Azazel helped haul the hose to another location and turned it on. The fire had died down after they'd doused it. Despite the fire truck's tardy arrival on the scene, the inferno had been contained to Sam's apartment. It was an unnatural fire. A hellfire once could say. It was only going to burn what the demon who set it wanted to. And Azazel, wearing a disheveled alcoholic fireman, was the only one who knew that secret.

Brady had caught him in the chaos on the staircase as the other residents evacuated in the beginning of the fire.

"It's done"

"Yes, it is." Azazel flashed him a smile.

The other demon lingered for a moment, as if he were waiting for approval or praise or further instructions. Or a fucking celebratory dance. Who the hell knew?

Azazel tipped his head. "What? You want a freaking medal? Get out, there's a fire in this building. You may have noticed."

The Demon Brady had done well, and even better, he had done it with aplomb. Azazel wasn't going to tell him that. But a promotion was in store.

The heavy equipment of the uniform his vessel was wearing was both constricting and almost unnecessary for him, but, he supposed it wouldn't do to have the flesh of who he was wearing melt off the minute he abandoned the meat suit. Humans were so annoyingly fragile.

Azazel kept up with the charade for a bit longer until it bored him, then he wandered over to surreptitiously observe the Winchesters. They were some distance away, standing by their ugly black muscle car. Sam was sitting on the hood, head bowed, with his brother standing awkwardly near him.

He didn't seem to be crying. The vestiges of shock were wearing off.

Dean put his hand on Sam's shoulder- a gesture of comfort that somehow felt surprisingly intimate. As if it were something sacred that should't have observers. It spoke to Azazel of an entire untapped reservoir of love within them. Sickening really.

But in the end, Dean had served his purpose. He'd dragged his brother back into hunting and unwittingly sealed his Fate.

For a moment Azazel was concerned that maybe the youngest Winchester had lost his edge entirely. He looked quiet. Lessened. The loss in his heart was visible in his entire aura. Hard to picture him leading a demon army now, much less eventually housing Azazel's own Master.

Sam's eyes tracked up to the shell of his apartment. They were flat. Hollowed. Just like John's had been so many years before. But then he saw a silent and almost imperceptible hardening. Sam reaching down and calling up that mettle that lingered deep down within the boy's shining soul. Sam Winchester's jaw tightened slightly, his head tilted up.

The young man circled around to the back of the vehicle lifted the car's trunk. He picked a shot gun out of the assortment of weapons in the back and cocked it, comfortable with it's heft in a way a civilian would never be.

Dean followed him and stood silently at his side. Sam allowed himself a sigh, fighting tears before he tossed it back on top of the cache. His face hardened with resolve again. "We got work to do."

The impala trunk slammed shut and Azazel smiled.

They did indeed. Sam's path was laid out before him and Azazel's favorite race horse was back in the running, straining at the bit like he'd always done. Tacked up and wearing blinders, hemmed in on both sides by the track rails and pulling ahead of the pack. If only he'd known what he was running toward.

The brothers stood together a moment longer, tall and handsome, each by the other's side. The wind ruffled Sam's hair and the lamplight glinted off the planes of their high cheekbones and strong jaws. The picture of heroes really.

It was going to be so fun to watch them crumble under the strain. So fun to see exactly how much weight each could take before they buckled.

Dean would break first like a thoroughbred snapping a leg. Azazel's money was on Sam Winchester, the Boy with the Demon Blood. Giving him no choice but to harden into a lethal weapon was going to be so delightful.

Before him, under the light of the moon, Dean Winchester put his arm around his brother as the smoke curled higher.

The Beginning.

Phew! Completed finally. Thank you to my little handful of readers who stuck in through this whole thing and reviewed. It has been a long journey. Thank you soooooo much. Anyone else stumbling upon this at any time, please drop me a line. Reviews are our only payment. I've been as meticulous as I could with canon. I hope my efforts payed off. I have no clue what my next project will be. Shoot me a PM if you have any plot bunnies. Keep the bunnies within the Kripke Seasons (1-5) though. I'm toying with bringing back Ellis from my Mark series if enough readers want me too.

Love,

Celine