"Dean, honey… you aren't making a whole lot of sense right about now so maybe I should just go," the comely demon says to him as she walks away from the hunter that summoned her in the center of the dirt crossroads in the middle of nowhere.

"I don't want time," Dean explains yet again, his form sagging with grief and eyes red with sorrow. "I don't want years and, and I'm not asking for any miracles in return. I don't want anything but a fair and even trade."

"So you've gone ahead and lost your mind, is that it?" she returns with, spinning around on her high, shiny heels to look at him. "Just shoving your already tainted, blackened soul right back down there for round two?"

"If you'll have me," Dean says with hope.

"No," she flatly answers. "There's no deal to be had here, Dean. Go home."

"Why not!?" he irrationally shouts at her.

"Because we don't have your damn father anymore and you know that!" she shouts back, eyes burning red with fury. "You opened the gate to Hell. You let him out. Remember that?"

Dean's speechless. He did forget. His guilt crushed him into submission so hard that he completely let it slip that his father is no longer stuck in Hell. But that doesn't change anything. His father should never have experienced Hell at all. If it weren't for Dean he wouldn't have had to make that deal to save his life and spend over a century in the worst place that only nightmares could come up with… and still wouldn't even compare. Not even close.

"I still deserve it."

"What?" the demon asks, not understanding.

"I deserve to be in Hell," he says much louder this time, his timidity gone now that he knows what he absolutely has to do. "I deserve to serve my time right… I should be rotting."

"Well… we agree on that at least," the demon says with her arms crossing over her chest and eyeing him as she thinks it over. "So… let me see if I have this correctly. You, Dean Winchester, are coming to me at two in the morning to ask that I toss your shapely ass right into the fire… for free."

"You got it," Dean quickly responds.

"No."

"Why not!?"

"That's not how it works."

"Then make it work that way!" he practically screams in her face as the guilt grows by the second and his frustration level heightens.

The look he gets in return from the demon tells him to tread lightly with the powerful being in front of him and maybe not raise his voice at her for no fair reason.

"I, I just…." He sighs heavily. "Please." It's quick and simple, the word said with nothing short of sheer begging.

"No way in… well… Hell," she laughs a little. "That's not a deal."

"Why does it have to be a fucking deal!? Why can't you just take me now, no strings!?" he yells with frustration.

"Because the strings are what I do," she says, walking towards him slowly and casually. "Now, I'm sure I could come up with something we could deal with if you really want the express trip downstairs."

"I can't live like this," Dean says with true desperation, seeing the spark of hope that he might get what he wants. "Just name it."

"Your son."

Dean pauses when she mentions the little boy he forgot completely about for the time being, his brain clouded and muddled with searing guilt. "Sammy? The hell do you want with Sammy?"

Her eyes light up with excitement. "You want eternal damnation then you bring that adorable bundle of joy with you… his soul gets damned right next to yours. Now that's a deal."

"He's just a baby!" He may be fucked in the head at the moment but he's not so messed up that Sammy's importance is washed away. "No fucking way!"

"Then no fucking deal."

"Wait!" Dean calls to her as she once more turns her back. "I…. Just stop!"

The demon faces him once more and waits as he clearly tries to come up with a plan.

"You can't have Sammy," Dean tells her in a strong determined voice. "That's not an option."

"I got that much," she says. "But you still need to make this a deal."

"Give them everything," Dean says to her, the desperation and guilt coming right back.

"What do you mean?"

"Lizzy and Sammy… they get a hands-off order on them. They go free and you protect them from everything from here on out. And when I say everything, I fucking mean it. You bitches, the Leviathan, angels, ghosts, vamps, even God himself… every last thing. They live out a long, happy life without any hunting… and you get me. No ten years. No one year." His face goes to stone along with his tone. "You get me right now."

"You're not kidding, are you?" she asks him, her face dropping with his selfless offer made while clearly off his rocker. She knew something was wrong from the second she arrived. This isn't the Dean she's come to know through demon legend. This is a desperate, broken, and possibly very guilty man. He's in the perfect place for a mega deal. She'll make it to the top in no time. Crowley's about to adore her.

"No joking. No tricks. I go back to my rack in Hell and my family lives a good life for once. They deserve it. And they don't need me more than they need that."

She's not sure what to say about this as her face frowns. "Dean, you're making the biggest deal of my existence really fucking depressing. Could you at least smile about this?"

Dean just glares at her with hate.

"You'd really do this for your family?"

"In a heartbeat," he answers immediately, voice unwavering. "They're… they're everything. To me. They deserve more than I can give them without this deal." Something shifts inside of him right then. He came here guilty about his father but maybe that wasn't the only thing causing him tremendous guilt.

The beautiful demon puts her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at him after letting his words settle in. "You really want to do this?"

"Yes. You promise me that they'll live a happy and safe life… you get me. No loopholes. You promise me they'll be fine and I'll march into Hell gladly. I'll skip there, with a smile."

She nods but doesn't look any less skeptical. "You know, this is so virtuous I feel almost… good… doing this."

"I still think you're a horrible bitch if that helps," Dean comments, his usual swagger completely gone and replaced with somber worry.

"A little," she comments sauntering up to him. "The safe and normal life for Elizabeth and Samuel Winchester… and in return I get The Great Dean right now." She steps up into his space, inches away from him.

"Yes," Dean confirms the deal, ready to make it and make the guilt stop once and for all.

"Then you know what to do, Dean," she eyes him hungrily as she moves in.

Deep breath and Dean leans in, his lips so close to hers, so ready to seal the deal…

Until he hears a familiar engine roaring in the not so far distance. He looks to the side before the demon can get her set-in-stone agreement.

"Dean!" he can hear a male voice calling out to him and when the Mustang makes it over the nearest hill on the backwoods dirt road he can see long brown hair flapping in the wind out the passenger side. When Sam's eyes lock onto him in the road ahead his heart jumps. "Dean! Damn it! Stop!"

"Sam?" he questions, shocked to see him.

"You want this Deal or not!?" the demon asks, her voice angry now that they've been interrupted.

"Dean! Don't!" Sam shouts as the car comes to a screeching stop, shoving the door open and rushing out. He starts to sprint towards his brother. "Don't! You don't need to do this!"

The crossroad demon thrusts her hand outward, sending Sam flying backwards into the side of the Mustang, his body pinned there telekinetically. "We were in the middle of something!"

Dean takes a deep breath and tries to process everything. He's guilty. His dad should never have known Hell. Sam's wrong. He deserves this.

His face gets grabbed harshly by the jaw, the demons one-handed grip hard enough to purse his lips a little. "You in or are you out?" she fires out.

"Don't!" Lou's voice yells out, shouting into the night air with fear and anger now that she's also out of her car. "Let him go!"

"I'm not holding him against his will," the crossroads demon says while still looking at Dean, his green eyes glued on hers as he prepares to damn himself.

"You're holding Sam against his will," she says, walking in long strides as she makes her way around the bumper of the car to get closer to the demon as she pulls the Colt out of the back of her pants. She cocks the gun and aims at her. "Let him go."

The second the demon sees the gun, knowing exactly what it is, she lets go of Dean's face before waving her hand through the air. Sam is on his feet instantly but both hang back, afraid to push the situation.

"What was the deal, Dean?" Sam asks angrily, eyes switching rapidly between the demon and his brother. "Huh? What were you gonna go back to the pit for?"

"Doesn't matter," Dean says in a low voice. "What's dead should stay dead…"

"Oh, cut the shit, dude," Sam tells him with impatience and exhaustion. "Dad was a jackass. He did things without thinking…"

"Just like me," Dean fills in. "I'm just like him."

"You're nothing like him!"

"But I did exactly what he did… for you. I didn't think first, I never have. And now… now, I need to do this."

"No you don't," Sam swears, Lou still aiming at the demon. "What are you thinking? You're just gonna abandon Lizzy? You're gonna ditch your own son!?"

"I'm doing this for them," Dean quietly responds and reaches out to cup the demon's face.
"This is all for my family." He pulls her in to kiss her.

"Ah-ah… I don't think so," a voice directs calmly as a hand comes between Dean and the crossroad demon's faces, making a barrier.

With his eyes on Elizabeth as she appears out of nowhere, the Fury clamps her hand over Dean's mouth and backs him up a couple steps.

"Really, Dean?" she eyes him with disappointment, hand pressed over his lips. "A deal? I'm disappointed. I thought better of you then to rely on bottom feeders to get you your guilt release."

"Um, excuse me but… who the hell are you?" the crossroad demon asks with sheer anger, her deal getting cut off.

Elizabeth just eyes the demon with an unimpressed expression. "You can leave now."

The demon looks floored. "I got summoned by him. We had a deal lined up…"

"And now you don't. I suggest you leave."

"No fucking way. Not without my deal."

Elizabeth rolls her eyes. "Have it your way." She aims her hand at the demon in the shape of a gun. "Bang," she says with disinterest and shoots the demon right in the chest, her body flashing in blue internal light as she twitches. Her body jerks a few times before it drops onto the ground, the demon dead.

The Fury then turns to look around her, the three hunters all at the crossroad and all with shocked faces. "I'm old. I have juice. Don't look so impressed."

They all take a deep breath with their new fear. They weren't ready for her to show up like this. They have no plan.

"I must admit, you guys are loyal to each other," she says, taking her hand away from Dean's mouth. She focuses on Lou. "And you figured it out. You broke through my pull."

"I need her and she knows that," Sam tells her, clenching his jaw with anger, his hand twitching to reach for the olive wood spoon with carvings and handle sharpened to a point inside his jacket.

"Love," she says with annoyance. "Been battling that fucking thing for millennia. Fair enough."

Looking at Dean, his still hallow eyes just staring at the dirt ground below his feet, his mind undoubtedly churning with how he is going to go about damning himself once more.

"Dean, why don't you relax," she says to him, running a hand down his cheek. A feeling of calm and nothingness comes over him, his feet planted into the ground where he is. He doesn't move, doesn't talk, he doesn't do anything. Mind empty, he just is.

"What did you do to him!?" Sam demands the second he sees the change.

"Gave him a rest. He's been turned up to eleven all day. He's exhausted."

They just stare at her with confusion.

"Don't worry. He's fine," she says, walking away from Dean and heading for Lou.

"Don't touch her," Sam says to the deity strongly, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the spoon weapon he made on the way there. He holds it with the handle towards her, the point aimed in her direction.

Elizabeth keeps walking towards Lou, a smirk of confidence on her face. "What the hell is that, the Martha Stuart hunter's collection?" she asks Sam.

"It's a way to end you and you know it," Sam tries to boom out as the Fury makes her way to Lou, her hand touching down her cheek just like she did with Dean's.

"That's downright adorable," she smiles, eyeing Lou's comatose state she just created. "My word, you did alright for yourself, Sam. I'm impressed. She's beautiful. And tough, wow."

"Wait!" Sam gets out but before he can do anything about it the Fury presses her lips to Lou's in a very quick kiss.

"Back on track." She smiles and runs her thumb along Lou's bottom lip with triumph.

Sam doesn't say anything, just holds his weapon tighter, ready to launch the second she's safely away from Lou.

"She loves you, you know? A lot. Ha, when I got to her… she was just brimming with guilt. You know what the biggest thing she had guilt over was?" Elizabeth asks, walking over to Sam casually and without fear. She looks the large man over, smelling the guilt of a long, hard, and unusually cruel life just ooze from his pores. He's perfect. "You. Not her parents, not abandoning Lizzy when she turned, not even the loss of the relationship she and her brother once had. It was all you."

"We had a disagreement," Sam mentions, preparing to plunge the wooden stake into her chest. She just needs to come a little closer.

"That was more than a disagreement," the Fury counters. "That was game changing… or at least she thinks it was."

"You talk too much, anyone ever tell you that?" Sam says, looking for her to shut the hell up as he waits for her to come close enough for him to attack.

"You're gonna dump her, aren't you?" she asks. "I get it. I do. How could you ever trust her again? She claims to love you, trust you completely… but her actions are speaking way louder than her words right now."

"Why don't you say all this right to my face?" Sam tries to get her moving.

"So you can stab me through?" she says, one eyebrow arched. "Oh, I'd love to see you give it your best shot. Could be fun." She walks faster and with full confidence.

"And don't worry about my relationship. We'll be fine," Sam spits back the second she stands defiantly in front of him and takes his best shot, his hand thrusting out towards her chest the second he thinks she's close enough. She counters disarmingly fast, snatching the olive wood spoon out of his hand, snapping it in half singlehandedly, and dropping it on the ground before grabbing his throat.

"I'm not so sure about that," the Fury honestly tells him as she pulls his face down to her, Sam trying to push her away but her immense strength as a god makes it impossible to.

She kisses him just like she did with Lou and Dean earlier, the embrace spreading the guilt throughout his system like a poison. Sam can feel it course through him immediately.

"But I am very sure of one thing. You're never going to kill me, Sam," Elizabeth says to him calmly, her eyes turning a swirling red glow while staring him down. "You are going to kill yourself though."

"I… I, uh…" Sam huffs out when he tries to fight the feeling creeping into his heart but he can't. It's a steady, hostile takeover. And then it hits. "I… it's all… all because of me."

Elizabeth smiles at him and lets her magic take him over for a moment, making sure he's fully under as she casually walks a circle around him.

"Everything. All of it," Sam says to the dirt. "Mom… it's my fault she's gone, my fault Dean and dad had to live without her. It was all because of me and my destiny. And Jess… Jessica. She was innocent in all this. She just loved me. She didn't even know who I really was…."

"And don't forget about that big brother of yours," Elizabeth eggs him on when she stands behind him and angles Sam's face until he's looking at his still and zoned out brother just feet away.

"Dean… shit… his life was ruined because of me," Sam sadly admits. "He watched me, kept me safe… he raised me. He, he gave up everything he ever h-had… for me. And I never did anything in return. I just complained and… and, and I left him. I left him alone with dad."

"You let Lucifer out, don't forget that," Elizabeth says lightly and with a smile.

"So many people died," Sam hung head somehow hangs even lower. "He killed so many… and I let him free…. All those people…."

"Because of you, Sam," she hammers the final nail. "Your existence has been nothing but a disaster to the human race. You may go and kill as much evil as you can… but it'll never make up for the damage done. The world will thank you for killing yourself." She looks him in the eye as she touches his cheek, making him go quiet much like Dean and Lou. "Good boy."

Elizabeth backs off a few steps and looks around her. Three hunters, legendary ones at that, all under her spell, coursing with guilt and ready to lead her back to the little savior that she doesn't believe in. She knows about Sammy. She knows the real Bible and she knows about the Winchester Gospel. She's done her research on alternate religions as any deity should.

"Alright, everyone," she says with a grin. "I think it's time you head on home, don't you think?"

She disappears into thin air.

The three hunters standing dazed suddenly blink awake from their odd moment.

"What… just happened?" Lou asks first, her mind a hazy blur as she stands at a crossroads.

"Don't know." Dean rubs the back of his head with similar confusion while he looks around himself. "Why are we out here?"

"Damn it," Sam says to himself, looking at the broken wooden spoon on the ground at his feet with no idea why it'd be there. He doesn't care though because he just has one task on his mind. "Let's head back. We should get back to the cabin."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Dean responds without any real drive behind his words. He just knows he's supposed to go home.

Lou jingles her keys. "Dean, follow us."

"Ok, uh. Yeah," Dean says absently.

The three pack it in while their minds are still cloudy and lost. They drive back to the cabin on auto-pilot because they were told to.

When Bobby comes back from the bathroom he finds Lizzy still sitting on the couch, Sammy asleep in her Indian-style lap. She has her elbows leaning onto her knees as she rubs her temples with tired stress.

"Liz."

"Mm?" she questions simply, not even opening her mouth to do so.

"I know I'm probably wasting my breath here, but why don't you go lay down for a bit?" Bobby suggests, her state not so good.

"Not happening." Lizzy sighs heavily as she opens her eyes to look at him. Her face just pleads for answers that he doesn't have and his heart breaks for her.

"You know he's gonna be fine," Bobby starts, sitting down next to her and looking down at the comfortably asleep baby. "Lou and Sam will handle this and they'll be back soon."

"I know, I know… he always squeaks out in the end…." Her hollow eyes meet his. "I just really didn't want him to go on this one. I had a bad feeling from the jump."

"So you're psychic now?" Bobby asks with levity.

"I kinda wish I was," Lizzy huffs a sullen laugh. "I would've seen this coming."

Bobby brings and arm around her shoulders and gives her a little squeeze, Lizzy leaning into him for comfort.

"This is what it's gonna be like, isn't?" she asks with true sadness. "Dean's gonna be gone all the time and I'm… gonna be here. Worrying. And not eating. Or sleeping."

"Can't say," Bobby honestly answers. "But I know that dumbass loves you two more than anything else in the world. If you want him out, really want him out… I think he'd be smart to listen to ya and get the hell out."

"But he can't," Lizzy says to him. "Not with Leviathan threatening the population. His kid won't live in a world with those things, he won't allow that."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Bobby challenges her to look at the other side of the coin.

"It's…" she trails a little and looks down at her sleeping son. Sammy looks remarkably like his father and smiles slightly. "It's a wonderful thing. I'm not saying it's bad that he cares about making sure Sammy has a world to live in. I am saying that… I want Dean to be around to enjoy that world too. I want him to be there for Sammy. And I… I just… I'm not ready to live without him. I never will be, whatever, but… just not yet."

Bobby keeps quiet with that one and simply nods. He gets it. When he lost Karen that was the one thing he could never stop thinking for a long while. They never got enough time. It was too soon to lose her.

"And I don't want him to miss every big moment Sammy will have," Lizzy keeps going. "He already missed his first few smiles."

"That ain't the important stuff."

"Sure feels pretty important," Lizzy rebuts immediately, knowing how exciting it was to see Sammy smile for the first time.

"Alright, fine. They are important. First steps, first smiles, first words… that's some pretty big stuff. But if he misses them, he misses them. That don't make Dean a bad dad. It makes him a really good one that he'd be willing to miss that kinda thing as long as Sammy stays safe with his momma."

Lizzy sighs when Bobby once more puts her world into perspective and shows her where she went wrong. "I just wish…"

"Cancer patients just wish they were healthy," he stops her in her tracks. "And the poor wish to be rich. We could play this game all day, hon, but it ain't gonna change. Nobody has the perfect life. Some have less luck than others but you take what you've been given and you deal with it. It ain't that bad."

Lizzy looks down at her Sammy, his body lax and asleep, and she realizes Bobby's right. "Yeah, I'm not dying… not today at least."

"There you go," Bobby huffs a laugh. "Bright side."

"But Dean might be," she rebuts. She locks eyes with Bobby and she can tell she made sense to him on this one. "And sometimes it is that bad."

His whole attempt backfires right then. Lizzy goes right back to her hunched back position, looking at her son with a face full of worry.

And Bobby can't respond. He has nothing to say. So instead he tightens his arm around her and sits there, giving the silent support she needs right now. Lizzy is like that. At times it isn't words that can help her but knowing that someone cares, that someone wants to be there for her, can change everything.

"I hope you've been eating your veggies and getting some exercise, Bobby," Lizzy suddenly says through the quick silence. "I have no idea what I would do without you."

The smallest flash of a smile shows up on his face right then as it's just too damn good to hear her say something like that. He knows they need him. Hearing them say it is just the icing on the cake.

The ever familiar rumbling of the Impala's engine suddenly can be heard off a ways as it comes up the dirt path to the cabin.

"About fucking time," Lizzy lets out as she picks up Sammy from her lap, putting his head on her shoulder so he can rest some more. She then gets up, Bobby following, and they make it to the front door.

Dean turns the key once he parks behind the Mustang and gets out of his car. He barely remembers the drive or why they all decided to make it when they did. All he knows is it's morning in Montana and he's back at the cabin… just like he was supposed to be.

"You know, a call would have been nice!" Lizzy's annoyed voice calls out as she rushes down the front steps of the cabin and makes her way quickly to her husband, son still in her arms.

Dean simply watches her with a blank face as she comes right up to him, hugging him with her free arm. His own arms never leave his sides and come around her, however, and her nerves never get a real chance to calm because of it.

"Dean?" Lizzy says his name with concern when he doesn't return the hug. She looks up at him, her hand on his jaw with her thumb stroking his cheek a few times. He looks down at her with nothing in his eyes. "Hey. Baby? You alright?"

The way Dean simply looks at her without the usual love in his green eyes unnerves her immediately.

"I'm fine." His voice is flat and without any character at all.

This is wrong.

"What the hell?" Lizzy asks, marching over to Sam and Lou as they get out of the Mustang. "What's wrong with him?"

"Who?" Sam asks, confused by her question.

"Dean! What the fuck is wrong with Dean? Didn't you fix the problem or whatever? Kill the Fury?"

"The who?" Lou asks, looking at her sister with complete loss.

"The Fury!" Lizzy yells with frustration and it hits her. Their faces. Lou and Sam look just like Dean does. Blank and lifeless. She hugs Sammy in closer to her and takes a few steps back. "Bobby!"

The older man is immediately at the door. He looks over the group and sees nothing too wrong.

"Bobby!" Lizzy calls again and turns around to see him standing there, shrugging with confusion. "Something's wrong."

"What?"

"Don't you see it!?" she asks, walking to the doorway to get away from the zombie-out group. "They're… absent. They aren't all here."

Bobby observes them meandering about, getting bags from the car without talking.

"I don't even know if they're them," she whispers, true fear in her eyes. "Here." She hands Sammy over to the only person that she trusts right now. Running inside she grabs some holy water and a silver knife.

"What are you doing?" Bobby questions her.

"Making sure they're really them," she says to him and heads right for Dean.

Dean squares his shoulders to her and looks her in the eye, unmoving and waiting patiently. So not her husband.

Lizzy quickly opens her flask and splashes a bit of water onto his face and head. She waits a second and nothing happens.

"You're not possessed," she says with a little surprise.

"No," Dean easily answers.

Eyeing him funny, Lizzy splashes Sam a little also on his way past her to the cabin. Nothing again.

"What the fuck?" Lizzy comments, glancing at Bobby before looking back at Dean. "Hot Shot, what's going on here?"

"Nothing," he shrugs, still a bit dazed.

"Can you give me your arm?"

"Why?"

"Trust me?" she asks him and without hesitating he thrusts his arm out at her. She takes it, pulling up his jacket sleeve and wielding the small silver knife she grabbed. "This'll hurt a little, ok?" Dean nods and she slices a small cut into his skin, no sizzling.

Lizzy's angry eyes shoot up to Dean and she grabs his arm extremely hard.

"What the hell is going on?" she says, her eyes on his hard. "Dean, you tell me right now what happened."

Dean shakes his head easily and keeps a calm face. "Nothing happened."

Lizzy sighs, "The last I heard from you… you were gonna kill yourself."

"I was?" Dean asks.

"Yes!" Lizzy shouts back and grabs his face. "You need to tell me what happened to you guys. Something's wrong."

He doesn't answer because he doesn't know how to.

"Are we safe?" she asks with sheer fear. "Is Sammy safe here with you like this?"

"Sammy…" Dean says as if trying to recall the name while glancing at the cabin. "Is he inside?"

She's horrified. He should be sprinting up the steps to say hello to his boy, not wondering if he was even there. "Get inside. Come on."

Lizzy pulls his arm towards the cabin and he follows without question. On their way inside they don't happen to see the figure just off in the shadows of the forest watching them closely.