AN: Who's ready for a plot-twist? Mmm, my favourite. Actually, my favourite is Hurt!Sam, and this chapter's got plenty of that, not to mention hurt!Dean as well. It's a win-win for everybody! And I'm only a Latin II student, so if I mess up the translations, oh well, not that many people are gonna bother to look it up anyway. Just focus on the hurt. The glorious, glorious hurt.

They weren't really in any kind of hurry, so Sam had decided to let Dean sleep in. Sam was well-aware if just how exhausted he really was, and he didn't mean physically. John's death had affected them both in different ways, but Dean's method of coping by not saying a damn thing wasn't doing anyone any good whatsoever.

This particular hunt had Sam terrified. He could only pray that a teenager wasn't really behind this. He'd been forced into the world of demons and monsters since he was six months old. Why anybody would willingly fall into that life was beyond him. There were times where he would've done anything not to be a hunter, but some kid had made the decision to throw herself into that hell? He just couldn't understand.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard Dean's awakening groan.

"Morning." Sam greeted.

"Where's th'coffee?" Dean grumbled.

Sam handed him a cup. "Get ready, we should head to Amanda's house pretty soon."

"Time's it?"

"Eleven."

"Well damn." Dean rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Think her parents are gone too?"

"We can make sure when we get there. Stake the place out for a few minutes, and then if it looks clear, we can go in."

"Sounds good to me. Gimme ten minutes, I gotta shower."

"I can tell." Sam said, smirking.

"Oh, shut up, bitch." Dean grumbled as he headed into the bathroom.

"Jerk." Sam called after him.

Roughly ten minutes later, the brothers were off to Amanda's house. After watching it for a while, they determined that it was empty, and then headed inside.

"You search her room, I'll do the basement." Sam told Dean.

"I don't wanna go through a teenage girl's room!" Dean whined.

Sam rolled his eyes. "If we're lucky and we're wrong about Amanda then there won't be anything to find in there." Sam said hopefully. "I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Will do." Dean agreed, and then they went their separate ways.

What was it about basements that made them perpetually frightening? Seriously, did every murderer just need a creepy basement in order to be successfully scary? But Sam had volunteered to go down there because Dean had already hurt himself enough on this hunt, he deserved a break. Best case scenario though, was that neither of them found anything.

It was significantly colder down there, enough to cause Sam's arms to prickle with goosebumps, even with his numerous layers on. He began to scan the room, trying to find any sign, or lack thereof, of witch-craft. His heart nearly sank when he finally caught sight of the altar. He approached it with a sigh, and picked up the book in the centre of it. It had the typical dark and semi-mystifying cover. But it was actually just was more cliché than typical.

"Dammit, Amanda..." Sam whispered in disappointment under his breath.

"Wrong." Said a voice from behind him.

Sam whipped around, and standing before him was not Amanda, which left only... "Mrs. Ficus?"

"Molly." She corrected with a grin. "I see you found my altar. Good thing I set up that alarm spell that tells me whenever someone breaks into my house."

Sam swallowed. "You-you've been the behind all this, haven't you?"

"Little bit." Molly chuckled.

"Why?" Sam was attempting to distract her, and then he could try to destroy the book. Without it, Molly would be powerless. Or at the very least, he was hoping to make enough commotion to draw Dean's attention.

"Those teenagers were hurting my baby girl. They needed to be taught a lesson."

"How can they learn anything if they're dead?" Sam countered.

"Kids like that have no place in the world. So I made sure they didn't live to figure that out on their own."

"And what about Kennedy?"

"That was simply a test." Molly said passively.

"Charles?"

"He skimped Amanda on babysitting money."

"Marty?"

"Saw too much."

Sam shook his head in disgust. "You're a monster."

"What, for protecting my little girl? You've clearly never had to drive your depressed and overdosed child to the E.R because of what other kids did to her! They almost made me lose Amanda!"

"But what you did to those kids is putting their families through the exact same thing. And now you've taught Amanda that it's okay to kill people!"

"She'll do anything to keep me safe. She was more than willing to go along with my little story about her being in the woods with them. She's such a great little actress, and such a good girl."

"You're controlling your daughter! Take it from someone who's been there. Manipulating your kid to make them like you is gonna get you nothing but a kid so badly wanting to get away from you that they're gonna turn their backs on you and never come back!"

...

Okay that-that got a little more personal than he had planned...

"You don't know anything!" Molly snapped. "You have no idea how this feels!" Now she was just flat out angry. She raised her hands as if she was about to cast a spell, but that's when Dean came charging down the steps. He instantly figured out what was going on, and he dove for the altar.

"Mane!" Molly shouted those Latin words, and both brothers flew to the wall. "Not alone then, I see. After you two are gone, I'll never have to worry about anyone trying to hurt my daughter again."

"Look, Molly." Sam tried the sympathy card one last time. "You don't have to do this. Burn the book now, and we'll leave you and Amanda alone forever. No one else has to die."

"Sam!" Dean hissed through his teeth.

"Shut up, Dean." Sam snapped. "Molly, please. Just let us go."

Molly gave a fleeting look of compassion, and for a moment, Sam thought she was changing her mind. But then, that wicked expression returned, and all she said was, "No."

And then she snapped her fingers, and both brothers were unconscious.

Sam was pretty sure he heard Dean calling his name, but his brain was all too muddy for him to have any clue as to what the hell was happening. He brought up his hand to his head. Well- he tried to anyway, but there was something obstructing him from doing so. Confused, he opened his eyes to see some brown rope curled around his wrists. No- it felt too hard to be rope. It felt more like-

Wood.

Crap.

The tree!

Instantly awake, Sam started to struggle.

"Ah, there you are." Molly cooed, an excited grin countering her sickeningly sweet tone. "We've been waiting for you."

"Is this really what you want?" Sam asked, still trying to squirm out of the tree's hold. "You really want Amanda to turn into this?" His head snapped to the side as a stray branch backhanded him. Did he just get bitch slapped by a tree?

"I want Amanda to not be afraid... Not like I was. My husband, God knows why I ever married him, controlled both Amanda and I, and I knew that until he drunk himself to death that we would never be free. Twenty years I put up with his abuse, but then- someone made me an offer. Said I could be powerful enough to get rid of him forever, and he'd never hurt me or my baby again."

"I-I'm sorry that happened to you." Sam said with sincerity. "But what you're teaching Amada is wrong. You're turning her into a killer!"

Molly shook her head, but whether she was being stubborn or determined was unclear. "No. After you boys, it's over. We'll be free forever."

Fear swamped Sam's gut, and instinct pushed him to keep struggling. Then, worry for his brother kicked in, and he cast a glance over to Dean. He was relieved to see that Dean had managed to hold onto his knife, and had started cutting through the branch that had curled around his chest, binding his arms to it. If Dean was trying to break free, Sam knew he had to keep Molly busy.

"Really?" He asked, quickly shifting his tone from sympathetic to condescending. "What happens when people come looking for me and my brother? You gonna kill them too?"

Molly's fists clenched. "If I have to."

"And what if they make the same mistake we did? They think that Amanda's the one who killed all those people? And then when they're a lot less forgiving than us-"

"Sam..." Dean warned, catching into that stupid stunt Sam was trying to pull. Almost through the branch!

"They're not gonna look for an excuse to save her," Sam continued anyway. "Or try to reason with her. You know what they're gonna do?"

Face reddening with rage, Molly remained quiet, just daring Sam to finish that thought.

"They'll kill her."

"Shut up!" Molly screeched. She raised her hands. "Occidere pueram; quam tarderrime!"

Sam instantly felt more coils of branches encircle him, two per arm and leg, and then he was hoisted into the air. One branch had a particularly punishing hold around broken hand, threatening to crack the cast. One curled around his throat just in time for him to hear a branch snap. He whipped his head over to Dean to see that he had broken free from the tree's grasp. He was about to feel relieved, but then the branch curled around his casted wrist tightened brusquely and painfully, so he couldn't keep himself from letting out a small shout.

Dean managed to break free and tackle Molly, snatching the book from her hand, and he was about to destroy the damn thing, right up until he heard Sammy cry out in pain.

"Let him go, Molly!" Dean shouted.

"I don't think so. The tree's already been given the order to kill him as slowly as possible. Give me back the book, and I'll make it quick instead."

"Dean, burn i- mmph!" Sam attempted to yell, but the tree had its own plans apparently, and wrapped another branch around his mouth, effectively gaging him.

"Sam!" Dean shouted in panic. He was worried as hell for his little brother, but he knew that the longer he waited, the longer that that damn tree was going to hurt Sam. He'd quickly made his decision, knowing that Molly had had enough chances to stop, and now the only way to get her to for sure was to burn the book. He hurriedly took out his lighter, and set the thing ablaze.

"No!" Molly shrieked, but it was too late, the book was already slowly being consumed by flames.

Small problem though. It was burning way too damn slowly. The spell wasn't going to wear off until the whole thing was nothing but a pile of ash, which meant that the tree was still hurting Sam.

Sam watched in relief as Dean lit the book, but the tree's hold on him remained unwavering. In fact, it was still steadily increasing, especially the one around his broken hand. He snapped his eyes shut, trying to hold back a cry of pain, but ended up letting out a whimper through his gagged mouth. He was alright for a moment longer, until there was a crack, signifying that his cast had just broken. His eyes flew open, and before he could stop himself, he was screaming.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled again. He started to run towards his brother to free him, only to get side-lined by that crazy bitch. He quickly tossed the book out of her reach, and then focused on keeping her down while it burned. She may have been a total nut-job, but she was easily flipped over, and Dean pinned her down.

Now, normally, Dean had a policy about hitting girls, but this bitch needed to stay the hell down if she wanted to stay alive. He raised his fist to knock her down, but then he felt a stripe smack down across his back. The pain took him by surprise, and he let out a small shout. The pain came back again as the branch laid another strike on his back. Then another, and another, and another. He was grateful for all his layers of clothes to minimally soften the blows, but son of a bitch, it still hurt like hell!

Dean fought to maintain his hold on Molly as the tree continued to whip him, and Sammy's muffled screaming wasn't really doing much for his concentration. He heard a small whimper, and then Sam went completely silent, and Dean figured he had passed out from the pain. Dean concluded that it was a good thing. At least now the kid didn't have to suffer anymore.

After what felt like too damn long, the whips to Dean's back stopped, and he heard a thud. He looked behind him to see Sam's body had fallen to the forest floor, and the tree had ceased all movements.

Finally.

"No!" Molly cried in despair, throwing Dean off of her as she went to the pile of ashes that was once her source of power. "Y-you!" She whipped her head to glare at Dean, who had gone to Sam's side to drape his unconscious brother's arm over his own shoulder.

"Listen here, Moly. If it wasn't for my brother's big-ass heart, you'd be dead right now. You killed people, and if it were up to me, I would've burned your ass along with the book. Sam here thinks that you deserve another chance, and so help me God, if you prove him wrong, I will hunt you down all over again, and kill you."

Molly's scowl soon faded, but Dean still saw the hatred brewing in her eyes. He had a feeling that one day he'd have to show back up and finish the job.

But right now, he had a little brother that needed a trip to the hospital. With Sam still draped over his shoulder, Dean headed to the Impala, looking forward to getting a few damn seconds to rest.

Crazy soccer-mom witch using trees to kill people. Yeah, this was one for the books.

AN: I hope all of you caught the dumb, little joke with the witch's name. The Latin word for witch is 'maleficus.' Molly Ficus? Get it? I happen to think I'm hilarious. In all seriousness, I hope you enjoyed this fic! Who knows, maybe there's a sequel coming, but I've already got another fic in the works. This one will be different from all my others considering that it will be a reader-insert. Not your ordinary kind though, and it deals with some very sensitive issues. It's called And We'll Heal the Scars, so be on the lookout for it. Until next time, carry on, my wayward sons!