May 1st – May 2nd, 2008

I was jolted awake by the sound of someone panting heavily. I lifted my head up off of the research Dean and I had been doing, to see Dean sitting next to me looking terrified.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

Dean snapped himself out of it. "What? Oh, nothing."

I put my hand on his. "Dean, seriously—"

Sam walked into the room. "Dig up anything good?"

Dean closed one of our books that had been opened to a page about hellhounds. "No." He cleared his throat. "Nothing good."

"Well, Bobby has. Finally." Sam smiled.

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. A way to find Lilith."

"Oh. With just uh..." Dean looked at his watch. "Thirty hours to go." He smiled up at Sam. "Hey, why don't we just make a TJ-run, yeah? Ya know... some senoritas, cervezas, uh, we could..." He thought for a second. "What's Spanish for 'donkey show'?"

Sam chuckled. "So if we do save you... let's never do that."

"Yeah..." Dean looked down at our research, and Sam sat down next to me.

"Hey, Dean." Sam sighed. "Look, we're cutting it close, I know. But we're gonna get this done. I don't care what it takes, Dean. You're not gonna go to Hell. I'm not gonna let you." Dean looked up at him. "I swear. Everything's gonna be okay."

Dean studied Sam's face carefully and looked terrified for a moment, but then he nodded. "Yeah, okay."

When we walked out into Bobby's living room, he had set up this weird device over a map of the United States. It had three wooden legs like a tripod and a long rod in the center with a point on the end. There was a crystal ball on top and a metal ring around the legs with some symbols carved into it.

"So, you need a name, that's the whole kit and caboodle. With the right name, right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out," Bobby explained when we joined him at the table.

"Like the town, Lilith's in?" Sam asked.

Bobby chuckled. "Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street." He began reciting a ritual, and the pointed rod started swinging like a pendulum, and then it suddenly stopped. He leaned down and looked at the location it pointed to. "New Harmony, Indiana. And we have a winner."

"All right." Sam pushed the pointer away and looked at Bobby. "Let's go."

Dean shook his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Just holster it up there, Tex."

"What's the problem?" Sam asked.

"What's the problem? Come on, where do I begin?" Dean asked. "I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? Now when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked. Okay? Second, even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her. And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your giant head on a pike? Should I continue?"

"Ain't you just bringing down the room." Bobby scoffed.

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's a gift."

"I'm sorry, so then what are we supposed to do, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Just 'cause I gotta die doesn't mean you have to, okay? Either we go in smart, or we don't go in at all," Dean said.

"Okay, fine. If that's the case, I have the answer," Sam said.

"You do?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. A sure-fire way to confirm its Lilith and a way to get us a bonafide demon-killing ginsu," Sam said.

Dean glared at Sam. "Damn it, Sam, no." He turned and walked a few steps away.

"We're so past arguing. Dean, I am summoning Ruby," Sam said.

Dean turned to face him. "The hell you are! We have enough problems as it is."

"Exactly." Sam walked up to him. "And we've got no time and no choice either."

"Come on, man, she is the Miss Universe of lying skanks, okay. She told you that she could save me, huh... lie. She seems to know everything about Lilith but forgot to mention, oh right... Lilith owns my soul!" Dean shouted.

Sam nodded. "Okay, fine. She's a liar. She's still got that knife."

"Dean," Bobby said.

"For all we know, she works for Lilith," Dean said.

"Then give me another option, Dean. I mean, tell me what else," Sam said.

"Sam's right," Bobby said.

"No! Damn it!" Dean yelled loud enough for me to jump.

Bobby raised his eyebrows, not expecting that, and we were all silent for a moment.

Dean sighed. "Just no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again." He shook his head. "You guys wanna save me, find something else." He walked back to the table we had been working at before.

Sam sighed, and Bobby grabbed his jacket.

"Where are you going, Bobby?" Sam asked.

"I guess to..." Bobby threw his arms out in frustration. "Find something else."

I went and joined Dean at the table again, but after a while, I noticed Sam was gone.

"Hey, did you see where Sam went?" I asked.

Dean looked up and glared. "Son of a bitch."

"What?" I asked.

He quickly stood up and walked over to the basement door. He put his ear up to it and then pulled away, shaking his head. He opened the door carefully and then started down the stairs, and of course, I followed. He looked up at me and put his finger to his mouth.

The further down the stairs we got, the louder Sam and Ruby's voices got.

"Sam, you've got some God-given talent. Well, not God-given, but you get the gist," Ruby said.

"All that psychic crap?" Sam asked. "That's gone ever since Yellow-eyes died."

Ruby shook her head. "Not gone, dormant. And not just visions either. Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?"

Sam shook his head. "Right... she's scared of me."

"If you wanted, you could wipe her off the map without moving a muscle," Ruby said.

Dean and I gave each other a look and then hid around the corner, watching from the cover of darkness. From where I stood, I could now see that Sam had set up a summoning ritual.

Sam shook his head. "I don't believe you."

"It's the truth," Ruby said.

"And you decided to tell me this just now?" Sam asked.

"Um... demon. Manipulative's kinda in the job description." Ruby shrugged. "Fact is, is that you would have never considered it. Not until you were—"

"Desperate enough?" Sam asked.

They exchanged a look, and she shrugged when Sam looked away. "You don't like being different. You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes. Like you're some kind of sideshow freak. But suck it up because we've got a lot of ground to cover, and we've gotta do it fast. But we can do it."

Sam looked at the ground and then back up at her.

"Look. Call me a bitch, hate me all you want, but I have never lied to you, Sam. Not ever. And I'm telling you. You... can save your brother, and I can show you how," Ruby said.

Dean walked out, and I followed behind. "So that's you, huh? Our slutty little Yoda."

"Dean." Ruby rolled her eyes. "Charming as ever."

"Ah, I knew you'd show up. Because I knew Sam wouldn't listen." Dean snapped a look at Sam.

Sam looked at him and then away.

"But you're not gonna teach him anything, you understand me?" Dean asked. "Over my dead body."

"Oh. Well, you're right about that," Ruby said.

"What you are gonna do is give me that knife. And then you can just go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never bother me or my brother or sister ever again. Are we clear?" Dean asked.

"Your brother is carrying a bomb inside of him, and we'd be stupid not to use it," Ruby said.

Sam sighed. "Dean, look, just hold on for one—"

"Sam!" Dean yelled. "Don't. Come on, man. What? Are you blind? Can't you see that this is a trick?"

Ruby shook her head. "That's not true."

"She wants you to give in to this whole demonic psychic whatever, okay. I mean hell, she probably wants you to become her little Anti-Christ Super Star," Dean said.

"I want Lilith dead," Ruby snarled, "That's all."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"I've told you why!" Ruby yelled.

"Oh, right, yeah." Dean scoffed. "Because you were human once, and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach."

Ruby stepped forward into Dean's face. "Ya know, I am so sick of proving myself to you. You wanna save yourself, this is how. You dumb, spineless dick."

Dean looked at her and turned to walk away, but then swung back, punching her in the face. I stepped away, not wanting to get involved.

Ruby took a few steps back and wiped the blood from her mouth and then punched Dean twice.

Sam grabbed her shoulder. "Ruby, hey!"

Ruby turned and hit Sam in the back, causing him to double over and then kneed him in the face. As she turned around to me, Dean punched her in the face, but as he went to hit her again, she ducked and kneed him in the stomach.

I quickly ran over to Sam and checked to see if he was okay. Then I turned to see Ruby kick Dean in the face, which sent him to the ground. He tried to get up, but she walked over to him and kicked him in the stomach. He tried to get up again, and she grabbed his shirt, pulling him up just to head-butt him and send him back to the ground. As he stood up slowly, he smiled.

"The hell are you grinning at?" Ruby asked, through gritted teeth.

"Missing something?" Dean asked as he pulled out her knife.

Ruby glared at him. "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch." She rushed forward but was stopped by an invisible force. She tried to step forward but was again stopped.

Ruby looked at Dean curiously and then up at the ceiling to see a devil's trap that Bobby had set up a long time ago. Dean smirked and walked away.

Ruby followed him with her eyes. "Wait! You're just gonna leave me here?"

Dean ignored her and looked at Sam and me. "Let's go."

We started walking up the stairs together.

"Oh, oh you— so you're just too stupid to live, is that it? Then fine!" Ruby yelled, "You deserve Hell! I wish I could be there, Dean. I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones! I wish I could be there to hear you scream!"

"And I wish you'd shut your pie hole, but we don't always get what we want," Dean said.

When we got back upstairs, they cleaned themselves up and then started getting their weapons cleaned and ready.

Sam sighed. "We're just gonna let Ruby rot down there?"

Dean nodded. "That's the idea."

"Dean, what if, uh... what if Ruby's right?" Sam asked, "What if I can take out Lilith?"

Dean looked up at him with a doubtful, angry expression.

"Quit looking at me like that," Sam said.

"What, are you gonna give her the Carrie-stare and Lilith goes 'poof'?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "I don't know what Ruby meant. You know, maybe we should just go ask her."

"Sam, you wanted the knife... I got you the knife," Dean said.

"Dean, just listen to me for a second. Last time Lilith snapped her fingers and put thirty demons on our ass, and all we got's one little knife?" Sam asked. "I mean, like you said, we go in smart, or we don't go in at all."

Dean sighed and shook his head. "Well, this ain't smart."

"We got one shot at this, Dean. Just one. So, if there's a sure-fire way, then maybe we should just talk about it," Sam said.

I sighed. "Dean... maybe Sam's right."

Dean shook his head. "We are not gonna make the same mistake all over again."

Sam nodded. "You said that, but what does it even mean?"

"Don't you see a pattern here?" Dean asked, looking at both of us. "Dad's deal, my deal, now this? I mean every time one of us is— is— is up the creek, the other is begging to sell their soul. That's all this is." He looked at Sam. "Ruby's just jerking your chain down the road. You know what it's paved with, and you know where it's going." He leaned up against the table and started cleaning another gun.

Sam shook his head. "Dean..." He leaned up against the table next to him. "What do you think is gonna happen? This is me. I can handle it."

Dean stopped what he was doing and shook his head.

Sam shrugged. "And if it'll save you—"

"Why even risk it?" Dean asked.

"Because you're my brother. Because you did the same thing for me," Sam said.

Dean scoffed. "I know... and look how that turned out." He looked at Sam and me. "All I'm saying..." He started to get choked up. "All I'm saying is... that you're my weak spot." He smiled at us. "You are. And I'm yours."

I felt tears running down my cheeks. Dean reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me over to him and wrapping his arms around me. He kissed the top of my head and then kept me against his side as he rubbed my arm.

"You don't mean that." Sam choked out. "We're— We're family."

Dean nodded. "I know. And those evil sons of bitches know it too. I mean, what we'll do for each other, you know, how far we'll go? They're using it against us."

"So, what? We just stop looking out for each other?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head. "No, we stop being martyrs, man. We— We— We stop spreading it for these demons." He grabbed Ruby's knife and held it up. "We take this knife, and we go after Lilith our way. The way Dad taught us to. And if we go down, then, uh— then we go down swinging." He looked at Sam. "What do you think?"

Sam thought for a second. "I think you totally should have been jamming Eye of the Tiger right there."

Dean stood up. "Oh, bite me. I totally rehearsed that speech, too."

Sam smiled. "So, Indiana, huh?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, where Lilith's on shore-leave."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Tell me something," Dean said, "The hell's a demon do for fun?"

We made our way out to the Impala with our stuff, but when Dean tried to start it, it just wouldn't.

Bobby walked up to Dean's window holding the distributor cap in his hand. "Where do you think you're going?"

Dean got out of the car. "We got the knife."

Sam and I followed.

"And you intend to use it without me?" Bobby asked, "Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?"

Sam shook his head. "No, Bobby. Of course not."

"This is about us..." Dean sighed. "Okay? This isn't your fight."

Bobby walked up to Dean, fury in his eyes. "The hell it isn't!"

Dean looked taken aback.

"Family don't end with blood, boy." Bobby stared at Dean for a second and then took a small step back. "Besides, you need me."

Dean shook his head. "Bobby—"

"You're playing wounded. Tell me how many hallucinations have you had so far?" Bobby asked.

Sam and I looked at Dean, confused.

Dean nodded. "How'd you know?"

If Dean was seeing things, that meant that he might not be at the top of his game. Which was never a good thing when hunting, especially when it was so important.

"Because that's what happens when you've got hellhounds on your butt." Bobby shrugged. "And because I'm smart."

Dean looked at the ground.

Bobby sighed and handed him the distributor cap. "I'll follow." He walked away and then called back over his shoulder. "Don't be stopping to pee every ten minutes, either."

I laid in the back of the Impala while we drove, thinking about how time felt like it was moving too fast, and we were just running out of it. I tried to shrug off the tears and thoughts about losing Dean in only hours. We had to save him, we couldn't lose him, I couldn't. My whole life, the one person who had always been there for me was Dean, even more than Sam or Dad. He was always the one I could look to for anything, without fail. Sure, we argued once in a while, but we always got over it pretty quickly. I couldn't imagine life without him, and the thought of it made me feel like my chest was collapsing in on itself.

I tried to shake off the thoughts, but the silence in the car wasn't helping. I felt tears sting my eyes and my hands started to shake as my throat and chest started to tighten.

"Hey, Dean?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

"You know if this doesn't, uh..." Sam cleared his throat. "This doesn't go the way we want. I want you to know—"

I started to cry silently to myself.

Dean put his hand up. "No. No, no, no."

"No, what?" Sam asked.

Dean looked over at him. "No, you're not gonna bust out the misty goodbye speech, okay? And if this is my last day on earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward."

Sam turned away, looking out of the window.

"You know what I do want?" Dean asked, and then he flipped the radio on and started playing Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive.

Sam shrugged. "Bon Jovi?"

"Bon Jovi rocks, on occasion," Dean said, "Maddi, what do you think?"

I quickly wiped my eyes. "Uh, yeah..." I took a deep breath and sat up. "Uh, it's good." I nodded.

Dean smiled and started singing, "And I walk these streets! A loaded six-string on my back! I play for keeps..." He looked at Sam and me. "Come on." He went back to singing, "'Cause I might not make it back! I've been everywhere..."

Sam nodded and started singing, "Oh yeah..."

"And I'm standing tall..." we all sang together, "I've seen a million faces! And I rocked 'em all! 'Cause I'm a cowboy! On a steel horse, I ride! I'm wanted..."

I laughed happily as Sam started really getting into it.

"Wanted!" we sang, "Dead or alive. Dead or alive!"

Suddenly sirens and red and blue lights started going off behind us.

"We gettin' pulled over?" Sam asked.

Dean turned the music down. "I've got a busted tail-light. It's not like we're in a hurry or nothing."

We pulled over, and Dean grabbed his license and registration as the officer approached his window with his flashlight out.

"Problem officer?" Dean asked.

"License and registration, please," the officer said.

Dean handed him what he asked for.

"Do you realize you have a tail-light out, Mr. Hagard?" the officer asked as he looked over the license.

Dean nodded up at him. "Yes... yes, sir. Uh... you know I've been meaning to... take care of that." He started fidgeting a bit. "As a matter of fact..." He suddenly opened the door, hitting the officer in the stomach with it, and then jumped out of the car at him.

"Dean!" Sam shouted and opened his door but quickly looked back at me. "Stay in the car."

Dean punched the officer several times in the face before Sam reached him, but Dean pulled out Ruby's knife and shoved it into the officer's jaw.

I gasped and put my hands over my mouth, but then I saw the officer's skeleton spark, and then he started smoking where the knife went in.

"He was a demon?!" I asked out of my window.

Bobby came running up from his car. "What the hell happened?"

"Dean just killed a demon," Sam said, shocked and then turned to Dean. "How'd you know?"

Dean was breathing heavily and looked worried. "I just knew." He looked down at the officer. "I could see its face. Its real face under that one."

A few minutes later, we had the police car with the officer in it parked off the side of the road into the woods a little bit, and we covered it in branches.

"So, what, now you're seeing demons?" Sam asked.

"I've seen all kinds of things lately, but... nothing like this," Dean said.

"Actually, it's not all that crazy," Bobby said.

"How's it not that crazy?" Dean asked.

"Well, you've got, just over five hours to go?" Bobby asked. "You're piercing the veil, Dean. You're glimpsing the B side."

"A little less new age-y please," Dean said.

"You're almost Hell's bitch. So, you can see Hell's other bitches," Bobby said.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Thank you."

I thought for a second. "That could actually be useful."

"Oh, well, I'm glad my doomed soul is good for something," Dean said.

"Damn right it is. Lilith's probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let them sound the alarm. She knows we're here, we're dead before we're started," Bobby said.

"Well, this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it. Can we go, please?" Dean rolled his eyes and started walking back to the Impala.

Eventually, we found the house that Lilith was supposed to be in, so we snuck into an empty house for sale right across the street.

We could see a man, a woman, and a little girl sitting around a dinner table. Another person was sitting with them, but they were face down on the table, which wasn't a good sign.

"It's the little girl. Her face is awful," Dean said as he pulled binoculars away from his face and handed them to Sam.

The man stood up and started closing the curtains.

"All right then, let's go. We're wasting time," Sam said as he looked out of the binoculars. He lowered them and moved toward the door.

Dean grabbed his shoulder. "Wait!"

"For what? For it to kill the rest of them?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, and us too if we're not careful. Look." Dean pointed out of the window. "See the real go-getter mailman on the clock at 9PM?"

Sam held up the binoculars again at the mailman.

Dean pointed in a different direction to an older man in his house. "And Mr. Rogers over there."

"Demons?" Bobby asked.

Dean nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, fine. We— We— We—" Sam stuttered while he thought. "We ninja past those guys, sneak in."

"Then what? Give a Colombian necktie to a ten-year-old girl? Come on!" Dean shouted.

"Look, Dean, I know it's awful," Sam said.

"You think?" Dean asked.

"This isn't just about saving you, Dean. This is about saving everybody," Sam said.

Bobby sighed and nodded. "She's gotta be stopped, son."

Dean thought carefully and then shook his head. "Oh, damn it."

While Sam and Dean went to take care of the two demons we knew of, Bobby and I went to set up a trap for any more demons if they approached the house Lilith was in.

Bobby took a rosary, and we made our way to a stream behind the house that had a hose coming out of it that led straight to the sprinkler system. He recited a ritual in Latin and then dropped the rosary into the stream.

Suddenly, I heard several footsteps behind us and turned to see a huge group of demons chasing Sam, Dean, and someone else into the house.

"Bobby, we have to hurry," I said.

"All right. All right. Let's go," Bobby said and then walked up to a panel on the side of the house. He opened the small metal door and pressed a few buttons.

Then the sprinklers turned on, and the demons started smoking and stepping back.

I started creeping away quietly and slowly to make my way to the back door I had spotted.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bobby asked before he even turned around to raise an eyebrow at me.

"Uh, sorry, Bobby..." I started running toward the back door. "Just go back to the house, like we planned." I quickly ran to the door, thankfully it was unlocked, and as I felt Bobby grab the hood of my jacket, I swung it open and jumped inside, locking it behind me.

Bobby jiggled the lock and glared at me through the window on the door. "Damn it, girl."

"I'm sorry, Bobby, but I need to be a part of this. Please understand," I said.

Bobby sighed and shook his head. "Just— Just be careful." He stared at me for a long moment and then turned away.

I turned and walked through the kitchen when I heard talking toward the front of the house.

"You think Lilith knows we're here?" Dean asked.

"Probably," a woman that sounded like Ruby said.

I walked around the corner to see Sam, Dean, and Ruby standing near the front door next to a corpse of an old woman. "What are you doing here?" I asked Ruby.

Dean spun around. "I should be asking you that. Where's Bobby?"

"He's fine. He's headed back to the other house. It's not his fault, I slipped him," I said.

"Damn it, Maddison." Dean shook his head.

Suddenly, there was a creak from a closet behind Dean, and a man jumped out. Dean spun around and grabbed the man putting his hand over his mouth. "We're here to help," he whispered, "Okay? I'm gonna move my hand, and we're gonna talk nice and quiet, okay?"

The man nodded, and Dean removed his hand.

"Sir, where is your daughter?" Sam asked.

"It's not..." The man shook his head. "It's not her anymore."

"Where is she?" Sam asked.

"Upstairs. In her bedroom," the man said quickly.

"Okay, okay, okay," Dean said softly. "Listen to me. I want you to go downstairs to the basement. Put a line of salt at the door behind you. Do you understand me?"

"Not without my wife," the man said.

Dean nodded. "Yes, without your wife."

The man shook his head. "No."

Dean punched the man in the face, knocking him out and throwing him over his shoulder. He looked at Sam and nodded for him to go upstairs and then gave me an angry look. "You. With me. Now."

Ruby and Sam started creeping their way upstairs.

I sighed as I followed after Dean. "Dean, I'm—"

"No, you listen to me," he cut me off. "This is extremely dangerous, this isn't a game."

"You don't think I know that?" I furrowed my brow at him. "I didn't come in for a good time. I— I—"

"You what?" Dean asked as he opened the door to the basement. "This isn't just some other hunt, Maddison."

"I know, that's why I had to come," I said as I followed him down the stairs.

"No, that's why you should've stayed with Bobby," Dean said.

"Dean..." I sighed as we made it to the basement landing.

"Maddi, stop. You need to listen. That's the end of it. No and's, if's, or but's about it. This isn't a joke," Dean said sternly as he laid the man down on the ground.

"Will you stop!" I shouted. "I had to come, Dean. I— I had to."

"No, you didn't!" Dean got in my face and glared at me.

I stared into his eyes, and I started to feel my own start to water. "You have what? Maybe an hour left?" I choked. "I didn't know if I was going to see you alive again." I shook my head. "I had to come." I cried and shrugged. "I'm sorry."

Dean pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head. He rubbed my back. "I love you, kid."

"I love you too," I said, and then we just stood there in each other's embrace for a moment.

Dean pulled back, and I could see that his eyes were filled with tears too. "Let's go, okay?"

I nodded, and we ran upstairs, closing the basement door behind us. Dean pulled out a can of salt from his duffel bag and lined the door, then we made our way up to the second floor.

At the top of the stairs, we heard a woman yell, "Hurry!"

Then a little girl screamed. So, we took off, running in the direction of the screams.

Sam was about to stab the little girl as she laid in her mother's arms until Dean, thankfully, grabbed Sam's arm. "It's not her!"

The girl was breathing fast and heavily. She looked completely terrified. Sam looked back at Dean, confused.

Dean shook his head. "It's not in the girl anymore."

"Mommy!" The girl cried out and tucked her face into her mother's chest.

"Mommy's here. Mommy's here. It's okay," the woman tried to comfort her daughter, still freaked out.

After making our way downstairs, Dean and I guided the mother and daughter down to the basement. When we came back up, Dean angrily shook his head at the conversation Ruby and Sam were having.

"Okay, you win. What do I have to do?" Sam asked Ruby as we walked into the living room.

Ruby gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"To save Dean," Sam said, "What do you need me to do?"

Dean grabbed Sam's shoulder. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Sam pulled free from Dean's grasp. "Just shut up for a second." Then he turned back to Ruby. "Ruby!"

Ruby shrugged. "You had your chance. You can't just flip a switch. We needed time."

"Well, there's gotta be something," Sam said desperately. "There's gotta be some way, whatever it is, I'll do it."

Dean grabbed Sam's shoulder again.

Sam jerked away and turned to him. "Don't, Dean! I'm not gonna let you go to Hell, Dean!"

"Yes, you are!" Dean shouted.

My heart sank, and I stared at him.

"Yes, you are." Dean looked at me. "You both are." He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I mean, this is all my fault, I know that." He looked back at Sam. "But what you're doing, it's not gonna save me. It's only gonna kill you."

Sam looked away for a second as tears built. "Then, what are we supposed to do?"

"Keep fighting. Take care of each other. Take care of my wheels. Remember what Dad taught you... okay?" Dean looked at both of us, tears in his own eyes.

Sam and I nodded.

Dean took a deep breath. "And remember what I taught you."

Suddenly, the grandfather clock in the corner of the room struck midnight. Dean jumped and looked over at the clock, trying to keep himself calm and hold back his tears.

"I'm sorry, Dean." Ruby shook her head. "I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy."

Dean's face fell. "Hellhound."

"Where?" Sam asked.

Dean pointed right beside us. "There."

There was nothing there, but the fear in Dean's eyes told me there really was. Dean began to run, so we all chased after him into another room and slammed the door shut behind us.

Dean pulled a bag of goofer dust out of his duffel and started pouring it in front of the doors as Sam, Ruby, and I pushed against them. The pounding suddenly stopped as the line was finished. He then bolted for the windows and started lining the windowsills.

"Give me the knife, maybe I can fight it off," Ruby said to Sam.

Sam furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Come on!" Ruby shouted. "That dust won't last forever."

Sam pulled the knife out.

"Wait!" Dean shouted.

Ruby turned to Dean. "You wanna die?"

"Sam, that's not Ruby. It's not Ruby!" Dean shouted.

I stepped back, but as soon as I did, Sam and I were flung up against the wall. Sam dropped the knife on impact, and then Ruby swung around and sent Dean flying into a table and pinned him down with an invisible force.

"How long you been in her?" Dean asked as he lifted his head up to look at her.

"Not long," Lilith said in an eerily sweet voice. She looked down at her new body and swayed around happily. "But I like it. It's all grown up and pretty."

"And where's Ruby?" Sam asked.

Lilith turned around. "She was a very bad girl, so I sent her far, far away," she continued speaking in the sweet voice.

"You know, I should have seen it before... but you all look alike to me," Dean said.

"Hello, Sam." Lilith approached him. "I've wanted to meet you for a very long time." She grabbed hold of his chin and forced him to kiss her. When their lips met, they sizzled and smoked just slightly. "Your lips are soft."

Sam tried to move his face out of her grip. "Right, so you have me. Let my brother and sister go."

"Silly goose." She giggled. "You wanna bargain, you have to have something that I want. You don't."

"So, is this your big plan, huh? Drag me to Hell. Kill them. And then what? Become queen bitch?" Dean asked.

"I don't have to answer to puppy chow." Lilith giggled as she moved away from Sam and approached the door. "Sic 'em, boy."

Sam, Dean, and I looked at each other terrified.

Lilith opened the door, and the goofer dust blew away. She laughed and smiled as the hellhound started tearing through Dean's leg and pulled him down to the ground, causing him to scream out in pain.

"No!" I cried, tears fully streaming down my face as I watched Dean get clawed apart.

"No! Stop!" Sam yelled.

Dean screamed as the hellhound continued slashing at him, and he turned over onto his stomach.

"Stop it!" Sam screamed again.

Lilith watched with a smile on her face as the hellhound slashed open Dean's back.

"Dean!" I cried.

"No!" Sam yelled.

Dean flipped over onto his back again, but the hellhound slashed open his chest, and he screamed out in agony.

I put my head down and squeezed my eyes shut, crying.

"No. Stop it!" Sam begged.

I snapped my eyes open and looked up as Dean started breathing heavily.

"Stop it!" Sam shouted again.

Blood was pouring from Dean's chest. He was still alive, but no longer reacting to anything as the hellhound continued to mangle his body.

"No!" Sam yelled as he struggled to pull himself off of the wall.

Lilith looked up at us. "Yes." Her eyes went white, and then she held out her hand at us as a white light erupted from it.

Sam and I turned our hands and squinted our eyes, but then I hit the ground. As the light slowly dimmed, I looked over to see Sam sitting on the floor next to me.

I looked up as Lilith's eyes slowly changed back to normal, and she stood there looking confused. Sam slowly stood up, and Lilith started to shake as if she was afraid.

"Back." Lilith put her hand up.

Sam looked down, but nothing happened, so he continued walking toward her.

"I said, back," she said with her hand still out.

Sam quickly bent down and picked up the knife. "I don't think so." He pulled back to stab her, but as he did, she tilted her head back and shrieked, letting the black demon smoke leave her body.

I stood up as the now-dead girl collapsed next to Dean. I began crying again at the sight of Dean's lifeless body. He was no longer moving, but his eyes were just open, staring off at nothing.

Sam began to cry and knelt next to him, holding up his head. "No... no... Dean..."

I knelt next to Sam and buried my head in his arm, fully letting myself cry.

"Dean..." Sam cried. He held Dean for a moment and then laid him back down, closing Dean's eyes. He moved back against the wall, pulling me with him into his arms, and we just sat there together, crying next to Dean's body.