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Sam wakes up in the middle of nowhere.
Shaking off a daze, his sits up. His clothes are stained with the moist dirt on the ground, and he wipes at it aimlessly while he tries to figure out what happened.
Last he remembers, he was in the Impala with Dean, on his way to go find…
Oh. Oh no.
Sam tries not to think about Ava’s fiancé, of the sulfur that had stained his fingers, and maneuvers onto his feet. Dean is fine, Dean is fine, Dean is fine, he thinks, like if he says it enough, he can make sure it’s true. He grabs his phone, flips it open, and stares at the no signal on the corner of the screen. Of course.
He wanders through the town. It’s old, and it looks like a movie set. It’s oppressively empty, and the silence is getting to Sam in a way that nothing else could.
The silence is broken when Sam rounds a corner and bumps into Andy. He flinches, and Andy yelps and falls right on his ass.
“Sam?” Andy says, staring at him like he doesn’t quite believe he’s there. “Is that you?”
Sam holds out a hand to help Andy back up. “Yeah,” He says, throat dry. “Looks like…looks like we’ve been taken. At exactly the same time.”
“Yeah,” Andy says, grabbing Sam’s hand and levering himself back up. “I sensed a demon and then all of a sudden…” He shudders. “I guess we’re about to find out what happens to the people who disappear.”
Sam shields his eyes, staring off into the distance. “Okay. I think we should look around, figure out where we are and how we can get out of here.” He considers further. “Hey, once we pin down our location, you should project to Dean. He’d be able to help us if we can contact him. Maybe he’d also be able to get in touch with everyone else who hasn’t been taken”
Andy nods, and they set off together in a random direction. “Where do you think we are?” He asks in a whisper, like he’s hoping not to disturb anything in the darkness.
Sam considers this. “With this weather, and the terrain, I’m guessing, like, Midwest? I can’t tell any more specific than that.” He pauses. “Wait.”
A bell tower has appeared on the horizon, and it’s set off all sorts of alarm bells in Sam’s mind. Where have I seen this before? “Andy,” He says. “I think that we’re…”
A sudden shout shatters the silence yet again. “Hey!”
Startled, Sam whirls to the side, in defense mode, and then freezes in place as the figure in the distance runs towards him.
“Sam!” Lily says, panting, skidding to a stop right in front of him. “Andy! They got you guys too, huh?”
“Yeah,” Andy says, peering at the person behind her. “Hey! And you’re..”
“Jake.” The man nods, approaching them at a much less breakneck pace. “Good to finally meet you guys in person. I wish it was under better circumstances.”
Sam chuckles weakly. “Well,” He says. “Okay. I’m glad we found you guys, but I’m hoping we don’t see anyone else. I don’t know who else would be left out there, at this point.”
He directs them towards the nearest building, suddenly feeling vulnerable on the outside. They sit together on the floor of what was once a house, and Sam feels his throat tighten as he looks at all of them stare at him expectantly. He’s responsible for them and he absolutely cannot let them down.
Sam stands up, newly determined. “Let’s look around the house,” He orders. “Try to find some sort of weaponry, preferably with iron, and salt. And let me know if you have or find anything to write with, and that way we could make some symbols of protection. The bell out there is made of iron so maybe…” The thought hits him so hard that he gasps. “Andy. Project to Dean, say Cold Oak. He’ll know what that means.”
The group automatically disperses, and Sam stands up and moves to the door, trying to figure out how to better barricade it. He opens it and runs right into a person who has just barreled up the stairs of the porch.
Startled, Sam throws his arms out, catching the offender before getting a good look at her. “Ava?”
“Sam?” Ava says, clutching his arm, wide-eyed.
Of course, the high of finally finding Ava alive and well doesn’t last, because of course it doesn’t. Since when does anything in Sam’s life let him get away with a break?
Soon after her reappearance, with the sun setting in the horizon and their new headquarters locked down as tight as possible, the whole group reassembles together in the middle of the room, talking strategy into the night. They take their watch in turns, and Sam wakes them all up as the sun rises back up.
“Keep your senses ready,” Sam tells them. “If we start feeling a demon around, we gotta make sure we’re ready with everything we’ve got. They’re tricky bastards, and we gotta be aware that…”
“You can feel demons?” Ava interrupts, sitting up straight.
“Yeah,” Sam tells her, “We can all do it. You’ll know when you feel it, it’s like a…”
“Wait!” Ava says, seemingly out of nowhere, and a chill descends down Sam’s spine, and from the squeak that Andy emits, he knows that the rest feel it too.
“What…” Jake says, stepping closer—he’s probably had the least experience with this—and Ava steps back in response. “What’s going on? Where are they?”
But Sam is staring at Ava, and he’s putting together pieces he really doesn’t want to be true. “Ava,” He says, slowly. “Do you know what’s going on here?”
And in a second, Ava’s face is wiped clean of all fear and confusion. She adopts a confident expression and a slowly growing smile, and another chill goes down Sam’s spine that has nothing to do with the demons. “You figured it out quick,” She says. “None of the others told me they could sense demons. It was way too easy to take them out.”
They all flinch in unison, and Sam steps away from Ava. “Take them out?” He echoes.
“Not all of us decided to become part of the teenage mutant ninja turtles,” Ava says, lifting an arm. “There needs to be a last one standing, and that’s gonna be me.”
“Get down!” Sam yells, and they all drop just as dark plumes of smoke fly into the windows, shattering them and invading the tiny, dilapidated house. He hear Andy yell, and he flips over onto his back, shield his eyes against the strong wind. “Fight back!” He yells, and tosses an arm out, just as he had seen Ava do.
The heat builds up in his head, just as it always does when he accesses his abilities, but it’s…different. He casts out his sense, following the sensation of demons that surround the room and hones in on one.
The heat in the back of his brain increases. “Everybody aim at a demon!” He yells again. “Feel them out and take them out!”
The demons, driven into a frenzy, begin battering at all of them, tossing them around the shack. Sam falls back against the wall, losing concentration as the breath leaves his body in a quick whoosh.
Gasping, he reaches out again, holding out a hand. The heat in his brain comes on faster this time, and the demon that was barreling towards him suddenly freezes in place. He feels the chill up his spine increase, and the pressure in his head makes him feel that the demon is fighting whatever it is he’s doing to it.
Bolstered, Sam lifts up another arm, accessing the same feeling to freeze another black wisp of smoke just as its about to go for Jake. Jake looks up, makes eye contact with Sam, and then lifts up his own arm, following suit as another demon freezes as a result.
Ava screams. “What are you doing?”
Ignoring her, Sam closes his eyes, focusing in further. The heat increases until he feels it burn, and his brain is screaming but it feels right and he keeps going and going until…
Half the pressure on his brain suddenly vanishes, and he opens his eyes. One of the demons he’d frozen has vanished, and the other seems to strain even harder, looking almost…afraid now.
The house falls into silence. Sam can see many of the dark wisps of smoke have been frozen now, and everybody (except Ava) has adopted his stance, arms outstretched, straining against the demons. They’re all looking at him. The tide, somehow, has been turned.
Sam closes his eyes again, concentrates harder on that same feeling with the remaining demon. The pain comes on quicker and harsher, and it escalates close to a point where it’s hard to take. Sam screw his eyes and feels liquid roll from his nostrils, slowly making its way to his upper lip.
The pressure vanishes again, and Sam collapses in relief. “You can get rid of them,” He croaks out, heaving himself up on his elbows. “Do it.”
He catches another wayward wisp of smoke as they start to vanish slowly, one by one. He expels this one too, causing another stream of blood to cascade from his nose, and makes his way towards Ava. She snarls, turns on her heel, and makes to run away, but Sam catches her arm and holds her in place.
To his surprise, he turns back to see the shack practically demon-free. Only Andy is left, struggling with a wisp in the corner and is quickly assisted by Lilly, with whom he is able to dispatch the remaining demon with relative ease. They’re all panting with exertion, all have bloody noses and bruised faces, but they’re all alive. That’s all Sam is asking for.
“Get off!” Ava hits at his arm, straining away. “Get off of me!”
Sam holds on tighter. “What happened to you, Ava?” He asks.
“You don’t understand!” Ava squeals, straining further. “If I don’t kill you, then he kills us all! I don’t have a choice!”
Sam’s blood runs cold. “What do you mean?” He asks.
“Well well well,”
The sound of applause as Sam whirl around to the doorway. The door is gone, blown off its hinges and laying in the dirt outside. Standing in the doorway, framed by the dark night, is a man. Average height, middle age, graying hair, a big smile, and a pair of glowing, yellow eyes.
“Sam,” Andy breathes behind him, but Sam can’t bring himself to respond. He flexes a hand and regrets with all his might that he hadn’t kept the Colt on him at all times.
“Look what we have here,” Azazel says, and Sam manages to hear it over the ringing in his ears. “All of you working together, huh? I’m almost proud. It’s nice when your kids manage to all get along.”
“What do you mean?” Lily asks, as Ava begins to shake in Sam’s grip. “We’re not your kids.”
Azazel chuckles, taking a step closer. “Technically,” He says. “You all have my blood. What more would make us family?” He takes another step, crossing the threshold into the house.
“Blood?” Lily steps back in concert to his forward movement.
“Oh, yes,” Azazel chuckles. “All you kiddos got a little baptism with my blood when you were but six months old. And you wanna know something funny? Some of your mommies or daddies were in on it.”
“You’re lying,” Jake says, and the slight tremor in his voice somehow manages to snap Sam out of his stupor.
He lets go of Ava and steps forward, hands clenched, drawn up to his full height. “We don’t care what you have to say,” He says tightly (lying). “But I swear, you’re dying today. I don’t care how, but it’s happening.”
“That’s cute, Sammy boy,” Azazel says, crossing his arms. “Is the super squad going to take me out? I’m sorry to tell you that the only ones that are dying are you…except for one.”
“And why would we do that?” Sam asks, and he sees Ava begin to shake harder out of the corner of his eye.
Azazel laughs. “Because you don’t have a choice.” He responds. “You’re the last ones left, and you’re all here. You’re not getting out until you have a little fight to the death right here, right in front of me. Prove you’re worthy and you’ll be greatly rewarded.”
Sam glances back and a sea of shocked faces look back at him. His heart is beating so fast that he feels it in his fingertips. “No,” He finally says, turning around to look at Azazel. “We won’t.”
Azazel’s smile disappears. “No?” He asks, tone dangerous.
“No,” Sam confirms, praying that he’s doing the right thing, that the others will take his lead. “No, we won’t. All of us or none of us. You’ll have to do the work yourself.”
Azazel’s mouth stretches into another smile, but it’s different now. It verges on…inhuman, on a weird kind of uncanny valley. “Well,” He says, locking eyes with Sam. “You’re proving yourself to be quite a little leader, aren’t you?”
Sam lifts his chin, saying nothing.
“Let’s see how long that lasts,” Azazel says, stretching out an arm and pain pain pain blood pain pain
As if from very far away, Sam hears a “No!” and the pain suddenly vanishes, leaving him gasping, blood running down his nose and into his mouth. He looks up to see Andy, pale and shaking, with a hand lifted in Azazel direction.
Azazel looks at him, amused. “Nice try,” He tells him, turning away from Sam. “But you’re nowhere near enough juiced up to make that work.”
Sam knows, he knows, that Andy’s about to die and please Andy please be right I’m trusting you here he shakily lifts up a hand himself, letting the hear build up in his brain and seeing Azazel whip back around to look at him again.
“Joining in, Sammy?” He asks, but it’s too late and it seems that they all got the message and he sees a group of arms go up as one, all pointed at Azazel, all faces pulled into a grimace of effort. Ava collapses onto the floor, covering her face with her hands.
Azazel starts to chuckle but he’s suddenly cut off, and makes a choking sound instead. “Don’t be foolish,” He snaps, moving in odd, jerky movements. “You’re meddling in things you can’t even begin to understand. You’re not half as powerful as you think you are, and you won’t be unless you participate.”
Sam feels the heat build up in his head, and its getting close to unbearable. The blood is flowing freely now but he can’t stop, he can’t stop, he can’t…”
Azazel snarls, makes another jerky movement, locks eyes with Sam, and…
BANG
Azazel’s forehead explodes in a fountain of blood and brain matter and he falls forward, hitting the floor with a thud. Ava screams and Sam feels his brain snap back to normal instantly, the recoil making him hit the floor again. He feels the rest stumble, clearly sensing the same mental blowback, and he leverages himself back up onto his elbows to see what the hell just happened.
In the doorway, right where Azazel had been standing seconds earlier, is Dean. He is also pointing a hand at Azazel, but that hand carries a gun that still smokes from its recent usage. It’s the gun that Sam had been praying to see, and if he hadn’t believed in God before, he sure does now.
Dean lowers the gun and locks eyes with Sam, having a deep breath. Sam smiles shakily, glancing back towards the unmoving body on the floor.
It’s over.
Dean stumbles through the door in a tangle of limbs and battle equipment, followed closely by Bobby. “Fuck,” Dean says, rushing towards Sam, grabbing his arm. “You alright? You guys alright? Shit.”
“Yeah,” Sam says, letting his brother leverage him up to his feet. “Yeah, I’m okay. Guys?”
They all glance at each other, shell-shocked, and Jake says “Yeah,” and is followed by a series of nods. Ava’s continued sobs ring heavily in the silence, but she also seems to be mostly unharmed for the most part.
“Andy, can you..” Sam says, gesturing towards Ava, and Andy nods and moves to help her to her feet. This seems to break a spell, and Jake and Lily bypass Dean and rush towards the exit of the house, almost running into Bobby in the process.
Bobby steps back, looking just as shocked as everybody else. “What in the fresh hell happened here?” He asks, stepping closer towards the body.
“Dean just…he just killed Azazel,” Sam says, as if from a great distance. “Azazel’s dead.”
Dean looks at him, a smile starting to grow on his face. “I killed Azazel,” He repeats, and his smile grows wider. “The bastard’s dead. He’s finally dead.”
“He is,” Andy confirms quietly, leading Ava outside. “You did it.”
“I did it!” Dean repeats again, clutching harder onto Sam’s arm. “Sammy…it’s over. It’s fucking over!”
“It is,” Sam says, and he’s starting to feel it now, God, it’s been twenty three years of this, they’ve lost so much to it, and it’s over. It’s finally over.
Dean lets go of Sam’s arm and walks towards the body on the floor. “This is for Mom, you son of a bitch,” He says, and kicks him in the head.
Sam and Dean emerge into the damp morning of Coal Oak, South Dakota, with a concerned Bobby on their heel. They soon join the larger group, standing in a confused heap in the mist.
“What’s next?” Jake asks, looking back at the abandoned town. “What do we do now?”
Sam takes it all in: his brother, their family friend, and the remnants of a group that was brought together by tragedy and became each other’s strength.
He thinks of Missouri, of answers, of blood, of mothers, of the creeping feeling that this isn’t actually over after all.
“I don’t know,” He says. Dean steps closer so that they’re arm-to-arm. “But I think I might have an idea of where to begin.”