Heart's Desire - Chapter 14
Fandom: Supernatural
Title: Heart’s Desire
Chapter: 14/23
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Author's Notes: Thanks to VegasGranny and Ncsupnatfan for pre-reading.
Summary: Jack wants to help Sam after overhearing a nightmare which results in a rift being opened. Jessica is brought from a world in which Lilith was never killed and now she and the demons reign while they work to break Sam in Hell. Unable to leave her to that life and pain, Sam and his family go to her world to save it.
Chapter Fourteen
Sam looked around at the trees and stream they’d arrived alongside, and he felt a chill of anticipation. The last time he had been here with Bobby, Benny had given his life for them to escape. He was back with John and Dean, all of them competent fighters, and they were better armed than Sam had been then, but he was nervous.
He shot a quick look at Dean to see if he seemed troubled, too, but he was looking around with a strange expression. If Sam didn’t know better, he would say Dean was excited. He knew Dean had a strange connection to Purgatory, even though his time here had been constant warfare, but he couldn’t be happy to be back, could he?
“This is Hell?” John asked.
Dean turned to Sam. “You didn’t tell him?”
Sam raised his arms. “When? You’ve had more time with him than I have.”
“Tell me what?” John growled.
“This is Purgatory,” Billie said. “The resting place of every monster that has ever been killed. Human souls and Angels belong in Heaven. Demons in Hell. All other monsters belong here.”
John grunted a laugh. “And no one thought to warn me about this?” He frowned. “Where are they all? If this is monster Heaven, why aren’t they attacking?”
“They will,” Billie said confidently. “Right now, you have a supernova of energy with you warning them away. They will come when I’m gone. And that will be soon. We just have a little more to discuss before I can leave you to your task.” She smoothed the front of her shirt and fixed her eyes on John. “Your son is not here in the technical sense.”
“No, he’s in Hell,” John said. “I know.”
“He’s not entirely there either. His soul was taken to Hell, but his body remained on Earth.”
John’s fists rose and he took a step towards her. “My son’s body has been on earth all this time and no one told us? What the hell kind of monster are you? I should- “
Billie held up a hand, and his teeth snapped together as his mouth was jerked closed. “Do not forget who you are talking to, John Winchester. I am eternal. You are not even an insect to me.”
John’s eyes blazed but he couldn’t speak.
“I have endless worlds to monitor,” she said. “I control life and death in each of them. And you should be grateful. If Sam’s body had been trapped here, can you imagine what kind of ruin it would be after all this time? It was Sam’s true self that was left here.”
John’s eyes asked the question his mouth couldn’t, and Sam answered it. “His soul is here.”
Billie nodded. “Exactly.”
“Wait!” Dean said. “Are you telling me their Sam has been running around soulless upstairs all this time?”
Sam’s mouth dropped open. It made sick sense. If that version of himself was soulless, he would have no need for family and wouldn’t go to them. He had only gone to Dean when he was targeted by the djinn, and that was truthfully a hunt and not concern for his brother’s life. The idea that the other Sam could be doing the same, racking up the kind of path of destruction Sam didn’t even want to think about, was horrifying.
“I don’t know,” Billie said. “I don’t often visit this world. Your own keeps me busy, as does the world your friend Bobby Singer came from.”
“Can’t you find out?” Sam asked.
She nodded. “Of course I can. I won’t though. It’s down to you to find your lost property. I am not your mother running behind you and picking up your toys.”
John’s face flushed with fury and she smiled indulgently at him and then made a small jerking movement with her hand and he burst into speech, though he was obviously being careful to be respectful now, “How am I supposed to find him and put the soul back?”
“Finding him should be easy for a man as resourceful as yourself. Dean will know how to put the soul back where it belongs. You have seen it before, hadn’t you Dean?”
Dean glanced at Sam, grimaced, and nodded. “Yeah. I remember, but that was Death-the old Death. How am I supposed to do it?”
“I suggest you utilize one of the angels you have available to you.” She looked around. “One more thing and then I will go. There are three vampires close that would enjoy a fight. I can sense them edging in on us. Now, when you have Sam-again, Dean and Sam will both know how to bring him out-you need to return to this place as fast as you can. Call me and I will come. Be careful with Sam though, John. He’s going to be sensitive once you have him. Perhaps leave the fighting to Sam and Dean. And remember, your life alone is not at risk. If you’re killed, there will be no saving Sam.”
“Sam will be fine,” Dean said determinedly. “We’ll protect them both.”
Billie nodded. “Good. Then I will see you soon. Don’t keep me waiting too long. Oh, one more thing. Hell is a big place, as I am sure you remember, Dean. Sam will be in the center, in Lilith’s own lair.”
Sam’s mouth dropped open. “How do we find that?”
“You go to the place the screams are loudest and the flames hottest.” She clapped her hands and disappeared and at the same moment, there was a feral roar from the trees and the sound of racing footsteps. Sam thought that she had perhaps given the vampires a little nudge to come.
“Weapons,” Sam said, sliding the duffel from his shoulder and yanking it open as John and Dean did the same.
“Go for the heads,” Dean said. “It’s the only thing in here that kills everything.”
Sam pulled out a machete and shook it out of its sheath at the same moment the vampires arrived on the other side of the stream. He lifted his machete and jerked his head to invite them closer.
Now, faced with the enemy, he felt calmer. It was often like this. Things became simple: kill or be killed. There was no confusion about motivations or innocence the way he was sometimes hounded. He was ready.
“Come and get it,” Dean growled.
John wasted no words. He just ran at them, machete poised to swing, and shouted in what sounded a lot like a war cry. Sam and Dean followed a beat later, and the vampires met them.
Though they were all armed and the vampires not, the vampires threw themselves into the fight instead of running away. Sam took a punch to the arm that almost made him drop his machete. As it was, he had to switch it to his left hand and swing it to drive the vampire back.
Dean grunted with pain at his side, but Sam couldn’t look to check on him as the vampire that was coming at him was bouncing on the balls of his feet and preparing to strike. Sam decided to accept an injury for the kill, and he moved into the vampire’s blow, catching it across the jaw, as he swung his hand and cut into the vampire’s neck.
As the pieces dropped, he spun around and looked at Dean who was rubbing his jaw, apparently having taken his own punch, and looking down at the two pieces of his attacker on the ground.
Sam looked to John and saw that he was still in combat, though it was a very one-sided as the vampire he was fighting had already lost one arm and the hand on the other side. Its secondary teeth were descended, and it looked ready to rip John’s throat out if given the chance. John gave it no chance though. With a cry that Sam didn’t want to call excitement, John cut off its head and kicked it hard as it landed near his foot.
Dean watched the head fly and land in the stream where it created a small obstacle that the water gushed around and then said, “Okay… That’s done. Sammy, you’ve done this before. Lead the way.”
Sam picked up the sheath of the machete from the ground and attached it to his belt then put the machete into it, feeling its reassuring weight on his hip, then took a knife from the duffel before slinging it over his shoulder.
“We’ve got to find our way back,” he said. “I wouldn’t put it past Billie to insist on this exact stop for the cab ride home.” He carved a pentagram into the bark of the nearest tree and then looked around. “I remember the stream,” he said.
“Then we’ll follow it,” John said gruffly, setting off walking. “Move your asses. My boy is waiting for me.”
Dean and Sam exchanged a glance and then followed him, Sam scouring the area for the entrance to Hell he remembered. He was going into the very center where he might be forced to face Lilith again. He would do it gladly, this was for himself in a technical sense and Jessica in the literal, but he was worried about how they were supposed to get Sam free without killing her.
xXx
Dean was three steps back from Sam, scouring around him for danger approaching from behind, while Sam and John strode ahead. They’d been attacked fives time so far, Sam only making it through the second attack as John had pulled off a fast move with a machete, taking out two ghouls with one swing while Dean dragged Sam out of range of the blades they were swinging. Dean and Sam had both babbled their gratitude, but John merely stepped over the bodies at his feet and walked away, growling over his shoulder for them to hurry up.
Dean could tell Sam was starting to worry. He didn’t know exactly how long had passed since they’d arrived in Purgatory, but it had been hours at least, and they only hoped they were going in the right direction along the stream.
“Recognise anything yet?” John asked as Sam slowed and looked around.
“Yeah,” Sam said. “I mean, I think so.” He looked back up and down the stream again and then set off at a run.
“Dammit, Sam, slow down,” Dean called after him as he started running after him. “You could be running right at a monster.”
“Then we fight,” John said, his words and breaths even though they were sprinting now.
“No, it’s here,” Sam said, pointing to a tree with three large rocks at the roots.
“So are they,” Dean said as five figures raced around the tree at them. He couldn’t tell what they were and didn’t much care. The more pressing problem was the fact they were splitting up, one going for John and two apiece coming at Sam and Dean.
“Sammy!” Dean shouted as the larger grabbed Sam’s shoulders and pinned him as the smaller snapped his teeth in his face. Dean wanted to protect, but his arms were grabbed and pinned as a monster came at him. He pushed his weight back on the one holding him, using him as a balance as he brought both feet up and kicked the monster in the face. It staggered away from him and the one holding him stumbled and fell, releasing Dean.
Though he had one on his back and one he’d kicked was coming back, his attention went to Sam as he pulled his machete and checked he was okay before striking. Sam was standing back to back with John and one of the attacking monsters was in pieces on the ground. They were both facing a monster now.
Satisfied Sam was safe, Dean turned his attention back to the ones coming at him and spun with the blade extended, slicing into the cheek of one and driving the other back. The one he’d injured brought his hand up to his wound and Dean left him a moment and dealt with the one that had dodged the blade. He stepped into its space and sliced the machete through the air, driving it through the monster’s neck and removing its head.
He used the momentum on his swing to spin him around and behead the second as Sam and John’s monsters were felled.
As the pieces hit the ground John jerked a thumb at the rocks and said, “Is that our door?”
Sam just breathed for a moment and then he nodded and said, “Yeah, behind the rocks there’s a way in.”
John heaved on the center rock and it fell away, revealing bright white light that spilled towards him. As it touched the toes of his boots, John disappeared.
“Come on,” Sam said urgently, grabbing Dean’s arm and yanking him forward.
The light reached for them and Dean’s head swam as the light blinded and then he was stumbling on a stone floor in a long, narrow corridor and in the distance were moans and screams that chilled Dean’s blood and made his flesh crawl.
“You okay, Dean?” Sam asked.
“Yeah,” Dean lied. “It’s good to be back.”
Sam’s frown deepened and then he said. “We better catch up with him.”
Dean looked and saw John striding ahead of them.
“John, wait,” he shouted, running after him.
“My son is waiting,” John called back.
“I know,” Sam replied. “But you’re not armed with the right weapon anymore.” He slid the duffel off his own back and pulled out an angel blade. “Take this.”
John stopped and allowed them to catch up then took the blade and slid away his machete into the sheath on his belt. Dean took his own blade from his bag and said, “We don’t need this stuff now, and there’s no point carrying more than we need.” He dropped his bag down and kicked it into an alcove. Sam and John dropped their own beside it, after Sam had taken his blade from the bag, and then set off walking again.
hey continued until a voice called to them and Dean stopped. John grabbed his arm and tugged him forward, and Dean forced his feet to keep moving, toward the pained sound. He was finding it hard to be back, the memories of what he had experienced and done here were rushing at him.
John went ahead, not even slowing when he reached the source of the sound-a wrought iron-barred door that hid a woman with lank blonde hair and haunted eyes. Her hands curled around the bars and she moved closer, saying, “Help me, please. Let me out.”
Sam swallowed hard and took a step towards the door, but Dean grabbed his arm and said, “It’s not why we’re here, Sammy.”
The woman’s eyes moved to him as he spoke and then she staggered back, her hands flying up to cover her face as she moaned as if in agony. “Not again…”
Dean stared at the woman, confused by the reaction, and then he froze as her hands dropped and he saw her face again. He recognized it and knew the exact moment he’d last seen it. She had been on the rack, screaming in pain, and he’d been over it with the razor in his hand. He’d been working, slicing into her, when the blue-white light had rushed at him and the too hot touch on his arm had seared a burn.
She had been the soul he was torturing the day Castiel had saved him.
“You okay, Dean?” Sam asked.
Dean turned away from the woman and gritted his teeth. “Yeah, fine. Let’s go.” This time he took the lead and walked ahead of them. He felt Sam’s eyes on his back, but he didn’t turn or slow. He didn’t want Sam to see the truth in his eyes of what had just happened, and he would. No one in the world knew him better than his brother.
xXx
Sam knew Dean was struggling to be back, and the sight of the first soul had obviously shaken him, but he couldn’t talk to him about it as John was with them and they really did have something more important to worry about.
They came to an intersection and Sam paused a moment to remember and then took the right, and they strode along it together without a word. They took another turn into a long corridor with cells lining the walls. They called to them and Sam and Dean flinched with each plea for help, but John didn’t even seem to notice them.
They were deep in Hell now, close to the screams and heat Billie had told them about, and with every turn, Sam thought they were going to be faced with Lilith.
But there was no sign of her. In fact, there was no sign of any demon at all.
Sam thought they were being lulled into a false sense of security by the place, and that made him sure that the fight, when it came, was going to be bigger than they could handle.
A scream ripped through the air and Sam’s heart froze. He knew the sound as he’d heard it thousands of times in his life. It had been the sound that ripped from him when Lucifer and Michael had been slicing into him and tearing him apart.
“Sammy!” John gasped and set off running.
Dean stared at Sam for a moment, wide-eyed, and then they both broke into runs after John.
Sam called after John, warning him to be careful as he knew they were going to face the demons at last when they reached his son, but he didn’t break pace in his sprint.
Sam caught up to him and tried to grab his arm, but John yanked free and pushed him back. Sam got his feet under him and ran after him again, only reaching him when they reached a heavy wooden door with iron nails hammered into it. The screaming was coming from behind the door.
“Sammy!” John shouted, shoving at the door with flattened hands.
“Move,” Dean grunted, pushing him out of the way then grabbed the handle and twisted it. It turned slowly, as if someone was holding it on the other side, and Sam put his weight behind the door, pushing it open enough that John could squeeze through.
There was a grunt, a shout of pain and then the force pushing back was gone and the door flew open. There was a dead demon on the stone floor in front of the door, partially blocking it, and Sam jumped over it and ran towards the chair that was in the center of the room.
The chair that housed the bloody and bruised version manifestation of himself that belonged in this world who was panting hard against the constricting chains around his chest. John was kneeling in front of him, his hands touching his face and whispering his name with growing urgency as he stared through him.
“Where is she?” Dean asked, his eyes roving the vast room they were in.
There was no sign of Lilith or any other demon apart from the dead one on the floor. Apart from Dean, John and the two Sam’s, the place was empty.
“This is too easy,” Sam said.
“Sammy, son, look at me,” John was pleading, his hands cupping his son’s cheek. “I’m here. It’s Dad. I’ve come to get you out.”
The Sam in the chair stared right through him, his breaths still panting but his eyes devoid of awareness. Sam could tell he wasn’t aware of anything happening around him the same way he had felt by the end. Lucifer and Michael became vague threats and all he felt was the pain. That Sam was lost in himself.
“We can’t wait,” Sam said. “John, get out the way.”
Either unable or unwilling to obey, John stayed by his son and Sam worked around him to cut the other Sam’s forearm and then John’s.
“Hold him, John,” he instructed. “Repeat after me.” When John was holding his son’s arm, Sam recited the required Latin and John repeated it. “Conjuncti sumus, unum sumus.”
The Sam that John was gripping with his intense and wet eyes fixed on his face, seemed to glow for a moment and then his form bled into a bright light that seeped into John’s arm and disappeared.
John grunted and cupped his hand over the spot his son was held as if cradling it and said, “Okay, I’ve got him. Move.”
Sam took the lead towards the door and then turned back to Dean and said, “That was too damn easy, Dean.”
Dean nodded. “It really was. There should have been way more than one demon with him. Which means they either don’t want us and they don’t want Sam here, or...”
“Or what?” John asked curtly, his hand still cradling the light that was his son.
“Or this whole thing is a trap,” Dean said.
John considered for a moment and then stroked a hand over the light on his arm. “They can come up with whatever the hell kind of trap they want, I don’t care. I’ve got my son and there’s nothing in the world that’s taking him away from me again. Move!”
Sam fell into step behind him through the door and along the corridor. He was thinking hard, though.
If the demons wanted Sam out, did it mean he was broken and ready to kill Lilith?
Title: Heart’s Desire
Chapter: 14/23
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Author's Notes: Thanks to VegasGranny and Ncsupnatfan for pre-reading.
Summary: Jack wants to help Sam after overhearing a nightmare which results in a rift being opened. Jessica is brought from a world in which Lilith was never killed and now she and the demons reign while they work to break Sam in Hell. Unable to leave her to that life and pain, Sam and his family go to her world to save it.
Chapter Fourteen
Sam looked around at the trees and stream they’d arrived alongside, and he felt a chill of anticipation. The last time he had been here with Bobby, Benny had given his life for them to escape. He was back with John and Dean, all of them competent fighters, and they were better armed than Sam had been then, but he was nervous.
He shot a quick look at Dean to see if he seemed troubled, too, but he was looking around with a strange expression. If Sam didn’t know better, he would say Dean was excited. He knew Dean had a strange connection to Purgatory, even though his time here had been constant warfare, but he couldn’t be happy to be back, could he?
“This is Hell?” John asked.
Dean turned to Sam. “You didn’t tell him?”
Sam raised his arms. “When? You’ve had more time with him than I have.”
“Tell me what?” John growled.
“This is Purgatory,” Billie said. “The resting place of every monster that has ever been killed. Human souls and Angels belong in Heaven. Demons in Hell. All other monsters belong here.”
John grunted a laugh. “And no one thought to warn me about this?” He frowned. “Where are they all? If this is monster Heaven, why aren’t they attacking?”
“They will,” Billie said confidently. “Right now, you have a supernova of energy with you warning them away. They will come when I’m gone. And that will be soon. We just have a little more to discuss before I can leave you to your task.” She smoothed the front of her shirt and fixed her eyes on John. “Your son is not here in the technical sense.”
“No, he’s in Hell,” John said. “I know.”
“He’s not entirely there either. His soul was taken to Hell, but his body remained on Earth.”
John’s fists rose and he took a step towards her. “My son’s body has been on earth all this time and no one told us? What the hell kind of monster are you? I should- “
Billie held up a hand, and his teeth snapped together as his mouth was jerked closed. “Do not forget who you are talking to, John Winchester. I am eternal. You are not even an insect to me.”
John’s eyes blazed but he couldn’t speak.
“I have endless worlds to monitor,” she said. “I control life and death in each of them. And you should be grateful. If Sam’s body had been trapped here, can you imagine what kind of ruin it would be after all this time? It was Sam’s true self that was left here.”
John’s eyes asked the question his mouth couldn’t, and Sam answered it. “His soul is here.”
Billie nodded. “Exactly.”
“Wait!” Dean said. “Are you telling me their Sam has been running around soulless upstairs all this time?”
Sam’s mouth dropped open. It made sick sense. If that version of himself was soulless, he would have no need for family and wouldn’t go to them. He had only gone to Dean when he was targeted by the djinn, and that was truthfully a hunt and not concern for his brother’s life. The idea that the other Sam could be doing the same, racking up the kind of path of destruction Sam didn’t even want to think about, was horrifying.
“I don’t know,” Billie said. “I don’t often visit this world. Your own keeps me busy, as does the world your friend Bobby Singer came from.”
“Can’t you find out?” Sam asked.
She nodded. “Of course I can. I won’t though. It’s down to you to find your lost property. I am not your mother running behind you and picking up your toys.”
John’s face flushed with fury and she smiled indulgently at him and then made a small jerking movement with her hand and he burst into speech, though he was obviously being careful to be respectful now, “How am I supposed to find him and put the soul back?”
“Finding him should be easy for a man as resourceful as yourself. Dean will know how to put the soul back where it belongs. You have seen it before, hadn’t you Dean?”
Dean glanced at Sam, grimaced, and nodded. “Yeah. I remember, but that was Death-the old Death. How am I supposed to do it?”
“I suggest you utilize one of the angels you have available to you.” She looked around. “One more thing and then I will go. There are three vampires close that would enjoy a fight. I can sense them edging in on us. Now, when you have Sam-again, Dean and Sam will both know how to bring him out-you need to return to this place as fast as you can. Call me and I will come. Be careful with Sam though, John. He’s going to be sensitive once you have him. Perhaps leave the fighting to Sam and Dean. And remember, your life alone is not at risk. If you’re killed, there will be no saving Sam.”
“Sam will be fine,” Dean said determinedly. “We’ll protect them both.”
Billie nodded. “Good. Then I will see you soon. Don’t keep me waiting too long. Oh, one more thing. Hell is a big place, as I am sure you remember, Dean. Sam will be in the center, in Lilith’s own lair.”
Sam’s mouth dropped open. “How do we find that?”
“You go to the place the screams are loudest and the flames hottest.” She clapped her hands and disappeared and at the same moment, there was a feral roar from the trees and the sound of racing footsteps. Sam thought that she had perhaps given the vampires a little nudge to come.
“Weapons,” Sam said, sliding the duffel from his shoulder and yanking it open as John and Dean did the same.
“Go for the heads,” Dean said. “It’s the only thing in here that kills everything.”
Sam pulled out a machete and shook it out of its sheath at the same moment the vampires arrived on the other side of the stream. He lifted his machete and jerked his head to invite them closer.
Now, faced with the enemy, he felt calmer. It was often like this. Things became simple: kill or be killed. There was no confusion about motivations or innocence the way he was sometimes hounded. He was ready.
“Come and get it,” Dean growled.
John wasted no words. He just ran at them, machete poised to swing, and shouted in what sounded a lot like a war cry. Sam and Dean followed a beat later, and the vampires met them.
Though they were all armed and the vampires not, the vampires threw themselves into the fight instead of running away. Sam took a punch to the arm that almost made him drop his machete. As it was, he had to switch it to his left hand and swing it to drive the vampire back.
Dean grunted with pain at his side, but Sam couldn’t look to check on him as the vampire that was coming at him was bouncing on the balls of his feet and preparing to strike. Sam decided to accept an injury for the kill, and he moved into the vampire’s blow, catching it across the jaw, as he swung his hand and cut into the vampire’s neck.
As the pieces dropped, he spun around and looked at Dean who was rubbing his jaw, apparently having taken his own punch, and looking down at the two pieces of his attacker on the ground.
Sam looked to John and saw that he was still in combat, though it was a very one-sided as the vampire he was fighting had already lost one arm and the hand on the other side. Its secondary teeth were descended, and it looked ready to rip John’s throat out if given the chance. John gave it no chance though. With a cry that Sam didn’t want to call excitement, John cut off its head and kicked it hard as it landed near his foot.
Dean watched the head fly and land in the stream where it created a small obstacle that the water gushed around and then said, “Okay… That’s done. Sammy, you’ve done this before. Lead the way.”
Sam picked up the sheath of the machete from the ground and attached it to his belt then put the machete into it, feeling its reassuring weight on his hip, then took a knife from the duffel before slinging it over his shoulder.
“We’ve got to find our way back,” he said. “I wouldn’t put it past Billie to insist on this exact stop for the cab ride home.” He carved a pentagram into the bark of the nearest tree and then looked around. “I remember the stream,” he said.
“Then we’ll follow it,” John said gruffly, setting off walking. “Move your asses. My boy is waiting for me.”
Dean and Sam exchanged a glance and then followed him, Sam scouring the area for the entrance to Hell he remembered. He was going into the very center where he might be forced to face Lilith again. He would do it gladly, this was for himself in a technical sense and Jessica in the literal, but he was worried about how they were supposed to get Sam free without killing her.
xXx
Dean was three steps back from Sam, scouring around him for danger approaching from behind, while Sam and John strode ahead. They’d been attacked fives time so far, Sam only making it through the second attack as John had pulled off a fast move with a machete, taking out two ghouls with one swing while Dean dragged Sam out of range of the blades they were swinging. Dean and Sam had both babbled their gratitude, but John merely stepped over the bodies at his feet and walked away, growling over his shoulder for them to hurry up.
Dean could tell Sam was starting to worry. He didn’t know exactly how long had passed since they’d arrived in Purgatory, but it had been hours at least, and they only hoped they were going in the right direction along the stream.
“Recognise anything yet?” John asked as Sam slowed and looked around.
“Yeah,” Sam said. “I mean, I think so.” He looked back up and down the stream again and then set off at a run.
“Dammit, Sam, slow down,” Dean called after him as he started running after him. “You could be running right at a monster.”
“Then we fight,” John said, his words and breaths even though they were sprinting now.
“No, it’s here,” Sam said, pointing to a tree with three large rocks at the roots.
“So are they,” Dean said as five figures raced around the tree at them. He couldn’t tell what they were and didn’t much care. The more pressing problem was the fact they were splitting up, one going for John and two apiece coming at Sam and Dean.
“Sammy!” Dean shouted as the larger grabbed Sam’s shoulders and pinned him as the smaller snapped his teeth in his face. Dean wanted to protect, but his arms were grabbed and pinned as a monster came at him. He pushed his weight back on the one holding him, using him as a balance as he brought both feet up and kicked the monster in the face. It staggered away from him and the one holding him stumbled and fell, releasing Dean.
Though he had one on his back and one he’d kicked was coming back, his attention went to Sam as he pulled his machete and checked he was okay before striking. Sam was standing back to back with John and one of the attacking monsters was in pieces on the ground. They were both facing a monster now.
Satisfied Sam was safe, Dean turned his attention back to the ones coming at him and spun with the blade extended, slicing into the cheek of one and driving the other back. The one he’d injured brought his hand up to his wound and Dean left him a moment and dealt with the one that had dodged the blade. He stepped into its space and sliced the machete through the air, driving it through the monster’s neck and removing its head.
He used the momentum on his swing to spin him around and behead the second as Sam and John’s monsters were felled.
As the pieces hit the ground John jerked a thumb at the rocks and said, “Is that our door?”
Sam just breathed for a moment and then he nodded and said, “Yeah, behind the rocks there’s a way in.”
John heaved on the center rock and it fell away, revealing bright white light that spilled towards him. As it touched the toes of his boots, John disappeared.
“Come on,” Sam said urgently, grabbing Dean’s arm and yanking him forward.
The light reached for them and Dean’s head swam as the light blinded and then he was stumbling on a stone floor in a long, narrow corridor and in the distance were moans and screams that chilled Dean’s blood and made his flesh crawl.
“You okay, Dean?” Sam asked.
“Yeah,” Dean lied. “It’s good to be back.”
Sam’s frown deepened and then he said. “We better catch up with him.”
Dean looked and saw John striding ahead of them.
“John, wait,” he shouted, running after him.
“My son is waiting,” John called back.
“I know,” Sam replied. “But you’re not armed with the right weapon anymore.” He slid the duffel off his own back and pulled out an angel blade. “Take this.”
John stopped and allowed them to catch up then took the blade and slid away his machete into the sheath on his belt. Dean took his own blade from his bag and said, “We don’t need this stuff now, and there’s no point carrying more than we need.” He dropped his bag down and kicked it into an alcove. Sam and John dropped their own beside it, after Sam had taken his blade from the bag, and then set off walking again.
hey continued until a voice called to them and Dean stopped. John grabbed his arm and tugged him forward, and Dean forced his feet to keep moving, toward the pained sound. He was finding it hard to be back, the memories of what he had experienced and done here were rushing at him.
John went ahead, not even slowing when he reached the source of the sound-a wrought iron-barred door that hid a woman with lank blonde hair and haunted eyes. Her hands curled around the bars and she moved closer, saying, “Help me, please. Let me out.”
Sam swallowed hard and took a step towards the door, but Dean grabbed his arm and said, “It’s not why we’re here, Sammy.”
The woman’s eyes moved to him as he spoke and then she staggered back, her hands flying up to cover her face as she moaned as if in agony. “Not again…”
Dean stared at the woman, confused by the reaction, and then he froze as her hands dropped and he saw her face again. He recognized it and knew the exact moment he’d last seen it. She had been on the rack, screaming in pain, and he’d been over it with the razor in his hand. He’d been working, slicing into her, when the blue-white light had rushed at him and the too hot touch on his arm had seared a burn.
She had been the soul he was torturing the day Castiel had saved him.
“You okay, Dean?” Sam asked.
Dean turned away from the woman and gritted his teeth. “Yeah, fine. Let’s go.” This time he took the lead and walked ahead of them. He felt Sam’s eyes on his back, but he didn’t turn or slow. He didn’t want Sam to see the truth in his eyes of what had just happened, and he would. No one in the world knew him better than his brother.
xXx
Sam knew Dean was struggling to be back, and the sight of the first soul had obviously shaken him, but he couldn’t talk to him about it as John was with them and they really did have something more important to worry about.
They came to an intersection and Sam paused a moment to remember and then took the right, and they strode along it together without a word. They took another turn into a long corridor with cells lining the walls. They called to them and Sam and Dean flinched with each plea for help, but John didn’t even seem to notice them.
They were deep in Hell now, close to the screams and heat Billie had told them about, and with every turn, Sam thought they were going to be faced with Lilith.
But there was no sign of her. In fact, there was no sign of any demon at all.
Sam thought they were being lulled into a false sense of security by the place, and that made him sure that the fight, when it came, was going to be bigger than they could handle.
A scream ripped through the air and Sam’s heart froze. He knew the sound as he’d heard it thousands of times in his life. It had been the sound that ripped from him when Lucifer and Michael had been slicing into him and tearing him apart.
“Sammy!” John gasped and set off running.
Dean stared at Sam for a moment, wide-eyed, and then they both broke into runs after John.
Sam called after John, warning him to be careful as he knew they were going to face the demons at last when they reached his son, but he didn’t break pace in his sprint.
Sam caught up to him and tried to grab his arm, but John yanked free and pushed him back. Sam got his feet under him and ran after him again, only reaching him when they reached a heavy wooden door with iron nails hammered into it. The screaming was coming from behind the door.
“Sammy!” John shouted, shoving at the door with flattened hands.
“Move,” Dean grunted, pushing him out of the way then grabbed the handle and twisted it. It turned slowly, as if someone was holding it on the other side, and Sam put his weight behind the door, pushing it open enough that John could squeeze through.
There was a grunt, a shout of pain and then the force pushing back was gone and the door flew open. There was a dead demon on the stone floor in front of the door, partially blocking it, and Sam jumped over it and ran towards the chair that was in the center of the room.
The chair that housed the bloody and bruised version manifestation of himself that belonged in this world who was panting hard against the constricting chains around his chest. John was kneeling in front of him, his hands touching his face and whispering his name with growing urgency as he stared through him.
“Where is she?” Dean asked, his eyes roving the vast room they were in.
There was no sign of Lilith or any other demon apart from the dead one on the floor. Apart from Dean, John and the two Sam’s, the place was empty.
“This is too easy,” Sam said.
“Sammy, son, look at me,” John was pleading, his hands cupping his son’s cheek. “I’m here. It’s Dad. I’ve come to get you out.”
The Sam in the chair stared right through him, his breaths still panting but his eyes devoid of awareness. Sam could tell he wasn’t aware of anything happening around him the same way he had felt by the end. Lucifer and Michael became vague threats and all he felt was the pain. That Sam was lost in himself.
“We can’t wait,” Sam said. “John, get out the way.”
Either unable or unwilling to obey, John stayed by his son and Sam worked around him to cut the other Sam’s forearm and then John’s.
“Hold him, John,” he instructed. “Repeat after me.” When John was holding his son’s arm, Sam recited the required Latin and John repeated it. “Conjuncti sumus, unum sumus.”
The Sam that John was gripping with his intense and wet eyes fixed on his face, seemed to glow for a moment and then his form bled into a bright light that seeped into John’s arm and disappeared.
John grunted and cupped his hand over the spot his son was held as if cradling it and said, “Okay, I’ve got him. Move.”
Sam took the lead towards the door and then turned back to Dean and said, “That was too damn easy, Dean.”
Dean nodded. “It really was. There should have been way more than one demon with him. Which means they either don’t want us and they don’t want Sam here, or...”
“Or what?” John asked curtly, his hand still cradling the light that was his son.
“Or this whole thing is a trap,” Dean said.
John considered for a moment and then stroked a hand over the light on his arm. “They can come up with whatever the hell kind of trap they want, I don’t care. I’ve got my son and there’s nothing in the world that’s taking him away from me again. Move!”
Sam fell into step behind him through the door and along the corridor. He was thinking hard, though.
If the demons wanted Sam out, did it mean he was broken and ready to kill Lilith?