Probably done before, but this is my take on the end of the Deal. It's not as it first appears (and that's all I'm saying right now).

Rated T for unrepentant acts of violence and gore. Mostly Dean centric, but Sam gets his own part later.

Disclaimer: Don't own, just playing, yada yada.

There will be three parts to this story.

Ter Abnegare

Part 1

This was it.

Dean stood in the center of the crossroads, waiting. He's been thinking of this moment (or trying not to think of it) for a year. The hour his bill would come due, the minute the Deal would end. He was trying to stay calm, be stoic, but his heart was racing in his chest. Everything they had tried, every lead they had followed, had turned out to be for nothing. It was time to pay the Piper.

He had managed to ditch Sam on the way to the crossroads. He wanted to spare his brother the pain, the pain he himself had felt, of seeing a brother die. He knew Sam would be angry, but the anger was nothing compared to the pain. The last thing he could do for Sam was to keep him from knowing that pain.

In the distance, he heard the deep, ominous baying of the Hounds. As the cries grew louder, closer, he braced himself for the onslaught.

You tried, Sammy…

He caught the stench of sulfur on the wind. It quickly became suffocating, nauseating. Soon he saw two massive black shapes emerge from the darkness: red-eyed, wolfish, white fangs dripping blood that glowed like fire. They circled him, waiting, hackles raised and ready to fight.

"Dean Winchester. I've been waiting for you for a long time." He turned towards the voice of the demon that held his contract. It appeared as a child, the young, innocent face marred by a complete lack of humanity, her cold white eyes fixed on his.

"Lilith, I presume." She smiled.

"So good to see you here, Dean. I was sure you'd try to weasel your way out. But that would mean giving up dear little Sam. Where is he? Afraid to watch the sacrifice you'll make for him?"

"No. I didn't want him to see it."

"Pity. It would have made such an impression. Now, are you sure you're ready? There is still time to back out, you know." Dean's heart hammered loudly in his chest, but he kept his voice steady.

"No. I'm not going to back out. I'm ready."

"Hmm. Well, maybe this will persuade you."

Dean felt one of the Hounds slam into him, its' claws ripping through the skin on his back as it knocked him to the ground. He rolled over, wincing, to face it as it came back for a second strike, tearing into his chest and flooding his body with agony. Through slitted eyes, he could see the Demon watching, cold amusement on the young face of her host.

"That's just a taste, Dean, of what you're facing."

The second Hound joined the attack, lashing its' razor claws across his arms as he raised them in defense. Dean let out a strangled scream and fell back to the ground as the Hounds circled him once again.

Through his haze of pain, he heard the faint rumble approaching. It was a sound he knew all too well.

No, Sam, don't…

Lilith turned toward the sound of the Impala's engine. She smiled, her eyes glowing briefly with malice before she squatted down in front of Dean.

"One last chance, Dean. Send Sam back and this will all be over." Dean glared up at her, hatred burning is his eyes.

"No."

She sighed, sounding like a child who has been denied an extra treat after attempting to cajole to a strict parent.

"Fine. I guess you'll have to go all the way. See you in Hell."

Dean tensed, awaiting the final rush of the Hounds. Suddenly, over their vicious growls, he heard the thing he least and most wanted to hear: his brother's voice, for the last time.

"DEAN!"

He wasn't sure what hurt worse, the pain in Sam's desperate cry, or the agony of his soul being ripped from his body as the Hounds closed in.

The bitch was right. The attack at the crossroads was only a taste.

He was falling, unable to stop his descent. As he fell, things clawed at him, screaming curses and laughing at his agonized cries. The assault on his body was constant, torturous, worse than anything he could have possibly imagined. His body begged for it to end, for the torment to stop. In his mind, he kept a hold of himself through a repeating stream of thought.

Sam is safe. He's not here, not feeling this. That's all that matters.

Suddenly, he hit solid ground with a jarring crash. It felt as if every bone in his body had shattered. He writhed in agony on the burning rock, feeling as though the flesh was being burned from his body. He screamed, the sounds tearing through his throat as tears streamed from his eyes, the salt burning the shredded flesh of his face.

"Ready to give up, yet?" a cold, childish voice crooned. "We're just getting started here, really. There's so much more we can do to you."

Nononononono.

"Oh, come now Dean. It's such an easy way out. I'll return your soul to your body, the wounds will heal. You'll be back on Earth, alive, safe, and ready to return to your life. All you have to do is give up, let Sam return to where he should have stayed a year ago. You'd be doing him a favor. He's experiencing his own Hell on Earth now, without you."

Demons lie…demons lie…he'll survive…he'll make it…

"You probably think he'll find a way to get you out. He won't. He doesn't care. He hates you for leaving him, for abandoning him to fight on his own. Let him go. Set things back they way they should have been before you made the deal. What's dead should stay dead, isn't that what you said yourself? You can survive without him. No freak psychic episodes, no whining to cramp your style. You'll be free. And the pain will stop."

No, no it won't. It was worse…it would be worse…

"Last chance, Dean!" Her voice had risen to a near shriek. "Save yourself from torment. You can do it!" Dean gathered all of his strength to roar one single word:

"NO!!"

Suddenly, a new voice broke through the cacophony surrounding him, through the shrieking of demons and the cries of the damned.

"Ter."

And the pain stopped.

A/N: Please forgive the (probably) incorrect grammar in the title. It's been a really, really long time since I had Latin.

Reviews are always appreciated.