Special thanks to Insane Troll Logic for editing and suggestions. I greatly appreciate her help. Also thanks to all those that put this on their story alert and those that reviewed.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended.

Better to Reign

A friend loveth for all times and a brother is born for adversity-Proverbs 17:17

Chapter 3

By burying themselves in work, the Winchesters were able to pretend that things were normal--at least normal according to the Winchester lexicon. Dean was particularly good at ignoring any elephants that might be in the room, even if they were stomping on his relationship with his brother.

Bobby set about making a mold for the talisman while Dean began melting down the gold jewelry that Sam had picked up at the pawn shop. Years spent melting and molding silver for bullets guaranteed that the task, while tedious, was fairly straight forward.

While Dean and Bobby busied themselves making the talisman, Sam read.

The brothers only saw each other in passing, not even sitting down to eat together. Although there were two twin beds in the room at Bobby's that had become theirs by default, one brother slept in the room while the other bunked out in the living room on the couch. Whoever went to bed first got the bed.

One day passed, then two.

On the evening of the third day, Dean sauntered into the kitchen and tossed a one inch by two inch square of dull yellow onto the page of the book Sam was studying; symbols adorned one side and it was strung from a leather thong. Sam picked up the talisman and studied the Aramaic letters.

"The names of three angels?"

"Senoy, Sansenov and Semangelof," Dean pronounced the names slowly, having difficulty with the foreign sounding syllables.

Sam raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.

"Hey, they're a lot harder to say than Castiel, Uriel, and what-the-hell." He rubbed his eyes dramatically. "And I said that incantation so many times while I was melting, pouring, and inscribing that I'm gonna be hearing it in my sleep."

"It's not an incantation, Dean; it's a prayer, a prayer of protection."

"Incantation."

"Prayer."

"To-maa-toe, to-mah-toe," Dean smirked, feeling he'd made his point.

Stirring the last bit of seasoning into the chili he was making for dinner, Bobby huffed a quiet chuckle from over by the stove. It might not have been much in the way of banter but it was more than the boys had said to each other at one sitting since the night they'd arrived. He dished the meat and beans into a couple of bowls and set them on the table. He then carried his own bowl over and sat down. He glared at Sam until he closed the book and picked up his spoon then shifted his gaze to Dean.

Dean sat down, idly fingering a second talisman. "There was only enough gold for these two." He stared at it a moment longer before laying it down in front of Bobby and picking up his spoon.

Bobby picked it up and handed it back. "You're likely to need this more'n me. Going up against high level demons is a young man's hunt and you always seem determined to put yourself right in the line of fire. You take it and you wear it. I have other ways to protect myself."

Dean didn't reach for the talisman.

Bobby sighed. "Boy, if you want to be able to watch your brother's back, you're gonna need this, now take it."

Dean nodded reluctantly. He took the small gold tablet and slipped the leather thong over his head. It hid the face of the small horned god amulet that he always wore.

Sam tossed the talisman Dean had given him in front of Bobby. "I don't need it, Bobby, you wear it. If you're in with us on this, then you'll become a target too."

"Sam!"

"No, Dean, Bobby needs the talisman more than I do. Lilith can't hurt me with her power. She tried in New Harmony."

Dean stared at Sam a second and then looked over at Bobby. He dropped his eyes to his chili but didn't pick up his spoon. Bobby looked at the talisman and then slowly picked it up and slipped it over his head.

Sam cleared his throat to break the moment. "There's a lot of dark stuff in here and I don't know if it's accurate but if it is, the book I've been reading, the Devil's Codex, has a lot of information about the Seals. Apparently the Seals are like the tumblers on a lock. There are hundreds of Seals but only sixty-six need to be broken in order for the lock, or the door to Lucifer's prison, to open. However, they can be re-set if you know how to do it. I haven't gotten to that part yet. Mostly the writer is telling how to find and break the Seals.

"Most Seals aren't things or places but actions, like the raising of the Witnesses or the raising of Samhain. However, it seems that all the Devil's gateways are Seals. If they're opened in the right way at the right time, it breaks the Seal. There's a ritual that involves blood being spilled on the key that opens the gateway and if this is done on a solstice it will break the Seal."

"The next solstice is December twenty-first," Bobby said between bites.

"Exactly, if we go to a Devil's gateway at that time, there is a good chance we'll find Lilith there trying to break the Seal and she'll have to have the key. If we're lucky, we'll stop her, protect a Seal and get the colt back. We could stop the apocalypse. This could all be over in a couple of weeks."

"Looks like we'll be headed to Wyoming," Dean stated.

"You boys know it won't be that simple. There's got to be a lot of gateways to Hell. You don't know that the one in the cemetery in Wyoming will be where Lilith will show up. And if it is, it won't be one demon we go up against, it's likely gonna be a dozen or more if what she had in New Harmony is anything to go on. These talismans might, might, protect us from Lilith's power but they're not gonna do a damn thing to stop those other sons of bitches from tearing us to shreds. Heading to the Devil's gate without some kind of plan to take care of them is plain suicide."

"We don't need a plan, Bobby," Dean said. "Samuel Colt already laid one down for us."

Bobby stoked his chin, clearly thinking about the possibility. "The iron railroad tracks laid out in the shape of a pentagram to protect the gate? I thought those tracks got busted by Jake as part of the grand scheme to let out a demon army."

"Just because a plan has some flaws, doesn't make it a bad plan. We get there early. Check the tracks, make a temporary repair, maybe with a consecrated iron chain; something that we can take off to let Lilith in and then replace to keep the other demons out. Isolate her and take her out. Once she's gone, the other demons probably won't hang around. If they do we take a cassette player and a pre-recorded tape, turn the volume up and do a mass exorcism, like we did in that police station in Colorado. The real question is how we take care of Lilith. I wonder if a Devil's trap will hold her or if Ruby's knife will work on her. It didn't on…on another higher level demon. Sam's…exorcism didn't work on him either."

Sam unconsciously rubbed at a small scar on his left arm. "I've been thinking about that…exorcism. We've run into something like that before, a demon not being affected by an exorcism."

"Meg?"

"Yeah, Dean, Meg. Maybe that demon had a binding mark too. That could explain why it didn't work. So maybe an exorcism will work on Lilith."

"Sammy, now you're thinking. We repair the iron pentagram, lay out a Devil's trap in front of the mausoleum and cover it with leaves, get Lilith to step in it and then exorcise her and send her back to Hell. Or, even better, since she seems to have a get-out-of-Hell-free card, get the colt or use the knife and kill her sorry ass."

Sam grinned to see his brother so enthusiastic but it was quickly gone because he knew how what he was going to say would go over. "Sounds like a plan. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have all the information we can get, like what does Lilith's current body look like, how many demons she might have with her, whether the knife will work on her. I could ask…my source. See what I can find out before we leave."

"No, Sam!"

"Dean it makes sense to go into this with all the information we can get. Like Bobby said to do less would be plain suicide. I just got you back and I'm not going to bury you again."

Dean shook his head. "Sam…"

"No, Dean, we need to be as informed as possible so we can be as prepared as we can be. If Lilith is going to be at the Wyoming gate on the solstice, and we do this right it can be over, finally over."

"It's never going to be over Sam." Dean stood and left the room.

Sam looked at Bobby who was watching Dean leave with a frown. "You understand don't you Bobby? Ruby might be able to tell me something that we can use."

Bobby attacked his chili with his spoon, stabbing it savagely. He didn't look up at Sam as he replied, "I understand it but that don't mean I like it."

*************

Sam borrowed a wreck that still ran from Bobby and headed into town. He knew better than to ask Dean to borrow the Impala. He didn't really have a way to contact Ruby but she always seemed to show up when he wanted to talk to her.

He walked around the small South Dakota town a bit before deciding to go and have a cup of coffee in a family run diner. He decided that if the coffee was good, he'd order a pie and take it back to Dean as a peace offering. He was half way through his second cup and eyeing the menu to decide what pie to get when a petite brunette slid into the booth opposite him.

"Hi Sam," the demon greeted him. "Short-stack decide to loosen the leash?"

"Ruby," Sam nodded to her. "I don't want you talking about my brother that way, okay?"

She smiled. "Then what do you want to talk about?"

"Lilith."

Ruby shook her head. "You're refusing to practice, Sam. If you can't take on a heavy hitter like Alistair then there's no way you're ready for the erstwhile queen of Hell."

"I think Alistair must have had a binding mark and that was why I couldn't exorcise him."

Ruby took a napkin and began to twist it. "Maybe but you still haven't been practicing and are no way ready for Lilith." She looked coyly at him from the corner of her eye. "I was hoping that you had come to your senses and wanted some more lessons, a little one-on-one training."

"Ruby, I promised myself that I was done with that, all of it."

"If you say so Sam," she said, dismissing the idea that he would stick to that promise. "So what do you want?"

"Do you know what Lilith looks like now? How many demons she has with her? Do you know if your knife will work on her or if a Devil's trap will contain her?"

"Gee, Sam, I don't really run in the same circles she does. Last I heard she was still favoring the Alice-in-Wonderland model and she never goes anywhere with less than a dozen bodyguards and lackeys. As for the knife, I'm not sure. Seems rather risky to try though considering how not dead it made Alistair."

"Do you know where she is?"

"No. I'm trying really hard to stay under her radar and so should you. You do still have the hex bag I made for you?"

Sam patted his jacket pocket.

"Make sure you keep it on you. Lilith still wants your head on a platter and there's a rumor that she wants your brother back too. Apparently she became very…fond…of him during his time as her guest."

"She can't have him back!" Sam hissed.

"Calm down, tiger, I'm just a messenger. But if you really wanted to protect him you'd be strengthening your abilities, not letting them go to pot."

"I'm not going to argue with you about that Ruby. I'm done with them."

"And what about me, Sam? You done with me too?"

"I still need you, Ruby. Need what you can tell me, maybe need your help."

Ruby pursed her lips. "If you aren't going to improve your psychic ability--the ability that would have eventually let you not just banish demons but control them--then what am I going to get out of this Sam? You get yourself killed; I'm left flapping in the wind."

"You still want to get rid of Lilith don't you?"

Ruby nodded.

Sam smiled, "Well I'm still your best bet. You give me the information that I need and I guarantee you, I will destroy her if it is the last thing I do. If you want more than that from me then you should leave now. I won't lead a demon army. I won't be using my power anymore. This relationship will be on my terms, take it or leave it."

"What choice are you giving me, Sam? Still, the enemy of my enemy and all that." She stood turned to the door. "I'll be around. Oh, the devil's food cake here is to die for, much better than the pie."

****************

It was after nine and totally dark by the time Bobby's loaner clanked up the drive to park behind the house. Sam pocketed the keys and grabbed the boxed pie out of the seat. Walking around to the front door, he noticed Dean sitting on the steps in the dark.

"Waiting up for me?"

"Just wanted to make sure that piece of crap Bobby let you drive made it back."

Sam sat down beside his brother and put the box on Dean's lap. "Got me there and back in one piece. I brought you some pie-Dutch apple." There was enough light from the house for Sam to see that the gift made his brother smile.

"Thanks, man."

"Thought I owed it to you after, you know, ruining your appetite at dinner."

"I would say that it wasn't your fault but you'd take back the pie." Dean looked down and started fiddling with the box. "Sam, I…I do understand what you're trying to do. I do. But trusting a demon is wrong and dangerous and nothing is gonna make me like it."

"If we get lucky and are smart, it could be all over in a couple of weeks Dean."

"It's never going to be over Sam. Not for me. After Dad left, I thought it would be over when we found him. Then I thought it would be over if we could just kill the yellow-eyed demon and I could keep you safe. Hell, I died and it wasn't over. I'm tired Sam. I want to rest; no more demons, no more apocalypse, no more of this responsibility on my shoulders, and most of all no more memories."

"Dean, it will eventually be over and we can just be brothers again. We'll stop the apocalypse. Then we can both rest."

"I don't think it will be that easy Sammy."

"You call this easy?"

Dean snorted. He began prying the tape off of the side of the box. In a voice almost too low for Sam to hear, he asked, "Did she show up?"

"Yeah."

"Learn anything?"

"Nothing that we didn't already suspect."

Dean barely nodded. He opened the box and looked at the pie. "Man, this smells great. I'm gonna go have a piece. I'll even be generous and let you have one," he said with forced brightness.

Sam, playing along, forced a small laugh. "What do you mean you'll let me have a piece? I bought the pie."

"But it's my pie. Come on." Dean slapped Sam on the shoulder as he rose and slipped into the house. Sam was right behind him. In the kitchen, he made a production of getting the pie out of the box and cutting two wedges. The sounds coming out of his mouth while chewing were not sounds that would normally be heard in a kitchen. He was trying hard to make Sam smile. He succeeded.

Sam dug into the pie with gusto. They ate and talked about nothing more important than the various pies they had eaten over the years, including a horrible mock apple pie that Sam had tried to cook as part of a home economics assignment in high school. Dean smiled and joked with his brother and then excused himself to hit the sack, leaving Sam to clean up the kitchen and put the rest of the pie away.

It was only after his brother had gone that Sam realized Dean had barely eaten half of his piece. He sighed and found that he couldn't get parts of their earlier conversation out of his head.

"It will eventually be over and we can just be brothers again."

"It'll never be over Sam."

tbc