Hi, everyone! This takes us almost up to where I started, but don't worry I won't leave you hanging there much longer. Thanks for all your kind reviews!

Dean watched from his position on the floor as Azazel mercilessly spun his brother around and slammed him into the blackening wall.

Sam's spine was pressed harshly against the heated corridor, and he struggled against the searing sensation that seeped through his jacket, threatening to blister the flesh on his back. He choked as unseen demonic hands began to squeeze his throat, but he refused to yield.

Dean winced. Sam was fighting his destiny, and if big brother didn't do something soon, he would burn for it. How much longer before the passageway wall and Sam were engulfed in flames? Just like Mom, like Jess…

Dean couldn't allow it. No matter how much his body hurt, no matter how much his shaking muscles refused to cooperate, he had to find a way out, an escape for Sammy if not for himself.

The elder hunter could see the pain in his brother's eyes, the regret of causing so much suffering to his family even though he had no control over it.

No! Dean's mind screamed out, and with the mental pain came physical strength.

He didn't want to tear his gaze from his little brother, not for one second, but the blood now oozing from his chest and seeping onto his fingers may yet have another purpose besides his quick demise.

Dean looked at the bright red fluid and briefly closed his eyes, remembering the scrawl from his father's diary word for word. Pushing away the harsh taunts Azazel was making to Sammy in John's voice, Dean began to draw on the floor in his own blood, carefully making sure the sigil he scrawled with his forefinger was enclosed in a perfect triangle.

As he worked, he wordlessly spoke Latin, knowing if Azazel heard his unholy mantra he would be killed instantly.

A blood sacrifice is required to summon a demon…

Dean couldn't help but smirk as his shaking hand finished its task. If Flauros wanted blood, he had plenty more pooling on the floor to work with.

The hunter inhaled, the sigil finally complete. "Time to meet an old friend you bastard…"

Azazel paused in his jeering and turned at Dean's rasping voice. Dean was only still alive because he was needed as a pawn, a tool to convince Sam that he must choose the demon's side. That usefulness, however, was rapidly coming to an end.

"Got something to say, Dean?" The demon sneered, but his face soon contorted into disbelief as he realized what the elder hunter had daubed on the floor in his own blood. "You…"

Before Azazel could finish his insults, a second black ooze began to fill the corridor from underneath the stairwell door. As everyone watched in fascination, the miasma took shape within the triangle – the shape of a man with feline features.

Dean panted, gathering his energy. "I command you to burn that bastard in hell…" He gestured to Azazel with a scarlet tinted hand, although the demon he controlled needed no further instruction.

Flauros can destroy all the conjurer's enemies by burning them up…

Sam's eyes widened as his body suddenly slid from the middle of the wall and hit the floor with a thud. Dean was using one demon to fight another, and because Flauros had been conjured within a triangle he had no choice but to obey.

Azazel's eyes burned bright as he abruptly forgot about the Winchesters in favor of a new foe. A foe that had powers to fight him on his own terms. Less powerful gifts, it was true, but still a threat to his plans. "You're no match for me, my little warlord…"

Flauros's cat-like features curled into a snarl worthy of a lion. "Perhaps not, Master…but I cannot deny my conjuror his rights…" The lesser demon moved around its prey like the predator it truly was, and as it stalked its form began to slowly dissipate again into the air.

As the brothers watched, mesmerized by their first demon fight, Azazel and Flauros turned back to their black fog-like forms and began to spin in a flurry of motion like making some hell-bound maelstrom.

The pulsing raven mass seemed to suck the life, the air from the corridor and then suddenly, in an explosion of light and sound, both demons vanished as if they'd simply cancelled one another out.

"Talk about anti-climax…" Dean groaned and rolled onto his side, one hand outstretched in front of him. "Now I know what they mean by fight fire with fire…" He coughed, the weight of his body pressing on the floor abruptly catching his injured ribs.

"Dean…" Sam pushed away from the wall, suddenly speechless. He had the gifts, he was the special one, and yet he had almost let the demon win. Almost, if it hadn't been for Dean. "Man, you gotta get outta this habit of bleeding all over the place." He tried to lighten the moment, but all he could see as he kneeled at his big brother's side was the scene back at the cabin.

Dean was laid out on the floor, bleeding, dying and he was just as useless now as he had been then, for all his damn gifts. Why don't they kick in? Why? The question howled through his skull, threatening to explode every sentient thought.

"Dude, chicks dig a bleeding hero…." Dean sucked down a breath. "Ten bucks says I charm the first paramedic I set eyes on…" He winced as Sam pulled away the side of his jacket, but it didn't reveal anything but more tears to his t-shirt and flesh. "Gal paramedic," he added as he saw the beginning of a smirk form on his brother's lips.

"Yeah, well, we have to get you out of here before you can do any charming, Romeo." Sam glanced around the corridor. So far, the threatening fire had not escaped the wall it burned behind – at least not in this corridor.

The thing that worried Sam more was the fact that tiny tendrils of smoke were already floating through from the next section of hallway. Azazel was thorough. He hadn't left the destruction of the Uni to chance. Just how many fires were already burning, and on how many levels?

The graying wisps of smoke and thinning air hadn't escaped Dean, either. He weakly grabbed Sam's collar, blood smearing the already battle-worn jacket as his fingers slipped down the cloth. "Sammy, there are people still in here. You can't waste time carrying my ass out or they'll all burn…"

"Dean…"

"No! Sam!" The elder hunter's eye's darkened and his voice raised an octave even though his strength was waning. "Listen to me. You heard what that freaky bastard said. You have a gift, a gift you can use to save life or take it. Now prove to the damn thing who you really are and go save those kids…"

Sam shook his head. He couldn't leave Dean, not like this. "Dean…what you did won't stop the demon. It'll only buy us time. I can't…"

"Leave Me, dammit!" Dean pushed up on his elbows, drawing strength for somewhere he didn't even know he had. "Look, I can get my sorry ass out under my own steam…those kids don't even know there's a fire…"

Sam's eyes darted to the stairwell and to the section of Uni the smoke was ebbing from. His brother was right. But then, Dean was always right. "You can't even stand…" I won't leave him. I can't…

"Man, you say that again I swear I'm gonna start throwing punches." The elder hunter grabbed at his ribs as he spoke despite trying to hide the agonizing pain he was in. "GO!"

Sam stood from his stooped position and began to jog towards the smoke. As he reached the corner of the corridor he looked back only once. "I'll come back this way…just in case," he assured, watching as his brother struggled to clamber to his feet.

Dean nodded, waving a bloodied hand in reassurance, but once Sam had vanished from view his beleaguered body toppled forward and he hit the wall, sliding back down its surface until was slumped back on the floor.

------

Sam ran frantically down the corridor, not really knowing which way to head. Fire, heat, smoke all rise…

The hunter paused, gathering his thoughts. Without an alarm how could he warn people what was coming? He turned, scanning the walls for another fire point. It was a long shot, but what if Azazel hadn't disabled every alarm in the building?

Sam's eyes locked on the small glass-covered aperture near an elevator door and he raced towards it, arm outstretched. Before his feet had even stopped, he began lashing out at the special glass until it shattered and his knuckles began to bleed with the effort.

Nothing.

"NO!" Sam's scream echoed down the hall, mocking him. What had he really expected?

Sam gulped in air and actually took down more acrid smoke than oxygen. The fire had to be close. His eyes were smarting and his throat tingling from the fumes. I have to warn someone, anyone…

In temper, he thrashed at the wall again with his bleeding hand, ignoring the pain each new punch of the alarm button caused. "Work you bastard! WORK!"

Sam slammed the front of his fist into the panel so hard shards of the casing embedded under his skin, but he didn't feel it. He didn't feel or hear anything except the sudden ominous blare of an alarm klaxon as it miraculously kicked in.

For a second, the young hunter could only stare at the wall that was now smeared in his blood. Then, as overheard sprinklers began to spark to life, a scream broke him from his daze.

"Help!"

Sam cast a glance over his shoulder to the corridor he'd just left, torn between his brother and the new voice pleading for his attention. He couldn't leave anyone, but his mind screamed for him to save Dean the way his big brother always saved him.

"Someone, please!"

Sam bit his lip, launching his body towards the sound of the yelling. Two corridors to his left he found the source of the noise. The girl looked about Jess's age, and with her long blonde hair she reminded the hunter all-too well of his long-dead girlfriend.

Sam took the girl by her shoulders and bobbed down to meet her gaze. "Its okay, I'm here. There's a way out back there if you follow me." He jerked a thumb back in Dean's and the stairwell's direction, but the girl shook her head.

"My friend…the elevators all stopped…"

Sam glanced around, realizing what was happening. Just like he'd suspected, Azazel had stopped the lifts so that everyone had to try and go down the stairwell. The stairwell that could easily be a deathtrap. "Alright," he soothed. "Let's see if we can't get the doors open…"

Sam let his already bruised and gashed hands slide along the metal until he reached where the two sliding elevator doors met. Using his spidery fingers to his advantage, he pried at the minute gap until it was just a little wider.

Without having to ask for her help, his young companion slid a hardback folder she was carrying into the gap, and between them they managed to lever open the doors.

Sam peered into the expanse below and was relieved to see the car wasn't very far down. He could probably jump the distance and get to the girl's friend. Getting back up might be slightly more tricky, especially with smoke from the fire already growing in its intensity.

"Look," he turned to the girl. "Follow this corridor and take the next two right turns to the stairwell. There's no point in you waiting. Get out while you can and I'll get to your friend."

The girl shook her head. "No way, Steffie is like my sister. I won't leave her…"

Like my sister…

The words cut into Sam as if the demon had returned, talons clawing at him. Where was Dean? Had he really made it out, or was he still back in the hallway, bleeding to death with no help? He pushed the thought aside. "Okay, so I'm gonna go down. See if you can find some towels, cloths, anything, and wet them while I'm gone…"

The girl nodded and before he could say more disappeared into a side office, her form masked by eddies of thick black smog. Sam cleared his throat and rubbed tears from his stinging eyes before grabbing the elevator cable and sliding down its length. I swear I'm never watching 'Speed' again…

Sam's boots hit the lift with a soft thud and he kneeled, clambering around the car until he found the emergency hatch in its roof. He tapped on it with his raw knuckles. "Hey, anyone in there?"

"I…I pressed the alarm button…are you with security?" A tiny voice quivered from within.

"I'm here to help," Sam offered, tugging at the roof plate until it came away in his hands. He peered down to see another girl, this time with short brown hair and stylish glasses. "There's a fire. Give me your hand and I'll pull you up…"

Steffie frowned. The guy looking down at her wasn't wearing a uniform and he looked like he'd taken a beating. Still, as she strained she could hear the faint thrum of what sounded like an alarm.

Uncertainly, she reached up a hand and allowed the stranger to grab her with his huge reassuring palm.

Within a second, Sam had pulled the girl through and she was sitting atop the elevator car gawking at the unending shaft above her. "Wow, this is just like in the movies…except you're way better looking than Keanu," she added with an afterthought, then blushed.

Sam couldn't quite look the girl in the eyes for fear he might blush back. Now came the hard part. "Do you think you can climb the cable up to the open doors? We have to hurry…" Dean…

Steffie looked at the huge wire strand and then nodded, bringing a sigh of relief from Sam. He would have carried the girl if he'd had to, but he got the feeling she'd have been a hell of a lot happier about it than he would.

"Okay, just take it steady and follow me…" Sam grabbed at the cable and began climbing it like a circus pro. After a few seconds he was back at the top and relieved to see Steffie was right behind him.

Grabbing her collar he hoisted her from the shaft the rest of the way with a quick heave and then stood panting as the lack of oxygen in the air finally got to him.

The foul air he took down came right back out in a fit of uncontrolled coughing. "We need to go back that way…" He pointed towards the corridors that led to the stairwell, praying Dean had already used it, and that it was still devoid of any fires.

"I don't think we can." The girl who had screamed was back and she had a new group of panicked students with her. She thrust a wet towel in his direction with a look of terror spreading across her features. "I just checked, and the fire is blocking our way…"

Sam's gaze moved from one end of the newly formed crowd to the other, some part of him praying Dean was with them. Was it too much to ask that the kids had found his brother? Hope soon changed to disappointment when his sassy sibling's grin didn't great him.

"This part of the Uni is new…I'm still not sure of all the fire exits. Isn't there another way down?" A burly young student moved to the front of the throng and Sam couldn't help but picture him decked out as a quarterback. This kid was definitely football material.

Sam shook his head, instantly thinking of the blueprints he'd examined earlier. "The stairwells are the only way down now that the elevators don't work. Are you sure we can't get through?"

The hefty blond nodded. "We can't get to it. The only corridor that isn't already ablaze is blocked. The freakin' door feels like there's a chunk of concrete the other side it. Believe me, I know…" He rubbed at his shoulder, suggesting he'd tried his best tackle and lost to the door.

Sam rubbed a hand through his hair. Dean had an axe. It was the perfect tool to hack at the door with. The problem was, if he was hearing right, the area where he'd left his brother was already a mass of whirling flames and intolerable heat. Dean…

"Show me the door…"

The kid shrugged but broke into a jog, Sam following close on his heels. After only a short distance, the blond youth came to a halt and rapped his knuckles on the electronically controlled fire door. "I don't think this thing is supposed to lock us in," he exhaled.

Azazel…

Sam clenched his fingers in his palms until his the remains of his nails bit into his calloused flesh. The demon was winning. Every turn he made, every life he tried to save, the devil was one step ahead, taunting, laughing in the young hunter's face.

Dean had probably already burned alive. Maybe they would all be next just because he wouldn't accept his destiny. "NO!" Sam stepped back and repeatedly kicked at the door with his full strength. It was like kicking a brick wall, but he continued anyway, his anger at Azazel fueling some strength, some inner energy that most people didn't even have at their disposal.

"Hey, man, you're gonna break your fo…" The blond kid stopped mid-sentence as the door exploded from its hinges and clattered down the stairway the other side.

Sam sucked down a breath and had to shake himself. The doorway had been solidly blocked, just like the time Max had locked him in a closet behind a dresser and he'd escaped. I moved the door just like I moved the cabinet at Max's...

There was no time to think how. No time to think a demonic gift might be working in his favor. "Everybody down the stairs!" Sam heard his voice come out a half-croak and he yelled again, finally getting everyone's attention.

The blond kid continued to gawk as his companions began to scramble past him down the winding steps. "Dude, you're like some freaky version of the Incredible Hulk!" His brows knitted for a second and then he shook his head, scooting after his friends and leaving Sam to bring up the rear.

As Sam hastened down the stairs he could still hear the kid muttering to himself. "Man, pretty whacked, or what…"

-----

Outside the University of Kansas

Sam wasn't sure how long it had taken for the group to scurry down the south stairwell. From the moment his feet had begun to thunder down the concrete steps his mind had turned to Dean. He was escaping, but his brother?

Footsteps echoing in front of him as the kids raced to safety did little to quell his fears, his agony, and he found his eyes darting along the stairwell walls, looking for signs of his sibling. If Dean had been here, wouldn't there be a blood trail? A stray handprint where he'd steadied his quaking limbs?

There was nothing.

Sam didn't want to accept it, couldn't foresee it. There could be no future without Dean.

Ahead, someone yelled as they reached the emergency exit and pulled down on the long metal bar to elicit their escape. Fresh air blasted the young hunter in the face. Whirling lights, sirens, garbled radio chatter all greeted his senses, but he was somehow unaware of being bustled away from the burning building by a fireman in full garb.

Eventually he realized he'd been ushered to a small area where people who had escaped or had been were being checked over. Teenagers with soot covered faces, teachers trying to sooth students and calm their own frayed nerves.

Dean…

Sam allowed someone to throw a blanket over his shoulders as he looked up to the burning Uni. He didn't see their face, didn't know who to thank for their kindness. Instead, all he could see were the harsh orange flames as they licked out from shattered windows, their fiery tendrils licking over the newly-built structure as if they were laughing at him.

Maybe the Winchesters had saved lives here, but somehow as he watched the Uni burn he couldn't help but smell the acrid aroma of defeat.

Dean…

Moisture began to fill Sam's eyes, and this time not from the smoke his tired orbs had endured. He whirled, tossing down the blanket in a flurry of motion. Someone here had to know who had come out of the building, who the Fire Department had rescued.

"Excuse me, can you tell me if anyone has been brought out from the south wing? I'm looking for my brother. He probably wouldn't have been able to walk out on his own…he was hurt…" Sam caught the sleeve of the nearest fireman and gave his best puppy dog expression.

Maybe Dean hadn't walked out, but there was still a chance he'd been rescued. Sam's heart began to race anew. There was still hope yet.

The fireman offered a nod towards a group of emergency vehicles surrounded by a huge crowd. "As far as I know only one person was brought down from that side of the building by our guys." He looked down, his moustache twitching with uncertainty as to what to say to the young man before him. "I'm so sorry, son…"

tbc...