The ties that bind

A/n: Quite obviously, none of the characters from the show Supernatural belong to me. I'll be loaning them out for the duration of this fic for the tidy sum of absolutely nothing, since the only point in my life in which I could buy rights to anything owned by WB would be sometime never. All feedback is welcomed and appreciated (this includes constructive criticism.)

Thank you folks, and enjoy

The first sensation Lucas felt was pain. Not the pain that comes with aching muscles, pushed to the brink and back again. Not the pain that comes with a few minor bumps and bruises, a scrape here and there. This was the overbearing pain that accompanies weeks of sleepless days into nights with little to no hope of anything otherwise. Attack after attack from creatures that until recently he had believed were solely the works of drugged up guys in leggings, smoking pot, or basking in the radiance of some opiate, back in the day. Muscles torn, bones fractured, a dislocated limb had graced him a week back. A burn too on his right leg, but that he'd received when he'd wiped off the road with the bike after falling asleep mid-ride. She'd almost killed him after that one. For an instant then he'd wondered whether he might have preferred the alternative. But that instant came and went, and he told himself it would never come again.

'Shit.' He took a deep breath and brought himself back to the moment. 'Where am I?' An abandoned apartment block that was seemed so close to collapsing, it was a wonder it hadn't. Noelle. He lifted his head from the ground, as much as he could in this first attempt, and blew out the good teaspoon of sand and dust that had entered his mouth, no doubt from his being knocked out in the attack. Gritting his teeth, he managed to sit up and convince himself that all the aches and pains in his body were nothing more than injuries from a volleyball game. Except instead of the net, the ball and the hot chicks, there was a demon, guns and blades, well, and one hot chick. 'I have to find her.'

He got to his feet, looking down through the hole in the floor and finding a trail two floors down. Shafts of golden sunlight streamed through broken windows and bullet holes in the walls, falling onto a forgotten and abused shell of what once held husbands and wives. Children passing the time with the newest card games usually involving witches, wizards and all kinds of supernatural creatures, the likes of which had been the cause of this less than great road trip. He moved slowly, listening out for any sounds of her. Nothing. Was it good or bad? He didn't know. Auburn hair was coated in dust, added to that the rest of his shredded ensemble. He pulled apart a piece of the old wooden banister to his left, and swung it like a baseball bat first, then a club.

* * *

Noelle fell back against the crumbling wall. Her hand gripped at her shoulder, trying to stop the crimson liquid that had turned her chocolate skin red. For the first time in a long time, she felt unsure of whether she would truly make it out of this one. She'd been separated from Lucas, and he'd managed to take one of the bastards out before disappearing over the railing and to the floor below. Her heart had sunk at the sight, wondering if he had even survived the plummet. But as it always seemed to be, time didn't allow for the heart to weep and she had used the precious moments of distraction to make an escape to the outside and hopefully a better stand against the last creature.

Heavy steps and razor sharp claws sounded against the cracked tiles. Day was fast turning to night, and the once brilliant sunshine was little more than a dim glow. She needed to chance it and make a run for the large double doors that would be the entrance to the building. They were in front of her, dead ahead. But with the speed that the creatures possessed, she couldn't know if she'd make it before her back was mauled to oblivion. Noelle brought her hand to her stomach. No way this kind of life was healthy for the body, and she could feel it taking it's toll. All gut wrenching fear aside: 'I have to try.' The steps were slowly getting closer, inching from right at the back of the floor down the long corridor. No doubt it smelt her, knew exactly where she was. She looked to the shotgun in her lap; too heavy for her to use with her left, and her shoulder wouldn't move for shit in the state it was in on the right. She only had one hope in hell left now, and she silently prayed he would be there for her outside.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and in one fluid movement, grabbed her shot gun from her lap and bolted for the doors.

* * *

"I told you so... seriously." Sam said, tapping his fingers against the Impala's car door as the sped along the road.

"So what, you wanna a badge for that, boy scout? Hey, hey, watch the paint." Dean added, in reference to his brother's ring as it clinked against the metal. A little hunting always went a good way towards clearing their minds. This case was no exception, but perhaps the demon's involved were.

Sam lifted his arm from the door and ran an annoyed hand through his hair. "Alright, let's just kill whatever it is we have to kill and sort this out afterwards."

"Or how about we just kill what we have to kill and leave it at that?" Dean spat. "We're done talking about this."

"Hey you don't get to..." Sam couldn't finish his sentence before Dean slammed the brakes and the car skidded on the gravel drive. "What is it?"

"I saw something." He grabbed his gun from the dashboard and holstered it as he got out of the car. "I think the demon's holed up here." He said, keeping his voice down while he looked around to the other buildings.

There wasn't much around them. Obviously the beginnings of what was becoming more industrial area than commercial. The building they now stood in front of seemed to have been perhaps an apartment block or something of the sort. Sam took particular notice of the metallic red bike and forest green pick up truck parked out front. Both appeared looked after, and hardly belonging to the dilapidated building behind. "These look familiar to you?"

"Yeah." The brothers looked around, aware that the silence in the air carried a bad feeling with it. "Do you hear that?" Dean pulled out his automatic, turning to his right and pointing it out into the darkness.

Sam followed suit. Movement could be heard from inside the building, and Sam and Dean stepped tentatively toward the large wooden double doors that must once have looked majestic. They aimed at the doors, suddenly forced to split focus as the heavy sounds of an animal dead set on them, came from behind. The next few moments seemed to play out over minutes more than seconds. Dean was ready to fire when a woman emerged from the thick black soup that was the entrance way of the building. A hell beast emerged from behind, about to land on her from it's vantage point in the air. He moved his aim up, but she lunged at him, pulling his gun to one side and pulling him down to the ground and out of the way

"Dean!" Sam spun, ready to pull the trigger at the powerful black dog that leapt into the air from behind them, but hesitated as he realized it was jumping straight between he and Dean, eyes focused ahead. The beast and the dog slammed into each other, over 300lbs of muscle combined and vying for blood.

"Use this!" The woman shouted, racked with pain but still managing to force the shotgun into Dean's hand.

Dean looked down at it, unable to miss the ripped, blood-soaked t-shirt, or the gapping teeth marks in her shoulder. "Are you a hunter?" He took the shotgun, looking back to Sam who was now getting to his feet. "Sammy!" The gun was thrown through the air and caught with practiced ease.

"Helix! Clear!" She shouted, trying to move Dean's body which was serving to shield her. Sam cocked the gun and took the shot, planting a bullet in the side of the hell beast's head.

Blood splatter was accompanied by a good few pieces of whatever matter is contained inside a hell beast's head. It was silent for a time. "Sammy! You alright?"

"I'm good."

Dean stood, looking around at the scene. "Nice shot."He congratulated, taking a few steps to his brother before stopping short and reaching for his gun.

"Who are you?" A man asked, a few meters off, gun pointed at Sam's head.

"I'm gonna go with: the guys that just saved your damn life." He said.

Sam looked over his brother's shoulder. "Dean." The black dog now stood between Dean and the woman, blood stained teeth on display as it pulled its lips back.

"Well, this could've gone better."

To be continued...