Revelations 2: Lost and Found

by everfaithful

Sequel to Revelations: Johns death revealed two secrets, not just one. Sam is willing to sacrifice it all to give his brother a chance at life, a real life, But Dean isnt willing to let that happen.

3. Chapter 3

A/N and WARNING

This chapter is disturbing in nature, and there is graphic imagery involved. There is massive Dean Whumpage, torture and near death. This is not a chapter for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. For those that continue to read, rest assured this is not the end, and our boys have not come to the end of their journey. Please let us know what you think. We love feedback.

"I'm good." Dean said with a laugh as he tossed his bag into another anonymous chair in another non descript hotel room. Jack and him had the habit of calling each other every night. Because that's what happened when you took two guys with separation anxiety and abandonment complexes and told them they were long lost brothers. "I'm outside Chicago now." Following a trail he wasn't even sure was right. But Finding Sammy was still his top priority, even if he did dispatch of evil along the way.

"Chicago. Damn, you have got to hit a few blues clubs while you are there. I mean it. It's your brotherly duty to do that for me. " Jack said, as he chopped the vegetables for the meal he was making that night. "Baby can you hand me the mushrooms?" He asked Kaylie. "Thanks." He then turned his attention back to Dean. "So what wild goose are you chasing tonight?"

"Tonight? No wild goose chase. Hunting of a different sort." Dean said with a chuckle. Meaning he was hitting the bars. "Not that you'd remember, being all tied down and everything. Someone's gotta live it up though, right? Then it's a very special date between me and a poltergeist." Jack didn't seem to have much of a problem with Dean dispatching spirits.

"Like I said man... blues... go for the blues clubs. Guarantee you will find some amazing women in those clubs. Unless you have to hustle a little pool or something...then you might want a different location." He said as he started to saute the mushrooms and onions. "You know if you need me... I'll get there."

"Dude, put your girlfriend on the phone so I can ask her if you can fly to Chicago and play my wingman." Dean said with a laugh as he stashed the weapons around the room and laid down the lines. "She still hasn't forgiven me for the black eye." Jack had gotten a shiner when he'd walked into a wall, forgetting the lay out of a new motel room after being strung out on the road. Dean had done that himself a few times.

"She got over it." He said with a laugh. "Said it was kinda sexy after she got through making sure I was... in one piece." He said and winked at Kaylie. "And I wasn't talking about playing wingman you know." It had been a few weeks since he had come back to Corpus Christi. He still worried about Dean being out there on his own.

"Dude, TMI." Dean said, shaking his head. "Nah, this is an easy one. Put the spirit to rest and then on to the next job. Whatever it may be." He was following his brother's false trail. Because it gave him something to do while he looked for Sam. Because a bored and idle Dean, or a frustrated Dean, was never even approaching a Good Dean. Sam seemed to know that, but Dean wasn't suprised.

Jack nodded, even though his brother couldn't see it. "So when do you think you'll be headed back this way? I can definately get us into the best strip club in town. Have an in with the owner after all." He said. And anything they did together that stayed in Corpus Christi and didn't involve hunting of any sort made Ben ... less cranky.

"Actually hoping to swing by next week." Dean said. "Taking a break now and then, try to keep my sanity a bit." It helped, it really did, that Jack was so 'normal' and well adjusted.

"Sounds good. I would say no hotel but well... I don't know that Ben is that used to you yet. He will be soon enough I suppose. Or I will eventually graduate, get a job, get married and have a guest room with your name on it."

"Dude, I wouldn't stay there anyway. How you can live there I have no idea. He keeps the heat cranked up to 80!" Dean said with a laugh. "So does this mean I should start planning a bachelor party or are we speaking in hypotheticals with the hypothetical girl in the room."

"A little of both actually. Working on getting things put together at the moment." Like his courage, or at least the ring. Both would be good. "But listen man, I should let you go, I need to finish making dinner here and you have to be my vicarious eyes through the blues culture tonight. Call me when this job is done. Let me know you're in one piece."

"Absolutely." Dean said. It was a nice ritual, even if at times it was annoying. "So I'll let you go, tell Kaylie I said hi."

"I will." Jack said. "Take care, talk to you tomorrow."

"Will do." Dean said, hanging up the phone. He supposed he could have been an ass and refused to get to know Jack at all, to spite Sam. But...he knew himself enough to know that he needed that person to keep himself level. To stop him from doing things stupider than what he did normally. Even if it had the opposite effect than Sam wanted. Because having Jack in his life didnot stop him from chasing after Sam. It drove him harder to reunite his family.

Sam left the bank with a smile on his face. It was good to have an account again, even better to have something stashed into savings. Working with computers paid well enough for his modest expenses and then a little more. He was good at keeping his costs down, it was a way of life. It was a way of survival. His biggest expenses were his gym membership, and his truck. The truck ate most of what he alloted as spending money, and occasionally dipped into his savings. Thankfully he could do most of the work himself otherwise he would be flat broke before the paychecks ever got there.

He kept to himself mostly as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into almost 2 months now. He was friendly and polite, but didnt go out of his way to get to know people, which won him points with his boss, and made everyone else very much curious about the big guy with the sad eyes. He researched nephilim and wasnt sure what to think of what he found. They were different than most mythical creatures he had ever looked into . Usually there were other references, but this was a purely judeo-christian belief that was harder to find information on than a needle in a haystack. All that he could be certain of was that they were the children of men, possessed of Demons or Angels... and that according to some they were the real reason god flooded the earth, saving only the purest human bloodline.

Caroline, who worked three cubicles over in Accounts, stopped by his cubicle in time to see him minimize whatever it was he was looking at. She wasn't the internet police (and had done a fair amount of online shopping herself at work), so she just passed that over.

"Hey." She said. "It's Greg's birthday, and everyone brought in something." She said, laying down a ladened styrofoam plate on his desk. Because of course, again, like always, Sean kept himself apart from everything. Caroline chalked it up to being the new guy, she'd been the new girl once. In fact, only last year! "So thought you could use something to eat, even if it's not particularly healthy."

"Thanks." Sam said and smiled for her. "Wow, I guess everyone brought something. I think I won't need to go get dinner tonight." It was mostly sweets but that was fine with Sam. He still had a sweet tooth. Caroline was nice. She always seemed to go out of her way to make him feel welcome, even if she didn't push about it. Which he appreciated both. "So how are you doing?"

"Yeah, well, Bertie goes wild whenever anyone asks her to cook." Caroline said with smile. "It goes. They keep up plenty busy for sure. But you've gotta eat more than that for dinner." She said with a grin. "They've got us pulling late nights, how about we order something in?" It was kinda a date, as much as she dared at any point.

"Sounds good." Sam said with a boyish grin. It was harmless enough, right? Ordering in food while working late. Wasn't like he was asking her out or taking her someplace where they would be seen... and she could become a target. He enjoyed her company. "What sort of food do you like?" He had gotten to know the restaurants in Salt Lake City pretty well over the last two months, including the greek fast food place, Rasputins which was a russian place, and 3 different indian restaurants that he liked to frequent although his favorite was Bombay House. Unfortunately those didn't deliver, "I know there is a chinese place that delivers, there is pizza and I think I can even get mexican if I talk to the lady real sweet and promise to give her son a large tip "

She laughed. "You are the take out king or something, aren't you?" She teased. "But if you can sweet talk the senora, I'm all for Mexican. It's been a while since I've had any decent mexican, so I'm trusting you when I vouch for the quality." Usually she cooked for one. Soup. Sandwiches, the like.

"Most days it's microwave tv dinners. Days off it's take out, and pay days it's either Rasputin's or Bombay House... I am one of those people who should never be allowed in the kitchen if it involves using the actual stove." Sam admitted. Fortunately years of food on the road had given him a taste for cheap food so long as there was good beer to go with it.

"That's too bad." She said with a laugh. "Okay, so when the cleaning crews come in, and we're still stuck here," since both of them pulled late nights, "come find me. With Mexican."

"Will do". Sam said and smiled for her. "I will see you then." His job was easy. He was there to make sure things ran smoothly with the computer, and to deal with the autodialer. Mostly it meant sitting on his butt, reading, until it was time to do something. Which was why the new guy got to do it. He liked being able to sleep in anyway, otherwise he would be on morning shift which would have him in the office at 5:30 preparing for the rest of the staff to show up. His father had been a morning person... just another of the many ways they were different. Another wedge when Sam had been younger. Things that Sam now wrote off to the fact that his father knew that he was a monster waiting to happen. Not even really his son. Physically yes, John had been there but... it was different, and at least now Sam understood why.

He went about his work, pushing the past from his mind again. Telling himself Sam Winchester no longer existed. he was Sean Talbot. He worked on computers, and occasionally indulged in going out to dance clubs and worked on his truck. That was his life. That was all there was going to be. He wanted it that way. He placed the call to the mexican restaurant, and sweet talked the owner who thought he was too thin and didnt take care of himself. He ordered two dinners, and a couple of soda's and then told security to expect the delivery. Within the hour he was over at Caroline's cubical. "Food's here."

She put her spreadsheet in a folder with a wide smile. "You are a miracle worker!" She said with a laugh as she cleared off her desk to make room for the food. "Ooh, it smells good too." She pulled boxes off her spare chair and offered him a seat. "Come on, a girl never likes to eat alone. Not like I'm taking you home to meet my mother!"

He smiled and took a seat, opening his box of food. "I am sure your mother would send me packing. Mothers have instincts about men you know" Or at least that was what Jess had told him. His experience with mothers was truly vicarious.

Caroline laughed. "My mother sends everyone packing, don't take offense." She joked. "So no one sees you outside of work, it's not that big a city." She said with a smile. "But at least you do eat."

"I keep to myself." Sam said. "Every once in a while I hit a club or go to the movies. Mostly it's work and working on my truck." He said shaking his head. "I think I should have just replaced the engine, cause I think there might be 3 pieces of it I haven't had to replace so far." He figured he just described himself as the classic serial killer. Keeps to himself, intelligent, nice, helps the neighbor lady take out her garbage. The sort no one would suspect. Nice. He wondered if that were part of the monster inside him.

Caroline laughed. "I know a thing or two about stripping down engines." She said with a grin. "My grandfather was a mechanic, and sure, Dad turned out to be an accountant, but he made sure no one born of his blood would ever have need of a mechanic who would over charge them." She went off on a tangent of feasible ways to shortcut an engine as she ate her food. "Wow, now that I've just bored you to tears..." she said with a chuckle.

Sam grinned then. "Dad was a marine AND a mechanic." Sam said. "My brother and I were rebuilding engines before we were old enough to legally drive. So I bought a truck that was old enough I didn't need a computer to fix it. Once I get it overhauled it will be good as new, but right now she still runs a little rough. "

"Yeah they tend to." Caroline agreed as they ate with companionable small talk and non sequiturs from childhood. The sort Sam could share without revealing anything of where he actually came from, or what his family was actually like.

Sam was enjoying the conversation but eventually their lunch break was over and he had to return to his desk for the last couple of hours of work. He promised himself that he would do this again. He had enjoyed the small talk. Reminded him that he really was supposed to be human, and that involved contact with other human beings. And it might not hurt to take her out to dinner, after all. It wouldn't necessarily be a dangerous thing. If he were careful.

He made his way home at the end of shift, stopping off briefly to buy a 6 pack of beer. The apartment felt empty when he entered and went about his nightly routine.

Dean was going about his own nightly routine, even if it was far different than his brother's. Either brothers really. It consisted of bar crawling and taking back to his motel the first hot girl who would come with him. Which, as an ego stroking move, usually he found one before his second beer was done.

Tonight was no exception, and she was even a cut above the usual crop. He had no worries that he wouldn't remember her name tomorrow, because chances were she wouldn't remember his either. But for one night, it was more than enough.

This was one he didn't even have to work for. They were tearing each other's clothes off before the door was even shut behind them, and soon the whole room was as much a mess as his clothes. He was having the time of his life.

She smiled at him, laughing huskily as she traced lines on his chest, taking a moment to enjoy the after effects of thier calesthenics. "If I had know you were this much fun, I would have done this a long time ago." She told him. Currently her name was Tara, but not too long ago she had been Sam, and before that, it was Meg, and she definitely had a bone to pick with Dean Winchester.

"Lady, you didn't know me a long time ago." He said with a chuckle. Tara, Terri, Sherry, Sara...her name was one of them. He was sure of that. Well, moderately sure of that. "I'm gonna catch a shower." He said, implying either she should let herself out or, shit, why not join him? He wasn't one for cuddling, hadn't been for a long time, and certainly not with someone he just met.

"Oh you've known me longer than you might think." She said with a sweet smile, then her eyes went completely black "Nighty night." She said as her hand grasped his throat in a tight grip, cutting off the blood flow to the brain.

"What the..." He managed to get out before he was gasping for breath as his throat was squeezed. Now this wasn't good. Great, fucking Meg. Why was the world getting all black? Shit, he was naked. Meg? He slept with MEG? That was a new low even for him!

And fortunately for Meg, she was a demon. Because Dean fought back, even if in vain, but managed to cut her pretty little face before slumping over, unconscious from the lack of air.

She laughed as he slumped into unconsciousness. Unfortunately she couldn't possess him. Neither could she touch the damned charm that he wore to prevent possession. But it was a simple enough matter to put him in his own car and drive away. People didn't want to see what went on around them, so they didn't. She drove across town to an old warehouse and pulled the Impala inside. He was starting to come around as she bound him to one of the support pillars.

Dean groaned as one of the ropes was tightened to the point of cutting off circulation and opened his eyes. "Oh great. This is where the bad guy, or girl as is your case right now, tortures the hero for past transgressions, right? You people have to get new stuff."

"Hero?" She laughed at that one. "Don't flatter yourself, Winchester. This has very little to do with you, although hearing you scream is going to be a fringe benefit. But hey, you wanted to see Sam again right? Look at it as another mutually beneficial activity. Remember to scream nicely now, wouldn't want to disappoint your brother. Make it worth that nice headache he's going to get."

"You leave my brother out of this." He snarled. "I was the one who exorcised you and sent you to hell. I was the one that dragged you back to Bobby's when you were wearing my brother. He doesn't have anything to do with this." He was tugging on the ropes, giving himself a nice rope burn along the way, but that bitch wasn't touching his brother.

"Dean, you poor deluded boy." She said as she set up the impliments, letting him see him as she made preparations. "This really honestly has nothing to do with you. Sad thing is, there is very little in your life that does have anything to do with you. You had 4 years where you actually mattered. Where someone actually loved you. But well... mommy had to die and from then on every breath you took was for Sam. " She shook her head. "First as Daddy's little pit bull, and now as the key to unlock all that power inside him. "

"Bitch." He said as he looked at what she was setting up. Oh this was bad. And Dean didn't scare easily. His father once complimented him on his fearlessness. But now, he definitely wasn't fearless. But at least he was wearing boxers. She'd been 'nice' enough to do that. "You think hurting me, or even killing me, is going to send Sam off the deep end?" Sam probably wouldn't even know.

"Oh I think it will bring him running, as quick as the friendly skies can get him here." She said weighing an impliment in her hand for a moment before going on to another one. "But you see, Sam's going to kill you himself. It's part of his destiny. Poor little shmuck thinks running away can save you. " She told him as she made the first cut, tracing the lines between his ribs, not too shallow not too deep. She had a long night a head of her after all.

Dean gritted his teeth against the pain. Stupid bitch just gave him hope. Because she wasn't going to kill him, said so herself. And he knew Sam wouldn't. Sam couldn't, no matter what they tried to do to either of them. So he let out a hiss of air when she was done cutting, only to take another sharp intake of breath when she started on his other side. Felt a little deeper that time, or maybe he was just confused, feeling his own blood run down both of his sides.

"And how's he going to know?" He countered, breathing fast. "Not like we talk every night." No, that was Jack. Who wasn't going to get his phone call later, poor kid.

"You don't think his visions come by accident, do you?" She said as she continued to work. "Besides, I know where he is." She said with a shrug. "We always know where he is. And if he doesn't show up in a day or two, well I'll give him a call."

Dean started laughing. A nearly hysterical, mad sound as he gasped, trying not to breathe. Each breath caused another gush of blood to run down his body. And things were hazy.

But he did know this. If they called Sam, he wouldn't believe them. Not in a million years. So he just hoped they didn't send him a vision. And boy, was Jack going to be pissed that Dean didn't call him nightly. Not like he'd ever admit it was because he was hurt. Seriously hurt, he could tell that even now as she made ribbon cuts down his stomach. That had been his short cut, breath low in his diaphragm, and now she'd taken that away from him.

"God you're stupid." He managed.

"And why is that, baby, cause you think you are going to bleed out? " She asked. "You forget what I am. I could hold you at the edge of death for a hundred years if that was what it took, or suck the life out of you in an instant. I read somewhere, or maybe it was a TV show someone I was wearing saw once, that said there were 5 basic types of torture that all the others spring from. How many do you think we'll get through before he gets here?" She asked, rinsing the blood from his body with salt water.

"You've done sharp. Blunt, cold, hot, and sound. Ooh we're in for a long night." Dean said through a clenched jaw. He was sure his jaw was going to break. "Everyone knows that. Sharp, blunt, hot, cold, sound. Your five basic groups of torture. So where does sex fit in there? Even I'm having trouble figuring that one out."

That's it, Dean. He thought to himself. Keep it going on the flippant side of life.

"Depends on how you do it." She said. "Of course there is also water, and the simple act of standing, or staying in one position for extended periods of time. You humans are such fragile creatures. Being tied to a chair with bumps in the seat has been known to drive hardened men to tears. You know, the irony in all of this is your own kind are the ones that came up with these little gems. I think sex qualifies under emotional or mental torture.. the more you enjoy it... the more it hurts later. That's a completely different list. "

"Sorry, you weren't that memorable." Dean said. That part, he could block out. He compartmentalized sex. "And we had to entertain ourselves somehow waiting for you guys to decide to come bother us. You know what they say about idle hands..." That's when he got slammed in the stomach with a sledge hammer. Not hard enough to do anything like burst needed organs, but it definitely hurt. "And there's blunt. Guess it's too late to convince you that I'm a 'take it slow kinda guy' huh?" He just needed to stay awake. Keep her occupied until she got bored. Long enough for Sam to be convinced this was one huge mistake if he got a vision.

"Easy there, kiddo." Came a voice that Dean had thought never to hear again. "We just put him back together not to long ago. Don't wanna undo all that handy work now do you?" After all possessing a reaper wasn't an easy task, not even for a fallen angel. "Besides, we need him to survive long enough for your brother to get here. " He chuckled, using John's voice, strode closer to Dean using John's legs. "Ironic don't you think... the two of you sharing a brother... Almost makes us family. "

"He's not her brother. And he's not your son." Dean spit out. As hard as it was to say looking into his father's face. With those damn yellow eyes. Dean didn't even want to know how he pulled this one off. Considering he'd personally (with Sam) salted and burned his father's body. A warrior's funeral for the ultimate warrior. And to have his memory desecrated like this...well...they better hope he didn't get loose.

"Oh he is." Said John's voice, silkily smooth. "I was there when he was conceived. I was there when your mother writhed in pleasure under the body I was wearing at the time. Believe me, he is."

Dean worked against the bonds furiously. Wearing his father's visage and talking about his mother like that? Men in history had killed for less. Men historically had died for less. Demons too.

"Look at him. He thinks he's gonna get away." The demon now known as Tara said. "Like a worm wriggling on a hook." She said, as the temperature in the room increased. There were many ways to play with hot, and heat was something she and her father were comfortable with.

The pain shot through Sam's head like an ice pick, and he collapsed to the floor as the images hit him hard, taking his breath away. "Dean." He managed to get out, seeing his brother's body hanging limp against the ropes that bound him to a pillar. He could see that he was breathing but he didn't think that he would be for long. there was blood... so much blood on the floor around him. "Oh god, Dean." He said as he pulled himself to the telephone, dialing his brother's cell phone from memory. "Please let it not be too late."

Dean was screaming, the heat was like fire licking at his open flesh. The two demons in front of him were comfortable, but Dean...Dean was so far from comfortable he didn't remember the zip code. They let his screams fill the warehouse until 'John' suddenly brought the temperature down to a more tolerable level. Tara looked at him questioningly.

"Phone call." He said as he went to the Impala, where Dean had left his cellphone on the dash and picked it up on the seventh ring. "Hello son." He said into the phone with a smirk on his face.

"Sam!" Dean yelled. "Sam, stay away! It's not Dad!" Please don't come, Sam. Don't let me be the reason this all falls apart. Don't come. Hang up.

Sam's blood ran cold at the sound of his father's voice... both of them in one. "Let him go." Sam said in a coldly angry tone. "He has nothing to do with this. You let him go." He knew they wouldn't comply, even if they promised him they would, but he had to say it. He had to try. Dean was alive... and he was well enough to yell. That was at least a hopeful sign.

"He's got everything to do with it." 'John' said. "We were looking at a way to change you. We possessed you, we killed the girl you loved, we forced your father to die. Nothing. But Dean, Dean you'd die for. Dean you'd sell your soul for. And my daughter here, you remember her, right? Well, she's just itching to hurt your brother. Worse than he already is. What are you going to do about it, Sammy?"

"Nothing." Dean said, his voice quickly becoming hoarse. Sam could hear some of it as 'John' paced before Dean. "Nothing you evil son of a bitch."

"Shut him up, will you, darling?" 'John' said to the girl. "We're done with him. Aren't we, Sammy?"

"You kill him and I will never do anything you want." Sam said quickly. "He dies and so does your last chance at me. Where are you?" He asked as he hurried into the bedroom to toss a few changes of clothes into a bag along with his weapons.

'Tara' simply covered Dean's mouth with tape. She knew that her father had no intention of killing Winchester just yet. He was too important in Sam's development.

Dean made muffled yells and noises through the tape, and 'Tara' went back to torturing him. Nothing new, just aggravating everything already done to him. To remind him who had the real power in this situation, and it wasn't Dean Winchester.

"Chicago. And I'd hurry, son. Your brother is such a fragile sack of meat." 'John' said with a laugh.

He got the exact location out of him before heading out the fire escape to the truck 5 stories below. "I'm not your son." Sam told him as he zipped his bag closed. "I'm no more your son than a puppy is to the flea that rides on his mother's back, do you understand me? You were nothing but a hitch hiker. You are not my father."

"Is that how you sleep at night? Repeating that over and over until you believe it? Because if you believed it, you wouldn't have run. You wouldn't have left your precious brother dangling in the wind, waiting to be caught on a spider web like a fly. You wouldn't still be running." 'John' nearly purred into the phone. "But whatever lets you sleep."

"I'm not your son. You tainted my conception. That doesn't make you my father. Hell, that doesn't even make you a sperm donor. " He said as he got into the truck and started it up. "But I will tell you one thing... even if you succeed in turning me one day... you'll never be able to use me. I'll be your enemy till the end of time," He drove for the airport knowing that it would take 20 hours to drive to Chicago, and his brother didn't have that long. Unfortunately it also meant that he wouldn't be able to take any weapons with him.

"You'll see." 'John' said and hung up the phone, turning to his daughter. "We don't have long. But leave him alive, barely, but alive." The sounds of Dean's screams filled the warehouse once more as the tape was ripped off his mouth and 'Tara' continued on.

Sam managed to get a flight leaving within a couple of hours, and arranged for a rental car to be waiting for him. He was shaking with anger and worry. He almost didn't think to call his boss, and in fact he wouldn't have if he hadn't been reflecting on his dinner with Caroline. The conversation was touch and go, but in the end Sam got what he wanted. He wasn't asking for the time off, he was asking for permission to come back to work when his brother had recovered. He liked the life he was building in Salt Lake City. But he would sacrifice it in a heart beat in order to get to Dean in time.

Two hours waiting for the flight, and another three in the air seemed like an eternity to Sam. Each moment that passed made him more anxious, each moment was another moment that Dean was alone and in pain. He signed for the rental car with shaking hands and barely remembered to use the correct name on the paperwork. Even then he drove like a madman to get to the warehouse, by this time, almost 6 hours from the time of the phone call. So much could happen in 6 hours. People died in seconds. Hours ... hours was too much time.

"Dean!" He called out as he entered the warehouse, seeing the Impala parked within. He knew he was in the right place.

Dean didn't answer, he was not in good shape. Breathing, raggedly, as he hung from the post he was tied to limply. Bruised, still bleeding, various parts of his flesh red and blistering, or a deathly pale. His lips were cracked, his eyes were blackened, and a trickle of blood was coming from inside his ear.

Stapled to his chest with a staple gun (that was the least of what had been done) was a note.

'If you really care about him, call us. I can fix it, you know I can. You know the price, but think of the rewards.'

It was unsigned, but there was no doubt who it was from.

Sam got a knife from the Impala, and went to cut Dean free, holding him upright as he did so. "It's gonna be alright. I promise." He told him as he took him out to the rental car. "I'll come back for your baby once I get you taken care of. I won't leave her here." He said, as he lay his brother down in the back seat, and removed the note and the offending staple. He knew the police would get involved and that worried him but he hoped he could smooth that over somehow, so that they didn't think to look at Dean too closely. Not that he looked like his mug shots at all at this point. "I'm sorry... this is all my fault."

Dean groaned a bit as he was moved and dragged, breath hitching in his chest from the offending movement, but he'd take another breath again, allowing Sam to breath as he drove, the note crumpled up on the floor of the rental car as he sped toward the nearest hospital. Finding one, and pulling right into the ambulance bay. If there was a case that got to skip the annoying triage desk, it was Dean's as he was swarmed with doctors and nurses, alternately checking Dean then trying to get some information out of Sam.

"What happened to him?" The doctor demanded as vitals were taken and blood was drawn. The doctor already knew that his patient would need a transfusion. He wasn't ruling out broken bones, or even a skin graft on some of the more burned areas.

"I dont know." Sam said honestly. "He's my brother, if he needs blood we're a match." He told them as he followed closely."We were traveling, supposed to meet here in town and... and... he... God I don't know." He said, managing to pull off freaked out civilian rather well, since it wasn't far from the truth. "What sort of monster does this?" He ran his hands through his hair and stood back allowing the doctors to work on his brother.

"The kind that should be put down like rabid dogs." A nurse muttered as she started an IV line and blood was brought. O negative, compatible with everyone, it would do in a pinch.

"You're going to need to sign some consent forms for your brother." Another nurse said, edging him out of the room. To sign the consents, to get more information, to just get him out of the way.

"I'm not leaving him." Sam said firmly. "I won't get in the way but I'm not leaving." He knew how close to death his brother was, and he didn't want Dean to be alone, not now. He would need to call Jack, but that would have to wait, he couldn't use the cell phone in there and he wasn't leaving.

The doctors ignored him as they worked. It was hours later when the doctor took Sam by the arm and took him outside the room because they were moving Dean.

"We've done all we can." The doctor said. "And I don't know. It's going to be touch and go for the next twenty four hours, he could go either way. He's breathing on his own, that's good. But he hasn't regained consciousness, and he lost a lot of blood. If there's any other family to call, I would call them. We're moving him up to ICU now."

An orderly escorted by a nurse brought Dean's bed out. He had an oxygen mask on, and what wasn't covered by a sheet seemed to be covered in bandages as various tubes dripped fluid and blood into his veins. A heart monitor beeped with every beat of Dean's heart. It was there, not particularly strong or even, but it was there.

"Dean's going to make it." Sam said. "He's strong...he'll pull through." He told them. He had seen his brother survive so many things. He wasn't going to let him die. Not because of him. "Can I go with him? " He had to find a way to finish off the demon, before it finished off his family. There had to be another way, other than the colt. There had to be.

"Sure." The doctor said. "Just follow the stretcher." He said as the stretcher headed up to ICU, where another team of medical people took over. They ushered Sam out of the room, only because they were moving him into a real bed and doing a full assessment, and changing the unconscious man into a gown. Some things brothers didn't need to see.

"Okay, you can go in." The nurse said after a bit. Dean was still hooked up to oxygen, still on all sorts of monitors, and still was getting blood. Still so pale around his bandages, and he still didn't move.

"I know I let you down." Sam said as soon as they were alone and he could sit at his brother's side. "And I have no right to ask anything of you, but I am counting on you to pull through this. You have to pull through this time. I'll do everything I can ... everything Dean... But you have to fight too. "

Dean was fighting. As hard as he could. He even had some help Sam didn't know about.

John had immersed himself in all things mystical and occult after Mary had been killed. After he started hunting. Wanting to know everything and anything to help him in his war. Especially after he'd learned the truth about Maggie, the truth about Sam. And how vulnerable his sons were to everything seen and unseen.

He'd once befriended a medicine man, who taught John more about herbs and plants than any white man had a right to know. He was embraced as a brother, but John's priorities were set. His sons came before the medicine man, so without any guilt, John betrayed him.

Took an ancient ritual and perverted it for his own reasons. Binding Dean to a totem when he was too young to really know any better. Dean had made the final choice, but he had been ten. How much could he really have known? And the one John had chosen for Dean was the bear.

The Native Americans had long held the bear as a protector, a guardian, a healer. And when young Native American men went off to find their totems, their spirit guides, they would be lucky to have the bear as theirs. Steadfast, resolute, and unwavering in devotion. It was just what John needed for Dean when he had forced the two together. To protect Sammy. To protect Dean. To guide when John wasn't there, for he already knew he wasn't half the father that his sons deserved.

The medicine man had never forgiven John for that. But it was one thing John could forgive himself for. It was necessary, and it was beneficial. Like now.

Dean was deep in his own mind, in a coma. Not as close to death as the doctors thought, because he had a friend deep in his mind, who was keeping the reapers away for a bit. No astral translocation this time. Just the bear.

A presence that Dean had always been aware of, hovering close around him at all times. Especially when she was needed. So he sat in a motel room in his mind, cross legged on the floor, and stared at the bear.

"I really did it this time." He said, with a bit of a chuckle, and a bit of a sigh.

"You didn't do it." She said. Her snout didn't move, her mouth didn't open, but her gentle but firm voice rang through the room.

"And here we are again." Dean said. It was only in these moments he was fully aware of what his father had done, what Dean had committed to.

"I warned you there would be so many challenges ahead of you." The bear said as she crossed the room over to him. "So much to fix this time..."

Sam hadn't thought it would take so much will power not to call out for the yellow eyed demon. He knew that giving himself over to them would do nothing but sign Dean's death warrant. That once the transformation was complete he would be as Maggie was, hungry for power and lashing out at anything that had once been held dear. Even knowing that it was hard to watch his brother suffer when he had the key in his hands to save him.

So instead he called Bobby. Jack might be their brother, but Sam hadn't bonded with him the way Dean had. To him the first thoughts of Family was of Bobby. Besides, somewhere in that vast library of his might be some means of protecting Dean from the demons, so that they couldn't do this to him again if he survived. It was a slim hope but it was there none the less.

"Yeah." Bobby said as he answered the phone. "Rumsfeld, get off the counter, boy. Get down. I should shoot your hide full of buckshot you crazy mutt. Now get down." He chuckled before turning his attention back to his caller. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Bobby, it's Sam." He said and followed quickly with "Dean's been hurt... pretty bad. The... they got to him... Meg and her ... her father." He said trying to keep it as cryptic as possible in case there were civilian ears near by. "The doctors aren't real confident but they haven't said it's over yet."

"Sam? Well, that's great. Your brother's been looking for you, like a frantic momma bear for months now." Bobby said. "You two finally meet up and he's unconscious." He shook his head. "Guess I don't have to tell you to brick the room, it will keep them at bay for a bit." Of course, it was a hospital, so it would take vigilance to keep the brick lines in place. "Sam, they did this to flush you out, you know that, right kiddo?"

"They knew where I was. The frigging pizza delivery guy was carrying a hitch hiker... they want me to give in... told me to call him and he would fix it. I gotta find another way." He said as he started to pace. "This is why I left... " He salted the windows and put a subtle line of it around the edge of the bed.

"Do not call him." Bobby said, in a voice more passionate than Sam had ever heard. "Even if your brother dies, do not call him. Samuel, I mean it. Because he'll bring Dean back, but he'll take you. And then either you'll kill Dean later, or Dean will kill you, then himself. Either way Dean is dead. Just don't go that way, I'll see what I can find."

"Dean told you the truth then?" He asked quietly, thinking not for the first time that it might be better if he were dead... or never have been born in the first place. "Bobby... he was using Dad's body somehow... how is that possible?"

"Dean didn't tell me anything. He didn't have to. Though you boys should have." Bobby said. "I figured it out myself." He was a smart man, redneck appearance aside. "He's a fallen, Sam. He can do things like that, illusions. Chances are he never touched your brother because he wasn't corporeal. Just an illusion."

"Then it was all Meg..." He said. "Bobby... there isn't really a way for me to fight this is there?" He swallowed hard, looking at his brother, how badly he had been hurt to get to him. Jessica's death, his mother's death, ultimately his father's. So much pain all because of his existance. Even leaving wasn't enough, not that he could stay. They would just keep throwing things at his brother until they broke if he were near.

"Right now you need to worry about your brother." Bobby said. "I'll see what I can find out on my end. Don't leave Dean until he wakes up." Oh this wasn't going to be good. Somehow Bobby could tell Jack was last on the list to be called. That was not going to be a pretty scene.

"I am worried about Dean... and I'm not going anywhere." He said. Hell worrying about Dean was why he had left in the first damned place. "I need a way that they can't touch him... that I can't touch him if I go over the edge."

"One thing at a time, boy. We need to get Dean out of the woods. Don't go making any deals or anything. Dean's strong. He might pull out of this all by himself, you never know." Bobby said. "Let me make a few calls, see what I can come up with. Where can I reach you at?" Whether it be Sam's cell phone or the phone in Dean's hospital room, he needed a call back number.

Sam thought about it for a moment then gave him the cell phone. Just in case Dean was moved. "Thanks Bobby." He said sincerely and hung up, moving to sit by his brother's side once more. "You gotta hold on Dean... for both of us." Would sound selfish on the surface of it, but not if you knew Dean. His brother would willingly lay down and die if he thought it would save someone else, or even give them that chance to be saved. But he would fight until the end of time if it were for someone else as well. Sam knew he had to trigger that survival instinct somehow. He knew they had told him things while he was being tortured. Things to make him want to give up. It's what Demons did. They ate you alive from the inside out. He just hoped his brother was strong enough not to listen.

Bobby hung up the phone and looked at his rolodex for a minute. Not really a rolodex, more like a pile of scraps of paper in a drawer, but he'd come to nickname it the rolodex. Sounded nearly classy, which always made him grin when he thought of it. But not today. There was no grinning today as he shuffled through them for a number Dean had given him, in case something happened. And something had happened.

This could work out for the best, maybe there was another way.

Ben picked up the phone when it rang. "Hello?" He said. Years of raising Jack had taught him passable phone etiquette. Something had to, after he'd nearly bitten off the head of his third grade teacher when she'd called at a very reasonable hour of ten in the morning.

"Yeah ah, hello. I'm looking for Jack." He said, thinking better of telling Ben what was going on just yet. Better any pleas come from the kid, not the guy he kept threatening to flash fry.

"You sound a little old to be looking for Jack." Ben said with a raised eyebrow. He recognized the voice, just couldn't place it. "Hold on. Jack! Phone." And Ben would be staying on the extension.

"Wasn't aware there was an age limit." Bobby said inspite of himself.

"I got it." Jack called from his room and picked up the extension. "Dean is that you? You didn't call me back last night, man, she had better be hot cause I was worried as hell." He said making assumptions as no one else seemed to elicit that tone from Ben. The I don't quite approve but I'll put up with it tone.

"Ah...it's not Dean." Bobby said, uncomfortable. "My name is Bobby Singer, you don't know me, but I know Dean. It's about Dean. He gave me this number in case something happened to him." Ben was still on the extension, and the name Bobby Singer elicited a growl that was barely covered by the mute button.

"What's happened?" Jack asked as he turned off his computer. "He said he was going after a poltergeist last night. How badly hurt is he?"

"He never got to the poltergeist. The Demon got to him first. He's in Mercy Hospital in Chicago, and he's not good." Bobby said as he poured himself a shot of whiskey. He'd watched Dean grow up, he'd seen the man Dean had become. The news that he might die, tonight, was hard. It was hitting him. "He's in the ICU. Thought you should know." Because Jack was Dean's brother, was John's son.

"I never should have come back here." Jack said with a growl. "I had a bad feeling and I should have listened to it... thanks for calling me. I'll get there as soon as I can. What name is he using?"

"Good." Bobby said. "I'm looking for things on my end. If your guardian knows of any, now's the time to ask. While there's still time. He's under Dean Carlson. Was his momma's maiden name. Get there, as soon as you can." Because even Sam didn't sound optimistic. Even when Dean had been on life support, he'd been optimistic.

"I'm on my way." Jack said and hung up. "Ben!" He yelled as he ran down the stairs. "Ben! I have to get to Chicago fast." He said, not caring about what the reaction would be. He would get on a plane if Ben couldn't help him. Drive if it came to it but that was longer than he wanted to wait.

"I know." Ben said with a sigh. No talking him out of this one. "Go pack a bag. I'm serious, when your brother is awake and aware, the last thing he wants to do is smell you first. Go." Wasn't like it was really wasting time. Ben could have him there in a blink as he went to his own computer and looked up the layout of Mercy Hospital, for somewhere nice and discreet to slide into. "And call Kaylie and tell her." Gave him time to look around the bluepints he found.

Jack was back up the stairs just as quickly as he had come down them, picking up the phone as he tossed clothing into a bag. "Kaylie?" He said into the phone. "I-I have to go to Chicago for a while. It's Dean."

"What? Jack, slow down. You know, forget it. I'm going with you. Don't argue." She said as she threw clothes into a book bag. "Don't argue, I'm two blocks away." She said as she headed to her car. Because if Dean was in trouble, the deep serious one that it sounded like, then he needed someone with him. Ben was great, she liked Ben, but Ben wasn't so great at the comforting part of life.

"Okay... we'll wait... we're traveling the fast way though." He said and told her goodbye before hanging up. If Dean were dying he was going to need Kaylie there. He ran his hands through his hair and headed back down the stairs bag in hand. "Kaylie is coming too... look... I don't ask questions about these things... cause I really kinda like pretending we're normal for the most part. But ...is there anything that can be done, if Dean is too far gone for medical help?"

Ben paused as he shut his computer down. He had a good spot where there shouldn't be many people, and if anyone did see, well, it would be discounted. Psych wards were great that way. Once there he could feel for a more appropriate closer spot. But it was a nice jumping off point.

"There are always ways." He said carefully. "Just some cost higher than others. For example, your mother. But there are always ways."

"Okay... are there ways that don't cost someone else's life or their soul?" Jack asked. Dean would never forgive himself much less anyone else if it cost someone that much to save him, and he said as much. He had just found his brother, he didn't want to lose him. Not physically and not mentally or emotionally.

Ben shook his head. "Sure, there are." Ben said. "You've got your one in a million honest to true faith healer. Your medicine men and shamen. Your witches and warlocks. Healing demons..." he listed off what he knew off the top of his head. "Can we just see how he is first?" Because everything in the occult came with a price.

Kaylie came in and put her keys on the counter. "Okay." She said. "Ready?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah... let's go see how he is first." But he knew it was bad. If it hadn't been, Dean would have called him, not some stranger. "Someone should have been with him." He muttered, thinking that someone was Sam, but feeling a little guilt on his own part as well.

"If you had been there, they would have just killed you outright." Ben pointed out as he took hold of Jack's arm, then Kaylie's. "Because you weren't important to their own goal, so let's give thanks to whatever that you weren't there." He said then slid into a psych ward, where a couple of people in straight jackets looked at them in wonder, then he slid them into an empty hallway near the ICU.

Kaylie hated traveling this way. It wasn't pleasant, but she managed, taking a deep breath when it was done. "Okay, ICU is..." she read the sign, "that way." They walked down the corridor and entered the ICU. Dean was close to the nurses' station, and with the clear walls they could see him, still unconscious as Sam held vigil.

Jack's jaw clenched tightly. "Speaking of the devil himself." He said barely keeping his temper in check as he strode quickly toward the glass walled room and his brothers. "How is he?" He asked Sam tightly, wanting nothing more than to beat the hell out of the man right then.

"Not good." Sam said tiredly. "He's breathing on his own but... that's about the best I can say at the moment."

Kaylie recognized Sam as she followed Jack in. So it took Dean being beaten into a coma to reconnect them all. Nice. And to think they were all human too. Ben watched the scene and went and found a doctor, identifying himself as a cousin. It worked, enough anyway.

"It's not good." The doctor said softly. "The longer he's in a coma, the worse his prognosis. He should have woken up by now."

Kaylie saw Ben and the doctor whispering and held onto Jack's arm as she looked at the bruised, pale and wrapped form of his oldest brother. "So...um...Sam...can we get you anything?" She could feel the tightness of Jack's muscles through his shirt. He was ready to spring like a coiled cobra if Sam so much as breathed wrong.

Sam shook his head. "No." He said raggedly. "I'm okay."

Jack glared at him then, and if he had been anywhere but the hospital he would have beat the hell out of him. or at least given it a good try. "Yeah I can see that. Does he know you are back?" He asked instead.

"I don't know." Sam told him. "He knew I was coming... " Had yelled for him not to, but Sam couldn't listen. Not with his brother's life on the line. Even so it seemed as though it was too little too late. One look at Jack and he could tell that the youngest Winchester felt the same way. Too little too late. This was all his fault.

Jack shook his head and went to stand over by Dean's bed. "Hey, man, I'm here. But you seriously gotta open your eyes for us."

Ben came and stood at the door, nodding to the doctor. "The doctor told me something you guys should hear." He said.

The doctor cleared his throat. "He's not getting better. We should have seen a turn by now. We haven't. I'm sorry."

"What are you saying?" Sam asked a look of horror in his dark eyes. "My brother's not dying. Not like this...not now." He said. How many times had he said something like that and been right? How many times had Dean come through it all to fight again. He wasn't going to lose his brother. He couldn't. It would make everything he had done the last few months for nothing.

"Again, I'm sorry. But if he doesn't make an improvement in the next few hours, we're going to have to have a discussion about comfort care." The doctor said.

Kaylie covered her mouth. She liked Dean, since he had proven he could keep Jack in one piece. Sam she was unsure of. But she knew Dean didn't deserve this, he was a good guy. "There's nothing you can do?"

"We've done everything we can." The doctor said.

A few hours, then he was going to be written off. Pumped full of morphine for the pain and left to die. No... Dean wasn't going to die this way. Not with the last thing he remembered being that son of a bitch wearing their father's face. Sam couldn't allow him to go into the afterlife that way. No... it wasn't going to happen. "I think I'm going to be sick." He said as he left the room in a hurry. Privacy ... he needed privacy.

Jack watched as Sam left the room and shook his head. He didn't know how to feel about Sam at the moment. He was still too angry at the pain he had put Dean through, but he could see that the man cared. How much it was tearing him apart inside to see this. He wasn't ready to forgive Sam, didn't know that he ever would, now that they were losing Dean, but he wasn't going to make things worse. Not here. Dean deserved better than that.

Ben gave Jack's shoulder a squeeze. "I'm going to go get some coffee. And sandwiches." He said. The kids would need something to eat. Ben could see quite clearly that it was worse than they thought, and they'd be here until it ended one way or another. "I'll be back."

Kaylie sat down in another chair. She'd never had anyone die on her, not anyone she knew. And one look at Jack showed he wouldn't take it well. She watched Sam leave. He was leaving now? Especially now? She didn't get this family at all.

Sam entered the bathroom, and closed and locked the door. "Alright." He said in defeat. "You win... Show yourself and let's get this over with." He said looking into the mirror, thinking of all the times Dean had given up so much of himself for him. So much that was demanded of him that he had simply given with out a single complaint. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to die for Sam's sake. Not for his life... not for his soul either. He wouldn't let it happen.

He came through the door, still wearing John's visage. "You were always my favorite you know." He said in John's voice. "You were his too. Dean, he was a weapon. But you...you are power. Welcome home."

Sam turned and looked at his father, wishing it were John he was looking at. "No... I wasn't his favorite. I was his cross to bear." Sam said as he leaned against the sink. "I don't come cheap." Sam said looking into yellow eyes. "And if he doesnt come around, and heal, the deals off." Power. If he had so much power, why was it he always felt so helpless and lost. "So what do we do?"

'John' smiled. It was an eerie smile that should have no place on John's face. "When the time comes, you'll know. I'll call for you, and you will come. Because the deal works both ways. You fail me, your brother dies so painfully and so slowly he'll wish he'd never been born."

"So ... what... the deal is done? I can just skim the shadows and toss people around like rag dolls now? Nothing more than just saying okay?" Sam asked looking at the 'man' before him. "You leave Dean alone after today. So long as I don't break the deal you leave him be. "

"I have no interest in him." He said. "But you have to leave him alone after today." Because he knew that Sam could only completely give himself over if Dean wasn't there to stop him. Dean had been such a stumbling block for so long. "Not even a glance."

Those words cut him to the core of his being, but he nodded. He had seen the vision. Being anywhere near his brother would cause his death. They would fight and Dean would die. "Fine... but that is all you get to control about what I do." Sam told him bluntly. "I will leave my brothers and my past behind, but I will do as I damned well please in all other things." For instance making sure that every other brother or sister he had out there went straight to hell once they crossed the lines.

"Of course." The demon said, and disappeared. It was such a slippery slope, he had no doubt Samuel would come around.

Dean and the bear were hard at work trying to fix him before time ran out. For the bear could only fight off death so long. Dean just had no intention of dying. Not now, not in a few hours. Not even tomorrow. So they were working as hard as they could on what they could when Dean stopped and looked around his mind.

"God, no. Not again." He said, knowing far more in his mind than he did consciously. "He's here."

The bear rose to her back feet and looked around sniffing the air, and growled lowly. "You have no place here, Demon. This is my world you intrude upon. Leave." She said moving in front of Dean's consciousness, protecting him from this new assault.

"I'm here to help." The demon said, no longer wearing John, hands outstretched. "So suspicious, it hardly becomes you. Either of you."

"Help? Don't make me laugh. Get out of my mind. I don't want your help." Dean said.

"You may not want it, but you're not the one who asked for it." The demon said, looking around. "My, we certainly have our work cut out for us here, don't we?"

The bear roared at him now, massive teeth bared. This was her cub, had been given over to her while he was still a babe, and she would not let this creature defile him a second time. One massive paw swiped across the creature, wounding it in a way the demon had never felt before. "His is the only will that matters in this place."

"Now, see, that's why I like her." Dean said, punching the demon. It didn't do a lot, the swipe of bear's paw did more. But damn, it felt good. In that whole astral subconscious sort of way. "Get the fuck out of my head before she eats you."

"I can't do that. My boy asked his daddy very nicely to fix his broken toys. And that's what I'm going to do." The demon said as he reached out to heal one of the more pressing injuries. "Damn, gotta admire the girl's handy work." He said just as the bear knocked him away, not allowing him to work any of his black magic upon her cub.

"I will not ask you again." She said, rearing up to her full height, of 9 feet, 5 inch claws coming down across the demon's face.

Dean nearly laughed. "Dude, she told you once. Actually, twice." Dean said as he moved around the demon to start fixing himself. Because he had no time to waste. He was already feeling...faded.

The demon reared back and wiped the blood off his face. It had been a long time since he had seen his own blood. And a mere bear had shown it to him. "Doesn't matter. If you fix him, he'll think I did it anyway."

"Leave." She roared again. Because it did matter. even a word of mouth contract was binding by the letter, not the spirit. Samuel might slide down that slope on his own, lured in by lies, but if the deal were not kept by the demon, then there was a chance to redeem him. And it was important to her cub that Samuel be redeemed. "You are not welcome here." She said raking her claws across him once more. She had better things to do, more important things to do than fight off the demon that stood before her, and very little time to do it in, but even she didn't have the power to destroy one of God's first creations. She could only wound him, and hope that he would go about his way.

The demon smirked. It was the appearance that would matter to Sam. So he left, fading from Dean's mind as Dean gave a sigh of relief. "We don't have much time." Dean said with barely restrained panic. Not much time, no time. Everything was about time, and he didn't have much of it left.

Ben came back with sandwiches and handed a few to Kaylie and Jack. "Sam's not back yet?" Dean had chased across the country after a brother that couldn't manage to stay in the room with him when he was dying.

"Not yet." Jack said with a scowl. "Guess we know which one of my brothers takes after my father, don't we?" He rested his hand on Dean's arm, wishing there was more that he could do.

Sam had indeed gotten sick once the demon left. He could almost feel the darkness squirming inside him, wanting a way out to the surface, but he beat it down into submission. He had to make sure the bastard kept his end of the bargain. Had to see Dean open his eyes and be whole again. He had to tell him good bye. He entered the room, still looking a little green around the edges and didn't have to ask to see that there had been no change, Or that there was probably only one person in the room that wanted him there, and he was on the verge of death.

"Nice of you to stop by." Ben said as he leaned against the wall. He was never one for being very polite. "I've got some messages out, but I don't know if they'll get back to me in time." He said. The demon community was wide and vast, and communication was a whole other ballgame, something most humans couldn't comprehend.

A nurse came in and went about changing Dean's dressings. Unwrapped, they were worse than most could imagine and still be compatible with life. But the nurse worked quickly and discreetly. The patient might stop breathing at any moment, and she didn't have the heart to kick the family out. Kaylie pointedly looked away as Dean's injured flesh was exposed, Ben narrowed his eyes.

"So, Sam, where were you when this all went down? This went down because of you?" He said.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Sam said in a quietly warning tone, he had done everything in his power to avoid this scene. This moment when Dean lay dying before him. "Let it go." He glanced at the nurse, waiting for her to make her exit, then turned his attention back to his brother, waiting for some sign that he had made this sacrifice in time.

"No? Then why don't you tell us?" Jack said, as soon as the woman left the room. "Where were you while Dean was chasing all over the country chasing after hunts that you set up for him. All he wanted was to find you and have his family back. Why did you have to do it this way? You could have gone off and had a normal life without hurting him like that. "

"I did it because I had to. I did it to avoid this. You think because you live with him," he said indicating Ben, "that you know what's out there or what it's about? You don't. You have no fucking clue so don't sit there and judge me. Yes this is because of me, and the only thing that would have happened differently if I had stayed would be that it would have happened sooner. "

"Bull shit." Jack said.

"Bullshit? What's bullshit, little brother? That you don't know your supernatural ass from a hole in the ground ? How many demons have you killed? How many are on your ass? How many are killing everything you ever cared about just because they can?" God he reminded him of his father. Not the words but the tone, the glare, the way he held himself. It made Sam want to rage at him as he had once raged at John. "This," he said pointing at Dean, "is what happens to people that get too close. So do us both a favor and stay clear."

"Excuse me." Ben said. "Who's the us? Who's the one to stay clear from? Because if Jack wasn't here, there was a good chance that Dean would die alone. Do you think he deserves that?"

"All of you stop it!" Kaylie said, laying a restraining hand on Jack's tense arm. "Stop it! Dean is dying and you guys want to argue?"

"You aren't that stupid." Sam said looking at Ben. Maybe this one could kill him if he provoked him right. Maybe he could just die and be done with it all with the right monster on the other side of the fight. "You know damned well what I meant. If it were Dean that people needed to stay clear of, he would have been the one running, not me." He looked at Kaylie then back at his brother. "He's not dead yet. Don't give up on him yet, he has come back from worse, believe it or not... he'll come back this time." He said going to stand next to Dean's bed.

"Now who's being stupid?" Jack said bluntly. "This is it... this is all that you have left with Dean. Don't cheat yourself because you feel too guilty to accept the reality of the situation." If it weren't for Kaylie, Jack would have laid the older man out by now.

"Sure. I'm a demon. Got an ugly past that would give you nightmares, Mr Hunter Extraordinaire. But if you're feeling guilty about your brother, don't take it out on us. Jack has as much right to be here as you do." Ben said

"Will you please stop yelling? They say people in comas can hear." Kaylie said, once more trying to diffuse the situation as she held onto Jack's arm.

"The us I was refering to was me and Jack." Sam said with a frustrated sigh. "He should stay clear of me...not get close to me.. because people that get close to me die horrible deaths... because of me. Is there anything else you need an english to english translator for?" He asked. He felt surly. He wanted a fight. Wanted to chase away the darkness that was no longer hovering over him... but working its way through him.

He wanted to be in that bed dying, not his brother.

"Come on... don't give up, Dean. You've never listened to doctors before, don't start now." Come one you sorry son of a bitch, I gave you what you wanted, don't make me wait until the day is done to wake him. Don't take what little time I have left with him too. "Just open your eyes... please."

Dean made a sound. Kinda. More like a low groan crossed with a loud exhale. The brothers leaned closer, in case Dean wanted to say something. Probably something flippant and ironic, but something all the same. But he didn't make a sound. The heart monitor did, as it let out a single tone, indicating an absence of heart beat.

"NO!" Sam exclaimed in genuine shock. This couldn't be happening. He had made the deal. He had kept his end of the bargain, Dean couldn't be dying. He couldn't. No... no no no no no . He shook his head, not looking away from his brother for a moment as the nurses shoved him out of the way, as they came in with the crash cart. "No." He growled softly. "Don't you die like this, don't you do it." He would have given anything to keep Dean alive, even if he had to walk away forever, just knowing that he was safe from the demon would have been enough. He couldn't lose him this way though... not this way.

Jack closed his eyes slowly. He had expected this moment from the time he had walked into the hospital room. He had smelled death in the air, for lack of a better way to put it. Even though it wasn't truly Sam's fault that thier brother was dying, Jack blamed him. He blamed him for the sadness Dean had felt the last weeks of his life, for the lost look in his eyes, for the way he had blamed himself for Sam's absence. Things that he shouldn't have had to go through with so little life left. He pulled Kaylie into his arms and buried his face in her hair.

The medical staff was working quickly. Seconds counted now, even though they knew it was the end of this young man's life, they had to try. "Ready." Someone said. "Clear." Someone else said, and then the monitor said beep. A brief pause then another beep. Followed by a series of heathy, strong beeps, as though his heart had never stopped beating.

Sam let out his breath and sank to the floor. "Thank you." He said, to someone that he had never thought to give thanks to in his life. He leaned against the wall and let the tears that had been locked behind his dark eyes fall. Dean was alive. His brother was going to live.

Jack looked up, first at his brothers, then to Ben in confusion. He was relieved, but he was also confused. Something seemed off in this... something seemed very off.

"We didn't do anything." A nurse said. They'd never activated the paddles, just laid them on his chest. It took more than that to restart a heart. But they took his vital signs, they were strong, healthy. Like the vital signs of someone Dean's age should be. They shook their heads as they left. It was a miracle, and miracles were far and in between.

Kaylie held onto Jack as the sound of Dean's heart beat filled the room. No longer a harbinger of death, but one of hope. While Ben stared at Sam with a dark gaze. He knew.

It was the only explanation he could think of, not being one for miracles himself. And an explanation he'd seen before with another Winchester boy. And he shook his head at Sam.

Dean coughed, weakly. But he coughed as he moved the oxygen mask off his face. He looked around the room, his eyes settling on Sam. "So...this is...what I...have to do...to get...you to answer...your damn phone?" He said, out of breath after that one sentence. But there was humor in his eyes as he gave Sam a little grin, squeezing Jack's hand so Jack wouldn't think Dean didn't know he was there.

"Hey I called you, remember." Sam said smiling broadly. He didn't see the look in Ben's eyes. Wouldn't have cared if he had. His brother was alive. That was all that mattered to him right then. And there were several hours left in the day. "These near death experiences are getting a little frequent, don't you think? Starting to think you're doing it for attention." He was practically vibrating. Dean was alive, and awake.

Jack squeezed Dean's hand in return. "Good to have you back with us." He said to Dean. Unlike Sam, he had seen the look from Ben. He was going to have to speak to his guardian once all the excitement wore down. He doubted Dean had energy for much excitement.

"Good to be back." Dean said softly. It was easier to speak, and he didn't get as winded, if he spoke softly. Then he raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Where's my car?"

Ben slipped out of the room. He had some thinking to do on how to approach this. Besides, this was a family thing. He'd stayed to make sure Sam and Jack hadn't torn each other apart before they knew what the outcome was. Now they knew. Besides, he needed a cigarette.

"Much easier ways to get attention." Kaylie agreed. "Are you in pain? Do you need me to get a nurse?"

"Yes. No." Dean said. "I'm fine. I'm good."

Sam looked him over, knowing what his brother's pain tolerance was like, and what it looked like when he was crossing the lines. "Christine is at the warehouse still. I'll go get her later tonight." He promised. "You were a mess, better to ruin the upholstry of the rental than your car." He said."I promise she is in one piece." He said stepping closer to the bed.

"If she lets you drive her." Jack pointed out, winking at Dean. "I think you have her pretty much completely pissed off." He would let his anger go for now. Dean didn't need the tension.

Dean laughed. Then scowled. "I think I'm going to vomit." He said and Kaylie rushed to get him a basin. "Dudes, I screwed a demon. Seriously."

"Could be worse things in life, right?" Kaylie offered. "I mean, it wasn't the sex that nearly killed you."

"Dude, I keep warning you about your taste in women." Sam said, although the laughter didn't reach his eyes. He had figured it had taken a lot to get the drop on him. "So, from here on out when you pick up a one night stand, spike her beer. If she spews smoke... don't take her home."

"Oh that was low. That was really really low." He said, thinking of his one night stand. "Could really use amnesia right now." He looked from Sam to Jack and back. That was the easiest thing to move, his eyes. And luckily for him they were nice enough to keep in eyeshot without him having to move his head much. Which was pounding, but it was bearable. "How long was I out for?"

"Not even a day." Kaylie said.

"I don't know how long you were out before I got there. " Sam said. "I flew in from Salt Lake City, it took me about 6 hours to get to you total." It didn't matter if Dean knew now. He wouldn't be staying in one place any longer. It was a nice little pipe dream. He couldn't go back to his little apartment, his job and the girl that seemed to genuinely be interested now that he had taken those steps.

"Salt Lake, huh?" Jack said. "Well, you said he would be in the place we would least expect him to be. So what brought you this way?"

"Vision. I called to warn Dean and it was too late. Suppose I should know that demon prompted visions don't seem to have any advance warning to them. "

Dean looked at Sam. He was telling Dean where he was. No, where he had been. His mind was still cloudy and fuddled up, but he knew that. "Well, you got there." He said. That's what mattered in the end. Sam was alright, Dean would be all right, Jack was there. Even though every fiber of his body felt like it was on fire, and even talking hurt, it was a good day.

Sam pulled a chair over close to Dean's bed, and talked. He shared the details of his life for the past two months, finding out what had happened in Dean's. He had just a few precious hours, he didn't want to waste them being evasive. Jack relaxed on the surface, but was still concerned about what had happened. He wanted to find out what it was that had Ben giving Sam 'the look'. So when Dean drifted off to sleep, with the next round of pain meds, he excused himself, reaching for Kaylie's hand.

"We have to figure out where we are staying tonight, gonna pick up something to eat too, you want something?" He asked Sam.

"I'm good, thanks. My stomach is still tied up in knots from earlier. " He said and rested his arms on the siderails of the bed, propping his head up on his arms and closed his eyes for a few minutes.

An hour later, Sam was still sleeping on Dean's siderail. "You drool on me and I swear I'll kick your ass." Dean said when he woke up. He felt...well, better was too strong a word. But not as bad as he had. A part of him was surprised that Sam was still there, actually. Considering last time he had fallen asleep with his brother in the room, he woke up to find Sam gone.

Sam lifted his head. "Hey, you're awake." He said and wiped his face, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "You okay? Do you need anything?" He asked. He wished the bastard had take the pain away as well but he supposed he should just be happy that Dean was going to live through this. He hated that Dean had endured it to begin with. And Meg, that was how Sam still thought of her, was really going to pay for what she had done to him. Especially the way she had gone about capturing him in the first place.

"Chlorox for the mind would be a good start. But I'll settle for some water." Since the nurses had been nice enough to leave the water pitcher right out of reach. "Watch out." He warned as he fiddled with the controls until he managed to get the head of the bed up. "I'm fine, really. Been through worse, right?" He said with a grin, a shadow of what it usually was, but it was there.

"I know..." Sam said, dark eyes haunted and sad. But it's over, you're safe now." In ways that Dean didn't realize he was safe. It was part of the deal. The demon had to leave him alone now. "I ahm... I'm sorry, Dean. I really am."

"It's never over, Sam." Dean said with a sigh as he poured himself a glass of water and paused to drink it. His throat felt a bit better now. "And I swear to God if you bring up this 'I'm sorry' bullshit one more time, at all, ever, I'm going to seriously hurt you. I mean it, Sam. This isn't your fault."

"Actually... it is." He said calmly. "Because I have been playing hard to get since... " He sighed. "Since things started happening. This was definitely because of me. But that isn't what we need to be talking about anyway." Sam had planned on how to break things to Dean. "I'm sorry I ran off without talking to you, but I didn't want to make things harder than they had to be. "

Dean looked at Sam. And managed to raise an eyebrow. "You're kidding me, right? I was just supposed to let you slip off into the night because you were back on your kick again? You've known me your whole life, how did you think you were going to get away with that?"

"Because the alternative was to tell you that ... that it's started. That I'd started to lose myself into the darkness. With Jack there, and you two hitting it off, I didn't have to leave you alone and you didn't have to worry about Dad's bullshit promise."

"Sam..." Dean said. "No. I don't accept that. Too frigging bad, but I don't accept that. How lost could you possibly be when you're here? Right now you're here. What's your explanation for that?"

"It's a process, you know that." Sam told him. "You know that. Maggie was practically mom of the year to Jack for years.. and was torturing little boys on the side." He held up his hand. "No I haven't gone that far into the dark side but ... dude, I don't want you to be there when I do. And I don't want you to be the one that has to put me down when it gets ugly. You can't survive that. I know you."

"Ever stop and think that I could stop it?" Dean asked. "Dad seemed to think I could. And I know I can. Sam, you're not a coward, don't start acting like one. And what's all this about how I'd react? Really not important if I can stop my brother from becoming as dark and demented as he thinks he's destined to be. As he THINKS he's destined to be, Sam."

"Dean." Sam said firmly. "I know what's happening is something you don't want to think about. I don't blame you. I don't like it either but damn it ... you couldn't kill me before, when I was trying to kill you ... when I was possessed and you didn't know until you hit me with holy water, don't give me any bull on that one. You would rather let me kill you than protect yourself from me... and I can't let that happen."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Dean said. "So what's the plan, Sammy? Wait until the nurse comes to dope me up again and then just disappear? Again? You're seriously going to make me chase after you again, aren't you? Out of some misguided effort to try and protect me? It's not your place to protect me, Sammy. I'm the one that's supposed to protect you, even if it's from yourself."

"The hell it isn't my place to protect you. You're my brother. I love you, ya moron. That's enough reason and right, right there. And if I don't think I need to wait for you to be drugged to leave, Dean. I wanted to say goodbye right this time. But you can't chase after me, Dean. I can keep them off of you but not if you chase after me." He wasn't allowed to look back. That meant he couldn't have Dean behind him. Had to stop him some how.

"What?" Dean said, sitting up. And immediately regretting it as he held his stomach, where some of the more vicious wounds were. "You didn't. Sam, you did NOT make a deal with THEM for MY benefit. Tell me right now you didn't do that, Sammy." Not again. His father had done that, he was sure of it. And it had turned out real well for all of them. "Sammy, you didn't do that, tell me you didn't do that. Tell me I'm misreading this."

"You are misreading it." Sam said. "I said I could keep them off of you. I didn't say I turned myself over to them. It's okay. You are going to go somewhere and recover. Preferably with the baby of the family. I am going to go play exorcist for as long as I am able. Send as many of them to hell as I can before I get there myself. You are not to come after me. I don't give a damn what Dad made you promise, or what I made you to promise in a drunken stupor. It wasn't right of either of us. It's not your job. I can't be saved, and you can't kill me. Talk to Ben about what it took to get rid of Maggie... I won't have you going through that again. She did enough to you."

"The hell it's not my job." Dean said. "Sam, it's been my job almost my whole life. Can't expect me to quit now just because you think your balls have dropped. Sam, come on, we'll figure this out together." A feeling of desperation was flooding over him, because right now he wasn't physically strong enough to get out of bed, never mind chase after Sam when he left. And Sam knew that. This was his fault, because of a weakness he couldn't control. "Maggie has nothing to do with this. She's gone. You're not."

"But I will be and I don't want you anywhere near what's left when that happens. Not you, not Jack, no one. Just... be happy that I am going to take as many of the out before hand as I can." He could see the desperation in his brother's eyes. "Dean... do you have any idea what you mean to me?" Sam asked him. "I never had parents, and I didn't need them, because I had you. You have always taken care of me, you've always sacrificed everything from the last of the Lucky Charms to the blood in your veins for me. It's killing me knowing that if you are anywhere near, I will kill you. I've seen it... you have to stay away when I go."

"Sam..." Dean said. Wished he was in better shape. He could argue more. Until he was blue in the face. Or at least convincingly lay down the law. "Don't leave again." He said simply. How could his brother honestly expect him not to go where Sam went? To at least try to pull him out of whatever darkness he thought he had fallen into?

Sam didn't say anything else. He just sat there with his brother, trying to find the strength to complete his end of the bargain. Each time he walked away, it became harder. And he knew now why he had slipped away in the dead of night before. It was so hard to look Dean in the face and tell him good bye. "So what hotel were you staying in? Figure I can get your stuff or something before they find the weapons stashed around the place. "

"Tompkins." Dean said and gave him the room number. He was still shaking his head, wishing he could find the words to convince his brother to stay. "You know, most of my life, it was just the three of us. You, Dad, me. You guys were all I had. Now Dad's gone. And you're bent on leaving. Sure, there's Jack, but it's not the same. So what's left of me, Sam? What's left? My whole life has been taking care of one or both of you. So if neither of you are there, what's left?"

Sam took a deep breath then, and fought the tears that welled in his eyes. "You have to find that for yourself, Dean. But there is so much more to you than taking care of me... always has been, you just haven't wanted to see it. Dad wouldn't let you see it because then he might have to be the adult in the family." He sighed. "Maybe you should look up Cassie... settle down somewhere... make more little Winchesters. You were an amazing big brother... and a good father. You should share that part of yourself with others, Dean... don't lay down and die. Don't make all this for nothing. I need to know that you're okay out there somewhere. That maybe you get to be happy for once in your life."

"Don't worry about little Winchesters. Junior is wracking his brain for an appropriate proposal." Dean said. "And if I promise to curl up into a pile of misery and slowly wither away, will that change your mind?" He couldn't see the tears in Sam's eyes, his eyes were too blurry from his own. His brother was leaving him. He'd walk out that door and Dean wouldn't see him again, the way Sam made it sound. Dean was never good at letting go. He still hadn't fully let go of their mother. How could Sam expect Dean to let go of him so easily?

"It's not that simple, Dean. I wish it were, but it's not." He rested his hand over his brother's. "It's not because I don't care, Dean, I swear. This is just how things have to be. You just gotta promise me to try and find a way to be happy in this life. It won't change anything if you don't... and I promise Meg is going to pay for this. And not just a little."

"Well, that's the first plan you've had all night I agree with." Dean said. "So let me see if I get this straight, just so I'm not surprised this time. The nurse is going to come and drug me because she figures I must be in pain. I'll fall asleep. I'll wake up in a few hours and my car keys and stuff will be where you're sitting but you won't be. But if I refuse the pain meds and stay awake, I'll have to watch you walk out. And you'll have to know that I watched you. And there's no way to change your mind and convince you you're being an idiot?"

"Yeah that's pretty much it." He said, hating this as much as his brother did. "I don't have to go just yet... we have a little time left before I have to go." So long as the nurses didn't chase him out because of visiting hours. He would stay as long as he could.

Dean nodded and squeezed his brother's hand. "Okay." He said. He didn't agree with it, he didn't like it, but it wasn't like he was in a condition to hold Sam down right now. He'd given it his best guilt trip to no avail. "I don't know how long the docs are going to keep me in here, without you there to smuggle me out. You'll have a nice headstart. I don't know, maybe I'll go to Texas. Maybe Miami, think there's a girl there that still likes me." Cassie...there was a lot of hurt there, hurt he didn't fully realize or remember until her name was mentioned. "Take a break." Because even he would admit his body would need it. "Going to be weird without you there, you know that, right?"

"I'm gonna miss you too." For a little while at least. He didn't figure there was going to be much human left of him for long. The demon said he would call and Sam would have to answer. He figured that answer would be with what was left of his soul. "But hey, Texas won't be so bad. Jack really cares about you. It was obvious. I thought for sure he was going to take my head off. You won't have to be alone."

Dean quirked a grin. Alone. He got that now. That was Sam's biggest fear, that Dean would be alone. It was Dean's biggest fear too. "Yeah, he's a good kid. Even if he's whipped." Dean said. The nurse came in.

"I can give you something for the pain if you need it." She offered, and surprisingly, Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I could use it." He said as she injected it into his IV line. The pain he could handle. Watching his brother walk away, he couldn't. He'd make this easy on Sam, since it was happening regardless. His eyes widened for a moment as the drugs hit him. "Wow." He said with a chuckle and shook his head a bit. "All right." He said, looking at Sam. "Guess this is it." It was really it. "I'm going to remember you just like this." Letting Sam think he wouldn't try to find him later. That the minute he was out of here he wasn't going into research mode. "You will always be my brother. Got that? I don't care how dark you think you are getting, or will become, you'll always be MY Sammy at least. And I'll love you for that."

"I love you too." He said, and his voice cracked and his eyes welled up once more. "I want to believe that I always will." He knew that wasn't going to be the case. That one day he wouldn't even have a physical form any longer. One day he would possess others and bring sorrow and heartache to the world around him. When that happened, he wouldn't be Sam any more. For that reason he hoped that he would never see his brother again after this day was done. "You were everything to me. You're my brother, my best friend, father, counselor, royal pain in my ass. " He tried to laugh with the last. "And my life is going to be way too quiet without you around." He said, as he stood at his brother's bedside, one hand in his, and the other pushing back his hair. He stood there quietly, watching as he drifted into unconsciousness. "Goodbye." He said softly and turned to leave the room. "He's sleeping. I'll be back in a few minutes with his things and ahm... his insurance stuff." He told the nurse as he passed the nurses' station.

Once outside he took a deep breath and looked at the nearby trees. "Now is as good a time as any." He said as he stepped into the shadows and focused on the warehouse and the Impala. When he emerged at the car's side he very nearly dropped to the floor gasping for breath. He swore as he leaned against Dean's Baby for a moment. "I seriously do not like that."

"You get used to it." Meg said, leaning against the beam she'd tied Dean to. Where his blood was clotted at her feet. "And here I thought it was just a rumor, or wishful thinking. Will wonders never cease? And our father seriously doubted that Dean was the way to go."

"So it was all your idea then... this whole seduction, kidnapping and torture scheme was your brain child?" He asked, feeling the anger well inside him. A human enough reaction seeing as how she was standing in his brother's blood. Blood that she had spilt. He wondered if he would ever not see his brother's mangled body in his sleep. If he would ever forget the sound of that flat line.

"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, Sammy." Meg said as she walked around the beam, her hand tracing the lines of it as she walked. "You're not mad, are you? Thought you left all that pitiful humanity behind. But which are you more angry at? The fact of what happened to Dean? Or that I screwed him and merely possessed you? Such jealousy isn't becoming."

"The name is Sam." He said and picked her up with his mind, slamming her into the post with enough force to shake it and the roof it supported. "And don't make the mistake of thinking a little thing like giving up my soul is going to change anything where Dean is concerned." He said as he stepped forward and took her wrist looking for the tell tale burns of locking herself into the body. "No one touches my brother."

"Says the man who's going to kill him in the end." She said, laughing. "I didn't know you liked it rough. Better watch it, we are more or less family, aren't we? And you're so new to the game too." She knew what he was looking for, hers was on the small of her back. Where it wasn't easily seen. She'd learned from the last time.

"Now that depends on which game I am playing, doesn't it" He said with a dark smile. He began to speak the words from memory, as he had with the pizza delivery guy. He had memorized the ritual as a boy. That and several lovely prayers that tended to send demons into fits of one form or another.

"Stop! Stop!" She screamed at him as she covered her ears in a vain attempt to block it out. "You can't do this! You're one of us you son of a bitch! It's like cannabalism."

Sam grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from her ears. "You wanted a monster." He said in her ear. "You and your father taught me all about what it is to be a monster." He brought them up over her head. "But you see, you didn't create an ally. You created your own worst nightmare." He pressed against her, returning to the Rituale Romanum.

She writhed against the beam, someone passing by might have mistaken it for something far more sexual than it was. For she was crying, and screaming, and begging him to stop as her body contorted along with those holy words that cut her like a million knives.

"How many hours did you torture him, Meg?" He asked using the name he was most familiar with for her. He wasn't done, he was a long way from done. She had tortured his brother, and she had taken his hope from him. He would make her beg for hell's embrace.

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter! He's alive and we have to leave him alone!" Meg screamed tearfully. "He's alive, Sam! There's no reason for this! He's fine!" She struggled against him as she screamed.

"You don't understand vengeance, do you?" He said leaning in to whisper a sacred prayer in her ear as though it were a love poem. "If you wanted compassion you shouldn't have touched him. Shouldn't have set me on this path. Sucks doesn't it... having to pay for your transgressions?" He laughed a little then.

Meg was actually afraid of what stood before her. He wasn't a demon, not yet. And he wasn't human. "The body is human." She tried once more. "You'll punish her because you hate me so much?" He was a Winchester after all. Though...Dean had done away with the last girl she had inhabited...and he was human. He was a Winchester. Hopefully Sam was smarter.

"And that is supposed to stop me...why?" He asked. "You think my words are hurting her? They are comfort to a righteous soul... torture to the damned. Either way she is getting what she deserves. Even if it gets more physical...Better death at my hands than another day as your puppet. " He told her and pinned both of her wrists with one of his hands as the other removed the charm Bobby had given him, the charm to ward off possession, and slipped it over the girl's head, the silver pendant resting against her chest. He was tired of chanting.

She screamed, yelled, cried, writhed. This was more pain than when she had let her mortal body go so long ago. This was worse than the hellfire she had endured after she had been exorcised the last time. "You'll need puppets soon enough." She said, with nearly hysterical, pain tinged laughter as her knees gave out. She was upright only by Sam holding her wrists with his one hand, hard against the beam. "This is not what we signed you up for."

"We?" Sam asked. "There was no we." He told her. "Only your father, and I still have my free will, unlike you. Guess he really does like me best. I thought it was a line when he said I was his favorite. Guess it wasn't. So how long did you torture my brother, Meg? "

"An hour!" She screamed and he backhanded her. "All right, all right. Seven. Seven hours. Right here." That much was obvious, the ground was sticky beneath their feet from coagulated blood.

"Seven hours, plus another well... I'll be nice and call it an hour ... for the seduction. We have a long night ahead of us. Good thing you planned for somewhere that no one would investigate the screaming" he said as he let her slid to the floor. She wasnt going anywhere. The down side of the possession process was being limited by the body they were in. He wasnt as arrogant as he might appear, he knew that it was luck that had allowed him to get the drop on her. She had been right, he was new the game of demonic powers. But this he could have done with out any special abilities