A/N: New modem and my internet's working again (imagine me bouncing in excitement *g*) Now, after I'm done playing catch-up commenting on your reviews, it's time for a new chapter! And I apologize for any review I may have forgotten.

I also want to thank Nichole and Karen and any other person who's written an unsigned review during the course of the story! All of you guys regularly make my day! But please understand that I don't want to make the A/Ns any longer than I have to by adding comments on any reviews for which I can't use the reply-button. Just don't think your opinions aren't appreciated, because they are! A lot!

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Part Three: In the Beginning

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Scene Two

~Somewhere east of the Rocky Mountains, June 2009~

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"Sam!"

Watching in horror as a cloud of black smoke enveloped his brother, Dean strained forward, fighting against the arms holding him in place, the only coherent thought in his mind that he had to get to his little brother. He couldn't lose him again! He wouldn't lose him again!

"Sammy!"

"Stand down, Dean!" a voice in his ears ordered. A familiar, well-loathed voice, and it kept right on telling him things he didn't want to hear, "He has to do this on his own, that's what I have been preparing him for! If you interfere now, all you're going to do is distract him and that will kill you both! I made a promise to one of your brothers about that, and whether you want to believe it or not, I intend to keep it!"

Just then, a sharp blinding white ray of light literally cut through the heaving veil of smoke, shot up and up and up until it disappeared into the night sky. For a few countless seconds the world was illuminated by that ray, light burning into eyes like the too bright electric lamps in an interrogation room, vanquishing the shadows around Sam's tall outline. Then suddenly, the too bright light fanned, as if hitting a prism, and it was as if a thousand suns had fallen from the sky. Dean had to close his eyes against the blinding, painful rays that spread out across the whole country. Noise erupted from everywhere around them, dogs barking, cats yowling, the erratic, flapping sounds of birds shooting up into the air. A shock-wave of pure energy washed over him, paralyzed him. He was dimly aware of a body bringing him down to the ground, shielding him, arms too strong for the petite frame they were attached to.

And then it was over.

Darkness settled like a shroud over the land, more absolute than ever before. The silence was ringing in his ears. Slowly his eyes adjusted and found the form of his brother, huddled in an unmoving heap on the ground.

He felt Ruby shift on top of him and vaguely wondered why she hadn't been exorcised like all the other demons which had crowded in on Sam. The thought came and went, pushed aside by another one that was filling his mind with panic, throbbing with his erratic heartbeat, pushing against his throat until Dean let out another desperate scream, "SAM!" –

"...wake up!"

A quiet voice filtered into his muddled brain and Dean fought to claw his way out of the nightmare.

"Wake up, Dean! Please wake up!"

Small hands shook his shoulder with more force than they ought to possess. Dean's eyes snapped open to land on the frightened face of a nine year old boy, marginally grown out hair sticking up every which way. Behind the child he saw Sam's pale, haggard face resting on a pillow in the bed next to his.

Not a dream then. Even if it was a nightmare.

Groaning, Dean covered his eyes with one hand, muttering dejectedly, "I'm up, Ben."

What had happened was... Dean still couldn't quite make sense of what had happened. Lilith, their greatest demonic adversary, was gone, that much he had gathered from Ruby's griped cliff-notes-version of events. Not that he would have had the patience for anything else, out of his mind with worry about his brother as Dean was.

She had told him something about having to wait to time this right, for Sam's powers to develop, about an ancient banishing ritual and an incantation that was as dangerous for the caster as it was for those it was supposed to destroy. She had told him Sam hadn't wanted Dean in on this plan, because his little brother feared Dean would try to stop him. At least the conspiratorial little shit had gotten that part right.

Sluggishly pushing himself off the mattress, Dean sat up to face the other bed and silently studied his brother. He couldn't quite recall how they had gotten here. But he did remember seeing Sam lying on the ground, blood dripping down his nose and across his chin, out of his ears, even out of the corners of his eyes. Flashes of broken mirrors and bloody letters stood before his mind's eye then, and Sam's voice chanting a different ritual, a summoning ritual 'Bloody Mary! Bloody Mary! Bloody Mary!'

"Ruby said to tell you that he will make it."

Ben's quiet voice jerked Dean out of his memories, and for the first time since he had stormed out of the motel room the day before (or was it two days ago already?) he really noticed the kid. His little clone did his best not to let it show, but the boy was as freaked out by what had happened, as worried about Sam as Dean himself was.

All of a sudden, guilt weighed down on the man's shoulders. When he had caught wind of Sam and Ruby's plan all he had been able to think about was stopping them, keeping his little brother from doing something incredibly stupid, incredibly dangerous. He had literally forgotten about the child in his care, had left Ben in the motel room by himself. Never mind that the boy was able to look after himself better than any other kid his age, Dean had left him alone without even telling him what was going on!

Reaching with his arm for the boy, Dean asked in a voice so rough he didn't recognize it, "Come here, Ben!"

When Ben complied, a confused frown marring his forehead, Dean gathered him up in his arms and pulled him onto his lap. Muscled tensing at the unfamiliar, unprecedented action, Ben held himself stiffly for a long moment, before he relaxed into the hold. Dean was glad. Even if Ben didn't want the comfort, he himself sure as hell needed someone to hold onto at this moment.

"I'm sorry, Ben," he thickly apologized, whispering into soft, dark-blond hair. "I'm sorry I just left you here!"

If he had expected anything in reply to his words, Dean would have gone with a silent nod of acknowledgment from the child. What he received was an awkward pat on his forearm and a not-so-childish reassurance.

"He smells better already. He's going to be fine."

Tightening his arms around the small body, heart aching, Dean smiled brokenly and rested his cheek against Ben's soft spikes of hair.

About three days later, they learned that the shock-wave Sam had set free not only repaired all those seals to hell that Lilith had managed to open but also wiped clean every single hard-drive from the Rockies to the east coast.

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to be continued...