Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, and another thanks to my beta Gabi!
As the footsteps grew louder, Sam felt Aiden wrap his arms around him. He buried his face in Sam's shirt as his little body shook in fear.
Sam was sure they were coming down the hall when a voice spoke up.
"Dude, I smell something!"
"Of course you do! The whole world reeks of rotting flesh and garbage, this building is nothing new!"
"No, really! Smell! It smells...good! Man, it smells like mac and cheese or something. Hell, someone's probably living here!"
"And how are they cooking?"
"I don't know, probably got a generator, let's check it out."
"Shit," Dean scowled, glancing over at Sam. "Watch the kid, I'm gonna watch the door."
"It's coming from over here," one of the voices stated. "This room's closed, what if it's..." Sam heard the doorknob turn. "It's locked! Someone's in here...hey, people! We're survivors! We've got ammo we'd like to trade in exchange for food!"
"We could use some ammo." Sam glanced over at his brother, waiting for his decision on what they should do.
The people began pounding at the door, any moment the Croats would hear and that would cause even more trouble.
Dean bit his lip in anger and then stood up. "Let's just tell 'em to trade and leave. If they give us shit, we beat em up." He turned around to face Aiden. "You stay here and shut up. Don't make a sound, understand me?"
While Aiden nodded his head shakily, Sam rolled his eyes. Scaring Aiden into being quiet may work, but it was a shitty thing to do.
"Just stay quiet okay?" Sam knelt down next to Aiden. "You'll be safe in here and we'll be back soon."
Aiden sniffled and hugged Sam tightly. "Don't die guys. Please."
Sam's heart broke for this poor kid who had seen enough death to last several lifetimes.
"You know I'll be okay. I've got my big brother protecting me. And Dean's a demon so he can't die, okay?"
"Sam, we've got to hurry!" Dean whispered impatiently. The banging was getting louder. With one last look at Aiden, Sam turned and followed his brother to the living room, closing the bedroom door behind him.
Both brothers pulled out their guns and Dean switched his eyes to their human shade.
"Quit banging on the damn door! We're here to trade and that's it! Or if you want to start shit, turn back now because we won't hesitate to shoot."
"It's fine, man, were not here to start any trouble. Just a friendly exchange of goods if possible."
They sounded like they were telling the truth. Sam nodded to his brother and Dean opened the door a crack. He seemed to be studying the people and after a moment he opened it further.
"Don't come in. We'll bring what we've got to the door and exchange here." Dean was glaring daggers at the three strangers. The woman was nearly as tall as Dean and the two men were a bit shorter than Sam. However, they all looked a little intimidated by the two brothers. Sam and Dean were a lot stronger and more muscular than them. Hopefully their tough appearance would scare these people into behaving.
"Okay by me!" a ratty blonde man said, with a beard so long and dirty it was making Sam uncomfortable.
Shaving was one thing that Sam wouldn't let up on. He always kept a dull blade on him and since Dean could get electricity working with his powers, Sam's electric shaver still came in handy.
Even Dean, who seemed to be enjoying having a bit of scruff, never let it get too long. Dean told Sam having the thicker stubble made him look more bad ass and cool. Whatever made him happy. Sam just wished he would trim his hair a little. It wasn't long by any means, but Sam wasn't used to his brother having anything longer than his usual spiky hair cut. His bangs were hanging on his forehead, which they never did before, and the back of Dean's hair was starting to curl a bit down his neck. Sam made a mental note to take his shaver to Dean's hair.
Even the woman in this group looked like she hadn't brushed her hair in weeks. The other man had long hair that was so greasy it was practically shimmering.
Sam forgot how good they actually had it sometimes. He really should stop moping because at least they had food and water and got working electricity thanks to a generator and Dean. He began to feel bad for these people. They should trade with them. Maybe offer up some shampoo while they were at it.
"Sammy, grab some of those stale crackers and shit," Dean ordered him, never dropping his weapon that was aimed at the group.
Sam nodded and walked towards the cupboards. He only made it a few feet however before he felt another wave of dizziness pass over him. Sam paused, leaning his body against the dining table as he tried to recollect himself.
Dean was beside him immediately. In that split second when Dean's attention was shifted, long greasy hair stepped forward.
"You okay, man…"
"I said get back!" Dean bellowed, his eyes flashed black for a split second before he turned to face the man, still staying at Sam's side but waving his gun frantically at the man. "I'll shoot if you don't get your ass back in the hallway!"
The man held his hands up in surrender, beginning to back up before his eye caught something and his expression changed to something unreadable.
"Is that...Candy Land? Shit, either you two have some issues or you got a damn kid here!"
"A kid!" The woman squealed with delight and Sam knew they were screwed.
Kids were highly sought after for various reasons by certain people. If you offered them a kid, they'd pay, and they'd pay big. These people wanted to trade kids, to trade Aiden!
"The kid's gone, gave him away yesterday," Dean lied, his tone rough.
The woman snickered. "And you just leave the game out? Looks like someone was in the middle of a game when we interrupted. You're lying."
"You're not getting him." Dean aimed his gun at the woman. "So leave now or I'll blow your brains out."
"We just want to trade. Well give you out best ammo..."
"I said LEAVE!"
Before Dean could shoot, a blur of activity happened in a few seconds.
The door to the bedroom flew open, Aiden rushed out screaming "No, don't leave!" and ran right up to the woman.
In the blink of an eye she sneered and had Aiden in a choke lock, pressing just enough against his windpipe to immobilize him but still allow him to breathe.
"You shoot me and you're shooting him too. We're taking him. Just put down your gun, let us leave, and we'll all go our separate ways."
"Dean! Sam! Help!" Aiden cried and the woman shook him.
"Shut up you little brat or I'll shoot your buddies!"
Sam didn't know why Aiden had ran out of the room and up to the woman, but he had to save him. You're disgusting! Do you know what those people that you sell the kids to do to them?"
The other man, scraggly beard, shrugged. "There are some people that want them just to take care of them."
"Yeah, very few. Either way, you're stealing children from their caretakers and selling them to people!"
"Hey man, we just need the supplies and kids are worth a fortune."
Dean moved the gun towards bearded man. "And you don't care what happens to them? You're fine knowing that they're probably living through hell with sickos?" There was fire in Dean's eyes. Sam knew he was comparing what would be done to the kids who were sold and what happened to him in Hell. From the stories he heard and from Dean's admittance right then, Sam figured it wasn't far from what actual Hell was like.
"That's not our concern!" Greaseball growled.
"You're sick pieces of shit," Dean hissed. "Some of the worst, and trust me I know of a lot."
"I don't care what you think of us. We've all done stuff in this world we'd have never done before." Suddenly Greaseball raised his arm and pointed his gun at Sam's head. "Now let us go. He's injured and I see you care about that guy. Let us take the kid or I'm gonna..."
He never got to finish.
Sam immediately felt his body being flung up into the air at the same time the gun was knocked out of Greaseball's hand by an invisible force. He could have fought it if he wanted, but he trusted that Dean knew what he was doing. Sure enough, he flew through the air and into the bedroom, Aiden soon following while screaming in fear, his arms flailing. Sam sat up just in time to catch Aiden and see the door shut and lock.
Dean was making sure no one got in to hurt them.
Quickly covering Aiden's ears, Sam let the little boy hug him as he sobbed. Cursing was heard from the other room and the woman's shrieks pierced the air. Sam heard the word "demon" being yelled and then a choking, gurgling sound proceeded it.
There were thuds against the walls, a sickening sound of bone...probably a spine or neck snapping. Suddenly, it went quiet except for ragged, hitched breaths that Sam knew weren't Dean's. There was one still alive...just barely.
"You made one big damn mistake saying you were gonna kill my brother." Dean's voice was as cold as ice. The only time Dean ever sounded that way was when something like this happened. Sam used to worry, but he knew Dean would come around. He'd calm down and come to like he always did, he just needed a little help from Sam.
Sam waited until he heard a sound of blade cutting through skin before he dared to remove his hands from over Aiden's ears.
"Listen Aiden...," Sam began, trying to figure out how he could tell the kid that Dean killed those people without making him afraid of the older brother.
Aiden, however, surprised Sam.
"Did Dean kill those evil people?" His voice shook. "Please, he killed them right? I'm so sorry, don't let them take me away!"
"It's okay Aiden," Sam calmed the young boy. "Dean did get them okay? They're gone. No one's taking you away, you're going to come back to our house."
"I'm sorry I ran to the mean people. The lady sounded just like my mommy and I thought she might be nice like her too, but she was evil."
Sam's heart broke for the poor boy. It was obvious he missed that motherly presence, hopefully the women at Bobby's could help him out. "It's okay Aiden, you didn't know. There is going to be a lot of nice people when we get to our house and there are kids there too."
Aiden's eyes lit up with excitement, the crying and fear forgotten. "Really?"
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, really." He paused to look at the closed door. "I'm going to go out there and talk to Dean now. He's kind of worked up and angry about those evil people."
"Because they tried to shoot you," Aiden stated.
"Yeah and because they were gross and mean people, too. Don't come out yet because he needs to cool down a bit and only I can help him with that. I'll let you know when you can come and see him, alright?"
With Aiden's nod, Sam got up and unlocked the door. In the other room he found Dean sitting stiffly on the couch, methodically cleaning his bloody knife with a rag. His face was splattered with a few droplets of blood and there was a healing scratch mark on his cheek, probably from the woman's nails.
Dean was facing the door but he wasn't staring at it. In fact he didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. A far away, dark look took over his features and when Sam tapped into his powers to view Dean's soul, it was sparking with a fierce and violent energy that wasn't usually there.
But it was okay. This happened before. It happened when Dean got really angry and killed people to protect Sam. He knew that he could get Dean to come back. Even in this state Dean would never consider hurting Sam or lashing out, it just wasn't possible.
"Hey Dean, I'm coming over," Sam stated, not wanting to startle his brother. Dean didn't turn around but Sam saw some of the tension release from his shoulders.
Walking over, Sam placed a hand on Dean's shoulder and sat down next to him. He noticed that the dead bodies were gone, but didn't mention it.
"I want to thank you for saving me and Aiden. He's really happy that you got those people. He's scared of course, but not of you at all. He ran out because that woman sounded like his mom." Sam squeezed Dean's shoulder and noticed that his soul had calmed down dramatically simply from Sam's presence and the physical contact. "You okay, Dean?"
Suddenly Dean turned his head to face Sam, his features were back to his normal grouchy, annoying, stupid self. "Of course I'm okay," Dean grumbled and stared daggers at Sam's hand on his shoulder. "Get your girly paws off of me."
Sam grinned and held his hands up in mock surrender. "Alright scary demon, take it easy."
"Shut up or I'll throw you out of the widow like I did with those dead sick freaks."
"Oh I'm sure you will." Sam smirked and motioned for Aiden to come out.
The boy slowly walked towards the brothers and stopped in front of Dean. "You're not really going to throw Sam out the window are you?" he asked in a worried tone.
"Yes, I'm totally going to throw my baby brother out the window to get eaten by Croats." Dean rolled his eyes.
Aiden scrunched his face up in concentration. "You're joking!"
"Wow really, how'd you know?" Dean asked in a fake overly excited tone before his voice fell to a grumble once more. "No shit kid, of course I was joking."
With the admittance that Dean was never going to hurt Sam, Aiden took the few remaining steps and rushed over to Dean, clinging to him tightly.
"Thank you for saving me!"
Dean huffed, rolled his eyes and then patted Aiden's head twice. "Stop getting yourself in near death situations and I won't have to anymore."
Sam had to say, he more than agreed with his brother there.
Hopefully their journey back to Bobby's would be much less eventful.