A/N: Sorry for the delay, folks! Things happen. As always, I appreciate the alerts and I'll have to thank for reviews here too - site seems to not like me replying individually at the moment. Rest assured, I really thank you!

Deja Vu All Over Again
Chapter Nine

One second, strips of his skin were being peeled from his back, his legs, everywhere, everyfuckingwhere. The next second, that agony was over. The decay and horror scent of the cage blanketed him. Screams echoed, and he vaguely recognized them as his own. Laughter mixed with the echoes and he knew in that moment none of it had been real except the screams. He clutched at his hair, then his hand, anything to make the laughter and memories go away. It didn't work, but they faded on their own eventually. Not fast enough, it was never fast enough. He was so tired. He wanted one day of normal, his old normal which wasn't normal at all, the non-normal he missed so desperately.

Sam lay on his side, shivering from cold and possibly shock, let reality come to him slowly. Unfortunately, reality was four thousand miles better than Hell, but still not great. His head ached from more than Lucifer tapdancing all around the inside of his skull. The Nix. He hadn't had such an intense … episode in over a month. It seemed reasonable that whatever Nix did to control a person might have crumbled defense mechanisms he'd worked so hard to implement. Shakily, he eased himself on one elbow that threatened not to hold him. Once semi-upright, he felt warmth on his upper lip. He didn't have to swipe at it to know it was blood. The taste of it filled the back of his throat.

"What the hell was that?"

He glanced at DiNozzo, sitting with his back pressed against the wall like he was trying to push himself through it and out of there. Sam's nose tickled with the partially clotted blood inching down, and he gave up resisting the urge to wipe his arm and hand across his face to clear it. Sam knew the blood smeared grotesquely by DiNozzo's expression. Then again, DiNozzo looked like that expression had been frozen there for quite some time. He didn't know how long he'd been … under. Too long. He also didn't know what Hell looked like from the outside, except he figured it wasn't any more of a picnic than living and reliving it, even for someone who didn't like, know or trust him. He shifted his arm and rubbed at the blood some more.

"I have a condition," Sam said.

Every one of his muscles ached. He might have seized, probably had. This wasn't good. If Nix came back and did whatever it did to manipulate his mind, Sam wasn't sure what would happen. How long would it take for the last few months of hard work at coping with Hell 24/7 to disintegrate, until his brain was nothing but crumbs? He was afraid he knew the answer, so it wasn't going to happen. He couldn't take doing that to Dean.

"Kid, acne is a condition," DiNozzo said. "I don't much care for you, as you know, but I think … I think you stopped breathing for a while there and it goes against my instincts and morals to just let someone die in front of me. I didn't enjoy watching it and not being able to help. Don't do it again."

Sam dropped to the ground when his arm couldn't take his weight anymore. The panicked noise DiNozzo emitted made him regret the sudden change of position, but he couldn't help that. He closed his eyes, but flailed a hand to wave the reaction off.

"Jesus, there's something seriously wrong with you."

"I'll be fine," Sam said, sounding nothing like fine to his own ears, but old habits were hard to break. He said he was fine because he had to be fine; if he wasn't fine, then he knew Dean wouldn't be fine. "I need a minute."

"Sure, take your time. Where'm I going to go?" DiNozzo said with a slight hysterical edge, which he followed up with a laugh. The laugh turned into a hacking cough.

It was in that moment that Sam accepted that they weren't going to get out under their own power. He felt weak as a kitten, and he recognized DiNozzo's cough as what it was – symptom of a rapidly moving illness. There was no way either of them could combat Nix influence. If Dean didn't find them in time, they were going to lose fingers and toes at the very least.

"You sick?" Sam cracked his eyes open and peered over at his fellow prisoner. The light was dim, but he could see DiNozzo looked pallid. Whatever hit him, it hit hard as well as fast. "You don't look great."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd be touched by the concern." DiNozzo wasn't going to let it go, but he kept talking. "Had the plague a few years ago. Ever since, I get sick easy. Let the flu shot go too long this year."

Sam was pretty sure Pestilence hadn't unleashed the plague in his brief time on Earth. They'd have heard about it. In a strange way, he felt a certain amount of … camaraderie wasn't the right word … with the guy, knowing he'd apparently faced major life issues himself. Maybe it was that DiNozzo finally didn't look quite like he thought Sam was about to eat his face. The monster who actually was going to eat their faces might have something to do with that, or maybe witnessing Sam's weaknesses made him less of a clear and present danger. It was too bad the potential bridge hadn't happened earlier, when it might have helped them figure a way out. Not that he could blame the guy. To say Lucifer wasn't fun to see was the understatement of eternity.

"You had the plague."

"Yes, as in the Black Death. That plague," DiNozzo said. "Look, this is a very scintillating conversation, but I'm not interested in being your prison BFF. I don't want to braid your hair and talk about who Molly Sue likes more."

Sam couldn't argue that. He only remembered snippets of how they'd met in the past, but it was clear DiNozzo remembered it in detail. What Sam couldn't ever forget was Lucifer, so he got why DiNozzo didn't like him, he did. Besides, the guy sounded like he needed to conserve the energy required to breathe more than talk. So, they didn't say a thing for a long while. It was better, anyway, because the figurative and literal demons in Sam's head had and continued to sap his diminished strength. He didn't have a chance at employing on the Nix the same techniques he used to keep Lucifer toned down to a low rumble. That didn't mean he wouldn't try anyway. Winchesters never said die, even after death.

"I was possessed," Sam said. He sounded better even if he didn't feel it. "Last year, when we … crossed paths. If I could have stopped my body from doing what I did during that time, I would have."

DiNozzo shifted so he was facing Sam slightly. He studied Sam for a minute, frowning.

"I suppose it would be stupid if I didn't at least acknowledge it was possible," DiNozzo said, "considering we're in the lair of a whatever-you-said-he-was. And you do seem different now, even outside of your 'condition'."

Sam wasn't sure why it was so important to him for this guy to understand he wasn't a monster. He'd gotten past that need for validation years ago, or so he thought. Maybe it was because if they were going to die before Dean could find them, at least he could make peace with this one person. One person of many he'd damaged along the way, with Lucifer and without his soul. He wasn't giving up; he was being realistic.

"Aww, you softie," Lucifer whispered from his crouched position over Sam's head. "You want people to like you. To really, really like you. So sweet. Too bad no one does. Not this guy, not your brother, not that old fart in a trucker's hat."

Sam thunked his head against the cold stone floor, made Lucifer disappear, but the words still haunted.

"I thought for awhile you had to be a zombie or a shapeshifter." DiNozzo laughed, bitter and wet with encroaching illness. "I think I let Halloween get to me. I hate Halloween."

"Me too," Sam said.

For the first time in years, Sam thought about Jessica, how Halloween was the last night he'd seen her alive on this Earth. About how she'd never been his, not really, just a piece on Lucifer's chessboard. His feelings, though, those were his and they'd been as real as anything.

"Look at that, common ground. Don't think this means I like you." DiNozzo coughed hard again. The bout lasted half a minute, which was a lot longer than it seemed. "Ah, we're not getting out of this, are we?"

Sam chewed his lip, struggled to sit himself. Everything spun for a second or two. He didn't know what to tell DiNozzo, because it sure didn't look great. Before he could formulate any kind of response, he heard a scraping sound. Judging from the way DiNozzo stiffened and looked at the opening where Nix had come in earlier, he hadn't imagined it.

"Jesus, it's gonna whammy us and eat our eyeballs now, isn't it?" DiNozzo whispered, fear palpable.

"Probably." Sam shrugged. "But eyeballs first is definitely the way to go, I think."

"That is not funny." But DiNozzo let out another laugh, this one high-pitched with hysteria and exhaustion. "It's really not."

The reaction seemed disproportionate to Sam for a second, then he remembered DiNozzo was just an ordinary guy. Hours of captivity at the hands of a monster might as well have been days. Weeks. Sam uneasily thought maybe they'd have days and weeks ahead of them, except Dean was coming. Dean would find him before then, and he could live without a finger or two.

"Remember that first time I pulled your thumbs off? That was awesome. You screamed real pretty when I shov…"

"NO," Sam said. "Stop, stop."

He could not deal with Lucifer and Nix, and he knew dealing with Nix might mean he finally cracked once and for all, and maybe DiNozzo wasn't the only one having unbalanced reactions here.

"What? Who are you looking at?"

No way to explain that, and Sam didn't have the opportunity to even try. The Nix entered the cavern, with something small dragging along behind it on the ground. Oh shit. Oh shit, no, that was not happening. DiNozzo gurgled and then dry heaved.

"I like a little treat for dessert," Nix said by way of greeting.

Nix had gone out and snared someone for its final course, all right. By the looks of her, she couldn't be more than ten. She had on a Halloween costume, a fairy princess or something all in pink tulle and sparkles, muddied, wet and torn now. She didn't look like she was breathing, which was confirmed when Nix leaned over and began pressing on her chest. It didn't take long before she coughed and turned to the side, vomited up a large amount of water. The moment she opened her eyes, she began to cry.

"Shitshitshitshit," DiNozzo murmured and shuffled closer to Sam. "This is not going to happen. We are not allowing this to happen."

Nix stroked the little girl's hair while she hiccupped and sobbed, speaking too softly for Sam to hear him. He figured it out quickly, when the girl stopped crying and closed her eyes. Kids must be easy to manipulate. Sam was relieved for the small favor, though it was a temporary one at best.

"She is sweet like honey."

"You think that's cute?" DiNozzo snapped to life, scrambling to his feet and lunging as far as his chained ankle would allow. "You are a sick son of a bitch."

Nix turned to DiNozzo, body language projecting anger, aggression. So far, all they'd seen from it was that eerie calm and smugness. Whatever it was doing, it made DiNozzo stumble into the wall and slide down. Sam knew what he had to do, and it was likely a suicide mission. It might be the time Humpty Dumpty couldn't be put back together, but that girl. That small, innocent little kid, she was worth it. DiNozzo was, too. He was ready for a massive setback, or, he had to be honest, the rest of his life in assisted living for those in a persistent vegetative state. Lucifer laughed at the very idea, and assured him no matter how mushy Sam's brain got, he'd always be there.

"You don't want to start with him," Sam said. "Hey, listen to me, listen to me."

It was moderately surprising when Nix stopped, DiNozzo gasping slightly and straightening. Surprising, but good. The longer Sam could keep the focus on himself, the better.

"He's sick. He probably doesn't taste very good, and you said you couldn't wait to see what flavor I am. So, come on."

Nix leaned into DiNozzo's space, sniffed his hair, then ran its tongue along the side of his face. DiNozzo gagged repeatedly and tried to scoot away while Nix smacked its lips a few times and tilted its head in consideration.

"You are correct. Such a shame. I can't eat that," Nix said. "He's gone bad."

Sam realized his miscalculation about a second before Nix took a path he hadn't considered, pulled DiNozzo up by the neck. If DiNozzo wasn't food, there was no reason to keep him alive. Sam shouted, he was sure he did, as DiNozzo fought weakly against the strong grip on his throat, the rattle of the chain as his legs kicked. He knew it wasn't possible, but Sam swore DiNozzo managed a glance over to him, accusatory, like he'd known all along Sam was a monster too. Which, of course, he had probably never stopped thinking.

Sam got to his feet. He had to do something, anything. Nix shifted as DiNozzo fought, though considerably weakened already, bringing them closer. Sam inched closer, going slow only to not alert Nix.

"Hey," he shouted.

Nix swung around. Before it could employ any of the mind control on him, Sam lashed out with all of his somewhat-weakened power. He caught Nix in the throat, hard enough he heard something crunch, and the monster released DiNozzo, went down hard. Sam kicked it in the ribs for good measure. It didn't move, but he knew it wasn't dead. Things were never that easy. The exertion left him trembling, panting for breath not quite as hard as DiNozzo.

"Not so tough without your mind control, are you?" Sam muttered, and gave his attention to the wheezing DiNozzo. "You all right, man?"

DiNozzo clutched his throat, breathing ragged, but at least he was breathing. He shot Sam a wild-eyed look, gratitude and residual fear – for Nix as well as for Sam himself. Sam was going to have to live with that. Live, being the operative word.

"For now. T-thanks," DiNozzo said. "Did you kill it?"

"No, but what do you say we see if the bastard's got a key for these shackles and get that little girl out of here before she wakes up?"

"I am one hundred percent in favor of that," DiNozzo said, with a ghost of a smile. "As long as we get rid of that thing while we're at it."

Sam would have liked nothing more. Of course, it was at that moment his body decided, no, he was done.

"Gimme one minute," he said.

Sam's vision tunneled at an alarmingly fast rate, the floor jarred his bones as he faceplanted onto it.