"Why now? Why kill me now after all this time?"

Ruby decided what she should tell him. She didn't think it would make any difference if she told him the truth. There was nothing he could do about it. But on the other hand, if he learned that he would start the Apocalypse, and there was any way for him to kill himself before the ritual, she was pretty sure he would find it.

"We were keeping you alive in case we needed insurance against Dean. But, he's dead again, and he won't be coming back this time."

"Dean's dead? What happened?" Sam asked. He, of course, regretted the fact that he had trusted a demon and brought the Anti-Christ into the world, but more than that, he regretted the fact that he had not had a chance to ask for Dean's forgiveness for it. He knew that was pretty screwed up, but that was the way they had always been. They had been more important to each other than anything else. Sam wasn't sure if Dean had felt that way at the end, though. Not after what he had done.

"You don't want to know," Ruby said and quickly left. She was sick of thinking up lies.

Sam sank down to the cold stone floor and remembered all the good times with Dean. Any bad memories, he left out.

Dean and Cas squatted outside an old, dilapidated castle in the freezing cold, Irish night. "Are you sure he's in there?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Castiel answered.

"How are we going to get him out?" Dean asked.

"I doubt that we can. You'll have to go in and kill him before the child can."

"No. That's not the plan," Dean said, forcefully. "If you can get close enough to kill him, you can get close enough to zap him away, right?"

"I can't get in at all. The castle is protected with warding magic. Angels can't penetrate that."

"Fine. I'll go in and bust him out then," Dean said.

"If you want to try, go ahead. But if you're caught, you'll need to kill him."

"Then, I won't get caught," Dean said, unwilling to argue the point. He hadn't killed Sam when his father wanted him, hadn't killed Sam when Sam wanted him to, wouldn't kill Sam because this angel wanted him to.

He crept up to the castle, slowly. After hiding from any demon he saw coming, it was an hour before he entered the castle. He realized it was only another hour until sunrise. He had no idea during what time of the day this sacrifice was going to take place. Hopefully midnight, so he would have plenty of time. He heard two demons approaching and dove behind the stairs to hide.

"Why is the sacrifice at sunrise?" one of the demons asked.

"Because the sacrifice is going to allow Lucifer to rise, and Lucifer is the morning angel," the other responded.

As they walked out of sight, Dean repressed a groan. He had less than an hour to find Sam and get him out of here. He decided to start his search upstairs.

Lillith went down to the dungeon. "Time to wake up, Sammy," she sing-songed as she opened the cage door.

Sam got up. Lillith nodded to him to precede her. She had been afraid she would have to use physical force. One time she had used to much force with a human and accidentally killed him. That wouldn't do now. The death had to happen a certain way. But Sam no longer had any of that muscle that she remembered him having. He was gaunt and almost skeletal. Plus, his eyes were dead. There was almost no life left in them at all. Jesse, for that is what they named the boy, would be doing his father a favor by putting him out of his misery.

Sam was ushered into a room. "Lie down," Lillith instructed, pointing to the middle of a painted symbol that Sam didn't recognize. He went where instructed. He really didn't care anymore.

"So, this is my father?" Jesse asked as he came into the room.

Sam couldn't help his curiosity at this. He looked up at the 20 year old. He was the spitting image of himself at 20. "What's your name?" Sam asked. He felt like he should know his own son's name. He felt know love for him, knew that he was an evil creature, but still felt an odd sort of bond.

"Jesse."

Sam was sickened by that. It was as if they had named him after Jessica. "Why did you pick that name?" Sam asked Lillith.

"It was pre-ordained."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dean had searched the upper rooms, when he realized dawn was just moments away. He heard voices and figured his best bet was to follow them.

"OK, Jesse, you must straddle him and thrust this blade into his heart," he heard a little girl saying. That must be Lillith. Of all the demons, he hated her the most because she corrupted pure, little girls.

He burst into the room, not really sure what his next move was going to be. He knew that Lillith and the Anti-Christ were in there, but didn't know if there were any other demons. He figured probably Ruby. Looking around, he saw that not only was Ruby not there, but Lillith was the only demon. "Stop," he yelled, as he saw the knife descending toward Sam.

When Sam heard his brother's voice, instinct took over. He reached up and grabbed the knife. Jesse was much stronger than him, but he was able to deflect it, and the continuing force had Jesse attempting to plunge it into the hard floor.

Lillith was about to obliterate Dean when Sam grabbed the knife out of Jesse's hand. Jesse had lost his grip on it with the strong impact of metal on stone, and Sam had taken advantage. Sam quickly plunged the blade into Jesse's stomach before he had a chance to react. Lillith turned toward the scene when she saw what was happening. "NOOOO!" she screamed.

Jesse's blood spilled onto Sam. He felt something inside of him. With the last of his strength, he concentrated and exorcised Lillith using his mental powers. When he was done, Dean ran over to him. "Sammy," he said, not sure if he was dead or not.

Sam's eyes fluttered open weakly. "Dean," he whispered. "Sor, nev me to.." he trailed off and his eyes closed.

"Sammy, Sammy," Dean yelled. He checked for a pulse. There wasn't one. He heard the other demons running in. He felt their demon death rays on him and he collapsed into a heap on top of Sam. "It's OK, Sammy," he whispered with his last breath.

Outside, Castiel pondered the irony. The sacrifice of one of them was supposed to start the Apocalypse, but instead the sacrifice of both of them stopped it. He went back to Heaven to await his next assignment and to thank the Winchesters for all they had done.

The End