Author's Note: Okay, so when I got this idea, I had a totally different intent and then it just got away from me. I have not yet decided if that is good or not. Also, I started this before the last couple of episodes, so it's a little AU and I'm not going to even try to guess at or explain what happened with Kevin and Crowley. So I'm going to ignore it. So there.

Set sometime after "Taxi Driver" Episode 8X19

I own very little and absolutely nothing related to Supernatural.

"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light." - Helen Keller

"So, what exactly did Kevin say?"

"Not much," answered Dean. "Just that he'd translated the last trial and that he'd tell us about when we got there." Sam coughed softly and leaned his aching head against the window. The route Kevin had given them was leading into a thickly forested area. Apparently whatever it was, it needed privacy.

Dean shifted and looked over at Sam. "You ready?" Sam turned away from the window to face him.

"Yeah. I mean, it's probably going to suck, but if it means closing hell, I do it."

"We do it." Sam nodded, saying nothing.

When the brothers made it to the small clearing, Kevin stood next to piled wood, surrounded by branches and straw.

"Hey man, you got it figured out?" asked Sam.

"Yeah...uh", Kevin cleared his throat. "Yeah, I've got it. I got everything ready...I...just...needed you two."

"Well? Don't keep us in suspense here," said Dean, taking in the prophet's haggard appearance. The kid looked sad, almost heartbroken. Not the look of someone who was about to help win a victory for the good guys. Dean felt dread begin to settle in his stomach.

"Seriously, so ready to be done with holy trials and crap," added Sam. Kevin looked at his shuffling feet for a moment before he answered, never looking up.

"A sacrifice, a burnt offering. Of the person you love the most."

"What?" said Sam.

"You have to kill and burn the body of the person you love most in this world. It is the final test." Sam's eyes were wide as he looked at Dean and then back to Kevin.

"No," said Sam, shaking his head. "There has to be something else."

"I'm sorry," cried Kevin. "I wish...I wish I was wrong! I checked it again and again. But I'm not wrong and this is what you have to do. When you accepted the trials, when you set out on the quest, you knew it was probably going to end like this. One way or another."

"We don't have time," said Dean. "We can't give Crowley a chance to show up and ruin this somehow."

"No way, no way," muttered Sam.

"Sam," started Dean.

"Shut up!" said Sam, pointing at Dean. "Just shut up. Castiel!" shouted Sam. "Cas, you get down here, right now!" The silent peace of the forest went unbroken for several moments.

"Sam, I don't think he'll show. After the thing with the angel tablet...I don't think he's listening anymore," said Dean quietly.

"I never stopped listening." The angel was standing just outside the clearing when they turned around. "Sam, you rarely call on me. What's wrong?"

"Kevin finished translating the stone. To close Hell," said Dean.

"Is this not good news?" asked Castiel.

"No!" exclaimed Sam. "No, it says I have to sacrifice the person I love the most. Tell them it's some mistake. Tell them God wouldn't ask this of anyone." Castiel's eyes flickered between Sam and Dean.

"Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you. ," quoted Castiel softly. "God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. This would not be the first time, Sam."

"Sam," tried Dean.

"NO!" Sam turned to Dean. "After all of this? After everything we have already given up? No! I promised you! I promised that I would bring us to the light at the end of the tunnel. Both of us, because no matter how determined you seemed to be, you didn't need to die!"

"Sometimes the light is a train," remarked Dean with a small smile. He tried to find outrage. Tried to pull up the energy to fight, but all he felt was something like relief. It was going to be over. And Sammy would live.

"I won't do this. I will not kill you."

"You will, because it's the right thing to do, because it's what I wanted all along. Slam the doors on Hell and then be done. And you get to live an apple pie life."

"I can't do that!"

"You can! More than once you turned your back on hunting, got a girl, settled down."

"That was different! I didn't know where you were. I couldn't find you. Now, I'll know! I'll see your blood all over my hands and I can't live with that!" Sam's voice was rising in volume and pitch.

"No, you will see me." Dean reached out and cupped Sam's cheeks with warm, rough hands. "Me, asking you to do it. And you'll hear me telling you that it is the right thing to do and I'm willing. We'll do it together."

Dean watched as tears filled his baby brother's eyes.

"I wanted to save you."

"You did. A hundred times in a hundred ways. You already did." Dean's green eyes were bright as he softly slapped Sam's face and stepped away. "Now we end it and never have to deal with another black-eyed son of a bitch again."

"I'm sorry," said Castiel, his eyes sad. "You both deserve a more merciful Father." Dean snorted softly and shook his head.

"I've never known a merciful Dad. Seems stupid to start wishing for it now." Dean held out his hand to the angel, who took it. "You look out for him, Cas. You take care of my little brother."

"I will do my best."

Dean turned and climbed up onto the pile of wood and laid down. He knew he should be freaking out, scared, protesting, something. But he wasn't. Sam slowly walked toward the pyre and then back away, before slowly stepping forward again.

"I'm glad it was you," said Dean. Sam looked down at his brother. "If it had been me, if I'd been the one doing the trials, it never would have worked. I would have let the world burn before I'd be able to hurt you." Sam shook his head, roughly running a hand through his hair.

"Is that supposed to make this easier?!"

"All I'm saying is, you're stronger than me. Strong enough to do this and keep living. It's better this way. And you live, you hear me? Stop hunting. And no trying to get me back." Dean held up a hand to forestall Sam's protest. "I know we say it every time and then don't listen, but this time, this final, godforsaken clusterfuck, let it end."

"I can't..."

"You can and you will. Protecting you, keeping you safe, it's the only thing I've ever been really sure of. Let me do it this one last time." Dean poured everything he had into his voice. "I love you, Sammy." Sam stared into his brother's eyes for a long moment. Then he nodded, roughly brushing the tears away and lifted the knife.

"I love you, Dean."

"Sam. Stop." And Sam did, along with everything else. The forest froze into silence. Dean, Kevin, even Castiel were still. Sam turned to see a young woman, about his age standing at the edge of the trees. "Do not lay a hand on your brother." Sam stumbled away from the alter on trembling legs.

"Who are you?" The woman tossed back her hair, blonde against her white dress and smiled at Sam.

"Call me Faith." Sam looked from the knife in his hand to the frozen form of his brother and back to the woman.

"Abraham didn't have to sacrifice his son," said Sam slowly, realization dawning. "He just had to be willing to."

"I swear by my very self, oracle of the Lord, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your brother, I will bless you," said Faith softly. Sam exhaled shakily and dropped the knife like it burned.

"Is that the trial?" asked Sam, running hands through his long hair. "Is that it?"

"The gates to Hell will be closed as we finish here. But yes, that is it."

"And Dean?"

"Your brother will be unharmed, my promise." Sam fixed Faith with a uncertain look.

"And me?"

"You will also be unharmed."

"Can you fix what...whatever it is that is wrong with me?"

"You're holding power, Sam. Power to lock Hell away forever. Humans were never meant to contain such force. When you release the power and end the trial, you will heal."

"Will it really close Hell for good?" Faith tilted her head and studied Sam.

"It is hard to say. So many impossible things seem to be happening in the world. Especially in the times of Winchesters." She smiled again, but it faded. "But you know, better than most, that Hell is not the only source of darkness. This singular act will not rid the Earth of evil."

"Are you an angel?"

"Me? No," she said, "But I work closely with their boss."

"God? You work with God, but you're not an angel? And God is around, I mean, you've seen him? Talked to him?" She laughed, a deep and hearty laugh that held true amusement.

"This is one of the things your God loves about your kind. The need to know things. Why, how, when...you never stop wanting to know. But that desire is one of the things that makes it hard for you to love your creator. Because some things are not knowable." She slowly walked toward Sam, her bare feet making no sound on the leaves beneath them.

"I am not solely of the Christian God, or any godly being. I am Faith, Sam Winchester. I am faith in all things. I am the faith Bobby Singer had in you and Dean. I am the faith you had when you prayed to a god you felt no longer listened." She was so close, Sam could see her blue eyes has gold in them. "I am the faith Dean still has in you." Sam swallowed thickly and blinked.

"Why," said Sam, clearing his throat, "why is it you? Why was it you and not some angel?"

"Because the angels are not what they once were," responded Faith. "And because this trial was never about sacrifice. Not really. It was about faith, yours and his," she motioned to Dean," that this was the right thing to do. That in the end, it would be worth it. And since you passed with such flying colors, it seemed sort of rude for me not to show up myself," finished Faith with a smile.

"I'm, uh, not sure he's going to thank you for this," said Sam cautiously.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, he's been really," Sam sighed," really, I don't know, ready to die. Not die, but be finished. I think death is the only way he sees to get out. He's tired. And I don't know what to do."

"I know. The things he has seen, survived, sacrificed...I know he doesn't have much left that he feels like he can rely on. I know. There is a sadness in him that even I cannot heal," said Faith solemnly. "But your brother is courageous. And stubborn. And he may not have faith in much else, but he does believe in you. And in doing the right thing. He will smile again, Sam. He will find the light again."

"How?" Faith didn't answer, just smiled knowingly. "Maybe I should just have some faith?" Her laughter made Sam smile.

"I think you're getting it, Sam." She stepped away lightly. "Now, let's end this." Faith moved to the center of the clearing and knelt in the grass. "Come, Sam, put your hands on the earth." Sam knelt opposite her and did as she asked. Faith laid her hands on his shoulders and looked deeply into his eyes. "I have always been with you, Sam Winchester. I always will." With her words, Sam felt the fire that had been clawing at his veins for weeks rip through his palms. He couldn't stop the cry of pain as the power fled his body and disappeared into the ground with a wave of sound and heat. It was over in a moment that felt like hours, but as quickly as it had begun, it ended. Sam sagged forward, rolling onto the grass and breathing in the scents of earth and trees. The sky was blue. He was alive and felt better already.

"Sam?" He bolted upright at the sound of Dean's voice. "Sam!"

The sky was blue. Dean blinked for a moment and tried to remember why he was staring at the sky. Was he on top of someone's bonfire? Then he remembered. Trial. Sacrifice. Sam.

"Sam?" called Dean, sitting up quickly. He spotted his brother lying in the grass a few yards away. "Sam!" He jumped off the wood and ran for his brother who was sitting up and looking at Dean with wide eyes.

"Dean!" Sam held out his hand and Dean pulled him to his feet, gripping his arms tightly. "Hey, hey, it's okay."

"What happened?"

"The trial was never about killing you!"

"Well, that could have been embarrassing. What was it about?"

"For Abraham in Genesis, it was about obedience," came Castiel's voice. He and Kevin were walking toward them. The angel looked unruffled, but the prophet looked as confused as Dean felt. "He also did not end up killing his son, but was stopped by an angel of the Lord."

"That's right," said Sam, "But it wasn't an angel this time. It was Faith."

"Faith," echoed Dean. "Like, Faith Faith, a real life Faith? How does that work?"

"Who knows, man, we've met Death. How is this really that different?"

"Point made."

"Faith was here?" asked Castiel.

"You know her?"

"Yes, though I have not spoken with her for centuries. She has become...elusive."

"I hate to break up this theological learning and whatever," interrupted Kevin, "but can we talk about the trial here? Can I go home? Are we done?"

"Yeah, we're done. The trial wasn't really about sacrifice in the way we thought. It was about having faith enough to do the right thing. Faith stopped me, and then we released the power of the trials. Hell is shut, or that is what Faith said."

"Forever?" asked Dean.

"She couldn't say for sure."

"Forever is a long time," murmured Castiel. "I am glad you are both well. I must go."

"Cas," said Sam. "You said Faith was elusive. Maybe in the flesh, but the part the matters? Not really." The angel regarded Sam for a long moment before he nodded. "I see your meaning." He was gone in a whisper of feathers.

"What about you?" asked Dean. "I mean, the stuff that was broken inside, is it gone or..."

"Faith said it would heal," answered Sam with a smile. "I'm going to be okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well hot damn," said Dean, pulling Sam into a powerful hug. Sam laughed into his shoulder and Dean couldn't help but smile and laugh, too.