Chapter 9 is here folks. About two-three more chapters of this and we should wrap it up. Read and enjoy
Chapter 9
Sam opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground in some cold damp place, with Dean staring down at him. His brother's face was haggard and worried, the kind of look that had always aged him and made him appear too young at the same time. Sam frowned, trying to piece together what had happened. He could only remember pain - a terrible pain, the likes of which he had never felt since…He could not stop the shudder that took hold of him.
Dean's eyes hardened. His hand was on Sam's chest. Keeping him still? Keeping him anchored to reality? Sam did not know but no way was he going to ask and risk Dean moving away, self-conscious. He needed the proximity.
"Dean…" he gasped. "Dean, where…?" He paused and swallowed harshly, because he did not really want the answer to his next question. "Is this real?"
Dean's jaw clenched. He nodded curtly and Sam did not know whether to feel relieved or terrified.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Dean asked.
Sam was ready to name one of the many times he had been face to face with Lucifer. Then he realized that was not it. Slowly, it came to him. Finland, Tuonela, Pekka's betrayal. Piru torturing them, torturing their souls. The terrible agony Sam had hoped never to feel again. Dean's screams in his ears.
He grabbed the hand Dean still had on his chest and clutched hard.
"Dean, are you ok? He was…"
Dean nodded quickly.
"Yeah, it wasn't the fun kind of pain," Dean admitted. "He's gone, though. For now."
Sam rubbed a hand over his forehead.
"What did he want? I kinda…blanked out at one point."
Dean's look was stony.
"He didn't say. He just gave us a demonstration – you know, like in those bad mob movies? Then he left. As for you…" Dean stopped and swallowed. "Piru's handling might have brought back some…stuff…"
Sam frowned.
"What kind of stuff? What happened to me, Dean?"
Dean shook his head, moving slightly away from Sam.
"You were down on the ground and unresponsive, muttering stuff about…about Hell and…" He broke off. "Look, Sammy, don't make me repeat all that crap, it was bad enough hearing it from you once."
Sam sat up, feeling slightly humiliated that he had lost it in such a manner.
"Sorry about that, whatever it was."
If anything, Dean looked even worse.
"Hell, Sam, I'm not asking for an apology. You scared the crap out of me, I thought I was losing you."
Sam shook his head tiredly.
"I don't think you have to worry about that. Not with Piru in charge. I don't think he'd let himself lose either of us."
Dean leaned his head against the wall.
"If we only knew what he wants."
Sam had a sinking suspicion that whatever Piru wanted would not leave the two of them unharmed and might even destroy them for good. He glanced at Dean and felt determination surge inside him. It wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to allow it to happen, not to Dean, and not to him, either, if he could help it. One way or another, they were getting out of there.
xxxXXXxxx
When the door opened two hours after Sam woke up, both he and Dean had been expecting Piru to come set the terms for their imprisonment – or maybe to gloat some more, depending on the mood he was in. It wasn't Piru, however. It was Pekka. Dean looked ready to tear him limb from limb.
"You have a lot of nerve showing your face to me right now, you know that?" he snarled. "I trusted you."
Pekka lowered his eyes, swallowing harshly.
"I'm sorry, Dean. This has nothing to do with you. I wish things were different, I really do. But this is survival."
Dean snorted.
"What survival? You're dead, man."
Pekka grimaced.
"The cliché up there in the world of the living is that the dead don't feel anything – no pain of any kind, right? But everyone in this room knows that's not true. Anyway, I'm not here to argue with you about whether or not I'm doing the right thing. That's between me and my conscience and, ever since I died, my conscience has taken a backseat."
"That's quite unlike the Pekka we know," Sam commented.
Pekka frowned.
"Don't try that kind of stuff with me, Winchester. You and I never knew each other."
"Well no," Sam accepted. "But I know you took that deal with Mielikki. I know that you stayed with Elias' band because you considered him a friend and you left for the very same reason. You risked your life for him. Hell, you died for him."
Pekka nodded.
"Exactly. I died. Mission accomplished. Duty done. I've already taken the greatest risk I could and that was for my best friend. I've got no inclination to risk anything more for two virtual strangers."
"Where's Mielikki?" Sam wanted to know.
He caught Pekka's hesitation and wondered what was happening.
"She's fine," Pekka said at length. "She's just…out of the way for a bit. Until we're done."
Dean shook his head.
"You're an idiot. You're making a mistake so big, you're gonna regret it for eternity."
"What's Piru planning anyway?" Sam asked. "Me, Dean, Mielikki, what does he want?"
Pekka smirked.
"Why don't you ask him yourself? That's why I'm here. To take you to him."
Sam cast an uneasy glance at Dean, who shrugged.
"Fine. I'm surprised he's not trying to tackle us here, but if he wants to talk outside our cell, who am I to argue?"
Pekka, however, shook his head.
"Not you, Dean. Just your brother."
Dean's face darkened.
"Like hell."
Pekka sighed, shaking his head.
"Dean, the more we delay, the more furious Piru gets. The more furious Piru gets, the less likely he is to be lenient to Sam. You don't want that, do you?"
"No, you're right about that," Dean said. "I don't want that creep anywhere near Sam."
"Dean, you don't have a choice. Piru wants Sam. I've got to deliver. It's a s simple as that."
Dean was about to say something scathing. Sam decided it was time for him to interfere.
"It's ok Dean," he said, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder to restrain him. "If Piru wants to talk to me, we'll talk."
"Sammy, no," Dean said. "He's unhinged and desperate and considers us responsible. I ain't leaving you alone with him."
"You haven't got a choice," Sam pointed out quietly. "I can handle him. Trust me."
Dean wanted to say a lot of things – this wasn't about Sam handling it – Dean was already sure there were not many things Sam couldn't handle. But he shouldn't have to, and that was what made Dean so furious. Still, they had no choice and he did not want to act as if he doubted Sam.
"Fine," he said. "Just…be back soon?"
Sam avoided his gaze, but nodded.
"Of course."
As they left, Sam did not look back. Pekka turned to him and sought Dean's eyes.
"I'm really sorry about this, Dean," he said.
The look on Dean's face spelled murder.
"Not as sorry as you'll be when I get my hands on you. If anything happens to Sam, you're next on my list right after Piru. Got that?"
Pekka said nothing. The look in his eyes told Dean he got it, alright.
xxXXXXxxxx
Elias shifted from foot to foot as he stood in the arrival lounge of Tampere's airport. He had placed two calls the night before, knowing he was in over his head and would need far more help than his rudimentary knowledge of hunting offered him. One had been to Ketch – Helmi had been the one to insist they bring him in, he was closer than the Winchesters' other contacts, after all. Elias had swallowed his pride and called, and, of course, Ketch had not refrained from gloating. But he had promised to be there on the earliest flight, so Elias supposed that was worth a bit of gloating. He had then contacted Castiel, who also said he would be there as soon as possible.
The plane from the UK had landed half an hour ago and the passengers were finally starting to appear in the arrivals area, most being quickly greeted by their loved ones. Elias had no trouble spotting Ketch. Although he no longer was part of the British Men of Letters, he still held his typical swagger that had so greatly annoyed Elias when he had met Ketch, two years back. Ketch smirked when he spotted Elias.
"Mr. Tahtinen!" he called, causing several people to turn their heads and peer at Elias hopefully, wondering whether they should ask him for an autograph or not.
Elias rolled his eyes. Until then he had managed to keep a low profile. Ketch must have shouted his name so cheerfully on purpose.
"Do you have to be so loud?" he hissed.
Ketch raised his eyebrows.
"I thought you enjoyed basking in your glory. Isn't that what your band is all about?"
Elias shook his head.
"It's not, actually, and we're not here to discuss my band. We're here to discuss Sam and Dean."
Ketch rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yes, Sam and Dean in Tuonela. God help us all."
"All my research says they should have woken up at dawn. They didn't. Something's wrong."
Ketch smiled tightly.
"You don't know them as well as I do. Something always goes wrong when they're involved. They can't help stirring up melodrama wherever they go. Well, what are you waiting for? Take me to them."
Elias clenched his teeth, but said nothing. He could put up with Arthur Ketch for a few days – if only he helped bring the Winchesters back.
xxxXXXxxx
Heidi eyed the Englishman with distrust. She did not like him, and she could see Elias was not too crazy about him, either. Helmi was the only one who was willing to be civil with him, but even she treated him with a barely-concealed wariness. If Ketch spotted it, he did not seem to mind. In fact, he seemed amused by it.
Ketch had examined Sam and Dean, then turned to the others shaking his head.
"Were they really alone when you found them?"
Elias nodded tightly.
"But someone must have given them the drugs that they needed to put them to sleep. I think they had no idea this person was going to leave – if only we knew who it was."
"I think only they can tell us."
"They're unconscious," Helmi pointed out.
"I did notice that, funnily enough. There is a way to bring them back. There's also a catch. They have to be both in the same place."
"What happens if they're not?" Helmi pressed.
Ketch shrugged.
"If they're not, I'll only be able to pull one of them out – and the other will remain trapped until I can try again. It's a spell that has a time limit. I can't do it twice in a row. Probably can't do it twice at all, I don't know."
"Well, wouldn't even one of them matter?" Heidi argued. "It's better than having them both trapped."
Ketch smiled tightly.
"You're new to the Winchesters, I see. Trust me, they come as a full set. One trapped in the realm of the dead and the other up here makes for a pretty volatile situation. We know. We've been around this block more than I can care to count."
Heidi shrugged. Her vote did not count for much, after all. She was not one of them. Still, Sam and Dean were her patients and she felt she should have had a say in their treatment.
"These are the Winchesters, though," Helmi said. "I mean, wherever they are, they're bound to be together."
Ketch shrugged.
"I suppose so. You'd better pray it's true, though. Otherwise, whichever of them we do bring back won't be too happy with us."
xxxxXXXXxxxx
Pekka led Sam down a long corridor, then up a few stairs. Sam was on the alert, looking for any vulnerable points in the fortress. He had no intention of trying to escape while Dean was still locked up, but knowing a way out would do them good. Assuming he would live enough to tell Dean of one. He still had no idea what Piru wanted from him.
During their walk, Pekka was not saying a word, not even looking at Sam. But Sam could feel his tenseness.
"You're not comfortable with this," he said.
Pekka scowled.
"Are you trying to bond with me, Sam? Is this a strategy you're using? Do you think I'll leave you be if you make me sympathetic to your predicament? Well, let me tell you something, Sam. I'm already sympathetic. That does not mean I have a choice. I can't let you go. Piru is…you don't know how Piru is…what he can do."
"I've got a pretty good idea, considering he tried it on me and Dean," Sam pointed out. "Piru is so scared of Lempo he's getting desperate. Do you want to know how I know that?"
Pekka pretended to ignore that. Sam went on all the same:
"Piru told me once he hated resorting to what he referred to as crude stuff like torture. He said it was beneath him. And what's the first thing that he does when he sees Dean and me? You saw, didn't you?"
Pekka still refused to say anything. Sam huffed in frustration.
"Piru can't defeat Lempo. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he won't be able to. You gotta know that."
Pekka stopped in his tracks, eyeing Sam up and down. For a moment, Sam was sure he was getting to him. But then Pekka shrugged and resumed walking, indicating that Sam should follow him.
"Here's the thing, Sam," he said. "It won't be Piru defeating Lempo." He paused and gave Sam another calculating look. "It will be you."
xxxxXXXXxxxx
Piru had thought long and hard about his daring plan. He had come up with a hundred arguments against it and then he had rejected each and every one of them. It was the only way, he told himself. The only way to make sure Lempo was gone for good and Piru was the one left standing, holding all the cards. The only way to make sure no one: god or demon or hunter – would challenge his authority ever again.
Lempo had to be stopped. Everyone agreed to that. Here, Piru suspected, was the single thing that he and Mielikki and the Winchesters would always agree on. They all wanted the same thing. It should have been a perfect alliance. In fact, Mielikki had actually suggested an alliance. The four of them taking out Piru together would even the score. It would ensure no one came out completely on top and no one owed the other factions anything. As a strategy it was brilliant and safe and completely naïve. Mielikki might have wanted to act for the good of the world, but Piru was not that kind of person. Piru did not want to only get rid of Lempo and be done with it. He wanted to set himself in Lempo's place, to hold Lempo's power. He knew that neither Mielikki nor the Winchesters would ever allow him to get away with it. Which meant they, too, had to go.
Mielikki would be easy to subdue. Piru knew too much about her. He knew about her liaisons with various mortals, he knew about her proteges. And he knew about her son. That would be enough to keep Mielikki tame and out of his business. If Piru promised to keep himself away from Elias, Mielikki would keep away from him and not try anything funny. All for the sake of her son's safety. Piru smirked. Families. They made one weak.
Which brought him back to the Winchesters. He held their souls now, but that was not enough. As long as they were together, they were as much of a threat to him as they were for anyone else. They were a powerful weapon, but one that could turn on Piru. He was aware of that. He knew that it did not matter that he had control over them now. It did not matter that he could cause them pain. They needed to be kept in line. They needed to be kept away from each other.
Piru looked up at Pekka's arrival. Sam was walking behind him, tense and wary, his face full of antagonism. Piru sighed. Those Winchesters really never learned.
"Hello, Sam. I hope I did not damage you too much after my little demonstration back in your cell."
Sam's lip curled in an expression of disgust.
"I'll live," he snapped.
Piru made a small sign to Pekka, who was still hovering close to Sam.
"Thanks. You can leave us now."
Pekka hesitated, but then shrugged. He left the room. Sam watched him go, then turned to Piru.
"Afraid he might discover who you really are if he hears your plans?"
Piru shook his head, amused.
"Hardly. He's dead, Sam. And unlike you and your brother, no one's ever going to offer him a chance to get back to the world of the living. It's permanent for him. He's left behind pesky things such as morality."
"Which you never had to begin with," Sam quipped.
"Oh, I have morality," Piru corrected. "I have strict rules which I always follow. You've heard the stories about me, haven't you?"
Sam said nothing. Piru shrugged.
"It's time I made good use of you. See, you and Dean, your souls are like the ultimate nuclear weapons. I'm sure you've heard that every human soul is powerful. Well, yours and Dean's are in a league of their own. There's so much darkness there, years of pain…and then there's your loyalty towards each other, the intensity of your bond. All this make your souls unique. Hasn't anyone told you that?"
Sam still kept silent. Piru rolled his eyes. Fine. If this was how Sam was going to play it, Piru could adapt.
"I'm gonna split you up, Sam."
He watched the color drain from Sam's face.
"Right," he continued. "I'm going to keep Dean and give you to Lempo."
Sam took a step back.
"What did you say?"
Piru smirked. He leaned back in his chair, feeling an irrational twinge of satisfaction because he was finally able to crack Sam's previously impassive look.
"It's designed to look like a truce. A way to ensure he doesn't bother me and I don't bother him. Because we'd have equally powerful weapons to use against each other. I'd have one Winchester – he'd control the other. Smooth, isn't it, Sammy?"
He saw Sam stiffen further. Of course, he had forgotten how much Sam hated to be called that.
"What's your game?" Sam asked.
Piru nodded, pretending to be pleased.
"See, that's what I've always liked about you Winchesters. You're clever. Worthy opponents. Worthy allies, too, but it's much more fun having you as opponents. It keeps me on my toes. Keeps me from getting rusty."
Sam scowled.
"Is that why you're pawning me out to Lempo?"
"Not really," Piru said bluntly. "Because…I'm not going to relinquish control of your soul. You'll still be mine – still doing my bidding. It's gonna be even better, because I'd be the one holding Dean captive as well. So – you'd have to do all I ask, because you'd be terrified that I might do something uncomfortable to him. So, if you want Dean safe, you'll do me a little favor. You're used to doing favors for Dean's safety, aren't you? This is how all this started, right?"
"What do you want?" Sam asked flatly.
Piru got up and approached Sam. He noticed him tensing even further at the closeness.
"You're going to go to Lempo. I have two of his hiidet here ready to take you. And you're gonna kill him."
Sam actually laughed at that.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Crowley once referred to you as your brother as pest control. Well – I'm hiring you. Rid me of Lempo and maybe I won't use Dean's soul as a pincushion while you're away. You know what that feels, don't you, Sammy?"
Sam hesitated.
"You'll let us go afterwards?" he tried.
Piru snorted.
"Don't push it, Sam. I have all the cards."
"You'll let Dean go?"
Piru actually considered it.
"And you'll stay here with me? You'll allow me to use your soul as I see fit? As insurance against anyone who dares to challenge me?"
Sam nodded.
"Just let Dean go and I swear I'll be anything you want me to be."
Piru placed his hand on Sam's shoulder and felt him tense even further.
"You're going to challenge Lempo," he said, spotting the look of bafflement on Sam's face. "There are rules, you see. Those like us, we cannot back off from a challenge, even when it's a mortal issuing it."
Sam shook his head.
"He's basically indestructible. Like Luohi was, right? I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't have the Colt with me. How exactly am I supposed to defeat him? He'll kill me before I can even make a move on him."
Piru huffed.
"He won't. First, because such challenges don't matter if the fight isn't fair. He'll do everything to give you a fair chance. Second – right now, even if he does kill you, it won't matter. Because I own your soul. And I can keep you alive. I can bring you back. You'd do best to remember that, Sam, before you decide to escape some other way."
The look on Sam's face told Piru he had guessed correctly. Sam had indeed been planning on allowing himself to be taken out together with Lempo, so he could escape Piru's influence.
"But you promise you'll let Dean go?" Sam insisted.
Piru shrugged.
"I'll let Dean go. Do we have deal?"
He extended his hand. Sam hesitated, then grasped it. Piru held back his smirk. That was good. He owned Sam Winchester now.
I admit I didn't want to stop this exactly here, but it's been a busy, frustrating week at work, so time and energy weren't exactly on my side. So this particular cliffhanger wasn't exactly planned. Sorry, folks.