jamafanta

Title: Castiel Rising
Author: phate_phoenix
Artist: rednarcissism
Fandom/Genre: Supernatural
Pairing(s): Castiel/Dean, Meg/Castiel
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~70,000

Castiel Rising, by Phate_Phoenix.  Written for the DCBB.  It's an AU where Lucifer befriends Castiel long before humans walk the earth, and it's absolutely amazing.  I can't say enough about it.  Castiel is fierce and loyal and entirely BAMF, while remaining entirely in character.  All the characters' voices ring true, actually, even the minor ones.  

Summary: (AU) Hell is adaptation: change to suit the environment, or experience unending torment. Castiel knows this, expected it when he plunged into Hell to be with Lucifer, and allowed it. But change isn’t just one of Hell’s tortures, something he will discover when Lucifer orders him to protect Dean and Sam Winchester from Heaven’s forces.

It's just fantastic.  There are no "evil because I'm evil" characters, no sloppy short cuts, no character or plot laziness.  It's tight and it's grammatically perfect.  And I'm off to stalk the author, now!