Chapter 10: Trust
"HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, CUZ I'M BACK IN BLACK, YES I'M BACK IN BLACK"
The newly refurbished Impala stereo roared as Sam, Dean and Mia flew down the highway on route to their newest case.
"Listen to her purr, have you ever heard anything so sweet?" Dean gushed as he revved his car's engine.
Mia smiled and shook her head. "Get a room!"
"Aw don't listen to her baby, she doesn't understand us," Dean said as he caressed the steering wheel.
As odd as Dean's affection for the car was, Mia had to hand it to him; he'd done a damn good job on the car. If anything it was better than before. The interior smelt of fresh leather and the car didn't rumble as much, which gave them all a more enjoyable ride.
Sam smiled at his older brother who continued to jam out to his tapes.
"You're in a good mood," He noted.
"Why shouldn't I be?" Dean asked. "I've got my baby back, and a new case."
"Wow, give you a couple of severed heads and murdered cows and you're walking on sunshine," Sam laughed in reference to their new case.
"How much farther to Red Lodge?" Dean asked Mia.
She consulted their map. "About 300 miles."
"Good," Dean grinned as he slammed his foot on the gas.
The car cruised down the empty highway; the windows were rolled down and rock music was blasting. Mia put her hands up in the air and just took everything in. She knew Dean wasn't doing better, his excitement over finally finishing his car wasn't going to last forever. But right now, she didn't care. She figured if he was happy then Sam was happy, and if both of them were happy, then so was she.
When they finally got to town, they booked a motel, changed into their FBI agent clothes. Which basically meant, a suit and tie for the brothers and a skirt and blouse for Mia.
They told the local police office that they were writers from a newspaper and wanted to write about the strange happenings in the town.
A police chief with a great bushy mustache told them that he couldn't release any information but offered to speak to them anyways.
"So the heads started appearing two weeks ago?" Sam enquired as he took notes.
"Yes, the last one was two days ago," The chief replied.
Dean glanced up. "What about the cattle?"
The chief stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"The cattle, they were found split open and drained of blood. Don't you think that maybe the two cases could be connected?" Mia interrogated.
The chief continued to stare at the three of them blankly.
"You know, someone might have been mutilating cows first, but now they're mutilating people?" Sam offered.
His brother nodded. "As in some sort of ritual? A Satanic Cult ritual?"
The Chief burst into laughter but slowly broke off when he realized that they weren't joking.
"You're serious?" He asked in confusion.
Dean nodded in affirmation.
"We'd never joke about dead cows," Mia replied, trying to keep her composure but failing and releasing a small giggle.
Sam and Dean shot her a look and she coughed loudly, pretending that something had been caught in her throat.
The Chief sighed and explained that the mutilated cattle had less to do with Satan and more to do with the fact that it was late Summer and when dead cattle are left out in the sun they bloat, split clean in half, then release their bodily fluids into the ground.
"What newspaper did you say you work at?" He questioned.
"Uh, World Weekly News," Dean stammered.
Sam corrected him. "Weekly World News."
"Uh, he's new," Mia blurted out to cover Dean's blunder.
"Get out!" The man commanded.
The three of them headed back to the car with no new evidence.
"Okay new plan, we check out the morgue to see if the body has any marks that could tell us what we're dealing with. If it's Satanists, they usually put something on the foreheads," Dean told them as they piled into the Impala.
"What are we going to be this time?" Mia asked as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.
"Doctors," He answered.
"World Weekly News," Sam muttered in disbelief at his brother's mix-up.
"Hey! I was close, and what are you getting mad at me for? I'm not the one who decided to have a giggle fit during the interview," Dean shot back.
Mia sat up straighter. "I'm sorry, but did you see that guy's mustache? Hey, the guy on the monopoly box called and he wants his mustache back."
At her words the brothers began chuckling as they remembered the man's mustache.
"I think he stole it from the guy on the Pringles can, actually," Sam joked.
Dean grinned. "Hey Mia, I mustache you a question but I'll shave it for later."
The three of them continued with their mustache jokes all the way to the morgue. It seemed that Dean's brightened mood was making everyone happy. Despite the fact that his mustache puns were growing unbearable.
At the Morgue, the hunters put on the white lab coats they kept in the 'costume bag', as Mia called it, and headed inside.
Dean tricked one of the secretaries into believing his boss was back from vacation to buy them some time alone with the bodies.
"No pentagram," Dean remarked when they finally opened the bin that held the head of one of the victims.
"So, now what?" Mia asked.
Dean thought for a moment. "We should check inside her mouth and see if they stuffed anything down there, like a moth or something."
Sam winced and Mia's eyes widened in excitement. "You guys have seen Silence of the Lambs?"
"Horror movies sort of go with the territory," Dean explained. "Plus, I made Sam watch it when we were kids just to see him wet himself in fear."
"I was nine!" Sam defended.
Mia smiled. "God, that movie was terrifying, but good."
"Well if you like horror movies like that, why don't you open the mouth?" Dean suggested as he pushed the boxed head over to her.
"Unless you want me to vomit all over you, forget it," She replied and pushed the box back to him.
Dean slid the box to his brother. "How about you?"
Sam pushed it back. "No."
Dean shoved the box back to Mia. "Put the lotion in the basket," He hissed to her, imitating Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.
"You want me to throw up, don't you?" Mia retorted sarcastically.
"I'll do it," Sam volunteered reluctantly, knowing that neither Mia nor Dean would do it.
He gently put his hands into her mouth and found nothing.
"Wait, lift her upper lip again," Dean commanded.
"What?" Sam groaned in irritation.
"Just do it, I think I saw something."
Sam pulled up the girl's lip with a disgusted expression that turned to one of intrigue as he noticed the hole in her gums that Dean had spotted.
"Is that a-" Mia began but stopped when Dean pushed down on the hole to reveal a retractable tooth.
"It's a fang," Dean assessed. "A vampire fang… This girl was a vampire."
"Well this changes things…" Sam stated.
Dean shot his brother an incredulous look. "You think?"
"Does this mean that we're dealing with other hunters then?" Mia asked, excited at the prospect of meeting more hunters.
Dean nodded. "Maybe, and but it also means there's a vampire nest here."
Two hours and one wardrobe change later, the Winchesters and Mia were standing outside of the only pub in town.
"Vampires are bound to have come in here," Dean explained to Mia.
"Uh huh," She replied, skeptical that they would find any.
The hunters walked into the bar and up to the bartender.
"Can I help you?" He asked as he cleaned glasses.
Dean smiled politely. "Hi, we're looking for some… particular people?"
The bartender frowned. "You're gonna have to be more specific."
"Alright, I know how this game is played," Mia smirked as she pulled a fifty-dollar bill from her pocket and put it on the counter.
"The people we're looking for are rowdy; real party animals, the sleep-all-day-party-all-night kind, and they would've moved here recently," Sam clarified.
The bartender replied that there hadn't been any group of people that matched his description.
"Well thanks anyways," Mia sighed as she reached for her fifty dollars back.
The bartender squinted at her. "You don't look twenty-one. Can I see some photo I.D, missy?"
"On second thought, you keep that," She told him then backed away from the counter.
He smirked and swiped up the money before returning to his work.
Sam leant over to Dean and whispered that there was a man at a table nearby who was watching them. Dean grinned and rushed the three of them out of the bar without explanation.
"Uh, Dean? Why are we walking down the creepy alley when there's someone following us?" Mia interrogated as they walked around the exterior of the pub.
"Trust me," He whispered harshly to her.
"Uh no, I don't trust you," She confided, fearing for her life at this point.
Sam put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we've got a plan."
Mia nodded and continued following them down the dark, deserted alley while the strange man from the bar followed them.
They turned a corner. Sam pulled a knife from his coat while Dean pushed Mia behind them.
"On three, we're gonna jump this guy, okay?" He explained.
Mia, who had become increasingly fearful of vampires since her last encounter with them, nodded anxiously.
"One, two, three," He whispered and the three of them pressed the stranger against the wall of the building. Sam put the blade against his throat while Dean and Mia stayed on either side of him, holding his arms down to prevent him from escaping.
"Show us your teeth," Dean requested.
"What?" The man frowned.
"You heard him," Sam threatened, pushing the knife closer to his neck.
The stranger sighed. "Look, I'm not a vampire, could you please put the blade down."
The three young hunters were stunned.
"What do you know about vampires?" Mia asked curiously.
"I know how to kill them, and I know I'm not one, so could you please, put down the blade?"
The arm that Mia had pinned against the wall began to move and she pushed it down harder.
"Easy there, Xena," The man exclaimed. He slowly pulled his arm from her grasp and lifted his upper lip to reveal that he was fangless.
Sam put down the blade and Dean let him go.
"Thank you. Now, who the hell are you?" He demanded.
As they walked back to the main parking lot of the pub, Sam and Dean disclosed who they were and to the hunter's delight, he recognized their names and told them that his was Gordon.
"Sam and Dean Winchester- I've met your dad! He's a great guy, but I'm sorry to hear that he's passed," He said to them as they reached his car.
Sam and Dean exchanged somber looks.
"Your dad was great, those are big shoes to fill but from what I've heard, you're doing it. Good trackers, good in a tight spot, and I see this is the new addition," He finished and looked over at Mia who was inspecting his weapon trunk.
"What about you? Got a pretty name to match that pretty face?" He asked Mia who blushed.
"I'm Mia Wilkins, I just started hunting with the Winchesters a couple of months ago," She explained.
"You seem to know a lot about us," Dean chimed in, wary of the stranger's knowledge.
"Word travels fast," He replied.
"So you're the one that took care of those two vampires?" Sam deduced.
"Yep, I've been tracking this case from Austin, only been here two weeks, but I've got this covered," He reassured them.
Dean was unconvinced, "Would you like some help? I know I've been dying for a hunt."
Gordon smiled as he packed up his car. "I'm more of the go-it-alone type. But I hear there's a Chupacabra two states over, if you're interested. I'll buy you a drink on the flipside."
And he was off, leaving the Winchesters caseless.
"So Chupacabras…" Mia remarked.
But Dean was undeterred. "Let's follow him."
"Man, you just don't take no for an answer, do you?" Mia sighed as they followed Gordon in the Impala.
"He doesn't seem like he's got this case covered. I mean, he doesn't even know where the nest is," Dean argued.
Sam looked unsure. "Dean, he might get pissed. Some hunters are really territorial when it comes to their cases."
Dean shrugged Sam's uneasiness off. "He's a grown up, he can deal with it. Besides, last time we tangoed with vampires, they bested us. I bet Mia still wants revenge for the guys who captured her."
"No I am good," Mia replied firmly. "Besides, I got all my revenge out of my system when I cut off Kate's head."
She shivered as the mental image of Kate's decapitated head rolling on the road began looping in her mind.
It turned out that Dean was right about Gordon needing their help. When they reached Gordon, his head was being held beneath a running saw by a vampire dockworker.
Mia found it strange that the vampire was resorting to technology to kill the hunter rather than sucking his blood instead. Nevertheless, the three of them sprung into action. Sam and Mia pulled Gordon away from the saw while Dean grabbed the vampire worker. He began repeatedly smacking him with a harpoon. When the vampire was on the ground he struck it into his heart, then grabbed the saw that was still whirring, and lowered it onto the vampire's neck, slowly severing it from his shoulders.
Mia watched in horror as flecks of blood covered Dean's face. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the gory display.
When he finished, he turned off the saw and looked over at his brother, Mia, and Gordon. Gordon seemed impressed, while Sam and Mia were horrified. They'd never seen Dean do something so… decidedly inhuman. Sure the vampire was a monster, but the way he'd killed him was just plain wrong.
"Guess I gotta buy you that drink," Gordon chuckled.
Back at the bar, Gordon bought the three of them celebratory shots. Dean and Gordon laughed as they enjoyed the highlights of Dean's latest kill. Meanwhile, Sam was quiet and Mia decided to drink until she could get the image of Dean slowly cutting the head of off a vampire, out of her head.
"C'mon Sammy, lighten up," Dean said to his brother.
Gordon smiled. "Yeah, Sammy!"
Sam glanced up and gestured at Dean. "Only he's allowed to call me that."
Mia scoffed at Gordon. Sam had never needed to tell her that.
"I'm sorry," Gordon replied. "But we're just having a good time."
"Well decapitation isn't exactly my idea of a good time," Sam said politely.
"It's not like it was human," Gordon shrugged. "You need to have more fun with this job."
Dean put down his beer. "That's exactly what I've been saying!"
Sam stood up and told Dean that he was going to head back to the motel. His brother tossed him the motel and car, keys.
"What about you, Princess?" Dean asked Mia. "You staying or going?"
Mia chugged the remnants of her beer and slammed the glass down. "Imma go with Sam," She slurred as she stood up and walked over to the younger Winchester.
Sam gave Mia a grateful look and the two of them headed out together.
"I'm not a buzz kill," Sam muttered to himself when they finally got back to the motel room. "I just don't think that kill is worth celebrating."
"I agree, it was really fucked up what Dean did, and Gordon's like…enjoying it," Mia garbled.
Sam nodded. "It was sick, right?"
"Absolutely, I never wanna see something like that again. It was like watching Saw," Mia replied and covered her hands with her head, in attempt to block out the mental images of the horror film.
"And what's with Dean? He's suddenly all happy about everything, I mean, why didn't he just leave the case alone?" Sam prompted.
"It's obvious," Mia replied as she lay down on Dean's bed instead of her cot.
"What's obvious?"
"He's not happy, not really. He just thinks he's happy, which means he isn't happy."
Sam gave her a searching look.
Mia sat up and crossed her legs. "He's pretending to be happy because he doesn't want us to worry about him. That's why he's super excited about this case, the Impala being fixed, and meeting another hunter. It's all an act, cuz he-he wants to be better, but he isn't."
Sam thought about what his friend had said as she collapsed to sleep.
Back at the bar, Dean and Gordon talked about how they'd gotten into the hunting life.
"One night, I was home alone with my sister, and I heard something breaking into her bedroom. I go upstairs and there's a vampire, I go to shoot it, but it throws me across the room and knocks me unconscious. When I wake up, they're both gone. Eventually I track down the sucker and kill him, that was my very first kill," Gordon explained.
"Sorry about your sister," Dean replied.
Gordon got a strange look in his eyes then nodded. "Sorry about your dad, that must be rough."
Dean confided that it had been rough on him, as he'd always believed his father was indestructible.
"I can't tell Sam any of this, I gotta keep my game face on. And Mia, I don't know, she just wouldn't get it. She's lived such a good life… I don't know why she just gave it all up to become a hunter…"
"She's like us, we're born to hunt monsters, it's in our blood, but Sam, I think he's different. He doesn't need the job like we do," Gordon elaborated.
Dean realized Gordon was a lot deeper than he'd originally thought. He and Sam had been trained since infancy to hunt whereas Gordon, like Mia, seemed to see the job as a calling. Dean didn't feel like he needed his job, heck he'd probably be happier if he gave it up all together, but Gordon was right about hunting being something enjoyable. He found himself appreciating his new friend's company more than he'd anticipated.
While Mia slept, Sam decided to give Ellen a phone call and see if she'd heard of Gordon.
"Yeah I've heard of him, he's a good hunter. Why are you asking, sweetie?" Ellen inquired.
"Oh well, Dean, Mia, and I are working a case with him and-"
"Don't do that."
"What?"
"Don't work with him, if he's working a case you three just leave him alone and let him do it, okay?" Ellen warned.
"But you said he was a good hunter," Sam frowned.
Ellen snorted. "Yeah, and Hannibal Lector is a good psychiatrist. Listen, he's not the greatest person, you just leave him be, understand?"
Sam was surprised. He didn't exactly like Gordon or his appreciation for gore, but the way Ellen spoke about him, it was as if he was some sort of sociopath.
"All right, thanks Ellen," He dismissed her before hanging up.
He walked over to Mia and shook her awake. "Hey, Mia? I'm gonna grab something to drink, you want anything?"
Mia mumbled that she'd love some water then rolled over to sleep.
Sam obliged but as he was at the machine outside, he felt as though he was being watched. He shook off the feeling and went back into the room after grabbing himself a soda and water.
"I got your water," Sam announced as he walked into the motel room.
But when he glanced over to the bed where Mia was sleeping, he discovered it was empty.
"MIA?!" He called fearfully.
Suddenly two vampire men came out of the shadows. One held Mia who was struggling with a large black bag on her head; the other attacked Sam and rendered him unconscious.
When Sam awoke, he found himself being led into a room where he was bound and gagged in a chair. From the whimpering noises beside him, he figured Mia was receiving the same treatment.
The black sacs were removed from the hunters' heads and they both realized that they were in some sort of living room and that the man who had untied them was the bartender from earlier! Not only that, but his fangs were exposed and he was growling at them menacingly.
If Sam and Mia hadn't been gagged they would have cried out in fear. But before the vampire could do something, a voice called out from the other side of the room. "Enough, Eli."
The voice belonged to a female vampire with long black hair, pale skin and kind eyes. She walked over to the two of them and removed their gags.
"My name is Lenore, I promise, we're not going to hurt you, we're just going to talk," She soothed them.
"Uh that's going to be a little difficult when you've got Jaws standing over there," Mia replied nervously as she stared at Eli.
Sam agreed. "You're not exactly the first vampires we've met, how are we supposed to trust you?"
"We don't hurt humans, and we don't drink blood. We're not like other vampires," Lenore promised.
"Is this a joke? If you don't drink human blood, wouldn't you be starving?" Sam questioned doubtingly.
Lenore remained polite. "We've found other ways, animal blood isn't ideal but at least it allows us to live normal lives, that way people like you don't come looking to kill people like us. Vampires are nearly extinct these days…"
Eli grew infuriated. "Why are we explaining ourselves to these killers? We choke on cow's blood so they don't suffer, and tonight they killed Conrad and celebrated!"
"That's enough, Eli," Lenore scolded.
"Can I ask, why did you bring us here, then?" Mia asked Lenore.
Lenore gave Mia a gentle smile. "We're leaving here tonight, and we know your kind, once you get a scent, you'll keep tracking us down until we're dead."
"So, you're asking us not to come after you," Sam concluded.
The vampire female nodded. "We have a right to live, just like you. We're not hurting anyone."
"You keep saying that but I'm finding it difficult to believe you," Sam replied.
Mia turned to her friend. "I think she's telling the truth, it completely explains the cattle mutilations, and there hasn't been any report of mysterious murders in this town until Gordon showed up a couple of weeks ago. Besides, didn't you find it odd how that vampire, Conrad, didn't try to drink Gordon's blood? You saw yourself, he was fighting like a man."
Lenore nodded appreciative of Mia's words. "And, to prove that you can believe we mean you no harm, I'm going to let you go."
To Sam and Mia's surprise, she instructed Eli to take them back unharmed and he obliged. He put their gags and blindfolds back then gently guided them back to the car he'd used to transport them there, and brought them back to their motel.
"Sam," Mia began when they were alone outside the motel, "we can't hunt those vampires."
He nodded. "You know, of all the years I've been hunting, I never really thought that monsters would have consciences. And you're right, we can't hunt them if they're not hurting anyone."
When they walked into the room they were alarmed to see Dean and Gordon hunched over a map of the town, exchanging theories as to where the nest could be found.
"Where the hell have you two been?" Dean inquired.
Mia stepped over to the oldest Winchester. "Can we talk to you, in private?"
He shrugged and followed them outside to talk, leaving Gordon inside their room with the map.
"Dean, we need to rethink this hunt," Sam began.
His brother shook his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? And you still haven't explained where the two of you were."
Mia answered, "We were in the vampire nest."
Dean's eyes lit up in excitement. "You found it! How many did you kill? Where is it?"
"We didn't kill any vampires, Dean. We didn't find them, they found us," Sam responded.
"But how did you get out? They didn't just let you go," Dean questioned.
"That's exactly what they did," Mia told him.
Dean was still determined to continue the case. "Well where was the nest?"
"We were blindfolded but I'm pretty sure we went over the covered bridge on the outskirts of town. But Dean, listen, they're not like other vampires, they don't drink human blood," Sam explained.
"Then how do they stay alive, or undead, or whatever the hell they are?" Dean insisted.
"Animal blood," Mia countered, "those cattle mutilations were all vampires. They don't hurt people, and we shouldn't hurt them. I mean look at us; they let us go without a scratch! If that isn't proof enough, that I don't know what is."
Dean sighed. "I don't know why they let you go and I don't care. These are vampires, Mia. Are you forgetting the job description? Anything supernatural we find and we kill. That's why we're gonna track down those vampires and waste 'em."
"No, that is not our job," Sam broke in. "Our job is to find and kill what is evil and if these vampires aren't hurting anyone, then they're not evil."
"They are evil! They're vampires, Sam. They need to kill people in order to live, these vampires aren't different."
"Dean, they really are different! Why can't you just give us the benefit of the doubt? I've seen evil vampires, okay? I was nearly killed by evil vampires, but this group was not evil! They weren't taunting us, or threatening us. They just wanted to talk to us, and ask us not to follow them, what monster have you ever hunted that's shown you that type of consideration?" Mia shot back.
Dean groaned. "Look, Gordon's been tracking this group for a year, I think he knows more about them than someone who's been hunting for less than that."
"Oh, so now Gordon knows everything, huh? You know, Ellen says he's bad news," Sam informed him.
"Ellen? We barely know Ellen, I'm taking Gordon's word over hers," Dean retorted firmly.
Mia laughed sarcastically. "Because we have such a deep, lasting relationship with Gordon."
Sam stepped towards his brother. "You don't think I can't see what this is? Gordon's a replacement for Dad. A poor one, I might add."
"Shut up, Sam," Dean dismissed as he began walking back to the motel.
Sam continued, "You know, Mia's right. You put on this fake smile so no one can see how badly you're hurting but we can! I know how you're feeling Dean! You've got this hole inside of you and no matter what you do you can't fill it. Well guess what? You're not gonna fill that hole by using Gordon. It's an insult to his memory."
Mia was shocked. She didn't expect Sam to come out and tell Dean what they'd been thinking.
Dean just glared at his brother. "Okay," He uttered before slugging Sam and knocking him over.
"Dean! What the hell!" Mia shouted angrily as she helped Sam to his feet.
Dean turned to Mia next and glared at her furiously. "You, stay out of my head! It isn't your business how I deal with my dad's death, and you can't judge me for things you don't know!"
Mia wanted to shout back that she did know how he felt but knew it was pointless.
"I'm going after that nest, with or without your help," He said to them before heading back to the motel room.
Mia and Sam let Dean walk back to the motel room alone and stayed outside in the dark until he returned.
"Gordon's gone and so are the car keys," He announced to them.
"Dean, we've gotta go after him and stop him," Sam said.
Dean rounded on Sam. "Really? Cuz I say we help him out."
"Please," Mia begged, "Just trust us."
The older Winchester replied that he'd think about it before he hotwired his own car so they could chase down Gordon.
"Do you remember anything else about the route?" Dean prompted Sam and Mia.
Sam spurted out directions to Mia and Dean's dismay, as he had been paying close attention to the drive back.
They travelled in awkward silence. Dean felt betrayed by both his brother and Mia, and refused to even look at them. Sam and Mia were feeling pretty down too but hoped they'd make it to the nest in time to stop Gordon.
They arrived at a small farmhouse and walked into the living room to see Gordon with Lenore tied up to a kitchen chair with cuts all over her body, made by Gordon's silver knife which was dipped in dead man's blood, a known poison to vampires.
Lenore moaned in pain as Gordon continued to slice her open skin.
"Sam, Dean, Mia, how nice of you to join us, I'm just poisoning Lenore here, with some Dead man's blood, and she's gonna tell me where her little friends are," Gordon told them.
"Why don't you grab a knife, I was just about to start cutting off her fingers," Gordon suggested as he cut Lenore's wrist, sending more poison through her body as she cried out.
"You're sick," Mia hissed in disgust of his actions.
Dean stepped up. "All right, everyone just needs to chill out, okay?"
"I'm completely chill," Gordon replied.
Sam glared at Gordon. "Put the knife down, and step away from her."
"Sounds like it's Sam who needs to chill," Gordon commented.
"Just do it," Mia ordered.
Gordon shrugged and put down his carving knife. "You're right, she's never gonna talk. I'm just gonna put her out of her misery."
He pulled out a machete and advanced on Lenore.
"Gordon, I'm letting her go," Sam told the hunter as he stepped forwards. But Gordon was quick and aimed the blade at Sam's throat.
Mia took that as a sign to pull out her gun and aim it at Gordon but Dean gently set her hands down.
"It's okay," He told her before he approached Gordon.
"Look, I get it, you're mad, and that vampire that killed your sister deserved to die, but-"
Gordon began to chuckle sadistically. "Killed my sister? It didn't kill my sister. It turned her, so I hunted her down and killed her myself."
"What the hell is the matter with you?" Mia exclaimed as she decided to raise her gun at him again.
"It was the right thing to do!" Gordon defended himself, and then turned to Dean who was bewildered by the news. "You would've done the same thing."
"Then you knew all along the vampires weren't killing anyone and you don't care," Sam established.
"What? A bunch of vampires pretending to be nice and killing cattle for a little while and we're supposed to buy that? Trust me, they're all the same." He then grabbed Sam's arm and made a small cut with the machete.
Mia cocked her gun and Dean saw it as invitation to pull out his own.
"Let him go, Gordon!" Dean shouted.
"Relax, I'm just making a point," Gordon reassured him before squeezing Sam's cut until blood began to fall from it onto Lenore's face.
The vampire ignored it at first but then her eyes turned bloodshot and her fangs extended. She began to fight against her ties to reach Sam's arm.
"You see? They're all the same," Gordon settled.
Mia rolled her eyes. "You hold a steak in front of a starving vegetarian they're gonna jump for it too, that doesn't prove anything."
But then, to the four hunter's surprise, Lenore forced her fangs to retract and deny her craving for human blood. "No, no, no," She repeated to herself as she turned her face away from Sam.
"You hear her, Gordon?" Sam taunted the hunter before pulling away from his grasp.
"Sam, Mia, get her out of here," Dean instructed.
Mia put away her gun and rushed over to help Sam support Lenore as they walked out of the house.
Gordon angrily stepped towards Mia with his knife but Dean cocked his gun. "No, no, no. We've got a couple of things to talk about, Gordie."
Sam, Mia, and Lenore got out of the house and into the Impala.
"Where do you want us to take you?" Mia asked gently as she sat Lenore up against the backseat.
"Pub, Eli," She murmured as she leant against the window of the car.
"I'll take you to Eli," Sam promised her as he climbed into the driver's seat.
"Mia, check on Dean, see if he needs any help with Gordon," Sam ordered and Mia darted into the house.
To her dismay, Gordon and Dean were having an all-out fight but luckily, Dean seemed to be winning as he continued to smash Gordon's head against the bookshelves.
Mia watched in amusement as Dean put Gordon into a headlock then walked into a wall.
"Sorry," Dean apologized sarcastically when Gordon's head smacked against the wall.
"Sam sent me in to see if you needed any help, but I think you're good," Mia said to Dean with a smile on her face.
He shrugged and smiled before binding Gordon's limbs to one of the kitchen chairs.
Mia headed back to the Impala with Sam and they took Lenore to Eli's pub to meet up with the rest of the vampires.
Eli wasn't too happy to see Lenore in her condition but after she explained that Sam, Dean, and Mia had saved her life, Eli was much more understanding. He gathered the rest of the nest and they all drove off, bestowing their thanks on the Winchesters for allowing them to go free.
Mia and Sam drove back to the farmhouse and by the time they made it back, the sun was rising.
Dean was still watching Gordon and when he saw Sam and Mia return, he asked if the vampires got out okay.
"Yes, they all did," Sam emphasized for Gordon's benefit.
Dean grinned. "Good, Now, I think we've got everything, keys, weapons, what am I forgetting… oh right," He punched Gordon square in the jaw, managing to topple his chair over completely.
"Nice punch," Mia observed.
Dean sniffed and cleared his throat before turning around to his brother and friend and replying, "I'm good now. We can go."
Mia grinned widely as she followed the Winchesters outside; glad that Gordon had received his just desserts.
"Sam," Dean said suddenly, "I want you to punch me in the face."
"What?" Sam exclaimed in disbelief.
"Come on, I punched you, you get one free hit. I won't even hit back," He told his brother.
Sam snorted. "No, I'll take a rain check on that."
Dean turned to Mia. "How about you? I said some pretty mean stuff to you, too. You're always dying to punch me in the face, well go right ahead."
Mia gaped at him as she fought the urge to accept his offer.
"Ugh, I can't do it. Not after how nice you've been about finding out that Gordon was a sadistic bastard," Mia told him disappointedly.
Sam nodded. "Besides, you look like you went twelve rounds with a brick of cement."
Dean rubbed his face and noticed he had cuts and bruises from where Gordon had punched him earlier.
"I kinda wish we never took this case, it's screwed everything up," Dean sighed as they got back to the Impala.
"What?" Sam questioned.
"All our lives, Dad's raised us to hate monsters, and I do hate them. But what if we've killed things that don't deserve killing?"
Mia finally got why it had been so hard for him to accept their story. The guilt of wondering if he'd ever killed innocent creatures was enough to drive him crazy.
"It's not your fault, at least you know now," Mia told him softly.
Sam nodded. "You didn't kill Lenore, you let the vampires get away."
"Yeah but every instinct was telling me to. I wanted to kill her and kill all of them," Dean breathed.
"Well you didn't and that's what matters," Sam reassured him.
"Yeah, I've got you two pain in the asses to thank for that," Dean chuckled.
Sam and Mia smiled and climbed into the Impala while Dean continued to stare off into the distance, deep in his reflections.
"Hey, Winchester," Mia called as she stuck her head out of the back window, "you ever gonna let me drive this thing?"
"In your dreams, Wilkins."
A/N: Thank you guys so much for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! Please keep up the wonderful inspiration. I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I'll update soon.
Next Chapter: Sam, Dean, and Mia encounter psychics with the intriguing powers of persuasion.