It doesn't hurt me.
You wanna feel how it feels?
You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me?
You wanna hear about the deal I'm making?
You be running up that hill
You and me be running up that hill
And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh...
You don't want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder.
There is thunder in our hearts, baby.
So much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?
ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE – PART 2
Cold Oak
South Dakota
We'd moved Sam's body to an empty cabin nearby, placing him on a worn out mattress, and that's where he'd stayed for the better part of the last few days. Dean refused to move, just staring at him, sullen and silent. I felt so sick to my stomach, my eyes were dry, I couldn't cry any more – it was almost as if the hurt was so deep we were beyond crying.
"Hey," I said, moving to stand by Dean who was sitting on a chair, watching Sam. I slipped my arm around his shoulders. He barely even looked at me, so I reached out a hand to caress his face, turning his head to face me; the anguish in his eyes was heart breaking.
"Baby maybe you should get some sleep? I'll stay with him." I said, worried at how pale he was looking. He shook his head at me, turning back to stare at Sam's lifeless body and I sighed. I saw Bobby's truck pull up through the window and I went to pull away from Dean. His arm tightened around me, the first sign I'd had in over twelve hours that maybe I was getting through to him.
A barely imperceptible shake of his head let me know to stay where I was, so I stepped back resting my hands on his shoulders, just being present. Bobby came into the cabin carrying a bucket of fried chicken.
"Guys?" He said, holding up the bucket.
"No, thanks, I'm fine." Dean said quietly.
"You should eat something," Bobby said to him and I felt Dean bristle under my hands.
"It's ok Bobby, we're fine." I said softly, sending him a warning glance. Dean took a swig of the beer that was in his hands and Bobby watched us both with a concerned look.
"Look, I hate to bring this up, I really do. But don't you think maybe it's time... we bury Sam?" Bobby said to us. I closed my eyes, not even wanting to think about it.
"No," Dean answered for us.
"We could..." Bobby sighed, looking at us again, "maybe..."
"What? Torch his corpse?" Dean finished shortly. He looked at Bobby sternly. "Not yet."
Bobby looked in my direction, worry behind those kind eyes. "I want you to come with me," he told me. He'd already tried it on Dean, seemed he was taking a different tact now.
"She's not going anywhere," Dean said and I bit my lip. I shook my head at Bobby.
"Dean, please." Bobby said with a frown.
"Would you cut me some slack?!" Dean snapped, "I need her with me."
I squeezed his shoulders firmly, letting him know I was still here. "It's ok Bobby." I said quietly.
"Well you won't damn well move, and I got to admit – I could use the help Dean!" Bobby said. Dean snorted at him, shaking his head.
"Something big is going down – end of the world big," he said and I chewed on my lip. Right now it was the farthest thing from our minds.
"Well, then let it end!" Dean yelled and I frowned at him. That wasn't like Dean, but then again, we'd never failed so utterly and completely in our lives either.
"You don't mean that," Bobby said.
"You don't think so?!" Dean asked, standing up suddenly and coming to face the older man. I reached out a hand and grabbed his arm, trying to keep him calm. It wasn't going to do any of us any good to fight among ourselves.
"Maybe he's right Bobby," I said, wishing I could feel tears in my eyes, it would be better than the dry ache that was there now. "You don't think we've given enough? You don't think we've paid enough? Our entire family is dead!" Bobby looked pained.
"I'm done with it. All of it." Dean said shortly. "And if you know what's good for you, turn around and get the hell out of here." He was breathing quickly, almost as if he was about to have a panic attack. "Go!" He shouted at Bobby shoving him in the chest. Bobby stared back at him, his eyes glittering with tears.
"Dean!" I said sternly, pulling him back to me.
Dean turned to look a Bobby, the loss in his eyes so complete and apparent. "I'm sorry..." he said to Bobby, who nodded. "I'm sorry... please, just go." He said softer this time.
Bobby looked at me and I nodded silently, he sighed and ran a hand across his face. "Well, you know where I'll be," he said finally, turning and leaving the building. Dean turned to look at Sam's body again, a tear running down his cheek. I brushed it away and he leaned in to me, pressing his forehead to mine with a shuddering breath. I couldn't think of a thing to say.
Night fell without as much as a whisper from the world outside.
Dean was sitting next to the bed with Sam on it as I went about lighting candles to fight back the gloom. I was thankful that it wasn't the middle of winter, because we had no heating. We had no bedding, no electricity, no supplies, but I still couldn't convince Dean to move.
"You know when we were little – Sam couldn't have been more than five – he just started asking questions..." Dean said to me, staring at Sam. "How come we didn't have a mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time?" I nodded, coming to sit on the chair next to him. He looked at me with tearful eyes.
"I remember I begged him... 'Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't want to know.' I just wanted him to be a kid, just for a little while longer." He sighed and looked at Sam again, talking to his brother now.
"I always tried to protect you... keep you safe... Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job... I had one job... and I screwed it up. I blew it." He looked back at me again and my throat ached, I knew exactly what he was saying, I'd blown it too. We'd both failed.
"I'm sorry Sammy," he said, looking back at his brother. "But I guess that's what I do. I let down the people I love. I let Dad down." He looked over at me, anguish in his eyes. "I let you down," he said to me and I frowned, what was he talking about? "And now I guess I'm supposed to let Sam down too. How can I? How am I supposed to live with that?"
"Dean..." I said, reaching out to him, taking his hands in mine. "Dean, we did our best." He sat back and sighed.
"I should have given you more Beth, you know, I should have been free to give you more but I've only ever had one job, protect Sammy. I... I put that before us even." I smiled sadly. He wasn't the only one.
"Dean, I understand." I said to him. "You think I don't? You're not the only one who shouldered the responsibility of protecting Sam." He looked up at me and blinked back tears.
"You shouldn't have had to do that. It wasn't fair. Dad had no right to put that on you." He said to me and I bit my lip.
"Well, he did. And I agreed, because I love you guys. You're my whole world Dean." I said sadly, kissing the hand that was in mine. He stared down at our hands, intertwined and sniffed.
"What am I supposed to do Beth?" He asked softly, his voice breaking. "What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?" He asked over and over, leaning forward and burying his face into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him, rocking him a little back and forth.
"I don't know," I whispered. "I don't know..."
Dean had finally fallen asleep, he was exhausted and I watched him sleeping peacefully in the room adjacent to where Sam's body was. I'd been staring at him for near on an hour, pacing between the pair of them. One alive, one dead. My brothers, my world. I lit my prayer candle in the corner of the room with Sam and pulled out my rosary. Well, Mom had said I needed to pray during the dark times too, didn't get much darker than this.
I bent my head over the candle and prayed for another miracle. But I knew there wasn't one coming. Not this time. There hadn't been with Dean either. I sighed, thinking about it all, and when I blew the candle out I knew what I had to do. It was as if it had been my job all along, the reason I had come into this family, the reason I was here.
I rummaged through the trunk of the Impala, picking out the items I would need and then headed over to my motorcycle; Bobby had brought it in his truck when I'd said I might need to go out for supplies, but I didn't want to leave Dean without a car. I pushed it down the road before jumping on and starting it up. Time to do this.
I drove to the first dirt crossroads I came across, pulling the bike over and collecting my things together. A little box with the summoning herbs, cats bones, a photo of myself. I moved to the middle of the crossroads and buried them, standing up and waiting. And I waited: Nothing. I started to wonder if perhaps I'd put the wrong things in the box, chewing on my lip. I thought it through: no I definitely had the right items. Which meant the demon was just being tardy.
"Oh come on already. Show your face!" I said to thin air.
A beautiful woman in a black dress appeared in front of me. Curly black hair falling down her back.
"Easy sugar, you'll wake the neighbours," she said to me with a smirk. "Beth. It's so good to see you." She said and rolled my eyes.
"I mean it. Look at you. Gone and got your whole family killed. Only you and Deano left in the world, and both of you beating yourselves up over failing to save the one precious thing to you in the world. It's too sweet." She smiled at me, and I crossed my arms.
"You done?" I asked.
"Excuse me, you're going to have to give me a moment. Sometimes you got to stop and smell the roses." She said to me with a flash of her red eyes.
"I should send you straight back to Hell," I said stonily as she came to stand in my space, looking over at me.
"Oh, you should. But you won't. And I know why," she said, cocking her head to the side.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Following in Daddy's footsteps. You want to make a deal. Little Sammy back from the dead, and – let me guess – you're offering up your own soul?" She said to me.
"There are a hundred other demons who'd love to get their hands on it. And it's all yours. All you got to do is bring Sam back. And give me ten years – ten years, and then you come for me," I said.
"You must be joking," she said to me, and I frowned.
"That's the same deal you give everybody else," I said.
The demon smirked at me, coming over to whisper in my ear. "But you're not everybody else."
"No, I'm not." I said with a raised eyebrow. "Why don't you go have a little chat with Yellow-Eyes. See what he thinks about it? Or maybe I'll just take the deal to him myself."
She stepped back, assessing me. "Hm... yes, I heard he was … displeased to see you slip through his fingers. Oh there's just no underestimating that John Winchester is there?"
"So?" I asked, looking at me. She closed her eyes, as if she were speaking with someone else.
"Sorry Beth, I'm afraid ten years is a bit of a wait, not sure your soul will be of much interest by then," she said. I glared at her.
"Five years then, take it or leave it." I said, crossing my arms.
She looked at me with a smug look. "I think I'll leave it," she said. I tilted my head and smirked at her, I could call that bluff. Spinning on my heel, I started walking back to the bike, not saying another word.
I was about to slip the helmet over my head when she called out to me.
"OK!" She said. I smiled to myself, turning back to her. "Five years, and Sam's life," she confirmed with me. I hesitated for a moment, but there was nothing more to it. My family was dead, I should be too, and this was my purpose. This was why John needed me with them, to do this, to keep Sam safe, to keep Dean safe.
"Done," I said, walking back to face her. She smiled and I felt her soft hands touch my face. I forced back a shudder as her lips brushed across mine, she leaned in to the kiss, parting my lips with her tongue and I heard a car screech to a stop behind us.
"Beth!" Dean was shouting at me and I pulled back from the kiss, the demon looked on smugly at me, turning to Dean.
"You're too late, lover boy," she said with a smile.
"What have you done?!" Dean asked urgently, grabbing me by the arms and shaking me.
"She's just brought your darling brother back from the dead," the demon answered for me. Dean looked at me with anguished eyes.
"What have you done?" He asked again quietly.
"I had to Dean, it's why I'm here; it's what I was put here to do. Sam isn't meant to be dead, neither are you. I should have sold my soul to save you, and Dad would still be here – you'd have him, Sam would be here, you'd be a family again." I said to him, tears coming back after my eyes having been dry for so long.
"What are you talking about? I'm not going to lose you because of Sam, because of Dad!" Dean said and the demon laughed.
"Don't worry, you get five years until you have to kiss her good bye," she said. Dean looked at me in shock.
"Five... Five years?!" He said loudly. "Are you insane?!"
I shook my head. "I had to, I had to Dean. I promised to protect Sam."
"And I promised to protect you!" He said, groaning. He pulled me to him, squeezing me tight. "Oh Beth, what have you done?" He looked over my shoulder at the demon.
"Take me instead," he said and I pulled back.
"What? No, no!" I said shaking my head.
"Yes, I'm not letting you do this. You take me instead," he said to the demon who laughed delightedly.
"Why on earth would I want to do that?" She asked, smirking.
"You know how valuable my soul is, you know it's worth every bit as much as hers." He said to the demon, and she raised her eyebrow. "I'm not letting you take her."
"A righteous man..." she said with amusement. "Well, well... maybe you do have something to trade." She looked at him. "But it's not going to come cheap."
"What do I have to do?" He asked, looking at her.
"First of all, quit grovelling. Needy guys are such a turnoff," she said with a sigh. She turned a conspiratorial eye to Dean.
"Look... look I shouldn't be doing this. I could get in a lot of trouble. But what can I say? Nothing like a white knight in shining armour to tug at the old heart strings... I've got a blind spot for you two. Always fighting to see who can sacrifice the most for dear little Sammy. You're just too much fun to play with." She looked at us with a smile. "I'll do it."
"You'll bring him back? And you'll release Beth from her deal?" Dean asked. She nodded.
"I will. And because I'm such a saint, I'll give you one year. And one year only," I gaped at her.
"What?! No!" I said, pushing Dean away from her. "No Dean, you can't." He looked at me with a pained expression, reaching out for my face.
"I'm not letting you go to Hell when I can do something about it Beth. You're a minister's daughter, you're a believer... and I love you, I won't see it happen, not on my watch." I felt the tears welling in my eyes again, shaking my head furiously at him.
"No... no, no, no. I can't lose you Dean. I'd rather be dead." He sighed at me, pulling me into a hug.
"You think I feel any different?" He said.
The demon yawned at us, picking at her nails. "Booooring!" She said, and we turned back to her.
"Do it," Dean said, and she raised an eyebrow.
"If you try and welch or weasel your way out, then the deal is off. Sam drops dead, he's back to rotten meat in no time; and Beth's soul is mine. Do I make myself clear?" She said. Dean nodded.
"Forget it!" I said, pushing Dean away from her. "Don't you dare Dean, don't you dare!"
"It's a better deal than your Dad ever got, what do you say Dean?" The demon asked, watching me struggle with him.
Dean looked at me, a pained expression in his eyes. He sighed and shoved me to the side, taking a few quick steps to grab the demon, kissing her to seal the deal.
"Dean!" I yelled at him, but it was done. Just like that, our entire lives changed.
The ride back to the cabin was short but excruciating. I'd dumped my bike, I couldn't even bare to look at it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'd already started counting down the days and I wasn't going to spend a minute away from Dean.
He was deathly silent as we got out of the Impala, I tripped over a tree root as I rounded the side of the car and I stayed there, pulling back to huddle beside the tree, staring up at the branches overhead, silhouetted against a grey sky.
Silent tears fell down my face and I struggled to breathe through the desperation I was feeling. It had been easy when it had been my soul on the line, now it wasn't everything just came crashing down.
Dean stopped and looked back at me, sighing and returning to kneel next to me.
"She'd given me five years Dean… five years! That's a lifetime for us, what are the chances we'd even live that long? But one year? It's not enough time Dean. I can't … I just can't." He pulled me into his arms and I sobbed heavily into his shoulder, drenching his shirt with tears. We stayed like this for what seemed like hours, but in reality were only minutes.
He still didn't say anything to me, but he was soft and gentle, showing me that he simply didn't know what to say, or how to put into words what he was feeling. When the tears subsided I let out a big sigh, brushing my eyes with my hands.
"Come on," Dean said, brushing at my eyes with his thumbs. "It'll be all right." Just the sound of his voice nearly started a whole new wave of tears, but I pushed them back. We had to get inside to Sam. Biting hard on my lip, I nodded and he stood up, pulling me to my feet and into his arms. I leaned into the embrace, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist, my head against his chest, mind racing: wondering if there was a way we could get out of this deal.
After a moment he pulled away, taking my hand, and led us inside. Sam was up and around when we walked in. He was standing in front of a mirror, looking at his back and Dean froze, staring; I bumped into him before scooting around.
"Sammy," Dean said softly.
Sam mustered up a pained smile. "Hey," he said.
We both crossed to him simultaneously, Dean pulling us both into a big group hug, holding tight.
"Ow," Sam said with a grimace. "Uh, Dean..."
Dean stepped back, releasing us. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, man. I'm just... I'm just happy to see you up and around, that's all. Come on, sit down." He said, leading us all over to the bed Sam had been on earlier. I sat on the bed with Sam, taking his hand and smiling while Dean pulled up a chair.
"Okay," Sam said with a curious look. "What happened to me?"
Dean and I exchanged a look and then I turned to him. "Well, what do you remember?" I asked.
"I saw you, and Dean and Bobby, and … I felt this pain. This sharp pain, like... like, white-hot, you know, and then you both started running at me, and... that's about it." He said, frowning.
Dean nodded. "Yeah, that – that kid, stabbed you in the back. You lost a lot of blood. It was pretty touch and go for a while."
"But Dean, you can't patch up a wound that bad," Sam said, confused.
"No, Bobby could." Dean said dismissively. "Who was that kid, anyway?"
"His name's Jake. Did you get him?" Sam asked.
"No, he disappeared into the woods, I lost him," I said, shaking my head.
"We got to find him, guys. And I swear I'm gonna tear that son of a bitch apart," Sam said, standing up. We both stood with him and Dean placed a hand on his chest.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there Van Damme. You just woke up, all right? Let's get you something to eat. Huh? You want something to eat?" Dean said, and Sam nodded. "I'm starving," Dean said, looking at me. "Come on."
We dug around in the things that Bobby had left us, left over pizza from earlier in the day, the chicken, there was whiskey and coke, bottles of water. Sam was telling us about what had happened the entire time he'd been apart from us.
"And that's when you guys showed up," he said, taking a big swallow of water, looking at us.
"That's awful," I said, horrified by the story. "Poor Andy!"
Sam nodded. "The demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive."
"He told you that?" Dean said with a frown.
"Yep," Sam scoffed. "He appeared in a dream."
"Did he tell you anything else?" I asked, leaning back against the kitchen bench.
Sam shook his head, a little too quick if you asked me, and he looked over at Dean. "No," he said. "No, that was it. Nothing else. You know, what I don't get, is if the demon only wanted one of us, then how did Jake and I both get away?"
Dean swallowed, looking over at me. "Well, I mean, they left you for dead. I'm sure they thought it was over," Dean said, taking a large bite of pizza, and chewing as he paced the floor.
"So now that Yellow-Eyes has Jake, what's he going to do with him?" I asked, chewing on a nail.
"I don't know," Sam said, looking over at me. "But whatever it is, we gotta stop him."
Dean turned tired eyes to Sam, I noted how pale he looked, he had barely slept the last three days, his eyes were dark ringed, and he was starting to worry me.
"Well, hold on." Dean said to Sam. "You need to get your rest. We got time."
"No, we don't," Sam said quietly, looking from Dean to me.
"Sam, oceans aren't boiling okay? Frogs aren't raining from the sky. Let's get you your strength back first," Dean insisted. Sam sighed.
"Well did you call the Roadhouse? Do they know anything?" He asked.
Dean looked over at me, sighing a little, his eyes sad. "Yeah," he muttered, sitting down. Sam noticed the look between us.
"What is it?" He asked.
I walked over and sat next to Dean, really not wanting to have to say it. "The Roadhouse burned to the ground Sam. Ash is dead. Probably Ellen... and a lot of other hunters too." I said. Sam looked stunned.
"Demons?" He asked.
"Yeah, we think so," Dean said with a nod. "We think because Ash found something."
"What did he find?" Sam asked.
"Bobby's working on that right now," I said quietly.
"Well, come on then," Sam said, starting to stand. "Bobby's only a few hours away."
Dean stood up at the same time, grabbing Sam by the shoulders. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, Sam, stop. Damn it. You almost died there. I mean, what would we have..." Dean paused, looking harder at his brother. "You just take care of yourself for a little bit huh? Just for a little bit?"
Sam shook his head. "I'm sorry Dean, no," he said softly.
Dean looked down at me and shook his head. I sighed. Where on earth did we all get our stubbornness from?
Bobby's House
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Dean's POV
It would take a couple of hours to get to Bobby's. Painstaking hours to think long and hard about what had happened at those crossroads. I couldn't believe Beth had been so stupid to sell her own soul, and then to take a five-year deal on top of it. I shook my head just thinking about it, glancing in the mirror at where she was sitting in the back seat.
She was staring out the window, a haunted look in her eyes and I sighed again. What the hell were we going to do to get out of this one? I wasn't even sure we could. But there was no way I had been going to allow her to go to Hell over Sammy. That was my job, and it was simple, protect Sam, protect Beth. Be damned if I was going to see her die over him, some demon's chew toy for all eternity. I would have died on the spot if it had meant getting her out of that deal. Looking at her now, I started to wonder if maybe that might have been the kinder way out. Now she had to live a year with this knowledge, I knew she'd never forgive herself.
I turned my eyes back to the road and kept driving, trying to push all these thoughts out of my head.
When we reached Bobby's both Sam and Beth were asleep. I pulled up near the old house and went to wake Beth first. I opened the back door carefully so she wouldn't fall out, holding her in place before reaching in to brush my hand along her cheek. She stirred at my touch and then opened her deep brown eyes to look at me.
"Hey," I said softly to her, and felt my heart stir when she smiled at me. I had a feeling those smiles were going to be far and few between from now on, making a note that I'd have to make an effort to get them out of her. She reached out and grabbed my face between her hands, pulling me forward as her lips met mine in an almost desperate kiss. When she broke away, she ran her hands over my shoulders and buried her face in my neck, the soft breath from her mouth tickling my skin.
I took and deep breath, then started to stand up, pulling her out of the car with me. I reached through the window to tap Sam on the shoulder and he startled awake, looking frantically up at us.
"We're here," I said, nodding at the house.
I wasn't expecting Cole to answer the door when we knocked.
"Hey shortass," I said, making light of the fact that she was a good foot or more shorter than me. Never failed to astonish me how short she was, even Beth was taller than her.
She raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to retort, but her eyes flicked to Sam and the smirk fell off her face.
"Hey Cole," Beth said from beside me, pushing into the hallway.
"Hey Cole," Sam said with a smile.
Cole continued to stare at Sam. "Sam. It's good to see you... up and around," she said, turning a hard stare to me.
"Yeah, well..." Sam shrugged, looking at Bobby as he came up behind Cole, a stunned expression on his face. "Thanks for patching me up," Sam said to him.
"Don't mention it," Bobby said gruffly, frowning at me.
Beth was pulling on Cole's arm, looking at her kind of urgently. "Cole, I need to talk... now!" She said and I frowned as the pair of them wandered through the living room, headed for the bedrooms upstairs.
"Well, Sam's better," I said, looking at Bobby, aware that we were all still standing on the porch. "And we're back in it now, so... what do you know?"
Bobby led us into the living room. "Well, I found something. But I'm not sure what the hell it means," Bobby said, looking at us both.
"Demonic omens... like a frickin' tidal wave. Cattle deaths. Lightening storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here." He pointed to a map before him on a desk, circling an area with his hand. "All around here, except for one place... Southern Wyoming."
"Wyoming?" I asked with a shrug.
"Yeah. That one area's totally clean – spotless. It's almost as if..." he trailed off.
"What?" Sam asked. Bobby looked from him to me.
"The demons are surrounding it," he said with a grim look.
"But you don't know why?" I asked.
"No, and by this point my eyes are swimming," Bobby said, shaking his head. He took a step back and looked over at Sam. "Sam, would you take a look at it? Maybe you could catch something I couldn't?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah, sure."
"Come on Dean," Bobby said pointedly to me. "I got more books in the truck, help me lug 'em in."
"Yeah," I said, almost sighing. I knew what was coming.
He waited until we'd reached the junkyard before turning on me.
"You stupid ass!" He yelled at me. "What did you do? What did you do?!" He pushed me and I took a few steps back. "You made a deal... for Sam, didn't you?" The look in my eyes confirmed what he already suspected. "How long did they give you?" He said quietly.
"Bobby..." I said, not wanting to answer.
"How long?!" He roared at me.
"One year," I answered, looking at him.
"Damn it, Dean!" Bobby said.
"Which is why we gotta find this Yellow-Eyed son of a bitch. That's why I'm gonna kill him myself. I got nothing to lose now, right?" I asked.
Bobby grabbed me by the collar, eyes flashing with anger. "I could throttle you!" He shook me and I heard Beth cry out behind us.
"Bobby!" She called, I turned to see her running toward us, she reached us, putting a hand on Bobby's chest to separate us.
"Stop! It's not his fault... it's not his fault. I made the deal," Beth said to him, tears in her eyes.
"What?!" Bobby exclaimed, looking at her.
"I made the deal," Beth said quieter this time. Bobby let go of my shirt, stepping back.
"They gave her five years," I said, shaking my head at Beth. "But be damned if I was going to let that go down Bobby, so I made a deal and …" Bobby's eyes widened as he started to realise the implications of why I'd done it.
"What is it with you Winchesters, huh? You pair, your Dad. You're all just itching to throw yourselves down the pit." He sighed, running a hand over his face.
"That's my point. Dad brought me back, Bobby. I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know? It's like my life could mean something."
"What? And it didn't before?!" Bobby said to me. "Have you got that low an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head?!" He grabbed me again, and Beth looked startled.
"I couldn't let her go to Hell, Bobby. I couldn't, it's Beth." I felt the tears coming into my eyes and I fought them. Beth had stepped back a few paces and was staring at me, horror in her eyes like she'd finally just realised what had happened at those crossroads.
"You wouldn't have done it," she said softly, looking at me. She'd finally figured it out. I wouldn't have sold my soul, I was looking for a way to bring back Sam, but that hadn't been an option for me - until she did it. I stared sadly at her.
"Oh my God!" She said with barely a whisper, the anguish apparent in her eyes. Bobby let me go again, staring at her then looking at me. He looked stunned, like he'd thought it would have been my idea to sell my soul for Sam.
"But I couldn't!" She said, shaking her head. "I couldn't let him die, I couldn't, he's my brother."
"Well how's your brother gonna feel when he knows what the pair of you did? When he finds out Dean is going to Hell because his sister sold her soul!" Beth flinched, and Bobby turned to me. "How'd you feel when you knew your dad went for you?"
"You can't tell him. You can take a shot at me. Whatever you got to do, but please don't tell him," I said.
Bobby's eyes welled up with tears and he started to cry, grabbing my chin as he battled his emotions. Suddenly there was a clank from part of the junkyard. We all immediately fell to the side, taking cover. Bobby and I against a couple of cars, Beth behind an old 44-gallon drum. Footsteps worked their way through an opening between us, and as they got nearer I grabbed them by the shoulders.
Ellen's startled eyes looked back at me. "Ellen?!" I exclaimed, looking at her, barely believing my eyes. She nodded at me. "Ellen. Oh, God," I said pulling her in for a hug.
Moments later we all gathered in the kitchen, at the same old table we'd picked out years earlier during a fun-filled afternoon. I smiled a little, reminiscing about those days, about what it had felt like to have Beth pressed on top of me after she tackled me when I'd challenged her comfort zone. I still remembered what it was like to trail my fingers along the bare skin under her top that day – a forbidden touch, one we'd both been craving.
I glanced over at her now, she was staring silently at Ellen, a troubled look on her face.
Bobby and Ellen were sitting at the table across from one another. He poured her a shot of liquid from his flask and slid it across the table to her. Ellen raised her eyebrow at him.
"Bobby, is this really necessary?" She asked with a smirk.
"Just a belt of Holy Water, shouldn't hurt," Bobby said back to her. She rolled her eyes, lifting the shot glass to her mouth and swallowing the water. She put the shot glass back on the table and slid it toward Bobby.
"Whiskey now, if you don't mind," she said, and I smirked. Just like Ellen.
Bobby started to pour from a bottle on the table while I looked at her. "Ellen, what happened? How'd you get out?" I asked.
She took the shot glass of whiskey Bobby offered her, holding it in a shaky hand. "I wasn't supposed to. I was supposed to be in there with everyone else." She paused and scoffed. "But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck." She downed the shot of whiskey and exhaled sharply as Bobby poured her another.
"Anyway, that's when Ash called. Panic in his voice." She sighed. "He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky-high. And everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes." She shook her head, looking like she was still in shock.
"Sorry, Ellen," Cole said softly.
Ellen looked up with tears in her eyes. "A lot of good people died in there. And I got to live," she scoffed. "Lucky me." I stared at the tabletop, not even wanting to go there. I was sick to death wondering how it was that I managed to live when everyone around me died.
"Ellen, you mentioned a safe?" Bobby said.
"A hidden safe we keep in the basement," Ellen said with a nod.
"Did the demons get what was in it?" Beth asked, coming to sit at the table.
"No," Ellen said, pulling something out from her jacket pocket. She unfolded a map and set it down on the table. There were several black lines and X's marked on it.
"Wyoming," I said, pointing to the state again. What was it about this place? I pointed to the lines. "What does that mean?"
Bobby's House
Beth's POV
We'd been researching Wyoming for maybe an hour when Bobby came into the kitchen from the library, bearing a book.
"I don't believe it," he said, putting the book down in front of Dean on the dining table.
"What? You got something?" Sam asked, coming around to look over his shoulder.
"A lot more than that," Bobby said. "Each of these X's," he said, pointing to the map. "Is an abandoned frontier church – all mid 19th century. And all of them build by Samuel Colt."
"Samuel Colt – the demon-killing, gun making Samuel Colt?" I asked with a frown.
"Yep," Bobby said. "And there's more. He built private railway lines connecting church to church." He traced the black lines with his finger as he spoke. "It just happens to lay out like this." He picked up a pen and connected the X's in a pattern that was a giant five-pointed star.
"Tell me that's not what I think it is..." Dean said, looking up at me.
I was stunned, staring at it. I nodded. "It's a Devil's Trap. A 100-square mile Devil's Trap."
Cole smirked. "That's freaking brilliant! Iron lines demons can't cross."
"I've never heard of anything that massive," Ellen said, staring at the map.
"No one has," Bobby said.
"And after all these years none of the lines are broken? I mean, it still works?" Dean asked.
"Definitely," Sam said.
"How do you know?" Dean asked, frowning at him.
"All those omens Bobby found. I mean the demons, they must be circling it and they can't get in." Sam explained and I nodded. That's why there was a big clear zone on the map.
"Yeah, well, they're trying," Bobby said sourly.
"Why? What's inside?" Cole asked, leaning on the table.
"What's what I've been looking for. And, uh, there's nothing except an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle." Dean said, leaning back in his chair.
"Well what's so important about a cemetery or... what's Colt trying to protect?" Sam asked, looking around at us all.
"Well, unless..." Dean said, looking at me and I suddenly saw what he was seeing, I leaned forward, nodding.
"Unless what?" Bobby asked.
"What if Colt wasn't trying to keep the demons out?" Dean asked.
"What if he was trying to keep something in?" I mused quietly, looking at the map.
"Well that's a comforting thought," Ellen smirked.
"Yeah, you think?" Cole said, crossing her arms and looking concerned.
"Could they do it Bobby? Could they get inside?" Sam asked, looking at the father-figure in the room.
"This thing's so powerful, you'd practically need an A-bomb to destroy it. No way a full-blood demon gets across." Bobby said.
Sam looked up suddenly, panic in his eyes. "No. But I know who could." He looked around at us and my heart sank, that was the plan, that's what Yellow-Eyes had been after all along. Someone strong enough to get across those lines, and break them. He had a human, someone behind enemy lines...
"Jake," I said, and Sam nodded. Dean looked up and Cole stirred beside me.
"We have to go, and we have to go now," Dean said, already heading for the door. We were headed for one of my favourite parts of Wyoming, I knew the road well. Even at break-neck speed it was going to take us at least eleven hours to get there.
Cemetery
Unknown Location, Wyoming
Dean's POV
Night had fallen by the time we reached the cemetery. There wasn't a soul in sight, but that didn't always mean much. We all took different positions throughout the graves, not really knowing what we were looking for, but we knew one thing: at some point, Jake would be along, following orders from the Yellow-Eyed demon.
Jake opened the gate to the small cemetery and entered, walking toward a crypt which was in the middle. I was crouched with Beth by a large tomb, we had our guns ready and waiting. As he neared the crypt, Sam stepped out of the shadows with Bobby.
"Howdy Jake," Sam said. Beth and I moved in behind him, Cole closing the circle from the other side with Ellen. We had the son of a bitch surrounded.
Jake turned, surprised to see Sam standing there. "Wait...you were dead. I killed you," Jake said to Sam. Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah? Well next time, finish the job." He said, taking a step closer.
"I did! I cut clean through your spinal cord, man." Jake said. Sam glanced over at me and Beth, I looked away, I could see it in his eyes: he knew there was truth to that statement. "You can't be alive. You can't be." Jake said.
"Okay, just take it real easy there, son," Bobby said, holding up his gun.
"And if I don't?" Jake asked.
"Wait and see," Sam said, swallowing hard.
"What, you a tough guy all of a sudden? What are you gonna do – kill me?" Jake smirked at Sam.
"It's a thought," Sam said, hatred in his eyes.
"You had your chance. You couldn't," Jake said.
"I won't make that mistake twice," Sam promised him.
Jake started to laugh and I looked at him, wondering what he thought was so funny.
"What are you smiling at, you little bitch?" I asked him, drawing his attention to him. Jake's eyes flicked to Beth and I had a moment to regret what I'd just said.
"Hey Sweetheart," Jake said to her. "Do me a favour. Put that gun to your head." Beth's eyes widened as she pointed her gun to her temple. I silently cursed not having gotten ourselves some ear plugs. Though from what we'd experienced with Andy's brother, he didn't need to use words if he was strong enough.
Jake laughed again. "See that Ava girl was right. Once you give in to it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."
"Let her go," Sam said, his voice dripping with anger.
"Shoot him," Beth said, her voice trembling.
"You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off," Jake threatened and I looked over at Beth quickly, my finger tightening on the trigger just the same. "Everyone, put your guns down. Except you, sweetheart," he said to Beth. I looked at Beth again, staring at her shaking hand, she was fighting it, but it wasn't a battle she was going to win, he was strong. We all dropped our guns, looking at each other.
"Okay, thank you," Jake said, turning to pull the Colt out of his jacket. He moved quickly and went to insert the gun into an opening on the front of the crypt. I nodded at Bobby, who was closest to Beth other than me, and as he was distracted, we grabbed at Beth, pulling her arms away from herself before she could shoot herself, a shot going wild as we took the gun from her.
Sam and Cole acted at the same time shooting Jake from different directions. He fell to the ground as I pushed Beth into Ellen's arms, spinning to turn my own gun on him. Sam had moved to stand over Jake, who was now looking up alarmed at him. I couldn't help but take in Sam's facial expression of contempt and darkness as his face contorted in a snarl at Jake.
"Please..." Jake said, gasping. "Don't... please." Sam didn't even hesitate, just pulled the trigger and shot him three more times in the chest. The engraved opening on the crypt started to spin in different directions, and I came up beside Sam, looking at him a little shocked as he wiped a few spots of blood off his face from shooting Jake at such close range.
The others were staring at the crypt door, and we all watched as the engravings came to a stop and there was the sound of a lock tumbling.
"Oh no," Bobby muttered.
"Dad what is it?" Cole asked, looking up. I reached out and pulled the Colt out from the crypt just as Bobby answered.
"It's Hell... take cover, now!" Bobby's shout got me moving, and we all ran behind tombstones as the doors to the crypt burst open. I had Beth beside me, looking frantic as a large black mass of smoke poured out of the crypt, flying forward like a freight train.
Beth's POV
"What the Hell just happened?!" Dean yelled out to no one in particular as debris flew all around us.
"That's a Devil's gate!" Ellen shouted back. "A damn door to Hell!"
"Come on! We gotta shut that gate!" I called to Dean and I stood up, moving toward the crypt.
Dean checked the Colt for bullets, and stood up. I thought I heard him mutter something about the demon having given the gun to Jake, but I was soon out of hearing range as I joined Sam at the crypt, trying to push closed the doors to the crypt.
Thunder crashed around us, and suddenly the Yellow-Eyed demon appeared behind Dean. He used an unseen power to pull the gun out of Dean's hand to his.
"A boy shouldn't play with Daddy's guns," the yellow-eyed bastard said to him and I watched as Dean was thrown through the air, hitting his head on a tombstone.
"Dean!" I cried out, leaving the crypt and running over to him. Sam saw me running and called out after me, following. Next thing I knew Sam was thrown against a tree, where he stayed, pinned by the power of the demon.
"I'll get to you in a minute, champ. But I'm proud of you – knew you had it in you." He approached Dean as I struggled to get him up. Suddenly we were both pinned to the tombstone behind us.
"Sit a spell," he said to us, smiling. "So, Beth, I got to thank you. You see, demons can't resurrect people unless a deal is made. I know, red tape – it'll make you nuts. But thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation. Now I wasn't counting on that, but I...I always liked him better than Jake." He laughed, and then looked at me. "Tell me – have you ever heard the expression, 'If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is'?" I stared at him.
"You call that deal good?" I asked him. Behind us I could see Bobby, Cole and Ellen struggling to get the doors closed on the crypt. We needed more time.
"Well, it's a better shake than your dad ever got, if you remember? And you never wondered why? I'm surprised at you." I frowned, I was curious what was so interesting about me, but I seriously doubted he'd tell me even if I asked. The demon crouched closer to me, his yellow eyes staring into mine. "I mean... you saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold, wasn't it?" He chuckled, looking over a Dean, then back at me. "How certain are you that what you brought back is 100% pure Sam?" He asked, and I stared at him, horrified.
He looked at Dean. "You of all people should know that what's dead, should stay dead. I wasn't counting on your knight in shining armour routine to bail her out though," said the Demon, turning back to me. "Pity." I glared at him.
"Just the same, I knew I kept you both alive for a reason. Until now, anyway. I couldn't have done it without your pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourselves for your family."
The demon took a step back and cocked the colt, pointing it at Dean. We struggled against the hold had on us, but it was strong, we didn't stand a chance. As he went to pull the trigger, I saw a familiar face appear behind the demon. John.
John grabbed the demon from behind, wrestling with it and we saw the smoky figure of the demon pulled by John out of the body it was possessing. The body fell to the ground, Colt still in his hand, and the hold the demon had on us was released, we could move. The souls of the demon and John wrestled, but the demon was stronger. He pushed John aside and reclaimed the body he had been in.
Dean was ahead of him. As the demon stood up, fully back in his body, Dean had grabbed the Colt and was holding it extended out. He pulled the trigger, shooting the demon in the shoulder. The demon turned to look at Dean with shocked yellow eyes before falling to the ground, dead.
Bobby, Ellen and Cole closed the gate doors on the crypt, shutting out the demons that were escaping, and turned to see John. Cole let out a surprised gasp, and I saw John look over at her with a smile on his face.
I got to my feet, helping Dean up, he was a little unsteady from the blow to his head, his eyes looking slightly unfocused. John walked up to us both, putting a hand each on our shoulders. We were all crying, I couldn't believe I was seeing him. I couldn't believe he was standing right in front of us, free of that place. I felt a hard rock settle in my stomach as I realised that I was responsible for condemning Dean to the same place John had just escaped. John pulled us into a big hug, and then looked over at Sam.
Sam had come up behind us and was staring at his father, and John turned to smile at him releasing us from his embrace, his touch from Dean and I fading.
"Dad?" Sam asked, looking at him.
"Hi son," John said to him, a proud look on his face.
"John?" Cole said in shock, coming over from the crypt.
"Nicole..." John said sadly, "hey baby." He reached out and touched her cheek and she leaned in to him, surprised she could feel it.
Dean stared down at the demon in front of us. "Well, check that off the to-do list," he said and we all chuckled at Dean's whimsical sense of humour.
"You did it," John said proudly, looking at Dean.
"I didn't do it alone," Dean said, nodding back at his father.
"You really climbed out of Hell?" Sam asked John, staring at the shimmering figure in front of us. He was there, but he wasn't really there. He was a spirit, he was still dead, but he was no longer in that Pit of horror, and that's what mattered.
John nodded. "The door was open," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
"And if anyone's stubborn enough to crawl out, it would be you," Bobby said gruffly to him, trying to ignore the way Cole and John were looking at each other.
"Bobby..." John started, looking over at his old friend.
"Forget it John," Bobby said with a wave of his hand. "Water under the bridge."
"Yeah," Ellen said with a nod. "On both counts." John exchanged a long look with her, tears in his eyes and he nodded.
"Thank you." He said softly.
"I kind of can't believe it," Sam said, still stunned. "I mean, our whole lives, everything... everything has been prepping for this, and now I..." he chuckled, shaking his head. "I kind of don't know what to say."
Dean smiled, looking at me. He'd been planning this a long time, we'd talked about it many nights.
"I do," Dean said quietly. He leaned down to the body of the demon, staring right into the his still open eyes, now faded and lifeless. "That was for our mom...you son of a bitch."
We all looked at him, crouched there, and there was nothing more that could be said. When Dean stood up again, John and Cole had moved away from the group, they were talking in hushed tones, and she was crying while he stood with an arm around her.
"Come on," I said to the rest of the group. "Let's leave them alone, they have a lot to talk about and who knows how long he has."
I pulled the boys toward the Impala, and Bobby and Ellen followed. As we reached the car Bobby and Ellen went to his truck, breaking out a whiskey bottle.
Sam looked over at us, a stern expression on his face.
"You know, when Jake saw me...it was like he saw a ghost." He scoffed at us. "I mean, hell, you heard him. He said he killed me."
"I'm glad he was wrong," Dean said, still stubborn as all hell, refusing to budge on telling Sam about the deal.
"I don't think he was, Dean. What happened... after I was stabbed?" Sam asked, suspicious.
"We already told you," Dean said elusively.
"Not everything," Sam said, narrowing his eyes at us.
"Sam, we just killed the demon. Can't we just celebrate for a minute?" Dean asked with a groan, and he slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him.
"Did I die?" Sam asked, turning to look at me. "Beth?"
"Oh, come on." Dean groaned.
"Did you sell your soul for me, like Dad did for you?" Sam asked Dean, turning to look at him.
"Oh, come on! No!" Dean said, shaking his head. Technically, it was the truth.
"Tell me the truth." Sam said, and Dean ran a hand across his mouth, sniffing back tears.
"Sam..." I said to Sam quietly.
"Beth..." Dean said in a warning tone.
"Beth, tell me the truth!" Sam said, looking at me.
"I did, I did it," I said to him, tears in my eyes. Sam looked at me shocked.
"What? Why Beth?" He asked, looking at me.
"Don't get mad at me," I said sadly to him. "I had to. I had to look out for you." I grasped at his hands and he shook his head, pulling them back.
"How long did you get?" He asked, looking at me. Dean stiffened beside me, and I glanced at him. I didn't know how to tell him.
"What else aren't you telling me?" Sam asked, seeing the exchange.
"I countered the deal, when I found out." Dean said, looking at Sam. "Beth walks free, and you get to live."
"What?! Are you both mad?" Sam said, incredulous. "How long do you have?"
"Sam..." Dean said, shaking his head.
"How long?!" He asked again.
"One year," I said quietly, tears in my eyes. Sam reeled back, shaking his head.
"You guys shouldn't have done this. How could you both do that?" Sam asked, fighting back his emotions. He looked at us, anguished.
"It's my job Sam! My job is to look out for you, and for Beth, and so that's what I did." Dean said, his arm tightening around my waist.
"And what do you think my job is?" Sam asked.
"What?" I asked him, confused.
"You've both saved my life over and over. I mean, you've sacrificed everything for me. Don't you think I'd do the same for you? You're my big brother, my big sister. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you guys!" He looked at Dean. "And I don't care what it takes, I'm gonna get you out of this. Guess it's my turn to save your ass for a change."
Dean half-smiled at him, and I raised my eyebrow. "Yeah," Dean said softly.
Cole walked up to us, she seemed a little lighter, but there was a sadness behind her eyes.
"Well... the yellow-eyed demon might be dead. But a lot more got through that gate," she said to us, I turned to look at her.
"Where's Dad?" I asked, looking for John's spirit.
"Gone," she said sadly, looking at us.
The boys nodded, and I felt saddened that I couldn't have seen him one more time.
"How many, do you think?" Dean asked, pushing past that announcement, shoving it down where he didn't have to look at it, instead turning his attention to the demons.
"Hundred," Ellen said, coming up behind us. "Maybe two hundred. It's an army. He's unleashed an army."
"Hope to hell you kids are ready. 'Cause the war has just begun," Bobby said, looking at the four of us.
I sighed. I didn't want to be fighting a war, it was the last thing I wanted to be thinking about. The clock was ticking and I knew that I would have an internal countdown permanently in my brain, counting down the days to when that crossroads demon would be coming for Dean. We had to figure out a way to break the deal before then, we had to. Dean obviously felt differently, because his face took on a sudden expression of determination and he turned around to the Impala's trunk, opening it and tossing the Colt inside before closing it again with a bang.
"Well then," Dean said, looking around at us. "We got work to do." I looked at him, proud and strong, watching me with guarded eyes.
"Any idea where to start?" I asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
He smirked at me, looking around at the others. Well, we're about an hour away from Green River, that little B&B we like so much... they have pie," he suggested, and I grinned, shaking my head. Leave it to Dean to think about pie in a moment like this.
"No complaints?" Dean asked, looking around. "Well ok then! Pie it is!" And he jumped in the driver's seat of the Impala, starting the car up. I got in the passenger side while Sam and Cole took the back. Bobby and Ellen were in his truck. We pulled away from the cemetery at a slow pace, picking it up as we hit the black top. Dawn was coming up over the horizon, the sun getting ready to light up a new day. In an hour we'd have somewhere to sleep, somewhere to wash away the last few days of hurt and anguish, and we could top it off with some of Eleanor's famous apple pie.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Song for this chapter is: Running Up That Hill (Cover) by Placebo
And that's it folks! Season 2 done and dusted. I don't know if there will be a short story before I move on to Season 3 or not. Possibly, actually. I'd like to do Beth's POV on How To Save A Life next, which I think fits in better with this story – it'll be a nice little flashback into beginning relationship Dean & Beth before we move into the War on Demons. I'll just see what comes out. If it gets written before The Magnificent Seven it'll likely be the last chapter before the new Season starts a new story. Let me know what you think!
Don't forget to check out the Facebook Page - Dean & Beth Supernatural FanFic. There is a link in the last chapter for you too. There's going to be one for John and Cole going up soon too.
If you're not sure who Cole is, or you want to read more about her and the relationship she has with John, check it out over at How To Save A Life by EarthhAngel :) It's got some pre-relationship Dean & Beth in there too. In fact, this story kind of showcases when they start acting on their feelings for real, and why.
Thanks as always to EarthhAngel for loaning me Cole for the story :) And for making sure I didn't butcher the story too much!
Please leave a review! You know I love them and they make me all giddy inside! Much love to everyone who takes the time to let me know what they think of the story, love you all!