Welcome to the Club

Don't turn your back
On intuition
Don't turn your back
On superstition

Don't Turn Your Back, Blue Oyster Cult

Without another word, Kole walked to the passenger side of the Impala and let herself in. Dean wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, but decided to think on it later – when there wasn't a demon to kill and his brother to save. He pocketed both of the guns he was already holding and found a few different blades that could execute the beheading, then got into the car.

He looked over at Kole. She had just finished braiding her hair and was now tucking the end back up into the braid. Dean was actually highly impressed that she had the forethought to keep her long hair out of reach. Maybe she would be OK after all.

Dean started up the car and, leaving the motel parking lot, realized he had no idea where he should go. He had just assumed that Sal's diner would be a good place, but if Leila and Sam had a date, would they really stay at the diner?

"Um," he started, "I don't suppose you know where Leila would be right now."

Kole just looked at him, confused.

"It's just… I'm not quite sure where this showdown is likely to take place." Man, he sounded stupid. "I mean, I don't know where she'd go because I don't really know what she's after."

"If I had to guess," Kole said, giving him a sideways glance and an arched eyebrow, "I'd say you."

"Huh?"

"Oh come on," she said. "It's a basic principle of all folklore, myth, and urban legend. Hell, go to any horror movie and what's the main thing the villain is after? The one that got away. The unattainable. And, that's you. You are the only one who we know has fought her influence."

"But you… and Sam…" he stammered.

"Sam and I both had help. You woke us both up. You and Sam woke the kid and his dad up. Now, she has Sam. But, I think, what would really make her happy is taking you down."

"That really doesn't help me here, Miss Navigator."

"I don't think it matters where you go. Where you go, she will follow." Kole sighed. "I guess if I were you, I'd go someplace where there aren't a lot of people. Somewhere where she can't call out the troupes quite so quickly."

"Like an open field or something… somewhere where there aren't a lot of houses?"

"Yeah, that'd work. And an open space means she can't sneak up on us. Of course, we won't be able to sneak up on her either."

"No. No sneaking, but we will have an element of surprise," Dean smiled. Kole gave him a questioning look. "You."

"Me?"

"Trust me when I say that I know a lot about demons. I know how they think and react. But, Leila has Sam. Sam and I know how we fight. We know each other's weaknesses. The one wild card here is you," he said with a trademark cocky grin. "That gives us the advantage. She'll have strength but we'll have surprise."

"So, I'll be, like, a diversion?" He gave a little shrug. "Fine, OK, I'll be your wild card – as long as you play Queen of Hearts."

"Queen of Hearts?"

"You know," Kole gave him a crooked grin, "off with her head." Dean gave a small groan which made Kole laugh a little.

"That was pretty bad," he told her.

It was just after 7:30 when Dean and Kole rode through the small town. All of the shops were already closed for the evening. Even the restaurants seemed empty and dark. They passed the coffee shop, Emily's Attic, Sal's diner - no signs of life anywhere.

"Am I the only one that's a little creeped out here?" Kole asked as she scanned her surroundings.

"I wouldn't say I'm creeped out," Dean replied, "but I'm getting close."

Past the row of shops was a small high school, and beyond that was a run-down football field. Feeling it was as good a place as any, Dean pulled into the school's parking lot. He took the spot closest to the opening in the surrounding fence and, with his lights facing the dimly lit field, parked the car.

"Dean," Kole's voice was hushed and hesitant. Dean glanced at her, then followed her gaze to the center of the field. At that distance, Dean couldn't tell whether he had his eyes open or not, but there was no doubt that the person lying in the middle of the field was Sam.

Dean took a deep breath and studied the rest of the field. He didn't see any other movement, but with the shadows spreading fast, he knew that they would be more blind than they had wanted. He checked his silver bullet supply, his holy water, and finally his blades – a hatchet, a battle-ax, a Bowie knife, and a butterfly knife.

"Here," he said, handing a second butterfly knife to Kole and demonstrating how to open it.

"Wait," she said nervously, "I thought you were in charge of the beheading part…"

"Yeah, if all goes as planned. This," he said, collapsing the knife and placing it in her hand, "is plan B." She took it reluctantly and then started to reach for the door handle.

"Wait," Dean said and glanced towards Sam again. His brother had not moved an inch. "What if I can't wake him up? I mean, I slapped him earlier and it had no effect."

"Well, if Disney is to be trusted," she gave him an uneasy smile, "a kiss just might do it." He looked at her, slightly horrified, for a moment and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Very funny," he growled. "Look, you hang back and keep an eye out for Leila. This is all too simple… and painless to be for real."

"Then, why go out there at all?"

"Because that's my brother. And, it's what I do."

Dean got out of the car and quickly walked through the fence and toward Sam. Kole got out of the car, walked through the fence, and then made her way over to the nearer goalpost in hopes of getting a good view of the field. She raised the crossbow and kept her eyes on Dean. If she was his back up, she was going to make sure no one and nothing snuck up on him.

When he was close enough to see the rise and fall of his brother's chest, Dean slowed down to a normal paced walk. When he was close enough to see that Sam's eyes were closed, he slowed down even more. And, when he was close enough to whisper his name, Dean stopped.

"Sam," he said quietly, getting no response. "Hey, Sammy?" Again, nothing. "Sammy, come on man. I need you to wake up for me."

"Dean, Dean, Dean," Sam said lazily, without opening his eyes. "Poor, predictable Dean. You know," slowly opening his eyes and turning to face his brother, "there was never a doubt in my mind that you would come and find me."

From her position at the goal post, Kole watched the conversation deafly. In her peripheral vision, she saw movement at her right, behind the bleachers. She turned and searched for the origin, but it took her a moment to catch sight of it once more. The bleachers were full of shadows and the source of the movement was dark.

But then, from behind the bleachers strode Leila, or what a bizarre film negative of Leila might look like, and Kole gasped to herself. She now resembled a human in shape alone. The once blonde hair was now an inky black, as were the whole of her eyes. Her skin was a dark shade of sapphire blue and she was dressed in a near-catwoman-like black outfit.

This girl – no, demon, Kole told herself – made her way over to where Dean and Sam were conversing. Kole thought that Dean would have to see her, but his eyes were fixed on his brother and the gun in his hand was now down at his side unprepared for her inevitable attack.

Dean stared down at his brother, bewildered. And, Sam looked up at his brother and sneered.

"I knew you would come," Sam was saying. "Even right in the middle of an obvious trap…"

But, whatever he had planned on saying next was cut off by an inhuman scream from Leila. Both Winchesters turned in surprise to see the demon clutching at an arrow in her chest.

Sam only wasted a second before leaping to his feet and charging his brother. While knocking Dean to the ground, Sam grabbed his wrist and was able to release his brother's hold on his gun. The action stunned Dean, but he quickly regained his composure and the brothers were soon trading kicks and punches with fervor.

While they fought, Leila ripped the arrow out of her flesh and turned to face Kole. She took a step forward and Kole, walking forward as well, shot again. Leila tried to dodge the oncoming attack, but was only quick enough to alter Kole's target. She shrieked again as the arrow hit her in the left shoulder.

As Leila wailed with the effort of removing the second arrow, Sam took a swing at Dean, punching his brother in the chest. Smiling, Sam watched Dean stagger back a step and clutch his chest where Sam had only recently shot him full of rock salt. Sam then punched Dean across the jaw, causing him to crumble to the ground.

Satisfied, Sam turned to face Kole. She stopped in mid-stride as he began to sprint in her direction.

"Sam?" Kole yelled in panic, her hands shaking on the crossbow. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't shoot him, and there was no way that she could defend herself for long against him.

Dean got up slowly. He walked silently behind Leila, who was still struggling with the pain in her shoulder.

"Hey, Sammy," he roared, then did the only thing he could think of. Taking Kole's words about Walt to heart, Dean grabbed Leila around the waist, pulled her to him, and kissed her.

Sam stopped in his tracks and was about to run back and angrily beat his brother to a bloody pulp, but instead fell to his knees and gasped. His head was thrown back and he cried out in pain. And when the pain subsided, Sam wheezed several times and then rose unsteadily to his feet.

"Sam?" Kole, suddenly by his side, slid under his arm and held him around the waist, keeping him from falling over. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he breathed, then panicked and looked up. "Dean!"

Dean, having witnessed his brother's awakening, tried to pull away from the kiss. However Leila, having released her hold on Sam to concentrate on Dean,held him steady. He tried to pry her hands away from the back of his head, but he felt his strength ebbing. His arms became too heavy to hold up any longer and his vision blurred to black. He felt the pain as every last bit of air was taken from him.

When Leila finally released him, Dean collapsed in a heap at her feet. Even from their distance, Sam and Kole could see that Dean was not breathing.

"How do we kill it?" Sam whispered wrathfully, barely moving his lips.

"Off with her head," Kole whispered back and let go of him. Under the cover of his jacket, she passed the butterfly knife to him. "I'll play decoy."

They parted a step as Leila turned around to face them.

"Ahh, now that was refreshing," she smiled sinisterly and licked her sable lips. "Not my style, really – no, I'm more of a dinner and a show kind of girl. Why do the dirty work when I can sit back and simply enjoy myself? But I wasn't about to take any more chances on that," she sneered down at Dean.

The quick glance was all that they needed. Kole raised the crossbow and shot, the arrow hitting Leila in the right thigh. Sam ran in an arc to Leila's right side, opening the knife as he went. Leila turned to him to defend herself, but Kole was ready with another arrow. This time she hit the demon on the right side of the abdomen, then quickly fired another shot to the right shoulder.

Sam took one last stride and swung the long blade at the demon's neck, her body immediately becoming ash. Kole watched wide-eyed as Leila's head fell at her feet, its dead eyes staring up at her momentarily before imploding into a swirling vapor.

"Dean!" Sam dropped to his knees in front of his fallen brother. "Dean, you can't do this. Wake up. Breath!" He was panicking again and his eyes began to sting.

"Sam," Kole said softly, "look." Sam looked up and saw the vapor swimming towards him. He fell backwards in shock, sitting on the ground and clearing a path. The foggy stream floated to Dean's mouth and was sucked in.

Dean abruptly gasped and his eyes flew open.

"Dean?" Sam almost laughed with relief. "Dean, you've got to calm down. Come on, breath. Slowly," Sam said to his hyperventilating brother.

Dean looked up at Sam hovering over him and calmed a little. But then, choked out something – obviously Leila – as his still-numb fingers fumbled for the battle-ax in his belt loop.

"Dean, it's OK," Sam said, holding onto Dean's shaky arm before he hurt himself on the weapon. "She's gone. We got her." Dean seemed to settle a bit.

"Hey, Sirius," Kole said, dropping down beside him, "welcome back."

Dean smiled, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he tried to say something, but the words remained caught in his throat.

"Easy…" Sam said with his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Do you think you can stand up? Or walk?"

Dean, realizing that trying to use his voice was pointless for the time being, just nodded and allowed himself to be helped up by his brother and cousin. The three of them slowly walked, a bit lopsided with the unevenness of the human crutches, back to the Impala.

"I just have one question," Sam said, helping his brother into the passenger seat of the car. "What made you think to kiss her?"

Dean just smiled. What else could he do until his throat healed and his voice came back? He looked at Kole, as she opened the back door and climbed into the car.

"I guess there really is an underlying truth behind urban legends and folklore," she grinned, then added quietly, "and Disney movies."

Well, there it is. This was my firstfanfic ever. My next story also includes Kole, so I figured that it would be best to post this one first so as not to confuse anyone. The next one 'Melanic Manor' is my half-finished WIP... the one that I was struck with writer's block during. But, since you have all been so kind and commented on this story, I think I now have the inspiration to keep going. Thanks for all of your kind words! I hope my next story can live up to expectations.