Changes – chpt 8.

By: sifi.

OOooOO

How did we get here, how did we ever arrive at THIS place? He wondered, his eyes were fixed on a man he wasn't sure he knew anymore and yet had never felt more kindred with. In the center of a circle within the clearing that was more familiar and in a way more home than any motel they ever stayed at, Sam was on his knees shirtless, his chest, back and arms were covered in symbols Dean could not just read, but actually knew. His arms were open in supplication, his face turned skyward as ancient words whispered outward and the rose-copper color of his soul's energy crackled over and through him.

"Ye guardians of the watchtowers I summon stir and command you to draw forth the tools I require and bid them do my will. In the name of Ea known to the creatures of earth as Enki, in the name of Marduk known to the creatures of earth as Etemenanki, and in the name of Inanna known to the creatures of the earth as Ishtar and with the power of rebirth I Marduk summon forth the fallen ones, bring me the traitors to life that they will heed my command."

A gentle upturn of the corner of the older man's mouth brought warmth and the hope that maybe everything would turn out exactly as it was destined to. Just like he said it would. It's so hard not knowing though. He admitted before another thought came to him, she's been waiting. Am I ready? He wondered and reached out with his senses taking comfort in the feel of her nearby. Why is it quiet? A flicker of thought turned toward the wraith and he hoped it would do as they needed it to. As long as it got him past the wards and enabled him to open them to the others he could be content no matter what else might become of him. Cas seemed so sure but how can he be? It's the end of the second day, it led me, it used me and kept me occupied and I let it. It might be sleeping... when it wakes up I hope she's ready to bind it. He sighed softly, taking comfort from Sam's voice as the sky turned pink and the sun contemplated the horizon. Please sweetheart, be ready, don't let me hurt anyone else.

Above them dark speckles began to appear, few at first, then more in streams, each of them falling into formation like flocks of birds. There were enough to darken the sky as in the clearing Sam continued his summoning, over and over he called them, drew them to him until the sky was nearly blackened by their numbers as dusk turned to night.

Dean watched amazed as they darted at his little brother and bounced away thwarted by the immunity he'd been given. In time he noticed that many of them who'd tried unsuccessfully to feed on Sam, seemed to sense that there were demons nearby and tried to shoot off to find them, again, only to bounce against an unseen barrier. In time the mass of igigi seemed to be unable to move beyond the boundary posed by the circle that surrounded the young man. When Sam's body wavered with exhaustion, and his voice crackled with dryness Dean frowned and realized his little brother had been working for hours, summoning, drawing, and containing these creatures. What if it's too much for him? What if it drains him too much... I have to be able to fight tonight. I have to be able to help. He turned on his heel, determined to find Cernunnos or Laura and have them find a way to make him whole again.

"Breathe." She smiled when he gasped after colliding with her.

He swallowed hard, his eyes darting away from hers and though he tried to move backward, her hands fell to his hips, keeping him gently tethered to the spot. I'm not ready...I thought I was but… I can't face you yet... he thought almost desperately. You can't learn what I've done. He shook his head and tried to draw away, this time she let him take a step back.

Her eyes flicked to Sam, "He'll be fine. The sidhe are waiting with some juice for him after he sends the igigi out." She explained fighting her need to reach out and hold him, to feel him in her arms.

"Juice?" he asked.

"Elixir." She grinned and stepped forward, sensing a faint relaxation of his defenses, "How are you? Do you think you'll be able to fight tonight or do you think you'll want to come back and be bound until everythings' done?" There's no way he's ready to broach the subject of the seals yet she knew, maybe one day but definitely not this moment.

He shook his head, "I don't know... how long will it take you to bind me if it wakes up?"

"As long as it takes to recite an incantation."

Boy if this doesn't just scream awkward! He frowned internally, "How are you? You look a helluva lot better than the last time I saw you... are you healed up?"

"Yep," she smiled reaching up and stroked his cheek before drawing him down to her. After a gentle moment of capture she smiled, releasing his lips from hers, "Don't think you're going to get away with it." She smirked.

"What?" he asked spocking an eyebrow and hoping she couldn't sense his roiling stomach.

"You're not going to get out of being territorialized. Once we're done here and you're well enough we have a date y'know..."

He grasped her by the shoulder, pulling her body against his and wrapped her in his arms while he rested his cheek against her temple. Hope sprang to life, maybe even if she knew what I brought on the world... maybe even if she knew what he'd brought on the world, she could still find a way to keep loving him.

His chest burned with aching as he turned her, slid his hand behind her head and searched her eyes, needing to believe that nothing he ever did could turn her away. I couldn't stand it if she left me. I don't know if I could do this anymore. He searched in those crystalline green eyes that were a mirror of his own for any hint of a future without her there, for any sign that her love for him could be smirched or smeared or left dirty somehow. I need to know... he pressed his mouth to hers, is it in her kiss? She yielded with tender exaltation and returned his question with unconditional acceptance. Her body bent to his while her hands cradled him. She breathed him in and trusted his embrace and when his body hardened and pressed against her and his mouth sought more, she gave him everything he needed.

He pulled her tight, every bit of the man he was burning inside his skin. A hand slid up her back, twining a loose fist into her hair as he probed her mouth then angled her head and tasted her neck.

In his grip a gasping sigh shuddered as her lips curled just before he stopped and turned her head once more so they were diving into each others' eyes. "I love you..." then his throat wouldn't say more. Their lips joined again, mortared together by tears that could have come from either of them, but belonged to them both.

OOooOO

"You sure you're up to this?"

"You sure you wanna do this?" they asked together as Sam buttoned up his shirt and slid into his jacket, the heavier material finally concealing the faint glow of the markings on his body from any eyes that might otherwise be sensitive to them.

With a nod they moved across the clearing toward the edge of the veil where their assault squad, consisting of 5 sidhe warriors, Bobby, Imdugud, Spencer, and Laura awaited their arrival. Bobby, Spencer and the sidhe were charged with ensuring that no demons including Lilith, were able to escape the perimeter and Imdugud, with his swarm was charged with arial surveillance. The 'injured' parties had the task of taking the succubus out.

Standing face to face Dean, Laura and Sam nodded, "Weapons?" She asked touching the ruby tinged short sword at her waist. The red in the liquid diamond coated tungsten carbide blade was Dean's blood that had been mixed with the metal by the demon weapons' smith Gader'el, the same being who'd made Enki's first sword. And like that sword, each of the trio's weapons was bound by blood to be whatever was needed. For Dean, in this moment his sword had become a machete in accordance with his wishes. Sam smiled darkly as his hand fell to the crescent shaped blade he'd envisioned for this, each of the edges was serrated with deep backward angled spines that would mercilessly shred flesh with each withdrawing stroke.

Light from the streetlamp shined on that ruby colored blade as well, perhaps a preview of what it would look like when it was covered in Lilith's blood. Each of them had claim to vengeance and she had a great deal to pay for. The heinous abuse, violation and theft of his sovereignty was cause for Sam's claim. The murder of Dean and Laura's unborn child was Laura's claim, and the grievous wrongs done to those he loved; the rape and torture of his brother, the son of his soul; the attack that had almost killed Laura; and worst of all, the murder of his child were all Dean's claims.

The others moved somberly to where they stood, Imdugud grabbing Spencer by the jacket and dragging him along grinning, "Since you're going to join in the fray, you should be part of the 'go team' as well."

"Everybody ready?" Sam asked nodding at each affirmative.

Dean looked hard at Spencer, "Got your salt?"

Spencer nodded.

"Holy water?"

He nodded again.

"Pendants?"

The young agent slid the St. Quirinus medallion and another pendant, this one filled with a roiling bit of dark smoke that seemed to glow in the presence of the igigi, out of his shirt then tucked them back in after the elder man nodded.

"Shotgun loaded?"

Spencer cracked it, then snapped it closed, "I'm not particularly comfortable with this… these are people that just happen to be possessed."

"Believe me I'm not comfortable with the idea of you and a shotgun in the same place either, but the shells are loaded with rocksalt, unless you go for a headshot and get really lucky you're not gonna kill anyone." Dean admonished then sighed, "You got the exorcism memorized?"

"That was easy." Spencer smiled.

"Yeah alright mister photographic memory… listen, if you get in trouble and there's no one around, get yourself somewhere with limited access, a shed, an enclosed alcove, salt the windows and doors and recite that exorcism for as long as you can. The point is, sit tight until help comes is that understood?" Dean ordered.

Spencer nodded and in spite of the shaky smile that turned up the corners of his mouth, his eyes sparkled with anticipation. Everyone present wondered what would become of him when all this was over and he returned to his daily life, including him.

"Any questions?" Dean asked one last time as he moved to Cernunnos' side at the edge of the veil.

"Okay then," he nodded a moment later and turned taking the deity's hand in his left while the fingers of his right hooked into the 'fabric' between worlds.

"Easy now," the Celt directed softly as Dean tugged gently and began a slide that would take their position right into the center of the neighborhood in which Lilith was hiding. He pulled gently on the veil, watching his feet until they reached the first marker of her wards. Cernunnos squeezed his hand and nodded, "Have faith."

Dean looked over his shoulder at Laura, "Be ready."

She nodded.

"Sam." He double checked, glancing at the younger man standing beside what could have been a transparent tube full of very aggravated igigi.

"Ready."

He drew a breath while everyone else held theirs, sank his fingers deeper and tightened his grip as the toe of his shoe seemed to rest against the outer edge of the ward. Just as Cernunnos had told him, he gave a hard strong pull, almost as if he was swimming and as his shoe crossed the ward he ordered, "Now Sam!"

At the edge of their containment Sam slid his foot over the border of the trap, breaking the line and ordered the starving creatures, "Go now and feast!"

The air shuddered with the passage of thousands of hungry and angry igigi as they stormed to freedom, drawn by the illuminated ancient signs that invited them to feed on the hundreds of demons that had been tagged in the area.

As soon as the igigi flew, Imdugud unfolded from within his human host and took wing, unleashing his swarms as soon as he was free of the veil. Next the sidhe squad led Bobby and Spencer out into the night, depositing them gently just inside the perimeter to go ahead and fan out. As the grotto of the realm continued to slide into the neighborhood Dean and Sam saw Bobby crouch down and show Spencer how to break the ward so that if any of them somehow stepped beyond it they wouldn't be kept out of the fight.

Seconds later the realm drew to a halt smack in the middle of a cul de sac and out of apparent nothingness the trio emerged into darkness as streetlamps, porch lights and every source of illumination that had an electrical basis failed.

In spite of the sudden lack of light, layers of black and gray shadows swarming and moving told them two things; the igigi were feeding, and Lilith had anticipated an attack. On the ground lay at least a dozen hosts in the process of being freed of their demonic captors.

"Stay frosty." Dean urged quietly scoping left and right, doing his best to penetrate the pervasive darkness, seeking hidden dangers, snipers, demons laying in wait to ambush them.

As one they spotted Imdugud hovering over the succubus' home and as planned, Dean and Sam split up, one slinking into the shadows near the porch, the other moving stealthily into the back yard while Laura moved boldly up the front walkway and without a second's hesitation kicked in the front door splintering the lock out of the jamb.

She moved with a speed and proficiency that left Dean staring from the front porch as he watched her bend backwards, evading a shotgun blast seconds before kicking the weapon from the man's hands, righting herself and catching it before the unsuspecting guy knew what had happened. Damn, got a little black mamba action going on there. He couldn't help but smile as she turned the gun on Lilith's would-be defender quickly and knocked him out with the butt of it.

A flash of silver caught his eye through the window and he had to hold himself back from shouting a warning as she turned with the gun in hand and batted the blade to the side where it landed impotently on the tile flooring.

The two women stood face to face. Hatred blazed from the succubus and yet was unable to penetrate the calm certainty in her enemy's eyes. She raised her hand as her eyes went white and though a breeze blew through the foyer, when she stopped gasping for the exertion, the embodied goddess of war still stood appearing almost bored. Again she raised her hand, this time white light seemed to flow with incredible intensity for long burning seconds that blistered and set fire to the wall behind the emissary yet left the woman untouched.

"Then I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way!" Lilith promised with a hint of a shiver beneath the snarl. The blade sprang from the tile back into her hand and she charged toward Ina, the knife high and gleaming in the darkness.

OOooOO

Spencer ran forward sliding another shell into the shotgun and snapping it closed just as Bobby turned in his assailant's grip, head butted the man and slid away a split second before the blast tore past him knocking the demon and its host flat on its back.

"Good shootin' kid," he praised grabbing the young agent by the arm and dragging him down to his knees, "You, exorcise this son of a bitch then get back to the sidhe at the rear and make sure none of these bastards get loose we don't know what kind of backup they've got waiting." He nodded at Spencer, "Remember, draw them to the traps and you get going on those exorcisms... do NOT enter the trap no matter what they say!"

"Understood."

"And no matter what happens you keep going till the demons are out of the hosts, you may lose some of 'em." He squeezed the young mans' shoulder.

Spencer nodded and as directed began to incant the exorcism that would set the man on the ground free while Bobby, with his shotgun across his chest ran toward the succubus and the two boys he loved like sons.

On the ground the body of the man, under the pressure of holy words in the air began to buck and the demon within to curse and taunt the FBI agent. All around them, only the sounds of the two distinct voices seemed to matter, none of the other scuffles made a sound as sidhe emerged from shadows to shoot sleep-draught laden darts at fleeing hosts then drag them with surprising strength toward the nearest trap, one or two of them even had igigi lingering close by, scooping handfuls of demon into their piggish slavering mouths. A shiver ran up Spencer's spine and the true nature of what he'd gotten involved in crested and loomed over his psyche very much like a wave threatening to fall on the world he knew and replace it with a world he didn't in which only the merest fragments of reality remained identifiable. No, not yet, there'll be time later. He assured himself and discovered a huge sense of gratitude that every one of these new friends was doing everything possible to shield him while still allowing him to be part of what was happening. There are eleven of us... eleven's a number of power.

On the ground the hosts' scream as the column of demon smoke erupted into the sky brought his attention back to the moment, and the realization that somehow the sound had been turned back on. Charging footsteps snapped his head up, his gaze fixing quickly on an athletic blonde with murder in her eyes storming at him over the tarmac. Looks like J.J. he noted throwing himself out of her path. He raised the shotgun, sighted quickly and squeezed the trigger before he remembered, he hadn't reloaded it yet.

OOooOO

"DEAN STOP!" Sam called bursting through the back door while Lilith ran out the front, using the wraith's attack on Laura to aid her escape. "DEAN!" He curled his arm around his brother's neck, trying to peel him from the barely gasping woman on the floor.

Her eyes fell to Sam's as another shotgun blast ripped the night from down the street, "Get her..." Laura croaked bringing her hands up sharply against the inside of Dean's elbows, breaking his grip on her throat and leaving her panting hard for air.

Sam rose, edged to the front door and wavered.

"Go!" she choked and reached up head butting the wraith before throwing Dean's body off to the side and turning the tables by pinning his arms up under his own back. In the doorway Sam turned and ran after Lilith's host.

C'mon sweetie, kick this fucker to the curb! Don't make me bind you... you can do this easy! Laura thought trying to will him any strength he might need to do the job himself. With everything else he'd discovered lately, about what he'd suffered and what he'd done in hell, as well as what he was destined to do, he needed an internal 'win' and there was nothing that would stop her from helping him achieve that.

The wraith saw its opportunity and bucked its hosts' body turning his once crystal green eyes to hers, the writhing shades of chalky gray and black an unmistakable sign as to the depth of its grip on him.

"Fight this thing Dean!" she called, "You're stronger than any pissy little wraith!"

His arm came like a two by four, batting her across the hall and into the wall where she hung for a moment before breaking free of the plaster and landing on her feet.

"Enki you must stand up to this thing and protect your vessel!" She urged stalking toward him.

"No amount of praying will save you." The creature taunted.

"He will fight you and he will win." She smiled as they crouched in mirrored positions and the circling began.

"He is weak and a coward," it sneered, "afraid of his own power. But I'm not afraid, so now what was his is mine." It leaped through the few feet separating them, in its right hand the machete had returned to its originally forged state and its edge came toward her neck powered by a wide driving arc.

OOooOO

Don't hurt her Dean, please. After all, Sam knew she'd never hurt Dean. Where'd she go... I have to end this. I'll never have another chance like this. He searched the shadows, reaching out with his senses, listening for footfalls, feeling shifts in the air currents, smelling wafting tendrils of fear criss crossing through the cul de sac, and watching for moving variations in brightness that could easily betray an ancient demon on the run, but not more ancient than we... you don't stand a chance against me Lamashtu... you're right to run. Power coursed through him, everything coming to a head fueling his fire and stoking the will of the divinity within. I have lived for millennia before you, and I will live for millennia after you are dust.

"MY KING!" The cry drew his attention upward, "This way!" Imdugud hovered, a line of locust dotting the trail for Marduk to follow.

The sound of footfalls turned Sam's head to the right as Bobby rounded the corner, his shotgun across his chest, racing toward the young hunter, "Go boy Go!" he urged.

"Get to the house!" Sam directed and took off after the trail of locust, save them.

Rows of shrubs that towered even over the youngest Winchester lined the neighboring yards, separating one from another as he followed the trail of humming insects into the darkness. Trees grew comparatively massive in the yards leaving the succubus far too many places to hide. Sam drew to a halt at one of the hovering insects, then brought his hand up beneath it and brought it close to his mouth, "Tell your master, summon igigi, watch for her." It dashed into the sky as he followed the continued trail of its brethren into the dark.

OOooOO

"...en nomine deos sancti..." Spencer puffed wincing as the scream of the demon fleeing its host filled his ears, "... the tool has been awakened. It will kill them all and the empty vessel will be born to the world bringing with it hell onto the earth." The demon's words echoed in his head.

He lurched to his feet, oriented himself and raced toward the central cul de sac, the exact same direction he'd seen Bobby run. Before he reached the next corner a pair of sidhe appeared before him, their bows crossed to bar his way, "I have to tell them!" he slowed and halted before them.

He knew neither of them was the warrior Mustardseed, but it didn't change the fact that they were looking out for him. He turned a brief thought to Morgan, grateful that the far more experienced man had taken to him like his very own big brother, and wondered if he'd ever see him again.

"You have to hold the perimeter! Go!" he ordered wondering when he'd become able to see the dark swatches of igigi swirling in the velvet blue of the wee hours, all of them hunting and seeking demons on which to feed. The traps, each of them drawn into the perimeter they'd created within the veil, eleven of them were full with human hosts piled on top of one another as the ancient carrion eaters drew the demons out of them, sparing the humans not a single agony. The young man raced forward, taking the chance he had to by leaving everything else behind.

The closer he came to the epicenter the quieter everything became. Night sounds returned, the buzzing of Imdugud's swarm in the night, the occasional cricket, the rustling of large plants as large creatures pushed through them drew him onward. He followed the sounds, moving as quietly as he could through the shadows. He knew better than to call out and instead listened, a moment from his past came crashing back, a night in a cornfield, chasing a multiple personality messianic serial killer, J. J. was headed toward the barn. Pain as something collided into his skull, then something else and then blackness before the pain and fear ebbed and flowed for days, the quantity of which he had to be told. There was torture, there was a moment of blessed release as he died and yet more pain when he was brought back, and there was fear. It was the fear that had scarred him, pain dulled and was eventually forgotten, that was the bliss of the human condition, but fear was what left the deepest scars.

It all returned as another blonde stepped in front of him, her hands clamped on his shoulders, her fingers digging agonizingly into the joint capsules as her eyes turned solid white.

"Well what have we here," her lips curled back over her teeth sending Spencer's heart racing as his tongue tripped over the beginning of the ritual he'd been using all night, the opening nearly escaping him as he started to stammer even as her hand closed on his throat.

The words choked in his throat and stars danced in his eyes as her grip tightened. The world went quiet and darkness encroached at the edges of his vision until just as he felt himself diving into unconsciousness, he felt the ground beneath him and as his vision cleared he saw Sam standing a handful of yards away, his hand outstretched while copper veins of light and energy crackled over, through, and all around him.

Across the side yard he could see Lilith's host pressed and apparently somehow pinned against the side of a shed. A hand grasped him under the arm and hauled him to his feet, "Get back to the perimeter kid, yer outta your depth here." Bobby growled into his ear.

Lilith reached out toward Sam and though air stirred and light flashed the embodied deity stood unmoving before her. He turned his hand palm up and with it, the corner of his mouth turned ever so slightly.

From a few yards away Bobby and Spencer stood waiting, sensing something about to happen as Lilith's host body jerked against the shed wall and trickle of black smoke fell from her mouth and nose.

"No! You can't... you're not strong enough!" she choked before the body started to gag and shudder with the next outflow of smoke, this time small rivers sprang forth as she seemed to hiccough.

A scant second later as Sam started to close his fist, preparing to smother the life out of the ancient entity the body against the wall pitched its head backward and screamed loosing a flood of demon smoke into the night.

"NNNOOOOOOO!" Sam screamed enraged as the column twined and evaded narrowly the swirling masses of igigi to disappear into the darkness.

Against the shed wall the host collapsed to the ground.

"Mustardseed!" Bobby called then pointed to the woman as soon as the sidhe appeared, "Dart!" he indicated.

The warrior needed nothing else, a sleep draught dart lodged itself into her neck and before she had any idea of anything at all, she was out again.

"Thanks." He nodded as the warrior returned to his post at the perimeter then turned to Sam dropping his hand onto the young man's shoulder, "We need to get those demons in the traps exorcised, whatever of 'em's left that is and get this cleaned up before sunrise."

"I had her Bobby... she abandoned the host...." he shook his head and angled his face upward, "IMDUGUD!" he screamed furiously but there was no response from the demi-god and all around them the swarm was gone. Every fiber of his being trembled with a boiling rage he was hard pressed to contain. Instead he turned, his arm and hand shaking as he raised it toward a tree in the rear of the yard. Frustration burst out of him, exploding the base of the tree out from under the rest of it. The thunder rolled outward as his lips curled back over his teeth and while drawing back his right hand, thrust his left forward exploding what was left of the woody giant.

As splinters and freshly rendered mulch rained down over the area he collected himself and turned looking from Bobby to Spencer, both of them stunned pale with a tinge of green. Neither of them could have suspected he might be harboring that level of power.

Sam looked at Bobby, "Dean and Laura..." he said then motioned to the woman instructing Spencer, "Bring her, I can't touch her." He caught the look of curiosity on the young man's face and explained, "If I do I'll kill her."

"Ohkay," Spencer nodded and with Bobby's help hoisted the woman over his shoulders while Sam took off at a run back to the house where he'd last seen Dean and Laura preparing for what appeared to be mortal combat. Please let them both be okay, please!

OOooOO

A sharp singing metallic 'clang' penetrated the night as Sam neared the house, an obvious sound of battle that quickened his pace. Light flickered and crashing vibrations of destruction moved the air around him as he burst back through the front door, managing to move quietly until he could assess the situation, I failed to kill Lamashtu but I won't fail the ones I love.

He turned to the right following the sounds of the fight into the living room and stood staring at the sight of his big brother leaning over Laura, his sword in hand and pressing downward with all his weight behind it while her hands, protected by ruby colored mail gauntlets that her own short sword had become, held his blade aloft.

"You must come forward my love." Her voice rolled out into the room and Dean's body seemed to release a little.

"He will not win!" the wraith inside spat venomously in spite of the fact that it was greatly weakened by the protracted battle against the inhuman female.

"He already has." She smirked and managed to throw him back and off of her, the gauntlets quickly shifted, elongating and joining together at her fingertips to become a bo.

His sword came down across the bar and as she raised it up to intercept the blow the wraith stepped forward with a driving fist that sent her stumbling over an end table.

At the entryway to the living room Sam snarled and raised his hand, his eyes flared the color of hot bronze as Dean's body was literally picked up and flung across the room and into a brick wall beside the fireplace. You don't get to hurt her! If he'd taken a moment to look he would have seen a shifting in the color of his big brother's eyes, the churning gray and black giving way, being burnt out slowly by the growing copper brightness that told of Dean's hard earned, coming victory over the evil being that had pounced on his doubts and insecurities and tried to usurp his power for its own ends. But Sam's rage and frustration left his vision clouded, the power of his emotions on the verge of overwhelming him.

Laura, on all fours, dazed and tired frowned watching Dean fly across the room. In her hands, the bo drew together and broadened while flattening into a shiny shield that protected her upper body.

"Marduk? Release him... Dean is winning... he will defeat this interloper."

Sam's eyes burned and flicked to her, "He hurt you... AGAIN! How many times are you going to allow him to do you harm!?"

Pinned to the wall the wraith sneered, looking back and forth between the two. The expression on his face was a dead giveaway to the fact that the creature inside the man could not understand a word of the ancient tongue.

She rose to her feet and strode to the young man, the other two, standing in the front doorway continued to watch unseen as she stood before the vessel of her soul's son and cupped his cheek, "He could never truly harm me my son, you know this as well as you know his heart. Destruction is not his nature."

Sam pressed his cheek into her hand, a sigh escaped his lips, "Why has he let this... THING... use him like this?" Breath shuddered in his chest, "I don't understand why he's allowed it!"

She drew his head down to hers so their foreheads were pressed together, "His reasons are his own, they are not for us to know."

"Do YOU know?" He asked rubbing his temple against hers.

She shrugged and smiled, "He was the first. His power and desire brought life to an entire world, and that very same power and desire helped create the king who would surpass his sire," she stroked his cheek and reminded him, "Perhaps that same power is enough to end it all... including the ones he loves...Perhaps the power you embrace so easily is not so great, nor as potentially terrible as your father's after all. Perhaps his fear is less fear than prudence." She whispered conspiratorially.

Sam's head drew back, his expression though confused and obviously surprised by the idea of the possibility, quickly became shrouded in neutrality but the questioning in his eyes was not so easy to hide.

They turned as one to Dean who hung pressed against the wall, the black and gray roiling in his eyes slowly burned away by the growing strength of coppery light as his focus held firm on two of the people who mattered most to him in the world.

"Sssam?" he ground between clenched teeth.

The young hunter turned to his brother, closing the distance between them quickly.

Dean's hand raised up and fell gently on the younger man's shoulder, "You can draw it out without killing me now." He panted and gave a half smirk half smile that told the youngest Winchester, it was indeed his big brother who was talking.

"You sure?" Sam asked, "It could hurt you."

"Hurt when you shot me too..."

"Which time?" Sam asked blushing with the memories.

"Pick one."

"Jerk," Sam smiled shaking his head.

"Yeah yeah..." Dean nodded, his vision growing hazy as he panted through the pain of something inside him dying. The lack of a proper retort told Sam exactly just how bad off Dean really was. It took a moment before he realized in the darkness that the older man's clothes were glossy with blood, not sweat, and he suddenly understood why Laura had allowed him to toss her around. She'd been healed, he hadn't. Why didn't you just bind him like you were supposed to!? But again, he thought he probably knew. Dean needed to win this battle between him and the wraith on his own, without interference, without help.

The same cold greasy sweat he'd become far too familiar with over the last few years covered him again as he squeezed his little brother's shoulder. "I won Sam... it's enough. Just get it out of me."

The request for help jerked on the younger man's heart, his previous anger sliding away along with his uncertainties and fear of failure. There was something more important than his own desire for vengeance, and justice, there was a need for him to help and that meant more than anything else.

With a pat on the arm Laura moved to the front door where Bobby and Spencer stood watching everything unfold, "Outside you two..." she directed, "Can't take a chance on it getting in either of you."

"You okay?" Bobby asked just before Spencer could.

"I need a nap." She nodded smiling tiredly then closed the door behind them after shooing them out onto the porch.

Stiffly she lowered herself to the bottom step and nodded at Sam's questioning look, "Do it."

"Is it dead?" Sam asked his brother.

"Mostly dead all day..." Dean panted the joke as another spurt of blood from his side wound re-wet his shirt, "s'gonna hafta be enough Sammy."

"If you weren't wounded could you do it yourself?" Sam asked.

"Well I sure as hell wouldn't be hanging on the wall, bound by my..." he shook his head, the fact that he was confused was obvious, "son?" he asked weakly, "Who are you t'me Sam? I mean b'sides everything?"

Sam felt his eyes flood and shook his head while raising his hand, "I don't know anymore Dean," he whispered helplessly then gathered his focus.

OOooOO

"Dean?" Sam tapped the older man's cheeks, "Dean... c'mon man, talk t'me." He'd been unconscious for almost ten minutes while the sidhe re-closed his wound, and now that the blood flow had once again been staunched the youngest Winchester was starting to get nervous.

"HEY!" Came through the front door with the sound of a pounding fist, "Y'all okay in there!?" Bobby called, his expression twisted with several emotions, not the least of which was a little more than just a little fear while he cracked the door and peered through the slim opening.

Laura waved him in, but he didn't arrive alone. Spencer, pale and pasty looking with very wide and uncertain eyes followed, and just behind him a swirling mass of locust in the formation of a tube, very much like that which had contained the igigi... and inside that column writhed a mass of black demon smoke, behind that column drenched in solemnity and barely contained wrath, entered Imdugud.

Sam's head turned, his eyes locking onto the swirling column of insects and the black smoke contained within them. He read Imdugud's look and dared to hope before he asked in wonder, "Is that...?"

"A gift my king." The demi-god shot him a very self-satisfied grin before bowing deeply and approaching the two men on the floor, his glance moving from Dean back to Sam, "Is the king fallen?"

"Just resting," Dean mumbled and waved his right arm in the air before it flopped back to the floor. He turned his head, squinting and trying to make sense of what he was seeing. "What the ffff..."

"It's the succubus my king..." he drew a quick breath then leaned forward sniffing the air, and very familiar with the hot metallic scent of human blood. His eyes flicked from Dean back to Sam, "he requires care! I will take him to Cernunnos."

"The sihe were here, they patched him back up again." Laura sighed pushing herself off the bottom stair. At her side Spencer gently clasped her arm and searched her features, she wasn't just exhausted, but also had taken more than a few lumps in her fight with Dean.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked glancing down to her abdomen.

She smiled gently and pressed her hand to his cheek, "I'm good, thank you." She cocked her head to the side, "Where's the host?"

"The woman?" he asked.

"On the porch," Bobby answered, "we figured it might be best to make sure it couldn't take her back."

"Imdugud?" Laura laid her hand on the enormous and stony onyx arm marveling again that his flesh was warm like desert stone. She motioned toward the front door, bringing him with her, out of earshot of her men.

"Do it Sam." Dean pushed himself upright until he was resting against the small separation between the decimated living room and the foyer.

"You were first... you do have the power," the younger man spoke softly, "I can feel it. You could kill her without breaking a sweat."

Dean leaned back and closed his eyes with a faint smile on his lips, "I could." He agreed. "Killing is easy," he sighed and looked into his little brother's eyes, "I think you've seen that."

The child killer drawn and quartered on his own table returned to Sam and though he cracked a quick smile he nodded reluctantly.

"I'm good at it too," Dean breathed, "But I think for now I'll stick to something a little harder..."

Sam cocked an eyebrow questioningly at him.

"Creation." Dean smirked, "Besides... what she did to you... I felt it Sam. I felt it all. You deserve to be the one to do the job."

The young man blushed furiously, he'd had an idea that Dean knew more than he'd let on, but he couldn't have anticipated the older man experiencing everything she'd done, still he gave a faint shake of his head, "She killed your child Dean and almost killed Laura."

"Well, until we do have a kid, you come first. You know it, I know it and she knows it," he glanced toward the door where she was talking with Imdugud Bobby and Spencer, "why else do you think I can love her so much?"

Sam nodded and smiled, "I know."

"Vengeance is yours my king." Dean smirked as Sam rose to his full height and reached out with his hand, the glow of his power building in the depths of his eyes again as the swirling cage of locust began to glow as well before it moved to a clear place in the beginning of the hallway, between the outer living room wall and the stair case.

Laura crossed the foyer and slid to the floor beside Dean, twining his fingers in hers their heads fell together while their eyes remained glued to Sam and the swarm.

On the other side, near the front door, Imdugud stood close enough to protect Bobby and Spencer if anything should happen. They could all see the mass of Lilith's demon form roiling and pitching within the living cage, and as Sam's focus tightened and his hand turned up sparks of red and yellow popped intermittently sending the demon into a panic.

The living cage moved and bent as the fiery sparks came more frequently. They ebbed and flowed like a living thing, dancing like fire to the point where the succubus' demise was almost hypnotic. There was no sound save the crackling and the occasional pop of a locust as the ancient demon tried to break free. At one point she gave a sudden heave and lurched through a break in the insect wall rupturing like a spear toward Dean and Laura.

Laura turned quickly, straddling Dean's legs and wrapping him protectively into her arms at the same time Imdugud lurched toward them too.

Seconds later when nothing happened she turned, all of them watching stunned as the cord of escaping demon burned to dust blackening the hard wood floor until there was nothing left. Plaster dust fell, the floor trembled and buckled as the artifacts of the house, those that hadn't been demolished by Laura and Dean's fight anyway, finished falling to the floor, splitting or simply bursting with the change in pressure as the final seal was broken and the world prepared for the birth of something terrible.

Through the windows, lights from the outside flickered and exploded, car alarms blared to life and engine blocks exploded into the air like giant kernels of popcorn. A split second later every window in the cul de sac burst into rocket fire of glass shards.

"Hooooleeee hell..." Bobby breathed as the neighborhood burst into flame starting with the plant life, but many of the houses themselves quickly catching too. Heat shimmered over the sidewalk and blacktop, the asphalt looked like it was starting to breathe.

Spencer moved toward the door drawn by his curiosity about the external events and wondering if things were really that hot outside why it wasn't so inside this house as well. Fortunately Imdugud grasped him by the shirt then tossed him to the elder hunter, "These three are the only reason you're not already dust," he indicated Sam, Dean and Laura then took note of Sam's condition. The young hunter was shaking, sweating, and barely breathing for the concentration it required to contain and focus enough power to destroy the succubus. When the last speck of its essence lay among the dust breath burst out of the young hunter, and if not for Imdugud he would have fallen on his face.

In the living room the ceiling collapsed, the cloud of debris shrouding Sam from Dean's sight. The last thing he'd seen was his little brother falling.

"Sam?" Dean coughed and called the nervously, his fear easily audible. He struggled to rise but the Assyrian gave a couple quick flaps of his wings and cleared the air then lay the young man gently on the floor making sure to place his head in Dean's lap.

"He is spent my king, but he is perfectly well." The Assyrian assured him while assessing the stability of the structure that was currently keeping them all safe.

Spencer looked nervously from the inferno outside the front door back to the trio on the floor and moved quickly to lend a hand, "We have to get out of here, this place won't hold against that heat," he looked at Bobby, "how is that happening?" he asked as the door jamb burst into flames.

Bobby shook his head and helped Dean rise once Imdugud had Sam curled back into one of his arms.

"What will you do now that your war with her has ended?" Laura asked easily.

He turned and opened his hands toward the still swirling swarm, calling those that hadn't already succumbed to the rapidly rising temperature back home.

Without the winged creatures buzzing cacophony in the house, even the raging fires outside seemed nearly silent. Imdugud shrugged, that warped and rabid canine face actually smiling, "Go back to work... pestilence, famine, the burning winds and all that... protecting the offspring when called."

"We have to get out of here..." Spencer urged wiping torrents of sweat from his face as his cloths seemed to nearly vacuum seal him within them, exactly as the heat was doing to everyone else. "Besides, Lilith's gone, who is there to protect them from?" he asked.

"Help's coming kid don't worry." Bobby patted the young man's shoulder, whipped off his cap and swiped at his own rivers of sweat, pushing Spencer closer to the entryway to the family room even as flames ruptured upward from the piles of fallen debris on that side and on the other, they slavered over the hard wood floor and up the stairs.

Imdugud turned, "She may have been the first succubus, but she is certainly not the last." He turned and looked pointedly at Dean and Laura, "Now that she's dead the final seal has been broken and Lucifer will walk. I do not envy you the battles yet to come, but as it has always been... you have only to call."

Dean shook the creature's hand and nodded, "Thank you." As the floor beneath them all seemed to move, the effect of one floor seeming to hold its position while another layer moved would have been dizzying under any circumstances but until the fresh moist and far cooler air of the veiled realm helped them all clear their heads, it was downright nauseating.

Cernunnos looked over the haggard team, each of them including the sidhe covered in blood, sweat, soot and stinking of sulfuric fire; and shook his head then met Dean's eyes, "Cut it a little close don't you think?"

Sam moaned, coughed and started coming around, leaning on the Assyrian until he got his strength back, and just like everyone else, his eyes were drawn to the small town burning to the ground as Cernunnos guided the realm out of harm's way and brought it to rest once it reached the area of the Bell Rock vortex in Sedona.

OOooOO

"Isn't there some way all that can be fixed? Some kind of... I dunno spell or something?" Spencer asked, appalled by the destruction they'd simply left behind.

"Listen Spence," Dean looked from the patiently waiting sidhe just in front of the pinking horizon to the young man, "Just because the vessel Lilith was going to prep for him isn't on the list anymore doesn't mean he's not coming. You heard what Imdugud said, her death was the last seal to break. The apocalypse has started and Lucifer will walk." He dropped his hand on the young man's shoulder, understanding exactly how he felt with those wide disbelieving eyes as he shook his head at the impossibility.

"Things like Armageddon, the apocalypse, they're allegorical tales, they're cautionary they're not real!" he tried to deny.

Dean smiled gently, "Go back to your life and live it as well as you can for as long as you've got left. If you can, forget what you've seen this weekend, it'll make things a lot easier on you. But remember you're one of the good guys, if you don't fight against it you're helping it happen."

Spencer nodded, "All it takes for evil to persist is for good men to do nothing."

"Exactly." Dean smiled taking and shaking the younger man's hand, "Dr. Reid, it's been a pleasure working with you."

Spencer nodded and smiled tightly before stepping through the veil to return to the Red Roof Inn and do what he had to in order for his cover story to look legitimate when he got home. As he entered the hotel lobby he wondered if the greatest adventure of his life was over, or if everything he'd just seen and been part of was just a primer for more and greater adventures to come.

EPILOGUE

TWO DAYS LATER - FBI HEADQUARTERS – QUANTICO, VA.

11:30 P.M.

"Hey..." Morgan called lightly, pausing at the door and turning back to look at Spencer who sat at his desk apparently very deep in thought, "Y'alright kid?"

Spencer nodded and cracked a smile, "Yeah, just thinking."

"Anything you want to bounce around?" the ex-Chicago cop asked, Spencer had been quiet all day. The kid looked like he hadn't got a moment's rest all weekend and there was an eerie kind of calm around him that kinda went with the smell of sulfur that seemed to cling to him.

Dr. Reid shook his head, his smile broadening as he leaned back and glanced at the sheets of marker rubbings on his desk, "No thanks, just hypothesizing."

Morgan frowned, "You sure?"

"Yep."

"Alright Reid, see you tomorrow man."

God willing, he thought, "See you tomorrow." Once Morgan was gone and he was certain he was alone, Spencer leaned forward sliding aside the sheets of rubbings until he found what he was looking for, a copy of an old closed case file, beside the number on the tab was the name, Winchester.

He opened the folder looking at the mugshots taken of both Sam and Dean then skimmed their rap sheets all the way back to St. Louis. His eyes fell on the Agent In Charge's name, Victor Henricksen then pulled that file out from beneath this one and opened it, skimming sheet after sheet of detailed reports from Victor's findings written with an awful lot of FedSpeak meant to occlude the meaning of certain types of 'mysterious circumstances' to the photos of the Sheriff's station explosion that resulted in the agent's death minutes after he declared both Sam and Dean Winchester Dead in a helicopter explosion.

Leaning over he reached into his messenger bag and withdrew new leather bound snap tab journal. He cut the tags off and opened it to the first page, scratched out the pre-stamped date, double checked his calendar though he didn't have to, and began to write about the day he met Sam and Dean Winchester.

OOooOO

"Did you tell him?" Laura asked Dean while across the bar Sam had his arms wrapped around a curvaceous dark haired woman, swaying side to side while on the juke box Etta James sang about the love that finally came along.

"About which thing?" he asked.

"About the host."

"No. Not yet, he's been so thrashed since killing her I figured to give him a couple days rest," he smiled watching his little brother's lips meet the pretty girls', "Look." He nodded.

Laura smiled, "You should tell him in the morning. He needs to know the woman survived and that she's still pregnant."

Dean frowned and sighed heavily, "You don't think..." he started for about the tenth time that day.

"I don't know... like we figured earlier though... how else could she have survived a conflagration like that? Let alone without a scratch on her?"

Dean clasped her hand in his and brought it to his lips. "I'll tell him in the morning." He nodded smiling as Sam and the woman slid into a darkened corner, obviously content to take full measure of each other before probably indulging in some full pleasure.

Sam couldn't get enough of her in his hands, or enough of the taste of her, or the warm comfort of those soft curves against him as he moved her into a shadowy corner, his hands gliding and sliding, needing to feel everything he could at once.

He cupped her chin and turned her head, moving his lips from hers down to the base of her ear. Heat spread through him and his body hardened with wanting, her every moan and throaty vibration stirring him until he hurt. Breathless he rubbed his temple to hers. He filled his hands with her and breathed her in.

Nearly ready to burst with wanting he dropped his lips near her ear and panted, "Ina."

OOooOO

End.

Please R&R.

Thanks.

Sifi.