Chapter 2

Sam waited for Dean to hang up before questioning him about the call.

"Who was that Dean? What's wrong?"

"Mason, we need to head for the Community, get packed," Dean told him as he started gathering his clothes and stuffing them in his duffle, not offering any further explanation.

"What's going on? Why the urgency?" Sam asked as he followed suit and packed his duffle too.

"Seems a couple of the clan members were coming back from a hunt up north and found a guy in the woods, unconscious and bleeding. Mason says he's a hunter."

"Crap! What did they do? Is he still alive?"

"Yeah, from what Mason said."

"What are they going to do with him? They wouldn't…." Sam trailed off not wanting to say what he was thinking.

"What the hell Sammy? We're not wild animals or barbarians. We don't just kill at the drop of a hat," Dean growled at him insulted he would even think that.

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone," Sam huffed.

"They took him to the gatehouse and had Doc come out and check him over. He's not got any life-threatening injuries, but they didn't want to take him to the hospital to treat him. Doc patched him up enough that we can get him away from there. He's been given a mild sedative to keep him out and we're going to go pick him up and take him to a hospital far away from the Community. It wouldn't be good if he came to and started asking questions."

"What's the cover story going to be?"

"We found him on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Doctored him and brought him to a hospital. If he stays out of it, we can drop the guy off and book before anyone asks too many questions."

Dean opened the trunk so they could drop their bags in before unlocking the Impala and sliding into the driver's seat. He reached over to open the other door so Sam could drop into the seat.

"Where are we anyway?" Dean asked as he looked around the motel parking lot not recognizing anything.

"We're outside of Rapid City, South Dakota, probably halfway between the Community and Bobby's."

"Find me the quickest route to the Community then."

"On it," Sam nodded pulling out his cell and finding the map icon. He quickly typed a few times and gave Dean directions for Brusett, Montana. "The way you drive, we can probably make it in about four hours."

"My Baby is full, so we won't have to stop more than once," Dean replied as he checked traffic before pulling onto the main road to head for the interstate. He was anxious but tried to hide it from Sam as he loosened his grip on the steering wheel.

"There's several choices of cities to take the hunter to away from Brusett. There's Glendive that's about a hundred and thirty miles and heading toward Bobby's. Or Billings which is south and around a hundred and eighty miles or Lewistown that's west about the same distance as Glendive, but that would put us farther away from Bobby's if we're heading that way."

"Which town is smaller?"

"Glendive or Lewistown. They look about the same."

"Since we're heading for Bobby's, anyway, might as well choose Glendive then."

"I agree. Wonder what that hunter was chasing?"

"Who knows," Dean shrugged. "Our main priority is to get him away from the Community."

Sam lapsed into silence knowing Dean was right. They couldn't endanger the clan members by a hunter finding out about the Community and bringing others there. He wondered if this had happened before and what the clan had done? Sam stared out the window as he let his mind wander to how much their lives had changed over the past year.

He couldn't believe that it had been over a year since Dean had been bitten by a pureblood werewolf and went through the change, becoming one himself. He glanced over at Dean, trying not to be obvious about it and could see the scowl on his face. Sam knew this bothered him and wondered if they knew this hunter they were going to pick up?

Dean was relieved that Mason had helped the hunter and he was able to keep him sedated without any real issues. This really hit home for him for the first time since his change. He knew the Community took all the precautions they could to remain hidden from the rest of the world, but he never thought about a hunter stumbling onto them and exposing them for what they truly were. This could have gone wrong in all sorts of ways and he wasn't sure how it would have been handled. Maybe he should have a talk with Mason when they went back to the Community to ease his troubled mind.

spn

It was after lunch when Dean pulled up to the gates of the Community. He saw Mason's SUV parked to the side and parked beside it.

"Wait here until I see what's going on," Dean told Sam when he started to get out.

"But I…" Sam started to complain.

"Stay!" Dean growled his eyes turning dark for a moment as he let his alpha authority show.

Sam huffed madly as he sat back in the seat with his arms across his chest, pouting like a kid. If it had been under different circumstances, Dean would have laughed and teased him, but he was too tense to pay attention to his brother. When Dean saw Sam was going to stay, he headed for the guardhouse where Mason was waiting on him.

"Dean, good to see you, even under these circumstances," Mason greeted him, shaking his hand.

"Mason," Dean replied. "Where is he?"

"In the back," Mason nodded opening the door for them.

Dean followed Mason inside and to the back of the guardhouse where a man who looked four or five years older than him was laying on a couch unconscious. He studied his face to see if he knew the hunter but didn't recognize him. His head, arm, and chest were bandaged.

"Do you know him? His name is Brad Justice, by an ID I found on him."

"Nope, probably some greenhorn trying to be something he's not," Dean scoffed. "Did they find anyone else out there or a monster maybe he killed?"

"No, there was only him. Mitch said he tracked him, and it looked like there was a fight and then he fell down at steep hill and crawled to where he collapsed. He wouldn't have found him at all, but they smelled the fresh blood."

"Yep, bet he's not been hunting very long, and he made his first major mistake, never hunt alone," Dean surmised. "How long will he be out?"

"I have another shot I can give him that will keep him out for a few hours if that will help. Doc said it wouldn't harm him, just let him rest."

"Go ahead and give it to him and Sammy and me will take him away from here and drop him at a hospital a few hours away. Then he will be their problem."

"Alright. It's for the best. We don't need any unwanted attention drawn to us and I'm afraid he would have too many questions if we were to keep him here."

"I got this," Dean said firmly as he watched Mason administer the shot. Once that was done, Dean stepped to the guy and hoisted him over his shoulder, being careful of his injuries and carried him out to the Impala.

Sam saw Dean step from the door of the gatehouse with a guy over his shoulder. He quickly got out and opened the back so Dean could deposit the hunter in the backseat, arranging his body so he was comfortable. The hunter groaned and fluttered his eyes for a moment before settling down.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked looking in at the hunter's body.

"Yeah, Doc patched him up, but he still needs to go to a hospital to be looked at," Dean told him. "Mason gave him enough sedative that should keep him out long enough for us to get to a hospital and leave him."

"We better leave then while he's still out," Sam surmised.

"Hello Sam," Mason greeted him. "Good to see you again."

"Mason, nice to see you again too. Sorry we can't hang around right now."

"I understand, safe travels."

"We'll stop back by soon. We should be going," Dean told Mason, giving him a nod of understanding. He had a job to do and wanted to get started. Without further words, Dean got in the Impala and started her up to drive away from the Community.

spn

"The hospital is on the other side of the town," Sam instructed as he pulled a map up of Glendive up on his cell. "Keep on this bi-pass around the town and you'll see signs for it in a few miles."

"Got it." Dean drove around the town and watched the signs until he saw one for the hospital. He moved over a lane and followed the signs until he came to the exit to take for the hospital. He drove a few more blocks until he saw the hospital off to the left up on a hill. He signaled to turn in and followed the signs to the emergency entrance. "Go in and get a wheelchair to take this guy inside."

"Okay," Sam replied, waiting for Dean to stop so he could get out. He hurried inside and came back out pushing a wheelchair.

"You take him inside and leave him Sammy. Tell the nurse you found him on the side of the road in an isolated area outside of town and get out of there." Dean helped Sam get the hunter from the back and into the wheelchair.

"Got it, be ready to leave," Sam told him as he pushed the wheelchair back inside.

Dean got back in the car and watched as he waited impatiently for Sam to come back out. A few minutes later, Sam hurried through the doors and quickly got into the Impala so Dean could drive away. Dean picked up the bypass again to the interstate and headed east toward Sioux Falls, not wanting to hang around to answer any questions the hospital staff might have about the injured man.

"I'm glad that's over with," Sam sighed as he let himself slump in the seat. "Are you okay?" he asked Dean, eyeing his brother, and sensing an uneasy feeling coming off him. Even though Dean had changed, Sam had learned quickly to pick up on his moods and feelings again. It was like he was now hyper aware of Dean's reactions.

"I'm fine," Dean grumbled not wanting to get into any of this now. He didn't know if he could talk to Sam about his thoughts. Dean was torn; if it came down to it, would he protect the clan and side with them? Could he kill humans to keep their way of life safe? His mind drifted to Marta, baby Quinn, Mia, Sophie, Mason, and others that were close friends now, not wanting any harm to come to them. For the first time in his life, he had others he wanted to protect and keep safe, than just Sam.

"Are we driving straight through to Bobby's?" Sam questioned.

Yeah, we're what, about six hours or a little more away right?"

"Something like that."

"We'll need to stop for gas up ahead, might as well grab something to eat while we're there."

"Okay, that's fine. I am getting hungry since we missed breakfast."

"I'll keep an eye on the signs for a place to stop." Dean fell into line with the other cars on the road and sped down the interstate, putting distance between them and the hospital they had left the hunter. In less than an hour, Dean found a truck stop and exited so they could fill the Impala and grab some takeout to eat as they continued their journey.

Dean filled the Impala and Sam headed in to use the restroom and then headed to the Dairy Queen attached to the truck stop to order some food. Dean headed for the restroom first and joined Sam to order his own food. When the orders were ready, they went back out to the car and got in to continue toward Sioux Falls. Dean waited until he was back on the interstate and let Sam unwrap his burger so he could start eating. He would have much preferred marinated cow hearts, but that would have to wait until they got to Bobby's and he could do some shopping. He settled his drink between his legs so he could drink it between bites of burger and fries.

Sam ate his grilled chicken sandwich and fries as he watched the scenery flash past them. He was glad to be heading to Bobby's for a few days of downtime before looking for another hunt. The brothers had been cautious over the past year, being sure that no one saw Dean wolf out if he needed to or saw his added strength and healing abilities. Sam knew if a hunter got wind of it, they would be gunning for Dean and he was not going to let anyone hurt his brother if he could help it. Even if that meant killing a human.

A/N: One emergency dealt with and no problems. Hope you are enjoying the story. Thank you for coming along on this journey with me. Reviews would make my day. NC