Thank you to everyone still reading! And a big thanks to my beta Gabi for looking over this so quickly and giving me good advice about this chapter. Because of her help and ideas, I changed the ending of the chapter and I really like it a lot more than what I originally had.
I hope everyone enjoys. We left off with the brothers and their group relaxing in Tamara's camp.
"Hey." Sam walked over to Tamara, who was sitting on a bench, watching as Dean continued to play with the kids, who now were onto a game of tag.
"Having fun?" Tamara smirked at Sam.
"Actually, yeah. It's been one bad thing after the next for us, we all really needed something good to happen." Sam trailed off as he focused on watching Dean chase after a kid. He tripped over a tree branch and fell to the ground. Laughing, he turned to face Sam, who gave him a sarcastic thumbs up.
"I'm glad that I let you all in. I understand all too well what you were experiencing." She looked down at her lap. Sam wasn't sure if she wanted to continue talking about it, but it couldn't hurt to ask.
"What's your story?"
"Not too far off from everyone else's. I hunted solely demons after what happened to Isaac. It became an...obsession. I don't think I was going to make it much further actually. I was hoping that somewhere, I would slip up, that I didn't have to go through this hell without him."
Sam nodded, her words bringing up the intense pain from that year without Dean. But unlike Tamara, Sam's pain was only a horrible memory. He had gotten his brother back. Different, sure, but still there in every way that mattered.
"I was hoping the same when I lost Dean. I couldn't do it myself but...I was just waiting for something to kill me."
Tamara placed a hand on Sam's knee and a moment later, they locked eyes. "I'm happy you got him back. I'm so glad he didn't change into one of those things."
"I'm lucky," Sam agreed. "I still can't believe it sometimes, that I get a second chance with my brother and he's still...him...even after everything he went through."
"I hated them so much, the demons. But I'd give anything, anything, to have Isaac back as Dean is now. I had so much anger inside of me but then...the virus broke out. There were demons and Croats and so much death. Everyone left alive was suddenly in the same boat as me. We were all alone, and I had to try and protect as many people as I could."
She looked out at the forest, smiling at the kids. "Isaac's death still hurt like hell, and it always will. But I saw an actual purpose for myself for the first time since he was murdered. I needed to be able to put a stop to all the deaths, even if it was just a small group of people. I didn't want them to have to watch anyone else they cared about die. So, I found survivors and we decided to look for a settlement. Our group got larger and we grew closer. With our teamwork, we decided on this forest and discovered this lodge and camp."
"I'm so relieved to find out you were here, and you have your own group as well. We've run into a lot of bad people, and despite Dean's protests, I was beginning to think there was no one left that hadn't let this world change them into a monster."
"I heard Bobby mention Hades?"
"Yeah, we'll have to tell you about that, we found some pretty shocking information tying him to the Croats and Eve."
"Eve?"
"She's someone we just recently discovered. Bobby will be able to explain more."
"Yo, Tamara, quit stealing my brother away from me." They heard Dean's voice and looked up to see him approaching. "Unless you two wanna get frisky, then by all means, please get him laid. He needs something to loosen him up."
"Actually, he was the one that came to me," Tamara said back before Sam could yell at his brother.
"Ooh, Sammy! Makin' the first move! Thatta boy."
"Dean. If you don't shut up right now, I'm going to kill you."
"Oh, what about that doctor chick? I saw how you two were talking after I walked away. She was giving you the flirty-eyes the entire time!"
"She was not!"
"You're either blind or want to be miserable. Do something fun for yourself for once! Don't leave her hanging."
"Sam, I think I can confirm your brother's suspicions. Truthfully." Tamara winked at him.
"I told you!"
"She does not like me. You two are ridiculous."
"Really?" Tamara questioned, her tone was teasing. "I just talked to her about you two. Not only did she tell me that she helped heal your wounds, but she mentioned how sweet the 'tall hot one' was."
"If you pass this one up, you're an idiot," Dean told him in a serious tone that didn't match the crazy grin he wore.
"I'll think about it," Sam relented. It had been a long time, and she was pretty...and interested.
"There you go, making big brother proud!"
Sam rolled his eyes, giving in when Dean wrapped an arm around his shoulders and ruffled his hair in an attempt at a one-armed noogie.
"She also informed me that she knew you were a demon," Tamara continued on, ignoring the brothers' shenanigans. "She saw you both saving people in Sioux Falls."
"Yep, small world." Dean let go of Sam. "Now are you gonna help encourage Sam to hook up with the girl or what?"
"Is your attention span always this short, or is it the potion?" Tamara held up a hand. "Don't answer that, I don't need you blabbing some more. To answer your question, Sam has the entire rest of the day to go visit her. Right now, Bobby is waiting for us. Time to talk important matters."
Sam stared at the whiteboard in front of him, trying to think of anything else they may have missed.
Virus Stages
Original infection - Can be killed with a bullet to the head or decapitation. Weakest of the Croats. Does not seem to be many more around.
Mutation 1 - Can not longer be killed with a bullet to the brain. Must decapitate to destroy. Dangerous in large groups as they are faster and stronger.
Mutation 2 - Can now kill demons. These Croats appear even more feral. Unaware if they have any extra strength. We are to assume most Croats are infected at this stage.
Mutation 3 - No longer spreads the infection, but leaves a mark that will act as a 'beacon' for Eve to find the victim. She will turn them into one of her monsters once she does. Unknown if this mutation still kills demons. This mutation does not spread well, only has about a 30 percent chance to spread to other Croats.
Monsters are now controlled by Eve to kill on sight or do other work for her. Some are able to fight it for a short period of time. It's noted that there are a few monsters that are completely unaffected by her commands, but it is unknown as to why.
Some of these monsters still choose to work with her, but we assume there are others that may be out in hiding. It would be beneficial to find one of these monsters and question them about why they can resist her spell.
Sam looked over to the other board at his writing, which contained more information on Eve and her possible plans, including the fact that she was creating new monsters.
"Dean, you wanna take a look at this and see if we missed anything?"
When he received no answer, Sam turned around.
Dean was spinning in the office chair he was sitting in, humming to himself, totally oblivious to anything going on around him.
"DEAN!"
Dean stopped his spinning, looking around the room in confusion before his eyes settled on the board. "Oh. Sorry, Sammy. Can't really concentrate."
"I can see that. Can you at least try and look this over and let me know if we are missing anything?"
"Okay, yeah." Dean walked over to the board and squinted at it. "Umm okay, what about how most monsters are affected by her control but some aren't?"
"Did you even read the board? It's right there." Sam pointed impatiently at the end of the list.
"Oh, okay. Uhhhh, oh! The thing where the souls are trapped inside the Croats and heaven is closed."
"Wait, what?" Tamara asked, standing up from where she had been seated at the table.
They had called a 'hunter's meeting' which had comprised of the brothers, Tamara, Ellen, Jo and Bobby. They had also asked Castiel to come along, assuming that his knowledge and bluntness would be helpful.
Right now, it seemed that was true as Castiel began to answer Tamara's question. "Dean is correct. Once a human has turned into a Croat, their soul is trapped inside their body. It is being used as a source of fuel for the virus. If the Croat is killed, the soul is sent to Hell."
"Why is it sent to Hell? Surely it's known that the soul that was trapped in the body was not at fault for what the virus made their body do?"
"It is a demonic virus. The Croats belong to the demons," Castiel explained.
"Every Croat we kill, we also destroy the soul of a person?"
"If I am to be honest, after the virus feeding off of their soul, I am not sure how much of that person would be left. There is most likely nothing left to save, the weakened soul is the perfect match for turning into a quick demon in Hell."
"And heaven is closed? Does that mean when we die, we all go to Hell instead?" Tamara was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Good people do not get sent to Hell. Instead, their souls remain here, on Earth. But the demons have been collecting the stray souls they can find and drag them down to Hell." Castiel spoke about the situation with a calmness that didn't match the horrible words he was saying.
Tamara ran a hand over her face. "This is insane! I knew about the monsters acting out, but Eve? This...creator of all monsters who is controlling them all? And now learning about the souls being trapped inside of the Croats and being sent to Hell upon their death? This battle...it's grown out of control. We can't win this."
Dean huffed. "Yeah we can. All we gotta do is take down Eve."
"Dean," Sam addressed his brother. "There is still the problem with the demons, even if Eve is taken down and the monsters disperse. Remember what Cas said about demons taking control of major cities?"
"Well, then we can…"
"Wait!" Tamara interrupted Dean. "We've seen this too. A group of my people travel to gather supplies every few weeks and look for survivors. They also try and find information as to what is going on. Months back, they went to Bismark and found the city was starting to house a good population of demons. They heard the demons talk about taking over all major cities. But when they went back just a week ago, there was no trace of demons."
"They fled the city? Maybe they went to Sioux Falls instead, and those are the demons that we ran into?" Sam pointed out.
"No." Dean shook his head. "Demons wouldn't completely abandon one post for another. Their plan was to take over all the major cities I thought."
"They said they saw a lot of fresh bodies that had been bitten by Croats. I assumed they weren't the hosts of demons, because why would they dump the bodies just because the were bitten? But now…"
"They could have been the bodies of the demons. They were bitten and died because of the third mutation. And all the surviving demons would have fled," Sam explained his theory.
"That many Croats attacked the city?" Dean huffed. "How? We never even saw that many in Sioux Falls. The only time there was that many was after the initial outbreak."
"But we got attacked by a large group at the hotel," Sam reminded his brother. "This sounds like it could be the same. And I think the reason we got ambushed is that it was set up...by Eve."
Everyone was silent for a few moments as they took in this information. It was Ellen that spoke next.
"So what you're saying is that...Eve must have also set up an ambush on Bismark?"
Sam saw Jo nodding, agreeing with her mother's train of thought. "Did your people see more than the average amount of Croats in the city?" she addressed Tamara.
"Actually, they did see a lot. They weren't able to loot for long because of it. But we don't normally travel to cities as large as Bismark, so we just assumed that there were bound to be more Croats."
"I think we're all on to something," Sam told the group of hunters. "I think our hunch is right that Eve did send Croats into Bismark. Maybe she was using them to test out the third mutation. It did lead to one good thing though, as the closest large city to this camp is now demon-free. Demons would have been a bigger threat than the Croats, who will probably stay in Bismark wandering aimlessly."
"One less thing for us to worry about," Dean mumbled. "Stupid fuckin' demons."
Tamara raised an eyebrow at him "So you're calling yourself stupid?"
"Hey, when did I ever say I wasn't stupid? Didn't I just chug that whole stupid potion? That's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid."
Sam sighed, walking over to Dean and hauling him up onto his feet. "I think I just discovered his second favorite word, after awesome. I'm gonna get him something to eat before he gets even more delirious. Thank you for the information Tamara, it was really helpful."
"No, thank you. All of you. I mean it, we never would have figured this all out on our own. I just realized how low our chances of survival really were, with us not knowing everything about what was going on out there. Now, we stand a much better chance and can be prepared." She smiled at the group. "Just go enjoy yourselves now, no more meetings or monster-talking. You all deserve some rest before getting back on the road."
With the promise of food, Sam didn't have to drag Dean out of the door. This time, they would actually be on time for their meal and Sam looked forward to conversing with some of the townspeople. He was sure it would be the complete opposite of what the dining hall was like in Hades' town.
Dean seemed to have ideas of his own, as Sam noticed him giving a pretty, young African American woman a flirtatious smirk. She winked in response, beckoning him over to a table where she sat with some girlfriends.
Sam sighed. "Go on, have your fun. Just don't get lost when you're trying to find your way back from her place."
"Only if you go and have your fun." Dean not-so-stealthily motioned toward another table, where Kayleigh was sitting and...smiling at him. Oh god.
"Do it Sammy. Go over. Do it, do it, do it…"
"Okay, okay! If it will get you to shut up, then I'll do anything!"
Well, Sam thought as he walked over to the table anxiously. This is well overdue…
The next morning, Sam stepped out of the shower, feeling refreshed and ready to get on the road. While he would miss this community and the safety of it, he was looking forward to starting their own.
Tamara had once again insisted that she would make every effort to convince her people that the brothers' group could be trusted after she revealed Dean was a demon. She told him it probably would take some time, but reassured him that they all had interacted and lived with Dean for over a day with no problems and should be able to come around.
"Even though we have each other, I know everyone feels extremely isolated. If we have your group as partners, that will help us feel less alone," Tamara had said. "And Dean brings powers and abilities that will be able to help us, the rest of you have so much knowledge...I don't think the majority of my people will want to lose that connection."
They came up with an idea of how to stay in touch. Sam had mentioned the demon-call blood bowl and Bobby had shared the chant that he had found in Rufus' cabin. If Tamara ever needed to talk with them, she only had to give Dean a call.
Sam really hoped that luck would continue stay on their side, as fragile as that may be, and Tamara's people would eventually accept Dean once they were told.
"Ugh...oh. Oh god."
Speaking of Dean, Sam looked up from where he had been tying his boots to see his older brother finally rubbing at his eyes, looking much more together...but also extremely pissed.
"Hey, welcome back." Sam sniggered, trying to keep the teasing at a minimum.
Dean stopped his incessant eye-rubbing and glared at Sam, his eyes falling to black. "Oh, don't you even start. Yesterday did not happen, you hear me?"
"Oh it didn't? I clearly remember you giving me great detail about how you hooked up with not one, but two girls at the same time."
"Hey, that...that I'm not going to regret. That was fucking awesome. Everything else though…" Dean trailed off, suddenly looking extremely embarrassed. Sam could practically sense the memories of what he had said flowing through his brother's mind.
"Dean, hey. You were…"
Dean stood up suddenly and pushed past Sam, face locked in a grimace once again. "I'm taking a shower. Be ready when I'm out. We're leaving here as soon as we can."
Sam let out a long sigh. While he had been looking forward to Dean getting back to normal, he had been hoping that by some small chance, Dean wouldn't react in this way.
Who was he kidding?
When Dean ambled out of the shower, trying to wrap up his bad arm by using his powers, Sam jumped in front of him.
"Uh uh. You remember what the doctor said, you need to keep that wound treated."
Dean's irritated expression suddenly changed to amusement. "Oh, yeah doctor lady. I saw that smile on your face last night."
"Yeah, and I'm shocked you didn't beg me for details." Sam rolled his eyes.
"Hey, I was exhausted. Barely got out the story of my wild threesome before I passed out." Dean wagged his eyebrows with a smirk.
"Oh god, please don't remind me of that. Way more information than I ever needed to know."
"So what about you? How did doctor chick cure that bitch-face of yours? I bet she was…oww, hey!"
Sam had tugged on Dean's arm more than necessary and gave his brother a warning glare. "It was nice. Now shut up and let me clean your wound. Someone's gotta take care of you."
Dean mumbled something under his breath that contained the word 'bitch'. Sam smiled, it was good to have his brother back to normal.
Sam cleaned and re-wrapped Dean's arm, making sure to reprimand his brother on taking care of the limb so it would heal faster. Dean cursed and groaned the entire time, eagerly pulling away as soon as Sam was finished.
"Now tell me Sammy, did you sleep with her or not? Knowing you, you just had a friendly chat over tea or some…"
"Yes Dean, we slept together, happy now?"
Dean did seem happy, by the grin on his face. "Thatta boy, maybe now that you got laid you'll be tolerable to be around."
"If you tease me like this in front of everyone, I'm going to bring up your behavior while drunk," Sam threatened.
Dean's happy grin morphed back into a grimace. "I told you, that never happened. Let's go. Now."
Dean was relieved as Hell to get out of that community. Not that it freaked him out like Hades' place, but just the feeling of being surrounded by so many people that didn't know what he was had him on edge. He didn't like strangers and the act he had to play around them.
That damn potion really did help, and he found himself actually without a single worry in the world, that is, until it wore off and all his Hell memories and simmering demonic-anger came back.
He kind of welcomed it back though. He could manage it all just fine, and would rather be himself and alert instead of carefree and unable to fight or protect his brother.
The shit that he said while on that potion was nagging him relentlessly at the back of his mind. Did he really admit all of that to Sam? He couldn't believe he had acted so weak in front of his brother. After being so vulnerable and pathetic, how come Sam wasn't looking at him any differently?
"Hey," Sam said suddenly, distracting Dean from his thoughts.
Dean took his eyes off the road for a moment, glancing at his brother. "What?"
"I think we're almost there," Sam replied, referring to the forest they would spend the night in. "Feels good to finally be in Wyoming, doesn't it?"
Sam had been trying to get him to talk for the entire drive, but not about the potion like Dean had assumed. He was finding it harder and harder to be grouchy at his little brother like he wanted to. Sam had taken advantage of the potion's effects by asking Dean questions he'd never answer otherwise. But honestly, wouldn't Dean have done the same thing in Sam's position?
And it wasn't like Sam had been treating Dean any different after learning about the stuff he had admitted. He had assumed that Sam and the others would have been acting like they wanted the carefree and 'nicer' Dean back, but the only thing people had been doing were teasing him here and there.
There was really no reason to be holding a grudge about this. Time to let it go.
"How much longer does it look like?" Dean asked, smirking at Sam's happy smile in response to hearing him respond.
"Glad you're finally talking to me," Sam quipped, looking down at the map in full-out geek mode. "We should probably enter the forest in about ten minutes. He looked back up at the barren landscape in front of them and pointed. "I think I can see the trees in the distance.
Dean nodded, seeing the same thing as Sam. "Didn't realize how freaking empty Wyoming is. And I thought the trip from the Missouri river to Tamara's forest was empty? This is ten times worse, I can't remember the last time we've seen anything more than a stray dilapidated house. Be nice to finally see some damn trees."
"Well, it is the least populated state."
"I know that, idiot. Probably why we hardly had any hunts here. Who would want to live here? This place is ugly as hell."
"You won't be saying that when you see the ranch," Sam chuckled. "From what Heather described, it sounds beautiful."
"Really? Because I'm starting to be convinced Heather lied to us and we're gonna be living in some hideous desert."
"Just because the east side of the state is so barren, doesn't mean the whole state is. Once we get into the mountains, the scenery is going to completely change."
"Well hopefully a state that was nearly empty before the Croatpocaylpse will be a safe place to stay now. Don't want to deal with any of that crap that went down in the Sioux Falls area again."
As they continued to drive, Dean gladly welcomed the trees that started appearing along the sides of the road. They were so close now he could practically taste it. Just one more night of camping and then hopefully they would have a new home.
"Okay, okay...keep going...I can't really tell on the map but it looks like there may be multiple small roads that will veer off of this one and go into the woods," Sam informed him.
"So pull off at the first one I see?"
"Let's do second, just incase someone had the same idea."
Sam ended up changing his mind as they drove through the forest, saying that the first two roads were too close and he wanted something that was a bit deeper within the woods.
After Sam finally settled on a road, they veered off a few other times onto even smaller paths, before finally coming to a stop at a rather large cabin that sat along a river.
"I will check if it is occupied," Castiel finally spoke after four hours of silence in the car. Before the brothers could turn around to talk to him, he was already out of the backseat and walking toward the cabin.
"And I thought you were awkward," Sadie mumbled, still half asleep, referring to Dean. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to how weird this guy is."
Dean huffed. "You and me both."
A few minutes later, Castiel returned with the all clear. Everyone began getting out of the car and unpacking the things they would need for the night. Dean was busy stretching when Aiden ran up to him.
"Dean, Dean, is this where we're gonna stay for our new home?"
Dean sighed. "Does this look like a ranch to you?"
Aiden only shrugged. "I don't know what a ranch looks like. I don't even know what it is!"
Well, that was a good point. It wasn't like any kids were going to understand what a ranch was.
"No. We're just staying here for the night and tomorrow we'll probably get to the ranch."
The young boy squinted his face in confusion. Just great. "Night? But it's not even dark out." He pointed to the sky.
Dean mocked the kid's stance. "Yeah, but what do those look like genius? Storm clouds. I don't care if it's only 3 in the afternoon. We're so close and we gotta take our time now to make sure we don't lose any more cars in a storm."
"Or people," Sam chimed in, shaking his head at Dean in exasperation. "We want to make sure we all stay safe, Aiden. The storm could be dangerous and it's best to stop somewhere until the weather gets better to drive."
"Like that one time the sky got really dark at the hotel and we all had to stop swimming outside!"
"Exactly." Sam smiled. "Now how about we go check out the cabin and see how many rooms it has? It looks really big, doesn't it?"
"Yeah!" Aiden cheered in excitement. But he didn't make a move to run to the house, instead he stared up at Dean and raised his arms.
"What? I'm not hugging you."
"No! A piggyback ride. Please Dean? Bobby said you would do them now because he's old and I'll break his back."
Dean huffed, annoyed. Stupid Bobby, of course he'd be in on this. Dean would have to get him back somehow. "Fine, but only for five minutes."
The shit-eating grin Sam had on his face while Dean carried Aiden on his back almost made it worth it.
"Get inside the damn house!"
"But Dean, there's not enough bedrooms for all of us, we can sleep in here."
"Fine Carl, want to be stuck out here in the RV during a huge storm instead of being safe in that big cabin with everyone else? Then be my damn guest. See you tomorrow...if you're even alive."
Dean shut the RV door in Carl's face and started walking back to the cabin through the howling wind. Not even ten seconds later, Carl's voice was heard yelling.
"Dean, wait! We're coming!"
Smirking to himself, Dean called out to the man without turning around. "Aww damn, I was hoping that would be a few less whiny humans for me to put up with."
"You know, if I do die, I'd just haunt your ass 24/7 and make your life a living hell," Carl called out as he caught up to Dean.
"Ugh, that would be worse than actual Hell. I take that back, never die please."
Sam was waiting for them by the front door. Once they were all safely inside, the younger brother put down the final salt line at the base of the front door.
"We're all safer in here, we can make sleeping arrangements work just fine."
Carl looked at Sam and shrugged. "I'm sure we'd still be safe in the RV. And I was concerned about our cars. What if someone comes by and tries to steal them during the storm?"
That caused Dean to burst out laughing. "Seriously? We're in the most deserted state, in a forest, down a dirt road that led off of several other roads and in an isolated cabin. I think we're fine."
"And your lives are more important than some cars," Sam told Carl earnestly.
Dean rolled his eyes, using the opportunity of Sam being distracted to slip away. His brother probably would assign him to do some stupid ass job like sort through their food. Dean had other ideas planned, like snooping around and raiding this house.
He heard kids running around upstairs so he decided to wander down into the basement. He had only made it to the foot of the stairs when he heard someone following him. Glancing up, he saw Jo walking down the stairs and rolled his eyes at her.
"Thought I'd join you, nothing more exciting than looking through a creepy basement." There was a sparkle in her eyes that showed that she actually meant her words. No wonder Ellen had always been so worried about her, she seemed to love danger, like Dean himself.
Dean concentrated in on his powers and filled the room with light. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw the layout of the basement. "Doesn't look like you're gonna get your creepy basement fix this time, sorry."
The basement was completely finished, with a large living area containing a few couches and recliners, as well as a giant flat screen TV. Dean admired the fireplace on the other end of the room with a few lounge chairs and grinned at the dart board. There were a few other rooms, and when he opened the doors, he discovered a full bath/laundry room and a bedroom with two twin beds.
That made five bedrooms in the entire house, joining the master bedroom on the main floor and three bedrooms upstairs. Someone must have used this house as a place to get the entire family together, siblings with their children, as well as grandparents and maybe aunts and uncles.
Along with the couches and recliners, they would have no problem finding everyone a place to sleep.
"Hey, Dean, check this out." Jo pointed at what looked to be some kind of display case. As Dean got closer, he saw the contents inside and couldn't help but let out an exclamation of excitement.
"Hell yes! This is exactly what we needed!" It was also what Tamara wouldn't give them, not that Dean could blame her, he wouldn't part with any of these babies himself.
The case was used to display three different kinds hunting rifles and a crossbow. Obviously, some of the people that stayed here were into hunting, Dean hadn't failed to note the deer heads that were mounted on various walls.
Jo seemed just as excited, if not more so, than Dean. She had a grin on her face a mile wide and Dean remembered being whacked in the face and then having the barrel of a hunting rifle pointed straight at his chest on the first day he met her.
"We gotta get these out, you got a safety pin on you?" Dean really should remember to carry them on him at all times, like Sam, he'd just gotten lazy in thinking they probably wouldn't be of much use anymore.
"Can't you just bust it open?"
"Oh sure, I'll smash the glass and leave you to clean up the shards and all my blood, doesn't that sound fun?" Dean snatched away the paper clip she dramatically handed over to him. "No harm in taking 30 more seconds to get the door open, not like we got anything better to do. Unless…" He wagged his eyebrows at her.
"Not now, shut up and unlock the cabinet."
"Not now? Does that mean…"
"I don't know, maybe it means something or maybe I'm just stringing you along to mess with you. Guess you'll have to wait and see."
"Ooh, sassy, I like it." Dean winked at her for good measure and then got set back at his task. Within the next minute, he had the cabinet unlocked.
After digging through some drawers in the cabinet, Dean discovered that there was a good collection of bullets saved. This would last them a while. They could use these rifles not only for hunting, but to guard the perimeter of their new home.
"Dean, hey…" Sam came walking down the stairs and paused when he saw what his brother and Jo were looking at. "Are those rifles?"
"Hell yeah, take a look." Dean watched as Sam admired the weapons. "Find anything good up there?"
"We were able to scavenge some food and found a few more flashlights, a lot of clothes, some toiletries and candles." Sam inspected the gun more closely. "But these are a really awesome find."
"Actually, I found them," Jo snarked back.
"Good for you, now scram." Dean started to push her away with his powers when the room was suddenly filled with an intense smell of sulfur.
"Dean…" Sam started, pulling on his brother's good arm in the familiar motion he did when he was nervous.
"That's not you, is it?" Jo asked Dean, reaching for her pistol as her eyes scanned the basement wildly.
"There's a reverse summoning going on," Dean answered, remembering the time he and Sam were in the house in Sioux Falls when Crowley had used the ritual to reach him. The whole room had smelled of sulfur then too, a familiar scent when demons were teleporting. The further the distance, the stronger the scent. "Sam, get ready, let's get in that bedroom now. Don't need any other people freaking out when Crowley shows up."
"You sure it's him?"
"Who else knows about it? Besides, when Bobby looked it up he said the force of it is so intense that it would literally cause humans or lesser demons to implode when they try it. He's the only one strong enough to be able to do it." Dean pointed at Jo. "You guard the stairs so no one else comes down here."
Jo shook her head. "Uh-uh. I'm watching this myself. The more people that are in this room with that demon to make sure he doesn't try anything, the better."
Not having the time to argue with her, Dean let her come in the bedroom with them. The next thirty seconds were filled with anxiety as Dean could feel his brother readying his powers and Jo aimed her pistol that she kept filled with iron bullets at the center of the room.
"Hello boys...and well, what do we have here?"
Dean turned to see Crowley sitting in a reading chair near the small bookshelf in the room. He was staring at Jo in interest.
"Tell us what you want to say and get the hell out," Dean ordered, feeling a small flicker of fear when Crowley turned his cold, murderous look his way. Maybe he shouldn't be so bossy with the King of Hell…
But then, Crowley's expression changed to one of resignation, and Dean could feel that Sam had unleashed his powers on the demon, locking him in place. Crowley knew that with Sam's powers, he was no longer the one in full control here.
"I came to discuss our little friend, Eve."
"Yeah, I know. You want us to kill her. Two problems. We don't know where the Hell she is and we have no clue what kills her!"
"Get your angel groupie to help."
Dean shook his head. "Eve predates angels. Cas only heard about her in stories and doesn't have a clue either. I'm not running into something blind and getting us all killed!"
"She's killing off all my demons!" Crowley bellowed, the anger and fear in his voice causing Dean to shut up. "I know you don't care, because you're hardly a demon at all, but these are my minions, if I don't have any demons, then tell me, what the hell am I King of?"
"She's killing off demons?" Sam questioned, still keeping his arm outstretched toward Crowley. Even though she had already seen Sam's powers in action, Jo seemed in awe of them, but still kept her gun pointed at the demon as well. "Like the demons that were taking over the big cities? We just heard that the demons in Bismark were either all dead or fled."
"I don't care about Bismark," Crowley barked. "Most of the demons that took over cities were Alastair's followers anyway and I would have ordered my troops to kill them. That demon-killing Croat mutation is killing off my soldiers! The other day, a Croat was summoned to Hell and began infecting an entire faction!"
Dean raised an eyebrow. "Demons aren't in human bodies in Hell, they're just souls, how can a Croat…"
"It can. It bites and infects the demonic souls. Maybe because it's a demonic virus? I don't bloody know! And then, when the demons finally cornered it, the damn thing exploded and sent the virus into the entire layer of Hell! We had to seal it off!"
"It...exploded?" Jo asked, never lowering her gun. She quickly glanced at Sam and Dean without moving her head. "Didn't we kill some demon-infecting Croats at that library?"
Now that Dean thought of it, he wasn't quite sure. Wait...Castiel had, hadn't he? "The angel did, I think. I don't remember them exploding, but I wasn't quite with it at the time."
Sam shook his head. "I don't remember that happening either. What happens to the human soul that was inside?"
"The mutation doesn't make them explode, you morons! I thinks she plants some kind of ticking time bomb in a few of them and then sends them to hell! Apparently when the virus is airborne, it's able to infect all the demons who don't have human bodies to defend against it." Crowley shook his head at Sam. "You're worried about the puny souls inside? Guess what, they obliterate when the Croat explodes!"
"It was created in Hell, guess it makes sense that it would spread easiest there." Dean shrugged. "And why should I care about this? Let it destroy Hell and all the damn demons there! I want it to!"
Crowley's anger seemed to be rising with every passing minute. "I don't care what you think about Hell! Unlike you, I'm a real demon and I am Hell's king! I will not let my Kingdom be destroyed by these abominations! Believe it or not, we all need Hell. There needs to be a balance of good and evil , it's the way the world..."
The door opened suddenly, as Allen entered the room. "Who the hell is yelling…" he trailed off when he noticed Crowley, his face losing its color.
"Ooh another miserable little human, what a surprise. And what's this?" Crowley was staring at Allen's missing hand. "A liability more than humans already are, I can take care of him for you…"
Dean stepped in front of Allen as Sam tightened his powers on Crowley. "No one's killing anyone, Crowley," Dean growled.
"Going to let that one drag you down?"
"I'll take my chances."
Crowley shook his head. "Very well then. Honestly, Dean, I didn't expect you to get this soft. Using some humans as you make your travels? Sure, but I assumed you would use them as bait when the going gets rough, not protect them. I can tell he was possessed by you, and that stump was healed on your doing."
"Yeah, so?"
"You're not the first new, fresh demon to escape, you know. There have been others with humanity still in tact. But none of them were able to handle it for long. They all ended up giving in, either returning to Hell or gladly destroying their last shreds of their human self. You on the other hand...you're gaining some back."
Dean huffed, feeling both irritated and embarrassed. "Please inform me why the hell you're telling me this shit."
"Because," Crowley's voice got eerily low, the evilness in his tone almost caused Dean to take a step back. Almost. "I don't need these new feelings of yours to get in the way of getting things done. I don't care if you want to emotionally be some demon-human hybrid, but these decisions you are making need to not ruin our mission of destroying Eve.
"They won't." Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes. "More people, more minds and bodies to fight against her, so fuck off. We already destroyed one of her more powerful minions. She had Hades working for her discover new mutations and force pregnancies on women to create young monsters to turn."
"From the sound of it, Hades wasn't the only one working for her," Sam stepped in and Dean was grateful to have Crowley's glare off of him. "There are other powerful beings that she probably has in other small towns across America...or the world."
"Aha," Crowley nodded, his rage seeming to die down somewhat. "Finally some useful information from you two buffoons. I can use this and send my soldiers out to search and destroy these towns. With that taken care of, I expect you two to come up with a discovery on how to kill this bitch."
"Fine, we'll do it, now go."
"As soon as your moose of a brother lets go of me, I'll gladly get away from your sad excuse of a group. Just remember, Dean, your brother can't always be by your side to protect you. If you fail to look into this Eve matter, I will eventually find you when he's not around and you will suffer. So if you want to stay with your brother, take care of this pest."
Knowing that Crowley was right, Dean didn't bother with any sarcastic comeback."We'll stop her, alright?" He addressed Crowley. "We'll get it done."
Noticing that Sam was about to make an angry retort at Crowley, Dean shook his head. Don't bother, just drop it. Let go of him and he'll leave.
Dean felt Sam let go of Crowley, and in an instant, the chair he had been occupying was empty.
"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered, running a hand through his hair. He had just finished informing everyone about Crowley's visit and what he had told them.
They were all sitting in the main room of the basement as the storm began to pound down onto the earth with an incredible force. The sound of hail pelting the house was the only sound to be heard other than Dean's ragged breathing.
"Calm down, son." Bobby reached out a hand toward Dean but the demon shrugged it away.
"You don't get it! He's never going to leave me alone! I'm sick of him just being able to appear! I'm just…" Dean sighed. "I'm just so tired of it. I don't want anything to do with Hell or demons, just leave me the hell alone."
"Dean," Sam reached over to put a hand on his shoulder and this time, Dean didn't deny the contact. He looked down at his hands to see that they were shaking, just great. "He's not going to do anything to you, I won't let him."
"I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you!"
"Again, I can easily stop him, don't worry. It's all empty threats anyway. He needs us, he knows it."
"Remind me why we don't just kill this idiot again?" Sadie asked, folding her arms.
"Oh I'd love to," Dean seethed. "But we can't, he's an evil ass, but he's the best option for Hell's king. We don't need another Alastair. At least Crowley's a businessman at heart, not an extreme master torturer with an obsession with murder."
"I don't like that he can just pop in here at any time because he can be brought to Dean! Isn't the salt supposed to keep demons out?" Allen asked, still looking shaken up at his encounter with Crowley.
"See!" Dean pointed at Allen with a sneer. "I knew it! You guys are going to blame me for this shit and want me kept away in a shed or something!"
Allen's eyebrows rose up into his hairline. "Where did I say that? I'm not blaming you, you protected me in there. I'm just saying, isn't there something that can keep him away?"
"Salt lines keep normal demons out," Sam told Allen, noting that everyone in the group seemed to be worried about this as well if their expressions were anything to go by. "But Crowley is the King of Hell, something as simple as salt won't be able to keep him away. It's okay though, because once we find our home, we are going to ward the entire place up with things much stronger than salt. He won't be able to get in."
Sam turned to face Dean directly just then, but the voice that Dean heard wasn't a physical one.
He's just coming by and risking his own life because he needs us. He knows we want Eve gone too. Once she's gone, he won't even bother attempting to come around anymore, he's not stupid, he knows I have the ability to control him.
I hope you're right Sammy. Because I can't handle being someone elses' bitch.
Dean watched as Sam's eyes took on a dewy appearance and he sighed. He needed to stop admitting his feelings like this, but really...it did help. Because despite what Dean tried to tell himself, he did have fears, and those fears were lessened when he shared them with his brother.
It felt good to actually ramble to Sam when he had been on that potion, embarrassing now that he was back to himself, but still nice all the less. If he could just get past that initial shame, he thought he should try that again. He knew Sam enjoyed their conversation and hadn't judged him…
Maybe it was time to finally let his brother in more.
"Don't you worry one bit Dean," Marcy cooed from the other side of the room. "We all have your back, that nasty demon isn't going to lay a finger on you!"
Everyone started nodding, causing Dean to roll his eyes. Leave it to Marcy…
"We'll help with finding a way to kill her!" Heather chimed in.
"That's right, we all will." Bobby dropped a few of his duffles on the ground in the middle of the circle the group formed. "We've got nothin' else better to do, so might as well start researching. I ain't got much with me right now, left a lot in the car. But it's no matter, let's get to it."
They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening looking through some of Bobby's old hunting books. The kids had retreated upstairs with Marcy, although Sam thought it was probably best for them all to stay in the basement. There were extremely strong winds, and even though Sam knew a tornado touching down in a forest was unlikely, it still felt safer underground.
Dean had been mostly silent throughout the day, burying himself in a book. But Sam could tell by the glassy look on his brother's black eyes, a look that Sam was sure only he could decipher because of his practice reading emotions through the inky color, that Dean probably wasn't as focused on the words as he seemed.
They all went to bed early, Sam and Dean taking the small basement bedroom with the twin beds. Even though there were a lot of people sleeping in the other room, it was nice to still have some privacy behind a closed door. He had hoped that Dean would want to talk about a few things with him, alone.
He just wanted his brother to feel better. If Dean could talk about how he was feeling openly, then Sam was sure that would help. The reason why Dean had gotten so pent up and felt like he was falling apart back at the hotel was because he felt like he couldn't talk to Sam.
But Dean had grown a lot since then, and Sam believed that he truly understood that in order to retain both of their sanities in this world, they needed to lean on each other.
After drinking one of his demon blood mixes and getting into bed, Sam was busy trying to figure out the best way to get Dean to talk when his brother ended up speaking first.
"Hey, Sammy?"
"Yeah?"
"Give me that extra pillow."
Sam huffed and threw the pillow at his brother's face. Of course Dean hadn't been wanting to talk. Why did he even expect that?
He sighed quietly, turning in his bed to face away from Dean.
"Hail's comin' down pretty bad out there."
Sam turned around, eyeing Dean suspiciously. Dean was staring straight ahead at the basement ceiling. "Yeah...it is."
"I bet all the cars are dented the hell up." Dean grinned. "Good thing I parked Baby in the garage."
"Of course you would. You better hope none of the other cars got damaged too badly or we're going to have to fit more people in the Impala."
Dean's grin turned into a scowl. "At least we only have one day left of travel." Suddenly, he flipped on the bed, facing Sam. He looked excited. "Dude, can you believe it? We're almost there."
Well, if Dean wasn't going to talk about his feelings, at least he was chatting to Sam. That was progress. Dean had said under the potion that he missed hanging out with Sam. Maybe these nightly conversations would become a regular thing? It would be nice to have a chance to just be brothers more often. "I know, I can't wait to finally get off the road. But navigating the mountains tomorrow should be interesting...I hope it doesn't take too long…"
Dean ignored his musing. "I'm actually gonna miss travelling around and finding random places to hole up in."
The younger brother raised an eyebrow at the demon. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, it's fun and exciting. Never knowing what you're going to find in the new house, seeing how other people used to live and getting to take over their old digs for the day. We always had to settle at crappy motels, now we get to stay wherever the hell we want."
"Yeah, but we'll still be doing that when we have to go on supply runs and stuff. We need a secure home base. The ranch will be much nicer than those motels too."
"True." Dean was grinning. "This life is so much better than pre-Croatpocalypse."
"What? You like this better than before?" Sam was dumbfounded. Sure, Dean had fun stealing things from empty homes and killing Croats, but to enjoy it better than the world before?
"Way better. Come on Sammy, this is way more fun. It's one never-ending adventure. More action, less annoying people, hardly any noise...and here's something you will like, no more pollution and the Earth will take back its land. What's not to love?"
"How about the convenience of things? Getting food whenever you want? What about your pie, huh? Being able to be easily entertained by movies and not having to fear for your life when you travel?" Sam challenged his brother, although he did see Dean's points.
It was understandable why Dean liked those things, being a demon, but Sam could see himself enjoying the new world too. It would just take some getting used to.
"Well, yeah. The not-being-able-to-grab-a-pie-whenever-you-want thing sucks. But we can still make some. And having to work for your food is kinda fun, makes it more rewarding…don't tell Marcy I said that. And we can watch old movies until we've watched every single one ever made." Sam was afraid Dean's grin would break his face, he really did love this new world. "We can make our own activities and shit. Play some sports. The world isn't nearly as dangerous either when you have a bad-ass demon travelling with you."
Sam huffed, yet smiled all the same. "I have to say Dean, you actually have me coming over to your side in this matter. You win this time, but I'll deny it if you ever bring it up again."
Dean chuckled before he suddenly grew serious. "This is still my home, no matter how many years I spent in Hell. And I'm not gonna let Crowley or anyone else take me away from it. You know how I knew that Hell never became my home?"
Intrigued, Sam tried not to show just how curious he was and instead went with a slight shrug. "How?"
"Did I tell you how they try and give all the demons hideous demon-y names once you turn?"
"Ruby mentioned it while you were trapped with Alastair. She said very few demons keep their human name. Most have their name changed and some get demon-sounding names."
"Don't mention that bitch's name to me. Yeah, it's part of their process to help the demon forget their human self. And the few demons that want to keep their original human names are basically tortured and shunned until they give in."
"They tortured you for it? Dean…"
"Hey, I'd rather be tortured than change who I am." Change that I was your brother, Dean added in through the telepathy and Sam wasn't even sure he was aware of it. "I never once even thought of changing it. They even wanted to give me one of their highly reserved demonic names...well Alastair wanted to, despite the other demons' protests."
"He really wanted you on his side," Sam pointed out.
"Of course he did. I'm awesome and bad-ass, who wouldn't? But I guess that was supposed to try and win me over, but it just made me fight harder. That's how I knew I belonged up here still and not down there. I'm not gonna let Eve screw up our home. We're gonna win."
This seemed to be what Dean had wanted to say all along, and Sam was filled with relief that his brother was allowing him to hear some of his private thoughts without having to be influenced by a potion.
Dean had really handled the aftermath of revealing so many 'embarrassing' things a lot better than Sam could have ever hoped for. He had expected Dean to clam up and to shy away from any kind of situations where he would be emotionally vulnerable.
Boy, was he glad he was wrong.
"We will win Dean," Sam told his brother, and in that moment, he had no doubt. He felt more confident than he had in years. And I'll be right there watching your back."
Dean sighed dramatically, waving a hand over his face. "Oh Sammy, I get all tingly when you talk to me like that."
Yeah, some things would never change.
Dean startled awake at the sound of a large crash, followed by several screams. Sam bolted upright next to him, and they both shared a look of confusion.
"What was that?" Sam asked, already getting out of bed.
The screams continued as Dean took the lead and got in front of Sam, opening the door to their room. "It sounded like it came from upstairs." He noticed that everyone else in the main room of the basement had awoken as well, fear written all over their faces. "Stay down here, me and Sam are going to check it out."
Dean didn't wait to see if they were going to listen. He took the stairs two at a time, Sam close behind. As he rounded up on the second set of stairs that would lead from the main floor onto the second floor, several people stood on the steps, seemingly frozen in fear.
"Move," Dean ordered them, pushing past when most of them remained still.
He wasn't sure what he had expected to find, but a large tree falling into the side of the roof wasn't it.
"What the hell?" Dean spoke mostly to himself, staring at the scene in front of him. The tree had collapsed onto the section of the roof that was over one of the bedrooms. Luckily, it seemed like only the top of the tree had hit the house and not the base of the trunk.
Kids were crying and several adults were running into the room. Dean continued staring blankly ahead of him, trying to piece together what had happened while Sam immediately rushed forward, gathering a few kids into his arms.
Hearing Aiden's voice, Dean finally snapped out of his oblivious state. This must have been one of the kids' bedrooms. Shit. Had Aiden gotten hit by the tree?
He glanced around at the commotion going on around him. Since he was much calmer than everyone else at the moment, he was able to notice that none of the kids that sat in the hallway seemed seriously injured. He walked down the length of the hall, surveying the state of every kid and adult he passed. They all seemed shaken up, and a few of the kids had scrapes from what must have been the branches, but everyone looked to be okay.
"Dean!" Aiden ran up to him, getting up from where he had sat near Emily, the girl that had almost gotten shot in the cornfield.
"Hey, you alright?" Dean asked, kneeling down and allowing the little boy to wrap his arms around him. His small body shook with tremors but he wasn't crying.
"I'm okay, just scared." Aiden pulled out of the hug and looked at Dean with pride in his eyes. "I helped Emily and John and Mikey crawl out from under the tree."
"Alright, that's good. Did the tree hit anyone?"
Aiden shook his head. "No, it kinda crashed where the dresser was, before our beds. But some of the branches scratched us." He showed Dean some bloody scrapes on his forearms. They didn't look deep, but they probably stung, especially for a kid.
"Oh come on, that's nothing. You're not gonna whine about that, are you?"
"No!" Aiden shook his head rapidly. "It doesn't even hurt and I didn't even cry! I'm gonna be tough like you."
"That's right, don't be a wuss." Dean looked over his shoulder to see that Sam had brought a few kids over to Marcy at the end of the hall. From what he could hear, it sounded like she was going to patch them up downstairs. He turned back to face Aiden. "Alright, take Emily and go over to Marcy, she'll bandage you guys up."
"Are you gonna come too?"
"Nah, I've got another job to do, but you gotta go do yours. The other kids might be scared so you have to be there to help them."
Aiden beamed, exactly what Dean had predicted. "Okay, I'll go help them!" He grabbed Emily's hand and the two ran over to Marcy.
Dean got up and made his way back over to the room that had been damaged. Carl was inside and shook his head when he saw Dean.
"I told them that everyone should stay in the basement during a storm like this," he sighed.
"Yeah, Sam said that too, and I thought he was right. Everyone else seemed to think the kids would be fine as long as some adults slept up here. They thought they'd hear if the winds were getting too bad and bring the kids down."
"Well that sure worked out well," Carl huffed sarcastically. "We can't take risks like this any more, it's better to be safer and paranoid."
"Hey, look who's talking. You're the one that wanted to stay in the damn RV!"
Carl blushed. "Yeah, I know. But I quickly understood that you and Sam were right. Anyway, I think we're still okay to stay here overnight if we all crowd into the basement. It doesn't look like the way the tree fell is going to cause any more structural damage, but it would still be better if we could move the tree to relieve pressure on the house."
"I can probably move the tree." Dean shrugged. "My powers are probably just strong enough to move something that heavy. Let's get Sam and go check it out outside."
They found Sam on the first floor, talking with Marcy and helping to patch up the kids.
"Sammy, get over here, we're gonna go out and take a look at the tree before I try and move it," Dean called out.
Sam hugged Marcy before he walked over and Dean could see that the woman had been crying. "What's that about?" he asked his younger brother.
"She's upset about making the decision to have the kids stay upstairs. I told her it wasn't her fault…"
"She should be upset," Dean interrupted him. "It is her fault. If she would have listened to what you said, the kids wouldn't have been in the room."
Shaking his head, Sam sighed. "Dean, the chances of this happening...she couldn't have known."
"Like me and Carl were just saying, better to be safe than sorry."
"Gotta admit, I'm on his side." Carl squeezed Sam's shoulder. "We have to be more careful. But we'll learn. Something like this won't happen again."
They all made their way outside, the rain immediately drenching their clothes. Hurrying over to the tree, the brothers waited nearby as Carl inspected it.
"I think the house should be fine if you move it. I was right that as of now, there's no major structural damage that would cause a collapse. But the continued pressure might result in it."
Thank goodness for having a former construction worker on your side.
"Alright, I'm on it. You two stand back." Dean readied his powers, but paused when Carl frowned and walked closer the the break in the fallen tree. "What's wrong?"
"The tree was struck by lightning. But...the angle at which it was hit...the tree should have fallen to the side, missing the house. Instead it fell forward."
"What does that mean?" Sam asked but Dean already had an idea, one that filled him with dread.
"I'll tell you what it means. I bet it was Crowley. He probably never really left the area, or he came back now that he knows where we are."
Sam frowned and sniffed the air. "It's hard to tell with the rain but it does smell faintly of sulfur around here. But why would he..." His eyes grew wide, he must have came to the same realization as Dean. "He knows he can't hurt me, but he can hurt the kids...and anyone else. That must be why the tree landed so perfectly as to not seriously injure the kids, but scare them instead."
"He was making a point." Dean growled. "Showing that he could take anyone else out. He purposely didn't hurt the kids now, but he's saying he will if I don't work with him."
Shit, Dean had talked back to Crowley and ran his mouth, thinking that the King of Hell couldn't possibly do anything about it. He had to be more careful. Crowley understood him more than Dean thought. He had made it clear that he had noticed that Dean cared more about the community of people than a demon should. He knew that the oldest Winchester wanted to protect his newfound group.
It wouldn't hurt him like losing Sam would, not even close, but he would feel guilty and losing kids would probably stick with him. Just like Marcy, he had unintentionally put the kids in danger.
"Hey, we can talk about Crowley later." It was Carl that spoke to him. "Let's move the tree first."
Dean shook out of his thoughts and focused in on his powers. He found it easier than he anticipated to move the large tree so it fell back in the other direction. It still took quite a bit out of him, but didn't leave him completely drained.
"Dean!" Sam's voice sounded far away, and when Dean turned around, he saw his brother standing by their cars, his face was set in panic. "We have a problem."
Running over with Carl to join his brother, the three men stared into an open trunk of one of the cars.
"You open this?" Dean asked, even though he knew the answer.
"No." Sam shook his head. "I don't know how we missed this when we first ran out, but look." He pointed to several of the other cars. All but two had their trunks left wide open. "This couldn't have happened too long ago, it seems like they left in a hurry, maybe when the tree fell."
"But we emptied the trunks, didn't we?" Carl asked. "We took all our bags and backpacks inside."
"We did, but we left the gas containers inside." Sam looked at his brother in the eyes, devastation written across his face. "All the cars that were broken into...the containers are missing from them all."
Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you guys are still interested in this story and if you are enjoying, I just want to make sure there's people that are still reading. Also, let me know if there's anything you would like to see happen and I'll always keep it in mind.