Warning: Swearing, but you know that by now.

Author's Note: Oh my God, I am so sorry about not posting for two days straight. Friend's birthday on Friday, movies last night because… well, mainly cause I wanted to. But yeah, sorry, I'll try not to let it happen again! Here's the next chapter as an apology.

Chapter 10: Sealing a Deal

Sam swallowed as Mahone stared at him, though it was from the guilt that someone had actually been staying where he had sent Mahone's troops. And that he had gotten them into the same trouble he himself was more than knee deep in. Then he shrugged.

"What did you expect me to do, tell the truth?"

"You little fucking shit!" Mahone swore as he leapt forward, eyes wide and mad. Sam leapt back, shoving Anya out of the way as the club owner barrelled towards him, apparently driven insane for the moment by his fury.

And then suddenly he stopped, arms stretched out and reaching for Sam's neck. The hunter gaped as Mahone twitched, disbelief quietening his eyes. He still seemed to be straining, while being frozen in mid-air.

"Revenge," the demon spoke up quietly, that power all but resonating as it came into the cell. "Is a dish best served cold. Isn't that what you humans say?"

He stopped even with Mahone, staring down at the hunter with a promise in his eyes. Sam refused to back down, matching the blue-eyed stare with a stubbornness inherent to him.

And then Mahone stumbled forward, released from whatever telekinetic bonds the demon had placed him in. But he didn't lash out, just stood up, straightening his shirt and running a hand through his hair.

"Well, looks like we're going to have to ask you a few more questions," Mahone said quietly, voice incredibly hard. Sam just transferred his gaze to the man, not speaking. Mahone was the first to look away, back to his men. "Bring him."

Sam began to back into the corner as two men came forward, arms raised menacingly. He wasn't shocked to find one was Landly. But it wasn't only men he had to contend with.

An invisible push made him thud hard into the corner a few feet back, hard enough to stun him and send him to his knees. A kick sent him down the rest of the way, and he groaned, already hurting there from being run into by a car.

And that was when Anya jumped in, tackling one of the men to the ground before laying into him as hard as she could. Which, to Sam's pleasure, was pretty hard.

But he didn't take the time to watch. Freed of one captor, he attacked Landly, shoving him hard and following through, landing on the guard and driving his knees into the man's stomach. He heard the grunt as the air left the man beneath him.

Suddenly something picked him up, and he flew through the air, crashing into the cell wall hard on the other side. Anya landed somewhere nearby, and she was the first thing he looked for as he staggered to his feet, hurting from his collision.

Two men grabbed him instantly, driving him back into the wall with a sharp thud. They held him with all their strength, which was too much for Sam to fight back against. He could only watch the scene that played out.

Anya was getting to her feet as well, shaking her head to clear the daze. And as she looked up, the demon was the first thing she saw. It grabbed onto her upper arms, walking forwards until she had her back against the wall. She couldn't help but flinch away from the sadistic smile on its face, wincing as the grip around her arms tightened. She grabbed onto its forearms, but that did nothing.

The demon bore down on her, nose barely half an inch from hers. "Where's your brother staying?" it snapped. She glared up at it.

"Go to hell!" she spat, crying out as the demon tightened its grip once more.

"Stop it," Sam cried, struggling against the two men holding him. But no matter how hard he fought, it was two against one, and he was hurting. "You kill her and you'll get nothing!"

The demon gave him a smirk, turning its head slightly so it could watch him from the corner of its eye, watch his reaction as it fluidly shifted its grip from Anya's right arm to her jaw, grabbing her left wrist so tight he could almost hear the bones grinding.

She gave a cry of pain that was cut off half way through as the demon tightened its hand on her jaw, the knuckles white on the possessed man. Sam struggled forward, moving barely half an inch against the two men holding him.

"If you kill her, you know I'll never tell you anything!" Sam screamed desperately, furious as he watched the life being squashed from Anya. Far too literally for his liking.

"We'll see," the demon responded, not even caring about what he was doing enough to watch the girl as he killed her. His eyes met Sam's, and the hunter hoped he wasn't about to get Anya killed.

Shoving any guilt about the future away, he felt a snarl contort his face, let the rage bubble away until it flowed through him, giving him strength.

"Let her go," he warned one last time, an almost whispered promise that seemed to echo in the cell. But the demon's grip didn't loosen at all and he could see the pain sending Anya closer and closer to oblivion.

As he watched her eyes flutter closed, Sam pulled hard on the two men holding him back. Somehow, a wordless shout accompanying it, he pulled free, turning right to punch the man there, before swinging back around with his elbow to knock out the second man. In a matter of moments he was free, jumping forward and tackling the demon to the ground.

It cried out in shock as he landed on top of it. But Sam didn't stop there, using his anger to fuel his strength again, punching the demon as hard as he could as many times as he could.

To his surprise, he got in a few more punches than he had thought he would before the demon fought back. That still didn't mean there were many, just enough to bruise the face before a hand snaked out and grabbed his neck.

He scrabbled for the hand as he felt the circulation being cut off, felt the blood pounding in his ears, felt his lungs screaming for air instantly. The demon stood, taking the hunter with it, walking forward, eyes icy and furious.

It took Sam a moment to gather himself, falling to his knees, head pounding, feeling the blood creep down the back of his neck. Somehow he had ended up by the wall, and by the headache beginning in his head, he guessed the damn demon had smashed his head into said wall.

He groaned, struggling to get to his elbows and knees, let alone his feet. He needn't have bothered; the demon helped him up, shoving him hard into the wall and taking a strong hold on his neck again.

Sam gripped its arm, trying anything to break free, punching, kicking, scratching. But it was like pushing against a brick wall, and just as frustrating when the demon held him up like he was nothing, letting in just enough air that he had to strain to breathe.

"You little son of a bitch!" the demon spat vehemently. "I ought to rip your guts from your body." And as if it were going to, it dug its nails into his shirt, making him wince and squirm unwillingly. But it didn't go deep, just deep enough to cause pain, where it stopped and cocked its head almost thoughtfully.

"Or maybe…" It moved its palm, laying it over his heart almost gently. "Or maybe your heart."

Sam couldn't help but scream as he felt his heart lurch, the demon's power taking it, seizing it, until he could feel it stopping, urging to be free of his chest.

A moment later he sagged to the floor, gasping for breath, but so glad to be doing so. He stayed on the floor, heart pounding, aching, one hand to his throat where the demon had held him. But the demon wasn't done with him yet.

It knelt down, one knee on his back, digging into the area where his kidney was. Then it roughly took one of his hands, squeezing it; Sam could feel their pulses beating as one and he tried to shake loose, to no avail. The demon leaned down over him.

"Some demons seal their deals with a kiss," it whispered to him alone. No one else heard it. "I myself find that's too much contact with humans. Who knows where you've been? A simple… handshake… is enough."

Power surged suddenly, and Sam screamed, back arching in time with the abrupt steady throb bursting through his body. It was pain and pleasure mixed in with each other, and he felt his brain aching all over as it tried to deal with the sudden onset of touch, the sudden overwhelming sensations flowing from cell to cell, filling his body until he couldn't take it anymore and fell into white that faded to dark.

The hood of the Impala was strangely reassuring underneath him as he sat outside the motel room, watching the world go by in ignorance of what had happened, and of what would happen. The traffic passed, people on their way to one thing or another, lights almost blinding, if Dean had been in the right frame of mind to look at them, to take notice of them.

In comparison, the parking lot of the motel was eerily quiet and dark, the neon sign the only light there was away from the busy road. But Dean didn't even see that, as he sat on his car and just allowed himself to drown in nothingness for a time.

It was only a few hours past dark, not even midnight, and it felt like eternity had passed. An eternity since Sam and Anya had disappeared, and a shorter eternity since he had let a girl die in his arms. It didn't feel right. If he allowed himself to think about it.

Dean and Ash had retired to the motel to grab an hour or two of sleep, knowing they had to be thinking clearly before planning their next move. The kid was in the room, using Sam's bed, though he had been uncomfortable about it at first. But like Dean had pointed out, it wasn't like the younger Winchester would be using it anytime soon.

Sighing and rubbing his eyes, Dean looked up, picking at his fingernails. He had tried sleeping, knowing he was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. In fact, he had been the one to press the issue of them getting some sleep. But he couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, he felt more awake than he ever had before.

He checked his watch and sighed again, knowing the time to sleep had passed. Groaning under his breath, he slid off the hood and crept quietly into the motel room.

Ash was already up, slipping on his shoes and rubbing grit from his eyes. He looked up as Dean came in, obviously worried.

"Did you get any sleep?" the kid asked. Dean just rolled his eyes.

"I've been thinking about what we should do next," he said, turning on the light. Ash winced at the sudden brightness, and yawned, sitting down at the table. He nodded.

"Me too. And I think it's the same. Mahone's house, right?"

It was Dean's turn to nod. "Grab a car that's a lot less conspicuous than mine, and sit and watch it. Wait for the bastard to come home." He held back his own yawn and continued. "We know they'll be watching the club, so it's out of the question."

Ash nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. But I don't think we should steal a car."

Dean frowned. "Why not? Haven't you or Anya ever done that before?"

Ash gave him a look. "Of course we have. How could we not have, with the work we do? Just like I'm sure you and Sam have."

Dean gave a cocky grin, and it seemed to wash some of his weariness away. "So what do you think we should do?" he asked the kid.

"Break into his house. Have a little chat with his wife."

Dean's jaw dropped. "What do you mean, have a little chat? Are you crazy? We're not taking the woman hostage!"

Ash leaned forward, obviously prepared to defend his plan. "Look, we would only talk with her, I swear. I'm not about to go torture her."

Dean interrupted before he could continue. "Damn straight you're not! Ash, you're nuts. And here I was thinking your sister was the insane one. Your family reunions must be fun."

Ash rolled his eyes. "Look, calm down, Dean. It's logical. Either Mahone's wife knows about what her bastard of a husband does, which means she's no innocent in all this. Or she doesn't, and she could help us when she finds out what that son of a bitch does."

Dean shook his head. "Or she could think we're a pair of loonies, in which case, she'll call the cops, or Mahone, or both, and Sam and Anya are lost."

Ash frowned. "We're not going to let her call the cops," he pointed out. "Come on, it's the plan none of them will suspect. And I know she can help us. I know it!"

And that was the logic which ended with Dean pulling up outside Mahone's mansion nearly half an hour later, preparing to take a woman hostage.

Again, sorry about no posting for ages, life, you know, it's a biatch.