A/N: Sorry this took awhile. I've been pretty busy with all my exams coming up. sigh But I'll hopefully get the epilogue up soon! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3:

11:11p.m.

"Make a wish."

"I wish you would shut up."

"Hey, I'm the one that's about to die, so I have no idea what you're mad about."

"Uh, did you not just try to exorcise me?"

"Okay, I did, but hey, if you just said yes—"

"Oh, both of you shut up before you get us all killed!" Bobby's gruff voice broke up Dean's and Ruby's bickering. He had a bad urge to just smack both of them up side the head, but he restrained himself. He turned back to Sam, who had been standing next to the car, loading up his gun.

"Bobby, what if this doesn't work? What if we can't save him? Bobby, I don't kno—"

"Sam, we'll save him," Bobby knew he shouldn't say things he knew he wouldn't be able to back up, but he just couldn't deal with the look upon Sam's face. It was sad—melancholy—with the giant puppy eyes, and the tiny spark in his eyes that was slowly fading. It crushed him to watch Sam wither away like this. It was almost as though Dean was taking Sam with him.

"Alright. We ready to kill some demon-sonuvabitches?" Dean asked, walking over to Sam and Bobby, Ruby following behind him, fashioning an angry scowl. She stared at Sam, gritting her teeth, mentally beating the crap out of all of them for being so ignorant. She knew that this plan wouldn't work. She just hoped that there would only be one casualty tonight. Only Dean.

Sam slammed the trunk of the Impala closed and they moved towards the house Lilith was in. Bobby moved in front, followed by Ruby. Sam fell in step with his brother. "Dean, if this is the last time…well I just wanted—"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're not gonna bust out the misty goodbye speech. Okay? And if this is my last day on earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward."

"Dean…"

"No, Sammy. I'm serious. If I go out, then I'm going out without a teardrop. I ain't gonna listen to your goodbye speech. It just isn't something I'm willing to do." Dean quickened his pace, leaving Sam behind him. It was the first time in the 23 years that they've been together that Dean has actually deliberately left Sam behind. He just couldn't deal with seeing the pain in his little brother's eyes as he said goodbye. That would have to wait until he was gone.

11:31 p.m.

They all looked at each other; it might be the last time they got to see each other. All eyes went to Dean. He felt the pressure. He had less than half an hour. He couldn't count on his fingers how many times he looked at his brother and father and wondered if he'd ever see them again. Dean looked at his brother and saw everything he wanted to say, but was suppressing it, for Dean's sake. He smiled at his little brother for the small favor.

Ruby, rolling her eyes, turned to Sam and silently begged him to not do this. She was willing to sacrifice Dean to make sure Sam was ready. She didn't want Sam going in there and getting himself killed, trying to save his brother. It was a stupid idea. Ruby was just content, sort of, that she was there to back him up.

Dean turned back towards the house, eyeballing it. He wasn't sure exactly what he was going to see when he got in there, but he wasn't expecting sunshine and unicorns. He waved at his brother and Bobby, signaling that they were ready to attack.

Bobby went first, wary of everything that surrounded him. His fingers twitched a little as he tried to unlock the door, as quietly as he could. The three others stood around, looking around for any supernatural signs. There were none. At least none visible to them.

He felt the door unlock and looked up at Dean. He nodded, signaling Dean to enter the house, but his eyes told Dean to stay away. Bobby couldn't stand to lose Dean; he had become a son, along with Sam. He couldn't watch him just throw himself away. It tore him apart to see him so broken over Sam's death. Now, everything was just so much worse. He wasn't sure if Sam was going to be able to bare this, especially the fact that Dean was going to Hell. At least (he knew) Sam had gone to a better place, with the rest of his family.

Dean pushed past Bobby—ignoring his silent plea—entering the house. Instantly he knew it was the right house, it was oddly cold in the house and he could smell decaying bodies. He really hoped that they hadn't been there too long.

He realized that Bobby and Sam had the same reaction to the house; both of them greeted it with a disgusted face and noise. Ruby, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice or care about the smell.

Dean continued into the house, noticing how picturesque it was. Tan walls, covered with pictures of a family: a mother, father, and three children. All the furniture matched, everything seemed so homey, so peaceful, so happy. Dean could feel the noose tighten around his heart as he wondered how his mother would have designed their house.

He shook his head as he tried to remember what he was doing there. He waved his gun in the direction of the stairs, trying to follow the smell and the faint whimper. Dean could hear someone, barely even breathing, but it just seemed like everything was bounding into his head. One of the side effects of selling your soul?

It seemed all too easy. There had to be a trap or something. But to Dean's and the other's knowledge there was nothing.

As Dean moved towards the stairs, directly in front of them, Bobby moved towards the doorway leading to the back of the first floor. Sam followed Dean, not wanting to leave him for a moment. Sam turned to Ruby, telling her to follow Bobby, but she shook her head. If she was going anywhere, it would be with Sam. She wasn't about to let him get killed that easily.

The walls of the staircase were deep blue, with a white ceiling. It seemed so innocent, so natural, that it was almost impossible to think that anything horribly wrong was going on until they got to the hallway. There was blood splattered everywhere, some of it smeared across the walls as if a little child was trying to paint with it.

Laying a few feet away from the top of the stairs was the source of the horrible smell. A woman, about 20 years old, lay dead on the carpeted floor. A stained pool of blood surrounded her as flies flew around and repeatedly landed on the corpse.

The three continued down the small hallway, following the faint whimper that steadily grew louder. It seemed to come from the only closed door in the hallway. Dim light shown through the cracks, which also lay over the corpse, her eyes shiny and glossy.

The three tried to ignore it and the smell as they continued down the hallway in silence. Dean had a sense of being an FBI agent at that moment. Not the real ones, the ones you see on TV. The FBI agents that always got the bad guys at the end of the episode; that snuck around a house and captured the suspect with 10 minutes to spare. Dean just hoped that for once, life would be like it was on TV.

Ruby could feel Sam's anticipation ooze off of his body, along with excitement, worry, guilt, and grief. She knew he thought he was ready to kill Lilith and save Dean, and she really didn't want to see him crushed, but she knew what was going to happen. She knew Dean was walking into a death trap, and all she could do was save Sam.

He watched Dean move past the corpse and towards the whimpering. He had heard it from downstairs, but Sam didn't understand why it was so loud. You would think a whimper was quiet, but it seemed to keep the same tone and volume in the entire house. He watched as Dean's back lent against the wall as they continued down the hallway.

11:51 p.m.

Lilith stood next to the small girl. Her fingers ran through the girl's hair—normally a feeling of calm came with this motion—but it only caused the girl to cry and whimper even more. She rolled her eyes; it would feel so good just to rip the little girl's throat out, but she had to wait. The girl was drawing the Winchesters to her, and she knew that patience was a virtue.

Lilith's eyes moved to the door as she realized that the Winchesters were close. The only problem was Ruby. She was so damn persistent. She just couldn't except that Sam wasn't going to stop her; Lilith would win. They both knew it.

Her meat suit's red hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, kept out of her face. She would be ready and waiting to wipe out Sam Winchester, Boy King, even with the semi-annoying, semi-enjoyable shrieks from her puppet. She really did enjoy hearing the human's soul whimper and scream at what was happening to her family. First she had killed their 22-year-old daughter, about four days ago. Then she moved onto her husband. Her twelve-year-old son. And now, all that was left, was the small four-year-old girl that sat next to her.

She heard the door handle jiggle as the Winchesters began their journey into Hell. Her feet moved swiftly and hastily towards the bed that lay a few feet away. There was nothing that said she couldn't have a little fun before she got rid of her only threat.

11:53p.m.

Dean and Sam both looked at their watches, eyes widening as they realized how little time was left. It was do or die time. Sam hoped it wasn't the latter.

Dean grabbed the door knob, turned it slowly and opening the door, equally as slow. He could feel his breath catch in his throat. It was all about to end. No matter what, something was going to end. He was never afraid of death. Even when he only had a few months to life, he joked and fought, but he was never truly scared.

Now he could feel fear constrict his heart, lungs, and limbs. He knew it was almost his time. He couldn't help, but wish this was a horrible dream. The fact that Hell was what awaited him scared him. Before it was his assumption, but now it was a fact. There was no getting out of it. Unless they killed Lilith, and that wasn't even a guarantee.

The room suddenly became dark, no lights were on, and the only window he saw was covered by drapes. The only thing for certain was that the little girl was in the room. He rushed forward, not thinking for a moment to look around for Lilith or any other demon for that matter. All he could think of was getting the little girl out before something horrible happened. He didn't care if he died right there; if these were his last moments, he wanted to go out knowing that he saved that little girl, or at least tried. He'd rather die a hero than the cautious coward.

"Dean!" Sam hissed in a hushed whisper. His brother was so reckless sometimes.

Dean's arms wrapped around the little girl, hushing her quietly, trying to protect her from her fears, trying to help her calm down. It was at that moment, a moment too late, that he noticed a woman lying on the bed. She remained staring at him, her eyes turning a milky white. Of course, the one time Dean didn't check first, the demon has to be sitting right there.

Bobby threw cans and boxes and anything in his way onto the floor. He was searching for the Colt. He knew Ruby's knife wouldn't be much help, since they would have to be breathing down Lilith's neck to kill her, but it was the only thing they had. But if they had the Colt, then they have a better chance of survival.

The kitchen, living room, and dining room were empty. The last place to look was the basement, besides the upstairs. The stairs creaked and moaned as he went down them. Not to Bobby's surprise, the back of the stairs were exposed, making it easy for someone to grab his leg and send him tumbling down the stairs. But, luckily, that didn't happen.

Instead, he made it to the bottom, pulling the chain that hung from a light bulb in front of him, illuminating the room. He moved towards a work bench, tearing drawers away, dumping them out, and not finding the Colt. Bobby, growing move and move frustrated, threw one of the drawers at the wall.

When the drawer connected with the wall, there was a hollow sound. Faint, but Bobby was able to catch it. He loosed his grip on his gun, flipping it so that he was holding the barrel, and smashed at the wall with the butt of the pistol. The wall broke away quickly, showing a long box, long enough to fit the Colt.

Dean could feel the life slowly drain from his face as his back was super glued to the wall by Lilith's power. It was like the yellow-eyed demon was back. Sam's face turned grave as he too was pinned to the wall, a few feet away from Dean. A tear tore down Sam's face as he realized how much they screwed up. Dean fought back his own tears as he knew that his brother was going to watch him die, and would probably die himself.

"Hey, bitch. Remember me?" Ruby stormed into the room, pulling her arm back and springing it forward, releasing the knife that was in her grasp. The knife flew through the air, straight for Lilith's face, but delicate hands grabbed it instead. Lilith smiled brightly, gave a little chuckle, and threw the knife back at Ruby. The knife lodged into her right shoulder, glowing shortly.

Ruby stumbled backwards, stunned for a moment. "Did you really think that little thing could kill me? This is the major leagues, you're gonna need a little more than that to do anything substantial." Lilith took a few steps toward Ruby until she was standing a few feet away. She grabbed the hilt of the knife and pushed, forcing it to dig deeper into Ruby's flesh.

There was a short agonizing yelp that escaped Ruby's lips. She quickly bit down on her lip, silencing her cry. She gritted her teeth and glared at Lilith. "You're just an unnecessary evil." Lilith rose her hand and a blinding white light erupted from her hand.

Ruby's eyes widened in fear, not for herself, but for Sam. Ruby wouldn't be there to show Sam how to kill Lilith, and Lilith was probably going to kill him right after Dean was dead.

Lilith placed her hand upon Ruby's head and instantly she fell to the floor, eyes frozen open. Her body convulsed and blood oozed from her mouth and eyes. Lilith turned away, smiling. "Hello Samuel. It's nice to finally meet you. I've been waiting for this."

"Oh God, she's gonna try to bore us with conversation. Is it in the evil demon job description that you need to monologue or have conversations with the people you're about to kill?"

"Oh, do you ever shut up? For the sake of the little sanity you have left, just shut it. My Hellhounds will be ripping you apart in about," she stopped and looked at the clock on the wall, grinning widely as she knew the two brothers were squirming. "Oh, look, 2 more minutes. Time flies doesn't it?"

She glanced to Sam, but turned back to face Dean. "Just a heads up, the worst pain imaginable is coming for you. Even after my Hellhounds are done, the pain isn't going to stop. You'll be screaming for mercy for the rest of eternity. I hope you enjoy your future," Lilith sneered, she truly wasn't talking to Dean. There would be a huge surprise when Sam is being torn to shreds instead of Dean.

"Oh Sammy. Don't get all depressed and sad on us. Your brother asked for this. If he had just done his job to begin with, you wouldn't have died, and Dean wouldn't have to face Hell so early on in his pathetic little life."

Sam gritted his teeth; he truly didn't have the energy to think of a comeback. He glared at her, daring her to try something, to kill him. But something stopped this. His eyes widened and tore to his brother. The clock struck midnight and started chiming.

Thursday 12:00 a.m.

"No, Dean. No!" Sam cried as he heard the howls and growls of the Hellhounds. Dean's sullen eyes turned to Sam, silently telling Sam he did all that could be done. That Sam had to carry on without him. He needed Sam to understand that it was no one's fault, but his own.

Dean closed his eyes as he fell to his feet. They shot open again and looked at Lilith with a questioning look. "Oh, believe me," Sam too now fell to the ground, released from the invisible bound, "it's so much more entertaining to watch you fight for your life."

Lilith turned towards the doorway, seeing her large black pets standing there, a few feet away from where Ruby lay. Sam's eyes widened in confusion as he saw the black dogs. He hadn't seen them the last time he faced them, back in Mississippi. He quickly looked at Dean.

Dean squinted at the doorway; he could hear the Hellhounds, but he couldn't see them. Weren't you supposed to be able to seem them when they come for you?! The fear rose in him as he wondered if he was going to be attacked by invisible dogs. But another thought hit him. Maybe I'm not the target.

Sam turned his attention to the Hellhounds, his eyes traveling to Ruby's dead body. It had stopped seizing, but he noticed something small in her hand. It was a bag, a hex bag. Something that could stop the Hellhounds.

He rushed forward, his knees sliding against the carpet as he stopped right next to Ruby's body. His fingers encased the bag seconds before the Hellhounds broke into a run at him. He could hear Dean's voice echo in the room. "Sammy! No!"

He felt one of their claws rip through his stomach, another hit his face. He ignored the pain as he threw the dark rocks at the Hellhounds. Surprisingly, they backed away quickly, trying to get the rocks off their face. Sam quickly drew a line with the black rocks in front of him, blocking the Hellhounds from entering the room. Unlike the salt lines, the Hellhounds couldn't break it away.

Sam could feel the cold encase his body. He wasn't sure how this happened, but he was almost glad. This was how it was supposed to be, but he couldn't stop staring at his brother's frozen face. It hurt to turn, but he wanted to see his brother before he went.

He could see the scream hiding behind Dean's broken eyes. A cold tear ran down Dean's face as he tried to move towards his little brother. It was as though everything was moving in slow motion and Dean was watching everything fall apart.

Lilith smiled, swimming in the despair and desperation that filled the room. The horrified look on Dean's face, the sad and pained eyes of the Boy King. She took a sniff at the air, just like a dog, trying to smell the sweet stink of death. She allowed the Hellhounds to scratch at their barrier, but only for so long. They were going to finish the job soon enough.

Sam tried to stand up, but his knees buckled as the pain ripped through his body. His back smashed to the ground as his hands flew to his stomach. He knew his forehead must have taken a good beating since wine red burned his eyes. He might have cared if his stomach didn't feel like it was on fire.

Sam felt Dean's hot breath on his face as he started to press hard against Sam's wounds. Sam lurched forward against the pain, letting out a grunt. He almost felt pleasure from the pain; he was saving his brother after all.

"Oh God! Sam! No!" Dean couldn't believe what was going on. It was as though a sick joke was being played on him. The deal was his soul, not Sam's. This wasn't how it was supposed to be!

Sam's eyes started to roam the room, not really seeing anything anymore. He searched for Dean, but he couldn't see him clearly anywhere. "Stay with me Sammy!" Dean pushed harder onto Sam's wound, causing his eyes to bulge out their sockets in pain.

The scratching of the Hellhounds' claws continued to echo throughout the room as they tried to finish what they started. Dean pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Bobby's number quickly. One of the Hellhounds howled, left ignored by the brothers. "Bobby. Sam. Help! Please!" All the words were jumbled together in his frenzied state. He hung up the phone before Bobby could even say anything. Dean watched his little brother as he realized how much he screwed up this time.

12:07a.m.

Bobby's hand cocked the gun; he wasn't sure what to expect. He was excited since Dean called him after midnight, signaling he was alive, but the frantic panic in his voice made him worry. There was no way that Sam tried to take on Lilith. Was there?

The Hellhounds howled and for a moment, Bobby took a few glances around to look for them. He moved past the rotting corpse, trying to ignore the horrible smell and scene. His eyes glanced into the room, noticing deep claw marks on the ground which continued to appear. He knew he was in the right room.

"Sam! Come on, not again." Dean started to rock back and forth with Sam's head on his lap. Sam tried to keep his eyes focused on Dean, but he started to feel tired. His eyes started to roam again, not staying on one object for more than a few seconds.

Lilith laughed, "Oh, you are too fun to play with."

Dean gritted his teeth. He tried to block out everything: the Hellhounds, Lilith, the house. He just wanted to be with Sam. He was given a year, not Sam. What had gone wrong?

Bobby crept forward, angling himself far enough away from the Hellhounds, but close enough so that he had a clear shot of Lilith. His eyes targeted her chest, her heart. He took aim and fired.

Dean's teary eyes tore away from Sam and up to Lilith. Blood spurted from her chest, golden light escaping for a few moments. Lilith glared angrily at the Winchesters and then looked up at the ceiling. She opened her mouth and black smoke exited out. The woman Lilith had possessed fell to the ground, bleeding out.

The black smoke escaped through the cracks of the window. The Hellhounds ceased barking and scratching and they seemed to disappear completely. Bobby ran forward, ignoring Ruby's body and the dying woman he just shot. He slid to his knees next to Sam. "What in the Hell happen?!"

"Bobby, I don't know. Just help me get him to the car." Dean's voice cracked with pain, frustration, and fear. His voice almost turned into a screech as the tears flowed from his eyes. He couldn't watch his brother die a second time.

Dean turned back to Sam, "Sammy," his voice was calm and soothing, masking his fear, "we're gonna take you to a hospital. It's gonna hurt like Hell, but just stay with us. Okay?"

Sam closed his eyes and opened them again; he would have nodded his head, but his head was hurting. He tried to see past the pain and the blood, but his vision was blurred. His lips turned into a grin as he let himself relax in his brother's grip. Sam really did save Dean.