Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and whatnot. Just to reiterate my warning: There are references to rape and sex, lots of cussing, and eventually violence. Please keep this in mind so I don't get any bad reviews about some content. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or the characters involved.

A week had passed since his visit from Castiel. Sam was exhausted. He couldn't sleep for every attempt ended in a cold sweat and the memories of whatever nightmare tormented him at the time. He couldn't eat, he barely drank unless it was a beer, overall he looked worse for wear. Worse still, Dean was supposed to come back that night and once he saw Sam's sickly appearance, panic and worry were sure to follow.

"Well hello there Sammy, long time no see," Lucifer appeared. Sam groaned.

"Leave me alone," he muttered miserably.

"Hmm… Not usually the Winchester response. You look quite awful you know that?"

"I'm well aware,"

"I'm surprised you aren't trying to kill me,"

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" He eyed the devil wearily, too tired to even feel fear anymore towards this hallucination. Now he was annoyed.

"I don't think so. What, might I ask, is wrong with you?"

"Just shut up,"

This angered Lucifer.

"You listen here," he suddenly snapped, "you pathetic piece of meat. You might have been special at one point, but now that I don't need you as a vessel you are nothing but another ant for me to step on, so I suggest you keep that mouth shut,"

Sam was admittedly thrown off by this. He wasn't used to this type of response.

"You aren't real," he sighed more to himself than the evil presence in front of him.

"Oh trust me Sammy, I am very real," he said in a low voice.

"Just leave me alone, please," he practically begged.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He demanded more forcefully this time. Sam didn't answer. Lucifer was not the type to be ignored. "I asked you a question, I expect a response," he grabbed the hunter by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Suddenly Sam was wide eyed.

No matter how afraid Sam was of each and every hallucination, especially those involving the devil, he always held on to the tiny bit of knowledge that none of them could touch him. They gave him the illusion of sharp pain and burning, but never could they reach out and touch him. This knowledge allowed him to hold onto a tiny bit of sanity, just enough to keep him from going completely bat-shit crazy.

Yet here he was, his neck being squeezed by what he had thought was merely a hallucination. But… It had to all be fake right? Lucifer was in his cage, the seals had not been broken again, so what the hell was going on?

"You…This can't be real. You've never been able to… You can't touch me," he choked, in denial. Once again, Lucifer seemed incredibly confused. His brow furrowed for a moment, and then suddenly, realization hit him. A slow smile began to twitch his lips, growing larger with each passing second. His voice lowered into a smooth menacing murmur as he released Sam from his grip.

"Oh Sam, they actually put that pathetically tortured thing back inside you didn't they? You know, when Death retrieved your soul I thought maybe he was taking it to heaven, that God had actually convinced Death to run an errand for him. That seemed more plausible and logical than returning it to your body. But, here you are, fully in tact! Tell me Sammy, how's your noodle now a day? Have a bit of a headache?"

"What is going on?"

"Well, I don't know how to break this to you, but I'm 100% real and very much here with you right now," his smile grew. Sam tried to swallow his fear.

"That's impossible, the seals…."

"Have not been broken, I know. I'm just as surprised as you are,"

Sam refused to believe that Lucifer was actually there. However, deep inside he knew. In the twisting of his gut he could sense the truth. This was not how the fake Lucifer acted. This was different, and he had been able to touch him… His palms began to sweat and his heart raced frantically.

"Ah," the devil inhaled deeply, "You have no idea how good it is to smell fear again. Now this is the Sammy I know so well," he winked.

"But how?" He croaked.

"Someone pulled me out,"

"Who?"

"See, I can't tell you that. One of the conditions to this whole binding spell thing," at the mention of the spell his expression went sour, as if he had a bad taste in his mouth.

"Binding spell?"

"Yes, like the one you tried to put on Death,"

"I didn't think you could bind the Devil,"

"You can bind God with the right spell, it's just really fucking difficult. It's not particularly easy to bind me either but hell, they did it!"

"I've only known angels and Death to be able to remove a person from hell though."

Lucifer said nothing and instead just raised his brow with a sly smile.

"Death?"

No response.

"Look, if you expect me to believe that an angel pulled you out of hell then you must be a complete idiot," he growled.

"I don't expect you to believe anything. I don't give a shit what you believe,"

"How, though? Explain that to me,"

"I don't know, Sam, but I figure if two pathetic humans and the sorry shell of an angel can put me in my cage than why shouldn't an Archangel be able to pull me out?" He shrugged. Sam was shocked by the mention of an archangel. Most of the angels were already stuck up and very righteous as it was, an archangel was just that much worse. They would never stoop so low as to free Lucifer. Another thought intruded upon his mind and he couldn't help but ask.

"Why you? Why not Michael? I mean, he's an angel,"

"I don't know,"

"Then why are you here?"

"I need your help," each word dripped with venom, almost like it pained him to say them. Sam couldn't help but snort. "Mock me and you will regret it. If it were not for the fact that I have been ordered not to harm you, Dean, and even that pet angel of yours, you would all be dead by now,"

"And you want me to do what? Break the binding spell?"

"Exactly,"

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"You're a smart boy, I'm sure you'll figure something out,"

"Why would I help you?" Sam finally asked.

"If you do I promise safety to you and your brother. Hell, I'll even allow Castiel to live,"

"Safety from what exactly?"

He began to smile, "me,"

"What if I say no, you can't hurt me anyway," he reminded him.

"Well," he began with that sickeningly sweet tone, "then I tell Dean, Cas, I'll tell everyone you've ever come in contact with everything we did together in the cage,"

"Y-You raped me," Sam spluttered, "there's nothing else to tell."

"You didn't enjoy it at all?" He raised a brow.

"No…"

"Even when I sucked you off?"

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" He suddenly snapped. He had tried to long not to think about that, about everything that had happened.

In Hell, it had all been torture for so long. There had been so much terror and pain, and then suddenly things had changed. At first, it was rape, but eventually, Sam was willing to do anything not to feel pain. He was willing to do anything to feel just a split second of pleasure.

Anything.

It didn't hurt either that Lucifer had chosen an attractive vessel to begin with. So after a while, Sam unwillingly became drawn to the devil, becoming naturally excited by his presence. Even now, standing there, his heart was hammering and he felt an odd twisting in his stomach. He wondered if his face was red.

"Or I could just kill you," Sam suddenly said, as if he was just now realizing this. He carefully walked over to his bag, keeping a good distance between himself and the evil presence, and withdrawing an angel blade. "I mean, you're still an angel aren't you? Maybe evil and twisted, but you belong to the angel species. This could still kill you couldn't it?" Sam waved the silver stake-like weapon in the air.

Lucifer tried to hide the sliver of fear that crawled under his skin. He was defenseless essentially. Even as a masterful liar, even Sam could see that slight change in demeanor and the tiniest strain behind his smile.

"I can give you Crowley," he added. Sam thought this over.

"What about Meg?" He asked. The devil wrinkled his nose in slight confusion.

"What about her?"

"Can you guarantee her protection too? And for Bobby?"

"Want to add the entire U.S. population while you're at it? Fine!" He growled.

"And I want you to put back the wall,"

"Wall?"

"When Death replaced my soul he put up a mental wall to keep me from remembering Hell," he explained.

"And you want me to create a new one? How the hell am I supposed to do that?" His brow furrowed.

"You're smart, I'm sure you'll figure something out," he shot back.

"But Sammy, then you won't remember all the fun times we ha…"

"No, no joking, teasing, mocking, none of that crap. I get enough of that from you on a daily basis. I need to know when it's actually you, so none of that shit," he threatened darkly.

While he would never admit it, Lucifer was scared of Sam, just a little. He was walking a slippery slope with the distraught Winchester. He now had the ability and means to kill him, and the only thing keeping him alive was the fact that he was expected to fix his damaged brain. Nonetheless, he would never show this fear. He would continue to push, to show that he was still the true King of Hell and would not allow him himself to be belittled by this pathetic human.

"Fine," he shrugged.

"So is that it?"

"Oh, you mean is the deal sealed? Not quite yet, no. Come on Sammy, you of all people should know how this works,"

"You mean we have to, you know,"

"Kiss? Yes,"

Sam had had his fill of kisses from Lucifer and had been contented with the thought of never experiencing them again. "I thought that was Crowley's thing," he pointed out.

"I'm Lucifer, the original King of Hell, where do you think he got it from?" He teased lightly. Sam internally groaned at this. Before the devil could say anything else he closed the distance between them and smashed his lips against the other man's. He tried to keep it short, but Lucifer had other plans and wrapped his fingers in Sam's long brown hair, making him immobile. The devil's lips were warm, hot even, and pressed firmly against the hunter. At first, he thought it was his way tormenting the younger Winchester, but then something happened. A sharp pain shot through his head and throbbed agonizingly. He pushed Lucifer away and gasped for breath, holding his temples and wincing.

"What the fuck did you do?"

"Oh, not much just decided to speed up the process of insanity. Your hallucinations are going to be so much worse; just a little incentive to work fast is all. See you soon Sammy," and with a sly wink, he was gone.

"Sometimes I forget how attractive I am," this time he knew it was fake Lucifer.

"Not now," he practically cried, falling to his knees, holding his head and trying to fight through the pain.

"But Sammy, wait, I brought a friend this time," he exclaimed excitedly. Suddenly, standing beside him was Michael, still in Adam's body. He stared down at the writhing man with pure fury. Sam cowered away. Even in hell, he had feared the angel more than he had the devil.

"Sam Winchester, it's so good to see you again. You trapped me in hell and left me there. I'm going to kill you. First I'm going to tear your mind apart, and then I'm going to kill you," he hissed.

"Oh, and Sammy, look! With your noggin all knocked around and mushy, I was able to learn a new trick. Watch!" He snapped his fingers and suddenly everything went black.

He was back in the cage.

There was nowhere for him to hide, he was trapped with the two beings who had for so long been worse than a nightmare.

Michael started to move towards him, slowly. There was no rush, he knew there was nowhere for him to run and he would do what he wanted until Sam was nothing but a bloodied mess.

"Don't worry Sammy, I'll make it all better when he's done. I'll make you feel good," Lucifer murmured headily.

"No, leave me alone!" He screamed.

"Hey, Sammy, hey!" Dean's voice tore him back to reality. "Come on, come back," he shook his brother slightly.

Sam looked up at Dean and tears glistened in his eyes. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. Instead Dean just held him.

Dean sat in the driver's seat of his Impala. The sun was just beginning to show signs of making an appearance, a slight glow breaking through the darkness on the horizon. He let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.

They finally had managed to get Sam to sleep after two strong sleeping pills and a little angel mojo from Cas. Now he was left to his own worries. He hated seeing his brother like this, and he hated how useless he felt. There was nothing he could do to protect Sam, though he was determined to find a way.

"How is he doing?"

"Dammit Cas!" Dean cursed. "Stop doing that!"

"I'm sorry Dean," The blue-eyed angel said, staring straight ahead.

"Well, he thinks Michael and Lucifer are in the hotel room trying to kill him and that he is in hell but other than that he's doing just peachy," Dean snapped.

"I'm sorry, but right now we have a more pressing issue,"

"Look, I don't care if the whole damn world is coming to an end nothing is more impor-"

"Lucifer has been freed," This caught the hunter's attention. He stared at Cas.

"That's impossible, he's still in his cage," Dean shook his head.

"Well someone pulled him out,"

"How do you know this?" He wondered.

"Sam told me,"

With that Dean relaxed and felt a small rush of relief. He rolled his eyes, "He's a little off his rocker at the moment Cas,"

"Sam is tormented by his hallucinations, but he is able to determine what is real and not. He recognizes that he is going insane. This was different though, he believes this to be one hundred percent real. The way he spoke, I believe him Dean," Cas said completely seriously.

"So he is getting worse,"

"There is bruising around his neck that coincides with his story,"

"Maybe he did it to himself. Look Cas, we put that son-of-a-bitch in his cage and there is no way he could have gotten out. Besides, why would he tell you instead of me?"

"Because he knew you wouldn't believe him," he sighed, finally meeting his eyes with Dean's.

Dean went silent, feeling a pit in his stomach. That's how Sammy felt? Like he couldn't trust him? He was his brother, they weren't supposed to keep secrets. But he hadn't been wrong, here he was doubting him. However, this was Lucifer! It had taken a good amount of time for Lilith to break the seals, and it had taken a good amount of effort to put the bastard back. So the idea that he could just be pulled out was ridiculous! Yet… He had to trust Sammy didn't he? He ran his fingers against his lips in thought.

"Alright, okay, assuming this is true, not saying it is but for Sam's sake let's just pretend, who and why?"

"The only thing we know is that it was an archangel. He has been put under a binding spell so we aren't sure why they did it, or what they plan to use him for,"

"So basically we know absolutely nothing. What the hell did Lucifer want anyway?"

"He wants us to break the binding spell,"

"And Sammy said yes?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, apparently he is…"Cas furrowed his brow, before adding, "red mailing him?"

"You mean black mailing,"

"Right,"

"What could he possibly have over Sam that would make him agree to help the devil?"

"Something big enough to keep from me and you. I don't know Dean,"

"So we are going to help Lucifer in exchange for keeping secrets? Have you guys lost your minds?" He snapped.

"He will protect you, Sam, myself, Meg, Bobby, along with replacing the wall in your brothers head and handing us Crowley on a silver platter," Cas said seriously in his deep gravelly voice, "I think it's something we have to consider,"

Dean had barely heard anything else, just the part about the wall. If Lucifer could replace that wall, hell, Dean would sell his own soul if needed. He would do anything for the safety of his brother, even if that meant helping their enemy.

"Alright, okay, so we help him. How do we know he will keep his word though?" He wondered.

"Uh," suddenly, the blue-eyed angel looked very awkward, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Cas?"

"Well," he cleared his throat, "there is only one was to seal a deal with a demon,"

Dean raised his brows. "You mean they, you know, kissed?"

"Yes,"

"I thought that was Crowley's thing,"

"Well, perhaps Crowley adopted it from Lucifer," Cas suggested.

"He's not even a real demon though, right? He's an angel,"

"Yes, technically he in an angel, but do not mistake him for being anything like me or my brothers and sisters. He is wicked, his grace stained and tainted with pure evil. His exile created a monster far worse than any demon we have encountered before. So while he belongs to the angels in species, he is no more an angel than any common demon," he explained.

"So we help the devil," he sighed. He couldn't believe those words were coming from his mouth. He had teamed up with vampires, demons, even Death himself, but Lucifer? Even that felt strange to the hunter. Simply saying those words left a sour flavor in his mouth. Family came first, though, and Sam was all that mattered. He would do anything to help fix that mess of a mind, even if that meant helping the epitome of evil.

"The first thing we need to do is find out who cast the spell to begin with. It may lead to clues to how to break it," Cas told him.

"How do we do that?" Dean wondered. Angel tracking was hard enough. They had no leads and no clues. Essentially, they were screwed.

"We watch the papers, have Sam monitor the interweb, if the archangel brought Lucifer out and not Michael, it was for a purpose. He will eventually turn up somewhere,"

"And if that doesn't work?" Dean raised a skeptical eyebrow. The angel suddenly looked tired.

"I don't know," it was obvious Castiel was distressed. The hunter could not help but feel a little responsible for it too. After all, he relied on him for practically everything now a day, as if he expected him to always have the answer. He was constantly releasing his frustrations out on him, and to top it all off, the poor trench-coated fool blamed himself for Sam's condition and just about everything wrong with the world. He was beaten down and broken but ever so determined to fix it all. It wasn't particularly fair.

"Hey, it's alright, we'll figure it out," Dean reached across and rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Cas offered him a small smile in return and Dean couldn't help but beam at that. He loved it when Cas smiled. He didn't do it often, as he was normally so serious and stone-faced. So when he did smile, it made him feel like things were right in the world, just for that second, and he could relax. It was also nice to see his friend not so incredibly uptight.

"You should smile more," he was thinking more out loud than he was actually directing the statement at the confused angel. Castiel tilted his head curiously.

"Why?"

"It makes you look happy, more relaxed, and would stress people out less," he explained.

"Oh," he frowned, "do I stress you out?"

"Well yeah, sometimes, but everyone does. Don't worry about it,"

Castiel turned away for a second, and at first he thought he had offended his friend. However, when he turned back around, Dean lost himself in a fit of laughter. Castiel had plastered on the cheesiest, most forced grin that Dean had ever seen. Tears sprang to his eyes and his sides began to ache. The angel just sat there, looking more confused than he had before.

"Did it make you happy?" he finally asked when his friend's laughter had subsided and dissolved into a simple wide-smile.

"Yes, but you don't have to do that. Just don't be afraid to show that you are happy once in a while,"