AN: Sorry guys. Got this up a few hours late. We hope you enjoy :)


.221.

Lilly quickly scrambles away from her altar and out of her room the moment she finds herself 'planetside', her body still slightly shaking. She hadn't realised she had completely written off people breaking shit out of anger around her to the curse. That was stupid. She should have known it couldn't have been that simple. She just had a way of bringing out the worst in people.

Maat and Thoth had been fucking furious about her latest back piece. So furious in fact that Maat had put her fist through a mahogany table and literally shattered it. Thoth had sent Lilly's ass packing back home after that; which at the moment she was completely fine with, her goddess was terrifying when pissed. She shook her head. Out of every damn power in the world her goddess had to possess the ability to read minds? What the fuck was she supposed to do about her thoughts? She rubbed the back of her neck. She needed to figure out how to apologize and make up for it soon, she knew that. However for now, she had more pressing matters to think about.

"MAE! MAE? WHERE ARE YOU? I"M BACK!" Lilly calls out, as she reaches the bottom of the stairs. She frowns when she get's no response and proceeds to check all the rooms. She contemplates going outside to search the gardens before thinking better of it and just pulls out her phone, turns it on, and dials Mae's number.

It picks up after the first ring. "Lilly! Your back!"

"Sup, Mae." Lilly greets, relieved to hear her sister actually displaying emotion. She'd been worried about her the whole time she had been away. "Yeah, just got back."

"Are you okay? Why did Thoth keep you for so long?"

"Oh, ya know. To make sure I had the ritual completely down." Lilly explains simply. It wasn't total lie.

The other side is quiet for a long moment. "Are you okay with doing it?" Lilly finally hears Mae ask softly.

"Yeah. I'm good with doing it." Lilly comments, not wanting to deal with the consequences if she passed it off to someone else, and either god found out about it. She still had time to mentally prepare herself. She doubted Sam and Dean would be back so quickly.

"Oh good. Dean and Sam are here at Bobby's-"

Lilly pulls the phone away from her ear as she glares at it, and let's out a low slew of curses. She takes a deep breath before returning it to her ear. "Wonderful. I'll be over with the supplies, as soon as I can." She sighs in acceptance.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, Sam's not going anywhere, he's kinda in the basement. If you need more time or something."

"I'm great." Lilly comments dismissively. She didn't dare not do it today. Mae might have been okay with waiting; she doubted her gods had that kind of understanding right now. This entire situation had gone from her wanting to help Sam; to her seeking redemption. Like there hadn't been enough pressure, this is just fan-fucking-tastic. Well, I might kill us both and then I'd be done with all of it completely, so there's that. "I just need to gather the right herbs and the rest of the supplies and then I'll head over."

"Okay, I'll let Bobby and Dean know. If you're sure."

"I'm sure Mae." Lilly assures her.

"Alright, and uh, hey Lilly."

"Sup Mae?" Lilly asks.

"The only one that doesn't know is Sam."

"About the demon blood, or you being a fairy?" Lilly asks needing clarification.

"Me."

"Did… Did that go well?" Lilly asks, cursing herself for not being with Mae when she'd told the others. That could not have been pleasant for Mae.

"Dean thinks I'm the cutest wingless tinkerbell ever." Mae responds, the eye roll in her tone palpable even over the phone. "But yeah. Bobby and Cass have gotten all grouchy bear on him a couple of times."

Lilly let's out a sigh of relief; even if Mae wasn't thrilled about Dean's teasing, she knew that it meant Dean wasn't that upset about it. She was glad she had at least had Castiel and Bobby watching out for her. Then again, Lilly had never questioned their response to it. "Well, I'm glad you were able to share it. I'm proud of you, I know you weren't… Handling it well when you first heard. I'm glad you've grown more accustomed to the idea. It's not like we can change it. It's in your DNA."

"Right. I was born this way, nothing's changed. I just, wish I knew more. Even Cass doesn't know much about them."

"Well, I'm sure everyone wished they knew more. But, we'll figure it out, no problem. I know Thoth still has every intention of helping you… I mean, if you still want his help." Lilly assures her sister. "I'm proud of you." She adds as an afterthought, and she was. It had taken a lot for her sister to tell the others, she knew that.

"Thanks Lilly. Sorry that I left you alone up there… Is it up there? It's definitely not down there…"

"I'm not actually sure...But don't worry about it. It's not like you had much of a choice. You didn't want to be there anyways. It was just...Boring ol' priestess lessons." Lilly comments dismissively.

"Let me know if you need any help."

Lilly can't stop the grimace. "I think I'm all helped out for the year." She responds darkly, this last week had been nothing but Thoth 'helping her'. She was also sure that if her thoughts hadn't broken her goddess, she'd still be with them; getting more help.

"Oh-kay… Then I guess I'll see you at Bobby's."

"Heard." Lilly comments. "I'll see you, when I've gotten everything"

"Oh, wait before you go… Do you want Cass to come get you?"

"No." Lilly deadpans. She'd had her fill of lectures from Celestials and wasn't sure where she was standing with the angel at the moment. She was sure he was still upset with her for convincing him to lie to Mae. "I just, really wanna take Khonsu out." She quickly amends, her tone softer.

"I understand. Just, you know, be safe."

"Will do." Lilly agrees. "Be there soon." She adds waiting incase Mae needed to ask her something else before hanging up the phone.

Lilly turns to the wall and let's her head hit it hard. "Fuck me." She breathes out, before she pushes herself off the wall slowly and takes her time gathering everything she needed. She didn't want to do this damned ritual. She wasn't even sure if she could do it... but she also didn't have a choice. She was pretty sure the gods would end up killing her themselves out of frustration if she shirked this task. Then she really would be eaten by a snake. She shakes her head as she lets her head hit the cabinet with the teas and herbs when she realizes half the ones she needed were either at her altar, which so not happening at the moment; or out in the garden. She closes them, and lets her head hit the cabinet, with a hard thud. "Fuckin' damn it."

222

Lilly looks down at the completed pile of everything she would need and then some, and frowns. She had really hoped she could drag this into tomorrow, but it seemed she had run out of stalling time. She fetches her old backpack from the closet and loads everything into the bag, one item at a time. She tells herself she's being this careful so she wouldn't ruin anything, but she knew that was just a poorly justified excuse. She looks to the kitchen window, and watches as the sky as it slowly morphs into hues of blue and purple, the red disappearing with the time of day.

There was literally nothing else she could do, she had everything. She frowned as she put the last bundle of herbs into her knapsack. Maybe she could just take the scenic route to Bobby's? She shook her head, no she'd probably stalled long enough… She had to just do it, and hope for the best. She hung her head before dragging the bag off the table before she put it on her back, one strap at a time. She goes over her mental checklist for the fifth hundred time that day, before she hangs her head. No. She had everything.

She sighs as she slowly gathers her keys, mp3 player, and phone, before exiting out the back door. She takes the time to lock it before she slowly trudges towards the shed where Khonsu was kept, watching her skirt flit around her feet. Part of her was hoping to trip on something so she could go apply first aid. Safety first after all. She couldn't perform the ritual if gangrene was setting in. She'd obviously have to clean it out first, she just couldn't make herself do it. There was dirt, and gods only knew what else. She sighed. She was really just going to have to do this.

Dean was already there, leaning against the door with his arms folded in front of his chest. "Man, this ritual must be something else. The prep work for it took more than a week and then gathering everything took all day. You sure you can ride?" He questions her sternly, clearly at his wits end.

Lilly winces at Dean's tone, before she slowly turns to his direction. "Funny. I think you'd be happy that I'm making sure I have this perfect for Sam." She responds, resisting the urge to shift with discomfort, and failing. She should have fucking known, it had been going so well. She looked Dean over noting how unpleased he looked. At least there was a consistent theme for the day, she sighed.

Dean lets out a sigh. "Dammit Lilly. I've just been worried. I get an indecipherable note to the face and then we get back and Sam scares Mae and then, shocking, come to find out he's drinking demon blood. Because why not? Why not demon blood." He lets his arms fall to his sides as he takes a breath.

Lilly grimaces. It could not been an easy couple of days for Dean, and she obviously hadn't helped.

"And then, surprise Mae's half Fae and beating herself up over it. And Cass is constantly up my ass with questions and I just wanted to know you were okay. Because the rest of this I don't got ah choice, I have to handle. You don't have to though. You don't have to do this. I know you hate rituals, and I know what you lost the last time you did one. I'm not gonna let anyone make you do this unless you want to." He pushes off the wall to pull her in a tight hug. "Gods dammit, I've been so worried about you." He breathes into her hair.

Lilly instantly reciprocates, hugging him to her tightly. "It's going to be alright Tex." She assures him. "I really don't mind." She adds as she moves to look at him. "It's going to be painful if I don't, and I'm not sure anyone is going to enjoy the process of a mundane detox. Thoth showed me journals… It's not fun. I need to at least try this for Sam, I know that. I'm fine with it, and I need to do it." She tells him softly as she lifts a hand to his face, and strokes her thumb over his cheek. "I'm sorry you've had nothing but shit thrown at you all week." She adds with a frown. "Sorry I didn't help with any of the stress, it seems like if anything I just added to it as well."

"No. No babe. I'm just." Dean looks down at Lilly with hopeless eyes. "He's my little brother. I don't even know… How did this happen?

"You didn't let this happen Dean. It started when you were dead. He was alone and scared, even though he had Mae and Bobby they couldn't possibly replace you." She says softly with a shake of her head. "He wanted vengeance for you, needed it. Lillith isn't like the other demons ya'll have faced. She's powerful and from what I've gathered slightly insane. He didn't have the support of his older brother to tell him to knock it the fuck off, that it wasn't his fault." Lilly explains as she looked up at him with a small smile. "But he wasn't powerful enough alone, and he wasn't, at the time anyways, going to put Mae and Bobby in danger after the bitch had just killed you, who has to be his childhood hero. The man that pretty much raised him, protected him. But he still needed something, and in an act of desperation, when he was probably at his most vulnerable an answer presented itself. It's not your fault Dean." She sighs. "You didn't fail him. Fuck I don't even think it's his, and I certainly don't think it's Mae's, or Bobby's fault. It was just a shitty situation that grew out of hand." She continues softly. She'd had weeks to think about it, not to mention the entirety of today.

Lilly had really wanted to blame Sam for this, but she couldn't. She may never have been willing to put blood in her mouth, but she would have done something equally reckless if it meant avenging Mae if she had been in an identical situation. She could empathize. She'd even try to sell her souls for Dean, and had lost Ash in the effort. Who was she to judge Sam? Once this was over, and Sam was clean, via her ritual or with time, he'd have to live with that guilt. Wasn't that going to be punishment enough? This was clearly a reminder to all of them to be more vigilant about each other's coping mechanisms. To make sure they checked in more often; to be more honest with one another. She frowned and resisted to roll her eyes; and a reminder to fucking communicate better.

Dean's quiet for several moments. He both hated and loved the way Lilly could disarm him; could take the wind from his sails. He had been angry; had been mentally lashing out at everyone. His talk with Sam had only made things worse today. Today he'd decided to let Sam know that they had found a way to clean him up, that he'd be free in a few short hours. He should have known better than to say short hours, but then again it wasn't like Sam had a great opinion of Lilly right now anyways. That much had been made clear. He had slammed the window shut after only a few of Sam's choice words on the subject. He looks back down to Lilly and pulls her in for another hug. "It's good to hear someone tell me that."

Lilly tilts her head, doubting the others hadn't tried to assure Dean, but chalked it up to the way she had said it. Maybe Dean just needed to point out that Sam had thought of him as a hero, his own personal Punisher. She shakes the thought away, before she smiles. "Well, I guess I had to be decent at something eventually. I'm pleased that it's getting something through that obstinate head of yours. Someone needs to." She teases him lightly, as she kisses his chest over his tattoo.

Dean shakes his head with a smile. "If only I could manage to do the same for you we'd be set."

"One miracle at a time, Cowboy." Lilly beams at him.

Dean rolls his eyes but can't hide the smile that graces his lips, before he takes a step back and looks her over. "You ready to go perform another miracle then?"

"Rituals aren't miracles. Me performing one correctly is." Lilly scoffs, as she resigns herself to the task.

Dean pulls the bag from her shoulders with a frown. "Lilly… Are you sure you even want to do this?" He felt like the biggest hypocrite in the world. He didn't want her having to do rituals, was very much okay if she didn't want to in fact; but he needed Sam cleaned up and back to helping stop the seals. He let's out a sigh. That wasn't her problem though. It was his. If she didn't want to do this, she shouldn't have to. "We don't have to do this. He can dry out naturally."

"That might take a couple of weeks, if not months Dean… I need to do this, I don't want to say I don't have a choice, because that's not right, but the consequences of not certainly are more worrisome… So, yeah…" Lilly responds not even wanting to think about Maat and Thoth's utter disappointment if she backed out. She wanted to please them, needed to make them happy, and what they were asking was only benefitting her family. Fear and insecurity aside she needed to do this, or she couldn't really call herself a priestess.

"You always have a choice. You don't have to do this if you don't want to. You certainly don't have to do it right now if you're not ready."

"I need to do this tonight Dean… I've weighed my options all day."

"Then why are you so down on yourself?"

"I've decided that I need to do this regardless of my own feelings on the matter… Just like you have responsibilities of a hunter, I've the same as a priestess. If I want to garner my gods respect, and maybe one day, forgiveness I can't shirk this cleansing. I owe it to them, and to my family, more than any of that I need to do it for myself. If I can't even perform something as simple as a cleansing, I have no right to call myself a priestess..." Lilly explains as she pulls a hand through her hair.

Dean lifts his eyebrows as he tilts his head from side to side. He guessed the part about responsibilities was true. She didn't seem to always like that he had a clear understanding of what he had to do as a hunter, but at the end of the day she never stood in his way when he had to do something she might not agree with. Yell and scream at him, sure; But she never got between him and his duty. "Alright. I just wish, I dunno. You did great with the witness ritual. And you've been working with Thoth and Maat more… I wish you'd give yourself some credit. That's all."

"I s'pose it's a double edged sword doing this on Sammy… On the one hand I'm going to do everything I possibly can to cleanse Sam, to get him back out there with you. Because we have to stop fuckin' Lucifer from crawling out of his hole… That's not debatable. It needs to happen, and you need Sam. And Mae needs Sam… Which brings me to the other hand, if I fuck this up, and Sam, gods forbid dies, because I fucked this up… I've got no one. Not you, not Mae, not Bobby, and not my gods. All for different reasons, but I'll still be alone. So if Lucifer is freed I will be gettin' eaten by a snake, alone. And if I fuck up, I will be alone and then eventually be eaten by a giant snake. I'm just stuck between two rocks, with a lot riding on this, and I just… Ash." Lilly wipes her hands down her face. "So yes, there are choices, but me cleansing Sam, is the only one I can live with. I will just have to do everything within my power to make sure I don't fuck this up; to make sure Sam lives through this, because if I lose him, I lose everything..."

Dean pulls Lilly into his arms as he hugs her; his face sad over her shoulder. What could he say? What could he possibly say to help ease the stress of the situation she found herself in? She wouldn't believe him if he told her he wasn't going anywhere. He knew the risks, it was no more risky than what he and Sam did every time they took on a new case. He might be angry and sad, he'd grieve, but he would never blame Lilly. She wouldn't believe that though. He knew her well enough to know that. He rubs her back as he thinks; as he looks for magic words that didn't exist. Lilly wasn't him and Sam, she couldn't just get past things or shove it down and not deal with it. Of course Ash's death had affected her, and here he was asking for her help doing a dangerous ritual. "I'm not going anywhere Lilly. Do what you have to do. Tell me what I can do. It's okay to ask for help. I know this isn't fair. I mean, shocker right? You more than most know that shit in this world ain't fair. I just, let me help. And just know I trust you." He puts one hand on the back of her head and holds her close to his heart.

Lilly sighs into his chest as she hugs him tightly. "We'll see, but I'd rather just not have to find out. I just need to be realistic with myself. I spent a week with Thoth going over everything on this ritual, so, I mean… I could do this ritual in my sleep."

"I'm sure you know exactly what you're doing. Like I said hufflepuff, I trust you." Dean reiterates.

Lilly looks up to him with a somber expression on her face, before a small smile quirks her lips. "Well, I need you so let's hope it stays like that after the ritual." She sighs, as she turns and walks over to the shed and unlocks it before disappears inside. She pushes Khonsu out a moment later, and locks it back up behind her. "Let's go clean up Sammy." She smiles.

Dean chuckles, carefully under his breath, before he slips the back back on over his arms. Usually he would argue with her about who rode bitch, but he could see she needed to be in control right now. "We ready then?"

"Yeah." Lilly sighs, as she pulls her skirt in her fist, securing it with a hair tie, before she straddles her bike. "Let's do this."

Dean swings his leg over the seat and pulls his body close to her's. He grins as he wraps his fingers around her hips. "Man, I've never ridden bitch before…"

Lilly pauses before she turns to Dean. "Do you want a helmet?"

"Do you even own a helmet?" Dean questions as he looks down at her skeptically.

"No, but Mae does. I'm not letting that klutz go on a bike without a fuckin' helmet….You can borrow hers if you want. The visor might be helpful... It's in the saddle bag."

"I'm good. Let's do this." He gently wraps his arms around her tiny waist.

"Alright." Lilly nods as she turns back and shoves the key in the ignition, and turns the engine over. "Hold on tight." She smiles, amusement in her tone and a wicked smile on her lips. Her hands firm on the handles before kicks off, and shoots down the path to the road.

When Dean's grip tightens around her, she just smiles and speeds up. This always made her feel better and always proved to be a great distraction; she hoped it would do the same for Dean.

223

Mae watches as Bobby puts the final touches on a metal torture device he was welding together and calling a chair. On one hand she understood the need to restrain Sam; she could still hear the wooden armchair groan and crack as Sam broke out of the restraints to backhand Lilly. On the other hand, the metal chair sitting in the middle of the work shed looked cold and unfriendly; evil even. She wraps her arms around her legs tighter. She knew it was just in her head, it was just a reinforced chair. It was for Lilly's protection as well as to keep Sam from hurting himself.

Mae was still bitter that Bobby had chosen to drug Sam. She was bitter that Castiel had been called away urgently. She was just… Bitter. Even though Sam was in the basement, out cold, Bobby still wouldn't let her out of his sight; so here she sat, in the dirt, having a stare down with an evil chair under the bright overhead light.

Where was Lilly? Mae'd been told as soon as possible. What was Lilly doing all day that had taken her so long? She knew Dean had told Castiel to drop him at Mystic before he went back to heaven, so she knew he'd have Lilly here soon, but she was dying with anxiety. She just wanted this done and over with. She wasn't convinced that Sam was ever going to forgive them for ganging up on him like this. Forgive her for not talking to him, not that she hadn't wanted too. The men had just made it impossible. She knew Sam would never hurt her intentionally, and she was upset none of the others did. She felt like a child all over again.

The distinct sound of Khonsu had Mae up and running before Bobby could say anything to stop her. She watches as the bike slows down substantially at her approach skidding to a halt ten feet from her as Lilly slammed her feet down.

"Finally! It's almost dark Lilly." Mae pouts with her hands on her hips.

"MAE! This whole drive is fuckin' drive is gravel! What the fuck, Harps!" Lilly scolds her sister as she shuts off her bike.

"So? Don't go that fast if it's dangerous." Mae rolls her eyes and begins to tap her foot impatiently.

"It's dangerous for YOU! If I had stopped any closer you woulda got stoned; in the biblical sense, you idiot." Lilly continues to seethe as she hops off her bike, pulling at the hair tie so her skirt pooled at her feet.

Dean shakes his head as he stands and shifts to the side. About five seconds into that ride he found himself wishing he'd taken the stupid helmet and had shoved one on Lilly as well. She was a nightmare speedster and seemed to enjoy scaring the shit out of him. He loved motorcycles, he didn't think they went that fast though. She had straight up laughed at him when she had taken that last sharp curve. It was not an experience he wished to repeat any time soon.

Dean lets out a sigh that became a half growl. "Go get set up." Dean points at the shed Mae had run out of. "I'll get Sam."

Lilly turns at Dean's tone, with a sceptical brow raised. She looks him over with a frown, maybe he hadn't enjoyed the ride as much as she had. "Bag." She states holding out her hand.

Dean slings it down and thrusts it into her arms. "We need to talk about your regard for your own life. I knew there wasn't much, but damn Lilly. Don't you even like yourself? It's like you wanted to die before you got here." He glares at her.

Lilly looks at him confused as she quickly hugs the bag to her. "What are you talking about?" She asks lost. "Dying would not be better than doing this ritual Dean." She adds quickly, unsure how he'd known her earlier thoughts. She'd dismissed it almost immediately. How had he known?

Mae tilts her head to the side. "Were you trying to get here faster?"

"No." Lilly comments with a shake of her head.

"THAT'S HOW YOU NORMALLY RIDE?" Dean shouts.

"Oh." Lilly says finally catching on. "Yeah." She nods with a shrug.

"That. Is getting added. To our list." Dean growls at her before he stomps towards Bobby's house.

Lilly just looks to the sky and lets out a deep breath. "I'mma go set up." She says as she shrugs a strap over her shoulder. She was not going to argue about her driving right now. She turns and walks towards the shed, with a shake of her head.

"What was that all about?" Mae asks as she easily catches up to Lilly.

"Fuck if I know." Lilly breathes out. "I thought I had helped, but I guess I didn't. The ride helped me clear my head."

Mae just shakes her head and shrugs. Dean would eventually learn all about Lilly and her need for speed. He'd adjust; she had. She now found it quite fun if she were honest, it was an adrenaline rush. "Maybe I should go help him carry Sam out here."

Lilly turns and looks Mae over. "I doubt he'll let you, but you should still go try if you want to."

"Someone has to make sure they don't give Sam a concussion." Mae glares as the chair comes into view.

"So, it's been like that." Lilly comments as she slides the bag off her shoulder, before she turns to greet Bobby, faltering when she see's the craftsman chair abomination. "The fuck is that?" She demands as she takes in the beast of a chair.

"It's a chair." Bobby grumbles, he'd been down this road with Mae already.

"No, it was a chair." Lilly corrects him. "Now it's a death trap. What the fuck is that thing even supposed to be used for? Extracting information?" She demands, as she steps closer to it. Her eyes looking over the reinforced steel, and the manacles attached. "This looks like a post apocalyptic electric chair. Where are they even going to find that amount of electricity Bobby? Where? There are way simpler ways of killing people."

"I'm going to help Dean. They wouldn't listen to me about that either Lilly." Mae announces before she turns and leaves again.

Bobby glares at Lilly over the back of the chair. "It's for your and Sam protection. Dammit all. What do I have to do to make you girls understand that? He's not 'demon blood busting' out of this and killing you during your goddamn ritual. Deal with it Lilly."

"What? No, I'm not doing the ritual if Sam's strapped into that thing." Lilly counters quickly with disbelief on her face.

"You gonna explain to Mae you wouldn't clean Sam up? Dean?" Bobby was just fed up at this point.

"Give me like five minutes, I'll go grab some blankets and pillows. I didn't say I wasn't doing it. I said I wasn't doing it with him strapped to a death chair." Lilly counters with one hand on her jutted hip.

"I don't care what ya do to it. But he's going in this chair. Securely." Bobby glares, putting his foot down hard.

Lilly bristles and looks him over. He was dead fucking serious about this. He actually wanted her to do this ritual on Sam strapped down in that death trap. If he had a seizure or some other equally adverse reaction though… He could end up severely injured. She wasn't going to continue arguing a losing battle. She would just have to figure out a way to make the stupid chair more fucking comfortable. "Fine." Lilly spits, as she turns on her heel and heads to his house.

"For once yer more agreeable than yer sister." Bobby hollers after her.

"I don't wanna hear it" Lilly hisses back, before she gets to the door and hunts down blankets, pillows, and a belt.

Lilly leaves the house not much later with her items in hand. She'd doused the belt in rubbing alcohol. She'd gathered one of the memory foam pillows she'd bought Bobby last year, and she had a blanket, an old towel and was armed with a roll of duct tape. It wasn't perfect, and certainly not how she wanted to do this, but she knew she didn't have much time to come up with something better. If she had known this had been their plan, she'd have come over much sooner. She was kicking herself at the moment. She hangs up the belt by it's buckle to keep it clean, before she turns to the chair.

Lilly throws the blanket over it and begins taping it in place, before she stands up and tapes the pillow to the head of it, wrapping the tape around it several times before throwing a pillow case over it. Then ignoring Bobby, she cuts strips off a towel before she secures them to the manacles. "Mae's still gonna be pissed about this."

Bobby just shrugs. "She'll get over it. She understands the need for it though."

"I'm still not happy with this either." Lilly adds with a frown, as she rips to more strips and secures them to the arms of the beast.

"You'll get over it too." Bobby deadpans as he starts helping her pad the chair.

When they finish Lilly stomps over to her bag, picks it up and slams it down on the table provided for her use. She still thought the chair was severely lacking, and was worried Sam was going to get hurt. She may not have actually gotten to go to school and become a doctor, but she had the morals of one, thanks to Tony. She had the Hippocratic oath memorized by the time she was fifteen. It was infuriating that none of them had taken Mae's concerns seriously, that she's had to waste time fixing the damn chair when she could have been clearing her mind and working on getting the ritual space set up. Now though, she was full of unclear intent; all that meditating had gone to crap. She lights the sage and ignores Bobby's glare as she starts clearing the shed of bad energy. When she is left with just the space Bobby is in, she hits him with the remaining bundle. "Breath it in, your aura could use it ol' man." She sniffs, before she stubs it out on the edge of the table he was leaning against.

Bobby folds his arms in front of his chest and continues to glare.

They both look up when they hear voices approaching.

"You dropped him!" Mae hisses in accusation. "Again!"

"He'll be fine." Dean comments dismissively. "Little bruised, but fine."

Lilly rolls her eyes, before she goes to the rest of her ingredients and leans against the table. Dean needed to be more careful or Mae was going to go full on Harpy on his ass... Then everyone was going to have to deal with those consequences.

They finally make their way into view, Dean gripping the unconscious Sam under the arms while Mae carried his legs. Lilly was pleased to see that Sam was only dressed in an undershirt and boxers. that was going to make her life a lot easier during the ritual. She wondered briefly if Mae had been paying attention to the ritual lessons that were being shouted at her while Mae had been quietly working on her barriers. Or if it had been Bobby's idea. She shrugged it didn't really matter who'd done it, she'd thank them later.

Bobby quickly meets them with a glare at Dean as he pulls one of Sam's arms over his shoulder, indicating for Dean to do the same. "Put him down Mae. Ya didn't want any part of this."

"Dean wouldn't let me help at first but he dropped him and I yelled." Mae grumbles as she carefully lowers Sam's feet to the ground.

Dean shrugs in response, almost dropping Sam again when the weight he shifts with Bobby's help. "Where were you for the stairs." He grumbles to Bobby.

Mae glares at Dean until he regains his grip on Sam.

"Let's just get the damn idjit in the chair." Bobby gruffs as he helps Dean walk Sam the rest of the distance before they heave him into the chair.

Mae winces as Sam's head bounces against the back of the newly padded head rest. With a small smile she looks over to Lilly. "Thank you."

"Best I could do. Sorry." Lilly comments with a frown, before her eyes drift back to the men who were about to lock Sam in. "Seriously, at least fuckin' adjust the kid." She grouses as she walks over and attempts to shift Sam so he wouldn't be so strained. She glares at the man for a moment after her attempt fails. Several times. She takes a step back and points at Sam. "Seriously. Adjust him." She says as she points to Sam expectantly. "Before cuffing him in. He's fuckin' out of it. I think we're all safe. Take the time to do shit right." She hisses.

Dean and Bobby both grumble as they look between Lilly and Sam. "But he's so fucking heavy." Dean whines.

"Not my problem. Cleansing him is. And I'm not til he's up right." Lilly says stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at them.

Bobby lets out a exasperated sigh as he pushes Dean forward. "You heard the bossy lil' jit."

After several more moments of grumbling they manage to get Sam sitting properly in the seat. They manage to cuff his feet and arms before they notice that Sam had slumped again.

Lilly rolls her eyes as Sam keeps slumping and walks up to Dean. Her hands quickly coming up to his pants as she unbuckles his belt, and pulls it free of the loops with a frustrated snap. She wraps the belt around Sam's chest, under his arms and pulls it back as much as she can. Her patience growing thinner as the sasquatch she considered a pesky younger sibling didn't even budge. She let's out a frustrated groan before she turns to Mae. "Harps. Get on it." She sighs with defeat, as she holds the belt out for her sister.

Dean looks at Lilly surprised by her sudden action before he realizes what she was trying to do, and kicks himself for not thinking about using a belt to restrain Sam upright sooner. He was going to help her when he saw her struggling but then she had asked for Mae instead. He steps back, slightly offended and watches Mae with skepticism.

Bobby just lets out a sigh, and shakes his head. His arms crossed as he waited for Sam to be done proper so they could get to the damn ritual and be done with the whole mess.

Mae bites her lower lip but nods before she comes up to help. She glares at Dean and Bobby for a moment before she tightens the belt, pulling Sam back against the seat firmly. She checks to make sure it wasn't pinching him before she buckles it. She hated this, hated that none of them had let her talk to Sam before he'd been drugged.

Dean looks surprised and looks like he's about to say something before Lilly interrupts.

"Bitch is wiry." Lilly rolls her eyes at Dean before he can make a comment, she shakes her head. She steps back around the chair and looks Sam over with a frown. He was as secure as he was going to be, and as comfortable she guessed. She sighs before she walks back to her bag and searches for the piece of chalk. She walks around her family, ignoring them as she drew a fairly large circle around them, using Sam as the middle origin. She made sure every part of it was thick and defined. Once she is finished, she returns to her bag and used a wet nap to wipe her hands off with a wet nap, she always kept stored in the side pocket.

"Yo!" Lilly says loudly as she looks over at her family, her expression serious.

Bobby, Dean and Mae all turn to look at her instantly.

"I'm gonna do this shit, but there are some ground rules. The first of which being ya'll are in my circle. So get out." Lilly instructs as she gestures to the thick line of fuchsia chalk.

Mae instantly jumps over the line and resumes her seat on the ground in the corner of the open air garage. Dean and Bobby follow at a much more hesitant pace. They turn as they reach the spots on either side of Mae, flanking her like guardian lions at a bridge.

"So we all acknowledge the ugly ass pink circle? Can all see the defined circle?" Lilly asks.

"Yes Lilly, please, fucking continue yer point."

"Don't cross this motherfucking circle once this shit starts." Lilly explains, her tone brooking no room for argument. "This shit might get fucking nasty. Sam might not react to this very well. His body's already strained from the blood, and this ritual is going to cut his normal detox time down drastically. The ritual itself will only take me about twenty minutes, but the cleansing, that can last upwards twenty four hours and can't be stopped once it's begun. During the cleansing step, some shit might go down." She sighs as she looks at all of them.

"It's going to be fucking painful. He's going to scream, he might cry. There's even a good chance he might have an… Arrhythmia that can lead to further complications. He might even slip into a seizure. He might even secrete it, depending on the severity of the… Foreign chemicals twisting his body. These are normal side effects of detoxing. It's what his body would normally be going through. It's not going to be pleasant to watch, and I need you to understand that. " She pauses for a moment, before continuing. "I reiterate, what could be months of detox, into hours. So do not cross this line til that flame goes out. Got it?" Lilly demands as she waits for all of them to nod.

Lilly frowns at how quickly they all had responded. "This is not something to take lightly. I can't stop once I start, it's all or nothing. If I get disrupted because one of you wants it to stop, and crosses this circle there is the chance the cleansing might become fatal to both Sam and I. And nothing then nothing will have been accomplished. I need ya'll to understand that, before I even start." She tells them as she looks them all over slowly. "So it is vital you do not cross this circle until I give you express permission to do so. Or until the flame goes out. Please just keep in mind that this is a cleansing, and though it seems like he's being tortured it's actually just him getting back to, ya know one hundred percent human." She embellishes slightly. In all honesty once the herbs were lit her part in the ritual was complete and she'd be in the clear. She just didn't want the others trying to peel the ointment off Sam in the middle of the detoxing. She had brought more than enough equipment in case complications arose. She wasn't risking Sam like that. She could not lose another person to a damn ritual.

Dean runs one hand over his lips. He was pissed at his brother, sure, and it didn't really faze him that Sam was going to be in some pain from this; but to see his brother scream and cry. He wasn't going to leave Lilly alone to do this, but Mae. He couldn't imagine the anguish she would feel from this. She was still working on her barriers to block other's emotions. Even with her brand or whatever undone, she still admitted that she was having some problems maintaining them. He slowly turns to her, ready to put his foot down and demand that she leave while this was happening.

"Gidjit, maybe you should-" Bobby begins as he looks at Mae with concern.

"No." Mae interrupts him quickly, her voice hollow as she looks up at Lilly. "I'm staying... Unless Lilly tells me to leave."

Lilly looks her over. "Heard. Good." She nods before she looks between Bobby and Dean. "I feel like I would focus better with Mae in the room." She admits to them, and she would. If she heard Mae crying out in the background, it would make her determined to not fuck up. "But Mae, I swear to my gods you will not like the consequences if you cross that line. Understood." She adds seriously as she turns her gaze solely to her sister, completely serious.

Mae just nods before she pulls her legs up to her chest; her determined eyes just visible over her knees.

Dean drags his hand down his face before he tears his eyes away from Lilly. "Ya gonna be able ta stay put?" He asks Mae sternly.

"I'm not an idiot Dean. She said don't cross the line. I don't test Lilly like that."

"But are ya gonna be alright? Sounds like a heap of shit is bout to go down. Ya gonna be able ta ya know, handle it? The emotions?" Bobby asks her gruffly with a frown. He was not happy Lilly had pulled that card, and was doubting the validity of it. The first thing being she'd never be that honest in needing help. However this wouldn't be the first time one of his jits had manipulated the outcome of something by pulling this shit. But he'd never seen it pulled like this, with things so serious.

"It's not like Lilly and Sam have a choice right now. If they have to go through this, then I can too." Mae wraps her arms around her legs, hugging them tightly in anticipation of her coming battle. She had to keep her barrier up this time.

"Yeah, but you do. I'm not sure it's in your best interest to be here." Dean counters with a frown.

Lilly rolls her eyes and picks up the first bundle of herbs she'd already gathered and prepared and lights it softly singing to the herbs as she began dancing around Sam, chanting softly. Her movements deliberate and graceful. The smoke drifting around Sam and her as she twisted on her toes. She wasn't going to stop them from arguing, she'd already said her piece on the fucking matter. She'd end up chickening out if she didn't start soon anyways.

"Lilly needs us Dean. Are you going to argue with me or stay quiet for her?" Mae never takes her eyes off Lilly as she starts moving through the motions with a grace she knew Lilly possessed. She'd seen it every time they'd danced together, and during lessons when they were kids.

"Seriously Mae, I just don't think it's a good idea for you to be here." Dean continues with a frown.

"He's right Mae." Bobby frowns as he glares at her.

"Look, I love you both too, and thank you for your concern." Mae strains to get out, she wasn't happy that they didn't think she could handle this. "But Lilly's already started, so we should probably be quiet."

"What?!" Dean spits out before turning back to his girlfriend. His eyes instantly catching the way she was moving her body to the chant she was singing.

Bobby growls as he turns up to look at Lilly. His entire face went blank as he watched her dance. Dance and sing. This was not a ritual he would ever want to perform. Is this what made a priestess ritual different than a normal one?

Lilly continues singing softly, before she blows onto the bundle of cindering herbs softly; the soft grey smoke billowing over Sam's face in a cloud as it hovered there, until Sam appeared to breath it all in.

With a grunt Sam's head snaps up from his chest. "What the…" The whole chair shakes as he attempts to stand. He looks down at himself, his eyes confused

Lilly take a deliberate step back softly, before turning on her toes so swiftly it made her skirt flap before going to the area she had chosen to set her supplies up at and begins mixing a paste. The melody she was chanting slowly morphs, the octaves lower and longer as it's cadence shifted slowly. She focuses on the gold bowl in front of her, as she added different herbs from measuring cups with one hand, and ground them with the other.

Sam looks around wildly as he struggled in his restraints. He looks around, finding Lilly just off to his left. "No. What are you doing?" He growls out angrily his eyes drilling into her. He grows even more angry when she doesn't respond. "You fucking bitch! I asked you question." He snarls at her. His eyes narrowed in disgust as he glared at the tiny girl. What the hell had she done already? He needed to stop this. He needed to kill Lilith.

From behind Dean and Bobby, Mae winces. Sam's anger, fear and hit her like a punch in the gut. She wanted to call out to him, let him know everything was alright, that he was going to be alright; but she couldn't. She was too afraid of disrupting Lilly.

Lilly picks up the golden bowl, and holds it in one arm before walking back over to Sam. She dips her thumb into the malleable paste as her melody changes, the melody still soft as she begins singing in ancient egyptian. She dips two fingers into the paste before she begins marking his face with the sweet smelling herbs.

"Get the fuck away from me bitch." Sam snaps, twisting his head as he tried to move away from her.

Lilly doesn't falter, rather she just lets the paste smear across his face before she works her way down. Her hands deftly move down to his neck and shoulders, then back to his chest to apply the paste under his shirt in broad methodical strokes.

"Stop. What the fuck are you doing to me? Where are Dean and Mae?" Sam demands. His heart was racing as he analyzed what she was doing. Was she going to sacrifice him. Was this some kind of ritual like the old pagan christmas gods had to perform to eat human?

Lilly drops to one knee softly as she continues to sing her melancholy song. Her fingers deftly applying the paste to his exposed outer thighs and legs. One of her hands dipping fully in the paste as the other as the other attempted to lift one of his feet from the ground to no avail. She resists the sigh, knowing better to even halter the chant, so instead applies pressure to a sensitive part of his heel. Her hand quickly applying the paste with precision before she quickly moved to do the other, using the same technique. The second foot needed more than she had been comfortable with, but he hadn't given her much of an option and the soles of his feet were the most vital part. Toxins seemed easiest from the sole of the feet, it couldn't be helped.

Sam turned from Lilly and looked around in concern. Was Dean seriously just going to let his freak of a girl friend sacrifice him? Was Mae? Bobby? His eyes search the open garage in desperation, needing to find a way out. He wasn't sure what Lilly was doing but he was already beginning to feel nauseous, the smell of his sweat mixing with the herbs an unpleasant mixture of scents, causing his stomach to rebel. He pauses when his eyes land on Dean and Bobby standing together, watching Lilly with curiosity as she smeared witch paste on him. His eyes narrow slightly with concern. Were they seriously okay with this? With what she was doing?

Lilly stands before she backs to the temporary altar and mixes the last of the ingredients into the last of the paste. Her melody shifting back to the low, long octave as she waited.

"Dean! I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was- I was a little outta my head. But please, don't let her do this." Sam begins to plead. Where was Mae? What had they done to Mae? "Dean please! Make her stop! Bobby!"

Dean looks down with a frown unable to keep eye contact with Sam like this. For a moment all he could see was his tiny little brother, his eyes wide and frightened as he called out for 'Bean'. He felt his heart twist.

Bobby just lets out a small sigh and looks at Sam with a frown and gives a short shake of his head. This wasn't nearly as bad as Lilly said it was going to be. He thought about it, would she have just given them the worse case scenario? Yes, she totally would. Leave it to that gidjit to be overly dramatic.

Lilly looks down at the paste as her chanting gets even lower and deeper. When she see's it's at the right consistency she puts down the pestle and picks up a small box of matches and taps it open pulling one out. This is where shit was really going to suck. She strikes the match against the side of the box, and stares at the lit match before she thinks about it. Her eyes darting from the match to Mae's as she stared intently at her sister.

Mae hold her breath as Lilly holds the match over the bowl hesitantly. Dean's heart ache, Bobby's confusion and Sam's panicked rage beat against her as if in competition to see which emotion could tear down her wall. She pours more energy into holding her barrier as she catches Lilly's eye. This was it, the hard part was coming.

Sam watches in horror as his brother looks away from him and Bobby simply shakes his head. He couldn't believe they would abandon him like that. He looked around for Mae again before he finally noticed the way Dean and Bobby were standing. He strained a little against the bonds holding him in place as he makes out Mae in the ground between them. Her eyes wide and frightened over her knees as she made eye contact with him.

Lilly turns back to the match hoping Mae understood her silent warning before she drops the match on the bowl. The new paste ignites, the flames leaping up with a life of their own as she changes the melody of the song for the last time, determined as she chants the last words of the spell. Her eyes glow a bright gold as the last note died in the air. She takes a loud intake of breath as it feels like something is ripped from her and falls to her knees, catching herself with shaking hands, as she fought to remain conscience. The ritual, was over. At least her part was, the rest was up to Sam; or at least Sam's body. She just needed to make certain he wasn't lost to them during the withdrawal process.

Sam lets out a feral cry of pain as his body begins to burn. He tears his eyes away from Mae's to make sure his skin wasn't actually on fire. It was everywhere. It was inside him, burning his lungs and heart as the invisible inferno danced like lava, filling his skin and seeping towards his bones. He was dying, he knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was dying. The bitch had killed him. His last coherent thought was of Mae and he sought the sanctuary of her eyes one last time, he couldn't find her.

Dean and Bobby both jump at the shrill intake of air behind them. The image in front of them was so horrific that for a moment they had both forgotten about the silent girl sitting behind them.

Dean wanted to comfort Mae he did, but he hadn't been able to keep from watching Lilly. He could see her trembling and any color she had disappeared, her skin blanched as he watched sweat bead as she struggled to stand. He wanted nothing more to go assist her but the threat of her warning lingered. His eyes darted to the raging fire contained within the golden bowl, before his eyes darted back to Lilly. His hands fisted by his side was he watched her struggle, the sounds of his brothers screams filling the garage. All he could do was watch Lilly struggle as his brother fought against his restraints in attempt to relieve the pain. He was trusting Bobby was stronger than him, was hoping he was taking care of Mae. As it was he couldn't look away from the encroaching helplessness of two of the people he cared most about suffering within an arm's reach; unable to assist.

Mae was laying limp on the ground, her skin pale under the blood dripping from her nose.

"Dammit." Bobby exclaims, his voice shaky as he kneels next to Mae. He carefully shifts her, so he's supporting her, her head resting on his gut. He knew he needed to keep her head elevated to alleviate her bloody nose. He knew in the back of his head he should probably remove her but couldn't pull himself from watching the morbid scene playing out inside the ridiculous pink circle. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard any of the noises Sam was currently making. He was worried.

Sam lets out a roar fueled with pain and anger as the chair beneath him groans and creaks under him. His fingers press into the steel as it felt like an inferno had entered his circulatory system and was burning it's way through him.

At Sam's cry of pain Lilly looks up in concern and pushes herself to get off the floor. She forces herself to move, clumsily stumbling her wat to where she'd left the sanitized belt. She grasps it with a shaky hand before she made her way back to Sam. "Here." She gasps out as she haphazardly folds the belt. "Bite." She heaves, as she carefully fits the belt into his mouth after some difficulty.

Sam was too far in the throes of agony to even register Lilly's presence or the pressure in his mouth.

Lilly nods at him with gratitude as he keeps the bit in his mouth before she lowers herself to the ground. For the first time since the ritual had begun she turns to glance at Dean and Bobby. She frowns when she sees Dean's fierce look; his lips thin in both disapproval and stress. She darts her eyes to Bobby who had Mae propped up in his lap. She wanted to tell them it would be okay, but as she opens her mouth she realises that it would be too difficult to speak that loud. So instead she turned back to keep an eye on Sam. Her nose twitched as the pungent scent of sulfur fought for dominance against the cleansing herbs. Her eyes sweep over the paste, noting the way it was baking. Her eyes lingering on Sam's yellow tinged sweat beading from the areas the clay had cracked. She watches in fascination as several of the tainted drops sizzle and steam before they even manage to roll. It seemed to be working, though if she were honest she wasn't sure she'd done the best job at preparing herself. She was fighting to keep her eyes open, but if Sam needed medical attention, had a seizure; went into cardiac arrest she'd need to take care of it. It was her responsibility, so she forced herself to her knees and shuffled closer putting her index finger to his pulse. It was far too fast, but there wasn't much she could do for his hypertension at the moment.

Dean watches Lilly for what feels like an eternity before he notices the smell of sulfur on the air. He glances down at Bobby.

"I smell it too. Must be workin'." Bobby nods gravely in confirmation. He hoped the ritual worked, it was a lot of pain and suffering if it didn't.

Lilly startles as Sam goes quiet, her eyes instantly darting to his as she watched his bloodshot eyes roll to the back of his head before he slips into a seizure. She grits her teeth as she grabs the arms of his chair and forces herself up, only to straddle him. Her hands coming up to grip the belt hanging from the sides of his mouth as she holds his head firmly in place, locking her joints in place. She couldn't lose Sam now. She wouldn't. She grinds her teeth her eyes narrowed as she keeps his head steady and tongue safe.

Dean digs his fingers into the back of his scalp, his elbows in the air as he watches Sam rattle against the restraints, as Lilly struggled to keep him in place. In any other situation, the sight may have gotten a chuckle and a joke out of him, but instead he was struck dumb and horrified. Sam was foaming at the bit, and Lilly was shaking with exhaustion. And he was stuck watching helpless to do anything to assist his brother or Lilly.

Lilly couldn't help the sigh of relief when Sam finally went limp beneath her. She nearly falls in her attempt to scramble off his lap and her legs give out beneath her as she fell to her knees. She reaches a shaky hand up to rest against the crook of Sam's elbow once more. Her hand falls back in relief when she feels his pulse in his elbow racing at a concerning rate, but still beating before she lets out another sigh. Her head hits against the chair as she tips forward as her elbow buckles under her slight weight. She stays there until she startles backwards onto her back as another scream is torn from Sam, not expecting him to regain consciousness so soon.

"Lilly?" Dean breathes out.

Lilly forces a smile on her lips before she turns to look at Dean. "Fine. Better. Than. Thought." She pants out, as she lifts her hand and flicks her wrist dismissively.

If Dean hadn't been so worried, he would have chuckled at her words. Would have told her exactly where she could stick her 'fine'. As it was he couldn't keep the corner of his lips from turning up. If she could find the energy to be stubborn, he had to believe she was okay.

Lilly takes a moment to breath and regain some energy, before she forces herself to roll over and drags herself to all fours. She was determined to see this completely through. She just had to make it through the fire in the bowl. If she stayed this close to the ground though, chances were she was going to end up waking up in a bed being told the ritual had failed. She couldn't fail. She couldn't bare the thought of letting Mae and Dean down, and the thought of her gods and their disappointment was enough to make her wince. She had to see this through. She was a fucking priestess of Maat and was being trained personally by Thoth. She could live through being cursed, her body could handle two souls being all soul-y inside it. Ahmes had been doing these types of rituals from the age of fucking twelve. There was no way she was fucking this up… More than she may have already. She still wasn't sure why she was feeling so absolutely drained. She felt tapped the fuck out. She cursed at herself as she pulled to her knees and her eyes darted to the bowl, seeing the flames as they barely flit over the lip of it. That was good. She could outlast that damn flame. Sam had already seized, she couldn't let him die on her watch. He could take some pain, and maybe one day wouldn't completely hate her for this. It had to be done. This might be straining on him and his cells as they shifted back to normal, but she couldn't even imagine the horrors of going through this level of a detox for weeks on end. The strain, the bitterness, the pain. He was only human.

Dean slowly edges closer to the pink circle, watching as the flames in the bowl get lower still. Lilly had said it was over when the flames went out, and he was determined to rush to her as soon as the bowl was empty.

Sam screams out in agony as he once again attempts to free himself his eyes bloodshot and as it felt like every nerve in his body was being seared at the same time. His throat was raw, and every muscle in his body was tensed with pain he'd never experienced before this moment. Tears rolling down his face as he searched wildly for reprieve.

Bobby just watched, praying to whatever higher power that was listening that this would be over soon. He wouldn't be able to handle an hour of this, and he felt guilty that he'd even considered this a punishment that fit the crime. He felt torn. He wanted to get Mae out of this building, if she was out then for certain her blocks against emotional onslaughts were down; this couldn't be good for her. But he also didn't want to leave Dean to watch over both Lilly and Sam. His thoughts were similar to Dean's; as soon as that fire was out he was going in there to do… something. This sidelines shit was awful.

Lilly finally manages to make it back to Sam. Her eyes searching his face carefully. Was this three month detox? She wasn't sure. She was pretty damn positive this was going on a list of things she never wished to experience again. She reached her hand out again and felt his pulse. Her lips turning with concern? His pulse was firing like a piston under her finger. She wasn't sure how he was still functioning at the moment. She was terrified for him, but there wasn't much she could do for his pain or fear at the moment. For a moment she briefly wondered if Dean had ever felt this sick sense of dread while he had tortured but banished the intrusive thought quickly. She couldn't afford those thoughts at the moment.

Time continued at an agonizing pace broken only by Sam's intermittent sudden shouts of rage and pain. If any of them had bothered to look at their watches, they would have known that only thirty minutes had passed from the time Lilly lit the bowl. Time had become nothing more than the sounds of pain and the smell of sulfur.

Dean's eyes were glued to Sam, he wasn't sure when, but he was sure he was stuck back in hell. He was frozen with fear as the cacophony of Sam's screams echoed around his mind, dredging up memories he'd attempted to bury. He could see Alastair working his talent all over a helpless Sam as he was forced to watch. His mouth dry, as his stomach twisted and he felt bile work up the back of his throat. He couldn't tear his eyes from his little brother screaming in agony, strapped down and in pain. The same sense of helplessness invading him as he was once rendered ineffective in saving his little brother.

Lilly alerts immediately to Sam's sudden silence, her golden eyes, still glowing slightly blinking up to Sam's glassy hazel as she looked him over. Her hand once more seeks his pulse and she lets out a sigh of relief when she noticed it was slowing; his muscles slowly relaxing as he dragged air into his burning lungs.

"Welcome back." Lilly breathes out with a small but genuine smile as the glowing in her eyes dims til they've returned to their normal shade of amber. She opens her mouth to add something before they roll to the back of her head and she falls to the side.

Dean rushes forward the second he hears the bowl of flames sputter and hiss out.

Bobby gently guides Mae back to the ground before he also rushes to aid Lilly.

Sam lets his head fall back against the headrest, able to fully think clearly for the first time in a very long time. He was still angry, but it didn't feel all consuming. He was disgusted at himself. At the way he had treated his family, how much he had scared Mae, all the times he'd hurt Lilly. He opens his eyes to find her on the ground with Dean sliding up next to her. What had he done?

"Lilly?" Dean asks as he looks her over in concern. His hand automatically reaching out to check her pulse. Her gods wouldn't have let her sacrifice herself right? Was this supposed to be normal priestess operating procedure? Her skin was icy to his touch and damp, but he let out a sigh when he felt her pulse under his shaking hand.

"Dean? Is she-" Sam can't even get the words fully out. Did she kill herself to save him? He couldn't believe all the horrible things he'd thought about her.

"She's alive." Dean sighs with a frown, as he pulls Lilly off the ground and into his arms. What the hell had this been? Was she supposed to be knocked out right now? Had something gone wrong. He wasn't sure. Had she known this was going to happen? It wouldn't have shocked him to know she had. Some fucking warning would have been nice. But the smell of sulfur was gone and the only thing he could smell was fresh air mingling with white sage and the sweet scent of herbs.

Sam nods before he looks around the garage again. He was so sure he had spotted Mae before, but then his entire body had been wracked with pain and he couldn't find her again. His heart freezes as Bobby walks up to the chair he was strapped to.

"Feelin' more like yerself there boy?" Bobby asks gruffly as he stares down at Sam with his sternest dad face; his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Sam nods. "Yeah." He agrees with a small frown.

"Got any hankerings?" Bobby sure as hell wasn't going to let him out if he was just going to go out and pull this shit again.

Sam averts his eyes and looks at the ground in shame. "No."

"What was that?"

Sam lets out a sigh. "No sir, I don't feel like I need… Anything...Sir."

"Uh huh. You sure about that Sam?" Bobby had to be sure. No one knew these boys like he did, he could spot their lies with ease. Right now he just needed Sam to fully understand the gravity of his own situation.

Sam knew he deserved this, but that didn't make it any better. "No sir. I don't feel like drinking any demon blood." He says his voice low and full of shame. "And I certainly don't feel like repeating this ever again. Any of it."

"Good." Bobby sighs as he rubs at his temples. He wanted to pound it into the boy's skull so bad, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had been wrong. Lilly had under warned them. He'd be having nightmares about this until he was dead, he was sure of it. Well he had nightmares anyways, but good god, this was definitely going to be added to the collection. He'd been completely useless in doing anything and just had to watch as one of his jits seemed to have been fighting off death throes while the other had staggered around nearly passing out every five seconds in attempt to check on him. He still wasn't sure what to make of it. Was worried about the fact Lilly had passed out, and had glowing eyes.

Bobby grumbles as he goes to work releasing Sam from the chair.

Dean stands with Lilly in his arms. "Imma go put her up, and come back for Mae." He states.

Sam's head snaps up. "Mae's here?"

"Yeah." Dean snaps, before he turns and heads to the house

Bobby sighs. "Mae's in the corner. Her ass got knocked the fuck out." He tells him as he undoes the last restraint.

Sam jumps out of the chair and rushes over to Mae's side. He didn't want to admit how sore he was, or how hard it was to get his muscles to listen to him. He sat next to her, unsure how he was going to get her up right now.

Bobby rolls his eyes, resisting the urge to cuff Sam on the back of his fool head. "Don't even try it." He snaps as he see's Sam thinking about picking her up. He should have taken Mae's ass inside first and he was kicking himself. Sam could barely stand, and from what the experience of the cleansing had sounded like, he didn't blame the boy. He pushes off the ground and walks over to the younger couple, before he bends down and scoops up Mae himself. "Get ta the damn house." He adds gruffly, before he heads towards his home himself.

Sam sighs and trudges along behind Bobby silently. He wasn't thrilled about it, but he understood Bobby's concern. He wanted to look Mae over, wanted to hold her, but he felt exhausted.

Dean greets them at the front door, obviously keen on his promise to return for Mae. "Here ol' man, I got her."

Bobby glares at him. "I don't think so, only the short one gets away with that shit." He chides even as he hands Mae over to him.

"Sure thing ol' man." Dean chuckles.

"Bawls. Who the hell are ya callin' old? I can still whoop your ass and ya know it." Bobby snorts.

Sam shuffles near the front door, not sure what he was supposed to do. He wanted to follow Mae, but didn't know how Bobby and Dean would take that after everything that had happened.

"Imma go drink something." Bobby grumbles as he walks towards the kitchen.

Dean turns without saying another word and heads upstairs to put Mae in their old bedroom.

"Dean."

Dean groans before he turns to look at his brother. "What?" He snaps at his brother.

Sam closes his eyes, unable to stand the look of disappointment in his brother's eyes. "I'm sorry."

Dean closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath. "You're sorry? That's all you've got ta- Ya know what. Whatever."

"I just… You always have to shoulder the heavy burden… And I thought-"

"So ya drank fuckin demon's blood of all fuckin' things. Sam. I don't wanna have this talk right now. I'm fuckin' holdin' Mae." Dean snaps at his brother in annoyance.

Sam nods in understanding. "Right. So we'll talk later then."

Dean resists the urge to growl. "Yeah. Later." He states shortly.

Sam nods as he reaches for the stair railing.

Dean thinks about snapping at him, before he just turns and starts up the stairs again, instead. "Seriously Sam, if I find out you hurt either of them again…" He trails off darkly.

Sam squeezes his eyes shut at the painful memories. "I'd want you to." He whispers.

Dean doesn't acknowledge the barely heard whisper as he just continues up the stairs. He'd tell Sam to go fuck himself and sleep in the damned panic room, but the thought of Lilly or Mae finding out and snapping at him over it just wasn't worth the effort.

Without another word Sam trudges up the stairs behind Dean, wishing that he'd never found Ruby again after their run in with Lilith. This was his fault, and he knew that he'd be damn lucky if anyone of his family forgave him. He might have started out with the best intentions, but that didn't matter anymore. He had really fucked up this time. He had let Dean down.

Dean exits the room after depositing Mae and finds himself looking at his brother still covered in the paste with a look of disgust. "Go take a fuckin' shower man." He shrugs before he heads back downstairs pausing once more. "And seriously, if I find out that shit didn't work and you take off with Mae." He turns to his brother. "I. Will. Hunt. You. Down." He tells him, completely serious.

Sam looks at Dean for a moment before he just nods. He knew by the way Dean's jaw was clenched that it was true. He looks down at himself before he frowns. "Yes Dean."

Dean just nods before he turns away and heads down the stairs.


AN2: We are now T- 13 chapters to the end of Blood Pie. Wow, it's hard to believe we're so close to releasing It's the End of the Pie, which we are right now almost done editing so we can get back to writing more in our season 6 book. Thank you for reading, we really hope you liked it. Don't forget to leave us some love or encouragement, or ways we can improve as writers. We look forward to any and all communication! Lots of love Reader, we'll see you again next Sunday with the fall out of the cleansing.