The cool, almost toxic liquid, burnt his throat as Dean took another shot. His vision was becoming blurrier by the second, the sound of the club drowned out by his heartbeat rising rapidly. 14 days. That was all the time he had before hell opened it's jaws and swallowed him whole. In just under a year they'd managed to accomplish nothing. There was no saving him, he'd come to terms with that. Which was exactly the reason he was washing away his problems with a few dozens drinks.

It was fine, he was used to it by now. It had taken a while for him to get the this point where he could simply forget everything and just let the clock tick. Of course Sammy had tried to help him at every possible opportunity, going so far as to enlist that demon bitch's help. Pushing that thought into the back of his head with another shot, he grimaced, slamming the empty glass back down on the bar, subsequently lining up the remaining two in front of him.

He had no idea how long he'd been in there. A fair few hours at least. Well all Dean knew was that the people around him had come and gone, leaving him still there, alone. Pathetic.

Raising one of the shots, he felt a force, pulling it from his hand, not even attempting to keep hold of it in his current drunken state. His gaze, followed the glass lazily, forcing himself to take in a deep breath just to stop him from throwing up. A brown leather jacket and dark green top came into view. As his gaze continued to follow the glass up the strangers figure, his eyebrows arched for a moment, a small smirk crossing his features as he caught sight of a nice pair of breasts just beneath her low-cut top. Nodding his head approvingly, his eyes finally fell on her face, his smirk dropping immediately.

"Damn Dean. You look like hell. Wait… poor choice of words." A short laugh escaped the woman's lips, before she raised the shot to them, downing it in one, the vodka not even making her blink.

"Ruby." Dean spat out, his eyes like daggers as he started at her, pulling himself up from the bar stool. Even her name felt worse on his tongue than the vodka. "Did Sammy send you? I'm gonna kill 'im." Drunk as he was, Dean wasn't about to let this bitch get the upper hand on him. Clenching one of his fists he stepped towards her, shaking his head and blinking, just trying to keep the room from spinning long enough to get land a good hit on her.

"Calm down. Your beloved brother didn't send me." Flicking her blonde locks over her shoulder, she noted his fist and the way he seemed to be approaching her. Not one to take chances, she took a hold of his fist as he began to raise it and in one swift movement had flipped him around and slammed him against the bar, holding his arm behind him back, keeping it from flailing around. Placing her other hand on the back of his head she brought it down hard into the cold metal of the bar, the shot glasses on the bar, clattering around him, a couple falling to the floor and shattering. "If I wanted to kill you Dean, I would have done it already."

"Son of a bitch!" Groaning in pain, he writhed under her grasp, starting to realise the patrons in the bar were forming a small crowd around the two of them, keeping a short distance away from them. Well at least he was starting to sober up, maybe it was due to the fact Ruby was here or she'd just slammed his head into the bar. Probably both. "Then what do you want?"

"You Dean." Dean's face contorted into one of disgust and he let out a short 'huh' sound. Rolling her eyes, Ruby grunted lowly. "Get your head out of the gutter! I wanted to see you before you were cast into eternal damnation. We need your help."

Struggling free of her, Dean pushed Ruby back, turning himself around to face her, his eyes constantly watching her. "We? So Sam did send you!"

"No Dean! He didn't ask me to but we both need you." Going to take a step towards him, Dean's fist clenched and he growled quietly under his breath. Maybe it was best to leave him.

"You need my help? Let me guess. Lilith? Forget it." What did they want him to do? Form a kamikaze run since he was about to die? Was that all he was good for now, just being cannon fodder? Sighing audibly, he picked up the last remaining shot glass, raising it in a half-hearted toast to Ruby before downing it. Stepping towards her, he pushed past her, barging his shoulder into hers, speaking over his shoulder as he passed. "Get out of here Ruby."

Exiting the club, he slammed the heavy door shut behind him, the pounding music, suddenly muted as he did. Crossing the alley, he approached the opposite wall, pressing his back to it and closing his eyes, letting the cool breeze wash over him. The sooner he was rid of Ruby the better in his opinion. Listening to Sam's constant droning on about saving his soul and killing Lilith had forced him to leave. All those speeches about killing every demon between him and perdition had grown tiresome. If he was gonna go out, it was gonna be drunk and surrounded by women.

"Dean.."

Leaning on the wall beside him, Ruby turned her gaze towards him, folding her arms along her chest. For the first time, Dean thought he could hear empathy in Ruby's voice. "You're full of shit you know that?" And the moment was gone.

"What do you want from me Ruby? I'm tired okay? Tired of fighting, tired of hunting. I just want to die in peace."

Now it was Ruby's turn for a surprise. Was Dean actually opening up to her?

"I've spent my whole life hunting demons and fighting the good fight. And for what? Satisfaction of a job well done? Because you know what, the truth is Ruby. There is no happy ending. If I don't die in two weeks time then something's going come along in a year's time and finish the job. You and Sam might as well just expect that and move on."

Expecting a witty retort or a rebuke of some sort from Ruby, he was instead met with nothing. She simply stepped away from him and nodded her head in his direction. "See you around Winchester."