Once Upon a Time
K Hanna Korossy

"Go to Hell."

Once, Sam would have believed Lady Toni when she said he was monstrous, dangerous, that he did more harm than good.

"I've been tortured by the devil himself. So you, you're just an accent in a pantsuit. What can you do to me?"

Once, he would have broken under agony like the blowtorch that scorched furrows in his skin.

"If you answer my questions, you walk right out that door. Promise."

"Pass."

Once, he would've played along, playing for time until his brother came to save him. Because Dean always did.

"You ask me any kind of question you want. The answer's gonna be the exact same."

Once, he would've given up, given in if his brother died. Made a deal, made bad choices, made a demonic friend, made a suicide run.

"Screw you."

Once, he would've felt guilty for his brother's death, felt there was so much he should've said to Dean first.

But Dean was gone, dying a hero's death. And after Azazel and powers, souls lost and retrieved, Purgatory, Hell, and Marks and Trials and death and Death, Sam knew where he stood with his brother, and the world. He'd survived losing Dean, survived Hell, and he'd survive this. For his brother's sake. So Sam stared his tormentor defiantly in the face and said it yet again.

"Screw. You."

He still had a funeral to plan.

00000

A hundred miles away, Dean pressed harder on the gas, riding once again to the rescue.

The End