Chapter Six

Bright yellow morning sunlight reflected in a harsh glare off the laminate of the corner table of the coffee shop where Sam sat with his back to the wall, leaving white afterimages streaking his vision. He moved to cover the glare with his elbow, the worn fabric of his hoodie sliding smoothly over the slick surface. He bit his thumbnail, one knee jumping anxiously under the table as he waited.

After a moment, Ruby slid soundlessly into the booth across from him, setting a plate down in front of him on the table with a definitive clink. Sam looked at the plain bagel and the small, plastic tub of cream cheese, and felt his stomach turn over at the thought of eating.

"Don't argue," Ruby said, seeing the look on his face. "I don't want you passing out on me. I have better things to do than hold your hand, so man up, okay? You can go back to eating like an anorexic twelve-year-old after we gank the asshole who has your brother."

Sam set his jaw stubbornly and tore off a piece of bagel with distaste. "You don't have to be a bitch about it," he muttered.

Ruby leaned back in the booth and brought an arm up over the back of the seat. "Speaking of bitch. You know, of all the stupid holes you could have dug for yourself, Sam..."

"Don't. Okay?" Sam's hand hovered over the plate for a second, and she saw the faint tremor there. "I can't do this right now."

Ruby relented. She shifted to the side in the booth and opened her satchel, drawing out two syringes filled with red fluid. "Dead man's blood," she said with a grin. "We're mixing this in with yours tonight. That should put a dent in their enthusiasm."

"That's your plan?" Sam pushed back against the table with both hands. "Just walk in there and hand them contaminated blood, and you think they're not going to notice? You think they're that stupid? Ruby! They'll kill him!" Sam squeezed his forehead, massaging the pounding headache there. He hadn't slept, and now frustration and exhaustion and fear for his brother were threatening to pull him apart.

"Trust me, Sam. Do you trust me?"

"I—yes. I don't know."

"You just make the drop like always and we'll get Dean out. I've got your back."

He'd done this so many times now, he almost didn't need to think about it.

He tried not to think about it. He tried to shut down, shut out the dark, creeping feelings of shame and guilt, the horrible knowledge that Dean had rushed into yet another dead-end situation to save his pathetic little brother. His fault. All of this. Everything. Always, all his fault.

He tied the length of rubber tubing around his arm like an act of penance and made a fist, flexing it a few times, his heart beating hard and fast.

Too fast. Too hard. Not right.

Dying.

He was going to die.

Panic closed over his mind, blocking out rational thought with the certainty that his heart was going to stop once and for all. That he would die and then they would kill Dean because Sam was weak. Weak and stupid because he hadn't found a way to survive this.

Sweat broke out on his forehead and he gripped his knees, bracing himself and shaking, trying to draw in a full breath.

"Ruby!" he called desperately, not knowing what else to do. He leaned forward, clutching his arms around himself, unable to breathe through the fear that kept ratcheting higher and higher, spiraling out of control.

The bathroom door flew open, and Ruby crouched down to his level sitting on the backs of her heels, pushing his hair back from his face. "Sam!" she commanded. "Sam, look at me. Are you hurt?"

His eyes were wild, his pupils wide. She held the sides of his face still until he focused on her. "Sam?" she said firmly.

"I-I can't… do it. It's too much."

"Yes, you can. For Dean, Sam. Sam?" Her fingers tightened on his face. "For Dean."

Sam took a breath and met her eyes.

"That's it," she reassured. "You've got this."

He shook his head. "I'm not—I can't save him, Ruby. Not from this. Not from Hell."

"Don't talk like that. You want me to help you?"

She eased his arm away from his chest and down over his knee, taking his hand and wrapping his fingers closed into a fist inside of hers. Sam watched her, his breathing slowing, growing calmer.

"You want me to help you, Sam?" she asked again, reaching down and taking a needle out of the bag.

Sam nodded and closed his eyes gratefully, reacting only slightly as the needle went into his arm with a surprising gentleness.

Derril was leaning casually against one of the twisted trees in the small city park. He looked up and smiled warmly as Sam approached from the street. "Sam!" he greeted. "You're on time."

Sam drew himself up to his full height. "I want to see my brother," he said.

Derril raised his eyebrows. "Are you making demands now?"

Sam bit back on a retort, his hands clenching inside his pockets. "I'm here. I have it. I'm on time," he said, forcing his voice to stay level. "I've done everything you asked me to do. Let me see my brother. Please," he added.

Derril walked over to Sam, looking him up and down appraisingly. "Your brother has caused me quite a bit of trouble, you know that, Sam?"

Good, thought Sam, hiding a satisfied smirk.

Apparently he hadn't been able to keep the expression entirely off his face, because Derril leaned in close to him and whispered, "Oh, do you think that's funny?"

Sam shook his head, quickly looking down.

"Because I'll tell you what isn't funny. It isn't losing half my inventory to an obnoxious little prick who bursts into my operation demanding that you be let out of a deal that you made. I have costs to recover now, thanks to you. I have people that I answer to. So why don't I let you see what kinds of costs are associated with being an obnoxious little prick?"

Sam drew in his breath sharply as two men – vampires, he guessed – stepped out of the shadows dragging a struggling figure between them.

"Oh god, Dean!"

Dean's head jerked up in response to Sam's voice. "S'mmy?" He was pale, his eyes hooded, and he squinted in Sam's direction.

"Dean, are you okay?"

Dean grunted in answer. "'m fine Sam. Just… makin' new friends."

Sam turned to Derril. "Let him go," he said. "You've made your point."

Derril held up a hand. "No. Not quite," he said, his eyes flashing black. "Everything comes with a price tag, Sam. This just happens to be yours."

He pointed his finger at Dean. An invisible force flung Dean backward, tearing him away from the men holding him, and threw him hard against the trunk of a tree, pinning him there. Dean opened his mouth to scream, writhing in pain, but no sound came out.

"Stop it!" Sam yelled, looking around frantically for Ruby.

Suddenly, a blinding flash of blue light erupted through the lot. Derril shouted and doubled over, and covering his eyes with his arms.

Suddenly released, Dean dropped from where he was being held against the tree, gasping. His legs trembled and folded under him, and he slid the rest of the way to the ground.

With both hands shielding his eyes from the light, Sam ran to where Dean had fallen and crouched beside him, laying a hand protectively on his chest. He looked up, squinting, in time to see Ruby raise both hands and simultaneously plunge both needles of dead man's blood into the necks of the two vampires from behind.

The light grew in intensity all around them. In an instant, he felt Ruby's hand on his shoulder, tugging at his jacket. "Come on!" she shouted. "Get him up, we've got to go!"

"What is that?" Sam shouted back, sheltering his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

Ruby bent down and pulled one of Dean's arms forward, helping Sam get him to his feet so they could carry him between them. "Lilith," Ruby said. "It's Lilith! She's pissed. Come on, we've got to get out of here, now, while we can!"

Sam looked back. Ruby was right. He saw Lilith stepping placidly toward Derril with her hand outstretched in a beacon of light.

"Please!" Derril coughed, clutching his throat.

Lilith laughed, tilting her head. "'Broker?' Really? How clever. What a clever little game you must have thought you were playing, bartering with souls that didn't belong to you."

He choked, gasping as he fell to his knees, thick, black smoke pouring from his mouth and pooling on the ground at Lilith's feet. "How… did you…?"

"A little birdie told me," she said with a mockingly sweet smile. "Whispered it right into my ear." Then she closed her hand into a fist, and Derril wailed in agony, finally collapsing in a heap as the last of the smoke flickered and smoldered into ash.

Ruby shook Sam's shoulder, drawing his attention back to her. "Come on!" she hissed.

"Sam."

Sam froze. The deeply melodic voice resonated inside him, and he found himself unable to move or call out. A tall figure stepped into his path, blocking his retreat, and looked directly into his eyes.

And smiled.

Sam's blood ran cold.

"You belong to me, Sam," the vampire said, taking Sam's chin in his hand and lifting his face up. "You're what I paid for. You're mine, and I don't intend to lose you."

Sam's heart pounded frantically. He was paralyzed in the vampire's gaze, caught like prey.

"You're coming with me, Sam," he said, his voice low and oddly persuasive, and Sam knew he would go wherever he was told to do, that he had no choice. Whatever hold this creature had over him, he was powerless against it.

And then suddenly, a long, silver blade slid through the air in front of him, cleanly severing the vamp's head.

Sam watched it fall and hit the ground with a soft thud, as if it were all happening in slow motion, then staggered back a few steps. He looked up to see Dean clutching the machete in both hands, breathing hard.

Never had one word felt so inadequate, but he said it anyway because he meant so much more, and he knew Dean knew it. "Thanks," he said.

Dean looked up at him, confirmation showing in his eyes that he understood, and nodded. He glanced warily in Lilith's direction. "It's not often I agree with Ruby, but–"

"No. Right. Come on!"

To be continued.

A/N: I mentioned to a couple reviewers that I planned to make this the last chapter, but... nope! One more to go. And no cliffhanger this time! :-) Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing, I really appreciate your comments!