While this part begins a little darkly…I promise that by the end the chapter there will be hope!

Thank you for all your kind reviews! Enjoy.

Sam tightened his finger on the trigger, the barrel of the Colt touching Lilith's forehead. Her eyes stared back at his, unflinchingly. She was ready to die.

Sam stopped.

What was shooting Lilith really going to accomplish? He would have an empty, meaningless victory over a demon, and Dean would still be in Hell. Of course, with all the power he had now, it would probably be easy to bring Dean back without Lilith's help, but it would be so easy to torture her and force her to do it. She deserved everything he could possibly do to her and more for all the evil she had done...

All in all, shooting her would be doing her a favor…and that was the last thing that Sam wanted to do. Slowly, and with extreme reluctance, Sam lowered the Colt.

Lilith raised her eyebrows in disbelief, "What are you doing?"

Sam reached out with his left hand and pulled her toward him so that her face was inches away from his. "Dean can't be saved anymore, can he? You've already destroyed him."

Lilith took in a shaky breath, trying to ignore the pain that his iron grip was causing her shoulder. The calm acceptance in his voice was terrifying. "Sam—"

"Death is too good for you." Sam hissed, tightening his grip.

Lilith was trembling now, "Sam, please—"

"Bring him here." Sam said darkly, "Alive."

Lilith breathed out, trying not to panic, "Sam, you don't want to see—Dean's—Dean's not—"

"I'm going to count to three." Sam said simply, releasing his grip on her. "If Dean's not here in three seconds, I will slowly start torturing you in the most painful way that I can imagine, and it won't be quick."

Lilith nodded hurriedly and concentrated on the task.

"One…" Sam said. "Two…"

There was a flash of light and something appeared and fell forward toward the ground. Sam automatically reached out his hands and caught his brother before he fell the whole way, and he gently lowered him to the pavement. Dean's eyes were closed, and he was shaking uncontrollably.

Sam's breath caught in his throat at the sight of his brother. "I've got you…" he whispered softly. "I've got you…" he reached out to run a hand through Dean's hair, but as soon as he made contact Dean's eyes shot wide open and he blindly kicked out with all his strength, catching Sam in the stomach, and then rolled away from him. "S-stay away…" he cried hoarsely. "Who are you? Get away from me!"

"Dean." Sam said softly, his heart pounding in his chest, "It's me…it's Sam."

Dean shook his head. "I—I don't know you." He said loudly, his eyes darting back and forth wildly as though he was looking for danger to appear.

Sam felt as though the ground had dropped out from beneath his feet. "You…you have to know me…I'm your little brother…"

Dean frantically shook his head, not even listening to his words. His breathing became erratic and completely irregular, and Sam realized with a jolt that he was sobbing.

Sam's heart raced faster and he stared helplessly at his brother. Every sob was like a punch in the gut. This was Dean. Dean never sobbed, not like this. No one should ever sob like this. Sam reached out a hand toward his brother.

"Don't—" Dean sobbed, crawling backwards away from him, "D-don't hurt me again. P-please don't h-hurt me anymore. I don't know w-what you want! I—I d-don't—Just go away—j-just—"

Sam closed his eyes. A tear trailed down his bloody cheek. He couldn't comfort his brother…couldn't help him…couldn't save him.

It was too late.

"M-make it stop." Dean sobbed. "Please."

Sam smiled softly at Dean, his eyes full of tears. "I will. I'll fix this, Dean. I promise."

Dean didn't answer, he just lowered his head to the pavement and continued sobbing as though he would never stop, as though he couldn't stop.

Unable to take it anymore, Sam waved his hand and Dean froze, trapped in time just like the rest of the world. Sam stared at his brother, his face twisted in agony, lying curled up on the pavement. This wasn't Dean—not anymore.

"You destroyed him." He whispered.

Lilith fell to her knees, shaking. She was terrified.

Sam looked over at her and a red hot rage shot through him. "You…" Words failed him. He couldn't even think of a word to describe her with. He wanted to scream. He wanted to blow something up, he wanted to run for miles until he couldn't run anymore and then collapse somewhere and cry for hours.

He wanted Dean.

"I'm going to fix this." He said firmly, "Right now."

Lilith remained on her knees, eyes averted.

Sam glared at her. "Get up." He growled.

She didn't move. "There's nothing you can do…" she said softly.

Sam shook his head angrily. He reached down and before she could react he grabbed her roughly around her waist and threw her over his shoulder. "Yes there is." He said, a dangerous smile on his face. "Plan B."

Lilith blinked. She considered demanding that he put her down but decided that that would probably be a bad move. "I—I didn't know you had a Plan B." she said simply.

"Neither did I…until now." He started walking across the parking lot with Lilith slung over his shoulder. "You're only alive now because I'm keeping an eye on you…if you so much as breathe wrong I swear you'll be dead before you can even scream."

Lilith nodded. "I guessed as much."

Sam continued walking until he reached the other side of the lot. He stopped in front of two figures, their faces frozen in shock and horror as they gazed blankly into the distance. Without putting Lilith down, he waved a hand in front of them, freeing them from their timeless state.

"Hey." He said softly.

Bobby's eyes widened in shock. "Sam?" he looked back over at the pile of demons, all frozen in place, "But you were just fighting them…how—how did you—"

"It's okay, Bobby." He said quietly. "It's going to be okay."

Ruby grinned. "I see you found Lilith."

"Yep." Sam said simply, and without any ceremony he dropped her on the pavement.

Lilith landed with a thud and then instantly moved to run away.

"Don't even think about it." Sam said darkly, and she stopped, motionless, unable to run.

"Sam, please…" She pleaded.

"No, Lilith." he said coldly. "I'm not letting you go so you might as well stop asking or I'll take your voice away, because I am so sick of hearing your voice."

Bobby put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Sam…" he said worriedly, "You—you—"

"I'm fine." Sam said dismissively, meeting his gaze with his black eyes, "And I'm still mostly me…I think, so you can stop worrying."

"Well, yeah," Ruby said, putting her hands on her hips, "If you weren't we'd all be dead right now. What the hell did you do?"

Sam hesitated, "What do you mean?"

Ruby rolled her eyes and pointed at the heap of motionless demons, "What did you do to them, turn them into an art sculpture or something?" she demanded.

Sam shook his head and shrugged. "I stopped time."

Bobby's mouth dropped open. "You stopped time for hundreds of demons?"

Ruby grinned, "No, Bobby," She said. "Sam stopped time for the whole world."

Bobby paled instantly. "W-what? No…that's not possible…" he gasped, looking at Sam for some kind of confirmation.

Sam shrugged. "It just happened…" he said emotionlessly. "I didn't even try, it just…happened."

Bobby took of his hat and ran a hand through his hair. "So…what you're saying is that you accidently stopped time for everyone in the entire world?"

"Yes." Sam admitted.

Ruby grinned. "Oh yeah…I bet on the right horse."

Sam shook his head, agitated. "But it doesn't matter, Ruby. None of this matters." He said dismissively. "We can't save Dean."

"But we can get him back now." Bobby interjected. "Lilith—"

"He's not—" Sam paused and then continued, his voice full of emotion, "He wouldn't be the same, Bobby. Not now. It's too late…it was too late the second he died."

"We can still try, Sam, we have to—"

"Yeah, we could." Sam said with a shrug, "We could bring him back to life and patiently try to fix him for the rest of our lives. But he still wouldn't really be Dean again."

Bobby stared at him in disbelief. "So…so you're saying that we should give up on him? We just forget about Dean and move on with our lives?"

"I never said that." Sam countered.

"Yeah." Bobby spat angrily. "You just did. After all Dean's done for you, you're just gonna leave him in Hell to suffer—"

"Bobby." Sam said dangerously. "Don't." he paused and looked away. "I get it, okay? I know you're scared. I know it's freaking you out that I have demonic eyes and can do things you've never even imagined, but I'm still Sam. I'm still me, and Dean's still my big brother, and I'd still do anything for him. Hell, I embraced my powers and risked completely losing myself in order to save him, so don't ever accuse me of giving up on him, because I would rather die and go to Hell myself than see him suffer."

Bobby looked away and sighed. "Sam…I—"

"I'll do whatever it takes to get him back." Sam continued determinedly, "Nothing can stop me from saving him. Nothing."

Bobby nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know that, Sam…" he said softly, "And I'll always be behind you. We'll get him back together."

Lilith stared up at them in disbelief from where she was lying on the ground. She laughed softly. "You—you people are insane…"

Ruby frowned and delivered a swift kick to her ribcage. She grinned at the loud crack that followed. "Shut your mouth before I break all your ribs, Lilith dear. The only person that's allowed to call these two girly freaks insane is me, and I can call them whatever the hell I want. Got it?"

Lilith gritted her teeth and glared at her. "You'll pay for your disloyalty, Ruby." She hissed.

"Oh give it a rest, no one cares." Ruby said dismissively, turning back to Sam. "So…what's the plan? I assume you have one."

Sam grinned softly. "Getting attached to us, Ruby?" he said teasingly.

"What?" Her eyes narrowed. "In your dreams. The day I even start liking you two losers is the day that—"

"All Hell breaks loose?" Sam suggested. "That could be arranged."

"Oh shut up." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just explain the plan…not that it'll be any good…"

Sam shrugged. "We need to bring Dean back like he was before he went to Hell."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, "Cocky, rash, stupid, self-absorbed, oh the many adoring qualities of Dean Winchester—"

"Anyway," Sam continued, "I just realized that I've been looking at it all wrong."

Bobby's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well…it's impossible, isn't it? Dean's been in Hell—he'll never be the same, even if we brought him back now."

"So then how are we supposed to save him?" Ruby asked, confused. "There's nothing else we can do."

Sam shook his head. "There is…one thing." He paused, and then continued. "In order to save Dean, we have to go back to where it's possible for him to be saved."

Ruby's eyes widened. "You…you don't mean…" she glanced back over at the heap of demons, all frozen in time. "That might actually work…"

"It has to." Sam said.

"Of course," Ruby continued, back to her usual cynical tone, "It's still a bad plan because you've never actually done anything like that before."

"Yeah, that's the problem." Sam admitted. "It's all theoretical."

"Wait just a second, Sam…" Bobby interrupted loudly. "Are you talking about time travel?"

Sam nodded.

Bobby breathed in deeply, trying to let that sink in. "Time travel? You want to attempt…time travel?"

Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Well…I was able to stop time, so I figure I should be able to travel through time as well."

Ruby shrugged. "I think it'll work…theoretically, of course. And if nothing really bad happens, which is always a possibility when Sam does the planning."

"You'll be taking us with you, of course." Bobby said firmly.

Sam frowned. "What? But I—"

"Of course he's taking us." Ruby said briskly. "He's not just gonna leave us behind like excess baggage."

"I'll…try." Sam said hesitantly.

"No, Sam, you will." Bobby said determinedly. "Someone's still gotta watch out for you."

Ruby grinned. "Yeah, and you still have to go to bed at eight o'clock every night, no tv on school nights—"

"Damn it, Ruby, just shut up!" Bobby said, shaking his head in annoyance.

"It'll never work." Lilith said darkly. "It won't."

Sam glanced down at her, trying to resist the impulse to splatter her brains against the parking lot—not yet. "It will…you'll see." He said, a dangerous smile on his face. "You'll see."

Ruby nodded impatiently, "Let's just do this."

Bobby nodded, looking supportively at Sam. "Tell us what we need to do."

Sam met his gaze and then took a deep breath. "Okay…we need to time this just right." He said determinedly. "Ruby, when did Lilith actually possess you?"

Ruby frowned, "Right when we got into the dining room—when the hellhounds were chasing us. She possessed me while I was running…" she trailed off and then kicked Lilith again as hard as she could. There was a second crack.

Lilith screamed.

Sam grinned faintly and then continued, "We're going to have to cut it close."

Ruby nodded. "You need to know where Lilith is."

"Exactly, and this'll work better if we know for sure that she's in you. If we go in before she possesses you we would have more time, but if something went wrong Lilith could possess someone else and throw us off. We can't do anything until everyone's in the dining room."

"I get it, Sam…but I'm still going back with you, right?" Ruby said in her usual cocky voice. But there was a hint of something else, too—pleading?

Sam blinked. "Yeah." He said, "Of course…we need someone to be able to tell us how incredibly stupid we are when something goes wrong."

"I'm totally up for that." She said, grinning.

"Thought so." Sam said. He took a deep breath. "Okay…I'm ready."

"Are you sure?" Bobby questioned, his dark eyes studying Sam critically. "Sam, you look terrible…you're covered in blood and need stitches in at least a dozen places, probably more...you should rest for a moment—"

"No." Sam interrupted softly. "No, I need to do this now..."

Bobby nodded, uncertainty still visible in his eyes.

"Everything's going to be fine." Sam said simply. He smiled reassuringly at Bobby and then closed his eyes and concentrated. "You'll have to be patient…" he said softly, "I don't really know what I'm doing…"

"It won't work!" Lilith shouted suddenly, her eyes wild. "You'll fail, Sam! You can't save Dean no matter what you do!" she began struggling furiously against the invisible hold Sam had on her. "Let me go, damn it! You can't do this!"

Sam ignored Lilith and concentrated. For a few moments nothing happened, but that only made him more determined. He dug deeper inside himself, searching—

Bobby kept his eyes focused on Sam's face, watching as it tensed and then relaxed completely into a peaceful expression. It was as though he was lying on a beach under the sun, listening to soft waves break upon a sandy shore. As he watched, he heard Sam let out a soft sigh, barely audible even in the silence of the timeless world.

Bobby glanced over at Lilith and realized that although she was still shouting, no sound was coming out of her mouth. Ruby shot him a look of apprehension from where she stood, and as Bobby stared back at her with what he hoped was a reassuring expression, she flickered. He breathed in quickly in surprise and she flickered again, like a black and white picture on an old tv. "It's working…" he whispered…only nothing came out. A deep silence curled around them tightly, the steady beating of their hearts the only sound in the entire world.

The world blurred and darkened, smearing all the colors together in a canvas of bright white nothingness that stretched for endless miles in every direction—and they were falling—falling forever, with nothing to hold them up but the rushing wind—

Sam opened his eyes.

It was completely dark apart from a couple streetlamps and the soft twinkling of light of the windows of nearby houses. The sound of running water was loud in his ears.

He looked around and saw Bobby and Ruby lying on the ground. "Time to get up." He said, grabbing both of them and hauling them to their feet.

Bobby looked at him, his gaze unfocused. "W-what? What's going on?"

"The sprinklers are already on." Sam said simply. "We have to work fast."

Bobby shook his head and blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. "Okay…okay I'm ready."

"That was…that was one hell of a ride, Sam." Ruby said shakily. She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with awe and confidence. "Let's do this."

Sam nodded. "It's time."

Will they be able to save Dean? You'll just have to wait and see!

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