It was Toby again who brought them their next meal, and he lingered after sliding the trays over to each of them, studying them thoughtfully.

"Something on your mind?" Dean questioned mildly, eyebrows raised. Toby stared, seeming fixated on his wounded arm, but then turned abruptly and addressed Sam.

"You don't hate your brother, whatever you pretend. You clearly love him." He stated factually, "I saw the way you cared for him last night. And I saw the way he responded to you…he doesn't hate you either." He paused, trying to process his thoughts. "Why would you pretend to hate each other if you don't really…?"

Sam's eyes flicked to Dean briefly as he thought about what answer would land them in the least trouble, curious as to why Toby was asking the question to begin with. Eventually he responded with a question of his own. "Why are you here, Toby?"

Toby stared back at him as if he'd never been asked that before. For a minute it seemed like he wasn't going to answer…in fact started to walk away. But he only made it a few steps before he turned back. "I'm here because of my brother, Vince. … I know, we look nothing alike…different Dads." Toby sighed and rubbed at his red hair. " He's eight years older…raised me after our Mom died…never knew neither of our Dads. Vince's been in and out of prison, and after his second to last stint he started this underground club with a few of his former prison buddies. When he got out of lockup this last time he tracked me down again and made me start helping him."

"Why do you stay? Do you love your brother that much?" Sam questioned.

"Love? Hardly." Toby spat. "I HATE Vince. He made my entire life a living hell. He's a mean S.O.B. and thinks I belong to him apparently. I thought I was finally free of him when he went to prison, but that was a joke. The word brother don't mean nothin to me but pain and misery. Based on all the fighters I seen, I figured that was universal. You two though…"

"So why do you stay?" Dean interjected, "Why not say 'see ya' and split?"

Toby stared at him as if he was dumb. "You're kiddin, right? Hell, I'm in too deep now." Toby's face fell. "He keeps all the money, so I ain't got nothing to run with. But worse, if I ever did leave, Vince would just call the cops and give me up. He's real clever-like…he makes sure to make me always handle the bodies, since my fingerprints aren't in the system. If I make trouble he's quick to remind me that it would only take one call to get me in the system, and then a whole boatload of murders would be flagged, and all pinned on me."

"We can help you, Toby, but you need to help us." Sam urged. "We need to get out of here before tonight's fight."

"No one can help me." he said dejectedly. He stared back at Sam for a long minute, then drawled, "I'm sorry you don't hate each other, tonight's going to be awful for you." Turning, head down and hands in his pockets, he walked away, ignoring Sam's repeated calls to come back. Sam finally gave up and plopped back down on the floor in frustration.

"So close." he sighed, pushing the food on his tray around.

"Sam, listen." Dean began slowly, "We need to talk about tonight..." Sam's head rose sharply at the tone he heard in Dean's voice.

"No." he stated emphatically, knowing exactly what Dean was going to say. "They can kill us both, but I'm not going to kill you Dean. No matter what."

"Only if we can't find another way - "

"There is no way in hell." Sam's face was firm and unyielding. "As you said to me once, 'I would rather die'. "

"Quoting me to me, real nice." Dean snickered, then sighed. "Ok, fine. Just…we have to make the fight convincing until we are presented with an opening or figure something out."

"I can hold my own."

"I know you can, little brother." he smiled at Sam to show his words were spoken fondly, not to be patronizing. "I know you can." Sam heard the note of pride in his voice and smiled back his thanks. "Now eat, and get some rest. I know you didn't sleep last night. I'll keep watch."

–SPN–SPN–SPN–SPN–SPN–

It was Vince and another guy that finally came to retrieve the brothers for the fight that evening, Toby nowhere to be seen. They were zip tied and led off in opposite directions down the hallway, and Sam resisted a final glance back as Vince disappeared with Dean. Instead he tried to pay close attention to where he was being taken, but lost track in the maze of corridors that all looked identical. Eventually he was halted and roughly pushed face-first against the wall. He was held there as his silent captor unlocked a metal door beside him, cut the zip ties restraining his hands, and shoved him through the doorway into a tiny cell, the door clanging shut loudly behind him.

Sam stumbled but caught himself before he ran face first into the barred door set directly in front of him. Stretching his arms out he realized the cell was so small he could touch both walls flat-palmed, and shivered at the closeness of the space, moving quickly to focus past the bars at the fighting arena he could see just beyond. His cell door was apparently one of several doors, both barred and solid, periodically intersecting the high wall that encircled the large sunken arena. He could just barely see the stands high above the walls, the spectators a swirling mass of blurred faces and sound. Directly across the expanse his eyes widened as they met Dean's, looking back at him from what appeared to be an identical cell.

There were a couple of men currently sparring in the center of the arena, and even as they watched the larger one executed a lightning-fast move on his opponent and took him down. The ground shook with the roaring of the crowd. Though Sam and Dean couldn't see them completely, there clearly was a large number of spectators here reveling in the brutal event.

Standing and backing away from the downed man, the victor soaked in the crowd's praise. His victory lap slowed, however, as he began to comprehend what the crowd was chanting... "Finish him. Finish him. Finish him." they called. He looked appalled as the announcer stood before him and said, "Fists or knives?" He backed up, shaking his head, running into his handler who had come up behind him and was whispering something in his ear. The fighter stood motionless, head down, clearly defeated. Grabbing the knife suddenly from the announcer, he whirled and sank it abruptly in the loser's heart with an animalistic cry of grief. The crowd roared, and he was immediately pulled away and shoved into through another cell door off to the side while Sam and Dean looked on, horrified. The body of the loser was dragged off through another door, and then the announcer began to warm the crowd back up in preparation for the final match of the night.

–SPN–SPN–SPN–SPN–SPN–

NOW - Present Time

Sam and Dean stared in dismay at each other across the expanse, even as the announcer shouted excitedly, "It's the moment you've been waiting for folks! Last chance, place your bets! Ready? You asked for it! It's brother vs brother…Winchester vs Winchester!" The cage doors opened, and both reluctantly stepped into the arena, screams and shouts echoing off the rafters. Eyes meeting again, both could sense the fear in the other. How on earth are we going to get out of this one?