Okay, I used some Latin in this chapter. Bits and pieces from exorcisms some of you were kind to supply. If you know Latin and it sounds off, I'm sorry, I was just trying to make it work for my purposes.

Any spelling mistakes are solely mine. Otherwise I own nothing.

This was a pain to write, but I think it was worth it. Read on!

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Chapter 11. Fading

Finding the farmhouse was no problem after that, but then they ran into another problem.

Demons.

They were waiting, about twenty of them standing around the weathered old building and guarding it.

Dean twitched. His brother was inside.

Sammy…

It was a showdown of hunters versus demons.

Who would win?

Dean hefted the shotgun, leveling it with one demon's head.

He would be the deciding factor. For Dean Winchester was a force to be reckoned with when his family was threatened, when Sammy was threatened.

"You really don't expect to win, do you, Winchester?" Dean's target demon asked with a sneer. "You are clearly outnumbered." The man's eyes flicked black. "And outmatched."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Dean replied with a grin. "Don't you know? This is my lucky day."

Before arriving at the farmhouse, Bobby had persisted that they wait a few hours, and Dean had cursed and spat that they'd wasted half of the day standing on the side of the road, time that they should've spent rescuing Sam.

He'd been so full of anger that he hadn't noticed Bobby making several phone calls.

Now, as he grinned broadly at the demon, he was glad. They wouldn't have been able to do this on their own. Thank God…or whatever…that friends weren't far away.

And as Ellen Harvelle, Tamara, and others emerged from the surrounding forest, the demons found themselves more at a disadvantage.

Then all hell broke loose.

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So many of them. So damn many of them…

Dean weaved in an out of the combating demons and hunters, blasting rock salt and splashing holy water here and there. What he wouldn't give for a few Devil's traps at the moment…

Lines of salt were strewn across the ground, providing a barrier here and there in a sort of defendable position, and demons were more easily ripped from their hosts as numerous exorcism rites rang through the air.

But there were so many of them… For every five that they sent back to Hell, ten more appeared in their place. Where were all these people coming from?

And as the fight went on, the day was near ending and the sky was cast into different shades of red and gold as the sun slowly set behind the hills.

No…

Dean knocked a demon out of his way and leapt up the porch steps into the house. Sam…

He ran through the building, searching high and low for his little brother. "Saaammmmmmyyyyy!"

Nothing but demons.

Then suddenly the whole place shook and he caught himself on a desk to keep from falling to the floor. Demons screeched around him, black smoke billowing from their mouths and flying past him to the windows, and they were gone.

He blinked. "The Hell?"

"Not quite."

Dean turned. "Cas?"

The angel stood there, his clothes looking a bit rumpled, but otherwise the same. "Dean."

"I thought you couldn't help. Won't you get in trouble with your angel buddies?"

Castiel seemed unmoved. "You are my charge and my responsibility. If you are in danger, I come." He waved his hand at the dazed people on the floor. "Demons do not enjoy my presence."

"Good thing, then," Dean replied. "I was beginning to think we were losing."

"You were."

Thanks for putting it so bluntly. "Yeah, well, thanks, but I still need to find Sam. Where is he?"

"Here."

"Where?"

Castiel's eyes flicked upward. "I have been here too long already; I must go."

"Cas!"

"Be careful, Dean," the angel answered. "There are still demons hiding in dark places." Then with a flutter of wings, he was gone.

"Dammit!" Dean swore. He looked around. Well, at least Cas had the decency to scare away a dozen demons.

"Dean!"

Ellen darted into the room, followed by Bobby and a couple other hunters. "What happened? The demons all up and left."

"I know."

"Why?"

"Castiel paid a visit."

Ellen frowned. "Who?" Then Dean remembered that he'd never really told anyone. They all figured that Sam had something to do with his getting out of Hell.

"Never mind." Bobby pulled on her arm. "We still need to find Sam." He glanced up. "Dean!"

"I—I don't know, Bobby. Cas didn't say where—"

Or did he?

'There are still demons hiding in dark places.'

"Bobby, are there any caves nearby or somewhere that they could've taken Sam?"

"I don't—"

"The storm cellar," Ellen said suddenly. "I saw one the way in."

And all having the same thought, they ran back outside to the side of the house.

Padlocked, but nothing a nicely placed bullet couldn't fix, and Dean almost jumped down into the basement in his haste. "Saaaaammm!"

It was dark, and with the night coming, nearly pitch black. Tamara pulled out a flashlight and shown it around. The beam scattered across boxes and debris, but no Sam.

But there was a demon.

A young man in baggy jeans and a plaid button shirt was leaning against a pillar, chewing on a bit of straw. His black eyes glinted with mirth. "Missing something, Winchester?"

With a roar, Dean was across the room and grabbed the man by the collar and swung him away from the pillar into a wall. "Where is he?"

"Temper, temper," the demon said. "That's just the kind of thing that got you into Hell in the first place."

Dean slammed a fist into his face. "I'm not asking you again: Where. Is. Sam?"

The other licked his lips and turned aside, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the dirt floor. "You know, you're really only hurting my meat-suit more than me."

Dean growled, ready to swing again, when Bobby grabbed his arm to stop him. "He's right. We won't get anything out of him this way."

"No, but we can this way." Dean pulled a knife out of his belt and held it up to the demon's face. "I'm sure you know all about this." He thought he saw a flicker of fear. "So, you'll talk." He ran the tip down the side of the other's face. "Or I can gut you right here."

It was the only thing he could, and would, ever thank Ruby for, was the nifty little knife that she gave Sam that could actually kill demons.

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Ruby's head twisted sharply towards the hallway when she heard the reverberating echo of the first scream, then up to the ceiling where night had now gathered. Was there enough time? Possibly, but with the hunter's so close, she couldn't wait around to find out. She still had work to do.

She passed over the ritual blade to another demon, who had joined her after she's finished setting everything up. "You know what to do," she said, before gathering up her own things. There was more than one way out.

And she was gone.

The other demon picked up the blade and stood over Sam, running her finger down the edge as she began to chant. "Ecce Satana, inventor et magister…"

Not far away, the lifeless body of John Travers slumped to the ground, long since dead from the demon's possession, and now the demon along with him as Dean withdrew the blade from his throat and tore open the secret door, running down the darkened hall like his life depended on it.

Like Sam's life depended on it.

And the other hunters weren't far behind, struggling to keep up and not trip over their own feet as they shared one light between them.

I'm coming, Sammy. Big brother's coming for you…

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"Mundus spiritus contremisce et effuge, invocato a Domine Satana…" The woman raised the blade above Sam. "Ecce Satana…!" She brought the blade down with devastating force—

It never struck home. A booming noise rang through the chamber, and the woman slowly dropped to the floor, the knife sliding from her fingers. "Nooooo!" With a scream, the demon exited her body and disappeared through the grating high above.

Dean lowered his .45. They'd done it. Sam was alive. Sam… "Sammy!"

He burst through the iron gate and ran over to the alter where his little brother lay bound.

"Sammy! Sammy, I'm here. I came…I came for you…" He put out his pocket knife and cut the tape away, tossing it aside. "I told you I'd keep you safe…"

"Sam?"

God, he was burning up.

Dean pulled him into his arms. "Sammy! C'mon, Sammy, talk to me!"

Sam's lashes looked so dark against his pale skin, and not once did he twitch as Dean slapped his cheek lightly. "Sammy." Dean could feel himself panicking. "Sammy, please wake up…"

Other hunters crowded around him.

"Oh lord—"

"Is he—?"

"Dean?"

Dean ignored them as he brushed Sam's hair away, sickened at how hot his sibling's skin felt. "Sammy, please… Please don't do this to me…"

There was no response.

No movement.

No breath.

No nothing.

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And… Review! *evil laugh*