If put up a few chapters this time since I'll be MIA until next week. I hope this holds you all over until then. Thanks again for reading and I hope you all enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Winchesters or anything Eric Kripke and his genius mind comes up with.

Rated T for now with only strong language.

Spoilers: If you haven't seen any of the 5th season, I suggest not reading (and possibly catching up on your Supernatural)

Pairings: Dean/Jo

Chapter 7

"There is no way that Three Dog Night is better than Lynard Skynard! How can you possibly think that? Did you eat paint chips as a kid?" Jo threw her hands up in frustration and looked out the window. "That's so wrong I can't even look at you right now."

"They were under appreciated." Dean was not backing down from this fight. "Joy to the World, One, Mama Told Me, all classics. The lyrics alone set them above Skynard."

"They had like, three hit songs. How many do you hear today? One, maybe. Pick a classic rock station and Skynard will be playing every hour. And, they are still touring." Jo looked back at him, daring him to come up with something new but he began to see he was fighting a loosing battle.

"I still love Joy to the World," he muttered quietly. A few moments passed with nothing but the sounds of the radio. "How far out are we?" Jo picked up the atlas and looked it over.

"I'm guessing about half an hour. Dean, if the devil is there, I'm sure that town is crawling with demons."

"Yeah I thought about that. What's the town before it? We'll find a motel there and get a plan together."

"Looks to be…Camp Hill."

They pulled into the dingy motel and checked in to room 13. They threw their bags on the beds and began to salt the windows and draw devil's traps where possible. Dean figured being this close, they couldn't be too careful. He grabbed the laptop and started going through reports as Jo finished up the last trap.

"What ya looking for?"

"Any activity. I'm thinking it's best to find the demons as quick as possible before they know we're here. I don't want Lucifer finding out about us before we get to Sam." Jo nodded in agreement and brought a bag of weapons over to the table to start cleaning. "If he finds out we're here and takes off with Sam, I don't think…"

It hit him all of a sudden. Since he'd found out Sam had been taken, he'd been confident he'd find him. There had never been doubt about Sam giving in to Lucifer or him not getting to him in time. But getting this close and knowing how quickly things could turn, it was like a punch to the gut he hadn't seen coming. What if Lucifer took his brother somewhere and he couldn't find or get to him in time? Demons he knew Sam could handle, but the devil? It seemed almost impossible.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the feeling of Jo's hand on his. She'd been holding his hand and running her thumb on his cool skin for over a minute now. He looked up and met her determined gaze. "We'll get him back Dean. There's no way we're letting that son of a bitch get Sam."

"I know. I'd never let anything happen to him as long as I live. It's just…sometimes it's a lot Jo. It seems like every time I save him from one evil, another finds him." Jo could see his shoulders drop and his body look suddenly so tired as he glanced down at the table. "I'll never stop fighting for him but…it just never seems to stop."

"If we can do this, if we can stop the devil, maybe then you guys will get some peace. God knows you've earned it."

"Wouldn't that be nice? No more demons or cheap motels or diner food for every meal?" He gave a hint of a smile and Jo could tell he was coming back to her.

"Admit it, you know you'd miss the diner food."

"Yeah, that one I wouldn't give up."

"Well, if we're gonna find Sam, we're gonna need to find some demons to torture first. I better get the artillery ready." With that, Jo slipped her hand away and went to grab the shotgun from her duffel. Dean held his hand there for a minute longer, feeling the warmth of her hand leave his. He looked up at Jo with her back to him for a moment, then turned his attention back to the computer.

"I think I got something." He'd been looking over the information for an hour but he'd finally found a possible lead. Jo put down the bullets and focused on him. "The local police report said four 'loving and faithful' men were reported missing by their families."

"So..."

"Four men in one day."

"There any connection?"

"All four happened to belong to the same hunting lodge. Cops checked the lodge out but no evidence they'd been there."

"So, you're thinking maybe they hide their tracks well and they're waiting somewhere close to the lodge, waiting on some orders from Lucifer?"

"Maybe. It's worth checking out." They started packing the gear and filling up on holy water before they left.

Dean grabbed the knife out of his bag and handed it to Jo. She gave him a puzzled look. "What's a knife gonna do against some demons?"

"Actually, it'll kill them. We got it from a demon a while back and trust me, it works. Just make sure you get them in the neck or the head." She stuck it in the top of her boot and secured it in.

"Thanks."

"You ready?"

"As ever."

They had debated about waiting until dark instead of going after the demons in the middle of the day but they didn't have the luxury of time. There was a good chance the demons would lay low during the day to avoid any attention anyhow. They stopped the car about a half mile away so as not to give away the element of surprise. They grabbed some weapons and started their hike through the forest.

The trees were mostly pine and wouldn't have provided much coverage but the undergrowth had grown tall. They were both relived for the cloudy day otherwise this mid day trek would have been draining on them. They stopped when they saw the clearing ahead with the lodge and a large barn behind it.

"The cops checked the lodge but what about the barn?" Jo asked as she put some extra rock salt shells in her jacket pocket.

"Could be it. I doubt with it being early afternoon they'd be hiding in the lodge. Sneaking around the back of the barn and going in that way might be our best shot." She nodded and followed him as he made his way through the tall overgrowth quietly. They stopped before entering the clearing. "Remember, we need to keep one of them alive."

"I'll do my best." They left the coverage of the brush and ran the twenty yards to the back door. It was slightly ajar and Dean edged it open as quietly as possible. The room they entered was dark and filled with different tools. The doorway in front of them looked to lead into the main, open part of the barn. They opted for the doorway to the left that led to an area covered by the rafters above.

Voices could be heard, orders were being given by one of the demons. It sounded like they were gathering items for something. They crept along behind a wall of hay bales until finding a gap to see through. Three demons were painting markings on the barn floor while another was holding a book and directing them. They had possessed a hunter, a man in a suit, an old man, and a teacher. It looked like they were about to perform a ritual but they didn't want to wait to find out if they were summoning something there.

Dean stepped out from behind the bales and aimed his shotgun at the hunter, catching him completely off guard. Jo followed and took down the suited demon holding the book with some rock salt.

"We were wondering how long before you showed up to try to save your baby brother," the teacher said as he rose up from the floor. "Lucifer would love for you to be there when he says yes."

"Not a chance in hell," Dean said as he pumped another round into the teacher. Jo grabbed the knife from her boot and made her way towards the suit she'd knocked on the floor. He tried to get up but she hit him with the shotgun and jabbed the knife into his neck.

The old man lunged towards Jo but Dean caught him with a shell before he could cover the distance. The hunter and the teacher had recovered though and were coming after Dean. "Damn the Colt would be handy right now." Dean ran back behind the bales and scaled a ladder, getting to the loft before they could catch up with him.

He positioned himself to face the ladder and easily knocked the teacher with a swing of the shotgun. The hunter was another story. He grabbed the shotgun halfway through Dean's swing and tossed it aside as he gained footing on the loft floor.

Jo was having a slightly harder time with the old man. Despite the older body, the demon moved quickly and caught her off guard as he connected on an upper cut to her chin. She landed against a wooden beam and was being raised off her feet before she could recover. He held her up against the beam and grasped her neck, cutting off some much needed oxygen.

She moved her hands within her pockets, looking for the knife and then realizing it was laying ten feet away on the floor. "Guess I have to do this the old fashion way," she thought as she brought her arms down across his elbows, breaking free.

Dean got a few good punches in but the hunter was big and not going down easy. He threw a right rook but it was stopped mid punch. He felt a rib crack as the hunter put all his weight behind the punch. Dean dropped to the ground. The demon smiled, thinking he had the upper hand when Dean pulled a sawed off shotgun from behind his back and knocked the demon down to the barn floor.

Dean looked down and saw Jo fighting with the old man and the teacher sneaking up behind her. He fired off a shot and put a second round into the teacher. He jumped to the floor below and grabbed the knife. He reloaded the shells and shot at the hunter one more time before jabbing the knife into him.

He turned around as he heard a sickening crack behind him. The old man stood over a dazed Jo, holding a two by four. She moved to get back up but her movements were sluggish. Dean covered the ground in seconds and stuck the knife deep into his throat, watching as the electricity shot through him. She looked over at the last demon still on the ground from the last round of rock salt. She stood up and using the shotgun, knocked him out cold.

"You ok?" Dean walked over to Jo and placed his hands on her head, making sure the two by four hadn't done any critical damage.

"I'm not going to be doing complicated math anytime soon, that's for sure." She smiled up at him, catching the worry in his eyes.

"You're bleeding." He moved her bangs out of the way to check the source of the blood. After a second he sighed with some relief. "It's not serious."

"I'll just patch myself up when we get back." She moved out of his hands and looked at the unconscious demon. "Shall we?"