Dean is running frantically through the woods, fleeing from hellhounds. Suddenly he stops, confronted with a hellhound that has cut in front of him. He stands there for a moment, looking at it. The hellhound is just waiting to attack him. Dean suddenly turns on his heel and runs back the way he came from with the hellhound on his trail. Suddenly it trips him, and gets him down on the ground and while he screams blood splatters on his face.
Dean wakes up. He breathes heavily from the dream he just had. It was the first time in a while that dreams would give him that reaction. He blinks a few times coming back to his surroundings. He was in a cabin behind a table. He looks down on the book he had fallen asleep on. It was open to a page about the hellhounds, with a picture of them. Sam and Hermione walk in.
'Dig up anything good?' Sam asks.
Dean closes the book and shakes his head a bit, not looking up to them. 'No,' He clears his throat. 'Nothing good,'
'Well, Bobby has. Finally,'
'Yeah?'
'Yeah. A way to find Lilith,'
'Oh. With just uh—' Dean looks at his watch. 'Thirty hours to go,' He smiles. 'Hey, why don't we just make a TJ-run, yeah? You know...some senoritas, cervezas, uh, we could...What's Spanish for "donkey show"?'
Sam snickers. 'So if we do save you...Let's never do that,'
'I agree,' Hermione responds.
'Yeah,' Dean looks down on the books as Sam and Hermione sit down next to him.
'Hey, Dean,' Sam sighs. 'Look, we're cutting it close. I know. But we're gonna get this done. I don't care what it takes, Dean. You're not gonna go to hell. I'm not gonna let you,' Dean looks over at him. 'I swear. Everything is gonna be okay,' Hermione looks over towards Dean and notices a scared look on his face. She raises her eyebrows not sure what to think of that. Dean looks at Sam, his face completely distorted, flinging to the sides at a rapid pace. Then it changes back to Sam again, it was nothing more than a hallucination.
'Yeah, okay,' Dean responds.
On the main table of the cabin is a map of the United States mapped out. Bobby places a weird tracking device over it. The device was made out of three wooden legs coming out from a crystal ball at the top. The ball has a flat, metal piece going around it with symbols on it. Further down the legs is another metal piece, only bigger. From the ball hangs a pendulum device that is sharp on the end so it could pinpoint a specific place.
'So you need a name, that's the whole kit and caboodle. With the right name, right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out,' Bobby explains.
'Like the town Lilith is in?' Sam asks.
'Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street,' Bobby begins the ritual, starts the swing for the pendulum and then chants in Latin. As Sam, Dean and Hermione watch, the pendulum begins to search over the map until it suddenly stops. 'New Harmony, Indiana,' Dean looks up at him from the map. 'And we have a winner,'
'Alright,' Sam pushes the pendulum away and looks at Bobby. 'Let's go,'
'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Let's all shut up here, Tex,' Dean intervenes.
'What's the problem?' Sam asks.
'What's the problem? Come on, where do I begin? I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? Now when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked. Okay. 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 points out.
'Yeah, well, it's a gift,'
'That's a first,' Hermione responds.
'I'm sorry, so then what are we supposed to do, Dean?' Sam asks.
'Just because I gotta die doesn't mean you have to, okay. Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all,'
'Okay, fine. If that's the case I have the answer,' Sam responds.
'You do?'
'Yeah. A sure-fire way to confirm that it's Liltih and a way to get us a bona fide demon-killing ginsu,'
'Damn it, Sam, no,' Dean turns his back to Sam and walks a few steps.
'We're so past arguing. Dean, I am summoning Ruby,'
Dean turns around, facing him. 'The hell you are! We have enough problems as it is,'
'Exactly,' Sam walks up to him. 'And we've got no time and no choice either,'
'Come on man, she is the Miss Universe of lying skanks, okay. She told you that she could save me, huh—lie. She seems to know everything about Lilith but forgot to mention, oh right—Liltih owns my soul!'
'Okay, fine. She's a liar. She's still got that knife,'
'Dean,' Bobby begins.
'For all we know, she works for Lilith,'
'Then give me another option, Dean. I mean, tell me what else,'
'Sam's right,' Bobby agrees.
'NO! DAMN IT!' Bobby and Hermione look at Dean, surprised. They all look at each other for a few seconds. 'Just no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again,' Dean continues calmer this time. 'You guys wanna save me, find something else,' Sam and Bobby look at him as he walks back to the table he was sitting at before, and sits down with a contemplative look. As Sam looks at him, Bobby grabs his jacket.
'Where are you going, Bobby?' He asks.
'I guess too...,' He throws out his arms. 'Find something else. Sam sighs, looking into space before leaving the room. Hermione walks over towards Dean before taking a seat opposite of him.
'You know we are trying right?'
'I know!' Dean snaps. He takes a deep breath. 'I know. I'm sorry I shouldn't have snapped, it's just...'
'It all seems so hopeless?' Hermione asks.
'Exactly it's like almost not worth it,'
'But it is,' Hermione wants to grab his hand but stops herself. Instead lays her hand next to his. 'It's our last shot at keeping you alive. I say it's pretty worth it. I mean we could either sit here and wait for you time to end and all see how you get mauled by a hellhound or we try and fight this thing for a chance to get you out of there alive,'
'A chance. You know I would rather spend my last hours enjoying it like you said I should do. Have something to hold on to when I go to hell,'
'Don't you already have those memories? Or how about those memories becoming the reason you keep fighting?'
Dean laughs but it's an empty laugh. 'You know what you could do to help me?'
'What?' Hermione asks, hopeful.
'Tell me the ending of the story,' Hermione looks confused. 'About the fountain. The three witches with the same begin letter and that knight,'
Hermione laughs. 'Really that's what you want to know. I haven't told you that story anymore after—'
'We slept in the car after Sam ran away,' Dean finishes.
'Exactly. You still remember that,'
'Yeah, not knowing the end has been bothering me ever since,' Hermione could tell he was joking but it was still nice he remembered it. He was probably just saying this to make her feel better about the situation but Hermione took it. She would take it maybe for an hour before she wanted something serious out of it. That's when she got an idea.
'You know what? I'll tell you the whole story plus ending after we get you out of that deal,'
Dean leans back on his chair. 'Then I will never hear the end,'
'Okay how about this,' Dean leans forward again. 'I'll tell you the ending when I feel like there is nothing we can do anymore,'
He thinks for a moment before nodding his head. 'Okay sounds like a deal,' He holds out his pinky. 'Promise?'
Hermione smiles at him. 'What?'
'You do it with Sam right? Why not with me?' Hermione laughs and folds her pinky around his. Dean reaches over the table and puts a strain of loose hair behind her ear. 'Sorry, it was bothering me,' Hermione is frozen, not sure what to do or say. His face was really close to her as she could count the freckles on his nose. His emerald green eyes focussed on her.
'You do know that Sam is probably summoning Ruby in the basement,' Hermione points out.
Dean sighs and drops his head. 'Yeah it wouldn't be Sam if he did listen for once. Come on let's stop him before he does something stupid,'
Hermione and Dean creep downstairs to the basement, trying to be as silent as possible to not be noticed by Sam or Ruby.
'I know how to save your brother, Sam,' Ruby tells him.
'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!' Sam responds getting irritated by her.
'You're not the one I've been lying to,'
'Oh, so you can save him?'
'No. But you can,' Hermione glances over towards Dean, whose face is frozen like a statue not showing any emotions.
'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,'
Ruby shakes her head. '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 kinda in the job description. Fact is, is that you would have never considered it. Not until you were—'
'Desperate enough?' They exchange a look, and she shrugs as he looks away. Hermione can feel Dean tensing up behind her.
'You don't like being different. You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes. Like you're some kind of sideshow freak, while he sees Hermione as a gift. But suck it up because we've got a lot of ground to cover, and we've gotta do it fast. But we can do it,' Sam clenches his jaws, looking at the floor. After a beat he looks up at her. '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 that's you, huh? Our slutty little Yoda,' Dean says as he moves away from Hermione towards Sam and Ruby. Sam looks at Dean who wasn't looking very happy.
'Dean,' Ruby turns around, looking at Dean and all the softness in her voice that she directed at Sam is gone. 'Charming as ever. I'm guessing your little witch pet is here too,' Hermione walks from their hiding spot to the group. 'Ah there she is,'
'Aw, I knew you'd show up. Because we knew Sam wouldn't listen,' Dean responds. Sam looks at him but then quickly looks away. '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. And then you can just go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never bother me or Hermione or my brother 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 for once—' Sam tries.
'Sam! Don't. Come on man, what, are you blind? Can't you see that this is a trick?'
'That's not true,' Ruby responds.
'She wants you to give into this whole demonic psychic whatever, okay. I mean hell, she probably wants you to become her little antichrist SuperStar,'
'I want Lilith dead. That's all,' Ruby responds angrily.
'Why?' Hermione asks.
'I've told you why!'
'Oh, right, yeah,' Dean says with a mocking tone. 'Because you were human once and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach,'
'You know, I am so sick of proving myself to you. You wanna save yourself, this is how. You dumb, spineless dick,' Dean looks at her, and then turns around as if to leave but instead comes back swinging his right hook and punching her in the face. Sam and Hermione back away a bit, surprised by the hit. Ruby takes a few steps back with the hit, looks up at him as she wipes blood from her lip and hits him once with her right fist and then her left.
'Ruby, hey!' Sam shouts. She goes around, hits him in the back causing him to double over. She then knees him in the face, sending him into a beam and sliding to the floor. As she turns around to Dean he hits her in the face once with his left and as he's about to hit with his right she ducks out of the way and going with his momentum knees him in the stomach. Hermione wants to join in and help Dean but Sam stops her not wanting her to get hurt. Ruby kicks Dean in the face causing him to fall to the floor. He tries to get up but she walks over and kicks him in the face causing him to fall to the floor. He tries to get up but she walks over and kicks him hard in the stomach sending him rolling over the floor. He starts to get up and she comes over and takes hold of him, helping him up face to face only to head-butt him so he falls backwards to the floor again. As she stands looking at him, Dean grins as he slowly rises to his feet.
'The hell are you grinning at?' Ruby asks.
'Missing something?' Dean pulls up her knife in front of his face. She looks at him.
'I'll kill you, you son of a bitch,' She rushes towards him but midway there she is stopped by an invisible wall. She tries to walk past it once as Dean just looks at her. She looks at him and then looks up at the roof where Dean had painted a Devil's Trap. Sam lets go of Hermione, surprised by this. Ruby looks at Dean again, pissed. He smiles a little, looking at the trap and then he looks at her, still holding up the knife.
'Like I said...' Dean puts down the knife. 'I knew you'd come,' He walks away from her, towards the staircase. She follows him with her eyes.
'Wait! You're just gonna leave me here?'
Dean stops, waiting for Sam and Hermione, ignoring Ruby. 'Let's go, Sam, Hermione,' Sam and Hermione come over as Dean takes a deep breath. He starts up the steps followed by them.
'Oh, oh you—so you're just too stupid to live, is that it? Then fine! You deserve hell! 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!!'
'And I wish you'd shut your pie hole, but we don't always get what we want,'
In the room Sam and Dean's weapons are laid out. Among them lies the gun with the white handle. Dean picks up a clip and loads it into the gun. Sam is also loading weapons in dead silence. Hermione was sitting on the ground crossed legged brewing a potion. She was using an old pot from Bobby that was burning on a little stove. She would glance now and then onto the book that was lying next to her.
Sam sighs. 'We're just gonna let Ruby rot down there?'
'That's the idea,'
'Dean, what if, uh...What if Ruby's right? What if I can take out Lilith?' Dean looks up at him with an angry, doubting look. 'Quit looking at me like that,'
'What, are you gonna give her the Carrie-stare and Lilith goes "poof"?'
'I don't know what Ruby meant. You know, maybe we should just go ask her,'
'Sam, you wanted the knife—I got you the knife,' Dean walks over to another table.
'Dean, just listen to me for a second. Last time Lilith snapped her fingers and put thirty demons on our ass, and all we got is one little knife? I mean, like you said, we go in smart or we don't go in at all,'
'Well, this ain't smart,'
'We got one shot at this, Dean. Just one. So if there's a sure-fire way then maybe we should just talk about it,' Dean walks up to him as he speaks.
'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–is—is up the creek the other is begging to sell their soul. That's all this is, man. Ruby's just jerking your chain down the road. You know what it's paved with and you know where it's going,' He turns around, sits down against a table and picks up the weapon again.
Sam shakes his head a bit and walks around to the other side of the table. 'Dean,' He sits down next to Dean, looking at him as he continues to assemble the weapon. 'What do you think is gonna happen? This is me, I can handle it,' Dean stops what he's doing, looking at the floor and shakes his head. 'And if it'll save you...'
'Why even risk it?' Dean looks up at Sam. Sam looks away for a beat and then back at him with the obvious answer.
'Because you're my brother. Because you did the same thing for me,'
Dean scoffs. 'I know I even did it for Hermione...and look how that turned out,' Dean looks at Sam and Sam looks away at this. Dean looks over at where Hermione is sitting but that spot was empty. Leaving behind only the simmering pot. 'All I'm saying...Sammy, all I'm saying is that you're my weak spot,' Sam looks over at him. '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, you know, how far we'll go? They're using it against us,'
'So what? We just stop looking out for each other? Stop looking out for Hermione?'
'No, we stop being martyrs, man. We—we—we stop spreading it for these demons,' Dean picks up Ruby's knife and holds it up. 'We take this knife, and we go after Lilith our way. The way Dad taught us to. And if we go down, then, uh...then we go down swinging,' Sam just looks at him. 'What do you think?'
Sam looks down on the floor, thinking, then he looks up at Dean. 'I think you totally should have been jamming "Eye of the Tiger" right here,'
Dean gets up. 'Oh, bit me. I totally rehearsed that speech, too,'
Sam smiles at that. 'So, Indiana, huh?'
'Yeah, where Lilith is on shore-leave,'
'Yeah, I guess,'
'Tell me something,' Sam looks up at Dean. 'The hell does a demon do for fun?'
'No clue. Maybe Hermione got an idea,' Sam looks over at the spot she was sitting but there was no sign of her. 'Where is she?'
'I have no idea. She was working on a potion but I never saw her leave,'
Sam looks at him, debating if he should say it. After a beat he does give in. 'What's going on between you and Hermione?'
Dean raises his eyebrows. 'What–what do you mean, me and Hermione?'
'Is just something I noticed,'
'And what exactly did you notice?'
Sam shrugs. 'Just some things you know?' He winks towards Dean, who was not just getting confused, his ears were slowly turning red.
Dean punches Sam in the shoulder. 'Man you should stop reading these romans, start to see all these things,' Sam laughs as Dean quickly starts to load the weapons again.
Hermione leaves the room as quietly as she could not wanting to interrupt the boy's talk. She knew they needed this talk. She walks over towards a secluded room not wanting to be interrupted. Dean was right they had been looking towards the hell side of the spectrum everytime. She closes the door and takes a seat in the middle of the room.
'All right. Come on, I know you are receiving these messages, so stop ignoring me. I also know that you are not allowed to interfere in this all but please we need your help. You've helped me before and I know it was just for something small but...' Hermione chokes on her words. '...he can't die. Not because of something I could have prevented. He's learning in this world and he has so much to live for. Please...I beg you. I would do anything to stop this. Take me instead I was already supposed to be dead. I was the one that died that night not him. He shouldn't be punished for a mistake I made. Please, you're supposed to help the innocent right?' Hermione drops her head. 'Please—' There's a knock on the door. Hermione snaps her head towards the door. Sam slowly enters the room
'Hey there you are. Come on we need to go after Lilith,' Sam stops as he notices the tears on Hermione's cheeks. 'You okay?'
Hermione wipes the tears of her cheek. 'Yeah fine. So the plan is still going after Lilith?'
'Yeah, we gonna fight to the dead,'
'Sounds fun,' Hermione gets up from the ground and walks over towards Sam. He stops her.
'You're sure you're okay? I know this whole thing with Dean is tough on everyone. You can talk about it with me, you know that right?'
'I know and I'm here. I was just trying to find another way out,'
Sam raises his eyebrows. 'And?'
She shakes her head. 'Nothing. But that doesn't mean it's hopeless, maybe it's more a future thing,'
'What are you talking about?'
'Don't worry about it. We now need to find Lilith and save Dean. Then I talk you up to speed,' She moves past Sam out of the room. He stays behind and looks after her. Not sure what to do.
Sam, Dean and Hermione are in the Impala about to leave. Dean tries to start up the car but it won't start up. He and Sam look a bit worried as Hermione looks more confused. Suddenly Bobby shows up outside Dean's door, scaring the trio with his sudden appearance.
'Where do you think you're going?' He asks. Dean looks at Bobby and the distributor cap he holds in his hand. After a beat he, Sam and Hermione get out of the Impala and walk up to Bobby who is not looking happy. But then neither is Dean.
'We got the knife,' Dean says to Bobby.
'And you intend to use it without me,' Sam and Hermione come from around the car and stand next to Dean and Bobby, watching them. 'Do I look like a ditchable prom-date to you?'
'No, Bobby. Of course not,' Sam responds.
'This is about me...and Hermione and Sam. Ok? This isn't your fight,'
Bobby walks up to Dean, furious by those words. 'The hell it isn't!' Dean looks at him, taken aback by this. 'Family don't end with blood, boy. Besides, you need me,'
'Bobby,'
'You're playing wounded. Tell me, how many hallucinations have you had so far?' Sam looks at Bobby, a bit confused by this. He looks over towards Hermione where he could see the realisation on her face.
'How did you know?' Dean asks.
'Because that's what happens when you've got hellhounds on your butt. And because I'm smart,' Dean looks down to the ground, as Sam watches him. Bobby hands Dean the distributor cap. 'I'll follow,' He walks away from the trio, over to his own car. After a moment Dean walks over to the hood of his car, ready to put back the part. 'Don't be stopping to pee every ten minutes either,' Dean stops in his tracks, shakes his head a bit with a raised brow. He turns around looking back at Sam who looks at him and sighs.
Sam, Dean and Hermione are driving down the road, on their way to Indiana.
'Hey, Dean?' Sam starts.
'Yeah?'
'You know if this doesn't uh...this doesn't go the way we want, I want you to know—'
'No, no, no, no,'
'No what?'
Dean looks over at Sam. 'No, you're not gonna bust out the misty good-bye speech, okay? And if this is my last day on earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward,' Sam looks down and out the window and Dean turns back to the road. 'You know what I do want?' He reaches down to the radio and starts up Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive".
'Bon Jovi?'
'Bon Jovi rocks, on occasion,' He looks over at Hermione in the backseat, who was looking out of the window bopping her head on the beat of the music. Dean turns back to the road. 'And I walk these streets. A loaded six-string on my back. I play for keeps,' Dean sings. He turns to Sam and nudges him. 'Come on. In the back too,' He says. 'Cause I might not make it back. I've been everywhere,'
'Oh yeah,' Sam sings.
'Still I'm standing tall,' Hermione sings. They laugh and start to sing along with Dean.
'I've seen a million faces. And I rocked them all. Cause I'm a cowboy. On a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted,' Dean looks over at Sam who's really getting into it.
'WANTED!' Sam shout. Dean looks back on the road and Sam smiles as he sings with him.
'Dead or alive,'
'Dead or alive,' Dean begins to lose the will to sing and his smile is beginning to fade. Sam just continues to sing, laugh and smile, not noticing how Dean is suddenly taking in the lyrics. Hermione is still singing the song but notices in the rear-view mirror that Dean is not singing along anymore and that his smile was slowly draining from his face. Hermione is only muttering the words of the song while Sam is still singing.
'Dead or alive. Dead or alive. Dead or alive,'
The Impala drives down the road when suddenly there are sirens behind them. Dean looks up in his rear view mirror as Sam looks over at him. The flashing lights from the police car are reflecting inside the car and over their faces.
'We are getting pulled over?' Sam asks.
Dean looks in his side view mirror. 'I've got a busted tail-light. It's not like we're in a hurry or nothing,' Dean pulls the car over and the police car stops behind them. Dean rolls down his window as Sam hands over the licence and registration. The police walks up to his window, flashlight in hand. 'Problem officer?'
'Licence and registration, please,' Dean, not looking at him, hands out the needed papers. The officer takes and looks at is as he's talking to Dean. 'Do you realize you have a tail-light out, Mr Hagard?'
Dean looks up at the officer and after a beat his face falls as he's looking at him. The officer tilts his head and shines the light on him. 'Yes...yes sir. Uh...you know I've been meaning to...take care of that,' Dean slowly turns his head back towards the road in front of him, hus eyes dodging back at the officer during that. 'As a matter of fact...' He suddenly opens his door fast, hitting the officer in the stomach with it. Dean rushes out of the car at him.
'DEAN!' Sam and Hermione shout. Sam and Hermione open their door, surprised by Dean's action. Dean punches the officer three times in the face as Sam tries to run around the car to stop him. Dean quickly reaches down and takes out the knife from his belt and thrusts it into the jaw of the officer. Bobby pulls up behind the police car. The officer begins to flash with light. Dean pulls out the knife and lets go of the officer, who falls dead to the ground. Dean stands over him, panting after the fight. Sam and Hermione move up behind him not sure what had just happened. Bobby quickly runs over to them and looks down at the dead officer. He looks back at Dean, Sam and Hermione surprised and shocked.
'What the hell happened?' He asks.
'Dean just killed a demon. How did you know?' Sam asks.
Dean is still breathing heavily looks around on the ground and then turns to Sam. 'I just knew,' He turns back and looks down on the officer. 'I could see its face. Its real face under that one,' Bobby who was looking down on the officer looks up at him by these words. Dean looks up at him and meets his gaze for a second. The boys put up branches over the police car, to hide it from plain sight and so that nobody can find it.
'So what, now you're seeing demons?' Sam asks.
'I've seen all kinds of things lately but...nothing like this,'
'Actually it's not all that crazy,' Bobby points out.
'How is it not that crazy?' Dean asks.
'Well you've got, just over five hours to go? You're piercing the veil, Dean. You're glimpsing the B side,'
'A little less new age-y please,'
'You're almost hell's bitch. So, you can see hell's other bitches,'
Dean looks surprised at first but then his mock-face comes on. 'Thank you,'
'Well, actually it could come in pretty handy,' Sam points out.
'Oh, well, I'm glad my doomed soul is good for something,'
'It sure is. Lilith probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let them sound the alarm. If she know's we are here, we are dead before we even started,' Hermione explains.
'Well, this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it. Can we go, please?' Dean begins to walk away with that and the others follow him. The car is as hidden as they could manage, with branches all over it. Hermione had used her magic to grow more branches around it.
Sam, Dean, Hermione and Bobby are taking shelter in a house with a "For Sale" sing outside. The house is completely dark. Dean is looking through the binoculars towards the house across. He sees how a little girl is smiling while a woman is serving her a plate of cake and a man is getting out of his chair. An older man is sitting dead at the end of the table with his head on his plate.
'It's the little girl. Her face is awful,' Dean says. He gives the binoculars to Sam who is standing the furthest away. Bobby is in the middle and Hermione is between Dean and Bobby.
Sam lowers the binoculars. 'Alright then, let's got. We're wasting time,' He walks past Bobby, Hermione and Dean, and moves for the door. Dean grabs hold of him, stopping him from leaving.
'Wait!'
'For what? For it to kill the rest of them?'
'Yeah, and us too if we're not careful. Look. See the real go-getter mailman on the clock at nine PM?' Sam holds up the binoculars and spots the mailman sorting mail at the back of his car. Dean points again. 'And Mr Rogers over there,'
'Demons?' Bobby asks. Sam looks through the binoculars again and he sees Mr Rogers sitting in a chair in his home, smoking a pipe and reading a book, his chair facing the windows.
'Yes,' Dean responds.
'Ok, fine. We—we—we—we, we ninja pass those guys, sneak in,' Sam thinks out loud.
'Then what? Give a "Colombian necktie" to a ten year old girl, come on!'
'Look, Dean, I know it's awful,'
'You think?'
'This isn't just about saving you, Dean. This is about saving everybody,'
'She's gotta be stopped, son,' Bobby points out.
Dean turns around and looks at Bobby and then out the window. 'Oh, damn it,'
The mailman is standing by the back of his truck, flipping through the mail. Suddenly he hears a sound across the street and looks up. He looks over towards the fence, where Dean is standing as if he's been caught. The mailman's eyes turns demon-black and he takes off after Dean. Dean runs back the way he came from, closely followed by the demon-mailman. He rounds a corner of the house the fence belonged to, and when the mailman comes around the same corner a second later he runs right into Sam holding Ruby's knife as he pushes it into the demons body. Sam struggles with him as he turns around and Dean comes up behind the mailman and puts a hand over his mouth so his scream doesn't alarm the rest of the demons. Sam pulls out the knife and the demon-mailman flashes with light a few times and then Dean drops him to the ground.
Bobby holds up a rosary while Hermione is behind him.
'Exorcizo te, creatura aquae. In nomine dei patris onmipotintes,' Hermione mutters. Bobby drops the rosary into an opening of the water pipes and it's carried away by the stream.
Sam grabs the knife from Mr Rogers belly, who is lying dead on the ground. He pulls it out and stands up next to Dean, wiping it off. Dean grabs Mr Rogers feet and drags him out of view. He then comes back and takes off in another direction while Sam stands still, looking around.
Dean is running through some trees and comes up by a fence, where Ruby suddenly appears and shoves him into the fence, holding him there.
'I'd like my knife back, please. Or your neck snaps like a chicken bone,' She says.
Sam comes up behind her and holds up her knife to her throat. 'He doesn't have it. Take it easy,' She backs away from Dean, releasing him from the fence. Sam stands still next to Dean who turns around to face her.
'How the hell did you get out?' Dean asks her.
'What you don't know about me could fill a book,'
Dean suddenly reacts to her face, moving his head back just a bit with wider eyes. 'Whoa,'
'What?'
Dean looks to the side, not wanting to look at her anymore. He glances at her once or twice but that's it. 'Nothing. I just—I couldn't see you before, but you're one ugly broad,'
'Sam, give me the knife before you hurt yourself,'
'You'll get it when this is over,' Sam responds.
'It's already over. I gave you a way to save Dean, you shot me down. Now it's too late. He's dead. And I'm not gonna let you die too,'
'Try and stop me, and I'll kill you. Bitch,'
'Hit me with your best shot, baby,'
Dean, who's been looking in the direction he was running, towards turns around to them.'Guys, guys! Hey. Have your little catfight later,' There were two people standing outside on their porch looking at Dean, Sam and Ruby. At the next house is a man with a briefcase, staring at them. Two other men are staring at them, this time closer so they see their black eyes. 'So much for the element of surprise,'
'Go. Go. Run. Run!' They open the gate and run, aiming for Lilith's house. As they do a lot more people run after them. Sam reaches the house first and starts picking the lock on the door. Ruby and Dean come up behind him, looking towards the lawn as more people are running after them.
'What the hell is taking Hermione and Bobby?' Dean asks.
Sam is having problems picking the lock and more are running for them. 'I'm trying!' He shouts. Suddenly when one demon reaches the lawn, the sprinklers turn on and she begins to flail, screaming, as the water burns her, Hermione's incantation and Bobby's rosary had turned the water into holy water, making it a barrier with the sprinkler system. Another demon is caught in the water and he screams and flails as well. Dean starts to smile, he hears a little crack behind him. He looks behind him to see Hermione standing there safe inside of the barrier. Almost all of the possessed people are standing outside the lawn, a few people are in the water. Sam is still working on the lock and Dean begins to really smile at the barrier. Hermione brushes past Dean and with a simple wave of her wand gets the lock open. 'I had that,' Sam says as the door opens.
'I know you did,' Hermione responds. Sam and Ruby go inside the house. Dean laughs at the demons and then walks inside the house too, followed by Hermione. Sam and Ruby are standing over a dead body with shocked faces. Dean closes the door after Hermione not seeing the body yet. When he turns around and sees it, his serious game face is on again.
'You think Lilith knows we're here?' Dean asks.
'Probably,' Ruby responds. They look around a bit and then walk into the living room. Sam goes first, holding the knife out as if it was a gun. Ruby is behind him, closely followed by Dean and Hermione. Dean hears the creak of a door behind him and quickly turns around, putting one hand on the arm of Mr. Fremont before putting another one over his mouth, turning them around to Sam and Ruby. Dean makes a shushing sound to make Mr. Fremont be quiet and calm down.
'We're here to help. Ok? I'm gonna move my hand, and we're gonna talk nice and quiet, okay?' Dean asks with a whispering tone. Mr. Fremont nods his head yes and Dean slowly removes his hand.
'Sir, where is your daughter?' Sam asks.
'It's not...it's not her anymore,' Mr. Fremont responds.
'Where is she?'
'Up stairs. In her bedroom,'
'Okay, okay, okay. Listen to me. I want you to go downstairs to the basement. Put a line of salt at the door behind you. Do you understand me?' Hermione instructs him.
'Not without my wife,'
'Yes, without your wife,' Dean responds.
'No,' Dean punches him out cold, he didn't have time to argue about all this. He picks him up and puts him over his shoulder. He starts to walk away followed by Hermione with a canister of salt.
Dean is carrying the body of the man down the stairs, Hermione is in front of him opening the basement door for him. Dean walks in and lays the body of Mr. Fremont on the ground. Hermione was putting a line of salt at the door.
'He will be safe here,' Dean whispers. 'We just need to be careful with closing the door so the salt won't blow away,'
'Don't worry about that. I put a sticky charm underneath it. This salt isn't going anywhere for the time being,' Hermione responds.
'Good thinking,' She smiles at him as they move out of the basement. Hermione was about to get back up the stairs to find Sam and Ruby when Dean stops her. 'You could just stay here or go back to Bobby,'
Hermione raises her eyebrow. 'Yeah so could you. I mean we could still try the time difference strategy. I made my choice Dean, I'm staying here. We're in this together,'
'So is this the time you tell me the ending?'
Hermione looks around. It was indeed very quiet around and no danger. 'It would be the perfect calm spot, but not the right time. Come on we need to help Sam and Ruby, kill this bitch,' Dean smiles at her but that smile vanishes when she turns away from him up the stairs.
Hermione and Dean creep towards the upstairs trying not to make any noise. When they get towards the upper landing they hear a young girl's screams. Dean quickly rushes into the room where the shouting came from. Sam was about to lunge for the girl. At the last moment he is stopped by Dean who grabs a hold of his arm.
'It's not her!' Dean shouts. The girl is breathing fast and heavily from what was just about to happen. Ruby and Hermione are standing behind Sam and Dean. 'It's not in the girl anymore,'
'Mommy!' The girls sobs.
'Mommy is here. Mommy is here. It's okay,' Mrs. Fremont responds.
They walk back down the stairs.
'Alright, no matter what you hear. You, your husband and your daughter stay in the basement,' Dean tells Mrs. Fremont. She goes through the basement door and Dean with Hermione follows. Sam and Ruby walk past them.
'Well, I hate to be a "told you so",' Ruby begins.
'Alright Ruby, where is she?' Sam asks.
'I don't know,' They enter the living room.
'Could she get past the sprinklers?'
'Her pay grade, she ain't sweating the holy water,'
'Ok, you win. What do I have to do?'
She looks at him questioningly. 'What do you mean?'
'To save Dean,' Dean and Hermione come up behind Sam. 'What do you need me to do?'
Dean grabs him from behind, trying to turn him. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'
Sam pulls loose from Dean. 'Just shut up for a second,' He turns back to Ruby. 'Ruby!'
'You had your chance. You can't just flip a switch. We needed time,'
'Well, there's gotta be something. There's gotta be some way, whatever it is, I'll do it,' Dean comes up behind him again, grabbing him. 'Don't, Dean! I'm not gonna let you go to hell, Dean!'
'Yes, you are!' Dean shouts. They look at each other for a moment. 'Yes. you are,' Sam and Hermione just stare at him. 'I'm sorry. I mean this is all my fault, I know that. But what you're doing, it's not gonna save me. It's only gonna kill you,'
Sam looks away for a second, tears building in hie eyes. 'Then, what am I supposed to do?'
'Keep fighting. Take care of my wheels, Hermione. Sam, remeber what Dad taught you...okay?' Sam nods, holding his tears back. 'And remember what I taught you,' As tears build in Dean's eyes they hear the grandfather clock tick and then begin to strike midnight. Dean looks over at. He looks over at Sam and Hermione who are also watching the grandfather clock. Sam turns his head, tears spilling down his cheeks, and looks at Dean. Dean gives him a little smile as he tries to keep himself calm and hold back his tears.
'I'm sorry, Dean. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy,' Ruby says. Dean's face begins to fall as he hears the howl of a hellhound. He turns around to where he heard them. Sam looks at him and then looks in the same direction understanding that something is up.
'Hellhound,' Dean says.
'Where?' Sam asks, looking around the room.
'There,' Sam and Hermione don't see anything unlike Ruby and Dean. As the hellhound begins to move, Dean bolts out of the room, followed by the others, with the hellhound quickly behind them. They run into the office and close the doors fast in the face of the hellhound. Dean takes out the bag with goofer dust as Sam and Ruby stand against the door, holding them shut while the hellhound is pounding to get in. Hermione looks around the room making sure every window was closed and that there wasn't another entrance into the room. Dean runs over and throws himself down at the floor by the door and frantically starts pouring out the dust. The pounding suddenly stops and for a second they all stand still, then Dean throws the bag to Hermione as she pours out the dust on the windowsill.
'Give me the knife, maybe I can fight it off,' Ruby says to Sam.
Sam looks at her, a bit confused. 'What?'
'Come on! That dust won't last forever,'
Dean turns around and looks at them from behind Sam. After a few seconds Sam takes out the knife, about to hand it to Ruby.
'Wait!' Dean shouts. Sam looks around to him.
'You wanna die?' Ruby asks.
'Sam, that's not Ruby. It's not Ruby!' Sam turns back to Ruby who, without touching him, flings him hard up against the wall, pinning him. He drops the knife and it falls to the floor. Before she could fling Dean, Hermione quickly jumps in putting up a shield between her and Dean. The blast took the shield away as quickly as it had showed up. Ruby's entire facial expression changes and becomes childlike as Lilith takes over the body.
'You really wanna try that?' She asks towards Hermione. Hermione doesn't respond instead tightens her grip on her wand. Dean wasn't sure what she was going to do. Did she now a spell that could stop or kill Lilith. But instead of fighting Hermione starts to mutter some words under her breath creating a protection bubble around herself and Dean. Lilith's eyes turn white. As she tries to break the protection bubble. Hermione kept muttering the same words over and over again keeping the bubble up. Everytime Lilith would have an opening Hermione would patch it up. Hermione even started to pour out the goofer dust around them. Dean puts his hand on her shoulder.
'Hermione what are you doing?' He asks.
'Saving you,' She mutters between her incantations. Lilith was getting frustrated and walks over to the door. She grabs hold of the doorhandle, while looking at Dean and Hermione.
'Sic 'em, boy,' She says, opening the door and the goofer dust blows away as the hellhound gets in. The hellhound starts to bang up against the bubble but it wasn't gonna get through. Dean looks over at Hermione. A concentrated look on her face, but she was also starting to shake more and more. He realises how much Hermione has to put into this to keep the bubble up. He turns her around to face him.
'Hermione...' She wasn't looking at him still muttering under her breath. Dean notices the bubble getting smaller making it so small they couldn't stand up anymore but instead had to sit on the ground. Hermione was holding out her hands to hold up the bubble with her magic as the hellhound kept banging against it and clawing outside of it.
She meets Dean's eyes with a soft smile. 'The knight,' she suddenly says. Dean looks confused at her.
'What?'
'The knight gets to bathe in the fountain. The witch who was ill got better after one of them had made a potion that healed her. The one with no money found out about her potion making gifts and made that into something she could earn money with. And the witch who was deserted by her loved had seen him for what he really was and found love in the knight,' Dean didn't know what to say until he saw a red spot growing at Hermione's heart.
'You're bleeding,' He points out.
'If you tried to find a way out of this deal I would die right?' Hermione flinches from another hit against the bubble. She quickly takes control again holding it up.
Dean realises what Hermione was up to. 'No, no. Hermione you need to stop this,'
'Dean you gave me another chance. I was dead. We can't save the both of us. Sam needs you, you're the only family he has left,' Hermione was starting to struggle more and more to keep up the protection. Dean notices her mudblood scar again. He couldn't believe what she was doing and he couldn't stop it. She was going to die and maybe he was too.
'What if it doesn't work. What if you still die and so do I once this protection is gone. Lilith is still in this room and so is a hellhound,'
'Dean...' A tear rolls down her cheek. 'What do you think is going to happen once you die?'
'I'm not gonna let you die. You need to live, fight against Litith and keep Sam save,' Sam starts to scream in pain as Lilith pushes, without touching him, more against the wall. Dean quickly snaps back. 'Please,'
'Dean I—' Dean cuts her off as he kisses her. Hermione is taken back but does respond to the kiss. Everything around them becomes a blur for Hermione. She couldn't believe what was happening. He cups her face as the kiss becomes more passionate. Hermione holds onto the wrist of the hand that was holding her face, not wanting to let him go. Dean breaks the kiss and leans his forehead against hers. Hermione is breathless but before either of them can say something she suddenly gets pulled away from him and thrown against the wall next to Sam. The bubble had been going down unnoticed by them. 'No!' Hermione shouts. The hellhound runs at Dean, grabbing him by the legs and pulls him further into the room. He screams. It begins to rip him apart as Sam and Hermione stand against the wall, helpless.
'No! Stop!' Sam shouts. Lilith just looks over at Sam and then down at Dean who's struggling on the floor. The hound has already slashed his right leg and is attacking his chest as he screams in pain. He turns over onto his stomach. 'STOP IT!' Hermione tries to look away from the scene as Lilith just watches with a little smile on her face. The hound slashes Dean on his back and his shoulder. 'No!' Dean flips over and it slashes him over his chest, blood gushing out. Sam just watches in horror. 'No. Stop it,' Dean is on the ground struggling with his final breaths. 'STOP IT!' The blood pours out of Dean's chest and he's not screaming anymore, but still not dead. 'NO!' Lilith smiles at Sam.
'Yes,' She holds out her hand and suddenly white light erupts from it. As it builds up Sam and Hermione turn their heads, eyes closed. Suddenly her white light is retracted, her eyes are still white but slowly turn back to normal, and she looks confused. Sam is on the floor, huddled in a corner next to a cabinet, holding his hands up in front of his face. Hermione was lying behind him. When he notices nothing happened and the light is gone he slowly takes down his hands, looks up at her and rises up to a standing position. Lilith looks at the floor afraid. She holds out her hand and looks at him. 'Back,' Sam takes a breath and starts walking towards her. 'I said, back,' Sam, with a determined look on his face, bends down and picks up Ruby's knife. Lilith looks very afraid of him, as he just looks determined and hateful. As Lilith was distracted Hermione quickly crawls over towards Dean trying to see if she could do anything to save him.
'I don't think so,' Sam says to Lilith, he pulls back his hand and motions to stab her but suddenly Lilith exits Ruby's body. Black smoke comes out of her body as she screams. The black smoke goes into the ventilation in the roof and the body of Ruby collapses. With tears building up quickly Sam slowly walks over to Dean. Hermione wipes some blood splatters off Dean's as tears keep coming. Sam begins to cry as he bends down next to Dean. He picks him up, holding his head close to him. 'No...no...Dean...' As he cries, Hermione hugs Sam from the side crying with him. 'Dean...'
Chains are everywhere, stretched from place to place. There is thunder and lighting as Dean is screaming. Dean is in the middle of the chains, hooked up by his arms and legs.
'HELP! NO! SOMEBODY HELP ME!' A hook is attached through his right shoulder, he's bloody and sweaty. Blood is in his mouth and he looks completely terrified. 'SAM!! HERMIONE!!'