Our next case brought us to Chicago. Two people had died- one banker, one waistees. The only connection? Both had come from Lawrence, Kansas. They'd died from removal of the heart-generally lethal, that.

Plus the arrival of the much hated Meg Masters, things were bad.

At those revelations, Dean opted to call John.

Now- I hate John Winchester.

That's it.

Nothing more there.

I hate John Winchester like a fish needs water.

He was a man that deserved the fate in Hell he was given.

==DG==

We tried to take down Meg. It went poorly. Like, really poorly. The boys had only just learned she was a traitorous bitch. It hadn't been fun for anyone.

We walked toward our motel room. The boys had taken this trap hard. I couldn't give less of a care.

"Why didn't you just leave that stuff in the car?" Dean asked his brother, in a tuff.

Sam carried a bag of their anti-demon weapons. "I said it before, and I'll say it again- better safe than sorry."

"What's the worst he could do, drop it on you?" I countered.

Dean huffed. He turned to the motel door, unlocking it. The boys walked inside. I stood by the door frame.

There was the outline of a man from by window.

"Hey!" Dean threatened. Sam flocked oj the light, revealing the bastard.

"Dad?"

"Hey, boys." John greeted. He looked my way. My face was blank.

Dean went up to John. Behind me, the door closed. Sam watched the hug, hesitant and adrift for what to do.

The hug ended with claps to the back. John turned our way. He focused on Sam. "Hi, Sam."

"Hey, Dad." Sam lowered the bag of weapons.

Ignoring any attempt from John at communication, I turned towards the door.

"Millie." John spoke. Something like heartbreak drizzling over the word.

My reply was a simple "Donor."

John did good to hide any pain the comment caused him. He gave a quick nod to me instead.

The boys were less okay.

"Raven come on." Dean scolded. "He's our dad."

"Your dad. I don't see any father of mine here."

"Dean it's alright." John stepped in. John looked to me again, giving me an understanding look again. "To her, I'm an awful father. I never searched-"

"Put it up your ass." I warned. No way was John putting any guilt for his shitty parenting on me. I didn't ask to be a Winchester, he couldn't put that on me. "You knew tonight was a trap, that warehouse."

John hesitated before nodding. "I thought it might've been."

"Were you there?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." John answered. He moved towards the son he constantly under appreciated. "I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?"

"Yes, sir." The boys answered.

"Yeah." From me.

"Good." John replied. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before."

"The demon has?" Sam asked.

"It knows I'm close." John confirmed. "It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell- actually kill it."

"How?" Dean asked, but in the way a soldier asks about orders instead of a son asking their father.

Said commanding officer only smiled. "I'm workin' on that."

"Let us come with you. We'll help." Sam offered. He was able to say this with his cheek bleeding from a shadow-monster scratch.

I scoffed, turning away.

Dean gave us both scolding looks. Brave of him to do that with a cut on his eyebrow, bleeding down the side of his face.

"No, Sam. Not yet." John told his son. He either hadn't noticed my snort or was pointedly ignoring it. Though he turned to me- so I guess he just wanted to single me out. "Just try to understand, Millie. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in a crossfire. I don't want you hurt."

"Dad, you don't have to worry about us." Sam told him.

"I can take care of myself." I countered.

"I'm sure you can, but it's my job to worry. I'm your father." John explained with a gentle smile. Wow, what a complete piece of crap that was. "Listen, Sammy, last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."

"Yes, sir." Sam nodded, eyes watering.

"It's good to see you again. It's been a long time." John added. Both of them seemed hesitant to start anything.

"Too long." Sam agreed.

Which ended up being too much for the Winchesters. They met in a teary eyed hug. I blew out a quiet breath, sitting down on the bed. My own wounds needed care. Pulling out a first aid kit, I start cleaning the wounds first.

The hug ended as I finished cleaning the scratch on my arm. John gave Sam some pats on the back. He turned, searching for me in the room. He didn't seem upset or disappointed to find me disconnected from the touching moment.

"And Mil-" John paused. "Raven."

I didn't say anything about his correction.

"I know I did wrong." John began. "I left you- for dead. I'm an awful father-"

I nodded.

"-and I hope one day we can be a family."

'I already have a family.

And you are nowhere in it.'

"Have fun with that." I told him.

John was pushed back, thrown against the wall. I ducked onto the floor as the monster attacked Sam.

"No!" Dean yelled just before he went down.

I kept myself low to the floor. Literally just cleaned the last wounds, this son of a bitch-

The shadow demon kept scratching at all of us. There were definitely some on my face now. In an annoyed huff, I pulled out a flare from the Bag.

"EYES!" I yelled.

Everyone in the room shut their eyes- or I had to assume they did or else this would suck.

Lighting up the flare, I heard the shriek from the shadow demon.

"Take that you bastard!" I shouted at it.

The thing shrieked as it ran from the apartment. The boys started coughing. I stood up, stumbling blindly towards the door. There were sounds of Dean going after John, of Sam coughing from smoke.

"Door open!" I yelled at them.

Once I was out I let my eyes open. The light from the flare was still bright. Sam stumbled after me, the bag of weapons on his back. I nodded at him as we ran down the hall. Dean and John joined in on the evacuation parade.

==DG==

We escaped to the street. The lights were shining from the room, beaming down on us. It was not my most stealthy escape but needs must.

"All right, come on. We don't have much time." Sam panted. He tossed the bag of weapons into the trunk. "As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back."

"Wait, wait. Sam, wait." Dean pleaded. When Sam stopped, Dean turned to John. "Dad, you can't come with us."

Sam gawked. "What? What are you talkin' about?"

"Good riddance to him then!" I replied, opening the car door then climbing inside.

"No! Dean what the hell?" Sam demanded.

"You kids- you're beat to hell." John pointed out, having already agreed on this plan but wanted to seem like a good father. Bullshit to that.

"We'll be alright." Dean told him.

"Just some flesh wounds." I brushed off, wanting more than anything to get rid of John Winchester.

"Dean, Raven, we should stick together." Sam stressed. "We'll go after those demons-"

"Sam! Listen to me!" Dean snapped. Sam stared at his brother in pained confusion. "We almost got Dad killed in there." Pity the almost. "Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop, they're gonna try again. They're gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He's-he's stronger without us around."

"It's better this way." I added, keeping my voice somber for their sakes.

"Dad, no." Sam reached for his father's not cut up shoulder. "After everything, after all the time we spent lookin' for you- we just got our sister back, we're all together- please. I gotta be a part of this fight."

"Sammy, this fight is just starting." John cautioned. "And we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you've got to trust me, son. Okay, you've gotta let me go."

There was a tense silence as the Winchester men debated the next course of action. I kept myself silent- not seeing the point of arguing when it was clear the path was already decided. Besides, I wasn't a true part of the family. This was all on them. Their choices, their lives.

And since their choice involved staying as far away from John Winchester as possible, then I've already won.

I just- I hate him so much. I hate what he did to the boys- gave them the exact life Mary had run away from. How much pressure he'd put on Dean's shoulders. All the disappointment he'd thrown back at Sam for not being a perfect soldier like Dean.

I've got my own kid, back Home. If I ever got married, if something happened to me and they had to raise Lilac? If they treated her like John treated these boys, I'd come from the dead to kill them.

'Mary would be so disappointed in you.' I though, watching John as Sam patted his shoulder. 'And I'll never forgive you.'

John walked past the boys to the truck up the alley. He looked back at us once as he opened the door. "Be careful, kids." He told us. He climbed into his car, leaving us for what I knew would only be a few months.

"Come on." Dean told his brother.

I was cleaning up my new wounds as the boys climbed into their seats. As Dean backed the car out from the alley, I lied down against the backseat. His driving only mildly annoyed me as I bandaged myself up.

Though I made sure to glance out the window to watch Meg one more time. I smirked at her enraged expression.

'Killing your dad is gonna be fun.'

==DG==

AN: STILL NOT READY! LIKE- I JUST WATCHED THE COMIC CON PANEL AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN LESS READY!