Previously on Supernatural...

When her gaze landed on the unconscious man Rose was supporting, she gasped. "Cas, she's got Sam!"

Dean had woken up in some very odd situations before, but this one really took the pie. He was chained to a stone altar in the center of what looked like a magic circle, surrounded by beautiful women who were running their fingers along his bound arms and bare chest, tittering and exchanging sultry looks with the captive Winchester. "Hands off, bitches," he snapped, shaking off their hands with clear disgust.

"Now I understand why other gods despise humanity," came Sebastian's bored voice from Dean's left. "Are all humans so disrespectful?"

Shaking his head to clear the last of his grogginess, Dean snorted in disbelief. "What are you the god of? Arrogant douchebags?"

"Again, manners. Your oafish brother didn't have them either."

Sam? Now that he looked around, Dean could see no sign of Sam. His green eyes glared at Adonis and demanded, "Where the hell's my brother, you dick?"

One dark-haired woman in green stepped forward and whalloped Dean across the face. "Don't speak to Adonis that way!"

"Tanya," called Sebastian - Adonis - in a gentle tone. "Enough." He waved the surrounding women away dismissively. "Go back outside and protect the warehouse until the ritual is completed."

Dean spat out a mouthful of blood as the car-women ambled out the door like skanky-dressed sheep. "Ritual? What ritual? What're you - " He looked down and saw unfamiliar symbols scrawled across his chest in what looked like blood. "What the hell are these?" Dean demanded, struggling against the chains vainly.

"Preparation for what is to come." From his bored tone, Adonis could've been talking about how to cook a simple dish. "When the moon reaches its zenith, I will extract your living soul from your mortal coil to fuel the spell that will turn my loves completely human."

"Really?" The elder Winchester couldn't help scoffing. "That's my fate? To be a glorified car battery?"

"Be honored." A tight note entered the god's voice, as if he was getting irritated again. "Very few mortal souls are capable of sustaining this type of spell."

"Dude, have you checked under the hood? My soul ain't exactly in mint condition. Thirty-odd years of craptastic pain, issues with authority figures, and all-around bullshit."

Adonis tut-tutted. "It is content, not condition, that I'm interested in."

"I doubt I've got what you're looking for," Dean said, recalling Famine's long-ago remark about being empty inside.

"I know you do." Adonis chuckled and leaned closer to clarify. "It's love."

Dean scoffed. "Come again?"

"Unconditional love that endures despite pain and loss." The way he spoke of pain and loss made Dean glance around once more for any sign of Sam. "Save your energy. I had my girls...discipline him...and take him back to the showroom basement." He plucked a nonexistent wrinkle from his cuff. "He'll wake up just in time to be arrested for your precious Baby's murder."

"Baby's - No. You're lying!" he yelled. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. Because if it was true, and Baby really was gone, he'd never be able to tell her -

"Ah, and there it is." Adonis' smile was now wide enough to rival a crocodile's just before a zebra steps into its jaws. "That love will give my ritual the power to keep my loves human forever."

Anger and spite made him spit blood on the man's polished shoe. "Over my dead and broken body."

Adonis didn't even blink. "Again, condition is not an issue. You just have to be alive."

Baby cursed as she and Castiel gently took an unconscious Sam from Rose. There wasn't an inch of exposed skin that wasn't bloody, bruised, or broken, and one of Sam's eyes was swollen completely shut. His clothes were badly torn up and stained with more of his blood, and it was clear that more serious injuries hid beneath his denim and flannel coverings. Castiel's jaw was clenched, as if he was restraining himself from flying off and smiting those responsible, but he helped Baby lay the hunter on the sofa.

Sam's good eye fluttered open, the hazel iris glazed with pain as he registered her face. "Baby? You're okay?" he rasped.

"Sammy?" Baby cupped Sam's bruised face in her hands and brushed back a strand of hair from his bloody cheek, her smile full of pain. "I'm fine, Sammy, just fine."

His hand reached up to touch her face. "Adonis - he said you were - "

"And you believed him? I'm a tank, you know that," she said, cradling his hand to her cheek. "Now let Cas fix you up."

"Can't wait," Sam mumbled, squirming away from the angel's touch. "Baby, he's still got Dean. We gotta go get him - "

"Shhh Sammy, you gotta rest now." Castiel knelt down and pressed a hand to Sam's forehead. The younger Winchester fell into a deep sleep as his injuries mended themselves in an eye-blink. She held his limp hand in both of hers, insides burning at the amount of pain still on his face. "When I get a grip on whoever totalled you..."

"The other girls did that on Adonis' orders," Rose said from her place by the door.

The rage in Baby went white-hot at her words. Her eyes flashed to Rose's hands, but there were no signs that she had participated. "You resisted?"

"I didn't hit him, no. Had to fake it. Wasn't easy." Rose gave Baby a puzzled look. "How did your engine restart without Adonis' permission?"

Baby thumbed over her shoulder at Castiel. "He's better than AAA. Flushed Adonis' hotwiring clear out of me." Standing up, Baby faced the other woman suspiciously, gun raised again. "Why do you have my Sammy?"

"I was supposed to dump him in the showroom basement and frame him for yours and Rachel's deaths."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because...I didn't want to."

"Huh?" Baby lowered her weapon, puzzled at the statement.

"I..." The redhead couldn't meet Baby's eyes, a shameful expression on her beautiful face. "I've never been under Adonis' control." Rose raised her left arm to display a ring tied to a cord around her wrist. "It's my owner's ring."

"Your owner?" The way Rose looked away again told Baby a lot more than anything she could have denied. She touched the amulet, her own piece of Dean. "He's to you what my Dean is to me."

"Yes. My Jack..." A soft smile transformed Rose's features with love. "Adonis doesn't know about our bond."

"Wha - " Another coughing fit struck Baby, and bursts of black smoke shot from her mouth and burned her eyes. "Sonofabitch!" she choked. "You gotta be friggin' kidding me. Again?"

"Oh no." She looked up to see Rose paling in horror. "It's starting."

"You know why this is happening to me?" the Impala asked, trying to regain her breath. "What is it?"

"You're breaking down from the inside. It happened to the other girls before they died." The Testarossa gave her such a pitying look that Baby's stomach felt hollow. "It means that your owner's love for you is gone."

"Impossible." This came from Castiel, who stepped forward and rested his hand on the back of Baby's neck. "Dean has loved her for years. There is no way he would stop now." His grip tightened slightly, as if he was attempting to reassure Baby as well as convince Rose. "There must be another explanation."

"And why my Dean?" Baby demanded. "Of all the men who desire us, why would Adonis need my Dean's soul?"

"Because he loves you." When Baby frowned in confusion, Rose shook her head. "We were transformed with magic based in desire, but we're not living long enough on desire alone. He needs the soul of a man who loves one of us to cement the magic for all of us." The redhead's eyes lit up with realization. "That could explain why your breakdown is accelerating. Adonis must be preparing the ritual now."

Which means we're running out of time, Baby thought. An internal engine check showed that Rose's words held merit; her inner workings were starting to hiccup and shudder, several parts grinding together in a painful way. While it didn't impede her now, Baby knew it wouldn't be long before she would be unable to move without an enormous amount of pain. The Impala turned to look at Sam's sleeping form and asked Rose, "Where is he keeping my Dean?"

"At the showroom's storage warehouse near the outskirts of town, where the altar for the ritual is. He's waiting for the moon to reach its zenith."

"Why should we believe you?" asked Castiel curtly. "You are the reason why Dean is in danger."

Rose stiffened at the accusation. "That's not my fault. I had to protect my Jack - "

"Enough," Baby sighed, tired of the pointless argument. She could understand Rose's reasons, but her actions had indirectly led to her Dean being captured. The injustice made her short with the other woman. "Go back to your Jack and enjoy the little time you have left. Your humanity won't last the night."

The way she said it made Rose shiver nervously. "What are you going to do?"

"Do?" The glare Baby gave her was colder than liquid nitrogen. "I'm gonna slam that pagan bastard harder than a fifty-car pileup at rush hour. Then I'll run him over until he's roadkill. And then I'll make him regret ever touching my boys."

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