Thank you once again williewildcat! ;) *laughs* Ahh, you'll have to wait and see if someone slaps Sam around!!

And thank you poplar-cat!! It's much appreciated that you like it!!

CHAPTER THREE.

I went back to the motel room, idly chewing on a mouthful of well salted fries, carrying in one hand a paper sack full of steaming hot burgers, the other carrying a paper sack of coca Colas. From afar, I heard the sounds of shouts, a scream, and fighting, and instinctively, I ran to the source of the noise - which I discovered to be Sam and Dean's motel room.

I just about kicked the door down in my haste to enter, only to discover Dean sitting propped against one bed, breathing heavily, bloodied, bruised, while Sam was laying on the floor, long limbs askew, and obviously unconscious. He too, like Dean before him, was bloodied and bruised, lips split and bleeding, one eye blackened.

I immediately picked up on the one omission from the room - most noticeable by her absence through a lack of demonic smell.

"Where the hell is Ruby?" I asked Dean. "What the hell did she do?"

"She didn't do this, Jenna! Alastair did! He came for her!" Dean said, sounding bitter and angry, although I was betting it was more for losing the fight rather than losing Ruby.

I cursed loudly, before putting down the paper socks on the nearby table before I threw them.

"Don't blame yourself, Jenna - it's best you weren't involved. There was nothing you could have done against him anyway. At least one of us needs to be fit enough to fight him when it comes to it," Dean said, getting to his feet with some effort.

I knew he was right, but said nothing.

"C'mon, help me with Sam!" Dean said, leaning down to heft one side of Sam, while I strode forward to take his other side. Sam was heavy and I struggled with my smaller, slighter frame supporting him, but between us, we got him on one of the nearby beds. We tore hungrily into the slowly cooling burgers while we waited for Sam to regain consciousness, with Dean recounting the fight scene, blow by blow.

It seemed as though, while Dean had gone to the bathroom, Alastair with two of his demonic cronies had gained access to the room, accosting Sam through sheer surprise. Dean, alerted to the noise, came running, but the cronies were already disappearing through the door, with a limp Ruby between them and Sam already out for the count upon the floor. Dean had tried to stop Alastair from leaving, but had ended up getting beaten for his efforts. He typically came out with the usual guy response of - "You should have seen the state I left Alastair in though!" - when I showed concern over Dean's ills.

I had to admit that at least made me smile, which was probably Dean's intention all along. Dean smiled back before Sam slowly stirred beside us, sniffing slightly at the smell of the food.

"Ruby? Did Alastair get Ruby?" Sam asked hoarsely, as I passed him a coke, wordlessly.

Dean nodded, as Sam nodded out his thanks to me.

"And where the hell were you, Jenna?" Sam asked next.

"Don't start, Sammy. Jenna was getting the food in. Where d'you think the Coke came from?" Dean pointed out.

Sam merely grunted, and I wondered if maybe he thought I'd kept out of the way on purpose.

I stood, before saying - "It's getting late. I'm getting off to get some shut eye. We'll find Ruby in the morning once we're rested."

"Why not now, Jenna? We should go now!" Sam threw at my back. "They've only just gone - we can catch up! I bet it would be a different matter if Castiel went missing, wouldn't it? You'd be after him like an avenging angel, now wouldn't you?"

"Enough! Sam, enough!" I said, pointing at him warningly. "Alastair is long gone - we will do Ruby more harm than good if we go after her tired. We need to be fresh if we're going to be of any use to her! And leave Castiel out of this!"

"She's got a point, Sammy," Dean said, quietly. "Jenna, you'd best go. I have something to say to my brother."

I gave him a small nod before leaving the room quietly, taking the remnants of my burger and coke with me. No sense in going hungry or thirsty because of Sam Winchester and his demons.