Chapter Thirty-Three: Fire

"Don't worry mom," Jo said as she pushed her mother out of the hospital in the wheel chair. "You'll be hunting again in no time." She told herself she was saying it to reassure her mom, but really she was trying to reassure herself.

"I don't know kid," Ellen replied, shaking her head slightly and Jo helped her into the truck. "You heard what the doctors were saying: there's a good chance I'll never recover enough to be able to."

"They don't know you mom," Jo replied. "Everything'll-"

"It's okay Jo," she assured her. "Maybe I'll open up another bar. I kinda miss the old one."

"Really?" Jo asked, surprised that she was so okay with just sitting back.

"Yeah," she replied. "You can still hunt, but I'd better get a call from you every three days. Don't think I won't send the boys after you."

000

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"We're not sure yet," the sheriff said. "The Bradleys saw the smoke and called it in just a few minutes ago. Right now they're just trying to get the fire under control and make sure no one was inside."

If anyone had asked, no, Dean was not freaking out right then. Which would have been a complete and utter lie, because he was panicking like hell inside and it was taking every ounce of self control he had to keep himself from running into the burning building and looking for Cas. While he felt like he should be the one searching, he knew that he was no good to Cas if he passed out from smoke inhalation or got burned to charcoal in the process of rescuing him. He also considered the fact that the sheriff was a rather butch woman who could probably take him down before he made it anywhere near the burning building.

"Sheriff Barnes!" someone called from near the building. "We've found someone!"

Dean stood up a little straighter and his heart started bounding harder than it had been.

A moment later, on of the fire fighters carried a man out of the fire. Dean wasn't sure, but it looked a hell of a lot like Cas. He and the sheriff ran towards him as the paramedics transferred him to a gurney. They met up as it was wheeled to the ambulance.

"Hey, isn't that…" the sheriff started.

"Cas," Dean breathed, eyeing the unconscious figure.