Chapter Nine: Moving On

"What do you think?" Wheeling the push bike round to the front of the house, Dean kicked the stand up, showing it off to Bobby on the front porch. "For Madi, not me. There's no way I'd ever trade in my baby. But for Madi, when she starts up school again. I'll have to teach her how to ride it obviously, but a lick of paint, a few touch ups... it'll look good, won't it?"

Bobby examined the rusty frame and flat tires of the thing, giving the man a slight nod. "Yeah, I guess it'll be alright." He scratched his bearded chin. "Dean, have you been up the hospital today? Or eaten. Or slept... recently?"

"I was with Madi until four this morning. I got some sleep in my car." He dusted down the frame of the bike. "The doc isn't so worried about the swelling on her brain anymore. She's eating, talking, walking... they think she'll be able to come home soon."

"Dean, you know this pursuit of your apple pie life, you can't do that and still go out hunting every night. I saw, Sam." He confessed, opening the cooler beside him to grab the man a cold one. "You weren't with Madi last night. I know, because I was and she kept asking where you were."

"Dad's gone again." Dean grabbed the beer from his hands, taking a seat on the steps. "I can't lose Sam too. I went with him on another hunt. Another demon possession. They're popping up all over the place now, Bobby. We gotta do something about this."

"You can't be half in, half out, Dean."

"Sam won't come with me." He took a swig of his beer, looking up at Bobby beside him. "I brought him back into this. I feel responsible for him still. I can't just leave him to hunt on his own. He always wanted out. He finally got out and I dragged him back into this. I can't just leave him."

"And Madi?" Bobby asked him. "Where does she fit into this?"

"I don't know." Dean combed his fingers through his hair, taking another sip of his beer. "It was easier when it was just, Sam and me. That's always been my one job. Look out for Sammy. I can't look out for him and live an apple pie life with Madi." He sighed softly, climbing off the steps. "I think maybe that you were right before, about Madi being better off without us."

"So, what are you gonna do?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders together. "Doesn't social services deal with this kinda thing all the time? We can just tell them the truth. Her mother's gone. Her father's gone. She doesn't have anybody else." He could see the disappointment on Bobby's face, but he didn't see any other choice at the moment.

"You're right, if you're gonna ditch her every chance you get," Bobby climbed to his feet, pulling open his front door. "She's better off without you."

Sighing softly, Dean turned to look at the rusty old bike behind him, realising how awful it looked. He kicked it over, stomping his foot on the flat tire once it was down. He tossed the beer aside, charging towards his car like a man on a mission. He drove himself off to the hospital, deciding that he actually had to see her face to face before he made his decision.

He hadn't been to see her in three days now, so he needed to see how she was doing anyway.

When he arrived though, Sam was already in her room. He hid behind the frame of the door to watch them, smiling to himself as they played a round of cards on her tray table. He didn't even know that Sam was still visiting her. He thought he would be long gone on his mission to find their father by now, but he was in no hurry to leave Madison's side.

"You beat me again." Sam chuckled softly, dropping his cards on the table. "I swear you're cheating, that's three times in a row now."

"You're just too slow." Madison adjusted herself against the pillow behind her, cradling her broken arm against her chest. "Snap is easy and I'm playing with one arm." She pointed out to him, sitting forwards to take her next set off him.

"I think you're just better than me at this game." Sam pulled his chair a little closer, giving the child in front of him a smile. "Okay, ready?" He got his cards ready, giving her a nod before they started placing their cards down one by one. He kept his pace slow so she could keep up with her one good hand, ignoring the first set of double cards so she could grab them.

"Snap!" She giggled, picking up the cards. She glanced towards the door as she saw a familiar face, smiling widely at the sight of the man. "Dean."

Sam turned towards the door, giving his brother a smile. "Hey, Dean."

"Hi." Dean shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, joining them by the bed. He noticed the bandages from Madison's head had finally gone, revealing the little shaved patches of stitching to her head, where they drilled into her skull. "Room for one more?" He grabbed himself a chair, taking a seat the other side of her bed.

"Sure." Sam split his deck, sliding half the cards over to his brother. "Better watch out for Madi though. She has lightening reflexes. Even with one arm." He smiled at her, playing a few more rounds with them. "So the doc said that Madi is about ready to blow this joint. She could go home as early as tomorrow."

"Tomorrow. Snap." Dean whistled, collecting up his winnings from the table. "What do you wonna do when you get out?"

"Pizza." She immediately answered. "Hospital food is gross."

"I'm with you there." Dean agreed with her, placing down the first card. He watched her excitedly placing her cards down one by one, realising he'd miss her smile if he let her go. He didn't know if she'd end up with a nice family or a foster home. She could end up with demons for all he knew. Her father could have pissed off a lot of demons during his time as a hunter, his father certainly had, so he figured she really was safer with him.

At least for now.

"So you finally decided to stop by?" Sam joined his brother out in the hall, while a nurse was topping up Madison's pain medication. "Even Bobby managed to find the time to visit her."

"I know, Sam." Dean put his back to the wall, giving out a soft sigh. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Between you, Dad and Madison. I feel like I don't know what's right anymore. Dad barely escaped that warehouse with his life, but the first thing he does is go straight after that yellow eyed son of a bitch again. You keep saying that Dad's obsession with this demon is ruining our lives, but I know you want to kill it just as much as he does, you're just too stubborn to admit it. I get it though, I do. This thing killed, Jess and it did something to you when you were a baby, but that doesn't mean it has to ruin your whole life. Going out there every day hunting every demon you can find makes you just as obsessed as him."

"You don't have to come along, Dean." His brother folded his arms across his chest. "You're Dad's good little soldier, not mine."

"Yeah, I do." Dean sighed, wondering why he still didn't get that. "You're my brother, Sam. You're still my responsibility. Even if you weren't, you're still the only family I've got."

"I'm not a little kid anymore." Sam argued. "I can do this myself."

"I can't quit this if you're still in it, Sam. When you were hunting with Dad, it didn't worry me as much. Hunters who go at it alone don't last long enough to tell their tales. We've only survived these past two years, because we've had each other to watch our backs." Dean pushed himself off the wall, turning his brother's attention towards the child in the other room. "You chose to save her, Sam. You were the one who told me that we couldn't leave her. Well I haven't, but we can't keep her in this life. She almost died because of it."

"So quit. If this mission doesn't mean anything to you anymore, then just quit. You don't need my permission. But I'm staying." Sam warned him, handing him the box of cards from his hands, before he made his way off down the hall.

As he made his way outside, he noticed a familiar car in the parking lot. It was pretty empty, so he noticed it right away. His father's truck. He hurried towards it, hoping to see him again after his disappearance a few weeks ago, but it was empty and locked up tight.

"Dad?" He spun around, charging back towards the hospital. He searched the corridor he had just walked down, taking a quick glance at each of the rooms, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Sammy, are you okay?" Dean noticed him returning. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Just Dad." Sam brought his brother over to the window, showing him the truck outside. It was still in its spot, so he figured he had to be somewhere in the hospital. "Do you think he's here to check up on us or her?" He motioned over his shoulder. "We haven't heard from him in weeks. How'd he know where to find us?"

"Are you sure it's his?" He saw the look in his brother's eyes as he whipped his head round to look at him. "C'mon, Sam. Dad can't be the only guy in the world who has one of those trucks. It could be anybody's."

"There's a shotgun on the front seat and a devils trap in the back." Sam rolled his eyes. "I know Dad's car, Dean." He glanced out the window as some people started walking about, but none of them looked like his father. "If you don't believe me, fine. I'll look for him on my own."

"We've been looking for him for the better part of two years!" Dean called after his brother, sighing softly as he took off through the double doors. He turned his attention towards, Madison's room as the cute young nurse finally stepped out, seeing a smile spread across her lips as she caught his attention.

In normal circumstances, he would have chased her down the hall for her number or something, but another girl had stolen his heart.

"So Madi," He took a seat on the reverse facing chair beside her, resting his hands against the back. "Are you okay with going back to Bobby's after we get out of here or do you think we should look for our own place?"

"Is Sam coming?" She immediately asked.

"I don't know." Dean shrugged his shoulders, pulling the pack of cards out of his pocket. "I think Sam still wants to find our Dad. The yellow eyed demon they're hunting did a lot of bad things to our family. I dragged him into this whole hunting thing again and he lost someone... so he feels like our Dad's mission is his now."

"Can we go with him?" Madison asked, seeing the look in the man's eyes. "What?"

"Madi," Firmly holding the deck of cards in his hands, Dean looked up at her, trying to explain, "It's too dangerous for you to hunt with us anymore. This last time almost got you killed. These things that we hunt kill people every day without a second thought. Being a hunter is what I was raised to be, but I never really liked it. My father didn't give me a choice. After our Mom died, he raised us to fight. He was just so hell bent on revenge for this thing that he didn't see us as his kids anymore. He saw us as soldiers for his crusade against the demon. I still remember what it was like to be a normal kid and I want you to have that. I'm sure your Dad would have wanted that for you too. He just loved you too much to leave you where it would be safe. Trying to raise you, like my Dad raised me is gonna get you killed."

Madison tilted her head to the side, looking at Dean's white knuckles as he clutched the deck of cards. "Are you leaving me?" The eight year old queried, sounding more than a little scared about the prospect of being left on her own again.

"No." Dean quickly shook his head. "Definitely not. No chance in hell. But you can't be a part of this hunter lifestyle anymore. And if you can't, then I'm gonna have to give it up too, so I can keep you safe. We have to go off the grid. Somewhere away from it all, where they can't get to us. I mean you're a pain in the ass." He gave her a playful jab. "But it looks like we're stuck with each other, kid."

"I'll watch your back." Madison smiled at him.

A grin twitched on Dean's lips. He looked down at the cards in his hands, finally beginning to shuffle, before he dealt them out. He had no idea where they were going to go that was so off the grid demons couldn't find them, but he had to think of something if she was getting out of hospital as early as tomorrow.

After years of having to watch out for Sammy, acting like a parent to him before he had even reached the age of sixteen. Dean figured the last thing he ever would have wanted was to be a parent himself. He never liked being responsible for another person. He never got to act like a kid, he always had to be the responsible one. Make sure Sam ate his dinner. Make sure he got enough sleep. Help him with his homework. Give him a bath. Keep him safe.

Watch out for Sammy!

He wished so many times that he was the youngest so Sam would have to shoulder some of the burden, but he was actually looking forward to taking on his role of Madison's pseudo father once again.

No one was forcing him to do it this time, he wanted to keep her safe. She wasn't the only one who would benefit from a normal apple pie life. Keeping her safe would bring him back some sense of normality. Something he had been missing since he was four years old.

Now, he just had to figure out where they could be normal and safe.

Thanks for reading! Just the epilogue to go now.

~ Holly