Chapter Three: Trashed and Scattered

"Sometimes we can choose the paths we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all."

Hailey awoke twenty minutes later, her muscles aching along with her head. She turned to the side to find that Castiel wasn't there.

"Hailey?" Sam called. "You good?"

"My head hurts and when I get my hands on Castiel, I might get a little slap happy," Hailey grumbled. "What've I missed?"

"Just traffic," Dean said. "You feeling okay? Whatever Cas did made you scream."

"I feel fine," Hailey shrugged. "I don't know what he did. Did he say anything? Like why he put the whammy on me?"

"Nope," Sam said. "He vanished when you lost consciousness."

"Of course he did," Hailey sighed.

"Whatever he did, we'll deal with it later," Dean stated. "We got a fight against the devil."

"A fiddle of gold against your soul," Hailey quipped.

"There's a lot more than a fiddle of gold on the line," Sam muttered.

The Winchester siblings fell into an uneasy silence as we contemplated the task ahead of them. Hailey's mind was also on what could've possibly happened with Castiel. Whatever he had chanted had made Hailey's body feel like it was connected to an electric current. Every nerve ending had been singing with energy.

"He's coming back," Hailey announced.

Before either Sam or Dean could say a word, Castiel did appear in the back of the impala. He did not stop to talk to the Winchester brother's instead; he grabbed Hailey and vanished once more.

"Honestly, what the hell is he doing?" Sam demanded.

"Does he not know how distracting that is?" Dean growled.

One minute Hailey was on a simple road trip with her brothers, the next she was in an abandoned field in the middle of nowhere. Hailey was furious whether it was from being rendered unconscious to being manhandled or both; it was hard to tell. Her fists were clenched and brows were furrowed as she rocked on her heels. The arrival of another Angel did nothing to calm her ire, instead it seemed to racket it up.

"Ramiel," Hailey greeted coldly.

"You'll mind your tone when you speak to me, girl," Ramiel snarled. "Lest I rip your tongue from your skull."

"I'd like to see you try," Hailey hissed.

"Ramiel," Castiel censured.

Ramiel glanced at his fellow angel before rolling his eyes and taking a step back.

"What's going on, Castiel?" Hailey demanded. "I'm needed elsewhere."

"I'm aware," Castiel replied. "When you were placed in your new body, you weren't supposed to lose your abilities. And you hadn't. They were merely laying dormant. All they needed was a push."

"I have my abilities back?" Hailey whispered.

"Not only that," Castiel replied. "You were not supposed to faint, so I sought assistance. It turns out the night the Trinity fell, not all of Abigail and Lucy was lost. Their own abilities left when they died and went into you right before your death. In an attempt to save your life."

"But that didn't work," Hailey said. "I still died that day. And you're telling me I have both Abby and Luce's powers? What because telekinesis isn't enough?"

"It is not," Ramiel snapped. "Not unless you want this world to fall."

"Yeah, yeah the apocalypse, I know," Hailey rolled her eyes, a dismissive hand waving in the other angel's direction. "You know what, Castiel? I'm tired of getting dicked around here. Why bother giving me more power instead of getting Abby and Lucy back? Why me? Why is this happening?"

"The Trinity exists in you, Hailey," Castiel sighed. "That is why Abby and Lucy are at peace."

"At peace," Hailey scoffed.

Somehow she was sure that the Angel's were still not telling her everything. That was something that Hailey was very use to. Subterfuge and half-truths, the hunters bread and butter. A language Hailey had been conversing in since she could speak. Still knowing that you were being kept out of the loop was grating. The ground began to shake under her feet as fire shot out of her fingertips.

Hailey and Abby had once discussed how similar their two abilities were. But, it wasn't until Hailey was actively controlling the elemental powers that she realized how right both girls were. That worked in her favor, as she was able to stop the earthquake and fire display.

"They were right," Ramiel breathed. "Heaven's greatest weapon."

"I. Am. Not. A. Weapon." Hailey roared, shooting a fireball in Ramiel's direction.

Ramiel barely blinked, instead waving the flame away before disappearing on the spot.

"As fun as this was I think I should be getting back to my brother's," Hailey grimaced.

"Yes," Castiel nodded.

As Castiel moved to touch Hailey's shoulder, the girl moved in a blur ducking the outstretched arm and putting a knife to his throat.

"Castiel," Hailey's voice began sweetly before dropping into a menacing purr, "the next time you attempt to do something to my body without my express consent, I'll clip your wings. We clear?"

"You'd do well to remember your place, Hailey Winchester," Castiel retorted.

This time Castiel moved quicker than Hailey could track, bringing her back to the impala and then moving into Ellen and Jo's station wagon.

"Welcome back," Sam scoffed. "Whoa, look at that face. What happened?"

"The Angels remain to be dicks," Hailey hissed. "I have my abilities back along with Abby's and Lucy's."

"Wait," Dean crowed. "What?"

"They're not telling me everything," Hailey sighed. "But I just made the ground shake, I controlled fire. I'm even more of a freak. Lucky me. Heaven's greatest weapon."

"Don't do that," Dean rebuked. "Heaven doesn't control you."

"Tell that to the angels, Dean," Hailey mumbled. "It seems like I don't have much of a choice here."

"Bullshit," Dean snarled. "That's bullshit, Hailey. If we don't have a choice than Sam and I are going to be vessels no matter what. And I'll be damned if that comes true."

"Literally in my case," Sam sniffed.

"That's not funny," Dean snapped.

"Like this whole thing isn't some trap, Dean," Sam complained.

"Trap or no trap, we got a chance, we gotta take it," Dean retorted. "Besides it may not be a trap. Carthage is lit up like a friggin Christmas tree with Revelation omens."

"There has been six missing person reported in town since Sunday," Hailey agreed.

"Maybe Hails and I should take lead on this," Dean suggested, making eye contact with his sister from the rear view mirror.

"Why?" Sam asked. "Hails said it herself she may be rusty."

"Look, we go against Satan and screw the pooch, we lost a game piece," Dean explained. "That we can recover from. But, if you're there then we are handing the devil's vessel right over to him. That's not smart."

"Since when have we ever done anything smart?" Sam snapped.

"He's got a point, Dean," Hailey laughed.

"I'm being serious," Dean growled.

"So am I," Sam grumbled. "If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it together. It's bad enough we had to leave Aiden behind but we can get this done."

While it was true that the Winchester's always hunted better as a family. They were wading out into uncharted waters. It was one thing to get rid of simple spirits, clean up after monsters. But, this was the end of days and it was clear that they were over their heads. However, they had never let something like being out matched stand in their way.

Working against two separate prophecies may prove to be difficult but, no one did head strong quite like a Winchester. Hailey was a bit concerned how the Trinity prophecy could still be in play. With both Abby and Lucy dead and the devil walking around, she should be useless. And, yet, here she was. Now Dean was supposed to be Michael's vessel and Sam was meant to be Lucifer's?

It was all too much to wrap her head around. Why did stuff like this kept happening to the Winchester family. Every bad thing that had happened, they were seemingly in the middle of the storm.

It was clear that this hunt was would not be business as usual. From the second the Winchester, Harvelle, and Whitman convey rolled into Carthage, Missouri it was clear that things were going to be creepy. For a city of nearly fourteen thousand four hundred people, the town seemed deserted. As the impala rolled by a telephone pole, they saw that it was plastered with missing posters.

Dean drove slowly through the streets snorting at a billboard that said, "Anti-God is Anti-American."

Sam shifted in his seat to pull his cell phone out of his pocket, "Anyone have a signal?"

"Nope," Hailey sighed, glancing at her phone before leaving it on the seat next to her.

"No, nothing," Dean replied. "Nice and spooky."

Dean then cranked his window down waving the next car up. After the station wagon pulled up next to the impala, the mustang pulled up on the other side of the wagon.

"Place seem a little empty to you?" Ellen called.

"We're gonna check out the PD," Dean said. "You guys stay here, see if you can find anyone."

"Okay," Ellen nodded.

With that Dean drove the impala forward setting off to find the police department. The Winchester's were barely a block and a half away from the others when Hailey let out a startled shriek. Dean jerked the car to a sudden stop.

"What the hell?" Dean questioned.

"Reapers," Hailey whispered.

"Whoa," Sam called as Hailey slid out of the car. "Hailey. Slow down a minute."

Both brothers watched as Hailey's eyes moved all over the place seemingly landing everywhere. It was then Sam remembered what Hailey had told them. The Angel's had given both Abby and Lucy's abilities to Hailey. Which meant that she now controlled the elements and she could see those that were no longer living. Including the agents of death: Reapers.

"How many are there?" Sam asked, gently.

"So many," Hailey whimpered. "They're just waiting."

While the others waited to see whether Sam, Dean, and Hailey had found signs of life at the police station, Castiel had made a similar discovery."

"This town isn't empty," Castiel intoned. "Reapers."

"Reapers?" Ellen repeated. "As in more than one?"

"They only gather like this at times of great catastrophe," Castiel explained. "The Chicago fire, San Francisco Quake, Pompeii. Excuse me, I need to find out why they're here."

"Castiel, wait!" Darren protested. "Dean said to stay here."

"I do not answer to Dean Winchester," Castiel retorted.

Before anyone could say a word, the Angel had vanished. Both the Harvelle's and the Whitman's glanced around at their surroundings. The whole city had seemingly been abandoned over night. It was a disturbing prospect. People didn't just vanish, certainly not entire cities. Still there was a stillness in the air that was impossible to find in a city.

The more they walked around, the more it was clear that something awful had happened here. The rumbling growl of the impala broke through the stillness, as the group stopped their movements. When the impala stopped the Winchesters hopped out, frowns in place. It was clear that they hadn't found anyone either.

"Station's empty," Dean called.

"So is everything else," Jo replied.

"Have you seen Cas?" Ellen asked.

"What do you mean?" Sam responded. "Wasn't he with you?"

"Nope, he went after the reapers," Ellen shrugged.

Dean, Sam, and Hailey exchanged nervous glances.

"Y'all don't seem too surprised by that fact," Marley noted.

"Hailey can see them too," Dean announced.

"Come again?" Ellen demanded. "I thought you didn't have abilities."

"Long story," Hailey huffed. "Short version: Castiel said some mumbo jumbo boom and then I got my old powers along with Abby's and Lucy's."

"Jesus," Jo mumbled.

"Yeah," Hailey frowned.

"We haven't even been in town an hour and we already lost the angel up our sleeve," Dean huffed.

"You don't think Lucifer has him?" Alex questioned.

"I don't know what else to think," Dean replied.

"There you are," A new voice called.

The group spun around to see a woman in a leather jacket, purple top, and skintight jeans. Her brown hair was loose, moving in the wind. She had a huge grin on her face.

Hailey glanced at Dean confused. Whoever this person was, it was obvious her brother's knew her.

"Meg," Sam hissed.

"Shouldn't have come here, boys," Meg tsked.

Hailey was in shock. Out of all the people that girl could've been. She hadn't figured that it would be the demon that they had exorcised years ago. The one who took over the body of Aiden's girlfriend and caused them a load of problems. She had somehow managed to crawl back to the land of the living.

"Hell, I could say the same thing for you," Dean sneered, leveling the colt in her direction.

At the visible threat Meg laughed, "Didn't come here alone, Dean-o."

The puddle near Meg's feet rippled as the sound of growling, snarling, and barking dogs.

"Hellhounds," Dean stated.

"Yeah," Meg agreed. "Your favorite. Come along now, boys. My father wants to see you. And especially you, Hailey."

"I think we'll pass on that," Sam scoffed. "Thanks."

"Your call," Meg sighed. It was clear the demon was enjoying the conversation, knowing that she had the upper hand. "You can make this easy or you can make it really, really hard."

A rumbling growl from one of the hellhounds punctuated Meg's statement. A chill raced down Hailey's spine, one of the problems with hellhounds was that you couldn't see them. The lore surrounding them described them as massive feral beasts. What made an already bad situation, worse was the fact that there was more than one hellhound. For all the hunters assembled knew, they were surrounded.

Dean spared the group a glance everyone gave a nod, already on the same page. He noticeably straightened his shoulders, turning back around. "When have you known us to ever make anything easy?"

Meg shook her head as Dean shifted, taking aim and firing at the air just above the puddle. Blood spurted signaling that Dean had hit the hellhound but he hadn't killed it. Or there were others waiting to attack.

"Run!" Sam ordered.

The group took off as fast as the possibly could. But it was difficult to run against something you couldn't see. It was simply chaos as the group broke towards one of the storefronts on Main Street. Hailey was running along side Alex when she felt breath on the back of her neck. Sensing something behind her she tried to grab Alex and pull him along faster. Only the hellhound was faster, one second Alex was keeping pace the next there was a strangled cry.

"Alex!" Hailey cried. "No!"

Hailey pushed her hands forward sending a burst of force over Alex's prone body. She had hit something but it was too late. Blood poured down a gaping wound on the side of Alex's neck. The hellhound had torn his throat out. Hailey moved to go to him, when Marley grabbed her hand. Marley's eyes were glazed with tears but she pulled Hailey forward.

"We have to go," Marley sobbed.

"Go!" Jo seconded the command, aiming her shotgun behind her and firing blindly.

Another spurt of blood indicated that she had hit something but it was clear that there were multiple hellhounds on their tail. As the group ran, Dean got tackled to the ground. Marley and Jo turned back around, quickly coming to his aid.

"Dean!" Jo cried.

"Jo, stay back!" Dean retorted.

Instead of listening to her boyfriend, Jo fired her shotgun in Dean's direction. Jo and Marley alternated shots with the shotguns both girl's held. The hellhound was driven further and further back. A trashcan fell over a good distance away. But, it wasn't over yet, as another hellhound lunged knocking Marley off her feet.

"Mare, no!" Darren yelled.

Darren groaned in pain as a hellhound ripped into one of his legs. While it wasn't the worst a hellhound could do, the wound was bleeding freely as he rushed towards his sister's side. The hellhound had already torn Marley's side as she screamed in pain. Jo and Sam turned firing at the hellhound as Darren scooped up his sister and ran past those that were firing. Hailey stopped short, she was the closest to one of the stores. She chose a hardware store, with a gesture the doors were thrown open. She then pivoted on her heels, sending fire out of her hands and forming a circle around the group.

Sam was the first one through the door, with both Harvelle's at his heels. Darren was next running in

"Hurry!" Hailey yelled to Dean.

Dean shot his shotgun a few more times as he ran at a dead sprint towards the hardware store. Once he was inside Hailey jumped through the doors, slamming them shut with her telekinesis. She leaned against it doing everything in her power to keep it shut as hellhounds attempted to get in.

"A little help!" Hailey called.

The hardware store was a flurry of movement, Jo, Ellen, and Darren were with Marley getting her situated further into the store. Sam came back quickly with a chain looping it over the doors as Dean poured salt around the door. Hailey stepped over the ring of salt, wincing as Dean shoved a five-pound bag of salt into her arms.

"Come on, Hails," Dean prodded, "Every window. Every door."

Hailey nodded and quickly moved into action, laying down thick lines of salt. Once the area was warded properly she wandered back to where the others were gathered. Marley was slumped against the counter, blood pouring out of a giant gouge in her side. Jo's hands were slick with blood, attempting to staunch the flow.

There was some luck on their side as there was a pretty sizable first aid kit in the store. Right now it was open as Jo worked as fast as possible to treat Marley's wound. But, there was some things that gauze couldn't fix, and binding it as tightly as possible would only help for so long.

Darren was holding his sister to the side that didn't have the huge scratch on it, both were sobbing hard. Alex's absence was noticeable and completely demoralizing. Ellen made soothing noises in her throat as she worked to stitch the giant scratch closed.

"I know baby, I know," Ellen whispered. "Careful, now, you gotta stay still.

As Ellen and Jo continued to apply first aid to Marley and Darren, the Winchester siblings went scouting for proper vantage points. Hailey quickly found Dean fiddling with something electronic.

"How're holding up?" Dean asked.

There was a long pause as Sam joined his siblings. "The salt lines are holding up."

"Safe for now," Dean whispered.

"Safe?" Sam scoffed. "Trapped like rats, more like."

"You heard Meg," Dean retorted. "Her father's here. This is our one shot, Sammy. We gotta take it, no matter what."

Dean's eyes were wet with tears. It had been one of his best friends laying in the street dead, after all. There had been nothing anyone could do. That didn't make things better. Especially when you could here in the inconsolable cries of Marley and Darren in the other room. There was along pause, only interrupted by microphone feedback. Dean laid a heavy look at Sam before turning towards the CB radio. The eldest Winchester brother knew the cost of this hunt. It was being paid as they spoke. The weight of it threatened to suffocate but they had to keep moving.

"K. C. 5. Fox. Delta. Oscar, come in," Dean said over the mouthpiece.

"K. C. 5. Fox. Delta. Oscar, go ahead," Bobby responded.

Hailey felt calmer hearing her Uncle's voice over the CB radio. If anyone could help them in their time of need it was Bobby Singer.

"Bobby, it's Dean. We got problems."

"It's going to be okay, boy," Bobby soothed. "That's why I'm here. Is everyone all right?"

"No," Dean replied, his emotions slipping through as his voice cracked. "Alex is dead. And….and…It's…it's Marley. Bobby, it's pretty bad."

"Okay," Bobby said. "Copy that. So, now we figure out what we do next."

"Bobby," Dean whimpered. "I don't think she's…"

Dean couldn't complete his sentence but Hailey knew where it ended. Marley had been hurt badly. And, unless a miracle happened it didn't look like it was going to end in her favor. She glanced towards Sam, who seemed to be holding it together fairly well. Sam and Marley had been together and had broken up a month or so after Hailey's death. Both Marley and Sam had realized that they were better off as friends.

"I said, what do we do next, Dean?" Bobby prodded. No doubt realizing where that sentence was heading towards as well.

Hailey felt like she had lost countless friends and family in the field. But, Bobby had been in the game longer and knew what it felt like to lose one person after another after another.

"Right," Dean agreed, straightening his shoulders. He then quickly launched into a synopsis of the events thus far, including Hailey's sudden abilities and the reapers that were crawling all over the town.

"Before he went missing, did Cas say how many reapers?" Bobby asked.

"I don't," Dean huffed, "he said a lot of things. I guess. Does the number really matter?"

"Devil's in the details, Dean."

"There were a lot, Bobby," Hailey said. "From what I saw, I bet Cas saw the same amount, maybe more. Probably around thirty? Maybe more than that."

"I don't like the sound of that," Bobby muttered to himself.

The siblings could hear the sound of rustling papers as Bobby leafed through whatever books he had at his disposal.

"Nobody likes the sound of that, Bobby, but what…what does that sound like?" Dean prodded.

"It sounds like death, son," Bobby replied. "I think Satan's in town to work a ritual. I think he's planning to unleash Death."

"As in this dude and taxes are the only sure thing?" Dean quipped.

As if the Winchester's actually paid any taxes. Every thing they owned was free and clear, the rest of their money was run through credit card scams and hustling pool. In any other situation, Hailey would've brought that fact up. But it was neither the time nor the place. With Marley bleeding out in the next room, Castiel missing, and Lucifer roaming around, joking was the last thing on anyone's mind.

"As in Death," Bobby stated. "The horseman. The pale rider in the flesh."

"Unleash?" Dean repeated. "That doesn't make sense. Hasn't Death been tromping all over the place? Hell I've died several times myself."

"Not this guy," Bobby corrected. This is the Angel of Death. Big daddy reaper. They keep this guy chained in a box six hundred feet under. Last time they hauled him up, Noah was building a boat. That's why the place is crawling with reapers. They're waiting on the big boss to show."

"Shit," Dean hissed. "You have any other good news?"

"I found out where the ritual might be held," Bobby said. "During the Civil War, there as a battle so intense the soldiers called it the Battle of Hellhole. It went down on William Jasper's farm."

"Got it," Dean nodded. "Aiden and Natasha are holding down the Roadhouse, if you wanted to make a trip."

"I might," Bobby shrugged. "Y'all stay safe."

Dean switched the CB radio off and walked back to the main room. Sam and Hailey followed after him, finding the main room somber. Marley was pale, exhaustion had stemmed her tears, but the tracks still plain on her face. Her hand held her youngest brother's in a death grip. Darren was faring better, he too had stopped crying but his face was set in a mask of stone. He was a smart man, he knew as much as every else did that they were not in a good spot.

"We know where the Devil's gonna be," Dean announced. "We know when, and we have the Colt."

"We just gotta get past eight or so hellhounds," Sam scoffed. "Then get to the farm by midnight."

"We have to get you all out of here," Dean stated.

Immediately Jo, Ellen, and Darren argued against leaving. Marley was still leaning against the register counter, wearing the same stubborn look that the rest of the party was wearing.

Finally Marley seemed to tire of the arguing back and forth, "Guys. Guys!"

The sound of her voice halted all the other raised voices as everyone turned to look at her.

"Can we just stop, please?" Marley pleaded. "Let's get realistic."

"What are you talking about, Mare?" Darren asked. "We'll rig you a stretcher and get you out of here."

"Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere," Marley replied. Her smile was sad as she gazed at her youngest brother before her resolve steeled and she shared looks with the room at large. "I can't move my legs. I can't be moved. My insides are being held in with an ace bandage, and duct tape. We gotta get our priorities straight here."

"Marley stop talking like that," Darren growled.

"Stop it," Marley replied. "You can't sugarcoat this. I'm not going anywhere but I'm not useless. We got propane, wiring, rock salt, iron nails, everything we need."

"Everything we need?" Sam questioned.

"To build a bomb, Sam."

"No. Marley, absolutely not," Dean disagreed.

"You got another plan?" Marley wondered. "Any other plan? Those are hellhounds out there, Dean. They have all of our scents. They'll never stop coming after you. We let the dogs in, you guys hit the roof and make a break to the building next over. I'll wait here with my finger on the button, rip those mutts a new one. I can give you at least a few minutes head start.

"No," Darren whispered. "I won't let you."

"This is why we're here, right?" Marley responded. "If I can get us a shot on the devil, we gotta take it. I may be at the end of the road but I ain't just gonna lay down. No I'm gonna go down taking those evil mutts with me."

"No," Darren stated. He didn't bother to look at the rest of the group. His eyes were fixed on his sister. "No. Marley. I can't lose you too."

"Darren," Marley whispered.

What Darren had said clearly hurt her. In any other situation Marley would move hell and earth to make sure her brother was safe from harm. After losing her older brother not even an hour ago, she had not made the suggestion of a bomb lightly. If there had been anything else she would've mentioned it first. But, she was not about to become a hindrance to something this important.

"This is my decision, Darren," Marley replied, strongly, gripping her brother's hand willing him to understand.

Darren bowed his head, leaning towards his sister. The room was quiet for a few minutes before he finally said, "You heard her."

Dean, Sam, Hailey, Ellen, and Jo quickly followed his order collecting the materials necessary to assemble the bombs. They left the Whitman's alone, knowing that if situations were reversed than they'd want their last conversations to be alone.

Once everything was assembled the ground met back where Marley lay. People said their goodbyes as Marley's cried. When it came time to say her goodbye to Sam, neither could say much. Finally Sam leaned forward and kissed Marley's forehead.

"I'm so sorry," Sam whispered.

"I know," Marley sighed. "It isn't your fault, Sammy."

Sam nodded rising to his feet as he placed the trigger in her hand.

"We rigged a fan," Jo explained. "You press the first trigger, it'll blow the salt away from the door. After that they'll be able to get in. Then…Then…"

Jo struggled to finish her sentence, unable to verbally acknowledge the boom that would deal the killing blow to not only the hellhounds, but also one of her best friends.

Marley sensed this saying, "Time to go, folks."

"You're sure about this?" Dean questioned.

Dean knew that Marley would not be changing her mind. The resolve showed clear on her face. Dean also knew, if situations were reverse he'd make the exact same call. This life was not an easy one. And there were certain situations were going to be lose-lose no matter what circumstances you were walking into. That was what this life was. It had causalities.

"Dean, you take care of my brother," Marley ordered. "Dare, look after Mom and Dad, let them now we tried…"

"I'll tell them," Darren stated. "They'll understand."

Darren, Jo, Ellen, Sam, Dean, and Hailey made to move gathering their supplies.

"Dean!" Marley called as people began to climb up the ladder towards the roof.

When Dean turned to look back she smirked. It was a paler version of her normal smirk but the attempt meant the world. "Kick it in the ass. Don't miss."

"I won't," Dean vowed.

With parting nods, Dean scaled the ladder. Once on the top of the roof, it was an easy jump to the neighboring roof. The group moved as quickly as possible, climbing down the fire escape, careful to keep quiet as they moved through the back alley.

An explosion that rocked the block interrupts the sudden peaceful stillness. Despite himself, Darren stumbled to a stop, a sob ripping its way out of his throat. There had been nothing her could do for his brother and now his sister was dead too. He would never see them again, just like that. This was not the time to grieve properly, he was grateful for Hailey's small hand squeezing his as they were forced to keep moving.

When they're about halfway to the farm, Dean stopped the group. He pulled his girlfriend aside, "I want you, Darren, and Ellen to head back towards the Roadhouse."

"Dean," Jo protested.

"Jo, please," Dean requested. "Just do as I say. We've already lost too much today. I can't lose any more people. Please."

"We'll wait just outside of town," Jo agreed. "You come back to me."

"Always," Dean whispered, kissing her on the cheek.

Hailey turned to Darren, recognizing the far away look in his eyes. She had lost family before, knew what it felt like and knew without a doubt that Darren had to get out of Carthage before he was hurt.

"I'll meet you back at the Roadhouse," Hailey whispered.

Darren nodded but didn't say a word. Instead Hailey wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry, baby."

"You kill that bastard," Darren ordered. "And if you see Meg, kill her too."

"They won't get away with this," Hailey agreed. "I swear it."

"Stay safe," Darren ordered. "I…I can't lose anyone else."

"You'll never lose me again," Hailey vowed.

Tears streaked down Darren's face and Hailey reached out to wipe them away. She thought for a moment what life could've been if they weren't hunters. If people didn't have to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Why did that burden fall on them? Who chooses this life? There was nothing that Hailey could possibly say to make what Darren was feeling better.

"I'm so sorry, baby," Hailey whispered.

Darren placed his forehead against Hailey's as he sighed.

"Be careful," Darren ordered.

"Always," Hailey promised.