Here I stand, helpless and left for dead.

Close your eyes, so many days go by.
Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right.

I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies.

I won't stay long, in this world so wrong.

Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.

Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight

LUCIFER RISING

1972
St. Mary's Convent
Ilchester, Maryland

Amanda O'Malley's POV

It had been three years. Not long at all in the grand scheme of things. I could still hear my Dad's screams as I shoved that blade into his stomach and felt the warm, wet blood seep over my hands. He'd died slowly, by my hand, and there had been nothing I could do to stop it.

I would have surely gone the same way had my cousin Patrick not intervened. He saved me, and after he got through telling me that our family was being stalked by a demon - one that could no longer hurt me because he'd sent it back to Hell - I ran. As quickly and as far as my legs would carry me. And I'd landed here in Ilchester, close to where my mother had grown up.

I'd had nowhere to go, I'd cut ties with Patrick, I had no one. No one except the church. One couldn't really go through an experience like I had without becoming a believer in something out there. If there were demons, it stood to reason that there were angels, and if that were the case, then there was God too. The convent took me in, and I had spent the last three years in dedication to its work.

"Sister Mary Sophia," said one of the older sisters, coming up to me. I'd taken the name of my grandmother when I took the cloth. I was only eighteen, and one of the youngest converts in the convent. As such I was often called upon to run errands.

"Good morning Sister Mary Augustine," I said with a smile, taking in the kindly old woman's face. "How are you today?"

"Well, thank you," replied Augustine with a short nod. "We would like you to take Sister Francis into town after morning mass for errands."

"Of course," I said with another slight nod and smile.

We came to the chapel, and fell silent upon entering. The day was bright and cheerful, shining through the stained glass windows at the front. I knelt in front of the altar, and then ducked into a pew, kneeling to begin the morning prayers as we waited for Father Peter.

I had fallen into a deep meditation by the time the Father began to give the morning rites. He stood facing the crucifix that was suspended over the windows, and I roused myself out of my deep state of thought as he continued to speak.

"Our Father, who art in... heaven. Thy kingdom come, blah, blah, blah. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us... from evil," he said, and I frowned, listening to his laissez faire attitude. He turned and walked down the aisle, speaking as he moved. "Truer words never spoken, sisters. But sometimes it seems as if it's difficult to know the Creator. Sometimes I feel, in a very literal sense, that I have been wandering the desert for years. Looking for our Father."

The other seven nuns were nodding, and it was as if they weren't really hearing him. I turned around in time to see him bolt the door, and a stab of coldness ran up my spine.

"Well, not our Father, my Father. See, he's in jail. Your dad put him there," he said. I glanced at Augustine who was starting to look nervously about at the others. Several of the others fidgeted in their seats and I climbed to my feet, keeping myself low in the pew so it still looked like I was kneeling.

"I almost gave up hope. But, ye of little faith, because I finally found him - or at least, you know, a spot where his cage door opens. It's right here. In a damn convent, for God's sake. Life is funny." He was rambling and making no sense.

"Um, Father?" I asked, and he spun around.

"Shut your friggin' piehole, you little slut!" He snapped and I gasped. This was not Father Peter. I'd heard language like that before. He grinned, and I sat stunned. He watched me, and I knew that it was a foolish and pointless effort to get up and run, even though every fibre in my body was screaming at me to do so.

"Then again," Father Peter continued. "I suppose it makes sense. Folks forget my Daddy is an angel, after all. Or was. I mean, I suppose some dumb bastard stood here, felt a jolt of his holy juice and thought, I'm gonna build me a nun factory. You know? It's the right idea. Wrong angel." He blinked, and I swore his eyes turned yellow as he looked out on the eight of us, drawing a large knife.

"So, uh, if any of you gals are the praying type, now would be a good time to start," he said, and he advanced on Augustine, the oldest, first. I heard screams as I started to panic and run for the back of the chapel. I had to get out. Patrick, if I could just get to him, he would know what to do. Just as I thought I could get free, I was lifted off the ground and spun around. It was only then that I knew my time was up, and I started to pray.

Present Day
Bobby's House

Beth's POV

It had been a long, tired ride back to Bobby's, we'd worn it in silence. As soon as we'd arrived at the house I'd come upstairs to our room – the spare room that we'd shared so many nights in as teenagers. Dean had stayed down to tell Bobby what had happened, and to be doctored for the bruising and injuries he'd sustained from Sam's attack.

Kneeling on the ground, I rummaged through my duffel, pulling out my angel candle, the type I'd carried with me all my life. I'd only just recently replaced it with a new one, when the candle I'd used all through Dean's time in Hell finally burned itself down to the last ounce of wax.

The little room was soon bathed in soft candlelight as I placed the candle on the window sill, staring out through the glass at the stars. I couldn't even put into words the last twenty-four hours, and who was I going to pray to anyway? I couldn't fathom that anyone was actually listening - even though I knew Cas and his entire line could hear me easiest. He didn't seem to be as present as he had been prior to his return to Heaven. Whatever had happened up there, he wasn't talking about. Where had they been in helping with Sam? Where had they been when Ruby had possessed me and taken my father from me?

Still I continued to pray. It was no wonder Dean thought I was mad sometimes. Yet it was also the thing, I had no doubt, which had brought Dean back to me: even he believed that.

I sighed heavily, rubbing the tears from my eyes as I thought about everything going on inside of me.

"I don't know who is listening… I don't know if anyone is listening," I said quietly, dropping my gaze to look at the flickering flame before me. No one answered. I sighed again and cleared my throat, sniffing back some more tears.

"So… Cas… Ezekiel… God? I don't know, I don't even know who to talk to anymore. I don't know what your plan is here, but it sucks. My whole family is falling apart… again! What do you want from us? I mean, really… what do you want from us? How much do we have to give? Did you know about Ruby? Because I can't even… I don't even know what to say about that. I … oh please just help me to process that, because I am just numb." My words dropped off, and I thought about how long Dean had known, how he hadn't told me.

I think that hurt more than anything. Why wouldn't he have told me? I told him everything! Sobs started to escape me, and I let them fall without checking. I poured the pain out into the candle, letting it burn it away. I didn't want to carry it, I couldn't be angry at Dean, I didn't want to be. Sam was the one who had hurt me more. He'd been my brother for as long as I could remember, and he'd chosen a demon over me, over his own brother.

At least in his lies, Dean had done it to protect me. I had no idea what Sam was doing. "We have given everything, Cas. We tried so hard to keep him safe, to keep him from going off with that… I don't know where we failed. When he stopped listening. Why you haven't been listening to my prayers to help him. He's a scared, lost boy… that's all. He thinks he's doing the right thing to protect Dean and me. He can't see how far he's gone off the right track."

"We can't lose him. We have to do what we can to save him from himself. That's what Dad would have wanted, it's what Dean promised, it's what I did. And Dean, he's so angry, and hurt, and betrayed…" I started to cry again, the sound of footsteps sounding outside the door. It had to be Dean.

He hesitated when he heard me and I tried to stifle the noise. I blew out the candle and stood up, moving to open the door. Dean took a step back when it moved and looked at me guiltily.

"I wasn't… I mean… sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Seeing him all tied up in knots over what to say to me was worse than anything else. I could see how much he loved me, how much he'd been trying to spare me the pain of the truth. Years of conditioning and training from John died hard - even when I had a right to be angry, I found it hard to to stay that way. I stuffed it down and pushed it out of my mind all the time - just like Dean did - because we were family, and family stuck together.

"Shut up," I whispered, pulling him into the room and shutting the door.

"Beth…" His arms hung limply at his side and I shook my head, grabbing his hands and sliding them around my waist.

"Shhh," I said again, stepping in to him and burying my face under his chin. "Don't try to fix it. It's done."

I felt him sigh, but his arms tightened around and he let out a long breath.

"I am going to fix this," he said, and the corner of my mouth twitched up with his stubbornness.

"There's no fixing any of this Dean, not without going after Sam."

"We're not going after him," Dean replied. "He's made his choice."

"A stupid choice," I said, feeling my frustration rise to the surface. I felt as helpless and annoyed as I did the time he left for Stanford, only this time we were old enough to make our own decisions about whether or not to go after our little brother - we didn't have to follow John's orders.

"He's still made it; we have bigger things to worry about now," Dean said. I pulled back and looked into his eyes, the room was dark. Reaching out, I flipped the switch on the bedside lamp and the room became filled with light. There was a single bed tucked into the corner of the room, in addition to the double we always slept in. That had been Sam's bed all those years ago.

"No, Dean. We promised Dad, and I intend to keep that promise," I said. There was also the added bonus that wherever Sam was, Ruby was bound to be – and I had a permanent death in mind for her. I was pushing the promise to John too, but anything was worth a try.

"Yeah, and I promised that if he got out of control, I'd end him, Beth." Dean said. "Now I'm not sure either of us are ready for that just yet. So better to leave well enough alone."

"I can't just leave him alone," I said, shaking my head. "He's our responsibility."

"Beth I promised Cas, heck I promised God and everyone else that I'd do whatever it took to put Lucifer down. I don't know where Sam is, I don't know what he's got planned, but I can tell you right now that we have got bigger, more important things to be worried about."

I ran my hands up his chest and linked my fingers behind his neck, grasping him as I held his quietly. I sniffed a few times and blinked the tears out of my eyes. I could feel the resistance in him and I knew that I was talking to a brick wall.

"We're going to lose him," I whispered. "Don't let your stubborn pride get in the way like Dad always did with him, Dean."

"Pride?" He asked, shaking his head. "Beth, this is more than an ego spat. This is Sam through and through. He has always turned his back on us when the going got tough. Always thought he knew better."

"Dammit Dean you're starting to sound just like Dad," I said, feeling my heart ache a little. If there was one thing he'd promised me all those years ago, it was to not let himself become John. He'd promised me to be better than that, that he'd give us more than John had ever allowed us to have.

"Then so be it, Beth," he replied. "Because frankly I'm done chasing his sorry ass."

Next Day
Farmhouse

Sam's POV

We'd spent the night at an abandoned farmhouse, not that I slept. I had tossed and turned all night, thinking about everything that had happened. Beth's face when Dean told her about Ruby had been gut wrenching to see. Now I was putting my trust in that very demon, one who was reformed, but still had caused so much harm. How was I ever going to repair things with my sister after all this was over? Then again, the chances of me coming through this alive were pretty much zero, so I guess I didn't have to worry about that in the big scheme of things.

"Sam?" Ruby's voice snapped me back to the present and I glanced over at her. She was watching me with intense eyes, taking in the mood and my silence. "Your head in the game here?"

I didn't reply right away. Then I made the decision to push Dean and Beth out of my mind. I had a job to do. I knew that, Ruby knew it, even they knew it – they just didn't want to admit to it.

"I'm good," I replied with a nod. "Let's go."

"You okay?" She checked. I frowned at her, feeling the frustration of the whole situation rise to the surface. Of course I wasn't okay, but I had to be. I had to see this through for everyone. Putting a stop to Lilith was the most important thing on the to-do list, and that wasn't going to happen without Ruby, and without doing the one thing Dean and Beth wanted me to stop.

"I just said I was," I replied, but she didn't look very convinced.

"Look, I know hand-holding really isn't my thing... but still, Dean was wrong, saying what he said to you," Ruby said, it showed me how genuine she was about me and the mission, that she was worried about Dean, and our relationship.

"No," I disagreed, shaking my head. "He was right to say it. I mean, I don't blame him after what I did."

"Well, after we're done, you guys will patch things up. I mean, you always do," Ruby said, trying to console me.

"You're talking like I've got an 'after'," I said to her and she frowned, looking concerned.

"Don't say that."

"I can feel it inside me, Ruby," I said, closing my eyes and concentrating on the darkness within, the power that allowed me to kill demons. "I've changed… for good. And there's no going back now."

"Sam…"

"Look, I know what I gotta do," I said. "It's okay, I'm just saying, Dean and Beth are better off as far away from me as possible." I thought about that statement and I realised how true it was. Their lives would have been so different if I wasn't here. If they'd never gotten me from Stanford everything would be different for them. Now they had demons – literal and figurative – to battle, and all this could have been prevented if I'd just stayed as far away from them as possible.

"Anyways," I continued. "Doesn't matter, let's just get this done with." Soon things could go back to the way they should have been. Dean and Beth would be upset, but they'd move on, they'd get over it.

Library
Bobby's House

Dean's POV

Beth was perched on the corner of the couch, and I could feel her eyes boring holes into the back of my head as I stared out the window, lost in thought. Bobby had been on our backs from the moment we returned, lecturing me about Sam and our responsibility toward him. Did he think I didn't know what I was meant to be doing? Did he think I hadn't thought this through? Then Beth had started on me when I went up to bed, and I had to put my foot down.

Did they not see that if we went after Sam, something terrible was going to happen? I couldn't shake the feeling that Dad had been right. If I couldn't stop Sam, I was going to have to kill him. Right now, I was trying to avoid that eventuality.

"Dean?" Bobby asked, stopping by the desk that was by the window. "Dean! You listen to a word I said?"

"Yeah, I heard you," I said, not turning from the window and looking back at the older man who was frowning daggers at me. "I'm not calling him."

"Don't make me get my gun, boy," Bobby threatened. Beth smirked and shook her head, knowing he was unlikely to do it, yet it was his go-to approach for problem solving issues with stubborn Winchester men. Almost six years ago Bobby had taken the shotgun to John, when he found out about the relationship his daughter Cole had been having with my much older father. We hadn't seen Bobby in years after that, not until Dad went missing.

I turned to face Bobby, my expression sullen and brooding. "We are damn near kickoff for Armageddon, don't you think we got bigger fish at the moment?" I asked, walking away from the window toward the kitchen. I turned before I got through the arch and looked at him.

Bobby sighed, simply watching me. "I know you're pissed. And I'm not making apologies for what he's done, but he's your…"

"Blood?" I cut in. "He's my blood, is that what you were gonna say?"

"He's your brother," Bobby said, looking from Beth to me. "Both of you! And he's drowning."

"Bobby, we tried to help him, we did," Beth said softly, and I started thinking about how hard out we'd gone to find him. I spotted Beth looking over me, and she gestured in my direction. "Look what happened."

Bobby frowned. "So try again."

"It's too late," I said.

"There's no such thing," Bobby replied, and I started to wonder if he hadn't received the same orders from Dad that we had at some point. I understood it, Sam was like a son to Bobby, just like we were his surrogate children too.

"No, dammit!" I snapped. "No. I gotta face the facts. Sam never wanted part of this family. He hated this life growing up. Ran away to Stanford first chance he got. Now it's like déjà vu all over again." I sat down on a chair and glanced over at Beth.

"Well, I am sick and tired of chasing him. Screw him, he can do what he wants."

"You don't mean that," Bobby said.

"Yes, I do, Bobby," I replied. "Sam's gone. He's gone. I'm not even sure if he's still our brother anymore. If he ever was." He'd had that demon blood in him a long time. How much of it had been him and how much had it influenced him? I could hear the insanity in what I was saying, but I had to feel it. I had to let it out. This was the only way. I had to let him go, or I was going to have to kill him. I looked down at my hands, hearing Bobby move.

He turned to lean on the table near me, and his expression was one of pure anger, frustration and disgust. After a moment he let out a cry of annoyance, and swept his hands out to the side. The movement sent papers and books flying to the ground. He turned on me and I stood up to face him as we came chest to chest.

"You stupid, stupid son of a bitch!" He yelled at me. "Well, boo hoo, I am so sorry your feelings are hurt, princess! Are you under the impression that family's supposed to make you feel good?! Make you an apple pie, maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable! That's why they're family!"

I let my eyes go stone cold, showing him how much this was Sam's choice, and not mine. "I told him, "you walk out that door, don't come back" and he walked out anyway! That was his choice!" I said.

"You sound like a whiny brat," Bobby said, and then he scowled at me when I brushed past him, heading back to the window. "No, you sound like your Dad. Well, let me tell you something. Your Dad was a coward."

"Bobby!" Beth stood up and moved to stand near us.

I smirked, turning to face him and shaking my head. "My dad was a lot of things, Bobby, but a coward?"

"He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him. Well, that don't strike me as brave. You are a better man than your Daddy ever was. So you do both of us a favour. Don't be him." The comment stung because Beth had said something similar to me last night. Maybe they had a point? I turned back to the window and stared out of it, processing what he'd said. Beth had asked me last night to go after Sam, even knowing what he'd done, she still thought he was worth saving.

Sighing, I turned from the window, to tell them I'd call him… and everything was different. I was staring at a grand hall. Bobby and Beth were gone. Instead I was surrounded by white walls, with gold architraves and arches – paintings on the walls of angels and such, looking like they'd been pulled straight out of the Renaissance. I spun around, looking for Beth, and came face to face with Cas.

"Hello, Dean. It's almost time."

Later That Night
Hospital

Sam's POV

Ruby's intel had been good. She'd tracked Lilith's demon chef to a nearby hospital, and we'd followed the possessed nurse around until we'd been sure of which one would be taking the baby from the hospital. How anyone, even a demon, could want to hurt a child was beyond me… but then I thought about Lilith and the children she liked to mess with. We were dealing with a whole different breed of evil.

"Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can…" I could hear the sing song of the demon as she pushed a bassinette containing a newborn baby down a corridor toward us. "Pat it and roll it, and mark it with a 'B', and put it in the over…." I extended my hand, focusing on the demon inside, the thing I could affect. As soon as she was in range, I hooked my power into her, and lifted – sending her hurtling against the far wall, as far away from the baby as possible. I held her energetically, keeping my exterior calm and collected as Ruby and I walked up to her.

"So," I said, watching her black eyes bore into mine. "We need to talk."

Chapel
Blue Earth, Minnesota

Beth's POV

I entered the basement of the chapel, the one that had once belonged to Pastor Jim, where my father had spent a lot of my childhood. Jefferson kept their journals locked away here now, and that was where I was going. I flipped the switch to the room, listening to the other end of my phone.

"Yeah, Bobby, I will call you as soon as I find something. It has to be Cas or one of the other angels that took him," I said.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because they want him to fight their battles for them," I said, and I pushed a hidden button under a railing on the wall. "Besides, only angels have the power to teleport people around like that, not even Lilith could pull that off." I opened the cupboard next to the button, and what had once been a space to hold communion wine and eucharist wafers was now a panel of shelves, dozens of journals tucked away. "But if they want to play hardball, then let them. I have some tricks of my own."

Bobby hung up and I dialled Dean again, hearing the call go straight to voicemail. I cursed, pulling one of my father's journals down from the shelf. Time to get reading if I wanted more information on angels and demons, and how I was going to get Dean back.

Lavish Room
Location Unknown

Dean's POV

Everything in the room was over the top and expensive in taste. The massive marble table was doing my head in, I wasn't sure I'd seen anything quite that large before. Cas had disappeared almost as soon as I'd arrived. I was now prowling the room like a caged animal, wondering how I was supposed to get out of here and back to Beth, back to finding Sam.

I wandered over to look at a painting: there was nothing too particularly interesting about it too capture my attention for long, and so I went back to prowling. Imagine my surprise to find that marble table with a big silver bowl full of ice and beers, and not far away was a platter covered in a pile of burgers. I raised an eyebrow, moving to pick up a beer and look at it. It was my favourite, and you couldn't just get it anywhere.

"Hello, Dean. You're looking fit," came the annoying voice of Zachariah, the same angel we'd met a short time ago when he'd tried to convince Beth and I that this was our destiny.

I put the beer bottle down, and looked up to see him standing there with Cas. "Well, how 'bout this? 'The Suite Life of Zach and Cas," I said, thinking about that stupid show Beth and I had got stuck watching at one point. They looked at me blankly and I started to explain. "It's a... never mind." They were never going to get it. I changed tactic, gesturing to the room. " So, what is this? Where the Hell am I?"

"Call it a Green room. We're closing in on the grand finale, here. We want to keep you safe before showtime," Zachariah answered, and he waved his hand at the food on the table. "Try a burger. They're your favourite. From that seaside shack in Delaware. You were 11, I think." I frowned and shook my head.

"I'm not hungry," I replied. I wasn't impressed that they'd just yanked me out of Bobby's living room, and I was hardly going to play ball when I had no idea if Beth knew where I was - how she was reacting. Things just seemed to be going from bad to worse for us lately.

"No?" Zachariah asked, oblivious to my moodiness. "How about Ginger from season 2 of Gilligan's Island? You do have a thing for her, don't you? We'll throw in MaryAnn for free."

"Tempting about fifteen years ago, dude… now just…weird. Let's bail on the holodeck, okay? You want to give me something I want? Let's start with my wife. Where is Beth?"

"She's safe, but we need you focused and on point here. She's a distraction," Zach said and I crossed my arms, looking at him.

"A distraction? And separating me from her isn't? I want to know what the game plan here is," I said, and it occurred to me that Beth could be somewhere completely different to Bobby's. What if they'd decided to secret her away to some green room to wait out the Apocalypse and make me toe the line?

"Let us worry about that. We want you... focused, relaxed," Zach said.

"Well, I'm about to be pissed and leaving, so start talking, Chuckles." I replied. If they weren't going to tell me where Beth was, I would find her myself.

Zachariah sighed, shaking his head as he walked past me, then glancing back at me. "All the seals have fallen. Except one," he confessed.

"That's an impressive score. That's... that's right up there with the Washington Generals," I said.

"You think sarcasm's appropriate, do you? Considering... you started all this?" He asked, and I bit back a comment. He was right about that much. "But the final seal... it'll be different." He knew how to get me, push my buttons. I was more than aware that I had started this. I also knew I was the one who had to stop this whole thing because of it.

"Why?" I asked curiously, trying to get more information about the situation.

"Lilith has to break it. She's the only one who can. Tomorrow night – midnight," he replied.

"Where?" I asked, feeling an urgency settle into my chest as he mentioned Lilith and the final seal.

"We're working on it." Something about that just made me furious. How could they know so much, yet be so completely out of the picture with other things? They were angels! They should have a finger in all the pies - know what was going on with everything!

"Well," I said. "Work harder."

"We'll do our job. You just make sure you do yours," Zach said to me.

"Yeah, and what is that, exactly? If I'm supposed to be the one that stops her, how? With the knife?" I asked. I'd been giving this a lot of thought. I mean, Sam hadn't been entirely wrong when he talked about his psychic skills – the man was strong. What the hell was I supposed to use to kill this bitch? At least with Beth and Sam by my side, I had back-up. I wasn't likely to get any of that from these chumps.

"All in good time," Zachariah said with this sickeningly annoying smile on his smug round face.

"Isn't now a good time?" I pointed out. I mean, they were pretty much telling me the end was nigh.

"Have faith," he replied. I snorted, shaking my head at him.

"Yeah, right. You're talking to the wrong Winchester – the faithful one is Beth," I said. "You want me to have faith in you? Give me one reason why I should." Moonface walked up to me, and he was the second man to get all up in my face today. He was about to be the only one who was likely to get a quick jab to the nose, however.

"Because you swore your obedience," Zach said sourly. "So obey." I could feel the side of my face twitch from the sheer effort it was taking not to punch him in the face. I looked over his shoulder to Cas and he dropped his eyes to the floor, avoiding looking at me. Yeah… things were just great.

Cellar
Farmhouse

Sam's POV

The cellar was dank and dark, kind of the place where you'd expect to go and have evil deeds done. I looked over at the demon who was pinned to a dining table in the centre of the room. It was in front of a wood fire, the only source of light for the room. It was more of a mental effect - and seemed to be working a little bit - the demon didn't seem to like reminders of Hell.

Right now she was struggling to get up, but unable to move. She looked up at me as Ruby and I came to stand over her. "What?" She asked. "No devil's trap?"

"Don't need one," I said with a smirk.

"Look at you," she smiled back, giving up the fight for the moment. "All 'roided up. It's like A-Rod and Madonna over here." Her head dropped back on the table and she looked at me. I decided it was time to get to business.

"Where's Lilith?" I questioned, and I extended out my awareness to the evil inhabiting the nurse's body.

"I'm not scared of you," she said, but I could sense it. I knew otherwise. She knew I was capable of doing anything I wanted to her, and she was terrified.

"Yeah, you are actually," I pointed out. "And with good reason."

"Look... what's my upside?" She asked. Bargaining. We were starting to get somewhere. "Okay, I tell you, you kill me. I don't tell you, you still kill me. I get away somehow, Lilith will definitely kill me. So where's my carrot?"

"I think what you should be worrying about is what happens before you die," I reminded her, reaching out my hand and starting to concentrate on her insides. I focused not only on the body she was inhabiting, the organs and muscles… but the thing that was her embodiment too - the soul, if you could call it that, which materialised as smoke when it left a body. It could hurt if in physical form. I twisted and pulled psychically at these things, and when she started to scream in agony I knew I was going to get somewhere.

Angelic Greenroom
Location Unknown

Dean's POV

How long had I been here? It felt like days, but I'm sure that was the sheer boredom eating at my brain. I'd had ample time to consider what the hell was going on down on Earth. What Beth might be up to, the idiotic plan Sam was running head first into. I thought more about Beth and what she'd said about Sam, and Bobby too. My phone was in my hand, I'd tried to ring Beth several times but it was going to voicemail, I didn't like that at all - surely she'd tried to call me by now too? Why weren't these calls going through? Clearly old Zach was messing with us, keeping us separated - all under the guise of keeping me focused. Maybe it was time to take a different tactic.

I glanced down at the screen again and sighed. "Ah, screw it," I muttered, opening the phone and dialling Sam.

"It's Sam. Leave me a message," was the answer I got and then the beep sounded and I was left with a decision to make.

"Hey, it's me. Uh…" I started, stopping to clear my throat: suddenly I felt like I had a frog in it. "Look, I'll just get right to it. I'm still pissed... and I owe you a serious beatdown. But... I shouldn't have said what I said," I continued. "You know, I'm not Dad. We're brothers. You know, we're family. And, uh... no matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change. Sammy, I'm sorry."

I hung up the phone, wondering what he would make of that.

Cellar
Farmhouse

Sam's POV

"Stop! Stop! Please!" The demon begged, her body writhing in pain as she cried out the words in between screams.

"You'll tell me where she is?" I asked, releasing my hold on her for a moment and letting her fall flat against the table top. She lay there breathing hard and whimpering from the pain. I could feel how afraid she was, how much she didn't want to continue. It wouldn't be long now.

"Fine. Fine. Just… let me die," she begged, and I dropped my hand, glancing at Ruby.

"Deal," I said.

The demon gasped out several heavy breaths, and I could feel the fear washing off her body. "Tomorrow night, midnight," she said. "She's gonna be at a convent - St. Mary's, Ilchester, Maryland."

"A convent?" I asked, thinking about where we were located. It was at least a day's drive from here. We'd have to get moving.

"Lilith... She's gonna break the final seal," she said.

"And what is the final seal?" I asked.

"I don't know."

I twisted my hand, squeezing on her spleen and she yelped. "Aaaah! I don't know! I don't know!" She cried out, starting to sob. "I don't know! I swear! Please! I'm begging you. Kill me, please!"

"Fine," I said, reaching out even more, intent on what had to happen next. I could suck the life out of her, crush her heart, and kill her without hope of return. Ruby grabbed my arm, and I looked at her, hesitating.

"Wait," she said, looking urgently at me. "You can't."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because we've got to take her with us. It's the final run on the Death Star, and you need more juice than I got," Ruby replied and I heard the demon whimper.

"You promised," she said, and I could see it in her eyes. She just wanted to die.

"Sorry, sister. You're a walking, talking can of whup-ass," Ruby answered and I felt my stomach twist. I didn't like the idea that I was going to have to drink that much demon blood in order to take on Lilith. Ruby, as evil bitch as she was… and I was having a hard time dealing with what I'd agreed to do as it was, after Beth finding out what I was doing. But now I was going to have to open up and drink another demon altogether?

"You bitch!" Spat the nurse at us and Ruby smirked, shrugging her shoulders and then looking at her.

"I know. Just can't trust anyone these days."

The nurse fell quiet, unsettlingly silent, and lay back on the table while she looked up at the ceiling.

"Well, least you won't be able to crack me open that easy," she said, determined.

"That so?" Ruby asked.

"Don't forget - it's not just me you're bleeding. In fact, I think I'm gonna take a little... siesta in the subconscious - hand over the wheel for a little bit," said the demon. I frowned, looking from Ruby to the demon.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling my stomach start to sink.

"Cindy McClellan, R.N., come on down!" Called out the demon, and then she shut her eyes and relaxed. I watched in horror as the nurse, the human occupant of the body, emerged from behind the demon.

"What…" She said with a groan, looking around. "Where am I?" She tried to sit up but my abilities were still holding her pinned down. "Oh my god, I can't move. What's going on? Help!" She yelled, and then she looked over at me, as if noticing us for the first time. "Help me please."

Ruby scowled, her arms crossed over her chest and she sighed. "Great," she muttered.

1972

St Mary's Convent
Ilchester, Maryland

Amanda O'Malley's POV

I'd been the last to die. My body splayed across the altar at the head of the chapel like some great sacrifice. I suppose that's exactly what we'd been. I'd watched as one by one the other nuns were taken by a great light, until there was only me. Dead. As I should have been three years ago, so had my life been snuffed out by a demon even more powerful than the one Patrick had banished.

The demon knelt before the altar, and he looked up at my dead body, spread out across the surface of the altar as if I was in a reverse crucifixion. He addressed the body as I walked nearby, watching.

"Father, look... I'm not exactly the praying type, but still... I made the sacrifice. I got you a bagful of nuns. So, uh... can you hear me? Can you whisper through the door?" He asked.

Suddenly, to my horror, the mouth on my body started to move. "I'm here, my son."

"It's so good to hear your voice, Padre. I have been searching for you for so long. You have no idea. The others have lost faith. Dickless heathens. But not me," said the demon.

"You've done well," came the reply.

"So...uh... how do I bust you out?" Asked the priest, and the reply came fast.

"Lilith."

"Lilith?" The demon clarified, his eyes looking shocked and his face creasing into a frown. "Father, she's... trapped neck-deep in the pit. It won't be easy."

"Lilith," said the evil thing inhabiting my body. "Lilith can break the seals."

"Yeah, okay. But what do I do?" He asked.

"You must find me a child. A very special child," said the voice using my body. I watched the eyes of Father Peter flash yellow again and then I felt it, a hand on my shoulder. I looked around to see a pretty brunette smiling at me and she glanced back at a shining while light and tilted her head.

"It's time," she said.

"What do you mean? What child?" Asked the yellow-eyed demon, and I tried to fight it, to stay here. To get more information that I could somehow… someway… warn Patrick. But I was fading. I could feel it, and soon there would be nothing here for me. My struggle was over, and deep in my gut I knew that my cousin's was just beginning.

Present Day
Dean & Beth's House
Blue Earth, Minnesota

Beth's POV

I had half a dozen of my father's journals spread out across the kitchen table and was well into the third one when I found something I thought might help.

"Huh," I said, standing up and moving to the island bench, placing the journal down as I made myself a coffee and kept reading. "Summoning an angel…" I muttered to myself, sipping from my mug and frowning. "Holy oil?" Well what the hell was that and where was I going to find it? I sighed and grabbed my phone, calling Bobby.

"Bobby, ever heard of holy oil?" I asked as soon as he answered.

"Nope. That's a new one to me. But I can make some calls," he said. "What's it for?"

"Kind of like making a devil's trap for angels," I replied. "I'm gonna call Sam."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. He needs to be here, we need him." I replied, hanging up the phone. I took a breath and then scrolled through my contacts, coming to Sam, and hitting the connect. Listening, the phone soon went through to voicemail and I sighed.

"Sammy come on, you're not going to talk to me? Okay, well, listen. Dean's maybe in trouble, I'm fairly certain the angels have him, and they're on this suicide run at Lilith. Just like you…" I paused, holding the phone to my ear. "Sam I don't care what's happened, but we do need you here with us, helping us. We're stronger as a family, so just… call me, please."

I hung up and held the phone to my forehead, the smooth surface cool and somehow calming.

So trapping an angel was out, and clearly Cas was ignoring me - I suspected that his radio silence was more because he'd been instrumental in Dean's disappearance. I really only had one other 'in' to the angelic realm, but he'd been in deep hiding for a while now. Would he come?

There was only one way to find out. I crossed to my bag, which I'd dropped on the floor when I came inside. Tucked in the side pocket I found my candle, placing it on the table and lighting it. This time there would be no generic prayers, I focused on one being only, honing in on his very essence, and I started to whisper to him of what had been happening, what was about to come into being. Then I felt it, like a soft breeze wash through the room, an outward release of air after holding my breath.

"Thank you," I said, smiling when he appeared in front of me.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," Ezekiel said, his electric blue eyes staring down at me as he walked closer. "I've been far, far away."

Farmhouse
Location Unknown

Sam's POV

I'd been doing some research on the convent while trying to decide what to do about Nurse Nancy. We were in some serious shit here, and Ruby kept impatiently looking at me, reminding me that Maryland was not getting any closer by us sitting here.

"You got to be kidding me," I said, looking at the page in front of me, and Ruby was packing our things, wrapping up a kit of knives and other implements we'd used during our information gathering sessions.

"What?" She asked, pausing to look over at me.

"Get this," I said, scrolling up the article I had clicked on. "St. Mary's - abandoned in '72 after a priest disemboweled eight nuns…."

Ruby smirked. "What's black and white and red all over?"

"That's not funny," I scowled at her. "The priest said it wasn't his fault. He said a demon made him do it. And that he even remembered the demon's name."

"Yeah?"

"Azazel," I said, looking up at her and she looked a little awed.

"Wow. So, Lilith, Yellow-Eyes - all the A-listers are paying visits. Certainly gives the joint credibility," she said with a nod.

"This one might, more so than anything," I muttered, frowning as I read the final list of names. I felt my blood run a little cold, wondering how it was that someone in my mom's family, or even Beth's dad, had missed it. Then again, it's not like Patrick and Mom had gotten a good run at things later in life.

"What?" Ruby asked as I got lost in my thoughts.

"One of the nuns who was slaughtered? Was an O'Malley," I pointed out. Ruby's eyes darkened, and she stepped in to look at the screen.

"Does it say which one?" She asked and I nodded.

"Amanda, but there's nothing more about her."

Ruby smirked, shaking her head. "Well, well, well… you tried to run sweetheart, but you couldn't outrun your destiny. Seems the O'Malleys like walking into the thick of things, it's like they can't help themselves."

"What are you talking about?" I asked and she stood up, crossing her arms.

"The last O'Malley I tried to kill? I mean, besides Beth's dad? His cousin… Amanda. He caught me, and exorcised me, sent me back down into the Pit for decades. That was when I came across Lilith, actually. Small world."

"You know," I said, feeling that sickness sweep through me whenever she nonchalantly shared her past about Beth. It gnawed at me. "I don't know why I don't kill you myself…" I muttered.

"Because you trust me, Sam. Haven't I proven myself enough? I have done everything for you Sam. Everything. I've sacrificed for you," she said, taking my face in her hands. "And I know Dean and Beth will never forgive me for my past wrongs, and maybe I don't deserve to be. But I promised you I would not harm Beth, and I haven't. I want Lilith dead just as much as you do. Maybe more so."

She looked so pained, and I thought about Dean and everything he'd been through in Hell, how he'd been since he got back. Ruby had spent a lot more time in Hell then he, yet she was helping us.

"Yeah, okay, you have, you've proved yourself," I said with a nod. "So what? This is the place where the final seal goes down?"

"Well, it's good enough for me. Let's pack up Nurse Betty and hit the road," she said. Nurse Betty… yeah. I had almost managed to forget about her.

"Hey, maybe, um… look," I wanted to exorcise the demon, give the woman her life back. Isn't that what I was here for? To save people? This would kill Dean and Beth to know what I was planning. I was pretty certain there was no coming back from it either.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"M-maybe we can find another demon," I said.

"Sam, no. That blubbery "don't hurt me" crap - it's just an act. She's playing you." Ruby said, crossing her arms and tossing me a stern look.

"I'm not so sure," I said hesitantly.

" Even if she's not, there's still a hell-bitch snoozing in there. I mean, come on. It's not like you haven't done this before, right?" She asked and I sighed. She was right. "Besides," Ruby continued. "Anyone we find is going to have someone sleeping inside… so you don't kill this nurse, you kill someone else's sister or brother. This is the only way."

She was right. I sighed, and went to the closet, grabbing the nurse as she blinked at the sudden light, and then dragged her out of the house, down the steps toward the car. "No. Please don't. Just listen to me, okay? My name is Cindy McClellan. I'm a nurse in the NICU over at Enfield Memorial. I have a husband named Matthew, okay? We've been married six years. He's got to be worried sick about me. And I don't even know who you are, and I'm not gonna tell anybody anything. Please just let me go." She was panicked, begging, and when she saw me open the trunk she started to scream. "No! No! Please, no! Please…"

I shoved her into the trunk and slammed it shut. Instantly the screams became muffled. "Help!" She yelled, and I leaned on the trunk, my breath short and heavy and I thought about what was to come.

Angelic Greenroom
Location Unknown

Dean's POV

How many hours was I going to have to wait to get some damn attention around here? I'd asked for Cas and he was being tardy; I was about to start getting violent. I stared up at one of the porcelain statues on a marble table, contemplating, and then I poked at it with my index finger. It rocked slightly, top heavy and not balanced. With another push I watched it crash to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Just then Cas chose to appear and there was a tiny sliver of guilt that ran through me as I thought about what Beth would say, me smashing these things deliberately. I pushed it out of my mind at the sight of the angel.

"You asked to see me?" Cas asked, his voice remaining calm and deadpan.

I cleared my throat, and nodded. "Yeah, listen, I, uh… I-I need something," I said.

"Anything you wish," he said.

"I need you to take me to see Beth," I said.

"Why?"

"Why? Because she's my wife, Cas! Because I don't know what the hell you over-glorified doves have done with her while I've been gone. Because she's gonna be worried sick! Is that enough for you? I shouldn't need to give you a reason, you know why." I looked into his eyes, and I was certain he had to be feeling the low level of anxiety I was. Beth and I had been pretty much inseparable since I got back from Hell, and when I signed on for the end game with these guys, I didn't think it meant I'd be going it alone.

"Beth is fine. She has returned to Blue Earth," Cas said.

"Blue Earth?" I asked, frowning. "What the Hell is she doing there?"

"We believe she is praying for a miracle," Cas said. That sounded like Beth alright, but not the whole story. I looked at him, watching carefully.

"You believe?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You can't hear her?"

Cas paused and then a frustrated look crossed his face.

"You can't hear her," I said with a knowing smile. "She's blocking you. Oh man, she must be pissed off if she's doing that." I grinned, nodding my head. That was my girl. I knew she wouldn't just be sitting on her ass waiting for me to turn up again - she'd be looking for me. And if she was in Blue Earth, there was really only one reason I could think of… she was checking in to her dad's journals.

"Okay, well, I still need to see her. There's something I got to talk to her about," I said.

"What's that?" Cas asked and I rolled my eyes.

"The B.M. I took this morning. What's it to you? Just make it snappy," I said shortly.

"I don't think that's wise," Cas said and I gaped.

"Well, I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Have you forgotten what happened the last time you and Beth were together?" Cas asked. I thought about Sam and the fight we'd gotten into. I thought about her later that night, when I'd gone up to bed and found her praying and sobbing in our room at Bobby's. She'd asked me to reconsider going after Sam, somehow the girl had found a way to forgive him… and it was all I could think about.

"No," I replied to his question. "That's the whole point. Listen, I'm gonna do whatever you mooks want, okay? I just need to tie up this one thing. Five minutes - with Beth. That's all I need." And my brother I thought, realising that if she could forgive Sam, then I could too.

"No." Cas replied obstinately.

"What do you mean, no? Are you saying that I'm trapped here?" I asked.

"You can go wherever you want," Cas replied and I stood up straight, happy to hear it.

"Super. I want to go see Beth," I answered.

"Except there," Cas said.

"I want to take a walk," I said, switching tactics. Surely it wouldn't be hard to ditch these feathered freaks.

"Fine. I'll go with you," Cas countered and I sighed.

"Alone."

"No," he said adamantly.

"You know what?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. "Screw this noise. I'm out of here." I didn't know why I hadn't thought of this before. Why was I standing around waiting for these oversized pigeons to get their act together? I had family to sort out, things to do. I turned and started walking for the door.

"Through what door?" Cas asked, and I looked back at him in amusement. What door? What the hell was he talking about? I sighed and waved a hand at him, turning back and came face to face with a plain, filled in wall. Son of a bitch! I spun around to Cas, ready to serve him up an earful, only to see he'd vanished, and once again, I was on my own.

"Damn it."

Dean & Beth's House
Blue Earth, Minnesota

Beth's POV

Ezekiel was moving around the house and drawing sigils on the walls - I grimaced slightly, after all this was our home and I'd kind of liked having a nice house to take care of in the few weeks we'd spent here. Scribbling sigils on the walls wasn't part of that. I made a note that perhaps we should frame some nicer looking versions of it at some point. Or at least hang pictures over what was now there. He finally turned to me and took out a marker, gesturing for my arm.

"Don't speak, don't even think," he instructed, and I rolled up the sleeve of my shirt, watching curiously as he started to draw an intricate sigil similar to the others on my bicep. Of course telling me not to think was like setting a big elephant in the room and telling me not to look at it. I took a few deep breaths and cleared my mind as best I could. When he was done, he nodded and then let out a long breath of air.

"It isn't safe to talk, anywhere," he explained. "All the people I'm in contact with are being watched."

"Where have you been? Why are they after you?" I whispered, and it seemed ludicrous that I was acting like angels were eavesdropping on our conversation.

"You don't have to whisper," he said with a grin, and he pushed backwards, lifting himself up to sit on the kitchen bench near my father's journal. "You're now angel radio proofed, not even Castiel can hear you."

"What's going on, Ezekiel?"

"It's the end of the world as we know it!" He exclaimed, and then laughed out loud. "And I feel fiiiiine." I frowned at his little outburst.

"What's gotten into you?"

He paused and then looked intently at me. "I'm close, Beth, I'm certain of it. But so many things need to happen before I find Her."

"Her? Who are you looking for?"

He glanced around, then held his hand up to his mouth, whispering "It's a secret."

I sighed. Angels. "Well, secrets aren't doing any of us much good Ezekiel. I need to find Dean. Do you know where they've taken him?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "No, I don't know where he is, but I'm sure Castiel will. That's not what we need to focus on right now, though."

I raised my eyebrow, looking at him. He was erratic and I wondered just what had caused this change in behaviour. Had things been that tough that he'd started to lose his sanity? "What do we need to be focusing on then?" I asked.

"Your brother," he replied, jumping down and coming over to rest his hands on my shoulders. "He's going to break the final seal."

"No, no…" I said, shaking my head. "He's trying to stop the seal from being broken. He's going to kill Lilith, or so he says."

"And that's just it, Beth!" He said. "This is where he's going wrong! Lilith is the final seal! He kills her, and Lucifer roams free on Earth."

"That's crazy!" I said, shaking my head.

"She is the final seal. Lilith was an archangel once, a gatekeeper."

"No, I've read the mythology. She was Adam's wife, she was human… not an angel," I replied, shaking my head. "I've spent the last year researching her! She's a … a demon, a devourer of children. She's not an angel."

"Once she was an angel. She was given to Adam, she did not choose that," Ezekiel replied.

"What difference does it make?" I asked, curious.

"She loved another. Our brother, Sarael. Together they were two halves to one whole. Our Father wanted to give Adam a companion, and our sister was who Adam wanted. Lilith had her grace taken from her, and she was put into the Garden to be Adam's wife. Sarael was livid. He rebelled, and Fell from the grace of God, for her, and she alongside him."

"Sarael is Lucifer? He turned her into a demon?"

Ezekiel paused. "It is an old, and long story, one best kept for a time that is less pressing. But know this - she was the first of his army, and if she dies - he will rise."

"But he loves her?" I asked, not understanding how he would sacrifice her for his own freedom. Dean would never do that to me. "What made her the final seal?"

"The ultimate irony. What better lock on a cage, than the one thing you love most?"

I felt myself pale, the blood had to have drained from my face with the realisation of what Sam was hurtling himself toward without regard for anything else. Ruby had played him, she had to be in on it, she had to know.

"How do you know this?" I asked, and he sighed, still holding on to me.

"I have a very, very reliable source - someone who was around when Lucifer's cage was created." I let that sink in, clearly he was talking about an angel, and likely not just any angel if they'd been involved in the creation of such a thing.

"We need to get to Sam, where is he?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "He's warded, just like you. But, there is someone who might know where he is headed."

Open Road

Sam's POV

I had two unheard voicemails. The logs indicated they were from Dean and Beth. Ruby was driving as I stared at the phone, wanting to listen to them, but nervous about what they might have to say. In the back of the car, the nurse was still screaming, and it was leading me into a panic that I hadn't felt in a long time.

"What are you - a 12-year-old girl? Just play it already," Ruby said, glancing over at me.

"Mind your own business," I snapped.

"Let me out! Let me out!" Cindy screamed and I let out a frustrated breath.

"God, I wish she would just shut up!" I said. Ruby grinned at me, still gripping the wheel.

"Well, that can be arranged," she said. I glared at her and she shrugged. "I don't get it. All the demons you cut with the knife - what do you think happens to the host? How is this any different?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked.

"I know that you're having a tough time here, Sam, but we're in the final lap here. Now is not the time to grow a persqueeter," Ruby said. It wasn't helping. I needed someone to tell me we were doing the right thing here. I needed to know I was about to commit this heinous act for the greater good, that it would save others, millions of people, from a far worse fate.

"Would you drop the friggin' attitude?" I asked. "I'm about to bleed and drink an innocent woman. While she watches."

"And save the world as a result," she said, mirroring my thoughts. She knew me too well.

"I don't know. I-I just... I'm starting to think... maybe Dean was right," I said.

"About what?"

"About everything," I said. I'd turned my back on my family. There was no greater evil. I was having sex with and drinking the blood of the very demon who had killed my sister's father.

"We're gonna see this through, right, Sam?" Ruby asked a little anxiously, and I could relate to what she was thinking. She was scared. So was I. I was scared of what I was going to have to do in order to see this through. "Sam?"

Angelic Greenroom
Location Unknown

Dean's POV

Screw these oversized babies with their harps and clouds, I was over being told what to do. They'd chosen the wrong Winchester to boss around. If they weren't going to let me out through the door, I was going to go all Highway to Heaven on them and employ a little bit of the Stuff to get me out. That's right, I was Victor French, to Michael Landon's angel. I was going to get out of here whether Cas helped me or not.

I picked up a pedestal, marble and hard in my hands, and started to smash it through the wall. It made a big hole, and with renewed enthusiasm I started to bash my way further. Then, just as I got to the foundation, I blinked, and the wall was complete again. I threw the statue to the ground and cursed.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Quit hurling feces like a howler monkey, would you? It's unbecoming," Zachariah said from behind me and I turned around, my face red with anger.

"Let me out of here."

"Like I told you: too dangerous out there. Demons on the prowl," he said. I laughed, shaking my head. Something was going on. If Cas was right, and Beth was blocking him, it had to mean she was up to something they didn't want, and if she couldn't find me, there was only one other person I could imagine she'd be going after. The same person these guys seemed hell bent on keeping me away from.

"I've been getting my ass kicked all year. Now you're sweating my safety? You're lying. I want to see my brother."

"That's... ill-advised," Zachariah said.

"You know, I am so sick of your crap riddles and your smug, fat face. What the hell is going on, huh? Why can't I see Sam? Or Beth? And how am I gonna ice Lilith?" It
was time for some honest to God answers, and maybe I'd just have to beat them out of old Zach if he didn't start talking.

The angel sighed and looked smugly at me. "You're not. ...Going to ice Lilith."

"What?"

"Lilith's going to break the final seal. Fait accompli at this point. Train's left the station," he said with a shrug, wandering past me.

"But me and Sam and Beth, we can stop…" I realised what I was about to say. The pieces of the puzzle starting to fall into place. "You don't want to stop it, do you?"

"Nope. Never did. The end is nigh. The apocalypse is coming, kiddo, to a theatre near you," he said with another one of those infuriating smiles.

"What was all that crap about saving seals?" I asked, and the anger inside of me started to rise. We'd been trying to save one of those seals when Beth had been killed.

"Our grunts on the ground - we couldn't just tell them the whole truth. We'd have a full-scale rebellion on our hands," Zachariah explained. "I mean, think about it. Would we really let 65 seals get broken unless senior management wanted it that way?"

"But why?" I asked.

"Why not?" Zachariah asked. "The Apocalypse? Poor name, bad marketing - puts people off. When all it is is Ali/Foreman. On a... slightly larger scale. And we like our chances. When our side wins - and we will - it's paradise on earth. Now, what's not to like about that?"

He sounded like he was insane. Who thought like that? "What happens to all the people during your little pissing contest?"

"Well... you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. In this case... truckloads of eggs, but you get the picture. Look... it happens. This isn't the first planetary enema we've delivered." He replied. I spotted a statue on a mantelpiece nearby, and pictured it smashing into his skull. It would be worth it just to wipe the smug look off his face.

Zachariah seemed to realise what I was thinking. "Uh, no, Dean. Probably shouldn't try to bash my skull in with that thing. Wouldn't end up too pleasant for you."

"What about Sam? He won't go quietly. He'll stop Lilith. Beth will help him, she's already looking for him, isn't she?"

The angel inhaled deeply, shaking his head. "I'm sure that pain in the ass wife of yours will show up soon enough. She's not smart enough to stay out of it and let things progress as they should. But she'll be too late. Sam... has a part to play. A very important part. He may need a little nudging in the right direction, but I'll make sure he plays it," he said.

"What does that mean? What are you gonna do to him?" I asked. My skin was clammy, my heart was starting to race, and I felt like I was a mouse that had been cornered.

"Sam, Sam, Sam. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. Forget about him, would you?" Zachariah said. "You have larger concerns. Why do you think I'm confiding in you? You're still vital, Dean. We weren't lying about your destiny. Just... omitted a few pertinent details. But nothing's changed. You are chosen. You will stop it. Just... not Lilith, or the apocalypse. That's all."

"Which means?"

Zachariah gestured to the wall and a painting on it. It was of an angel attacking a demonic figure. "Lucifer," he said to me. "You're going to stop Lucifer. You're our own little Russell Crowe, complete with surly attitude. And when it's over... and when you've won... your rewards will be... unimaginable. Peace, happiness... two virgins and seventy sluts." He chuckled like he'd made a joke. "Trust me - one day, we'll look back on this and laugh."

I shook my head. He really didn't know me at all. Virgins and sluts? Did that come from his dickless thoughts about humans, because I didn't see the appeal. It hardly sounded like something Heaven would be in support of either.

"Tell me," I said, putting my hands on my hips. "Where is God in all this?"

"God?" Zachariah asked, looking genuinely surprised at the question. "God has left the building."

Birthing Grounds
Heaven

Beth's POV

Time moved differently here. I felt as if I'd never been gone from these beautiful metaphysical lands. I pondered the idea that while in Hell, time was extended by decades - it seemed to fly here compared to on actual Earth. Ezekiel had whisked us away to meet with someone who could supposedly help us.

"I wouldn't bring you at all," he said in reply to the unspoken question inside of my head. "But, I'm sure Dean will be looking for you, which means the angels will be too in order to keep him on a short leash. The more unpredictable we are, the better chances we have of getting to your brother."

"Dean?" I asked. "Or Sam?"

"Either," he replied. "Dean and Sam are part of a bigger plan, you are too, and while there are larger forces at play, we should not underestimate the few who are out for their own agenda."

"Like you, Ezekiel?" A voice asked from behind us and he spun around to see a familiar woman standing under a huge tree. She had strawberry blonde hair that fell in curls down over her shoulders, her green eyes stared at us and I found myself smiling.

"Exactly," Ezekiel said with a grin.

"I know you?" I asked, and she nodded with a slight smile.

"We've met several times now," she replied. "In the Temple, and before that, when I came to collect our brother from you."

"You're Sariel, you took Janus away when I let him out of his box," I said and she nodded. "He's an angel too?"

"Not exactly," she replied. "He's half angel, half god, a little something extraordinary. Unfortunately for him, he's also an abomination in the eyes of the Father."

"What did you do with him?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little guilty over Janus and his counterpart Bif.

"Me?" Sariel asked. "Nothing. It's not my area. He was needed to help with a mission. He was quite safe… until he escaped. Now no one knows where he is." She turned her gaze to Ezekiel who nodded quietly beside me and then glanced around at our surroundings.

"Come, time to move," he said, and with that he took both our hands and moments later we were standing behind a large waterfall, the sound of the rushing water thundering in our ears.

"Tell me he was cooperative," Ezekiel said loudly, looking at Sariel. She smirked and then nodded.

"He wasn't happy about it, in fact, he was the only one other than Uriel who knew where it was,' she said. "Even Michael doesn't know."

"Knew where what was?" I asked, and they looked at me.

"The opening to Lucifer's cage," Sariel replied. I felt my heart constrict at the thought. We really were standing here discussing this, now. It was happening right before our very eyes.

"Where is it?" I asked.

"Well, it could have been anywhere. Like the seals, what it took was a series of events to create a window." she replied, looking at Ezekiel "There's a convent."

"Of course there is," I muttered, thinking about the irony that the cage to Lucifer would open up on a holy place.

"There was a mass murder back in the 70s there, nuns, holy virginal blood," Sariel said. I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"Where?"

"Ilchester, Maryland."

"These things are never a coincidence," Ezekiel said, nodding. "He is still an angel, after all, one of God's chosen."

"He was the fairest and strongest of us all once," Sariel said sadly, and I could have sworn there were tears in her eyes. "Until he was corrupted, until the Fall." It was rare for angels to show emotion, but Sariel was definitely looking sadly around at the water running behind us over a precipice. "I'm not convinced he will allow the sacrifice," she said finally, looking at Ezekiel.

"Why not?" I asked. "Isn't that the point?"

Sariel shook her head again. "Lilith is his most beloved," she said. "Killing her will be like severing one of his wings."

"Just the same," Ezekiel said. "He will do it. He's been planning this for some time. He will push Sam, or Dean, to kill her."

"You must hurry," Sariel said finally, looking at me. "I have been unable to locate Dean, they are hiding him, possibly to keep him out of the picture until it's too late. It's up to you Beth, to stop your brother before he does the unthinkable."

Angelic Greenroom
Location Unknown

Dean's POV

The damn phone wasn't even ringing through the voicemail now. Whenever I tried to call Beth or Sam, all I got was static. I was trying for the tenth, pointless time to reach Sam when Castiel appeared behind me. I felt his presence almost immediately, the hair standing up at the back of my neck.

"You can't reach them, Dean. You're outside your coverage zone," he said.

"What are you gonna do to Sam?" I asked, turning to face him with a fury that was growing to the point of explosive volcano.

"Nothing. He's gonna do it to himself," Cas replied infuriatingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. Cas's eyes dropped down to the floor, his face appearing reticent and appropriately chastised by whoever had reemed him a new one in Heaven. "Oh, right, right. Got to toe the company line. Why are you here, Cas?"

"We've been through much together, you and I. And I just wanted to say, I'm sorry it ended like this," he said.

"Sorry?" I asked, gaping at him. I couldn't help myself. I lashed out with a punch, hitting him square in the face. I hit him hard, so hard that it would have put anyone else in the hospital. But not the angel. I grimaced in pain, turning away slightly.

"It's Armageddon, Cas. You need a bigger word than "sorry.""I said.

"Try to understand - this is long foretold. This is your…"

"Destiny?" I cut in. "Don't give me that "holy" crap. Destiny, God's plan... It's all a bunch of lies, you poor, stupid son of a bitch! It's just a way for your bosses to keep me and keep you in line! You know what's real? People, families - that's real. And you're gonna watch them all burn?"

Cas looked at me, his face frowning slightly in that way it always did when he was trying to figure something new out. "What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here. I see inside you. I see your guilt, your anger, confusion…" he said. "In paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace. With Beth. Even with Sam."

I saw red. He was no better than some fanatical born-again christian with a serious hard on for God and all his bountiful mercy - which came about after all the suffering. I stared him long and hard in the eyes, letting this truth seep into my very soul, and then I spoke.

"You can take your peace... and shove it up your lily-white ass. 'Cause I'll take the pain and the guilt. I'll even take Sam as is," I said. "It's a lot better than being some Stepford bitch in paradise. This is simple, Cas! No more crap about being a good soldier. There is a right and there is a wrong here, and you know it."

Castiel turned away from me, and I knew I'd hit a sore spot. He had been questioning before he got pulled back to Heaven.

"Look at me!" I demanded, grabbing his shoulder and turning him to face me. "You know it! You were gonna help me once, weren't you? You were gonna warn me about all this, before they dragged you back to Bible camp. Help me - now. Please."

"What would you have me do?" Cas asked and I felt a little hope rise up into my chest.

"Get me to Sam, or Beth. We can stop this before it's too late," I said. I knew it, he had to know it, why else were they keeping me here? They wanted me out of Sam's way, because he'd listen to me, if I could just get to him in time.

"I do that, we will all be hunted. We'll all be killed," he pointed out.

"Near as I can tell, Beth is already on the run, that's why you can't talk to her," I replied. "And Sam? Him too. Listen to me. If there is anything worth dying for... this is it."

I thought I had him, but Castiel shook his head and stared at the wall, pushing me away.

I sighed, "You spineless…" I said turning away, I started to walk to the other end of the room. "…soulless son of a bitch. What do you care about dying? You're already dead. We're done."

"Dean…"

"We're done!" I snapped back at him. I hoped I had gotten through to him. Hoped he was listening. But I was wrong. When I turned around, he was gone.

2 miles from Convent
Ilchester, Maryland

Sam's POV

I didn't know how long I'd stared at the phone, but it was clearly starting to grate on Ruby's nerves as she hovered a few paces behind me, waiting for us to make a move and get on the road. We'd stopped 2 miles out from the convent, I felt like I was standing on the precipice of a decision that would change our world forever. My chest was heavy, and I looked at the screen, debating listening to the messages that both Dean and Beth had left.

The nurse was awake again, screaming and pounding on the door to the trunk, her cries muffled by the metal of the car.

"Sam, it's time. Are we doing this or not?" Ruby asked finally, and I didn't even look at her.

"Give me a minute to think," I requested.

"Sam…"

"Give me a damn minute, Ruby!" I snapped, feeling her disapproval as if she'd stabbed it right into me. Why wouldn't anyone listen to what I needed? Why couldn't I just have a minute to think through my options?

"Better think fast," she said. I stared a moment longer at the phone and then pushed the button for the voicemail, bringing it up to my ear. I took a deep breath and waited.

Dean was first: "Listen to me, you bloodsucking freak. Dad always said I'd either have to save you or kill you. Well, I'm giving you fair warning. I'm done trying to save you. You're a monster, Sam - a vampire. You're not you anymore. And there's no going back.""

I sucked in a breath, and before I could even hang up Beth's voice was talking to me.

"Sammy. Sammy you have no idea how disappointed we are in you. I believed in you. When you wanted to go to Stanford, I supported you. Me. Not Dean. Not Dad. But me. And you repay me by taking up with the demon who ruined my life?! I don't even know how to forgive that. Dean was right, you are a monster. Look what you've become. You're nothing to us anymore. There's no coming back from what you've done."

The one thing I'd been waiting for them to do my whole life, and they'd done it. They'd cut me out of their lives. My heart hammered in my chest, and I found it hard to breathe, because they were right. I was a monster. Everything I'd been doing proved that. I'd turned into the thing that Yellow Eyes wanted me to be. But I could make things better. I could use this. I could fix everything, even with this demon blood inside of me. This is why I was here. Maybe they'd never forgive me, maybe they'd hunt me and kill me - but they were right about one thing. There was no going back from this point.

"Do it." I said to Ruby, who was still waiting for my decision.

"Thank God," she muttered, and I heard her footsteps crunch on the gravel as she walked quickly away. She opened the trunk to the car, and the nurse screamed, struggling to get free, but it was too late.

Angelic Greenroom
Location Unknown

Dean's POV

Something was wrong. I could feel it deep inside of me. I paced back and forth like a caged animal inside the ornate room that had become my prison. I was starving, and I stopped to look at the hamburgers: they were inviting and I remembered how amazing it had been when I had experienced it so long ago. I picked one up, contemplating whether it was like Persephone eating the pomegranate, when I was rudely grabbed from behind.

I found myself shoved up against the wall, and I saw Cas's blue eyes flash in front of me as he pressed a hand to my mouth to stifle any noise I might make. He drew a knife, and I stared at him, assessing his plans - which clearly he was implementing without knowledge from the other angels. I nodded at him, and he let me go.

Taking a step back, Cas drew the knife across his arm and started to draw a sigil on the wall in his own blood. Part way through it Zachariah appeared, his face twisted in consternation.

"Castiel! Would you mind explaining just what the hell you're doing?" Cas didn't reply, he finished drawing the sigil and slammed his had in the centre. There was a flash of blinding white light and when I could see again, Zachariah was gone.

"He won't be gone long. We have to find Sam now," Cas said.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"I don't know," Cas said. "But I know who does. We have to stop him, Dean, from killing Lilith."

"But Lilith's gonna break the final seal," I said. From what I could tell, we wanted the bitch dead.

"Lilith is the final seal. She dies, the end begins," he said, reaching for me and I felt that familiar lurch of the stomach that happened whenever I was teleported long distances by these beings.

We landed in the living room of Chuck, the so-called prophet of God. He was on the phone.

"Lady, sometimes you got to live like there's no tomorrow," I heard him say, and then he turned his eyes toward us and staggered back in shock.

"Wait. T-t-this isn't supposed to happen," he said, and he paused to listen to whoever was on the end of the phone.

"No, lady, this is definitely supposed to happen, but I just got to call you back," he said, hanging up the phone while he metaphorically picked his jaw up off the ground.

Stolen Car
Ilchester, Maryland

Beth's POV

Ezekiel had landed us on the outskirts of Ilchester. It was the middle of the night and I'd quickly hotwired a car and pointed it in the direction of the convent. The angel was riding shotgun and I glanced at him as I saw a sign indicating we were two miles out on the side of the road.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked, turning back to the road and I practically felt his smirk.

"Are you?" He asked.

"Oh I've never been more ready, I'm going to kill that demon bitch myself," I muttered, and he looked at me in consternation.

"Whatever happens, Beth, Lilith cannot be allowed to die," he said.

"I know," I said, nodding. "God help us, because I do not have a plan on how to deal with that issue. But Ruby? That bitch is as good as dead."

"You need to temper your anger, Beth. Focus on the goal here. We need to stop Sam before he does the unthinkable. Everything else can wait."

"Okay, fine, Sam. We just better hope we're not too late," I said, squeezing the steering wheel a little tighter. My thoughts went to Dean and where he was. I had to see this through to the end, save Sam for us both, and hope that there was someone, somewhere who had a game plan on dealing with Lilith.

Chuck's House
Kripke's Hollow

Dean's POV

Chuck had quickly gone over the latest vision he'd had, telling us about where Sam was headed. He also revealed some interesting news, about history repeating itself. Apparently after Beth's father had saved her, his cousin ran off and landed herself in a convent, this very one where she'd also three years later, been murdered in what turned out to be a demon attack. I gaped at him, the similarity of Beth's and Amanda's stories were eerie, and Chuck nodded seriously at me.

"You guys, all of you, have a way of attracting demons to you, I swear," he said. I shook my head, wondering about that particular curse.

"So, Sam's at this convent?" I asked.

"Yeah, but you guys aren't supposed to be there. You're not in this story," he replied.

"Yeah, well…" Cas shrugged, glancing over at me. "We're making it up as we go." I chuckled, kind of glad that Cas was back to normal. The only person I needed by myself was a sassy brunette, whereabouts currently unknown.

"Chuck, where's Beth?" I asked and he frowned.

"You don't know?"

"Do I look like I know?!" I snapped and he took a step back. He opened his mouth a few times and then sighed.

"She's… she's on her way to the convent," he replied. I smiled, that was my girl, she was on to it. I didn't know how she'd figured out where to go, but I wasn't surprised in the slightest that she was there.

"Will she get to Sam in time?" I asked.

"Dean…"

"Will she?!" I demanded and he ran a hand across his face and through his hair.

"She… she…" he stuttered and I grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking the little man several times in frustration. I needed answers, and I couldn't afford for him to be pussy footing around.

"Chuck!"

"She doesn't make it," he spat out and I felt my grip on him tighten uncontrollably.

Chuck's computer screen started to flicker, and great rumbling began to echo through the house. Outside the drawn blinds I could see the blinding white light of Heaven appear.

"Aw, man! Not again! No!" Chuck said in distress.

"It's the Archangel!" Cas said, looking at me, he grabbed me and I let go of Chuck. "I'll hold him off! I'll hold them all off! Just stop Sam!" Then he reached out to tap me on the forehead, and my stomach jumped once more.

St Mary's Convent
Ilchester, Maryland

Beth's POV

I pulled the car into the parking lot by the convent and started to get out. The place looked abandoned, just as it was supposed to be. The gardens were overgrown, the buildings dark and foreboding save for a light that was emanating from an adjoining building with stained glass windows.

"I have to go," Ezekiel announced as I shut the door and I looked up at him, surprised.

"What? Where?"

"Castiel needs my assistance," he said, looking across the roof of the car at me.

"No, I need your help!" I replied and he smiled, shaking his head at me.

"You can do this Beth. Get to Sam, stop Lilith."

I didn't even have time to argue. No sooner had he said that did he vanish before my very eyes. I sighed, pulling the demon-killing knife out of my jacket and looking back at the convent. It was now or never, Sam had to be inside - I could see a car nearby, it stood to reason that it was his.

Sam's POV

I found Lilith in the chapel, surrounded by her numerous minions. Nothing. They were nothing to me. I felt the power of the demon I'd just drank flow through me. I was unstoppable, exactly the killing machine I had been bred to be. Only I don't think Yellow-Eyes had quite had this in mind when he'd set about creating his army of demon-blood children. I was going to foil all his plans, I was going to kill Lilith and stop her from releasing Lucifer from Hell.

When I rounded the corner of the convent to the chapel, I saw her standing in the doorway, a goblet in her hands, demons lined the hallway and I reached out and snapped them like I might a piece of bread. They collapsed to the ground. When Lilith saw me she flung out a hand and the doors shut, blocking me from her view. I smirked, stalking toward the chapel.

It was no effort at all to get the doors back open. I extended my hand as I entered, feeling the power rush through me. I lifted her body up in the air and flung it back against the altar at the front of the room, pinning her to it. She couldn't move, and I knew it. I watched her chest heave as she looked at me, panic crossing her face. I was so close I could taste the victory.

Dean's POV

Relief couldn't have been more real the second I saw Beth round the corner from the other direction. I hurried, running to grab her arms, feeling her to make sure she was real.

"Oh my god, you're here… you're alive. Where did you come from?" I asked, taking a minute to ensure I wasn't imagining things. Confusion flickered across her face and then she shook her head.

"Minnesota, via Heaven" she grinned, "you?"

"You don't wanna know," I muttered, thinking about the gaudy room I'd just spent however long in.

"Lilith, is she…?"

I turned at the question, we were standing at the end of a hallway, and as Beth followed my gaze we saw the unthinkable. Sam and Ruby were inside the chapel, Lilith pinned in the distance to the altar.

Ruby looked at us, meeting my eyes as she held up a hand, and then the doors to the chapel flung shut, cutting us out.

"Sam!" I yelled, running toward the door.

We both reached the door at the same time, and I started to shoulder it, while Beth beat on it and yelled for him. "Sam! Sammy!"

I grabbed her, looking in her eyes and she stilled for a second.

"On three, okay? One, two… three!" We moved as one, our shoulders hitting the doors. The sound of our bodies hitting the wood echoed down the hall, but they didn't budge. I turned, seeing a statue nearby of some saint. I grabbed it and Beth nodded as I started to beat on the door with it, hoping to weaken the handles.

"I'm going around. There has to be another way in," Beth announced and I looked at her, the alarm of separating from her rushing through my whole body.

"No, no… stay and help me," I said with a shake of my head.

"Keep trying," she said. "Get to Sammy." Taking out the demon knife, she tucked it into my belt and ran off.

"Beth!" I yelled after her, but she was gone.

Sam's POV

I only had eyes for the demonic creature in front of me. She couldn't move. I advanced into the chapel, watching her look at me. My heart - or maybe hers? I couldn't quite tell - was pounding in my ears, deafening. "I've been waiting for this… for a very long time," I said.

Lilith smirked, her lips turning up at the side as she watched me. "Then give me your best shot," she dared. I reached out my hand, hooking into her soul - as I pulled on it, a simultaneous combination of breaking and crushing, a white light broke out and she cried out in pain. The heartbeat quickened, thundering in my ears, drowning out almost all other sound. Except Dean.

Dean?

I stopped, hearing my brother's voice from behind the closed sanctuary doors. He was beating at the wood and I could hear him yelling.

"Dean?"

"What are you waiting for?!" Ruby screamed at me, though I could barely hear her over the sound of my own heart. "Now! Sam, now!"

Then the laughter. Lilith. I spun around to her, and her face was twisted into a self-righteous snarl. "You turned yourself into a freak. A monster. And now you're not gonna bite? I'm sorry, but that is honestly adorable."

That was enough. I grabbed at her energetically, twisting and pulling. My full power I used against her, and I felt her snap, something inside of the body holding her soul broke, and the light was back. It flickered, and then a flash erupted from her eye sockets and she screamed. Her body fell to the ground and the heartbeat stopped. Everything stopped.

The silence was deafening, if only for a split moment. I looked down at Lilith, her sunken body on the ground as blood started to rush out of her body in a steady stream, creating a kind of circular pattern on the floor.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"I can't believe it," Ruby said in shock beside me.

"Ruby, what's going on?" I questioned. I didn't feel like we'd just saved the world, I felt like we'd just missed something.

"You did it. I mean, it was a little touch-and-go there for a while, but... you did it," Ruby answered, her breathing heavy and excited.

"What? What - what did I do?" I asked, feeling confused.

"You opened the door. And now he's free at last. He's free at last!" Ruby exclaimed, her eyes glittering brightly as she looked at me. I shook my head. She was wrong.

"No, no, no. No, he - Lilith - I stopped her. I killed her!"

"And it is written that the first demon shall be the last seal," Ruby said as if she was quoting scripture. "And you bust her open." I put my hand to my head, the pain I'd experienced during my time starting to learn to control these powers was nothing to the splitting headache I was suffering. "Now guess who's coming to dinner," Ruby finished.

I watched the blood flow from Lilith down into the floor, the horror of what had just happened starting to sink in.

"Oh, my god," I whispered, and Ruby giggled, looking at me.

"Guess again," she said. I heard another bash against the doors behind us, turning to look at them. "You don't even know how hard this was! All the demons out for my head. No one knew. I was the best of those sons of bitches! The most loyal! Not even Alastair knew! Only Lilith!"

I glared at her, and she rolled her eyes, smiling toward me. "Yeah, I'm sure you're a little angry right now, but, I mean, come on, Sam! Even you have to admit - I'm - I'm awesome!

I'd sacrificed it all for nothing. I'd turned on my brother and sister, siding with a demon and letting her talk me into things I knew were wrong. "You bitch. You lying bitch!" I yelled, the realisation of what I had done sinking in. I would kill her myself. I reached out and tried to squeeze at her soul, but nothing. The pain of trying so soon after killing Lilith was too much. I dropped to my knees, clutching at my head.

"Don't hurt yourself, Sammy. It's useless. You shot your payload on the boss," Ruby said.

"The blood... You poisoned me," I said.

Ruby moved to stand in front of me, shaking her head. "No. It wasn't the blood. It was you... and your choices. I just gave you the options, and you chose the right path every time. You didn't need the feather to fly, you had it in you the whole time, Dumbo! I know it's hard to see it now…" She knelt beside me, "...but this is a miracle. So long coming. Everything Azazel did, and Lilith did. Just to get you here. And you were the only one who could do it."

She was crazy. "Why? W-why me?" I asked as she caressed my face.

"Because... because it had to be you, Sammy. It always had to be you. You saved us. You set him free. And he's gonna be grateful. He's gonna repay you in ways that you can't even imagine."

Beth's POV

I'd run around the back of the chapel. If we couldn't get through the door, I seriously doubted glass would hold up to the same treatment. I grabbed a statue from the garden as I moved, coming to the stained glass side window looking into the chapel. I grimaced, once again asking for forgiveness for what I was about to do - this was becoming a terrible habit of late.

Then I hurled the statue through the window, covering my face as glass shattered and rained down to the ground. I grabbed at the stone sill and pulled myself up, gasping as shards of glass cut through my jacket and into my arms, one slicing across my thigh. I pushed through it, jumping down into the chapel behind the altar as I saw the doors to the chapel burst open.

Sam and Ruby were standing by the altar over Lilith's dead body, and with a start I realised we were too late. My eyes met with Dean's, and I saw the hatred bleed into them as he pulled the knife and advanced on the couple.

"You're too late," Ruby declared, turning to face him with a smug look.

"I don't care," he said, and I hurried toward the demon. At the last minute Dean looked at me, and nodded, tossing me the knife in a perfect arc that I caught from years of practice. Ruby turned in surprise and when she did, Dean grabbed her by the arms, holding her in place as I used the momentum of my forward movement to drive the knife deep into her belly.

She spluttered, disbelief crossing her face as she coughed up blood. I had so many things running through my head, things I wanted to say. None of them made it out of my mouth. I held that knife tight, feeling it embedded into her body, the warm blood seeping out over my hands. It was the same feeling as when I'd killed my father - at her control - and now I'd come full circle. "That's for my father," I muttered finally, and then I watched the light fade out of her eyes as she crumpled to the ground. Dean let her go, and the knife pulled out of her as I clung to it, watching her fall.

"I'm sorry," Sam said suddenly from beside us. I turned, for the first time fully seeing him and the anguish that was moving across his face. He looked down, and Dean and I followed his gaze as we saw the blood from Lilith running into a spiral pattern on the floor. It began to glow a golden white light, and everything started to tremble around us as the light shot up through the ceiling.

"Sammy, let's go," I said, reaching out for the boys as Sam grabbed Dean's shirt in panic.

"Guys… he's coming!" He said, and another flash of white light washed over us, blinding, expansive, and I felt myself lifted upward, a loud pitch ringing through my ears as I grabbed them in pain. We were going to die, we had failed, and now Lucifer was about to walk free.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Song for this chapter is: Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin

Phew! What a journey to get to this point :) I have a bit of study to catch up on in the next few weeks, so might be May before I have the new Book (Season 5) up, but it is coming so don't panic! I will hopefully have the opportunity to work on getting it up before then, but usually I take a little break between books to regroup.

also want to get X-Files caught up with all the sexy stuff, before moving into the new book AND also get my Angel SideStory happening which will feature Gabriel and Castiel and a bunch of other angels (some from the show, some OC's) and my own personal take on the philosophical and religious background to Supernatural. I will be deviating from the view of the SPN writers slightly, as I started down this path long before they introduced The Darkness, so I'm going to work that around my own story. I think it'll still be interesting and fun. The Angel story will give a lot of backstory to Dean and Beth, and history to stuff I allude to in these books. I'm excited to be at the point where I can get a start into it without giving up any spoilers!

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to give me feedback on the stories, it's always appreciated :) I hope you're continuing to enjoy the story as I'm telling it. I think we'll enjoy getting into Season 5 and starting to see a bit of the sibling bond come back between Dean, Beth and Sam.