Author's Note - I was going to wait a while before I posted this chapter because I didn't want to post this moments after I poster the first chapter, but then I thought - 'The hell with it' So heres the next chapter for you. I hope you enjoy.
CHAPTER TWO - THE GATES OF HELL
It had taken all day and most of the night to reach Wyoming. It would have taken a lot longer had Dean not been speeding just a little bit. His theory was, the faster they got there the faster they could get back. They managed to make it to the cemetery before Jake or Yellow-Eyes, but then that was not necessarily a good thing because it meant that the Demon may have been planning something else. Dean parked the Impala behind a large tree consoling it from view and then the five of them grabbed their weapons and spread out through the cemetery. The darkness of the night and the various large tombs stones around made it easy for them to hide and gave them the element of surprise.
It was John who first noticed Jake, and signaled for the others to get in place as they watched Jake move towards a crypt placed right in the middle of the cemetery. The crypt had a Devil's Trap across its doors. As Jake got closer to the crypt, John and the others began moving in towards him, blocking any easy escape he may have had.
"Howdy, Jake."
Jake spun around and saw Sam, Bobby, John, Ellen and Dean all pointing guns at him. This didn't really seem to faze him though.
"What are you doing here?" Jake demanded
"Didn't want to miss the party." said Dean.
Jake let out a laugh, "Trust me. You wouldn't have missed this." His laughter died down as he turned and focused on Sam. "I should have killed you back at Cold Oak. You and that stupid pregnant--"
"--Someone tell me why I'm not just shooting him, please." Dean hissed through his teeth. One way to get Dean angry enough to kill you; remind him that you were the reason he nearly lost Pepper and Mary.
"Easy, Dean." said John though it was more of a warning to all of them.
Jake started laughing again, which of course only made Dean want to shoot him in the mouth.
"Okay, just take it real easy there, son." Bobby said calmly, well more calmly than any one else at the moment.
"And if I don't?" Jake asked, almost in a dare.
"Wait and see." snapped Sam as he gripped his gun tighter.
"What, you a tough guy all of a sudden? What are you gonna do kill me?"
"It's a thought."
"You had your chance. You couldn't."
"I won't make that mistake twice."
"Once again, Jake began laughing. Dean was really starting to get sick of his smug attitude.
"What are you smiling at, you little bitch?" Dean demanded.
Jake ignored him and looked over at Ellen.
"Hey, Lady, do me a favor. Put that gun to your head."
Ellen frowned but then her arm began to shake as she struggled to fight her own body, her hand bringing her gun to rest against her temple. John and the others were horrified as they stared at her.
"See that Ava girl was right." said Jake. "Once you give in to it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."
"Let her go!" Sam ordered.
"Shoot him." Ellen said, her voice trembling just like her body.
Jake smirked at her. "You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off." He paused and glanced quickly at the others. "Everybody put your guns down. Except you, sweetheart." He added to Ellen.
Sam, Bobby, John and Dean all hesitated but they knew they didn't have a lot of choice. Jake wasn't bluffing and could easily kill Ellen if they didn't do what he said. Carefully they all placed their guns on the ground.
"Okay, thank you."
When they were all standing straight again, Jake turned his back on them and pulled the Colt out of his pocket. He walked right up to the crypt and inserted the barrel of the Colt into a small hole in the middle of the Devil's Trap. While he was distracted, John, Bobby and Dean raced towards Ellen. John grabbed the gun and pulled it out of her reach, while Dean yanked her arm out of the way and Bobby kept her steady by grabbing onto her other side. The gun did go off, barely missing Ellen's ear as it did.
Meanwhile, Sam raised his gun to Jake and fired four shots in to his back. Jake stumbled then fell backwards. Slowly, Sam walked towards him and looked down as Jake gasped for breath. A pure hatred began to fill Sam's every pore. He had tried to give Jake a chance, help him but all Jake could do was turn and follow the word of the Demon. And it was one thing to try to take Sam's life but trying to kill Pepper when she was pregnant and had nothing to do with it.
"Please...don't." Jake gasped. "Please..."
Sam pointed his gun at Jake's chest and used his remaining bullets on him. Sam dropped the gun and wiped the splattered blood from his face. Dean stared at his brother as he and the others joined him. Sam glanced at his brother before quickly avoiding eye contact. Dean looked...well horrified and Sam found that he couldn't blame him. He was horrified by what he had just done but he knew that he'd probably do it again if he had to.
Suddenly the engraving that was the Devil's Trap began to spin one way before spinning the other and then it stopped. Bobby took one look at it and knew exactly what it was.
"Oh, no."
"Bobby, what is it?" asked Ellen.
"It's Hell."
Dean stepped forward and removed the Colt. The crypt began to rattle violently.
"Take cover. NOW!" Bobby yelled.
They ran towards the nearest tombstones, diving behind them for protection. The crypt doors burst opened suddenly and a large mass of black smoke shot out then it vanished in different directions across the sky.
"What the hell just happened?" Dean shouted.
"That's a Devil's gate." Ellen shouted back. "A damn door to Hell."
"What the hell do we do now?" Yelled Sam.
"Come on! We gotta shut that gate!" Ellen yelled then ran out from behind the tombstone.
Bobby, John and Sam followed her lead, all running to the crypt. Bobby and John pushed all their weight against one door while Sam helped Ellen on the other door. Dean stayed where he was and hesitated as he looked down at the Colt in his hands. Something didn't feel right, why would Jake have the Colt? And where was the Demon. Dean checked the Colt. It had one bullet left in it. His brain began thinking over all the possibilities for that.
"If the Demon gave this to Jake...then maybe..." He paused and spun around coming face to face with the Yellow-Eyed Demon.
As a reflex, Dean aimed the Colt, but the Demon simply flicked his hand and the Colt went flying out of Dean's hand and into his own. Dean stared at him.
"A boy shouldn't play with Daddy's guns." Yellow-eyes smirked.
He turned his head to the side and by doing that sent Dean flying across the cemetery. Dean fell head first on to one tombstone, cutting his forehead deeply on the edge before falling down and blacking out for several seconds. When he regained consciousness, he winced with pain and the Demon casually walked towards him.
Sam and the others struggled with the crypt doors. Sam turned around and pushed his back against the door, digging his heels into the ground as best as he could. Then he saw his brother. Dean was rubbing his head and by the way his head was lolling to the side, Sam knew that something was wrong. Yellow-Eyes caught Sam's eye and smiled.
"DEAN!" Sam yelled and ran towards his brother.
As soon as Sam ran off, Ellen struggled with the weight of the door even more. John saw her and ran to help her. She needed the extra help more than Bobby did. John had yet to notice why Sam had disappeared.
Sam ran as fast as he could towards the demon but he wasn't quick enough and the demon used his powers to send Sam flying in to a tree.
"I'll get to you in a minute, champ." Yellow-eyes called out over his shoulder. "But I'm proud of you--knew you had it in you."
Yellow-Eyes turned back to Dean, who was finally starting to get to his feet, but again the demon used his powers and forced Dean back against the tombstone.
"Sit a spell." He muttered.
Dean tried to move but couldn't. He was helpless. Yellow-Eyes came towards him and knelt down in front of him.
"So, Dean... I guess I gotta thank you. Getting to Sam like that. Not that I didn't want to see some blood shed of course but, hey, at least now Sammy's still in the game. I liked him better than Jake anyhow." He paused before adding, "I mean, he couldn't even handle the simple task of killing your whore-"
"-You son of a bitch!" Dean spat angrily.
"Did I hit a nerve?" Yellow-Eyes asked smugly. "Now what makes you want to kill me more, the fact that I did kill dear old mommy, or the fact that I could have killed your little bastard child?" When Dean tensed up at the word 'child' he had his answer. "Oh there we go. Those father instincts kicking in already I see."
Slowly the Demon stood up and took a few steps back, then looked back down at Dean. Over at the crypt, John finally noticed what was happening to his boys. He couldn't hear what was going on but the fact that the Demon was standing over Dean, with a gun, was not a good sign. John needed a plan and he needed it now. If he just ran towards the Demon he'd end up like Sam, and Dean would be dead. John looked around rapidly before making his mind up. He muttered a 'sorry' to Ellen then ran off behind the crypt. He figured that the only was to get the element of surprise was not to come straight at the demon but to somehow go around. John was acting on pure adrenaline now. Nothing, not even the Yellow-eyed demon was going to hurt his sons. He'd give his own life to stop anything happening to them.
"What did you have by the way? A little bastard he--" Yellow-eyes paused to gage Dean's reaction. "Or a little bastard she?"
Dean's eyes flicked ever so slightly but just enough for the Demon to get his answer. He sneered down at Dean and raised the Colt, pointing it at Dean's chest.
"Well, thanks a bunch for getting to Sam. I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now, anyway. Oh and just so you know, when I'm done here I'm gonna find your girlfriend and I'm going to cut her neck and bleed her dry. Then I'm going after your daughter."
Dean bit down hard on the inside of his cheek. He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream. He wanted to fight back and wipe that damn satisfaction from the Demon's face but he was still under the demon's spell. The fact that he could only sit there made him feel like his insides where being shredded to pieces. It couldn't end like this. He couldn't leave Mary and Pepper vulnerable.
The Demon cocked the gun. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw his father crawl around behind a tombstone. Suddenly, Dean found himself praying, pleading that whatever his father was trying to do would work. Dean had never been this afraid in his entire life.
John saw his chance and ran full speed towards the Demon, tackling him to the ground. The Colt was knocked from the Demon's hand and landed by Dean's feet. Dean stared wide-eyed as his father wrestled with the demon, using all his strength to fight him away from the Colt.
Dean began to feel the invisible restrains that held him back start to break. He bent his foot at a painful angle and managed to drag the Colt towards his hand. He shook as he pulled himself away from the tombstone with great difficulty. When he grabbed the Colt, he wrapped his fingers around the cold steal in a death tight grip.
Yellow-Eyes managed to get the better of John and with a flick of his hand, he sent John flying on his back across the ground. John only stopped when he hit a tombstone. He let out a low cry and struggled to sit up. The Demon calmly got to his feet and set his gaze on John for a moment. He took a step towards him but froze when the sound of a gun being cocked filled the air. He spun around to see Dean pointing the Colt at him. Dean's facial expression was hard and before Yellow-eyes could blink, Dean fired.
The bullet went straight through the Demon's heart and out the other side. The demon shook, a mixture of black smoke and yellowish light went through his body. He jerked a few times then dropped to the ground. His yellow eyes faded to green as the Demon, finally after over 22 years died. And he died at the hands of a Winchester.
In the distance, Bobby and Ellen managed to get the doors to the crypt closed. The Devil's Trap spun in different ways once again before stopping and locking the gates of Hell.
Carefully, Dean got to his feet, still holding the Colt in his hand. He stumbled slightly due to the gash on his head. He peered down at the lifeless body of the poor guy the Demon had been in. His lips curved up just barely and he sighed. With that sigh, he finally let go of all the tension he had been holding on to for all these years. Sam and John pulled themselves up and made their way over to Dean. Sam was at a lost for words.
"Well," Dean sighed. "Check that off the to-do list."
John placed a hand over Dean's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Well done, son."
"You did it." Sam added, finally finding his voice.
Dean shook his head slightly. "I didn't do it alone." He paused and looked over at his father. "That was really stupid back there Dad, but I'm glad you did it."
"Me too, Dean." John smiled.
Sam went back to staring at the body on the ground, and a frown appeared on his face.
"You okay there, Sam?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, I just, I kind of can't believe it, Dean. I mean...our whole lives, everything...has been preparing for this, and now I..." Sam trailed off with a slight chuckle. "I kind of don't know what to say."
"I do." Dean replied. He turned and knelt down close to the body. "That was for our mom...You son of a bitch."
Bobby and Ellen walked over to them, each taking in the body on the ground.
"Well, the gates closed." said Bobby
"No chance of it getting re-opened?" asked John.
"I doubt it." Bobby shook his head. "If the Colt is the only thing that actually opens it we should be okay."
"And if it's not?" Sam asked.
Bobby sighed, "We'll have to deal with that if it ever comes up."
"So, what do we do now?" asked Sam.
"We should probably get rid of these bodies." Ellen suggested.
Dean paused and looked behind him at Jake's body. Sam saw something flash behind his brother's eyes. Something almost like disappointment mixed with fear and regret. Sam hated seeing that look and he wanted to explain why he killed Jake.
Dean placed the Colt in his back pocket then started to bend down but he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness come over him so he stood back up. John and Bobby noticed him wavering and everyone finally took a good look at the gash on his forehead.
"You okay, there Dean?" John asked concerned as he took a step towards his son.
"Yeah, I just have a headache." Dean replied. He grinned and added, "But it really doesn't feel that bad." That was true, his head should be killing him but the joy he was feeling was overriding that. The Yellow-Eyed demon was finally dead and his brand new baby daughter was alive and she was safe. Therefore, the pain didn't matter.
"Even so, you should go wait by the car for a little bit." said Bobby. "We don't want you falling over or anything."
"Good to know you're worried about me Bobby?" Dean joked lightly.
"I'm worried about what Pepper will do to us if we bring you back half-dead." Bobby replied.
Dean chuckled and nodded his head, "Yeah. Well it's a good thing we're going to a hospital."
"Go, we'll meet you in a few." said John.
Dean nodded then walked towards the hidden Impala. Then Bobby and the others went to the two bodies. A simple fire would take care of them; it just meant that they would have to stay there a little longer.
Dean leaned against the drivers' door of the Impala. His head was beginning to throb and it would need a few stitches and he would have to get one of the others to drive, but he didn't care. He checked his watch for the third time in minutes. He was eager to get back to the hospital and to his daughter. He wanted to call the hospital but it was just over midnight so even if he was able to get through to Pepper's room, she could be asleep and if she was, he didn't want to wake her.
Dean's thoughts drifted to Mary and he smiled. It was a great feeling to know that she was safe and that the Demon that had terrorized them for years would never threaten her life. Dean shifted slightly as Sam came towards him.
"They're nearly done." Sam told him. "Bobby said it shouldn't be more than a few minutes. He just wants to make sure we've covered all our tracks."
"Good," Dean nodded.
"Dean," Sam began carefully after a pause. "About Jake..."
"I don't need to hear it, Sam." Dean replied quickly. "You don't have to explain anything."
"But I do. I have too." Sam paused, took a deep breath and collected his courage. "Dean, I'm not sorry that I killed him, but I need you to know why I did."
"It doesn't matter." Dean replied. "You stopped him."
"Stop it, Dean." Sam raised his voice slightly. "It does matter. I don't want you to think that I've become..." He took in a breath and quickly let it out. "I just need to say this okay."
"Ok."
"Seeing Jake, and listening to him talk, it just took me back to Cold Oak. And all I could think about was how I had tried so hard to help him and everyone else there but that didn't seem to matter to Jake. He just...he turned on us only because the Demon told him to. I just got so angry."
"Because he tried to kill you." Dean stated, nodding his head slightly.
Living the lives that they did and growing up the way that they had, made it so easy for them to become consumed with revenge. Dean couldn't really blame his brother for putting a few bullets in to Jake. Dean couldn't say that if someone tried to kill him that he wouldn't want a little revenge.
"No," Sam shook his head and frowned. "Because he tried to kill Pepper."
"What?'
"If he had just tried to kill me I'd still be angry sure but, I mean, Pepper was pregnant. What kind of a person tries to kill a pregnant woman? Jake just didn't care. If you guys hadn't have turned up when you did--"
"-Yeah." Dean nodded. He didn't really want to think about what could have happened if they hadn't have turned up at Cold Oak.
"I guess that when Jake was talking about Pepper, I just lost it. I mean Pepper's just..." Sam trailed off, as he couldn't put to words what he meant.
"Sam," Dean began as a warning, as he stood up straight and faced his brother. "If you're about to tell me that you're in love with my girlfriend, I will punch you."
"What?!" Sam yelled. "No - I don't, no." He quickly replied.
Dean crossed his arms over his chest. "Then what are you trying to say?"
"Just that... Dean this job, this life it, it isolates us - and you know it does." Sam quickly added when Dean was about to interrupt. "The only people we really have contact with are other Hunters or those who are involved in hunting, or their victims that we save. But neither of us have any friends that don't full in to at least one of those categories."
Dean opened to mouth to reply again but Sam interrupted him.
"The random women you've got phone numbers for don't count."
"Right." Dean sighed. "Sam, what's your point?"
"My point is that when I was at Stanford I had friends. I had a lot of friends and then," Sam shook his head sadly. "I got back in to this life and that's fine especially now that it's finally over, but I did miss being able to talk to someone who isn't you. Then Pepper became pregnant and," Sam shrugged then continued. "I guess I got used to her being around. I like her, Dean - as a friend. So that's why I did what I did. I just wanted you to know that you can count on me to protect Mary and Pepper."
Sam looked at his brother nervously as he waited for a reaction. Dean's lips curved up slightly in the beginnings of a genuine smile.
"Thanks, Sammy."
Sam smiled in return and nodded.
Dean was quite proud of his little brother in that moment. He was a great feeling to know that if anything were to happen to him, that Mary and Pepper would be taken care of, though Sam could probably do that in other ways than killing.
"Hey, Dean." Sam said seriously, bringing Dean out of his thoughts.
"Yes?" Dean asked. His smile faulted because of the seriousness of Sam's expression and tone.
"Now can I hold Mary?" Sam asked in all seriousness.
Dean burst out laughing.
TBC
Next Chapter - Gift Shop
Author's Note - I realized after I wrote this that Jake having the Colt didn't make any sense because in this series John never made a deal to save Dean's life and therefore Yellow-Eyes never got the Colt. Um, so... let's pretend that Yellow-Eyes got it another way...He's tricky like that lol