CHAPTER ONE: The One Where It All Changes

"Ah, shit!"

Dean Winchester threw the hot pan of lasagna down roughly on the stove top, a stream of curse words passing his lips as he wished he had put on that second oven mitt. He shook his head as he rushed over to the sink, cranking up the cold water to try and sooth his already blistering fingertips.

The shrill sound of the phone ringing had Dean cussing once again as he switched the water off and grabbed the hand towel they kept by the sink, drying his hands as he made his way over to the landline. Casually flipping the towel on his shoulder, he answered with a hint of annoyance. "Hello?"

"I know you did not just have a tone with me."

Dean smirked as he leaned against the brown leather couch in his apartment he shared with his girlfriend in his hometown of Lawrence Kansas. "Of course not, babe. What do you need?" He asked, glancing at his Rolex that hung a little loose from his wrist. Already 5:40, Kate would be home soon. He thought back to his unfinished dinner and hoped whatever she needed wasn't too involved.

"Has Tyler called by any chance?" Kate asked hopefully, crossing her fingers that her older brother had. She jammed her phone in between her shoulder and her ear as she began shoving folders into her desk drawer.

Dean's brows furrowed in confusion as he glanced at the already starting to burn potatoes he had cooking on the burner. "Uh, no he hasn't. Why?" He asked distractedly as he made his way to the stove to turn off the heat.

"No reason." She bit absently at her cheek, noting Dean's uninterested tone. She would worry about it later.

Dean sighed, knowing Kate could probably tell he wasn't listening. He turned his back on the mess that was the kitchen and focused his full attention on his girlfriend of three years. "Is everything okay? Nothing happened right?" He asked, suddenly concerned as he eyed the small black square box that rested on their counter.

"I don't know. He left a message yesterday for me to call him and I did but he hasn't called me back yet and I've tried his cell like a hundred times." Kate was starting to work herself up as she began stifling through her purse, trying to find her car keys. She descended to the first floor of her office on the elevator as she thought about how she was lying to her boyfriend. But, she couldn't mention the reason she was so worried was because Tyler had said something about demons on his tail.

"Maybe something came up. I'm sure everything's fine." Dean reassured before an idea popped into his head. "I'll tell you what, if we still haven't heard anything by tomorrow morning we'll head over to his place and check things out, okay?" He offered, knowing that Kate will probably want to tell her brother about their potential good news anyways.

That seemed to calm the twenty-four-year old's nerves as she arrived at her 2008 cherry red VW bug on the second floor of the parking garage. With a small smile as she tucked a strand of her wavy brown hair behind her ear, she got in the vehicle and locked the doors. "I'm on my way. I love you." She told him, the soft sound of his chuckling music to her ears.

"Yeah yeah, love you too." He joked, smirking to himself as he could practically hear her eye roll. With that, he hung up and placed the phone back on its base before returning to his most likely ruined dinner.

"Dean Winchester?" A voice asked from behind him right as he picked up a serving spoon.

Dean spun around, eyes wide in shock as he took in a tall muscular man in front of him that slightly resembled a male model. "Who the hell are you? Get out!" He snapped, his eyes darting to his still dead bolted door in confusion.

"I'm lookin' for that girlfriend of yours. Is she home?" The stranger asked, his voice low and gruff as he took a threatening step forward.

Dean backed up to where he was up against the kitchen counter, the handle of a skillet jabbing into his lower back. "She's- she's out of town." He lied, praying to God Kate got held up in traffic.

"Now Dean-o, I know that's not true. Will she be home soon or do we have some time to kill?" He asked, a threat underlying his words.

Dean shook his head as anger started to bubble in his gut. "She's staying late at the office, won't be back for a couple of hours." He said with enough confidence that the stranger believed him.

The man shrugged, not seeming too sad about it. "Oh well, guess I'll have to go with Plan B." He said vaguely, sending Dean an almost hungry look.

"Which is?" Dean forced out, trying not to panic. He had never been in a situation like this before, the only fighting he had done was boxing and he only did that for two years after he turned sixteen.

"You." The man suddenly lunged forward, going to grab his arm but luckily he pivoted out of the way before he could grab him, causing the stranger to slam into the cabinets. Dean had barely made it four steps away from his attacker before he was tackled from behind, his head banging painfully against the hardwood floor. The stranger flipped him over and straddled him, Dean's back now touching the ground as he groaned in pain and his vision blackened at the edges.

Dean couldn't explain it, but it felt as if a semi-truck was holding him down as the man grabbed his wrists and pinned them above his head with one meaty hand, the grip tight enough to cause a loud crack to be heard. Dean let out a pained yelp as the stranger reached into his back pocket for a zip tie with his free hand. He tried his hardest to wiggle his way free, but his hardest wasn't good enough. As his attacker quickly and effectively bound his wrists, the man leaned down and whispered menacingly with pitch black eyes. "So far, I'm loving Plan B."

With as much malice as he could muster, Dean spit into the man's face, causing him to roar with rage. The stranger's large fist connected with Dean's face, a snap reverberating off the walls as blood gushed from his nostrils onto the floor.

Dean continued to try to get away from his attacker as his wrists and his now broken nose throbbed but his strength was no match for the large man's. His gaze locked with now obsidian orbs that were staring at him as he felt his heart in his throat. "What- what are you?" He questioned, disgust and fear lacing his words.

The man looked at him with puzzled curiosity and scrunched brows before he heard the faint sound of a key scraping in a lock.

Before Dean could even make a sound, they were gone.

…

Kate couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips as she approached her and Dean's apartment door, the sweet aroma of burnt food drifting into the hallway.

She fiddled with her keys, pulling them out and shoving them into the lock and turning. She budged past the resistance the lock always gave her and was relieved when the tiny click of the door becoming unlocked sounded.

With eagerness to see her boyfriend and the mess he made for dinner, she opened the door and walked in only to stop dead in her tracks, her keys and purse falling to the floor.

She took in the scene before her as she felt dread overwhelm her. Their cupboard door was hanging off its hinges and there was a puddle of blood on the ground in the middle of the kitchen.

Kate looked around, eyeing the still hot oven that hadn't gotten turned off and the food that was left haphazardly on top of it. She took a step forward as tears started to form in her eyes before finally finding the motivation to speak. "Dean…?" She whispered, her voice breaking at the end.

"Dean!" She yelled, rapidly growing anxious. She took off to their bedroom, frantically looking around as she searched for her boyfriend, praying to whatever god that might be listening to have him be safe.

She couldn't help the steady stream of tears that ran down her cheeks as she checked all the rooms, coming full circle back to the kitchen where she found something that made her heart stop.

A couple feet away from the pool of crimson, Kate crouched down and examined a mound of yellow powder that she could only assume was one thing.

Sulfur.

This can't be happening.

The brunette retrieved her purse and dug her phone out with shaky hands, barely composing herself enough to dial Dean's phone number. She crossed her fingers, finding the ability to breathe growing harder as it began to ring and ring and ring…

"This is Dean, you know what to do."

Kate leaned against the wall and slid down to where she was on her butt, resting her head back as she opened her contact list and scrolled down to her last resort before hitting the send button.

"Willis, FBI."

Kate squeezed her eyes shut as she felt extremely thankful he had picked up. She took a moment to calm herself and after swallowing hard, she answered with a shuddering sigh. "Bobby, I need your help."

….

Dean was brought back to consciousness when a bucket of ice cold water was thrown at him, the liquid causing his whole body to shake as he was drenched to the bone. He pried his eyes open, immediately regretting waking up when the blinding pain of his head, nose and wrists coursed through him. He had dried blood coming from a cut on his forehead and his nose along with a nasty shade of blue bruise forming on his cheek bone.

Dean glanced up, scowling at the chains that bound his wrists and then attached to the ceiling, his now bare feet barely touching the ground. He noted that he was stripped down to just his jeans and his thin black t-shirt, the water chilling his torso.

He finally noticed the two people standing in front of him, one of which he remembers from attacking him. The other was younger, medium built, about Dean's height with shaggy dirty blond hair and a shit-eating grin plastered to his face.

"Listen, if it's money you want-" Dean began, only to be cut off by malicious laughter from the man who had invaded his apartment.

The male model shook his head before glancing at the younger one next to him. "We don't want your money." He said condescendingly with pitch black eyes.

"Xavier, lay off. It's not his fault he doesn't know anything about demons or the supernatural." The blonde man fake reprimanded when he saw Dean's fists clench at Xavier's obsidian glare. "I gotta admit," He continued, taking a step forward to study their captive closer. "I can't believe Kate landed herself someone normal. Hunters tend to cling to each other for emotional support."

Dean's brows scrunched together. "Kate doesn't hunt." He said innocently, completely confused.

"I told you, Ash. He doesn't know a thing." Xavier pointed out when the blonde man turned around and tried to keep himself from laughing.

"God damn…" Ash said almost appreciatively before he chuckled and threw his arms out to the side. "Well, Dean Winchester, welcome to the life."

"What do you want?" Dean growled, as he tried to ignore the snide comments from the two supposed demons in front of him.

Xavier stepped forward, resting a hand on the trapped man's shoulder. "We want a little payback. See, the Lavalette's really fucked our family over. It's only fair we do the same to theirs."

"Would either of you two asshats care to explain anything?" Dean asked, his patience beginning to dwindle as his arms started to grow numb.

"Don't worry, Dean-o. Kate will be here soon enough to explain everything." Ash reassured, patting their captive's cheek harshly before turning to walk away.

Dean's blood ran cold as his need to protect Kate skyrocketed. "Wait! You can't leave me here! I'll do anything you want!" He pleaded, his last bit of hope being squashed when the door slammed shut.

….

"Dammit Kate…" Bobby said over the line, taking off his worn baseball cap and running his free hand through his slowly receding hairline before replacing it. "Where are you? I'm on my way." He told her, the sound of a chair scraping against tile being heard.

Kate felt instant relief at the words of the old hunter she had known for years. Hell, he'd practically raised her before and especially after her mom died when she was sixteen and her dad went missing. When her brother, Tyler, wanted to go out on a hunt alone, he'd dump her at Bobby's for a week or two and she had to admit, it was much better with the crotchety old man than it was with her brother sometimes. Before that, her parents would drop Kate and her brother off there whenever they thought a hunt was too dangerous.

Kate continued to sit on the floor, feeling empty as she waited for Bobby to show up.

She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there but when she felt a warm comforting hand on her shoulder, she almost jumped out of her skin.

"Woah, easy. Just me." Bobby soothed, taking a look around the kitchen to see what they had to work with. "Do you know who could've taken him?" He asked, repeating it louder when she didn't respond the first time.

She cleared her throat and stood, trying to compose herself as she fixed her hair that had become a mess from how many times she had run her hands through it. "I- I have some idea…" She admitted as she bit at her lip.

"Okay…" Bobby said, making sure to keep his tone from sounding sarcastic. "Care to share with the class?"

"Uh, well Ty left me a voicemail the other day, saying he had demons on his tail and when I called back he didn't answer and now this…" She paused, blinking hard in order to keep herself under control. "I can't help but think it's the Carter family." She said regrettably. The Lavalette's and the Carter's have never gotten along and the amount of history between the family of hunters and the family of demons was enough to make Kate suspicious of them.

"You think Julian is gettin' revenge?" The elder hunter asked, seeming unsure.

Kate just nodded as her eyes locked on something on the counter she was just now finding. She shuffled forward, a fresh set of tears welling in her eyes as her slim fingers wrapped around a small black box.

Bobby walked up to her and calmly pried it from her hands, knowing that whatever was in it, was just going to make Kate feel worse.

The brunette's head snapped to the living room when she heard the classic rock song that was Dean's ringtone. She rushed over and crouched on the floor, reaching underneath the couch and pulling out his cell phone. She figured she must not have heard it earlier when she had called him because she had been too caught up in hoping Dean would answer.

"Bobby, I can't tell him." Kate insisted, showing the caller ID to the older hunter when she rejoined him in the kitchen. "You have to do it."

"I've only met him a couple times!" Bobby reminded her, trying to refuse the small device that Kate was shoving into his hands. With a sigh of frustration, he took the phone and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" A male's voice answered on the other end, being able to tell it wasn't Dean who picked up.

"Bobby Singer. I'm a friend of Kate's." He explained, giving her an irritated look when she sent him an apologetic shrug.

"Where's Kate? Is everything okay? Can I talk to my brother please?" The voice replied. By his tone, Bobby could tell that he was in no mood to play games.

With raised brows, he looked towards Kate as if to ask permission to tell the man on the other end what was really going on. She nodded remorsefully, wishing she would've had the guts to do this herself.

"I'm gonna need you to get here as fast as you can, Sam."

….

Sam found himself barreling down the stairs of the two-story townhouse he shared with his girlfriend, taking them two at a time as he felt his heart pounding in his chest. He had just hung up with Bobby Singer and he could tell that something had to be wrong with his brother.

He rushed to the kitchen and begun to rifle through one of the drawers, trying to find the address of Dean's apartment. He hastily pulled out a sheet of paper, feeling relieved when he found his brother's address scrawled in his messy handwriting. Sam knew he was going to have to take a plane otherwise it would take too long and obviously, he didn't have much time.

"Sam? Is everything okay?"

The youngest Winchester's head shot up, his gaze finding his girlfriend, Jessica, who was leaning against the doorframe, watching him with concern.

"Yeah, uh I just- I'm gonna go visit Dean." He stated as he stuffed the slip of paper into his deep front pocket and grabbed his car keys.

Jess seemed puzzled as she closed the distance between them. "What happened? You don't even have a bag." She pointed out, seeming skeptical of her boyfriend's excuse.

Sam sighed, realizing he might as well tell the truth. "I don't know what happened. I just know that I have to go see my brother." He paused, watching his girlfriend look like she wanted to say something. "Alone." He added and saw Jess's face fall before it became a mask.

"I understand. Just, pack some clothes? And call me when you get there? Okay?" She requested, being more understanding then the youngest Winchester had been expecting.

With a quick nod, Sam ran back upstairs and quickly packed a duffel bag stuffed with clothes before heading outside to his car.

….

TBC

Well hello! Thanks for reading. If you read this far, hopefully it means your interest was at least somewhat peaked. If it was, get ready. You're in for a whirlwind. I've written roughly half of this fic so far and plan to update it every Wednesday. For those of you who have read my other stories, yes, scheduled updates that will be happening! Yay for schedules! Don't worry, any and all questions will be answered. I hope you're willing to stick with me. Be sure to leave me a review to let me know your thoughts, first chapters are always nerve-wrecking for me. Thanks for reading!