(Disclaimer: Don't own anything, story is mine though)

Battle Weary.

Chapter Ten.

He'd lost all track of time. He laughed hollowly, there was no time in this place. What seemed like an eternity may well have been only five minutes…or it could have been an eternity, he just didn't know anymore. What he did know was where he was,...he just didn't know when he was. And that really was the kicker.

His arms and shoulders were completely numb. Being suspended four feet off the floor for …well for a bloody long time, ensured that. He shuddered as another small creature crawled over his skin, taking it's time, inspecting his wounds; it's many legs like fire on his skin, it's scaly body pulsing a deep red as its antennae quivered in anticipation . He tried to shake it from him, but the cold, damp, slime-covered wall at his back made it difficult. He screamed as the creature crawled under his skin.

The slap to his face bought him back. They'd returned. It was starting again. He concentrated and changed his mind set; he had to if he was going to survive this. They removed the chains from his wrists and let him drop to the floor. His legs buckled under his weight and when his arms dropped to his sides he gave a low yell as pain shot through his shoulders and up his neck. Two of them dragged him to his feet, throwing him into 'the chair'; the chair they always sat him in when it was time for a 'talk'.

They strapped his ankles and wrists like they always did and then 'he' came over. It was always the same one. The demon took a chair, turned it round and sat in front of him, resting his arms across it's back; the nasty grin he always wore seeming wider this time. This 'talk' was gonna be a bad one.

"You know why I'm here'

"Go fuck yourself!"

"Tut, tut. Language" he grinned at the man strapped in the chair. He hated mortals, hunters especially so, but he had a grudging respect for this one. To have lasted as long as he had without breaking…well, it was no wonder they needed these warriors out of the way.

"Now we could go over the same questions we always do but I'm guessing I'd get the same answers" He grinned as he wiped the man's spit from his face. He cocked his head at the prisoner "Are you lonely?"

"Fuck you!"

He laughed at the man "I'm guessing you probably are. Down here by yourself, no one to talk to…no one to share your pain…it must get lonely" he grinned "Well you'll have company soon enough"

"You leave…"

Lothar slapped the man "You make no demands here! You should have understood what you were doing. What the mark really meant." he laughed "You didn't…and neither does he" He laughed at the expression on the man's face. "That's right, you're getting a room-mate. And then…then we can go after the other two. No restrictions."

"You bastard!"

Lothar got up, passed his chair to one of the other demons and rolled up his sleeves. He looked at the man in front of him "This is just for fun"

He screamed and held fast to the image of his sister.

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Jay was still sitting on the porch steps reading the journal when Sam and Dean came up, the coffee beside her, now cold. She didn't notice them, she was engrossed in something Zeke had written. She'd been reading the same page for about an hour now and was scribbling on a page at the back of the journal, switching from reading to writing, the frown that creased her forehead getting deeper.

Dean and Sam watched as her eyes flew across the page, chewing the end of the pen before flicking to a back page and scribbling. She'd been sitting out there for hours, every time they'd glanced over, she'd been there, she hadn't moved from the spot, she was either reading or writing. Damn, she was obsessed.

She looked up when a shadow fell across the page, they were smiling at her "What?"

Sam grinned "Do you eat, go to the toilet…anything normal people do?"

She smiled "Yeah, like you two are normal" she shut the journal, stood and groaned "My arse hurts" Dean raised an eyebrow, she looked at him "Don't say it"

He grinned "You're no fun" he turned at Sam "You think I should stab her again? Loosen her up a little?"

Sam stared at Dean "Hysterical"

Jay smiled "And you mean with a sword right? We've discussed the side-effect of…"

"Oh that was hilarious. You don't ever make jokes about that, that's sacred stuff" said Dean in all seriousness.

She rolled her eyes "Yeah, I'm sure many have worshiped at the 'Church of Dean'…"

He grinned at her "You know we could always test that side-effect…."

She laughed "Not gonna happen, Dean. Keep it in your pants"

Sam laughed "You don't know my brother at all, do you?"

Gus opened the door to the cabin "Quit your yapping and get inside. Foods getting cold"

"Yes, Mum. Do we need to wash our hands as well?" asked Jay.

Gus grinned "You just volunteered for dish duty"

"Crap" she turned and walked into the cabin, Dean and Sam following her.

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Jay sat and stared in amazement as she watched Dean eat, her fork suspended in mid-air as she tried to comprehend exactly what it was she was seeing. She looked at Sam and he shrugged embarrassedly at her.

"Aaah, would you like a shovel Dean?" she asked.

He looked up from his plate "Huh?"

She laughed, he was completely unaware of what he was doing "Nothing. Enjoy your food" he nodded and got back to it.

"Breathe, dude!" said Sam with a laugh.

"Can't. Eating." and back to it he went.

Gus picked up his beer and turned to Jay "So, you figure it out yet?"

Jay put food in her mouth and chewed slowly, shaking her head.

He smiled "You know, you're not a very good liar"

That remark stopped them, even Dean.

Sam laughed "It's a miracle!" and he swore as Dean smacked him across the back of the head.

"Well?" asked Gus, putting a hand over hers as she went to put more food in her mouth.

She put her fork down, wiped at her mouth with a napkin before picking up her beer and taking a long swig. Sam turned to Dean "That can't be good"

She pushed her plate of food away and laughed softly when she saw Dean eyeing it "Go for it" she said. He grinned, grabbed her plate and slid her food onto his.

She looked into three sets of expectant eyes and sighed "Okay, I'm not entirely sure as Zeke has a …strange way of writing things. Doesn't actually come right out and say what he means, you just have to try and figure it out" she sighed again "From what I can gather, he knew someone was after him and therefore after me, which makes me understand why he didn't want me to come to the States in the first place"

Sam smiled "But you obviously ignored him"

She gave a short smile "Yeah, he wasn't too pleased when I turned up, we had a hell of a screaming match"

Dean laughed "I'll bet"

"Yeah, yeah…I'm a bitch. I get it. But once he calmed down, then he wouldn't let me out of his sight. We stayed indoors a lot …indoors or on the road… heaps. He said he was just showing me the country but I know my brother better than anyone. He was worried, not for him, for me and he wouldn't tell me shit, just kept fobbing me off. When it was time for me to go home, he was relieved ... which led to another fight" she shook her head "The last thing I said to him was to 'go fuck himself, that I never wanted to see him again'"

They looked uncomfortably away.

"Anyway, his journal arrived just before I was due to get on the plane for home. I've been studying it for two years, trying to track him. But I found this" she got up and retrieved the journal from the lounge. She sat and put the journal on the table. Dean pushed his plate away and burped loudly. She laughed "Nice" He grinned.

"Okay…I think Zeke knew exactly what was going on. Maybe more than those demons do. He's a freakin' genius, my brother, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his sister. His IQ is genius level, which kinda explains all the ramblings"

Dean smiled "Kinda like you are now…avoiding something are we?"

She gave him the finger "Why'd you choose that pact, Dean? I've looked it up, there are plenty of others you could have used. Why that one specifically?"

He shrugged "It was the first one I found"

She laughed "Who's avoiding something now? Look Dean, you chose the exact same pact as Zeke, what are the chances of that? Seriously? It'd be like one in a million. Which means it's not a co-incidence"

"I told you…" started Dean.

"Jesus, Dean. You're almost as bad a liar as she is" said Gus.

"Hey!" said Dean and Jay in unison.

Dean grinned "Jinx"

She shook her head at him "You're a child"

He reached over and punched her in the arm "You're not allowed to speak"

"Say my name or I'll stab you with a fork" she smiled sweetly at him.

"Alrighty, Jaaaay" he picked up his fork, looked at it and smiled at her.

"Do it, I dare you" she yelled and wrenched the fork out of her arm and drove it into his hand where it was his turn to yell "For fuck's sake! I was kidding!" she yelled at him.

"You dared me!" he pulled the fork out of his hand and watched as the holes healed. He looked at Jay and grinned "You know it is kinda cool"

"YOU TWO ARE FREAKS!" yelled Sam.

"HEY!" they yelled at Sam.

"Stop fucking well stabbing each other! It's not a game! And it's freaking me and Gus out!"

Jay laughed "Aww, come on Sam. I haven't had anyone to play with in a long time"

Dean grinned at her "Stab me again"

"Jay!"

She turned to Gus "What?!"

"Once upon a time yourself! Dean, don't stab her anymore! Sam, stop acting like a pussy!"

The three of them looked at Gus and cracked up.

Gus sighed and muttered to himself "And this is why I never had kids"

Dean laughed "Yeah, this is why"

"Awww, leave him alone. He's cute… in a grumpy, my-attitude-sucks, I-rarely-wash kinda way" she smiled at him.

Gus raised an eyebrow "You don't have a lot of friends do you?"

She laughed "No"

"I'm not surprised. Now finish your story" he got up and bought fresh beers back to the table.

"Ta. Okay, where was I?"

"Zeke knowing more about this and Dean choosing the same pact as him…" helped Sam

"Yeah, why Dean? That's one of the more obscure ones? And it wouldn't have been the first one you found cause it's hidden in between a lot of other ones. Almost as if it doesn't want to be found. So tell me, why that one?"

"No bullshit, dude"

Dean sighed inwardly. What was he going to tell them? He didn't know why he chosen that one. It was more like it chose him. That was the best way he could explain it. He'd gone through one of the many books Gus had and that one seemed to jump out of the page at him. Which probably should have tipped him off but all he could think about was saving Sam. That was all that had mattered. And Jay was right, there were heaps of other ones he could have used but this one…he'd had to use this one.

"I don't know. Don't start arguing with me, Sammy. I don't know why. I just knew that that one, that pact, was the one I had to use"

"Knew how?" she asked.

He shrugged "Just knew…deep-down-inside-knew"

"You knew what you had to do to make it come into play? The offering?"

"Aaah, yeah…you picked me up from the side of the road remember? Blood transfusion…etc etc etc?"

"Offering? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Sam.

Jay shook her head "You have no idea do you, Dean?"

"What?" asked Sam again.

"Dean? Dean, look at me" said Jay. He looked up from the table "You didn't realise what you were doing til it was all over did you?"

"Yeah, I did"

She shook her head "No. You didn't. It doesn't work that way and you know it."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??" yelled Sam.

Jay turned to Sam "I'm not exactly sure, but I think your brother fucked up big time"

To be continued...