Thank you for reading! Special thanks to tennischik09, RedDragen, Elliesmeow, St0pSmackinMe07, GotTheShining, yasmine32068, mikiss, Strange Apparition, teal-lover, ponyperson, and Marthienessx3 for reviewing!!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Sam and Dean, but I don't. Kripke, Warner Bros, etc are the rightful owners of all involved here. No profit is being made from this fic, it just helps me pass the time until Season 3 starts.

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Sam didn't want to chance closing the gate just to reopen it again in a few minutes, since it was not a quiet process, so he quickly instructed Bobby and Ellen on the prayer to Yahweh he had used to incapacitate nearby demons.

"So there's no way we can talk you out of this?" Ellen said, as she inscribed the Archangels' names on her cut-iron weapon with chalk.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head, then looked back up into her eyes. "No. Dean is suffering. I know he is...and I won't let him go through that for all eternity because of me. I can't. Not when I can do something about it."

"Well, then," Bobby said, draping a crucifix around his neck, "We'd better get a move on. They're bound t' check this gate eventually, centry or no centry, and when they do we'll be busier than -- than Dean at a bar on 'ladies night'."

Sam smiled a tired, half crooked smile at the reference to one of the more interesting qualities of the brother he missed so dearly, then stood from his perch on the bike and picked up the container of consecrated oil. "I don't have much of this left, but spread it over you as well as you can, and drink some Holy Water. That should help keep the demons back a few feet. They hate this stuff."

He pulled his sword from the ground where he had planted it in anger a few minutes before, and returned it to it's sheath. "Obviously we can't take on the whole of Hell, so we'll try to get as far as we can undetected."

Bobby nodded as he pulled another bag of salt from the bed of his truck. "I'll put a line or two of salt behind us every now and then. Should give us somewhere to fall back to if things get bad."

"Good." Sam looked back and forth between Bobby and Ellen, then, very sincerely, said, "Thank you."

Acknowledging his thanks with a slight nod, Ellen smiled and said, "Let's do this," She picked up the spray-wand of the flame thrower, holding it at the ready. Sam was sure that if it had been a shotgun, she would have jacked a shell into the chamber just then, if only for effect.

The three hunters crossed the threshold into the crypt silently, not closing the gate behind them because their exit would most likely require speed over anything else, and the mechanism simply took too long to release.

The inside of Hell was much like something you would see in the movies; the walls seemed to be made of rotting flesh oozing blood, an unearthly fire lit their path from somewhere unseen, and of course, it was incredibly hot. Sam wondered if the Hell he was seeing was it's true form, or simply his perception of it, as he had learned that on the spiritual plane viewpoint and perception was not set in stone. If it was simply his imagination, he hoped that the narrowness of the tunnel and the walls on either side at least proved to be true and that they weren't silently being flanked by the enemy.

"Look out!" Ellen whispered, motioning to something ahead.

When he looked where she was pointing, he noticed two black creatures that seemed to have a thousand limbs ending in razor sharp talons digging at something lying on the ground, making a strange 'hooting' noise.

Sam put his hand up to tell Bobby and Ellen to let him go ahead. He ducked down, sneaking quickly toward the hideous beasts with his sword drawn.

He took the first one by surprise, slashing it's full body length from behind with no warning. Watching the first disintegrate, the second seemed stunned only briefly, and then leapt at Sam with every talon bared. Sam, to the credit of the man who he had recently taken sword-fighting lessons from, turned swiftly and effortlessly struck the creature with a backhand, much like the maneuver of the same name in the game of tennis.

The beast let out an unholy scream, and evaporated into nothingness. The scream had taken Sam a bit by surprise, as it was the first demon he had killed which had made any noise at all. He hoped the scream would not be an unusual occurence for Hell, and if it had been heard, that it would not draw attention.

He looked back to where Bobby and Ellen were waiting around a curve in the tunnel and motioned them forward. As they emerged from their hiding place, Sam heard a faint noise at his feet, and instinctively pointed his sword at the disturbance.

"Oh, my God," he said, kneeling down. On the ground before him was what he could only imagine at one time to have been the soul of a human. It appeared to be human, but was naked and torn to shreds. A look of sheer terror seemed to be fixed upon the man's face.

Sam reached down to touch the head, and the man shrunk away, a result of being either beaten or clawed each time anything came near for too long. It was impossible to tell how long this poor tortured creature had been interned here; months, years, perhaps even millennium. But Sam could not help but feel a pang of fear that they would find Dean in a condition similar to this, and he could not bear the thought.

As Bobby and Ellen looked on mournfully, Sam knelt beside the man. "If you can hear me...If you can understand me..." he whispered, "Go that way." He pointed fervently, trying to get through to the glassy eyed creature. "There is a way out."

"Sam," Bobby said softly, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. We don't know why he was sent to Hell...he could be a mass murderer..."

"Or he was a good man who made a couple bad choices!" Sam shot back with more of an edge than he had intended. He took a breath and continued more softly, "Either way, I don't think he's going to be much harm to anyone in this condition, Bobby."

Bobby exchanged worried looks with Ellen, but did not impede Sam's decision. "We should be movin' on."

Sam pulled away from the tortured soul and stood, but as he took a step, he faltered and fell to his knees, blood pooling on the ground near him.

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Author's Note: I know, I'm mean. And now, stay tuned for these important messages from our sponsors.

Trip to TX was good - thank you for your patience! For those of you who asked, I visited the Panhandle of the Great State, just northeast of Amarillo.

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