As they left, Henry let his head rest back against the tree, forcing his breathing into a slow rhythm despite the damage.
"Yeah… should've expected this," he muttered, jaw tightening slightly as the pain settled in properly now that the adrenaline was gone. First the bus crash, then getting thrown into a tree hard enough to crack bone, and now he was running on whatever was left.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
More than one.
Coming closer.
His eyes shifted slightly, and without moving his body, he activated the ability. The air around him bent and distorted, his presence fading as invisibility took hold.
A few seconds later, three figures stepped into the clearing.
"Pride," one of them said, scanning the area with irritation, "they're not here. Looks like they escaped."
Greed.
He moved around the clearing, kicking lightly at leaves, checking behind trees like he expected to find something obvious.
"Shh," Pride said.
He didn't move like the others. He stayed still, head turning slightly, attention sharpening in a different way.
"Can't you hear it?" he asked, voice low.
Sloth barely lifted his head, clearly uninterested. "Hear what?" he replied, tone dull.
Pride took a slow step forward, eyes narrowing just slightly as he focused on the space around him instead of anything visible. "The air isn't empty," he said. "Breathing changes it. Presence leaves a trace."
Greed stopped moving. "You saying someone's still here?" he asked.
Pride's gaze swept across the clearing again, slower now, deliberate. "The smell of fear," he said quietly, "and the sound of breathing that doesn't belong to us."
"Someone's hiding. I can smell the blood," he added, crouching as his fingers brushed the ground.
Sloth wandered a few steps and stopped when he noticed the body. He looked down at Wrath without much interest. "Yeah… looks like he didn't make it," he said, tone flat, like it didn't matter.
Greed glanced over, annoyed more than anything. "Tch. Waste," he muttered.
Pride didn't respond. He was already moving, following the trail. His hand dragged lightly over the dirt, tracing what couldn't be seen at a glance—blood, pressure, disturbed ground. Each step brought him closer, his pace unhurried, certain.
Henry stayed completely still. He forced his breathing to slow, shallow enough that it wouldn't give him away, even as the pain in his chest pushed against it.
Pride stopped.
Two steps away.
Right in front of him.
He tilted his head slightly, eyes fixed on the empty space where Henry is, like he could feel something just out of reach. "Hmm," he said quietly, the sound thoughtful rather than uncertain.
Then his gaze shifted to the tree, lingering there for a moment as if weighing whether to act on instinct or dismiss it.
"Pride, let's go. There's no one here," Sloth said, already losing interest, his tone dragging with boredom.
Pride didn't move immediately. He kept staring at the spot for a few seconds longer, expression unreadable.
Then he straightened.
"Maybe," he said quietly, though it didn't sound like he was convinced.
He turned and walked off without another word.
Greed gave the area one last glance, then followed, shrugging it off as he moved. Sloth was already ahead, not caring either way.
The clearing went still again.
Only after their footsteps faded did Henry move.
The distortion around him dropped, and his figure reappeared against the tree.
"That was close…" he muttered.
***
On Sam's side,
He was boxed in.
Pride stood in front of him,. Greed circled to the side, restless, eyes sharp, while Sloth lingered behind, slower but placed exactly where Sam couldn't ignore him.
"Sam Winchester," Pride said, voice even, almost polite. "You're famous in Hell for a lot of reasons."
Sam didn't respond. Eyes moving between all three, tracking angles, distance, timing.
"But I'm more curious about your brother," Pride continued. "And the other Winchester. The one who fought Yellow Eyes. I hear he's… different."
A faint smile formed.
"I wonder how he screams when he dies."
Sam's expression hardened just a fraction. "Why don't you go find out yourselves," he said, and moved.
His hand snapped up, flask already open.
Holy water hit Pride square in the face.
The demon recoiled, smoke rising as the burn hit instantly.
Greed took the opening, lunging from behind, arms going for Sam's shoulders to lock him down.
Sam dropped low before the grip closed, twisting his body and sweeping his leg hard across Greed's stance. The hit knocked Greed off balance, buying a second, not more.
Sloth stepped in from the front, cutting off Sam's exit.
Then something moved behind him.
Dean.
He came in fast, silent until the last second, the knife already driving forward toward Sloth's head.
Sloth reacted on instinct, bringing his hand up—
The blade punched straight through his palm.
The reaction was immediate.
Sparks burst from the contact point, the demon flinching hard as something deeper than the vessel took damage.
Sloth stared at his hand, confused, like the concept of pain didn't register right away.
"What… is that?"
Dean didn't give him time to process. "Something you're not walking off," he said, ripping the blade free and stepping in closer.
He drove the knife straight into Sloth's chest.
The sigil activated fully.
The demon's body locked up, energy cracking through it in sharp bursts.
Sloth dropped.
Greed recovered fast, coming in again with a heavy swing aimed at Dean.
Sam stepped in, intercepting, catching the motion just enough to deflect it off line. The force still pushed him back half a step, but it broke the momentum.
Pride straightened, wiping the burn from his face, eyes black again, calm replaced with something colder.
"You've changed the rules," Pride said.
Dean adjusted his grip on the knife, stance steady beside Sam. "Yeah," he said. "Figured it was about time."
Sam didn't take his eyes off them. "Two left," he said quietly.
Pride's faint smile returned.
"Not for long."
*****
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