Supernatural Retaliation

Chapter Nine


"No, seriously, what's in Colorado?"

Danny tried to pry the reason of Sam's outburst from Dean and Bobby, but they both refused to give him a direct answer.

"Nothin' you need to worry about," Dean said gruffly without a smile. Danny was aware of the sudden shift in mood, but he didn't let it deter him from trying to figure out what was going on.

"Okay, then," he huffed exasperatedly. "Who was that demon?"

Dean rolled his eyes as he closed a small, musty planner book and stuffed it inside his jacket pocket and turned to the back door Sam had used only minutes ago.

"Just some demon who's obsessed with Sammy, okay? Why do you need to know everything?"

"I just want to know what's going to happen now."

"Nothin's happenin' now," Dean pushed the door open and held it for Danny. "Just get in the car, Sam's in a bad enough mood, he'll drive away without us. See ya 'round, Bobby."

Bobby waved and shouted a short, "Take care, boys! Call me if you need anything!" as Danny and Dean walked back to the car.

-

The car ride was relatively quiet. The tension between Dean and Sam was all too apparent to Danny, who awkwardly fiddled around with Sam's briefcase of fake IDs.

"Heh, you have licenses in like, every state," he said, trying to make conversation.

Dean's grip on the wheel tightened and Sam turned his head to face the window. Neither one answered him, and he bit his lip and continued to shift through driver's licenses, police badges, and other assorted identification.

Sam watched passively as tree after tree after tree passed by his window. He was angry and upset, not specifically at Dean, but at his situation. He didn't like the fact that both Dean and Bobby didn't trust him and he knew what they must be thinking, what their logic must be. They thought that being targeted by the yellow-eyed demon and coming back from the dead didn't add up to a particularly naïve or innocent personality, which was what he knew everyone had thought of him as before dying and gaining temporary mind powers, even before he turned to hunting. Little Sammy, smart kid of the family, not really useful in terms of capturing demons and saving lives. That's what he used to be. But he was still the same little boy, nothing had changed Or had it?

What happened? he wondered. What's been happening to me these past few months? To us?

He decided he didn't want to think about it. The complexities of and doubts he had about the usefulness of his job didn't make for very joyful thinking. So instead, he thought about what he was going to do now, with Danny, with the loose demon, with Ruby, everything. He felt hesitant about giving Ruby the satisfaction of knowing she was right about him, that he would choose his brother over a helpless kid, no matter what morals had to be broken. Doing so would prove that in reality, Sam didn't have anyone to live for but himself and his brother. His life was measured by the amount of demons he killed, not by how happy he was, whether or not he had a wife and kids, or the amount of money to his name, like everyone else's.

But that's the way it had to be. Someone had to do their job, and if not him and Dean, who else?

There were those morbid thoughts again. He redirected them to something a little more productive: the demon. If he were a demon who fed off of fear, where would he go?

Where would the most fear be?

But no matter how much he thought about it, in the end, Sam couldn't come up with a single lead. The demon could be anywhere.

"Dean," he finally said. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the motel," Dean grumbled over ACDC's guitar and drums duo. "Figured we'd get rested, brainstorm. I don't know, can't think of anything."

"Yeah," Sam said, looking down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs. "Me neither. Actually, it's getting kind of late," he continued, catching sight of his Fossil. "Dinner?"

"Sure," Dean grunted, starting to look around for a place to eat.

A few minutes later, he pulled into the drive of a China Buffet.

"Chinese, Dean?" Sam said, looking at the large blinking neon OPEN sign. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I figured I needed to make up for that sweet-'n-sour sauce you lost."

Instantly, any and all bad feelings disappeared from the air as Sam raised both hands defensively.

"I lost it?" he asked and Danny laughed at their immaturity, reminded of all the fights he had had with Jazz.

"Yeah, you lost it," Dean cracked a smile. "You were the one who was supposed to go get it. What do you think happened to it? It got up and walked away?"

"Well no," Sam snorted, getting out of the car to follow his brother into the restaurant. "Coming Danny?" Dean asked and Sam paused to wait for him.

"Of course!"

And once again, all was right with the world, at least for the time being.

-

"Ah, Chinese beer," Dean sighed contentedly as he put the mug of Tsingtao back on the hardwood table. "The good stuff."

"Fried rice, please," Danny said, as a pretty Chinese waitress passed his chair. She nodded and left to get his food. Suddenly, the door of the restaurant opened to reveal a large family. Three young children paraded through the door, followed by two teens and two adults, one of which was carrying a baby.

"Wow, a family of eight," Danny said, raising his eyebrows at the large family, not noticing the waitress as she set a bowl of fried rice on the table in front of him. Turning back to Sam, he said, "That's a pretty big family, huh?"

Sam grunted in affirmation, nodding his head nonchalantly in a way that just screamed, "I don't really care about your opinion." It created a sort of awkward silence as Danny frowned at the putdown. But Dean didn't catch on.

"Yeah, that is a lot of kids," he whistled, staring at the family. "Damn, could you even imagine?"

Together, Sam, Dean, and Danny ate a total of eight eggrolls, two carryout boxes full of rice, five boxes of noodles, orange chicken, and veggies. They sat after dinner looking at the empty boxes and picking at crumbs and remnants of their meal before they leaned back and stretched out in their seats, hands on their bloated stomachs.

"Ah, this is the life, eh, Sammy?" Dean asked as he trailed his index finger along his plate before popping it into his mouth.

Sam belched in reply. "Oh, 'scuse me," he said apologetically.

"I'll take that as a yes," Dean smirked. "What about you, Danny?"

"Anything other than Fenton Toast and FrankenWeenies…," the boy trailed off contentedly.

-

Later that night, Danny found himself flipping through channels on the television, while Dean was taking a shower and brushing his teeth and Sam silently hacked away at the keyboard on his computer. Danny got the feeling Sam didn't like him too much and he just couldn't understand why. In the beginning, when they were his teachers, Sam liked him more than Dean had, but now he practically considered Dean a good friend. Had he done something wrong? Was it something he said or did? Maybe…, he thought nervously to himself, maybe Sam knows or senses my secret. But that didn't make sense. What reason would Sam have to sit passively at the same time he held the knowledge only several humans knew?

Danny was interrupted from scaring himself any further when the bathroom door opened, allowing a large amount of steam to flow out into the room. Dean appeared, wearing nothing but comfy pants, ready for sleep.

"Huh," he said, looking around the room at its two occupants. "I ain't tired yet. Gonna go out."

"Out where?" Sam asked in a monotone voice, his eyes glued to the monitor of his laptop.

"Outside, Sherlock. I'm goin' stargazin'."

That made Sam look up. "What?"

"Well, I figure if I only got so much time 'til—" he paused as his eyes flickered to where Danny lay on the couch, pretending not to listen to his conversation and failing. "To enjoy myself, I gotta make the most of it." Sam bit his lip as Dean turned to Danny. "Wanna come, little man?"

"Sure!" Danny exclaimed happily, unaware of the tension between the two brothers.

"Sam?"

"Can't. Researching."

"Oh, come on!" Dean waved a hand. "Just for a few minutes! It's nice out!"

Sam slowly looked up from his computer and Dean didn't miss the way his eyes moved ever so slightly to the boy beside him. "No," he said slowly, deliberately. And, as if he forgot, he added, "Thank you."

Dean shrugged and threw the flimsy door of the no-tel motel open. Danny followed him outside, sparing one last fleeting glance at Sam before skipping down the steps into the warm summer night.

Dean produced a bottle of Bud Light from his jacket pocket before sitting down on a dilapidated old picnic table with a sigh of relief. Danny silently sat down next to him.

"What I wouldn't give for a girl right now…," Dean trailed off, mostly talking to himself. Danny made a face, but understood him.

"Hmm," he sighed through his nose, smiling as he looked upwards. The sky was filled with billions of stars, all glowing brightly in the absence of city lights.

"You got a girlfriend, kid?" Dean asked Danny as he stared at the silhouetted outline of the town.

"Hmm? Oh, no."

"Got a girl in mind?"

Danny blushed. "Oh! Heh, no, not…not…."

"Don't worry, I won't force it outta you."

Danny coughed in embarrassment. "Nah, it's just—I don't know…. Confused I guess."

Dean chortled heartily, but didn't press the boy. "Anyways, I just…. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Danny shrugged. "Shoot."

"How're you—" Dean began, not sure how to phrase it. "How are you takin' things with, you know….your dad?"

"My…. Oh." Danny let out a long sigh. "My dad. I don't know. He was always such a klutz, but somehow, whenever things were too tight, he could always lighten up the mood. It's gonna be hard without him. But I guess I'm doing better now. "

"Good to hear. I just wanted to let you know…," Dean dropped his head, and he studied his beer before taking a swig. "Just wanted to let you know that Sammy and I know what you're going through."

"You do?"

"Yeah." Dean tried to smile. "Dad died. 'Bout a year ago."

"Oh, wow. I'm—"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't say it," he interrupted him with a real smile this time. "We're good. It's just… I miss him so goddamned much, you know?"

Danny's gaze fell from the sky to his shoelaces as he said quietly, "Yeah. I know." Looking up at Dean, he asked, "What about your mom?"

Dean downed the last of the beer and threw the empty bottle towards the sidewalk and it shattered immediately upon impact, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. "Died too. But don't worry, happened when I was five. Don't remember too much." Lie.

Danny looked down at his shoes, expecting Dean to be finished, but the man pulled out yet another bottle of beer and kept talking after he twisted off the cap. "You know, even thought I don't know her… I miss 'er like hell. Not that I miss hell, no."

"Where did you get that?" Danny asked, eyeing the beer Dean had produced from seemingly nowhere. "How many bottles have you had today?"

Dean shrugged, but otherwise ignored the boy. After taking a large swig that emptied half the bottle, he leaned back on the edge of the picnic table and continued, "No way, José, am I gonna miss that shithole."

"Dean, what are you talking about?" Danny asked, sitting up, suddenly alarmed by Dean's state.
Dean shrugged again. "I guess there's no point in keepin' it from ya, though Sam didn't want you to know," he said, his words slightly beginning to run together. "I'm goin' there. To hell."

"What-?"

"Hell," he clarified, as if it was that simple. "Traded my soul for Sammy's. Little Sammy!" he cried, laughing. "I'm gonna become a demon. Haha!"

Danny wasn't one to take advantage of others, especially not his friends, but he was too curious not to milk Dean of everything he had. Danny, realizing that it was near close to impossible for him to live the way he thought Sam and Dean did, cut off from the outside world, devoid of any social life, was thirsty for information.

"…A demon?" He gave Dean a questioning look.

Dean laughed again, finishing the rest of the bottle before letting it slip out of his hands onto the patio under his feet. "You're more smart than you let on. Like that 'bout you. You look like a normal kid, but…. 'Nyway, yep. Sam died. Didn't we tell you?" he slurred, leaning his head back onto the table and looking back to the stars. "Oh that's right. You just got here."

"Huh?"

"Sammy died. Killed by the demon that killed our dad. Well, technically, anyway."

"Oh my G-…." Danny brought a hand to his mouth. "Is he a ghost?"

"Ghost?" Dean's brows furrowed together. "Nah, ghosts—pathetic…oh, yeah…your parents…." Danny frowned as Dean's ability to string sentences together slowly faded. "Went to th' crossroads demon, traded my soul for his. Said I had a year to live—year's almost up…."

"Dean, that's horrible!" Danny said in alarm. "That's…-"

He was interrupted from saying anything further to the older hunter when a loud snore sounded from beside him. He turned his head from the stars to find the older hunter beside him, hands behind his head on the picnic table and eyes closed, fast asleep.

-

Sam had tried everything. From googling "deaths in Yellow County" to going through his dad's old journal. He couldn't find a single thing. Everything led to a dead end.

"Dammit," he whispered to himself, flipping the journal onto the bed in frustration. He threw himself onto the bed, deciding to give up for the night. His mind was totally blank, and unless he had some rest, he'd never be able to think of a solution. He grabbed the remote and turned on the television to make himself tired.

"…and neighboring city, Amity Park is equally at loss for any compensational funds for the family of the murder victims, but Amity's mayor will campaign for a county-wide upgrade in terms of social and economical security-"

Sam quickly flipped the channel. The dead of Amity Park was the last thing he wanted to think about. "…in other news, happy father of seventeen is said to be the father of the largest family in the US. He and his wife, Charlotte, are being funded by Gerber Baby-"

Sam's jaw dropped.

"Of course! That's it!" he cried, dropping the remote in happiness. "The family!"

The more people for the demon to kill off, the more fear there was. Since the demon had followed them to Amity Park, it had probably followed them to their current location, so the next most likely target would be the family of eight. He threw himself off the bed, and ran through the sliding glass door. Pushing it open, called out to his brother.

"Dean! Dean!"

"Shh!" came the reply. Blinking as his eyes adapted to the darkness, Sam saw the sleeping form of his brother lying on a picnic table, and Danny, finger pressed firmly on his mouth in a quieting gesture.

"He's sleeping?" Sam asked in surprise, momentarily forgetting that he was trying not to talk to the boy. "Dammit, I finally have something!"

"He's so wasted," the boy replied. "But that figures."

"'Figures?'" Sam echoed, wondering why it could possibly have been expected.

"I would probably stock up on the margaritas too, if I were going to hell."


Beta for this chapter: MutantLover09

A/N: You guys are probably getting annoyed with me. Another chapter and still no action. Tell me what you think!