Disclaimer: If you recognize it from Supernatural I don't own it. I'm just playing with it!

Hunted

John Winchester is hunted by more then just demons.

Chapter Thirty One

John left before sunrise the next morning and made the trip to Saginaw Michigan in less then twelve hours.

John had searched the internet and come up with a few news reports on the man's death. All the reports he read said the man had committed suicide, but the Jim Miller that John had met on his last trip to Saginaw would never have intentionally killed himself. If he was drunk enough he may have done so by accident, but he didn't have the guts to off himself. The man was a coward.

When he reached Saginaw John went immediately to the Miller's home but due to his previous contact with Roger Miller, Jim's brother, he didn't think it would be wise to make contact again. He would have to be sure Roger was not present when he spoke with the wife and son. That was going to make this investigation just a bit more difficult, but he would have to manage.

John was in his truck parked several houses away when he saw a very familiar black Impala drive up and park in front of the Miller home. "What the hell?" John said to himself. "What are you boys doing here?" He nearly choked when Sam and Dean stepped out of the car dressed in the traditional black garb of a Catholic Priest.

He watched as they knocked on the door and Max Miller answered inviting then in. "Well, that's one way to do it," he laughed before putting the car in gear and leaving. "Wait till I tell Jim, you boys are going to be in so much trouble with him."

John drove back to his motel room. He wondered what had drawn his son's to look into the death of Jim Miller. Did they know about the history the family shared with them? It was possible if they had done the same research that John and Bobby had done, but something told John that was not the case.

John wondered, not for the first time, if this was a trap. It was possible that the demon had killed Jim Miller. Either as a trap for John and his boys, or because it wanted to finish the job it had started over twenty years ago. He would have to stick around to be sure his boys did not get caught if it was a trap. He would need to be very careful. He was afraid of what would happen if the demon caught all three of them together. He had to make sure that did not happen.

The first thing he would need to do is rent another vehicle. His boys would recognize his truck immediately if they saw it. John flipped on the television. The local news was airing. John was only half paying attention while he googled car rentals in Saginaw. That is until they mentioned Roger Miller's name.

John listened as the newscaster reported on the apparent murder of Roger Miller. He was decapitated when a window in his home was slammed down on his neck severing his head from his body. Police were at this time unsure if it was an accident or murder. Mention was also made of the suicide death of his brother earlier in the week.

Later that night he checked out all the motels in the area until he spotted the Impala parked in front of the Escanaba Motel. Pinpointing their room was easy because they had not yet closed their blinds and he could easily make out Dean sitting on the bed talking animatedly with his brother. He left and returned to his own motel.

The next day John rented a small sedan with dark tinted windows. The boys were already gone from their motel by the time he got there. It took mere seconds to pick the lock and gain entrance.

The room looked like a hunter's cabin with log walls, oak wood furniture. Several deer heads and a boar decorated the walls in place of pictures and above the sink was a large stuffed bass on a plaque.

The first thing John noticed was the lack of salt lines at the door and windows. His boys were not taking the necessary precautions. Then he saw the walls covered in their research. Reviewing what they'd done John found nothing. They had obviously been checking into the background of the house and land. Nothing bad had happened in the house and the land was not a battleground or graveyard nor was it previously the tribal lands of any Indians.

The research confused John at first but then he realized that Dean and Sam must not know about the background of the Miller family. If they did their research would have taken them in a completely different direction. John left his son's room slightly more confused then when he arrived. There was no indication in any of their research about why they had been attracted to this job in the first place especially if the didn't know about the history of the family.

John decided to visit the Miller residence and see what he could learn. He knew that this time he wouldn't be running into either of the Miller's that he'd already had contact with since they were both dead already.

When he arrived the police and an ambulance were at the Miller residence. So were Dean and Sam or at least the Impala was there. John spoke with one of the officers outside the home, careful to stay on the far side of the ambulance to out of sight of the windows. It only took a few minutes to find out that Max was dead. He was killed after assaulting his step mother. Apparently a couple of friends of the family had saved her. The police now think the boy had killed his father and uncle before attempting to kill his stepmother.

John didn't blame the boy for wanting revenge for what had happened to him.

The front door opened and he heard his son's voices as they left the Miller home. He didn't catch what they were saying at first. He was more concerned with going around to the other side of the ambulance. Once he was safely hidden John paid closer attention to their conversation.

"It wouldn't have mattered what you said," Dean was telling his brother, "Max was too far gone."

"When I think about how he looked at me right before…" Sam replied. "I should have done something." Sam sounded distraught.

"Come on man you risked your life," Dean told him as they reached the car. "I mean yeah maybe if we'd have gotten there twenty years earlier."

John could now see and hear his boys and he was totally shocked when Sam sighed and said, "Well I'll tell you one thing. We're lucky we had dad."

John's knees became weak at his youngest son's admission. He knew his son loved him. Even after their last big fight he knew his son still cared. If he didn't he would not have been so upset. But it had never occurred to him that Sam though them lucky to have him as a father.

Evidently he wasn't the only one to think that because his brother replied, "I never thought I'd hear you say that."

When Sam explained John knew they had found out about the demons attack on the Millers. "Well, it could have gone the whole other way after mom…," Sammy couldn't finish the sentence so he shrugged his shoulders then continued. "A little more tequila a little less demon hunting and would've had Max's childhood. All things considered we turned out okay. Thanks to him."

"All things considered."

Unshed tears glistened in Johns eyes as he listened to the last part of his son's explanation and heard his brothers reply. Then he watched with a smile as they got in the impala and drove away.

A/N Please review! Thanks for reading!