Sorry it took a while. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.
Sam watched in exhaustion as the demon was sent back to Hell. He looked up to Ruby, who gave him a devilish smirk. Sam looked at the limp man with a small smile, not knowing that his brother and niece were watching from behind.
"How did that feel," Ruby asked as Sam check the man's pulse.
"Good, no more headaches." Sam started to untie the man, and supported his weight. He began to lead the man to the door, until Dean walked into the room with Max closely behind.
"So, anything you like to tell us, Sam," Dean asked angrily.
"Dean, just hold on, let me_"
"Let you explain? You're gonna explain this?" Max watched as her father walked closer to Sam. "How about you start with why that thing is here?"
Dean and Max looked over to Ruby, "Good to see you again, Dean. And you too, Maxie."
"Shut up, you bitch," Max said as she pointed her gun at the demon.
Suddenly, Dean jumped towards Ruby with a blade in his hand, but he was stopped by Sam. Max watched as Sam tried to pull Dean back, but instead he was thrown into the wall. Then Ruby grabs Dean by the throat and shoves him into the gate behind him. Suddenly, Ruby fell to the ground with a bullet wound to the leg, done by Max.
Dean smiled at his daughter then down to Ruby. "Good job, Max. I don't know what I would do without ya."
Ruby stood back up, glaring at Dean, then to Max. This time, Max pointed the gun to Ruby's head.
"Ruby, he's hurt," Sam finally said. The Winchesters watched as Ruby lead the man out outside. After she was gone, Dean left through the other exit.
"Dean."
"Let's go, Max," Dean said, cutting Sam off. Max began to follow. Before she left the room, she turned and gave Sam a sad look. She started to follow her father again, leaving Sam alone.
"Dean? Max?"
"Dad, are we just going to leave him here," Max asked as she ran to catch up to Dean.
"Why are you so upset about it? He left you plenty of times before," Dean climbed into the Impala and slammed the door.
"But, Dad, he's with a demon. Shouldn't we at least make sure she doesn't kill him?"
"Max Marilynn Winchester, get in this car right now," Dean shouted to Max. "Or, so help me, God, I will ground you."
Max got into the Impala, confused by everything that happened. She was quiet when Dean pulled out of the lot, and drove back to the hotel. Dean didn't say a word either. Max can sense Dean's anger, she wanted to talk to him about everything that happened, but she would only make the situation worse.
Later on that night, Sam arrived back at the hotel. When he entered the room, he found Max alone in the room, sitting at the edge of her bed. She didn't even try to go back to bed, and she didn't even look at Sam.
"Where's Dean," Sam asked. Max ignored him. She didn't want to speak to Sam. Instead she stayed silent and only starred at the painting ahead of her. "Max, please, I'm sorry," Sam said. He watched her reach into her pocket and pulled out her Ipod. She placed the volume to its max and hugged her teddy bear that she had since she was small. Sam nor Max got any sleep that night, and Dean didn't come back until morning.
Dean stormed into the hotel room and started packing his clothes. He ignored Sam who was sitting at the table near the door. Dean picked up Max's bag and handed it to her. She got the idea that she should be packing too. She walked over to the dresses and placed her folded clothes into her duffle bag.
"Dean, what are you doing," Sam asked as he watched them pack.
"You don't need us any more, Sam. You got Ruby and demon blood now," Dean angrily threw his clothes into his bag.
"Dean, please," Sam pleaded. He watched Max open her school bag and threw her chargers in. She looked around the room for her laptop, it was on the table where Sam was sitting. She grabbed it and tried to walk back to her back. Sam grabbed her arm, "Max, please." Suddenly, Sam was punched in the face by Dean, scaring Max. She moved back behind Dean then moved to the door. "Satisfied?" Then Dean threw another punch to Sam's face, this time making his lip bleed. "I guess not."
"Do you even know how far off the reservation you are? How far from normal? From human," Dean asked.
"I'm just exorcising demons," Sam tried to explain.
"With you mind!"
"Dad," Max whimpered from the door. He didn't hear her, he continued arguing with Sam. She watched as Dean pushed Sam back further, by Sam threw his hands off.
"The knife kills the victim, I can save them," Sam continued explaining. "I'm sorry, Dean. I should've told you sooner. But what I do saves them. I saved more people in the last five months than what we save in a year."
"Is that was Ruby wants you to think? Like how she tricked you into using your powers? Slippery slope, Brother. From here, the road is going to get darker, deeper, and lead to where God knows where."
"I won't let it go that far," Sam said. He watched Dean turned around, throwing a lamp, causing it to shatter when it hit the wall.
"Dad!"
Dean turned around, and saw Max crying. Her hands were held up to her ears. He realized that their argument was getting out of control and it was scaring his daughter. "You know, if I didn't know you, I would want to hunt you. And so would other hunters," Dean said to Sam. It hurt Dean to say that to his brother. "I'm sorry, Max. Let's go get breakfast, we'll talk about this later. Okay?" Dean walked Max out of the room and to the Impala.
Sam heard the car start up and leave the parking lot. Leaving him alone again. He picked up the shattered pieces of the lamp and sat back down, waiting for Dean and Max to return…if they returned.
Dean and Max entered the hotel room with lunch. They left Sam in the hotel room to look for jobs around the area. It was very uneasy between the three. Dean and Max only spoke to each other, Dean rarely talked to Sam, and Max refuse to speak to and look at Sam. After seeing him the night before, she didn't feel safe with Sam there. She had always wondered where he would go while he left her at Bobby's for a long period of time. Now she know, he was with a demon and drinking their blood.
"Hey, Maxie, can you get me a beer while you're over there," Dean asked from his bed. He placed her food on her bed and gave Sam his. Max opened the fridge door and pulled out a beer and a pepsi.
"Can you get me one too, Max," Sam asked. Instead, she slammed the door shut and walked over to Dean. Making Sam getting his beer himself.
"Thank you, Max. I put you food on your bed," Dean said as he bit into his burger.
"Thanks, dad. Oh, I got you something," Max said as she dug into her grocery bag. She pulled out a clear container with a slice of cherry pie inside. "I know you didn't ask for one, but it was right there and it was the last one."
"God, dammit, Max you're amazing," Dean shouted with a mouth full of food. "At least you remembered. See, Sam? She remembered to get me pie." Dean held it up like it was a trophy.
"Yeah, I see that. I think I might have something," Sam said. "Could be a job."
"Why don't you go tell your new demon buddy, uncle? Since you two are so close now," Max said as she ate her fries.
"Max, you eat and I'll be the jerk to Sam," Dean said. "Why don't you go tell your demon buddy, Sam?"
Sam glared at the two. "Look, how many times to I have to say it? I'm sorry."
"Sorry don't cut it Sam," Dean shouted. "You're hanging with a demon! Not only that, but you're drinking demon blood and you were leaving Max for Ruby? Why would you do that?"
"She's obviously fine…"
"You don't know that. How could you when you leave her behind?" Dean looked at Max then back to Sam. "The girl had no one, Sam."
"She had Bobby." Sam tried to keep his voice down. He could tell that their argument was making Max uneasy.
"Yeah, she had Bobby. Great, fantastic. He's awesome and she was well cared for. But she needed you, Sam. You were the only family she had left when I went to Hell. You're her uncle, her blood, Sam. As well as her Protector. And you decide to leave her for a Demon. Is that really how you treat family now?"
"You and dad left me behind plenty of times. Sometimes, you'd leave me and handle jobs on my own! If I can do that, then she can."
"That's not my point. I was dead. I died right in front of Max. We don't know what that did to her," he talked like he had forgotten that Max was sitting right behind him. "You were supposed to be watching her and make sure she didn't do anything stupid."
Suddenly, Max got up, grabbed her coat and ran out the door as fast as she can. She had tears running down her face, and she didn't want to hear them argue anymore.
"Max! Dammit." Dean got up and threw his wrappers into the garbage. Taking one last sip of his beer, he grabbed his keys and began to walk out. But he stopped at the door and looked at Sam. "You know, if she were your daughter, I would lay my life down for her in an instant. I know you do the same for her. And she would do the same for us. That's what families do, they protect, help and are always there for each other, no matter what. And you know she's one hell of a runner. I can't track her on my own." Sam nodded when Dean finished. He grabbed his coat and followed Dean to the Impala.
Max continued running through the streets and yards. She didn't want Dean or Sam to find her. She knew where her father would look first. She avoid all the low populated areas and tried to blend into the crowd. Keeping her head down and sticking closely to the buildings.
Max never liked the fights the Dean and Sam had. Always yelling at each other over something. Even if it was just the radio station. She remembered when Sam was back hunting with her and Dean. How he always complained about the same old music that Dean like listening too. The box of old tapes that Dean left on the floor.
"Really, Dean? It's the same music that dad listens too," Sam said as he went through the box. "Have you ever thought of getting a new collection?"
"Okay, new rule. Driver picks the music, while shot gun shuts his cake hole," Dean said. He looked in the mirror and saw little Max smiling. "Besides, Max loves the music. You don't hear her complaining. Right, Maxie?"
"Keep your cake hole shut, Uncle," young Max shouted. "You have no taste in music."
Dean and Sam laughed at her comment. "You tell him Max," Dean shouted as he turned his music up louder.
Max smiled at the memory, she was only ten years old then. She was a good little hunter at that age. Trained by John and Dean, how could she not be?
Max walked through the park trails. She always looked over her shoulder to make sure Dean or Sam were behind her. She was pretty sure she got them off her tail for a while. Soon, they'll figure out to search the park. Max stopped at a bench that was a distance from the road, but close enough to where she can hear the car pulled in. She some time to sit and enjoy the view of the lake. It was quiet, peaceful. Max enjoyed quiet scenery. It gave her time to gather her thoughts, to relax.
"Hello, Maxine," a low voice came from behind her. She jumped off the bench and pulled out her blade, only to find Castiel standing behind the bench.
"You gotta wear a bell or something, Cas," Max said. "And it's just Max, okay?" She put her blade back in her pouch and sat back down.
"What are you doing here? Your father is looking for you," Castiel said as he sat down next to Max. "Why did you run from him?"
"Why are you here? To take me back to dad?"
"That was my intention, until I saw that you looked troubled." Castiel looked at her, he can tell she was trying to suppress her tears. He didn't know what to do, so he just stayed there. "A thirteen year old shouldn't be out on her own." Max ignored him and continued starring out into the lake. "If you do no return soon, Dean will be worried." Max still didn't say anything. Castiel looked out to the lake and sat quietly, he didn't know what else to say to Max.
"Dad told me you brought him back from hell," Max said. She looked at Castiel, he nodded his head. "Thank you."
"I was only following orders."
"Still, you saved him. And I just waited to thank you for bringing my dad back. But you never said why you saved him."
"We have plans for Dean, Max."
"What kind of plans?"
"I cannot say. I am only following the orders given to me by my superiors."
"You're no fun," Max said as she crossed her arms. It was quiet between them for a bit, until she heard the roar of the Impala grow louder and closer. Both Max and Castiel turned around. "Well, that's my queue to start running again," Max said as she stood up.
"Where are you going," Castiel asked.
"Somewhere. See you, Cas," Max said as she ran off. Castiel watched as she vanished in the distance. He stayed at the bench until Dean and Sam found him.
"Hey, Cas. Did you see Max around," Dean asked.
"Yeah, she ran that way when she heard you guys coming," Castiel said as he pointed in the direction she ran to.
"Dammit, why didn't you stop her? Sam drive down that way, see you can cut her off," Dean ordered. Then he looked towards Castiel. "Did she tell you where she was going?"
"Somewhere."
Dean waited for more from Cas, "Yeah, that's very helpful. Thanks." Dean started to run in the same direction as Max. When he turned to look behind him, Cas was gone. "Fricken Angels," he muttered. He ran for a bit, then he stopped to catch his breath. After a minute, he started running again. While he ran, he thought about how he met his daughter for the very first time.
