Thanks for all the great comments. It really does help me stay focused.

Chapter 6

Missouri Mosely sat in a weather-beaten Adirondack chair on her front porch. Her eyes were unfocused and distant as she faced the sunrise over Lawrence, Kansas. The emerging morning light revealed the glistening tear tracks that marked her face. She hurt. The war was here in earnest and she had made a choice. And she was afraid. The uncertainty was overwhelming, but she had faith, powerful faith.

"Oh Sammy, honey, I don't know the best way to help you, but I will die trying." She looked down at the phone on the small table beside her. It rang. She knew it was John Winchester's youngest child. She also knew the strength and source of Sam's burgeoning powers, and the reason for his call. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she picked up her phone.

"Hello, Sam."

"Uh, Missouri, I didn't know who else to call," his voice cracked. "They have Dean." Sam was clearly distraught, and it tore at her heart to feel his pain so clearly. She opened her eyes and another tear fell down her cheek.

"I know, Sam. I'm so sorry. That boy is in some deep trouble and we've got a long, tough battle ahead of us, child. But you two boys are the strongest souls I've ever met. If anyone can meet this challenge, you can."

"I know that Missouri, I just don't know which side I'm going to end up on. What if I can't get to Dean before I go all dark side? Am I going to turn into one of those demon freaks and lose not only myself, but Dean, too?"

"I don't have the answer to that, honey. But I will help you any way I can. I have some theories. But that's all they are, just theories."

"I'd love to hear them, then. Because right now the only thing I care about is getting Dean back. I-I had a vision, Missouri. I saw my brother die. He was killed right before my eyes. I didn't stop it."

"We aren't going to let that happen. You have knowledge Sammy. We are going to use your powers. We're going to strengthen them."

"Strengthen them? I don't even want these damn powers, Missouri! I don't want anything from that yellow-eyed bastard!"

"Oh, child, that's not an option for you any more. It never was, really. You have these powers. They're a part of you. Now we're going to use them. It's the only way we can win this war," she paused briefly and closed her eyes again. "You're in Oregon now?"

"Yeah. We're in Salem."

"I am going to meet you there tonight. If I'm right about this, we will have to work quickly, but we may be able to turn this around, at least temporarily, enough to buy us some time to get that boy out of there."

"Can you see where Dean is?" Missouri heard the slight tremor in Sam's voice. He's scared to death for his brother.

"I can sense him, but I can't pinpoint exactly where he is. He's not far from you though, and he's okay." Missouri didn't mention that she could also feel a lot of pain, both emotional and physical emanating from Dean. Sam was worried enough. She didn't want to add to his grief. "I'll see you soon, child."

Other hunters began to assemble in the abandon warehouse where Dean was held. He recognized many of them from the Roadhouse, which wasn't surprising since Jo was the one spearheading this witch hunt convention. He wondered when she had cracked. Was it when she'd found out that his father had been the one responsible for her dad's death? Or was it when she heard about Sam's special powers? Maybe it was both, but Dean had never seen anyone change so quickly.

As if sensing his thoughts, she turned and looked at him lecherously. "Hey Dean, I think you could use some nourishment. We have to keep up your strength. You're no good to me dead . . . yet."

"If it's just the same to you Jo, I'll take a pass. If my stomach remembers correctly, you won't be getting your own show on the Food Network anytime soon."

She walked over and slapped him hard across the face, leaving a stinging red mark in her wake. "The name's Lilith. Now, if you call me Jo again, you'll regret it big time. And another thing, tough guy, if I say you're going to eat something, then you're going to eat. You don't get a vote."

Dean looked at her in astonishment. His first instinct was to make a smartass comment back to her, but she was so far off center that he thought better of it. She's buckets of crazy. Anything I say is just gonna piss her off and I've got enough trouble already.

Gordon made his way through the dozens of hunters who were standing around drinking and talking. He stopped in front of Dean and Lilith with a drink. "I think Dean here is thirsty, don't you, Lil?"

"Yeah, I was just explaining to Mr. Winchester that he will do as he's told," she took the drink from Gordon and turned back to Dean, drawing herself closer to him; he could almost feel her breath on his neck. "Now, Gordon has been nice enough to bring it, so it's time to drink up."

Dean cleared his throat. "Is that more of that shit from last night?"

"I'm surprised you can even remember that. Usually it erases short term memory. But, yes it's the same drink you had last night, only it has a bit more kick than tequila, as you no doubt noticed."

"Yeah, waking up half naked in an abandoned warehouse was a clue," he smirked.

She tilted his head back and brought the glass to his lips. He turned his head away and she roughly pulled it back. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, Dean. Do you have any idea how painful this would be if it were injected into your veins? I really don't even know how you would react. It might just kill you straight out."

"So, I'm guessing that would be the hard way then. Right, Lil?" He turned and looked her straight in the eyes, his voice filled with contempt as he said her name.

"Drink it."

Gordon joined Lilith and they managed to pry Dean's lips apart and pour the strong liquid down his throat. They held his nose and forced his jaws closed to make sure he swallowed it. It burned all the way down and he cursed himself for not being able to stop them.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it Dean? That was a pretty strong dose, too. Way stronger than the other one. I knew you were tough." She stroked the side of his face as his eyes began to lose focus. The room was spinning and he felt sick. He could vaguely make out voices and snippets of conversation. Just as he faded out completely he heard Gordon's voice:

"It's time to send another message to Sammy."