A/N: Slightly shorter chapter, but it's been so busy here. In fact, it's after midnight now and we've got to be at it again in just a few hours. Did anyone out there know that in early June the sun comes up at 4 am in Poland? It's pretty disorienting. Anyway, just wanted to get another chapter up. It's more angsty, and I'm not really sure if this is going in the proper direction, but I'm trying. Thanks for all th reviews. Please keep them up. I'm nervous about this story and could use all the encouragement/advice I can get. Also, overlook any typos, my copy of MS Word gave out and I can't fix it until I get home. I'm using Wordpad, which is cool, but it doesn't catch my horrific typing like Word. Anyway, enjoy and please, please review:)
Sam's heart and stomach bottomed out, uniting themselves around the soles of his feet at those words. There had only been one thought in his mind when that crossbow bolt had been fired in Dean's direction, a reflex, and the wrong thing to think in the presence of a sadistic telepath: Leave my brother alone! You want to mess with someone, mess with me! He couldn't help it, but it had accomplished two things. It had shown the demon the sole chink in his armor, the one weakness that could break him. It had also condemned his brother to the kind of pain he had been going through. Or worse. Dean was just a tool that would be used to hurt Sam, no different than a hot poker or thumbscrews, only more effective. It didn't matter if he survived. Sam had to stay alive until he gave it the spell, but Dean was expendable.
And of course, Sam thought to himself, it was a good strategy. It might even have worked under other circumstances. While he could and would take a great deal of pain for their cause, he wouldn't be able to stand by and watch Dean be tortured if he could stop it. Consequences be damned, he would betray just about anything they fought for to protect Dean from something like this. Except for the obvious problem that he didn't have the information, it might have worked. Of course, at this point, the rational part of his mind shut off, leaving him at the merccy of the scared ten-year-old who very rarely took control.
The demon mover toward Dean, and Sam renewed his struggles, despite the fire radiating down his dislocated shoulder. He finally drug his eyes up to meet Dean's, shame and self-recrimination clouding them. Pulling himself up a little straighter and putting on his 'big brother' facade, he held Sam's gaze for a moment, a small smirk crossing his face. Sam knew the look. It was the same one he had used countless times when he had taken the blame for one of Sam's many so-called failures in their father's eyes, the look he had given Sam when he was grounded or spanked instead of Sam, claiming it was him who left the window unlocked, or forgot to clean the shotgun after practice. The look that told Sam Yeah, it's gonna hurt, but it's ok. Don't worry...
Except this wasn't a grounding or a spanking. This wasn't even Dad with his belt for a major infraction. This was a very determined demon who believed that Sam was standing in the way of his "master plan". Who seemed to have the power to pull a person's brain apart. And had no motivation to keep Daen's brain intact, unlike Sam's.
Pulling him sharply out of his mind, the demon reached for Dean's face. Dean stood his ground, didn't flich back, and kept his eyes on Sam for a moment longer. Once this started, he would have to avert his eyes so Sammy wouldn't see the pain in his eyes. He had to be the strong one here, because if this thing was hurting him, it was leaving Sam alone. Giving Sam all the strength he had, he turned to face the demon. The cocky smirk hardened into a stone visage of anger and determination. "Bring it, bitch!" He muttered.
But it didn't dive into his brain like it had Sam's. It ran it's fingers down the side of his cheek, as if savoring it's new weapon. Seeing no reason not to show his disgust, he wrinkled his nose like he had been smacked with a dead fish. Grinning maliciously, it turned back to face Sam, it's hand still on Dean's skin. "You showed no signs of giving me what I wanted, even though you were in considerable pain. But when I tried to shut this annoying halfwit up, you were in more distress than anything I did to you caused. Could it be that if I want something out of you, what I have to do is make him suffer?"
Sam's face tightened in anger. "I don't know what more I can say! I don't know your spell! If I did, I'd give it to you!"
It studied him for a moment. "You sound absolutely sincere. I would almost believe you... If I hadn't seen that what I need is in your mind."
"Then take it! If it's there, get it. The fact that you can't must mean it isn't there, right?" He didn't really believe logic would work with this demon, but he was desperate.
"Drop your shield," it snaled, "and I will. Without harming him."
"What do you mean by shield?" Sam asked, trying for calm and respectful but not quite making it. "I don't understand. I don't have a shield."
"When I try to access the area where the information is, there is a white wall that I can't get through. You must have put it there."
"I didn't put anything up." The desperate tone in his voice was getting more pronounced. "I swear I didn't! If I had the information, I would tell you so you don't hurt my brother. Please, you have to understand! You can't access it and I can't either. I don't know how. So this isn't going to serve any purpose. Anything you do to him is just going to be pointless sadism."
He had on his best "innocent victim" expression that had gotten them out of trouble so many times, and for a moment, Dean held out some hope that it might work. This demon might actually see reason and let them go. Maybe the night would still end with pizza and a movie. Hell, he'd even let Sammy pick the movie at this point. But then the demon turned back to face him and he knew a second before Sam did that it wasn't going to work. "It's a good thing, then," it said calmly, "that I enjoy pointless sadism." IT placed it's hand almost gently on the back of Dean's neck, and his world exploded in pain.
