BlueBloodsSVUOrder: Thanks for your review, and the continued support throughout the story :):) this is the last chapter, but I will get to the net part after a little break... I need to focus on my other stories now :P

maggilamb: Thank you! Finally! Never trust the reviews I get on this story, but I had a crap wake-up call, and your comment made it just a little bit better. Seriously, thank you. You're right, the way they started the relationship does make sense, because neither of them want commitment, but they need to work through the sexual tension. So, once again, thank you for understand :):)

Bamby

DPOV

I stood in the doorway of the room I'd put Sam in. Bobby had left a day or so ago, I don't know, I'd lost track of time. All I knew was that he'd taken Liz. I'd begged him not to. But in the end, we ended on compromising. He would wait. He would take her, but he wouldn't burn her. We'd do it together.

So far, I hadn't been able to leave the abandoned town we'd found Sam and Liz in. Where they'd been killed. I'd just been spending my time watching over my brother, like I should have from the beginning. I never should have let him out of my sight.

The front door opened. "Dean?" Bobby called. I turned to see him walk into the room, carrying a bucket of fried chicken. "Brought you this back." He put it down on the table.

"No, thanks. I'm fine." The words were automatic, emotionless.

"You should eat something."

"I said, I'm fine." Pushing off the wall, I turned to head towards the table where I grabbed a bottle of bourbon and drank.

"Dean. I hate to bring this up," he sighed. "I really do. But don't you think maybe it's time... we bury Sam and Lizzie?"

I looked to him, needing only one word to answer. "No," I told him, taking a seat at the table.

"Well, we could maybe-"

I cut him off, "What, torch their corpses?" I shook my head. "Not yet."

"I want you to come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Dean, please."

"Would you cut me some slack?"

"I just don't think you should be alone, that's all. And I gotta admit, I could use your help. Something big is going down. End-of-the-world big."

"Well, then let it end!" I yelled.

"You don't mean that."

I stood, kicking the chair out from under me. "You don't think so? Huh? You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough?" I shook my head. "I'm done with it. All of it. And if you knew what's good for you, you'd turn around, get the hell out of here." When he didn't move, I shoved him. "Go!"

He looked at me hurt, worried, scared. That when I remembered... He'd lost them too. Hell, Liz had practically been his daughter...

"I'm sorry." I looked away. "I'm sorry. Please, just go."

Not needing to be told again, he turned for the door. "You know where I am." With that, he left, closing the door behind him.

...

"You know, when we were little, you couldn't have been more than five, you just started asking questions." I gave a little smile, looking down at Sam as I sat next to his bed. "How come we didn't have a mum? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd dad go? I mean, he'd take off for days at a time. I remember I begged you, 'Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't wanna know'. I just wanted you to be a kid. Just for a little while longer.

"I always tried to protect you. Keep you safe. Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job. I had one job. And I screw it up." My voice cracked as I tried not to cry. "I blew it. And for that, I'm sorry." A tear escaped, running down my cheek. "I guess that's what I do. I let down the people I love. I let dad down. I let Liz down. And now, I guess I'm just supposed to let you down too.

"How can I?" I shook my head. "Am I supposed to live with that? What am I supposed to do? Sammy?" I cried. "What am I supposed to do?" Standing up, I kicked at my chair. "What am I supposed to do?!"

...

I slammed my foot on the accelerator, having my destination in mind. Nothing was going to stop me. Nothing and no one. Living without Sam, I couldn't do that. Living with Liz, I wouldn't do that. They were family. We were family. I'd rather die than be without them.

By the time I reached my destination I was more determined than ever. Slamming on the brake, I shut the car off before getting out and moving to the trunk. I pulled everything I needed out, knowing there was no turning back now. I was here and I was doing this.

Everything I needed was in the small metal box. I grabbed it and moved to the middle of the crossroad. Getting on my knees I dug, using my hands. Just deep enough so I could put the box in the hole and cover it.

Once I was done I stood and looked around, waiting. "Oh, come on, all ready. Show your face, you bitch!"

"Easy, sugar, you'll wake the neighbours."

I turned to find a woman in a black dress with curled, dark hair that sat on her shoulders. She flashed her red eyes at me, smiling.

"Dean. It is so, so good to see you." She looked me up and down. "I mean it. Look at you." She stepped towards me. "Gone and got your family killed. All alone in the world. It's too sweet. Excuse me, you're gonna have to give me a moment. Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the roses." She grinned. "How is your friend, by the way? Elizabeth Rose Hart, right?"

I snarled at her. "I should send you straight back to hell."

"Oh, you should. But you won't. And I know why."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Following in daddy's footsteps. You wanna make a deal. Little Sam, back from the dead."

"And Elizabeth."

"Hmm... and let me guess, you're offering up your own soul?"

"There are a hundred other demons who'd love to get their hands on it. And it's all yours. All you gotta do it bring them back. You give me ten years. Ten years and then you come for me."

Her grin fell. "You must be joking."

"It's the same deal you give everybody else."

"You're not everybody else," she noted, stepping up to whisper in my ear. "Why would I wanna give you anything? Keep your gutter soul, it's too tarnished anyway."

"Nine years," I offered.

"No." She backed up.

"Eight."

She laughed, "You keep going, I'll keep saying no."

"Okay, five years. Five years, then my bill comes due. That's my last offer. Five years or no deal."

Moving close again, she looked to my lips, leaning in for what looked like a kiss. But then she pulled back, grinning up at me. "Then no deal."

"Fine."

"Fine." She looked so smug as she turned to leave. "Make sure you bury Sam before he starts stinking up the joint."

"Wait," I called, causing her to pause and turn. "What do I have to do?"

"First of all, quit groveling. Needy guys are such a turnoff," she answered, walking back to me. "Look. Look, I shouldn't be doing this. I could get in a lot of trouble. But what can I say? I got a blind spot for you, Dean. You're like a puppy. You're just too fun to play with," she sighed. "I'll do it."

"You'll bring them back?"

"I will. And because I'm just such a saint, I'll give you one year and one year only. But here's the thing. If you try and welsh or weasel your way out, then the deal is off. Sam drops dead, he's back to rotten meat in no time. So? It's a better deal than your dad ever got. What do you say?"

Grabbing her I leaned in, pressing my lips to hers before she could change her mind. I quickly pulled back, looking down at her. "Are we done? Did you bring them back?"

"'Them'?" She shook her head, grinning. "No."

Rage flared up inside me. "But you said-"

"I know what I said." Shrugging, she turned around and started to leave. "But I can't bring back something that's not dead."

I looked to the ground for a moment, trying to think about what the hell she meant. "What are you talking about?" But as I looked up, I found she was gone.

EPOV

I sat up with a start, reaching for my back. I could feel the scar, where Jake had stabbed me. How'd I survived? Did that mean Sam was okay too?

Groaning, I pulled myself up. I was in my room back at Bobby's. I recognised it in an instant. It was exactly how I'd left it. Forest green walls, wooden dresser and chest of drawers. Wooden double bed with dark purple sheets- which were now, unfortunately, stained with blood- and white lace curtains that covered the window.

How the hell did I get here?

It was a bit of a struggle, my muscles ached and throbbed, but I still managed to get to my feet. Once I stood, I walked towards my door, turning the handle. Using the wall, I headed for the stairs, wanting to find somebody. Needing to find somebody.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice sore and hoarse.

There was the sound of something dropping before heavy feet were running. They rushed up the stairs, rounding the corner, nearly bumping into me before coming to a quick stop.

Bobby's eyes were wide as he looked me up and down. "Lizzie?"

"Yes, obviously." I rolled my eyes. "Now can you please tell me what the hell happened?"

He shook his head, still stunned. "You... you died."

SPOV

I stepped up to the mirror in the room I'd woken up in. It was a struggle, but I managed. Lifting my top, I looked at the red and clearly fresh scar on my stomach. A door opened and closed from somewhere in the house. I dropped my top and turned just in time to see Dean walk into the room.

"Sammy? Thank God."

"Hey."

He stepped forward, pulling me to him, holding me tight.

I groaned, still feeling pretty tender. "Dean."

"Sorry." He pulled back. "I'm sorry, man, I'm just... I'm just happy to see you up and around, that's all. Come on, sit down." He gestured for me to sit on the bed I'd woken up on.

"Okay." I did as he asked, letting him help. "Dean, what happened to me?"

"Well, what do you remember?"

"I saw you and Bobby and-" It came back to me then. "Lizzie! Where is she? Is she okay?"

Dean looked a little unsure as he answered. "I, uh... I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Jake stabbed her."

"Yeah, he stabbed you, too. You lost a lot of blood. You know, it was pretty touch-and-go for a while."

I frowned. "But, Dean, you can't patch up a wound that bad."

"No, Bobby could," he explained. "Who was that kid anyway? Jake?"

"Did you get him?"

"No." He shook his head. "He disappeared in the woods."

"We gotta find him, Dean. And I swear, I'm gonna tear that son of a bitch apart." I got to my feet, feeling an anger in me I'd never felt before. He'd tried to kill me. I had no idea if he'd killed Lizzie. If I got to him, he was dead.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean stood. "Easy, Van Damme. You just woke up, all right. Let's get you something to eat, huh? You want something to eat?" When I nodded, he smiled. "I'm starving. Come on."

DPOV

I stood by the table in the abandoned building as Sam sat. We were having a feed. After not eating for the last couple of days, it was good to actually have something in my stomach. But having Sam back was the best feeling ever. I thought I'd never see him again, that he'd be gone forever. But here he was.

He'd just finished telling me what had happened here, in the town. He told me about all the people that were here. Why they were brought here. How Ava, his friends, had turned and killed Andy. He told me pretty much everything, but I had a feeling there was more. I still had some questions to fill in the blank spaces.

"And that's when you guys showed up," Sam finished explaining the whole thing to me.

There was just one thing I didn't understand. "But why did the demon take Liz?"

He shook his head. "I... I don't know."

"Jeez. Poor Andy." I liked him.

"The demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive."

"And he told you that?"

"He told me, Lizzie, Ava, Jake. Appeared in our dreams."

"He tell you anything else? You know if he told Liz anything else?"

"No. No, that was it. Nothing else," he answered, but I had a feeling he was lying. At least about part of it. "You know, what I don't get, Dean, is if the demon only wanted one of us then how did Jake, Lizzie and I get away?"

I shrugged, trying to think of a quick response. "Well, I mean, he left you both for dead. I'm sure he thought it was over."

To tell you the truth, I had no idea if Liz was okay. The crossroads demon said she couldn't bring back something that's not dead. That made me think that either Sam or Liz hadn't actually died. But they did. So what did it mean? Had someone else brought them back? Something else?

"So now that Yellow Eyes has Jake, what's he gonna do with him?" I asked.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, we gotta stop it."

"Hold on, all right? You need to get your rest. We got time."

"No, we don't."

"Sam, oceans aren't boiling, okay? Frogs aren't falling from the sky. Let's get you your strength back first."

"Well, did you call the Roadhouse? They know anything?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Dean, what is it?"

Taking a seat across from him, I took a breath before telling him truth. "The Roadhouse burned to the ground. Ash is dead. Probably Ellen, a lot of other hunters too."

"Demons?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we think so. We think because Ash found something."

"What did he find?"

"Bobby's working on that right now."

"Well, come on then." He stood up. "Bobby's only a few hours away."

When I saw him struggling I got up to stop him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, Sam. Stop, damn it. You almost died in there. I mean, what would I have... can't you just take care of yourself for a little but, huh? Just for a little bit."

"I'm sorry. No."

EPOV

I sat on the couch in the living room, looking out the window, a blanket over my lap and a cup of soothing peppermint tea in my hands. Bobby had told me everything. How Sam had died. How I had died. How Dean was a mess. How the Roadhouse was gone. How Ash was dead. How Ellen was missing. How Jake got away.

It had all been a little too much for me to wake up to. So, after he'd helped me downstairs, I set myself on the couch while he worked at his desk, the two of us needing to be close but also because he wanted to keep an eye on me.

A knock on the door had Bobby get up and move to answer it. I didn't move though. I just stayed where I was, looking out at the now bright blue sky.

"Hey, Bobby."

"Hey, Bobby."

I frowned, turning to look over at Bobby. It can't be...

As Bobby spoke, my suspicions were confirmed. "Sam... it's good to see you up and around."

Sam and Dean were here.

I reached over carefully and put my mug down as I listened to them, staying where I was seated on the couch.

"Yeah," Sam spoke. "Well, thanks for patching me up."

"Don't mention it." Bobby was trying to hard not to sound confused and shocked. But seeing me rise from the dead and now Sam… it was a wonder he wasn't having a heart attack.

"Well, Sam's better," Dean noted. I could tell he was playing dumb. "And we're back in it now. So, what do you know?"

The sound of footsteps approached as Bobby spoke. "A lot and not much," he answered as he walked into the room. "For starters, both Sam and Lizzie seem to have healed up just in time."

Dean froze when he saw me, his skin paling a shade or two. Sam on the other hand looked relieved. I could tell in an instant, he didn't know the truth. He didn't know we died. I was willing to keep it that way. But that didn't mean I wasn't going to ask Dean questions. I knew he had the answers, and I was sure as hell was going to get them.

"Hey." I offered a small and weak smile, not really feeling it.

Sam moved forward. "Thank God you're okay." He leaned down and wrapped his arms around me in a careful hug.

I gave him a gentle pat on the back. "Yeah, you too."

"Anyway, now that we're all here," Bobby started. "I found something, but I'm not sure what the hell it means."

Sam pulled back. "What is it?"

"Demonic omens," Bobby answered. "Like a frigging tidal wave. Cattle deaths, lightning storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here." He gestured to a map on his desk. "All around here. Except for one place. Southern Wyoming."

"Wyoming?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, that one area's totally clean. Spotless. It's almost as if..." Bobby cut himself shot.

"What?" Sam pressed.

"The demons are surrounding it," Bobby answered.

Dean shook his head. "You don't know what?"

"No, and by this point my eyes are swimming," Bobby sighed, turning to Sam. "Would you take a look at it? Maybe you can catch something I couldn't."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Sure."

"Thanks." Bobby then turned to Dean. "Come on. I got some more books in the tuck. Help me lug them in." It wasn't a question, it was an order, and it was so he could talk to Dean in private. He walked over to me then. "You gonna be okay?"

I nodded up at him. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good." Leaning down, Bobby pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Just holler if you need me."

"Okay." I smiled up at him and watched as he left.

Dean was right behind, but before he disappeared behind the corner his eyes caught mine. I had no idea what had happened, but with the way he looked I had a feeling me and Sam coming back was his doing.

DPOV

Once we were in the yard where all the old cars and pieces were, once we were far enough away from the house, Bobby turned to me, pissed.

"You stupid ass. What did you do?" He grabbed my jacket, shaking me. "What did you do?!" When I didn't answer, he let me go. "You made a deal. For Sam and Lizzie, didn't you? How long they give you?"

"Bobby-"

"How long?!"

"One year."

He sighed, and took a step back. "Damn it, Dean."

"Which is why we gotta find this yellow-eyed son of a bitch. That's why I'm gonna kill him myself. I mean, I got nothing to lose now, right?"

He grabbed me again. "I could throttle you."

"And send me downstairs ahead of schedule?"

Shaking his head, he pushed me back. "What is it with you Winchesters, huh? You, your dad, you're both just itching to throw yourselves down the pit."

"That's my point. Dad brought me back, Bobby. I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good can come out of it, you know. Like my life can mean something."

"What, and it didn't before? Have you got that low an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head?!"

"I couldn't let them die, Bobby. I couldn't. He's my brother. Liz is family." I shook my head.

"How do you think they're gonna feel where they know you're going to hell? How'd you feel when you knew your dad went for you?"

"You can't tell them. You take a shot at me, whatever you gotta do. But please don't tell them."

He opened his mouth to speak but was stopped at the sound of a gate opening. We both turned, one thing on our minds. It was the demons, and they were back for Sam and Liz.

EPOV

"Bobby, is this really necessary?" Ellen asked, looking at the shot of holy water he'd just given her.

When Bobby and Dean had brought her in I'd wanted to wrap her up in a hug. But they stopped me. They wanted to be safe first. For all we knew, she could be a demon.

"Just a belt of holy water." Bobby shrugged. "Shouldn't hurt."

Shrugging, she downed the shot without a fuss. "Whiskey now, if you don't mind."

I jumped off the couch and pushed past the brothers. Throwing my arms around Ellen, I planted myself on her lap, crying into her shoulder.

Using her free arm, she held me there as the other hand put the shot glass down before brushing my hair back. "I'm okay. I'm all right." She assured me.

Times where I was vulnerable, where I was a soft girl who needed someone to hug and hold, those times were only for Ellen and Bobby. She was a mum to me, he was a dad. Where he was protective, she was caring. They were always there for me, just like now.

"Ellen, what happened?" Dean asked, getting to business. "How'd you get out?"

"I wasn't supposed to. I was supposed to be in there with everybody else. But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck," she told him before drinking the shot of whiskey Bobby had poured her. "Anyway, that's when Ash called, panic in his voice. He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky-high. Everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes."

"Sorry, Ellen," Sam offered.

"Lot of good people died in there." She started stroking my hair again. "And I got to live. Lucky me." She didn't sound like she felt lucky.

I would have known a lot of the people who'd died. I'd spent years coming and going like the rest of them. Hunting with some. Playing pool with some. Drinking with some. But it was losing Ash that hurt the most. I'd loved him. Not romantically, but he'd been family.

"Ellen, you mentioned a safe," Bobby noted, not having time to mourn right now.

She nodded. "A hidden safe we kept in the basement."

"Demons get what was in it?" he asked.

"No." She shook her head as she pulled me away for a moment before pulling something out from her jacket. I moved back into place as she handed the object to Bobby and the guys. It was a map, pointing to to one place in particular.

"Wyoming?" Dean spoke up. "What does that mean?"

DPOV

"I don't believe it." Bobby shook his head, walking into the living room, carrying a book.

He'd been looking up for anything that might help us. Sam and I had been looking too. Liz though, she hadn't left Ellen's side. She'd stopped crying at least, and was now just sitting close to Ellen at the table as well, her knees to her chest. I'd never seen her like this before. It honestly scared me.

"What, you got something?" Sam asked Bobby.

"A lot more than that." Bobby gestured to the map in front of me. "Each of these X's is an abandoned frontier church, all mid-nineteenth century. And all of them built by Samual Colt."

Now that name rang a bell. "Samual Colt? The demon-killing, gun-making Samual Colt?"

"Yep," Bobby noted. "And there's more. He built private railway lines connecting church to church. That just happened to lay out like this." He grabbed a pen and began to draw on the map.

I could not believe my eyes. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."

"It's a Devil's Trap," Liz spoke. "It's a hundred-square-mile Devil's Trap with an iron boarder no demon can cross."

"I never heard of anything that massive," Ellen noted.

Bobby shook his head. "No one has."

"After all these years, none of the lines are broken? It still works?"

"Obviously," Liz answered me, a little snappier that necessary.

I looked up at her. "How do you know?"

"She's right Dean. All those omens Bobby found," Sam started. "I mean, the demons, they must be circling and they can't get in."

"What's inside?" Ellen asked.

"That's what I've been looking for. And there's nothing except an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle," I answered.

Sam frowned. "What's so important about a cemetery? What's Cold trying to protect?"

I suddenly had an idea. "Well, unless..."

"Unless what?" Bobby pressed.

I shrugged. "What if Colt wasn't trying to keep the demons out? What if he was trying to keep something in?"

"Could they do it, Bobby?" Sam asked. "Could they get inside?"

"This thing's so powerful you'd practically need an A-bomb to destroy it." Bobby shook his head. "No way a full-blood demon gets across."

"No," Sam sighed, taking a step back. "But I know who could."

SPOV

"Howdy, Jake."

Jake spun around to look at me only to freeze when he saw my gun aimed at him.

We'd gotten to the cemetery before him, all five of us. We'd been hiding, waiting for him to show. Sure enough, here he was. Now we all stood in front of him, guns raised and ready.

"You..." Jake looked from me to Lizzie. "You were dead. Both of you. I killed you."

"Yeah? Well, next time, finish the job." I shrugged.

"I did," he insisted. "I cut clean through her spinal cord." He gestured to Lizzie before nodding to me. "Practically gutted you, man. You can't be alive. Either of you. You can't be."

Was he right? Had Lizzie and I died? If so, how were we back? Did someone do something? Make a deal? But who? The answer came to me in an instant. Dean. He'd made a deal. He'd brought us back.

"Okay. You just take it real easy there, son," Bobby warned, focusing my attention again.

Jake turned to him. "And if I don't?"

Lizzie cocked her gun. "Wait and see."

He grinned at her. "What, so you're tough all of a sudden? What are you gonna do? Kill me?"

"It's a thought." I nodded.

He shook his head. "You had your chance. You couldn't."

But this time was different. "I won't make that mistake twice."

He laughed.

"What are you smiling at, you little bitch?" Dean asked.

Ignoring Dean, Jake looking to Ellen. "Hey, lady. Do me a favour. Put that gun to your head." Ellen did as he said. It was clear she didn't want to, but she had no choice. His abilities had expanded, now, he was like Andy too. "See, that Ava girl was right." He grinned. "Once you give in to it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."

"Let her go," I ordered.

"Shoot him." Ellen's voice shook as she struggled to talk.

"You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off," Jake warned. "Everybody put your guns down. Except you, sweetheart." He smiled at Ellen again. Having no other choice, we all dropped our guns. "Okay. Thank you." He nodded.

Turning quickly, he pulled out the Colt before sliding it into a hole in the crypt he'd been close to and turned it. Doing all of this in a matter of seconds.

Lizzie had acted quickly, turning to Ellen and lifting her hand. Ellen's gun flew into her grasp despite their distance. Then she aimed the gun at Jake and pulled the trigger without wasting a second. She shot him in the back six times and then stopped, watching him drop to the ground.

Bobby turned to her. "What the hell was that?!"

"I just saved Ellen's life, and got a little pay back," she answered simply.

I picked up my gun and walked over to Jake. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, but instead of helping him I lifted my gun and shot him, right in the head.

"Uh, guys..." Lizzie gestured to the crypt behind me.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw parts of the crypt moving, which was clearly not a good thing.

As the pieces stopped moving, clicking into place, Bobby said two words none of us wanted to hear. "Oh, no."

"Bobby, what is it?" Ellen asked him.

"It's hell."

Dean stepped forward and pulled the Colt out, but it was too late.

"Take cover! Now!" Bobby yelled.

Turning, we all ran, ducking behind gravestones just in time before the crypt doors opened and a storm of black smoke came rushing out.

DPOV

"What the hell just happened?" I yelled over the outrageously loud noise coming from the now open crypt doors.

"That's a Devil's Gate, a damn door to hell," Ellen answered, voice just as loud. "Come on, we gotta shut that gate."

We all stood and hurried over to the Gate's doors.

I stopped and looked down at the Cold which I still held. "If the demon gave this to Jake then maybe..." I turned around, my instincts right.

Standing there, a few feet away, was the Yellow-Eyed demon himself. I lifted the gun to shoot him, but as I did he lifted his hand. The gun flew from my grip and into his.

"Boys shouldn't play with daddy's guns," he grinned.

Suddenly something pushed me, sending me flying through the air. My head hit a tombstone hard before I landed in the dirt.

"Dean!" Sam yelled before he started to run towards me, seeing the Yellow-Eyed demon ready to kill me.

He would, too. I'd always wondered why he'd kept me around for all these years, why he hadn't just killed me like he'd killed mum and Jess. But looking up at him now, I could see that whatever the reason was it didn't matter anymore. He was going to kill me. This was the end of the road.

Sam didn't get very far before the Demon turned, lifted his hand, and sent my brother flying back into a tree where he held him there. "I'll get to you in a minute, champ. But I'm proud of you." He smiled. "I knew you had it in you." Turning back to me, he pushed me against the tombstone with his mind. "Sit a spell."

This was it. This was the end. I was going to die. But at least Sam would be alive. At least he could finish the job without me.

"So, Dean, I gotta thank you." The Yellow-Eyed demon crouched down by me. "You see, demons can't resurrect people unless a deal is made. I know, red tape, it'll make you nuts. But thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation," he laughed. "Now, I wasn't counting on that, but I'm glad. I liked him better than Jake anyhow. Tell me, you ever heard the expression, 'If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is'?"

I sneered at him. "You call that deal good?"

"It's a better shake than you dad ever got. And you never wondered why. I'm surprised at you. I mean, you saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold, wasn't it?" he chuckled. "How certain are you that what you brought back is one hundred percent pure Sam? You of all people should know that what's dead should stay dead. Anyway..." he stood up, "thanks a bunch. I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now anyway. I couldn't have done it without your pathetic self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for you family." He lifted the Colt and aimed it at my head.

Before he could shoot, something grabbed him from behind. A ghost. But not any ghost. Dad.

He grabbed the demon, pulling it from its vessel. That gave me enough time to get up and grab the Colt. Sure enough, the demon went back in. But as he stood and turned to me, he froze.

I didn't even give him time to blink before I pulled the trigger.

Once we were sure the demon was gone for good. Dead. I look up, my eyes landing on my father.

My heart swelled, eyes watered. I thought I'd never see him again. But here he was. He looked just as he had before we'd lost him. He looked happy, healthy and proud. Proud of Sam and I. Proud that after so many years, we'd finally done it. We'd killed the son of a bitch.

Dad smiled, stepping up to me, resting his hand on my shoulder. Looking over, he smiled at Sam. Then he stepped back and within a moment he disappeared, going wherever it is he belonged now.

...

Sam and I stood over the dead vessel of the Yellow-Eyed demon. I was experiencing a mixture of emotions. Relief. Amazement. Shock. Underwhelmed. Overwhelmed. Proud. Exhilarated. So many emotions, I couldn't even name them all.

A small smile played on my lips as I looked up at Sam. "Well, check that off the to-do list."

Looking up at me, I could see a roller coaster of emotions in his eyes just as he'd see in mine. "You did it."

"I didn't do it alone."

"Dean, do you think dad really... You think he really climbed out of hell?"

"The door was open." I shrugged. "If anyone's stubborn enough to do it, it'd be him."

"Where do you think he is now?"

"I don't know."

"I kinda can't believe it, Dean. I mean... our whole lives, everything, has been prepping for this. And now, I kinda don't know what to say."

"I do." Crouching down, I looked at the demon's cold, empty eyes. "That was for our mum. You son of a bitch."

EPOV

I was waiting by the car, kicking at the dirt. Ellen and Bobby were at the truck, waiting as well, but they also knew to stay back, to give us some space, because the moment the guys came back I needed to have a word.

Walking around the corner, Dean smiled as he saw me, heading my way. Sam was right behind me, deep in thought.

"You know..." Sam started, causing Dean to turn to him, "when Jake saw me and Lizzie, it was like he was seeing ghosts. I mean, hell, you heard him, Dean. He said he killed us."

Dean kept with the charade. "Glad he was wrong."

But Sam wasn't buying it anymore. "I don't think he was, Dean. What happened, after I was stabbed?"

"I already told you," Dean insisted.

Sam shook his head. "Not everything."

Dean sighed, "Sam, we just killed the Demon. Can we celebrate for a minute?"

"Did we die?"

"Yes," I answered, seeing that Dean wasn't going to.

Sam looked heart broken, hesitating a moment before looking to his brother again. "Did you sell your soul for us like dad did for you?"

"Come on. No!" Dean insisted.

Sam shook his head, turning to his brother completely. "Tell me the truth. Dean, tell me the truth."

"Sam..." It wasn't much, but it gave Sam his answer.

Sam looked away, nodding, understanding, as tears formed in his eyes. "How long you get?"

Giving up, Dean answered him. "One year. I got one year."

"You bastard." My voice shook as I felt my own tears roll down my cheek.

Dean turned to me. "No. Don't get mad at me. Either of you. Don't you do that. I had to." He turned to Sam to explain. "I had to look out for you. That's my job."

"And what do you think my job is?" Sam countered.

"What?"

"You save my life over and over," Sam started. " I mean, you sacrifice everything for me. Don't you think I'd do the same for you? You're my big brother. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. And I don't care what it takes. I'm gonna get you out of this. Guess I gotta save your ass for a change." A small smile played on his lips.

Dean nodded, slightly smiling at well. "Yeah."

"Well, Yellow-Eyed Demon might be dead, but a lot more got through that gate," Ellen noted as she and Bobby came over to us.

"How many do you think?" Dean asked.

"A hundred," Sam guessed.

"Maybe two hundred," I added. "It's an army."

Bobby shrugged, looking to the brothers and I. "Hope to hell you three are ready. Because the wars just began."

"Well, then..." Dean grinned. "We got work to do."

Bobby and Ellen nodded, turning to head towards Bobby's truck. If we were going to do this, there was no time like the present. Sighing, wiping away the tears I hadn't gotten rid of yet, I pushed off Baby and started to walk off.

"Hey." Dean started after me, grabbing my arm. I stopped and turned to him, seeing uncertainty in his eyes. "I'm... I'm not sorry. You're family, Liz. You're important to me. To us. We'd do anything for you. That's why I did it."

"I get it. But that doesn't change anything, Dean. You still sold your soul. You're still going to die."

"I know." He looked everywhere but my eyes. "Look, I know it's complicated and hard and it sucks, but can we just... can we just go? Come on." He gestured to Baby. "You wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah," I answered. As his eyes finally locked onto mine, I pulled my arm from his grasp slowly. "But not with you." Turning away I walked towards Bobby and Ellen, not looking back once.

The End…

Bamby