Again, thanks for the feedback, guys! You are all awesome! Hope you enjoy this chapter…

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Lawrence, Kansas.

" Come on ,goddammit, just a little further sweetheart, just a little bit more." Bobby Singer wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more, himself or his damned blue tow truck, having driven all through the night and now into the morning. The windscreen was gone, Bobby having been forced to punch it out after it was shot to hell by supposed National Guard back in Lecompton. He'd taken a round in the shoulder that had gone clean through, leaving the seat behind him wet with his blood. All Bobby was grateful for now, was that he had decided to go through Lecompton and not Topeka. Some how he didn't think he'd have gotten away if that was the case. The demon forces were growing faster than anyone had predicted, overwhelming the few hunters that had tried making a stand against them. The whole Hunter community was on the run now. Ellen and Jo had gone to ground with Ash, knowing that they were more use to Bobby and the others alive, rather than dead.

Bobby had been told to keep out of sight, just keep his head down while everyone regrouped. But as smart as that would have been, Bobby had to see Missouri. The psychic had been able to get hold of him before phone communication had been completely cut and what she had told him was the last thing the aging hunter had wanted to hear.

Dean was dead. Sam had gone dark, driven over the edge by grief from what Missouri had told him. Those boys were like kin to Bobby and it broke his heart to think of what had happened. That Yellow Eyed bastard had already taken Mary and John, now he had to have the boys too? If there was a way to get the colt back and use it against the Demon? Bobby would do it. He'd put an end to the pain that son of a bitch had caused the people Bobby cared for.

Once he had found Missouri and knew she was safe, Bobby would make a trip to see Skye, hopefully find her and that little boy still alive. He'd tried contacting her via email, but the internet was yet another casualty to the demons in their uprising. Ham radio was now the only thing left and Bobby had no idea how long that would last. The world was going to hell in a handbasket, that was for sure.

The engine of his tow truck was starting to sputter a little. For all Bobby knew, he'd had a bullet through the damned radiator. Patting the steering wheel with one hand, he hoped the truck would last him. He swung into the street where Missouri's house had used to be, finding the whole street devoid of any signs of life, some houses still smoking. Lawrence wasn't even a warzone…it was a corpse. Everything was so still, the scent of death hanging so heavy in the air that Bobby had to fight the urge to gag as he pulled the truck to the curb and felt her surge, then die altogether. The tow truck had served him well, but she was gone now. He'd have to find another vehicle.

By all rights, Missouri wasn't even supposed to be here anymore. She'd called Bobby from the Roadhouse, before muttering something about how the end was coming and she was going to go back home to wait for it. Bobby had no idea what the hell that meant but he sure as hell hoped it wasn't bad news. Climbing out of the truck, Bobby took a handgun off the seat beside him and carefully made his way towards the ruins of the house, grimacing at the pain in his shoulder. He was getting too old for this. At his age, he should have been sat back fishing on river bank with John and Jim Murphy, the three of them swapping hunting stories and cold beers. But then, it was rare for any hunter to live to old age….John and Jim had proven that already and Bobby couldn't help but wonder when his number would come up?

" You planning on bleeding all over my floor all night, Bobby Singer?"

Bobby spun around, startled, the gun already coming up to bear on voice to his right, until he stopped himself and lowered the gun with a scowl. " Dammit, Missouri, I could have taken your damn head off!"

" Not that with shoulder, you wouldn't." Missouri replied, a scowl of her own on display. " What are you doing here, Bobby? I thought I made it clear on the phone that I wanted to be left alone?"

" You said you were going home to wait for the end. What the hell was that supposed to mean?"

" Exactly what I said. This is my home. If I'm gonna die? I'm gonna die right here." Missouri folded her arms defensively across her chest, her back ramrod straight as she dared Bobby to challenge her.

Bobby looked around the shattered remains of the house. " So what…you're gonna sit here til the end of the world? How the hell is that any sort of way to go?"

"Bobby Singer, are you trying to tell me what to do?" Missouri demanded.

" Well….hell, yeah I am." Bobby nodded. " That's gotta be the stupidest thing I ever damn well heard. I can count my friends….the ones I can trust, I mean, on one hand, Missouri. I'm not looking to lower that number any time soon. So quit being so damn stubborn and show me where your car is. It high time we got the hell out of here before those demons find us standing around, begging to have our throats slit."

" You're not driving my car like that, Bobby. " Missouri snapped, before her demeanor softened and she stepped forward to check his shoulder. " I think I still have what's left of a first aid kit in the back of the car, come on…let's get you patched up before your sorry ass passes out on me." She held up a hand to quieten his argument as it started to form on his lips. " Don't try telling me your fine, I don't have to be psychic to see you're as white as a sheet. Now get over here and sit down."

Bobby tried to smack Missouri's hand away as she took his arm, only to regret it a moment later when she smacked him in return. " You trying to make me angry?" The huff of air that blew out of Bobby's mouth as he gave in, brought a smile to the psychic's face. " I didn't think so…"

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" Dean…we need to stop."

" Not til we hit Lawrence." Dean was fully focused on the road ahead, his arms braced stiffly on the steering wheel. Every so often he would glance into the rearview mirror at the unconscious and bloody form of his father, a shiver running down his spine as he recalled Sam doing the same thing to him, right before a semi-trailer slammed into the Impala.

" Dean, please…Connor's hungry. We need to clean John up, dress his wounds, you've been hurt yourself." Skye pleaded. She'd been watching him for the past two hours, noting the way he took shallow breaths to try and restrict movement in his ribs. How the hell he had dragged John to the car in that state?

" I'm fine. It's just a few bruised ribs."

" The way that demon threw you around, I'd say they're more than just bruised. Will you at least let me drive?"

" No."

Skye rolled her eyes in frustration. " What, so I can babysit the car while you and Sam cruise around the countryside on America's Most Wanted. But I can't drive now that you're back?"

" That's not…" Dean took his eyes off the road for a moment and looked at Skye, his brow knotted with a frown. " I haven't driven her in a while, can't you cut me some slack?"

" Not when you're pulling that macho tough guy act. You pass out at the wheel? And there is no way in hell I can pull this car back under control. " Skye argued, wishing he would see some sense. " Dean, you're no good to me, your Dad…or Sam if you don't look after yourself. Please…let me drive so you can rest?"

" No." Dean snapped. " We're almost to Lawrence. I'm getting closer to Sam, dammit. I can feel it. I can feel him. We don't stop til we reach Missouri."

" Missouri? Now you're planning on driving to the next state??"

Dean snorted out a short laugh until his ribs protested and he was forced to stop or deal with his vision swimming. " Not the state. It's a person. Missouri Mosley. She's a psychic in Lawrence and a friend. If she's still there…"

Skye reached over and rested a hand on Dean's thigh, gently giving it a squeeze before she ran her thumb in a lazy pattern back and forth. She was rewarded with Dean giving her a tight smile, but there was a light in his eyes. It wasn't shining as brightly as it did with Sam around, but Skye had hope that it would again soon. If he could sense Sam, that had to be giving him hope.

A groan issued from the back seat as John shifted and cracked open one eye for a moment. Dean met his tired gaze in the rearview mirror. " Hang in there, Dad. We're nearly home…"

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" Will you quit fussing over me, woman? I'm fine!" Bobby slapped at Missouri's hand as she rechecked the bandage wrapped tightly around his shoulder. " We should be getting on the road. Those demons might do another sweep of Lawrence, looking for stragglers, especially since Sam came through here." Pausing to think, Bobby watched Missouri turn away from where he was sat in the passenger seat, to tuck the nearly empty first aid kit in the back of her small sedan. " Just how bad is it? Sam…is he? Is there any way we can save him?"

" I don't know." Missouri admitted softly, sitting down in the back seat, her feet hanging out of the car still as she looked over the back of the seat at Bobby. " The boy is hurting, Bobby. He's in a world of hurt without his brother. If you had seen the things that boy showed me…." Her voice trailed off as she felt the sting of tears in her eyes. " I'm not sure anything can stop him, Bobby. Not now."

The deep, familiar rumble of an engine Bobby would know anywhere, broke the quietness of the street. Parked at the back of Missouri's ruined home, the sedan was shielded from the road. Bobby stood up instantly, silently signaling Missouri to stay out of sight as he drew his gun and quietly slipped forward towards the road, needing to see with his own eyes, what his ears were telling him. There was no way that could be the Impala he was hearing. That car had been left with Skye…why the hell would she be in Lawrence? No, it had to be another car…

But the moment Bobby saw the black muscle car pull up outside the house, he felt his heart begin racing. It was downright pounding, setting up a drumbeat inside his skull as he watched a familiar face climb out from the driver's side, followed by Skye from the other side of the car. Keeping his gun aimed, he approached the pair carefully, keeping hidden so he could hear their conversation.

" Maybe she got away?"

" Yeah, maybe. Dammit… I was hoping Missouri could tell me something. Tell me if she'd seen Sam. " Dean bent over to pick up a piece of burnt wood, tossing it aside with a sharp grunt of pain, his arm snaking around his middle to nurse his ribs.

" Will you take it easy? I'm not playing nursemaid to you and John. Those Winchester looks only get you so far, pal…" Skye scolded, before a concerned smile appeared. " Do you need to sit down?"

" I'm fine. I just moved the wrong –…" Dean froze, his hand instantly reaching into the back of his jeans for his gun, while he signaled to Skye to get behind him. " Alright…who's there? Come out where I can see you."

Bobby stepped out, his own gun still trained on Dean. " That you, Dean? That really you?"

" Bobby…." Dean's face broke into a warm, friendly smile instantly. " What are you doing here? Is Missouri with you?" He saw Bobby's gun still trained on him, his eyes narrowing a little as his smile faded. " It's me, Bobby. Come on… put the gun down."

" How do I know it's you? Last I heard? You were dead…"

" Bobby…it's me. You know me, dude. You want to throw Christo at me? Splash me with holy water? Go for it…" Dean spread his arms in an invitation. He blinked a moment later when a splash of holy water slapped him in the face, Skye laughing behind him at the way he shook his head a moment later like a dog. Dean raised an eyebrow at Bobby, holy water still dripping from his hair and chin. " Satisfied?"

Bobby watched Dean for a few more seconds before he tucked his gun away, striding across the space between them to embrace the boy. " Jesus, Dean…you're supposed to be dead!"

A grunt of pain issued from Dean, before he gently pushed Bobby back a step or two, his ribs aching again from the hug. The fact Bobby had done that at all, told Dean how much the man genuinely cared for him and his family.

" Yeah, funny thing about us Winchesters…we're harder to kill than a cockroach." Dean flashed Bobby a grin as the back door of the Impala opened and with a tired groan and enough swearing to turn the leather interior blue, a battered figure climbed out, leaning heavily on the car.

" Hey! You teach Connor any of that potty mouth and we'll be having words…" Skye warned, glaring over her shoulder.

Bobby stared in shock, his mouth dropping open before he clamped it shut again, looking from the figure, to Dean, then back to the figure again. " John?"

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Medicine Bow, South Wyoming.

There was something particularly amusing about his appearance that had the Yellow Eyed Demon smiling when he really had no reason to smile. Because to be honest? He wasn't have the best day. The best week, for that matter. It was supposed to have been so simple, something he had put into place years before with his own blood fed to the little pup before Mommy had to walk in and almost spoil everything. Sam was supposed to be at his right hand, was supposed to be leading his army for him while he sat back and watched the spoils of war roll in. But no….the ungrateful little bastard had decided to turn on his Maker, bite the hand that fed him all those delicious powers the little shit was now using, to wipe out the very army he was supposed be leading.

There was gratitude for you. Although to be fair…with a father like John Winchester, the Demon supposed he should have expected no less from the boy. Perhaps he should have chosen Dean? That one had always seemed to enjoy following orders, being the good soldier. Sometimes it just didn't pay to back the dark horse.

" Don't you think that's a little disturbing?"

The Demon turned to find one of his Captain's, a lovely young girl called Ava, watching him. He looked down at the body he was wearing. " Oh? I thought it would rather amusing on Halloween, what do you think? Is it me?"

Ava looked at the elderly priest staring at her with yellow eyes and shrugged, her nose still wrinkled in distaste. " Whatever floats your boat, I guess? You wanted to see me?"

" Yes. The Winchester boy…it's just not working out like I'd hope it would. It's time to take him out of the equation. Think you can handle it?"

Ava thought back to the sweet natured guy that had tried to help her. Before the Demon had appeared and shown her just how much she was missing out on by not utilizing her powers properly. It had been a sweeter ride after that and Ava had been disappointed that Sam couldn't see it. It had to have been the fault of that stupid brother of his. Well that was something that could be remedied, two birds with one stone. " Yeah… I have an idea that should do the trick nicely. I'll need to take Gallagher with me."

" Andy? Be my guest, sniveling little stoner's no good to me anyway. Get going. I want Sam stopped before he crosses the stateline." The Demon watched Ava walk out and wondered if she had any idea of the punishment he would inflict if she screwed this up? Maybe it was better she didn't… surprises were so much more fun.

Three more days…three more days and it would be time to open the Hell's Gate. Then the world really would find out what Hell on Earth was like. It was enough to make the Demon want to sing…..

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