Chapter Four: Progression

"You're wasting your time," Sam said.

He was sitting in an abandoned warehouse, tied to a chair, watching as his prey-turned-predator paced restlessly back and forth.

"I'm telling you, he's not coming," Sam persisted. He was sick and tired of being used as bait; he wished the psycho angel would just kill him or let him go already. Unfortunately, Gadreel didn't seem inclined to believe Sam when he said this was a pointless exercise.

"He will come."

It was like talking to a brick wall. Except a brick wall would be more expressive, and probably a better listener too. "It has been three days! Don't you think if he was going to turn up he would be here by now?"

"You are his brother. He will not leave you here."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Just because we are related by blood does not mean that everything is picture perfect between us. It's the opposite, actually. Besides, after what I said to him the last time he 'saved my life' I doubt he will make that mistake again."

Gadreel stopped his pacing and turned to look at him. "You are not truly naïve enough to believe that mere words could dissuade your brother from saving you."

Sam didn't know. In the spirit of honesty – or, rather, in an attempt to make Dean feel the same pain in this existence that Sam felt every single day as he went through the motions of living a life he should have surrendered long ago – Sam had hit him where he knew it would hurt. If Dean's reaction to that conversation was anything to go by, he had taken Sam's words to heart. Sam had essentially said he would let Dean die, so it stood to reason that Dean would return the favour.

"Dean has more important things to do than come chasing after me. He knows that the job comes first."

Gadreel tilted his head slightly, giving Sam the all-seeing angel-stare that never failed to creep him out. "For all that you have grown up with him, you do not seem to know your brother very well," he observed. "You have been, and you always will be, Dean Winchester's first priority. He will do anything for you, give up anything for you. You, Sam, are the only thing he cares about."

"Yeah, and that has gotten us both into more trouble than it is worth."

"You are referring to my possession of your body."

Sam gritted his teeth. "Among other things."

If anything, Gadreel looked sad. "His intention was not to harm you, Sam. He had no way of knowing that I was not who I claimed to be."

"I don't blame Dean for your betrayal," Sam snapped. "Or for Kevin." If he had not been so tightly bound to the chair, he would have punched Gadreel across the jaw – and then stabbed him to death. He deserved nothing less for what he had done. As it was, Sam's fury bubbled just beneath the surface, biding its time, waiting for the opportunity to strike. "But we were supposed to be 'Team Free Will' and Dean stole mine when he made a choice for me."

"You said yes," Gadreel pointed out.

"Well I didn't know what I was agreeing to! I was ready to die and Dean didn't let me. He had no right."

"But you made the decision to live. I heard you. You may not have known what the deal for your survival entailed, but you cannot deny that you chose life over death. That was you, not your brother."

Sam shook his head. "No, I wanted out. I wanted peace. I wanted an end to all of this. Dean stopped me."

"Tell me, Sam Winchester. If you saw a man standing out on a ledge, preparing to jump, and you had the chance to stop him what would you do? Would you let him commit suicide, or would you try to talk him down? Would you let him give up on life without a fight, or would you try to give him a reason to live?"

Sam frowned, disturbed by the question. "I don't… it would be his choice. It's none of my business."

"What if it was someone you knew? Someone you cared about? Someone like Amelia, or Jessica, perhaps? Would you be able to stand by and do nothing while they tried to end their own life? Or would you do anything in your power to save them?"

Sam glared, but his silence was apparently answer enough.

"So you see, Dean's actions were not as selfish or malicious as you believe. He was only looking out for you, as he has ever done."

Sam struggled to hold onto his anger, but unfortunately he could see the situation from his brother's point of view now. It didn't make what he had done right, and it didn't excuse the fact that he had rented Sam out as an angel condom without his consent, but Dean probably couldn't comprehend the horror of possession having never experienced it himself. He didn't know it was the equivalent, or worse, of letting his brother be date-raped. He thought he was saving him.

"I have been in your head, and I have seen how Dean has always tried to protect you," Gadreel continued. "It is who he is, and he will not change. That is why I know he will come to rescue you."

"If he does you are going to kill us."

"I have my orders," Gadreel acknowledged. "But do not worry; I will give you the opportunity to reconcile first. And I will kill you quickly."

"No one is killing my brother," a voice growled.

Sam would recognise that voice anywhere. He had come after all. Sam never should have doubted.

"Dean."

Dean stalked out of the shadows, his eyes fixed on the angel. There was a deadly fury written across his features, menace in his every step and lethal intent in his unwavering gaze. But he was in total control, moving with the lithe grace of a predator. Every atom of his being was committed to the hunt. The air around him almost seemed to crackle with a dread power.

He wasn't even holding a weapon, but there was no question in Sam's mind that Dean was there to kill.

Gadreel stepped forward, heedless of the danger. "I knew you would come, Dean Winchester."

"Sam hadn't been home in a few days. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."

"It's a trap, Dean," Sam warned. He shrank back a little under the withering look Dean gave him, realising that his brother had known exactly what he was walking into. He just didn't care.

"I am sorry it has come to this," Gadreel said. He sounded genuinely remorseful, even as his angel sword dropped from his sleeve into his hand. "I would prefer not to kill you."

A sneer curled the corner of Dean's mouth. "Don't worry. You won't."

"I'm sorry, Dean, but we both know how this will end. I am an angel. You are just a man."

"You think so? Why don't you try to use some of your angel mojo on me, then?"

Gadreel made a curt hand gesture that should have flung Dean across the room, but he remained rooted to the spot. The angel frowned, suddenly looking uncertain.

Dean pulled a can of spray-paint from his pocket, tossing it at Gadreel's feet. "Cas and I, we did a little re-decorating before I came in here. I saw what the warding did to you when I was trying to keep other angels out of Sam's hospital room. Same principle applies."

"You have weakened me, but I am not powerless."

"Of course. What chance does a mere human stand against you?"

Warning bells started going off in Sam's head. "Dean…"

But it was as if Sam was invisible. Inconsequential. It all came down to the angel and the unarmed hunter, circling each other in the dance of death.

On an unspoken cue, they launched into battle.

Sam had been watching his brother fight his entire life, and he had never seen Dean fight like this.

He wasn't a hunter.

He was the incarnation of violence.

It was effortless, the way he traded blows with the angel, as though he knew every move Gadreel was going to make before he made it and it was simply a matter of slipping into the right position to block his attacks. Dean never moved more than he had to, weaving through the angel's defences and striking with precision. His speed and strength were impossible. It looked to be a furious melee, but Dean was not even working up a sweat.

Gadreel was beginning to look nervous, but he didn't flee. Sam recalled the angel warding on the building, and realised that Gadreel probably couldn't flee. Whatever the outcome, this would be the end. But at the rate things were going, it would be the angel who died here today.

As though he had come to the same conclusion, Gadreel abruptly broke off from the fight and lunged toward Sam.

Sam jerked back, but he was bound, helpless, watching with wide eyes as the sword bore down on him.

Dean grabbed Gadreel's arm and the angel twisted, turning the weapon on Dean faster than was humanly possible.

Momentum dragged Dean forward.

The sword ran Dean through.

"No!" Sam screamed. "No! Not Dean, not my brother, you bastard!" He struggled more fiercely than ever against his restraints, trying to reach Dean before he bled out on the floor. He couldn't die yet, he couldn't-

Dean looked down at the blade protruding from his gut.

Casually, he pulled it out, flipped it in his palm, and stabbed it straight through Gadreel's neck.

The angel didn't even have time to gasp in shock. A blinding burst of light exploded from his vessel and when Sam uncovered his eyes, Gadreel lay dead, the ashes of his wings burned into the ground.

Dean was still standing.

In fact, he just stood there, staring down at the body. His right hand clenched and unclenched at his side, but other than that he was still. Frighteningly still.

Almost like he had been when he was holding the First Blade.

"Dean?"

Dean's eyes flashed up to look at him and for a moment Sam could have sworn they were black.

A whirlwind of thoughts and information and deductions swirled through Sam's mind as he pieced together the facts of Cain and the Mark and the Blade and his brother.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, Dean, you're a-"

"Demon," Dean filled in, shaken out of his trance by the sound of his brother's voice. "Yes. 'Course you would figure it out faster than I did. You always were the smart one."

"Dean-"

Dean wouldn't look at him. To avoid meeting Sam's gaze, he examined the jagged tear in his shirt with faked interest. The fabric was crusted with blood, but the injury that should have killed him didn't even appear to cause him any discomfort. "I didn't read the warning label. On the bright side, though, I ganked all the demons."

"All of them?" Sam gasped.

"Yep. There's only one Knight of Hell left. Me."

Sam was reeling, unable to come to terms with what he had seen or what Dean was telling him. He could only stare at his brother in horror.

Dean sighed. "I know, Sam. You don't have to say anything. I'm a monster, I get it."

A monster? A demon? A soulless, black-eyed creature of Hell? Evil?

"And you're a hunter. I know how this is supposed to work. You think you have to kill me now."

Kill Dean? Kill him?

"That's okay, Sammy. I don't blame you. And I promise I won't run, or try to stop you. My death will finish this once and for all."

Dean's death? This was never supposed to end with Dean dying. That was why Sam had taken on the demon trials instead letting his brother sacrifice himself to the cause. He had already watched Dean die too many times to count; he couldn't do it again.

But when they fought Sam had told Dean to go, and he hadn't stopped him. He wasn't there to stop Dean from taking the Mark from Cain.

When he had woken up to an empty bunker a few days ago, Sam had not chased after Dean. He had left him to fight Abbadon and the demon hoard alone.

He let Dean do what he had to, and he had done nothing to save him.

Turns out he was true to his word after all.

"Dean…"

"You will have to convince Cas to give back the First Blade. He wouldn't let me commit suicide, but I am sure you can convince him that this is for the greater good."

Dean wanted to commit suicide? He wanted to die? And an angel had to stop him because Sam wasn't there?

Again. Sam had done it again. After his confessional, he had let Dean down again.

And now Dean expected Sam to kill him.

"No," Sam growled.

"What?"

"Let me out of this chair, Dean. Right the hell now."

"Okay, okay, don't get so excited," Dean muttered, coming over to snap the ropes around Sam's arms and legs with his bare hands. "I know you're eager to be rid of me but you don't have to act like Christmas has come early."

"You idiot," Sam seethed.

"I know. This'll teach me to read the fine print."

"No, I mean, you are a complete idiot. You bust in here, kill Gadreel-" as the last binding snapped Sam surged out of his chair- "save my life-" grabbed Dean in a fierce hug- "-and then you are stupid enough to believe I want to gank you?" He gripped Dean's shoulders and pushed him away slightly to look him in the eyes. "Of course I am not going to kill you, Dean! I don't care what the Mark did to you or what you think you are now. I know what you are.

"You're my brother."

ooOOoo

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long guys, I have so many assignments to do for uni it is actually crazy. Apologies also for the absence of Cas. But I hope you still enjoyed it! I'm thinking one more chapter to follow…