In Which Sam remembers that he really is only human...

[likely_evil]

ooc: takes place three months after this. Stolas is part of demonbureaucrat and used with much loathing on Sam's part.

Stolas laughed and leaned down, grabbing Sam by his hair and lifting his face off the ground. "How does it feel, Winchester? To finally see your life flashing before your eyes... don't worry, I'll make sure the pain lasts long enough for you to see all of it."

"Screw you," Sam managed to spit, one eye cracking open through the swolleness to glare at Stolas.

"Oh, Sam... you really are good to the last drop." He pushed Sam's head back hard onto the concrete floor and stood up. "Your daddy would be so proud of you. Well, he would if he wasn't burning in hell."

Sam rolled slowly onto his back, holding his right arm to his chest. It had been broken a few days ago and wasn't set and the pain was becoming unbearable. But he pushed past it still and just laughed at Stolas. "I don't need you telling me about my dad," Sam stated. "I know he's proud of me."

"You sure about that?" Stolas walked over, putting a foot up on Sam's arm and pushing down on it to keep his balance as Sam screamed in pain.

Sam had given up keeping quiet weeks ago. There was no point to it, and just made the torture worse.

"See, the way I look it at, your daddy would look at you and those yellow eyes, and he'd see nothing but the filthy little halfblood that you've become. Shaking up with a demon, letting her bear your halfblood bastard spawn... if he wasn't ash already he'd be turning over in his grave at the disappointment his little Sammy became."

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk way too fucken much?" Sam managed to pant.

Stolas just smiled and pressed down on Sam's arm again until he heard the satisfying crunch of another bone breaking in the arm and Sam's renewed screw of pain. "Bones are so brittle at three hundred and two, aren't they Sam? Just a certain amount of pressure..." His foot shifted and pressed down on his ribs, and there was another snap. Sam gasped in pain, his teeth grit as he held back another scream. "And before you know it, you'll just be a blubbering pile of jello. There's only two hundred and six bones in the body. How many can we break before you die?"

"Guess we'll find out," Sam said with a dark smile, laughing until it hurt and he groaned.

"Oh, you're suddenly an optimist. I guess a leopard can change it's spots." Stolas patted Sam's cheek playfully. "Here I thought with Ruby going back down, you'd be a depressed sad little puppy. I mean, we both know who wears the pants in your relationship."

Sam's jaw tightened. "I swear, Stolas..."

"Back to threats again, Sam? Let's rehash this, ok? No, I didn't send her to hell. Yes, I know how it happened and No, I'm not telling. That's my little secret. Did I miss anything?"

Sam just glared at him with his one good eye, and Stolas grinned. "Oh yeah, and when I'm done with you... your little boy is next. Can't leave a Winchester running around unwatched. In fact, from what I hear the last few weeks with you gone have gone very bad for the tyke. He can't find his daddy and his mommy is dead. Maybe I should give him a visit and let him come see you before you get the matching rack in hell with your sweet little whore."

Sam growled but didn't say anything. Stolas felt the weak pushing of Sam's powers against him and laughed. "You're out of juice, Sammy boy. Doesn't it feel great though? You finally get to feel like a normal human again."

"Now, I hate to chat and run, but I've got a few stops to make before dinner. Since you know, the king is gone, all the little pawns get to come out and play. The city is beautiful when it's full of screaming humans." He headed for the door, stepping over the line of black powder that kept Sam trapped inside. "I'll be back later. Don't go anywhere!"

He laughed echoed down the halls as Sam just let his head slump to the side and he slipped into the blackness of exhaustion.

***

Sam was feigning sleep when the younger demon walked in with the food. Stolas planned on keeping Sam alive for awhile just for fun, and that meant he needed to at least feed the man every few days. The demon quietly put the tray down where Sam could reach it, then turned to go.

Sam moved quickly, his body screaming in pain as he grabbed the demon's ankle and pulled her to the floor. He crawled along her body, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"Don't worry... this will be over soon," Sam growled as he pulled the broken shard of glass from his shirt and stabbed it into the neck of the demon. It had been over a hundred and fifty years since the first and only time he had done this, but this time it was a matter of life or death. He had beaten the addictive aftermath once, and if he lived he knew he could again.

He felt his power come back to him with a vengeance as the woman beneath him writhed in pain before growing cold and still. Sam pushed away from her, standing up and looking around. The line was still unbroken at the door, but he reached out with his telekinesis and sent the food tray sliding along the ground, breaking the line easily.

Walking out of the room, Sam looked down both hallways and tried to figure out which one was the better escape path. He heard voices down one hall and started in the other direction. He managed to get around three hallways and found an exit sign when he was hit in the back with a burst of power, sending him painfully into a wall.

"Someone was a naughty girl and let the Antichrist out of his cage." Barbatos tossed Sam against another wall just for fun, then stopped as he felt Sam fighting back, using his powers.

"Just give it up, Barbatos," Sam growled, his eyes flashing yellow. "This is done for now?"

"Oh no, Sam. We're not going to let you go that easily now, are we?" Phoenix walked up behind Sam and pushed with her powers, sending him flying down the hallway until his head slammed into a pipe. He slumped to the floor, looking up as his vision doubled with the two members of the Triad walking towards him.

"Stay back!" Sam shouted, throwing up his arm and tried to pin them to the wall. The demons looked at each other, then laughed.

"You drained a low level demon and expect that little power boost to take on both of us? Please, Sam. Give us some credit." Phoenix leaned against the wall, smiling.

"You think Stolas will mind if I play with him a bit before we put his toy back?" Barbatos cracked his knuckles. At the Sam time Sam cried out, feeling his back crack at the same time.

"What Stolas doesn't know won't hurt him." Phoenix turned her back. "Just make sure you put him away and fix that line so he doesn't get loose again.

Barbatos just smiled and walked over to Sam, grabbing the growling Antichrist by his chin. "Let's have some fun, Sam. It's been awhile."

***

"Stop whining, Stolas. It's unbecoming."

"I captured him. It's my magic that's keeping him here. Therefore it's my right to finish this, and you almost killing him doesn't help."

"He's alive."

"Barely."

"He's lived three hundred years, Stolas. He's still got enough fight in him for you." Barbatos turned and walked out the door, stepping over the dead woman near the doorway. "And if you want to give him an energy boost, just send him another demon appetizer."

Stolas growled and turned to kick the body on the floor, and Sam just gave a soft groan. Leaning down, Stolas slapped Sam's face hard. "Not your time just yet, Sammy boy. Soon, but not yet. Try to hold on for just a bit longer."

"Screw you..." Sam's words were barely audible, gargled with the same blood that was flowing from his ears and nose.

"That's what I want to see. Get some rest and we'll just have to play tomorrow." Leaving the room, Stolas slammed and locked the doors, plunging Sam into darkness that preceded him slipping back into unconsciousness once again. This time he decided he was going to stay there for as long as his body wanted him too.