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Chapter Eleven

Sam paced restlessly along the length of the waiting room floor as he waited for news about his brother. Jess sat on one of the seats; Bobby was looking after Mary and they had been waiting now for several hours.

"What's taking so long?" Sam asked and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"They're probably just running some tests," Jess explained to him.

"You're remarkably calm about all this," Sam commented.

"That's because if I let myself freak out then I'm never going to stop," she told him; keeping her voice as even as she could. "But it's not the only thing you're worried about. You're worried about what's going to happen now the have the Colt. It's bad isn't it?"

"Yeah it's bad. They're gonna use it to open the devil's gate and once that happens all the demons in hell will escape…"

"…And all hell breaks loose," Jess finished the sentence for him. Sam nodded sadly.

"I just wish they would tell us what's going on," he turned the topic back to Dean; he didn't want to think about what was going to happen.

"They will but we just have to wait," Jess told him and clenched her hands together so tight her knuckles turned white. She was barely holding it together.

"How is he?" She heard Sam ask and she looked up. The doctor had appeared with news. Jess stood up and joined Sam.

"Your brother is going to be fine," the doctor told him. "He's suffered some pretty bad burns, some cuts and bruises and he's a little dehydrated but other than that he's okay."

"Can we see him?" Sam asked.

"Sure but keep it brief; he needs to rest."

"Thank you," Sam said as they followed the doctor to Dean's room.

He was sleeping when they arrived. Jess sat down next to the bed and took Dean's hand in hers. He stirred slightly but stayed asleep. Sam stood in the doorway nervously.

"Hey," Jess whispered softly to Dean. "Are you going to wake up for me? I can't tell you the answer to your question if you don't wake up," she said to him but he didn't reply. She wiped a tear away from her eye with her free hand and rubbed small circles into his wrist with her thumb. "Mary's fine; she's with Bobby but she hasn't stopped crying since you let her go. You have to wake up now so you can see your little girl smile again."

Dean's eyes fluttered open but he quickly shut them again when he realised how bright it was.

"Open your eyes," he heard a gentle voice coax and he slowly cracked them open once more. When his vision came back into focus he saw Jess sat next to the bed; smiling and Sam standing behind her. "Hey."

"Hi," he croaked; his voice still hoarse from screaming and then he broke out into a fit of coughs. Jess poured him a glass of water from the jug on the bedside cabinet and lifted it to his lips. He took a sip of the cooling liquid and gave a sigh of relief as his coughs subsided. "Thanks," he whispered.

"It's okay," Jess replied as she sat back down and rested in the chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," he put it as bluntly as he could. "Everywhere hurts."

"I'm not surprised," Sam told him, "They beat you up pretty bad."

"Sam you have to stop them," Dean said as he began to panic; remembering that he had broken and told them everything. "You need to stop them."

"Calm down," Sam soothed, "We'll stop them; you need to rest. You won't be able to fight if you don't get yourself better."

Dean quickly began to calm down. "Where's Mary?" He asked to take his mind off his failures.

"She's with Bobby; do you want to see her?" Sam asked and Dean nodded. "I'll go and get her; I'll be back soon," he patted his brother on the shoulder and walked out of the room leaving Jess and Dean alone.

"It's not your fault," She told him; knowing exactly what he was thinking. "People give things up under torture all the time."

"I should have tried harder," he croaked. "I shouldn't have told them."

"Don't be so self-pitying; anyone in your position would have done the same thing. The only thing we can do now is fight back and you can't do that unless your well so hurry up and get better."

"Yes ma'am," he laughed but soon turned quiet again. Jess attempted to take his mind off things.

"So how about we talk about the thing you asked me when you gave me Mary the other night."

"What about it?"

"Did you mean it or did you just say it because you thought you were about to die?"

Dean paused for a moment before answering, "I meant it."

"Really?"

"I've been planning to ask you for a while but I just couldn't get up the nerve. I was going to ask you at the weekend but then I got abducted and tortured," he told her and Jess asked. "Do you want to marry me?"

"I do want to marry you," she smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

"That's great," he sighed, "I would have hated for you to crush me on top of all these nasty injuries. I bought you a ring."

"You did?"

"Yeah, it's in my leather jacket."

"I'll find it when I go home."

"I'm tired," he announced. "Wake me up when Sam gets back with Mary," he closed his eyes.

"I will," she gently told him and sat back in the chair watching him sleep and waiting for Sam to return.

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"This isn't a good plan," Dean almost shouted at Sam. He had returned a little while ago with Mary and announced he had a plan to stop the demons. Unfortunately his plan involved going after them alone into almost certain death and there was no way Dean was going to let that happen.

"It's the only one we've got," Sam protested.

"No it isn't," Dean told him. "There's a better plan and it's wait for me to get better so we can fight this together."

"It'll be too late by then. Dean, you're not 100 and you need to rest. By the time you're fit enough to fight; Meg will have opened the devil's gate and unleashed her army of demons. I have to go now and stop her before she does that."

"You need backup or you'll die," Dean bluntly told him. "I'm not going to sit here and let you do that," he couldn't let his brother die again; he just couldn't take the pain. He didn't tell Sam any of this though.

"I'm not going to die," Sam promised him, "I'll be fine. I'm going to do this and nothing you say is going to change my mind," he told Dean as he stood up from the chair he had been sitting on. "I'll be back soon," Dean couldn't do anything but sit and watch as his brother walked away.

"I hope so," he murmured quietly under his breath.

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"Are you okay?" Lennie asked Sam when he turned up on her doorstep with a dour and worried expression on his face. "Is something wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong; everything's fine," he lied as he pulled her into a tight hug. "I just wanted to see you."

"Are you sure? You seem different," she commented, "Like there's something wrong."

"There is nothing wrong," he repeated, "I promise," he kissed her softly on the lips. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she smiled and took his hand before leading him into the living room. They sat down on the sofa and Sam wrapped his arms around Lennie and pulled her close; so close she could hear the beating of his heart. It was beating fast; he was nervous about something. "There's something bothering you, can't you tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm just worried about Dean."

"How is he?" She asked; she'd heard something about him being hurt but Sam hadn't explained what had happened.

"He's pretty beat up."

"But he's going to be okay, right?"

"Yeah, he's gonna be fine," he told her and they sat together for a while before he started to stand. "I have to go now," he said to her.

"Why?"

"There's something that I have to do; I'll be back soon."

"Okay," Lennie smiled but she saw the scared look in his eyes and her heart stopped for a second. She didn't say anything though; she just kept the words to herself.

"I'll see you soon, okay," he whispered back and kissed her again; not wanting it to end. Eventually; though, he pulled away and walked away without looking back. It was too hard; if he was going to die then he just couldn't bring himself to look at her one last time. He made his way back to the Impala and drove away to what seemed like almost certain death.

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Dean was worried. Not just a little worried but stomach churning; about to throw up worried about what might happen to Sam.

"He's going to die isn't he?" He asked Jess and Bobby; who were sitting in the hospital room with him. Mary was curled up in Jess' lap fast asleep.

"You don't know that," Jess tried to comfort him but she failed miserably. "You gotta have faith."

"I just can't," Dean admitted. "I have this feeling that something bad is gonna happen and I can't get rid of it. Bobby, you have to go and find him; you have to help," Dean begged and Bobby nodded silently. "Thanks."

"I'll go now," Bobby said to Dean before he left.

"I'm sure Sam's going to be fine," Jess told Dean in an attempt to calm his nerves. "He's a good fighter."

"It's just a feeling I can't shake."

"Then don't think about it," she told him as she handed Mary over to him. He took her in his arms and held her close to his chest. She squirmed in his arms before settling down. "Just let him do his job."

"Okay," Dean said and grinned half-heartedly. "I just hope he's okay."

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He was too late. Sam arrived just in time to see Meg open the devil's gate with the Colt. He saw the lock turn and the gate open before a large cloud of black smoke escape. His heart stopped as he realised there was nothing he could do. Now all he could do was stop Meg before all the demons in hell escaped. He ran towards her; not having a plan to stop her but it was all he could think about.

"Nice to see you again, Sam," Meg said to him as she stopped him in his tracks and threw him against a gravestone. He grunted loudly as he connected with the solid stone. "You never should have run; you know. You could have had it all and now all you have left is death."

"That's the preferable option."

"You could still have it," she told him as she kneeled down beside him and whispered in his ear. He tried to struggle but she stopped him. "Stay where you are," she instructed and he found himself pinned to the headstone by an invisible force. "Good boy, now where were we? Oh yes; you could still join me and we could destroy this world together. That was the plan."

"Yeah well; the plan changed," Sam hissed. "I don't wanna fight with you, I want you dead."

"That's a shame; with your power we could have been great. We could have ruled our own personal hell. But now you'll die."

Meg pulled the Colt from the waistband of her jeans and pointed it at Sam. He closed his eyes and prepared for her to shoot but he found that he wasn't firmly secured to the gravestone. He then knew that he could fight. He flexed his fingers; slowly so she wouldn't notice before he took his chance. He launched himself at Meg. She wasn't expecting it and fell to the ground with a hard thud.

"What? You were supposed to be trapped. How could you…?" She asked, confused and slightly scared. Sam was more powerful than she had thought. There was a chance that he might just win this.

Bobby saw total devastation. The gate had been opened and demons were pouring out at an alarming rate. They had to get the gate shut soon or all of hell would escape. He saw Sam trapped by Meg and took his chance. He sneaked over to the doors and started to push them shut; no mean feat considering the size and weight. He breathed a huge sigh of relief as the first began to move and the second soon followed. Now the doors were shut he just needed to help Sam. He looked over and saw that he had somehow freed himself and now he was fighting Meg. He hurried over and saw the Colt lying on the ground. He picked it up.

"Sam!" He called out. Sam looked up and Bobby threw him the Colt. He caught it and pointed it at Meg. Without hesitating he fired and the bullet tore through the air; seemingly in slow motion, before it hit her heart and she screamed in pain. Sam and Bobby watched as the demon inside the body died and the poor girl who had been possessed died alongside it.

Sam took a step towards the still body and stared at it. "Poor girl," he whispered. "She never had a chance."

"At least Meg's gone," Bobby told him; trying to look on the Brightside.

"Yeah but there are hundreds of more demons out in the world now."

"Let's deal with that tomorrow. We need to get back and make sure that Dean's okay."

"You're right," Sam sighed. "Let's go home."

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"You killed her?" Dean asked; slightly shocked but more pleased. "She's actually dead?"

"She is; I shot her with the Colt," Sam explained. "Meg's not gonna be a problem anymore." Sam had gone back to the hospital once he and Bobby returned to talk to Dean. Jess had left so they were completely alone and talking about what had happened.

"But the hundreds of demons that escaped are gonna be."

"Then we'll deal with them; it's no big deal."

"Sam; I can't just up sticks and go hunting again. I have different priorities now."

"Then I'll go. I'll hunt them all down," Sam told him and in that moment Dean was scared of him. He remembered what Meg had told him about the power that Sam had inside of him and he began to think about what if he chose to embrace that power. Then he started to think about the demons that wanted him dead.

"Sam, when Meg had me trapped; she told me something," Dean quietly said to him.

"What did she say?"

"She told me that there were demons out there that wanted you dead. She said that they saw you as a threat to their power and that they would stop at nothing until you were dead."

"She could have been lying."

"I don't think so; she was scared of them. I think they are more powerful than she is and they think that you are the biggest challenge to them taking over."

"Then I'll fight every last one of them. I'm not going to let them win."

Dean didn't reply. That's what he was afraid of.