Chapter 10 – Highway to Hell

Dean spent the rest of the night wandering around the house. First, he wandered into the study, picked up a book at random and started to read. He got bored quickly though, and then went outside to watch some of the younger slayers being trained on how to use a crossbow. They let him shoot once or twice, which was fun to Dean, who usually only stuck with guns. Then he went back to his room where he resisted the urge to cover the Johnny Depp poster on the wall.

He had the door open and when Charlie walked by she found him staring at it. "Uh, Dean? Johnny giving you some trouble?" she asked, trying hard not to laugh.

Without taking his eyes off the poster, he started swaying left and right in front of it, "Everywhere I go, his eyes follow me…"

"Wow," Charlie said, and without another word she left the room.

It was late in the evening by now, and Dean was restless. He knew he should sleep, but he couldn't, so he went back to the study. Xander was on duty monitoring Sam. Everyone else had gone to bed already. "Hey, I'll take over if you wanna go to bed," Dean said to him. Xander, who had been playing a Spider-man game on a 3DS, paused the game and looked up at him.

"Thanks, I've been super bored. Your brother's asleep," Xander said. He stood up, took the transmitter out of his ear, handed it to Dean, and left the room, leaving Dean alone.

"Awesome," Dean said quietly to himself as he sat down, putting the transmitter in his own ear.

"Hey Dean," came Sam's voice from his ear.

"I thought you were asleep?" Dean asked.

"Nah, tried to, but it's hard to sleep in this place. Brian's doing well though. He feel asleep over an hour ago," Sam said.

"You ready to get out of there tomorrow?" Dean asked.

"Yea, I'll be happy when I can say goodbye to this place. I assume the weapons are all set?" Sam asked.

"Yup. I think we're ready to go. Just a matter of time at this point. How's the demon treating you?" Dean said.

"Not too bad all things considered. It's vague on what it's going to do with us, I keep asking it what it wants, but it just keeps hitting me in the stomach," he answered.

"You're provoking him," Dean said.

"Yea, but what else am I going to do with my time. It's not like I haven't been tortured before. Comparatively, this is tame," Sam pointed out.

"True, but why poke the bear?"

"I don't know. Because it's funny?" Sam suggested. Dean could practically hear him shrugging.

"Why don't you try to go to bed?" Dean proposed.

"I suppose you're right. I'll see you tomorrow, Dean," Sam said.

"Goodnight, Sammy."

The next morning found the group in the study. Dean was telling them how Sam had managed to get some sleep and the night was uneventful. The first team of slayers had already left for watch duty. They had nothing to report so far. Unsure what to do with themselves, most of them meandered around the house for most of the day. Willow and Charlie decided to go see an early movie. Dawn and Xander decided to join them. Dean had managed to get a few hours of sleep that morning, at Buffy's suggestion, when she realized that he'd been up all night.

After lunch, when the group left for the movie, Faith invited Dean to a fight again. He agreed, and was a little more prepared this time when she kicked his ass. He managed to stay on his feet for almost 10 minutes before she completely took him out. They walked back upstairs to the kitchen together; Dean wasn't bleeding this time. Buffy was standing in the kitchen when she saw them coming back upstairs. Dean thought he saw her face flush a little, but when he blinked and looked again, he couldn't see it. Faith walked over to Buffy and said something to her so quietly that Dean couldn't make it out. Whatever it was though, Buffy looked angry and scowled at Faith, who grinned back at Dean. He was extremely curious about what she had said, but figured it better not to ask. Faith went back upstairs to shower while Dean grabbed one of the sandwiches that Andrew had laid out for lunch.

"You and Faith seem to be getting along," Buffy said, watching him. He shrugged and continued eating. "So what are your plans after this is all over?" she asked.

"Help out Michael with his demon problem. Put the spirits of those children to rest, if we can. After that, we'll probably head back to the bunker and get Sam to rest for a few days," Dean said. Buffy nodded. "How 'bout you?" he asked through a mouthful of turkey and cheese.

Buffy shrugged, "usual, I guess. Train some newbies, patrol, whatevs." They both looked at each other for a minute, not sure of anything else to say. Finally, Buffy said she was going to go for a walk. Unsure what to do with himself, he went back to the study to find Giles talking to Sam over the transmitter. Apparently, they were swapping stories.

As he walked into the room, Dean heard Sam laughing over the computer, "and he screamed. Really high pitched, like a banshee, and then he goes, 'that was scary!'" Giles laughed briefly before he saw Dean in the room watching him. His grin quickly turned into a forced frown. He was clearly trying hard not to laugh at him.

"Good afternoon, Dean," he said cordially.

"Oh damn," Sam said. "He heard that, didn't he?"

"I'm afraid so," Giles said.

"Funny, Sammy," Dean said picking up one of the extra transmitters and putting it into his ear. "Maybe I can tell him about the time you boned a demon. Or a werewolf. Or a kitsune –"

"Hey, I never slept with Amy!" Sam protested. Giles took off his glasses and began to furiously clean them.

"Or that hippie chick right after I'd been kidnapped. Or Becky." Dean finished.

"Never slept with Becky either! And I didn't have a soul when I was with the hippie check," Sam countered.

"That's an impressive rap sheet," came Faith's voice from the doorway. "Even by my standards." Dean began laughing at the look on her face.

"Shut up, Assbutt," said Sam, who hadn't heard Faith.

"Ok, Cass," Dean replied, still laughing.

Giles put his glasses back on and turned to Faith, "have the girls on the second shift checked in yet?"

Faith, who was grinning at the computer that represented Sam, said, "Yea. That's why I came down. They said it's all good. Still no sign of the demon." Giles nodded, and Faith turned and left the room, winking at Dean as she went.

The rest of the afternoon proceeded uneventfully. Willow, Charlie, Dawn and Xander had returned from the movie, just as the sun was starting to set. The occupants of the house were starting to become restless as sky turned from orange to violet. Andrew had set out an assortment of small leftover dishes for people to munch on for dinner, but not enough to allow anyone to get full, in case they had to fight soon. They had originally planned to leave just before dusk with the assumption that the demon would have already entered the warehouse. However, they couldn't leave without confirmation of this, and they all waited eagerly to hear from the slayers watching the warehouse. A little after 7, they finally heard from the 3rd shift. They had noticed someone walking into the warehouse, but couldn't make much out other than a figure. A few minutes later, they heard Sam talking to them quickly saying that the door to their cell was being opened. Everyone split into their designated groups and drove quickly to the warehouse. After much protesting, Andrew was left at the house as a "guard."

Xander, Charlie, Giles, and a slayer named Denise quickly got out of their cars and began to walk the outside of the warehouse. They were to each pay particular attention to the exits. Dawn took off in the direction of one of the houses the shift Slayers had been holding up in. She had been given a transmitter before she left. Dean began to get the feeling that he was being watched again, but then reminded himself that he was being watched, by quite a few people monitoring the warehouse on their orders. Willow handed Buffy, Dean, and Faith each a hexbag to hang around their necks when they got out of the car. Dean, Buffy, and Faith already had the weapon's in their hands. Giles had tucked his into his belt for safe keeping as he patrolled the building.

The main group cautiously approached the main entrance, each casting nervous looks around them as they went. Willow had cast a spell to silence their footsteps, which creeped Dean out. Willow opened the door silently using magick, and Dean and Faith both quickly entered, flanking the door, with Buffy and Willow following closely behind. They crept to the office area and slid inside. There were old desks, and a few broken phones lying on the floor. If there had ever been computers here, they had long since been removed or stolen. There was more graffiti on the walls in here, and it looked as though it had had squatters living here some time ago. They made their way through the office area without saying anything. When they came to a second set of doors, they cautiously looked out at the area where the ritual should be taking place. They didn't see anything. However, Dean and Buffy, who were wearing the transmitters could hear heavy breathing. Dean wasn't sure if this was coming from Sam or from one of the others who was wearing one.

They knelt on the ground, each keeping an eye out into the warehouse, waiting expectantly for something to happen. They had waited for almost 20 minutes, when Dawn's voice reached their ears.

"Has anything happened yet? It's so quiet," she said.

"No, nothing yet," Buffy quickly whispered. Faith and Willow looked curiously at her. She pointed at her ear in response. Suddenly, Faith surreptitiously pointed toward the far corner of the warehouse, where they knew the hatch to the basement was. It had opened silently, and a figure was climbing out of it, lifting two large objects over its shoulders. They watched as it pulled itself out of the hatch, and readjust the loads it was carrying. They could hear it breathing heavily, as it slowly made its way toward them. Faith took this as her cue to quietly cross back to the other side of the office so as to swing around the demon from the right. Dean and Willow followed her, as they planned to come at it from behind. Buffy stayed behind keeping a close eye on the Demon.

Willow, Dean, and Faith all ducked quietly down as they crept through the other door by the entrance. Dean and Willow peered around the corner, to where they could see the demon still carrying his loads, which Dean could now see was Sam and the kid. They both appeared to be unconscious. Faith hurried along the far wall, making sure to keep both her eyes on the demon. Dean was impressed how she could move so quickly without making any noise, then he remembered that Willow's silencing footstep spell was still active. He could see Faith in his peripherals quickly passing the demon and moving against the last wall, barely visible in the dim light. She had stopped when she thought that he might have seen her, but he kept moving with determination. She finally crouched down behind an overturned workbench along the wall. Dean could just see her head appearing over the top of it as she watched the demon.

The demon was tall, almost 7 feet in height and had thick, pale skin. He had large, pointed ears that rose above his short hair, which stuck out of his head at odd angles. He was wearing what appeared to be a regular pair of jeans, far too short for him, and a very tight t-shirt, which was being pulled by the hard muscles on his chest. His feet were bare. His fingers and toes were long and had sharp claws. His face was pointed and had a strange look, as though his features were slightly distorted. They seemed, to Dean, to be almost shimmering, like they had a mist around them.

"I think the demon is about the start the ritual," Dean heard Buffy whisper through the transmitter. Everyone fell even more silent than before after this. He knew that everyone was preparing themselves for the coming fight. Dean watched the demon as he stopped in approximately the exact place that Willow had pointed out to them on the blueprints. He put Sam and Brian down, followed by a large linen bag he had also been carrying, which surprised Dean who hadn't noticed it before. He opened the bag and pulled out what was clearly a large mortar and pestle. He reached into the bag again and pulled out a skull, and then another skull, and another. Dean was sickened watching the skulls of a dozen children being treated in this way. The demon put them one by one into the mortar; he then began to crush them feverishly. The sounds of the crushed skulls seemed to echo throughout the warehouse, making Dean feel slightly nauseated. He wondered if the others felt the same way.

After several long minutes of grinding the skulls into dust, he reached into his bag again and pulled out a small bottle. He opened the top and poured, what Dean knew must be the holy oil, on top of the crushed skulls. A slight mist seemed to rise from the mortar as a result. He reached into the bag again and pulled out a jar. He removed the lid and groped inside with his fingers. Removing his fist from the jar, he opened it over the mortar, causing the powder in his hand to mix with the mist rising from it, and landing on top of the mixture. The mist swirling about the ingredients was now turning a purplish color.

Suddenly, the building began to shake. An earthquake, seriously? Now? thought Dean, incredulously. He looked around at Willow, who didn't appear to be surprised. She nodded to him, and mouthed the word "apocalypse." Understanding, he turned back to the demon, who seemed completely undisturbed by the shaking around him. Dean noticed a small tear appear on the back of the demon's shirt where, what appeared to be a tiny horn, was poking into the shirt. Dean realized that there were several of these protuberances all over the demon's body, which was causing further strain on the clothes he was wearing. He thought it was strange that the demon was wearing clothes like this at all, but he shook these confusing thoughts out of his mind as the demon reached into the bag for a final time and pulled out a long knife. It appeared to be a simple kitchen knife, which again surprised Dean who expected something more… special. Gratefully, the earthquake stopped at this moment.

Dean could feel his heart begin to beat faster as a troubling thought occurred to him, what if the demon just slit their throats. They hadn't anticipated that. The ritual didn't call for a lot of blood, so they all just assumed that he would just cut their hands or something. Or maybe, Dean had just assumed that, and the others just didn't want to bring it up in case he protested the plan again. What if Buffy and the others weren't expecting Sam and Brian to live, but knew they were necessary sacrifices to save the world? Suddenly, Dean felt especially angry at Buffy as he realized this must have been her plan. She'd been at this long enough that she would have expected that contingency. Dean swore to himself that if that was the case that he would kill her when this was all done. He was only able to stop himself from going after her right now because he knew that the ritual had to be finished one way or the other. Dean realized that Willow was watching him with a concerned look on her face. She can't hear my thoughts, can she? he nervously wondered to himself. What if she could and even now was planning to kill him before he could kill her best friend?

She narrowed her eyes and him and subtly shook her head. What was she trying to tell him? Was she trying to tell him to focus; to pay attention to the matter at hand? He turned back to the demon who was now kneeling over Brian. Dean couldn't see what he was doing, but he had the mortar next to him. After a minute, the demon stood back up, mortar in his hands and brought it over to Sam. Dean couldn't tell what the demon had done to Brian, and if he had slit his throat or not. He was at a much better angle to see what was being done to Sam. His heart began pumping harder as the demon put the mortar down next to his brother and approach him with the knife. Again, Dean could see the shimmering about the demon's face. It was very strange. Dean watched the knife as it was brought closer and closer to Sam's neck. Willow put a hand on his shoulder, probably to stop him from going after the demon now in case he killed his brother. Milliseconds seemed to be hours as the knife was brought closer and closer to Sam. Suddenly, the knife was brought down on Sam's wrist. One of Sam's arms was over his head, the knife cut into Sam's wrist quickly, causing blood to pour from the wound onto the ground. Dean breathed a sigh of relief that it was a horizontal cut on the wrist and not on his neck. The demon dropped the knife on the floor and picked up Sam's bleeding wrist and put the mortar underneath it, so the blood spilled into the mixture.

Unbelievably, when the demon was done collecting the blood, it pulled a small cloth out of its pocket and wrapped Sam's bleeding wrist in it. What was going on? Why would the demon do that? Dean didn't have long to ponder this confusing situation before the demon stood back up, mortar in hand, and began mixing all the ingredients together with the pestle. The mist that had been rising from the mixture had now turned a bright white, almost illuminating the demon. Dean could see Faith in the corner of his eye readjusting her position as she prepared herself to run at the demon when the time came.

He put the mortar down and said in Latin, "Igne inferni, et ignis ardebit." Suddenly, a large fire burst out of the ground, splitting the cement floor of the warehouse. The flames rose over the demon's head, and a dark cloud of smoke rose quickly to the ceiling. Dean stood up, ready to attack, but Willow pulled him back down.

"Not yet!" she whispered urgently.

The demon bent over and picked the mortar up again and threw the mixture into the white center of the fire. The entire fire turned bright white and even more smoke burst from the flames. The building began to shake again. The floor began to split apart and the demon began to chant:

Nam triginta annis, duodecim filii requievit

Innoxium sanguinem et sanguinem de damnatis

Aperi ostium into hoc mundo omni damnatio

As the words fell from the demon's lips, the building began to shake more violently. When he reached the end, he spread his arms wide, and the shaking reached dangerous levels. The fire was burning hotter than anything Dean had ever experienced outside of hell. As one, Willow and Dean sprang up from their hiding place and ran at the demon. Dean could see out of the corner of his eyes Faith and Buffy sprinting at him from their respective hiding places as well. Dean could hear Willow muttering words behind him, but he couldn't make it out. Faith and Buffy both had the weapons in their hands. Dean pulled his out of his belt and continued at the demon. Buffy reached him first. He noticed her for the first time when she was mere feet from him. He dodged her blow and ducked down punching her in the stomach, sending her flying. Dean reached the demon and swung his weapon at his chest, but he dodged this as well and knocked the weapon out of his hands. Faith used the opportunity to kick the demons legs out of under him.

Dean quickly retrieved his weapon as Faith attempted to stab the demon in the chest while he was still on the ground. However, he had been able to roll out of the way just in time and he was back on his feet before Dean had the weapon. Buffy was running back into the fight and her and Faith began a coordinated fight with the demon. Dean had trouble getting a hit in as the three of them were moving so fast, he had trouble even watching what was happening. He found himself getting knocked away from the fight more than once and wasn't even sure it was the demon that did it. After the third time of getting back to his feet, he looked at the fight that was the demon, Buffy, and Faith, and could see nothing but fast moving limbs coming from all directions and hitting all parts of all of their bodies. Dean noticed Willow pulling Brian away from the fire and fight. He decided to help her get him and Sam out of danger before rejoining the fast paced fight. He ran over to Sam and grabbed his legs pulling him away from the fire, fight, and ever shaking walls.

He noticed several dark shapes forming in the heart of the fire, and realized that the longer they took, the more likely it would be that the creatures on the other side of that open barrier would be coming out any minute. He pulled Sam to Willow and slapped his face a few times trying to revive him. He seemed to be out cold.

"I'll take care of them, you help Buffy and Faith!" Willow said quickly. She said a few words in Latin and both Sam and Brian rose into the air, as though on invisible gurneys. He nodded to her and watched her run them out of the building, the door to the entrance opening of its own accord. Looking back at the fight going on behind him, he could see that the shapes in the fire were becoming more distinctive and were starting to move. He ran back to them, just as a creature, the likes of which he'd never seen before emerged from the flames. Buffy and Faith didn't seem to have noticed, as their fight with the demon was becoming more and more brutal. Dean ran at the creature, which had wicked grins on its multiple faces. He pulled out his gun, trying to maintain his balance as the shaking building was becoming more likely to collapse at any moment. He shot the creature in each of its heads, causing it to fall backward into the fire, still grinning. The flames consumed its body, just as another creature, emerged.

"We have to end this now!" Dean yelled to Buffy and Faith. Taking less than a second to look, he saw that Faith had been knocked to the ground and appeared to be unconscious. Dean swore loudly, though over the fight and the earthquake, no one heard him. He shot at the new creature, which appeared to absorb his bullets and kept coming at him. He pulled out his knife, and swung at what he assumed was the creatures head. It didn't seem to have eyes, ears, a nose, or a mouth, so he wasn't entirely sure. It was more blob than anything else, but it moved faster than the last one. His knife made connection with the creature's skin, causing it to burn and rot. Despite having no mouth, it somehow made a terrible sound that caused Dean to have to cover his ears. The creature screamed and slowly melted into the floor. He turned and saw Buffy was now fighting the demon single-handedly. She was stabbing, and punching, and kicking faster than anything that he'd ever seen. He ran to help her, weapon in hand and the demon didn't seem to notice him as he approached, having all of its focus on Buffy. Buffy seemed to be bleeding profusely from a large wound in her arm, but it didn't seem to be slowing her down.

Buffy stabbed and slashed the weapon, barely grazing it. Still not having noticed Dean, he ran up behind it and swung the weapon high, stabbing it in the back. The demon screamed and fell, weapon still in his back. The flames were extinguished almost at once, casting the warehouse into darkness. Dean couldn't see much, as the bright fire was still burned into his eyes, and they hadn't adjusted yet. He could hear the demon breathing heavily as it slowly bled out. The shaking had stopped as well. He ran to Faith and saw that she was starting to stir.

"Wait…" came a haggard voice from behind him.

"What the…!" Buffy almost yelled, watching the demon. Dean turned around and looked at where the demon was laying. But there wasn't a demon there anymore. There was a small woman struggling to breath looking at them desperately. A small puddle of blood was slowly pooling underneath her. She was on her back and looked scared. Her eyes were darting back and forth between Buffy and Dean, who were both staring at her. She slowly tried to sit up, and with a spark of recognition, Dean realized that he knew the woman, but he couldn't remember from where.

"Look, none of this was my… my idea," she said, choking a little trying to get the words out. Dean noticed that Buffy was staring at her with a confused look. Did she recognize her too? "I gave up… hurt…hurting people… centuries ago. I… I don't.. like it… I didn't want…"

Suddenly Dean realized who she was and why he recognized her. He and Buffy had met with her on their first day of investigating.

"You didn't really think that was vegetable oil, did you?" Buffy asked. The woman shook her head and chuckled, which caused her to choke and spit up blood.

"I… had to throw… you off… off my scent," she said. Dean remembered the woman, who had smelled strongly of alcohol at the time, trying to use holy oil in her cooking. He hadn't thought twice about her. "There's another… de… demon. He made… made me. He killed those… those kids. He said… said that if I didn't perform… the ritual… which only my… can perform… that… he'd…"

But what he had threatened her with, they never found out. Her eyes widened and she gasped suddenly, and she was gone. She fell backward into her own blood, and her eyes closed.

"What the hell?" Buffy asked turning to Dean. He shrugged.

"Buffy, what is going on in there?" came Giles voice over the transmitter.

"Is Sam and Brian okay?" asked Dean urgently.

"Yes, they're fine," came Dawn's voice. "Willow has them both here. They're starting to wake up. Willow said that the demon wrapped up their cuts?"

"Yea, there's something strange going on here. The demon… she turned into a woman we met last week and said that none of this was her idea. That she didn't want to do it," Buffy said.

"She turned into a human?" Giles asked. "I've only heard of a couple of breeds of demon with that kind of power, and a Juvecran isn't one of them."

"What could have the kind of power to turn a demon into a human?" Buffy asked. "She said it was another demon."

"What kind of demon could have that power?" came a voice from behind Buffy and Dean. They both spun around as another figure walked into their vision. "Well, a crossroads demon, of course," he said grinning.

Those eyes! Dean thought suddenly watching the new arrival. They were the same bright eyes he thought he had imagined seeing the day before in the woods. "You were watching me yesterday behind that hotel, weren't you?" Dean asked him.

"Oh yes. I realized that you idiots were hunting me, and when I realized who you were… well, let's just say that I would LOVE to be the one to take down Crowley's little pets," he taunted.

"Of course you work for Crowley!" Dean yelled.

"Oh no, not at all! This was all Lucifer's plan. Set in motion 30 years ago. This ritual was supposed to open all doors to hell… including Lucifer's cage. Obviously, Crowley wouldn't want his throne taken away; in fact, when he rose to power, he banned all rituals like this, not that I was going to listen to him. Besides, that was the beauty of this ritual, even if it was never finished, Lucifer may not have been released, but at least the Earth would still be destroyed. Not quite a win-win, but close enough for me." His grin widened and Dean realized that he recognized this man too.

"How do I know you?" he asked.

The demon ignored Dean and looked down at the woman. "Shame, I was really looking forward to Lucifer's rise and the end of this annoying little planet. Guess I'll have to settle for killing you."

And without warning, Buffy, Dean and Faith, who was only half conscious, were all thrown against the wall, which had been scorched from the hell fire. It had cooled down, faster than it should have, but still not enough to not burn them. Dean could feel the skin on his exposed arms being scorched. Faith had been knocked back unconscious.

"What is going on in there?" yelled Dawn in his ear. Dean couldn't answer, it looked like the demon could actually stop him from talking too.

Just as suddenly as they had been thrown, they fell back to the floor. Another hidden figure jumped out of the shadows and had tackled the demon. All Dean could see when he managed to straighten back up was a bright yellow-white head of slicked-back hair. Spike. He was pounding into the demon with all the ferocity of an animal… or a vampire, Dean realized. A bright light suddenly illuminated the whole warehouse and Dean had to blink several times before he could see again. Willow had entered the building.

He looked down at the struggling pair that was Spike and the demon. Spike had him pinned and was repeatedly punching him in the gut, and occasionally in the face. "That's enough, Spike! Kill him already," Buffy yelled. She threw him a knife – my knife! Dean realized. She had taken the knife he'd gotten from Ruby at some point. When did that happen and how did he not notice? He'd had it on him when he entered the warehouse. It must have fallen to the floor at some point during the fight and she'd picked it up. Or she'd taken it right off him. Oh, yea, he was going to kill her when this was all over. No one steals from me.

Spike caught the knife and raised it over his head, ready to jam it into the demon's skull when the light from Willow's spell lit up the demon's face, and Dean got a good look at it for the first time.

"WAIT!" Dean screamed and he dove at Spike knocking him off the demon, saving his life.