* Sorry for the cliffhanger! Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope it doesn't disappoint. Read and review.

Dean collapsed but the Blade still laid loosely across his palm. His eyelids struggled against the pressure and each fell closed, first over the green eye, and then the black.

"NO!"

Sam dropped to his knees with him, catching his chest as he fell. He held pressure on the wound that spurted blood all over himself and Dean.

Castiel and Crowley still stood in the doorway, neither sure what was left to be done. Castiel was practically out of Grace and demons don't heal people. Crowley had never even tried.

"Cas, heal him, please!" Sam said desperately, not even trying to fight the tears, weeping openly in front of an angel of the Lord and the king of Hell.

Cas entered, knowing he could do nothing. When his batteries were low- practically dead now- they had a way of conserving themselves and he couldn't have healed Dean if he tried. But he'd sure as hell try.

He knelt down next to Sam who was holding Dean's limp form and pressed his fingertips to Dean's head.

Nothing happened.

Dean felt his soul twisting and contorting like it had when he'd first been dragged to Hell. But he didn't feel the chilling familiarity that death had on him now. This wasn't death. This was something different.

He heard a laugh he knew belonged to Azazel ringing in his head only to fade out, replaced by a laugh he could only assume was Crowley's. But it wasn't real. It was in his head. In his soul. The vague yellow light he seemed lost in was drowning in black and he didn't feel the bloodlust he had before. He just felt disturbingly dark and cold but also felt like he deserved it. Maybe even wanted it.

Castiel had backed away. Unable to do anything. Crowley stepped up next.

"Back off." Sam snapped at Crowley, clutching Dean's bloody body to his chest.

"Hey, I wanna help him as much as you guys do-"

"Get out-"

"Sammy...?"

The room was silent. Not a sound but the sudden labored breathing of Dean.

Sam met Dean's black eyed gaze, but it didn't seem to matter. Because this demon was still clearly his brother.

Dean sat up slowly, wordlessly accepting Sam's help. As he came to, he seemed to be realizing what had happened. What he'd become. And it wasn't sitting well.

"No..." He said, stretching out his arm and looking at the mark, "No, no, no!"

He started scratching viciously at the brand, tearing up skin in seconds.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Dean, Dean, Dean!" Sam grabbed both of Dean's arms to restrain him.

Something was different now. Despite the fact that Dean had stabbed himself and had black eyes, his general presence felt overall more like Dean than he had since he'd gotten the mark.

"Calm down-"

"Calm down?! I'm a fucking demon!"

"Hey." Crowley muttered off to the side.

Castiel said nothing. He seemed to be reflecting somewhat, and Sam couldn't help but think Cas was thinking he'd failed. His last real mission for the garrison was to save Dean Winchester from Hell and here he was, five years later, a demon.

Dean looked agitated, bordering on manic as he regained his bearings. He glanced at the Blade which had slipped from his hand after his resurrection.

"The demon tablet, it explained how to cure a demon, correct?" Cas said suddenly.

"I'm not sure it works the same with Cain," Crowley said, "Besides, you ought to embrace this as the gift that it is-"

"Gift?" Cas shot back, "He's damned for Hell for eternity-"

"Well then you can just fish him out again-"

Dean threw a dark glare at the door and it shut in Cas and Crowley's faces. Locked.

Dean reached for the Blade and then withdrew his hand. He looked up at Sam desperately.

"Take it, kill me."

Sam sat down next to Dean, not even looking at the Blade.

"I don't think it'll work, but even if it would, I don't need to. You're still Dean. You're still my brother."

Dean's own voice from a few years ago was ringing in his head, and was sure the same memory had occurred to Sam.

"If I didn't know you? I would wanna hunt you."

"It means you're a monster."

"I don't care that you're a demon, Dean, how long have we been hunting these things?" Sam said, "And what've we learned? Yeah, a lot of 'em are dicks, but demons aren't inherently evil."

"I'm gonna get worse though, aren't I? Like Crowley did?" Dean said softly, "I mean Meg still remembered being human and she-"

"She wasn't evil, Dean, she was just loyal to the wrong people. But forget that, you're still you, and you're not evil."

Dean rolled his eyes, but a smirk twitched a his lip, "I've tried to kill you like four times over the last couple weeks."

"While high off the mark of the father of murder. I think we can give you a pass on that one." Sam said, choosing to brush over the fact that Dean accepted the mark at all, "Speaking of, are you still, uh, jonesing to kill me?"

Dean took a deep breath, running a shaky hand through his hair, "Not anymore than usual."

"Good. Now," Sam put his hands on Dean's shoulders, looking him in the eye as Dean blinked the black out of them, "Are you with me?"

Dean looked back at his little brother. He didn't wanna hurt him. He didn't want to scare him. But Sam didn't look scared. Demon or no demon, Sam was not going to let his brother go. He'd never let him go.

"Situation reversed. And I was dying, you would've done the same thing."

"No, Dean... I wouldn't."

Dean smiled at Sam. Fuckin' liar.

"You're never gonna let me go peacefully are you?" Dean teased, dabbing some blood off his face.

"I'm not gonna let you go, period." Sam smiled back, helping Dean to his feet.

* That whole, "What happened to you being okay with this?" "I lied." "Yeah, ain't that a bitch." exchange in the finale made me okay with the end result of that particular episode. Brothers are rad.