Chapter four
Chapter Four
Bobby was halfway back from the kitchen when all the lights flickered and went out. Dean looked up from the book in his lap and their eyes met. Without a word they reached for their shotguns. Dean headed for the back door while Bobby moved towards the front. Dean was almost to the window when he heard a woman's voice calling his name. Holding the shotgun low, he put his back to the wall and leaned to get a glimpse out of the window.
There was a young woman there, standing just outside the iron line. She had long, curly dark hair and a tan complexion that contrasted sharply with her bright blue eyes. What stood out the most, though, were the dark angry bruises around her neck and the way her face looked like she'd just been beat to hell.
"Dean!" She called again, and she seemed to not be able to walk any closer. He was sure he had never seen her before. Still, something about the way she was standing ...
Dean opened the door, leveling the shotgun to aim it directly at her chest. "Ruby?" He wantedit to be her, but he just couldn't be sure. He was too far away to tell.
"Yes, genius, are you going to let me in or what?" Bobby had come at the sound of her voice and was there behind Dean now, backing him up. Neither hunter lowered his weapon. Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Dean, where's Sam?" Dean backed off, still holding the shotgun high. He shook his head, just a fraction of a movement, but enough for Bobby to know what it meant. He walked back towards the living room, ignoring her as she called after him.
“Where’s Sam? DEAN!" He collapsed limply into the old beat up couch, dropping the shotgun on the floor and his head into his hands. He couldn't face her, not yet, not after everything she'd done for him. Not after she had trusted him to keep Sammy safe. Dimly he could hear the sounds of arguing coming from the yard. The door slammed shut and Bobby was at his side, kneeling down to look him in the eyes.
"What are we doin’?" He asked.
Dean ran his hands over his eyes, through his mussed hair. "Think it's really her?"
"Well, she's a demon, that's for sure." Bobby quirked a small smile, the first one since this whole mess started. "I said Christo," he explained.
Dean's mouth twisted against its own will at that. "Yeah, I bet she loved that." Bobby nodded, relieved that there was at least one small smile left in Dean. If that was all they had to work with, then that was enough. If he knew those boys at all, he knew one thing for sure. They would never give up on each other. Never. Dean sighed and stood up. "We need to make sure. I'll go find out. Wait here, ok?"
"What for?"
"Just trust me on this one, I got it." Dean replied.
Bobby frowned. If there was anything else he knew for sure, it was to never trust a Winchester when he was desperate. "How, Dean." It wasn't a question, it was an order.
Dean swallowed hard, not making eye contact as he stood to head back to the door. "Uh,” he faltered, "I just can, man - just trust me." Bobby slowly nodded, not wanting to agree, still unsure, but not up for an argument just now either.
"Fine. Holler if ya need me," he called to Dean's retreating form. Dean waved a hand in acknowledgement as he closed the door behind him.
Moments later, Dean stormed back into the house, and a very irate Ruby was hot on his heels, complete with black eyes blazing. "Sam did what?" Dean turned on her, pushing her away with enough force to startle them all.
"Sam got taken, alright? You need it in Yiddish? Is somethin' I said not making SENSE. TO. YOU?" Dean backed up a step, holding his hands up like he could hold Ruby there through his sheer will. "Lilith turned him, that was her plan all along. You were wrong, she didn't want him dead. You were wrong," He repeated forcefully. Then, softer, "We both were."
Dean's breaths were rapid, his words spilling out as though he was afraid this was his last chance to say anything at all, and he wanted to make it count. His jaw clenched, skin stretched tight as he let his anger flow. "I get it, ok? It's my fault. But if you don't knock off the yelling and help me fix it, we are all going to die!"
He jerked her knife free, held it out to her handle first. His anger had cooled into something he could use. His voice was low and deadly serious. "Now, I'm going to figure out a way to save my brother from that unholy demonic bitch. Are you with me, or aren't you?" Dean watched as Ruby's eyes slowly turned back to their startling blue. Squaring her shoulders, she reached out and accepted the blade. She looked back and forth between the two men, felt their intensity.
Dean could sense her hesitation. His voice softened. "Look, I know this isn’t what you signed on for. This thing," he waved his hands vaguely in the air, "whatever this is, it's beyond us. Bigger than the Gate, bigger than anything this world's ever seen." He pinned her with his gaze, willing her to feel the truth in his words.
"I don't give a rat's ass about this craphole of a world. It can burn for all I care. But I'm gettin' Sammy back, and if you're not with me that means you're standin' in my way. If you ever cared about my brother, if you ever believed in him, then right now is your chance to prove it." He held her gaze firmly, pleading. Help me, please. I have to save him.
Bobby placed a tentative hand on Dean's shoulder, squeezing just enough to let Dean know he was there. Dean held his breath.
Ruby sighed. "Ah, you know, I don't believe I'm saying this, but ... ok." She shot them both a rueful smile. "I promised you I'd look out for Sam, and I meant it. Besides, who could say no to all this begging?" Dean's shoulders drooped with relief. He nodded, not trusting himself to say anything else just yet. "If we're going to have a chance at all, we need to move, and fast." Ruby stated matter-of-factly. "So, what do we know?"
As she took her seat on the old worn couch, surrounded by piles of books that could kill a man via accidental avalanche, Dean couldn't help but think how drastically his life had changed since just over one year ago. Here he was, all alone except for Bobby, and their only ally was a demon girl with a shadowy past and a hidden agenda. And he couldn't bring himself to turn her out; he needed her, but it was more than that. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. He trusted her.
And with one common goal in mind, the only three beings in the world that knew that it was about to end sat around the coffee table and went straight to work.
~*~
"Samael," Ruby whispered weakly. Bobby and Dean nodded, waiting her out. She picked her head up from her hands to look them straight on. "Samael!" She was practically shouting. Her dark hair and angry bruises contrasted sharply with her pale skin, and it made her expression truly haunting. Bobby was eyeing her uneasily, having kept most of his thoughts about her to himself. Asking Bobby to let them work with a demon had been one of the crazier things they had ever done.
If you could really see her, you never would have said yes. Dean shivered, looked down at the floor. He still wasn't used to the X-ray vision, and he wasn't about to tell Bobby about it. It had started before the hellhounds had come for him, and the first thing he had noticed when his eyes snapped open, besides that he was alive, was that it hadn't gone away.
Dean didn't remember Hell in a clear sense, just flashes and feelings, but he instinctively knew that for a demon, Ruby wasn't half bad looking, but it was still enough to scare him half out of his mind. And right at that moment, Dean wasn't at all comfortable with the way her hands had begun to shake. "Ruby?" He said.
"Don't. Don't, Dean. Just .. just give me a second." She closed her eyes, concentrating.
"Look, I'm sorry, I am." Dean replied. "But we may not have a second. We need to go after them, kill the bitch now before she gets her hooks in any deeper!"
Ruby glared at Dean with obvious contempt in her eyes. "You don't get it, do you? She's not possessing Sam, Sam has become something different. He's accessed his true powers! I tried to warn him about this!" She shook her head rapidly. "If Sam really is the reincarnation of Samael, then I don't think there's anything we can do except ..." She dropped her eyes, tightening her hands to still the shaking.
"Except what?" Bobby prodded, arms crossed over his chest as though he was suspicious of the whole situation.
Ruby took a deep breath, stared fixedly at the floor and whispered, "Except kill him."
Bobby could feel the pressure in the room change in an instant. Aw, Hell. He took an almost involuntary step back from Dean as he felt the boy bristle with sudden anger. He knew how Dean's voice would sound.
Like John.
"Nobody's killing my brother," Dean growled. "Now you come up with somethin else." His tone left no room for argument.
Ruby was clearly fighting against the impulse to yell at Dean again, but something brought her up short. Her eyes narrowed. "Samael," she repeated. This time she sounded thoughtful instead of frightened.
"Yeah."
Bobby frowned, still keeping a safe distance from the heat of Dean's palpable anger. "What?" He asked her.
"Well, there might be a chance," she started slowly, but then sped up the words, getting them all out before Dean could latch onto a hope that might not be there. "A small chance, ok, but it's just a legend, a myth. It isn't true."
Dean pursed his lips, eyebrows drawing a V shape, face radiating what the hell does that mean.
"It's all semantics, ok? Lucifer, Satan, Samael - they're supposed to be the same. But the Samael legend, the stories about Lilith being his bride ... there are some ... well, discrepancies." She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know which version is true, or if any of them are. All I can tell you is that it fits."
Dean snorted. "Fits it does, yeah, I get it. Enough with the sidestepping Yoda crap, what do you know? How's anything you know help Sam?"
Ruby pulled herself up, looking Dean in the eyes, willing him to understand. He met her gaze this time without flinching. She could still read the disgust in his eyes. I know what you are. She ignored it.
"In some versions, Samael is a fallen angel. Just like Lucifer. So that's no different. But in some versions, Samael is neither good or evil, he can be swayed one way or the other." She shrugged again. "In others he's one of the four horseman of the Apocalypse, so take your pick." She sighed. "It's all bad, Dean. I'm sorry."
But Dean was caught up on swayed, on there's a chance, on hope. "You're telling me that if we kill Lilith - if we break her hold on him he might be able to fight out of it, is that it?"
Ruby spread her hands wide. "I said maybe, Dean. Maybe." She glanced at Dean, then Bobby. "Either way, she knows you're alive, and she's going to come after you. We have my knife, but we need better odds. Range. We still need the Colt. I think we should split up."
Dean suddenly noticed how weary he was. When was the last time I slept? He'd been dead for three days. His mouth quirked into an ironic grin. I don't think Hell counts as resting. "Split up and head where? We don't know where the Colt is. That demon or whatever said Lilith never had it."
"Bela," Bobby's voice cut into the conversation. "we need to find her."
"But she's off the radar, you said it yourself." Dean replied, frustrated at the same old conversation, wanting and needing answers but getting nowhere.
Ruby perked up at that. "I can find her."
"How?" the men both asked in unison.
"I can scry for her. Do you have anything she's had her filthy paws on?"
Dean snapped his fingers. "What's left of the dream root, Bobby, didn't you store that bottle somewhere?"
Bobby nodded slowly. "I think it's in the cellar." He gave them both an even glance. "You two play nice while I'm gone." His tone left no room for arguing.
Silence descended rapidly in Bobby's absence. Dean began to pace, all kinetic energy and nerves, and Ruby watched him quietly, bright eyes absorbing every motion. Dean sifted through his memories, searching for anything he knew that could be important. He found something. He froze. "I still own you," he exclaimed.
Ruby crinkled her nose in confusion. "What?"
"Lilith! Back at the cabin, after ... she said 'I still own you'. Why would she ..." Dean stopped short. "Wait. You said Lilith would come after me." His green eyes glittered with suspicion, and his voice grew rough and hard. "Why?"
Ruby swallowed hard, eyes shifting to worn floorboards. "She holds your contract," she said in a small voice.
Dean froze. "Come again?"
"Look, I tried to warn you that she was after Sam. It makes sense. If she wanted to turn him - she'd have your soul as leverage. I guess she's planning on finishing you off, now that Sam's on her side." She looked anxious as she met the young hunter's gaze.
"No." Dean objected. "No, no, no, because the deal is off, alright - I held up my end!" One look at her face told him the truth. One look at her cursed, feral demon face. Now it made sense why he could still see her. Dean curled his fingers into fists. He was not going to start shaking now. He couldn't afford to be distracted. If he was going back to Hell, he wasn't going without getting Sam back first. "What did you do?" he asked her, low and quiet, tone leaving no room for avoidance.
The Ruby that he knew from before, the one he had hated, flared to the surface. "I had the Trickster save your ungrateful ass, that's what." She stalked over to him, fisting the front of his shirt in her hand and drawing him in close. "All we needed was a little more time, and I got it for you. Now you know who holds your deal. Kill Lilith, and you'll get back your soul." she spat through clenched teeth.
Dean reached up and grabbed her hand in his, twisting her wrist until she winced painfully. "Why should I listen to a word you say, huh? What's your stake in this? Why'd you bring me back at all?" he demanded. His green eyes blazed with inner fire and he met her gaze unflinchingly.
"Because," she said evenly, "I needed Sam to trust me." Dean's eyes narrowed in disgust. He released his grip, and she released hers, and he pushed her away. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his shoulders trembled with rage.
"You find Bela, and then you get out."
"Dean, I ..."
"NO." Dean cut her off, firm in his resolve. "You need me to kill Lilith? Fine. But after that, we're done. You want Sam so bad? Get in the damn line." He turned his back, refusing to look at her. He was disgusted with himself. He should have known better. Now, not only had he hand-delivered his brother to Lilith, but the very fact that he had escaped from Hell was going to be used against Sam.
Some people said that if a thing sounded too good to be true, then it probably was. Dean's lip twisted in a bitter grin. If you're a Winchester, anything that sounds good at all should send you running like crazy in the other direction.
Ruby kept her mouth shut for once, perhaps sensing that Dean was beyond reasoning with. A cold, stony silence settled over the room.
Bobby returned with the bottle, a triumphant grin on his face. "Found it! Knew I had it somewhere ..." he frowned. "What happened?" Ruby kept her arms crossed firmly and glued her eyes to the wall. Dean fidgeted like he wanted to be pacing but tension was holding him back. Bobby rolled his eyes. "Fine. I shoulda known tellin' you two to play nice was about as useful as boobs on a man." he said. He held out the bottle to Ruby. "Get goin' on this, then. Do somethin' helpful."
Dean stared out the window as Ruby showed Bobby how to scry. He didn't need to listen to anything else coming from the former witch. If it was something they could use, Bobby would remember it. It wasn't long before Bobby came to him, grinning like a kid at Christmas. "Found her." Dean nodded. He ached to be on the road, to take a step towards a solution - towards Sam.
He didn't spare Ruby a glance. He knew she'd be around. He grabbed his jacket from the old battered chair and flashed his keys at Bobby.
"Let’s hit the road."
Chapter five