Chapter 6

Sam's heart stopped when he heard the first scream erupt from his brother's mouth. He and Cas froze, quite forgetting their struggle.

Dean writhed on the floor, rolling and convulsing as some horrible battle raged on inside him.

"Dean!" Sam cried, lunging toward his brother, but Castiel grabbed him back.

"No, Sam, wait!"

Dean dragged himself to his knees, but his movements were jerky, two minds trying to wrest control of the same body.

"IF YOU CAST ME OUT NOW, I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Dean's voice shrieked. "I WILL TEAR YOU APART FROM THE INSIDE OUT!"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" the same voice answered.

Dean's head turned toward the Cage, and his mouth opened in another blood-curdling scream.

White-hot light shot out of his mouth, streaking through the hole in the Cage's defenses. The light continued to pour out, but it wasn't a steady stream, as if Michael was trying desperately to cling to Dean tooth and nail, leaving a jagged trail.

The whole room vibrated, shaking dust loose from the walls and making the stone creak ominously.

Even though the light burned his eyes, Sam lunged forward again when Dean's screams grew even more intense. But he was forced to throw his arm up when the light grew blindingly bright.

And all the while, on the other side of the gate, Lucifer laughed and laughed and laughed.

"Serves you right, big brother!" he jeered, his cackling growing wilder. "NEVER TRUST A WINCHESTER!"

Then he vanished, disappearing into some darker corner of his prison.

Suddenly, Dean's voice ceased it's bone-chilling cry. The last few tendrils of light left him, to be swallowed by the darkness of the Cage, and walls stopped shaking. Everything was terribly silent.

Sam opened his eyes.

Dean was still on his knees, swaying off-balance. Sam could hear his ragged breaths coming in painful gasps.

And then Dean fell. With a muffled thud, he fell on his back and lay very still.

"DEAN!" Sam cried, ripping free of Castiel's hold and running to his brother, followed closely by the angel.

Sam slumped to his knees at Dean's side, stomach roiling with nausea. His brother's eyes were closed, but thin tear trails leaked from them and ran down his pale face. Only they weren't from tears, they were from blood. More blood had erupted from his ears and stained his neck.

"Dean?" Sam whispered, fighting down the panic.

Dean took a rattling gasp of air. Sam couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief.

"He's alive," he said to Cas, though it was more to reassure himself.

"You should take him out of here," came a husky accented voice from behind them. Sam turned to see Crowley had reappeared, an odd look of concern on the demon's face as he stared down at Dean's broken form. "I'll clean up and put the kids to bed."

Crowley approached the Cage and began resetting its defenses. From somewhere deep within its depths came the hollow echoes of Lucifer's maniacal laughter.

Sam glared at the King of Hell, wanting nothing more than to rip the demon apart as he had promised so many times before. But Dean came first.

"Cas, help me get him up," Sam said.

Together, Sam and Castiel were able to pull Dean into a sitting position, and then onto Sam's shoulders.

"I can carry him…" Cas began, but Sam shook his head.

"I got him. Let's go."

Cas stuck close to Sam to steady him as he began carrying his brother up the stairs, but Sam didn't falter.

"Moose," Crowley called before they reached the top. "I'm sorry it came to this. I truly am."

Sam paused for a moment, then kept going.

They had just passed through the door leading out of the antechamber when Dean shifted slightly.

"Hey, I think he's waking up!" Sam said, easing himself to his knees so Castiel could pull Dean off of him.

Together they gently laid Dean on the stone floor, kneeling on either side of him.

Sam put one hand on Dean's forehead and the other on his chest. He could just barely feel his heartbeat through his sweat-soaked shirt.

"Dean?" Sam called. "Can you hear me, buddy?"

Dean took another ragged breath, then opened his eyes slightly. The white parts were completely flooded with blood.

Sam and Castiel traded relieved looks.

"Hey, man," Sam said. "You okay?"

Dean didn't answer. Instead his bloody eyes opened just a little bit wider.

Then they rolled back into his skull and his body began violently jerking.

Sam cried out in surprise and horror, desperately holding Dean down as the seizure tore through him. Castiel did the same.

"We have to get him to a hospital!" Sam yelled. "Can you get us out of here?"

"I'm too weak to carry you both!" Cas cried as Dean's convulsing grew more violent. "I'll come back for you!"

And then he and Dean were gone, and Sam was utterly alone.