Chapter 1: Wendigo
Dean is wide awake. He looks over to Sam and finds him finally sleeping. Hopefully he will get a few hours of sleep before the nightmares wake him. It has been a week since Jessica had died. A week that he had spent with Sammy just like old times. Would his brother also have died if he hadn't joined him in looking for their father? Or would he have been able to save his girlfriend?
He didn't know and he would never know now. With a sigh he turns on his side. Life could be such a struggle at times. He could have looked for his father alone but he was missing his brother. For two years he had stayed away, had fought against every instinct to watch over his little brother.
Sam had always hated the hunters life. And honestly Dean could accept that. Sam abandoning him he could not. What his father had done, what he had said in anger. He didn't dare to speak against his father but what he had said had hurt all the Winchesters. He should never have done that.
Now Dean is the only one left. First his father had abandoned his older brother Tony and that was hard to accept. But then Sam decided to leave on his own and break all contact. Often times he had wondered if his father had done this on purpose. Did he believe that the two other men were safe this way? Living normal lives. Away from the hunter business.
It had broken Deans heart. He himself could never leave. What else could he do with his life? It is a wonder really that he is still alive. He does not think he will reach the age of thirty. He sits up when he hears soft knocking in a familiar pattern on the door. Sam doesn't stir. Slowly he walks to the door and looks trough the peephole. He swiftly opens the door.
Within seconds of opening the door the brothers are in each other's arms, it has been a while since the two brother saw each other.
"Tony! What are you doing here?" Dean asks. Tony is a NCIS agent in Washington DC. The older man works long hours and has barely any free time.
"I came as soon as I heard. How is he?" Tony looks at the sleeping Sam.
"Finally sleeping. He has a lot of nightmares." The oldest Winchester in the room shakes his head.
"What happened? Where is dad?" Dean explains everything what happened to Tony not leaving anything out.
"Tony?" Asks Sam in a sleepy and disbelieving voice. The two talking brothers look up. They had been talking for over an hour sitting on an old dirty couch in the cheap motel room.
"Hey Sammy, how are you?" Tony walks over to the bed and leans down to his youngest brother.
"Tony!" The two brothers hug. The youngest half sitting in his bed. Dean looks at them and sees that Sam is fighting back his tears. Sam had been very emotional the last week. Seeing his brother again means a lot to him. It has been years since all three brothers were together.
"What are you doing here Tony?" Sam asks the same question as Dean did when he first saw Tony at the door.
"I heard what happened and came right away. I'm so sorry Sam. I know how much you loved her." Sam nods, a few tears escape his eyes.
"Thank you Tony. But what about your work?"
"It is fine. I told them I had a family emergency. I'm free to help you guys for the next few weeks." Sam let's out a sigh of relieve.
"I'm glad that you are here Tony."
It's November the 10th in the year 2005. Jessica's funeral took place days ago. Sam is sleeping on the backseat of the car. Tony is driving the Impala. It has been years since Tony had driven it but Dean had offered and there is no way Tony will ever decline to ride the old classic car.
With a gasp of air Sam jerks awake and sits up. Head moving swiftly from side to side to take in his surroundings. With a sigh of relieve he blinks and rubs his eyes before settling down.
Dean looks over his shoulder in concern. He is sitting next to Tony riding shotgun.
"You okay?" Asks Dean. Tony is also keeping a close eye on Sam using the mirror. Sam glances over at them both.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Dean nods at the given answer. From the expression on his face you can see that he does not believe him.
"Another nightmare?" Asks Tony
Sam clears his throat and nods his head, looking down not meeting his two older brothers eyes.
"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asks him. Sam laughs in disbelieve.
"Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that." Tony rises an eyebrow at that. Really? Sam had never driven the car? Tony had been 16 when he was left behind by his father. He had driven the car so now and then. There was so much stuff he had missed out on. So much that he had missed from his brothers lives. When he left Dean was 8 and Sam 4. They had seen each other over the years but he was pretty much an outsider in their lives.
"Just thought you might want to." Dean shakes his head. "Never mind."
"Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay." Sam answers him.
"Mm-hm." Dean doesn't sound convinced but lets it go for now.
"Can I have the map?" He points to the front. Tony grasps the map from the dashboard and hands it over to Sam.
"All right, where are we?" Sam asks.
"We are just outside of Grand Junction." Tony answers. Sam folds down the map, which is of Colorado and has a large red X labeled 35-111. The youngest Winchester shakes his head. This is just like their dad to leave behind some coordinates and disappear. It felt just like a training exercise from the past. But this is no training. This is real. Dads message to Dean and Jessica dying the same way his mother died. Something horrible is going on.
"You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon."
"Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica…" Dean starts to say.
"We gotta find Dad first." Finishes Sam softly.
"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence. Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do." Dean is sure of it. Sam silently agrees and focuses on the map. Tony keeps his mouth shut on the matter. His father probably knew more about what is going on. But he didn't trust him on knowing what to do. His old man had made some bad decisions in the past. Enough of them that Tony did not follow him blindly anymore.
"It's weird, man. These coordinates he left us. This Blackwater Ridge."
"What about it Sam?" Asks Tony.
"There's nothing there. It's just woods." Sam puts down the map. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"
"I don't know Sam, I don't know." Says Tony with a sigh. For years he had trouble understanding his father. He could just not understand him. Grieve could do horrible things to a person. That is something he did understand. But how the man had raised him and his brothers after his wife had died still gave him nightmares.
After some time Tony parks the car next to a sign that says "RANGER STATION Lost Creek Trail, Lost Creek National Forest".
Tony gives Dean and Sam a look.
"So how do you wanna do this?" He asks his siblings.
Tony is waiting outside of the ranger station. He holds his mobile phone. He should call Gibbs. If he didn't his boss would be coming for him. With Kate dying and him claiming a family emergency it had made the team leader a bit irrational. The man was acting nice to him when he left. Tony had made sure that his boss wasn't possessed by a demon. But he was just old Jethro Gibbs. Grieving for Kate.
With a sigh he speed dials Gibbs.
Tony looks up when he hears his brothers returning. Dean is holding a piece of paper and laughing at Sam who is rolling his eyes at his brother.
"We may be dealing with a missing person." Says Dean to Tony when they are in speaking distance. He hands him the paper he is holding. It is a backcountry permit. "The permit says that the guy won't be back until the twenty-fourth but his sister is convinced that he is missing. I think we should check it out." Tony hums in agreement. Fine by him.
"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?" Sam disagrees with his brothers.
"I don't know Sam, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?" Says Tony. "The coordinates and this possible missing person could be connected with each other. I think we should check it out." He hands Dean the car keys, opens the car door and sits down in the backseat.
Dean walks to the drivers side of the car and Sam to the other side. Dean is looking at Sam with a considering look on his face.
"What?" Asks Sam.
"Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway?" This behavior is not normal for Sam.
"Since now." Sam opens the car door and sits down. With a sigh Dean also gets into the car.
Later that evening the two younger brothers join Tony at a table inside a bar.
"So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found." Tony had done some research while his younger brothers had talked to Haley Collins. Tony opens John's journal.
"Any before that?" Dean asks.
Tony pulls out newspaper articles to show Dean and Sam.
"Yeah, in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack." Tony hands Dean the newspaper. He starts to read the headline in The Lost Creek Gazette.
"GRIZZLY BEAR ATTACKS!
UP TO EIGHT HIKERS VANISH IN LOST CREEK AREA
HIKERS DISAPPEARANCE BAFFLE AUTHORITIES'
Families continue search and rescue efforts in spite of disappointing [...]"
Sam pulls out his laptop.
"And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936." Tony continues. Sam opens the laptop, which already has a window open to Tom the missing hikers video that he had sent to his sister Haley just before going missing.
"Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork people disappear." Tony concludes. Sam shows Tony and Dean his laptop.
"Okay. Watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out." Sam pulls up the video and goes through three frames of the video one at a time. A shadow crosses the screen.
"Do it again." Orders Dean, the two oldest brothers are watching the screen sharply. Sam repeats the frames.
"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move." The youngest Winchester says. Dean hits Sam. Who looks up at his older brother.
"Told you something weird was going on."
"Yeah." Sam reluctantly agrees. He closes his laptop.
"I got one more thing." Says Tony. He hands over another newspaper article.
"In 'fifty-nine one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive." Dean looks at The Lost Creek Gazette.
"Is there a name?" Dean asks Tony.
They finish talking with mr. Shaw, the only survivor of the attacks and are driving to a motel to spent the night. Dean is driving again, Sam riding shotgun with Tony in the back.
Mr. Shaw had told them a horrible story about what happened that night. A story of a monster smart enough to unlock the door of a cabin. It was no Grizzly that killed Shaw's parents and gave him that horrible scar all those years ago.
"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls or teleport inside." Says Dean.
"So it's probably something else. What do you think Tony?" Sam asks.
"The claws, the speed that it moves...could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. It doesn't matter." Tony assures them. "We shall kill it." The two other men nod in agreement.
Working with his brothers on this case felt different than working another case with his team at NCIS. He is close with his team but working with family is something different. This is his first hunting case with both of his brothers.
Most hunts he participated in was with his father. At the time his younger brothers were to young to join them on the hunt. They were often left behind in their motel room. And when the boys grew old enough Tony was not there anymore to join them. After his father had abandoned him he had done some hunts on his own and with some other hunters. But mostly he had lived a normal life.
"Ah Tony?" Sam starts to say a bit uncertainly. Tony looks to him in question. "Are you certain you want to join us tomorrow into the forest?" Dean looks at Sam with a strange look on his face.
"Why shouldn't he join us. He is a NCIS agent and goes hunting so now and then. In the last few years he has done more hunts than you. He knows what he is doing he won't slow us down." Dean says to Sam. But Tony knows why Sam had asked that question.
"I'm okay Sam, the doctors have declared me completely healthy. I shall be fine." Sam relaxes a bit when he hears that.
"What! What happened?" Dean looks at Tony over his shoulder. Then looks at the road again. Then watches Tony through the front mirror of the car. With a sigh Tony explains the SWAK situation.
"So don't worry Dean. I'm fully recovered." Dean slowly nods his head in acceptance.
"So how did you know about it?" Dean asks Sam. The question of why he hadn't been told hangs silently in the air. Sam looks at Tony. Not knowing what to say. Tony sighs.
"They called dad when it looked like I was going to die. I thought you knew." The car goes silent.
They arrive at the motel. Dean opens the trunk of the Impala, then the weapons box, and props it open with a shotgun. He puts some guns in a duffel bag. Sam leans in.
"We cannot let that Haley girl go out there."
"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean answers Sam.
"Yeah." Dean and Tony who is also hearing the conversation look at him. The older brothers share a look.
"Her brother's missing, Sam. She's not gonna just sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." Says Tony. Dean picks up the duffel.
"Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam glares at his brothers when he says that and slams the weapons box shut, then the trunk." Now we gotta babysit too?" The older brothers share another look.
"What?" Demands Sam when he sees the look between his brothers.
"Nothing Sam, nothing." Dean answers. He throws the duffel bag at Sam and walks off. The youngest Winchester stares after him. Tony sighs. His family is hurting right now. He walks up to Sam and throws an arm around his shoulders.
"Come on Sam let it go. Let's go inside okay?" After a moment the younger man relaxes and leans into the older mans side.
"I'm sorry Tony. I'm just…" Sam has trouble finding words to continue speaking.
"I know Sammy, I know. You don't have to apologize." Grieving is something he understood well. He closes his eyes as memories of Kate almost overwhelm him.
"I'm glad that you are okay and here Tony. I missed you." Tony grasps his brother into a hug. The younger brother is completely dwarfing him with his size. His little brother is not so little anymore.
"You are my brother Sam. I may not always have been there for you in the past. As circumstances forced me away but things are different now. I will be here for you and Dean. I promise Sam. I will help you find dad and kill the monster that killed Jessica and our mother. That I promise." The boys hug tighter. "You hear me Sam, we will get the bastard who killed Jessica."
The next day the group hikes through the forest, Roy the guy that Haley hired to find her brother is in the lead. Followed by Dean then Haley. Sam and Tony are bringing up the rear.
"Roy, you said you did a little hunting." Dean asks Roy.
"Yeah, more than a little." Roy answers. Good then he won't be completely helpless when they found the real being that attacked and killed all those people.
"Uh-huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean wanted to know more.
"Mostly buck, sometimes bear." Dean nods at the given answer and passes Roy.
Suddenly Roy grabs Dean. Tony and Sam watch it happen but don't interfere.
"Whatcha doing, Roy?" Asks Dean. Roy grabs a stick and pokes at the bear trap dean had almost stepped in. Haley looks annoyed at Dean. She seems to have some doubt about them really being rangers.
"You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." Roy speaks in a voice that clearly states he doesn't believe them either. Roy drops the stick and retakes the lead. They hike on. Haley catches up to Dean.
"You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You're not rangers." She grabs Dean's arm. "So who the hell are you?"
Sam and Tony look at Dean, who indicates with his head that they should keep on walking. The two brothers obey. Dean watches them go until they are out of listening distance.
"Sam, Tony and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat."Dean tells Haley.
"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Haley asks.
"I'm telling you now." With a bit of a smirk on his face he badly flirts. "Besides it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. ...ever. So we okay?" After a pause and a roll of her eyes she answers.
"Yeah, okay."
"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean pulls out a big bag of peanut M&Ms and sticks his hand in the bag as he hikes on. Haley waits a moment,shakes her head and then follows.
A bit in the distance away from Dean and Haley walk Sam and Tony. The youngest Winchester keeps a close eye on his oldest brother.
"Seriously Sam I'm fine. You don't have to worry."
"I believe you Tony, it is just... you scared me when I saw you in that room struggling to breath." Tony sighs.
"Yeah, that was pretty horrible. Honestly I still have nightmares of that room." That blue light still haunts him. "I was happy you came to visit me. It meant a lot to me." Especially because dad and Dean didn't show up. He was very close to dying. But Dean apparently didn't know.
"Actually I'm surprised Gibbs let you come here." The marine had made a strong impression on Sam when he saw him at the hospital. The man had barely left Tony's side. Tony and his boss are very close. His brother spent weeks at the older mans house to recover from the plague. For just a second a string of quickly changing emotions that Sam has trouble understanding are visible on Tony's face. The older Winchester grins at him. Swiftly hiding his real feelings.
"Yeah. I have to call him everyday. He was not happy this morning when I told him I may be out of cellphone coverage for a while."
Some time later Roy is still leading the way, followed by Sam and Haley. Tony and Dean are walking at the back.
"This is it. Blackwater Ridge."Roy says to the group. Sam heads past Roy. The Winchesters take a close look at their surroundings. So this is the place that dad sent them to?
"What coordinates are we at?" Sam asks. Roy pulls out a GPS, which reads N 35o 45.383, W 111o 00.55.
"Thirty-five and minus one-eleven." Roy answers. Tony and Dean walk to the front towards Sam.
"You hear that?" Tony asks his brothers when they are standing together in a circle.
"Yeah. Not even crickets." Says Dean.
"I'm gonna go take a look around." Roy says to everyone.
"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Warns Sam.
"That's sweet. Don't worry about me." He sarcastically says to Sam. Roy waves his rifle and pushes between the Winchesters to retake the lead.
"Haley! Over here!" Roy yells from a distance. Haley runs towards Roy's voice, followed closely by the others. They come to a halt.
"Oh my God." Haley whispers in horror. They have found the camping site of her brother. The tents are torn open and bloody and all the supplies are scattered. Sam shakes his head this is not good.
"Looks like a grizzly." Says Roy.
"Tommy?" Haley takes off her backpack and goes through the campsite."Tommy!" She yells for her brother. The Winchesters cringe at the yells. Sam moves to her side.
"Shh." Sam tries to stop her from yelling.
"Tommy!"
"Shh-hh-hh!" Sam hushes her again.
"Why?" She asks Sam.
"Something might still be out there." He looks around him. But the forest is quiet.
"Sam!" Dean calls him over to where he and Tony are looking at the ground. He walks over and crouches next to his brothers.
"The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here, the tracks just vanish. That's weird." Dean says. The boys stand up.
"I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog." Tony says. His original ideas proven wrong.
The Winchesters walk back to the campsite. Dean sees Haley picking up Tom's cell phone; it's bloody. She cries. She turns the phone over and the back is open. Dean crouches next to her.
"Hey, he could still be alive." Dean says to Haley. She doesn't answer him, she just gives him a look.
"Help! Help!" Someone is calling from the woods. Roy leads the way as everyone runs to the aid of the shouter.
"Help! Somebody!"
They find no one.
"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Haley says. Everyone listens.
"Everybody back to camp." Orders Tony. This is odd. What being could do this? Back at the campsite, all the supplies they were carrying are missing.
"Our packs!" Exclaims Haley.
"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." Says Roy.
"What the hell is going on?" Asks Haley.
"It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." Says Tony.
"You mean someone, some nut job out there just stole all our gear." Snarls Roy in anger. Sam waves Tony and Dean over to him. They head a little ways away from the group.
"Let me see Dad's journal." Dean hands it over. Sam opens it and flips through until he finds a particular page.
"All right, check that out." Sam points to a First Nations–style drawing of a figure.
"Oh come on, a Wendigo you can find in the Minnesota woods or, or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." Says Dean.
"Think about it, Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Tony says to Dean.
"Great." Dean takes out his pistol. "Well then this is useless." Sam gives Dean back John's journal and heads back to the campsite.
"We gotta get these people to safety." Sam says to his brothers. They agree and Sam leaves.
Tony wants to follow Sam but Dean stops him. Tony looks at him.
"What?" He asks.
"Are you sure that you are okay?" Dean looks concerned at Tony. The older brother snorts and shakes his head.
"Not you too. I thought Sam is the worrywart and caring one of the family." Dean nods a bit uncomfortable. John Winchester did not teach his sons how to talk and deal with feelings. Sam being the only Winchester who seems to have some skills into it.
"I just, from what Sam told me. It was pretty serious."
"Yeah, it was. But I'm fine so stop worrying." Tony assures Dean. Who slowly nods.
"Okay." He slowly agrees. Then hesitates but goes on. "So did dad come? Did he come to the hospital?" Had he gone without telling him that his brother was dying? Tony hesitates with answering. This is important for Dean and Tony is pretty sure that he is not going to like the answer. Darn it John Winchester.
"They called my next of kin Dean. Dad knew but he didn't come." Dean nods at that with a look on his face that looks broken. He doesn't even look that surprised. Darn it John Winchester!
Meanwhile Sam had reached the campsite.
"All right, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten...more complicated." He orders the group.
"What?" Haley asks.
"Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy tries to assure Sam.
"It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now."
"One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." Who did the kid think he is?
"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you." Sam says. Roy steps right into Sam's space.
"You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night."
"Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here." Their rising voices alert Tony and Dean that something is wrong and they run to their younger brothers side. Roy laughs.
"You know you're crazy, right?" Roy sneers at Sam. It looks like they are about to fight.
"Yeah? You ever hunt a Wen…" Sam starts to say but before he can finish the sentence Dean pushes Sam away from Roy. Tony does the same to Roy, keeping him away from Sam.
"Chill out."Dean says to Sam.
"Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop. Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." Haley tells the group. A long pause follows.
"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark." Dean says and looks at the group. "We need to settle in and protect ourselves." Everyone nods even a reluctant Roy.
"How? Asks Haley.
It's night and the group has built a campfire. Tony and Dean are drawing symbols in the dirt around the campsite.
"So you still know how to this." Dean says to Tony. The older Winchester looks at his brother.
"Of course I do. I may not be a full time hunter like you but I'm taking my protection very seriously."
"Good." Dean is relieved. He does not want to admit it but Dean often worried about his older brother. The years they have spent apart weigh heavy on him. Tony had been wrong in saying that Sam was the worrywart of the family. Dean is also very good at it. He just didn't express it that often or show it openly.
Haley is poking at the fire. Keeping careful watch on what Dean and Tony are doing.
"One more time, that's.." She points to the symbols on the ground.
"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The Wendigo can't cross over them." Dean tells her. Roy snorts in disbelieve, rifle held over his shoulder.
"Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Tony glares to the man. Sam is sitting alone at the edge of the campsite. Dean and Tony look at each other. The youngest Winchester is struggling to cope with everything. Done with the protection symbols they walk over and sit down next to him. Sam is sitting in the middle.
"You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" Dean asks Sam. The youngest brother looks at his siblings. And sighs.
"I'm.." Sam begins to say.
"No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" Dean says. Nobody speaks for a moment. Everyone is deep in thought.
"Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam says to his brothers.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek." Tony answers Sam. Darn it dad, have you any idea what you are doing? Tony is swearing inside his head. Where are you?
"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?" Sam is ready to give up the hunt. Dean shows John's journal to Sam.
"This is why." Sam looks questingly at Dean.
"This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession—everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business." Tony shakes his head at Dean's words. Sam keeps silent, deep in thought. Dean notices Tony shaking his head.
"What?" He asks.
"Nothing." Tony says. Not wanting to talk about it.
"No seriously what?" Dean insist. Tony looks at his younger brother. After a second he breaks his silence.
"When I was sixteen I thought the same as you. I believed in our family business. That I would go on hunts with you guys at my side until the day I died. But then dad told me to leave and become a cop. That the hunter's community needed more people in certain positions in society. And I did it. I left you all behind to do my duty." Tony says to his brothers. "I just have some trouble understanding what dad wants from us." The brothers keep silent for a second.
"You may not have been there every single day of our childhood but you still belong to this family. You are our brother. I don't understand dad either but that is something I do know." Sam says to Tony. The oldest brother looks at his youngest sibling. He smiles and nudges the younger mans shoulder, they smile at each other.
"Well said Sam, well said." Dean says. The two oldest brothers look at each other. "You belong to this family Tony. No matter what happens you always be our brother."
"Thank you guys." Tony whispers. This means a lot to him. Since his sixteenth birthday he had felt a lot of times lonely. It did him good to hear that he belonged somewhere. Speaking of belonging somewhere he is missing the people at NCIS. With his father sending them on a wild goose chase this whole thing may take a while to finish.
"Why doesn't he just—call us? Why doesn't he—tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?" Sam says.
"I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it." Dean answers.
"I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." Sam tells his brothers.
"Okay, all right, Sam, we'll find them, I promise." Dean says to Sam.
"Like I told you yesterday Sam, I will help you but you have to listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man." Tony says to his youngest brother. Sam looks down, then up.
"How do you do it? How does Dad do it?" Sam asks them. Dean looks over at Haley.
"I do it for people like Haley." Tony and Sam also look at her. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable." Sam nods at Deans answer.
"I'll tell you what else helps." Tony says. Dean and Sam look at him. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as we possibly can." Dean laughs at that and Sam smiles.
A twig snaps.
"Help me! Please!" Someone yells in the distance. Dean stands up and readies his gun.
"Help!" Sam shines a flashlight around. Tony walks to Roy and Haley.
"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." Tony says to them.
"Inside the magic circle?" Says Roy sarcastically.
"Help! Help me!" Growling is coming from the bushes. Roy points his rifle at the sound.
"Okay, that's no grizzly." He finally agrees with the Winchesters. Something rushes past. Haley shrieks.
"It's here." Sam says. Roy shoots at the area that is rustling.
"I hit it!" Roy yells in excitement. He goes to see what he hit.
"Roy, no! Roy!" Dean yells at him. Luckily Tony is standing next to Roy and is able to grab him before he could leave the protected area.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" Roy demands.
"It's not safe Roy!"
"Not safe, my ass!" He starts to fight Tony. Luckily the older man is no match for Tony and within seconds Roy is laying unconscious on the floor.
"Sorry Roy, but you had to calm down." Tony says to the man even as he can't hear him apologize. Haley looks shocked at Tony.
"Don't move." Tony tells her. She nods numbly.
Finally the sun comes up. Sam is sitting against a hollow tree stump, holding John's journal and playing with a lanyard attached to it. Dean and Tony are with Haley and Roy among the tents. Roy is tied up.
"I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real." Haley says to Tony and Dean.
"I wish I could tell you differently." Dean answers her.
"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Haley asks.
"We don't. But we're safe for now." Tony says.
Sam waves his brothers over to him. "So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch." Tony smiles when he hears Sam almost quote what he said last night. Dean hides his sigh of relieve. This is more like the Sam he knows. The kid always wants to help people.
"Well, hell, you know I'm in." Dean says to his brother.
"Lets hunt it down." Tony agrees with his brothers. "If I remember the information about Wendigo's right, there might even be a chance that Haley's brother is still alive."
Sam shows the Wendigo page of John's journal to Dean and Tony.
"You are correct Tony, a Wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If Tommy is alive, it is keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there."
Dean nods at the information. He holds up the can of lighter fluid, the beer bottle, and the white cloth he'd picked up.
"Guns are useless, so are knives. Basically we gotta torch the sucker." Dean says with a smirk on his face, it makes him look insane. Sam shakes his head at his brother's antics.
"Alright I tell Haley that we are going to hunt down the being that has taken her brother." Tony walks over to Haley. Dean watches them. Keeping a close eye on their interaction.
"Have you noticed?" Dean asks Sam.
"What?"
"Tony has not flirted with Haley at all. He is also not joking around. He is serious almost all the time. You think something has happened that he is not telling us about?" Sam considers it.
"Maybe, he is a special agent, who knows what he has seen or what could have happened to him. A few months back he almost died." Sam thinks about it some more. Maybe Tony is just tired of wearing masks all the time but he does not say that to Dean.
Dean leads the way through the woods, Molotov cocktail in hand. Sam follows, then Tony. They pass trees with claw marks.
"Sam, Tony!" Dean calls his brothers to him. They catch up.
"What is it?" Tony asks. They look around at the trees. There are bloody claw marks and broken branches everywhere.
"You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow." Sam says to his brothers.
Growling is coming from the bushes. The Winchesters whip around. The trees rustle. They have found their prey.
More growling. The brothers prepare themselves for the coming fight. A gunshot goes off. Everything goes silent. The Wendigo stops circling them.
"That gunshot came from around the campsite." Sam says a bit panicky. The snarling and growling continues
"Shit!" Snarls Tony. "What is happening at the camp?" Haley should be safe if she stayed in the protected area. Why is she firing Roy's rifle? Why one gunshot and not more?
The brothers stand back to back in a circle. Keeping an eye on their surroundings. They have just one Molotov. One chance to kill the Wendigo circling them. But is the being alone? Did the Wendigo have a hunting partner that is right now at the campsite.
Tony readies his gun and fires at the Wendigo. The being hisses in fury. Tony keeps firing at him. Most of the bullets hit nothing because he is just to fast to aim at him correctly.
"What are you doing!" Dean yells at him. "You are only making him angry."
"Sam run to the campsite. See what's going on." Tony orders Sam. The Wendigo is focusing on him now. Tony runs away in another direction. In the hope the being will follow him. Hopefully giving Dean the opportunity to throw the Molotov cocktail.
"Sam do it!" Dean also orders as he follows Tony. Sam obeys with a grimace.
He runs to the camp as fast as he can. In no time he reaches the tents.
"Sam!" Haley yells in relieve when she sees him.
"Haley! What happened?" Sam asks, glad that the woman seems to be okay.
"It's Roy. He broke free, grabbed his rifle and left. He went that way." She points to the left of the campsite. Sam looks at the direction Haley pointed at and to the direction he just came from. Tony had stopped firing his gun a while ago. He closes his eyes and just breaths for a second.
"Okay, stay here. I find Roy."
A grizzly. Roy had shot a freaking grizzly! Sam is fuming in anger. He had left his brothers behind for nothing. He runs back to the place where he last saw Tony and Dean. Roy making his way back to the ranger station. Claiming to have had enough of their crazy shit and that he would be pressing charges of assault.
They have to be around here Sam worries. Hurriedly looking around everywhere. Then he sees it. And his heart stops beating for a second. He kneels on the ground in sorrow, there in front of him is Dean's Molotov cocktail, the bottle broken.
"Dean! Tony!" He screams. They had to be alive somewhere. He has to hope that the Wendigo had taken them alive so that he could eat them later. Please don't let them be dead. He begs to the sky above.
He starts to laugh when he sees it. A M&M, a trail of M&M's. A sigh of relieve escape his lips. Dean at least had to be alright, please let it be so.
It's better than breadcrumbs, Sam follows it to a mine entrance marked with a sign that says WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL.
Sam shrugs and goes inside. Above the entrance is a larger sign that says KEEP OUT NO ADMITTANCE.
He shines the flashlight ahead of him. He hears growling. Swiftly he puts out the light and hides against the wall. The youngest Winchester holds his breath not making any sound. The Wendigo is carrying Roy on his shoulder. Sam swears in his head. Darn it Roy! The horrendous being takes a different tunnel at the crossing. Sam goes on. The floorboards creak and Sam falls through the floor, he lands in a pile of bones. There is another pile nearby of skulls.
Sam looks up, Tony and Dean are hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. He runs to them.
"Dean! Tony! Wake up!" Sam grabs Dean who is closest and shakes him.
"Dean!" His brother groans and opens his eyes. Sam touches his face in concern.
"Hey, you okay?" Dean winces, his right shoulder is dislocated from hanging at the ceiling for so long.
"Yeah." He murmurs. "Yeah I'm fine." He croaks. Sam cuts the rope holding Dean up. He helps him over to an empty patch of floor and sits him down. Dean makes pained noises. His left hand supporting his right arm. He is still a bit disoriented.
"Tony? Where is he? He got some pretty bad hits from the Wendigo." Dean had not even finished his sentence before Sam is cutting an unconscious Tony down from the ceiling. He has a badly bleeding head wound. Sam caries him over to Dean. He lays him down so that Tony's head is resting on Dean's thigh. The middle brother looks worried at his older sibling.
"The Wendigo?" Dean asks Sam after taking careful note of his brothers injuries. The younger Winchester grimaces.
"He is here somewhere. I just saw him carrying off Roy."
"Roy!" Dean's eyebrows rise in surprise. "I thought he was tied up at the camping site." He harshly whispers to Sam.
"Yeah I thought so too but apparently he escaped. He is the one that fired the shot we heard. You never guess what he shot down. Anyway enough talk. The Wendigo can be here any moment. Let me help with your shoulder." Dean grimaces but nods in acceptance. Dean bites down on his shirt to dampen any noise he makes as Sam resets his shoulder. For a few moments he breathes harshly when it's done. His forehead resting on Sam's supporting shoulder.
Gosh look at them now. Tony, unconscious, his head resting on his thigh and he himself being supported by Sam. The three Winchester brothers united. The best hunter family in business. Dad will be proud if he sees us right at this moment he thinks sarcastically.
Dean and Sam look up sharply when they hear groaning from the back. They look at the direction it's coming from. Sam silently stands up. Dean also preparing to move. Grasping hold of Tony so that he can move him at any moment.
Another groan. Sam moves forward. Dean is watching him very closely. Ready to move at any signal from his brother.
"Tom!" Sam walks to Haley's brother.
"Tom Collins. Can you hear me? I'm a friend of your sister Haley. Hold on okay, I cut you loose." Sam says to the just waking boy.
"Haley?" Tom asks disoriented. Sam cuts the rope and supports Tom down.
"Yes your sister is very worried about you." Sam tells him. "Can you walk?" Tom nods his head slowly.
"Yeah." He murmurs. "I can walk."
"Good." Sam supports him in walking to Dean and Tony. "We're gonna get you home." Tom looks blearily at the Winchesters and sits down next to Dean.
"We have to find our stolen supplies. If the Wendigo has taken it from the camping site he may have put it somewhere here."Tony whispers. Dean and Sam focus on the downed man immediately.
"Hey Tony, welcome back. How are you doing?" Dean asks him softly. Tony groans, his eyes still closed.
"Oh like usual when a super strong being decides to play with you." The elder Winchester slowly opens his eyes. "Heya Sam." He greets the man hanging over him with concern in his eyes.
"You have a concussion, your pupils are uneven dilated." Sam is carefully looking at Tony's eyes.
"Figures, story of my life. So what about it? Find our backpacks, kill the Wendigo and get out of here. Good plan don't you think?"
"Yeah very good plan." Dean agrees. "But can you walk without throwing up?" Tony grimaces at that.
"Let's find out shall we? Help me up." Sam carefully helps Tony in a sitting position. The oldest brother closes his eyes again. Fighting to not throw up everything over his brothers.
"Okay, I'm fine now, help me to stand." Sam does so. Tony is leaning against the wall. Breathing harshly against the dizziness in his head.
"You looking for backpacks?" Tom asks. "I saw him put down some stuff that way." He points in the direction were he had been hanging from the ceiling. "Maybe it includes the backpacks you are looking for." Dean and Sam nod their heads.
Sam walks over to Dean and helps him also up. Luckily the middle Winchester brother is a bit more mobile after his bodies circulation recovers from his ordeal. Tom is able to stand up on his own but is still a bit awkward with his movements. Sam supports Tom while Dean moves over to help Tony.
Slowly they start to move to where Tom pointed them at. And he had seen it right for there in the corner lay their stolen supplies. Sam picks up two flare guns.
"Check it out." He gives one to Dean.
"Flare guns. Those'll work." Dean says. They had another chance of killing the Wendigo. Sam and a barely aware Tony grin. Dean laughs and twirls his gun.
They head down a tunnel, Sam in the lead, followed by a limping but by himself walking Tom. Dean and Tony walk in the back of the group.
Growling in the distance. The group comes to a stop looking at each other.
"Looks like he is still here. Let's hope that Roy is still alive. He may very well have been the Wendigo's supper." Dean says to the group. Sam looks back at the others.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Sam asks Dean. Tony is barely keeping his eyes open. Leaning on Dean more and more. Dean grimaces at the idea.
"Yeah, I think so." He agrees anyway.
"All right, listen to me Tom. Stay with Dean. He's gonna get you out of here."
"What are you gonna do?" Haley's brother asks Sam.
"I'm going to kill the Wendigo." With a last look at his brothers Sam runs away. Yelling indistinct words to get the beings attention.
Darn it Sam. Tony and Dean watch their little brother run off into danger. Back in the day when Sam still used to hunt with Dean and John they always made sure that Sam was in the least danger of them all. It hurt to see him so recklessly running into danger. But they had no choice. They could not lead Tom and Tony into a battle right now. And Sam being the only one not injured did what their dad thought them to do in this situation. Get the civilian and Tony out of here. And finish the hunt.
Dean waits until Sam is a safe distance away.
"All right, come on! Hurry!" Tom follows Dean and Tony down the tunnel. Sometime later almost when they reach the entrance of the mine they hear growling. Dean's heart falls in his shoes. Tony to out of it to hear the growling does not react. He is fighting to keep conscious and not to throw up all over dean's shoes. Where is Sam? Dean worries.
Dean points his gun at where the growling is coming from. It is to dark to see clearly.
"Tom take Tony and get out of here." He orders.
"What?" Tom says.
"Get him outta here." He throws Tony's arm over Tom's shoulder.
"Dean?" Tony asks confused about what's going on.
"Go with Tom now Tony. I have to do something okay. I'm back in a bit." Tony tries to focus. But before he can get a good read on the situation. Time seems to have gone by without him really noticing. Tom is rushing him out of the mine.
Dean holds the flare gun ready to shoot, looking down the tunnel.
"Come on. Come on." He whispers to himself. Growling from his left. He turns. The Wendigo is right in his face. Dean shoots and misses. Shit, he tries to run. Knowing that it would be pointless. The being is to fast for him to escape. Darn it Sam where are you? Are you already dead? Did it already kill you? Dean looks behind him.
The Wendigo is approaching but it's taking its time. As if it is playing with Dean. Probably liking to chase his food. Dean runs harder.
"Hey!" He hears Sammy's voice the same time a flare goes off. Dean stops running and looks behind him. Sam had shot it in the stomach. The Wendigo's goes up in flames.
"Not bad, huh?" Sam says to Dean with a smirk on his face. Dean grins in relieve at his living and breathing brother
"Nope not bad at all. Not bad at all." He claps his brothers shoulder a few times. "Good job."
"Tony?" Sam asks in concern when he does not see him with Dean.
"Outside the mine with Tom. They should be fine. Did you see Ray?" Dean asks Sam.
"Yeah." Sam says sadly. "He is dead." Dean closes his eyes in sorrow. Darn it! The man was a pain in the ass but he didn't deserve to die like that. Nobody deserves to be devoured alive.
"Alright, let's get out of here." The brothers walk side by side out of the mine.