"What else did they tell you?" Sam asked, unsure if he truly wanted to hear any more.
Dean shook his head, swearing to himself as he put a hand to his chest, a deep breath pulling at his bruised body. "They told me about Ruby...."
Sam's heart hit the bottom of his stomach. "What about Ruby?" He asked, pulling another sliver of glass from his brother's hand.
"Some three hundred years ago, Ruby was a witch." Dean started, watching as the other man tossed the broken, bloody piece of mirror into the sink. "Sammy she used black magic to kill her husband and was burned at the stake for it."
"Dean, why didn't you tell me all this earlier?" Sam asked quietly, wiping the blood from his hands onto a towel nearby. When he caught his older brother's eyes, he could tell the other man had finally reached that breaking point.
"Because you love her..." Dean replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
"He deserved what he got."
Sam whirled around, his eyes catching those of the demon standing in the doorway. Though he had been expecting her, he was surprised to see her there. "Ruby..." He breathed.
"They didn't tell you why I did it, did they?" She asked, her eyes drifting from the man on the floor to the one sitting on the side of the tub. Dean simply shook his head. "The guy was a drunk bastard who'd beat me for the hell of it... Back then, accusing your husband of anything was a crime so I turned to black magic and it was taken care of for me... never did find his body." She paused for a moment as the memories came flooding back.
"You're not like the other ones though..." Dean remarked, his eyes never leaving those of the demon in the doorway. "You remember your life, and you know what love and compassion is."
"Yeah, and sometimes I wish I could forget." She replied, swallowing hard. "I'm not the only one that was burned at the stake... they made me watch my daughters burn to death. It's been at least three hundred years but it's like an echo, I can still hear them screaming inside my head." She said, her eyes falling on Dean's bloody hand in Sam's.
Before either men could say a word, a knock at the door broke the silence between them. "That must be Bobby..." Sam said as he got to his feet. "Are you ok for a minute?" He asked as he watched Dean's eyes shift from him to the floor yet again. When his brother offered somewhat of a nod, he made his way towards the door; catching Ruby's eyes on his way by.
"Dean..." Ruby started, getting his attention away from the pain in his hand and chest. "What you did in Hell wasn't your fault." The broken glass snapped and crunched under her feet as she made her way towards him. He watched as she knelt down in front of him and caught her eyes for only a moment before focusing on a drop of blood that was streaking down the side of the sink. "You've got to forgive yourself." She said softly, her voice taking on a motherly tone as she took his injured hand in her own.
"How can I forgive myself for the things I did, when I enjoyed it." He replied, his voice laced with guilt and anger.
"You did what you had to, to save yourself." She replied quietly. "Dean, I was dragged to Hell too... They beat, cut, carved and tortured me for years; that's what happens in Hell." She paused for a moment as she watched his eyes start to tear. "When you see an eternity of torture ahead of you, or the choice to put an end to such a bleak situation, it's understandable that you take their offer... That's what they're counting on."
"I had so much hatred and anger in me... but those poor souls didn't deserve what I did to them."
"And you didn't deserve what they did to you when you were the one on the rack." She was quick to reply. "They're minions Dean, they do as they're told... that's what being a demon is." She paused as she watched him wipe the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.. "You didn't deserve what you got."
Dean couldn't help but shake his head at her words, it was something he'd come to realize long ago. "Story of my life sweetheart." He said, his tone of voice bitter and jaded.
There was a moment of silence and as she caught his bloodshot eyes, she could have sworn she got a glimpse of something lurking in the back of his mind. "What else is there that bothers you so much Dean?" She asked quietly, releasing her grip as he pulled his injured hand away from her. "Is it what I am?"
"I spent my entire life hunting things like you." He suddenly started, wiping the blood from his hand onto his torn Jeans. "It's hard enough to believe that I have a demon on my side, but to watch the brother I sacrificed everything for turn into..."
"Sam's not turning into anything." She interrupted, her voice cutting into his sentence.
"Then why did angels pull me out of the pit? Why did they tell me to stop him before they do?" He paused as a deep breath pulled at his chest and the words caught in the back of his throat. "Why did my own father tell me that I might have to kill him someday..." He growled, remembering the moment as if it had been only yesterday. "I don't give a shit if the apocalypse is at our doorstep, I'd take my own life before I'd take his."
"They don't believe in him." She replied bluntly. "The angels, your father... you." When his eyes narrowed on her, she knew she had just hit home. "Sam has a gift, and you don't think he can use what he was given against the demons without turning into one himself." There was a short moment of silence as she watched the other man's eyes drift to the pieces of shattered mirror she was crouching over. "Dean, your brother is the strongest weapon you've got to fight this war."
Her words circled inside his head as he tried to make sense of it all. Could his little brother really be stronger than the dark side he possessed? If all Ruby wanted was for Sam to get Lillith out of the way, as the demons had told him, why was she so concerned about him? "Can I ask you something?" He whispered, watching as she grabbed a towel and extending her hand to him. She gave him a nod and he gave her his bloody hand. "Why do you care so much about what happened to me? There are many poor bastards out there that go through hell, not literally I guess, but no one gives a damn about them."
"Why do I care so much about you?" Ruby repeated, dabbing the fresh blood with the towel. "Because you mean the world to your brother, and if you mean the world to him... you mean the world to me too." She replied softly, looking up to catch his eyes. "Watching you struggle with your own demons is tearing him apart." She continued. "All he thinks about is how you're going to cope with everything you've been through." She paused for a moment as she focused on one of the cuts. "He'll be fine... when he knows that you are."
As Dean sat silently, taking in everything she had just told him, he couldn't help but let a smile creep up from the corner of his lips. "I have to admit, I never thought of you as a nurturing mother figure." He said, watching as she carefully cleaned his cut knuckles.
"I might be in my late twenties, but I've got some three hundred years on ya kid." She said with a smile. "That's got to be more than enough to justify looking after ya."
As she continued to clean his wounds, Dean thought about what she had said about his brother. The more he thought about it , the harder it go to keep his focus. His thoughts suddenly scattered and he couldn't help but let out a groan as he put a hand to his chest, a deep breath turning to a gasp as the sharp pain spread like wildfire. His vision started to blur and Ruby's voice seemed distant as the world around him started to spin.
"Dean?" She said, watching as he struggled to catch his breath. "DEAN!" She hissed, reaching out to grab him by the shirt as he started sliding off the edge of the bathtub.