Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or anything you recognize from it.

I want to thank Arathi.x, Deedle2226, and ChiyukiLuvs2Glomp for reviewing and to everyone that has this story on alerts and favourites. I was thinking of just stopping this story regardless since I honestly didn't think it was worth it but I'm content in knowing there are people out there reading this story. Please enjoy, and please review.

Chapter Two

Of Dealings, Phone calls and Melancholy

Tony stared into the Stygian, opaque eyes, "You promise to bring him back?" It was all she really cared about.

"I will. And because I'm such a saint, I'll give you one year. And only one year. But here's the thing. If you try anything or weasel your way out, then the deal is off. Sam drops dead. He's back to rotten meat in no time and the hatred Dean feels for you only intensifies. So...it's a better deal than John Winchester ever got. What do you say?"

Tony walked up to him and offered him her hand, "Deal."

He looked down at her palm in distaste, "Oh, you green girl." And pulled her to him, kissing her firmly on the mouth.

Tony shook her head trying to rid the living nightmare of selling her soul from her mind, she had to focus: what Ellen had said had shaken her. More than she cared to admit. She frowned at the calendar, she knew both brothers would try their damnedest to try to get her out of the deal but quite frankly, she wasn't really worried. She knew there was only one-way and that meant her death. But if Ellen had phoned her and warned her, then the other hunter must be worried that the brothers were closing in on finding an out for Tony or they were in danger. In any case, Tony was still shaken.

"What are you talking about, Ellen?" She gently placed the gun on the scarred table and moved away from the calendar and out of the motel room, leaving the door open at her back. She leaned forward, her free hand griping the railing as she tried to fill her lungs with fresh air but no less cloying.

Ellen made a sound on her end, "They're working with Bobby…going city by city rummaging around until they find a piece to the puzzle."

"Why are you telling me this?" Tony asked quietly, a sliver of surprise warming its way into her consciousness. Ellen had always supported Tony, regardless if she agreed with the younger woman or not.

"Because you fought to save the people you love, Tony. And with what we do…there's always going to be some sacrifice. I'm not happy about the price you have to pay but I've come to accept foolish, idiotic things from you."

Tony winced when she heard Ellen's voice raise an octave throughout her explanation, "Bobby supports me." She pointed out.

Ellen scoffed, "He supports you if you need anything but he's not happy about the deal, Tony. Even you have to know that. And those three…they'll do everything in their power to save you. Even if it cost them their lives."

Tony nodded, hearing what was unsaid: Ellen would rather she died than having three great hunters die because of her. Though it stung, it was the truth. "I'll take care of it." She quietly said, hanging up a few minutes later after Ellen said goodbye. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She had wanted to cut it obscenely short but with only a few months left, she honestly couldn't be bothered with her damn hair.

She turned and entered her motel room, kicking it shut absentmindedly as she made her way to the table where her laptop rested. Ash had taught her more than she had ever thanked him for, he had taught her things that not even Ellen knew he had been capable of. Since she had left, she had been tracking the three hunters on her laptop, hacking into Sam's computer constantly and checking their emails. It was pathetic and went against everything she stood for but it was the only way she had survived those three months without them. She was like an addict needing a fix. She frowned when she read some of Sam's notes she had copied to her hard drive: they weren't making it easy on her. Why couldn't they just accept fate and move on? She didn't want to phone and threaten them but if she had to, she would. She wasn't playing the martyr, unlike what Dean thought: she honestly knew that if they tried to renegade out of the deal, Sam would die. And she refused to accept that.

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Sam stared at his computer screen, he swore he had saved a word document to his computer about possible leads to check out about Tony's deal but he rummaged through his entire hard drive and realized it had simply disappeared. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his weary, grainy eyes: he was so tired and he ached. Not only did his body ache: running on a few hours of sleep a night and one or two meals a day but his heart hurt.

When he had lost Jessica, it took him a while to move on but now that Tony had disappeared, sometimes he couldn't even breathe against the building pressure. But he kept moving forward, he had to save her: there were no other options. He went through his hard drive once more as a precaution before rubbing his eyes yet again, this wasn't the first time things were deleting themselves on his computer and if he was really suspicious he would connect the dots: they were all in relation to the deal Tony made and how to get her out of it. He rubbed a hand over his heart absently: there was so many things he missed about her that he realized he missed living. He may be alive but he wasn't living anymore. Not when she was out of his life.

Dean glanced towards the table where Sam was sequestered, his laptop and papers strewn around him and sighed. His brother was hurt and he would have to be blind and dumb not to notice how much She had hurt him. He tightened his fist around his gun he was cleaning and scowled, it had been three months since…and he still couldn't bring himself to think about her. Whenever he did, he was filled with rage, anger, hurt, betrayal, guilt…it was too much for him. But just because he refused to think about her or even utter a word about her, did not mean he wouldn't help Sam with his useless quest.

He knew the ramifications if Sam managed to break the deal Tony had made and it was possibly the reason why Sam and Bobby never mentioned her name in front of him or the reason why he left the room if he heard her name. She had put him in a situation he never even thought would exist: he had to choose. Fight for his chosen sister or keep his hereditary brother alive. He stood up, rage boiling under his skin and muttered something under his breathe before slamming out of the motel room.

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Tony took a bite out of her cold, greasy burger and stared at her laptop screen, and forced herself to chew and swallow the vile fuel. She threw her burger aside and forced her mind to make sense of the jumbles, a roaring white noise thundering in her ears. Why the hell was Bobby fixing the Colt and why the hell did Sam think it a great idea to see if he could kill the demon she had made a deal with? It wouldn't work, the crossroads demon had only accepted the deal she had made, and surely he wasn't the one calling the shots. She wiped her hands on her worn jeans and began pacing around the cramped room: why couldn't they just damn well accept her fate? She wasn't scared, she wasn't freaked out, she was fine with dying in nine months. The pathetic thing was: it gave her something to look forward to.

She stared at her phone and knew what she had to do. She couldn't phone Bobby, he would just deny and curse at her and damn it, she had to do something to save Sam. She picked up her phone and punched in Dean's mobile number, ignoring the fact that she knew it by heart and shoved the phone to her ear: holding onto the rage. Rage was better than hurt and pain. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for him to answer. She didn't bother worrying about him trying to trace her: they hadn't exactly been on speaking terms when she had left and thanked Ash yet again for teaching her yet another invaluable tool.

"Hello?"

Tony closed her eyes, relishing Dean's gruff voice: it had been so long that for a few terrifying moments she thought she had forgotten how he sounded. But she could never forget the deep and biting voice. She swallowed and took the leap, "Dean?" She asked, her own voice hoarse from the lack of use and growing emotion.

She heard a slight intake of air on his end and squinted her eyes, trying to catch any nuances she got and waited a full minute. It wasn't until the second minute passed her by that she realized he still refused to talk to her: the rage slowly ebbing into heart-breaking pain: something she was used to these past months, her only comfort. "Fine, Dean." She muttered, "I'm sorry to be a bother but you have to do something about Sam and Bobby."

She waited half a minute and sighed again, one thing could be said about Dean and it was that he was a stubborn bastard that committed to his anger. "Trying to fix the Colt is a great idea to kill demons but killing the Crossroads demon to get me out of the deal isn't. I made a deal with the demon, Dean and I will hold up my end of the bargain. He told me that if I tried to get out of the deal, they'd take Sam back. You do care about that, right?" She snorted to herself, past caring if he heard her or not, "So make fucking sure that Bobby and Sam don't pull any stunts." She expelled in a rush, disconnecting the call and throwing her phone across the room to land on the bed. Had she actually been expecting Dean to forgive her?

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Dean stared down at the phone in his hand and ignored the pounding of his heart, what the hell had just happened? He turned on his heel, away from the bar and began the long walk back towards the motel, too shocked to feel anything else. He never expected a call from her and he was damn curious how the hell she knew what they were all up to. Butshe had been right about one thing: Sam and Bobby had to stop before they did something no one could fix. He was pissed and he had to accept that someone had beat him to it, saving his brother when it was his fucking job…

He unclenched his jaw and unlocked the motel room door, rolling his eyes when he realized Sam hadn't moved. "What? No date with your demon girlfriend?" He mocked, ignoring the hurt flashing in his brother's eyes. He didn't like Ruby, hell: she was a demon and the idea of trusting a demon was so implausible to him, it was almost laughable.

"Whatever Dean. But Ruby said she could get Tony out of this mess—" Sam started and for once, Dean snapped. He was so tired of hearing the hope the damn demon elicited from his brother, that he was sick to his stomach with it.

"Enough, Sam." Dean snapped. "Just…give it a rest, okay? I mean, haven't you ever thought that if she wanted to get out of the deal, she would be here with us?" He explained, "You and Bobby and that demon bitch just need to stop this shit. It's getting old, Sammy."

Sam stood up, his chair crashing to the floor and took a few menacing steps towards his older brother, "You know what's getting old? This damn 'nonchalance' routine: you pretend not to care and to act disinterested but you do care, Dean! And you are bothered that she gave up her soul before you had a chance to."

Dean shoved his brother away from him, a caged animal attacking, "It's my goddamn job, Sammy! I'm your older brother, I was supposed to be there for you…fuck." Dean broke off, swallowing down a sob, and wiped at his betraying eyes.

"We have to try to save her, Dean. She saved me but she also saved you." Sam quietly commented.

Dean shook his head, trying to push down the tears, "No." He swallowed down the emotion and ignored the tears falling from his eyes, his younger brother in the same state, "You'll die if you get her out of the deal, Sammy. I can't—" Dean swallowed and scowled at his younger brother, "Stop this before it's too late." He ordered and locked himself into the bathroom to clear his head. He stared at the phone still clenched in his hand and swallowed. He shouldn't have treated her this way, he shouldn't have been so rude but damn it, he was still hurt and angry.

Sam stared at the locked door and wiped his tear-stained face, what had brought on this turn for Dean? As far as he was concerned, his brother refused to acknowledge the existence of Tony and just went along with him and Bobby because he didn't want to speak up…right? He righted his chair and sat down, typing a note to himself in a word document: that he, Bobby and Ruby had to be quieter.