A/N: Thanks to my guest reviewer. Thanks to all you wonderful people :)

Cas, sorry about this...


Chapter 8

Things were looking worse for them with every passing moment. Castiel glowered at Meg, who was clearly enjoying the angel's predicament. This was the second time she'd stood outside of his prison, though at least this one was made merely of metal, and not a ring of burning holy oil.

Of course, he had tried to smite her, and then used her body as a bridge over the flames—burning her horribly in the process—so perhaps it was only natural that she would gloat over his capture. Again.

"When I get free of this," he snarled at her, stepping right up to the cage door, "I will kill you."

"I'm sure whatever you're saying isn't very nice," Meg replied, cool and soft voice slithering through the metal fence. "So, screw you, angel. Just sit tight. My boss wants a word."

"Wait, her 'boss'?" Dean demanded from the next pen, stiffening. "Cas, she doesn't mean…?"

Castiel felt all his fur go on end as the new presence seeped through the building like poisoned fumes. There was a collective whimper from the other dogs, and in the following silence, only the softest of echoes could be heard of the slow footsteps creeping down the aisle.

"Yes," the angel whispered, taking a step back in spite of himself. He gulped, tail pressing down. "Yes, Dean, that's who she means."

"Well, well, well…"

Lucifer's voice was barely over a whisper, yet Castiel found himself lowering slightly to the floor under the weight of so much evil laden in its sibilant sound. His heart was pounding; the angel had been Lucifer's prisoner once before, and had hoped he would never have to repeat that horrible experience. As the Devil drew even with him, looking down into the pen, Castiel glared up at his brother.

"Castiel," Lucifer greeted him, mouth quirking up in a half smile. Of course he would recognize the angel instantly. "You're looking… well, I can't really say 'good'." He regarded the lesser angel for a moment without another word, before twisting his head to examine a still growling Dean. "And Dean Winchester… Michael's prided vessel… I have to say, when I stationed my demons here, I was only expecting to find Sam, not you two. This is a nice surprise."

One of Lucifer's hands rose in Dean's direction. Castiel lunged at the door in desperation, colliding with it in a jangle of cold metal.

"Don't!" he shouted, but the Devil had already snapped his fingers. There was a bright flash, while Castiel rushed to the fence walling him away from Dean, pressing against it and straining to see. When the light faded, the angel slumped, breathing easier to see that his brother hadn't killed Dean. Instead, a very alive, very human hunter was sprawled on his stomach inside the dog pen, clothes dusty and mussed.

"What the-" Dean gasped, lifting a hand to his face to look at it. Castiel could see the flicker of relief as the older Winchester registered his usual body. Dean scrambled to his feet, spreading both arms out as much as he could. The size of the cage limited his movements, just barely tall enough to stand in, and too narrow to be considered comfortable.

"Lucifer…" Castiel said, stepping back to the cage door and raising his muzzle boldly. "Let him out."

"Mmm, can't do that," Lucifer replied with the same half-smile that negated the apologetic tone.

"Can't do what? What did he say? Cas, what did you say?" Dean looked between the two, no longer able to understand the barking and growling of the dogs' language.

"Then kill us and be done with it," the angel snapped. His muzzle lifted even higher, proud and fierce. He was terrified, of course, but he knew Lucifer's penchant for playing games, a cat toying with his captive mice, and the angel would rather just get this over with.

Lucifer, however, spread his hands with feigned innocence. "Why would I do that?" he asked. "You're underestimating your use to me, brother." Reaching up, the Devil merely brushed a fingertip delicately against the padlock keeping the pen closed and it fell to the floor, burning white hot with a soft sizzle. The door to Castiel's cage swung open, but the Husky took a step back instead of trying to run for freedom.

"Hey!" Dean shouted, pressing against the chain-link wall, though his hands were too large to slip through; the best he could do was clutch the fence, watching as Lucifer reached in and pressed a heavy hand on Castiel's head.

The angel felt his brother's power, holding him at bay, preventing him from voluntary movement. He growled as Lucifer coaxed him forward, out of the kennel. Castiel could see Meg grinning, which didn't make him feel any better. From behind him, he heard Dean slam into the fence in anger, yelling again,

"Hey! What are you doing? I swear, Lucifer, if you hurt him-"

"Why would I hurt him?" the archangel interrupted, voice silky and smooth and full of subtle venom. "I need Castiel."

"I told you," the angel snarled, trying to shake loose but finding himself paralyzed by his brother's hand. "I will not join your fight. You might as well kill me now."

"That would just be wasteful," Lucifer replied with a shrug. A gentle hand started rubbing slow circles around Castiel's ears, making the angel shudder and strain to pull away, but Lucifer refused to let go. "Look, guys, I'm not really so bad."

"Bite me," Dean snapped. A demon kicked the fence to the pen that the hunter was trapped in, making him jump.

"When will you two learn to trust me? I won't hurt either of you. Sam likes you. If I killed you, you think he'd ever say yes?"

At the mention of Sam, Castiel tensed slightly, eyes darting to examine Lucifer's face more closely. Did the archangel already have the younger Winchester, then? Were they to be tortured as a means of making the hunter accept Lucifer?

"No," the Devil went on, as casual as could be, scratching the top of Castiel's head in a show of what the angel doubted was affection. "But having said that, wherever you find one Winchester, you find the other, so I'm sure we'll be seeing Sam shortly."

"So we're nothing but bait," Castiel growled, though a bit of tension released from his shoulders—Sam was still free, at least for the moment.

"Of course not. You're my brother." Lucifer was still smiling, now rubbing under Castiel's chin though he fought to pull away. "And the offer still stands, of course. I could use a good angel like you, Castiel."

The warrior angel narrowed his eyes, managing to wrench his face away, though he still couldn't move far with Lucifer's power keeping him stationary. None of the other dogs in the pound had so much as twitched, though Castiel was certain this was fear, and not his brother's influence. Looking over at Dean, trapped inside the padlocked kennel, the angel demanded,

"So you let me live if I agree to fight for you, is that it? And what about Dean?"

Lucifer's eyes flicked that direction as well, smiling slightly. "What about him?"

"What about me, what?" Dean asked with a suspicious glare. "Look, I think we're all being a little rash. Why don't you just let us go, and-"

"You're stalling, Dean," Lucifer suddenly said, keeping one hand on Castiel's head and reaching the other out, palm up. Instantly, a cell phone appeared in his outstretched hand, and the hunter's expression turned guilty and nervous. The Devil only smiled, then snorted in amusement as he examined the thing. "And just who was this message for help supposed to go to?" he asked. "Your friend, Bobby Singer, perhaps?"

"What? No?"

Castiel winced; he'd forgotten that Dean had a phone in his pocket, reappearing when the hunter had been turned back into a human. Even if he'd succeeded, though, what would Bobby have been able to do to help them, several states away and without any means to fight the Devil? Fortunately, Lucifer seemed more amused than angry at the attempt, as he chuckled.

"Dean, where would the fun be in that? You think an old cripple would be any match for me or my demons? I'm saving his life by keeping him out of this. You should thank me. I don't think you'll be needing this… or any of those blades, or the gun, for that matter."

Letting go of Castiel for a moment, Lucifer snapped his fingers again. The phone in his hand disappeared; from the way Dean jolted and started patting at his pockets frantically, so had all of his weapons. Castiel winced again. Could this position get any worse?

Right on cue—and really, the angel should have known better than to even think such a question—there was a fierce sound of barking from outside, the thud of heavy paws racing towards them. For a second, Castiel wondered with dismay if that was Sam abandoning all sense and racing in to the rescue.

Instead, he was met with the sight of two massive Dobermans, too large to have passed for natural even if he hadn't been able to see the hideous, mutilated faces that the pair were sporting. Castiel gaped, at a loss. The demons were possessing dogs? Had they thought it would make Sam easier to find?

"Are you kidding-" Lucifer burst out, cutting off and looking upwards with an impatient sigh. Clearly this had not been done intentionally. Castiel glanced over at Dean, who met his gaze with a baffled shrug. The archangel got to his feet, crossing his arms as he eyed the panting dogs. "Had ourselves an accident, did we?"

"Master," one of the demon-dogs whined, slinking down low to the ground. "It was some crazy lady. She was looking for Sam Winchester, too."

"We were following her," the other took up, pointed ears alert. "She knew he was a dog. I don't know how-"

"That will do," Lucifer cut in, rolling his eyes. "I know exactly who's been interfering with my vessel." The archangel turned back around, glaring down at Castiel, who took another step back. His older brother was looking decidedly less amused now, and that was never good. "Last chance, Castiel. You're sure you won't reconsider?"

Castiel looked from one demon to the other, all five of which were converging on him now. A whine was building up in his chest, but he pushed it back down, refusing to show fear. With Dean still stuck in his cage, with even less means of defending himself, the angel didn't dare make a break for it, lest they punish the human for it.

Turning back to the Devil, Castiel pulled his muzzle into a snarl, showing his teeth. "No."

With another sigh, Lucifer shrugged and turned away. "Your call," he tossed over his shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, I have a vessel to find."

"Hey, wait!" Dean shouted from the kennel, fingers still wrapped in the fence. "Aren't you going to change him back?"

Lucifer half turned his direction, smirking. "Why? If he could fly properly like this, he would have done it by now. Besides… can't have you two plotting, now can I? This saves me so much trouble. I'll have to thank the pagan whore for that."

"What- what about us?" one of the Doberman demons asked, but Lucifer's smirk fell away.

"You were in a human body when you let Sam escape, so maybe you'll be more useful like this. Guard these two. Oh and by the way," he added, rubbing his hand with a frown, "you might want to muzzle him. They bite."

And then he was gone, leaving Castiel to back into the wall as the demons surged in. The angel could hear Dean yelling in the background, but his sole attention was placed on fighting off the mass of bodies covering him, holding him down. If he'd only been in his usual vessel, with angel blade in hand, he wouldn't have needed his full grace to eliminate these demons. As it was, Castiel found himself tackled to the ground and held there despite his squirming. There were three demons on top of him, keeping his limbs pinned, while another was securing a collar around his neck.

Meg, meanwhile, had found a muzzle that the human workers must have kept on hand in case of emergencies. She knelt over Castiel, shoving the leather contraption over his snout. The angel felt it holding his jaws shut, so unforgiving that he couldn't open his mouth even a little. It muffled both his furious snarls and his pained yelp as she jerked the buckles in place and fastened them much tighter than it needed to be, so that the straps dug into Castiel's face.

"That's for burning me," she hissed in his ear, giving the dog a shake. He wanted to growl out a retort, but had to settle for an enraged glare instead. Between the muzzle and the collar cutting into his throat, it was getting difficult to breathe properly.

By now, one of the demons had attached a leash to the collar and threaded it through the chain link fence, pulling it taut to keep Castiel trapped where he was. There wasn't enough slack for him to sit upright, though he tugged fiercely in an attempt to get up anyway, once the demons had moved off of him. Finding it useless, Castiel grumbled in the back of his throat and fixed a steely glare on Meg again.

"What?" she asked, eyes narrowed. "I'm letting you off easy, Clarence… just because you're kind of cute like this."

"You're a friggin' coward, you know that?" Dean spat at her from his cage, slamming a palm against the fence hard. "You wouldn't be so tough if he was free!"

Castiel had to twist his head uncomfortably far in order to see his friend; when he tried to maneuver himself around so that he could at least keep an eye on Dean, though, one of the Dobermans leaped forward to stand threateningly over him.

"Stay down, angel," he warned with a snarl. Castiel shifted his glare up to this demon, responding with a muffled growl.

Meg ignored all of this, turning to Dean instead. She frowned, then raised a hand to throw him back, slamming the human into the rear of the fenced-in pen. Dean hit with a grunt then fell to the floor, eliciting another muted sound of anger from the angel.

"No one asked you," she said, cool as ever, as she moved in to squat in front of the hunter's cage. "And when Lucifer gets back here in his new, sweet ride, he won't need you anymore. I hope I get to kill you myself." The demon smiled, then stood back up. Castiel watched as she turned to the possessed pound worker. "I'm going to scout the perimeter," she told him. "Watch them until I get back."

The demon nodded, his smug grin already turned in Castiel and Dean's direction. The angel's mind raced; their options were getting thin. There was nothing holding him but the physical restraints; they hadn't bound his grace with sigils, so he could fly himself out of there, maybe even escape. But that was out of the question. They would take it out on Dean, and what would Castiel do after escaping anyway?

They could bide their time and hope that Sam managed to continue to evade Lucifer, but realistically, the younger hunter would find his way to his captured brother. Sam would walk right into this trap, if he knew Dean was in danger. They couldn't sit back and wait to be rescued.

They could try to fight their way free, but Lucifer had not only taken Dean's weapons, he'd taken their sole means of communicating, as well. Castiel couldn't talk with the muzzle on, and Dean couldn't understand him anyway now that he was human again.

Of course, trying to think of an escape plan was difficult with the distraction of the two hideously mutated demon Dobermans pacing back and forth in front of him, staring like they were only barely restraining themselves from attacking. Castiel watched them, noting their ill-concealed hatred.

"Hey," one of the demons blurted out, both Castiel and Dean jumping slightly at the sudden break in the thick silence. "Any of you guys ever seen a dog fight?"

Castiel stared at the demon speaking, not understanding. He heard a rustle from Dean, though, as the hunter pulled himself back to the front of the pen.

"You son of a bitch," Dean seethed; Castiel smelled fear. "You even think about it-"

"There's an idea," one of the others interrupted with obvious delight. She knelt down between the two Dobermans, looking from one to the other with a huge grin. "What do you think? A little entertainment to pass the time?"

"Oh, just let me at him!" one of the demon dogs barked with great enthusiasm, turning wild eyes to Castiel, who grumbled wordlessly again. Great. And he couldn't move. This was going to be a very one-sided fight.

The others couldn't understand the demon as a dog, but the shift in the Doberman's positions was all the answer they needed. Both crouched low, circling around Castiel as the angel scrambled to get as high on his feet as the leash would allow—basically still lying on the ground. There was a bang from Dean's cage, as the hunter yelled,

"You even try it, and I swear I'll-"

"Yeah? You'll what?" one of the demons asked with a snicker.

"No, leave him alone!" Another bang on the fence, and now Dean's distress was all too evident. "Cas… Cas, just fly! Go!"

"Yeah, 'Cas'," the female demon mocked. "Fly away. Save yourself. I'm sure Dean would put up a good fight in your place. Well… before he gets turned into puppy chow, I mean."

"Cas, go! Please, just run for it!"

But he couldn't just leave, and surely Dean knew that. Castiel's eyes locked on the looming Dobermans, both of whom were larger and had free range of motion and the use of their teeth.

This was going to hurt.

"Sic 'im, boys," the first demon ordered with a smile.

The Dobermans needed no further invitation. In perfectly synchronized movements, both of them leaped at the downed angel with teeth bared.