"I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. I re-read passages from my favorite books. I hold the little treasures somebody special gave me. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world. " - Dolly Parton

• • •

"And I say we're going back!" Tamara exclaimed at the men. "Hold on a second," Sam tried to reason. "I left my husband, bloody, on the floor!" She shouted.

"Okay, I understand that, but we can't go back," Sam rationalized. "Fine, then you stay," She threw her hands up, turning around and marching towards the door, "But I'm heading back to that bar."

"I'll go with you," Noah shook his head, stepping to follow her. He knew it was irrational, and frankly, unlike him. But if she was so dead-stuck on going, she needed someone to help her. Going alone would never work in her favor. Besides, if he dies... so be it, at this point.

"It's suicide, Noah!" Sam barked after him. "Yeah? What fucking difference does it make? I'm dead already!" Noah exclaimed.

"How you gonna take kill 'em? Can't shoot 'em, can't stab 'em, they aren't gonna line up to be exorcized!" Sam raised his voice. "I don't care!" Tamara screamed.

"We don't know how many of 'em there are!" Sam shouted back. "Yes we do," Bobby stepped forward, a massive book in hand, "There's seven."

It dawned on Noah," Don't tell me..."

Bobby looked at him, "Yeah."

"Fuck," He groaned. "Do you have any idea who we're up against?" Bobby was seething as he looked to Tamara, "The seven deadly sins! Live and in the flesh!"

He slammed the book shut, showing them all the cover. Binsfield's Classification of Demons.

"In 1589, Binsfield I.D.'d the seven sins, not just as human vices but as actual devils," Bobby stated harshly. "The family, they were touched by sloth," Sam realized.

"The woman at the store, envy," Noah looked up in shock. Bobby nodded, "The customer we've got in the next room, I couldn't suss it out at first until Isaac, he was touched by an awful gluttony."

Tamara was even more tense now, hand on the back on her neck as she swayed back and forth in her place. Finally, she exploded, "I don't give a rat's ass if they're the three stooges or the four tops, I'm gonna slaughter every last one of them!"

"We already did it your way," Bobby got into her face, "You burst in there, half-cocked, and look what happened! These demons haven't been topside in half a millenium, we're talking medievil, dark ages! We've never faced anything close to this, so we are gonna take a breath... and figure out what our next move is!!"

Tamara stared daggers at Bobby, and he held her gaze. Finally, he statted softly, "I am sorry for you loss."

Her lip quivered, and she stormed into the other room as Bobby backed up. Noah, Sam, and Dean shared a look.

As they followed Bobby and Tamara into the room with Envy, it chuckled, "So you know who I am, huh?"

"We do, we're not impressed," Bobby shook his head. "Why are you here? What are you after?" Sam asked it.

"He asked you a question," Dean stated in a tone of voice that made it a warning. "I suggest you answer it," Noah concluded, lip twitching upwards in a slight snarl. His hand grasped the flask of holy water in his pocket, not pulling it out yet.

"What do you want?" Dean repeated. It looked between them all, a smile on it's face. It only chuckled.

Noah pulled out the flask, uncapping it and splashing it across the face. It yelped as it's skin burnt, shaking slightly from the pain, grunting and breathing heavily, before it finally recovered and looked back to them all, "We already have what we want."

Noah cocked his head, "What's that?"

"We're out," it grinned, "We're free, thanks to you, my kind are everywhere, I am legion for we are many, so me? I'm just celebrating, having a little fun."

"Fun?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, fun, see some people crochet, others golf, me? I like to see people's insides on their outside," it explained with a sickening smile.

Tamara stepped forward, "I'm gonna put you down like a dog," her accent thickened from her anger.

"Please," it taunted before laughing, "You really think you're better than me."

He laughed again, "Which one of you can cast the first stone? Huh?"

It looked over at Dean, "What about you, Dean? You're practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust."

It then looked to Noah, "Or you, Noah? All that lingering wrath, the intense envy, and my God, the lust building up day by day." Then it looked to Tamara.

"And Tamara, all that wrath, oh," it tsked at her, shaking it's head, "It's the reason you and Isaac became hunters in the first place, isn't it? It's so much easier to drink in the rage than to face what really happened all those years ago."

Tamara punched Envy, striking across it's cheek and sending it's head to the side. Dean and Bobby grabbed her arms, pulling her back so she would calm down.

It flexed it's jaw, laughing, "My point exactly, and you call us sins."

"We aren't sins, man! We are natural human instinct, and you can repress and deny us all you want, but the truth is you are just animals," It's gaze shifted between each of them, "Horny... greedy... hungry... violent animals."

"And you know what, you'll be slaughtered like animals too," It taunted, laughing again as it sat back in it's seat, "The others, they're coming for me."

Noah splashed a little more holy water across it's face making it cry out in pain again, before he leaned down, grabbed it's jaw, and got into it's face.

"Maybe, but they won't be able to find your sorry ass... you'll be in hell, have fun, why don't you warm my spot?," He grit his teeth at it, before backing up and emptying the flask on it. It yelled out in pain again.

"Who'll do the honors?" he questioned, "Tamara?"

"it would be my pleasure," She stated bitterly, grabbing the book from Bobby.

The others filed out of the room as she began speaking Latin. It yelled as they all finally exited. Delta came right up to Noah and he walked over to where he'd dumped the bag with her stuff in it, and pulled out her bowl and a bag of food, filling the dish an setting it down for her.

He turned back to the other's and Bobby spoke, "I don't think we're gonna have to worry about hunting them."

"What does that mean?" Sam questioned. "I think maybe this joker's right, they're gonna be hunting us," Baby elaborated, "And they're not gonna quit easy."

Noah took a deep breath, "Okay... if we count Delta, there's six of us, and six of them, we let them come to us, we're prepared, and we make sure we have an escape route... worst comes to worst, you guys hit the road and I'll hold them off and buy you some time."

"No," Sam immediately protested, "No way, we are not gonna throw you to the wolves."

"Sam, listen..." Noah went to explain but Sam cut him off, "Noah, there is no way we are going to do that, so drop it, okay? If we go down, we go down together."

Noah sighed, but conceded. He had long-since learned that arguing with a Winchester is like trying to convince a brick wall to move. It takes a sledgehammer and a lot of time and energy to get your way.

"Let's not make it easy for 'em," Dean stated. Envy's final scream echoed through the old house, and as a few candle-lit flames went out, leaving smoke in their path, the ground shook for a moment and then silence.

Tamara exited the room after slamming the book closed, "Demon's out of the guy."

"And the guy?" Sam inquired. "He didn't make it," Tamara answered casually, strutting out of the room. The four men looked to one another in concern.

• • •

Noah grinded the whetstone down the blade of an iron throwing dagger. He could hear the glugging of holy water in the other room as Sam filled canteens with the gallons they always kept on hand, alongside the sounds of Dean prepping the salt guns.

He sighed under his breath, looking to Delta who was sleeping as she rested in preparation for what was coming. She was just one of the many he was worried about in that exact moment.

He glanced to the side, no longer able to see the sky through the window, Bobby and Tamara had been boarding them all up for the past hour. He looked back to the now sharp knife, the last of five. Placing the knife not his belt, he stood up from the floor in one fluid motion.

He rolled up the sleeve of the henley he wore, hearing the quiet thud from the soles of his hiking boots. In this outfit, he felt like a military cadet preparing for training. His thoughts drifted to the phone in his pocket and he considered sending Brian a quick call to inform him of the situation before deciding against it. They've made it out of worse before, this is nothing.

He can't help but wonder if his recent macabre thinking may come from constantly being on his death bed or knowing that it looms over his head as a countdown of months, and then weeks, and then days, all the way to hours, into minutes, and down to the last few seconds. He wondered if he would be counting down until that date for the remainder of his life on Earth, for the day that the hellhounds would drag his soul into the pits of Hell, leaving nothing but a mangled body behind.

And he shook his head finally when he realized what path his thoughts were going down, knowing he promised both himself and Brian that he'd never start thinking like that again. And if there were two things he swore to take to his grave it was kept promises... and a few other secrets that still lurked in the back of his mind every now and again. Those were for him and him alone to know, to ponder, and to think about.

He stepped lightly into the other room, doing his best not to startle the boys and waking Delta in the process, given she was on high alert. With a yawn, she too rose from the floor and joined him at his side. He went to greet the pair of brothers but he was interrupted by an old radio turning on all its own and playing old blues music. Each of their heads snapped to face the radio and Dean stood up from the floor, loaded and cocked shotgun in hand, "Here we go."

The trio inched their way over to the boarded up windows, and Sam stepped up close to it first, peering through the gaps and out into the outside world, shortly followed by his brother and Noah. Delta's ears perked and her fur stood on ends, her guard high as she was alerted to anything she could hear, smell, or see.

Noah, Sam, nor Dean could see anything through the window and Noah reminded himself that every entrance had salt lines, therefore a sneak attack would be impossible.

It was when Isaac's voice, screaming out his wife's name echoed throughout the forest, loud enough for all of them to hear that they all turned their heads in the direction of the front entrance to the house. Noah grabbed the hilt on one of his knifes.

The demon possessing the body of who had once been their comrade screamed out for Tamara again. It repeated her name at the tops of its lungs, before calling out for help. Noah inched into the other room, hearing Tamara's breath hitching as she held back sobs, her lip quivering.

Her name fell off of Isaac's bloodstained lips once again, the haunting sound it creted meant solely to fuck with their heads. Noah had to shake it off himself as he focused on Tamara, he could only imagine what effect this was having on her.

Tamara clutched the palo santo in her hand tightly, her knuckles turning a light color from the blood flow restricting thanks to the tight grip she held. It called out once more for her, "I got away, but I'm hurt bad! I need help!"

Noah and Bobby now stood around Tamara, Bobby with his pistol drawn as he tried to comfort Tamara, who was still working hard to hold back sobs, "It's not him, it's one of those demons, it's possessing his corpse."

She nodded as she silently sobbed, her hand holding the stake of holy wood so tightly it was concerning Noah that she would snap it in half.

The demon pounded on the door and Tamara breathed in sharply, her facial muscles twitching to hold back anything more than the slight whimper she sounded under her breath as Isaac's voice yelled out, "Baby! Why won't you let me in?"

Noah tightened the grip on the hilt of the iron dagger in his hand, as it shouted once again, "You left me behind back there, how could you do that?"

It continued, coming off as angry, "We swore!... At that lake, in Michigan, Remember?" Tamara's breath hitched as she turned to Bobby and Noah, "How does it know that?"

Bobby shook his head gravely, putting a hand on her shoulder to show emotional support, as Noah just turned back to the window with sadness in his eyes. "We swore we would never leave each other! You just gonna leave me out here? You just gonna let me die?"

She finally let a full forced sob rip through her, shaking against the wall she leaned on. Noah put a hand on her other shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"I guess that's what you do, dear," It sneered mockingly, "Like that night those things came to our house, came for our daughter!"

She sobbed again and Bobby and Noah shared a worried glance, Not only did they not know how it knew these things if Isaac was already dead, but she was slowly unraveling bit by bit, with each second that passed and every taunt that came with it.

"You just let her die too," it spat at the door. And with that, Tamara all but dropped to her knees as she screamed, "You son of a bitch!" Her voice so hoarse from the pure, raw emotion and the tears, the scream shook Noah to his core as he backed up so she wouldn't lash at him to let her go.

He quickly realized it t be a mistake when the ripped the door open, breaking the salt line and running out the door, rage-filled sobs shaking her entire body as she sprinted at the demon. She tackled it, taking it down the steps as Bobby yelled after her, "Tamara, no!"

They tumbled and when they landed on the ground, she ended out on top and with a gut-wrenching shriek, she straddled it. "You're not Isaac!" She exclaimed before plunging the palo santo down into it's chest. It writhed, screeching from the pain of the holdy subtance piercing it's skin.

Five others quickly ran into the home, Bobby had his back against the wall as the final one filed in. Noah, having ran upstairs, was no where to be seen and so this last, much slower one focused it's gaze on Bobby, walking towards him, unsuspecting of the Devil's Trap marked into the ceiling.

Noah flipped the knife in his hand, catching the hilt with a well-trained skill that had taken him years to master, Delta at his side as they stared at the door, awaiting any demon that chose to enter the room. He glanced up at the Devil's Trap on the ceiling and the one under the rug, praying it would be enough to trap at least some of them for a speedy exorcism.

Finally, the door burst off of it's hinges, flying across the room as Noah narrowly dodged it. With a cackle, the demon stepped in. But before it could come to the Devil's Trap, it held up it's hand, sending a crack through the ceiling and breaking it.

Noah took a deep breath, standing on the rug. "Well, well, well," it slow-clapped, "What do we have here? My, my, you could pass as another me the way you have all that pent up anger."

Noah chuckled breathily, "Well, I'll take it you'd be Wrath."

It snapped, pointing at him, "Well, and he's smart too."

Noah briefly glanced at Delta in the corner of the room, thanking the heavens that she was smart enough to stay quiet for the time being. It took a step forward, "And you are Noah Marilynn, and I'll say, you have had one hell-and-havoc-wreaking life and it's only getting worse as it goes, no wonder you are so angry all the time."

Noah scoffed, "Really? What do you know about me?"

"Well, I know your dear ol' dad, rotting in the pits of hell with every other abusive parent from planet Earth, Oh! I can't forget Mommy... then again, you seem like you don't realize why that would be," It tapped it's chin with a hum, "Well, I'll just let that fester, let you live in constant question of what I mean by that, that is of course, in the hypothetical situation that you would be leaving the house alive tonight, which you will not be," It shook it's head, clicking it's tongue, "Shame, your time looks like it'll be coming a little ahead of schedule."

Noah shook his head, rolling his eyes. He convinced himself that it was trying to get into his head and therefore ignored the comment directed at Lauralie.

"Oh really?" Noah asked sarcastically. "Really," it stepped a little closer. On the edge of the rug.

Noah glanced at Delta again before giving a hand signal to her, yelling, "Delta, now!"

The demon, who wasn't expecting the sudden weight on it's back as Delta jumped full force onto it, sinking her teeth into it's neck as they fell, screeched in pain. The bit mark where Delta was still holding on continued to steam and sizzle.

Noah saw that it was entirely in the devil's trap and he gave Delta the signal to release the bite. He circled the demon, "She only drinks holy water, she practically produces it now, so her bite is damn well toxic to you assholes."

It growled at him, snarling. Noah stood unbothered before starting to chant, "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potesta, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio..."

• • •

Noah kept his hands in his pockets as he glanced at Tamara, standing in frotn fo the large, burning fire which held her husband's body. He looked back to the sight in front of him as Sam placed the last corpse into the pit. He handed him the tin of salt, and he and Dean immediately started pouring salt and gasoline over the bodies.

Bobby approached from the side as they dropped the empty containers to the ground. "Think she's gonna be alright?" Sam quietly queried, looking to the mourning woman.

"No," Noah shook his head, sighing, "Definitely not."

Bobby finally came into earshot, yawning. "Well, you look like Hell warmed over," Dean stated.

"You try exorcising all night and see how you feel," Bobby replied, his voice raspy from exhaustion. Dean nodded in understanding.

"Any survivors, Bobby?" Sam asked. "Well, the pretty girl and the heavy guy, they'll make it, lifetime of therapy bills ahead but still," Bobby answered.

"That's more than you can say for these poor bastards," Dean nodded at the pit in front of them, holding four bodies. Delta's bite had severed the carotid artery of the body, so he didn't survive the exorcism. The other three had been stabbed, according to Sam's story, by some girl that had appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, and the knife had killed the demons and subsequently, the bodies.

"Bobby, that knife..." Sam started as Dean fidgeted with the box of matches, "What kind of blade can kill a demon?"

"Yesterday, I'd have said there was no such thing," Bobby shook his head. "I'm just gonna ask it again, who was that masked chick?" Dean questioned, before correcting himself, "Actually, the more troubling question would be how come a girl can fight better than you."

Sam pursed his lips, nodding slowly, "Three demons, Dean, at once."

"Hey, whatever it takes to get you through the night, pal," He clapped his brothers shoulder.

"You can always fight better when you can kill the thing you're fighting, Dean," Noah shook his head. "Oh, you too?" Dean groaned.

"Yeah, well, if you want a troubling question, I've got one for you," Sam stated. "Yeah, what's that?" Dean inquired.

"If we let out the seven deadly sins..." Sam trailed, "What else did we let out?"

Dean stared at his brother for a moment before looking back to the pit in front of them, "You're right, that is troubling," he struck three matches, watching the flames for a split second before tossing them into the pit. In a second, all of the gasoline roared and crackled as the flames overtook the entire pit.

• • •

Tamara slung her bag over her shoulder, walking past the four men. She waved, "See you gents around."

"Tamara?" Bobby called just before she opened the door to her car. She turned back to face him.

"The world just got a lot scarier," he warned, "Be careful."

She nodded, "You too." She opened her door, swinging herself into the drivers seat. The engine turned over, starting up just as Bobby turned back to face the trio. Noah rubbed Delta's head as she sat next to him.

"Keep your eyes peeled for omens," Bobby told them, "I'll do the same."

"You got it," Dean nodded. Bobby turned to walk off before turning back quickly, "Oh, Noah, you might wanna give Brian a ring, make sure he knows to keep an eye out too."

Noah nodded, "Will do, Bobby."

Bobby went to walk away but Sam stopped him, "Wait, Bobby..."

Sam took a breath, "We can win this war... right?"

Bobby remained silent, which was an answer enough within itself. Noah looked down at the gravel, tracing his boots along it, sucking in a breath.

"Catch you on the next one," Bobby bid them farewell before walking to his own car.

The three men watched him drive off before Noah sighed, "Well, where to next?"

"Uh," Sam started, "I don't know, I was thinking Louisiana maybe."

Noah hummed, "Why's that?"

"Little early for Mardi Gras, isn't it?" Dean queried. "Listen, I was talking to Tamara and she mentioned this hoodoo priestess near Shreveport that might can help us out, y'know, with your deal," Sam looked to Noah.

Noah sighed, before looking back up, "No."

"'No'? What do you mean 'no'?" Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean no, okay? I'm gonna give Brian a call and see what he can find, tell him everything he needs to know, we'll find a small town to sleep at in the mean time," Noah continued walking.

Sam grabbed his shoulder, whipping him around. Dean stared between the two of them cautiously, unsure where to stand in this. He knew how these deals worked, any weaseling and you are back to ground zero.

"You know what? I've had it," Sam pursed his lips, "I've been doing everything I can not to snap and..." He sighed, "I don't care anymore."

"Well that didn't last long," Noah muttered. "Yeah, well you know what?" Sam raised his voice, "I've been busting my ass trying to keep you alive, Noah! And yet, you act the exact same as you always have."

Noah dropped his head, facing the ground with a sad smile. He dropped it as he looked back up, shaking his head, and rolling his eyes.

"You got some kind of death wish or something?" Sam questioned. "No, Sam, it's not that simple," Noah scoffed.

"Well, please tell me how it is," Sam threw his hands up. Noah kissed his teeth before nodding and looking up with pursed lips, "If we try to trap the crossroads demons, trick it, do any kind of spell, anything that weasels with this contract, you drop dead."

Sam's eyes blew open in shock. "Yeah, so, can we just drop it?" Noah stared at him intensely.

"You know what? No! Because how is that fair? Why is my life more valuable than yours?" Sam argued. Something occured to Dean, he looked to Noah and they shared a look. Dean nodded, looking off, deciding to bring it up when they were alone.

Noah shook his head, "You don't get it."

"No! No, I really don't so can you please explain it to me?!" Sam exclaimed.

"It really doesn't fucking matter at this point, okay?! I... I couldn't live with myself knowing I could've done this, knowing I could've saved you, saved Dean, and not doing anything, I wouldn't be able to live with myself for that so here's a great fucking idea!" Noah shouted, "How about we fucking let it go, let it be what it is, and we make my last year on Earth one hell of a year, huh?"

He looked between the two Winchesters. Dean stared down at his feet, his tongue in his cheek. He knew they'd be havng a conversation later. Looking to Sam, he saw that unrelenting anger in his eyes, the pain at the thought of losing Noah, the determination. He knew he wouldn't stop but at this point, he just wanted to stop fighting, he wanted to go to a motel and sleep with Delta curled into his side while he dreams about better times.

"Let's go kill some evil sons of bitches and raise a little hell, huh?" He proposed. Seing no argument from the, albeit reluctant, Winchesters, he sighed and turned around, strutting to hsi Jeep.

He missed the stare burning into his back as it burned with anger and confusion.

• • •

Author's Note: Shit, that was intense. So many allusions to future discussions, past discussions, and many things to come. I will say, we aren't far from the peak of what we're building on at the moment but after it does peak, it's gonna have a huge downfall and another while of building it back, so don't get too excited yet. Also, side note, we seem to be going heavy on the Dolly lately.