Thank you so much Jenjoremy for all your hard work on this chapter. Thank you Gredelina1 for supporting me writing and giving the content the once over before it was done. I can't overstate how much these ladies do for me and the story.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I am constantly touched by how many of you are sharing your thoughts and enjoying the story.

Chapter Seven

John hated to leave his boys again already, but it was more important than ever that they find out who this Azazel was and what exactly he wanted from Sam, so just a few hours after Jessica got home from the hospital, he set out for The Roadhouse. His phone remained tucked under his ear for the first hour of the journey as he made the arrangements for what he needed.

He stopped in the early hours of the morning at a rest stop and crashed, his exhaustion finally catching up with him as his adrenaline ran out. He slept hard for six hours, and then, cursing the wasted time, he woke up and set out again. He was forced to sleep one more time when his eyes started to blur and so he arrived at The Roadhouse late the following evening. He called Dean to let him know he'd gotten there and promised to call again when he knew more. Dean was the only one that knew what he was doing. He'd told Sam he was working on a way to save him from his dreams, and that was the truth, albeit a little vague. Even his friends only knew he wanted to see them. It was a testament to the kind of people they were that they all agreed to make the journey for him without knowing more.

The parking lot was busy as was to be expected given the hour, which meant they would have to wait until closing to talk freely. As he climbed out, he spotted Bobby's Chevelle and Caleb's Mustang parked side by side. Nodding to himself, satisfied, he pushed open the bar door and entered.

There was a momentary lull in the voices talking as people registered someone new arriving. They quickly relaxed as they recognized one of their own and the noise built up again. He nodded to acquaintances and made his way across to where Ellen was serving at the bar.

"John," she said, seemingly pleased. "You made it then."

"Thanks for this, Ellen," he said.

"I don't know what you're thanking me for yet. All you've said is you need to talk. I'm guessing since Bobby and Caleb arrived a few hours ago that this isn't going to be a small affair."

"Won't be too big," John said. "Just Jim Murphy and Daniel Elkins to come. Where's Bill?"

"On the phone to Jo. She's not doing so good at college. He's talking her down. I can't do it. She won't listen to me."

John smiled. "That's because you're too much alike."

"You may be right," she conceded. "How about your boys? I know Dean is the mirror of you from the fast hands to the leather jacket, but what about Sam?"

John smiled serenely. "He's all Mary. Gentle, kind; he's not a hunter."

She nodded thoughtfully. "And you don't want him to be?"

John ran a hand over his face. "No. Truthfully, I don't want either of my boys to be. Dean might have a chance of something different when it's over, I hope, but Sam, no. He's not stepping any deeper into our world than he already has."

"When it's over?"

"Later, Ellen," he said, glancing to the side where Walt was listening to them while feigning the interest in the story Roy was telling him.

She followed his eyes and said in a glaring change of topic, "How is Sam?"

"He's okay," John said carefully.

"You don't sound so sure," she observed.

"I'll tell you about it when I can,"

"Make sure you do. You want a drink?"

"Beer, please," he said.

"You off the whiskey?" she asked.

"Trying," he said. "Need to keep a clear head." Though he wished more than anything for a belt of good stuff to take the edge off of his tension.

She reached under the counter and handed him a bottle, then shook her head as he held out a bill. "On me."

"Thanks," John said.

A man came to the bar and held out a bill, catching Ellen's eye.

"I'll leave you to work," he said then turned and wandered over to the table Bobby and Caleb had claimed.

They watched him as he approached, looking curious, and when he took a chair beside Bobby, Caleb leaned forward, a smile of his face. "So, John, what's with the secret rendezvous? This isn't like you."

Bobby raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm surprised he called us. John likes going it alone."

"You've spoken to Dean?" John guessed.

"Yeah. The kid was worried."

"It's dealt with. He understands now. And that part is over."

"I hope so," Bobby said.

Caleb took a swig of his beer and asked, "So, what is it about?"

He seemed eager, excited. This was why John had hesitated before calling him in. Caleb was a fine hunter, but he didn't immerse himself in the life the way Bobby, John and Daniel did. Even Jim, who had his parishioners, didn't have the same ability to separate the pieces of his life in him. Caleb reminded him more of Dean as he was now, since he had found Sam. He was lighter than the others; he even kept in touch with his people and went on completely civilian family picnics.

"I'll tell you about it when we're all here," John said stiffly. "We're waiting on Jim and Daniel."

"Wow, it's like a reunion," Caleb said while Bobby looked interested.

It wasn't a reunion, John thought. It was yet another attempt to protect his family from the things trying to tear them apart.

Daniel Elkins and Jim Murphy arrived shortly before closing. The bar was busy, and when the time came to close, Ellen and Bill had to chivy drinkers out of the door against protests that John and his table were staying.

"It's a private party," Bill said as he herded Walt and Roy to the door. Finally, the door closed behind the last person and Ellen slid the bolts across while Bill went behind the bar to fetch a bottle of whiskey and glasses.

He set the bottle down on the table and placed a glass in front of each person, then pulled two chairs around for himself and Ellen and sat down. Ellen dimmed the lights and joined them. She poured the drinks, moving past John when he shook his head and picked up his beer. When they each had a drink, silence fell between them, an expectant silence that made John want to squirm. He had never dealt with this many hunters at once before, let alone asked for something from them. It went against him to ask for help, always had. It had always been Dean that asked for their help. He had made the calls when they needed to hole up somewhere when John was having a hard time. The only time John felt comfortable was when asking for help for Dean—as he had of Bobby when he'd had to leave the Stanford vampire hunt.

But here he was, about to ask them to risk everything to save his family, and it had to be done. He was without a choice in the matter if he was going to protect them.

"I need help," he said, his voice seeming too loud in the almost empty room.

"Whatever you need," Bill said without hesitation. He drew the eyes of the others in the room and varying states of surprise apart from Ellen who was nodding.

"You don't even know what I am asking," he said.

"Doesn't matter," Ellen said firmly. "We owe you."

"I owe you more," John argued. "You have taken me and Dean in when I've needed it every time we asked."

"That's not a debt," Bill said. "That's being friends."

He wondered what he had done to provoke such loyalty from these people. He had saved Bill once, but they had saved him more when they took them in, when they spent nights talking with him, listening to him rave about Mary's death and memorializing Sammy. They had listened every time, keeping him sane enough to scrape together enough life to pretend to be coping even a little for Dean. They had made it possible for him to protect Dean from the very worst of it.

"What's happening, John?" Jim asked gravely.

"Something is coming for my family, and I can't protect them alone."

Bobby's face was guarded as he asked, "What is coming?"

John drew a deep breath and said, "A demon. A very powerful demon."

The only person that showed no shock was Daniel as he had been there while John was interrogating the other demons.

John went on. "It's the monster that murdered Mary.

"So, it's revenge?" Bobby asked.

"No. Well, yes, in part. It took her from us, and I do want revenge, but more than that I want to protect my family. It's coming for my boy. It wants Sam."

Ellen sucked in a breath, and John thought he could follow the path of her thoughts. Sam, the little boy she'd known who had now returned grown, the young man she'd shared drinks with, taken by a monster again. Dean, his good and loving heart, torn apart again by the loss of his brother. Their family in tatters once more. They had barely survived it once; they could not do it again.

"We're with you," Bill said, laying a comforting arm around Ellen's shoulders.

"Me too," Bobby said gruffly.

"I will do whatever I can," Jim said.

"I'm in," Caleb said, his tone uncharacteristically serious.

John's eyes found Daniel and he watched as Daniel considered. He didn't have the same stake in this that the others did. With the exception of Caleb, they'd all known Sam as a child. They cared for him, as well as Dean and John, even if, like Bobby, they weren't the most able of people to show it.

Daniel nodded slowly. "I will help."

"Thank you," John said gratefully, looking from face to face. "I will never be able to repay you for this."

"What do you need us to do?" Bill asked.

"Demons," John said. "I want you to find as many as you can for me. I need information and they're the only ones that can give it. I want to know everything possible about this demon. All I know so far is that it's called Azazel and it apparently has yellow eyes."

"I've never heard of any with eyes that aren't black or red," Ellen said.

"None of us have," John said. "Which is one reason I'm afraid. We've never tangled with anything like this before. No hunter has as far as I know."

"What do we do with the demons when we have them?" Caleb asked.

"Call me," John said. "I want to talk to as many as I can."

"When you say talk, you mean torture," Jim said mildly.

"Yes," John said shamelessly. "I won't ask any of you to do that for me, but I will do it myself. I've had a few lately, and I found I could make them talk without hurting the meat suit. Enough holy water and they will break."

"We can do that, too," Caleb said.

"I won't ask any of you to torture for me," he said, looking at Jim. He knew that, no matter how much his friend wanted to help, he wouldn't be able to that.

"You're not asking," Caleb said. "I'm offering."

"I can do it, too," Bill said.

Bobby shrugged. "If we can do it without killing the meat suits, I'll do it, too. It won't be the first time I've gone up against something like this."

"I will help where I can," Jim said carefully, echoing his earlier offer of help.

Daniel nodded. "You know I will."

John breathed out in a sigh, relief rushing over him. He never imagined they would be prepared to do this for him, too. With them all working alongside him, they could speed up the process, get as much information as they could as fast as they could.

"Thank you all," he said. "This means more to us that you can know."

"I have a question," Caleb said. "Why just ask us? There's a bunch of hunters out there that would want a piece of this. And the more of us, the easier it would be."

John hesitated. "You're right, but I want this to stay just us. I don't want anyone else knowing what we're doing." He couldn't risk more people finding out about Sam's part in it.

"Why not? What aren't you telling us?" Bobby asked shrewdly.

John sat with his head bowed for a moment, feeling their gazes boring into him. He and Dean had decided together that no one else should know about Sam's vision or the possibility that there could be more. He thought now that they were wrong though. These people were willing to risk their lives going after demons, setting aside their own wants and needs to torture them. The least they deserved was the truth.

He looked up and said, "There are people out there that the demon called special. They have something Azazel wants. A power of some sort I think. Sam is one of them." Ignoring their exclamations of shock, he said, "Sam had a dream of his girlfriend being killed just like Mary. He saw it night after night for weeks. Somehow, that dream has something to do with the demon. I don't know whether it's something the demon did or something he wants, but Sam's in danger because of it." His voice desperate, he said, "I can't let the demon have him."

"Of course not," Ellen said consolingly. "And it won't. We'll find out what you need to know and we'll take care of it."

"I'm with you," Bobby said. "But when you do find it, what are you going to do? Exorcism has got to be nothing more than a vacation for a heavy hitter like this. There's no weapon that can kill one, and I'm pretty sure we can't keep it in a trap forever."

"There might be a weapon," John said carefully. "I heard rumors about one."

"You're talking about The Colt," Bobby said. "John, that's just a story. It doesn't exist."

"I think it might," John replied. "I've been reading lore, and it's mentioned a lot."

"What is The Colt?" Caleb asked.

"In 1835, Samuel Colt made a gun," Bobby explained. "It was supposed to kill anything. It was used half a dozen times before it disappeared. It's a hunter's legend though. Not real."

"I don't think so," John said stubbornly. "I think it's out there, and I am going to find it."

"How?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know," John admitted. "I just know I have to."

"I suppose anything's possible," Jim said. "You found Sam after all, and not a single one of us thought that could happen."

"This isn't a missing child though," Bobby said.

"My son was dead and came back to me," John said. "This gun is a legend, maybe, but I'm finding that, too." He looked to Daniel. "What do you think?"

"I think it's real," he said. "And I will help you find it. I will help in any way I can."

"Good," John said. "Because I believe this is bigger than my son. The demon we had last said some stuff that's pretty heavy."

"What did it say?" Ellen asked.

John drew a breath and said, "That there's going to be a war and there will be soldiers."

"Demon soldiers?" Jim asked, his hands pressing together as if in prayer.

"I hope so," John said heavily. "Because if not, I think it means humans… I think it means Sam."

So… They have a plan and a team onside now to protect Sam and stop the the this chapter was different for me. I've never had this kind of scene before. It was a lot of characters to track. I hope it came out okay.

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Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx