A Battle over a Soul
Ruby stomped out of the motel room, leaving Dean and Sam momentarily stunned at learning what had happened after they had left Henricksen, Nancy and Amici. Dean felt a stab of regret at failing ultimately to save everyone, especially those who had fought side by side with them in the battle against the possessed townspeople. He had come to respect their bravery and losing them meant his plan had failed in the end. To him, the only acceptable outcome was no lives lost, but he was also a realist. He knew that there were always losses, especially in war. Still, Dean shook himself and headed out the door.
"Dean? Where are you going?" Sam called out.
Dean exited the room and watched Ruby walking away towards the parking lot. He immediately caught up with her, grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him. Ruby glared menacingly at him.
"Careful there. Don't forget who you're dealing with," Ruby warned.
"Oh, I haven't forgotten, believe me, but you and me, we need to talk."
"I'm not in the mood to hear more of your speech about saving –"
"Shut up!" Dean yelled, startling Ruby a little. "Look, sister, you may think you won back there because those people died, but I won't let you think you won Sam too."
Ruby grinned.
"I did win."
Dean looked at her and his composure almost left him because he wasn't all together sure that she was wrong, but for Sam, he had to keep up the front.
"He went with my plan, not yours."
"Yeh, but now, he's wondering whether he should have."
"Is that how you're going to get Sam ready for the war without me? Make him doubt me, make him doubt who he is and then replace it with some sick version of yours?"
"Whatever works," Ruby taunted.
"Well, not while I'm still alive, you're not. I'm going to tell him."
Ruby smiled again, her confidence unnerving Dean.
"Go ahead," she dared.
"Tell me what?" Sam said as he caught up to Dean and Ruby.
Dean turned to face Sam and for the very first time in his life, was unsure of what Sam would do. Inwardly, he hoped that Sam was still the man he knew him to be, not the one being transformed by Ruby's influence and regrettably his own impending trip to Hell.
"Ruby's been lying to you. I can't be saved from the pit. She can't save me," Dean said as matter of factly as he could without sounding cruel or harsh.
Sam looked over at Ruby, hoping for a rebuttal, but she was silent.
"How do you know that?" Sam asked.
"She told me that night after we got rid of the coven. She's just using you."
Sam turned to Ruby.
"Is this true?"
"Nothing's impossible, Sam. We could find something, but yeh, unless we do, your brother's going to Hell."
"You lied to me."
"Oh, don't get all holier than thou on me. You didn't really trust me. You weren't sure yourself."
Sam looked at her aghast at her turnaround on him.
"I should just kill you right now," Sam said, his anger building overpowering his sense of loss.
"Yeh, you could, but in the end you need me. You both do."
"What makes you say that?" Dean asked.
"Think what you want, but I helped you fix the Colt, only to have you let it get stolen, but we won't go there. I'm a witch, I know spells that can save your sorry asses –"
"Yeh, like the one that required cutting out a virgin's heart," Dean pointed out bitterly.
"Hey, that would have worked if you hadn't–"
"What? Opted to battle the demons? We won that battle," Dean insisted.
"And had the body count, remember? Or did that part just slip your mind to soothe your troubled conscience?"
Dean was taken aback for a second, but recovered to glare back at her.
"And who ran when we could've used your help."
"I told you –"
"Yeh, save it. I heard it, we both did, but it seems to me your little excuse doesn't quite cut it because for all your talk about sacrificing yourself with your spell, it didn't convince you to stay and fight and risk getting your demon blown out with the exorcism. What? It's okay if we kill you with your spell, but suddenly you didn't want to die with my plan? That guilt trip might have flown with Sam, but not with me."
Ruby crossed her arms and huffed. Sam watched in awe of his big brother, breaking through all of her lies and deceptions. Dean had been right all along. Sam had been blinded by Ruby's promise and had almost allowed an innocent to be killed.
"Believe what you want. If you think you can win this war on your own then fine, I'm leaving –"
"Yeh, and that's another thing, what are you doing back here, Ruby? Thought you said you'd been betting on the wrong horse, back there? Yet here you are, giving us charms to ward off Lillith. What gives, huh? Could it be that all that crap about our body count was just a reason to come back and get to Sam? To make us feel like we made the wrong choice then convince us to do things your way?"
Ruby just pouted silently.
"Well, I'll give you that I hate that Lillith killed those people, that we weren't there to have a chance to save them, but I wonder if maybe it wasn't you who ran and told 'the boss' where we were? That we were just lucky and they…"
Dean took in a breath and swallowed.
"There are casualties in war. I get that, believe me, and it kills me every time I lose someone I care about, but I can tell you, for damn sure, that I won't let you get Sam. Now that he knows that there is nothing you can do to save me, I hope he can see you for the demon that you really are."
"Fine, but I hope you know what you're doing because I'm not coming back."
"Is that what being a human means, Ruby? Running off and leaving when the fight gets too tough or when it doesn't play in your favor? Is that the kind of person you want me to help you prepare Sam to be to fight this war?" Dean asked, "Thanks, but you can keep your version of humanity. I'd rather have Sam's."
Sam watched his brother battle Ruby for his soul and couldn't help, but feel ashamed at allowing himself to believe in her at all. Though she had been right about him not completely trusting her the hope, however dim, of saving Dean blinded him from seeing her for who she was, ignoring his own hunter's instincts. He felt disgusted at even having defended her to Dean.
"Well, good luck, boys. You're going to need it because the best chance you had is walking out on you."
Ruby then stalked off, disappearing into the night. Once she was gone, Sam looked over at Dean with regret written all over his face.
"Dean, I'm sorry I-"
"Don't be. You forget I let myself believe in a demon too. Hope can be a bitch sometimes, but losing it is worse."
Dean turned to face his brother.
"Come on. I think I've alienated enough demons for the night."
Sam smiled quickly, but then became serious.
"Dean?"
"Yeh?"
"Do you believe you made the right choice?"
"Which one, Sam?" Dean asked then started walking back to the motel room.
FIN
Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!