Title: Calls Me Home
Summary: A journey through fifteen seasons of Supernatural through the eyes of two Winchesters and a Singer.
Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Ruby Singer, Bobby Singer, John Winchester, and a whole ton of others.
Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to Eric Kripke and Co. The title belongs to the song "Calls Me Home" by Shannon LaBrie.
Author's Note:
Chapter Thirty One
"He said that he wanted me to watch out for you. To take care of you." Dean admitted to him.
"Yeah he's told you that millions of times over the years."
"No this time was, uh, different. Dad said that I had to save you." He sighed finally letting the truth out.
"Save me from what?" Sam looked surprised and confused simultaneously.
"I don't know. He just said that I had to save you. That nothing else mattered and that if I couldn't, I'd..." The older Winchester shrugged his shoulders.
"You'd what?"
"That I'd have to kill you. He said that I might have to kill you, Sammy." Dean frowned at his brother.
"That's it? Why? I mean, he must have had a reason for saying it, right? Did he know the Demon's plans for me? Am I supposed to go darkside or something?"
"Nothing. That's it. I swear. I don't know why he said it. I wish I did." He ran his fingers through his hair.
"How could you not have told me this?" Sam was clearly upset which only made Ruby more worried.
"Because it was Dad and he begged me not to. It was his dying wish." Dean admitted.
"Who cares?! Take some responsibility for yourself, Dean. You had no right to keep this from me!" He yelled at his older brother.
"You think I wanted this? Huh? Honest to God, I wish he had never told me this. Then I wouldn't have to walk around all day with this screaming in my head."
Ruby bit her lip walking over to them. "I didn't want to interrupt, but I think you both need to just.. cool off for a minute."
"No, we've got figure out what is going on. We need to find out what the hell all of this means." Sam took a few steps away still fuming. "And why didn't you tell me?"
The blonde frowned at him. "Have I ever spilled either of your secrets before? No I haven't. I wanted to tell you, Sam, but it wasn't my place. I could ask you the same thing though. Why didn't you tell either of us about your visions until you couldn't hide it anymore?"
"You know why, Ruby. Guilt. I could have saved Jessica, but I was selfish. I loved her too much to just walk away." Sam admitted with a frown.
Her expression softened a bit toward him. "Okay that's understandable. Look, you have every right to be mad that we kept this from you, but Dean was just honoring your dad's last wish and I.. I couldn't betray Dean's trust by telling you. Honestly after the whole Andy Gallagher situation, I was scared to tell you because you seemed dead set on believing that you couldn't be saved, but let me tell you something. It doesn't matter what your dad told Dean. Your brother would never kill you. He would do everything in his power to save you, but honestly I don't think you will go darkside. Or whatever. We're going to figure this all out. I promise."
"I don't know, Ruby. I still think we should find the rest of these special children. See if they know anything." He paced a little.
"We should? Maybe we should just lay low for a little while. It would just be safer. That way we can make sure..." Dean trailed off as Sam interrupted him.
"Make sure I'm not a killer? That I don't turn evil? If you're not careful, you really might have to waste me." Sam snapped at him.
"I never said that! Damn it, Sam. This whole thing is spinning out of control. We find out that you're immune to some weirdo demon virus and I don't even know what the hell anymore. You're pissed at me. That's fine. I get it. I deserve it. But we lay low until we figure out our next move, okay?"
"Forget it." Sam scoffed at his brother.
Ruby snaked Dean's keys from his pocket and looked at both men. "I know you're mad at him, but he's actually trying to protect you. So how about this? We go for a nice drive, cool off a bit, get some dinner, then sleep it off. We can figure out our next step in the morning. I'll even call Ash and see if he can help."
Sam reluctantly nodded his head sighing softly. The Winchesters tossed their empty beer bottles into a nearby trash can then got back into the Impala. Ruby slid into the driver's seat starting the car up. She hated when the two of them fought. They had seemed to be getting along again, but now it was just a whole big mess. She stopped in a small town a few hours later. They checked into the local motel and then had an awkward dinner at a nearby diner. Sam faked falling asleep that night in their shared motel room. He waited until the pair were sound asleep and grabbed his things creeping out of the room at around three in the morning. Sam walked over to a car parked nearby popping the lock open with a wire hanger then hot wired the car before driving away.
Ruby and Dean weren't worried at first when they woke up. Sam tended to be an early riser and usually went to get coffee. It was Dean though who noticed that Sam's bag was gone. He frowned moving to look outside only to see that the Impala was still parked where he had left it after dinner. Several unanswered phone calls to Sam later and Dean grew even more worried. Ruby sighed rubbing his back with her hand reassuringly.
"He's not answering. I really will kill him." He frowned more.
She smiled slightly at him. "You're not going to kill him. We'll find him. You call Ellen, I'll call my dad."
"Fine." He pressed a kiss to her head and moved to call Ellen.
"Roadhouse." Ellen answered the phone.
"Uh hey Ellen, It's Dean Winchester. Have you seen my brother around?"
"I can't say that I have. What's going on?"
"Nothing. We just got into a fight. Look if you see him, please let me know. I'd really appreciate it." He glanced around.
"I will. He probably just needs to cool off, you know?" She suggested looking around the bar.
"Yeah I, uh, know. Just want to know he's alright though."
"I get that, sweetie. I'll keep you posted and you let me know if you find him first."
"I will. Thanks again, Ellen." Dean hung up and looked over at Ruby. "She hasn't seen him. What did your Dad say?"
Ruby shook her head walking back over to him. "Well he called you both idjits. He hasn't seen or heard from him either."
"Damn it. I have to find him." He frowned pacing a bit.
She sighed watching him. "We will find him. Let's get some food and coffee first so we're not running on empty."
"I guess you're right." Dean got ready to go and they checked out of the motel room.
It was a few hours and several worried phone calls to Ellen later that Sam walked into the Roadhouse. The few hunters scattered about in the bar turned to look at him. He walked over to the bar grinning sheepishly at the older Harvelle woman who was standing behind it.
"Hi Sam." Ellen smiled knowingly at him.
"Well you don't look surprised to see me." He chuckled softly at her.
"Your brother and Ruby have been calling here worried sick about you. What's going on with you guys?" She dried a glass setting it aside.
"Figured they might. How's Jo?"
"Oh well I don't really know. She sends a postcard every now and then. Haven't really seen her in weeks though." Ellen admitted with a sigh.
"Wait what happened?" Sam looked at Ellen in surprise.
"After she worked that job with you three, she decided that she wanted to keep on hunting. Told her not while she's under my roof and she said fine." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Ah, so I'm probably the last person you want to see right now." He smiled sheepishly at her.
"Oh not at all. Don't get me wrong. I wish I could blame you boys. It'd be a whole hell of a lot easier, but the truth is it's not your fault. None of it is, Sam. I want you to know that I forgave your daddy a long time ago for what happened to my Bill. I just don't think he ever did forgive himself."
"What did happen?" His eyebrows raised at her.
"So why did you come here, sweetie?" Ellen asked swiftly changing the subject.
"I need help."
"My help or..." She paused as he shook his head. "Right. Ash. Let's go."
Ash looked up as the two of them approached. "Oh hey man. Still tracking the ol demon. No promising signs yet."
"Hey. Uh thanks. Listen, I need you to look for something. Other people, other psychics, like me. As many as possible. Do a nationwide search. Please." Sam spoke up.
"I thought there was no way to track them all down since some of them didn't have nursery fires." Ellen gave Sam a confused look.
"Well no, but some had to have had the nursery fires so we start there." He suggested with a shrug.
He opened his laptop nodding his head thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks." Sam walked back toward the bar with Ellen where she served him some food.
It was only a short while later when Ash approached him with a piece of paper in his hand. "Got you a list."
"That was fast." Sam glanced over at him in surprise.
He shrugged handing the paper over. "That's my job apparently. Make the monkey dance on the keyboard."
"Just tell us what you got, Ash." Ellen shook her head.
Ash nodded at them. "Only four folks nationwide fit the profile. Born in '83, mother died in a nursery fire, the whole shebang. Sam Winchester from Lawrence, Kansas. Max Miller from Saginaw, Michigan. Andrew Gallagher from Guthrie, Oklahoma. Oh and uh, Scott Carey."
"Got an address for Scott?" Sam raised his eyebrow at him.
He shrugged. "Kind of. The Arbor Hill Cemetery in Lafayette, Indiana. Plot four-eighty six. He was killed about a month ago."
"Killed how?" The younger Winchester looked even more surprised.
Ash thought about it for a second. "Stabbed in a parking lot. At night so no witnesses. Fuzz have no suspects at the moment."
"Thanks, man." Sam stood up turning to leave.
"Where are you going?" Ellen watched him concerned.
"Indiana."
"Sam, I have to call them. I have to tell them where you are." She admitted.
"Ellen, I'm trying to find answers about who I am. My brother and Ruby mean well. They really do, but they can't protect me forever. Not from that. Please." Sam pleaded with her then walked out of the Roadhouse.
In Lafayette, Sam checked into a room at the Blue Rose motel. He then went over to the Carey home posing as an old schoolmate of Scott's which was a cover story that Mr. Carey seemed to have easily bought, much to Sam's relief. With permission from Mr. Carey, Sam went up to Scott's room. It was a pretty standard bedroom. There were multiple pill bottles on the nightstand. All prescribed by a Dr. George Waxler. Sam glanced around before pocketing one of the bottles. He walked over to the closet opening it. Pushing the clothes aside, he was stunned to see a collage of yellow eyes cut out from magazines and photos. It wasn't long afterward that he left the Carey home and went back to the motel. As he walked across the parking lot to his room, he had a feeling that he was being followed. He suddenly turned around grabbing the person and pinning them to a nearby wall.
"Who are you?"
The woman looked panicked and pleaded with him. "No please! You're in danger."
"... Okay." Sam reluctantly let go of her and invited her into his room to talk.
She went inside pacing around. "Alright I know this probably sounds insane because it is insane, but I am not insane, okay? I'm not on drugs either. I'm completely normal, but this.. this is so not like me."
"Alright, alright, I believe you. Now just calm down and take a moment. What's your name? What's going on?"
The woman took a breath before she spoke again. "My name? It's Ava."
"Ava?" He looked at her.
She nodded her head at him. "Ava Wilson."
"Ava Wilson. Alright. I'm Sam Winchester. Now what's got you so worked up?" Sam smiled softly at her.
Ava sighed at his question. "Yeah, alright. About a year ago, I started getting these really bad headaches and these really terrible nightmares. I didn't think too much of it at first until recently when I had this dream about a guy getting stabbed in a parking lot."
"When did that dream happen?"
She pulled out a newspaper clipping handing it to him. "About a month ago. Then a couple of days later I find this. Local man killed in a stabbing. In a parking lot. Just like I saw."
"Okay." He studied the clipping seeing Scott's photograph.
Ava ran her fingers through her hair. "I saw this guy die days before it happened. I don't know why or how. Somehow my dreams are coming true and last night I had another one. I saw you die."
"How'd you find me?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I saw the stationary. I looked it up and sure enough the motel was real. I just had to warn you. I didn't want someone else to die if I could prevent it."
"I don't believe it." Sam looked at her in surprise.
Ava threw her hands in the air. "Of course you don't. Probably think I'm a total nutjob."
"What? No of course not. I just mean, you're one of us. I have the headaches and get the dreams too." He admitted to her. "Did your mom happen to die in a nursery fire?"
She looked at him in confusion. "What? No! She lives in Palm Beach!"
"You don't fit the pattern." His brows furrowed in thought which only made Ava even more confused.
Ruby sat in the passenger seat of the Impala answering the phone as Dean drove down the road. "Hi Aunt Ellen."
"Hi sweetie. You guys hear from Sam?"
She sighed moving to put the phone on speaker. "Unfortunately no. I put you on speaker. Dean's driving. Have you heard from Sam?"
"Actually I have, but he made me promise not to tell you where he is." Ellen admitted to them.
Her blue eyes widened a bit at that. "Aunt Ellen..."
"Ellen, please. Something bad could be happening here. I promised Dad that I'd look after that kid." Dean pleaded with the older woman.
"Now Dean, they say you can't always protect your loved ones. Well I say screw that. What else is family for? He's in Lafayette, Indiana."
"Thanks." He smiled slightly and focused on the road.
Ruby sighed in relief. "Thanks. So what's in Lafayette that he's looking for exactly?"
"Scott Carey. Last of the four kids born in '83 whose moms died in a nursery fire. He was killed about a month ago. Stabbed in a parking lot. The cops don't know who did it." Ellen filled them in.
She took the phone off speaker bringing it up to her ear. "Of course. Thanks again, Aunt Ellen. How are you and Jo?"
"I'm fine, sweetie. Jo, well, she ran off to keep hunting. Like I told Sam, I don't blame you guys. She was going to do it one way or another."
Ruby frowned a bit. "Good. Oh. Well if we see her, I'll tell her to go visit you, at least."
"Oh you don't have to do that, but thank you. Now you two drive safe." Ellen smiled and ended the call.
"Can you look up motels in Lafayette?" Dean asked once she hung up.
She nodded her head. "At least we know where he is. Now let's go find him."
Back in Lafayette, Sam and Ava were still in his motel room. She didn't really want to recall her nightmare about him, but she also didn't want him to die if she could prevent it from happening. The woman ran her hands over her face and sighed. He looked at her patiently not pushing her to talk.
Ava frowned shaking her head. "You walk into this house and... there's an explosion. You blow up. There's a wire. You walk into it and boom."
"A tripwire." He nodded his head at her.
She sighed at him. "Alright now you know. Why can't you just leave town now like before you explode? Please?"
"I can't. Not yet. There's something going on, Ava. With you. With me. There are others out there just like us and we're all a part of something. I've just got to figure it out." Sam explained to her.
Ava grew upset holding her left hand up showing off her ring. "I'm just a secretary from Peoria. I'm not part of anything. Okay, you know what? Screw you, buddy! You see this? I'm getting married in eight weeks and I'm supposed to be home getting invitations ready to send out. But no. I had to come all the way over here to save your ungrateful ass. You want to stay here and die? Fine. I'm due back on planet Earth."
"Alright I deserve that. Don't you want to know why these visions are happening to you though? Don't they scare the hell out of you? Because if you walk out that door, you may never know the truth and you may never get them to stop. I need your help."
The woman considered his words then reluctantly gave in. Sam drove her over to Dr. Waxler's office where she got an appointment with said doctor. Ava felt weird and completely anxious about the whole thing. The sight of Sam inching by slowly on the window ledge made her eyes widen and she gasped loudly. The doctor turned to look at the window only to see a few birds fly away.
Ava stammered before speaking again. "I just remembered that I once ate like eight things of pop rocks and then drank a can of coke when I was a kid. You don't think that counts as a suicide attempt do you?"
"Probably not. Have you felt suicidal before?" Dr. Waxler took some notes.
She appeared thoughtful before shaking her head. "Not that I can recall."
While her session went on, Sam opened the window in the next room and carefully climbed in. He walked quietly over to the file cabinets. They were labeled alphabetically by last name so it didn't take him long to find Scott's files. He grabbed them then left the building. It was a short while later when Ava met him outside. Sam drove back to the Blue Rose motel and they went back to his room.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked her.
Ava laughed slightly. "Am I okay? I just helped you steal a dead guy's confidential psych files. I'm awesome!"
"It started a little over a year ago. Migraines at first and then I found out that I could do stuff." Scott's voice played out into the room as Sam pressed play on the recorder that came with the file while the file itself lay open between them.
"What do you mean, do stuff?" Dr. Waxler could be heard.
"I have this ability. When I touch things, I can electrocute them if I want." He admitted to the doctor.
The Impala pulled into the parking lot of the Blue Rose motel just then. Surprisingly Sam didn't hear it as he was too focused on the recording that was playing. Dean and Ruby both sighed in relief when they spotted him in the window of a room.
"Oh thank god you're okay." Dean relaxed only to smirk when his brother moved aside revealing Ava. "You're better than okay. You sly dog!"
Ruby rolled her eyes smacking his arm. "Dean..."
"Yeah I know." He parked the Impala out of sight and just watched Sam for a few moments.
"What else does the yellow-eyed man say?" Dr. Waxler asked.
"That he has plans for me. He says that there's a war coming. That people like me are going to be the soldiers. Everything's about to change." Scott responded.
Ava frowned as Sam leaned over the table with a look of concern. "They're not talking about us, are they?"
"I think they are."
She shook her head in disbelief. "But how can we turn into that?"
"I don't..." Sam was cut off as the window above his head shattered and a bullet sailed over their heads. "Get down!"
Ava shrieked as Sam pulled her to the ground shielding her with his body. "What's happening?"
"I don't know."
Across the street, Gordon Walker was on top of a roof with a sniper rifle aimed at the motel room that Sam was in. He continued taking shots at the room unaware that Dean and Ruby were rushing up behind him. Dean got there first jumping him from behind and kicked him hard.
"Gordon!" He pinned the older man to the ground punching him repeatedly then gripped his collar. "You do that to my brother, I'll kill you!"
The man groaned looking up at him. "Dean, wait!"
Before Dean could stop him, Gordon grabbed his rifle hitting the younger man with it twice knocking him out. Ruby moved to check on him only to get the rifle pointed at her. She held her hands up and he smirked forcing her to help him take Dean off the roof. Sure, she probably could have tried to take Gordon on, but she wasn't about to risk getting knocked out or worse. Ruby helped him get Dean into his truck and was forced in as well. It was quiet for a good bit before Sam deemed it safe to move. He helped Ava up then led her across the street to where he believed the shots had come from. Sure enough, he found spent shells on the roof top.
Ava frowned as he looked at a shell. "Shouldn't we call the cops?"
"Oh that wouldn't help much. .223 Subsonic rounds. The guy must have put a suppressor on the rifle." He commented.
She looked at him oddly. "Okay who are you?"
"I just.. I watch a lot of TJ Hooker." Sam shrugged sheepishly and pulled out his phone.
Ava raised her brows. "Who are you calling?"
"My brother. We definitely need help." He dialed the number then waited for his brother to answer the phone.
"Hello?" A tied up Dean answered as Gordon held the phone to his ear.
"Dean!"
"Sam, I've been looking for you." He sighed in relief.
"Yeah, look, I'm in Lafayette, Indiana."
"Yeah I know." Dean admitted.
"You do?"
"Ellen told me. Just got here with Ruby. It's a real funky town. You ditched us, Sammy." He glanced over at Ruby who was tied up across from him.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. Look, there's someone after me." Sam got to the point.
"What? Who?" Dean acted concerned though he was pretty sure that his brother was referring to Gordon.
"I don't know yet. That's what I'm trying to find out. Where are you guys?"
"We're staying at 5637 Monroe street. Why don't you meet us over here?" He recited what the older man wanted him to say.
"Yeah, sure." Sam hung up and glanced at Ava. "My brother and our friend are in trouble."
Ava looked at him confused. "How do you know?"
"He gave me a codeword. Someone's got a gun on him." He paused looking a little sheepish. "Funkytown. He chose it. It's, uh, a very long story."
She walked with him back down to the parking lot and frowned. "I don't think I should leave."
"I want you out of harm's way, Ava." Sam led her over to her blue VW Beetle.
Ava shook her head reluctantly opening the driver's side door. "What about you? Sam, you're walking right into my vision. This is how you die."
"It doesn't matter. This is my brother and Ruby."
She looked at him pleadingly. "Sam..."
"Ava, please, just go home to your fiance. You'll be safe there." Sam assured her.
Ava got into the car then looked at him. "Fine. Just give me a call, you know, when you get them. Just to let me know that everything is alright."
"I promise." He smiled slightly at her then watched as she drove away.
Gordon chuckled setting the phone aside. "Now was that so hard?"
"Bite me." Dean glared at him.
He shook his head turning away as he unpacked a bag of weapons. "Temper, temper."
"I know we left you stewing in your own mess after that vampire debacle, but don't you think this is a little extreme?"
Gordon turned to look at him. "Yeah I was definitely planning on whupping your ass for that."
"But?" His eyebrows raised at him.
He shrugged slamming a knife into its sheath. "This isn't personal, Dean. I'm not a killer. I'm a hunter and your brother is fair game."
"This is ridiculous." Dean scoffed at him.
Ruby frowned watching them. "Sam is a good man."
Gordon chuckled at her. "You two chuckleheads really don't know, huh? Down in Louisiana, I was doing an exorcism. Low level demon in a teenage girl. Seemed routine, but then it got to talking. Something about a coming war. It piqued my interest and, well, you can really make a demon talk if you have the right tools."
"What happened to the girl?"
He shook his head. "She didn't make it."
"Son of a bitch." Dean shook a bit.
Gordon smacked him across his face. "That's my momma you're talking about. Anyway, this demon spilled everything. There are soldiers that are going to fight in this war on hell's side. Humans. I mean, they're psychics so they're not exactly pure humans. You know what the biggest kick was though? He said I knew one of them. Your own brother, Sammy Winchester. And I know about his visions. I know everything."
"That is a whole new level of moronic. Even for you. Demons lie." He glared at him.
He shrugged his shoulders at him. "I'm not some reckless yahoo, Dean. I did my homework. You've got your Roadhouse connections and I've got mine. They're all going to be killers, Dean. We've got to take them all out. Even Sammy."
"No, you're wrong. Sam's not like that and he's also not stupid enough to walk through that front door."
Gordon started pacing a bit. "No of course not. He'll see me covering the door so he'll go around back. When he does, he'll hit the tripwire... and boom."
"Sam's not going to fall for a freaking tripwire." Dean rolled his eyes at him.
He shrugged again. "Maybe you're right, but that's why there'll be a second one. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that it has to be this way, but at least it will be quick."
"Come on, man. I know Sam better than anyone. He has more of a conscience than I do. He feels guilty surfing for internet porn."
Gordon sighed at him. "Maybe you're right, but one day he will be a monster."
"No he won't. He's not like that." He argued with him.
He pulled out a piece of fabric gagging Dean with it. "But he will be. It's his destiny. You just can't see it yet. He's your brother and you love him. This all must hurt like hell, but here's the thing. Your dad? If it really came down to it? He would have dropped Sammy without a second thought. So you're telling me that you're not the man that he is?"
Dean glared at him while Ruby cleared her throat. "It's not his destiny. You're wrong. His destiny is putting an end to this war before it even has a chance to start."
Gordon chuckled walking toward her with another piece of fabric in hand. "Shame you're so naïve for such a pretty thing."
She glared at him moving a little. "Go to hell."
He shook his head then stopped noticing her necklace reaching out to touch it. "Now where did you get that?"
Ruby glanced down at her necklace trying to move away from him. "It belonged to my mother."
The sound of the back door's lock clicking open could be heard and Gordon smirked. "Huh."
A boom rocked the house as Gordon gagged Ruby. She and Dean stared at each other helplessly. Dean was practically sobbing when the second explosion went off. He struggled violently against the ropes that kept him bound to the chair. Ruby's heart broke feeling even more helpless. Gordon grabbed his gun walking toward the back of the house. He smirked seeing Sam's smoking boots, but still looked around warily. Approaching him from behind, Sam pressed his gun to the back of the man's head.
"Drop the gun."
He chuckled freezing for a moment. "Now Sammy, you shouldn't walk around without shoes. You're liable to get tetanus that way."
"Put it down now!" Sam yelled out catching the attention of Dean and Ruby who both sighed in relief.
Gordon slowly lowered his gun to the floor chuckling at him. "You wouldn't shoot me. Not with how much of a saint those two think you are."
"Oh I wouldn't be too sure of that."
He nodded his head at them. "See that's what I tried to tell them."
Gordon swiftly turned around knocking the gun out of Sam's hand and attacking him. The younger Winchester got knocked to the ground having been caught off guard. Dean and Ruby struggled against their ropes in frustration. Sam was laid out on the floor coughing as he tried to recover.
The older man walked over to Sam pulling out his knife. "You're no better than the filthy things you hunt."
Ruby let out a gagged scream as Gordon raised the knife only for Sam to lunge forward knocking it out of his hand. He flipped them over so that Gordon was on his back and he punched him repeatedly. Grabbing the rifle, Sam cocked the gun pointing it right at Gordon's head.
Gordon looked straight at the younger Winchester taunting him. "Do it. Do it! Show them the killer you really are, Sammy."
"It's Sam." He fumed hitting Gordon upside the head with the butt of the gun knocking him out for the moment.
Catching his breath, Sam set the gun aside and made his way to the front of the house. He knelt by Dean untying his ropes. Dean yanked his gag off tossing it aside and stood up pulling his brother to his feet as well. He cupped Sam's neck looking him over for injuries and Sam nodded his head assuring him that he was okay. They then turned toward Ruby untying her and removing her gag. She sighed in relief again and hugged them both. Dean then turned and stalked toward the older man.
Ruby's eyes widened at him. "Dean no!"
"I let him live once. I'm not making the same mistake twice." Dean huffed.
"Gordon's taken care of. Trust me. Come on." Sam grabbed his brother by his jacket dragging him toward the front door.
Sam staggered down the front steps flanked by Dean and Ruby. Inside, Gordon slowly came to and swore. He got to his feet grabbing two of his guns and made his way to the front door. Walking outside, Gordon shot at the three of them wildly with both of his guns. The three hunters dove into a nearby ditch hidden from view as lights and sirens filled the area. Dean and Ruby watched in awe as the cops told Gordon to put his weapons down. He did as he was told and he was promptly arrested. They checked his truck revealing the arsenal of weapons that he had stashed away.
"Anonymous tip." Sam grinned at them.
"You're a fine upstanding citizen, Sam." Dean grinned back at him.
"Gordon Walker was hunting Sam?" Ellen was surprised and unsurprised at the same time.
"Yeah he almost killed all three of us because someone over there can't keep their freaking mouths shut." Dean scoffed.
Ruby shook her head at him. "Dean, the Roadhouse is frequented by hunters. Any one of them could have put this together on their own and if Gordon was telling the truth about the demon, who knows how many other low level demons are spilling the beans?"
"She's right, Dean. You can say anything you want about us, but we're not stupid. And we're not disloyal. Jo, Ash, and I would never breathe a word of this to anybody." Ellen assured him as she adjusted the phone in her hand.
"Gordon said he has Roadhouse connections." Dean frowned.
"Like Ruby said, there are hunters all around here. They're good at what they do. Good trackers. I could name twelve of them right now that could have pieced this all together. Look, I'm sorry about what happened. I can't control what they do or what they believe."
"Yeah I know. I'm sorry too." He ended the call and sighed.
Ruby reached out squeezing his hand reassuringly. "We'll figure this out. We always do."
"Yeah. You alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Dean checked her over again.
She smiled softly at him. "I'm fine. Let's get going."
"Alright." He pressed a kiss to her head then got into the car just in time to hear Sam leave a voicemail for Ava. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah I hope so." Sam sighed.
"Well at least Gordon will be locked up for the next couple of years."
"Yeah if they can pin Scott's murder on him and if he doesn't bust out." Sam nodded his head.
"Dude if you ever take off like that again..." Dean started.
"What? You'll kill me?" They both laughed.
Ruby shook her head playfully from the backseat. "You both are so not funny."
"Alright so where to next?" Sam chuckled.
"One word. Amsterdam." Dean smirked at his brother.
"Dean! I'm not running away. I'm not just going to ditch the job."
"Screw the job. We don't get paid and hardly get thanked. All we get is bad luck." He scoffed driving down the road.
"Well we're hunters, man. It's what we were meant to do."
Ruby laughed somewhat bitterly. "No it's not what you were meant to do, Sam. You guys were both meant for so much more than this. You were forced into this job. And after this yellow eyed son of a bitch is dead, who says we have to keep hunting?"
"I mean, she's right. I don't believe in that destiny crap." Dean shrugged.
"You mean you don't believe in my destiny." He chuckled.
"Yeah whatever."
"Look, guys, I tried running away before. I ran all the way to California and look what happened. I'm done running. Whatever happens, I'm going to face it head on. You can't run from this and you can't protect me." Sam admitted to them.
"I can try."
"Thanks for that. Like I said, I'm going to keep hunting so if you want to protect me then you're going to have to stick around." He smiled.
"Bitch."
"Jerk."
Ruby smiled sighing contently as she relaxed in the backseat. "There's my boys."
"You calling that Ava girl again? What are you, sweet on her or something?" Dean glanced over seeing his brother frowning at his phone.
"She's engaged, Dean."
"Yeah well what's the point of saving the world if you can't get a little nookie once in a while, huh?" He chuckled then noticed his brother's scowl. "What?"
"How far is it to Peoria?"
"About two hours, give or take." Dean shrugged driving toward Peoria.
The blonde stretched a bit. "So who is Ava? The girl you were talking to at the motel?"
"Uh yeah. She's actually one of the special children. Like me. Her mom didn't die though. Ava.. she actually warned me about the tripwire. She had a vision of it. Same with Scott's death." Sam admitted to them.
Her eyes widened a bit then she nodded her head. "Oh. Well remind me to thank her then."
While they drove to Peoria, Sam found Ava's address. They pulled up to the house a little while later and Sam was relieved to see that Ava's car was in the driveway. The lights were off and it seemed quiet. No one answered the door. Having a bad feeling, they picked the lock and went inside. The three of them looked around the home though nothing seemed amiss at first. They checked around finding their way to the master bedroom. Ava's fiance was laying face up on the bed. They would have thought he was asleep if it were not for the blood soaking his shirt and the sheets. Dean walked over to the window seeing a line of yellow powder.
"Sulfur. Demon's been here." He told them.
"Ava." Sam knelt down picking up her engagement ring from the floor. "It's all my fault. I told her to go home and that she'd be safe here."
Ruby frowned shaking her head as they moved to leave the house undetected. "No it's not. You couldn't have possibly known that this would happen."
Sam grew quiet as they got back into the Impala and drove away. The three of them checked into a local motel and Ruby made sure they ate before they settled in for the night. The body of Ava's fiance was discovered the next day and Ava's disappearance made the local news. Of course both Ruby and Dean were worried about Sam despite him seeming focused on finding Ava. There was also the lingering thought that hadn't yet left Ruby's mind. Why was Gordon so interested in her necklace?