Dean sat unresponsive to the world, in a chair between his two siblings' corpses.
"Dean?"
It had the desired effect and roused Dean from his stupor. He finally turned his eyes away from them and towards the source of the noise.
"Brought you this back."
Dean turned his head in acknowledgment.
"No thanks, I'm fine."
Bobby turned to look at him, the color of his skin, the shadows under his eyes, and the stubble presently adorning his face.
"You should eat something."
"I said I'm fine."
He watched as Dean took a swig from his beer. He tried to pick his next words carefully.
"Dean….I hate to bring this up, I really do, but don't you think maybe it's time we… bury Sam and Katie?"
The look Dean gave him could scare the devil himself.
"…No"
Dean sat down and Bobby shook his head.
"Well we could...maybe-"
"What? Torch the bodies?"
Bobby's eyes narrowed.
"Not yet."
Dean said it with a slight shake of his head, making Bobby wonder what the idjit was planning. He leaned on the table towards Dean.
"I want you to come with me."
"I'm not going anywhere."
When had the boy become so cold? Bobby figured after the last of his family, sweet little Katie, had died.
"Dean… please"
"Why don't you cut me some slack?"
"I just don't think you should be alone, that's all."
Dean's eyes became focused on the table.
"I gotta admit, I could use your help."
Dean scoffed in disbelief.
"Something big is going down… End of the world, big."
"WELL THEN LET IT END!"
Dean's shout surprised Bobby but didn't deter him.
"You don't mean that…"
Dean stood up so fast, his chair fell to the floor.
"You don't think so? Huh? You don't think I've given enough?"
Bobby's face fell at the hopelessness and anger in the boy's voice. This Dean was new, and Bobby hadn't dealt like anything like it before.
"You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it."
Bobby just stood there speechless.
"Now if you know what's good for you, you'll turn around and get the hell outta here."
Bobby tried pulled up some courage to respond to the harsh words spoken by the boy he considered a son, but words escaped him.
With a harsh shove, Dean growled out another "Go!"
As if just noticing the hurt and broken look on Bobby's face, Dean looked down.
"…I'm sorry"
Bobby nodded a bit in acknowledgment.
"I'm sorry….please just go."
Dean sniffled a bit and leaned on a chair for support, as Bobby turned to leave. He paused at the door.
"You know where I'll be."
Dean lifted his head up. Swallowing the lump in his throat he turned towards the dead bodies.
Turning back, he couldn't stop the tear that escaped.
Somewhere in the woods Jake Talley dozed in front of a fire.
Finally asleep, the Yellow Eyed Demon, Azazel, appeared before him.
"Howdy Jake."
Jake stood up shaking.
"I-I'm dreaming, aren't I?"
The demon leaned forwards to get a closer look at him.
"I've got a genius on my hands"
Jake looked slightly offended at the sarcastic remark.
"Well congratulations, Jake. Your it, the last man standing. The American Idol."
"I have to admit you weren't the horse I was betting on, but still… Gotta give it to you."
Jake tried to muster up some words but his courage and anger weren't helping much.
"G-go… to hell"
"Been there… done that."
Jake's anger seemed to win out.
"Everything you put me through, dragging me to that place, making me kill those people!"
Jake's voice broke on the last word.
"All part of the beauty pageant, except the little girl, no, she wasn't supposed to be there. You know the story, wrong place… wrong time"
"Jake I needed the strongest, and that's you."
Jakes heart broke. He'd killed an innocent girl just to go home.
"Needed me for what?"
"Oh I've got a laundry list of tasty things for you."
Jake's bravery returned.
"The only thing I'm gonna do, is wake up, hunt you down, and kill you myself."
The anger in Jake's voice made him feel stronger than his powers allowed.
"Y'know, others have tried… It's not easy."
The smile on the Demon's face made Jake wary, who took death threats so lightly?
"Trust me Jake, you wanna be a good little soldier here."
"And if I'm not?"
Standing up the Demon smirked, his yellow eyes glowing in the firelight.
"If you're a bad little soldier… Well that dear old Mom of yours, that adorable little sister, I'll make certain that they both live long enough to know the chewy taste of their own intestines."
Jake's lip quivered in anger and fear.
"No, Jake… I'm not bluffing."
Jake looked down in shame at what he was about to say.
"What do you want me to do?"
Lifting a hand to the boy's face he replied.
"Like I said, Genius."
Dean was back to staring at their bodies again, only this time he had something to say.
"You know when we were little, Sam couldn't have been more than five and Katie wasn't born yet, you'd just started asking questions'
A fond smile made its way on to his face as he remembered.
'How come we didn't have a mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go? He'd take off for days at a time, I remember I begged you, Quit asking Sammy man you don't want to know, I just wanted you to be a kid, for just a little while longer"
"Then Katie came and our world changed, I remember yelling at dad I didn't want him to bring another kid into this life, but then she smiled at us and we were wrapped. You'd finally got to be the big brother you'd always wanted to be and I knew she wasn't going anywhere, they'd have to go through us to get to her…"
"And Katie I-I don't know what I did to make you think you were less important than Sam… All I know is I promised Dad I would take care of you and protect you, the both of you."
"That's all I ever tried to do. Protect you… keep you safe. Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was always just my responsibility, y'know?"
"It's like I had one job, one job, and I screwed it up."
Dean choked on the lump in his throat, as the tears started coming down his face.
"I blew it… and for that I'm sorry"
He took a minute to wipe the tears off his face and clear his throat.
"I guess that's what I do, I let down the people I love. I let Dad down, and now I guess I'm just supposed to let you both down too?"
Dean sat a little straighter and shook his head.
"How can I? How am I supposed to live with that?"
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Sammy, Katie… What am I supposed to do?"
The tears came faster now, threatening to turn into full out sobs. Standing up Dean kicked his chair.
"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!"
Dean pulled out as soon as the Impala started up. He knew driving in this stated could prove deadly, but frankly he didn't care. In no time at all he pulled to a stop at the crossroads. Quickly, he through together a box and took a swig from a bottle of liquor. He roughly buried the box in the middle of the intersection.
Standing up he looked around anxiously.
"Come on already. SHOW YOUR FACE YOU BITCH!"
"Easy, sugar. You'll wake the neighbors."
He turned to look at the newly arrived Crossroads Demon. She smiled at him and her eyes turned red.
"Dean… It is so, so good to see you. I mean it, look at you. Gone and got your family killed, all alone in the world… It's too sweet."
Dean just looked on, waiting for her to get over with her one-sided conversation.
"Excuse me, you'll have to give me a moment. Sometimes you just gotta stop and smell the roses."
Dean shook his head.
"I should send you straight back to hell."
"Ooh, you should. But you won't… And I know why."
"Oh yeah?"
He turned to face the circling demon.
"Yeah. Following Daddy's footsteps, you wanna make a deal… Sammy and little Katie back from the dead and let me guess your offering up your own soul?"
"There are a hundred other Demons who would love to get their hands on me.'
She laughed.
'And it's all yours, all you gotta do is bring Sammy and Katie back, and give me 10 years. 10 years, and then you come for me."
"You must be joking."
Dean became confused and upset.
"It's the same deal you give everybody else."
"You're not everybody else'
She walked up to him and leaned into whisper.
'Why would I wanna give you anything? Keep your gutter soul, it's too tarnished anyway."
"9 years."
"No."
"8."
"Keep going and I'll keep saying no."
Dean straightened up.
"Okay, 5 years. 5 years and my bill comes due. That's my last offer, 5 years or no deal."
She smiled and walked up to him.
"Then no deal."
"Fine"
"Fine"
"Make sure you bury Sammy and Katie before they start stinking up the joint."
Dean stood for a second in despair.
"Wait!"
She smirked.
"It's a fire sale and everything must go."