Sam and Dean didn't invite Isabel to John's 'funeral'. Partly because they wanted to bury their dad alone, but partly because they knew she wouldn't have gone anyway. Sam had made a fumbled attempt at inviting her whilst delicately trying to convey to her that he was only doing it out of obligation. Fortunately, Isabel understood subtlety well and was keenly perceptive. She put a hand on Sam's arm and shook her head slowly.

"I think it's something you two should do on your own" She said.

It had been three days since John had died and two days since Sam and Dean had been discharged from the hospital. Unsure as to what they were supposed to do next, they remained in Jefferson City with Missouri and Isabel. The two women had rented a motel room near the hospital to be near Sam and Dean while they recovered and made the necessary arrangements regarding John. Isabel rented them a room next to hers and Missouri's the day they were discharged.

With the Impala out of the picture, Sam and Dean borrowed Isabel's SUV and left in the afternoon to pick up John's body from the morgue and prepare for the 'burial'. Dean was still avoiding her. Not her personally, really, he was just avoiding everybody. It was Sam who'd come around to her room, knocked on her door and asked for the keys to her car. She asked how Dean was doing, and Sam just shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't know" Sam said quietly, with a backwards glance towards the room he was sharing with his brother "He's not really talking about it"

"I'm worried about him, Sam" She said, whispering so as to not be overhead "He's acting really strange"

Sam looked at her oddly "Our dad just died" he pointed out.

"I know, Sam, that's not what I meant" She said quickly "But he's pushing everyone away and trust me, that's a bad move. Try to talk to him, will you? Get him to open up"

"I'll try"

"Talk to him about going home, too" She said "we can take the Impala with us and get it fixed in Lawrence"

He promised he would, but not that day. That day was going to be hard enough on Sam without the added pressure of having to break through Dean's stony exterior. He would talk to him the next day, thinking it would probably go better then.

He was wrong.

When they woke up the next morning, Sam braved Dean with a dose of reality. They'd faced the demon and lost. Their father was dead, and buried. It was over and it was time to go home. To say Dean's reaction wasn't pretty would have been an understatement.

"Over?" Dean's expression was a mixture of incredulity and barely restrained anger "You think it's over?"

"Dean, we don't have the colt, we've lost dad, we don't know where this demons is, we have to face it…it's over" Sam pointed out bluntly.

"No, Sam, it's not over" Dean shouted at his brother vehemently "It's not over until that thing is dead! You hear me?"

"I'm angry too, Dean, I'm hurting too. But we can't go on a wild goose chase" Sam tried to reason with his irate brother "We need to recover and regroup, I say we go home and…"

"We have no home, Sam!" Dean cut him off coldly.

"We can go to Lawrence"

"I'm not going there! This was Isabel's idea, wasn't it? God, why can't she mind her own damn business?" He hissed angrily through clenched teeth.

"Dean, she's offering us a place to stay until we figure out what to do"

"I don't need to figure it out, I know what I'm going to do" Dean said as he started packing his belongings "I'm going after this thing, I'm going to hunt it down"

"You can't do this by yourself"

"I can and I will" Dean said determined "You're welcome to come with me; after all, this demon killed your dad too. Not to mention your mother and your girlfriend"

"Dean, we've been out of hospital for less than a week" Sam protested "We almost died"

"I know" Dean said "I'm still going"

"Please don't" Sam pleaded.

"Don't you start, too" Dean said angrily "Isabel, I can understand…but you?You know I have to do this, Sam"

"You don't have to do anything"

"How can you just let it go?"

"Let it go?" Sam asked in disbelief "Dean, I'm just tired. We're losing everyone. Mom, Aunt Jane, Uncle Thomas, Jess, now dad… I'm tired. I can't take anymore"

"I can't take anymore either. I can't take the people we've already lost" Dean yelled fervently "It stops now! No more, Sam. No more!"

"This is a powerful demon, Dean" Sam insisted "'You could die"

"I really don't care"

"I do!" Sam yelled "Isabel does. We need you!"

"No, you don't" Dean spat back "Neither of you do. Isabel's going to get married and have her happily ever after with her new family. You… you're going to move on, meet someone, become a lawyer...you never wanted to do this. Me? This is all I know, this is all I am. This is all I'll ever be, Sam"

Dean grabbed his packed bag, his leather jacket hanging from the back of the armchair and picked up the car keys from the small key hook by the door.

"Don't leave like this" Sam pleaded, knowing that there was no way he could talk his brother out of this.

"I'm not leaving, Sam. I'm just continuing what we were doing before dad died. You are the one leaving me"

"Please Dean, try to see things past all this rage" Trying not to let Dean's accusatory tone get to him.

"This rage is the only thing keeping me together right now!" He said "It's the only thing driving me"

As Dean opened the motel room door, he looked at his brother one more time, expectantly. He was obviously hoping Sam would relent and go along with him. Join him in hunting this demon that had been making their lives miserable for decades. Taken half their family.

"Will you let me know if you find it? If you need me?" Sam said instead.

"I will let you know when I kill it" He said as his expression darkened "I don't want to hear from you or Isabel unless it's to tell me about a dream you had about the demon, or a vision you had, or anything that can help me find it. Otherwise, I'm not interested"

Sam watched mutely and defeated as his brother jumped into Isabel's car and sped off out of the motel parking lot. He hadn't been paying attention as Dean was packing, but noticed now that he had taken everything; their dad's diary, his notes, his phone, their weapons. Not to mention, Isabel's car.

Mere seconds later, the motel room door was opened again and Isabel stood there in her pajama shorts and tank top, with her hair sleep-tousled and her eyes struggling to remain open against the glare of the morning sun. She had obviously just jumped out of bed and rushed over to their room. She looked around disoriented.

"Was that my car?" She asked as she looked around the room "Where's Dean?"

"He's gone" said Sam.

"Gone where?" Her eyes returned to Sam and she noticed his eyes were watery.

"I don't know"

"When is he coming back?" She asked suspiciously.

Sam took a deep breath "He's not"

XXXXXXXXX

AN: I found it a little strange that in the show, Dean didn't seem all that keen in going after the demon after John died. I really thought he'd be the type to not be able to see anything beyond revenge. But hey, I don't write the show! Toodles, AT