Thank you again for all the reviews! The enthusiastic response to the last two chapters really inspired me, so I spent the last few hours working on this part. :-)

I also wrote most of the next part, so it shouldn't be too long before I update again. I'm thinking there will be two more chapters before I'm done (or possibly three).

Anyway, here's the next part and I hope you like it!

Part 9 - Hunting

Dean swore as the bullet came far too close for comfort. Adrenaline surged through him, urging him on. He ran, stumbling again as he crashed through the trees. The forest in this area had been untouched by the fire and the underbrush wasn't as thick as in the grove. It was still enough to slow him down, though.

Through the pounding in his head, he heard the sounds of Stuart's pursuit. The man was far too close. Dean swallowed the fear that was rising in him. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to die at the hands of a murderous lawman. To top it all off, the same murderous lawman was going to kill his brother once he was finished with Dean.

Dean wondered if it would be wrong to kill the sheriff. He'd always looked on people as different from the creatures he hunted. In this case, he knew he was wrong. Stuart Jones was going to kill him and his brother. That, in Dean's book, made him as evil as the beings he had destroyed all his life.

That realisation did little to help, though. Dean couldn't get anywhere near the sheriff to disarm him or take him out.

Without warning, Dean tripped again, falling into the bushes. He bit back a pained cry as he hit the ground. He heard Jones' loud footfalls nearing his position.

There was no time to run now. Dean rolled, pulling his feet in close to his body and hoping the bushes would hide him from view. He stopped moving not a moment too soon as Jones thundered past his hiding spot. Dean hardly dared to breathe, expecting any second to feel the bullet that would end his life. Jones continued running.

Dean felt a disbelieving smile form on his face. He couldn't believe that worked!

He waited a few moments before he cautiously pulled himself out of the bushes. There was no sign of Jones. Dean knew where the deputy would go, though.

Taking a moment to get his bearings and allow the pain in his head to subside, Dean headed off towards the grove. With any luck, Jones would keep looking for him for awhile. If Dean hurried, he could possibly even beat Jones there and rescue his brother before Susan knew what was happening.

Sam walked slowly into the grove, Susan's gun pressed firmly into his back.

He looked around, terrified that he might see his brother's lifeless body discarded in the dirt. Sam could feel the tension rising off of Susan as she worried over Stuart.

"They could still be alive," he told her. "We can go and look for them."

"We'll wait here," Susan replied shortly. "Stuart!" Her loud yell startled Sam, who had been straining to hear anything in the surrounding trees.

"Stuart!" She called again, making Sam wince.

"We should look," Sam insisted again. "They could be hurt from the accident." He cautiously turned to face Susan, keeping his movements slow in the hopes that she wouldn't be alarmed into shooting him.

"Undo the cuffs, Susan," he said calmly. "We can find them and end this. No one has to die."

Susan's face showed her conflicted emotions. Sam knew she wanted to find her fiancé, but she also feared what would happen if the truth was revealed.

She shook her head. "I can't," she whispered. "I can't."

She looked at Sam then, steeling herself for what was to come. "You have to die, Sam. You and your brother have to disappear. It's the only way Stuart and I will be safe."

"Susan, don't do this." Sam kept his voice calm and level, though he felt his anger growing. He didn't survive all the tragedies of his life to be done in by human beings! He wasn't about to let people kill his brother, either.

Susan didn't flinch.

Sam took a cautious step forward. "I don't think you want to kill me, or my brother, do you?"

"Stay back!" Susan's voice was hard. "I'll do what I have to do to protect the man I love, Sam."

"I suggest you do what the lady says, kid." A new voice cut into the conversation.

Sam turned to see Stuart Jones approach, holding a gun calmly in his hands. A gun that was pointed at Sam.

"Stuart!" Susan cried in relief, noting the blood on her fiancé's face. "Are you all right?"

"Just fine, Sue," he replied, never taking his eyes off Sam as he stepped up to the younger Winchester.

Sam could only stare at the man as his breath refused to come. Where was Dean? Why wasn't Dean with the sheriff? Had Jones already killed him?

The sheriff gripped Sam's jacket and pulled him over to a tree. He pressed Sam's back against it and stepped back, his gun never lowering.

Jones kept his eyes and his gun on Sam as he held out his free arm to Susan.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice almost tender as he pulled her into a one-armed hug.

Under normal circumstances, Sam would have thought the gesture sweet, but the thought that these people were murderers sickened him instead.

"Where's my brother?" he called to them. To hell with their heart-warming moment. "Where's Dean?"

The pair ignored him as Susan looked up at Stuart. "I couldn't kill him, Stu. I knew if I waited, you would do it."

Stuart nodded. "It's okay. I'll do it. We just have to wait a minute first."

"Why?" Susan asked in confusion.

"The other one got away. As long as we have his brother, he'll come here. If we kill this one, he'll just run and we'll never find him before he tells everyone what he knows."

Sam felt almost ill with relief at those words. Dean was still alive! He was free. Sam scanned the surrounding bushes, trying to see if he could spot his brother.

No movement betrayed Dean's presence.

Dean cursed as he took in the scene before him. He hadn't beaten Jones to the grove, though he'd pushed his abused body to its limits. He was too late for a quick and easy snatch-and-run rescue. Sam was handcuffed and both Jones and Susan were armed.

All Dean had were some lousy knives. He again mentally cursed the thought that he had purposely removed his weapons before going to see the sheriff. To think he'd been worried about being arrested again!

Blinking to clear his blurred vision, Dean could see Sam searching the bushes, looking for him, but Dean couldn't bring attention to himself yet.

He heard the muffled conversation between the two murderous lovers and knew that he didn't have much time.

Dean swore under his breath. What was he going to do?

His decision was made for him when Stuart walked over to Sam and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head back.

The deputy put his gun under Sam's chin and called into the forest. "C'mon out, Dean!"

Dean groaned. Why could things never be simple?

"I'll shoot him, Dean!" Jones stated conversationally. He might as well have been discussing the weather

Dean was lost. He couldn't let them shoot his brother, but if he went out there, they were both dead. That would help no one.

"I'm going to count to three, Dean!" Jones was yelling now. "If I have to get to three, I'm gonna start shooting!"

Dean's breath caught in his throat. Jones was serious.

"One!"

Dean swore vehemently. He needed more time! This couldn't be happening! He could see the fear on Sam's face. He couldn't let Sam die – he couldn't watch his brother die! He just needed a few freakin' minutes to come up with a plan! Why couldn't he think?

"Two!"

Shit.