Dean had just got into the driver's seat when Caleb walked over. "You've got Jim's cell number, right?" he asked, already knowing the answer. He also knew that ninety percent of calls that Dean used his cell phone for was to try to find Sammy. "Ok, there's a diner on the outskirts of town, close to where some forgotten cabins are hidden; we think they might be in one of them, but we're not sure. If we get separated, call." He was on his way to Bobby's truck when Dean called out.
"Hey! Why would they come here and not let anyone know?" he asked, trying hard to wrap his head around the situation, but coming up blank.
Motioning to Bobby that he was riding with Dean, he got in the back seat, making it an even tighter fit than before. "Follow Bobby, and I'll fill you in." he said and watched as Dean looked at his friends then put the car in gear. "Dean, you're dad went around the bend quite awhile back from what we can tell. No one would hear from him then all of a sudden there he was taking down a nasty spirit, or some creature that other hunters had been trying to get a handle on. It was always the same, no contact then a sudden appearance, take down the nasty baddie, disappear again. Hell, we weren't even sure at first it was him until one of the newer hunters made the mistake of getting in the way. Your dad went off on him and nearly killed the kid before Sammy showed up and convinced him the guy wasn't worth the effort."
Dean looked at Caleb in the rear view mirror not liking what he was hearing. "Wait, you're telling me that not only did he continue hunting and took it up a notch, but he was dragging Sammy with him too?"
Nodding, Caleb knew what had driven Dean to leave in the first place, as long as he was there he would always be Sammy protector and father figure as well as his brother and best friend. The kid had truly thought that if John had to really deal with Sammy one on one then he'd realize that the family motto of 'Sammy comes first' also went for the patriarch of the family. Too bad it didn't work that way. "I know Dean, it doesn't make sense to any of us either. What we know is that John took a turn for the worse, his obsession with finding your Mom's killer took on a whole new meaning after you left." When he saw Dean shoot him a questioning look he sighed. "Kid, I don't know how to tell you this, but from the people that we've talked to and the picture that we've been able to piece together… Dean, we're pretty sure that Sammy thinks your dead."
"WHAT!" Dean exclaimed and took his attention off the road to turn to Caleb. Stephen who was in the passenger seat quickly reached over and grabbed the wheel making sure that Dean didn't run them into a ditch before he turned back around. Pulling his attention back to the task at hand he asked quietly. "How?"
"We're not sure. Bobby was about a week behind them awhile back and he asked a bartender at this little hole in the wall place, that you and I together would hesitate to go in, if he'd seen them. The guy didn't even hesitate, said that he'd seen them both and that Sammy seemed upset about something so he sent one of his girls over to 'help the kid lighten up', she came back a few minutes later and said to leave him alone his brother died and he didn't want to be bothered. John however was having a great time hustling a game of pool and starting a fight…" he wasn't about to tell Dean that the bartender also mentioned that John had cheated, causing the fight and brought half the bar down on both him and Sammy's head that night. From the description, he was surprised they survived.
Dean knew that something else happened, and he had a feeling he knew what it was, but he prayed he was wrong. He would have asked for more, but they had pulled into the diner and Bobby was already out of the truck. Caleb patted him on the shoulder before getting out of the small car then walked up to Bobby to let him know what was discussed. Looking back at the rest of the guys in the car he joked "So, you guys still think you're dysfunctional?"
Joseph wasn't fooled, he'd seen his friend crack jokes while they were prying a bullet out of his leg under fire, so hearing him trying to make light of the situation told them all more than anything; Dean was more than worried, he was scared for his little brother. Clasping his friend on the shoulder, he motioned that they should join the others before they got left out of this Search and Rescue.
Joshua had known Dean since he was a five year old kid who's only true happiness came from his little brother, now he watched the man he had become exit a car and make his presence known just by his existence. Watching the group make their way towards them, he could tell that they had seen action together and that their lives had been in each others hands. He knew that if he was impressed with what he saw, the people in the diner had to be struck stupid. Curiosity got the better of him and he turned to look in the window seeing several people do a double take and the waitress staring in awe. Smirking, he looked back at Dean, "Ok Casanova, why don't you and Caleb go do your thing."
Stephen laughed "Yeah runt, do what you're best at." When Dean looked at him puzzled, Stephen laughed some more. "What, you thought we forgot about you being the baby of the family?"
Groaning, Dean walked off knowing that he was going to get ribbed big time for that. 'Oh well, at least they're not mad.' He thought, knowing that it could have gone a whole other direction. As he and Caleb walked in the diner he noticed that several people were staring, and for what he needed, he didn't mind it one bit. Walking with Caleb to the counter, they waited for the waitress to come over.
"Hey Cal, it's been awhile. Who's your friend?" she asked while setting down two coffees watching Dean the entire time.
"Tracy, this is Dean. He's the one with a missing brother. Do you remember what you told me?" he asked, knowing that Tracy might have that 'I'm a dumb blonde' air about her, but he knew for a fact that it was just an act to make the customers tip more.
Her smile suddenly gone, she whipped around and yelled for the cook. "Jake! They're here, I need you out here now!"
It didn't take long for a burly man to rush into the diner and look straight at Dean and Caleb, making both men jump up from the counter. Jake looked at both men and quickly said, "Look, I know that they're your family and all, but the kid looks in bad shape. I normally wouldn't get involved, I have a record and any trouble I go back, but you need to get him away from his dad… the man's crazy." Jake said, pointing to a bandaged shoulder. "All I did was offer to take the kid to the doctor last night, and he went off and stabbed me." Jake didn't want to tell the kid's brother everything that had been said, he was trying very hard to forget that as it was. He could tell that the men in front of him as well as their friends outside were close and was about to offer up the location that he was sure the kid was staying in when there was a sound from the back of the diner and the sound of a door squeaking open in a hurry.
Not liking the sound of that, Caleb motioned through the window to the others and followed Dean in a full run through the back door to see a dark figure disappear into the tree line. Not hesitating, Dean raced after the man who he instinctively knew was his dad. He barely heard the cook yell directions to the cabin as he concentrated on keeping his footing in the wooded and uneven terrain. Normally he'd be a lot quieter while chasing after his prey, but something deep down told him that if they lost his dad now, they'd lose their chance to find Sammy too. Knowing that his friends were closing the distance behind him, he took a chance and cut diagonally hoping to be able to cut in front of the running man. It didn't take long for him to see the cabin up ahead, and he made the mistake of getting his hopes up that today was the day he'd get his brother back. Then he heard the deep yell of his father as they approached the cabin.
"Jackrabbit!" John yelled, knowing that he probably sounded insane, but he needed to get rid of these guys before they caught on to what he was really doing. Running up to the cabin's back door, he banged on it twice as he dodged past and back up the hill. Taking a chance to glance back, he saw the hesitation in a couple of the men, and took full advantage of it; running and dodging through the trees to keep them thinking that he had abandoned the site.
Dean stopped, trying to figure out if it was a setup. He saw his dad give some sort of signal and then take off in a whole other direction, whether acting as a decoy or not he didn't know. Caleb and Bobby went to search the cabin, so Dean and the others took off again, picking up John's trail easily. Since none of them knew exactly where the other man was going, they had no choice but to follow step by step, and it didn't take long to see that he was leading them on a wild goose chase. They all were about to follow the trail further up the hill when Taylor got a glimpse of something in the trees.
"Hey! Take a look!" he said quietly, getting everyone's attention and bringing them all together, standing where they were, it was hard to see what had grabbed his interest, but upon a closer look, they saw another cabin tucked further into the trees and looking more run down than the last one. As they edged closer to the structure, they could hear voices muffled at first, but as the wind changed, the conversation became clearer.
"I said move it boy, they're right on my ass! I don't know what you told them, but I'll make sure you don't do it again!" John yelled as he tossed things around inside the cabin.
Dean heard a muffled yell and was about to charge inside, when Jim put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, motioning that they needed to get closer.
"Who Dad?" came the quiet question, spoken so low that the others were only able to hear because they were hoping for some sort of sign that he was there.
"Demons, nasty ones by the looks of them. We have to go, stick to the plan and we'll be fine. Deviate from it and we're both dead." John growled out, wanting to make absolutely sure that his son didn't screw this up.
They heard the front door creak open and heard the heavy footsteps on the wooden porch. Looking around, they knew that there was going to be more hiking involved, but the real question was confront them now, or follow and hope for a better time. That decision was made for them when Bobby and Caleb had come up from behind and was spotted by John.
"GO! NOW!" John yelled as he started running away from the group of men.
Starting to chase after John again, the group was determined not to let him go, but when they took in the whole surroundings, they realized that there was another person who was running in another direction. Taking a chance, Dean chased after the newcomer quickly noticing that even though the person was about his height, it was all legs. Hoping that the others had his dad still in sight, and that someone was checking the cabin for Sammy, he stayed on the guy's trail and heard Jim yell out "Dean, they're heading for the river!"
Dean chanced to look ahead and realized that Jim was right, but couldn't figure out what the plan was. He never knew his dad to make such a strategic error, never knew him to let him get boxed in. Just as he thought he was closing the gap on the hooded figure in front of him, the guy suddenly changed direction and started using the low lying branches and shrubs as hurdles instead of trying to go around. 'Damn it!' Dean thought, realizing that he should have seen that coming. Thankfully both his dad and the other person was now flanked on all sides leaving only the area in front of them open to the river, and even that was slowly being dwindled down by Bobby and Caleb.
The chase continued until the unbelievable happened. The person in front of him didn't break stride as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a small object then shouted "Down" before he tossed the object behind him, making Dean and the rest of the men close to him dodge in opposite directions to avoid the blast. A second later they realized that it wasn't a grenade, but a modified tear gas cartridge. Cursing at his stupidity, Dean was up and running after the person with his friends close on his heals swearing revenge.
John and the smaller person had joined up in the middle of dodging the other hunters and continued towards the river. Jim tried once again to get through to his friend, "John, stop! We're only here to help. We won't hurt you, but you have to stop, you're running out of room!" However, that only seemed to spur John and his companion harder, and to everyone's horror they ran off a rock face and into the cold river below.
Dean was about to follow, but was grabbed at the last moment by Taylor and Stephen. As they gathered on the rock face, they saw John making his way across the river, but did not see the other person they were chasing. It wasn't until John started yelling, that they started to understand the full implications of what happened, and it took all of Dean's friends to keep him from jumping in.
Soon Dean's voice was mirroring his dad's as they shouted into the wind, "SAMMY!"
AN: Well? What did you think? You have to let me know otherwise, I have no idea... my psychic powers are on the fritz. ;)