Bonds of Blood - Chapter 2
Title: Bonds of Blood
Rating: PG-13 for language to be safe.
Chapter: 2
Fandom: Supernatural
Spoilers: Post Time is on my side
Disclaimer: Still Kripke's, thank god!
Summary: Tables are turned and the bonds of blood may turn out to be the most dangerous weapon of all.
Chapter 2
Sam stood in front of the vault; head hung low, the Colt in his hands. He absently traced long fingers over the stock and waited.
It was almost time.
“You’re wasting your time, Sam.”
He ignored the blond demon at his side.
“She’ll kill you and Dean will still go to Hell.” Ruby grabbed his arm and yanked him towards her. “Whatever you’re planning, it’s not going to work.” There was more than a hint of desperation in her voice.
“Stay out of my way Ruby. Go plague someone else.” Sam’s tone was tired and defeated.
“Sam, we have to leave, before she finds you.” Urgency laced Ruby’s voice as Sam still didn’t stop, wouldn’t turn back.
“Like I’m going to trust you now? You lied to me and strung me along with false promises on how to save my brother. I should shoot you and just get it over with.” Bitterness etched the young hunter’s words.
“Then why don’t you?” Ruby strutted closer, mirroring the moment of when she first revealed her true identity to Sam.
Sam’s lips curved into hard and brittle lines. “I’m not going to waste good ammunition on a small fry witch. And anyway, what do you care?”
“I was never your enemy, Sam.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“You were never a friend, either.” Which was also the truth.
“I’ve saved you and Dean any number of times; I’m on your side.”
“There are only two sides now: those that can save Dean and those that can’t. And frankly, if you’re the latter, you can go to hell. Or back there, in your case. I have no more time for you.”
Sam looked at his watch, and Ruby knew that time was fast running out for all of them. “Why here, Sam?”
“This was always where I was coming, Ruby. I just decided I would use the front door.” The young brother’s lips twitched in wry humour.
“You’re giving up?” Ruby’s voice rose incredulously. “Are you insane? Dean will die anyway!”
Sam looked at the demon. A strange sorrow clouded his face and Ruby realised that she had been wrong; Sam could never be the cold warrior she had tried to mould him into.
He burned white hot for all to see. Hellfire in human form. His soul incandescent in his determination to save is brother. A raging inferno of love and loss, courage and conviction.
He was never going to give up Dean without a fight -- she had known that all along --but she had not realised just how much the young man in front of her loved his brother, had not understood the lengths that desperation would drive him. The shard of dark within her recognised the dangerous power of the young hunter.
Not psychic, not demonic. But dark fury and bright devotion combined.
And Hell was going to have him. This tortured, beautiful, extraordinary soul was handing himself over on a platter. All to save the man who had given up everything for him. And the Pit would destroy the defiant purity and compassion, would contaminate the gentle nature and quiet strength; and twist Sam into a dark reflection of his greatest fears.
Free will was a bitch sometimes, but in one respect Sam was right. It was too late now to walk away for the young hunter. He would never escape this, and maybe the knowledge that if he somehow saved his brother might give him enough light to hold onto until those that loved him could get him back.
“What can I do?” Ruby’s voice softened for the first time in centuries. For once determined to do the right thing, to trust in the strength of the remarkable young man in front of her.
Inexplicable pain flickered briefly across Sam’s face. “Could you make sure Dean doesn’t leave the cabin before…?” He waved his hand at the doorway in front of him.
She nodded before quickly stepping up and touching one hand to his face.
“You are a good man, Sam Winchester. Never forget that.”
Sam smiled the first true smile she had seen on him that day-maybe ever. “Don’t let Dean do anything reckless, will you? And tell him I’m sorry.”
“Just what are you planning?”
He waved one arm. “An end to all of this.”
Ruby gazed in confusion at the young man in front of her. He continued gently. “One way or another, this has to stop. My brother has to stop suffering my consequences.”
“I doubt Dean will see it that way.” Even demons knew the bond these brothers shared. Admittedly, the creatures of the darkness tried to exploit it, but none of them underestimated it.
His eyes drifted and softened. “No, probably not. He’s never going to forgive me this time, Ruby. But, this way I can save him. That’s all that matters anymore.”
Ruby looked hard at the hunter and reached out to give him an unexpected hug, arms circling beneath his jacket. “Goodbye, Sam Winchester.” She whispered.
She walked away before disappearing into the dark of the cemetery.
“Never thought I’d see the day when someone managed to sweet-talk that hard-nosed witch.”
Sam’s heart stuttered and he briefly closed his eyes in resignation. Lilith was here. The sun hadn’t even finished setting yet. He had hoped for a little more time.
His mind flashed back to a year ago in this same place.
“Don’t get mad at me. Don’t you do that. I had to. I had to look out for you. That’s my job!”
“And what do you think my job is?”
“What?”
“You save my life, over and over. I mean, you sacrifice everything for me. Don’t you think I’d do the same thing for you? You’re my big brother. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I don’t care what it takes, I’m gonna get you out of this. I guess I gotta save your ass for a change.”
Taking strength from his promise, Sam turned with forced calm towards the demon standing behind him. A young woman in her early twenties, wearing torn jeans and a bright pink top stood next to the gravestone nearest to him. A brunette with blue streaks dyed in her hair and pigtails, the quirky, lively look contrasting harshly with eyes that flashed white as he turned.
“I take it you’re Lilith.” Sam matched his voice to his falsely composed exterior. Darkness flickered in the periphery of his vision and he could see the swirl of shadow-clouds appearing from the corner of his eyes, billowing smoke signalling the arrival of a legion. Then, movement further out, an indication that they had brought meat puppets of their own.
Sam’s mouth went dry as Lilith approached him.
“And you brought me a gift. Sammy Winchester, you always were the one with good manners.” The woman almost purred.
Sam lifted the Colt and pointed it at the white-eyed monster. He tried not to think of the young woman buried deep inside the evil in front of him. He may have played the objective hunter in front of Dean of late, but each time he was faced with a demon, he remembered Jake and how his hesitation had cost his brother everything. He learned to accept that every time he had killed the host to destroy the monster, he had killed a part of himself.
And he was scared he didn’t have much of his own soul left.
He never had the heart to tell his brother that he knew what the Yellow-Eyed Demon had said to him that night, here in the graveyard. That Dean, stoic and strong by day, would spill his heart whilst he slept; and that Sam, who rarely slept anymore, had been the all-too-reluctant witness to his dream-driven confessions.
He knew that he may not be one hundred percent the man he’d thought he was, that he’d been infected by demon blood when he was an infant, that there was true darkness inside him. There were moments he had to wonder just how much humanity he really had.
He felt stretched and worn, as though there wasn’t enough of him to fill the whole of his own body anymore, and the thought terrified him. But the thought of his brother, dying and going to Hell for him? That haunted him more, especially since Dean had sold his soul for one whose soul was likely already taken.
Sam could almost sense the flames draw closer. He was surrounded by demon kind, the scent of sulphur strong in the air, the feel of hate and hunger swirling around him. He knew. Hell was here with him.
Sam’s hand trembled minutely. The sun was starting its downward climb and he knew, unless he followed through, it would be the last setting of the sun his brother would ever see. His arm steadied with resolve.
“You’re not going to shoot me, Sammy. My followers will tear you to shreds and hunt down your brother and delight in his suffering.” She tilted her head to one side, absently playing with one pigtail.
Sam smiled, his face fiercely proud. “You die and Dean’s contract dies with you. And I think you’ll find Dean can take care of himself just fine. Your followers will follow you into oblivion.”
She clapped her hands together and laughed. “Oh, this defiance of yours is delightful. Do you Winchesters never accept when they are
beaten?”
“No.”
Sam took a step towards the crypt…
“Seriously, child. What hope do you think you have?”
“I hope that you die swiftly.” And Sam pulled the trigger.
The bullet stopped midway between Sam and Lilith. “You know,” The demon continued casually, “it always puzzled me why you and your brother never question why Azazel didn’t do this. I mean, it’s not that hard for a higher level demon, and yet, he just up and let your brother shoot him.”
“Our Dad…”
“Oh yes, yes, John escaped the Pit and saved the day, yada, yada…good grief, really?”
Sam stared in confusion at the woman in front of him. He had just assumed his Dad had distracted the demon and temporarily separated him from his host, allowing Dean that one clear shot.
“Who do you think let Daddy dearest out of hell, child? Do you think we just let mortal souls wander like sheep?” The demon’s eyes narrowed in amusement.
Sam had in fact, despite the years and battles, just assumed that their Dad had fought his way out, that nothing could stand in the way of a determined John Winchester. That he was too strong to give up, too stubborn to not escape eventually, and too tenacious and indomitable for the Demons to defeat. A small part of the young hunter had still, after all this time, thought that their father was capable of anything.
“Azazel was competition. He had to go. He was good, very good, but he knew his limits, and selected you as his son and heir. Poor fool. As if a mortal like you ever stood a chance.” The woman sauntered casually towards Sam, who stepped away, back now pressed tight against the Devil’s Gate.
“And just what did you think you would accomplish by coming here?” She smiled mockingly and Sam glanced nervously at the iron vault doors.
“Oh, my…you were going to open the doorway to hell, raise your own army?” The Demon’s eyes widened. “I’m impressed, Sammy. I would never have thought you had it in you. You were going to summon an army and challenge me? You would destroy your world so easily?”
“Why not? You’re destroying mine. If Dean has to go to Hell, I might as well bring Hell here.” He stared unrepentant into colourless eyes.
Lilith flung her head back, laughing. “You are priceless child. You know, I think I might just keep you as a pet.” Her lips thinned. “Or take you.”
Her hand reached out and lightly stroked his chest before pulling her hands away as if they were burned.
“Oh, clever, clever pet.” She crooned, her had reaching back out and tearing his shirt from his shoulder, exposing the tattoo beneath.
She moved closer and tilted her head towards him. “I am going to have so much fun breaking you, my love. Soooo much fun.”
In a surprisingly vicious move, Sam head butted her.
Startled, the Demon fell to the ground, blood pouring from the nose Sam felt break on impact. The young brother spun with graceful ease and thrust the Colt into the keyhole.
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Rating: PG-13 for language to be safe.
Chapter: 2
Fandom: Supernatural
Spoilers: Post Time is on my side
Disclaimer: Still Kripke's, thank god!
Summary: Tables are turned and the bonds of blood may turn out to be the most dangerous weapon of all.
Chapter 2
Sam stood in front of the vault; head hung low, the Colt in his hands. He absently traced long fingers over the stock and waited.
It was almost time.
“You’re wasting your time, Sam.”
He ignored the blond demon at his side.
“She’ll kill you and Dean will still go to Hell.” Ruby grabbed his arm and yanked him towards her. “Whatever you’re planning, it’s not going to work.” There was more than a hint of desperation in her voice.
“Stay out of my way Ruby. Go plague someone else.” Sam’s tone was tired and defeated.
“Sam, we have to leave, before she finds you.” Urgency laced Ruby’s voice as Sam still didn’t stop, wouldn’t turn back.
“Like I’m going to trust you now? You lied to me and strung me along with false promises on how to save my brother. I should shoot you and just get it over with.” Bitterness etched the young hunter’s words.
“Then why don’t you?” Ruby strutted closer, mirroring the moment of when she first revealed her true identity to Sam.
Sam’s lips curved into hard and brittle lines. “I’m not going to waste good ammunition on a small fry witch. And anyway, what do you care?”
“I was never your enemy, Sam.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“You were never a friend, either.” Which was also the truth.
“I’ve saved you and Dean any number of times; I’m on your side.”
“There are only two sides now: those that can save Dean and those that can’t. And frankly, if you’re the latter, you can go to hell. Or back there, in your case. I have no more time for you.”
Sam looked at his watch, and Ruby knew that time was fast running out for all of them. “Why here, Sam?”
“This was always where I was coming, Ruby. I just decided I would use the front door.” The young brother’s lips twitched in wry humour.
“You’re giving up?” Ruby’s voice rose incredulously. “Are you insane? Dean will die anyway!”
Sam looked at the demon. A strange sorrow clouded his face and Ruby realised that she had been wrong; Sam could never be the cold warrior she had tried to mould him into.
He burned white hot for all to see. Hellfire in human form. His soul incandescent in his determination to save is brother. A raging inferno of love and loss, courage and conviction.
He was never going to give up Dean without a fight -- she had known that all along --but she had not realised just how much the young man in front of her loved his brother, had not understood the lengths that desperation would drive him. The shard of dark within her recognised the dangerous power of the young hunter.
Not psychic, not demonic. But dark fury and bright devotion combined.
And Hell was going to have him. This tortured, beautiful, extraordinary soul was handing himself over on a platter. All to save the man who had given up everything for him. And the Pit would destroy the defiant purity and compassion, would contaminate the gentle nature and quiet strength; and twist Sam into a dark reflection of his greatest fears.
Free will was a bitch sometimes, but in one respect Sam was right. It was too late now to walk away for the young hunter. He would never escape this, and maybe the knowledge that if he somehow saved his brother might give him enough light to hold onto until those that loved him could get him back.
“What can I do?” Ruby’s voice softened for the first time in centuries. For once determined to do the right thing, to trust in the strength of the remarkable young man in front of her.
Inexplicable pain flickered briefly across Sam’s face. “Could you make sure Dean doesn’t leave the cabin before…?” He waved his hand at the doorway in front of him.
She nodded before quickly stepping up and touching one hand to his face.
“You are a good man, Sam Winchester. Never forget that.”
Sam smiled the first true smile she had seen on him that day-maybe ever. “Don’t let Dean do anything reckless, will you? And tell him I’m sorry.”
“Just what are you planning?”
He waved one arm. “An end to all of this.”
Ruby gazed in confusion at the young man in front of her. He continued gently. “One way or another, this has to stop. My brother has to stop suffering my consequences.”
“I doubt Dean will see it that way.” Even demons knew the bond these brothers shared. Admittedly, the creatures of the darkness tried to exploit it, but none of them underestimated it.
His eyes drifted and softened. “No, probably not. He’s never going to forgive me this time, Ruby. But, this way I can save him. That’s all that matters anymore.”
Ruby looked hard at the hunter and reached out to give him an unexpected hug, arms circling beneath his jacket. “Goodbye, Sam Winchester.” She whispered.
She walked away before disappearing into the dark of the cemetery.
“Never thought I’d see the day when someone managed to sweet-talk that hard-nosed witch.”
Sam’s heart stuttered and he briefly closed his eyes in resignation. Lilith was here. The sun hadn’t even finished setting yet. He had hoped for a little more time.
His mind flashed back to a year ago in this same place.
“Don’t get mad at me. Don’t you do that. I had to. I had to look out for you. That’s my job!”
“And what do you think my job is?”
“What?”
“You save my life, over and over. I mean, you sacrifice everything for me. Don’t you think I’d do the same thing for you? You’re my big brother. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I don’t care what it takes, I’m gonna get you out of this. I guess I gotta save your ass for a change.”
Taking strength from his promise, Sam turned with forced calm towards the demon standing behind him. A young woman in her early twenties, wearing torn jeans and a bright pink top stood next to the gravestone nearest to him. A brunette with blue streaks dyed in her hair and pigtails, the quirky, lively look contrasting harshly with eyes that flashed white as he turned.
“I take it you’re Lilith.” Sam matched his voice to his falsely composed exterior. Darkness flickered in the periphery of his vision and he could see the swirl of shadow-clouds appearing from the corner of his eyes, billowing smoke signalling the arrival of a legion. Then, movement further out, an indication that they had brought meat puppets of their own.
Sam’s mouth went dry as Lilith approached him.
“And you brought me a gift. Sammy Winchester, you always were the one with good manners.” The woman almost purred.
Sam lifted the Colt and pointed it at the white-eyed monster. He tried not to think of the young woman buried deep inside the evil in front of him. He may have played the objective hunter in front of Dean of late, but each time he was faced with a demon, he remembered Jake and how his hesitation had cost his brother everything. He learned to accept that every time he had killed the host to destroy the monster, he had killed a part of himself.
And he was scared he didn’t have much of his own soul left.
He never had the heart to tell his brother that he knew what the Yellow-Eyed Demon had said to him that night, here in the graveyard. That Dean, stoic and strong by day, would spill his heart whilst he slept; and that Sam, who rarely slept anymore, had been the all-too-reluctant witness to his dream-driven confessions.
He knew that he may not be one hundred percent the man he’d thought he was, that he’d been infected by demon blood when he was an infant, that there was true darkness inside him. There were moments he had to wonder just how much humanity he really had.
He felt stretched and worn, as though there wasn’t enough of him to fill the whole of his own body anymore, and the thought terrified him. But the thought of his brother, dying and going to Hell for him? That haunted him more, especially since Dean had sold his soul for one whose soul was likely already taken.
Sam could almost sense the flames draw closer. He was surrounded by demon kind, the scent of sulphur strong in the air, the feel of hate and hunger swirling around him. He knew. Hell was here with him.
Sam’s hand trembled minutely. The sun was starting its downward climb and he knew, unless he followed through, it would be the last setting of the sun his brother would ever see. His arm steadied with resolve.
“You’re not going to shoot me, Sammy. My followers will tear you to shreds and hunt down your brother and delight in his suffering.” She tilted her head to one side, absently playing with one pigtail.
Sam smiled, his face fiercely proud. “You die and Dean’s contract dies with you. And I think you’ll find Dean can take care of himself just fine. Your followers will follow you into oblivion.”
She clapped her hands together and laughed. “Oh, this defiance of yours is delightful. Do you Winchesters never accept when they are
beaten?”
“No.”
Sam took a step towards the crypt…
“Seriously, child. What hope do you think you have?”
“I hope that you die swiftly.” And Sam pulled the trigger.
The bullet stopped midway between Sam and Lilith. “You know,” The demon continued casually, “it always puzzled me why you and your brother never question why Azazel didn’t do this. I mean, it’s not that hard for a higher level demon, and yet, he just up and let your brother shoot him.”
“Our Dad…”
“Oh yes, yes, John escaped the Pit and saved the day, yada, yada…good grief, really?”
Sam stared in confusion at the woman in front of him. He had just assumed his Dad had distracted the demon and temporarily separated him from his host, allowing Dean that one clear shot.
“Who do you think let Daddy dearest out of hell, child? Do you think we just let mortal souls wander like sheep?” The demon’s eyes narrowed in amusement.
Sam had in fact, despite the years and battles, just assumed that their Dad had fought his way out, that nothing could stand in the way of a determined John Winchester. That he was too strong to give up, too stubborn to not escape eventually, and too tenacious and indomitable for the Demons to defeat. A small part of the young hunter had still, after all this time, thought that their father was capable of anything.
“Azazel was competition. He had to go. He was good, very good, but he knew his limits, and selected you as his son and heir. Poor fool. As if a mortal like you ever stood a chance.” The woman sauntered casually towards Sam, who stepped away, back now pressed tight against the Devil’s Gate.
“And just what did you think you would accomplish by coming here?” She smiled mockingly and Sam glanced nervously at the iron vault doors.
“Oh, my…you were going to open the doorway to hell, raise your own army?” The Demon’s eyes widened. “I’m impressed, Sammy. I would never have thought you had it in you. You were going to summon an army and challenge me? You would destroy your world so easily?”
“Why not? You’re destroying mine. If Dean has to go to Hell, I might as well bring Hell here.” He stared unrepentant into colourless eyes.
Lilith flung her head back, laughing. “You are priceless child. You know, I think I might just keep you as a pet.” Her lips thinned. “Or take you.”
Her hand reached out and lightly stroked his chest before pulling her hands away as if they were burned.
“Oh, clever, clever pet.” She crooned, her had reaching back out and tearing his shirt from his shoulder, exposing the tattoo beneath.
She moved closer and tilted her head towards him. “I am going to have so much fun breaking you, my love. Soooo much fun.”
In a surprisingly vicious move, Sam head butted her.
Startled, the Demon fell to the ground, blood pouring from the nose Sam felt break on impact. The young brother spun with graceful ease and thrust the Colt into the keyhole.
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