Hey guys! Here is a brand new story for you, and yes, yet another S8 AU because apparently I don't know how to stop. This has officially become a problem, but this one has Purgatory which I've always wanted to write, so it's much different LOL :P

This takes place directly after the S7 finale. Some dialogue was taken from that episode in this chapter too. Also there is eventual Megstiel in this story :)

Thanks to Aini NuFire for betaing this one!

Worth Fighting For

A Supernatural Fanfic

Chapter One

Sam heard the explosion, felt the shockwave of the blast against his back as he hurriedly turned to shield Kevin with his body, unable to do anything else, unable to think of what else he could do.

When he whipped around after the fact, heart pounding, fear for Dean and Cas bubbling up in his throat, he wasn't quite sure how to register what he was seeing at first.

First he saw that there was black goo everywhere in the lab, telling him that Dick Roman had exploded, which meant their weapon must have worked well enough.

But secondly it registered in his mind that the black goo was all that was there. There was no Dean. There was no Cas. They were completely gone.

"Dean," Sam breathed, half inquiringly, as if his brother might just pop up and be perfectly fine. But as the seconds ticked by, Sam still didn't see any sign of his brother or the angel.

What the hell had happened?

"Sam," Kevin's shaky voice brought him back to the present as the kid grabbed his sleeve. "We should go."

"What the hell?" Sam breathed, as he stepped further into the room, looking around.

"More chompers any second, Sam!" Kevin cried.

"Not to worry."

Sam spun around to see Crowley suddenly standing to one side of the room, looking down with mild disgust at the goo from Dick Roman's explosion.

"I have a small army of demons outside," Crowley continued, striding over to Sam. "Cut off the head and the body will flounder, after all."

Sam just stared at him as Crowley shrugged.

"Think if you'd had just one king since the first sunrise. You'd be in a kerfuffle too."

"Which is exactly what you wanted," Sam breathed, finally forcing words from his throat.

"So did you," Crowley said. "Without a master plan the Levis are just another monster—hard to stomp, sure, but you love a challenge. Your job was to keep them from organizing."

Sam shook his head. "Where're Dean and Cas?"

Crowley gave an overwrought inhale, faking regret. "That bone has a bit of a kick—god weapons often do. They should put a warning on the box."

"Where are they, Crowley?" Sam shouted, fists curling at his sides.

Crowley shook his head. "Can't help you, Sam."

He snapped his fingers and two demons appeared, taking hold of Kevin. The young prophet glanced between them, terrified, and Sam started, unsure of what move to make.

"Sorry, Sam, prophet's mine," Crowley said, and raised his hand to snap his fingers again, probably to send Kevin off to points nowhere, but one of the demons holding Kevin suddenly screamed, sparking out his eyes as the tip of an angel blade appeared out of his chest.

Sam watched, half hoping it was Cas, but as the demon fell, he saw Meg standing there, a little battered and bloody, but alive. He was honestly surprised.

She killed the second demon before he could fight back and Kevin dodged to one side as Meg watched the body fall with a look of indifference before she turned to Crowley.

"Yeah, think again," she told him.

Crowley narrowed his eyes at her. "Hello, whore. I thought my boys had already collected you. Brought you back to your new very special room."

Meg smirked. "Yeah, not so much. Your boys aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed, and I'm a lot quicker with a blade."

"Still, if you think I'm going to just let you go…"

"Oh, I know you too well, Crowley," Meg said. "But don't think I don't have a few tricks of my own up my sleeve." Her hand moved in a flash and the angel blade was suddenly flying through the air toward Crowley. In the blink of an eye it slammed point first into the wall right where the King of Hell had been only a fraction of a second before.

"Damn," Meg breathed as she strode forward to grab her blade.

"Meg," Sam finally forced out as she looked around at the remains of Dick Roman. "How many demons are out there?"

"More than we can fight off," she told him, looking around. "Where are Cas and Dean?"

Sam swallowed hard. "I don't know. Dean stabbed Roman and…they disappeared when he exploded."

Meg's eyes went wide. "They what?"

"I don't know!" Sam shouted, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, anxiety clouding his rationale.

"Sam!" Kevin cried. The sounds of distant commotion could be heard and Meg cursed again.

"Well, they sure as hell aren't here," she said. "And we shouldn't be either. Crowley's demons aren't going to let us go quietly. We need to get as far away from here as possible."

As much as Sam hated to admit it, he knew she was right. He surged forward, grabbing Kevin's arm before they followed Meg out through the lab and down several corridors before they came out into the open.

He spun around, and winced as he saw the Impala still crashed through the sign for Sucracorp, knowing Dean would have a fit if he were to see his baby now.

Dean…

What the hell had happened to them?

"Sam!" Meg snapped.

Shouts sounded out behind them, and Sam looked over his shoulder to see demons running their way, and Crowley standing at the entrance to the Sucracorp building. That kicked him back into gear and he hurriedly yanked open the driver's side door and got in, starting the engine as Meg and Kevin followed.

Sam revved the Impala's engine and slammed it into reverse. The wheels spun a bit in the grassy median, but soon the traction caught and the Impala surged backwards. Sam spun the car into a 180, taking out a couple demons who had run after them in the process, and was off down the road as fast as he could go.

He drove at top speed for several minutes down the highway, the three of them silent, Sam still reeling with what had happened, before Kevin spoke up.

"What the hell happened back there?"

Sam glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that the kid was pale, wide-eyed, and looked like he might throw up. Meg looked back and rolled her eyes slightly.

"Breathe," she commanded the teenager firmly, before she turned back to Sam. "But seriously, he has a point. What the hell did happen?"

Sam gripped the wheel tighter, shaking his head. "I—I'm not sure. Dean and Cas had Dick cornered, I got there just in time to see them stab him in the neck. Then this…pulse started beating around him and he…exploded. And the next thing I know, he's black goo spattered everywhere, and Dean and Cas are nowhere to be seen."

Meg looked more stricken than Sam would have given her credit for, but then, Cas had seemed to grow pretty attached to her in the last few months, so maybe the feeling was mutual. She hid her emotions quickly though, clearing her throat.

"Well, if that was the case, then I can only think of one option, especially since there weren't Dean and Castiel bits mixed in with the Levi nastiness."

Sam winced at the thought, but glanced over at her. "Then what?"

Meg leveled a look at him. "Where would Dick go if he died?"

Sam opened his mouth, furrowing his brow, before he thought of the obvious answer. "Purgatory." Then it dawned on him. "Wait…are you saying Dean and Cas…"

"Got blasted to Purgatory?" Meg offered blandly. "Yeah, I am."

"Purgatory?" Kevin screeched. "You're joking right?"

Meg glanced back at him. "It makes the most sense out of any other possibilities."

Sam felt sick, gripping the wheel tighter. "Then how the hell are we going to get them out of there?"

"I have no idea, I'm just as clueless as you, and that's certainly a feat," Meg told him wryly. "But it's not going to be easy, I can tell you that much. Purgatory isn't exactly easy to get into, even for a demon, and speaking of demons, Crowley is going to be on our tail unless we do something about him soon, and that's going to make finding Castiel and your brother even harder."

Sam raised his eyebrows at her use of 'we'. "Wait, you're telling me you're in on this? Really?"

Meg gave him a longsuffering, and slightly indignant look. "What, you think I'm just gonna wander off to get killed by Crowley, or worse? No thanks. I'd rather stay and take my chances with a Winchester—the only thing that keeps the monsters up at night."

Sam snorted. "So, I'm just free protection for you, is that it?"

Meg was quick to look away from him and out the window, folding her arms over her chest. "Something like that." Sam wondered if this had more to do with Cas than her protection, but didn't feel like mentioning it.

Sam glanced back at Kevin again, who seemed to at least have calmed down a little but. "Kevin, you didn't happen to see anything about Purgatory in the tablet, did you?"

Kevin shook his head. "N-no, sorry. Sam," he looked up with scared eyes. "I—I think Crowley has my mom, I…"

"It's okay, Kevin, we'll find her. I'm sure she's all right." Sam really hoped she was, anyway. The kid didn't need any more trauma right now.

"Sam, we need to find someplace to drop honor roll here," Meg said, nodding back toward Kevin. "If you want to keep him safe, you'll want to make sure he's somewhere far away from where Crowley and his minions will be able to track him down."

Sam swallowed hard, but had to agree. "You're right. I think I may have an idea, but we've gotta find out if his mom is okay first."

Meg opened her mouth to protest, but Sam stopped her. "Believe me, I want to find Dean and Cas too, but we can't leave Kevin's mom in danger either. Neither of them would want that."

Meg gave a conceding shrug and went back to looking out the window. "Fine. I just hope we get wherever you're going before Crowley shows up."

"Me too," Sam said and continued driving, eating up the miles as silence rained down again. He couldn't believe he had lost his brother and Cas again, and in Purgatory of all places.

Purgatory….what the hell was that like?

Dean gasped awake, sitting upright abruptly and reaching for a weapon as he looked around, studying his surroundings.

He was in a forest, and it was nighttime, that much he could tell. Other than that, he had no idea where he was or how he got there.

He found the hilt of his knife in the back of his belt and was glad that he at least still had that. He had his gun too, but didn't have a lot of extra bullets so he would have to find out…wherever the hell he was and get back to Sam.

Sam. Where was his brother? Where was Cas? And Meg and Kevin? The last thing he remembered was stabbing Dick Roman in the throat, which was…weird. How the hell did he get out here in the woods then, when they'd been at the Sucracorp building the last he recalled? The series of events just weren't adding up in his mind.

He could hear things stirring among the trees, strange, eerie noises that sent the hairs on the back of his neck standing upright. He reached into his pocket for his cellphone, and tapped the screen. It lit up, but there was no service. Not even one lousy bar. How far out was he?

Dean stood up, feeling slightly dizzy, but otherwise okay. Which was good. It could have been a lot worse standing in the blast zone of exploding Dick—and boy did that sound wrong. But it might also explain why he had woken up in a completely different place.

He flicked on the flashlight app on his phone and scanned the surroundings. There were just trees all around him. And worse, he kept catching sight of shadowy figures flitting between them in the pools of darkness. He drew his knife out with his other hand, swallowing hard as adrenaline surged through him. Where the hell was he?

As he continued to study the surroundings, his light fell on a lump of something out of place; it looked like a pile of fabric, clothing. He stepped forward cautiously and as recognition set in, he hurried the last few steps and crouched next to the prone figure, reaching out and rolling him onto his back.

"Cas?" Dean called, using his light to look the angel over. Cas didn't seem to have any wounds either, but he was completely unconscious. Dean tapped his cheek none-too-gently but Cas still didn't register anything. Dean brought his blade to the angel's lips to see if he was even breathing—of course, angels didn't really need to breathe, did they?

All the same, he was relieved to see a puff of moisture on the blade, so he took that to mean that Cas was actually still alive. Dean sat back on his heels, wondering what to do. He had no idea where they were, whether Sam and the others were nearby or not, and he couldn't really go anywhere with a comatose angel. It looked like he would at least be stuck here until Cas woke.

A branch snapped in the woods nearby and Dean swung his light over in that direction only to see large, dark shapes creeping between the trees with red, glowing eyes. A low growling was coming from that direction and Dean broke out into a cold sweat. Black dogs? Hellhounds? The only thing he was certain of was that he didn't want to stick around to find out.

"Cas, come on, man, wake up," he pleaded, shaking Cas roughly by the shoulder, then slapping his face again, harder this time. Still nothing. The growls from the unknown beasts were getting louder. Dean cursed, looking around for any place to hide or at least make a stand.

A large, seemingly ancient tree was all he saw. It wasn't too far away, and if he could get himself and Cas to it, they may just have a chance of survival.

"Screw this," he grunted and reached down to haul Cas over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. He stowed his knife between his teeth, and grabbed his gun instead as he moved as fast as he could toward the tree with the angel's dead weight.

Excited growls and howls burst out through the trees and he heard the scrambling of clawed feet over the groundcover. Dean whipped around and shot; he heard a pained yip, but it didn't seem to slow the beasts down much. He kept running, and when he reached the tree, he practically flung Cas over one of the lower branches before scrambling up behind him. One of the giant wolf-like creatures leapt after him and caught the lower leg of his jeans with its claws. Dean hissed as he felt them tear into his shin, but he got out of the beast's reach quickly and kicked at one that made a grab for the tail of Cas' trench coat.

Dean scrambled up onto the next branch, hauling Cas after him, until he finally made it to a large crook in the tree, far enough up that it didn't seem like the wolves could get to them. Dean sat back against the trunk of the tree, panting, one arm hooked around Cas to make sure he didn't slide off, as he glanced over at the circling red-eyes beasts below.

He couldn't make out distinct details, but he could tell they were ugly brutes. Wolflike, but broader in the chest, hunched backs. He had never seen anything like them, that was for sure. What the hell were they and again, where was he?

One of the beasts got clever then and made a huge effort to jump to the first branch. With some scrambling, it actually managed to get its footing and Dean's breath caught in his throat.

"Son of a bitch," he breathed as he brought his gun around and leveled it at the creature. Its glowing red eyes met his with a snarl and was about to leap even higher when Dean shot it point blank in the head.

The creature fell with a dull, heavy thud on the ground below and the others erupted in a frenzy. Dean watched, eyes wide with horror as the other wolflike creatures turned on one of their own and tore it to shreds, devouring until there was nothing left but bones and scraps of skin.

Dean tightened his grip on Cas' coat, positioning the unconscious angel more securely on the branch. He didn't want either of them to meet that fate.

Thankfully, after the wolf things had finished with their dead packmate, they only spent a little more time growling up at Dean and Cas, before they wandered off, probably in search of easier prey. Dean didn't relax for even a second though. He stayed there for hours in the uncomfortable position in the crook of the tree, one arm keeping Cas from falling, and the other propped on his drawn up knee to keep his gun at the ready.

He didn't know where he was, but he did know this:

It was gonna be hell.

Dean didn't move all night, listening to the strange sounds of this unknown forest. He had spent his fair share of time in forests hunting things, but this one just wasn't normal. There were none of the typical sounds of crickets and other normal creatures of the night, there was only complete silence as the backdrop, and over that, there was just a plethora of unusual animal sounds that Dean couldn't place. Maybe 'animal' was being too generous anyway. After those things that had attacked them, Dean didn't even want to take a guess as to what else was out there.

He really just wanted to know where he was so he could figure out the quickest way to get the hell out of Dodge.

He began to think that the night may last forever, but eventually a grey, gloomy dawn came, and cast the forest into a murky, unappealing light. Thankfully, most of the freaky noises seemed to have ceased as the sun, or what could be seen of it anyway, came up, and Dean thought it was probably time to get out of this tree.

His whole body was aching and tense from the long, chilly night in the uncomfortable position and his legs were asleep from having Cas' dead weight practically lying on top of them all night. He didn't even want to think of the knots in his back.

He finally shifted his gun back into his coat; his fingers, unwilling to let it go, had cramped into a claw and he had to almost pry them off the butt of the pistol. He then turned to Cas whose head had slid back onto his shoulder, still limp and out of it. Dean was starting to get worried. He couldn't very well drag an unconscious angel around if he was going to have to fight off more giant wolves or who knew what else was out there: Rodents of Unusual Size came to mind, as he shook his head wryly. At this point, nothing would surprise him.

That was when Cas stirred—finally—and let out a short groan, his head lolling to one side as he tried to shift, probably into a more comfortable position.

Dean was quick to tighten his grip on the angel. "Woah, easy. Don't move too much."

Cas blinked his eyes open and craned his head to look at Dean. "Dean?" His eyes flicked around and he frowned as he saw where they were. "Are we…in a tree?"

Dean huffed a breath of relief. "Yeah, it was kinda my only escape rout."

Cas frowned, shifting slightly to one side to give Dean more room. "Escape from what? Dean, did you anger a wild animal? You really should leave them alone…" He trailed off as he looked around, his frown deepening. "No, something is not right."

Dean leaned forward, gripping Cas' shoulder. "Cas, what's not right?"

"Well, the atmosphere for one," Cas stated as if it was completely obvious. "Though, I suppose a human like you couldn't be expected to perceive that. But it is obvious we are not on earth anymore, can't you feel it?"

Dean looked at him with wide eyes. So Cas was still obviously off his rocker. That thought was almost the only comforting thing about this whole thing. "Dude, what are you talking about? Where the hell are we?"

Cas tilted his head to one side. "Don't you know? Dean, we were standing right next to Dick Roman when he exploded. The blast must have taken us with him."

"Where?" Dean demanded.

"Purgatory," Cas said matter-of-factly. "Which means that we are going to have to be very careful. This is a land populated only by monsters, after all."

Dean was still taking in the idea of them being in Purgatory. How the hell was that even possible?

One thing he did know, though, was that they were totally screwed.