Bread Crumbs

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.

Summary: When Autumn takes off to find a demon who preys on little girls similar to her nieces, the gang is forced to follow her bread crumbs to find her before its too late.

A/N: Yes, it IS short. I'm sorry. But I wanted to get something up. I'll start chapter two tonight and can someone please beat me into submission? I'm supposed to be reading Breaking Dawn not writing. BLARG overly "romantic" vampires make my mind all mushy. I can't complain much about Bella since I'm told I act just like her hides newest injury from klutz attack...I burned myself yesterday on a slow cooker when I WALKED by it and fell into it.

Chapter One

"Autumn?" Dean asked nervously. He knew it would be her but hoped Sam was wrong about what she wanted.

"Hey, babe. I've got a hunt. I'm e-mailing the details now. Its a demon, Dean." Autumn told him in a rush. They both knew she was just trying to get it all out so she could hang up.

"What kind?" Dean questioned.

"The kind that eats little girls for breakfast." Autumn answered and he knew then why she was in such a hurry to get on with this.

"Sit still. We'll head back tonight." Dean instructed.

"I'm packed. Dean, I'm going to get a head start. I'll stop tomorrow afternoon get a room for the night let John stretch his legs. But I want to get there as soon as I can. I won't drag my feet too much." Dean looked over his shoulder, Sam was dozing in and out in the back seat. He'd had a rough day, Athena was twisting her hands in the passenger seat.

"Aut," he started not sure what else to say. He wasn't yet reduced to begging. But the idea of her heading out on a demon hunt on her own made that a very easy road to take. "Please, wait for us. We'll be in tomorrow afternoon and can leave soon as we get there."

"Okay." She agreed and they both knew she was lying.

"Be careful, Autumn." He bid. She'd hang up in a few seconds and a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach told him it was likely to be the last time he ever talked to her.

"I always am, Dean. I'll see you soon." she promised. There was a moment of silence and then she cut the line. Athena had been watching him and was more than ready to burst with all her questions. Dean though had never been one to just blurt out information and if he were pressed sarcasm was his first resort.

"She's not waiting. Soon as we get to the motel you need to pack your shit and be ready to roll." He told her after a little while.

Sam was listening to them intently. His head made it very tempting to curl up and go to sleep. He really didn't need his eyes open to know what they were doing anyway. He knew them both well enough to know that Athena had her hands in her lap wringing them so much it was a minor miracle she didn't break her fingers. Dean had a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel, for once actually having both hands at 10 and 2. His jaw was set with determination as thought raced through his mind. They were both waiting until the right moment to ask him what he'd seen. Sam was putting off telling them what his vision was. It was bad enough he had to see it. He couldn't tell them he'd seen Autumn killing a child. He couldn't tell them what she did after that either. Her own knife, a blade they all knew well, plunging into her breast. Yeah that was going to be the easiest thing to tell them. He rolled his eyes under closed lids.

Dean turned sharp into the parking lot and the car was barely off before the two hunters in the front of the car were out. Athena darted into her room a flash of blond hair. Dean waited a moment on Sam to get out and once sure his brother was steady and could walk on his own was off into their room. The three of them packed in a rush. It wasn't a half hour before they were back in their seats in the Impala. Though Sam's head ache had tripled in severity from Dean's impatient barking of orders. There were times he was so like his father it was hard to tell which was which.

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Autumn tossed the last of her things in the trunk of her '65 Mustang. She went over the mental checklist. Weapons. Holy water. Dog food. Map. Clothes. She reached down and scratched John behind the ears. They were set all she had left to do now was tell Darcy and Marc she was on her way out. She went around to the front of the big house to avoid the bar where Will and Lily were probably mid-gropefest. There were a few things in life she didn't want to see and that was one of them. She knew the younger two would either be in one of their rooms researching while bitching and moaning about her course of action or in the library. The library being more public and therefor possessing more people to tell her she shouldn't go was put off to last and she headed for Marc's room. No one was home. So she slipped down the hall, "Johnny-boy where are they?" She wondered aloud. The rottwieler bound ahead pushing the next door open with his big block head.

"John!" Marc's scolding voice wafted out to her and Autumn followed after her dog. "Why did you teach him to open doors?" He asked her soon as she came in.

"Will did that, not me. It can be rather helpful though." the red head shrugged. Darcy was sitting in the middle of her bed parts of her guns scattered over the quilt as she cleaned it. Marc was at the desk by the door reading over the notes for the demon, she was about to go after, for the millionth time.

"You're ready to go?" Darcy asked. Autumn met her gaze for a split second before nodding.

"Yeah, you wanted me to stop in before I left."

"Why don't you just go ahead and stay the night?" Marc prompted. "You could head out bright and early tomorrow and not have to worry about messing with your sleeping pattern."

"I'd rather go now, Marc."

"Before she second guesses herself and waits for back-up." Darcy announced her thoughts. Marc just shook his head.

"Red was right sometimes. Women get too worked up over these things."

"You're just as bad when vampires are involved so don't start with me, Marc." Autumn snapped.

"Call when you stop off." Darcy bid.

"I will." Autumn promised again.

"Then you better get on. The roads around here are harder to navigate the later it gets." Darcy warned.

"Yeah." Autumn nodded. "I'll see you guys in a few weeks." She said before leaving. John was sure to get a head scratch out of Darcy before following after his master to the car.

This was it. She was heading out for the first time in her life on a hunt by herself. Much as she'd like not to admit it she knew they were right. When it came down to it she wouldn't wait. She wouldn't hesitate. She hadn't when Red had ordered her to wait on Will to come before getting involved in the werewolf hunt. She just never waited or hesitated. She had no patience and sooner or later that would get her killed in this line of work. But at the same time she couldn't help herself. She knew what it was like to be trapped with no way out. She knew what it felt like to have a crushing weight barring down on you and your two choices are kill it or die. She couldn't hesitate or wait. So with this running through her head she loaded her trusty companion into the backseat with a rawhide that would keep him occupied until he fell asleep, put in her favorite tape, and started out.