Hey look, I posted today! Thought maybe you'd hate me less if I got this up as quickly as possible. Wishful thinking though, you're gonna want to kill me when you're done with this either way. I went to the Doctor's today and got diagnosed with a serious case of Moffat disease. Side effects include giving major feels and breaking people's hearts.


It had been so long. So long since Sam had felt anything besides pain. So long since he had heard anyone else's voice besides Lucifer's. So long since he had seen Dean. Sure, there were times where Lucifer made himself look like Dean as he separated Sam's flesh from his bones, but Sam always knew it wasn't Dean. Not his Dean.

Besides Lucifer's never ending condescension, Sam could hear the cries of Hell, his own screams often blended with theirs. One thing that made Sam stand out, was how he refused to break.

The one thing Lucifer wanted was to hear Sam say was, "please." He made that very clear when he broke every one of Sam's bones, one by one.

Sam had wanted to fight back, but having shattered legs tends to take away your motivation.

Lucifer held Sam's hand up, and gently toyed with the fingers he intended to break.

"Just one little 'please,' Sam, that's all you have to say."

Every time Lucifer gave him the chance to talk, Sam made him regret it.

"Go… to… Hell… Oh… too late."

Sam managed a small grin before his head went back on an agonized shout. The crack of bone reverberated off the walls of the cage. Pain sparked through Sam's hand. He held back his screams as best as he could, but it never lasted long. The only thing he could do as one last act of defiance, was force himself not to beg.

"Wanna run that by me again?" The Devil taunted as he bent another one of Sam's fingers back, just on the verge of snapping. "Didn't really sound like a 'please' to me." He pushed back a little further until another crack was drowned out by Sam's scream. Tears burned in Sam's eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"Not… happening." His voice cracked helplessly.

Lucifer mercilessly dropped Sam's hand. The sheer force of it landing sent waves of pain up his arm causing a moan to pass Sam's lips.

The fallen angel tugged Sam up by his collar and pulled Sam's head up until Sam met Lucifer's icy cold gaze.

"I will break you, Sam Winchester, one way, or another."

But he hadn't broken him yet. What little shred of dignity Sam had left was due to his refusal to give in. The closest thing he ever felt to pleasure was making Lucifer furious when he didn't beg. The downside was how Lucifer's rage only caused him to grow more creative.

Instead of using chains and ropes, Lucifer started pinning Sam to the floor by piercing blades through Sam's hands. It lessened his struggles while Lucifer gently stroked his kinfe all over Sam's skin.

"Ya know," Lucifer's voice was so calm and casual, sometimes Sam forgot why he was supposed to be afraid of him. He never had to wait long to remember. "You're lasting a lot longer than I thought you would, even longer than Dean had." Lucifer smiled. "At least, longer than the first time he was in Hell."

"Wha-" The word was cut off with a pained gasp as Lucifer buried the knife in Sam's stomach.

Lucifer slowly twisted the blade as he asked, "You haven't been listening to the screams very closely, have you?"

Sam forced himself to listen. Hearing those screams made him feel something Lucifer could never make him feel: sorry. He felt sorry for all the souls he couldn't save.

Lucifer loved to point out that even after his sacrifice, people were still being damned to Hell. Their cries became so constant that Sam had taught himself how to drown them out, but now he had to remember how to hear them.

When he finally did start to hear them again, one scream stood out. It was the scream he'd prayed he'd never hear, from the one he'd prayed he'd see again, but never like this.

"Dean?"

"Correctamundo, Sammy! The one person you tried to save just ends up right back here."

"No. You're… you're lying!"

"Don't have to this time, Sammy. You were always so good at telling whether it was really Dean, so go ahead. Listen reeeaaaal close, and tell me if I'm lying."

Sam didn't want to listen to "Dean's" scream, but it was only way to confirm that it wasn't Dean. The one sliver of hope that kept Sam together was the knowledge that Dean was okay. Sam needed to know that he still was.

The screams hurt Sam more than anything Lucifer could ever conjure up. His mind played a mantra over and over in his head.

"It isn't Dean, it can't be Dean, please don't be Dean, it isn't Dean, it can't be Dean, please don't be Dean."

"SAM!"

Sam's breathing stopped. The one thing that made Sam tell the difference between Lucifer's Dean and real Dean was Lucifer's lack of caring. Lucifer was a little brother, he would never capture Dean's protective nature. And he could never make Dean sound hurt, but the way Dean screamed his name, it was a plead for help. Lucifer never understood pleas for help. That meant it could only be one thing.

It was Dean.

"NO!" Sam screamed. "DEAN! NO!"

Lucifer shut him up by ripping the knife from Sam's stomach and pressing it against Sam's lips. Sam felt the warm liquid dribble down his face.

"And you know what the best part about this is? He thinks it's your fault." Lucifer watched Sam's eyes widen in disbelief. "Remember how your body took a trip back upstairs? It ran into Dean, and they started hunting together."

Sam frantically shook his head. Lucifer stopped the motion by slicing deeply into Sam's cheek. He watched with fascination as blood pooled out of the cut, and listened intently to Sam's shout.

"Dean," Lucifer continued, "got himself turned into demon bait. It put a blade against his throat and threatened you-" Lucifer paused to grin wickedly. "Soulless you, to step back, or he'd kill Dean." Lucifer bent down dangerously close to Sam's ear. "Guess what you picked?"

Sam fought harder than he ever had before. He tried to wrench out of the blades nailing him the floor, and even considered tearing off his own hands in order to break free.

"Let him go!" Sam demanded. "You already have me, just let Dean go!"

The Devil stood up and made an impatient face at Sam. "What's the magic word?"

Sam closed his eyes. All those years of refusing to beg were about to be wasted. Dean would hate him for this. "Please. Just let him go, please."

Satan smiled at Sam's plea. "No."

Sam shot his eyes open. "What?!"

"I think this will be the best torture yet. You'll be able to hear your brother's screams, and you'll never be able to save him."


"What do you think?" One of the demons surrounding Dean asked. Another eyed him as he hung limply with hooks digging into his skin.

"I think he's gonna give in a lot quicker this time, now that he's got nobody to stay human for."

"Suppose you're right. I mean, his own brother practically sent him down here."

Dean lifted his head and glared at the demons. The demons exchanged glances.

"Bring her in."

Dean suppressed his shudder. He'd already been tortured just like old times by a bunch of sloppy amateur demons. He wasn't really sure what to expect next.

A twisted figure stepped out from the shadows. It still had the outline of a human, but ages of torment and pain deformed its once beautiful features. It slightly resembled a woman.

"Good to see you again, Dean." The woman like creature greeted.

Dean cocked his head, and the movement caused more blood to ooze from his festering wounds.

"Who… who are… you?"

"Aw, whatsa matter? Don't recognize me? I'm sure that you thought a lot about me after you got back upstairs." She waited for Dean to remember. Growing impatient, she hissed, "If I said, 'First Seal', would that help jog your memory?"

Dean's mouth trembled in realization. "You… you were... the one I-"

"Tortured? Ripped apart? Sliced open? Yeah, that was me. I'm actually a little offended that you don't remember me, Deany."

"Look, I'm sorry-" She forced his silence by shoving a blade in his leg.

"Little late for apologies. Now that the roles are reversed," She leaned in close until their noses were almost touching. "I'm gonna take my time here." She turned towards the other demons. "I'll take care of this myself."

The demons all shared the same look of pleasure, and turned to leave.

The female demon plucked the blade from his leg and considered it for a moment. "Although," she thought out loud as she tapped the knife against her palm, "nothing could hurt you as much as the truth."

Dean took the bait. "What are you talking about?"

"Wellll," she teased, "We're not technically supposed to tell you." The demon licked her lips. "But this is just too good to resist."

"What?" Dean spat. Being in Hell did nothing for his temper.

She relished in his suspense for a few moments longer. "Sammy's here."

Dean felt his eyes widen, but he turned his mouth to a scowl. "No way. Sam's too good to let a couple of dumbass demons get the drop on him."

"You weren't." She pointed out. Dean twitched his lip. "But here's the kicker." She paused, taunting him with her knowledge. "Sam never left."

Dean shook his head. "No… not possible… me and him-"

"Ah, ah, ah, not all of him."

Dean had had enough with her games. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"His soul Deany-boy! It's still trapped in the cage. It's actually pretty close, so if you listen real hard, maybe you'll hear him."

Dean couldn't help it. He listened, and what he heard nearly broke him.

"DEAN!"

That cry, he'd been hearing it since he was six. Sammy's cry, a desperate, hurting cry, pleading for his brother to come and save him. Dean's heart broke every time he heard it and now, it was all he could hear.

"I think this will be the best torture yet. You'll be able to hear your brother's screams, and you'll never be able to save him."

And so it would go on for the rest of eternity.


I know I typically end stories with "Carry on my wayward sons" but I feel the need to end this one with holy crap, I'm a horrible person, and I know it, please don't kill me. (Like I did with the Winchesters. Oh gosh, why'd I have to go there?) I may or may not have made myself cry a little.