Part 3 Chapter 9

Jack pulled himself up as soon as the flash from the explosion died away. Moving around the truck towards Dean, he could see Ruby sitting up and brushing the dirt from her hair. Sam had been blown in the same direction as Ruby and was struggling to his knees. Jack turned away heading towards Dean, watching his eldest brother roll to his stomach and look up. Whatever Dean saw – the look on Dean's face – frightened Jack more than anything ever had and he swung around watching with his mouth agape as Ruby stabbed Sam in the back.

The sound that emitted from Dean was more like the cry of a wounded animal than a man and Jack watched with horrid fascination as Sam toppled over face first in the dirt. Jack was rooted to the ground, in shock, as Dean tried to move to Sam's side screaming, "Sammy! No! I'll kill you, you bitch!"

Jack stumbled forward, knife still in hand but at a complete loss at what to do. Miraculously, Sam pushed himself back up and climbed unsteadily to his feet. Ruby toppled back as the knife seem to channel the power within Sam, blowing her backward and leaving the knife stuck in Sam's back.

Turning, Sam's voice took on an inhuman tenor as he screamed. He picked Ruby up and flung away her away from him like a rag doll. "You dumb bitch!" the demon that was Sam Winchester yelled. "You can't kill me! I am bound to the soul of Sam Winchester." Sam slowly stalked over to where Ruby lie moaning in pain.

Suddenly all of Jack's life zoomed down to one second of time as his mind skipped from memory to memory. He remembered things his mother had told him, things that Bobby had said, sitting in the kitchen as Dean tried to convince him that he could save Sam. And then, Jack knew what he had to do – what he was destined to do.

Jack slowly began running towards Sam while his attention was on Ruby, knife held high. He had just begun the swing down and might have made it if Dean hadn't have yelled, "God Jack No!" Samael spun around and with a wave of his hand sent Jack soaring backwards, the knife flying out of his hand.

Jack landed near Dean, desperately trying to catch the breath he had lost. He gasped at Dean, who was holding his shoulders, shaking him. "What the hell were you thinking!?" Dean yelled with anger and betrayal.

Jack's breathed hitched as he tried to answer but nothing came out.

"Isn't it obvious, Dean?" Sam voice came from behind, the tone more human, more recognizable than it had been before. "He's trying to kill me. He can't be trusted. He doesn't care about what you want or I want. He just wants me dead."

Both Jack and Dean's heads began to move side to side in denial as Dean's tear-filled eyes looked into Jack's wide frightened ones.

Sam continued softly, only ten feet away now. "He was trying to finish what Ruby started. He's working with a demon. He won't stop trying until I'm dead. You have to choose Dean. You can't protect both of us."

Dean's soul was wrenched in two and he thought for a moment that he had died and gone to hell. Jack had begun to push himself back away from Sam, out of Dean's hands. Dean looked away from Jack unable to comprehend what had happened. His voice was anguished. "I can't choose Sam. Please, don't. He won't hurt you. I won't let him hurt you."

Sam was now standing above Dean. "Yes, he will Dean," Sam said blue-green eyes widening, pleading for understanding. "It was why he was born – to kill me."

Dean held back the cry of anguish as he saw the truth in Sam's eyes. He knew he would watch one of his brothers die today. His eyes swung back to Jack, who had recovered his breath and was looking at him with unheeded tears running down his face.

"It's okay, Dean," Jack said hoarsely, resignation in his voice. "You don't have to choose."

Dean's face crumbled as he took in the face of the boy he had learned to love more than his own life. He couldn't choose.

"It will be okay," Jack said quietly, a sad smile on his face as he laid back and closed his eyes. And as Samael move forward, Jack squenched his eyes shut tightly and a scream of pain and death echoed across the fields.