Summary - What if Sam wasn't the only one who was around Dean the last three months before his deal was up? What if there was someone else? This story follows Sam, Dean, and Apple my original character as they try to get Dean out of his deal; though Apple doesn't exactly know about Dean's deal until it's almost too late. What happens if they can't save him? Is Dean really gone forever?

Author's Note - This follows the last six episodes of season three(minus Ghostfacers), I just added my own character into the mix and a few more things. I don't own any of the characters or the episodes, just Apple and the plot following the NRFTW. Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Review please. (:

And sugar, we're going down swinging

Chapter Fifteen

Dean ran through the woods, he could hear the hellhounds behind him. He stopped suddenly as one cut in front of him. He stood for a second and watched the creature before him. Dean know he had to run, he had to get back to Sam and Apple, he had too.

He turned on his heel and ran back the way he had come. He could feel the hound as it closed in on him. It was like a game, and Dean knew he wouldn't make it out alive. It was a stupid limb that finally got him, he kicked himself because should have seen it. He should have seen the stupid piece of tree. He fell to his knees and all the air was forced out of his lungs as the hellhound pounced on him.

He let out a scream that rang through the whole forest, blood spattered all over his face.

- - - - -

Apple and Sam walked into their room, Sam shook his head at something Apple had said. Apple closed the door behind her and sipped on her coffee. The pair looked at Dean as he looked down at the book his face had previously been on, and then up at them.

"Dig up anything good?" Sam asked as he handed Dean a cup of coffee.

Dean closed the book and shook his head. He couldn't bring himself to look up at either Sam or Apple, he was too freaked out about his dream. "No," he said after a minute or two of silence. "Nothing good."

"Well, Bobby has. Finally." Apple offered as she sat next to Dean at the table.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. A way to find Lillith." Sam added.

"Oh. With just uh..." Dean looked down at his watch, he mentally counted down the hours he had left, "thirty hours to go." He finished as he took a drink of his coffee. He smiled before he opened his mouth again. "Hey, why don't we just make a TJ-run, yeah? You know... senoritas, cervezas, uh – we could... What's the Spanish word for 'donkey show'?"

Apple shook her head and looked over at Sam. Sam chuckled at his brother's comment. "So, if we do save you... Let's never do that."

"Yeah." Dean agreed.

Dean looked down at the book in front of him as Sam sat on the other side of him. He looked over at his little brother, and then at the girl he thought he could seriously have a future with. But time just didn't allow for that.

"Hey, Dean." Sam started but quickly cut himself short. He sighed softly before he decided to continue. "Look, we're cutting it close, I know. But we're gonna get this done. Apple and I don't care what it takes, Dean. You're not gonna go to hell. We won't let you." Sam looked over at Apple who nodded her head. "We swear. Everything's going to be okay."

Dean looked at Sam, then Apple as he took everything in. Before he could give a reply, a scared kind of look passed over his face. Sam's face was completely distorted, it flung from side to side at a rapid pace. He moved to look at Apple once more, but her face remained the same as always. Beautiful, yet troubled. He looked back at Sam and noticed his face was the same as always as well.

"Yeah, okay."

- - - - -

Apple paced around a table set up in Bobby's living room. She looked over a map of the states, and watched as Bobby placed some kind of tracking device over the map. It was an odd sort of tracking device, it had three wooden legs that came from a glass ball at the top. She looked up at the ball and noticed it had a flat, metal piece that went around it with symbols inscribed on it. Her blue eyes roamed further down the legs and there was another metal piece, only it was larger. From the ball there hung a pendulum type device that was sharp on the end so it could pinpoint a specific place. Apple wondered how Bobby could have come across such a device.

"So you need a name, that's the whole kit and caboodle. With the right name, right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out." She heard Bobby say.

She stopped and turned around so she stood next Dean. "Like the town Lillith's in?" She asked.

"Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street."

Bobby began the ritual. He started the swing for the pendulum and started to chant in Latin. The trio watched as the pendulum began to search over the map until it suddenly stopped.

"New Harmony, Indiana." Bobby said with a small grin. "And we have a winner."

"Alright." Sam pushed the pendulum away and looked at Bobby and Apple. "Let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. Let's all shut up here, Tex." Dean said to him.

"What's the problem?"

"What's the problem? Come on, where do I begin. I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? Now when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked. Okay? Second, even if we could get to Lilith, 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?" Dean said.

"Well ain't you just bringing down the room," Bobby muttered sarcastically.

"Yeah, well it's a gift," he replied.

"I'm sorry, so then what are we supposed to do Dean?"

"Just 'cause I gotta die doesn't mean the three of you have to, okay? Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

Apple sighed as she leaned against the table and watched the fight. She was sure there wasn't much she could say, hell, she didn't even know what to say.

"Well if that's the case, then I have the answer." Sam said immediately.

"You do," Dean replied flatly.

"A way to confirm it's Lilith, and to get us a bona fide demon killing instrument."

"Damn it, Sam, no." Dean turned away from Sam and looked at Apple, who just stared back at him.

"Dean, we are so past arguing." Sam said. "Dean, I am summoning Ruby."

"The hell you are! We got enough problems as it is!" Dean argued as he turned back around to face his younger brother.

"Exactly. And we have no time, and no choice, either."

"Come on man, she is the Miss Universe of lying skanks, okay? She told you she could save me. Lie! She seems to know everything about Lilith, but forgot to mention – oh right, Lilith owns my soul!" Dean yelled.

Apple bit her lip as the confrontation wore on. She hated when they did this. Dean didn't have much time left, and what had the brothers decided to do with his time? Argue.

"Okay fine, so she's a liar. But she still has that knife."

"Dean," Bobby began.

"For all we know, she works for Lilith!" Dean cut in.

"So give me another option, Dean!" Sam said. "I mean, tell me what else."

"Sam's right," Bobby cut in again. Apple exchanged a quick look with him, but remained silent.

"No, damn it!" Dean yelled loudly. "Just, no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again. You guys wanna save me, find something else." He walked away from Sam, Bobby, and Apple and sat down in a chair.

"Where're you going, Bobby?" Sam asked as he watched Bobby walk away.

"I guess to... find something else," Bobby replied irritably.

- - - - -

Sam finished the symbol that would allow him to summon Ruby. He looked at it for a second before he began to speak in Latin. He watched the flame of the lit match in his hand for a second before he threw it into the bowl before him. The contents in the bowl ignited and the fire flared up; it calmed down and finally burned out. Sam stood up from the floor and slowly turned to look behind him as he heard the floor creak. He didn't see anything and shrugged his shoulders.

"You know, phones work too." Sam turned back and noticed Ruby as she leaned against the door way. She smiled at him. "Hey, Sam. How's tricks?"

Sam didn't look happy to see her at all, instead he looked angry. "How do you get around so fast?"

"I got the Super Bowl jet pack," Ruby said as she walked toward him. "So. You called?"

"Did you know?" Sam asked.

"Um... gonna need a tiny bit more."

"About Dean's deal. That Lilith holds the contract."

"Yeah, I did."

"And... what? You didn't think that was important?"

"You weren't ready."

"For what?"

"If I told you, you two yahoos would have just charged after her, half cocked. And Lilith would have peeled the meat from your pretty, pretty faces."

"Well, we're ready now." He paused for a second in thought, he looked at the ground then back into the demon girl's eyes. "I want your knife."

Ruby looked at him for a second before she began to walk around him. "You're right about one thing. You are ready. And now's the time, too. Lilith's guard's down."

"Is that so?"

"Shes' on shore-leave. A little R&R."

"The hell's that mean?" Sam asked.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know. You didn't loose those hexbags I gave you?"

"We've got 'em."

"Good. Then she won't sense that you're coming."

Sam turned around and looked at her. She had managed to get behind his back while she walked around. "So you'll give us the knife?"

"No."

"But you just said-"

"You wanna charge in with one little pig sticker? It's a waste of a true-blue window. Like getting Hitler with that exploding briefcase. Forget it."

"Okay, then how?" He asked, clearly annoyed with the woman.

"I know how to save your brother, Sam."

"No, you don't! You told Dean you couldn't! You've been lying to me all along, so just give me your damn knife."

"You're not the one I've been lying to."

"Oh, so you can save him?"

"No. But you can."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Sam, you've got some God-given talent. Well, not 'God'- given but you get the gist."

"All that psychic crap? That's gone, ever since Yellow-eyes died."

Ruby shook her head. "Not gone, dormant. And not just the visions either. Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?"

"Right... she's scared of me."

"If you wanted, you could wipe her off the map without moving a muscle."

"I don't believe you."

Ruby shrugged. "It's the truth."

"And you decided to tell me this just now?"

"Um... Demon. Manipulative's kinda in the job description. Fact is, that you would have never considered it. Not until you were-"

"Desperate enough?" Sam cut in. The blond and the brunette exchanged a look. She shrugged once more before Sam looked away.

"You don't like being different. You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes. Like you're some kind of sideshow freak. But suck it up because we've got a lot of ground to cover, and we've gotta do it fast. But we can do it."

Sam clenched his jaw and looked at the floor. After a few seconds, he looked back up at her.

"Look. Call me a bitch, hate me all you want, but I have never lied to you Sam. Not ever. And I'm telling you. You... can save your brother, and I can show you how."

"So that's you, huh? Our slutty little Yoda." Dean said as he and Apple appeared behind Ruby. Neither looked very happy.

"Dean. Apple." Ruby turned around and looked at them. The softness in her voice disappeared as she stared at Dean. "Charming as ever."

"Aw, I knew you'd show up. Because I knew Sam wouldn't listen." Sam looked at Dean, then Apple but quickly looked away. "But you're not gonna teach him anything, you understand me? Over my dead body."

"Oh. Well, you're right about that."

"What you are gonna do is give me that knife. And then you can just go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never bother me, Apple, or my brother again. Are we clear?"

"Your brother is carrying a bomb inside of him and we'd be stupid not to use it."

"Dean, look, just hold on for one-" But Sam was quickly cut off by Dean's angry voice.

"Sam! Don't. Come on man, what, are you blind? Can't you see this is trick?"

"That's not true." Ruby argued.

"She wants you to give into this whole demonic psychic whatever, okay. I mean hell, she probably wants you to become her little anti-Christ Super Star."

Ruby's features grew angry and as she stared Dean down. "I want Lilith dead. That's all."

"Why?"

"I just told you why!"

"Oh, right, yeah. Because you were human once and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach." Dean mocked.

"You know, I am so sick of proving myself to you. You wanna save yourself, this is how. You dumb, spineless dick."

Dean looked at her for a second, he turned around and grinned at Apple. She quirked an eyebrow and watched him carefully. He came back around and swung his right arm and punched Ruby in the face. Sam and Apple both backed away, Sam was more surprised than Apple; the fact that Dean had told her what was going to happen before hand helped immensely. Ruby took a few steps back, she staggered from the force of the blow. She looked up at Dean and wiped the blood from her lip, after a second, her right fist collided with his face quickly followed by her left.

"Ruby, hey!" Apple finally said, after having had enough.

Ruby quickly went around her and hit her in the back, which caused Apple to double over. She kneed Apple in the face and sent her into a beam and she slid to the floor.

As Ruby turned away from Apple, Dean hit her in the face once with his left fist and was about to hit her with his right when she ducked out of the way and followed his momentum, she kneed him in the stomach.

Sam looked down at Apple and went to her side. Apple held onto her jaw tightly and glared across the room at the blond haired demon. Sam helped her into a sitting position, and looked over her jaw and back. She already know she would have more bruises.

They watched as Ruby kicked Dean in the face, which caused him to fall to the floor. He tried to get up but she walked over him and kicked him hard in the stomach. Dean once again went to get up but Ruby wasn't going to have that. She pulled him up and they stood face to face before Ruby head butted him. Apple tried to get up but Sam held her firmly in place. They watched as Dean fell backward to the floor again.

Ruby stood over Dean, she frowned when a grin crossed his lips. He climbed to his feet. "The hell are you staring at?"

"Missing something?" He pulled out her knife and dangled it in front of her face.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch." She rushed toward him but midway was stopped by an invisible wall. She tried to walk past it once as Dean looked at her. Ruby looked at him, then turned her gaze to the roof.

Apple removed her hand and couldn't help but grin as she looked up as well. A Devil's Trap was painted above the demon. She chuckled at the surprised look on Sam's face before she lightly elbowed him to help her up. He stood to his feet and gently pulled Apple to hers.

"Like I said..." Dean began with a smug grin. "I knew you'd come." He walked away from her and moved toward the staircase.

Ruby's eyes followed Dean and she glared. "Wait! You're just gonna leave me here?"

Dean stopped as he waited for Sam and Apple, he completely ignored Ruby. "Let's go Sam, Apple."

Sam and Apple walked toward Dean. He took a deep breath, blinked hard, then started his ascent up the stairs. They pair quickly followed behind him.

"Oh, oh- so you're just too stupid to live, is that it? Then fine! You deserve hell! I wish I could be there, Dean. I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones. I wish I could be there to hear you scream!" Ruby yelled.

"And I wish you'd shut your pie-hole, but we don't always get what we want."

- - - - -

Apple watched as Dean loaded his favorite gun. She admired the polished silver of the barrel, and the white of the handle. She'd seen him use it so many times, it was going to be weird if she didn't get to see him use it anymore.

They loaded the weapons in silence, but Apple could tell that something wasn't right. She looked at Dean, then at Sam. Sam, his face was furrowed in thought. She continued to load her gun as she waited for him to break the silence. She knew it wouldn't be too much longer.

Sam sighed as he looked at Apple and Dean. "We're just gonna let Ruby rot down there?"

"That's the idea." Dean muttered.

"Dean, what if uh... What if Ruby's right? What if I can take out Lilith?" Dean looked up at him with anger and disbelief. "Quit looking at me like that."

"What, are you gonna give her the Carrie-stare and Lilith goes poof?"

"I don't know what Ruby meant. You know, maybe we should just go ask her."

"Sam, you wanted the knife – I got you the knife."

Apple sighed as she looked at Sam, then watched as Dean walked to another table. She stared down at her gun before she looked from boy to boy once more.

"Dean, just listen to me for a second. Last time Lilith snapped her fingers and put thirty demons on our ass, and all we got is one little knife? I mean, like you said, we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Well this ain't smart." Dean argued.

"We got one shot at this, Dean. Just one. So if there's a surefire way then maybe we should just talk about it."

Dean looked at Apple for a second before he walked up to his brother. "Sam. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again," he repeated.

"You said that, but what does it mean?"

"Don't you see a pattern here? Dad's deal, my deal, now this? I mean every time one of us is up the creek the other is begging to sell their soul. That's all this is, man. Ruby's just jerking your chain down the road. You know what it's paved with and you know where it's going."

Dean turned around and leaned against the same table Apple occupied. He picked up her gun and checked it over. Sam shook his head and walked around to the other side of the table.

"Dean." He started as he stood on Dean's other side. "What do you think is gonna happen? This is me, I can handle it." Dean handed Apple her gun and shook his head. "And if it'll save you..."

"Why even risk it?"

Dean looked up at Sam as Sam looked away from him. He turned back to look at Dean square in the eyes. "Because you're my brother. Because you did the same thing for me."

Dean scoffed. "I know... And look how that turned out." He looked at Sam and watched as his brother looked away. His gaze then focused on Apple who tried to offer him a small smile but she was sure it ended up as a frown. She could feel the tears as they threatened to escape their prison. "All I'm saying," Dean started but had to stop a second later to steady himself. "Sammy, all I'm saying is that you're my weak spot. And Apple, you've... you and Sam both are."

Apple bit her lip as she attempted fight back the overwhelming emotions that coursed through her. She looked up at Sam, he seemed to be having the same battle. "You both are. And I know that I'm yours."

"You don't mean that, we're... we're family." Sam said, but he knew he only referred to himself and Dean at this point. Dean and Apple were a completely different thing.

"And, I..." Apple tried, but she couldn't say anything. Her blue eyes locked with Dean's green ones and she didn't even know what to say.

"I know. And those evil sons of bitches know it too. I mean, what we'll do for each other, you know, how far we'll go? They're using it against us."

"So what? We just stop looking out for each other?" Apple asked quietly.

"No, we stop being martyrs. We stop spreading it for these demons." Dean picked up Ruby's knife and held it up. "We take this knife, and we go after Lilith our way. The way dad taught us to, and the way you've learned, Apple. And if we go down, then uh... then we go down swinging." Apple and Sam just looked at Dean. "What do you think?"

Sam looked down at the floor then back up at Dean. "I think you totally should have been jamming to 'Eye of the Tiger' right there."

Dean straightened out and grinned. "Oh, bite me. I totally rehearsed that speech, too."

Sam and Apple both smiled at Dean. He smiled back at them. Apple felt closer to the brothers then she would have ever thought possible. She looked at the map before she decided to break the quiet that had enveloped them. "So, Indiana huh?"

"Yeah, where Lilith's on shore-leave."

"Yeah, I guess." Sam said.

"Tell me something," Dean started. Apple and Sam took at him and both tilted their head to the side. "The hell's a demon do for fun?"

(chapter title: sugar, we're going down - fall out boy)