Piper had moved the chair back to the bed and watched Sam. It had been a few hours since Dean had left. She had the bottle of whiskey in her hand, but hadn't taken a drink. It was more for comfort than anything.

She knew Sam was going to wake up. She had put her grief on hold. She knew Dean was going to bring Sam back, she had utter faith in him. But what was he going to do? How was he going to bring his brother, and her best friend, back, and what was it going to cost him?

Piper was considering these things when Sam gasped and sat up. He was looking around wildly, his hand to his chest. He saw Piper sitting in the chair. She had placed the whiskey bottle down beside her. She stood calmly and crossed the room to sit next to him on the bed.

"Piper? Piper, what the hell is going on? Where are Dean and Bobby?"

She didn't respond, just studied him. He looked good, he looked alive. She placed a hand on his face, then remembered that he had asked her a question. "They, um, Bobby went home. Dean went to run an errand."

"What happened?" He looked around at the room he was in. "Where are we?"

Piper tried to think quickly, and tried to suppress the tears. "You were injured, it was bad. We're in one of the houses in the town you were in."

"Injured?" Sam felt his chest. "Where?"

Piper smiled. "On your back, Sam. Turn around and lift that shirt up, let me check on it."

Sam stared at her, then slowly stood in front of her. He lifted his shirt. Piper sucked in a breath at the ugly scar on his back.

"Does it look bad?" He looked over his shoulder at her.

She shook her head slowly. "Nope, looks good!" She stood next to him as he pulled his shirt down. "I'm glad you're okay, Sammy," she said softly.

He met her eyes. "Piper, what the hell is going on?"

She couldn't take it. She stepped forward and went up onto the tips of her toes to kiss him on the cheek and wrap her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his neck, inhaling his scent. "I don't know, Sam."

He put his arms around her waist, hesitantly. "Where is Dean?"

She shook her head, refusing to let him go. "I don't know."

"Piper, I'm confused." Sam said honestly.

"I know, Sam. Just hug me for a second, Gigantor."

xxxxx

They were sitting at the table when the Impala roared in the driveway. Dean came crashing into the house. "Sam?"

He saw them at the table, his eyes resting on Sam. "Sammy? Thank God." He pulled Sam to his feet and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Sam was chuckling. "Ow, uh, Dean…"

Dean released him and stood back. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, man. I'm just... I'm just happy to see you up and around, that's all." Sam nodded, and looked confused.

"Guys, come sit down," Piper said quietly.

Sam sat, and Dean sat opposite him. "Okay. Dean... What happened to me?"

Dean looked nervously at Piper. "Well, what do you remember?"

Sam looked down and relayed the story he told Piper. "I saw you, Pipe, and Bobby, and... I felt this pain. This sharp pain, like... White-hot, you know, and then you started running at me, and... That's about it."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, that… That kid, stabbed you in the back. You lost a lot of blood, you know... It was pretty touch and go for awhile."

Sam was looking between the two of them. Piper stared back impassively. "But Dean, you can't… You can't patch up a wound that bad."

Dean grinned and put his hand on Piper's shoulder. "No, but she could. Who was that kid, anyway?"

"His name's Jake. Did you get him?"

Dean shook his head. "No, he disappeared into the woods."

Sam was getting angry. "We've got to find him, Dean. And I swear I'm gonna tear that son of a bitch apart." He stood, and Dean stood with him. Piper stayed seated, watching them.

Dean put his hands on Sam's shoulders. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Van Damme. You just woke up, all right? Let's get you something to eat. Huh? You want something to eat?" Sam nodded.

Piper stood. "Bobby left some food for us."

xxxxx

They were sitting at the table, eating. Piper was really just pushing her food around. She was too terrified of what Dean had done. The thought of food nauseated her.

Sam was telling them about the people who had been in the town with him. "And that's when you guys showed up."

"That's awful," Piper murmured. "Poor Andy."

"The demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive."

Dean's eyebrows rose. "He told you that?"

Sam scoffed. "Yeah. He appeared in a dream."

"He tell you anything else?"

"No. No. That was it. Nothing else. You know, what I don't get, Dean, is if the demon only wanted one of us, then how did Jake and I both get away?"

Piper looked at Dean, eyebrows raised. He met her gaze briefly, then looked away.

"Well, I mean, they left you for dead. I'm sure they thought it was over." He paused.

"So now that Yellow Eyes has Jake, what's he gonna do with him?"

Sam didn't look convinced. "I don't know. But whatever it is, we got to stop him."

Dean frowned. "Well, hold on. You need to get your rest. We got time."

Sam looked at him and Piper incredulously. "No, we don't." He stood.

Dean stood, too. Piper, again, stayed seated. "Sam, oceans aren't boiling, okay? Frogs aren't raining from the sky. Let's get you your strength back first."

Sam sighed. "Well did you call the Roadhouse? They know anything?"

He heard Piper's soft whimper, and looked down at her. She was trying to keep it together. "Pipe, what is it?" He sat down and took her hand. She looked away, and he looked up at Dean.

Dean sighed and sat. "The roadhouse burned to the ground. Ash is dead. Probably Ellen... A lot of other hunters, too."

Piper watched Sam's eyes fill and squeezed his hand. He looked at her. "Demons?"

She nodded. "Yeah, we think so. We think because Ash found something."

"What did he find."

"Bobby's working on that right now," Dean said nervously.

Sam stood again. "Well, come on then. Bobby's only a few hours away."

xxxxx

Piper was sitting next to Ellen, itching to reach out and hug her. After a tense reunion with Bobby, he and Dean had gone outside to retrieve something. They were gone for a long time, Piper thought, and when they had come back, Ellen had been with them.

Piper was in shock, and getting kind of tired of people not being dead when she thought they were.

Bobby set a shot glass full of water on the table in front of Ellen. Piper frowned. "Bobby, is this really necessary?"

Bobby shot her a glare. "Just a belt of holy water. Shouldn't hurt."

Ellen took the shot and set the glass down on the table. "Whiskey, now, if you don't mind."

Dean leaned forward. "Ellen, what happened? How'd you get out?"

She shook her head as Piper stood to get her a shot of whiskey. "I wasn't supposed to. I was supposed to be in there with everybody else." She scoffed. "But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck." She took the shot of whiskey Piper had poured and let out a long breath. "Anyway, that's when Ash called. Panic in his voice. He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky-high. And everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes."

Piper's eyes were filled with tears as she hugged the older woman. "I'm so sorry, Ellen."

Ellen took a shaky breath. "A lot of good people died in there, and I got to live." She scoffed again. "Lucky me."

"Ellen, you mentioned a safe," Bobby said cautiously.

She nodded. "A hidden safe we keep in the basement."

Piper tilted her head to the side. "Did the demons get what was in it?"

"No." She took out a map and lay it flat on the table. There were lines drawn across it.

Dean looked over Piper's shoulder. She stiffened when he spoke. "Wyoming. What does that mean?"

xxxxx

"Howdy, Jake."

Dean felt his face harden when they saw the man who had stabbed Sam. The five of them walked out of the woods and into the cemetery, guns raised.

Jake's eyes widened when he saw Sam. "Wait... You were dead. I killed you."

"Yeah? Well next time, finish the job."

"I did!" Jake insisted. "I cut clean through your spinal cord, man. You can't be alive. You can't be." Dean didn't meet Sam's brief glance, just kept his gun trained on Jake.

"Okay, just take it real easy there, son." Bobby was speaking to Jake slowly.

Jake turned to the older man. "And if I don't?"

"Wait and see." Sam snarled.

Jake chuckled. "What, you a tough guy all of a sudden? What are you gonna do? Kill me?"

Sam shrugged, keeping his gun steady. "It's a thought."

"You had your chance. You couldn't."

"I won't make that mistake twice."

Jake started laughing, and Dean saw red. The bastard who had killed Sammy was laughing in their faces. "What are you smiling at, you little bitch?"

Jake grinned, still chuckling, and looked at Piper. "Hey girlie, do me a favor. Put that gun to your head."

Dean's heart stuttered as Piper put her gun to her temple with a shaking hand. She looked terrified.

"See that Ava girl was right. Once you give in to it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."

Sam was furious. "Let her go."

Piper's voice was trembling with effort. "Shoot him."

Jake glared at her. "You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off." Dean's heart started up again, helpless rage threatening to overwhelm him.

Jake made eye contact with each of them, but didn't bother compelling them. He knew he had them. "Everybody, put your guns down. Except you, sweetheart." He winked at Piper. Dean felt his lips lift in a snarl as he really dropped his gun, hearing Bobby, Sam, and Ellen do the same.

Jake smiled. "Okay. Thank you." He turned and pulled the Colt out of his pocket. He inserted it into the crypt door.

As he pushed the gun into what appeared to be a keyhole, Dean stepped behind Piper, wrapped about arm around her waist and hauled her back to him, taking the gun away from her with his free hand. He was putting her down when four shots rang out.

Dean turned, still holding Piper, to see Sam standing over Jake, who was bleeding profusely and gasping. "Please... Don't. Please."

Sam shot him three more times, not flinching when blood splattered up onto his face.

Dean and Piper walked to stand next to Sam as he wiped it off silently. Bobby and Ellen walked to them, Bobby staring at Sam.

A whirring sound broke the silence, and Dean stared at the crypt. Two engravings were whirring around the barrel of the Colt fast. He flinched as they stopped.

The four look over to the crypt as two separate engravings on the crypt spin in different directions, then stop.

"Oh, no," Bobby said, horrified.

"Bobby, what is it?"

"It's hell."

Dean walked forward and pulled the Colt out of the crypt. The doors started to rumble.

Bobby started to run, pulling Ellen with him. "Run!"

Dean sprinted away, grabbing Piper and throwing her to the ground behind a tombstone, covering her body with his. He heard a snap beneath him, but she didn't make a sound, and he didn't have time to check on her. Black smoke was still roaring over them, streaming from the doors of the crypt.

He looked over to the tombstone where Ellen was crouched. "What the hell just happened?!"

"That's a devil's gate! A damn door to hell!" She looked at them. "Come on! We gotta shut that gate!"

Dean checked the Colt for bullets, thinking that maybe the yellow-eyed demon had given it to Jake for a reason.

He heard Piper gasp beneath him, and as he turned the Colt flew out of his hand and into the hand of the yellow-eyed demon, who was standing behind him.

"Boys shouldn't play with Daddy's guns," the demon said with a smile. With a flick of his wrist, he flung Dean through the air. His head hit a tombstone, pain shooting through it. He heard Piper scream and a heavy thud.

Bobby, Ellen, and Sam were struggling to close the crypt door. Dean heard his brother call out, "Dean!"

Dean looked up, hand to his head, to see Sam letting go of the door and running toward him. Then he flew into the air, the yellow-eyed demon smiling at him. "I'll get to you in a minute, champ. But I'm proud of you. Knew you had it in you."

Dean was struggling to sit up, and felt himself being forced back down. "Sit a spell."

The demon crouched in front of Dean. "So, Dean... I gotta thank you. You see, demons can't resurrect people, unless a deal is made. I know, red tape, it'll make you nuts. But thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation." The demon laughed. Dean felt anger coursing through him. The demon continued, "Now, I wasn't counting on that, but I'm glad. I liked him better than Jake, anyhow. Tell me, have you ever heard the expression, 'If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is?'" He peered at Dean curiously.

Dean scoffed. "You call that deal good?"

The yellow-eyed demon shrugged. "Well, it's a better shake than your dad ever got. And you never wondered why? I'm surprised at you. I mean... You saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold, wasn't it?" He chuckled. "How certain are you that what you brought back is one hundred percent, pure, Sam?" He laughed out loud again. Dean was struggling against the force that held him there, determined to kill the son of a bitch. "You of all people should know, that's what's dead, should stay dead, Dean-o. Anyway... thanks a bunch. I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now, anyway. I couldn't have done it without your pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for your family."

Dean's blood ran cold as the demon stood and aimed the Colt at him. Before he could close his eyes, John Winchester grabbed the demon from behind. Dean went numb with shock, watching his father struggle with the demon. As they fought, the Colt fell. Dean was still too numb to notice until he heard Piper's stage whisper. "Dean!"

He looked at her, then looked back down. He lunged for the gun, just in time. As the demon stood and turned back to Dean, he took aim and shot the demon in the heart. It fell to the ground.

The sound finally lessened, and Dean turned around to see that Bobby and Ellen had gotten the doors shut. Dean looked back at his father. John smiled and put a hand on Dean's shoulder. Sam had approached from where he had been thrown. He and John nodded to one another. Piper was behind them, and John turned around to give her a wink. Then, with another look at Dean, he stepped back and closed his eyes. A blinding light shone where he stood, and then he was gone.

Dean looked at his brother, shocked. He started to chuckle. "Well, check that off the to-do list."

Sam was also amazed. "You did it."

"I didn't do it alone."

Sam paused. "Do you think Dad really... Do you think he really climbed outta hell?"

"The door was open. If anyone's stubborn enough to do it... It would be him."

"Where do you think he is now?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know."

Sam started smiling. "I kind of can't believe it, Dean. I mean... Our whole lives, everything... Has been prepping for this, and now I... I kind of don't know what to say."

Dean grinned. "I do." He leaned closer to the body. "That was for our mom, you son of a bitch."

"Guys." Bobby said gently. They turned to him. He had an arm around Piper, who was looking rather pale, and was holding her left arm weird. Dean frowned, concerned. "Piper needs a hospital. Let's go."

xxxxx

A/N: Hi, everyone! Here's my notes:

I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural, or the characters (heartbroken).

Reviews and comments give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.

If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.