Chapter 4

The blood of a fallen angel. The blood of an alpha. The blood of the leader of fallen humanity. The three bloods of the fallen. Sam poured the mixture over the righteous bone, sharpened to a point at one end. No incantation, no lightning or glowing when it was finished. Just an old bone covered in blood. The brothers eyed each other nervously, then looked to Castiel, who offered a supportive smile. They were unsure. They were always a little unsure. But he was confident. He had taken Crowley's blood to Lucifer for authentication. His gagging fit after tasting it ensured him it was definitely Crowley's. The Winchesters had acquired the blood of the alpha vampire. He had learned not to doubt their capabilities. The blood was good. Maternus of Cologne had been a righteous man in his day. Everything was perfect. It wasn't the weapon that worried him. It was the adversary.

While Lucifer and him were having as close as a heart-to-heart as two fallen angels and former enemies could have, the Winchesters had scoped out Sucrocorp and found that Dick had cloned himself. They were counting on him to identify the head Dick, a statement that got snickers from both of them. He didn't understand what was so funny about the situation.

[xxx]

Castiel's phone rang in his coat pocket. He turned his attention away from his brother, who was lying on his side next to him in the grass, supported by his forearm, to retrieve it.

"You have a cell phone?" Lucifer asked, astounded.

"I acquired it when we were hiding from the angels," he explained, staring at the display screen, "When I hid the Winchesters from all angels I was unable to find them as well. Praying to me would have sent out a clear beacon to their location. So I got a phone." He flipped the device open and greeted Dean in his usual manner. Lucifer listened in on the conversation with keen ears. Castiel's eyes glimmered with concentration as Dean gave him the complicating news. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he told his friend he would get back to them on the situation as he looked for a possible solution.

Lucifer eyed him as he snapped the phone shut and returned it to his pocket. "So… You know that's hardly an issue, right?"

Castiel stared at him incredulously. "Multiple copies of the same man, with no way to identify which one is their true leader, and only one shot at killing him. That's not an issue?"

"Not really," Lucifer grinned at his brother's bewildered expression. "Cas, you had all of those things swimming around in your meat-suit for, what, two days? Three? That's enough time to get to know them, don't you think? You'll know which one's the Dick you want," he snickered like the Winchesters. Castiel was still oblivious to the humor. "One look and you'll know." Castiel just looked down at his hands, resting between his crossed legs. "How did you hide them from the angels so well, anyway? An angel and his vessel are connected, and even I couldn't find Sam Winchester."

"Enochian warding sigils," Castiel informed the older, "I carved them in to their ribs."

Lucifer raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Yep, that'd do it. Creative thinking, by the way." He skipped a beat. "A cell phone? Seriously?"

Castiel chuckled. "I know."

Lucifer laughed softly. "What a peculiar thing you are, brother."

[xxx]

"You sure you're up to this, Cas?" Dean asked after they appeared in the shed where Dean had been hiding the Impala. "We've only got one shot. We're really counting on you here, man."

Castiel met his eyes, a warm smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Those things were writhing inside me for seventy two hours. I know them, in a strange sort of way. Well enough to know which one is the one that pushed through the wall, took me over, and killed me." He smiled fully now, tone light and joking. "Do me a favor and aim for the jugular."

Dean's smile was lighthearted and a little bloodthirsty. "You got it."

"So, can I ask the plan?"

Dean looked to his baby, still covered in a dirty tarp. "Well, according to Crowley, Dick knows we're coming." His eyes glimmered with mischief. "So we're gonna announce ourselves. Big."

The drive to Roman Enterprises was a few hours from Rufus' cabin. Dean insisted on Castiel coming with them instead of waiting. The drive was mostly silent, save for Dean's familiar, odd music, and maddeningly slow for the angel. Even Meg, who was normally full of witty remarks and casual talk, just stared out the window at the forests rolling by. The extra time allotted his mind to wander, and he could not peel it away from the previous day, the day he had spent almost exclusively with Lucifer.

[xxx]

"When the Leviathan were inside me," Castiel had decided it was his turn to be open. Unlike the Winchesters, Lucifer seemed to care what his side of the story was, and was willing to listen. "And all of those other evil souls, I changed. I wasn't myself anymore. I'm not even sure if it was me talking and acting during those three days. All I remember is the anger and the fear." He paused, trying to keep his voice from breaking. "I was terrified."

"Of course you were," his brother looked up at him with concern and empathy, his voice consoling, "you were acting on your own. That's terrifying for any angel. You were also desperate, and feared for the fate of Heaven… and for the Earth and your friends, consequently. You knew your chosen method of control was risky and low, but you had no choice. They used that against you once they were inside of you. The humans forget that after you opened the portal in to Purgatory, it wasn't just you inside that vessel. If this were a court you'd be acquitted by reason of insanity. But it's not a court." Castiel shifted uncomfortably. "It's okay to be afraid, Castiel," his brother's voice was impossibly soothing, "and despite what you've been taught, by the Winchesters and by our brothers, it's okay to make mistakes. It's what you do after you've made them that matters. Fear doesn't have to control you, and your mistakes do not have to define you. They only can if you let them. So, don't let them destroy you."

"They did destroy me," Castiel's lip curled in to a dark half smile at the memory of the Leviathan ripping his vessel apart and suffocating his already dimming Grace.

"And I brought you back," Lucifer said simply, rebalancing his weight a little, "so that you could fix it."

"What?" Castiel looked down at him, holding his eyes. The archangel lifted his eyebrows.

"I brought you back," Lucifer repeated, "Who did you think did it?"

"I – I thought – God," Castiel stumbled over his words, taken aback.

Lucifer snorted. "God doesn't give second chances. Not to us, anyway. I know it's a bit difficult to wrap your head around – you were just a fledgling when I was cast down to Hell – but I have always been there for my brothers. And I always will be." He waited until Castiel met his eyes again to continue his thought, grey eyes drilling in to impossibly blue ones. "I'll always be there for you, Castiel."

[xxx]

"Cas, hey," Castiel snapped out of his memories at the sound of Dean calling him. "Come outta la-la land for a sec," Dean teased, "need your head on this."

"Yes," Castiel gave him his full attention.

"He's just jealous 'cause you weren't thinking about him for once," the Devil taunted in Cas's mind.

"That's inappropriate," Castiel growled, "and hardly accurate. I'm not always thinking of Dean."

"Uh, beg to differ," the Devil badgered, a smile prevalent in the voice that wasn't even there, "I've been your bunk-buddy upstairs for quite a while, ever since you stumbled naked out of those woods, actually. If you're not beating the crap out of yourself you're thinking about your little human pet in some shape or form. I've been waiting for the thoughts to get dirty 'cause what's the point otherwise."

"Yo! Cas!" Dean snapped. "Where's your head at, man?"

"I'm sorry," Cas apologized, trying to put his brother on mute, "I'm just… thinking."

"Well if it ain't about boning some Dick it doesn't matter right now." Sam burst in to laughter in the passenger seat, covering his eyes with his hand. Cas was, once again, oblivious to the humor.

"It's a sexual innuendo," Lucifer explained matter-of-factly. "Dean's being a smartass." Castiel giggled at his brother's dry tone.

Dean glanced at him through the rearview mirror with a grin, impressed that he understood the innuendo. Good for him. Maybe Meg had explained the birds and the bees to him during his time in the hospital. "Just tell me you're good on the plan."

"Very," Cas assured him. "How long until we arrive?"

"That depends on how quickly Dean decides to stop driving like an old lady," berated with a laugh.

"Coming from the guy who always drives under the speed limit," Dean slapped his brother's hands away from the wheel, trying to rouse him. Pushing his foot harder on the gas pedal, Castiel felt the machine roar to life around him. The Impala purred happily as her speedometer passed well over the 45 mile-per-hour speed limit on the road they were taking. 50. 60. 75. Dean was not holding back, pushing it further, and the Impala seemed to respond to his recklessness. Castiel imagined that if the Impala were human, she'd be a greater daredevil than Dean. But it was ridiculous to assign personalities to inanimate objects.

"Pretty sure Dean would smack you if he heard you insulting his precious car like that," Lucifer mocked.

"Pretty sure I'm going to smack you if you don't start shutting up soon," Castiel growled, becoming agitated at the Devil's constant commentary. "Are not our almost daily meet ups enough? When the Winchesters need me, I need to be able to concentrate."

"Chill out, Castiel," Lucifer responded, "I'm bored and you're in a car driving to a hunt. What the hell else is there for either of us to do?"

Castiel stopped engaging his persistent brother. He still was weary of his ability to talk to him telepathically. It wasn't angel radio, it wasn't even frequencies; it was some sort of psychic connection. He didn't like it. He liked the fact that he could do it back even less.

[xxx]

Meg had successfully bought them time with the security detail around the building, at the expense of the Impala's paint job. Dean didn't like having to tell her to crash his baby into the Sucrocorp sign. But it distracted the Chompers which was what they needed. While Sam went to look for Kevin, Dean and Cas searched for the proper fake Dick. Thus far every one they had encountered was not the one they wanted.

Castiel stopped in the hallway, trying to feel the building around him. Leviathan had no energy signatures to read, seeing as their bodies weren't controlled by energy like animals or pure light energy like angels. They were ancient; they existed of matter but not energy, hence their leaking of black liquid when they were injured. No energy forms held their matter together. So instead of searching for energy, he was searching for a lack of it, which would take a little more concentration. At least Lucifer had left him alone after he stopped engaging him.

"The laboratory," Castiel declared, sensing a significantly lower level of life energy in the bottom level. Grabbing Dean's wrist, he took them to the laboratory, where Dean did not hesitate a beat to decapitate the Leviathan working to package some dairy creamers.

That was him, Cas was sure of it. None of the others had given him the hollow feeling he now felt consumed with. He hadn't even turned to acknowledge the sound of carnage behind him yet, but Castiel didn't need to see his face to know that the monster in front of him was the one that had ripped him in half. His eyes narrowed.

Finally, Dick turned to face them, not at all perturbed by the dead Leviathan spilling black ooze from its neck on the floor. "Little abrupt, but okay," he jested, then met Castiel's glare with a disturbingly friendly smile as Dean sheathed his machete. "Castiel, good to see you again. Thanks for the ride into paradise." He gave him only a glare in return. Dean's face was much more menacing, his hunter's look of concentration darkening his features as he pulled out the bone covered in the three bloods of the fallen. Dick looked impressed. "And good on you, pulling that together. A-plus."

"Oh, you don't think this will work, do ya?" Dean taunted, taking a step forward. "You trust that demon?"

"You sure I'm even me, Dean?" Dick asked with a challenging smile.

"No," Dean shook his head before nodding towards Castiel, whose features had only hardened further, "but he is. See, here's the thing when dealing with Crowley: he will always… find a way to bone you." He wagged the bone back and forth tauntingly.

"This meeting's over," Dick declared, making for the door. Castiel pushed past Dean and lunged for Dick, leaving himself open and vulnerable to his defense. He let himself get thrown backwards as Dean plunged the false weapon in to Dick's chest. The pained grunt was only slightly genuine as it dug inside him, but he regained his composure quickly to pull the fake bone out of his sternum. Holding it out in front of him, he snapped it in half in a display of power, his jaw tight and eyes locked on Dean. "Did you really think you could trump me?" He growled, words dripping with venom.

"Honestly?" Dean reached in to the other side of his jacket, revealing the real God weapon. "No."

Dick had not heard Castiel approaching him. Now he grabbed a fist full of the monster's hair and pulled his head back in a way that would have been painful had he been human, pressing his free hand against his back so he could not try to run. The sheer force of his grip was enough to snap anything else's spine, but Leviathan were strong. Without hesitating, Dean stabbed the blood-soaked bone through the side of Dick's neck, hard enough to cause it to exit evenly on the other side. "Figured we'd have to catch you off guard."

His screams of pain were genuine now, throat gurgling as the vile black liquid pooled in his stolen trachea. Castiel only let go when he was sure the ancient beast was immobilized, and backed away. He watched as his true face came out to snarl at Dean, who looked a little disturbed at the display. Black and grey slime oozed out of the wounds, and suddenly the air began pulsating. Castiel looked to Dean, having a staring contest with Dick, and noted the confusion and concern in his eyes as well. The two exchanged looks, but did not move. Dick was still moaning in pain, but judging from Dean's continued staring he guessed he was smiling; that could not be good. They each began backing away simultaneously as the pulsations grew more forceful and more rapid, until they all retreated back in to the Leviathan's body. With one last malicious laugh, Dick exploded in an eruption of that black mucus.

Castiel felt arms and wings wrap around him, and he was suddenly being pulled backwards.

[xxx]

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