More major Dean whump in this one. This is set during Season 3

Thanks again to all the reviewers, and the especially to the guest reviewers I couldn't reply to through PM :) I'm so glad you guys have all been enjoying these little ficlets!

23. Self-Sacrifice

The demon approached Sam with the knife, a grin on his face. Sam struggled, but he had been tied hand and foot and the best he could do was wriggle like a fish out of water.

The demon reached down and grabbed a fistful of his hair, wrenching his head back with a leer.

"Oh, the things I'm going to do to you, Sammy," he said, eyes flicking black. "You're going to pay for killing our father Azazel."

"Don't! Leave him alone."

The demons all turned around to where Dean had been lying unconscious against the wall since they were captured, but was now awake, propping himself up on an elbow. Blood already ran down the side of his face from the blow earlier, the demons hadn't even bothered to tie him up.

"Take me instead," Dean insisted. "I'm the one you want anyway. I'm the one who shot old Yellow-Eyes in the head."

Sam's stomach plummeted. "Dean, no," he breathed.

But Dean's sneer of defiance dared the demons and the one holding Sam looked between them. He then looked at the rest of the demons who were simply eager for bloodshed and nodded.

"Take him. We'll save Sammy for later, when Dean is more compliant."

"No!" Sam yelled as he was thrown aside and he could only watch, helpless, as demons swarmed his brother.

Dean had gained his feet before the demons jumped him, but it didn't last long. They surrounded him and Sam could hear the dull thuds of fists hitting flesh interspersed with Dean's taunts. The whole time, Sam was yelling at them to stop, but he was being ignored, the demons having much more fun beating his brother to pulp.

With one heavy kick, Dean was thrown out of the circle to sprawl on the ground a few feet from Sam. The head demon pushed through the others and stalked over to the elder Winchester who was struggling to raise himself on his elbows. The demon sneered and simply shoved his foot into Dean's chest, forcing him back with a grunt.

"You and your brother have become a serious pain in our collective asses," the demon sneered and suddenly stomped on Dean's stomach, causing him to cry out and curl into himself. The demon then proceeded to kick him in the stomach over and over again until Dean almost retched.

"Stop!" Sam cried helplessly as Dean rolled over, trying to protect his middle.

The demon simply gave Sam a smirk and slammed his foot into Dean's lower back instead. Dean cried out and started to crawl away but the other demons hemmed him in, one kicking him in the face and sending him to the floor with a spatter of blood and drool. Dean groaned and again tried to push himself up with shaking arms.

"Dean, stay down, for the love of god, stay down!" Sam pleaded with his brother, furious tears hanging in his eyes because he couldn't do anything. But of course Dean didn't listen. He managed to get to his hands and knees before the demon got tired of indulging him and kicked him firmly in the backside, sending Dean crashing back to the floor face-first into the blood collected there.

"Dean please," Sam choked out past a sob, yanking on his ropes to no avail. "Leave him alone, you bastards!"

The demon chuckled, crouching down and grabbing Dean by the back of his collar and hauling him to his knees in front of Sam. His face was a mess of blood, probably a broken nose, and one eye already completely swollen shut. Sam wouldn't be surprised if his cheekbone was cracked.

The demon gripped a fistful of Dean's hair and wrenched his head back, leaning in close. "Leave him alone? Sammy, your brother's just going to have to get used to this. After all, what do you think he has to look forward to when he goes to Hell?"

Dean stiffened slightly, and Sam ground his teeth as he fought against his ropes again. The demon smirked and pulled a dagger from his belt, reaching around to trace it down Dean's throat. "And this? Well, this isn't anywhere close to how bad it can get down there." He leaned close to Dean's ear and Sam's brother tried to pull away with disgust. "You have no idea how bad it really will be. You want a little taste to prepare yourself?"

"Screw you," Dean grunted, jerking away from the demon who stood up and kicked him in the shoulder to force him back to his hands and knees.

"Face it, Dean. You play like you don't care, like you're the big bad hero, and you can handle it. But really you're scared to death." He kicked Dean in the ribs, sending him toppling onto his side. "You won't have Sammy there to be strong for. I bet if he wasn't here you'd be crying by now."

"With this little beating?" Dean said with a smirk. "Buddy you all kick like twelve-year-old girls."

The demon kicked him heavily in the stomach again and Dean whuffed out air with a groan. "You can pretend. That's fine. But think of this too. When you're down there, little Sammy here, he won't have you to protect him from all of us. And we're going to have lots of fun with him then."

Dean growled and launched himself at the demon. "Not if I kill all of you first!"

The demon simply threw a punch to Dean's face and laid him flat with a moan. "Of course you will." He flipped his knife in his hand and kicked Dean one more time as he stepped over him. "Now, Sammy here is looking a little impatient I think."

All of a sudden the emergency sprinklers in the old warehouse turned on and rained down on them. Sam wasn't sure what was going on until the demons started to scream and burn.

Holy water?

The head demon turned to snarl at the Winchesters. "This isn't over, boys," he said before he smoked out and the other demons were close to follow.

Bobby ran in then with a shotgun held ready.

"Bobby!" Sam cried in relief.

"You boys all right?" Bobby demanded as he hurried over to them and dropped down next to Dean who was lying in a bloody mess and still trying to sit up.

"We're good," he slurred, wincing as he spit out a gob of blood. "Get Sammy untied."

Bobby gave him a sharp look, but cut Sam's ropes and Sam instantly dragged himself over to Dean's side, helping him sit up and fully taking in the damage the demons had done.

"Oh god, Dean," he said, his voice tight. "You look like hammered crap."

"Feel like it," Dean replied.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Sam demanded, wanting to punch his brother, but, obviously that would do little good right now.

Dean sighed. "Had to buy time for Bobby to get here."

"By letting them use your face to clean the floor?" Bobby asked wryly.

Dean shrugged. "It was me or Sammy."

Sam seethed. "Then why is it always you, Dean? Why are you the only one who's allowed to sacrifice himself?"

Dean grinned, causing his split lip to bleed even more. "Cause that's just who I am, Sammy. I look after you."

Sam choked out a sob and clenched his fist in Dean's jacket but didn't say anything else. There would be no reasoning with Dean, and it wasn't going to change anything anyway. He couldn't say what he really wanted to. That he was dying inside, knowing his brother was going to Hell. For him. That there was nothing he could do about it because Dean wouldn't let him. He wouldn't let Sam save him. And that all Sam could think about was life without his brother. He finally sniffed and got to his feet shakily. "Fine, then let's at least get you cleaned up."

Both he and Bobby had to support Dean all the way back to the cars, but Sam couldn't get the image out of his head. The pure unapologetic, almost happy certainty, on Dean's face when he told Sam that sacrificing himself was just who he was and there was obviously nothing Sam could do about it.

Sam had never been so infuriated by his brother, but he had never seen so much love either.