AN – Thankfully, I'm reasonably happy with this ending to a rather ordinary fanfic. Sorry, no big revelations, but at least the Sally Wandell arc has wrapped.

Sam, Dean, the Impala, Jo, Bela, Ruby, and anything I forgot to mention aren't mine.

The sun was up, and it was really quite pleasant. Belial pushed through the grass and ferns until he was beside her, staring out into the endless nothingness. She did not turn to look at him.

"I take it this is not a social call?" She asked.

"No." Belial said.

"It never is."

"I want you to do something for me."

"Oh, yes. Help the rouge leader. Don't you think I'm enough out of favour already?"

"You are afraid."

"I do not want to die. Do you?"

"Yet I am prepared."

"Of course you are." She raised an arm. "Look around you. These are the Deathless Plains. I understand now why they turned this place into a prison."

"Help me, and all will be forgiven."

She ran her tongue across her teeth. "What if I don't want to be forgiven?"

"Listen to me, bitch. I don't see you getting any better offers." He growled.

"When you're the best option, I would rather sit here and rot." She retorted.

"You can go back." Belial said.

She stiffened. "What?"

"Go back to the surface. Back to your allies." He narrowed his eyes. "I can make you human again."

"You are the Lord of Lies. Do not think I would be caught so easily."

Belial smiled. "Think on my words, dear Ruby. One job. One job to avenge yourself against Lilith. One job in exchange for the rest of your life as a human. I will return. You will give me your answer then."

And he left her, still standing on the isle, unable to move, unable to escape, but forced to watch the world roll by without her. Leaving her to her dreams.

Dreams where she was human again.

"Get back!"

Captain Wandell took a step forward, her arms held wide. See? No threat here.

"I'm telling you, get back!" The creature seemed almost on the verge of hysteria, and Sam winced as the knife made a shallow cut in his skin. Dean bared his teeth in a snarl and Wandell stopped.

"Calm down." She said.

Dean realized then that the woman was not addressing the doppelganger. Rather, she was talking to Harry. The kid was standing off to one side, clutching the amulet like a lifeline. His eyes were wide and there was a crazy edge to them.

"Henry, calm down."

"Henry, why are you calling me Henry?" The kid looked at her like she had just told him she was Darth Vadar. "That's not my name."

Sally Wandell closed her eyes momentarily. "Of course." She breathed.

"Of course what?" Dean growled.

"Of course the Colts would have dropped anything associated with their old lives and assimilated into mainstream society." She replied tightly.

"Dammit, I'm not a Colt! My name is Harry Turner!" The kid shouted, the manic edge creeping into his voice.

"Okay, kid. Chill. Just chill." Dean raised his hands. "Calm down."

"I am calm! Don't I sound calm?"

"Harry, you've picked a bad time for it," Sam said.

"You can control it." Captain Wandell continued in her soothing, level tone.

"Shut up!"

"Control it? I can't control it."

"Yes you can. Just focus."

"What are you doing?" Dean hissed.

"In some cases, a doppelganger is a very literal and very dangerous form of a split personality." She continued on. Dean just looked at her. "A true manifestation of your dark side. Every dark thought you'd ever had, every evil little desire, all your anger, all your frustration and hate, it combines and mutates."

Harry didn't say anything. Just stared at her.

"You can control it. Just believe in yourself."

"Now would be a good time for someone to do something." Sam said

"We're getting there, Sammy. Hold on a bit longer."

Harry gave Dean and Sally a panic-stricken look before turning back to the doppelganger and Sam. "Drop the knife." He demanded, his voice still quavering. Dean felt almost proud that the kid had finally found his backbone.

"I can't believe you're actually stupid enough to believe her," The doppelganger sneered, but even as it spoke, Sam could feel the knife involuntary inching away from his throat. Dean just blinked. Hell, was Wandell right?

"Drop it!" Harry shouted, and Sam was keenly aware that one wrong move and he might die anyway. His arm free, he elbowed the doppelganger as hard as he could in the stomach.

The creature dropped the knife. Sam stumbled forward into his brother, Dean swore, Sally wiped the sheen of sweat from her brow, and Harry continued to stare forward with steely determination. "Thank god." The woman sighed. "I didn't know whether that would work."

"You didn't know that would work?" Dean demanded.

"Shrill down, Winchester. You sound like a woman."

"It's a tulpa?" Sam questioned seriously.

"Sort of. No. My father said that under extreme circumstances that part of a person can break away and become… what we saw."

"Fascinating. Can we kill it now, please?"

"We can't." Captain Wandell said flatly.

"What? Why not?"

"Because they're the same damn person, that's why not." She snapped.

"So what the hell do we do about it?" Dean demanded.

"We don't do anything. He does."

"You're me." Harry said.

"Once." The doppelganger replied. "Not anymore, thank God. You have such a friggin' pathetic existence, man. Really, if you were dead, who'd notice? The barmaid at that place you never had the balls to talk to?"

Harry held up the Colt. His firing arm hardly shook at all. "I'm going to kill you." He said flatly.

"Go ahead." The doppelganger sneered. "Pull the trigger. What the hell I wouldn't give to get out of your meatsuit. You humans are so one dimensional."

"I got news for you, pally. You're a human, too. You're gonna die."

"I was. Before She found me. My Queen, my God. Lilith the Immortal One. As soon as I'm out of this skin, I've been promised a place. By her side for all eternity. So yeah, dude, pull the fucking trigger."

"I've done the whole eternity bit. Believe me, it plays hell with your head." Dean said. "Let's just put the gun down and play nice."

"Yes." Harry lowered the weapon. "Killing is too good for you. You get to live. Like the rest of us."

"And, hey, I bet Lilith will be real pleased with you not being able to off the kid here." Dean put in helpfully. "So pleased, I'd reckon, that she'll add your head to her collection of People that Really Pissed Her Off."

There was a massive transformation over the creature then. He looked frantic, almost terrified. "You can't leave me!" He bellowed. "You cannot leave me because I am you!"

And that was when it dove at Harry. Sam and Dean immediately started forward as the doppelganger began pushing the Colt back into Harry's chest.

A single shot was fired.

For a moment none of the three watchers knew who had been hit, as the creature went limp and Harry dropped to the ground, curling protectively around his abdomen.

"Check it." Captain Wandell ordered.

"It's dead." Sam reported back gravely.

There was blood in Harry's mouth. Sally looked across at him. The Colt bleeds.

"Kid? Kid!"

"It hurts." He whispered.

"I gathered that." Dean resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. "Have you been shot? Are you dying?"

"Why does it hurt?"

"Because part of yourself is dead." Wandell knelt by his side. "You'll take a while to heal psychologically."

"It always does." Dean muttered. Sally was the only one to hear him, though she pretended not to. "Hey, look at that."

Still where the kid had dropped it, the number fourteen bullet had cracked right down the middle. Wandell picked it up. "It's hollow."

Inside was a tiny slip of paper, with one line written across the page in spidery, flowing handwriting.

Find Theodore Darcy.

S. Colt.

The four of them were back in the Impala. Harry was alternatively looking at his shoes and his watch and Wandell was staring out the window, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. Dean could tell that this woman didn't accept charity lightly, even though they were only giving her a lift to the bus station.

Nothing was said when they dropped her off. Sally pulled out her long rifle case and walked around the car to Dean's window. "Here."

Dean stared at the fifty-dollar bill like he had never seen something like that before. "What's that for?"

"You gave me a lift. The least I can do is chip for gas." She said.

"What if I don't want it?"

"You're making a scene. Take the damn money already." She dropped the note inside the Impala's window and started to walk away. Sam stared at her for a moment.

Semi-reluctantly Dean retrieved the note. "I feel used."

"Wait." Sam said.

She turned back haughtily to the car. "What?"

"You're going after him, aren't you?" Sam said grimly. "Theodore Darcy."

"I've got questions, he's got answers." Captain Wandell said coldly, leaving no one in dispute of what she was going to do.

"How can you be this immoral after all you've been through?" It was out before Sam could stop it. Dean put his head in his hands.

"And how can you be this sanctimonious after all you've done?" She flared at once.

"You're going to kill somebody just because? Are you mad?"

"Sam, shut-the-hell-up." Dean said through gritted teeth.

"But-"

"Silence. Now."

Sam scowled and slumped back in his seat.

"You don't have any leads." Dean said.

"I'll find them." Sally replied, and her self-assured air reminded Dean of himself. He folded his arms a moment. "Look," He said finally. "You ever… need a hand with whatever… ah, hell, I'm sure you'll find us."

Captain Wandell gave him a stiff nod, and acknowledgement from an equal. Slinging the case over her shoulder, she attempted to walk off again when this time Dean stopped her.

"Hey!"

"Can't I just leave?"

"Quick question." Dean lent out the window. "Bela Talbot."

"Bela Talbot?" The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Bela Talbot." He confirmed. "How? She's dead, right?"

"You Winchesters of all people should know that just because you're dead, it doesn't mean you wont be back again." Sally said. She looked at Dean through narrowed eyes, sizing him up. "You aren't the only one who knows how to make a deal, you know."

That was news. "Bela made a deal to get out of Hell?"

"Only unlike you, she was a little more specific on what her terms would be." Captain Wandell said.

"You didn't trust her."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Dean."

After the busses had left the station, Sam and Dean sat in the Impala, not saying anything. Harry didn't even bother trying to break the silence.

Then Sam spoke. "Someone sent her back."

"I'm trying not to think who."

"I think you might."

"Huh?" Dean started the engine and rolled the window up.

"Dean, you were in Hell. Out of everyone, you're going to have more of an idea about who's capable of doing something like this."

He didn't reply and Sam didn't push him to.

It took another hour until they reached their destination. Dean stepped out of the Impala, stretched and stared up at the unevenly flashing neon sign. Harvelle's.

"Doesn't it bother you?" He said to Sam.

"Doesn't what bother me?"

"Running back here each time we have a booboo?"

"Hello, Mr Ego." Sam replied, a hint of a grin on his face.

"Hey, leave Mr Ego out of this." Dean pushed open the door. "Harry, say hi to your new home."

"Stick close. We wont let anything happen to you."

Harry's eyes were wide. "Is something going to happen to me?"

Neither brother could answer that.

The inside of the Bar was pretty much the same as it always was, except there was no Ellen. Or Jo. There was a new guy behind the bar that neither Winchester had ever seen before that somehow still seemed familiar to Sam. He looked over to them and his expression soured.

He knew who they were. Definately.

"Not very friendly today," Dean muttered. Harry tried to double back around the brothers and Sam put his hand firmly on the kid's shoulder.

"This is for your own good." He said sternly. "Hey." He called out to the bartender in a friendly tone. "I'm Sam Winchester. This is my brother-"

"I know who you are." The man didn't even bother to look up from serving.

"Oh."

"What's going on?" Harry whispered.

"I think they've staged a bloody coup." Dean rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Either that or the girls are getting some mother-daughter bonding time which doesn't involve sharp objects."

"Oh, I so wish." Coming in from the night, which was rapidly turning into day, Jo Harvelle faced up to her three uninvited guests. Her hair was pulled back from her face and the slogan on her shirt read 'Don't take life too seriously. Nobody makes it out alive anyway.'

"Man, she's hot." Harry said.

"Opinions to yourself, pipsqueak." Dean replied.

"What, are you gay or something?"

"Oh, hey." Sam said, attempting to keep the relief out of his voice. "Is your mom around?"

"You missed her." Jo put her bag on the counter. "By a couple of days. Gone to sort out a problem up north."

"Did she bring a date?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Bobby went with." The blonde answered.

"So I guess you're top of the roost until she gets back, huh?"

"I guess so." She shrugged. "So. What up?"

This was the bit that the brothers had not been sure how to handle. "Well, it's kind of a delicate situation…" Sam started.

"We've got a bit of a problem…"

"You guys remember what happened last time you came over with a problem, yeah?" Jo asked coolly. "It's never ends good for me."

"Yeah, look, we're real sorry and all that," Dean coughed. "But can we talk in private? Private, private?"

Jo shrugged, and Sam, Dean and Harry followed her into the staffroom. She turned to face them once the door was closed. "What's this about, then?"

"Look, we… really need you guys to do something for us." Sam said, his eyes wide and as earnest as he could make them.

"Yeah, and what's that?"

Dean cleared his throat. "We – Sam and I – were wondering whether you two would mind looking out for this little guy for a while." He clapped Harry on the shoulder.

"Hey!" Harry said angrily.

Jo looked the kid up and down, eyebrows raised. Finally she spoke.

"He's a little old to belong to one of you guys, isn't he?"

"What, no, that's not it-"

"No, you got it wrong-"

"My name's Harry Turner." The kid said, cutting Dean and Sam off. "I've just come through some… weird crap and I've got nowhere to go. My dad's dead." Jo looked at him empathetically. "Sam and Dean helped me out. They said you and your mother might be able to help me."

"It's just for a while." Sam said.

"And once he turns twenty-one, you can just boot him out on his ass." Dean added.

Jo closed her eyes. For a moment everything seemed calm.

"You want to dump this kid here?"

"He's a good kid." Sam nodded

"And hardly ever swears. He'll be a, watdoyoucallit, asset."

"Jesus, you're mental to think Mom'll go for this. Keeping this kid. Like some kind of pet."

"Would everybody stop taking about me like I'm not here?" Harry demanded. He was ignored.

"Calm down. This is important and I just thought-"

"I'm not your friggin' doormat, Dean!" Jo shouted. "Why don't you take him on the road with you if he's so important?"

"'Cause he needs somewhere stable." Sam said.

Jo crossed her arms. "Good luck getting it here." She sniffed.

"Jo, please." Sam clasped his hands together, practically begging. "You gotta help us out here. Harry's in trouble."

"Oh no. Not you too."

"Look, you're not going to believe me, but this kid is descended from the Colts." Dean pointed. "And every little spawn out there is gonna be gunning for him because they think that he's the key to the magical demon-killing weapons."

"Is he?"

"Is he what?"

"The key to the magical demon-killing weapons?" She asked seriously.

Dean thought for a moment. "I don't think so." He said finally.

"Dean?"

"I – I think it was all a ruse, all along."

"To keep the demons chasing ghosts for centuries." Sam joined.

"And to get somebody to find Theodore Darcy."

"I don't think that Theodore Darcy could be a real living person." Sam cocked his head to the side. "Not if that note had really been written by Samuel Colt. He'd be dead now if he had ever existed."

"Guys?"

"I don't know. We've seen stranger." Dean countered.

"Guys!" Jo snapped. The brothers turned to look at her, with almost identical expressions on their faces. "Don't get too excited over this Darcy dude."

"What? Why not?"

She looked up at them both. "Because he was killed yesterday."

"How d'you-?"

"Mom and Bobby had gone there, to check up on something. When they left, he was still alive, but when they came back his way…" She trailed off.

"It's probably a coincidence. A horribly icky, gruesome coincidence, but still…"

Jo didn't reply. Sam read the look on her face. "There's something else?"

"Whatever had killed him had slit his throat and wrote on the wall. So, yeah, Dean. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence."

"What did it say?"

"Welcome to Hell on Earth."

What else do you say after that? Jo agreed to let Harry stay the night and said she'd speak to her mom in the morning, Harry agreed immediately to anything Jo said, and Sam and Dean were given drinks on the house.

That was when Jo pulled out the letter. "It was in Dad's stuff." She said. "I think you should have it."

Dean took the letter.

John Winchester.

Jo wandered off to show Harry his room, leaving the brothers alone looking at the last piece of correspondence Bill Harvelle had ever written to their father. Coming to a wordless agreement with Sam, Dean drew his knife and slit the envelope neatly.

Sam almost spat up his beer as he read the opening line.

I spoke to your brother yesterday...