters and bury himself back under his duvet cover. In Dean's eyes, the only break through they had managed occurred when he asked Castiel to pass him the tomato sauce for his burger, and Cas responded by handing it over with hands shaking so violently that he dropped the knife in his other hand. At least it was a start!

On their fourth day together, Sam and Dean were growing frustrated. They had taken it in turns to visit the cottage, waiting for Castiel's abuser to turn up, but so far he had been a no-show. Luckily for him as Dean had sworn that he would personally rip the son of a bitch into tiny little pieces, and would then salt and burn the dick for good measure!

He and Sam were currently watching the crappy motel television, which was producing more static and blotchy pixels than the western movie that Dean was attempting to watch. Sam had his legs hanging from an armchair and was browsing the internet for cases, jobs that they would not be able to take on until they had sorted their current issues out. Dean was sprawled out on the three seater, trying to ignore the slightly mouldy smell that was emanating from the lack-lustre piece of furniture. Judging by the stains, this poor sofa had not had a good life. Dean was concentrating more on picking at one of the loose threads than on the movie when he felt the seat beside him sink slightly.

He looked up puzzled, wondering what Sam was doing when he saw Castiel with his chin resting on his knees. Although it looked as if the boy was watching the TV, Dean knew better. He knew that Cas was really watching him and waiting for an adverse reaction, any sign that he needed to retreat back to the safety of the shower or his bed.

Dean gave the boy no reason to move, only smiling encouragingly when Cas' shoulder seemed to ease up a bit, the tension slowly being released.

"Hey Cas. You alright?" It took a long time, but eventually Castiel gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head. Dean could have sworn that he also saw Cas' lip twitch upwards in an attempt of a smile as well.

"Feeling better?" Again there was another tiny nod, so Dean decided to quit whilst he was ahead, also pretending to watch the western, but inside he was doing a mini victory dance.

After the movie had ended, it looked as if Castiel was about to fall asleep, Sam and Dean had been supplying him with a steady stream of painkillers, which made Cas unbelievably drowsy. Dean would normally shun painkillers for alcohol, but in this case he did not believe booze was the best option. Exceptional circumstances and all that.

Dean almost let out an audible gasp when he felt the heat of Cas' body pressed against his side, it looked as if Castiel could no longer stay awake and trusted Dean enough to fall asleep beside him. Sam grinned at the sight, a fully relaxed Cas with his mouth slightly open next to an anxious looking Dean, who had tensed in fear of disturbing the sleeping boy. It was quite the role reversal!

Sam retrieved the duvet from Cas' bed and draped it over his brother and the boy, smirking when Dean gave him a panicked this-is-too-chick-flick-what-do-I-do look. He gave a non-committal shrug and made his way back to his seat, continuing his research and only pausing to take a picture of Dean, who had fallen asleep with Cas still pressed heavily against him. Sam was convinced that the photo would come in handy one day, a nice bit of leverage during an argument; Dean probably wouldn't want Bobby seeing him looking so god damned cute!

Hours later, when both hunter and broken boy stirred, there was an uncomfortable silence. Cas was staring wide eyed into Dean's deep green pools, wondering whether he had done something wrong, if he would be punished for falling asleep on the older man like that. When Dean made no move to hit him, Cas shifted into a more comfortable position, no longer pressed up against Dean.

Both Winchesters could see that Cas was bleary eyed and still not completely with it, so Sam decided that he would make a move. He went over to the sofa and sat down on Cas' other side, being careful not to brush against the boy and startle him.

"Castiel, um, we really need to know who did this to you. We have been back to the cottage a few times but there was no-one there. If you just tell us then we can sort everything out. You will be safe, you'll never have to worry about who did this to you again. Y'know, live a normal life and all that. I'm sure we can find you somewhere else to live. Please just tell us who hurt you."

Castiel blinked up at Sam and gave the slightest shake of his head. I can't. I can't. He'll kill me!

Dean could tell what Sam was trying to do, so added his own reasoning to the mix.

"C'mon Cas. If you tell us we can help."

Castiel gave his head a sharper shake and looked as if he were about to make a dash for the bathroom, but Sam placed a firm, but unthreatening hand on his leg and carefully nudged Cas back down. The boy had gone a sickly shade of green and looked as if he were about to pass out, but Sam and Dean did not let him go, Dean now adding a slight bit of pressure to the boy's other leg.

A tall man was stumbling towards Cas, beer bottle in one hand, the other holding onto the wall in order to keep upright. His short dirty blonde hair was dank and hanging over his eyes, soaked through with rain. Castiel could tell that this would be a bad night.

"Where are you boy?" Cas didn't want to answer, but there was no point in delaying the inevitable so he carefully crawled out from his hiding place between the sofa and bookcase, being careful to slip his Bible under the sofa and swiftly thinking a short prayer for that night to end quickly.

His prayer was not answered.

Half an hour into the beating and Cas was barely conscious. He kept his gaze focused on the floor, trying to distract himself but counting the knots in the wooden panels, but it wasn't really working. He found himself reciting the Bible in his head, anything to distract himself from the searing pain.

He wanted nothing more than to scream and beg for the pain to end, but he remembered Lucifer's last threat.

"SILENCE. If you make another sound I swear to god I will make you regret the day you were born. Do you understand me?"

It was not worth making a noise; Cas would remain silent no matter what. There was no point in digging himself into a deeper hole.

Once again his mind wondered, anywhere but the cottage.

Cas was flying, a raven ink black against the light blue sky. His feathers were ruffled slightly but Cas didn't mind, the wind made him feel alive, allowed him to glide for miles and keep watch on the humans beneath him. He was a silent observer, diving down on occasion to offer the comfort of company. He would perch on an old ladies fence and tilt his head, opening his beak in the hint of a smile as she took her last breath, ensuring that she did not die alone. She barely registered his smile, but his feathered wings convinced her that this raven was her guardian angel. He would be there for her, granting her safe passage to beyond.

Cas then watched from a tree as a young couple began to kiss under a tree, something told him that the relationship would not end, but for now the beautiful romance filled him with joy that made his feathers rustle. He took of with the wind after a while, he didn't feel the need to witness any heartbreak. In this body, he lived for the moment and could go wherever he wished.

He then flew to the beach and watched a tiny grey fish making its way to the shoreline, and wondered where its journey would lead. All Castiel cared about was the fact that his wings allowed him to go wherever he wanted.

He could escape anything.

He was free.

Then, with the smash of a foot against Castiel's lower back, the boy was bought back from his fantasy. His wings had disappeared and a hard blow to his stomach knocked the breath out of him, making it feel as if Castiel had fallen from the heavens themselves, and landed on concrete.

He stared up at his half brother with pleading eyes.

Don't do this. Please don't do this. It wasn't my fault. What Dad did was not my fault…

With another fit of rage Lucifer bought his fist towards Cas' face, ignoring the tears that were streaming down his half brother's cheeks. There was a satisfying crunch of bone and Cas slumped to the ground, curling up attempting to shield his face from further harm, he was certain that his nose was already badly broken.

Castiel couldn't help but scream when he was pulled up by his dislocated arm, each cry ricocheting around the cottage. For a fleeting moment Cas was glad, maybe one of the neighbors would hear his cries and rescue him? This reassuring thought quickly ended however, he had spent week screaming himself hoarse and no one had come. Nobody had answered his prayers. Why should anything else happen this time?

Then everything went black, the last thing Cas heard was the smashing of the beer bottle being shattered on the side of his head, and then everything was blinding white pain.

Sam and Dean watched in horror as Castiel, who had become stiff and rigid as a board seconds before, crumpled to the ground and let out a gasping scream. The Winchesters had stared bewildered when Cas first began fitting, not seeming to notice their comforting words, and they were even more startled by the change in events. Somehow a screaming Cas seemed to be a whole lot worse than a rigid one, although at least he was finally making a sound.

Cas whimpered as a few more flashes of his life flickered through his mind.

Castiel woke up with a pounding headache, his mouth was full of blood and every part of his body was screaming in protestation about their recent abuse. He had been shoved back in his cupboard and couldn't move. His wrists and ankles were tied and he wouldn't have been able to stretch out if he had wanted to. He knew that if he did manage to get out of these chains, he would still be unable to get out. The cupboard door was padlocked from the outside.

I have really done it this time. He is going to kill me!

When Cas heard a creaking noise outside he held his breath and waited, but nothing happened. Part of him felt as if there were two voices, but he could not make them out clearly. With a small whimper Castiel drifted back into unconsciousness, only to be re-awoken when he heard louder footsteps outside his door. Cas had no idea what possessed him to do it, but he found himself knocking his head against the wall, his head being the only part of his body that he could currently move. The pain made him gag, but something told Cas that it wasn't Lucifer outside.

The voices became slightly louder and Cas banged his head again, hissing slightly.

"Dean! Tell me you heard that?"

"Yeah, where is the fugly?"

"I don't know. I can't see anything at the moment."

Cas closed his eyes and began to pray silently. Please find me. Please let them get me out of here. Please…

"HOLY SHIT." Cas flinched when the cupboard door was flung open to reveal a man in a leather jacket and he flinched back suddenly terrified that these men did not have good intentions for him either.

"It's ok now. We are not going to hurt you. I am Dean, this is my brother Sammy."

With a gasp Cas came back to reality, sobbing hard and feeling Sam wrapping muscled arms around his torso. Castiel allowed himself to be drawn into the hug, whimpering and crying hard, soaking Sam's shirt through and wrapping his own arms around the hunter. His hands found Sam's long hair and Castiel allowed himself to bury his face in Sam's neck, breathing in the musky scent of his skin, mixed in with the sickly sweet scent of motel shampoo. Dean also began to comfort the boy, taking it as a good sign that he was allowing Sammy close enough for a hug without resistance. He cautiously began to rub circles on Castiel's back and began to mumble nonsensical words of comfort that meant nothing. No it was not ok. Everything was not alright. Castiel was still not safe. He wouldn't be until the son of a bitch who did this to him was killed, or at least locked up for good.

Cas turned slightly and wrapped his arms around Dean now, needing to know that both Winchesters were there for him. He felt Dean's reassuring arms wrap around his waist and allowed himself to completely slump against the eldest of his saviours. Sam and Dean had rescued him in the end. His prayers had finally been answered. Maybe, just maybe they would be able to stop Lucifer from hurting him again.

It just wasn't fair. It wasn't his fault that their Dad had left them that night. Yes, it had been Cas who was with him last, but he hadn't misbehaved, and yes, Mum had been out because of him, but it still wasn't his fault. Was it?

He had been just thirteen at the time, his father was sitting next to him, watching as Castiel did his art homework, the task had been to draw something or someone that you loved, so Cas chose his Father. It was all going well, but he couldn't quite capture the half smile that lay upon his Dad's face. His Dad's smile always seemed so bright, yet there was a certain sorrow. The sorrow of someone who had been exposed to too much death and sorrow over the years.

That had been when the phone rung. In an instant his had had moved, the pose ruined and the last thing Cas had heard was the slamming of the front door. Castiel sat quietly for a while, wondering what had happened and was only interrupted when his half-brother came in.

"Where's Dad, Cas?"

"I don't know? He got a call and then disappeared." Cas forced his voice to remain steady, but he was scared. Dad never left them unless something bad had happened. Seventeen year old Lucifer saw that his younger brother was upset, so picked him up and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"Don't worry, he will be back soon. So will mum, they will probably come back together or something."

But they didn't come back. Both Lucifer and Cas had fallen asleep on the sofa, Cas tucked safely in his older brother's arms. That was when there was a harsh rap at the door. It wasn't the usual code that their parents used, but Lucifer got up and went to the door, peering through the peep-hole with Cas hovering just behind him, arms wrapped around Lucifer's leg. It was really late and something told Cas that he didn't want to meet the person behind this door. But Lucifer opened it.

"Hello? Are you boys Castiel and Lucifer?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Karen, I'm from social services, there is no easy way of saying this, but your parents have passed away."

"What? No they haven't." Lucifer was the first to speak, Castiel too numb with shock to respond in any way other than blinking slowly.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but your mother was in a car accident and was taken to hospital. Your father came to see her, but it was too late. There was nothing the hospital could do for her. I'm so sorry."

"But Dad?" The social worker glanced at Cas, he seemed too young to know. It was clear that he was already in shock; she didn't want to upset him further. She waved for her colleague Mandy to come in from their car and nodded towards Cas. Mandy took the hint and gently led Castiel away into the kitchen with a soft smile, heating him a cup of milk and handing him the chocolate buttons on the table. It might help to calm him down a bit.

Meantime, Lucifer had blanched and was propping himself against the landing wall. Dad wasn't dead. He couldn't be. Their father was strong; he would never have deliberately killed himself. Never. He wouldn't have left him and Cas alone.

But he had.

Less than an hour later Cas and Lucifer's possessions had been packed up and they were in the car, not having any relatives left alive, they had to go to a care home.

Lucifer felt sick, but not as sick as Cas, who had just vomited up all of the chocolate buttons and milk, as well as the burger he had eaten for dinner. Lucifer had gently helped him out of the car and wiped the sick off of Cas' clothes, not allowing Mandy or Karen near to his baby brother. Cas was upset enough without weird strangers poking and prodding him.

It had been Lucifer who said what had happened to Dad, but he had missed out the part of it being deliberate, blaming his death on another accidental crash. Cas, being Cas, naïve and innocent believed him and for that Lucifer was grateful. There were some things that his brother did not need to know.

Things at the home did not go well, they kept trying to split the brothers up, and the one time they locked Cas in his own bedroom, the poor boy had spent the entire night screaming until he had a panic attack, eventually collapsing with a mixture of stress and exhaustion. From then on the staff had left the brothers to it, what harm could letting them spend time together do?

But it wasn't until a few months later that things went really bad. Lucifer had spent a lot of time brooding about what had happened, and one night, when Cas was obsessively pouring over the drawing of his Dad, rubbing out the twentieth attempt of the mouth. Lucifer was reminded of that night, the night that neither brother spoke about. It suddenly hit him.

It was Cas' fault. Everything was Cas' fault.

Mum had gone out to buy Cas some new colouring pencils for his birthday when she had been hit by a car. If it hadn't been Cas' birthday, then she would not have gone out. And if she hadn't gone out, she would not have died. And if Mum didn't die, then Dad would not have killed himself. Lucifer found himself wishing that Cas had never been born, because then he would not have had a birthday and everything would have been fine. It took a while for Lucifer to quash these thoughts; although that night he locked his bedroom door and wouldn't let a sobbing, confused Cas in.

Castiel had no idea what he had done wrong, but Lucifer was angry with him.

The next morning Lucifer acted as if nothing had happened. And the day after. And the day after that. On the surface he was the same loving brother as before, but he wasn't, inside Lucifer was brooding about all the ways he would make Cas pay for what he had done.

A week after Lucifer's eighteenth birthday, with Cas now 14, he ran away, dragging his brother with him. Lucifer could now access his bank account, the house had been sold and he had access to enough to keep them both going. The brothers had walked for miles, hitchhiking on occasion until they had crossed three states. Social services had never been far from their tail, but the brothers managed to give the authorities the slip. It was easy really, just move at night to avoid their patrol cars.

Then, in the middle of a wood, Lucifer found an old, abandoned cottage, which became home. That was the day he had hauled his brother over the cottage's threshold for the first time, and was the night that he had subjected Cas to the worst beating of his life. It wasn't so much the pain, Lucifer did not have many muscles at that point and did not know how to hit properly, but it was how unexpected the blows were. The scrams and cries could be heard clearly from the local village, but no one came to help.

Cas couldn't understand it, why was his brother hurting him like this? He had begged for hours for it to stop, sobbing bitterly when his brother eventually left the room, letting go of Cas and allowing his brother's aching body to fall to the floor. Castiel spent the rest of the night curled up in a ball on the floor whimpering and dry heaving, struggling to breath through his racking sobs. The next day Cas woke up frozen, his lips blue and body trembling from cold. It was snowing outside and the cottage had no central heating, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Instead, he unpacked his bag and found his Bible, reading it for some semblance of comfort.

This pattern had continued for years, until that fateful night when Lucifer, now twenty-three had left a nineteen year old Cas curled up in his cupboard. The night that he had been rescued.

Once again Cas came out of his thoughts and felt himself being hugged close, he looked around and saw that someone had carried him to bed. The duvet had been wrapped tightly around his body and on either side of him, Sam and Dean sat, patiently talking to him soothingly and stroking his sweaty hair.

"S'alright. It's over, you aren't there any more. We just need you to tell us who did this to you." Dean smiled at Cas and waited patiently, freezing when Cas opened his mouth.

"Lu…" Cas' voice was rough and hoarse from misuse, but Sam and Dean just gave him reassuring nods, squeezing his hand tighter for comfort.

"B-br-other. Luc-ifer." Cas' voice broke multiple times and his face screwed up as he began to cry harder than ever. He had spoken. He had gone against orders. Lucifer would surely kill him now.

"Well done Cas, well don. You did it. You are ok now, we can sort this." Sam lifted Cas into a sitting position and rested them both against the headboard, stroking Castiel's back until the sobbing was replaced with low moans and whimpers. It tore the brothers to see the boy like this, but they now knew part of what happened. Dean just couldn't comprehend it. His brother had done this? How could anyone do this to another human, let alone a member of their family? The idea of hurting Sammy, causing him an ounce of pain made Dean shudder. He was going to kill the son of a bitch who did this. It was Lucifer who would regret the day he was ever born.

With a sigh Dean realised that it was too late to head over to the cottage, they could hardly leave Castiel in this state. He was a wreck. The elder Winchester laid himself down and allowed Cas to snuggle into his chest, Sammy doing the same until all three men were asleep. Of course, this did not last, with Sammy being so huge and managing to fall out of bed.

However, Dean and Cas remained next to each other the whole night, when he first woke up at three Dean was tempted to move, but seeing Cas' face which was still blotchy with tears, he just didn't have the heart to pull away. Besides, Cas felt warm against him and the motel room was just so cold, definitely not because Dean was nervous about the next day. No, it was the busted air-con...

So yeah, I was finally pretty happy with a chapter. I think I began to answer some of your questions, and hope that you agreed. So next time I think we should throw some up-to-date Lucifer in the mix :) I really hope that you enjoyed this, please review as this chapter probably took me about 5 hours and I would really love some feedback. Also, if there are any plot requests please let me know, the more inspiration I have the more I can write!