(Let's Go Blue!) We interrupt this football game to bring you a new chapter....please please review...

Sam felt frozen to the spot, though he could feel Ruby and Bobby standing just behind him. Dean's eyes, two depthless and swirling black pits, were fixed on him. Now that Sam was face to face with his brother, no, the monster that wore his brother's body, the plan seemed ludicrous, a suicide mission. Hopeless.

"I figured you were going to show up sooner or later," said Dean. His voice was almost a low purr. "But your timing is off. You could have at least let me finish up here." He bared his teeth and nipped at the girl's collarbone, hard enough that she jumped and squealed, "Jesus!"

"Oh, Zak, honey, he can't help you now," Dean crooned into her ear, never taking his eyes off of Sam. "Speaking of whom, do you still pray, Sammy?" The name dripped from Dean's lips with syrupy sweetness, and he slid one hand around to softly stroke Zak's throat. "Or does that demon blood that you suck down boil in your stomach if you try?"

"Let her go." Sam had to work to keep a quiver from his voice.

Zak was staring at him with wide eyes, tears tracking down her cheeks to drip into her lap. Dean caught one in his palm and regarded it for a moment, then licked it delicately from his skin. He chuckled low in his throat. "You don't know much about bargaining, do you." He nuzzled Zak's neck, brushing it with a whisper soft kiss, but he never took his eyes off Sam. "You would have to have something I want in return." A cigarette smoldered in a grimy tin ashtray at Dean's elbow. He plucked it up and took a long, languorous drag, twisting his face into an exaggerated rictus of pleasure. Blowing out a stream of smoke, he smiled. "The fact is that I already have what I want." He fanned at the smoke with his hand.

"But why?" Bobby piped up from behind Sam. He had never stopped covering the rear, but he looked back over his shoulder to glower at Dean. "Why do you want him?"

"Oh, you humans are so caught up your own little dramas that you just don't see the big picture." Disgust creased Dean's face. "Words can't say how much I loathe humans. The smell of your blood, your breath, your sweat, your greasy skin; it makes me ill. You're nothing but lumpy sacks of skin, fat, and gristle. Slaves to your basest appetites, you gorge yourselves on food, sex, drugs. You are weak and pitiful and pathetic and you have no right to be happy or peaceful." He gave a huff of self-righteous annoyance. "But really, I'm putting up with having to wear this meat because I intend to be the Big Dog here."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Ruby's eyes narrowed and her grip tightened on her knife.

"As if you don't know," Dean leered, then turned his gaze back on Sam. "I'm not the only one, you know. There are others, Big Ones, who are making plans for this world. Just ask your girlfriend, there. But I can stop them, and when I do…" He chuckled. "Well, this is going to be my playground."

"I don't understand," Bobby muttered under his breath.

"Of course you don't. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Dean smiled, still staring at Sam. "That literary quote came from your brother, believe it or not. He's not as dim as you think he is, after all. Yes, he's still in here. He stopped screaming right about the time that I killed that cop over at the motel, but he's still here."

That statement was like icy water splashed over Sam's face, jolting him out of his stunned stillness. "That's good," he murmured. "Then let me just say this…" Ruby and Bobby both tensed behind him. "Dean, the Exorcizamus, you have to do it yourself!" The words came out in a rush and as they did, Ruby darted around Sam and splashed Dean in the face with holy water.

Dean roared, falling backward in his chair. Zak, screaming, fell atop him and they both landed on the floor in a heap, smoke rising from Dean's scalded skin. Sam leapt forward, grabbing at Zak and trying to pull her out of harm's way, but Dean locked onto his wrist with a grip so strong that Sam cried out in pain. Dean's eyes were wild, and he looked for all the world like he was going to knock Sam's teeth clean down his throat.

"I'm going to kill you slow, you little piece of shit," snarled Dean, yanking Sam forward and closing his fingers around his throat. "I'm going to throttle you and drink your blood…"

Ruby's kick connected solidly with Dean's temple and he toppled to the side with a grunt. Sam scrambled backward, gasping for air, screaming, "Dean, you have to do the exorcism yourself! You have to do it!" Sam grabbed again for Zak, who was curled into the fetal position and sobbing uncontrollably. He tried to pull her to her feet but she was limp and dead weight in his hands. "Dean, do it!"

Ruby splashed Dean again and he howled, but he rolled to his feet, quick as a hiccup, and darted forward, catching Ruby in the midsection and lifting her like a linebacker. They both went smashing into a pool table, sending balls and cue sticks flying. "I'm going to eat your heart, you bitch," growled Dean, his teeth bared like a cornered animal's. His fist crashed against Ruby's jaw and she sagged backward across the table. Dean bent low over her, intent on tearing her throat out with his teeth, but he did not see her fingers close around a billiard ball. With a scream, she swung and smashed the ball against Dean's eye. He fell back, landing hard on his ass, and Ruby staggered up, now clutching a pool cue. She reared back and swung the stick, breaking it across Dean's shoulder.

Dean raised a hand and flung Ruby to the side, his face a mask of rage and pain. He turned toward Sam, bringing his other hand up, and Sam ducked instinctively, knowing all the while that doing so was useless. But instead of feeling the crushing blow of the demon's power, instead his ears were set to ringing by the deafening blast of a shotgun. Dean tumbled backward and Sam screamed, terrified. He whirled to stare at Bobby, who was saying something, shouting, but Sam couldn't hear the words above the buzzing in his ears.

Rock Salt. Sam sagged back with relief as he read Bobby's lips, then turned back toward Dean, who was already struggling back to his feet, his chest peppered with chunks of salt like tiny diamonds. Blood was pouring from a gory gash below his eye, painting his face with warrior stripes, and he snarled at Sam, "I'm done playing with you fuckers…" He lifted both hands and Sam felt his body fly back through the air like a leaf in the wind. He slammed into the wall with enough force to knock the air from his lungs, and stars swam across his vision. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bobby, prone on the wooden floor, a pool of blood spreading out from his head.

Sam tried to struggle against the force pressing him to the wall, even though he knew it was useless. Dean stalked up to him, his face marred by blood and an ugly sneer. "It was a nice try, Sammy. But you had to know it wouldn't work." Dean tilted his head, like a scientist examining a new species. "You're actually a bit lucky," he mused. "Had I not been distracted by that little piece of ass over there," he gestured over his shoulder toward Zak, "I would have already cut this tattoo out of your brother's chest. It's been a bit of a nuisance...lets your brother be a little more assertive than I care for." He fingered the tattoo. "You'd have never even made it through the door."

Dean reached up and gently touched Sam's throat, stroking his fingers across the pulse point. "You should thank me, really. By killing you, I'm stopping some very bad people from coming back upstairs." He smiled sardonically. "What can I say, I'm a giver."

"Dean… Exorcizamus," Sam ground out, still trying to wriggle his way free, but he was pinned like a butterfly, helpless.

But as Sam stared helplessly at his brother, something flickered in Dean's eyes. For a brief second, a mere blink in time, the clear hazel of Dean's irises shown out from behind the blackness of Baal's, and hope flared in Sam's chest. But as quickly as it had happened it was gone again, and Sam was staring back into the midnight depths of a demon's gaze.