Author's Note: And just as I promised, a second chapter this week. I'm back on schedule and will remain so 'til the end of the story. Now, lots of thanks to NewbieOnTheBlock, PsychoPicasso, Bluegonfalon, kewlgal18, emebalia, No pen names left, agrove, Nerdette92, Gord and V, DemonAlilith, guest, Eliza Ghost, BranchSuper, Daniella Jones, O'erTheHillsandFarAway, guest, dianaj2w, Heartless BytchhakaHelenBach1, SuperPenguinLovesHerEdog, snseriesfan, Hasmik1988, and DimensionJumper for their wonderful reviews. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

Chapter Fourteen: Hold On, Help's Coming

The pain was all consuming, to the point where Dean couldn't even tell what was being done to his body anymore. The demon was cutting him, that he was sure of since he'd caught a glimpse of a bloody knife a few minutes (or had it been hours?) ago. But all the pain had combined together and he couldn't tell where he was cut or even if there was any skin left on his body. Before this had begun, the demon had burned him; at first slowly and then ending with covering him in accelerant and setting him alight. That had hurt like a bitch. Once he'd been restored to full health, he'd been crushed, boiled, flayed, eaten alive by rats, and been subjected to several other awful torments that had begun to blend together. It never stopped. And the agony wasn't something that a person could just get use to and start to deal with. Especially not when Hell was so creative. He knew he could stop it all by saying yes, but something inside of himself kept reminding him that this time the stakes were too high. Dean wasn't sure what 'this time' meant, as he was certain he'd never been tortured in Hell before, nor did he knew what the stakes were, but he trusted his instincts and kept up his defiance. Even as he felt a blade enter through his left eye and pierce his brain. Not for the first time, Dean wished that he could lapse into an unconscious state and just rest for a bit. Then the pain stopped. Dean felt no relief though, because he knew that that only meant he'd been fixed up so that he would be ready for the next round.

"My answer's still no." Dean growled.

"I'm glad to hear that." The response was unexpected. First off because there was no way that the demons would be pleased with his lack of compliance and secondly, the voice was different that usual. It was filled with compassion and concern.

Dean sat up and upon seeing who was standing next to the rack he had been lying on, he remembered everything.

"Cas! How did you find me?"

"I haven't. I was able to locate your dream and speak to you here, but I still don't know where Zachariah has taken you."

"I wish I could tell you." Dean shrugged as he jumped off the rack to stand next to his friend. He looked down at himself. Not only did he no longer have a mark on him, he was his proper age in his dream. "All I know is that we're in some kind of warehouse."

"That's not very helpful."

"Dude, it's not like Zack gave me a map with a big red X that says 'you are here'."

"Why would you expect him to do that?"

"I didn't! I'm just saying… it's an expression, Cas." Dean shook his head. "But man is it good to see you."

"And you as well. How are you?"

"Truthfully, I've been better. You angel friend is an ass."

"Why does everyone keep calling him my friend?"

"Another expression. Don't worry 'bout it." Then something occurred to the hunter. "Wait, Zack can't sense you in here, can he?"

"Not unless he is trying to, and he has no reason to suspect that I'm here. We should be safe for a while."

"And if he does find out?"

"He will wake you and probably keep you from dreaming to avoid the two of us being in contact."

"You don't think he'll come in and try to get rid of you?"

"No. It would be a risk for him to confront me."

"Why? I mean, no offense, but you're missing some of your mojo and he's running at full capacity."

"That is true. But in a direct confrontation there's a chance that I'll be able to track him back to his location in the real world."

"Oh. Well, please tell me that you guys are close to finding me."

The look on the angel's face gave him his answer before Cas had even spoken. "I am looking."

"Well, that's just great. What about Sam?"

"He is tracking down the creature that poisoned you to get the venom needed for the antidote."

"By himself?"

"Yes."

"This is not gonna end well."

"Sam said he was confident that he could do it."

"Yeah, well I'll let you in on a little secret. People lie."

"That isn't much of a secret. You informed me of this not too long ago."

"Well, it's still true."

There was silence for a moment. Then Cas changed the subject.

"What can you tell me about the warehouse that you are being kept in?"

"It's old. It's filled with wooden crates and some of them seem to hold furniture. It's only one story but it's kinda tall. Windows near the top. Oh, and there are spider-webs and spiders everywhere, which normally wouldn't freak me but considering all that happened recently, they give me the creeps."

"Aren't there spider-webs in all old buildings?"

"Yeah, but thinking back on it, there's an overabundance here. Maybe dick-angel picked this particular warehouse on purpose, just to mess with me."

"It sounds like something Zachariah would do."

"None of what I told you will help you find me, will it?"

"Not likely. But I will find you, Dean."

"I know. And I'll hold out until then."

"I know you will."

They stood in companionable silence for a while before the angel spoke again.

"I should go continue my search."

"No!" Dean cried out.

"Dean, if I do not go, I can not find you."

"But if you leave, the nightmare will begin again, won't it?"

"It's likely."

"Then please don't leave. Just stay a little while longer." Dean knew he probably sounded pathetic but he needed a break from the torment and he also didn't want to be alone again.

Cas seemed to consider his options and then nodded. "Alright."

"Thanks Cas."

Hours later, Dean woke up with a start and came face to face with Zachariah.

"Good morning." He said with an evil looking grin. "I trust you slept well."

The memories of his time in Hell were fresh in his mind, but so was the time he'd spent with his friend. All in all, Dean was doing far better than he'd expected. "Actually, it was rather refreshing. Hell is a lot more pleasant than your company and the demons look better too."

Zachariah backhanded him across the face. The boy grunted in pain as he felt blood leak out of his nose. Now that he was awake, he felt all the aches and pains that the angel had inflicted on his tiny body the day before. Dean's head was pounding and he felt something sticky on the left side of his face leading him to believe that being thrown into the wooden crate had left him with a pretty bad cut on his forehead. His previously dislocated shoulder was throbbing but thankfully still in its socket. The pain radiating from his left leg meant that it was probably fractured, but hopefully not broken. The cuts on his body still stung but were nothing too bad. Had he been up to his typical level of crap-dealing, this would seem like nothing. But to a four year old body it was a little overwhelming. But he had to stay strong and hold on. Help was coming.

Zachariah stepped back from Dean and sneered down at him. "You think you're so clever, don't you."

"I know I am."

"Well, I'm a bit smarter."

Dean looked up at him with wide eyes. "Wow, really? Because I figured that an actual four-year old was probably more intelligent than you."

"You think your insults mean anything to me?"

"Well, since you seem to be getting pissed the longer I talk, I'd have to go with 'yeah'."

"Laugh now. But in just a little while, when our guest arrives, you won't be doing much more than screaming in agony."

"Guest? What you finally realized that you'll never be able to break me on your own? You had to call in backup?"

"It's not that at all. The two of you have some unfinished business."

"Unfinished business? What are you talking about? Who's coming?" Dean was getting a little concerned about the smug look on Zachariah's face.

"I believe you call him Eddy."

Dean felt fear wash over him. He knew what the edderkopp-skapning did to children "Dude, won't Michael be kinda ticked off that you fed his vessel to a giant spider?"

"After it is done consuming you, I will bring you back. And if your answer is still no, well let's just say that the edderkopp-skapning will have a never ending buffet consisting of Dean Winchester."

…

…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…

…

Sam backed the Impala out of the motel parking lot and took a bite of the Pop-Tart he'd purchased from the vending machine. Just as he suspected, it was stale. But eating it would save him a stop for breakfast and let him complete his mission that much sooner. He'd filled a thermos with equally stale coffee from the machine in the motel room, so he was all set. Hopefully, he'd have lunch at a nice diner somewhere with his older brother after everything was over with. And Dean would be paying.

Only a few minutes later, Sam's cell phone began to ring.

"Hello."

"Hello, Sam."

"Cas. Did you find him?"

"Not exactly. I spoke with him in his dream, but he couldn't give me his location."

Sam felt disappointed that his brother was still missing. But at least the angel said that he'd had contact with him which meant that Dean was still alive. "You spoke with him? How is he?"

"Not well. We need to hurry."

"What's wrong with Dean? What happened?" Sam was alarmed by the angel's response.

"Zachariah is torturing him and subjecting him to his memories of Hell."

"I'm going to kill the bastard!"

"That is probably advisable. I stayed with Dean in his dreams until he awoke to keep the memories at bay. It helped him but cost me some time that I could have been searching."

"So we still have no clue as to where they are?"

"All your brother could tell me was that he was being kept in an old, one story furniture warehouse."

"No other details?" Sam asked. His hopes of finding Dean were diminishing.

"No. Except that he was unnerved by the copious amount of spiders in the building."

"That's not helpful. Spiders are everywhere."

"That's what I told him but he seemed to feel that there were a larger number of them than normal."

With that, something clicked into place in Sam's mind. "How many more? Like thousands more than normal?"

"I didn't see for myself, but it was enough to warrant Dean commenting on them. Why? Does this mean something to you?"

"Yeah Cas, I think it does. I think it means that we're both headed for the same place."

Author's Note Part Two: Hope you all enjoyed. I've now given all of you readers something to think about if you see a lot of spiders in one area. And I'm sure many of you now have even more unflattering things to say about Zachariah. I can't wait to hear it all. Please, please, please leave a review to let me know what you think. Thanks.