A/n Well Cas is in Hell and Bobby and Sam are praying for help that hasn't come before.

Only two more chapters to bring this to its original conclusion and then we can move on from there.

In the end it was easier to find Dean than Castiel could ever have imagined, using his sword and the Colt to smite down the demons that dared to get in his way he simply followed the screams that chilled the angel to his very core.

He was almost at his goal when they fell silent and he found himself uttering a prayer that he was not too late to save his friend.

The angel's final approach to the room went unchallenged.

Slowly he entered it, sword ready.

An unusual quietness enveloped him and a sense of foreboding filled him at the darkness that lay within the room's confines.

A darkness that Dean was lost in.

The quiet, muffled sobs finally reached his ears and he turned, sensing that it was the man he sought. Castiel walked to the corner, his eyes slowly adjusting to the gloom, better than a human's would have, and he felt a sob of his own rising in his throat as he took in the sight before him. "Good God, what have they done to you?"

The light was blinding as the room was hit with a sudden illumination, and the true horror of what they had done to Dean's soul became apparent. Blank, bloodshot eyes stared up at the angel from a face that he could barely recognise.

"Castiel, so nice of you to join us again."

The angel swivelled where he stood. Lucifer was standing to one side of him, Alastair a deferential step behind him.

The fallen angel grinned at him. "Too late Castiel. The Dean you know is lost to you, even if your free him from here. Without Heaven at your side you can't restore him. You have may have won the war but this particular battle has been lost. He's nothing more now than collateral damage."

"Then I hope one day that our paths may cross again brother and with Heaven behind me I have the strength to leave behind some collateral damage of my own. To repay you for your treatment of my friend."

Lucifer laughed. "Friendship is like love, a human weakness. Just look at him to see the validity of my words Castiel. He did this for the love of his friend and his brother. Dean Winchester is your ward, he is not your friend." The devil closed the gap between them. "And you have failed him."

"Perhaps, but even freeing him from here will be a victory in my eyes." Castiel reached out and closed his arm round the hunter's blood stained arm. "May God have mercy on you brother because I will not."

"Castiel!" The devil wore a shocked look on his face. "No forgiveness? My, how far you have fallen from Heaven and its teaching."

"Not as far as you. Enjoy rotting in Hell." The angel touched Dean's head and frowned as nothing happened.

Lucifer smiled as Castiel tried to use what power he had left to lift Dean's soul free. "What's wrong Castiel? Not got enough juice to get him out?"

Alastair smirked from behind him. "Maybe he needs another dime for the meter."

Lucifer chuckled at that. "Or maybe it's because I didn't bother to break the link between us and you can't free him."

Horrified eyes met the smiling ones of the devil as Cas tried once more to save them both.

"He isn't going anywhere. Only an angel still connected to the power of Heaven can break the link and his deal and lift him free now, you should have known that. What are you going to do now? With your wings clipped you are not strong enough to fight Alastair here, never mind me. Perhaps you'd like to stay and share his torture?"

Castiel felt it as Dean moved beside him and turned to look down at him. Dean was trying to speak, fighting hard to get his mouth to form the words. The angel leant down nearer, nodding once to show that he understood. Standing he faced down his foes. "This is not over."

Lucifer laughed as the angel vanished and he walked over and knelt by Dean. He gently placed his hand behind the hunter's head and raised it from the floor. "He's right you know, see a thought has occurred to me. If I make you pick up a knife and shed blood, then we can start this little merry go round again."

Dean forced the smile onto his face and the words from his throat with sheer will. "Can't. Won't. 'sides, Sam's cured." Blood bubbled in his throat as he spoke.

The devil returned the smile. "Well we can always un-cure him. Can't we?" He relished the pain that his words caused in Dean's eyes. "Anyway, doesn't really matter, because the last seal? Lillith? It's already broken, so all I've got to do is break the first one again, that's you by the way, and I'm free." With that he slid his hand slowly into the hunter's chest, closing his fist on the heart that rested there, squeezing the life from him as he did the scream.

Letting go Lucifer stood, pulled a finger through the blood on his hand and licked at it. "So sweet Dean, so very sweet." He turned to Alastair and the others that were standing in the shadows, waiting their turn. "Get him ready to go again and this time, we're not stopping until he says yes."

TBC

Didn't think I'd make it that easy, did you? ; p