Unknowing to Him, Sam Steps onto the Darker Path...

[likely_evil]

ooc: for mad_muses prompt: I hope you know what you’re doing.

Age 132. Year is 2114

It was a rough year for the Initiative. The complex was still just a dream, and the demons were hard to get on his side in the battle for a line of peace between the two species. War was hard, and it was taking it's toll on the immortal Winchester - more so than on any of the other humans. After all, it was certain that the demon who could take out Sam Winchester was going to become a legend.

And in 2114, that legend almost happened. His name was Andras, and to some he was considered one of the princes of Hell. His strategy was strong - separating Sam from the safety of his followers and then locking him in a warehouse in which no angel or lesser demon could enter or exit - including that of his Ruby.

Sam put up a strong fight, but his biggest weakness was that he was still human and needed certain things to survive. Food and water being the two major items. Andras, however, had an ego and wouldn't let his victory come from just plain starvation. He wanted to break Sam down as far as he could both mentally and physically before dealing the final blow. Then he could drag the body out to lay it at the feet of his followers and start to take them down.

He almost won, too. But Andras was not expecting that some of his rivals would stoop so low as to take this moment from him and send in their own spies into his legion. The world turned on the night that Felicia made her way to the room Sam was kept chained to the floor. Kneeling beside him, she didn't speak at first, but instead pulled out a silver knife from her boot.

"So he's sent you to finish the job?" Sam spat on the floor, barely able to life his head. "Coward."

"I don't work for Andras. Now listen to me, Sam Winchester. You have one chance to escape this with your life." She looked at him dead in the eye. "I'm going to give you access to more power than you ever realized you had, and in return you're going to make sure Andras doesn't cause problems for anyone else on earth, or in hell. That's the deal."

"And what, ten years I go to hell? I'm not at a crossroads..."

"And I'm not that kind of demon." Felicia rolled her eyes. "Clocks ticking, Winchester. You want out of here or not?"

Sam looked deep into her eyes with his hazel ones. They were still hazel back then. He could see that there was something more here - he did this and he might get free now, but there was something waiting on the other side of the door he wasn't going to like. He may not see it now, but it would come back to bite him.

But Sam hadn't lived this long taking it easy.

"Deal."

Felicia smirked, then pulled up her sleeve. She cut a line along her flesh, letting the blood start to seep out. "Drink."

"You've got to be kidding me..."

"Those demon powers of yours come from somewhere, Sam. You had a taste as a baby. You want to get your strength back, put your delicate sensibilities aside and think like a demon for once. Now drink."

He licked his lips, hedging on the decision. Then the scent his his nose and a more primal part of his mind reacted and he was suddenly very thirsty. He should have been scared at that, but he just followed his instincts and grabbed her arm. The salty taste of her flesh and blood against his lips was new, but it stated a deeper part of him. His grip on her arm tightened as he drank in earnest, and he thought he heard the demon moan.

She pulled away too soon and he reached for her. Laughing, she stood up and took out a scarf to wrap her arm in. "Oh no, Winchester. You want more, you'll have to find your own source. This was just an offering."

There was a snarl that escaped his lips, then he rolled onto his back and closed his eyes. He could feel the blood flowing through him. He could feel the power and it felt good. Right. Like he should have been this strong all along. He couldn't help it but he just started to laugh, his back arching up off the ground as he just savored the feeling of power in his veins.

Then he stood up, easily ripping the heavy chains from the ground and using his TK to unlock the bonds so they clattered to the ground. He then licked his lips, still able to taste the sweetness of her demonic power there as he looked at her with darker eyes. "You better get out of here then. I'll honor my end of this bargain, but tell whoever your boss is that this doesn't mean that I owe him anything." He was well aware of how the demons honored debts, and he was making it clear that he didn't owe one.

"Who said I have one?" Felicia smirked, and then she was gone.

He looked around the room with new eyes, seeing the wards as he kicked open the door and started to hunt for the master of the inn. The noise brought demons in scores after him through the halls, but he easily sent them back to hell with just a word or a twist of his hand until finally he was face to face with Andras.

Sam couldn't help but smirk as he saw Andras look at him and the flash of fear that came across his face. "How did you...?"

"Doesn't matter." Sam waved his hand and flung the demon against the side of the wall, pinning him there. "However, I think it's time for a little payback."

"You're a Winchester," Andras gasped as he felt invisible hands grab onto him - the demon under the meat suit, "You don't torture."

"Then I guess you're just special."

***

Andras' screams could be heard by the demons and humans outside who were preparing for an assault to rescue Sam. They watched the demons inside claw at the wards, trying to escape to save themselves. Then from one of the windows there was a glowing yellow light as another scream came before silence fell over the area.

Ruby held up a hand to keep the others back as she started towards the door. She was close when the outer door was opened and Sam came out, dragging the body that Andras had been in. He didn't even acknowledge the rescue team as he turned his whipped and bruised back to them and faced the place he had been held captive in.

"When you return to hell, tell your masters that if they want to try this again, they will have the same fate," he shouted at the demons inside. "You might want to rethink about who's side you want to be on."

"Sam?" Ruby asked softly.

He turned slowly to look at her and a dark smile came over his face - one that was more than just being happy to see her. "Hey. Miss me?"

Comments

[likely_evil]

It was the detox. If he had really wanted to hurt them, he could have just started to spit out latin. But he was still muttering curses at them even as the drugs took hold and he was knocked back out.

His eyes slipped closed and he went limp on the bed, and two of the human doctors came over at that point to start cleaning up his back cuts against and rewrap them all.

He wasn't going to come out of it until the drugs let him this time, but his head lulled from side to side as he fell into a set of hallucinogenic nightmares that ripped at him from the inside.

[ilove_atallman]

Ruby just sat there and waited, having those placed in charge come in and keep her updated from time to time, but otherwise just keeping her focus on Sam. Hopefully by the time this was over, it would be out of his system completely.

[likely_evil]

Days passed and Sam was barely aware of the time. The nightmares had gotten worse, and then faded. Less struggling in his sleep against his bonds until he slept peacefully for two days straight.

One of the doctors came back into the room after having taken blood and checked Sam's vitals for the day. "The infection from his back has cleared and the sulfur levels in his blood are back to normal. He's been in this coma almost a week. We should pull him out for a bit, just to give his organs some time to get fresh blood in them without the sedatives."

[ilove_atallman]

She nodded slowly, before moving to loosen the soft restraints on his arms and legs. "Should give him a chance to regain a bit of circulation too," she sighed. "I can handle him if he comes up snarling."

[likely_evil]

"I'll leave it in his arm. You can just start the flow again if you need to."

The doctor walked over and took out the antibiotic line, leaving in the sedative line, but rolling the flow so that it was turned off. A nurse came in to change out a few other bags, as well as bringing in some water and warm broth. "In case he's hungry," she said, leaving the thermos behind with Ruby before they cleared the room.

It took Sam about an hour to make his way back to awareness and he barely opened his eyes a crack when he looked at Ruby. He didn't speak at first, just blinked slowly and swallowed a few times before coughing. His throat was dry.

[ilove_atallman]

"Here," she said softly, before moving over to him. She managed to work the controls on the bed so that he was sitting up enough that he wouldn't choke before sitting on the side of the bed again and handing the cup of water to him. "Sip slow."

[likely_evil]

He nodded, taking the cup and drank, then he realized his arms had the loosened restraints on him and he looked at them in confusion, then at her. "What...?" he croaked, his hazel eyes light again as they opened more.

[ilove_atallman]

"You got a little violent when you were detoxing," she said softly, moving one hand to brush his hair away from his face lgihtly. "We had to make sure you didn't hurt yourself or someone else."

[likely_evil]

Her words cut through his foggy brain and he closed his eyes, his hand going limp onto his lap. He had drank all the contents luckily. He groaned and let his head just fall back and to the side.

He could remember it all like it was a bad dream. He had hoped it had only been a dream.

[ilove_atallman]

She watched him carefully, before moving her hand down to squeeze his lightly. "How're you feeling?"

[likely_evil]

He barely squeezed back, still tired. "Weak," he said softly.

[ilove_atallman]

"It'll get better as the drugs get flushed out of your system," she said with a nod. "It just takes a little time."

[likely_evil]

"Not those drugs," Sam said softly. He turned to look at her, his eyes sad. He remembered. "Thank you... for taking care of me."

[ilove_atallman]

"Least I could do, Sam. You didn't know what would happen." She straightened slightly and gave him a bit of a look. "Though if you do it again, you're on your own. And I'm so not kidding."

[likely_evil]

"You were going to be too late," Sam said. It wasn't an excuse, it was just him stating a fact. "She came in and I knew it was wrong. I knew there was something..." he closed his eyes and licked his lips, then just leaned his head back. "I knew it all."

[ilove_atallman]

"Sam. It's okay." And really, it was. They fixed him. And now they could go from there. "Now you really know."

[likely_evil]

He looked down at his restraints. "I still want it." He said softly. "I can feel the urge. You should... keep me like this." He nodded his head slowly, convincing himself that it was better that way.

[ilove_atallman]

"That's not going to make you better," she said softly. "Even if you still want it you have to tell yourself no, and get out there and live, otherwise you're just going to spend the time hiding here, and you're going to give them what they want. An easy target."

[likely_evil]

He coughed a bit, looking over at the water thing and fumbling for his cup. "I hurt you. I saw... I remember what I tried to do..." He shook his head. "I'm too dangerous."

[ilove_atallman]

She took the cup from him gently, going to pour him another cup as she spoke. "It's not the first time you've tried to hurt me, Sam. And that was the blood. It wasn't you."

[likely_evil]

He took the glass when she offered it back and drank it down. "It was me. And I don't know... this isn't like being hooked to heroine, Ruby. If I slip, people will die and everything..."

Fear hit him and he looked at her. "I didn't hurt anyone, did I? Who saw me like that?"

[ilove_atallman]

"No one but me and Nicky, and a few of the human doctors. Otherwise I told them it was something Andras did to you, some kind of mind game. You're covered."

[likely_evil]

"She didn't work for Andras." He looked at Ruby. "I tortured him, and I enjoyed it. I can.. i can hear him screaming. And I think... I think I killed him, Ruby. It felt different than just sending them back to hell."

[ilove_atallman]

She nodded. "That's what it looked like. And it wasn't you, alright? It was that girl. And when I find her, I'll take care of her. But this isn't your fault. You thought you didn't have a choice."

[likely_evil]

"I did have a choice, Ruby. I could have died with dignity. Finally died, and you could have used me as a martyr. But I was too weak."

He closed his eyes. "My brother would hate me right now." Which was saying a lot, because Sam hardly mentioned his brother in conversation anymore.