ReallyFuckingPissedSam ...
Bobby heard the roar of the Impala as it entered the parking lot. The two huge dragons didn't budge from their positions. Both were lounging quite confidently against the wall, neither having said much to him other than to let him know the deal had been struck for the Guff and that they were out of time. Bobby's hopes for a decent ending came crashing down like the Hell Wall in Sam's head. Not that he'd had much hope in the first place. Once they'd found out Cas had went darkside he'd known the boys easy button was lost to them. Now they were running on pure human steam and the boilers were running cold.
Dean and Jo walked into the motel room, Dean making sure he was between Jo and the dragons. They were everything he expected and then some. He'd always thought Sam was the biggest person he'd ever seen but these guys towered over him by at least a good foot ... maybe two. They straightened when Dean entered and a look passed between Bobby and Dean. It wasn't a happy one.
"I expected you'd be bigger." Dean stated sarcastically, earning him a low growling sound that he took as a laugh.
The biggest dragon narrowed his eyes at Dean. "You're exactly what we expected; small, compact, and easy to swallow." Dean's eyebrow shot up.
"Small?" He shot back, but Bobby sent him an exasperated glare and he let it go with a shrug.
"So the demon's made a deal with Raphael for the Guff. We were warned it would happen. What do you have to do with it?" The dragons looked at each other then the tallest one moved forward towards Dean just a bit.
"We gave the girl the power to open the portal. We have our Warden back but she is weak in her current form. We need the portal opened so that she can get back into Purgatory. But the deal for the Guff changes things. The demons and angels can't have that kind of power, they aren't properly equipped for the ancient souls that they would take in. We have taken certain measures to ensure they cannot get to the Guff but our efforts will require you and your brother's gifts." Dean frowned.
"Sam's not up to the challenge right now and I don't have any 'gifts'." The dragon narrowed his gaze.
"It wasn't a request."
"I don't work with monsters, I kill them." The dragon grinned then, a cold smile, which drew his lips tight over a row gleaming razor sharp teeth. His reptilian eyes glittered with a deadly cold fire that nearly had Dean sidestepping the bed at his back and running for safer ground. Jo's hand crept up his arm, her breath hitching. Dean's own murderous beast crept into his eyes for a moment, the need to protect running through him like a blazing hot fire and for a brief second both creatures realized and acknowledged the predator in the other.
"You're brother will be a killing force when he wakes, we've been ordered not to interfere with him. It is you we must prepare." The smallest, if you could call him small, came forward with a bundle and dropped it on the bed.
Dean bent slightly and pulled his machete from under the mattress, the hilt barely visible, and used the knife tip to carefully flip open the small leather wrapped bundle. Within it was a golden box with strange symbols. Dean glanced questioningly at Bobby, who briefly shifted he eyes from the dragons to the box. He rubbed a hand down his bearded face and looked nervously at Dean.
"Greek." He said, nearly spitting the words. Both men looked at the dragon's.
"Fate, it seems, is on your side." Dean gingerly opened the box and laying on a silken bed of cloth was Death's ring. He sighed and shook his head.
"Great, I'm to play Death?" He cocked an exasperated look at the head dragon, who was shaking his head.
"No, that's for your brother. His living body will need the ring to get to the place where his mind currently resides."
Dean flinched. Sam was in Hell, inside his mind. He turned troubled eyes towards Sam. "So, Sam wakes up as Death."
The dragon nodded somberly, a strange look on his own face. "Poetic really." He turned his cold gaze back to Dean and said, "You however, have the ring you will require in order to guard the Guff."
"Which one?" Dean didn't need the dragon to tell him what rings they were talking about. They never left the pocket of his jeans.
"War."
Dean sighed heavily. With a shiver of dread, he withdrew the combined rings from his pocket and pulled them apart. He stared at them for a moment then put all of them back except War's simple golden band. He palmed it for a briefly before looking back at the dragon.
"What now?" he asked.
"He," he gestured towards the smaller Dragon, "will take your brother and the girl into the city where more dragon's wait to escort them to the rift. You and I will put on the ring and we will enter heaven's gates and guard the Guff till the Warden lets me know she has re-entered Purgatory."
"What will happen to me?" Jo asked from beside Dean.
"Once you release the power within you it will be up to Fate if you remain here in this world or pass on to whatever place your soul was meant for." Jo's eyes widened as she turned to Dean.
"Don't worry," he said patting his jacket pocket. Jo eyed his hand for a moment, which was resting over the letter that Athropos had given him. Her eyes cut to Dean's for a moment, a deep sadness in them, and nodded. He turned back to the dragons and nodded towards Sam.
"What about Sam?" The dragon shrugged his shoulders.
"Your brother is not on a level of existence that I have any control over; therefore I cannot answer your question fully. However, I can tell you he has a new level of darkness within him with the recent fate of his mate. It was expected that he would wake and be the force of power that will take out the powerful ones guarding the necessary objects to open the portal. Unfortunately, with the impact of losing his mate to the demons, it could tip the scales and he could irrevocably taint his soul with too much of the dark path he will tread today."
Bobby frowned and cocked his head towards Dean. Dean narrowed his eyes as well. Something the dragon said tripped alarm bells.
"Wait ... "lost his mate to demons"? You mean that Nikki's death could push Sam to switch sides?"
The dragon frowned, obviously confused.
"I mean that once Sam finds out the demons have his mate's soul in Hell he will kill with no remorse. I'm told this could have disastrous consequences for your brother's ..."
Dean nearly collapsed, Bobby leaping towards him and guiding his limp body to the floor. Jo simply sat down heavily in the chair nearest her, silent tears streaking down her face. Dean couldn't breathe, his mind was fracturing into a thousand pieces. He felt white hot heat rising up his spine, felt the flames licking his feet, screams rising in his mind. A blood red haze filled his sight and pain like no other blossomed in his chest. He dropped his head in his hands as guttural moans choked his throat closed even more.
The Demons had drug Nikki's soul to hell.
The last thing he saw before he succumbed to the beast inside him was a small pool of blood staining the carpet near his brother's bed. As he glanced up slowly he saw Sam's bare feet were planted flat on the floor, his elbows on his knees and head in his hands, blood red tears dripping between his fingers and running in a jagged river down his legs. Sam slowly slid his hands away from his face and all you could hear was Dean's shuddering breath. Sam's soulful eyes were gone, in their place was chilling black. Dean wasn't sure Sam would need the ring after all.
Two things registered in his mind then. One, Sam was awake. Two, it was time to kill.
Bobby slowly pulled Jo away from Dean and Sam. He guided her cautiously towards the door of the motel. The dragon's immediately went on full alert as well. They slowly hovered near the other side of the room, giving wide berth to the two so-called humans who were currently showing no outwards signs of being anything but the killers they'd slowly turned into over the many long years of hunting. What stared out of their eyes now, as both brother's silently took stock of the other, was the monster that had slowly been cultivating deep within them.
Bobby had come to terms with the fact that at some pivotal point in a hunter's life you eventually became the thing you hunted. What he saw now was what he'd become accustomed to seeing in the mirror every morning for more years than he cared to repeat. It's why he didn't shave anymore. But Sam and Dean, well, they'd been through worse, and still shaved. He figured it's because they gave the monster the finger every night they washed the blood off their hands and kissed it good morning when they woke the next day to brush their teeth. Just in case though, he had his shotgun in one hand and the demon-killing knife in the other. He just hoped he didn't have to use them.
Sam stared deep into Dean's eyes as his brother slowly stood up and moved in front of him. Dean's eyes narrowed, something flitted through them, but Sam was having a hard time focusing. His mind was full of rage, it sounded like waves in an ocean, and it was making him angry. So Sam focused on the anger and pushed outwards from his mind. He swiveled his gaze towards the door as it opened slowly. The demon obviously fighting Sam's control, stumbled inside and fell at Bobby's feet. It was a human male, around its 40's wearing a fast food uniform and smelled like sulfur and French fries. He was shaking hard and sweating.
"Nooo ..." The demon moaned but Dean ignored it's plea and grabbed him by the neck and shoved him towards Sam's feet. He turned to Bobby and held out his hand. Bobby's had shook as he handed the demon knife to Dean and silently grabbed Jo's arm and lead her out the motel door.
Dean handed the knife to Sam who grabbed a handful of the demons hair and wrenched his head backwards. He sliced the demons neck so forcefully that it almost sliced straight through. Dean was ready with an empty ice bucket, already collecting the lifeblood that was gushing over his finger's like a warm waterfall. Neither one hesitated as Sam took the bucket and began drinking, the roar in his head ebbing to a more manageable din and making concentrating easier. As Sam filled the bucket once more, Dean turned and began laying out their weapons on the bed. Sam wiped his mouth with the back of his and then wiped his hand on the dead demon's shirt. He then lifted the body, dumped it in the tub in the bathroom, and closed the door.
Dean handed Sam his weapons and the knife, choosing for himself his trusty sawed-off and pearl-handed grips. Sam looked at the knife in his hand then tossed it back on the bed. Dean stared at it for a second, then tucked it inside his jacket. He swung his gaze to his brother.
"Sam, Samifer, or Soulless Sam?" His brother's black eyes met Dean's cold ones. He cocked his head to the side and gave Dean a facsimile of his famous bitchface.
"Does it matter?"
"Just wanting to know which one was at my back."
Sam seemed to consider the question then shrugged. "ReallyFuckingPissedSam." Dean smiled an evil grin.
"Works for me."
Sam jerked his head towards the dragons. "What are they here for?"
"Escort to ..." Sam was shaking his head.
"We walk in on our own steam. They can meet us there." The Dragons didn't bother arguing with Sam and walked to the door. The largest one stopped and turned to Dean and Sam.
"Don't forget to put the rings on." Dean nodded as the dragon left.
"So, you got a plan? Or we just winging this?" Dean asked. Sam slid Death's ring on his finger and shrugged at Dean.
"Kill'em all then?" Dean asked. Sam simply nodded.
"Good enough for me." They started for the door but Sam stopped Dean.
"Where's the other rings?" Dean frowned at him.
"Pocket. Why?" Sam held his hand out, but Dean hesitated.
"Pestilence needs to go to Bobby. He'd most likely be able to pull something out of his ass if need be. Famine is mine."
"Why wear two? Especially Famine's. You know how you'll react." Sam's inhuman black eyes rested on Dean's for a moment.
"Today it won't matter."
"And tomorrow?" Again Sam shrugged, hand still extended.
"May not matter then either." Dean considered Sam's hand for a moment and then with a mental shrug handed him Famine's ring. Sam slid it on his other hand and they headed out the door.
Bobby and Jo were standing impatiently by the Impala and once the guys exited the room immediately noticed the two rings on Sams hand. He looked into Sam's face for a moment, a stern lecture on the tip of his tongue. Dean cut off whatever he thought Bobby was going to say by handing him the Pestilence Ring.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"
"Wear it, just in case. Pull a nasty demon-angel STD out of your ass if you have too."
Bobby gave Dean a go to hell look but put the ring on anyway. "Well, best not be late for the party boys."
They all got into the Impala and headed towards downtown Detroit. Dean glanced towards Sam and frowned.
"How'd you manage to crawl outa your head this time?"
Sam just stared off in the distance, but Dean thought he saw a slight shudder and a single tear well in Sam's demonic eyes.
- I'm very narcissistic so please review -
A/N: This story has confounded me for months. As I stated early on I wrote the ending, a few weeks after writing the first few chapters, which totally screwed me up once the characters sort of took control of the story. I'm quite anal in that I always plan and research a bit for any stories that I write and now my outline is shot to hell. So I'm trying to figure out how to maneuver the story towards that ending without basically destroying the entire SPN world. And it's really hard because I feel Sam's pain right now, I really freaking liked him and Nikki together.