Spoiler for episode 3.16

Chapter 25

Time was really running out now. They had been searching nonstop for a way out of Dean's deal. Sam was working especially hard so he couldn't stop to think about Clay.

It had been five days since they dropped Clay off with his mother. Sam refused to leave Riverview in hopes that Clay would call, but that never happened.

He never got not one call or one text from Clay, and Sam tried to keep his mind off of his worry.

Dean and Bobby had been attempting to help as much as they could, but saving Dean was first priority at the moment.

Dean only had three days left, and the motel room they'd been staying in was so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife.

Of course Sam would offer words of encouragement to Dean, and work his hardest by putting his all into research. But during down time he couldn't help but think of Clay. And the nagging feeling that his son was in trouble.

At the moment, Dean was sitting at the desk facing the window in the motel room with a book laid in front of him; it was obvious just by looking at his back that he had fallen asleep on top of it, while Bobby was setting up some sort of contraption in the kitchen area.

"What's that?" Sam asked Bobby curiously.

Bobby looked up from the tripod looking device with a hopeful twinkle in his eye.

"A way to find Lilith. Get Dean in here." Bobby demanded excitedly.

Sam nodded and then turned to face his sleeping brother. From the looks of him, Sam could tell that Dean was in the throes of a nightmare.

He walked up behind Dean slowly, and placed a gentle hand on Dean's back and called his name softly.

"Dean." Sam whispered.

Right then, Dean startled awake and looked around the room wide-eyed. Sam chuckled a little at the sight of Dean so jumpy.

"Dig up anything good?" Sam asked as he nodded toward the open book in front of Dean. From the looks of the ghastly pictures on the page, Sam could only guess it was about Hell Hounds.

Dean slammed the book shut and shook his head to clear the grogginess.

"No…nothing good." Dean replied sleepily.

"Well Bobby has…finally." Sam said with a smile.

"Yea?"

"Yep. A way to find Lilith." Sam informed happily.

"Great, and with only three days to go. Why don't we make a T.J Run? You know…some señoritas, cervezas…what's Spanish for 'Donkey Show'?" Dean said jokingly.

Sam chuckled loosely, "So if we do save you…let's never do that."

Dean shrugged halfheartedly, as Sam sat by Dean's side slowly looking him dead in the eye.

"Hey, we're cutting it close I know," Sam said sympathetically, his puppy dog eyes kicked into high gear, "but we're gonna get this done. You're not gonna go to Hell, Dean. I'm not going to let you. I swear, everything's gonna be okay."

Dean looked at Sam questioningly for a moment as if he were watching something horrible take place. Sam wasn't sure if he was kidding or if there was something else going on there.

"Yea, okay." Dean replied with disbelief.

Sam's eyebrows knit together in confusion, but he didn't say anything. He only shrugged it off as he stood from his seat and walked over to where Bobby was with Dean following suit.

"What is this thing?" Dean asks critically as he points to the tripod looking thing that was standing over a U.S map.

"This is gonna tell us where to find this demon we've been lookin' for, for 'bout a week!" Bobby replied as if Dean had asked a really stupid question.

Dean shrugged, and then urged Bobby to continue.

"We got a name," Bobby said a little more calmly, "With the right name, and the right ritual, there aint nothing this thing can't suss out."

"Like the town Lilith's in?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Kid, when I get done…we'll know the street." Bobby replied pointedly.

Bobby pushes the rod on the top of the tripod and the pendulum begins to spin all around the map beneath it as Bobby begins chanting in Latin.

When Bobby stops speaking, the pendulum suddenly freezes, and Bobby's, Sam's, and Dean's eyes travel to the spot on the map where the device was pointing.

"What the…?" Bobby asked, flabbergasted.

Sam's eyebrows rose slightly as the location dawned on him, yet Dean said it out loud.

"Riverview, Utah." Dean whispered seriously.

"But that doesn't make any sense…" Sam said curiously.

"She's been here," Bobby said with a humorless chuckle, "right on top of us this whole time."

A look of determination suddenly overtook Sam's face, "Alright, let's go!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dean said as he held an arm in front of Sam to stop him in his steps.

"What's the matter?" Sam demanded as he stares down at Dean.

"What's the matter? Where do I begin?" Dean asks seriously as he stares at Sam sternly, "We don't even know if Lilith really does hold my deal, we're going off of Bela's Intel? Now when that bitch breathes the air comes out crooked. Second, we have no way to gank her. And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your giant head on a pike? Should I continue?"

"Well aint you just bringin' down the room?" Bobby asked with an eye-roll.

"It's a gift." Dean said with a shrug.

"I'm sorry, then what are we supposed to do?" Sam argued.

"Look, just because I have to die doesn't mean you have to! Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all!" Dean yelled back.

"Fine if that's the case, then I have the answer." Sam said smugly.

"You do?" Dean asked with disbelief.

"Yea, a sure fire way to confirm it's Lilith, and get us a bonefied demon killing instrument." Sam said with a smile.

"No, Sam." Dean said harshly, he knew what Sam was about to suggest.

"We are so past arguing, Dean!" Sam said with a mirthless chuckle as he lifted his hands in expression, "I am summoning Ruby!"

"The hell you are, we got enough problems as it is!" Dean screamed angrily.

"Right! And we have no time, and no choice either!" Sam said shakily as his anger rose.

"Come on man, she's the Ms. Universe of lying skanks, she told you that she could save me. Lie. She seems to know everything about Lilith but forgot to mention; oh right, Lilith owns my soul!" Dean argued furiously.

"Fine, she's a liar!" Sam admitted with an eye-roll, "but she's still got that knife!"

"For all we know, she works for Lilith!" Dean screamed, trying to make Sam see reason.

"Then give me another option, Dean!" Sam yelled.

"Dean." Bobby interjected softly.

"No, we're not gonna make the same mistakes all over again." Dean said simply.

"Dean, Sam's right." Bobby admitted.

"No! Damnit!" Dean yelled, making Bobby and Sam stop talking and look at him.

"Just no," Dean said more softly, "you guys wanna save me find something else."

And with that, Dean walked out of the motel, leaving Sam and Bobby behind to their thoughts.

Bobby sighed, and then put on his jacket.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Where're you going Bobby?"

"I guess to find something else." Bobby replied tiredly as he too walked out of the room.

Suddenly, a flash invaded his sight and Sam couldn't help but wince as he was pulled forcefully from the present, and shoved into the not so distant future.

Sam and Clay stood in the living room of Abigail's house in the middle of the night. It was dark, and yet Sam could see as clearly as if it were day.

The room looked horrible, as if a fight had ensued or a tornado passed through. The leather couch was ripped, and it was flipped upside down. The coffee table that was once in the middle of the room now lay in two pieces, one half was crashed into a wall, and the other half was thrown out of sight. The plasma TV had fallen from the wall and now lay cracked and broken on the floor.

And directly in front of Sam, stood Clay.

He didn't look like his usual innocent self. His brown hair was caked to his face from his sweat, and he looked rather pale. But that wasn't the worst of it; he looked upon Sam with a great level of hatred, but his smile signified that he was pleased.

At Clay's feet lay Abigail's battered and bloody body, her eyes wide and unseeing as she stared up at Clay accusingly.

To Sam's horror, Dean lay dead by the wall next to the broken television. His eyes were closed, but his body was battered and twisted in awkward angles that made Sam a little queasy.

"You gonna kill me dad?" Clay asked teasingly. The blood on his shirt seemed to be mocking Sam.

Sam then held up the .45 in his hand, and aimed it directly at Clay's chest.

"I don't want to," Sam muttered as a tear escaped his eye, "but I don't have a choice."

With that, Sam squeezed the trigger and shot Clay right in the heart.

Sam came back to the present with his hands on his forehead. There was hardly any pain, only a small twinge. But it was odd, he didn't know he could still be pulled like that, he thought he could only have a vision when he touched someone.

But even still, this was a vision Sam had, had before. So why was he having it again?

Sam forced his shaky legs to comply as he pulled himself up onto his bed and sat.

Had Clay gone darkside now? Was Sam too late?

No. Sam knew he wasn't. He could feel it.

Sam knew that this was just a warning. A warning that this moment was coming sooner than he thought, but not just yet.

And with that, Sam now knew what he had to do. He was going to do this whether Dean approved of it or not.

Hehe, I wonder if any of you can see where I'm going with this?

More to come soon I promise!

Thanks for all the reviews, guys! :D