Thank you for the reviews and support! I was able to finish this chapter a lot quicker than I usually do and hopefully that will carry on to the next chapters as well!

Big thanks to my beta Gabi for looking over this so quickly! :) And also thanks to my friend Katie for helping me with this chapter!

We left off when Dean was receiving 'a call' from Bobby and learned that Eve created a new monster.


Dean caught the look Sam was giving him. His brother knew something was up and would soon catch on that he was talking to Bobby and demand to know what was being said. The older brother really didn't want to reiterate the conversation that would take place, so he decided to try something.

He focused, easily opening his mind to his brother through their telepathy, and hoped that when he sent his thoughts out, they would be heard by both Bobby and Sam.

Hey old man, glad to hear that you're still alive and kicking, Dean told Bobby, trying to keep his tone light. He didn't need the older hunter realizing that he had been a bit worried about whether or not he was okay.

Dean looked over at Sam, and saw his brother perk up. Yep, he had heard that. Good. Now hopefully Bobby did...

Damn. It's so good to hear your voice, Dean. Or...kind of. Doesn't matter. I'm just so damn happy you're safe. How is your brother?

Bobby, Sam spoke this time and his voice was just oozing with relief. I'm okay. Are you? How is everyone else? Are you safe?

There was a pause before Bobby's voice was heard again. Well, look at that. I can finally get in on those secret conversations you boys have, he chuckled.

You only can because I'm allowing you to hear Sam through the call, so don't get used to it. Dean told him.

Trust me, I'd rather not hear the immature bickering you guys probably go through in your minds. But back to what Sam said, I'm okay. So is the rest of the group. We're safe.

You guys didn't stop in that town we were supposed to meet up in, did you? Sam asked. Because it was basically a trap.

No, we didn't. We actually went to scope the place out first. We parked far away, had a few guys try and get close to check it out. But they saw people on rooftops with guns. We just avoided that area. You guys didn't just walk into there blindly, did ya?

We're not stupid. Dean huffed. But other people in our group were. We had to go in for a rescue mission. We'll explain later but it basically involves Hades trying to produce babies for Eve to be fresh monster spawn.

Wha...okay. I'm not even gonna ask right now. You said you guys are okay and that's all that matters. Who else is with you?

We met up with Heather, Allen, Sadie, Aiden and Cas. We're all okay, we set up camp hidden in the woods, Sam informed their friend.

Good, it's good you guys are staying where there's cover. You don't gotta car, do ya?

Nope. But we've got bikes, Dean made his voice go cold. Baby better be okay.

He heard Bobby sigh. She's just fine, ya idjit. I can't say for sure that there aren't any scratches though...so you might want to hurry and get up here quick to check it out.

Dean rolled his eyes at Bobby's lame attempt to get them to where he was faster. If you scratched her, you're fixing her up. We'll get there, where are you?

We traveled north, and then east. Ellen remembered a cabin that Rufus had around here. I knew he had several scattered around as bases when he hunted, but I wasn't aware he had one in Minnesota. It's... There was a pause. Bobby was probably looking at some maps. We're on Lake Moore.

Dean watched Sam run over to his backpack and pull out a map himself. He took a minute to find the lake and the look on his face told Dean it wasn't good news. Sam quickly wiped the look away though, and when he sent his thoughts out, they came out hopeful.

Okay, that's about 60 miles. With breaks added in, and avoiding the towns...it might be around seven hours.

Don't worry about that boy. I'm sending out Carl to come get ya. Just tell me the area that you're in.

The map lists this forest as Co. Park No.2. We're on the south side of the river, Sam stared intently at the maps.

Alright...give me a minute...Bobby took his time to read the map. Got ya. I see where you boys are at. I'll tell Carl to take highway 6, and get off on 410th street. He'll be waiting for you somewhere on that road.

Okay, Sam smiled, looking over at Dean. Thank you Bobby. Tell Carl to be safe.

I will Sam. Give him two hours just in case.

Sounds good, old fart. Dean snickered.

You call me that one more time and there will be a nice dent in the Impala's driver-side door.

Alright, alright. No more stating the obvious about you being old. He grinned over toward Sam, who shook his head in annoyance. We'll see you soon, Bobby.

See you boys. Bobby ended the conversation, and then Dean felt the mental link to their friend snap. The call was over.


Dean had originally planned to go catch some fish with his demon powers and roast them over a fire, but since they had a limited amount of time before Carl came, he and Sam agreed that they should simply pack up and head closer to the road. Food would come later.

They evenly distributed the supplies and bags among them and headed out. If it only took Carl an hour, he would be waiting for them in twenty minutes.

"I think it will take us at least ten minutes to get there, " Sam told the group. The kid was always trying to calculate every detail of each move they made. But Dean wouldn't complain, Sam had been right on everything so far, and it helped them a lot. "We won't have to worry about it taking forever to get to places now that we will finally have cars."

"And most importantly, we'll have Baby back." Dean grinned.

Sadie groaned but Heather ran up to walk beside the brothers. "Can I ride in the car? Please? It's so awesome."

Dean limited his response to one word. "No."

"Now's not the time to be worried about having the car to yourself." Sam shook his head at his brother. "We will probably have to drive with people since we already lost two cars ourselves."

"Great. Full house, sounds fun." Dean rolled his eyes. He was pretty embarrassed at himself for admitting to Sam last night that he missed the times when it was just the two of them. It was true that he didn't mind being with these people and that he felt he belonged. However, too much time surrounded by them without him and Sam being able to be on their own, like they were able to at the hotel, was beginning to wear on him. If they couldn't even have the Impala to themselves like old times, he knew he'd be getting aggravated quickly.

A rumble of thunder brought Dean out of his musings. Great. They had missed the storm last night, but another was on its way, and he was sure this one would hit them this time.

They picked up the pace after that, arriving to the edge of the road quickly. Dean decided to peek out first, making sure no one was waiting for them on the road other than Carl.

No one was there, not even Carl. It wasn't a cause for worry, as they had arrived early.

"Let's stay in the forest, but close enough to see the road while we wait," Dean told the group.

They didn't have to wait long. Almost 15 minutes later, they could hear the sounds of tires on the dirt road, coming down from the north.

As the noise became louder, Dean quickly noticed that the vehicle wasn't any of the cars or trucks they took from the garage at the hotel. It was a giant RV.

"Shit, that can't be Carl," Dean muttered.

"Okay, let's just stay down. They should drive by and not see us," Sam whispered.

"Uh-uh," Dean turned to Castiel. "Give me that angel blade of yours."

"DEAN!" Sam seethed, gritting his teeth.

"Listen quick, this might be one of Eve's monsters. It could be a threat. I can teleport inside while they drive past and spy in the back of the RV to try and figure out who this person is. If I don't notice anything out of the ordinary, I'll leave the person alone and teleport out, okay?"

"Dean...I don't think..." Sam started to say, but Dean ignored his brother. He grabbed the angel blade that Castiel had offered him and teleported just as the RV began to drive past them.

Dean landed in the back of the RV, just as he had hoped. The inside of the large vehicle looked nothing out of the ordinary. He quietly made his way forward, trying to take a glance at the driver.

Was that...oh. It was Carl. Somewhere along the way, the group had obviously found an RV.

Well, Dean could still have some fun.

He smiled, teleporting himself out in front of the RV. He caught Carl's shocked eyes as the man attempted to slam on the brakes.

Dean didn't feel like getting hit today, so he teleported back inside just before the vehicle could hit him.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Carl yelled. The RV came to a complete stop, and he glanced around outside quickly, finally turning his head enough to see Dean sitting beside him. "Shit! Dean? What the...what..."

Dean laughed gleefully. "Hah, the look on your face!"

"That...that's how you choose to greet me? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"No I didn't. Stop being a wuss." Dean then focused on communicating to Sam. It IS Carl, Sammy. Come up the road a bit with everyone and get in.

Carl had his arms folded, still glaring at Dean. "I was gonna say I'm happy to see you. But not now."

"I'll tell you what...now you get to try and pull a stunt on me, and I can't even complain. Let's see if you can one-up me."

The other man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I can one-up a demon who can teleport."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"It's Sammy and the others," Dean told the man, who still seemed too startled to even open the door.

Dean let his brother in, followed by the rest of the group, and quickly pressed the latch to lock the door.

Carl got up and hugged Sam. "It's good to see you, Sam. I figured you guys would be okay, but I worried still."

"Glad to see you too." Sam patted Carl on the back and pulled away. "I hope Dean didn't do anything too stupid when he went to check out who was driving the RV."

"It's Dean. Of course he did something stupid. But don't fret, I'll get him back."

Carl was busy greeting everyone else when a flash of lightning filled the sky, thunder following soon after.

"Alright, you can save your hugs for later." Dean pushed through Carl and Heather who were currently talking. "Let's get moving before the storm starts."

"So polite, as always." Carl chuckled and sat back down in the driver's seat. "Had to say, it was a little boring without you. Glad to have you back, Dean."

Carl started the engine before Dean could think of a comeback, so the older Winchester decided to stop any more potential bickering and sat next to Sam on the couch behind the passenger seat.

"Well, looks like you can relax little brother, everyone is safe and we're heading over to meet them."

"We can't relax yet." Sam sounded on edge. "We're going to be driving through a storm, and we don't know if we will run into anyone...or anything on this hour drive back. And after we do meet up, we still need to decide..."

"Okay, enough, enough." Dean put his hands over his ears and then stood up. He pointed at Sam. "I told you to stop thinking like that. This is something positive. Something actually went our way for once, so be happy about that."

Dean got up to give his brother some space to mope and walked to the back of the RV to check it out. This thing was huge, something only a wealthy family could afford. There were two bedrooms. One had a king bed and the other had two sets of bunk beds. On one of the bottom bunks, Aiden was cuddled under the covers while Heather was telling him a story.

"Sure you don't want me to tell one of my stories?" Dean grinned mischievously.

"No, Dean. You'll tell a scary story." Aiden yawned, burying his face into the pillow.

"How the hell are you still tired? You woke up an hour ago!"

"I don't like camping," Aiden declared. "My back hurts, and I kept waking up and didn't get to sleep a lot. Heather said I can sleep in here now when we camp!"

"Lucky you." Dean rolled his eyes, eyeing one of the beds himself. He could sleep for ten more hours, but he knew he should stay awake and help keep a lookout during the drive.

"Heather's telling me about the cool place we're gonna go to, and that no Croats can get to us," Aiden spoke to him tiredly.

"Yeah, that's right. No more luxury suites and video games for you though, kid."

"That's okay. She told me there are comfy cabins and that there's a pool table and you can teach me!"

Dean glared at Heather, who only smiled sweetly in response. "Maybe. When you're older. The pool cue probably weighs more than you. First, I have to teach you how to fight and defend yourself."

Aiden smiled with excitement. "I'll be the best Croat hunter ever, just watch, Dean!"

"I think me and Sammy got you beat, but I don't know, maybe in twenty years you'll be third best...maybe."

Before Aiden could respond, Sam appeared at Dean's side. "Hey...I'm sorry."

Dean pulled Sam back into the main area of the RV, letting Heather finish her story with Aiden. "Sorry for what?"

"Thinking negatively. I'm trying not to, Dean, I really am. I promise I won't go back to thinking like I used to. It's just...sometimes it sneaks in."

"Of course it does, emo is your middle name."

Sam made a face. "Dude. You're not funny. And I'm trying to be serious here."

Dean huffed at Sam's reluctance to joke around. "You're fine Sammy, don't worry about it, geez. That's why I'm here, to pull you out of it."

Sam smiled. "Thanks, jerk."

"Ewww, okay enough with this. There's only so much mushy chick-flicks that I can handle. Bitch." Dean shoved at his brother, but before Sam could push him back, rain started to pour down.

"Great, straight to pouring, this is gonna be fun," Dean grumbled, sitting back down on the couch with Sam.

"I'm gonna slow it down a bit just to be safe," Carl called out to them. "It's getting difficult to see, and I don't want to hit any stalled cars or branches in the road,"

"Or Croats." Dean turned toward Sam and grinned.

"Shut up, you asshole." Apparently, it was too soon to be joking about Sam's car crash. Whatever.

Carl was basically driving at a crawl and Dean was sure their trip would have an extra hour tacked onto it. But maybe the storm wasn't so bad. Maybe it was just a quick scattered thunderstorm...

He turned around on the couch and peered open the blinds of the RV.

Shit. The sky was dark gray, appearing almost black. This was a big storm system. It might be better if...

Movement in the sky caught Dean's attention. He was immediately drawn to the object that was flying in the distance...planes hadn't been flying in months...

"Pull over!"

"Wait, what?" Carl asked.

"Get into the nearest cluster of trees and pull over! NOW!"

Carl listened and slowed down, pulling over in the grass next to some trees.

"Cut the engine! And no one get out of the damn camper!"

"Dean, what is it?" Sam asked, eyes wide.

He hated to worry his brother like this, especially when Sam was trying so hard not to be negative. But damn it, anything flying in the sky larger than a bird nowadays was serious and most likely dangerous.

"There's something in the sky, that's what." Dean peered out the window again, Sam doing the same.

"There haven't been planes or helicopters in forever..." Allen said from the passenger seat.

"Exactly, so whatever this is, it shouldn't be up in the air," Dean replied, moving forward to the front windshield to get a better look.

"What's going on?" Heather peaked her head out from the bedroom, but Sam motioned for her to go back inside.

"We'll tell you as soon as we know. Just don't let Aiden know anything is wrong. Keep him calm," the younger brother whispered to her.

Heather looked skeptical and worried, but she nodded and did as she was told. Sadie had gotten up from where she was sitting and joined everyone at the front windshield.

"How could you even see it with the rain coming down so hard?" she asked.

"Trust me, this thing stood out. It's kinda hard to miss...there!" Dean pointed slightly to the right where he could see an object far in the distance.

"Holy crap, you're right..." Carl whispered.

"Of course I am. Now, I think I should go out there in smoke form so I can try and get a closer-"

"No." Sam folded his arms. "I let you go teleport into the RV not knowing who was inside, but I'm not allowing you to do this."

"Sammy, I..."

"I don't want to hear it. We don't know what the hell it is or if it could easily spot you. No."

"I'll be..."

"Besides," Sam cut him off. "I'm the only way you can get free. And I'm not doing it."

"Guys...I think it's getting closer..." Carl's voice sounded frightened and both brothers turned back to the danger at hand.

Dean narrowed in on the thing...from this distance it looked...it looked like it was a monster.

It was a creature. A creature with huge flapping wings.

"Dean...are you seeing what I'm seeing..." Sam asked in a breathy voice, like all the air was sucked out of his lungs.

"I've never seen anything like that before...," Dean trailed off. He found himself at a loss for words, and that didn't happen very often.

"It's Eve." Sam gasped. "She must have made this thing...maybe a new monster."

"And it's probably looking for us...or looking for something, at least. Let's get down on the floor!"

"It's probably only searching for movement on the ground." Allen pointed out. He sounded like he was in shock, his voice oddly detached. "I don't think it will see us in..."

"I don't give a damn!" Dean yelled. "Get down anyway!"

Dean grabbed Sam, even though his brother was already in the process of following his directions, and pulled him down so he was laying on the floor. Dean got down right by his side and Sadie and Carl lay down wherever there was room. Allen ran back to the master bedroom and closed the door...of course. Castiel sat on the floor with his back to the passenger seat, his eyes were squinted in concentration. Did angels have super hearing? Dean sure hoped so, maybe he would be able to track how far away the creature was.

Everyone was completely silent, even though Dean figured there was no need to be. The creature couldn't hear them with how far away it was and the added noise of the pouring rain. But Dean welcomed the silence nonetheless.

Do you really think that thing is looking for us on Eve's orders?

Well there went the silence. But truth be told, Dean didn't mind hearing his little brother's voice. There were two things Dean felt he was best at, and that was protecting Sam and figuring out their next move. He could do both right now.

I know it's gotta be sent by Eve...But we don't have any idea to know she's looking specifically for us. Probably just trying to capture anyone nearby to figure out who destroyed her town. We just gotta keep hidden here until it goes away and then head to the cabin. We'll be fine.

All it takes is it seeing us moving once and it's going to attack! Sam was in pure panic mode right now. We don't know how far this thing can see! There are probably others! We're going to be…

Sammy! Relax, damn it. I don't think it's gonna keep coming around and checking out the same areas once it already went over them. And we don't know if there's more than one. We'll just have someone keep a lookout and let us know if they spot it in the sky and we'll pull over again, no big deal.

Okay, you're right. I'm just...

"Guys..." Sadie's voice was barely audible. "Do you have any idea if it's gone yet?"

"How would I know?" Dean hissed quietly. "I don't have super hearing!"

"I do have excelled hearing," Castiel spoke from where he sat on the ground, startling Dean. The damn angel was always so quiet that it shocked him whenever he did decide to speak. "I can hear the creature's wings flapping. It has not left the area yet."

Dean rolled his eyes. Even without connection to heaven, Castiel still overpowered him in some ways. He didn't like it.

"Okay, well if you can hear the thing, there's no reason for us to be lying on the ground. I'm gonna go around and lower all the blinds." Dean raised his good hand and simultaneously lowered all the blinds in the room they were in.

"I'll take care of the windows in Heather and Aiden's room," Sam told him, standing up. "I'll check on Aiden and see how he's doing, too."

Dean huffed, knowing that now he'd have to take care of the room that Allen had retreated into. He found the man sitting in the corner of the room, away from any windows, with his knees bent and head lowered between them.

Dean huffed, alerting the man to his presence and made his way over to the two small windows in the room, lowering the blinds with a flick of his hand.

"We're fine," Dean told the man, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice. "Stop freaking out and get up."

There was no response from Allen other than the rapid shaking of his head and harsh breathing. Was he...was he actually having a real panic attack?

Dean really wanted to laugh in the man's face over how wimpy he was being. But if he did, it might just cause the guy to go into even more of a breakdown. He wasn't in the mood for that today. "Dude, calm down," he said instead.

"I...I can't...I can't..." Allen managed to say between short, shaky breaths and then went back to tucking his head between his legs.

"If you don't relax you're gonna pass out since you're not getting enough oxygen." Dean shrugged his good shoulder carelessly.

Allen lifted his head and stared at Dean. "Wh...what?"

"Happened to Sammy the first time he broke his arm. We were riding bikes when we were kids...well, he was sitting on my handlebars...fell off, broke his arm and had a panic attack when he saw how bad it was. Passed out quickly after that." Dean grinned suddenly. "Or you know what, keep it up and pass out, it will be easier to deal with you when you're not awake."

Allen scrunched up his face, his mind now focusing in on getting offended over Dean's comment and less about their current predicament. "You're an ass," the man grumbled.

"That I am. But it worked. I got you to finally chill out, didn't I?"

The man looked confused, and then bitter over the fact that Dean was right. "Whatever. I don't know how any of you can stay calm. Well...you, yeah. But everyone else? We...everything keeps going wrong! One bad thing after another! It's never going to end, it's like I'm cursed!"

Dean huffed with a roll of his eyes. "Welcome to the club. How about you try going to Hell, then you can come back and complain to me."

Allen's face blanched and Dean inwardly smiled at the discomfort he was causing the man.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had Dean turning around. He knew it was Sam even before he saw him. His little brother was leaning against the doorframe, shaking his head.

"What?" Dean asked. "I'm just being honest. I've been through way more shit than him!"

"Yes, you have," Sam agreed. "But that doesn't mean his feelings are invalid."

Dean groaned loudly. "Here we go again, sentimental Sammy to the rescue."

"Hey, I need to be sentimental to balance out how rude and brash you are."

Dean flipped Sam off, but the younger brother didn't engage in any more banter. Instead he approached Allen and sat down on the bed, looking down at the man.

"I know it seems like it's one thing after another...trust me, I get it. It's been happening to Dean and I ever since our mom was killed by a demon. It seems like it never ends. But just know this..." Sam paused, taking a deep breath. "It could have actually been a lot worse. Lucifer could have been released, and then...no one would have lived. He would have created storms and disease other than Croatoan. He would have unleashed even more demons that would be unstoppable under his reign. But we...Dean and I were actually able to stop it, when we thought there was no way. This...this I believe we can stop too."

"But for how long?" Allen asked. "How long before something else comes up? You guys stopped that demon that was ruling and kidnapped Dean, and then this...Eve thing comes with her army of freaky monsters and mutated Croats!"

"Eve was always there...or has been for a while. She just stepped up once Alastair died and was out of her way. And once we figure out how to get rid of her...yeah, there will be Croats and monsters. But the Croats we will just have to avoid, and the monsters won't be under her control anymore, so they will be less of a threat. The demons, well...I'm sure Crowley is already rounding them up. We'll just keep an eye on him and make sure he stays in line."

"And why can't you just kill him too?"

"Someone's gotta be in charge of Hell," Dean answered, deciding if he was gonna stay in this room, he should become part of the conversation. "Rather it be him than another demon that's like Alastair. And you can't expect me and Sam to just be able to kill every threat! We're not damn..."

Dean, enough. Sam called out to his brother, causing Dean to huff, but remain silent all the same.

"Once we get to the ranch," Sam continued. "It will be a lot better. I know this is overwhelming...I know you've been through a lot. Just remember that it could be worse. You've got a good group of people here looking out for one another. And we're going to build an amazing and safe community. It will work out...the ranch is the perfect place."

"Sammy, that was beaut..."

"DEAN!"

"Okay, okay!" Dean held his good arm up.

To both brothers' surprise, Allen actually cracked a smile. "Thanks Sam. I'm...I'm gonna try." He looked at Dean quickly, and then back at the younger Winchester. "And I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?" Sam asked.

"For...for how I treated Dean. You shouldn't be acting so nice to me...helping me. Your brother's an ass but he's not...he's not a bad guy and I treated him like he was. I can't believe you didn't just kick me out."

"Well, it's about time you finally..."

Sam cut Dean off, smiling at the man. "I forgive you. I didn't think I ever would, but...well, you honestly seem sorry and I can understand being so wary of a demon. I'm glad you came around."

"Sammy's the most understanding person to ever exist. You're lucky he's around or else..." Dean made a motion for slitting his throat.

Finally, Allen didn't flinch away, but laughed.

"And the fact that he's actually joking about things…," Sam continued on with a smile. "...means that he forgives you...well, kind of. In his own way."

"Well, I did need some payback," Dean admitted, smirking. "After the Castiel incident, I guess I can start to move on and forget what an ass you once were..."

"Castiel incident..." Allen's voice trailed off, before realization finally dawned on him. "You! You sent him to 'guard me' when I took a bath in the river! You asshole!"

"You should be lucky that's the only thing I had planned. I could have came up with SO much more. In fact..."

Allen shook his head rapidly. "No. No. Uh-uh. That was enough. No more please."

Dean chuckled triumphantly, leaving the room with Sam following behind.

"I've gotta say, Dean..." Sam was smiling. "I didn't think you'd be able to move on. And I wouldn't have blamed you if you couldn't."

"When it comes down to it, he's a wuss. It's actually so entertaining to mess with him that I forgot to be angry at him."

"Okay, well...that's not the best way to forgive...if it's even forgiving at all, but I'll take it."

Dean wasn't sure what to say to that. Luckily, he was saved from answering when Castiel came over to them.

"The creature has left the area, it traveled south. We should be safe to continue our travels north."

"See?" Dean clapped Sam on the shoulder and then shoved him. "Told you there was nothing to worry about."


As soon as Sam stepped out of the RV, Bobby was there, pulling him into a hug.

Sam let out a short laugh. He wasn't used to Bobby being so forward with his emotions. "Hey Bobby."

Bobby pulled away, and for a second, Sam was able to see the pure relief in his face before giving the younger Winchester a no-nonsense look. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you boys? You were supposed to be back an hour ago!"

"You could have just called me again," Dean said, coming out of the RV and standing beside Sam.

Bobby walked over to Dean, clamping him on the shoulder. "I didn't know if you boys were in danger! I wasn't about to call again and distract you if you ran into something."

Dean huffed. "Yeah, well we almost were in danger. But thanks to my awesome sighting skills, we were able to avoid it."

With that response, Sam wouldn't be upset if Bobby smacked Dean over the head. Instead, his annoyed expression turned into a smile, and he hugged Dean as well.

"Ughh, since when did you turn into a sap?" Dean groaned, but still hugged Bobby back with his good arm.

Bobby pulled out of the hug and folded his arms. "Since I thought you two could be dead, that's when."

"Well here we are, alive and kicking. Now relax."

The brothers stepped out of the way as everyone else exited the vehicle and said their greetings. Ellen and Jo approached the brothers, filling them in a bit on what happened on their journey to the cabin. They were cut short as the kids ran outside, running up to the brothers in excitement.

Sam was busy hugging some kids and laughing as they jumped on an irritated Dean when he noticed Marcy burst out from the cabin, sprinting right toward them.

Oh, how he wished he had a camera. This was about to get good.

Dean raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you looking at me like..." He suddenly stopped when Marcy's arms wrapped around him from behind. Dean jumped, pulling out of her grasp and raising a knife as he spun around.

Marcy somehow wasn't fazed at all. "Dean! I've been worried sick about you and Sam! Come here!"

"Oh god, it's just you. Great," Dean grumbled, tucking his knife away. He stood there with a frown on his face while Marcy hugged him again, this time squeezing him tightly, and...

She was crying. Well, now Sam was feeling just as uncomfortable as his brother.

After a minute, Marcy pulled away from Dean and wrapped Sam in a hug just as tight. When she let go, she reached up to cup both of their faces in her hands.

"I'm so happy to see you boys." She sniffled, a few tears still running down her cheeks. "I was thinking the most horrible things could have happened to you both. And thinking of you out there alone, not knowing where we were, I was so worried."

"We're fine," Dean grunted. He pulled away and rubbed at his face where Marcy had been touching him.

"Well if you're fine like you insist, then you can come help me in the kitchen, Dean!" Marcy clapped her hands and then grabbed onto Dean's good arm, trying to pull him away.

"Uh-uh. No way. We just got back from a long journey! I'm tired, damnit!" Dean ripped his arm away and then crossed it over his slinged arm.

"Hey Dean, you know if you help her, you'll be able to sample the food and get some of it before everyone else." Sam nudged him in the side. "And maybe you can influence Marcy to make meals the way you like them."

Dean let his arm drop, the thought of good food seemed to erase his grumpy mood. "Well, there probably aren't a lot of ingredients. She might need my help to make the meal even taste edible."

"Yes, yes. Your help would be wonderful Dean! Now come." Marcy beckoned him forward and Dean groaned, but began to follow.

"I'll fill Bobby in on everything, don't worry!" Sam called after him. "And make me something good!"

Bobby led the rest of them into the cabin. The building was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were three bedrooms, one of them used as an office, and a large living room and kitchen. There was a back room that was full of books and cases of what were probably supplies and weapons. Sam was surprised to see that Rufus even had a basement built in.

"There's loads of stuff down there that will probably be useful to us," Bobby informed Sam. "Still gotta go over a lot of it today."

"I'll help with that," Sam told him. "You think there's enough room in here for all of us to sleep? We found some sleeping bags, but only took a few more than what we needed for ourselves."

"We're good. We found some on one of our stops and Rufus had a bunch here. I'd like for all of us to stay inside. With the basement, there should be enough room for everyone. We'll just ward this place up really well and we should be fine."

"Speaking of wards...how could Dean just walk right in here? I'd think Rufus would have a ton of protection that would prevent demons from entering."

Bobby scratched the back of his neck. "Well, there were. I removed them. Shouldn't take too long for me to put them back up."

Sam smiled. He knew there had to have been a lot of hidden wards that must have taken Bobby forever to find and remove. "Thanks Bobby."

"You two are my boys, don't thank me." Bobby cleared his throat. "Now, what happened on your way back that took so long?"

They sat down on one of the couches in the living room. A few people sitting around seemed to be listening with interest. Sam didn't mind. It wasn't like he had anything to hide, and it was best if everyone knew as much as possible about the challenges they were going to face.

"Dean saw something in the sky…it was a new monster. Something that Eve created. We're guessing it was searching for people."

Bobby scrunched up his face. "Well, a monster that can fly. I'll be damned. Who do you think it was searching for?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't think she knows that we know about her…so I don't think she'd be looking for us. I think she's looking for the people that left Hades' town…and anyone that might have helped them escape."

"So this thing might just attack or capture anyone it sees that's moving?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah…so we have to keep a lookout. But as long as someone sees it in advance, if we park our cars and don't move it shouldn't know any better."

"What direction did it head in?" Bobby seemed concerned.

"Cas said it went northeast, so I hope we're safe. Even after it left, we waited until the rain stopped to continue on and we never saw it again. But still, the sooner we get to the ranch, the better."

"The ranch?" someone asked. "Do we have a place picked out for a new permanent home?"

"How about we take over from here."

Sam turned when he heard Sadie's voice and saw the young woman nudging Heather.

"Oh, yeah! I know all about the ranch!" Heather exclaimed. The two women walked more toward the center of the room, the excitement in Heather's tone already drawing people in.

"You should show Bobby the journal," Sadie whispered to Sam when she passed him.

Oh. Sadie was trying to create a distraction so Bobby and Sam could discuss the journal in private and get to work in possibly translating it. Sam knew how eager she was to find out what the sick man had been up to and put a stop to it.

Sam nodded his thanks and then motioned for Bobby to follow him. No one bothered to ask where they were going, too caught up in whatever Heather was saying.

Sam grabbed one of their bags, then they went into the office room and Bobby shut the door behind him.

"Now, what was so important you had to tell me in here?" Bobby asked.

"This." Sam dug through his bag for the journal. At the same time, he reached out to contact Dean.

I'm about to show Bobby Hades' journal. I'll let you know if he finds anything out.

After a moment, Dean responded. Good. Tell him to hurry up with that translating.

How about you hurry up with the food?

Dean chuckled, the laugh was lighthearted, something that Sam hadn't heard in a long time. Fine, fair enough. It will be 10 minutes tops, hold your horses.

"Sam?" Bobby was looking down at Sam in amusement. "Do I even want to know what you two were probably bickering about?"

With a grin, Sam laughed. "Just the typical. But I did tell him what I was about to show you." He pulled out the journal and put it on the desk. "It's a journal Hades' had. We found it in his lab where he was experimenting on Croats, and kept demons in cages too."

Bobby flipped through the pages, nodding here and there. After a few minutes he closed the book and looked at Sam.

"It's Greek, I think I'll be able to translate most of this."

"How many languages do you know again?" Sam smiled.

"Too damn many." Bobby pulled down the shutters a bit to dim the sunlight coming through the windows and got situated at the desk, lighting a candle and pulling out some sheet paper. Sam could tell that he was in the zone, setting up the room just the way he liked it back at his house. He was willing and ready to get on with this latest task and complete it as soon as possible. It was something Sam always admired and looked up to Bobby about...even when he grumbled and cursed about some task they'd ask him to research in the past, he always dedicated himself to it and wouldn't give up until he found everything the brothers needed.

"You need any help with anything?" Sam asked.

"Pshh. You know I work best alone. Go relax and get some food, Sam. And tell your brother to bring in a plate for me when he finally finishes lunch."

Sam wished Bobby good luck and left him alone. He was about to go and see what was going on in the kitchen when Dean burst through the door, paper plates floating in the air in front of him.

"That was quicker than ten minutes," Sam told him, following his brother in order to try and see what was on the plates. He didn't realize how hungry he had been until now and the thought of eating something other than crackers and fish had his mouth watering.

"You'll get your food, hold it Sasquatch." Dean walked past him, going up to people and telling them to 'hurry and grab their food before he decided to dump it on their heads'.

Sam pouted as Dean and Marcy brought out the other plates, none of which were for him. The pasta they had made looked delicious, and he was getting grumpy watching everyone else eat. He was shocked they had enough paper plates for everyone, Bobby and his group must have looted some on the way here.

A slap on the arm brought Sam out of his thoughts about the meal. Dean was standing next to him, grinning.

"Follow me," he ordered, walking into the empty kitchen. He stopped at the table, waving at a plate that was loaded with at least double the amount of pasta. "A giant plate for my giant brother. Now you can wipe that frown off your face."

Sam looked over at Dean's plate, which still had more than the other guests, but not nearly the amount Sam had. "Marcy let you get away with this?"

Dean shrugged his good shoulder. "I helped her so I should be able to do whatever I want. And she didn't care anyway, just started blabbing about how sweet it was." He took a gigantic bite of pasta smothered in tomato sauce and moaned in delight. "Come on, try it! I made it awesome!"

Sam took a bite that matched Dean's own and the flavor almost overwhelmed him. It had been so long since he had something that wasn't bland. "Damn Dean, this is good." He immediately went in for another bite.

"I told you so, just don't eat in front of anyone else so they don't get jealous of your monster-portion."

Sam watched his brother eat with gusto and smiled fondly at him. "Thanks, Dean."

Dean waved his fork at him, tomato sauce slashing on Sam's face. "Shut up. You owe me now, so you better start thinking of how to repay me."

"Don't worry, you're gonna feel bad when my gift to you is so much better than yours."

"Hah, I'd like to see that! Bring it on, little brother!"

Other than a few more teasing moments, they ate in a comfortable silence. Sam was too focused on the amazing meal to talk much, and he bet Dean was as well.

Marcy began making trips into the kitchen with dirty plates to throw away, and the brothers soon cleared their plates as well. Sam groaned; he was pretty full but Dean looked like he could eat another three servings.

"Dessert?" Dean asked hopefully when Marcy walked back in.

The woman walked over to one of the cupboards and pulled out a bag of cookies and winked. "About three months stale."

"Yeah, no thanks." Dean pushed away from the table and stood up, stretching. "I'm crapped out. Gonna take a nap."

"About time, I was just waiting for you to start whining about how tired you are." Sam laughed.

Dean pouted. "Been too long since I had a proper nap. Help me find an empty room."

It turned out that the basement had too many anti-demon wards and spells. Dean told Sam that he could easily avoid them, but with so many being so close to him, he could physically feel them and it left him antsy and uncomfortable.

With the basement out of the question, Dean was insistent on a bedroom. The guest bedroom would house most of the kids at night, but right now it was empty aside from Aiden, who was sitting down on one of the beds with his head in his hands.

"Uh uh. I'm not dealing with this now, too tired," Dean shook his head upon seeing the boy's sad posture and hopped into the other empty bed, pulling the covers up over himself and getting comfortable.

Sam figured Dean's response would be as much but he didn't mind talking to Aiden alone. Whatever was bothering him, Sam could most likely relate to it and be able to help, whereas Dean wouldn't have much of a chance.

"Hey, Aiden." Sam knelt down next to the boy. "You want to talk out in the hallway? You look upset."

Aiden shook his head, but after a moment's hesitation, the shaking changed to a nod and he reached out to hug Sam.

He ended up taking Aiden into the kitchen, which was now even free of Marcy. Everyone was either outside, in one of the living areas, or in the basement. They sat down at the small table he and Dean were at earlier.

"Why were you sitting there all by yourself?" Sam asked the small child. "You look like something's bothering you, do you want to talk about it?" His mind raced over the many things poor Aiden could be upset about. He could be thinking of his parents, of his past life, or what happened in Hades' town. There were so many possibilities and Sam wanted to be sure he was prepared to help in any way he could.

Aiden looked down at the table. "I'm sad, but... not about me. I'm feeling sad about someone else."

"Did someone hurt your feelings?" Sam asked.

Aiden shook his head quickly. "No, not like that. Like...I feel bad for someone else."

Sam's heart clenched. Aiden had so much love and compassion for such a young kid. He could definitely relate to this. When he had been a kid, Sam had always taken the feelings of others into account and got attached to others easily.

"Who do you feel sad about? Is it someone here?"

Aiden nodded shyly. "I don't want to say who, though."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to make you sad too."

Instantly, Sam's heartbeat picked up. "Aiden, is it Dean? Why are you worried? Did he tell you something?"

"No!" Aiden looked up at him, his eyes pleading. "Please don't be upset!"

Sam tried to school his emotions the best he could as to not scare the boy. "I'm not upset, Aiden. I just want to know why you're sad for Dean. Can you please tell me?"

Aiden shifted in his seat, fidgeting nervously. "When Dean was with me and gave me his cool powers, I saw something that made me sad."

It took Sam a minute to catch on to what Aiden was describing. It was the possession that had happened when Dean rescued Aiden back in the town. This wasn't good. Aiden had probably seen something in Dean's mind that freaked him out. It wasn't Dean's fault, he couldn't control a little slip in the wall he had built up between their minds, but this could still cause problems.

"Did you see something when Dean was with you? Did it scare you?"

"I wasn't scared," Aiden said, his posture straightening up and his voice getting stronger. "I saw a man, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me. But the man..." Aiden slumped down once more, his bravado quickly dissipated. "...he was hurt bad. He had lots of scars and he was burned up and...I think he was Dean."

Oh. Sam suddenly felt lightheaded. This was the last thing he had been expecting. Aiden had seen a glimpse of Dean's true soul. He had no idea how this must be affecting Aiden and as much as it hurt, the only way to find out was to ask more questions.

"Aiden..." Sam paused, unsure of how to explain this situation to a six year old kid. He wasn't sure if he should tell Aiden the truth about what he saw or to make something up to ease the boy's mind. Sam thought back to how Dean had told the residents of the town that they have to toughen up in order to survive. The same went for the kids, too. They shouldn't be shielded from any truths, no matter how scary they may be. "That's what Dean really looks like. That's...that's Dean's soul."

Aiden scrunched up his face in thought. "But why doesn't he look like that now?"

"Well...everyone has a soul that you can't see, it's what will go to heaven or hell after you die." Sam was glad that he didn't have to explain the concept of Hell to Aiden. Marcy had already taught the kids about it in class. "Our souls, if we are good people, look just like we do. But...since he's a demon, his soul has been damaged after being in Hell, and that's what he looks like."

"But!" Aiden raised his voice and then clamped his hands over his mouth before continuing to whisper. "But Dean's a good person! He's not bad!"

Sam smiled sadly. "No, he's not a bad person. But he's been hurt really badly, and that will never go away. It's why he's not human anymore and is grumpy and mean sometimes."

Tears came to Aiden's eyes. "He...he'll never get better?"

"No. He's healed a little bit by being with me but he'll never fully heal. He's always going to look like that."

Aiden began to cry fully now. "I...I don't want Dean to look like that!"

"Are you scared of how Dean looked?" Sam asked, afraid of what the answer may be. He didn't blame Aiden of course, but if Aiden was frightened of Dean's soul, he wasn't sure what he could do to repair the trust and devotion Aiden once held for Dean.

"No! He wasn't scary! I love Dean and I just feel really bad and want him to get better." Aiden hiccupped, wiping at the tears on his face.

"Well..." Sam reached over and squeezed Aiden's hands in comfort. "Just think of this. Most demons look like scary monsters, like in the movies. They don't look human at all."

"Dean did!" The sadness was already leaving Aiden's voice. "Just like a human who was really hurt and sad. And he had a demon tail and horns."

"Exactly. That shows that Dean isn't like the other demons, that he's more human than most." Sam smiled. "And you don't have to worry about Dean being sad. Maybe he was a little sad right then, but he's happy, I promise. His soul is damaged, but he's happy to be alive and with us. Trust me, I know him better than anyone else."

"Thanks, Sam." Aiden ran over to Sam and hugged him tightly. "I feel better knowing that Dean's happy."

Sam led Aiden back into the room, where he hopped into the other bed to also take a nap.

Assuming Dean was asleep, Sam went to leave the room when he suddenly heard his brother's voice communicate through their telepathy.

What was that about? Dean's words weren't as clear, and his voice almost cut off, a sign that he was exhausted. Yet, he had still stayed up until Sam came back.

Just Aiden being worried about things going on, he's okay now. I talked to him. Sam saw no reason to worry Dean with something that didn't matter.

Mm, okay. 'Night Sammy.

Goodnight Dean. Sam smirked, not correcting his brother on the fact that it wasn't night. He was just happy Dean was able to get some much-deserved rest.

Sam pulled away from the lure of also getting some rest and made his way into the living room. There was a lot of planning to get done before they left, and he wanted to make sure they had as clear of a route as possible for their journey to the ranch.


By the end of the day, Sam felt confident enough in the route they planned to travel the next morning. Heather had helped to pinpoint the exact location of the ranch. There were a few different paths they could take.

They settled on planning to travel through mid-northern South Dakota. The entire state was mostly farmland so they would be out in the open. But in order to get into the forests, they would have to go much further north, and it wasn't worth the time or the gas they would waste.

Near the western edge of the state was a rather large national forest, and Sam decided that they should travel through it and stop there the first night to sleep. By this point, Dean had finally awoken from his nap and had agreed, stating that while they slept, they were the safest from the flying creature while under the protection of the forest.

The difficult part of the trip was going to be avoiding as many cities as possible. They couldn't avoid every town, of course, but their desire to stay away from the more populated areas meant they couldn't take a straight path and would have to take many turns, costing them more time.

Still, it was worth it to be safe. Sam could have spent hours more looking at that map and determining an exact path, but Dean had dragged him away to play some cards that he had taken from Hades' town.

They had fun playing some games together and then with some of the others in the group. Dean helped Marcy once again with dinner and everyone headed to bed early, except Bobby who was glued to Hades' journal, trying to translate as much as possible.

The next morning they packed quickly, eager to get on the road. In the days the rest of the group had been at the cabin, Bobby had been able to go through most of Rufus' belongings and take whatever seemed helpful.

"You find out anything in the journal?" Sam asked Bobby as they loaded the cars and filled the tanks with the remaining gasoline they had.

"My Greek is rusty, but I've managed to find a bit out...and Sam..." Bobby paused, eyeing the young hunter sadly. "It doesn't sound too good."

"What is it? Are we in danger?" The hairs on the back of Sam's neck stood up, goosebumps appeared over his skin, causing him to shiver. He didn't like the sound of Bobby's voice.

"Not much more than we are in now, but it could cause problems in the future. I'm gonna look it over more before I tell you anything. Gotta make sure I translate it all as correctly as possible and then tell everyone together in a group."

"But Bobby, we…" Sam stopped when a hand fell on his shoulder and began tugging him away.

"Come on," Dean said, still dragging Sam along. "Get your maps out and get in the passenger seat. I need my human GPS prepared and ready. I may not be able to read the thoughts you don't share with me, but I know what you're thinking. Stop."

Sam stopped walking and turned to face his brother. "Did you hear any of that? Bobby said…"

"Yeah, he said he'll tell us later and that he wants to read it more to make sure he translated everything right."

"But he said it's not good! We could…"

"Sam. I said quit it. Whatever it is we'll figure it out. Now come on, I need you alert and focused, you're the one leading the way."

Yeah, he knew Dean was right. The Impala was going to lead the line of cars and he was going to be in the passenger seat, looking over the maps and directing Dean on when to turn. He couldn't afford to be distracted by his worries.

"Okay." He nodded. "We'll worry about it when it's time."

"That's the spirit." Dean ruffled his hair and then pushed him the remaining distance to the car.

Sam rolled his eyes but got situated in the passenger seat, pulling out the maps he would need and opening up one on his lap. He had highlighted the route that he wanted them to take, but he was sure there would be obstacles preventing them from taking that exact path. He had already thought of alternate paths that would avoid big cities, so hopefully they would be set.

After a while, Dean got in the driver's seat, stroking his hand over his car's steering wheel in a way no man should ever touch an inanimate object.

"You sure you don't want me to drive in my own car? I can leave you two alone."

"Shut up. Do you know how worried I was about her? How long it's been?" Dean moved his hands to run them over the dashboard, making cooing noises the whole time. "Did you know she has three new dent marks from rocks? And there's this scratch that's…"

"Just be happy she didn't flip over like the other car. A few dents in this kind of world? I'd say take it and shut up." Sam grinned when Dean shot him a black-eyed glare.

Due to the fact that they only had six cars and the RV, Sam had been correct in assuming that people were going to share the Impala with them on the drive to the ranch. Dean told Sam that while Castiel still creeped him out with his strange behavior, he'd like to have him in the backseat to keep a lookout since he didn't sleep. Sadie also asked if she could drive with them, it was obvious she felt safest with the brothers, and Sam assumed after what happened to her, she didn't want to be apart from them just yet.

"You guys ready?" Dean asked, starting the ignition, using his good hand and his powers to help steady the wheel.

"I am prepared," Castiel said in his monotone voice.

"Let's get going," Sadie replied. "I want us to get safe at the ranch as soon as possible."

And with that, they were off.


Dean was pleased to say that the trip was going well so far. It was four hours in and nothing out of the ordinary had happened as they crossed from Minnesota into South Dakota. Sadie hadn't been up for talking and had passed out during the first half hour. Castiel was quiet for the most part, but when the brothers would talk, he would randomly interject comments when they weren't expecting it and then never follow up with the conversation. He was socially awkward to say the least, and the brothers had resorted to their telepathy to talk in order to avoid any more stilted conversation with the angel.

So we're coming up on the Missouri River, Sam told his brother, flipping through a few maps. We need to decide which bridge we are going to cross.

Yeah, and we're gonna have to be damn careful, Dean added.

Be careful for what?

Well, there's only a few roads that lead to bridges that go over the river. There might be groups of people guarding them that would try and set traps for the people that cross, knowing that these are the only paths to take to get to the other side of the state. It's what I would do.

It's what you would do…that's encouraging. Sam sounded exasperated, but not angry.

Hey, I said it's what I WOULD do not what I'm going to do….maybe. You guys should all feel lucky to have my way of thinking helping you along. The mind of a demon…

Yeah, yeah. But you are right, that is a possibility I didn't think of. What should we do?

I say we pull over half a mile before a bridge and I'll go over and scout the area with someone else, Dean suggested. If we don't see anyone for half an hour, we'll cross. Simple as that.

Okay, but I'm going with you.

No you're not.

Dean, I'm not letting you…

Shut up and listen. I need you back with the rest of the group so I can communicate with you if I see anything and you can let them know. Got it?

Dean could see that by the set of Sam's jaw, he hated the idea, but knew that his big brother was right. The last thing Sam wanted to do was agree, but Dean knew he had him with this one. Not only was he trying to keep Sam safe with the group, but Dean was also being honest when he said they needed the two-way communication.

I don't like it, Dean. You better be careful and let me know as soon as something might happen.

You know I will, Sammy. Dean fought the urge to roll his eyes. Sam should know this already!

No, I don't know if you will. Sam sounded more pissed off by the second. You jumped into that RV without knowing who could have been inside it. You knew I didn't like the idea but did it anyway. What if there was some monster in there or it was full of Croats!

It wasn't! If it was I would have teleported out! He realized how lame it sounded, but hey, it was true!

Would you have let ME do that?

There it was...Sam got him right where he knew it would affect him most. The younger Winchester had officially won this argument.

Of course not!

Then what makes you think I want you to do the same? Dean, seriously. Listen to me more. We're better together. Sam was pleading now. I know you want to protect me, but I'm not losing you because someone else wasn't good enough to watch your back.

Dean stayed silent for a moment. He couldn't ignore that tone in Sam's voice. Sam was just as worried as Dean would be about him. He told himself before that he would give Sam more credit and listen to his brother's words.

Okay, I won't do anything like that again without talking to you. I swear. Happy now?

You better promise. Sam's mouth was set in a grim line and he refused to look Dean's way. Shit, he had really made the kid angry with his carelessness. He just couldn't help to always put Sam first and care so little about his own safety. It was just natural to him, even more so as a demon. But he'd try...if only for Sam's sake...he'd try.

Dean reached over, using his powers to fully control the wheel, and squeezed Sam's shoulder. That got his brother to look his way and they locked eyes.

After a moment, Sam smiled, just a bit but it was all that Dean wanted. He had been able to convey to his little brother by look alone that he wasn't lying...now he just had to make sure he didn't screw up.

Okay, which bridge are we taking? I need to know where to go.

Alright...there's a few. Let me see… Sam looked down at the maps and Dean breathed a sigh of relief that their argument was over. There's one by Mobridge, but it looks like it might be a pretty decent sized town.

We've been through some towns already though and other than some Croats, we haven't run into any trouble.

But this one is bigger than any of the ones we had to go through.

Yeah, but there's bound to be bigger cities by bridges. Dean felt like he was pointing out the obvious.

You're right...let me just look some more. He paused for a moment as he scanned the map. Okay, there's Forest City crossing and Pierre. But Pierre looks even bigger. Forest City hardly seems to be a town at all.

Alright, then Forest City it is. Where do I turn to get there?

Turn left so we're going south, then you'll have to turn right eventually. It shouldn't be more than forty minutes.

They continued driving along, getting closer to the road that would take them into Forest City, when Dean caught something from the corner of his eye. He quickly pulled the Impala over to the side of the road, the others doing the same behind him.

"Dean...what…," Sam started to ask but Dean just got out of the car and motioned for Sam to follow.

"Dean, would you like for us to follow?" Castiel asked from the backseat where Sadie was currently rubbing her eyes and waking up.

"Get out of the car but stay there and keep lookout," Dean told him, not slowing down as he spoke.

"What's going on?" Bobby yelled. He was standing by his car with a confused expression on his face.

"Follow me, that's what."

"Dean, really...what is it?" Sam asked, following close behind.

"See that street sign up there?" Dean pointed to a sign about a hundred feet back. "There was something written on it and I thought...well I want to make sure."

They rounded the sign and sure enough, there was something written on it...something not good.

FOREST CITY

BRIDGE OUT

The words were written in a black marker that was fading away, but the message was clear. Shit...Dean had no idea what to do now.

"Well….balls…" Bobby joined them at the sign with a loud sigh.

"How do we know if they're telling the truth though?" Dean asked the group that had formed around him, looking pointedly at Sam for his little brother's advice.

For once, Sam looked completely lost on their next step.

"We...we don't." Sam shook his head. "It could be a person that was just letting others know or...or maybe the bridge is okay and this person is trying to lead us to one of the other bridges where there's a trap waiting for us."

"Or maybe they live in one of the cities by the other bridges and charge some kind of fee...goods or ammo in exchange to pass," Carl spoke up. About half the group had decided to follow him, the others staying back near the cars. "That might be why they are trying to direct us away from this bridge, so we go to theirs."

"That doesn't sound like it would be so bad," someone else said.

"Yeah, and what if they try to shoot any one of you when we don't have what they want? Or if they decide they want to loot everything?" Dean growled into the group of people. "I say we at least check out this bridge. If it's still standing, we know whoever wrote this was lying and we scout the area and continue on if it's all clear."

Dean glanced up at his brother after his speech. Come on, Sammy? Whaddya say about that? Is my idea a load of crap or can your genius brain not handle how awesome it is?

Sam didn't start jabbering about a plan like Dean had hoped. Instead, he looked lost. Dean...I don't know. Either way we take...there's a chance something could be wrong…

Dean looked around at everyone else, who seemed to be staring at the brothers for some confirmation on what to do next. Since when did they become leaders of this group? Since when did everyone trust a demon to know their best chance at surviving?

"How about we take a vote," Bobby called out, causing both brothers to sigh in relief. It was actually a good idea. Now Dean couldn't be blamed if something went wrong. "We continue on to Forest City bridge or we go to one of the others."

They quickly held a vote. There were 17 people, including the brothers, who had gotten out of the vehicles and gathered around the sign. Sam and Dean, as well as 11 others chose to check out the Forest City bridge. Dean noticed that Allen was one of the six who had voted against it, the big chicken.

Nonetheless, no one complained as they continued on to Forest City. The 'city' wasn't much of a city at all, just a few scattered buildings and a gas station. They pulled over in what appeared to be a truck stop and grouped up for a break and to discuss who would scout the area by the bridge.

They decided it was best for only a few people to go check on the bridge, so after some consideration, Dean picked Carl to make the trip with him.

The fifteen minute walk was made mostly in silence, just like Dean preferred it. It wasn't until they were about five minutes away that Carl started jabbering.

"So….Hades huh?" he asked, referring to the town.

"Yep. Hades, alive and in the flesh. Well...not alive anymore, heh."

"Heather was telling me about it. These...there were people who were following him? That allowed rape in the town without trying to stop him?"

Dean shrugged. "Apparently a lot were too scared to do anything. But there were a lot that were trying to take him down, they just kept failing. He had a bunch of minions that they had to look out for."

"That's what I don't get though." Carl was shaking his head. "People chose to follow him...they gladly did. Has...has what's left of humanity fallen that far already?"

"And people thought they had to be afraid of me." Dean chuckled. "There were a lot of sick bastards out there before, but now they don't have to behave for society."

"I guess so." Carl sighed. "I just had more hope for humanity, you know? I thought there would be more good that came from people in these situations...but it seems like we're only seeing bad so far."

"Now you sound like Sammy."

"Well, Sam has a point."

"He does. But I'm gonna tell you exactly what I tell him. After I came back from Hell I realized that there was bound to be some good monsters out there. Me and Sam just didn't run into them or hear about them because they were smart and stayed in hiding, didn't get into trouble. And with…"

"And you think it's the same with people," Carl finished, understanding his point. "That there are good people out there still, they are just keeping well hidden so they can survive."

"Bingo. You believe me?"

"Well yeah, I mean I have hope that you're right."

"Good, now I just wish Sammy would believe me."

"He's your brother, it's his job to give you a hard time." Carl smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. He's a pain in the ass that's for sure." Dean shook his head fondly, finally seeing the bridge up ahead. "Hey, there it is. Let's stick to the side of the road and check it out."

They headed over to the right side of the road, trying to keep near the trees. From this vantage point, they had a clear view of the bridge...a bridge that was fully intact.

"Well, it looks like we made the right choice," Carl said. "The message was a fake to direct us to the other bridges."

"Yep, and we would have gotten looted I bet." Dean peered into the binoculars he brought with him, trying to notice any sign of something that may be out of the ordinary.

A rustling noise had him stopping. Carl jumped and pulled out his gun, and Dean held out his hand toward the direction of the noise. He saw nothing but overgrown grass….and then…

"Stupid damn raccoon." Dean shook his head, using his powers to send the animal sliding away onto the other side of the road, where it scurried into some bushes. "I'm tired of waiting here."

"But...we just got here."

"I know, but I'm bored already. Here," Dean handed Carl the binoculars. "I'm going to teleport around the area and see if I find anything. You keep a lookout in the distance."

Dean spent about ten minutes teleporting around the area. He went under the bridge and to the other side, all the while seeing and sensing nothing out of the ordinary. When he regrouped with Carl, the man stated that he also saw nothing but a few animals.

Bridge is standing strong, Sammy. Coast is clear. How about you guys meet us over here?

The group headed over and after checking out the area for a few minutes, everyone agreed that it was a good idea to cross and carry on with their journey.

Ten minutes after crossing the bridge, Dean was just thinking about how luck seemed to be finally on their side.

The sound of a gunshot, more specifically, a sniper rifle, was clearly heard as it pierced metal.

Dean slammed on the brakes. He, Sam and Sadie quickly glanced around the car. Dean didn't see any damage, but he did notice that the cars behind him also pulled over and some people had jumped out of their vehicles, taking off into the dried up cornfield to their left.

"It did not hit this car, it was one behind us," Castiel told him in a tone much too calm for the situation that was at hand.

Another gunshot rang out, this one sounding closer than the last.

All Dean could think about was getting Sam as far away from the sound as possible.

"Get out of the car!" he yelled, jumping out and not bothering to close the door behind him. He didn't care to notice where Sadie and Cas were running to, his only focus was on his brother.

He grabbed Sam by the arm in order to keep him close and they took off running.

Dean! What the hell! Who's shooting at us?

I don't know and I don't care! We need to get as far away from it as possible before we decide how to take them down!

The message on the sign Dean! It wasn't a lie, I think it was a warning! They were trying to get us to not take this road!

Another gun fired before Dean could think about Sam's realization, and this time it wasn't a sniper. It sounded like a pistol...and the shooter wasn't very far away.

There was more than one shooter. Damn it! He could try teleporting around with Sam, but he didn't trust himself in his panicked state, and he didn't want to end up right in front of one of the shooters and put Sam at risk.

They might be behind us, Dean told Sam. Let's zig zag so we throw them off our path. He looked at his brother as they ran, not happy with how far Sam was from him. He sent his powers out and brought Sam close to his side. And stay close to me, Sammy!

What, so you can jump in the way if they shoot at me?

Yes, exactly!

What if they have a bullet that could kill you! We don't know if this is someone working for Eve! She could have made somethin…

Someone screamed to their right. When Dean looked over he saw one of the kids trip and fall down. He recognized her as Emily, the girl who had tried to grab the flaming firework on their Fourth of July celebration.

Dean! Sam was pointedly looking at the young girl.

She'll get up, Sammy! They won't shoot a kid!

As if to prove his point, a man emerged from the cornstalks right behind Emily, his gun raised and pointed right at her.

Before Dean could even process what to do, he heard his brother yell.

"Hey, jackass! Over here!"

In the flash of a second, the man spun around and shot his gun without hesitation.

There was a spurt of blood and Sam went down.


NOTE: Due to what seems like lack of reader interest in this story, I'm putting it on an indefinite hiatus. I just don't have the motivation or confidence right now to continue the time and effort it takes into writing this.