Here you go with the next chapter. Specific spoilers in this chapter (quotes or references) for the following episodes: Jus in Bello, Malleus Maleficarum, Sin City and No Rest for the Wicked.

Enjoy!


Chapter 8 – A Test of Strength and Trust

Ruby stared at the fluorescent Devil's Trap on the ceiling for a moment, then she turned the full force of her glare on Sam.

"Let me out, Sam."

But Sam only shook his head. "No. Not yet. If we're going to play this game, we're going to play this by my rules from now on."

From the corner of his eyes, Sam saw Bobby sit up on the bed. The Devil's Trap effectively caught Ruby in a four-foot circle at the foot end of both beds, and still it left both of them enough room to move around her. Bobby went over towards the front door and locked it, then he returned to the bedside table and switched on the dim light on the nightstand. It wasn't bright enough to light up the whole room, but with the sliver of light falling in through the bathroom door it was more than enough to make out Ruby within the boundaries of the Devil's Trap.

Ruby watched what Bobby was doing, then she turned back towards Sam.

"This is not a game, Sam." Ruby shook her head. "If you haven't understood that by now, your case is hopeless."

"Trust me that I know how much is at stake."

A smile showed on Ruby's face. "If you really knew that, then you wouldn't have trapped me here. I'm your only hope in this, Sam. I'm the one who can show you how to save your own life and your brother's soul, and I'm the only one you can trust."

Sam laughed mirthlessly. "I don't trust you, Ruby. Trust is something that has to be earned, and you haven't done anything to earn my trust so far."

"Oh no? What about rebuilding the Colt for you when the old man wasn't able to do it on his own? The moment I handed him the working weapon he could have killed me. Why would I hand him a weapon that could destroy me if my intentions weren't sincere? And when you and your brother were surrounded by demons in that police station, I was willing to sacrifice myself to save the two of you. Oh, and by the way – how do you think Dean stopped coughing up his lungs when you were disturbing that little witches club in Massachusetts? Who do you think saved his life? That was me. I caused my own master to be killed so that you could live, and now you tell me that you can't trust me? That's ridiculous, Sam."

"No, it isn't. You've always worked on your own agenda. You've been playing Dean and me, trying to get us to do what you've wanted us to do. And this is going to stop now. If I'm to go along with your suggestions any further, you're going to answer my questions first. I'm not ever walking blindly into something you suggest again."

"Oh, and you think trapping me in a crappy motel room is going to do the trick? I don't think so."

Sam shrugged.

"Neither do I, actually."

He bent down and lifted the comforter away from the mattress so that he could reach underneath the bed. He retrieved two large plastic bottles of water and a book which he put on the bed beside him. Ruby was watching him attentively, though her face was pulled into a fake bored frown.

"Holy water? How imaginative."

Sam shrugged. "It works. I know it works, you know it works."

He took one of the bottles and unscrewed the cap. Without a warning, he struck out his arm, dousing Ruby in a healthy dose of the holy water. Ruby flinched back, but was held back by the invisible boundaries of the Devil's Trap. Some of the holy water hit her, and as the flesh on her arm started sizzling she couldn't help the distressed sound of pain escaping her lips.

Sam put the bottle on the floor beside him and watched Ruby impassively as she rubbed her arm.

"That was uncalled for."

But Sam wasn't about to break out the pity now. "As I said, we both know it works. And I'm done playing word games and riddles Ruby. If there's one thing you need to be sure about then it's that I'm done with that. I want answers, I want them short, precise, and I want them now."

"Or else you're going to douse me in holy water until I beg you to stop it? Sammy, maybe you should get yourself checked out. I get the feeling that you're channelling your brother far more than you're aware of. He was always the part of your little travelling freak-show whose brain wasn't exactly his strong suit."

"It's Sam."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Sam. Fine. So Sam, you got the holy water. Help me, help me, I'm scared. Listen, without me you're not going to be alive for very much longer. Threatening me is not the way you want to go now. Let's just stop this charade."

Sam shook his head and picked the book up from the bed.

"It's not a charade. It's actually very simple. You're saying you want to help me – fine. But if you do, I want to know exactly what it is you're planning. I want to know what you know. And if you don't give me the answers I want to have, I'll just do this on my own."

"And die?"

Sam shook his head again, a slight smile on his lips. "Do you really think I'm still worried about dying? Do you really think I still care? If I'm bound to die, so be it. I'm tired, and I no longer care."

Ruby stared at Sam for a moment, then she shook her head like one would do when disappointed with a particularly stupid child.

"You can douse me in holy water for all you want, but that's not going to help you any!"

Sam shrugged again and reached for the book which he had deposited on the bed earlier.

"Then I'll just finish what Lilith started."

He opened the book and started flipping pages under Ruby's stunned gaze.

"What?"

"It's just a few questions, Ruby. We're playing by my rules now, and that means you're going to answer my questions, then I'll let you out of the Devil's Trap. If not, you'll just have to wait for the next chance to get out of hell before you can try and screw with my life again."

Ruby looked from the book in Sam's hand to his face and back again.

"You're not going to do this."

"No?" Sam had found the right page in the book and looked up at Ruby again. "I found just the right thing here. Starts off like a standard exorcism, but with a nice twist in the end that'll keep you in hell for a long time."

"Sam!"

Ruby's tone implied a warning, but Sam didn't particularly care. She had her chance, now she needed to see that he was serious.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas…"

Ruby started breathing hard and her eyes rolled around nervously.

"Sam, stop it."

"...omnis incurso adversaris infernalii, omnis legio…"

"Sam!"

Ruby's hair had stared waving in a breeze that wasn't even there, and sweat had popped out on her forehead. "Stop it."

"...omnis congregatio et secta diabolica…"

Ruby cried out and fell to her knees, holding her head in her hands.

"Stop it Sam! Just ask your damn questions and I'll answer, but stop this!"

Sam looked up from the book, and when he stopped reading Ruby slowly looked up at him, her eyes dark pools of black.

"Stop. Ask your questions, I'll answer. But stop this right now. If I go back to hell, all is lost. And that means mostly for you, because one day I will get out again. But then it's going to be too late for you, and for what you could still achieve. So put that damn book away and let's get this Q&A get over and done with."

Sam watched her for a moment longer, then he put the book down on the bed, still open on the page with the exorcism just in case he changed his mind.

"Pity. I hadn't even gotten to the good part yet. Those first few sentences I know by heart by now."

Slowly, Ruby scrambled to her feet, but she was swaying slightly, as if her legs were too weak. Sam wondered what she had done in the short amount of time since their last meeting to 'get her strength back' as she had called it. Or whether it had been enough.

Without taking his eyes off her, Sam pulled a chair up and pushed it towards Ruby into the boundaries of the Devil's Trap.

"Here, sit down before you drop."

Ruby glared at him but she sat down all the same. Seated like that, she was sitting right in the sliver of light falling in from the bathroom door. It illuminated half her face while it cast a shadow on the other half, a strange display of light and shadows on her face. Behind her, Sam could see Bobby watching both of them attentively, bottle with holy water within reach, never once looking away from the demon.

"Room service leaves something to be required around here." Ruby remarked. Sam picked up the bottle and held it out to her.

"You can have a sip of that if you want to."

"Screw you. Ask your questions, so that we can get to the really important parts."

"Where is Dean?"

"What?" Ruby laughed out loud. "That's your important question?"

"What's so funny about that?"

Ruby shook her head, but the smile stayed on her face. "Oh, nothing. It's just that I expected you to start ticking off the really important points from the list first."

"Believe me that this is the most important point. Where is my brother?"

"In the limbo."

Sam frowned, searching his memory for anything he had ever heard about that. He came up empty. Looking up at Bobby, he found the older hunter shake his head slightly.

"The limbo?"

"There an echo around here?"

"What is the limbo, Ruby?"

Ruby shrugged. "The great between. Neither here nor there. The place where drifting souls go off to."

Sam drew breath to reply, but Ruby cut him off.

"No, listen to me. I know what you're going to ask, and I cannot answer you that question. I told you before, they're not teaching courses on that kind of stuff down in hell. It works like this: a human dies, his soul takes off – either to hell, if the person was naughty, or to…well, I don't know where else souls could possibly go. The road not taken and all that. Maybe they go to heaven, if it exists. Personally, my theory is that they just evaporate. Poof! A whole life wasted without sinning just once in hope of going to heaven and bang! – bright light, curtain falls, end of show. But of course your brother had to make an exception. His soul was bound straight to hell, couldn't stay there because of the brotherly bonding thing you two got going on, so right now his soul is hanging in between, waiting for further instructions."

"But where…what is that limbo?"

Ruby shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. It's no place Sam. No physical place. Just…in between. All I can tell you is that he probably isn't very comfortable there."

"What makes you say that?"

Sam couldn't help a slight note of worry from creeping into his voice, and judged by the amused tilt of her head, Ruby hadn't either.

"Because one thing I do know – Dean's there alone. Just his soul, with only himself for company. It's not hell in the sense of pain and suffering, but being confronted with everything that's you might be just as bad."

"How long can he stay there?"

Ruby shrugged. "Again, no scientific studies on that one. Not long. For as long as what's binding him keeps working. And this," she pointed at the pendant around Sam's neck, "is not going to work for very long."

"So I kill Lilith and his deal's over. He's not going to hell?"

"Since Dean is still hanging in the balance, that would be my best guess, yes. But maybe you didn't listen during our last meeting – you can't kill Lilith. Even if you had the knife you stole from me poised above her, ready to strike, you won't be able to do it. Magnets repelling each other and that, remember?"

"I do. Then how were you planning on killing Lilith?"

Ruby laughed. "What gave you the idea that I knew a way to kill her?"

"Because you said so. Before Dean died you had a plan. What was it?"

Ruby just smiled. "It's too late for that now, Sam."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I wanted you to use your powers. I wanted you to finally tap into that potential of yours. Azazel blessed you with powers far beyond your belief, far beyond even Lilith's belief, when he came to you as a baby. You have such a huge potential. Remember how Lilith used her powers to wipe out an entire police station? That's large scale we're talking about. And when she tried to use those powers on you? Poof, nothing happened. You're far more powerful than you can imagine, and if you only broke down that noble barrier in your head that keeps you from using them, you could wipe Lilith out with the swipe of your hand. Or rather, you could have, until that little problem about you not being able to kill her came in between. So now it's too late."

And actually, Sam felt relieved at those words. Two days ago he would have seized the opportunity. He nearly had. If Dean hadn't stopped him, he'd have followed Ruby's plan. For the purpose of saving his brother's life he had been willing to tear down the barrier Ruby had been talking about. He had been ready and willing to brush aside all his doubts and fears about that unknown dark side in him and use it to save Dean.

Only Dean hadn't let him.

And maybe that way, his brother had saved him one last time.

Because while Sam was willing to do anything to save his brother, he knew that he'd not be able to live with himself if he allowed something evil, something demonic to take over. He didn't want to be tainted, he wanted to be normal.

For Dean, and only for Dean, he had been willing to harness that demonic power inside of him, all consequences be damned. He still was ready and willing to do so. He was willing to bring that sacrifice for his brother. But he was secretly glad that it was not an option.

We stop being martyrs.

Sam had to stifle a smile. Dean had a knack of always knowing the right thing to say. They couldn't go on like that, with one of them giving his life to save the other in a vicious cycle of endless repeats. They didn't have the strength left to keep doing this.

Which meant that this time, Sam was going to do it the way he had learned to do things – his father's way. Tackle the problem straight on, always look for the cleanest, easiest and most effective solution. And be prepared for all eventualities.

And if we go down, we go down swinging.

"We still got the knife."

Ruby's eyes automatically went to the knife in Sam's belt.

"My knife, you mean."

Sam shrugged. "Whatever. The main thing is that we got a knife that can kill demons."

Ruby smiled. "Of course. So your plan is to find Lilith, take the knife with you, distract her somehow and hope and pray that she won't notice how the old man is trying to stick the knife between her ribs because you can't do it. That sounds like a foolproof plan to get yourself killed."

"So what is your suggestion?"

"Let me out and I'll tell you."

Sam shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"What, afraid that I'm going to take off the moment you break the Devil's Trap?"

"No. But for as long as you're caught in there, I can send you straight to hell if I get the feeling that you're lying to me again. So what is your plan?"

"Who said I had one?"

"You came to Bobby's to warn us. And since you left you had enough time to make up your mind. See it as a test of faith Ruby. If you tell me what your plan is, and if it sounds doable, I might just let you out."

Behind Ruby, Bobby's face turned into a surprised frown, but he didn't interrupt Sam's conversation with Ruby.

The demon watched Sam for a few long seconds, then she sighed.

"Lilith still has the colt."

Sam raised his eyebrow. He hadn't forgotten about the colt, but ever since he had gotten to know that Bella had given it to Lilith, Sam had given up hope that they'd ever be able to get it back.

"And she's surely just waiting to hand it over to us."

"There are ways to get to it. Not for you or for Bobby, but for me."

Sam laughed. "Of course. I should have known that your plan involved trusting you."

Ruby smiled. "And I'd hate to disappoint."

"So what, you're going to find Lilith for us, get the colt for us and then help us kill Lilith?"

"That's putting it very simple, but yes. That's the basic plan."

"And of course that plan has no holes at all. Like how to find Lilith in the first place. Or do you know where she is?"

"Well, there are only limited options for her. Powerful as she might be, Lilith can't go back to hell and return to earth as she pleases either. Not that she'd want to go back to hell even if she could. Nobody in their right mind would."

"So she's here somewhere."

Ruby nodded. "Yes. Where exactly I don't know, but there are ways to find out. My guess is that she's trying to keep some distance, but she won't stray too far away from where the action is."

"Taking another holiday?"

Ruby leaned back in her chair and smiled. "Lilith is very particular about that. But since the last holiday she took ended in such a disaster, I'd say she might try to remain inconspicuous."

"What was all that about anyway? Possessing that little girl, the birthday party?"

"What else do you expect from a child?"

Sam opened his mouth but the words died on his tongue. He shook his head.

"A child?" He finally forced out. "Are you trying to tell me that Lilith is a child?"

"Well, currently she is a demon. But she was a child at the time when her soul went to hell."

"But…how?"

Ruby laughed. "Oh Sam. So naïve. You should know by now that there are different ways to end up in hell."

"Yes, of course. But a child?"

There was a smile on Ruby's face and a sparkle in her eyes that made Sam feel nauseous.

"It's what every demon's after, Sam. Children's souls are so pure, so untainted – it is a great achievement for a demon to get such a precious treasure down into the pits. There is much natural power in the soul of a child, and the demon it turns into…well, you have seen what Lilith is capable of."

"But how does a child end up in hell? An adult selling his soul I comprehend, but a child?"

"Oh, the things I've seen, Sam. But who said that Lilith did the selling herself? She is old, she was born in desperate times. With many children, no money and no harvest, families were getting desperate. We're talking the Dark Ages here, more than once a family sold one of their children so that the others could survive. Sacrifice wasn't uncommon. Still isn't today. And since a child's soul is so precious, there was always a demon around to make the deal."

Sam couldn't comprehend what he was hearing. If Lilith was a child…it went against everything Sam believed in, against every urge in his body that said children were weak and had to be protected. Of course she was a demon, but if Lilith was possessing the body of a young child – Sam would hesitate. He had hesitated before.

"So she always possesses little girls? When she came to Bobby's, she was possessing a young woman, not older than you…than the one you are possessing now."

Ruby nodded. "If she can, she will possess a child. She is a child, Sam. She has never been anything else. A demon can possess every human they want, lest they carry protection against possession. It's just another proof that we were all human once, though the others don't want to see it. We keep possessing that which we once were. Lilith possesses little girls, I tend to possess young women. If need be, that can change. I did possess the old man after all, but it wasn't comfortable."

Ruby turned and looked at Bobby over her shoulder. "No offence."

"Bite me." Bobby replied gruffly.

Ruby rolled her eyes and looked back at Sam.

"You can't let appearances stop you, Sam. If you get the chance to kill Lilith, or to set her up for somebody else to kill, you cannot consider the little girl Lilith is possessing."

Sam knew that, but he also knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as Ruby made it sound.

"That still doesn't tell us how to find her."

"I told you I can."

"How? Look her up in the demon directory?"

Ruby chuckled. "Something like it. I have contacts, other demons who all aren't too keen on seeing Lilith gain more power either. And they can find out where she is without alerting her."

"And once you've found her, what's the plan? Sneak into her hideout and pull the colt out from underneath her pillow? Sounds like a great plan."

"Leave that to me, Sam. I can get you the colt, that's all you need to know."

"No. That's where you're mistaken. If I agree to do this with you, I want to know every detail. I want to know how, and I want to know what I'm letting myself in for."

Ruby got up from the chair and angrily started pacing in the narrow confines of the Devil's Trap. Finally, she shook her head and came to a stop right in front of Sam, watching him from narrowed eyes.

"Fine. Lilith still has the colt. In fact, she never lets it out of her sight. So once we know where she is, we draw her out."

Sam laughed and shook his head. "What, you want to set up a trap for her? And you expect her to fall for that?"

"It's the only chance we have. I don't particularly care whether or not you like it. We're only going to get one shot at this. It's our only chance to determine the conditions for meeting Lilith. If we confront her wherever it is that she's hiding out, we won't stand a chance. We need to draw her to a place where we can prepare for her arrival."

"And what makes you so sure that she'll come?"

Ruby smiled, and in the sliver of light from the bathroom her blue eyes looked grey and cold.

"Oh, she will come. If you're there, she'll definitely come."


The words of the exorcism rite that Sam begins to perform are the same ones that are often used on the show. They are quoted according to supernaturalwiki (dot) com, and since my three years of learning Latin lie long in the past, I hope I got it down right. All possible mistakes are mine.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and I'd appreciate it if you left me a review. Thanks a lot.