John took the news of Yellow Eyes surprisingly calmly. He watched the film and nodded in agreement of conclusion but otherwise didn't mention interrogation had gone well, it wasn't much of an interrogation as the man was scared shitless (almost literally) from being in the dungeon all night. He was blabbing before any questions were asked. He had gotten the tape from Baldy and made copies, unfortunately he had already sold most of the copies (over 20) which made Dean want to stab the guy right then and there.

"Call him." Bobby growled. "Tell him you want to meet up, get more copies of whatever."

The man's adam apple bobbed as he nodded nervously, grabbing the wall phone and dialed the number. It must have been a hotel because he then asked for a room and then the rough voice could be barely heard on the other line.

"Hey, uh, I sold out of those last films—- yeah they were really something" Dean gritted his teeth "you got anymore for me?-ya?- JZ's bar?-three weeks?" the man glanced at John who growled

"Sooner, with company."

"Ya ain't got something sooner man? I'd hate to lose out for so long." He looked up at John and shook his head. John growled. "Aw come on, I'll cut you in on the profits. Okay, yeah, I get it, I'll bring some friends, cool? cool." he hung up the phone

"Well?" John asked after a beat of silence.

"Said he wouldn't meet sooner, said to bring my camera, said he'd see me at a bar in town call "JZ's" said he got something special for me." the man looked up with terrified eyes. "He wouldn't do sooner and I couldn't push or he would get suspicious I swear I-"

"Get the hell out, and you breathe a word and you can be damn well sure that I won't be showing ya any mercy next time." Bobby Singer boomed in a voice that made Dean flinch back. Without hesitation the man dashed out the front door into the yard and down the driveway.

"Bobby, you live miles out of town." Dean noted, watching the figure disappear.

"Boy better run fast before it gets dark then." Bobby gruffed.

The three weeks passed with little more info gathered. It seemed that JZ's bar was a popular gathering spot for a certain crowd but all were tight lipped and the owner's name was buried under corporations, even with Bobby's contacts he couldn't find anything. Sam could have, Sam was a genius. Dean spent the time mostly fidgeting until Bobby sent him into the yard to 'earn his keep' then Dean worked on cars, dozens of cars, replacing parts, cleaning, shining, even the ones Bobby was preparing for the crusher Dean refused to give up on. If Bobby thought he was projecting he didn't mention it.

Soon enough all three were on the road again, headed six hours south. They stopped for lunch but every bite Dean took tasted bland. He ended up not finishing his burger ignoring the concerned looks from Bobby. The memory of the video kept flashing in his mind. What Sam was going through, if only he had seen the signs back at school he could have saved him. What kind of brother doesn't notice when something like that is going on?

Dean fidgeted in the back seat, anxiety sinking in."Why did we let the guy go? What if he was lying?" Dean asked, expecting Bobby to answer.

It was John who answered. "I know when a man is lying, Son. Besides, I still got the dirt on him, if he tries anything he will regret it."

"Ya? Gonna go to the police? If we did that weeks ago Same could have already been rescued." Dean knew he was picking a fight, knew that it wasn't the right time, but the betrayal he felt knowing his father used Sam refused to settle with the anger from the previous fight weeks ago was flaring up with a vengeance.

John clearly wasn't in the mood. "I told you why we can't report him to Dean. You don't think it won't be suspicious that the father of the family who disappeared the night Simmons was killed is looking for his missing son taken by known associates to Simmons? Me getting locked up isn't going to help us find Sam."

"Yeah, well maybe you should be locked up." Dean growled "Why are you putting all the blame on your friend Simmons like you had nothing to do with it?"

Dean jolted forward in his seat as John slammed on the breaks, swinging the car onto the side of the highway. Cars honked as they swerved around.

John threw open the driver door and got out, storming down the embankment and started pacing towards a grove of trees.

Dean was fuming now, he opened the door to get out.

"Let it go boy." Bobby's tone was harder than Dean had heard it since Sam was taken, was he siding with John?

Dean glared at Bobby, He grabbed his bag and stormed towards his father.

"I do not want to fight right now Dean." John snapped when he was about 10 paces away. "This isn't going to help Sam."

"Where were you when Sam needed help huh?" Dean didn't stop, he walked right up, toe to toe with his father, breathing into his face. "How could you do that to him? Your own son?"

"You think I don't know that I messed up?" John growled, voice low and threatening. He didn't back down from Dean's aggressive stance. "I know I screwed up. I know this is my fault, I should have stopped it. I am never going to forgive myself or not hate myself for that but it isn't helping Sam right now!" John was yelling by the end, towing over Dean.

"Don't act like you weren't involved!" Dean yelled back, opening his bag he grabbed the envelope of pictures, shoving them harshly into John's chest.

John took a step back, catching the envelope before it fell to the ground. He looked down at it and up at Dean, confused. "What is this?"

"Proof of your crimes." Dean growled. "You're lucky I didn't go to the police. What excuse could you possibly give for this huh? Did he even know you took them?"

John's brow dipped in confusion as he opened the envelope and fished out one of the pictures. Instantly his face went white and he dropped the envelope, pictures falling out and scattering to the ground, the wind threatening to carry them away. "What the hell Dean?" John breathed, "Where did you get those?"

"Got them off your camera." Dean brushed away John's confusion as guilt. "What I want to know is why you're taking pictures of your child"

"I didn't" John was shaking slightly, bending down to grab the scattering papers. "I got the camera off Simmons." his voice was hollow.

All anger drained from Dean as understanding dawned. How could he have been such an idiot? "Why…" Dean went to grab pictures before the wind caught them. "Why did you say it was your fault then?"

"Because I knew something was wrong." John stood now, a handful of papers caught in his fingers. "Because I knew that someone was hurting him but instead of facing that I ran away, went on another hunt." He shoved the papers back into the envelope. "What kind of father does that make me?"

Dean realized then that the shaking from John was. His father, his father who fought monsters, who watched people die, who had fought in wars, who Dean had never seen shed a tear in his life, was crying. It was silent but there were definite tears. Dean felt a drop on his hand and looked down. He felt his cheek and realized that he too was crying. Pathetic.

"You were gone," Dean spoke softly, trying to keep his voice steady. "You were gone and yeah that sucked but I was there, I saw him every day." His voice was tighter now. "I didn't even imagine something like that was happening to him."

John stepped closer and for a brief moment Dean thought the man would hug him, but instead a firm hand was placed on Dean's shoulder and a squeeze. There were no signs of tears on John's face now as the man pulled Dean back towards the car. "We can apologize to Sam when we see him again." John spoke and Dean nodded. It didn't fix things, didn't really make him feel better, but it shoved it aside for later.

The 6 hour drive took 4, most of it spent in silence. In the last 20 mins Bobby spoke. "We don't know what we're going to find at this bar, it might be Yellow Eyes it might not, but no matter what our priority is to get Sam out. This is a rescue mission not a revenge mission, you both hear me?"

"Agreed." John spoke, and Dean nodded. His blood boiled to get his hands on the men who had hurt Sam, but Sam came first. They would track them down later, and they would pay.

"Good. They might not know your face John so if luck is on our side you'll be able to go undercover. Dean, I got a wig in the trunk for you so you can go in too. I'm afraid there ain't no disguising this mug so I'll be back up. Give you 10 mins to go in, get Sam, and come out or I'm calling the calverley."

"Yes Sir" Dean answered, his body felt like it was vibrating with anticipation. After waiting for so long without being able to help now it was finally time to take action.

"Dean." Bobby spoke, turning to look at him. "They might hurt Sam, might be hurting him in front of you. Do you understand?"

Dean swallowed, a hard lump refusing to move in his throat. "I won't intervene until it's time." He spoke clearly.

"Good, follow ya father's lead and keep ya head down." Bobby gave him a reassuring smile. "Sam will be fine, we'll get him out and get him patched up."

Dean nodded and before he was ready they were there, pulling into a parking space a few blocks down. Bobby would drive the car closer when they were inside. John grabbed the wig, a longer black hair that got into Dean's eyes, but it did its job. They walked quickly to the bar

"Stay behind me." John gruffed, as they approached the place. A crooked "JZ's" hung above the door, blacked out windows and graffiti covered the brick walls. A bouncer stood at the front of an open door, cigarette smoke trailing out into the street.

Dean expected to be stopped, he didn't look over 21 even without the wig but the bouncer didn't blink. Something about John's gruff look (having not shaved since Sam was taken) and leather jacket must fit the place. There were about a dozen people in the bar, men and women sitting around dirty tables. 80s rock played in the background as a woman danced on the pole. Dean had been in bars before, ones that didn't look closely at IDs but something about this one set every hair on his body at high alert. John led the way into the bar and after a brief look around he headed towards a closed side door, guarded by a gruff looking bouncer.

"Private Party." The guard spoke without looking at them.

"We're invited, guests of Tom." John spoke, Dean saw him palm something into the guy's hand and realized it was a bribe. The guard must not be paid well because he opened the door and let the two in.

The room was dark, much darker than the bar and crowded. It felt stuffy as men stood around chatting in low excited tones.

As soon as the door shut all eyes turned to them. "Got some new faces huh?" someone spoke, stepping closer. "Looks like we'll have 2 toys to play with tonight, this one is a bit old for me though." the man laughed.

With a sickening shudder Dean realized what they meant, every person in the room was looking right at him.

"How bout we get the party started early? Have a bit of fun with the new guy?" another man stepped closer, sizing Dean up and licking his lips.

Dean's heart sped up as he took a step back, his body hitting the now closed door. John seemed so calm, almost like he didn't care. Dean glanced at him but he was just standing to the side not even looking towards Dean.

"Naw, Boss wouldn't like it. Sides, this one looks like it's working tonight."

John blew out a breath and Dean realized he had lit a cigarette, smoke trailed away causing Dean to suppress a cough. "I may be convinced to share later on." John gave a grin that did nothing to calm Dean's nerves. It's just an act

Before more questions arrived the door Dean was standing against began to open and he was shoved quickly into the wall next to John.

"Yo Boss!" Someone said and it was echoed by similar calls. A large man and smaller boy entered and Dean knew, even without seeing the face, that it was Sam. On instinct he moved forward but was quickly pulled back, a hand grabbing his collar. Wait

John wasn't looking at him still, eyes zeroed in on Sam. They needed to wait.

Wait for what?

Until after the party?

Until after these men "played" with Sam?

Sam was dragged into the middle of the room, Dean caught a brief glimpse of his face, terrified eyes darted around but didn't meet him, men instantly crowding around, blocking his line of sight. Everyone was talking, chatting excitedly. Dean tried to step forward again but John dragged him back, pushing him against the wall only to he himself go in, trying to weave his body into the crowd of animals.

'Stay' the message couldn't be more clear but Dean faught every instinct he had not to dive in, find Sam, and run. If it came to a fight could they take on everyone here? And a Demon?

There were shouts and hollers as the group shifted and Dean saw that Sam had been pulled onto a table before more bodies got in the way.

Cowboy was standing to the side, a large smile on his face as he watched. Dean couldn't see John, assumed he was somewhere trying to assess the room. Strategize. They needed a plan. How long until Bobby came? Had it been 10 minutes?

Someone grabbed Dean and he tried to pull away only for a hand to cover his mouth. "It's me, calm down." Dean instantly recognised John's voice and relaxed.

"I managed to get a demon spell around the room, anyone who is a demon won't be able to get out when we grab Sam."

Brilliant

"I texted Bobby, he's gonna burn the place down. Once the alarm rings you grab Sam and run."

Dean nodded and John disappeared again into the crowd.

It wasn't long before he smelled the smoke and a moment after the alarm was blaring. A panic rushed over the room and quickly people were trying desperately to run through a single door. Dean ran towards Sam, it became apparent that over half the people in the room were Demons as they began pounding on the invisible wall, thankfully they were too distracted to notice Dean gathering up a naked Sam into his arms. "It's okay brother." Sam didn't respond, didn't move, just stayed limp as Dean sprinted past the invisible wall and out the door. He didn't see John, or Cowboy, he didn't care, he ran past the bouncer and ducked under people to get through the door of the bar seeing the Impala waiting right outside with a Bobby Singer at the wheel. He threw open the door and put Sam inside as gently as he could while wasting no time.

"Where's John?" Bobby asked, hand on the clutch to throw it into gear.

"Should be here." Dean growled, he hadn't entered the car yet, primed to run back inside if John didn't get here soon. The place was really ablaze now, smoke pouring out of the door as the last of the patrons made their way outside. He could just see the licks of flames coming up from the back side.

"Doesn't have much time, I put that thing next to the back rooms where they store the alcohol." Bobby looked back at Sam, studying him.

Sam hadn't moved from where Dean had shoved him, arms awkwardly bent and head lulled to the side. He stared with empty eyes.

The fire was getting worse, flames clearly visible now through the doorway. No one had come out in several moments though he saw the signs of smoke, darker than the rest, and swirling in unnatural patterns flee from the building. "I'm going in." Dean ran towards the fire before Bobby could stop him.

The smoke hit him before the heat, with only the one door the place was condensed with it. Dean quite literally couldn't breath, his sleeve pressed to his nose. He coughed, eyes burning. He could barely see as he headed towards the private room, navigating from memory.

The door was still open, and thankfully the room for now was not yet on fire. He saw two figures near the back, one standing, one crouched, hands pressed to the floor.

"Dad!" Dean yelled running up. John's eyes were locked on Cowboy's, he crouched, hands touching the floor where a red symbol was softly glowing, stretching around the demon. Cowboy's eyes glowed a harsh yellow and he looked pissed.

"Get out of here Dean." John spoke, voice weak and Dean realized that the red symbol was made with blood, blood actively flowing from John's wrists and down his hands to join the spell.

"What the hell Dad?" Dean went to grab him by the shoulders and pull him away.

"Stop!" John's voice was cold and firm, and Dean stopped on instinct. "He won't be stopped by the normal spell, he'll just go after Sam again, none of us will leave here alive unless you go now son."

"Not without you." Dean pleaded

"Sam needs you." John argued.

"He needs us both!" Dean yelled, inhaling a breath of smoke and choking before a large coughing fit.

A steely voice entered the conversation "This is very touching" Yellow Eyes sneered. "You do know that you're going to die from this fire, and I will be set free, and I will find him again."

"We'll find a way" Dean snapped, the smoke was getting worse now, the fire was spreading and there was no other exit. "We'll figure it out Dad but not without you!" Dean didn't realize how close he was to begging.

John just shook his head "I can't fix things for Sam, but I can do this, I can make sure you boys get a head start and I know you'll be able to figure it out from there."

"Dad Sam needs you, I need you, we can't-"

An explosion interrupted Dean's thoughts, the force hit him like a train, throwing him away from the door. Everything was quiet aside from a sharp ringing in his ears. Everything was dark, he couldn't see, couldn't move, nothing was working. He needed to get his dad out, needed to find him before the demon did. Dean began feeling around, he couldn't breath, couldn't see, he couldn't stand up, something was wrong with his legs.

Strong arms grabbed him, pulling him up and he had the sense to cooperate, letting them sling him over like a potato sack. He could see a little now, everything fuzzy and dark but he could see the flames, they were everywhere.

He was hauled outside, but not through the main door, had someone cut through the wall? Everything was still so dark, He could make out shapes, people, they were gathered outside and doing something to the building

Firefighters

The thought seemed obvious now, of course the fire department had been called. Did they get his Dad? He tried calling, but wasn't sure if his voice was working, and couldn't hear anything.

A hand grabbed his, and he knew somehow that it was John.

AN: My dear readers we are starting the long road towards the ending of this fic and I can not thank you enough for your kind support it has meant the world.