Chapter 10

Mae did not do the research she promised Dean she would do. Between wrapping up her job and the next call, she didn't have the time. She had already decided to meet up with the boys. Maybe the time could have helped the boys devise a strategy for taking out a daeva However, getting a call from Dean so soon after the last one left her unsettled.

Dean was all business this time. "Are you still in Michigan."

"Yeah, for now."

"Can you get to Chicago? I know, before you say anything, I know you-"

"Slow down, I'm not-just give me the address, okay? It'll take me a couple hours, but I'll be there."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You asked me. And... that's about it."

"You don't even need to know why?"

"I mean, it'd be nice to know what changed and I like knowing what I'm walking into but...you asked me for help so, I'm there."

Now, if he had more time, he would have probed at what changed for her, what shifted her, but he still had another call to make, one he wasn't sure would go as well as this one. Dean laid out the situation with Meg, the altar, the connection to Lawrence, and gave her the address of the motel and the warehouse.

"Okay. I'm still an hour and a half, maybe two out. I'll take off as soon as I can but...you know."

"I know. As long as you get here."

"Be careful, okay? Don't do something stupid."

"Yeah, you either. Love you."

He hung up before she had the chance to respond so she stared at her phone trying to figure out why he would say that. She knew how he felt. This was hardly the first time he'd said it to her. Maybe they had just fallen into an old familiarity and it slipped out because of that. Maybe he was worried about this more than he originally expressed. She didn't know. Had he not hung up, would she have responded in kind? A part of her wanted to believe she would have but she knew those words didn't come as easily to her as they seemed to come to him.

Perhaps he knew that she wouldn't say it, not now anyway, and that's why he had to hang up right after he said it. He loved her, she loved him. And she didn't know why it was so impossible to say it. She could have spared his feelings and she wouldn't have been lying either. So why not, she asked herself, just tell him?

Even as she asked herself that, she knew why. She also knew she couldn't tell him, not yet. She needed more time to explain the things she hadn't explained yet. For the first time since they'd met back up, it seemed like it wouldn't be so impossibly hard. Hard, yes but no longer impossible.

It wasn't a discussion to be had over the phone, although not having to look at him, not having him see her cry, that would have been easier. Frankly, it would have been easier to fight about it than to tell him what he needed to know or wanted to hear.

She wanted to see him again. She wanted whatever she was going to have with Dean to be more than more than just phone calls and toying. She wanted that flirting to be more than just words and empty promises. Mae knew she also needed to come to terms with her feelings and with her past before it tried Dean's patience too much. He could easily decide that this was just too much trouble for the reward. She wouldn't blame him either.

Mae raked her hands through her hair and finished hastily packing her things. Now wasn't the time to dwell on their interpersonal strife. There was a real reason to see him now, to help with a hunt or possibly save the boys. From what she could tell, they were going up against something major. Something dangerous. Something more complex than any of them were ready for alone.

She drove as fast as she could from Dowagiac to Chicago. While she loved big cities when she had the chance to explore and enjoy, navigating one with a specific destination and the urgency to get there made it seem like an eternity before she arrived at the motel. She hoped that they hadn't done anything yet, so she knocked on the door, even though neither Dean or Sam answered their phones.

They also didn't come to the door. She made quick work of the lock when she picked it. Fortunately for her, they didn't tend to stay in the sort of places that had updated their technology much past physical keys.

As it turned out, she wasn't the only one who had that idea.

The man in the room only caught a brief glimpse of the figure before he moved to the side of the doorway after hearing the sound of the tumblers as the lock was picked. Slim, tall, and a tumble of red hair was all he saw. He assumed he knew who would be calling on the Winchester boys in this manner. Still, it wasn't a time to take chances or assume anything. For all he knew, the demon he was looking for was inside poor Mae. If things had gone as he's hoped between the girl and Dean, his boys would likely have trusted her.

"Hold it right there sweetheart." She hadn't been as quiet or as subtle she realized when she broke into room.

Only it wasn't Dean or even Sam holding the gun to her temple. He stood just out of her line of sight. The voice was gruff, gravely, and familiar but the room was still dark and far too quiet. "Hey John." She said, closing the door.

She felt the barrel of the gun drop away from her temple. "Mavis? What are you doing here?"

"The daevas. I thought I could- I should help. What about you?"

The acid in her tone was more than evident than she had perhaps intended, and he could picture the chill in her eyes. It was a look she'd been able to pull off even as a child.

"They're my boys. I thought I told you to keep an eye on them."

"I have been. It's been...complicated. But I think I've been holding up my end of the deal. What about you?" She asked again.

Before he could respond, they heard voices in the hall. It was unmistakably Sam and Dean. Of all the times for them to show up, she thought, as a swell of disappointment and anxiety clutched at her. She wanted so badly to know what John had found. She wouldn't have reconnected with Dean in the first place if not for the promise John had made to her. Still, she froze, not sure what to make of this situation.

She knew she was too sensitive to what Dean might think of it. There was nothing to mistake for anything else. Even though it was 100% innocent and had lasted only a handful of minutes, she had no desire to replay more painful incidences. She stepped to the side, trying to put as much distance between her and John Winchester.

The key turned in the lock and the door opened. She felt like she was hiding, like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have. Sure, she did break in, but she wasn't the first one to do it and barging into each other's rooms was hardly an issue between them at this point. She opened her mouth to say something since, after all, they weren't the sort of people who liked surprises and she had already had one gun pointed at her head that night.

But Dean noticed either her or John first and called out. "Hey!"

It wasn't her he had noticed as Sam hit the lights and John turned. In the light, she took a backseat to the reunion and didn't want to intercede. The boys hadn't seen their bather in quite some time. She knew Sam missed his father, no matter how terse their relationship was. At the very least he was glad to see his father after all the searching and everything that had gone on.

But Dean was a different story. Dean made no druthers about his feelings for his dad, about his feelings on family and it was his face she watched.

"Dad."

"Hey boys."

She smiled to herself mostly, still lingering in the background as Dean crossed the room without hesitation to greet his father. Her eyes flicked over to Sam who remained by the door. She didn't think anyone could have felt more uncomfortable than she did, but the youngest Winchester might have still been in the running. It was Sam who took note of her first but rather than saying anything, he offered her a small smile and raised hand. She returned it.

Sam couldn't stop looking at her, maybe because that was easier than looking at his dad or his brother right then. She'd made good time, he thought. Because Dean had asked her. She'd come every damn time they'd asked for her help. That meant something, to him anyway. Sam knew this wasn't the time to be pointing out that the same couldn't be said for the father or the mixed torrent of emotions he was feelings. Still, it was nice to know they could count on her.

She and Sam both moved closer as John and Dean embrace. Eventually, they all shifted so she and Dean were on one side of the room, Sam and his dad were on the other for a moment. Dean looked at Mae, with so many questions in his eyes. She knew some of them were legit but some of them had to be skirting that area of their past that she didn't want to get back into. It was awkward all around. The thing that confused her was his greeting.

After the questions left his eyes he said, 'hey'. Then looked away. A thousand things could have been layered in that response but all she felt was a coldness and distance between them. That was not what she had expected as a greeting. The way it played out in her head were always at a minimum friendly, often they veered into something more passionate. She knew it wouldn't be X-rated, but she didn't think it would be so… nothing.

She kept her eyes focused on the side of his face trying to figure out what exactly she had done to make him mad. It seemed like she was the only one doing that.

"Hi Sam." John said.

"Hey dad.

Sam set the bag of supplies on the floor and despite the high emotions, everything transitioned from reunion to debriefing in a heartbeat.

"Dad, it was a trap. I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I thought it mighta been." His tight-lipped smile was somewhat forgiving, accepting.

Mae let her gaze go back to John. He looked tired, sounded tired. She hadn't seen him in years though. So, it might not have been a recent change. She had to look away again, focusing this time on an indistinct section of the floor. God, there were a million other places she wanted to be right then.

"Were you there?" Dean asked.

It was a good question. She'd gotten to Chicago and to the motel with no time to find out where the boys were. From the looks of them, they'd been in the thick of it too. Yet, if John had been there, he'd managed to beat her to the motel, if only by a few minutes.

"I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?"

They answered with trained precision. "Yes sir."

"Good. Well, doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before."

It made her itch, just a little. It all made her uncomfortable and suspicious, not of John but of the entire situation. She didn't know exactly what he'd been doing the past few months but as many problems has, he might have run up against, he hadn't made waves. She hadn't heard anything from him, from his search, nothing.

"The demon has?" Sam asked.

"It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell—actually kill it."

"How?" Dean and Mae asked it at the same time, her tone more accusatory than his son's.

John gave them both a kind smile, one that held more than a few secrets. "I'm workin' on that."

"You can't kill a demon. You can trap them, send them back to hell but they can get back out if they want to."

He wasn't used to her being quite so confrontational, but things changed and for the time being, he would let her insubordination pass.

"There's a solution to every problem."

Her eyes sparked with interest, challenge and annoyance. She didn't push any further. She wanted to. She needed to know what he was coming up with, what he found that made him think it was even possible. If they weren't there with Sam and Dean, she would have demanded the answers. Instead, she kept a tight hold on her emotions since she wasn't sure if she wanted to scream or cry.

This was not the right time to fight with John and she told herself, if he had real answers, he would tell her. Eventually. If he could figure out a way to kill a demon, she would be insanely grateful.

"Let us come with you. We'll help." Sam said, eager and needing to go along with whatever John had devised because it met his goal too.

Dean's warning look passed from burning a hole in the side of her face to being focused on his brother.

"No, Sam. Not yet. Just try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in a crossfire. I don't want you hurt."

It was impossible to anticipate what John was going to say. She was expecting him to order them somewhere, hunt down something else. She didn't know if it was going to be the demon or something else. And when she said 'them', she meant the boys. She didn't know what her role in this would be.

"Dad, you don't have to worry about us."

"Of course, I do. I'm your father. Listen, Sammy, last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."

"Yes, sir."

"It's good to see you again. It's been a long time."

"Too long." Sam and John finally embraced, a far more emotional gesture than the hug between Dean and John, if only because it had been so long in the making.

Out of nowhere, John went flying back and into the cabinets. She looked over at Dean, then to Sam who also was moved by the invisible force.

"What the hell is going on?" Mae asked anyone who would listen.

Sam and John were in no position to answer and Dean didn't have time to answer. He just yelled. "No!" Then when flying.

It was only a moment more before the invisible force flung her against the wall too. She'd been possessed and tossed around by demons before, but this was far worse. This wasn't just an invisible force that tossed her across the room. It dug into her flesh with nails and teeth, ripping at her. And there was no way to fight it. She couldn't get a grasp on it or see it, only feet the frantic mauling and pressure against her body. Like she assumed, getting close enough to one to do anything meant being torn into.

Neither Sam nor Dean nor John could get control of anything and they were all tossed around, back and forth through the room. The scratches on their faces seemed to appear out of nowhere but they felt very physical. Sam managed to get free and get enough of his bearings together to make his way to the bag of weapons he'd dropped on the floor. He removed a flare from the bag.

"Shut your eyes!" He called out, "these things are shadow demons, so let's light 'em up!"

He lit the flare, sending the room into blinding white light and smoke. He must have been able to see her before or perhaps his hand came upon hers by accident, but he took her hand his as they coughed and sputtered to find the door. She let him lead the way because on the staggering pain in her side. One of the invisible gouges must have been deeper than she thought.

Dean called out for John. He'd taken several hits by then, some of them looked pretty bad and he might not have come out on top of that skirmish.

"Over here!" John replied. The two of them were closer to the door than she and Sam had been so when Dean helped their dad to his feet, Mae and Sam followed, Sam remembering to take the bag full of arms with them.

Sam kept tugging her behind him. She wasn't sure it was more for his own sake or for hers. Her breathing was a little labored but that could have been the adrenaline, the smoke or the pain. Either way, she was grateful that he led the way out of the motel and down the alley where they had most conveniently parked.

He threw his bag in the backseat of the Impala before he finally let go of her wrist. "All right, come on. We don't have much time. As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back."

He was right. They hadn't defeated the daevas, just delayed them, and gave them enough time to make their escape. With a sigh, Mae leaned up again the car for a second. She would gather herself back together and then be ready to roll again.

"Wait, wait. Sam, wait. Dad, you can't come with us."

It surprised her and Sam. Dean was the last person either of them thought would say those words. "What? What are you talkin' about?" Sam asked.

"You boys—you're beat to hell." John spoke the truth but then they all were. Those daevas took a pretty good chunk out of all of them.

"We'll be all right." Dean said

"Dean, we should stick together. We'll go after those demons—"

"Sam! Listen to me! We almost got Dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop, they're gonna try again. They're gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He's—he's stronger without us around."

Mae wasn't sure when he'd come to that conclusion, but it stirred an odd hope that he might come closer to understanding her. As it related to his father however, it was a recent development, after all Dean had been in the process of drawing his family closer, not breaking them apart. She agreed. Hell, she'd lived by the doctrine that it was easier to hunt solo. Only recently had she begun to rethink the position. But then, in the few minutes they'd all been together, things had been pretty bad.

Sam wasn't on the same track that she and Dean were on right then. "Dad, no." He put a hand on his father's shoulder. "After everything, after all the time we spent lookin' for you—please. I gotta be a part of this fight."

"Sammy, this fight is just starting. And we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you've got to trust me, son. Okay, you've gotta let me go."

It wasn't particularly easy, for any of them even though it was right. Sam finally moved his hand to pat his father's shoulder, walking away from the fight that could have started.

Mae looked down at her feel, not wanting to be in the middle of the Winchesters. John however tried to catch her eye, if only to apologize to her but she refused to look up. There wasn't time to deal with that issue right then but God, he wanted to. Instead, he and Dean exchanged a meaningful look before John turned back to his truck.

Once there, he looked back at them one more time. "You three be careful."

The three of them looked back with a nearly synchronous nod. They lingered a moment before his truck started. Dean finally turned and looked at Mae. He spoke to her for the first time since he'd seen her. "Are you alright babe?"

She nodded, unconvincingly and Dean wasn't sure if it was because she was hurt physically or emotionally.

"Come with us?" He asked.

She wanted to argue, she did but she wasn't feeling up to it yet. He reached out, not sure this was the best time for this or that there was even anything really going on, but he needed her to snap out of it. He touched her arm, squeezing her bicep slightly. Her eyes focused back on his finally. "Yeah, okay. I'll follow you."

Dean frowned. He'd meant with them not in her car but then again there wasn't much point in leaving anything here. And she had driven all the way out here to help them. Again, she nodded, squaring her shoulders and pulling all her emotions and physical pain in closer.

"Okay. Come on." He said to Sam as she crossed the alley to her car.

He and Sam got into the Impala and watched as their father drove off. Dean looked over at Mae's mustang. With a deep breath, he looked over at his brother, who was looking over at him. He couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He started the car and headed down the street, followed by Mae.