Know Thine Enemy
Summary: Inspired by Lazarus Rising. Why Dean had to go to Hell, was raised out, and restored body and soul.
Disclaimer: Not mine just borrowing for a bit. Supernatural belongs to Kripke, et al.
AN: Finally my muse is earning its keep…. Parts of this story came to mind when I was thinking about the 4th season premiere (how freakin' awesome was that!) and the question: Why Dean? The obvious answer seems to be – Sam – but I hope it's more than that. This turned out much different than I had originally conceived it….
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He had been researching for a way to break the deal for over 10 months now, and was starting to get desperate. He was staying up later and later into the night and losing a lot of sleep. One night, he was distracted from his research by a sound outside and was so beyond tired that he didn't pick up exactly where he'd left off in the text he had been reading. He missed the information that would have led to preventing his brother from going to Hell.
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He had been protecting others from the supernatural nearly his entire life. He learned to fight the evil that had torn his family apart so that others wouldn't have to go through what he had endured over the years. He had become a master at hiding away his wants and desires in order to keep his family together.
Almost too late he had realized that he wanted to live and experience life on his own terms and not anyone else's, but because of a selfish act of selflessness, he had already sold his soul to save his brother. He was damned to Hell of his own free will but kept sending as many evil sons of bitches back to Hell as possible even though he knew they would be waiting for him.
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He had to go to Hell. It was the only way to save them all. He had sold his soul and created an opportunity for Good to triumph over Evil. He is a man who had experienced so much evil yet still endured. He is a man who was a caregiver and a protector. He had to go to Hell to burn his sins away and find redemption – perhaps even find faith along the way.
But, the main reason he had to go to Hell was to gain an advantage he didn't know he would need at the time. They all came out of the deepest depths of Hell to get their playtime with him. And, because they knew he would eventually lose his humanity and become one of them, they were also wagging their tongues and mentioning plans while they were tormenting and torturing him all that time. They inadvertently showed him their strengths and weaknesses unaware that he was subconsciously storing away the information like his father had taught him.
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Almighty God had ordered that he be raised from perdition and restored body and soul. Hell's minions could do nothing about it. The act frightened them.
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The man had almost no memory of his time in Hell, but it had served a purpose. Over the course of his life, the man had learned much about his enemy. Because of his time in Hell, he now knew his enemy very well. The information is there ready and waiting to be recalled in times of need. He now had the advantage needed to win the battle for his brother's soul and thus win the war of Good versus Evil.
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Thanks for reading!