Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 10

Dean sat in the booth, watching the other customers even as he ate. It had been six months since he left New Orleans and so far there was no sign anyone had picked up his trail. He hated not contacting Bobby or Sam but it was safer this way. He had almost gotten Sam killed by staying there and while Bobby had protections John had proved they were no deterrent for humans once already. He honestly didn't know which would be worse, John finding him or the demon. He also knew his own abilities were getting out of hand. He'd woken more than once from a nightmare to find the room in an utter mess. He was scared and so he ran, only stopping to sleep and eat. He knew it was only a matter of time until someone found him and he died.

Sam was finally settled into his new home. It was newer than the townhouse that had burned and in a different neighbourhood. Thankfully he never kept many mementos of his family and life in one place so he hadn't lost much in the fire. He missed the feeling of history the old place had, not to mention the memories of time spent with a friend. Sam only knew Dean was alive because of Acheron but not even his boss could track the hunter. Talk about skills. At least the local Daimon population was taking the brunt of his frustrations and had dropped a bit since Dean had vanished.

He had become friends with Kyrian and Amanda which was nice. He almost envied the Greek for having a love strong enough to free him from Artemis. Sam had never had anything like that, even as a human. He had loved his family but that was all, he had never loved a woman the way Kyrian loved Amanda or Talon loved Sunshine. It wasn't like he hadn't been old enough he'd just always been so busy helping his father that he had never really thought of marriage. And unlike many of his brethren he had no liking for one-night stands, loving and leaving them. He'd done it once or twice soon after becoming a Dark Hunter but since then had remained alone. He'd made use of the Squires trained to see to those needs more often but once they were outlawed he simply stopped. Sharing a bed required trust as far as he was concerned, how could you trust someone you just met? So maybe he was lowering his odds of ever going free, he didn't care. It wasn't a bad life, he had everything he needed and an exciting job. He had acquaintances among the others via the online chatrooms and even the occasional phone call and now he even had some friends even if those friends were now mortal. And he had made a promise to never make Ash be beaten for his sake.

Valerius took another Daimon's head off and spun to face another. He was actually almost out of breath and was wondering where they had all come from. This was one of those time when he hated Artemis even more for not giving him psychic abilities. Any other Dark Hunter would be tossing them around but he was stuck with physical fighting and he was badly outnumbered….until several at the back suddenly became coated in ice before shattering to reveal the newest Hunter in New Orleans, his own sword in his hand. Between the two of them the mass of Daimon's was soon dust in the wind. The shorter male nodded at him and then turned to go. "Shemu'el?"

Sam turned to face the Roman, at least he had managed to pronounce his name properly. "Yes?"

"Thank you for the assistance." He told him stiffly.

"No problem. What Artemis does to you Romans isn't right. If you had powers you could have easily handled that lot." Sam just shrugged.

"You aren't Greek?"

Sam laughed and shook his head. "Egyptian. I know the majority of us are Greek but not all. I don't care where you were born, we all work for Ash now. See you around." He walked away, leaving Valerius to ponder his words.

Dean sprawled in the booth, absently playing with a mug of coffee. Bobby had finally tracked him down last week, though not physically. The voicemail had been rather scathing and made him feel even worse for not contacting him but he couldn't put his surrogate uncle/father figure in danger. But it had been nice to hear a friendly voice for the first time in over a year. He'd half figured one of Sam's friends or a demon would have found him by now but nothing. His dreams had gotten worse in that they came wether he was awake or asleep now. Add to that his uncontrollable ability to move things during a nightmare and he was spending less time in motels and more sleeping on the road in the beat up car he had managed to get his hands on. Now he was taking a short break in a crummy diner in the middle of nowhere and bored out of his mind. He hadn't found a good hunt in almost a month and everything seemed quiet, too quiet for his peace of mind. The waitress screamed and Dean went to get up, seeing her start to collapse only for the world to go black.

He gasped and rolled over as he woke, every sense on alert for danger and he tried to work out what had happened…..and where the hell was he? He looked around in confusion at the collapsing buildings and creepy trees, just your typical ghost town then. He quickly checked himself over and found his weapons were gone and his phone had no reception.

"Help! Help me!" A female voice screamed and Dean cautiously moved towards it, finding a locked shed.

"Get back from the door!" He yelled and then beginning hitting the lock until it fell apart and he pulled the door open to release the girl. "You hurt?"

"No….where are we? What's going on?" She asked fearfully.

"Just stay calm. I'm Dean, what's your name?"

"Ava…where's my fiancé?"

"I don't know. I was just in a diner and woke up here. We better stick together till we figure it out, okay?"

"Okay."

Sam frowned, he had a very bad feeling. He paced the living room, unable to sleep but stuck inside due to the sun. He threw himself down on the couch and closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling to try and learn more. "Dean." He whispered and swallowed. Dean was in trouble, life-threatening danger and he had no way to help him. He grabbed his phone and bit his lip in thought before finally dialling. "Hey Ash, its Sam. There's something wrong, Dean's in danger. Any sightings or word?" He hung up and sighed, voicemail meant Ash was most likely with Artemis so who knew when he would be able to call back.

Dean looked around at the ragtag group and had to fight the urge to bash his head against the wall in frustration. He was stuck with a bunch of super-powered civilians with no clue, yeah this was going to end well. Of course that was when they realised Lily was missing so they had to split up to search. Dean grabbed Andy as one of the least annoying of the group.

"I...uh, think I could maybe get a message out." He admitted and Dean turned to him.

"How?"

"Got something that belongs to someone who can help?" Andy asked and Dean frowned before digging out his wallet and pulling out a list of phone numbers Sam had given him. He didn't have anything from Bobby or he'd contact him. "Okay, now focus only on the person and….images that will show where we are." Andy instructed as he put his hands on Dean's. Dean closed his eyes and focused on Sam, the town and the bell.

Sam frowned and rubbed his forehead.

"Sam?" Ash asked in concern, grabbing his elbow to steady him.

"I don't know….Urgh..." His knees buckled as pain stabbed through his brain. Ash immediately transported them to Sam's place to get away from prying eyes. Sam gasped as an image flashed through his mind of an old abandoned town. Ash quickly lowered him to the couch and then Sam cried out in pain again even as he saw a shaky image of Dean and another young man in the town and then an old bell. "Dean." He moaned in pain. Ash frowned and used his own powers to try and see what Sam was seeing. If they knew where Dean was he could go to him.

Dean stared Ava down as she went on about this all being a game. "You are one psychotic bitch." He growled. "You actually fell for a demons sale pitch? I feel sorry for you. Demons lie girl, it'll use you and then kill you."

"Well you won't be around to see it. I'm the heavy weight champion." She smirked and began calling the demon, Dean preparing to defend himself only for Ava to stiffen before going limp as Jake dropped her dead body.

"You hurt?" He asked and Dean shook his head.

"You?"

"Fine."

"Let's get out of here."

"But the demon?"

"Ava was controlling it so we're safe now. We'll find the nearest road and either hitchhike or walk to the next town." Dean explained as they walked through town.

"Demon said only one of us can leave alive." Jake argued and Dean snorted.

"Yeah, well I don't obey demons."

"I am not dying here." Jake said and Dean stiffened at his tone.

"Jake…." He dodged the first blow and then the fight was on.

Sam looked around in confusion before looking at his boss. "Something powerful is blocking the town, we'll have to walk from here." Ash answered and they took off through the woods. Sam broke into a run as they heard a crash from the town up ahead. Everything was silent as he ran onto the main street, looking around wildly for Dean.

"Dean!" He yelled.

"Sam?" A voice called back and then Dean staggered into sight, cradling an arm and with blood smeared down the side of his face from a cut. Sam smiled at the sight of the hunter he hadn't seen in a year, he looked tired and injured but otherwise good. "Sam!" Dean yelled with a smile, relieved to see help. He walked towards Sam who suddenly stopped, eyes wide in fear.

"DEAN!" He screamed and Dean went to turn only to gasp as the blade sank into his lower back. The knife was pulled out and then plunged back in before Dean was released and Jake ran off. Dean's legs crumpled and Sam moved top speed to catch him as gently as possible. "Stay with me Dean." He murmured as he cradled the injured hunter close. He lifted Dean's jacket to see the wound and felt sick even as Ash knelt beside them.

"S..." Dean choked even as blood leaked from between his lips.

"It's okay Dean, we'll patch you up." Sam whispered, looking at his boss who hesitated before moving to heal Dean. Messing with people's live wasn't something he liked doing but he knew Dean was important to the future. Dean suddenly went utterly lax in Sam's hold. "Dean?" Sam called, a shaking hand going for his pulse only to find none. "No, no, no." He shook his head in denial. "Please Acheron." He begged, he knew Ash was the final fate, that he could bring Dean back. He had never considered asking him to bring someone back before but for Dean he couldn't help asking.

Acheron stared at Shemu'el even as he cradled the dead hunter tenderly in his arms. He should let Dean rest, he'd had such a hard life he deserved eternal peace and yet…Sam had never asked him for anything in all the time they had known each other. He hated not being able to see Dean's future, to know whether or not bringing him back would be a good thing. He watched as Sam gently wiped the blood from Dean's lips and face and felt so bad for him. Despite how short a time they had known each other a bond had formed between them, something Sam had always avoided. He had never wanted to get close to anyone outside his Squire's until Dean. Could he really make Sam suffer like that?

TBC….