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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯

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The past three weeks had been quite literally Hell for the three Winchester siblings and Bobby. They had upturned every single stone and kept coming up empty handed on how to save Dean from Lilith. Something that sent constant waves of anxiety through Delaney because not only did Lilith want Dean, but she wanted her as well. Would Lilith take her with Dean and leave Sam all alone? Will they actually be able to save Dean from Lilith? 

Next to Delaney, Dean shot up at his place at the table. They had been squatting in an abandoned cabin while they did research on how to get Dean out of the deal and it's been a long three weeks since they arrived. Delaney had offered to scour through some more books with Dean while Sam and Bobby stayed in the living room and made some calls together on a few leads Bobby found. About an hour into looking over lore books, Dean had fell asleep on his book, which ironically was open to Hell Hounds. Delaney hadn't bothered him when he fell asleep because he had gotten the least amount of sleep out of the four and Delaney felt he should get at least some sleep. There were only thirty hours left of Dean's deal and he needed to be as wide awake as possible in order to do whatever it is they needed to do. 

"Dee? You okay?" Delaney asked, noticing the panicked look on her brother's face as if he had a nightmare.

"Define okay."

"Dig up anything good?" Sam questioned, walking into the room.

Dean cleared his throat and slammed the lore book in front of him closed. "No. Nothing good."

Sam grinned and jerked his head behind him towards the living room where Bobby was sat on the couch still. "Well, Bobby has, finally. A way to find Lilith."

"Wow. With just, uh..." Dean trailed off and checked his watch for the time. "Thirty hours to go. Hey, why don't we just make a T.J. run, you know? Some señoritas - a señorito for Della - cervezas? We could - what's Spanish for donkey show?"

Delaney snorted and pushed the lore books away from her, pushing the fly away hairs that fell out of her bun away from her face. "So, if we do save you... let's never do that. Please. But... Dean... I know we're cutting it close, but we'll get this done. I don't care what it takes, Dee. Sammy and I won't let you go to Hell. Baby sister's honor. It'll be okay."

Dean stared at Delaney for a long moment and she noticed a slight flinch that he probably thought would have gone unseen by her, but she caught it. He was scared, but wouldn't admit to it any time soon. "Yeah... okay."

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Bobby opened up a map of the United States on the large dining table and placed an old tracking device over it. The device had three wooden legs coming out of a glass ball on the top. The ball had a flat, metal piece going around it with symbols that Delaney couldn't decipher wrapping around it. From the ball hung a pendulum device that is sharp on the end so it could point to whatever location the three Winchesters and Bobby needed.

"So, you need a name. That's the whole kit and caboodle. With the right name, the right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out."

"Like the town Lilith's in?" Delaney asked, crossing her arms while she eyed the old device.

"Sweetheart, when I get done, we'll know the street," Bobby responded, reaching forward and swinging the pendulum around and chanting in Latin. The pendulum swung around once more before it stopped just over a town. "New Harmony, Indiana. We have a winner."

Delaney swung the pendulum away from where they needed to go, a new sense of determination taking over. "Alright, so let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just holster it up there, baby girl."

"Dee, what's the problem?"

"What's the problem? Where do I even begin? I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith actually holds my deal. We're going off Bela's intel? Now, when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked, okay? Second, even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her. Third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your head on a pike, Delaney? Should I continue?"

Bobby's eyes bounced between the heated gaze Delaney gave to Dean and the stern he shot right back at her. "Okay, you two really know how to bring the room down."

"Maybe we should all just take a breather here and figure it out," Sam suggested, not wanting Dean and Delaney to fight. It was the worst possible time for the two to butt heads like an old married couple. They were quickly running out of hours and if they had to travel, they needed to do it soon and with clear heads.

"So, then what are we supposed to do?" Delaney huffed, slapping her hands to her sides. 

"Just because I got to die that doesn't mean you have to, Della. Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

Delaney shrugged as a thought suddenly crossed her mind. Neither of the boys would be too pleased with it, but it was their best shot. "If that's the case, then I have the answer. A sure fire way to confirm it's Lilith and a way to get us a bona fide demon-killing Ginsu."

Dean scoffed and immediately turned his back on Delaney, already knowing just who Delaney wanted to turn to. "Damn it, Della, no."

"I agree," Sam spoke up, earning Delaney's attention. "We have other options that don't include... him."

"We are so past arguing about this. Boys, I am going to summon Randy."

"The hell you are, Delaney Elizabeth!" Dean barked and spun back around to glare at Delaney. "We got enough problems as it is."

"Exactly and we got not time and no choice, either," Delaney stressed, throwing her hands in the air. She got the fact that Randy was a demon, but what else could they possibly do? Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Sam shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Delly, he's the walking epitome of what he hunt every day, okay? He told you that he could save Dean and that was a lie! He seems to know everything about Lilith but forgot to mention - oh, right - Lilith owns Dean's soul!"

Delaney rolled her eyes and ran a hand over her face, exhaling heavily. "Okay, fine, Randy's a liar. He's still got that knife."

"Boys?"

"For all we know, he works for Lilith!" Dean snapped, ignoring Bobby's calls.

"Then give me another option, boys. I mean, tell me what else!"

"Delaney's right," Bobby cut in before any of the three siblings could chime in again.

"NO! Damn it!" Dean yelled.

The room instantly fell silent at his outburst and Delaney rolled her lips into her mouth, glancing over to Bobby who still seemed like he sided with her. At least one of the boys did because he could admit Randy was their only option. Like Dean said, Randy knew everything about Lilith and they could use that to their advantage. Plus, he had the demon knife and they could kill Lilith with that thing, effectively saving Dean. 

"Just no," Dean said quieter this time. "We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again. You guys want to save me, then find something else."

Delaney frowned as Dean stormed away and sat down at the desk at the other end of the room, focusing on the open lore books on the desk. Sam followed after him and took the seat besides Dean, the two quietly conversing with each other and Delaney heard Bobby packing up behind her. "Where you going, Uncle Bobby?"

Bobby let out puff of frustrated air and shrugged his vest on. "I guess to... find something else, sweetheart."

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A bit later, Delaney had enough of waiting around for Bobby to come back, the ticking time clock above Dean's head getting smaller and smaller by the second. She wouldn't just sit around and watch him die, so she snuck down to the basement and drew the symbol into the ground that she remembered could summon a demon - a triangle with symbols at every point along with candles. In the middle was a bowl of a green, dry substance Delaney didn't remember the name of, but was glad to know it was in Bobby's stuff.

"You can do this, Delaney," Delaney mumbled to herself and grabbed John's journal where he wrote down a summoning ritual in Latin. She recited the ritual from the book and lit the bowl in the middle with a lit match. The bowl immediately ignited and Delaney pushed herself to her feet, dusting off her pants and hands. 

"Phones work too, princess."

Delaney whirled around to see Randy leant against the doorframe that lead to the stairs of the basement and she felt both relieved to see the blue eyed demon and a sense of anger at the time since he did  lie to her about Dean. "Randy..."

"Hey, Laney," Randy greeted with a smirk. "How's tricks?"

"How do you get around so fast?"

"I got the Super Bowl jetpack. So..." Randy trailed off, pushing off the doorframe and walking over to Delaney. "You called?"

"Did you know?" Delaney snapped, feeling the anger she felt override the relief almost instantly. She needed him to lure Lilith, but that was all Randy was good for. After that, he'd be useless to her, no matter how many times he had saved her and the boys' asses. 

Randy furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms, the leather on his jacket tugging around his biceps. "I'm gonna need a tiny bit more, princess."

"About Dean's deal - that Lilith holds the contract," Delaney clarified even though she knew for a fact that Randy knew that's what she meant.

"Yes. I did."

Delaney poked her tongue into her cheek, the anger flaring even more into a burning rage that nearly had Delaney smack Randy silly. However, she needed him and she didn't think attacking him would get the demo to do much. "And, what, you didn't think that was important?"

"You weren't ready."

"For what?"

"If I told you, you three yahoos would have just charged after her half-cocked, and Lilith would have peeled the meat from your and Dean's pretty, pretty faces."

Delaney threw her arms out to the side and shot Randy a determined look. "Well, we're ready now. I want your knife, Randy."

Randy eyed Delaney up and down for a long, silent moment and then began to slowly circle her. "You're right about one thing, princess. You are ready. Now's the time, too - Lilith's guard is down. She's on shore leave, a little r&r."

Delaney watched Randy circle her and rose an eyebrow at him. "And that means... what exactly?"

"Trust me - you don't want to know. You didn't lose those hex bags I gave you, right?"

"We got 'em."

"Good. Then she won't sense that you're coming."

Delaney turned to face Randy who stopped behind her and she was momentarily shocked. Did Randy really mean he'd give her the knife? She honestly thought he'd make her grovel for it just for his enjoyment. He did have a tendency to toy with her like she was his pet or something. "So, you'll give us the knife?"

"No."

"Wh- but you just said - "

"You want to charge in with one little pigsticker?" Randy cut off Delaney, holding up a hand when she went to argue with him. "It's a waste of a true-blue window. Almost like hitting Hitler with that exploding briefcase - forget it."

"Okay, then how?"

Randy sighed and walked closer to Delaney so they were only a few feet apart, tucking a piece of fly away hair behind her hair. "I know how to save Dean, Laney."

Delaney scoffed and smacked Randy's hand away from her face. "You told him that you couldn't! You've been lying to me this whole damn time. So just give me the damn knife!"

"You're not the one I've been lying to."

"Oh, so you can save him?"

"No, but you can."

Delaney blinked, not believing Randy for a second. If he lied to her about being able to save Dean, then he had to be lying about this, too... right? "Bullshit."

"Laney, you got some God-given talent. Well, not God given, but you get the gist."

"All that psychic crap?" Delaney questioned, shaking her head and lifting a shoulder in a half shrug. "All gone ever since Yellow Eyes died."

"Not gone. Dormant," Randy corrected, earning a confused look from Delaney. "Not just visions, either. Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?"

Delaney barked out a humorless laugh and licked her lips. "Right, she's scared of me."

"If you wanted, you could wipe her off the map without moving a muscle."

"I don't believe you."

"It's the truth."

"And you decided to tell me this just now?" Delaney asked in disbelief.

Randy chuckled and gestured to his person. "Uh... demon, princess. Manipulative is kind of in the job description. The fact is that you never would have considered it, not until you were - "

"Desperate enough?" Delaney guessed.

Randy made a face that practically gave everything away to Delaney right then and there. She probably wouldn't have considered using her other abilities until it was desperate times, like right now. Dean had less than thirty hours now and they quickly ran out of options. "You don't like being different. You hate the way Dean and Sam look at you sometimes, like you're some sort of sideshow freak or moments away from tipping over the edge. Suck it up because we got a lot of ground to cover and we got to do this fast, but we can do it. Look, call me a dick, hate me all you want, bur I have never lied to you, Laney. Not ever. I'm telling you - you can save your brother and I can show you how."

"So that's you, huh?"

Randy and Delaney both quickly turned to see Dean and Sam stood in the entrance way to the basement and neither looked all too pleased with Delaney going behind their backs to summon Randy. She quickly averted her gaze and rocked back awkwardly on her heels, now stood next to Randy.

"Our asshole version of Yoda?"

"Dean and Sam," Randy greeted and Delaney internally groaned at the cocky smirk that took over Randy's face. "Charming as ever."

"Oh, I knew you'd show up... cause I knew my baby sister wouldn't listen!" Dean snapped and Delaney flinched at the harsh tone to Dean's voice. "But you're not gonna teach her anything. You understand me? Over Sam and I's dead bodies."

Randy made a noise in the back of his throat and considered Dean's answer. "Well, you're sure as Hell right about your dead body, pal."

"What you are gonna do is give us that knife," Sam continued for Dean. "Then you can go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never bother us again. Are we clear?"

"Your sister is carrying a bomb inside of her, and we'd be stupid not to use it," Randy countered.

"Boys, look, just hold on - "

"Delaney, don't! Come on, baby girl. What are you, blind? Can't you see that this is a trick? He wants you to give in to this whole demonic, psychic whatever, okay? Hell, he probably wants you to become his little anti-Christ superstar."

Randy's eyes flickered from his vessel's blue eyes to the normal demon-black ones before it faded back to blue. That's how Delaney knew that Randy was becoming more and more annoyed by the situation, if the tense shoulders weren't enough to go by. "I want Lilith dead. That's all."

"Why?" Sam prodded.

"I've told you why."

"Oh, right, yeah. You were human once and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach," Dean remarked.

"You know, I am so sick of proving myself to you. You want to save yourself, this is how, you dumb, spineless dick!" Randy growled and Delaney tugged him back when he got too close to Dean's face.

Dean chuckled humorlessly and went to turn away, but suddenly whirled back around and punched Randy in the face. Randy gasped and held his bleeding lip, glaring darkly at Dean before punching him right back. Delaney went to stop Ruby, but she was flung back into the pole behind her by an invisible force since Randy didn't feel right hitting a girl. 

Randy went around and hit Sam next who rushed him next, sending him crashing into the wall behind him. As he turned back around to Dean, he hit him in the face once with his left and as he's about to hit with his right, Randy ducked out of the way and kneed him in the stomach. Randy then kicked him in the face, causing Dean to fall to the floor next to Sam. He tried to get up, but Randy walked over and kicked him hard in the stomach which sent Dean rolling over the floor. Sam started to get up and Randy went over and took hold of him, helping him up face to face only to head-butt him so he falls backwards to the floor again next to Dean. As Randy finally stood back up, looking at Dean and Sam, the two boys grinned and slowly rose to their feet. 

"The hell you grinning at?" Randy huffed and the invisible force over Delaney suddenly vanished, sending her back onto her feet.

Dean smirked and slowly raised Randy's knife in the air. "Missing something?"

Randy's eyes widened and a dark look flashed across his face. "I'll kill you, you sons of bitches." He went to rush Dean and Sam again, but was stopped by an invisible force. His eyes snapped up to the ceiling and, along with Delaney, noticed the devil's trap drawn into the ceiling.

"Like Dean said... we knew Delly wouldn't listen," Sam mused and seemed rather pleased with himself that he and Dean outsmarted the demon.

"Wait!" Randy called as Dean and Sam both began to walk away. "You're just gonna leave me here?"

"Let's go, Della," Dean ordered, ignoring Randy.

"Oh, you're just too stupid to live, is that it?" Randy barked, placing his hands on his hips. "Then fine. You deserve Hell! I wish I could be there, Dean. I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones! I wish I could be there to hear you scream."

Dean didn't even flinch at Randy's threat as he pushed Delaney up the steps in front of him, almost looking amused by the threats. "And I wish you'd shut your piehole, but we don't always get what we want."

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Delaney frowned the next morning while she was forced to sit in a chair and help her brothers ready the weapons for the coming fight. She had wanted to go back down a few times during the night to speak to Randy again, but the boys had practically kept it under lock and key. It was almost like the old days when Dean would ground her and Sam and him would take turns making sure she didn't do anything, but sit and think about what she did wrong. She wasn't a child anymore, practically on the cusp of being twenty-three, and the boys couldn't ground her. However, they could act in a way that would make her feel guilty, which was probably the worst punishment. She'd rather be grounded at this point.

"Boys, are we really gonna let Randy rot down there?" Delaney asked, pouting and glancing up from the gun she had just reloaded and cleaned up. 

"That's the idea," Dean replied, it being the first thing he said to her since last night. He and Sam had been giving her the silent treatment ever since the night prior. 

"Dean, what if, uh... what if Randy is right? What if I can take out Lilith?" Delaney questioned and tossed the gun onto the table when Dean and Sam both gave her a deadpan expression. "Quit looking at me that."

"Delly, are you gonna give her the Carrie stare, and Lilith goes poof?" Sam retorted.

Delaney shrugged and fiddled with the cleaning rag in her hand. "I don't know what Randy meant. You know, maybe we should just go ask him."

Dean placed down the shotgun in his hands and leant his hands on the table, focusing on his baby sister. "Delaney, you want the knife. You got the knife."

"Come on! Why can't you two ever just listen to me?" Delaney huffed and threw the rag down on top of the gun she just cleaned. "Last time, Lilith snapped her fingers and put thirty demons on our ass and all we got is one little knife? I mean, like you said, we go in smart of we don't go in at all."

"Well, this ain't smart."

"We got one sot at this, boys - just one. So, if there's a surefire way, then maybe we should just talk about it," Delaney concluded, silently hoping the boys would agree to at least talking to Randy.

Dean bowed his head and let out a long, tired sounding sigh. "Baby girl, I love you, okay? I know you want to save me and so do we, but we cannot make the same mistakes all over again."

Delaney leant back in her chair and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at Dean. "What do you even mean by that?"

"Don't you see a pattern here? Dad's deal, Dean's deal, now this? I mean, every time one of us is up the creek, the other's begging to sell their soul. That's all this is, little one. Randy's just jerking your chain down the road. You know what it's paved with, and you know where it's going," Sam reminded Delaney and offered her a sad smile. He wanted to save Dean more than the next person, but he couldn't let Delaney go down that path. He promised John he wouldn't let Delaney get to that point and he would die before it happened.

Delaney frowned and glanced between her brothers who both looked more scared than anything. She knew part of it was Dean's final hours quickly ticking away, but she also knew the bigger part was them being scared of what Randy's plan could lead to. "Can I ask you what you think will happen? It's me, boys. I can handle it. If it'll save Dean - "

"Why even risk it?" Dean asked back, finally lifting his head again. 

"Because you're my big brother and you did the same thing for me. You both have - my whole life."

Dean chuckled softly and dropped into the chair next to Delaney's at the table with Sam on the other side of her. "Trust me, I know and look how that turned out. All I'm saying... Della, all I'm saying is you are my biggest weak spot besides Sam. You are... and I'm yours and so is Sam. Sammy... I know he'll be okay, but you... I just... I'm scared for you. No demon wants Sammy, but the biggest and baddest one wants you. That scares me."

Delaney shook her head, her eyes welling with fresh tears. "You don't mean that. We're - we're family."

"I know and those evil sons of bitches know it, too. What we'll do for each other, you know, how far we'll go - they're using that against us."

"So, what, we just stop looking out for each other?"

"No, we stop being martyrs, Delly," Sam answered and picked up Randy's knife from the table. "We use this knife and we go after Lilith our way, the way we taught you and the way Dad taught Dean and I. If we go down, then, uh... then we go down swinging. What do you think?"

Delaney couldn't help but let out a laugh at Dean and Sam's speeches. "I think you both totally should have been jamming to Eye of the Tiger just then."

"Oh, bite me," Dean huffed and pushed himself up from his seat, playfully pushing the back of his sister's head. "We totally rehearsed those speeches, too."

"So, Indiana, huh?"

"Yeah, where Lilith is on shore leave," Sam responded, placing the knife back on the table and scratching the back of his neck. "What does a demon even do for fun?"

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"Where do you think you're going?" 

Delaney and the boys jumped from their spots in the Impala to see Bobby stood on the outside of the Impala with Dean's distributer cap in his hand. No wonder the siblings hadn't been able to get the car started for the past ten minutes. Bobby stepped out of the way as Dean pushed his way out along with Sam and Delaney.

"We got the knife," Dean informed.

"And you intend to use it without me?" Bobby asked incredulously. "Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?"

"No, Uncle Bobby, of course not," Delaney argued, frowning at the fact he'd think the Winchesters would ever think lowly of him. 

"This is about me... and them, okay? This isn't your fight."

Bobby looked offended by Dean's statement and he clutched the cap tighter in his hand. "Like Hell it isn't! Family don't end in blood, boy. Besides, you need me. You're playing wounded. Tell me, how many hallucinations have you had so far?"

Delaney and Sam both furrowed their eyebrows and glanced over to Dean who tried to hide the guilty expression that flashed across his face briefly. If either one of them had blinked, they would have missed it. He never made it known to them that he had hallucinations thanks to his rapidly approaching doom. After everything, Delaney couldn't believe he'd keep that from both her and Sam.

"How'd you know?"

"Because that's what happens when you got Hellhounds on your butt and because I'm smart," Bobby quipped, holding up the cap for Dean to take. "I'll follow. Don't be stopping to pee every ten minutes, either."

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A few hours later, Dean drove down the dark, empty roads with Bobby just behind the Impala. Delaney had opted to sit in the middle of the two boys in the front seat so they could all be close together before the final battle. Plus, it helped to keep Delaney's anxiety in check with her being in between her two brothers. 

"Hey, Dee? You know, if this doesn't - if this doesn't go the way we want, I want you to know that - "

"No, no, no, no," Dean waved Delaney off before she could continue any further. "You aren't gonna bust out the misty goodbye speech, okay? I mean, if this is my last day on Earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward. You know what I do want?"

Delaney and Sam both rose an eyebrow at Dean who reached forward and switched on the stereo, Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive immediately blasting from the speakers.

On a steel horse, I ride

I'm wanted

"Bon Jovi?" Sam questioned, never hearing Dean play Bon Jovi or his band before.

"Bon Jovi rocks... on occasion," Dean defended and smirked at his two younger siblings. "And I walk the streets! A loaded six-string on my back! I pray for keeps! Come on, you two! You know you want to sing along."

Delaney and Sam both smiled in amusement as Dean continued to sing along with Bon Jovi

Cause I might not make it back

I've been everywhere

"Oh, yeah!" Delaney sang at the top of her lungs, a real smile appearing on her face for the first time in months. 

"But I'm standing tall!" Dean yelled at the top of his lungs.

"I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all. 'Cause I'm a cowboy. On a steel horse, I ride. I'm wanted!"

"Wanted!" Delaney yelled, throwing her head back and pretended to play the electric guitar. "Dead or alive. Dead or alive. Dead or alive."

However, the siblings' small moment of fun was quickly cut off when the sound of police sirens sounded behind the Impala. Dean checked in the sideview mirror and groaned when he noticed what was wrong.

"We have a taillight out. Not like we're in hurry or nothing," Dean grumbled, pulling over to the side of the road. He rolled the window and took the registration for the car that Sam handed over to him as the officer approached. "Problem officer?"

"License and registration, please," the officer instructed, taking Dean's license and registration that were handed over. "Did you realize that you have a taillight out, Mr... Hagar?"

Dean glanced out the window and nodded stiffly. "Yes. Yes, sir. Uh, you know, I've been meaning to... take car of that. As a matter of fact..." He trailed off and slammed the door into the officer's stomach.

"Dean!" Delaney gasped, shocked her brother would attack an officer like that. "What the hell!"

Dean pushed out of the car and punched the officer twice in the face before whipping his arm around, stabbing the officer with Randy's knife he had hidden inside his jacket. The officer's eyes and mouth flashed orange before the vessel dropped to the floor dead.

Bobby ran over, having gotten out of the car when he saw Dean attack the possessed officer. "What the hell happened?"

"Dean just killed a demon," Sam breathed, now stood behind Dean with Delaney at his side. They had both gotten out to stop Dean from making the situation worse, but obviously Dean was justified in what he just did. "How did you know?"

Dean panted and gripped the knife tighter in his hand, making his knuckles go white. "I just knew. I could see its face, its real face under that one."

Without even asking anything, Bobby suggested they hide the police car and burn the body before another demon could possess it. They hid the car in the branches just off the side of the road and made sure it was far enough in that no one that drove by could see it.

"So, what, you're seeing demons now?" Delaney asked, stepping back from the car along with the boys. The cop's body long burned behind them now and the ashes hidden in the dirt.

"I've been seeing all kinds of things lately, but nothing like this," Dean admitted, sounding just as freaked out as Delaney and Sam felt.

"Actually, it's not all that crazy. You got just over five hours to go, right? You're piercing the veil, Dean, glimpsing the B side," Bobby explained.

"A little less new age-y please, Bobby!"

Bobby sighed and fixed his gaze on Dean. "You're almost Hell's bitch, so now you're seeing Hell's other bitches."

"Thank you."

"It'll actually come in pretty handy," Delaney spoke up and placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh, well, I'm glad my doomed soul's good for something."

"Damn right it is. Lilith's probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let 'em sound the alarm. If she knows we're here, we're dead before we started," Bobby added.

Dean threw his head back and let out a frustrated groan. "Wow, this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it. Can we go please?"

Delaney closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long five hours.

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The three Winchesters and Bobby stood outside the house of the little girl Lilith currently possessed. She was a little blonde girl with big brown eyes and wore a pink dress with a massive blood stain on the front. At the dining table that she sat at with the family, the grandfather of the little girl sat dead with a snapped neck, his head in the plate. The mother and father scurried around the kitchen as they made even more sweet stuff for Lilith to eat.

"It's the little girl," Dean informed, even though the others pretty much figured that out for themselves. "Her face is awful."

Delaney lowered the binoculars from her face and turned to her brothers and Bobby. "Alright, then let's go. We're wasting time."

"Wait!"

"For what, Dee? An invitation? For her to kill the rest of them?"

"Yeah and us, too, if we're not careful," Sam argued, gesturing to the dead body of the grandfather and the one of the grandmother by the front door. "Look, see the real go-getter mailman on the clock at nine at night?"

Delaney raised her binoculars again and noticed the mailman a bit down the street, sorting out the mail at the back of his van. She slowly lowered the binoculars again and noticed the old man in the house next door, casually reading his book with a cigar in his mouth. 

"Demons?" Bobby asked, glancing around them for anyone else in the street.

"Yes."

"Okay, fine, we ninja past those guys, sneak in," Delaney suggested.

"And give a Columbian necktie to a ten year old girl? Really, Delly?" Sam remarked, not liking that plan for a second. They couldn't just kill an innocent girl.

"Look, I know it's awful. This isn't just about saving Dean, you know. This is about saving everybody," Delaney rebutted.

"She's got to be stopped, boys," Bobby piped up.

Dean glanced from Delaney and over to Bobby who subtly nodded that it was they had to do. No matter how awful it was. It was the only way to save Dean, Delaney, the little girl's family and just about everyone else in the world. "Oh, damn it."

⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶✞⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷

Delaney and the boys swiftly took out the mailman across the street. Dean had alerted him and acted like he had been caught, running off when the mailman's eyes went black. He chased Dean around the corner of the house and Delaney jumped out, shoving Randy's knife into his stomach while Sam clamped his hand around his mouth so his scream wouldn't alert the rest of the demons nearby.

The old man, Mr. Rogers, had heard Delaney, Dean and Sam in his side yard and ran out, only to be stabbed by Delaney while Sam clamped his hand around the old man's mouth. Who knew many other demons were out or hiding nearby. This way, the siblings knew they were safe if they kept to a stealthy and quiet rhythm while Bobby hide away near the pipes linking to all the houses and dropped a pair of rosary beads into it, blessing the water.

Dean and Sam had run around between some trees while Delaney pried the knife out of Mr. Rogers' stomach and cleaned the knife off on her jeans. When she heard struggling in the direction the boys ran off in, Delaney rushed around the corner to see Randy hold both boys up against a chain link fence and demanded his knife back. 

"They don't have it. Take it easy," Delaney warned, running up behind Randy and holding the knife up to his neck from behind.

Randy huffed and pushed off from the boys, stepping back so he stood in front of the three Winchesters now. He smiled at Dean and Sam when they both shot him equal looks of shock and confusion on how he was even out of the devil's trap. "Yes, I got out. What you don't know about me could fill a book."

Dean recoiled at the sight of Randy as his brain finally registered his true face. "Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing... I just couldn't see you before, but you are one ugly bastard," Dean mumbled.

"Laney, give me the knife before you hurt yourself," Randy instructed, holding his hand out for the knife.

Delaney brought it behind her back and made sure it was as far away from Randy as possible. She didn't trust him to give it back or to use it to help them. Not after everything he'd already lied to her about. The only reason she wasn't going to stab it through it his chest right now was because he had saved her ass multiple times and that made her debt to him paid off. "You'll get it when this is over."

"It's already over. I gave you a way to save Dean. You shot me down and now it's too late. He's dead and I'm not gonna let you die, too," Randy informed.

"Try and stop me and I'll kill you, Randy," Delaney growled, gripping the knife tighter.

"Hit me with your best shot, princess."

"Guys, guys! Hey. Have your little catfight later," Dean said, glancing over his shoulder to something beyond the fence.  The trio turned to see that a demon or two stood at almost every doorstep on the block, each of their gazes on the three siblings and Randy. "So much for the element of surprise."

Sam shrugged and suddenly pushed open the gate. "Best option is to... RUN!"

Delaney reached the door to the house first and tried to pick the lock as quick as she could, but it wasn't working. No matter which direction she twisted the kit, the lock didn't budge an inch. 

"Della!"

"I'm trying!" Delaney snapped at Dean over her shoulder, more frustrated at it not working rather than Dean rushing her.

Suddenly one of the demons reach the lawn and the sprinklers turn on and she began to flail, screaming, as the water burns her. Another demon gets caught in the water also and he screamed and flailed much like the female demon. More and more of the demons get caught in the water that Bobby had blessed which gives Delaney the time she needed to get into the house. She scrambled into the house with Randy and a laughing Dean and Sam behind them.

Delaney froze the dead body of the grandmother and frowned at the sight, hating that Lilith was going through this innocent family like they were pawns in a game. "You think Lilith knows we're here?"

"Probably," Randy warned and glanced around them for any sight of the little girl.

Delaney lead the way through the foyer of the house and towards the dining room until she heard a door creak behind her and turned around with Randy and Sam to see Dean with his hand over a balding male's mouth - the little girl's dad. 

"Shh, shh, shh, shh," Dean hushed the man who quickly shut up behind Dean's hand. "We're here to help. I'm going to remove my hand and we're going to talk nice and quiet, okay?" He waited for the father to nod before he slowly lowered his hand from the father's mouth.

"Sir, where is your daughter?" Sam asked.

The father's breathing was labored, fear evident in his eyes. "It's not - it's not her anymore."

"Where is she?" Delaney repeated, needing to know where she was so this could finally end.

"Upstairs in her bedroom," the father whispered.

"Okay, okay, okay, listen to me. I want you to go downstairs to the basement, put a line of salt at the door behind you. Do you understand me?" Dean instructed.

The father shook his head defiantly. "No, not without my wife."

"Yes, without your wife."

"No, not - "

Dean shrugged and punched the father in the face, knocking him out. He threw the man over his shoulder and motioned for Sam to follow and help him while Delaney and Randy took that as their cue to creep up the steps and finish off Lilith. Delaney took the lead since she had the knife in her hand and they walk with their backs pressed to the wall behind them. When they got up the steps, the duo looked around a bit and then Randy walked to the door to their right. They shared a look, Delaney nodded at him and then Randy entered inside. Delaney started slowly for the door to the left and she leant against the closed door, listening for anything on the other side. After a beat she opened the door as quietly as possible and slipped inside to see Lilith asleep with the mother of the little girl she possessed.

Delaney slowly walked over to the little girl's bed that had thin, purple drapes around it and slowly pulled them back, alerting the mother. She stared up at Delaney with horror on her face while Lilith continued to sleep on the mother's shoulder.

"Do it," the mother whimpered, scared out of her wits. "Do it."

Lilith stirred a bit on the mother's shoulder and the two held their breath until Lilith settled back down, Delaney gripping the knife in her hand as if her life depended on it.

Delaney stared down at the little girl as the mother continued to beg Delaney to just stab her. She knew it would be difficult to just stab through the little girl like she was nothing, but who knew it would be this hard. Delaney couldn't just murder an innocent little girl like this. She'd be worse than Lilith.

However, Delaney's momentary freezing awoken Lilith and she saw up in the bed, shrieking at the sight of the knife held above her. Delaney stumbled back a step at the shrieking and her arm was suddenly tugged back, seeing Sam and Dean next to her and Randy now stood in the doorway at the sound of the screaming. 

"Delly, it's not her!" Sam yelled over the little girl's shrieking, tugging Delaney's arm down. "It's not in the girl anymore."

Dean motioned for the daughter and mom to get up and to follow them back downstairs. The mom helped the little girl out of the bed and they silently followed after Dean with Delaney, Sam and Randy taking up the rear. "You, your husband and your daughter stay in the basement no matter what you hear."

"I hate to be a told-you-so," Randy remarked, continuing through the house while Dean ushered the mom and daughter into the basement and closing the door behind them.

"Alright, Randy, where is she?" Delaney asked, following after Randy with Sam at her side. "Could she get past the sprinklers?"

"Her pay grade, she ain't sweating the Holy Water," Randy informed, stopping in the middle of the living room. 

Delaney sighed and slapped the hand that wasn't holding the knife to her side. "Okay, you win. What do I have to do?"

"Delly..."

"What do you mean?" Randy asked, holding his hand up to stop Sam from speaking. 

"To save Dean. What do you need me to do?"

Dean walked into the room and tugged his sister back from Randy, giving her a stern look. "What the hell you think you're doing?"

Delaney shrugged off Dean's hand and stepped away from him and Sam, focusing back on Randy. "Just shut up for a second. Randy!"

Randy shrugged and leant back against the fireplace behind him, crossing his arms across his chest and crossing one leg over the other. "You had your chance, princess. You can't just flip a switch. We needed time."

"Well, there's gotta be something. There's got to be some way. Whatever it is - I'll do it," Delaney pleaded, the desperation kicking in now that Dean had mere minutes left before the Hellhounds came for him. She dodged out of the way when Dean and Sam tried to pull her back again. "Don't you dare! I am not gonna let my big brother go to Hell!"

"Yes, you are!" Dean yelled and dropped his hand to his side, hating how heavy Delaney's chest began to rise and fall and small wheezes coming out of her mouth. He could tell that her anxiety was coming out and he hated that he was the cause of it. "Yes, you are. I'm sorry, baby girl. I mean, this is all my fault. I know that, but what you're doing, it's not gonna save me. It's only gonna kill you."

Delaney sniffled and hated that her vulnerability was coming out right in front of Randy. However, she couldn't help it because the thought of Dean dying in just a few minutes made her go into a panic. It was getting harder and harder to breathe properly and it was as if it was being clutched in an iron fist. She barely even felt Sam's hand on her back - tears welling in his own eyes - as her whole body going numb. "Then what am I supposed to?"

"Keep fighting," Dean replied softly and tried to smile even though it came out more as a grimace. "And take care of my wheels with Sammy. Della, remember what I taught you... okay?"

Delaney nodded as a small sob escaped her lips.

"Sammy, look after our baby sister, yeah? Make sure she's safe or I'll break my way out of Hell and kill your ass," Dean warned gently, trying to light the mood. 

"You know I always will," Sam whispered, bringing Delaney into his side as the clock to their right chimed and signaled midnight. He glanced over to the clock with Delaney and Dean before he focused back on his brother ahead of him, tears spilling his cheeks along with Delaney who shook like a leaf under his arm. 

Delaney hated the way that Dean still tried to smile through this whole thing like he wasn't scared because she knew he was. She'd rather him show how he truly felt instead of masking it to make Sam and Delaney feel better. Even in his last moments, Dean still tried to make Delaney and Sam feel better than thinking about himself.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy," Randy said and he actually sounded sincere? 

Suddenly, Dean's face fell and his mask was wiped off, showing his true fear. He glanced over his shoulder at something over his shoulder and he pointed a shaky finger behind him. "Hellhounds. There."

Randy's face fell when he noticed the Hellhound, too, and bolted after Dean who rushed into the office across the house. Delaney and Sam followed the two inside and quickly shut the double, white doors behind them and held it closed along with Randy as Dean sprinkled the goof dust around the front of the door. The pounding on the doors finally stopped and Dean rushed over to the windows to pour the dust around them next.

"Give me the knife, maybe I can fight it off," Randy offered, holding out his hand for the knife as he, Delaney and Sam made their way into the middle of the room. "The dust won't last forever."

"Wait!" Dean yelled before Delaney could even move to do anything with the knife.

"You want to die?" Randy snarled at Dean, his hand still held out for the knife.

Dean shook his head and stepped back away from Randy, a look of fright on his face that Delaney never saw before. "Della, that's not Randy. It's not Randy!"

Delaney turned back to Randy who, without touching her, flung both her and Sam hard up against the wall, pinning them to it. She gasped and dropped the knife to the floor. Randy then hit Dean - without even touching him - and flung him on top of the table, pinning him. Dean grunted as he held up his head so he can look at Randy. Delaney stared wide eyed from Dean to Randy and back.

"How long you been in him?" Dean demanded, struggling to keep his head up. "How could you even possess him?"

Lilith shrugged as she made Randy's face become almost childlike and innocent. "Not long and we demons don't necessarily care for gender like humans," she glanced down at Randy's body that she new possessed and smiled. "Plus, he's grown up and handsome."

"And where's Randy?" Delaney demanded, not even flinching when Lilith's white eyes cut over to her.

"Randy was very, very bad and so I sent him far, far away," Lilith responded and the cool and soft tone that had Randy's voice sent a chill down Delaney's spine. 

"You know, I should have seen it before, but you all look alike to me," Dean taunted, struggling to keep his head up while the rest of him pressed to the table.

Lilith ignored Dean and turned her attention to Delaney, the white eyes now back to the vessel's blue ones. She sent Delaney a sinister smile and Delaney inaudibly gulped at the sight of it. "Hello, Dellycakes. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time." She stopped just before Delaney and placed her hands on either side of Delaney's face, bringing their lips together and pulling away after a moment. "Your lips are soft."

Delaney tried to pry her chin out of Lilith's grip, but it was no use. "Alright, so you have me. Let Dean go."

"Silly goose," Lilith tutted and removed her hand from Delaney's chin. "You want to bargain, you have to have something I want. Sadly, you don't."

"So, is this your big plan, huh? Drag me to Hell, kill Della and leave Sam by himself, then what - become queen bitch?"

"I don't have to answer to puppy chow," Lilith replied and shot Dean a smirk. She pushed off Delaney and stalked back over to the double doors of the office, placing her hand on the doorknob. "Sic him, boy."

Delaney whimpered as the Hellhound that she nor Sam could see, dragged Dean off the table by his foot and tore away at his jeans. No matter how hard she or Sam fought against the invisible force, they couldn't budge an inch and were helpless to Dean. "NO, stop!"

Dean continued to scream in agony as multiple claw marks appeared through his shirt, the whole thing going from gray to splotched with a dark red. Cuts appeared on his neck and through the holes on his jeans, blood seeping out of them as well. 

"No! Stop it! Stop it! No!" Delaney sobbed, still fighting against the force while Sam had already slumped against the wall and just cried next to her. Though, Sam continued to scream along with Delaney for Lilith to stop, even though they both knew she wouldn't.

"Yes," Lilith grinned maliciously, thrusting her hand forward as a bright white light emitted from it. As it built up more and more, Sam and Delaney turned their heads with their eyes closed. Suddenly Lilith's white light is retracted, her eyes still white but slowly turned back to normal, and she looked confused and shocked. Delaney and Sam crashed to the floor with Sam covering Delaney's head with her body to block out the bright white light. When they noticed nothing happened and the light was now gone, the two slowly lifted their heads his hands, looking at Lilith.

Delaney struggled to her feet and glared darkly at Lilith who stared down at the floor afraid of what just happened. She looks at the floor, afraid, as Delaney slowly started towards her. Delaney picked up Randy's knife by her foot and all she could see in the moment was red as she looked at Lilith with such an intense hatred that Sam was shocked Lilith wasn't sent back to Hell from just that. She gripped the knife in her hand and went to stab it into Lilith, but Lilith quickly escaped out of the vessel and into the vent above her head while the vessel dropped next to Dean, dead.

The knife clattered to the ground when Delaney's eyes caught sight of the now torn up Dean, the only thing not touched being his face. She slowly dragged her feet over to him and dropped down next to his body as Sam dropped to his knees next to her. Sobs overtook her whole body, pulling Dean's body into her lap and cradling him into her chest. "No, Dean, no. Come on. Wake up."

Sam cried next to Delaney and brought her into his side, not being able to bring his gaze away from Dean's dead bod - his green, lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling above. "Come on, Dean. Wake up, man. You gotta wake up."

Delaney took Dean's hand into hers and placed it over her heart. "Come on, Dee. Follow my heart like I always do with you and Sammy when I'm having an anxiety attack. You're not gone, Dean. Please, please, please. Wake up, Dee, wake up. I can't lose you. Not you, too. Not my big brother. Please, I love you and I promise to alway listen to you no matter what. Just please don't leave us, Dee, please," she sobbed into his chest, hugging Dean closer to her while Sam's arm tightened around her waist and holding her impossibly closer to him.

The two youngest Winchesters huddled together and sobbed with heavy hearts over their now dead brother and Lilith now gone. Once again... Delaney Elizabeth Winchester failed to save someone. This time, she wasn't going to just let it slide.

Revenge was about to feel real sweet.

END OF BOOK THREE

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

Okay, so like, I made my own self cry over that ending so... that was a thing and I'm not okay *wipes aggressively at tears*. Dean is officially dead, Delaney is anything but okay, and Sam is now worried about having to watch over Delaney who now still has a big fat target on her back placed by Lilith. It is only going to get a lot more crazy and dramatic from here and we ain't ready for it, oof.

ANYWAYS, we are officially done with Book/Season Three, folks! The next book will actually be posted within the next hour or so. Just have to fix up the cover a bit and do the intro chapter. So keep this book in your libraries still because I will post one final chapter in this book with all the info for Book Four when I get it up! 

Let the crazy ride continue and than you for sticking around for Delaney's story for this long! It ain't even close to being done yet.