Harvelle's Roadhouse

Central Nebraska

March 31, 2006

Sam didn't know what he was getting himself into, but cleaning up a storeroom and stacking boxes for Mrs. Harvelle certainly wasn't on the list of expectations. Ellen said that she was busy and didn't have time to teach a 'know-it-all'. Immediately, the woman put him to work – treating him as if he was an employee instead of a mentee. Huffing while stacking up heavy boxes with bottles of booze, Sam chortled, who was he kidding, it was akin to indentured labor. He wasn't getting paid a dime for any of this work.

It had been a week and he still couldn't wrap his mind around the crap Ash had told him about his family history. He couldn't imagine that Dean had known any of it, as his brother was always open with information that he'd discovered about their birth family. Some of it, he knew about. Mary Winchester dying in a house fire that started in his nursery was known. Hell, he hid the news article in a textbook throughout the sixth grade when he found it in microfiche when his teacher assigned the class to complete an ancestry 'family tree'. What he didn't know was that almost everyone on his mother's side of the family died – the majority murdered, with a handful of deadly accidents under suspicious circumstances. Even the pleasant surprise at learning that he was named after his maternal grandfather was snuffed upon realizing that his mother's parents were among those murdered. The fact that Dean was named after their grandmother Deanna left him with an empty feeling. He picked up his phone to text his brother – wanting to make fun of him—and quickly dropped the device once he remembered that Dean wouldn't pick up.

If that wasn't enough to make Sam's head spin, the knowledge that the murders were all committed by demons was the icing on the cake. Ellen told him of the night that Dean ran away, taking him with him so long ago. That was the night John Winchester got his revenge against the 'Yellow-Eyed-Demon' who'd murdered his wife. Azazel was his name. He was a high-level demon – among the highest in rank. John caught the demon's children: Meg and Tom spying on his family. They were put down that same night.

Ellen hesitantly told him about Azazel's plan to build a demon army by dripping blood into the mouths of babies – corrupting them and infusing them with powers. A Prince of Hell named Dagon came of out retirement, possessing a woman, to find the children her brother Azazel had marked. Those children had abilities linked to demons: controlling Hellhounds, telekinesis, super-strength, mind-control, and spreading pestilence with a touch. One of the children caused an outbreak of what the news called Avian Influenza.

The hunters' believed Dagon was going to train them to become Hell's army, but the truth was much worse than expected. The children of Azazel were pitted against each other in some kind of deathmatch – murdering each other until only one child survived: Jake Talley. He was the demon's 'Champion'. From there, the man went about murdering Daniel Elkins only to gain the Colt from under their hands. When Sam heard the term 'Champion', his eyes widened in recognition. It must have been what Ruby was speaking about. Ruby had told him that he had died for the cause, but that they had a 'backup'. Sam knew she was referring to him and purposefully kept his mouth shut about it. These people didn't seem open-minded, especially since they were already suspicious of the V8 / drug comment that he made. He listened to Ash explain that John discovered, too late, that their goal was opening the Devil's Gate to release hundreds if not thousands of their demons from Hell. Bill Harvelle, Ellen's husband and Jo's father, gave his life to shutting the Gate to prevent all of Hell from escaping, as well as killing Jake. It certainly described to a tee the phrase: all Hell breaking loose.

John had kept the Colt in safekeeping from that moment on. That was until he was captured by the FBI. The Colt was now in some FBI secure storage facility, checked in as evidence. Ellen swore, venting, about how John was a freaking idiot. Sam kept himself from rolling his eyes, trying to stay respectful towards her.

Sam asked about the alarm that Ash said had come from Sioux Falls. The hippie had chattered on, Sam did follow him up to some point, then his eyes glazed over. He waved him off, walking away. He was tired, afraid, and hungry. Using what Dean used to call his 'Bambi eyes', Sam begged Ellen for something to eat. Glaring at him, she directed him to 'make his own meal' in the kitchen, muttering under her breath something about lazy men. Sam managed to find the makings for a burger.

He was still munching on it as he walked out of the kitchen, all eyes on him. Their faces looked – stricken, shocked. The men in the room shuffled out, barely waving their goodbyes. Soon, Sam, Jo, Ellen, and Ash were the only people in the Roadhouse. Ellen gestured for Sam to sit down. His heart pounding, Sam knew without her saying a single word that it would be bad.

"Honey," she started softly. The diminutive did not fill Sam with confidence, heart sinking into his stomach. Ellen pointed at the television over the corner of the bar. "No easy way to say this, but the news is reporting that – your brother's grave was robbed. I suppose Winchester's case – and him supposedly being a fuckin' serial killer put Dean's name on the national map. His – his body is missing."

Sam had jumped out of his seat, gasping in horror. "What? Who would do something like this?" It didn't take but a minute for him to pull out his cell phone to dial his sister. He hadn't talked to Jody in months! The discussion wasn't much of one – no heartfelt apologies or anything like that. Sam's sister was straightforward, ordering him to come home now. It echoed in his ears, "come home right now, Samuel Allen!"

Pocketing his rental car keys, he was about to head out the door when the cocking of a gun stopped him once again in his tracks. Jo held a shotgun against his back. This time, he was irritated, spinning around and knocking the barrel away from his body. "Get out of my way, I need to get home!"

"Sam, wait!" Ellen shouted. "Just wait. Don't go. It's too dangerous. Just – you came here to train. I can't let you leave unprotected. Just – stay one week and learn what you can from my daughter. At the very least, you should know how to shoot a gun as well as perform an exorcism. Sam, you need to learn the signs… if you go without it, you're putting not only yourself but your family in danger. Think about it…"

He did think about it and logic kicked in, taking over the mad panic. Ellen was right. If he went back home without knowing a single thing about the demons hunting him, he'd be inadvertently putting his family in danger. His parents were aging, Sean was wimpy, and Owen was a child. The only one who could put up a defense would be Jody, but she would be just as blind to demons as he used to be.

So, he stayed at the Roadhouse, every day more frustrating than the next. Ellen barely spoke to him outside of giving him orders, some related to the bar and others related to hunting. Mostly, she threw books at him and told him to read them. Anger was bubbling under his skin, Sam stayed because she promised to teach him. Ellen Harvelle was the world's worst teacher. As he stacked up cases of beer, he muttered that he should buy a mug for her with that phrase, even if it risked getting shot.

Much to his surprise, Ellen's daughter, Jo seemed to be feeling the same way as he was. Sam slunk to the backrooms when he started hearing their voices increase in volume. Their fights were always the same; Jo wanting to go out on her own – follow the family business and her mother being overprotective, telling her 'no'. From Sam's point of view, Jo seemed like a prisoner in her own home. She was at least as old as he was; overhearing Ellen tell her to go back to college with Jo refusing.

Sam made it a point to get to know Jo. She was nice when she wasn't defensive or angry or threateningly flipping a knife around. He discovered that she had been training under both Gordon Walker and John Winchester since she was twelve. Jo mentioned that she'd been to Sioux Falls before, working the baby-snatching case with Winchester. Her voice took on a proud, confident tone. Sam could tell she loved hunting, so much more than she loved going to school. The difference in excitement and joy was clear. When asked where and what she was studying, Jo answered dispassionately in bullet points: Midwestern University, archaeology with a history minor.

The choices of curriculum were certainly eye-opening. Jo just rolled her eyes and told him that history was critical to any hunt, while archaeology was useful in decoding ancient talismans.

"Would you consider teaching me what you know of the supernatural? I'm not sure I'm advancing as fast as I'd like training under your mother." Sam asked tentatively.

Jo looked around the room before whispering an answer. "I'll do one better. I'll take you on your first hunt. You've lived your entire life in Sioux Falls and I have a contact there who can help us. Come with me, let's find the fuckers that stole your brother's body and put them down."

Sam smiled.