Should I say Happy Thanksgiving, or would that be offensive to those who see this as a day of mourning?

Saturday, October 5th, 2008

Manassas, Virginia

They found the bridge rather easily. With the leaves starting to fall off the trees, there was less foliage around to obscure their view. It was only a small wooden plank bridge that had fallen into disrepair after years of disuse, but after studying it thoroughly and comparing the location to Sam's crudely drawn map, Bobby felt certain that this was where the paths branched off from each other. He suggested they follow the path for a bit to make for certain, but Burns expressed hesitancy.

"I mean, the bridge is out anyway," she said. "And it's probably too dangerous to cross the river."

With hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt, Skye walked to the edge of the bridge and jumped feet-first into the water. There was a small splash, and the edges of her jeans became soaked, but otherwise she was unharmed. The water only came halfway up her sneakers.

"I think this stream probably swells up in the spring when the snow melts and slowly dries up over the course of the summer," she explained. "It's probably perfectly safe to cross now."

The younger woman then crossed to the other side with Bobby following behind her. Begrudgingly, Burns went along with them, but that wouldn't be the last they heard out of her.

"You know, Sam's map isn't really that reliable," she said as they ascended a steep hill. "Maybe we should turn back."

Reaching the summit of the peak, Bobby came to an abrupt stop.

"I think we're supposed to turn left here," he said, tracing over the path on the map with one finger before gesturing to the sharp turn in the overgrown passage before them. "It looks like a slight curve on Sam's map, but here it's a full ninety-degree."

"That just proves my point," Burns argued. "We could just be following a gap in the foliage rather than an actual path. We should turn around now before we get lost."

Greatly annoyed at this point, Bobby turned left just to spite her. Skye followed along unquestioningly, and again Burns was forced to trail behind.

For a while Bobby led the way, but once the path started steepening again the younger and clearly more fit Skye pulled ahead. She kept offering her hands to Bobby and Burns as they both scaled the hills. Bobby declined the help but Burns occasionally took one when she felt the ground beneath her to be more unstable. This however, seemed to inspire her next argument.

"The topography's completely different today," she said. "If anything, we might have better luck turning back to the site of the Oxbow Mansion and starting over."

"Well, if this fails, we'll try that next," Bobby said. He heard Burns mutter something along the lines of "oh, God" before pulling herself up a particularly steep hillcrest.

Eventually, the path started to level-out and become more visible through the carpeting of flora. In fact, it slowly transformed from a packed-dirt path to a gravel one. Again, they came to another turn, this one leading to the remnants of a cracked and worn concrete path. Bobby grinned upon seeing it.

"I think this might be the rest of the path," he said. "Probably used to be stone before they paved it over. Sam's drawn it as a series of circles leading to the X."

"I doubt it – wait!" Bobby ignored Burns' protest and took the turn. For someone who was supposed to be helping them navigate, all she seemed to be doing was trying to lead them in the opposite direction.

They followed the semi-paved path for a good five minutes. As they went, the foliage started to thin out into a clearing. The light of the sun had started to get low, casting their surroundings in a crisp, vibrant shade of gold. Ahead of them, Bobby could see where a structure had been erected. It became apparent that it was a brick wall enclosing a field as they moved closer. Access to the field was granted by a gateway, which signaled the land's true purpose with the symbol at the top of the gate's arch.

"It wasn't an X on the map," Skye remarked as they came up to the gate. "It was a cross."

"Gotta admit," Bobby said. "It'd be smart, hiding a treasure in a graveyard. No one'd think anything of people digging in there, at least back in the day."

Hearing someone start up a drill close by, Bobby could only assume that they'd arrived too late. He thrust the map and his cellphone into Skye's hands before reaching for the handgun holstered on his belt.

"Skye, wait here and call Dean," he instructed. "Tell him how we got here, and that he and Sam need to get their asses over here, fast."

"Do you really think it's a good idea for me to call Dean?" Upon seeing the look he gave her, Skye swallowed hard and flipped open the phone as fast as she could. "Calling Dean. On it."

He then turned a slightly softer gaze onto Burns.

"Stay with her." The older woman nodded at the instruction and feeling somewhat assured that the women would stay out of the way, Bobby drew his gun and approached the graveyard's iron gates. Hopefully, it wouldn't get too messy.

When he finally came to what looked like a branch in the path, Dean had to stop to catch his breath. He couldn't remember the last time he ran like that. His lungs burned and his throat ached, but he suppressed the urge to cough by bending forward and holding his knees. After more than a few haggard pants, Dean straightened up and looked around, keeping one hand on the weapon holstered at his hip.

Looking around, he couldn't see any signs of Bobby, Burns, or Skye. He did spot the bridge, though. He remembered Sam had sketched a bridge not far from where the paths were supposed to fork off, so Dean decided it was worth a closer look.

It was dilapidated with only a few boards still clinging to the structure and the rest lying under and around it. That would fit with the idea that the route to the treasure hadn't been used since the 1800s, though. Standing on the edge, Dean looked around, calling out for Bobby and Skye, but it seemed to be useless. He couldn't see them, and the only sound that came in response to his calls were the chirpings of crickets and cicadas.

That was, until he heard a sharp, droning ring coming from his pocket. Dean didn't hesitate in whipping the device open and bringing it to his ear.

"Bobby?"

"No, it's Skye," the voice on the other end of the line said, slightly taken aback by the urgency in Dean's voice. "He told me to call you. We think we found where the treasure is."

"Is Burns with you?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course," Skye said, paying his question little mind. "Listen, the other guys already beat us here, so you and Sam need to get here fast. You have to start back at Oxbow Manor and go about three quarters of a mile south on the Groveton trail. You should see…"

"…A fork in the road and a dilapidated bridge on the left," Dean finished for her. "Yeah, I'm already there. Skye, you need to tell Bobby…"

"Uh, the graveyard is all the way uphill. The path is overgrown at points, but it clears out to packed dirt, then gravel, then concrete…" Dean couldn't take it. He had to force her to listen.

"Skye, Burns is the one who murdered Sorrow!" He shouted so loud he could still hear his voice reverberating off the atmosphere. It was the only sound he could hear for a few moments which only served to scare Dean. "Are you there?"

"What!?" Any relief he felt upon hearing Skye speak was quickly turned back into worry when she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh shit!" The words were followed by an abrupt click! Dean shouted her name a few times before pulling the phone away from his ear. The "call ended" screen only confirmed what he already knew.

It took every ounce of willpower Dean had in him not to spike the phone into the stream. He had to remind himself that it was Bobby and Skye's only way of contacting him if something else happened.

That's only if they're still alive.

Dean shook his head to get rid of the thought. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he tried his best to remember everything Skye said about the path. He assumed he needed to cross the stream, then keep going uphill, watching for changes in the path surface beneath his feet. Jumping off the edge of the bridge into the cool stream water below, Dean pushed himself almost to his body's limit of endurance. If anything happened to Skye, or worse Bobby, he…

He didn't want to think about what he would do.

Bobby moved through the trees as quietly as he could with his gun drawn. He had some sound cover from the drilling, and it helped that the men seemed to be absorbed in what they were doing. Finding suitable cover behind the trunk of a large tree, he pressed his body against it and peered around the side.

From where he was standing, he got a good look at the two men loitering around the dug-up grave, both dressed as Union soldiers. One was an older man with a long white beard who was sat upon a large brown horse. He appeared to be the lookout. The other man had shed the signature blue jacket and was clearly overheating. He was bent over a cast iron casket much like the one they found Sorrow buried in and was the one running the drill. To their left, a grave sat open and empty. On the headstone was a Confederate flag unfurling to the left – just like the one drawn on the map. Underneath the flag were the engraved initials R.I.C.

"We need to hurry this up." Upon hearing the older, bearded man speak, Bobby shifted his position to conceal himself better.

A loud clack was heard, and the drilling came to a stop. Peering around again, Bobby could see that the older man was getting off his horse, while the younger one slid a crowbar between the sealed lips of the casket. Working together, the two men pried the casket open. The top came off easily enough, hitting the ground with a loud crash!

The two men grinned at the fruits of their labor. The pulled several objects wrapped in cloth out of the casket. At first, Bobby thought they contained jewelry or other expensive trinkets some eccentric plantation owner wanted to take with him to the grave. As they unwrapped the items, though, Bobby caught a glimpse of wooden grips and dark metal barrels. The older man laughed.

"They buried these things so the South could rise again," he said. "And now they are all mine."

Realizing that having so many weapons on the field could only spell trouble, Bobby slunk out of his hiding spot. With their backs turned towards him, they both remained ignorant to his approach. Once he got close enough, Bobby stood his ground and raised his own gun to the men.

"Well, there's got to be about fifty of them in here," the younger man remarked. "That's what, thirty grand a pop? That's gotta be…"

"One point five million." The two men turned to look at Bobby with shocked expressions. "Your rifle is ten feet away, and I doubt those things can still fire after a hundred-forty years underground. I wouldn't try anything."

Both men were smart enough to turn around to face Bobby, putting their hands on their heads. Feeling sure enough they wouldn't try anything funny if he kept his eyes on them, Bobby called out across the field.

"Hey, one of you want to come over here and tie their hands behind their backs?" Several moments passed in complete silence and neither Skye nor Burns appearing anywhere in his field of vision. Bobby frowned. "Skye? Burns?"

A moment later he heard rustling in the trees he himself had just emerged from. Bobby didn't turn to look, but he felt safe that it was at least one of the two women he had called for.

"Are Sam and Dean on their way?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, about that," he heard a woman's voice reply. "I don't think these two are the ones who killed Sorrow."

Confused, but keeping his gun solidly pointed at the two treasure hunters in front of him, Bobby turned his gaze in slightly into the women behind him. The sight he was greeted with didn't shock him as much as it probably should have.

"She is," Skye said with her hands in the air and Burns standing behind her, holding an antique pistol to the back of her head. Bobby sighed.

"I knew there was a reason why I forgot you."

Dean had to slow to a stop again. He was almost completely out of breath and black spots were starting to fill his vision. Again, Dean had to bend forward and grab his chest. It ached, and not in an I-ran-too-fast-and-now-I'm-out-of-breath way. It was more like an I-tried-to-walk-around-with-my-chest-impaled-by-a-railroad-spike kind of way. Despite that, he did last a lot longer and make it much farther than he probably would have prior to his death. He chalked it up to the new body and sent an unconscious thanks to Castiel for that.

Once his vision started to clear and his breathing evened out into something a little less ragged, Dean looked around, taking stock of his surroundings. The trail had become overgrown – just as Skye described – but there was a clear gap in the trees and other foliage that gave a good idea of where the path had once been.

He had stopped at a point where the path turned a sharp ninety-degrees. From where he was, he could tell that the trail continued uphill and took that as a good sign. Taking one last deep breath, Dean sprinted off in what he hoped would be the right direction, keeping an eye out for the terrain changes Skye had described.

"Drop the gun, now, or she dies."

Skye really hoped Bobby wouldn't follow Burns' instructions. Although she wasn't experienced in guns, fighting, and weaponry, she had a feeling it would be a bad idea to give up one of the only means of defending themselves that they had. Bobby held the gun on the men for a few moments longer, then turned to face Burns, slowly placing the gun on the ground in front of him.

"Damn it!" Burns shoved the gun into the back of Skye's skull for that outburst but didn't fire. Skye's breathing hitched and she tried to figure out if her powers would allow her to sense when Burns was about to pull the trigger. She doubted she'd be that lucky, though.

With his gun clearly placed on the ground in front of him, Bobby slowly started to straighten up, nodding to the casket full of guns the other two men had gone back to raiding.

"That's why you killed Sorrow," he said. "For a bunch of useless weapons."

Over Bobby's shoulder, Skye spotted a flickering form. She couldn't feel any vibrations coming off it yet, but it did give her an idea. Sorrow appeared for a few seconds, before flashing away again. All Skye had to do was wait and hope he'd come closer.

"He found Oxbow's casket and the map," Burns explained with a scoff. "He wanted to turn them over to a museum. The only mistake we made was killing him before we got the map."

Slowly, Skye reached into her back pocket and pulled out the knife she kept on her. Burns was too focused on Bobby to notice what she was doing. Getting a feel for the knife's center of balance, she spotted a tree some feet in front of the two treasure hunters and locked her eyes on that.

Burns kept going on and on for a few moments, and from the sound of her voice Skye could tell that she had a self-satisfied smirk on her face. She didn't pay any attention to her captor, though. She just waited for her moment to strike.

It finally came when Burns got too cocky.

"You two, are going to be the unfortunate victims of scavengers."

Right as she made that declaration, Skye felt a shift in the vibrations behind her. Distraction at the ready, Skye threw the knife in the direction of the other two treasure hunters and jerked hard to the left. The gunshot that followed was deafening.

Dean had just reached the turn-off to the concrete path when he heard the gunshot. Adrenaline fueling his body to it's max, he ran faster than he'd ever run before in his life. His surroundings passed by him in such a blur, he almost missed the iron gate that marked the entrance to the cemetery.

"Bobby!" Dean could only see four figures as he rushed to cross the distance. Two were on their knees in front of a third holding them at gunpoint. The fourth was trying to stand up, clutching the side of their head. He couldn't tell who was who until he practically slammed into Bobby.

"Easy, boy," the older hunter said as he pushed a hand into Dean's chest to stop his forward motion. "Everything's alright. It's over."

"The hell…" The moment Dean had come to rest, his lungs went into overdrive. They burned something fierce, and his chest felt like something inside it had popped and shattered into a million pieces. He looked to his right and saw two extremely pale and vacant-eyed men dressed as union soldiers on their knees with their hands behind their heads. Whatever they just saw, it shocked them enough to keep them compliant, even when Bobby's gun wasn't on them.

To his left, Skye was staggering to her feet, holding her right ear with both hands. Dean was about to ask if she'd been shot but was stopped by her sudden scream of "that was so loud!" Rushing forward, he pried her hands from the ear to get a look at the damage. He only relaxed when he could see everything was still intact.

"You still have your ear," he noted. "And as far as I can tell, you aren't bleeding. Can you hear me at all?"

"Yeah," she answered – thankfully, at a much lower volume. "You sound very far away, though." Relieved, he gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"It'll come back," he assured before stepping past her to get a better look at what was caused the indentation in the grass behind her. He didn't expect what he ended up finding, but he wasn't shocked by it either.

Dr. Elaine Burns laid with her back to the ground. Her skin had turned a grayish shade of pale and her lips were a sickening shade of blue. Eyes blown wide, she uselessly kicked and scratched at her own throat, as if that would do anything to save her life. Dean turned back to give Bobby a questioning look.

"She had Skye at gunpoint," Bobby explained without preamble. "Skye threw the knife she had as a distraction so she could make a break for it. At the same time, the ghost of Sorrow appeared and ran through Burns. Surprised her so much she pulled the trigger. Damn near took the girl's ear off."

"Might as well have," Skye remarked, going back to cradling her ear. "God, I can still feel it reverberating."

"How'd you know to do that when you did, anyway?" Bobby asked. "Because you seemed to time that perfectly." Skye shrugged.

"I just took the knife and waited until it felt right," she said. "Guess I just got lucky."

"Damn lucky," Bobby agreed.

They then turned their attention back to the woman sprawled across the grass. Her struggling had ceased and her eyes settled into a vacant stare. She was gone. Sorrow had taken his revenge and hopefully brought her to where she rightfully belonged. Although this was good news, there was still a palpable tension in the air.

"I'm not responsible for this, am I?" Both men turned their gazes to Skye, whose eyes remained stiffly on Burns' corpse.

"Not at all," Bobby said. "Sorrow was going to get his revenge one way or another. All you did was save yourself from being shot."

Skye nodded, but her posture remained stiff and there was a glint of something in her eyes. All of a sudden Dean was taken back to his first hunt. He remembered standing over the vengeful spirit's grave watching the bones turn to ash. His father walked up beside him and Dean looked up, eyes desperate for praise, approval. John Winchester delivered none of that.

"You hesitated too much. Another second and that ghost would've gotten you. What, are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Dean had looked down then. He didn't try to argue that he'd only hesitated because he was afraid that the salt-round would miss the ghost and go straight into his dad. He just said, "yes, sir" and explained that he knew better than to mess up like that again. That became the standard at the end of every hunt. No praise, just criticism. The only time he heard his father say he did a good job was when he was possessed. Even then, Dean knew not to believe it.

Now, seeing Skye look so rigid and insecure, he couldn't help but be taken back to all those times when he just wanted to hear his father's praise but was denied. He didn't even need to think about it before reaching out and gently squeezing her shoulder.

"Hey." Skye looked up at him, brown eyes looking like they were edging on tears. "You did good."

Slowly she nodded, and Dean let go of her arm so she could wipe her face with her sleeve. Face clear, she looked him right in the eye and said "thanks."

Merrifield, Virginia

Together, Bobby, Dean, and Skye walked the two treasure hunters back to the site of the Oxbow Manor. By that time, it was dark, and they had to rely on the penlight keychain Sam had left with the Impala's keys to light their way. It was difficult – particularly when the path started to become overgrown again – but they managed it well enough to get back to the main path.

When they got back to the Oxbow site, they were greeted by dozens of headlights and two sets red-and-blue police strobes. Apparently Sam was still trying to sort out the issue of Kearns with the cops, and several of the reenactors had hung back to see how the situation panned out. Bobby and Dean dragged the other two men straight to the cops' feet.

The three of them explained that they had been going for a nature walk when they came across the guys digging up the coffin in the cemetery. Burns was already dead when they got there, and they assumed that the other two had strangled her to keep the loot for themselves. Taken off-guard, Bobby and Dean were able to subdue the men and bring them back to the Oxbow site in hopes of getting help. Neither of the two treasure hunters disputed their story, likely because they were still shocked into silence by Burns' death. It wasn't much of a concern anyway. If they tried to tell anyone what really happened, they'd likely get sent to the nuthouse rather than jail.

The officers had to call for backup both to transport Kearns and the other two to the station. While they waited for that, they were sure to question Dean, Bobby, and Skye thoroughly. They all gave similar accounts of what happened and were careful not to say anything to arouse suspicion.

After backup arrived and the three men were hauled away to face the consequences of their actions, Dean and Skye were told they were free to go. The cops asked Bobby to hang back and lead them to Burns' body. Bobby agreed, so long as they gave him a ride back to their motel afterwards. Officially free to go, Dean, Sam, and Skye all piled back into the Impala, leaving the battleground behind for good.

Since Skye's ears were still ringing and she still seemed uncoordinated from the gunshot, the brothers thought it best to drop her off at the motel before going back out to pick up dinner. They returned forty-five minutes later with boxes of Chinese food and a small to-go bag bearing the symbol of the golden arches. (Sam only remembered that Skye mentioned a peanut allergy as they were coming back from the Chinese place and forced Dean to turn around and find food that wasn't likely to kill her.) They expected to find her asleep when they got back, but she was still up – laying sprawled across one of the beds on her stomach with a notebook in front of her.

"Food's here," Dean announced unceremoniously as he tossed the McDonald's bag at her. She just barely managed to catch it and raised an eyebrow when she got a look at the bag's contents.

"A Happy Meal? Really?" Dean shrugged and shut the door behind Sam, who had his hands full with the Chinese takeout.

"Hey, you're welcome to try some of General Tsao's chicken," he said. "We ordered for four. Sammy just got all concerned that it might make you croak on us." Sam rolled his eyes at his brother as he set the food down on the dining table.

"I know some of these places soak their food in peanut oil," he said. "We forgot to ask when we were there. You're not so allergic that breathing in peanut particles will kill you, right?" Skye shook her head.

"I can be around peanut stuff," she clarified, taking her food, and moving to sit on the edge of the bed closest to the dining table. "I just can't touch or swallow it. Then things start to swell."

Sam nodded in understanding while Dean remarked "more for us, then." They each took a box of food for themselves and settled into the dining chairs while Skye started to unwrap her burger. She was about to bite into it when she remembered…

"Oh, I almost forgot." She reached behind her, grabbing a leather-bound book that had been left in the center of the bed, and held it back out to Dean and Sam. "Here's your dad's book back. I don't need it."

"Why?" Dean asked, taking the journal. "Having second thoughts?" He didn't need to look at his brother to know what kind of glare he was sending him.

"No," Skye said. "Did your dad go to Catholic school?"

"I don't think so," Sam answered. "Why?"

"Because his handwriting is impeccably illegible, just like a nun's." Skye took a bite from her burger, chewed, and swallowed. "I couldn't read it, no matter how hard I tried. I would've used pens and highlighters to try and make it easier on myself, but I didn't want to wreck it."

"Well, you wouldn't have been the first," Dean remarked.

"Still, it gave me a few ideas," Skye said, taking another bite.

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"Kind of got the idea that it's important to write this stuff down," Skye said. "You know, to know for next time, and I had an extra notebook, so I figured... Might as well get this down." Slowly, Dean nodded, picking up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks.

"So you think there's gonna be a next time?" Dean popped the chicken into his mouth at the same time his brother said his name in a warning tone. He still paid Sam no mind. It needed to be asked.

Skye sighed, setting her burger in her lap.

"Look," she said. "I'm not going to delude myself into thinking you guys are going to want me following you around all the time. I'm stupid and inexperienced and I'll just get in the way. I just want to know that if any of this stuff comes after me again – be it spirits or demons or anything else – that I'm prepared and can at least try to keep myself safe. I mean, that's got to be the least I should be able to do for myself, right?"

Dean nodded, for the most part accepting that answer, but he did have something to say to it.

"Well, you better start deluding yourself, because there's no way we're letting you go off on your own."

Skye's face became the picture of shock. She didn't even notice her burger fall on the floor.

"What?" She blinked. "I thought…"

"I know I was hard on you the past few days," Dean said. "But you proved yourself today. You saved yourself and Bobby. I can't ignore that. Besides, if you're gonna be a hunter, you need to learn how to do it right and there's no one better to teach you than me and Sam."

Skye just continued to blink, mouth hanging open.

"By the way, this is probably the closest you're going to get to an apology out of him, so you better enjoy it." Dean shot his brother a glare before turning back to Skye.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he said. "Does that make it better?"

It took Skye a minute to find her voice.

"Are you asking me to stay?" Dean frowned.

"I mean, do we even have to ask?" he said. "Isn't it obvious?"

Again, Skye was rendered speechless, but that didn't last long as she finally looked down and saw her burger on the floor.

"Oh shit!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't eat that if I were you," Dean said while Sam put his own food down to scoop up the soiled burger.

"Do you need us to go back out?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm good." Skye reached into the bag and pulled out two items. "I still have… Apple slices and a jug of milk?" Her expression of annoyance made a reappearance and was once again directed at Dean. "Really? A Happy Meal?"

"What did you want me to do? It's all they had for children under twelve."

Skye stood up, ripped the dirty burger out of Sam's hand, and smashed it sideways into Dean's face. Wincing, he pulled a pickle off his chin while he simultaneously tried to wipe ketchup and mustard out of a watering eye.

"The hell…?"

"You know, I was going to let the dirt truck go, but then you had to say that."

Dean grabbed a napkin to try to clean off his face, but the one he grabbed was soaked in grease from the Chinese food. He let out an annoyed growl.

"Okay," he said. "You got your revenge. You happy?"

"No. This is for not letting me shower afterwards."

She turned on her heel and marched into the bathroom, slammed, and locked the door behind her. The brothers stood there in silence, waiting for something else to happen. Nothing did.

"What, is she gonna stay in there all night?" Sam shrugged and sat back down in his seat.

"Well, you kind of deserve it."

Dean tried to throw the rest of the burger at Sam's head.

Only one chapter left! Thank you all for reading this story and showing support! I'm very thankful for it! Don't worry, Skye's revenge is only getting started.

I also wanted to take some time to show some support to two very awesome charities. First is the Hawai'i Land Trust which focuses on protecting and sustaining the lands of the Hawaiian people. The second is DigDeep which focuses on creating the infrastructure needed to bring safe, clean drinking water to the people of the Navajo nation, but has the expanded goal of creating access to clean water for everyone in the country. Hawai'i is somewhere I hope to be able to visit one day, and unfortunately I have been affected by water contamination in the past, so I understand how critical it is to have safe access to water.

Remember kids, the world gives back what you put into it.

Originally uploaded to FFN on 11/24/22.