Jenseits von Gut und Bose
By: PhoenixJustice
Disclaimer: Supernatural is owned by Eric Kripke. I only own this story and make no profit from this.
Warning: T for mentions of incest, incest, language, shipping of angel, (le gasp!) violence, etc
Pairing: Dean/Castiel (mentions of Dean/Sam, Sam/Ruby)
Setting: S4/after the ep where Anna is revealed to be an angel. Spoilers up to the episode.
Summary: Continuing on their trek to keep the rest of the remaining seals out of the original 66 safe, Dean and Sam find themselves at a crossroads, both by their separate ties to two different sides, and two separate people.

Part Four

The Next Seal, the Next Mission...

The Other side has gotten to the next location.

...I know.

I do not fault you, Castiel. You would not have gotten them all there before they arrived

You are not saying anything about what I did. I...expected something different.

To scold or punish you? That is not my place. And you are different than many of the others, besides. I think you were destined for the path you are on. With him. Do not second-guess yourself so much.

You are a good ally and friend, Michael; your advice is always the best anyone could ask for.

, even if you had teleported Dean there, I am not sure you could have also bore the touch of the tainted one and the demon for too long.

They hadn't talked about how Sam reacted to what he saw in Dean's eyes, or Dean's reaction when he saw his own face. It hadn't been but a large blink of the eyes a moment later that they had returned to normal, so quickly in fact that if he hadn't seen how Sam had reacted or had--even now--not really looked him in the face, then he would have dismissed it.

As it was...

He sighs and leans against his car, waiting for his brother and Ruby. They had stopped at a convienience store, somewhere in Jeffersonville, Indiana, on their way to New Albany and the next location of the seal.

He was frustrated. From that...sign, it appeared that they didn't have much time left but yet Sam felt it fine that they stop, and of course Ruby agreed with him. He was also left feeling confused, both at the situation that had happened last night, and at what happened right before that.

He had never been attracted to another man before, except for Sam (no matter how wrong it may have been in other people's eyes), but that was Sam. Sam was...unique, special, unlike anything he had ever expected to feel for anyone. That is...until the angel, until Castiel had come along; Dean was a man who was like many men, uncomfortable and unsure with emotional issues, so to be feeling so much and everything...it was nearly overwhelming.

And to feel something for someone who tended to act so aloof and distant most of the time...!

"Dean? You okay?" his brother's concerned voice suddenly said.

He glances up, ignoring the pang he felt at Sam abruptly looking away from him.

"Fine," he says shortly. He looks around. "Where's Ruby?"

Sam glances behind him at the store before turning back around. "She'll be right behind us; she needs to go and see someone first. He told her that he'll help, but you and me can't be around when she goes; he's wary of us."

Dean raises a brow. "Let me guess; it's a demon." At Sam's nod he snorts. "Sam, you are way too trusting. You can't trust demons as far as you can throw them, you know that."

"But Ruby--"

"Ruby is...well I trust her more than I did, but it'd be stupid to trust her completely. Demons are made to be liars, no matter how much good they may do, or try to do," he adds as Sam tries to speak. "I also know that...that pain and suffering are a good incentive for people--whether demons, humans or whatever--to lie, to cheat and to kill, to protect themselves."

~*~

They finally arrived in town which Dean was thankful for—all the traveling which he was more than used to was getting on his nerves. He just felt…all strung up with tension. Although no other…incidents…had happened since his eyes had inexplicitly changed (for whatever fucked up reason), he still felt wary of what could happen next as well as…curious.

The car pulls up in front of Culbertson Mansion, the location of one of the sixty-six seals.

The House was fairly big, compared to the surrounding buildings around it. A spiked fence wrapped around it, a small opening and a couple of steps led to a small sidewalk which led to the front porch, a large archway leading to the door.

He steps out of the car, locking it up as Sam walks ahead of him, up towards the Mansion. The moon shown in all its full glory the skies surprisingly clear, with a few glints of stars here and there.

As soon as they both get near the door, it opens up. Ruby walks out, looking at both of them in somewhat of surprise. She straightens up her jacket and shrugs.

"Didn’t expect to see you two this soon—what’d you do speed up the whole way here, Dean?" She smirks. As Dean starts to respond, she interrupts. "Either way, doesn’t matter. You two need to hurry and get the hell in here; there’s a barrier I can’t get through--"

"That’s a real shock," said Dean sarcastically. "You’re only a demon; what could possibly want to keep you out?"

"Ha ha," said Ruby, just as sarcastic, before turning serious once more. "It wasn’t there when I got here; it just appeared. My source told me there might be a barrier blocking out demons, but this is different. Now come on!"

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The interior was dark, none of the lights were on nor were any of the candles that were held in brackets on either side of the main hallway and up the wall following a set of stairs that curved slightly and led upwards. On either side of the front door were two doorways, the archways extremely large, as were the doors themselves.

"I searched a few of these hallways," said Ruby, closing the door behind them and walking ahead. "I was heading though one of the doors in the back when I got repelled suddenly. Threw me all the way back to the front door. " She absently rubs her arms.

Dean starts to remark at that, but shrugs instead and he and Sam follow the demon through the hallway next to the stairs. It was hard to see anything in the darkness and Dean bumps into a table, cursing a little too loudly before Sam sighs in exasperation, turning on a flashlight.

They pass the kitchen and a few other doors in silence, all of them filled with tension, though all for different reasons perhaps. Coming to the back, they finally come to the place Ruby was talking about. In the very back of the mansion, was a set of double doors that were wide open. And Dean, for some strange reason, knew exactly what she was talking about.

It wasn't visible and it wasn't like he ever could sense this kind of shit before, but...he could feel it. Almost could see it; a silvery shimmer, outlining the door. He passes his hand through it, holding back a shiver as he does so. He steps inside, noticing a closed set of doors ahead of him. He turns back.

"Sam--?"

"I...it won't let me in," muttered Sam.

Right...demons couldn't get in, so it stood to stand that neither could Sam, since he held demon blood within him. From the inside of the closed doors, a sudden scream comes, causing Dean to whip his head back around.

Dean?

He stills; he must be hearing things. He thought he just heard Castiel in his head--and it was as if he finally realized something which he had been avoiding; tied to each other as they were, loving each other as they did, he and Sam had come to a crossroads. One tied to a demon, whether that was Ruby or from the demon blood running through his veins. And the other was tied to an angel, getting literally pulled out of hell by the angelic being.

Was this the way things would become from now on?

He turns away from Sam completely and walks forward, not looking back.

~*~

As soon as he opens the door, he looks on in shock as a demon, wings outstretched, curling horns and hooved feet, the very picture of what people thought demons looked like (when he knew all too well they could sometimes blend in almost too well) slashes a giant claw across two men, and they fly back, blood spurting everywhere.

Another pair of men attack the demon, swords in hand, the blades shimmering in the almost non-existant light. They too get blown back, and as they fall close enough to where he can get a better look at them, he gasps.

He takes a few steps forward, hand outstretched. "Castiel--"

The sword lying by Castiel sudden rushes to his hand, but he doesn't give himself time to think about it. He runs forward, rolling away from the demon as it tries to strike him, and thrusts the sword through it's chest. It roars loudly in pain, and he gets flung back, skidding on the floor as the demons bursts into pieces, light pouring out of its body.

He groans, holding his head as he starts to slowly stand up, Castiel and the other man already standing up, the other man another person he also recognized--

"How are you here, Winchester?" demanded the other man.

"Uriel--"

"No, Castiel! Let the pathetic monkey speak."

Dean stands up, wiping himself off, the sword that been flung from his hand, now back in Castiel's hands, disappearing in a flash of light. The bodies of the two other men, angels, he supposed, also disappear.

"I don't know what you're talking about." said Dean. "I came with my brother to stop the opening of the next seal--"

"You came too late," said Uriel. "It had already opened. That is another seal that you have failed to stop opening. And yet you are supposed to be so great? Such a pathetic human?"

"That is enough, Uriel." said Castiel, firmly.

"No, you will not silence me this time Castiel." Uriel stalks forward, the front of him covered in blood and looking more menacing than usual. "You did not answer my question: HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE--?!"

"I already told you--"

"Not WHY. HOW."

Dean shakes his head. "Dude, I don't know what the hell you're talking abo--"

"You went through a barrier that no one, not a puny demon like "Ruby" or your little lover, your brother Sam, or a pathetic human like you--you went through a barrier that only the angelic ones could get through."

Dean's eyes widen.

"It's because...we are bonded. " said Castiel softly. "I realized this a short time ago."

He takes a step forward, glancing at Uriel who, at the look, finally steps back, disappearing in a flash of light. He stands in front of Dean who shakes his head.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? "Bonded"? I--" He looks down.

Castiel grabs onto Dean's chin and forces him to look up. He stares intently into the Hunter's eyes for a long moment, and Dean could see his own eyes reflected onto the angel's. And suddenly Dean understood, why his eyes had changed like that before; it must have been a realization of their...their...oh god...

"Cass--"

Castiel leans in and kisses him, causing Dean to gasp as their lips touch. He pulls the angel closer, deepening the kiss, running his tongue inside the angelic man's mouth.

They pull apart and it looked to Dean that the angel seemed to glow within.

"Will you come with me?" asked Castiel softly. "These next few weeks will be tumultuous and difficult. And...it is perhaps best if you stay away from Samuel during that time."

"He's my brother--"

"I say it for him, as much as you. It is not safe. And...I would like you to come with me. Not just to help me with the seals, but to...be with me."

Dean leans forward, grabbing onto Castiel's chin.

"Yes."

He kisses him.

End.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

A/N: I'll probably do a sequel to this, in a one-shot or something, maybe a series of one-shots. We'll see, lol.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

--PhoenixJustice