35
Kya had the wits to stop the bike a mile from the house, where the sound of her rumbling engine wouldn't alert Hunter to their presence. She slid from the bike and rolled it into a stand of trees out of sight of the highway. Sam slid his helmet off from beside her and set it on the seat as she did the same.
"Do we have a plan?" she asked quietly.
Sam started trekking through the tree line, winding his way in the general direction of the house before he stopped, realizing he had no idea where it was.
"Not really," he told her. "We don't know enough to have a plan."
"Good point," Kya commented, taking the lead.
She pushed through branches and stepped over shrubbery, steadily making her way toward the house. There was no sign of Buck anywhere, and again she was forced to wonder what was up with her dog. He didn't act like any dog she had ever seen.
"So we're going to go in there with no plan," Kya said after awhile.
"That's about the gist of it," Sam replied.
She sighed as the edge of the woods came into view, and beyond that the house. She made her way to a large bush on the edge of the property and knelt down with Sam crouching next to her. Dean's car was still parked in the driveway but all seemed to be quiet. There was no sign of life anywhere and none of the lights in the house were on save for a single light shining dimly through a side facing window that Kya assumed must be the kitchen or a small bedroom. There was no sign of her dog anywhere.
"I don't like this," Kya told him.
"Me either," Sam responded. "But we've gotta find Dean."
"We've exhausted our weapons."
"Have you seen our trunk?"
She shook her head. "How the hell are we supposed to get into the trunk? Dean has the keys."
Sam waggled a finger at her with his eyebrows raised and slipped a small silver object from his back pocket with a mischievous grin on his face. "I had a spare made."
Kya laughed softly. "Well, we still have to get to the trunk and hope he isn't watching from the house."
Sam nodded. "Let's go. Dean needs us."
Together they ran across the lawn in a low crouch, stopping every now and then to drop to the ground and continue military style before finally reaching the trunk of the Impala with the addition of a few grass and dirt stains on their clothing.
"Dammit," Kya complained. "Now I'm gonna need another shower."
Sam laughed at her as he slid the key into the trunk lock and popped it quietly, easing it open while Kya kept a sharp eye on the house. More than likely Dean had been taken by surprise somehow and she wasn't going to let the same happen to them. While Sam had his head buried in the dark space of the trunk Kya checked her Zippo to make sure it was fueled enough and operational.
"I can't see a damn thing," Sam told her in frustration.
"Here," Kya replied easily. "Allow me."
She turned her back to the house and lit the Zippo, transferring the flame quickly to hover above one finger while she slipped that finger into the trunk to light the space within. She turned her gaze back to the house to make sure the light had gone unnoticed. There was still no movement.
"Thanks," Sam whispered.
He dug around for a moment before coming up with a sawed off shotgun and spare ammo for it as well as another semi-automatic 9mm handgun that he handed to Kya. He lifted a booted foot onto the car and slid a hunting knife into a sheath hidden in his boot. Not sure what to expect inside he slid another flare into his belt as well as a second 9mm into the waistband at the back of his pants.
"Well hello, Rambo," Kya commented.
Sam laughed as he slid the trunk shut with all the quietness he could get it to close with before turning back to Kya as she extinguished the flame from her finger and slid the Zippo back into its holster. She slid the gun into the waistband of her pants as Sam had done and turned back to the house. The quiet in the night was almost eerie; she couldn't even hear the usual sound of crickets merrily annoying the rest of the world.
"Let's do this," Sam told her.
He took her hand and led her in a quick run across the grass aiming for the side of the house. When he reached it he pulled her in next to him, up against the wooden boards that made up the structure of the building and leaning around the side of the house to make sure nobody had stepped onto the porch during their mad dash.
The porch was still empty but for some reason the swing on it creaked back and forth as if it had been recently vacated or was being pushed by the wind. He shivered in spite of himself. There was no wind.
Dean strained against the ropes holding him down but it was no use. All of his efforts only got him chafed and bleeding skin underneath the tight grip of fibers. His eyes drifted to the shadowed corner that Buck had disappeared into but could make out no sign of the dog. He had no idea what the Labrador was doing there or how it had even found him but he wasn't going to look a gift-dog in the mouth. If Buck had come to offer assistance then Dean was not too proud to take it.
He listened to the sound of Chelsea making her way back up the stairs as ordered, going back out to check the property. The man couldn't shake the feeling that something or someone was on his grounds and instead of doing the dirty work himself he had sent Chelsea up to investigate.
Dean's heart banged against his chest at the thought of his baby brother or Kya getting hurt because of him; he had to trust them. He had to trust that they knew what they were doing and would be okay.
Dean again searched the shadows for Buck.
36
Kya pressed in against Sam's side in the shadows at the corner of the house while he leaned around the wooden edge and peered onto the porch to make sure their mad dash had gone unnoticed. The house remained quiet, eerily so, and Sam ducked back around to report that. At his side Kya was looking up at the kitchen window and fast coming to the conclusion that would not be a valid plan.
"I don't know how we're getting in there, short of straight through the front door," Kya told him.
Sam shook his head. "I've got nothing."
"Well," she said worriedly, "We've got to come up with something. We don't want to come up short on the rescue part. Dean needs us."
Sam pressed his lips into a tight line and his eyes took on a hard look; for all the times his older brother had saved him he couldn't let him down now. Not when it was Dean who needed him this time around. Like Dean, Sam would do whatever it took to keep his family together. But all of his resolve still had him coming up empty on a plan.
They couldn't just charge in; if Hunter heard them he might put a bullet in Dean's head before they could reach him. And sneaking in wouldn't do a whole lot of good either since they had no idea if Hunter was alone in the house or even if there were more animals to worry about that might send up an alarm. There wasn't even a way to be sure that Hunter was in residence at the moment. He might have left Dean long enough to go looking for his other problem, the girl standing at Sam's side.
"I think I've got something," Kya told him finally.
"What?" Sam asked, turning to look down at the girl.
"Time to throw a rock at the hornet's nest," she told him cryptically. "Wait here."
Sam tried to protest but Kya was already off, racing back the way they had come. He peered around the corner as the girl emerged from behind the car, walking in a straight line toward the house. She held up one hand and a spark of flame shot from the grass, quickly catching fire with her will. She waved the hand in the air and the flames shot higher, racing across the rain-thirsty grass to ignite into a wall. Sam watched the wall grow higher and heard the porch door swing open and feet hit the wooden boards.
"What the hell?" a woman's voice said.
Sam watched a brunette woman step off the porch holding a shotgun and turn back into the house to yell Hunter's name. There was still no sign of Kya behind the wall of dancing flames, but the fire wasn't spreading any farther than the four foot thick wall it had started out as. Sam waited with baited breath until he saw a man emerge behind the woman with anger stamped across his face.
The couple came down off the porch and across the lawn while Sam watched. He turned his attention back to the wall of flames just as a shadowed figure emerged through them, walking straight through the flames. Kya walked through the fire and stepped out the front of the wall with the flames roaring at her back without a single char mark to show for it. Smoke danced in the air behind her, wrapping itself around her body and shrouding her like some mythic goddess of fire.
Sam couldn't stop the faint smile that spread across his face before he realized that Kya had meant to draw out anybody who was in the house. She was using herself to buy him time. Cursing because he didn't want to leave her alone with two psychos but having to trust that she knew what she was doing, Sam darted from the shadows and jumped the railing to land lightly on his feet on the porch. Without hesitation he darted through the open door and found himself in a living room.
The room was dark but the fire blazing outside gave him some light. The furniture was black leather and it seemed the décor had all been done in old Western style with a few Indian items spread throughout it. He saw no sign of his brother in the living room so Sam leveled the shotgun in front of him and moved to the next room, the adjoining kitchen. There was no lights coming from the hallway that led off the living room and he didn't think his brother was stashed in a bedroom. If he was wrong he would double back and check the rooms. The kitchen was dark as well and now all sound from outside had faded from his ears.
A door next to the refrigerator hung open and Sam saw a set of stairs leading down toward a single light at the bottom. Hope and terror gripped his heart simultaneously as he made his way down the steps, cringing as a shot split the air outside. Sam had to stop himself from barreling back up the way he had come to check on Kya. He had to trust her.
Sam took the stairs two at a time and slowed when he reached the bottom step, eyes searching the room. All he saw was his brother tied to a chair and looking at him with a mixture of relief and fear. The gag in his mouth prevented Dean from saying anything as Sam hurriedly made his way over to his brother.
Sam pulled the gag from Dean's mouth and took out the hunting knife, slicing through the bonds holding one wrist.
"You crazy sonofabitch," Dean told him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Saving your ass," Sam told him through gritted teeth.
"Where's Kya?"
"Outside, drawing attention."
"You left her alone, with those two psych ward candidates?" Dean demanded.
"Didn't have much choice," Sam grated.
Sam stopped as Dean's attention was drawn away from him and toward a shape hurtling from the bottom of the step. Sam turned just as Hunter barreled into him, knocking the knife from his hand. Sam heard it clatter to the floor and then he hit the wall with Hunter on top of him.
In the chair, Dean worked frantically at the bonds on his other wrist with his now free right hand. His heart trip hammered as Hunter stood up and took aim at Sam's head with the shotgun he had wrenched away from the youngest Winchester.
