End Of The Line

"Dig up anything good?"

"No," Dean cleared his throat, "nothing good."

"Well Bobby has. Finally."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. A way to find Lilith."

"...Wow. With just ah... 30 hours to go?"

~*~

"See you got a name? That's the whole kit and kaboodle. With the right name, and the right ritual, there ain't nothin' you can't suss out."

"Like the town Lilith's in?" Sam asked.

"Kid, when I get done? We'll know the street."

Bobby said the incantation, and the needle came to rest above Indiana. "Alright, let's go," Sam insisted.

"Wait woah woah just holster up there Tex..."

"What's theproblem?"

"What's the problem? Come on, where do I begin? I mean first of all we don't even know if Lilith actually holds my contrat, we're going off of Bela's intel? Now when that bitch breathes the air comes out crooked. Ok? Second, even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her. And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your giant head on a pike, should I continue?"

"Ain't you just bringing down the room?" Bobby rolled his eyes.

"It's a gift," Dean smiled sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, then what are we supposed to do?"

"Look just because I gotta die it doesn't mean you have to. Either we go in smart, or we don't go in at all!"

"Fine, then if that's the case then I have the answer."

"You do?"

"Yeah. A surefire way to confirm it's Lilith, and a way to get us a bonefied demon-killing instrument-"

"Damnit Sam no!"

"We are so past arguing. Dean, I am summoning Ruby."

"Like hell you are! We've got enough problems as it is!"

"Exactly! And we got no time, and no choice either."

"Come on man, she is the Miss Universe of lying skanks, ok? She told you that she could save me. Huh? LIE. She seems to know everything about Lilith, but forgot to mention oh right, Lilith owns my soul."

"Ok fine, she's a liar. She's still got that knife!"

"Dean-"

"For all we know she works for Lilith!"

"Then give me another option Dean! I mean tell me what else?"

"Sam's right-"

"NO DAMNIT! Just no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again."

~*~

"You know, phones work too. Hey Sam! How's tricks?"

"How do you get around so fast?"

"I got the Superbowl jet pack. So. You called?"

"Did you know?"

"Um, gonna need a tiny bit more..."

"About Dean's deal. That Lilith holds the conract."

"Yes, I did."

"And what? And you didn't think that was important?"

"You weren't ready."

"For what?"

"If I'd told you, you two yahoos would have charged after her half cocked. And Lilith would have peeled the meat from your pretty pretty faces."

"Well we're ready now. I want your knife."

Ruby looked him over, then stepped to the side and circled him.

"You're right about one thing... you are ready. And now's the time too. Lilith's guard's down."

"Is that so?"

"She's on shore leave. A little R&R."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know. You didn't lose those hex bags I gave you?"

"We got 'em."

"Good, then she won't sense that you're coming."

"So you'll give us the knife?"

"No."

"But you just said-"

"You want to charge in with one little pig sticker? It's a waste of a true blue window. Like getting Hitler with that exploding briefase, forget it."

"Ok, then how?"

Ruby stepped forward to him.

"I know how to save your brother Sam."

"No you don't! You told Dean you couldn't! You've been lying to me all along! So just give me your damn knife!"

"You're not the one that I've been lying to."

"Oh so then you can save him?"

"No. But you can."

"What?"

"Sam. You've got some God-given talent. Well, not God- given, but you get the gist."

"All that psychic crap? That's gone ever since yellow-eyes died."

"Not gone. Dormant. And not just visions either. Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?"

"Right. She's scared of me."

"If you wanted, you could wipe her off the map without moving a muscle."

"I don't believe you."

"It's the truth."

"And you decided to tell me this just now."

"Um... demon? Manipulative's kind of in the job description. Fact is, is that yu never would have considered it. Not until you were-"

"Desperate enough."

Ruby shrugged.

"You don't like being different. You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes. Like you're some sort of sideshow freak. But suck it up, because we have a lot of ground to cover and we've gotta do it fast. But we can do it. Look, call me a bitch hate me all you want but I have never lied to you Sam. Not ever. And I'm telling you you can save your brother. ANd I can show you how."

"So thats you huh?" came Dean's voice as he walked up behind her, "our slutty little Yoda."

"Dean," Ruby turned to him, "charming as ever."

"Oh I knew you'd show up. "Cause I knew SAM wouldn't listen. But you're not gonna teach him anything. You understand me? Over my dead body."

"Oh. Well you're right about that."

"What you are gonna do is give me that knife. Then you're gonna crawl back into whatever slop you came from, and never bother me or my bother again. Are we clear?"

"Your brother is carrying a bomb inside of him and we'd be stupid not to use it."

"Dean look just hold on-"

"SAM! Don't. Come on man, what are you blind?! Can't you see that this is a trick?"

"That's not true."

"She wants you to give into this whole demonic, psychic, whatever. I mean hell, she probably wants you to become her little anti-Christ superstar."

"I want Lilith dead. That's all."

"Why?"

"I've told you why!"

"Oh right. Yeah, because you were human once, and you like kittens, and long walks on the beach..."

"You know I am so sick of proving myself to you. You want to save yourself this is how, you dumb spineless dick!"

Dean smirked, turned back, then clocked her across the face. Ruby stared back at him for a moment, before attacking. A kick to his gut, a punch across his jaw-

"Ruby, hey!" Sam tried to intervene.

Ruby then turned on Sam, kicking him back against a pillar and putting him out of commission before she turned back on Dean. Dean got a few punches in before Ruby sent him to the gound, kicking him further along until he could barely get up again. Eventually, he started laughing...

"What the hell are you grinning at?" she scowled.

Dean managed to stand up, brandishing her knife.

"Missing something?"

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch-"

Ruby leapt forward... and came to a standstill. She looked up to see a devil's trap, painted onto the ceiling.

"Like I said, I knew you'd come," Dean mused, turning to leave.

Dean, Sam, Ruby & Bobby

"Wait. You'r ejust gonna leave me here?"

"Come on Sam."

"Oh, so you're just too stupid to live, is that it?! Then fine. You deserve Hell. And I wish I could be there Dean, I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones. I wish I could be there to hear you SCREAM!"

"Yeah and I wish you'd shut your pie hole but we don't always get what we want."

~*~

"We just gonna let Ruby rot down there?" Sam asked anxiously.

"That's the idea, yeah."

"Dean, what if... what if Ruby's right? What if I can take out Lilith?"

Dean stared at him.

"Quit looking at me like that."

"What, are you gonna do the Carey stare and Lilith goes poof?"

"I don't know what Ruby meant. Maybe we should just go ask her."

"Sam you wanted the knife - I got you the knife."

"Dean, just listen to me for a second. Last time Lilith snapped her fingers and put thirty demons on or ass and all we got's one little knife? Like you said, we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"This ain't smart."

"We got one shot at this Dean, just one. So if there's a surefire way, then maybe we should just talk about it."

"Sam. We are not gonna make the same mistake all over again."

"You said that, but what does it even mean?"

"Don't you see a pattern here? Dad's deal, my deal, now this? I mean every time one of us is up the creek the other is just begging to sell their soul. That's all this is man. Ruby's just jerking our chain down the road. You know what it's paved with and you know where it's going."

"Dean... what are you afraid's gonna happen? This is me, I can handle it. And if it'll save you-"

"Why even risk it?"

"Because you're my brother. Because you did the same thing for me."

"I know. And look how that turned out. All I'm sayin'... All I'm sayin' is Sammy you're my weak spot. You are. And I'm yours."

"You don't mean that. We're- we're family."

"I know. And those evil sons of bitches know it too. I mean what we'll do for each other, how far we'll go? They're using it against us."

"Yeah well we just stop looking out for each other?"

"We stop being martyrs. Man. We stop spreading it for these demons. We take this knife, and we go after Lilith our way. The way Dad taught us to. And if we go down? Then ah, we go down swinging. What do you think?"

"I think you totally should have been jamming Eye Of The Tiger right there."

"Oh bite me. And I totally rehearsed that speech too."

January
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