i'm slippin' into the lava | and i'm tryin' to keep from goin' under

[like_dillinger]

Characters: Dean Winchester, Ruby
Rating:  Probably R for language.  It's... Dean and Ruby.  And Dean's already missing his pants.
Time Period:  Modern
Location:  Kitchen.
Relative Date:  Following close upon this.
Status: Closed. PM if you wish to join.  Completed.

Something was off.

Beyond being trapped in this place, by forces that could

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[thatdemonbitch]

For all the fun Ruby had been having try to figure out how the hell she was supposed to navigate this damn castle -- and trying to find the wayward hardy boys in the process, now that she knew they were also present -- she'd somehow still managed to not locate the kitchen to quell that burning desire she had for french fries.

Until today.

What at first might have been considered a godsend -- or, you know, maybe not God exactly -- was quickly becoming a nightmare as soon as she stepped through the door and saw a very familiar looking moron with his pants off.

Well. At least that evened the score between them a little, even if he was pretty low on the list of Winchesters she'd like to see half naked.

He didn't seem to notice her, so she walked to the sink, noticing the mess he'd made of spilled water when he tossed his cup into it, and then leaned against the counter, facing his direction and crossing her arms over her chest. A couple moments were spent simply waiting to see if he'd notice, but Ruby quickly realized that he was too dumb to manage even that much.

"You couldn't go ruin someone else's appetite? Seriously, Dean, I've worked my ass off enough trying to find you morons, you could at least let me get some french fries without having to catch a glimpse of yours."

[likedillinger]

Hearing that voice behind him, when he was very literally caught with his pants down, had the effect of making Dean's head jerk up so lightning fast, that he bammed his brow hard on the edge of the ice cube shelf.

"Sonuvabitch," he cursed venomously, recoiling from the freezer, and bringing a hand immediately to his head. When he drew it away, it was sticky with blood.

But really, that was only a minor inconvenience compared to the fact that Ruby was standing there, very much alive, and smiling this smug asshole smirk, even as she looked disgusted at how she'd caught him. He would have been pissed as all hell by the sight even if he wasn't half naked, but the fact that he was only served to make it worse. Like God, the Devil, and the whole host of angels were breakin' out the goddamn popcorn for this.

"What the hell are you doin' in one piece?" he hissed. His immediate reaction was to reach for the knife, but he remembered too late that it was in his pants.

In the freezer.

Juuuust peachy.

[thatdemonbitch]

There was something in the way he addressed her that made Ruby give just the slightest pause. In one piece, probably, combined with the way she saw his hand twitch for a weapon that wasn't there. She gave no outward indicator that she we going to let it bother her, though -- that would be dangerous. No, in order to stay on top of the situation, she had to seem like she didn't give a fuck what was coming out of Dean's mouth. So, instead, she just laughed at his blatant agony and rolled her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing with your head in a freezer?" She returned promptly with a well-placed sneer. Moving to take a few, pacing steps around the kitchen, she got a better look of what else was in the freezer now that his head was out of it. She raised a brow. "Better yet, why are your pants in it? I don't know if you missed the memo, but Lilith's breaking seals. We don't have time for you to be sitting around here dicking around in freezers and trying to help out your angel pals."

It was a hell of a job to keep the fear of God out of her voice as she used the word angel, but she layered it with enough animosity to hide whatever may have leaked through. The bastard was better off out of his vessel. At least Jimmy was just ignorant.

[likedillinger]

"None of your damn business," he retorted to her first question. He sure wasn't about to tell Ruby that he had something seriously wrong with him. She'd just eat that shit up. He moved to step in front of her when she looked in the freezer, glaring down his nose at her. He was about to make a comment to cover for his pants being in the freezer, when she brought up Lilith (which was probably good, because he really didn't have an effective cover for that anyways), and he backpedaled immediately.

"Excuse me? Back up the damn truck. Lilith's not gonna be breakin' any more friggin' seals, since she was the last one." His confusion turned to anger as he realized she was probably mocking him. "As if you didn't know any of that."

[thatdemonbitch]

Oh, shit.

How the hell did he find out about that? What little conniving two-faced bitch of a demon had figured it out and -- wait a minute. He said was. Ruby bristled, her vessel's blood was running hot now with anxiety. Everything could go wrong if she didn't respond in the right way.

"What do you mean was?" Sometimes, it was important for Ruby to know everything. It had been critical for over a year for Sam to think she was the end-all, be-all of demon lore and Hell's own version of Gossip Girl, but a good strategist also knew when it was time to cut the bullshit and own up to not knowing a damn thing. This was the latter. "Don't tell me Sammy found a way to knock the bitch out without my help."

The thought alone irritated her. There wasn't supposed to be another way, that's why she'd been feeding him the demon blood in the first place. A little part of her felt a swelling of pride that his abilities might have grown without it, though. It had never been necessary -- she had never been necessary -- but Sam hadn't ever seemed to understand that, and she liked being useful.

She liked being a part of something larger than herself and she couldn't wait until Sam saw what she was doing for him.

[like_dillinger]

"Was as in past tense. And don't you dare start tellin' me yours isn't the only ass Lucifer or whoever managed to resurrect out of the nothin' that was left of you." Dean's anger grew as he spoke. If this was whoever was in charge of this place's idea of a joke, they could take the punchline and cram it right back up where the sun didn't shine.

"And don't get started on your help," he sneered. He was still itching to find a way to grab that knife out without alerting her. He ostensibly motioned to his pantsless lower half. "You don't have to stand there and watch while I get dressed either, if it kills your appetite." The sarcasm was layered on like thick paste, as he reached back into the freezer to grab his pants without taking his eyes off her. He sure as hell wasn't going to turn his back on Ruby.

[thatdemonbitch]

It was a damn good thing that Ruby was good at processing information and reacting quickly -- it was a skill necessary for being good at the manipulation that was required of her and while Dean ranted, he gave away a lot more than he probably would have wanted to if he'd known that none of what he was talking about had happened, as far as Ruby knew.

Was. Past Tense. Lucifer managed to resurrect -- she'd died? That explained the memory loss. A trip back downstairs probably led to that being carved out of her along with 90% of her humanity. But, Lilith was dead and Dean was pissed and it was everything she could do not to start laughing because that sounded a hell of a lot like victory to her.

But, she wasn't going to lose her cool.

"Dean, I don't know what the hell you're talking about." When he spat out something about not wanting to kill her appetite, she just rolled her eyes and held her hands up in mock surrender. "Whatever, princess, I didn't know you were so damn shy." She turned her back to him. Everything in her stomach was screaming that it was a mistake -- he had her knife. Or, Sam did, either way it was a dangerous situation to be in when Dean would take the first chance he got to gank her. Still, it was that kind of display of trust that would do a lot to put a situation at ease and if that's what it took, that's what she'd do.

"Seriously, if you don't start explaining, we're going to have some problems. Or, maybe you forgot we're on the same side."

[likedillinger]

As soon as she turned around, he dug behind to grab the pants, slipping the knife out, and keeping it concealed as he yanked them up around him. He had his back to her now, but an eye over his shoulder as he spoke.

"So you're like Cas then. Stuck in the past," he concluded. Which didn't change a damn thing as far as he was concerned. If anything, it was even more annoying. Her final words caused him to laugh caustically as he finally turned around, zipping his fly.

"Same side? Don't waste your damn breath. I know everything. Everything you did and why." He twisted the knife between his fingers, held at a slight angle behind him.

[thatdemonbitch]

"Well, I didn't get here in a DeLorien, if that's what you're asking." When she heard the zipper, she turned quickly to face him -- she wasn't going to give him a minute longer than necessary, because she knew exactly what he could be doing behind her back and it was a long list of things she didn't trust. She assessed him with some scrutiny, trying to figure out just how much he knew. Everything was an obvious overstatement.

"Look, I get it, you're mad about what he's gotta do to get the psychic crap going. I don't blame you. But, if there were any other way, we'd be doing that instead. But, there's not. He wants Lilith dead, and this is the only way to make that happen." The demon blood was a good place to start her apologizing. Of all the things he could 'know' about what they were doing, that would probably make him angriest. After all, there was no way he could really know that it was all for Lucifer.

Right?

For some reason, Ruby couldn't find a lot of comfort in that thought. Maybe it was the look on Dean's face, like he was gonna tear her apart as soon as he got close enough. Or maybe she was just paranoid. Either way, she didn't look anywhere close to comfortable.

[likedillinger]

"You wish that was all I had to be pissed at you about," Dean rebutted. "I know why you needed Lilith dead." He gave her a knowing glare. "We know about Lucifer. You might say we know too damn well about Lucifer. And exactly how big of a lying manipulative bitch you really are. We got the goddamn grand tour."

He took a side step to his right, so that he was closer to blocking the doorway. It'd be just like her to try to slip out past him and he was determined that she wasn't leaving this room corporeal.

[thatdemonbitch]

Shit.

She wasn't an idiot -- she could see exactly what he was doing, but all the same she maneuvered herself further away from him and further into a corner. This was bad. Ruby was only as strong as her meatshield and Sam wasn't hanging around to stop this ape from knocking her around -- probably worse.

She was scared of Dean Winchester. What a fucking riot.

"Dean," she was trying to get control of the situation again but it was obvious by the lilt in her voice that she was on edge - cornered, in more ways than one. "You both want -- wanted -- her dead just as much as I do. Just because we have different reasons for it doesn't mean we can't work together towards the same goal." Her mind was racing, her heart jumping out of her chest as she began panicking, scanning the room for a weapon. Backing herself against a counter, she fumbled in a drawer behind her for a knife.

"I was helping Sam get the revenge he wanted. You know he would find a way to get Lilith's head on a stick one way or another. So, big deal, I'm helping him get it." She couldn't seem to stick to one tense -- Lilith wasn't dead yet. But, somehow, she was for Dean, and somehow, Ruby had a hell of a headache trying to keep up. "Even if I'd told him what it was gonna do, you think it would have stopped him? You didn't see him while you were in the basement, Dean. You don't know what it did to him -- he's changed."

Granted, those changes were probably helped along by Ruby's masterful manipulation and the blood she was pumping him with, but that wasn't really the kind of thing they needed to drag into this conversation.

[likedillinger]

She was reaching, and they both knew it. No matter what she said, it wasn't gonna justify what she did, or change the fact that he knew she was a liar, and had no reason to even bother givin' her the benefit of two seconds' doubt.

"The only thing that changed Sam was you, whispering in his damn ear every day since I left. Everything you did to him. Don't try to act like you gave a shit about Sam in that equation. He was a freakin' tool to you, so you could spring Pops from the joint," Dean said heatedly. He was in front of the door now, and just waiting for her to try to push past him and get out. His fingers slid down the hilt of the knife eagerly. He'd enjoy this. Again.

[thatdemonbitch]

It hadn't even touched her yet and she could practically feel the knife twisting in her gut. Or maybe that was just the feeling of the murderous look in Dean's eyes. She was way too familiar with that expression, but the fact that it was coupled with her knife was making her squirm with discomfort. She'd go through the fucking roof before she dared try to walk past him.

"You don't know the first thing about me and Sam, so don't even start on that. Stop trying to sugarcoat it with heroism; you've just got creepy dependency issues with your brother and you don't like that he was able to get close to someone who wasn't you." At this point, she was honestly trying to rile him up because if he got angry enough to come after her, then she could make a break around the island and get to the door.

[likedillinger]

Her plan was already working, because Dean took a couple insolent steps in her direction. She really had a way with that primitive part of his brain that was linked right to his temper.

"I don't like that he was getting fucked over by a demon, that's what. By fucking hellspawn. I know all about you and your type, Ruby. I've learned plenty first hand. All you've got left is the vain hope that Lucifer's gonna change things and end your piss-poor excuse for an existence, when the truth is? You're just as much a tool to him as Sam was to you."

[thatdemonbitch]

Unfortunately, her plan didn't take into account the fact that Dean also knew which buttons to hit and exactly how to make it really sting. He may as well have ripped off her skin and pushed her down in a vat of salt and lemon juice with that comment about Lucifer.

Against her better judgment, she took a few steps forward -- it was hard to tell if she brought a sharp implement with her from that drawer she'd been digging through.

"Go screw yourself. For someone who doesn't know jack shit, you sure like to talk. He loves us and he's gonna bring us into Eden. Yeah, there will be some casualties -- most notably you -- but, when we get there, it's gonna be beautiful. It's gonna be better than Heaven." She was ranting, but God was it easy for her to get going when she was talking about Lucifer and the Apocalypse.

"And, it's all gonna be thanks to Sam. Lucifer's going to reward our little boy king and you're going to spend the rest of eternity rotting. It just kills you, doesn't it? That he's the better brother after all that shit you tried to shove down his throat about these abilities ruining him. It should have been obvious from the start that you were just jealous that you weren't destined for something better, too."

[like_dillinger]

Dean had almost forgotten in his anger and outrage at Ruby showing up, combined with his momentary fridge-induced relief, that he felt like he was scalding from the inside out. But as fury bubbled up in him from Ruby's comments, it felt like something was very literally rippling from within to get out, and he knew that if he didn't act now, he might not have the energy to fight her. Whatever this was, was making him sick or something.

So when she said that he was jealous, he didn't give her any more room to talk and just lunged for her, bringing the knife down in a vigorous slash at her chest. His attack was fueled by rage, and he could swear it seemed like a physical thing rippling down the length of his arm and into the hilt of the knife and

his eyes caught sight of the flames before he even registered the sensation.

His hand, where he was holding the knife was on fire. It shocked him so fucking much that he involuntarily jerked it backwards, but the flame seemed to roll right off his hand and continue on in the intended direction of his slash - blasting straight towards Ruby's chest, even as he staggered aside, gaping.