Fic: Brimstone Synthesis - Chapter Eight
Title: Brimstone Synthesis (or How Samuel Winchester Escaped From Hell To Go Stand Under A Streetlamp)
Author: ikira
Pairings/Characters: Gen. Sam, Michael, Adam, Lucifer, Bela, Meg, OMC, OFC, a general chorus of demons, hellhounds and other denizens of Hell.
Rating: PG-13.
Word count: ~4k
Spoilers: through 5.22 "Swan Song." AU as of Season 6
Warnings: Some swearing, violence, disturbing imagery, grossness, unnatural creatures, bad cooking, good cooking, bad plans, rituals, flaming chariots, angels, demons, hellhounds, dragons, and pretty much anything that can be found in Hell.
Summary: Sam is trapped after falling into Lucifer's Cage. It is cold, dark, and empty, and alone anyone would be driven mad. But he hadn't been alone in his fall, and he isn't alone now. This is the story of how Sam found family, conquered personal demons, conquered regular demons, and escaped from Hell. And everything in between.
Author's Notes: eph_inspiration betaed, thank you again so much! Cross-Posted to adamwinchester, spn_gen and sn_fic.
Bela was directing all of her energy into maintaining her cool demeanor as various succubae and incubi moved around her, preparing the bedroom. Several items were placed on the nearby dresser that caused her to pale, despite not knowing their exact purpose. They looked sinister against the velvet pillow they rested on. Others still stood around her, doing last minute touch ups to her hair, make up, and outfit. She normally was very comfortable with her body and didn’t mind using it to get what she wanted, but with nothing but a semi-transparent sarong wrapped around her waist and a silk kerchief covering her chest, she felt very exposed. The many pieces of jewelry that the demons kept piling onto her body did nothing to help. She felt like a doll.
When the demons started leaving, her panic spiked, but she refused to show any outward reaction. The door closed quietly behind the last demon, and she counted to ten before bolting upright from the bed and started checking every inch of the room, looking for an escape route. She had just covered one third of the space when she heard the door open behind her. She froze, but straightened slowly, keeping her back to the door. Some childish part of her insisted that if she couldn’t see him, Asmodeus couldn’t see her.
She gasped as a hand brushed her hair away from her neck. She hadn’t even heard him move. She finally mustered her courage and turned to look at her captor.
All she could comprehend was beauty and handsomeness. Asmodeus was stunning to behold, and had an air of someone who knew it. His crown was more delicate than the other Princes’ and he wore it like a princess would. She couldn’t quite be sure if he was a man or woman, having features of both, and she figured he may very well be a hermaphrodite. Asmodeus smiled at her, and if it weren’t for the obvious cruelty in his eyes, Bela might have called it gentle.
“Hello there, my pet,” Asmodeus whispered softly into her ear, hot breath ghosting over her cheek. “I see you’re all ready for me. And you are so pretty. It has been some time since I’ve had a living human to play with.” As he spoke, he started walking her towards the bed. Her brain shut down as they got closer, and all she could do was try and twist out of his arms.
He let go of her easily enough, and she fell back against the side table. He smiled again, but this time it was more of a twisted smirk than anything kind. His eyes roamed over her body, making her flush with embarrassment and shame. She took in his full appearance as well, seeing the things that marked him as inhuman. One of his legs was twisted and deformed, ending in a claw, and he had a long snake-like tail behind him. Otherwise he seemed too beautiful for words.
She saw why he had released her so easily when he stepped back towards the door to close it. It shut just as quietly as before, but that sound caused blind animalistic panic to set in like a disease. No, not again!
She tried to push herself further away, tried to run away, but Asmodeus snagged her around the waist with his tail and threw her onto the bed. Before she could get up, he was over her, pinning her down by her wrists, and smiling cruelly. “I’m going to break you so nicely,” he taunted her, and his tail started sliding up her skirt. She started screaming in protest, struggling as hard as she could, trying anything to get away, but Asmodeus was unmovable on top of her.
Just as Bela was about to give up struggling and just let him do what he wanted, Asmodeus jerked up and turned to look away from her. She wearily looked up to see what had distracted him, only to take in the most confusing and relieving sight she had ever seen.
Sam stood poised in the doorway with one hand extended and apparently pinning a huge bear-like demon in place, and a succubus bound and leashed in the other. Beside him was Adam with Princess on a chain leash and his sword drawn. They took in what was happening, and then to her shock and fear, Sam’s eyes bled yellow.
“Get off of her, now,” he ordered, and his voice sounded wrong, unnatural. Asmodeus seemed uncertain of what to do with the intruders. Before he could make up his mind, however, Sam growled, dropped the leash attached to the succubus, and raised his now free hand towards the Crown Prince. Asmodeus suddenly went flying off of the bed and was pinned to the wall. He started screaming as Sam twisted his hand.
Then he was dropped to the floor as Sam was attacked from behind by Malonic, breaking his concentration. Sam shrieked in fury, and it sounded like no noise any human could, or should make. He whirled to take in this new threat as Malonic charged him with his sword drawn.
Adam started forward to help, but he was forced to dodge at the last minute as the white demon appeared out of nowhere and started slashing at him with his twin daggers. Princess became occupied with taking on the bear-like demon, who had also been released when Sam had been distracted. Bela was forgotten in the wake of the battle that had taken over the much too small room.
Unfortunately, so was Asmodeus. He rolled to his feet smoothly, despite his deformed leg, took in the battle, and then turned his gaze on her. She balked, realizing the danger she was in without any sort of weapon. She looked around quickly, trying to find something to use, but all she could find on hand was the instruments that had been laid near the bed. She chose the heftiest one, and picked it up, holding it like a bat.
Whatever Sam had managed to do in the short time he had Asmodeus pinned it was effective. Black blood was running out from between his lips, and he moved with a wobble, like he had taken a blow to the head. Still he came unerringly for her, moving through the others as they fought each other all over the room. Bela swallowed heavily, but held her ground.
When Asmodeus got close enough, she swung the instrument as hard as she could at his head. He caught it an inch from his temple in an iron grip, unflinching. She gaped at him. “You’re mine,” he hissed into her face, a forked tongue brushing her cheek, “and I’m going to tear them apart for trying to take what’s mine. But first, I’m going to tear you apart.”
He reached out to grab her, but she had been expecting it, so she grabbed his outstretched arm and vaulted over his head as best she could in her current outfit. It was less graceful than usual, but it got her out of his arm’s reach. She landed hard on the bear demon’s back, causing it to howl and stumble forward, giving Princess the perfect window to its throat. Princess took her opportunity with gusto, and Bela smiled at her.
“Good girl,” she called out as she ran through the chaos of the room. Sam was fighting like a hurricane, using whatever his powers were to fling objects from around the room at Malonic’s head and slashing at him with his knife. Malonic was batting the objects out of the air with his sword, not quite advancing but keeping Sam busy. Adam was playing some messed up version of pinball with the other demon, trying to hack at him as he bounced around the room and attacked with his daggers. Princess was busy taking her next meal down. Through all the confusion, Bela spotted their sack abandoned by the door.
She dashed across the room, ducking under the various objects and people being flung around the room, and crouched down next to the sack. She reached in just as she heard Asmodeus snarling and coming up behind her. Her hand closed around something smooth, and she pulled it out and slammed it into Asmodeus’ face.
The wine bottle shattered, sending water pouring everywhere. Asmodeus screamed. The water on his skin hissed and burned like it was boiling hot, turning his skin red and blistered. Without pausing, Bela dug yet another wine bottle out of the bag, then kicked Asmodeus’ mismatched feet out from under him. Once he was on the ground, she straddled him, pinning his arms with her knees.
“Say ‘ah,’ you little bitch,” she smiled, and then pulling his mouth open, she poured the entire contents of the bottle down his throat. Asmodeus screamed and thrashed beneath her, gurgling as he choked on water and black blood. She watched impassively as he wriggled beneath her, and then finally went still, a hole burned through the back of his throat.
When she was sure he was dead, Bela abandoned Asmodeus’ body to join the fight. She grabbed the white demon as he danced by, catching him by surprise. She had no knife on her, but her hands were still wet, and the demon shouted in pain as she grabbed him by the arms. He twisted out of her grip and crouched at the other end of the room.
Bela then turned and grabbed Malonic, also causing him to also shout and jerk away. While the two demons were distracted, she grabbed Sam by the wrist and pulled him towards the door. Adam followed, scooping up the sack and calling for Princess.
They slammed the door shut again and made it three steps out of into the hall before Bela’s adrenaline and rage gave out, and she collapsed to her knees. Sam didn’t even break stride, scooping her up and holding her close. He still looked pissed, but the yellow in his eyes was gone, and she could also see concern and fear behind the rage. She would normally protest at being carried, especially after what had just happened, but being held like that made her feel safe, so she decided not so say anything. Instead, she just buried her face into Sam’s chest and hoped that they could save her.
Sam spared a worried glance at Bela as she seemed to pass out in his arms, but he didn’t have time to make sure she was alright. He could hear Malonic starting the pursuit again, and this time he didn’t think they could out run or stop him. Sam tried to spot some hiding place or distraction nearby, but there was nothing once again. Adam was panting next to him as they ran, clearly winded from trying to take on the white demon. They couldn’t run forever.
“Hey!” Suddenly a voice was calling out to them.
“Hey, it’s you!” Adam was shouting back, and Sam whipped his head around to spot who Adam was talking to. It was a demon he’d never seen before, covered in bandages and a blank mask. Adam swerved over to the demon, which started running away.
“Hey, come back!” Adam called out.
“Follow me! I know a way out!” The demon called out to them in a raspy voice, and started running faster. Adam continued to follow.
“Hey, wait! Adam, what are you doing?” Sam shouted, but he had no choice but to follow after the demon as well so that he wouldn’t lose his brother. He could hear their tail close behind.
The bandaged demon led them through the fortress, around and along hallways and halls and eventually an archway and down a long flight of stairs until Sam thought they were completely lost but probably in the dungeons. As they passed by various cages and cells Sam could hear growling and barking. Princess started barking back and he realized that this was actually some sort of kennel for hellhounds, not a dungeon.
As they were reaching the end of the corridor lined with hellhound cages, they were forced to a halt when they turned the corner, only to find a dead end and the bandaged demon nowhere in sight. They tried to find another route but Princess suddenly stopped and started sniffing at a huge hellhound, who was sniffing back. “Princess!” He hissed, trying to call her back, but she was too distracted by the other hound. Her tail was wagging like crazy.
Sam jerked his head up when he heard footsteps behind them. He looked back, and saw that Malonic had finally caught up. The demon narrowed his eyes, and then started forward. Sam and Adam had nowhere left to go, and the bandaged demon was clearly long gone. Sam grudgingly prepared himself to fight again, tiredly reaching down into himself to find the reserves of his powers, but he never needed them.
Just then, every single cage opened as one. The hellhounds, spotting freedom, bolted out into the open space and started racing up the stairs that Malonic and the white demon were standing in front of. Malonic and the white demon shouted, and then were swept up by the charging hounds and carried off, Malonic yelling in frustration the whole time.
Sam and Adam watched the hellhound stampede in surprise, grateful that they hadn’t been dragged into it and once again marveling at their luck. Sam closed his eyes in relief, and pulled Bela in close as he and Adam rested against the wall of the dead end, enjoying the respite from all the running. Slowly the kennels quieted as the last of the hellhounds rushed up the stairs.
But when Sam finally opened his eyes again, he felt a stab of panic when he saw that all of the hellhounds were gone. It seemed that Princess had gotten caught up in the stampede, too, because she was nowhere to be found.
“Princess?” Sam called out. He gently handed Bela, who was still out of it, over to Adam, and then started checking all of the cages, hoping that she had just slipped inside to wait while the stampede passed. But once Sam reached the final cage before the stairs with no happy hellhound waiting for him with a wagging tail, he was shocked to realize that she was gone. He dashed up the stairs to poke his head out into the hallway, but he couldn’t see or hear any sign of the hellhounds in any direction.
He came back, devastated. He hadn’t realized how attached he had gotten to the hellhound while they were traveling together. He felt like he’d lost a family member. Adam looked just as upset.
“Maybe she’ll be waiting for us outside?” Adam offered, trying to stay optimistic. “If she stays with the other hellhounds, they probably won’t be able to pick her out of all the others, and so she’ll be safe, right?”
Sam nodded absently, still a little stunned by the loss and tired after their run around. He took Bela back, despite Adam’s insistence that he was fine, and started back the way they had come. The bandaged demon never reappeared to lead them back out, but as they hit the main floor again, Mri was just coming around the corner, still cuffed and leashed.
She froze at the sight of them, then whimpered. “If I lead you out, will you please go away? I can’t deal with any more of this shit.”
Sam looked at Adam, who shrugged and then took up her leash. “Lead on,” he gestured with an arm.
*****
Malonic sighed in frustration as he finally broke free of the hellhounds. There was no way he would catch the intruders now. It would take far too long to make his way back to the kennels, and by then they would be long gone. It annoyed him how efficient these humans were at slipping through his claws.
He sheathed his sword, already knowing he wouldn’t need it for the time being, and stood back to watch as the last of the hellhound pack went by. He was once again without prisoners, without a lead, and another Prince was dead. This would not please the rest of the Princes. Or perhaps it would, knowing their dislike of one another. Still, it was unbelievably frustrating.
Then, just as the last hound was passing by, he noticed it had a piece of chain looped around its neck like a leash. He instantly recalled the hellhound that had been travelling with the intruders, that they had lead on a leash made of chain. He smiled. Looked like he had a lead after all.
He immediately started pursuing the hellhound, but not catching it. He needed it to lead him to these humans, after all.
Little did Malonic know, Princess was actually quite clever for her species. As she followed the other hellhounds that were dragging the hunter enemy out of the fortress, she allowed him to spot and recognize her. Then she waited until the hunter enemy’s scent was behind her, following, so she could lead him in the wrong direction.
She would make sure that no one harmed her pack.
*****
Once they were back to the cave, Adam and Bela tucked into a quick meal and tried to rest despite being down a member. Sam and Adam were reduced to wheedling to get Bela to eat, when at first she refused to do anything but sit there. Her experiences coupled with the loss of Princess seemed to have reduced her to a blank state. Sam finally had a breakthrough when he decided to try feeding her like a baby, holding out the hastily made sandwich and making plane noises while he waved it in front of her face. She finally stared at him like he was insane before bursting out laughing. The laughter shifted to tears, and the two boys wrapped themselves around her, holding her as she cried.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she sniffed once her tears had subsided.
“Hey, I got to freak out after Behemoth, Sam had a spaz attack after Belial. It was clearly your turn,” Adam joked, poking her in the side.
She jerked away from his finger. “Hey! That tickles!” She batted at his hand as he went in for another jab.
“I didn’t spaz!” Sam cried indignantly. Adam gave him a flat look. “Much,” he finally amended.
Bela gave another watery chuckle, and finally took the proffered sandwich, this time without plane noises.
As they munched on their food, Sam watched Bela out of the corner of his eye. She clearly needed to say something, and he knew he was dying to find out exactly what happened. He also knew, however, that if he broached the subject before she was ready she would spook, and he’d never get anything out of her. It was like talking to Dean fresh from Hell all over again, with the carefully chosen words and the walls that seemed impossible to break. But still, he had gotten through to Dean eventually, so he should be able to help Bela out, too.
He paused briefly in his chewing, then swallowed his bite. “So, seems like we’ve each taken down a Crown Prince of Hell, eh? Not bad.” The others looked up at him.
“Yeah, seems that way,” Adam eventually agreed, then laughed. “And we’ve almost died like eight times each time we take one down. I’m going to go prematurely grey before we get out of here, just watch.”
Bela smiled at them both, then looked at her food. With a sigh, she set it down, and looked Sam straight in the eye. “What do you want to know?” She asked straight up.
Sam sighed, but figured they were both mature enough to get everything out in the open right off.
“When we walked in and Asmodeus was…attacking you, I could see how freaked out you were. Not that I can blame you for it or anything, but it seemed a bit out of character for you. Was there some…Bela?”
She was staring straight ahead into space, but not seeing anything. Adam rested a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked back. When she saw them both staring at her with concern, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Sam watched her center herself. When she spoke it was so quiet he had to strain to hear her.
“My father.” And just like that, Sam knew exactly what she was going to say, and Bela started to make a little more sense as a person.
“That’s why you made the deal. That’s why you wanted them gone.” He didn’t say it as a question. She nodded anyways. Sam looked at her with dismay, having no idea what to say or do to make it better. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough, but it was all he had.
“It was a long time ago,” she said softly, dismissively. Sam didn’t buy it. Adam looked between the two of them questioningly, but Sam could tell he was putting the pieces together pretty quickly on his own.
“Oh, stop looking at me like that!” Bela suddenly snapped, and both boys jumped. “You both look like kicked puppies! It’s ridiculous.”
They looked sheepishly at each other.
“Don’t worry about me,” she told them, picking up her sandwich again, “I learned to deal with all that a long time ago. I just had a little flashback, is all. As long as we don’t go back there again, I should be fine.” She took a huge bite out of the sandwich and made various satisfied noises, and Sam knew the discussion was over. He wasn’t quite ready to let it go for good, but he could let it rest for now.
“And if we do have to go back, all you need is some holy water. The way you took out that slimy bastard! So badass!” Adam crowed, changing the subject. Bela took to it gratefully.
“Thankfully there was some holy water in the sack to begin with. And you said it wouldn’t work,” she smirked at Sam, poking him in the cheek.
“Guess you’re not too much of a demon after all, if you can still make holy water, right Sam?” Adam smirked as well, and with the two of them acting all smug he had to admit defeat.
“Alright, alright! I admit, I’m not that far gone.”
“Not that far gone? Dude, if you were a demon at all, then the ritual shouldn’t have worked, right? It would have just stayed the same as when Disco gave it to us.”
“I don’t know, but that sounds about right.” Sam admitted, frowning. “I’m sure my eyes went yellow again, though. I could feel it.”
“They did,” Bela confirmed. “It was quite…unnerving to see.”
“So I must have some sort of demon…ness inside of me, otherwise, where are the powers coming from? I’m not accusing you!” Sam hastily assured Bela, seeing her start to tense up. “I’m just curious. I believe you when you say that the spell turned you human.”
“Actually,” Bela started. She wasn’t looking anyone in the eye again. Sam immediately sensed trouble.
“What?”
“I may have something to tell you,” she licked her lips.
“What?” Sam asked again, more worried than annoyed.
“I lied when I said I wanted to release you from the cage in exchange for my freedom. I didn’t come to get you of my own decision. I was sent.”
“By who?”
“I don’t know. I never saw a face or shape, they were hidden in the shadows the whole time. But the demon promised me that it would bring me back to life and back to Earth if I broke you out of the cage. You specifically, Sam. Adam was never mentioned.”
Sam closed his eyes and bit back his first three responses. It was always him. The demons were always after him.
“So you made a deal? Haven’t you learned better by now?” He eventually asked, trying to keep his anger out of his voice.
She looked even more miserable. “I thought I had, but the deal was too good to pass up, and as far as I was concerned it’s not like my situation could get any worse. I was already in Hell.”
“Did this demon get you off the rack?”
“No, I met them after I escaped. I wasn’t lying about that, I really did escape on my own.” And she sounded so earnest that Sam couldn’t help but believe her. “So that must be what happened when I became human. The demon brought me back to life.”
“But didn’t put you back on Earth? That’s what it promised, right?” Adam asked, sounding indignant.
“Demons lie,” Sam told him absently. He was thinking about a major flaw in the theory. “But how did the demon change you if it was nowhere nearby?”
“It must have been very powerful if it changed me from a demon to a human. If it was that powerful, I don’t think distance would have been an issue.”
Sam wrinkled his nose, but let it go as well. He couldn’t really get too mad at her without calling himself a hypocrite. “Is there anything else we should know?”
Bela seemed to think about it, then waved the remnants of her sandwich around. “I’m not a fan of ham?”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh. He snatched what was left of her sandwich out of her hands and ate it in two bites, grinning. She whacked him on the arm, and they all laughed. For a moment they forgot where they were and what they had been through, and what they had yet to overcome, and just snacked on sandwiches.
All too soon though, they settled down for a rest. Adam and Bela curled up at Sam’s sides, who offered to once again be the watch because he didn’t seem to need to sleep. As they started to fall asleep, Sam made one last comment.
“Guys, I know from experience that lying to each other about shit as big as that will never end well. Can we all agree to be honest with each other from now on?”
The others mumbled their agreement as they drifted off, and Sam curled his arms around them and held them close. Their little family was small, but he was rather attached.
Author: ikira
Pairings/Characters: Gen. Sam, Michael, Adam, Lucifer, Bela, Meg, OMC, OFC, a general chorus of demons, hellhounds and other denizens of Hell.
Rating: PG-13.
Word count: ~4k
Spoilers: through 5.22 "Swan Song." AU as of Season 6
Warnings: Some swearing, violence, disturbing imagery, grossness, unnatural creatures, bad cooking, good cooking, bad plans, rituals, flaming chariots, angels, demons, hellhounds, dragons, and pretty much anything that can be found in Hell.
Summary: Sam is trapped after falling into Lucifer's Cage. It is cold, dark, and empty, and alone anyone would be driven mad. But he hadn't been alone in his fall, and he isn't alone now. This is the story of how Sam found family, conquered personal demons, conquered regular demons, and escaped from Hell. And everything in between.
Author's Notes: eph_inspiration betaed, thank you again so much! Cross-Posted to adamwinchester, spn_gen and sn_fic.
Bela was directing all of her energy into maintaining her cool demeanor as various succubae and incubi moved around her, preparing the bedroom. Several items were placed on the nearby dresser that caused her to pale, despite not knowing their exact purpose. They looked sinister against the velvet pillow they rested on. Others still stood around her, doing last minute touch ups to her hair, make up, and outfit. She normally was very comfortable with her body and didn’t mind using it to get what she wanted, but with nothing but a semi-transparent sarong wrapped around her waist and a silk kerchief covering her chest, she felt very exposed. The many pieces of jewelry that the demons kept piling onto her body did nothing to help. She felt like a doll.
When the demons started leaving, her panic spiked, but she refused to show any outward reaction. The door closed quietly behind the last demon, and she counted to ten before bolting upright from the bed and started checking every inch of the room, looking for an escape route. She had just covered one third of the space when she heard the door open behind her. She froze, but straightened slowly, keeping her back to the door. Some childish part of her insisted that if she couldn’t see him, Asmodeus couldn’t see her.
She gasped as a hand brushed her hair away from her neck. She hadn’t even heard him move. She finally mustered her courage and turned to look at her captor.
All she could comprehend was beauty and handsomeness. Asmodeus was stunning to behold, and had an air of someone who knew it. His crown was more delicate than the other Princes’ and he wore it like a princess would. She couldn’t quite be sure if he was a man or woman, having features of both, and she figured he may very well be a hermaphrodite. Asmodeus smiled at her, and if it weren’t for the obvious cruelty in his eyes, Bela might have called it gentle.
“Hello there, my pet,” Asmodeus whispered softly into her ear, hot breath ghosting over her cheek. “I see you’re all ready for me. And you are so pretty. It has been some time since I’ve had a living human to play with.” As he spoke, he started walking her towards the bed. Her brain shut down as they got closer, and all she could do was try and twist out of his arms.
He let go of her easily enough, and she fell back against the side table. He smiled again, but this time it was more of a twisted smirk than anything kind. His eyes roamed over her body, making her flush with embarrassment and shame. She took in his full appearance as well, seeing the things that marked him as inhuman. One of his legs was twisted and deformed, ending in a claw, and he had a long snake-like tail behind him. Otherwise he seemed too beautiful for words.
She saw why he had released her so easily when he stepped back towards the door to close it. It shut just as quietly as before, but that sound caused blind animalistic panic to set in like a disease. No, not again!
She tried to push herself further away, tried to run away, but Asmodeus snagged her around the waist with his tail and threw her onto the bed. Before she could get up, he was over her, pinning her down by her wrists, and smiling cruelly. “I’m going to break you so nicely,” he taunted her, and his tail started sliding up her skirt. She started screaming in protest, struggling as hard as she could, trying anything to get away, but Asmodeus was unmovable on top of her.
Just as Bela was about to give up struggling and just let him do what he wanted, Asmodeus jerked up and turned to look away from her. She wearily looked up to see what had distracted him, only to take in the most confusing and relieving sight she had ever seen.
Sam stood poised in the doorway with one hand extended and apparently pinning a huge bear-like demon in place, and a succubus bound and leashed in the other. Beside him was Adam with Princess on a chain leash and his sword drawn. They took in what was happening, and then to her shock and fear, Sam’s eyes bled yellow.
“Get off of her, now,” he ordered, and his voice sounded wrong, unnatural. Asmodeus seemed uncertain of what to do with the intruders. Before he could make up his mind, however, Sam growled, dropped the leash attached to the succubus, and raised his now free hand towards the Crown Prince. Asmodeus suddenly went flying off of the bed and was pinned to the wall. He started screaming as Sam twisted his hand.
Then he was dropped to the floor as Sam was attacked from behind by Malonic, breaking his concentration. Sam shrieked in fury, and it sounded like no noise any human could, or should make. He whirled to take in this new threat as Malonic charged him with his sword drawn.
Adam started forward to help, but he was forced to dodge at the last minute as the white demon appeared out of nowhere and started slashing at him with his twin daggers. Princess became occupied with taking on the bear-like demon, who had also been released when Sam had been distracted. Bela was forgotten in the wake of the battle that had taken over the much too small room.
Unfortunately, so was Asmodeus. He rolled to his feet smoothly, despite his deformed leg, took in the battle, and then turned his gaze on her. She balked, realizing the danger she was in without any sort of weapon. She looked around quickly, trying to find something to use, but all she could find on hand was the instruments that had been laid near the bed. She chose the heftiest one, and picked it up, holding it like a bat.
Whatever Sam had managed to do in the short time he had Asmodeus pinned it was effective. Black blood was running out from between his lips, and he moved with a wobble, like he had taken a blow to the head. Still he came unerringly for her, moving through the others as they fought each other all over the room. Bela swallowed heavily, but held her ground.
When Asmodeus got close enough, she swung the instrument as hard as she could at his head. He caught it an inch from his temple in an iron grip, unflinching. She gaped at him. “You’re mine,” he hissed into her face, a forked tongue brushing her cheek, “and I’m going to tear them apart for trying to take what’s mine. But first, I’m going to tear you apart.”
He reached out to grab her, but she had been expecting it, so she grabbed his outstretched arm and vaulted over his head as best she could in her current outfit. It was less graceful than usual, but it got her out of his arm’s reach. She landed hard on the bear demon’s back, causing it to howl and stumble forward, giving Princess the perfect window to its throat. Princess took her opportunity with gusto, and Bela smiled at her.
“Good girl,” she called out as she ran through the chaos of the room. Sam was fighting like a hurricane, using whatever his powers were to fling objects from around the room at Malonic’s head and slashing at him with his knife. Malonic was batting the objects out of the air with his sword, not quite advancing but keeping Sam busy. Adam was playing some messed up version of pinball with the other demon, trying to hack at him as he bounced around the room and attacked with his daggers. Princess was busy taking her next meal down. Through all the confusion, Bela spotted their sack abandoned by the door.
She dashed across the room, ducking under the various objects and people being flung around the room, and crouched down next to the sack. She reached in just as she heard Asmodeus snarling and coming up behind her. Her hand closed around something smooth, and she pulled it out and slammed it into Asmodeus’ face.
The wine bottle shattered, sending water pouring everywhere. Asmodeus screamed. The water on his skin hissed and burned like it was boiling hot, turning his skin red and blistered. Without pausing, Bela dug yet another wine bottle out of the bag, then kicked Asmodeus’ mismatched feet out from under him. Once he was on the ground, she straddled him, pinning his arms with her knees.
“Say ‘ah,’ you little bitch,” she smiled, and then pulling his mouth open, she poured the entire contents of the bottle down his throat. Asmodeus screamed and thrashed beneath her, gurgling as he choked on water and black blood. She watched impassively as he wriggled beneath her, and then finally went still, a hole burned through the back of his throat.
When she was sure he was dead, Bela abandoned Asmodeus’ body to join the fight. She grabbed the white demon as he danced by, catching him by surprise. She had no knife on her, but her hands were still wet, and the demon shouted in pain as she grabbed him by the arms. He twisted out of her grip and crouched at the other end of the room.
Bela then turned and grabbed Malonic, also causing him to also shout and jerk away. While the two demons were distracted, she grabbed Sam by the wrist and pulled him towards the door. Adam followed, scooping up the sack and calling for Princess.
They slammed the door shut again and made it three steps out of into the hall before Bela’s adrenaline and rage gave out, and she collapsed to her knees. Sam didn’t even break stride, scooping her up and holding her close. He still looked pissed, but the yellow in his eyes was gone, and she could also see concern and fear behind the rage. She would normally protest at being carried, especially after what had just happened, but being held like that made her feel safe, so she decided not so say anything. Instead, she just buried her face into Sam’s chest and hoped that they could save her.
Sam spared a worried glance at Bela as she seemed to pass out in his arms, but he didn’t have time to make sure she was alright. He could hear Malonic starting the pursuit again, and this time he didn’t think they could out run or stop him. Sam tried to spot some hiding place or distraction nearby, but there was nothing once again. Adam was panting next to him as they ran, clearly winded from trying to take on the white demon. They couldn’t run forever.
“Hey!” Suddenly a voice was calling out to them.
“Hey, it’s you!” Adam was shouting back, and Sam whipped his head around to spot who Adam was talking to. It was a demon he’d never seen before, covered in bandages and a blank mask. Adam swerved over to the demon, which started running away.
“Hey, come back!” Adam called out.
“Follow me! I know a way out!” The demon called out to them in a raspy voice, and started running faster. Adam continued to follow.
“Hey, wait! Adam, what are you doing?” Sam shouted, but he had no choice but to follow after the demon as well so that he wouldn’t lose his brother. He could hear their tail close behind.
The bandaged demon led them through the fortress, around and along hallways and halls and eventually an archway and down a long flight of stairs until Sam thought they were completely lost but probably in the dungeons. As they passed by various cages and cells Sam could hear growling and barking. Princess started barking back and he realized that this was actually some sort of kennel for hellhounds, not a dungeon.
As they were reaching the end of the corridor lined with hellhound cages, they were forced to a halt when they turned the corner, only to find a dead end and the bandaged demon nowhere in sight. They tried to find another route but Princess suddenly stopped and started sniffing at a huge hellhound, who was sniffing back. “Princess!” He hissed, trying to call her back, but she was too distracted by the other hound. Her tail was wagging like crazy.
Sam jerked his head up when he heard footsteps behind them. He looked back, and saw that Malonic had finally caught up. The demon narrowed his eyes, and then started forward. Sam and Adam had nowhere left to go, and the bandaged demon was clearly long gone. Sam grudgingly prepared himself to fight again, tiredly reaching down into himself to find the reserves of his powers, but he never needed them.
Just then, every single cage opened as one. The hellhounds, spotting freedom, bolted out into the open space and started racing up the stairs that Malonic and the white demon were standing in front of. Malonic and the white demon shouted, and then were swept up by the charging hounds and carried off, Malonic yelling in frustration the whole time.
Sam and Adam watched the hellhound stampede in surprise, grateful that they hadn’t been dragged into it and once again marveling at their luck. Sam closed his eyes in relief, and pulled Bela in close as he and Adam rested against the wall of the dead end, enjoying the respite from all the running. Slowly the kennels quieted as the last of the hellhounds rushed up the stairs.
But when Sam finally opened his eyes again, he felt a stab of panic when he saw that all of the hellhounds were gone. It seemed that Princess had gotten caught up in the stampede, too, because she was nowhere to be found.
“Princess?” Sam called out. He gently handed Bela, who was still out of it, over to Adam, and then started checking all of the cages, hoping that she had just slipped inside to wait while the stampede passed. But once Sam reached the final cage before the stairs with no happy hellhound waiting for him with a wagging tail, he was shocked to realize that she was gone. He dashed up the stairs to poke his head out into the hallway, but he couldn’t see or hear any sign of the hellhounds in any direction.
He came back, devastated. He hadn’t realized how attached he had gotten to the hellhound while they were traveling together. He felt like he’d lost a family member. Adam looked just as upset.
“Maybe she’ll be waiting for us outside?” Adam offered, trying to stay optimistic. “If she stays with the other hellhounds, they probably won’t be able to pick her out of all the others, and so she’ll be safe, right?”
Sam nodded absently, still a little stunned by the loss and tired after their run around. He took Bela back, despite Adam’s insistence that he was fine, and started back the way they had come. The bandaged demon never reappeared to lead them back out, but as they hit the main floor again, Mri was just coming around the corner, still cuffed and leashed.
She froze at the sight of them, then whimpered. “If I lead you out, will you please go away? I can’t deal with any more of this shit.”
Sam looked at Adam, who shrugged and then took up her leash. “Lead on,” he gestured with an arm.
*****
Malonic sighed in frustration as he finally broke free of the hellhounds. There was no way he would catch the intruders now. It would take far too long to make his way back to the kennels, and by then they would be long gone. It annoyed him how efficient these humans were at slipping through his claws.
He sheathed his sword, already knowing he wouldn’t need it for the time being, and stood back to watch as the last of the hellhound pack went by. He was once again without prisoners, without a lead, and another Prince was dead. This would not please the rest of the Princes. Or perhaps it would, knowing their dislike of one another. Still, it was unbelievably frustrating.
Then, just as the last hound was passing by, he noticed it had a piece of chain looped around its neck like a leash. He instantly recalled the hellhound that had been travelling with the intruders, that they had lead on a leash made of chain. He smiled. Looked like he had a lead after all.
He immediately started pursuing the hellhound, but not catching it. He needed it to lead him to these humans, after all.
Little did Malonic know, Princess was actually quite clever for her species. As she followed the other hellhounds that were dragging the hunter enemy out of the fortress, she allowed him to spot and recognize her. Then she waited until the hunter enemy’s scent was behind her, following, so she could lead him in the wrong direction.
She would make sure that no one harmed her pack.
*****
Once they were back to the cave, Adam and Bela tucked into a quick meal and tried to rest despite being down a member. Sam and Adam were reduced to wheedling to get Bela to eat, when at first she refused to do anything but sit there. Her experiences coupled with the loss of Princess seemed to have reduced her to a blank state. Sam finally had a breakthrough when he decided to try feeding her like a baby, holding out the hastily made sandwich and making plane noises while he waved it in front of her face. She finally stared at him like he was insane before bursting out laughing. The laughter shifted to tears, and the two boys wrapped themselves around her, holding her as she cried.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she sniffed once her tears had subsided.
“Hey, I got to freak out after Behemoth, Sam had a spaz attack after Belial. It was clearly your turn,” Adam joked, poking her in the side.
She jerked away from his finger. “Hey! That tickles!” She batted at his hand as he went in for another jab.
“I didn’t spaz!” Sam cried indignantly. Adam gave him a flat look. “Much,” he finally amended.
Bela gave another watery chuckle, and finally took the proffered sandwich, this time without plane noises.
As they munched on their food, Sam watched Bela out of the corner of his eye. She clearly needed to say something, and he knew he was dying to find out exactly what happened. He also knew, however, that if he broached the subject before she was ready she would spook, and he’d never get anything out of her. It was like talking to Dean fresh from Hell all over again, with the carefully chosen words and the walls that seemed impossible to break. But still, he had gotten through to Dean eventually, so he should be able to help Bela out, too.
He paused briefly in his chewing, then swallowed his bite. “So, seems like we’ve each taken down a Crown Prince of Hell, eh? Not bad.” The others looked up at him.
“Yeah, seems that way,” Adam eventually agreed, then laughed. “And we’ve almost died like eight times each time we take one down. I’m going to go prematurely grey before we get out of here, just watch.”
Bela smiled at them both, then looked at her food. With a sigh, she set it down, and looked Sam straight in the eye. “What do you want to know?” She asked straight up.
Sam sighed, but figured they were both mature enough to get everything out in the open right off.
“When we walked in and Asmodeus was…attacking you, I could see how freaked out you were. Not that I can blame you for it or anything, but it seemed a bit out of character for you. Was there some…Bela?”
She was staring straight ahead into space, but not seeing anything. Adam rested a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked back. When she saw them both staring at her with concern, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Sam watched her center herself. When she spoke it was so quiet he had to strain to hear her.
“My father.” And just like that, Sam knew exactly what she was going to say, and Bela started to make a little more sense as a person.
“That’s why you made the deal. That’s why you wanted them gone.” He didn’t say it as a question. She nodded anyways. Sam looked at her with dismay, having no idea what to say or do to make it better. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough, but it was all he had.
“It was a long time ago,” she said softly, dismissively. Sam didn’t buy it. Adam looked between the two of them questioningly, but Sam could tell he was putting the pieces together pretty quickly on his own.
“Oh, stop looking at me like that!” Bela suddenly snapped, and both boys jumped. “You both look like kicked puppies! It’s ridiculous.”
They looked sheepishly at each other.
“Don’t worry about me,” she told them, picking up her sandwich again, “I learned to deal with all that a long time ago. I just had a little flashback, is all. As long as we don’t go back there again, I should be fine.” She took a huge bite out of the sandwich and made various satisfied noises, and Sam knew the discussion was over. He wasn’t quite ready to let it go for good, but he could let it rest for now.
“And if we do have to go back, all you need is some holy water. The way you took out that slimy bastard! So badass!” Adam crowed, changing the subject. Bela took to it gratefully.
“Thankfully there was some holy water in the sack to begin with. And you said it wouldn’t work,” she smirked at Sam, poking him in the cheek.
“Guess you’re not too much of a demon after all, if you can still make holy water, right Sam?” Adam smirked as well, and with the two of them acting all smug he had to admit defeat.
“Alright, alright! I admit, I’m not that far gone.”
“Not that far gone? Dude, if you were a demon at all, then the ritual shouldn’t have worked, right? It would have just stayed the same as when Disco gave it to us.”
“I don’t know, but that sounds about right.” Sam admitted, frowning. “I’m sure my eyes went yellow again, though. I could feel it.”
“They did,” Bela confirmed. “It was quite…unnerving to see.”
“So I must have some sort of demon…ness inside of me, otherwise, where are the powers coming from? I’m not accusing you!” Sam hastily assured Bela, seeing her start to tense up. “I’m just curious. I believe you when you say that the spell turned you human.”
“Actually,” Bela started. She wasn’t looking anyone in the eye again. Sam immediately sensed trouble.
“What?”
“I may have something to tell you,” she licked her lips.
“What?” Sam asked again, more worried than annoyed.
“I lied when I said I wanted to release you from the cage in exchange for my freedom. I didn’t come to get you of my own decision. I was sent.”
“By who?”
“I don’t know. I never saw a face or shape, they were hidden in the shadows the whole time. But the demon promised me that it would bring me back to life and back to Earth if I broke you out of the cage. You specifically, Sam. Adam was never mentioned.”
Sam closed his eyes and bit back his first three responses. It was always him. The demons were always after him.
“So you made a deal? Haven’t you learned better by now?” He eventually asked, trying to keep his anger out of his voice.
She looked even more miserable. “I thought I had, but the deal was too good to pass up, and as far as I was concerned it’s not like my situation could get any worse. I was already in Hell.”
“Did this demon get you off the rack?”
“No, I met them after I escaped. I wasn’t lying about that, I really did escape on my own.” And she sounded so earnest that Sam couldn’t help but believe her. “So that must be what happened when I became human. The demon brought me back to life.”
“But didn’t put you back on Earth? That’s what it promised, right?” Adam asked, sounding indignant.
“Demons lie,” Sam told him absently. He was thinking about a major flaw in the theory. “But how did the demon change you if it was nowhere nearby?”
“It must have been very powerful if it changed me from a demon to a human. If it was that powerful, I don’t think distance would have been an issue.”
Sam wrinkled his nose, but let it go as well. He couldn’t really get too mad at her without calling himself a hypocrite. “Is there anything else we should know?”
Bela seemed to think about it, then waved the remnants of her sandwich around. “I’m not a fan of ham?”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh. He snatched what was left of her sandwich out of her hands and ate it in two bites, grinning. She whacked him on the arm, and they all laughed. For a moment they forgot where they were and what they had been through, and what they had yet to overcome, and just snacked on sandwiches.
All too soon though, they settled down for a rest. Adam and Bela curled up at Sam’s sides, who offered to once again be the watch because he didn’t seem to need to sleep. As they started to fall asleep, Sam made one last comment.
“Guys, I know from experience that lying to each other about shit as big as that will never end well. Can we all agree to be honest with each other from now on?”
The others mumbled their agreement as they drifted off, and Sam curled his arms around them and held them close. Their little family was small, but he was rather attached.