[1x21; Salvation]
Julia,
When you were born, I remember taking one look at you and knowing that our family was complete. You weren't an expected child but you weren't an unwelcome one, either. Your mother and I knew that you would be a blessing, just like each of your siblings. And we were right. Our lives would not have been the same without you.
You're special, kiddo.
You were young when your mom got her diagnosis but you still knew that something was wrong. You were scared but you still put a smile on your face for Naomi whenever you saw her. You were strong for her. You've always been so strong and I always thought that you got that from me but I know it's not. You got that from Naomi. All of you kids got her strength. You and your siblings have been there for each other through thick and thin, even when I wasn't there. Never let that go, Julia. You will always need your family.
I'm sorry that I left but I have something important to do. John knows that and he's accepted that I have done all I can to help him with the demon. This important task is big—bigger than just me—so I don't know if I will see you again for a while. It could be months but it could also be years.
I just want you to know that I'm proud of you, Jujube. I always have been and I always will be. I know your mother would be very happy to see the woman you have become. I know I am.
I love you, kiddo.
Lucas Alexander
Julia wiped the tears from her eyes and set the letter down on her lap. Her dad was gone again and she didn't know whether to be sad or angry. The sad part of her was winning, though. Luke was saying goodbye in the letter and even though he had never been good with words, she felt the love he had for her and her family. Even with that love, though, she didn't want to say goodbye. She had just lost Levi, she didn't want to lose her dad, too.
When she had woken up that morning, John was the first person she saw. He had pulled her aside to break the news that Luke had left for an important hunt and apologized before giving her the letter Luke wrote for her. At first, she was in shock but now she was confused.
What could her dad possibly be doing? What was oh-so important task that needed to be done? Why would it take so long?
Julia didn't just feel sad for herself, either. At least she got to see him. Abby and Beth hadn't and that was going to destroy them. Abby was the closest to their father but Beth had always been a daddy's girl, too. Julia only hoped that Luke sent them letters or called them to tell them what was going on. Otherwise, the three of them were pretty much left in the dark.
Julia grabbed her phone from the nightstand and opened it, sending Beth a text message.
Jules: Did Dad send you a letter?
It didn't take long for her oldest sister to reply.
Beth: Yeah. He sent one to Abs, too. Call me when you have the time
Julia sent a confirmation back and sighed in relief, glad that Luke had made contact with her sisters, too.
"So, this is it," John told Sam and Dean as the two of them looked over the various research that he had gathered on the demon that killed Mary and Jess; Julia snapped her phone shut and slid off the bed she was sharing with Sam, heading over to the table where the Winchester boys were huddled. "This is everything I know. Look, our whole lives we've been searching for this demon, right? Not a trace, just nothing…Until about a year ago. For the first time, Luke picked up a trail and called me."
"And that's when you took off," Dean finished, crossing his arms over his chest.
John nodded. "Yeah, that's right," he confirmed. "The demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation."
"What's the trail?" Julia asked, her eyes shifting from the information on the wall to John.
"It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California," John explained. "Houses burned down to the ground. It's going after families, just like it went after us."
"Families with infants?" Sam wondered.
"Yeah," John nodded. "The night of the kid's six-month birthday."
Sam stiffened, looking at his father in shock. "I was six months old that night?"
"Exactly six months."
"So, basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason. The same way it came for me?" when John avoided his eyes, Sam scoffed. "So, Mom's death…Jessica. It's all because of me?"
"We don't know that, Sam," Dean stated.
"Oh, really?" Sam huffed. "Because I'd say we're pretty damn sure."
Dean gave him a frustrated look. "For the last time, what happened to them was not your fault."
"Right," Sam raised his voice. "It's not my fault but it's my problem!"
"No, it's not your problem, it's our problem!"
Julia sighed and walked over so she stood between the brothers, gently grabbing their arms. "That's enough," she said calmly. "Come on, settle down."
And, like magic, Sam and Dean took deep breaths and calmed down. Julia looked at them in surprise as they turned to John to focus back on the demon. Either they weren't really upset or she had forcefully calmed them down and she had no idea how she did it.
"So, why is he doing it?" Sam asked John. "What does he want?"
John's curious gaze went from Julia to Sam. "Look, I wish I had more answers, I do. Luke and I were always one step behind it," he sighed sadly. "We never got there in time to save…"
Everyone shifted uncomfortably as he trailed off, knowing exactly what he wasn't saying.
"All right, so, how do we find it before it hits again?" Dean spoke up, looking to John for answers.
"There's signs," John told him. "It took us a while to see the pattern but it's there in the days before these fires. Signs crop up in the area; cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms…"
"Demonic omens," Julia muttered thoughtfully, wrinkling her nose.
John nodded at her. "And then I went back and checked and…"
"These things happened in Lawrence," Dean realized.
"A week before your mother died," John confirmed before looking at Sam sadly. "And in Palo Alto, before Jessica."
Julia pursed her lips together, her eyes stinging, and grabbed Sam's hand. She squeezed it tightly, knowing that if she was having trouble, he was two times worse. He bowed his head, holding onto her tightly and drawing comfort from her.
"And these signs, they're starting again."
Sam looked up. "Where?"
"Salvation, Iowa."
It was a ten-hour drive from Manning, Colorado to Salvation, a little town an hour outside of Des Moines, Iowa. Sam and Dean took turns driving through boring Nebraska, taking their time off to sleep, while Julia switched between taking naps, reading, or talking to whoever was driving so they wouldn't fall asleep.
She was able to talk to Beth and Abby, both of whom were equally upset about the letters that they received from Luke. Julia was even informed that Taylor, Lizzie, and Maggie got their own letters, which somehow made Luke leaving all the more official. Beth was really torn up about her letter and Julia could tell that Abby was, too, but she wasn't one to share her emotional distress. Abigail Petersen was the closest you could get to a female Dean; always staying strong for others in their time of need while hurting on the inside.
After a long drive, they had just entered Salvation's town limits when John pulled his truck over to the side of the road. Dean followed his lead and all three of them got out of the car to see what was going on.
"God damn it!" John angrily slammed his hand against the bed of his truck. "Son of a bitch!"
Dean gave his dad a concerned look. "What is it?"
"I just got a call from Caleb."
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine," John confirmed for Dean. "Jim Murphy's dead."
Julia exhaled sharply at the news. "Pastor Jim?" her voice wavered. "How?"
Pastor Jim had been an uncle-figure to her and her siblings just like John was. He was a faithful man like her family and had trained in the hunting life with her dad, though he was a couple years older. Before he retired and went to preaching full time, the Petersen family used to see him every year around summertime.
He was also important to the Winchesters for the same reason. Sam and Dean had spent more time combined with Pastor Jim and Bobby Singer than their dad growing up. Sam had always told her that he liked staying at Pastor Jim's house because he'd make good spaghetti.
"His throat was slashed. He bled out," John sighed. "Caleb said they found traces of sulfur at Jim's place."
"A demon," Sam stated flatly. "The demon?"
"I don't know," John shook his head. "Could be he just got careless and he slipped up. Maybe the demon knows we're getting close."
"What do you wanna do?"
"Now we act like every second counts," John declared. "There's two hospitals and a health center in this county. We split up and cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's going to be six months old in the next week."
"Dad, that could be dozens of kids," Sam pointed out. "How do we know which one is the right one?"
"We check them all, that's how," John said sternly. "You got any better ideas?"
Sam quickly shook his head. "No, sir."
John nodded and silently dismissed them; Julia paused as she turned back to the Impala, sensing his energy. He was angry and upset, a little guilty. Even if the man acted like a cold drill sergeant most of the time, it didn't mean that he didn't have feelings like everyone else.
"Uncle John, are you okay?" she asked tentatively.
Dean and Sam looked back at Julia before their eyes slid over to their father as they waited for him to answer her.
"Yeah," John's tone was exhausted; it was clear that he just wanted this all to be over with. "It's Jim, you know? I can't…" he paused for a second, his determination strengthening. "This ends, now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes."
They split up just like John said they would. John went to the women and children's hospital while Dean went to Salvation Memorial, and Julia and Sam went to the medical center.
Julia and Sam acted as police officers, asking the receptionist on the pediatric floor for all the records of the babies that would have turned six months old that day. It took a while for them to gather all the information but, in the end, there were only ten records they had to jot down.
It was when they were leaving the medical center that they had trouble. Julia was in the middle of reciting some of the records for Sam when he stopped in his tracks. He winced painfully and held the bridge of his nose, like he usually did when he was having one of his visions.
"Sam, are you all right?" Julia anxiously asked him, stashing the notebook under her arm so she could steady him. "Sam?"
"Yeah…yeah, I'm just…" he paused, grunting as another wave hit him. His energy was twisting just like the last time he had a vision and it worried her. "I'm getting something…"
He winced, unable to speak again while the rest of his vision passed. Julia just made sure that she was staying calm and steadied him, making soothing noises as he continued to see whatever was coming to him.
"A train," he whispered once his vision was finished.
"A train?" Julia stood on her tiptoes to put the back of her hand against his forehead to check for a fever; he felt normal. "Tell me what you saw, S."
"I saw and woman and her baby," Sam breathed, pulling his backpack around his body so he could pull a map of Salvation out of one of the pockets. "I kept hearing a train and the—the demon was there."
"Okay," Julia nodded, pulling the notebook out from underneath her arm. "Give me a location of the train. Maybe something will match."
Sam nodded and pointed at the map, his finger trailing the marked train tracks. "All right, there's a Violet Avenue."
Julia went through the list of names they wrote down, wrinkling her nose in concentration. "There's one on here," she told him. "Rosie Holden, born to Monica and Charlie Holden."
"Let's go."
The Holden household was only two blocks from the medical center. They had to cross through a park that was strangely full of kids for a rainy day but the neighborhood the new parents lived in was nice. If this had been another life, Julia could see herself living on a street like this.
Luckily, just as they crossed onto Violet Avenue, Sam pointed out a woman only a few years older than them, pushing a baby stroller on the sidewalk and holding an umbrella over her head. He whispered to Julia that it was the woman he saw in his vision.
"Hi," Sam greeted the woman when they approached her just as she was attempting to close her umbrella and keep a hold of her baby's stroller. "Here, let me hold that for you. You look like you don't need that anymore."
"Oh," the woman smiled kindly as Sam made sure the stroller kept still. "Thanks."
Julia grinned and looked under the hood of the stroller, taking a peek at the baby. She was the cutest little girl—but most babies were cute, it was just science—with long eyelashes and big brown eyes. "Wow, she's beautiful," she complimented the woman. "Look at those eyelashes. Is she yours?"
"Yeah," the woman nodded proudly.
"Oh, wow, hi," Sam cooed to the baby. "Sorry, we're being rude. I'm Sam and this is Julia. We just moved in up the block."
"Oh, hey, I'm Monica," Monica perked up in realization and introduced herself before looking down at her baby. "This is Rosie."
"Rosie," Sam confirmed while Julia smiled, glad that they found the woman that Sam had a vision of. "Hi, Rosie."
The baby just stared at him, quietly picked at the blanket that covered her.
"So, welcome to the neighborhood."
"Thank you," Julia silently awed as Rosie blinked up at her and Sam. "She such a good baby."
"I know," Monica nodded. "I mean, she never cries. She just stares at everybody. Sometimes she looks at you and I swear, it's—it's like she's reading your mind."
That made Julia pause but her smile didn't falter. If the demon was coming for Rosie and Monica tonight, just like it did for Sam and Mary, did that mean Rosie was like Sam? Did she have mental abilities like him already? Or was that why the demon was coming in the first place?
"What about you, Monica?" Sam wondered politely. "Have you lived here long?"
"My husband and I, we bought our place just before Rosie was born," Monica informed them, pointing to the house they had all stopped in front of.
"And how old is Rosie?"
They already knew how old the baby was from her records but they needed to make sure that they were the family the demon was coming after.
"She's six months today," Monica looked down at the stroller fondly. "She's big, right? Growing like a weed."
"Yeah," Sam laughed sadly, looking down at Rosie; Julia grabbed his free hand, squeezing it tightly. "Monica…"
"Yeah?"
"Just, uh, just take care of yourself, okay?"
"Yeah, you too," Monica smiled gratefully. "We'll see you both around."
Julia nodded and waved as she started walking again, up her driveway where an SUV had just pulled in. A man Monica's age got out of the vehicle and greeted his girls with fond kisses that brought a sad smile to Julia's face. They had to make sure the demon didn't ruin this family. They just had to.
"A vision," John's voice was flat as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
After speaking with Monica, Rosie's mother, Julia called Dean while Sam freaked out. He and John were already done with their recon missions and had rented a motel room for their use. She had explained to the oldest Winchester brother what had happened to Sam. Sam had then pried the phone from her hand to tell Dean that they needed to tell John what exactly was going on.
Telling John about Sam's visions didn't exactly go well.
"Yes," Sam answered, pressing his fingers against his pounding head. "I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling."
"And you think this is going to happen to this woman you met because…?"
"Because these things happen exactly the way I see them."
"It started out as nightmares," Dean stepped in, moving from his spot on the bed next to John and making his way over to the table where Julia and Sam were seated. "Then it started happening while he was awake."
"Yeah," Sam breathed, agreeing with his brother. "It's like—I dunno—it's like the closer I get to anything to do with the demon, the stronger the visions get."
John bristled and set his annoyed gaze on his sons. "All right, when were you going to tell me about this?"
"We didn't know what it meant," Dean offered tensely.
"Something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone and you call me," John glared at him.
Julia shook her head in disapproval; there had been zero times that John had picked up the phone, despite each of them calling many, many times over the last nine months. He had practically abandoned his sons and now he was getting onto Dean for not getting a hold of him? It was his fault that Dean—or Sam, for that matter—didn't inform him about what was going on.
Dean scoffed. "Call you? Are you kidding me?" he asked in disbelief. "Dad, I called you from Lawrence, all right? I called you when Julia was dying. I mean, getting you on the phone? I got a better chance of winning the fucking lottery."
Julia was surprised by Dean's words but proud, nevertheless. Dean had always followed orders and never argued with his dad; he had always taken John's crap without protest. It was nice to see him breaking out of his daddy's-little-soldier persona and coming into his own person.
Not to mention that she had a thing for angry Dean. He was gorgeous, what could she say?
John was silent for a few seconds before he answered. "You're right," he admitted; Dean relaxed, having tensed when he realized what he had told his father. "Although I'm not too crazy about this new tone of yours—"
Of course, Julia mentally scoffed.
"—you're right. I'm sorry."
"Look guys, visions or no visions, the fact is that we know the demon is coming tonight," Sam spoke up. "And this family's gonna go through the same hell we went through."
"No, they're not," John declared firmly. "No one is, ever again."
Sam's phone rang at that moment; he flipped it open and looked at the caller ID—which declared it was an unknown number—and answered the call, putting it on speakerphone.
"Hello?"
"Sam?" a woman spoke.
"Who is this?"
"Think real hard, it will come to you."
Sam's face hardened. "Meg."
Julia stiffened at the mention of the woman who had killed her brother. She had heard from Dean that she fell out of the building when Sam trashed the altar she was using to control the Daeva. If she was still alive—because Julia doubted that she'd just survive a seven-story drop like that—it meant that Meg was probably possessing the poor girl's dead body.
Dean took the place behind Julia, putting his large hands on her shoulders comfortingly. Absentmindedly, forgetting that John nor Sam knew about them, she reached up and held the hand on her left shoulder.
"Last time I saw you, you fell out of a window," Sam said, his voice low and tense.
"Yeah, no thanks to you," Meg said sourly. "That really hurt my feelings, by the way."
Sam raised his eyebrows. "Just your feelings? That was a seven-story drop."
"Let me speak to your dad."
Sam nervously looked over at John, who was slowly making his way over to the table where the rest of them were gathered. "My dad?" he faked confusion. "I don't know where my dad is."
Meg clicked her tongue. "It's time for the grown-ups to talk, Sam. Let me speak to him now."
John held out his hand to Sam and the youngest Winchester reluctantly handed the phone over.
"This is John."
"Howdy, John," Meg chirped. "I'm Meg. I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood."
Julia inhaled sharply, squeezing Dean's hand at the mention of Pastor Jim. Dean returned the gesture and rubbed her palm with his thumb.
"Still there, John-boy?"
"I'm here," John confirmed shakily.
"Well, that was yesterday," Meg boasted. "Today, I'm in Lincoln, Ohio, visiting another old friend of yours. He wants to say hi."
A man spoke now, his voice shaky and frantic. "John, whatever you do, don't give—"
Meg shushed him, cutting him off.
"Caleb?" John stiffened; Julia and Sam exchanged concerned looks while Dean tightened his grip on her. "You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go."
"We know you have the Colt, John."
John paused for a second. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, okay," Meg scoffed. "Well, listen to this—"
They could all hear the quick slash of a knife and then there was choked gasping. They assumed the worst; Meg had just slashed Caleb's throat and there was nothing they could do to save him.
"Caleb?" John called, paling considerably, his eyes sparkling with tears.
"You hear that?" Meg taunted him. "That's the sound of your friend dying…Now, let's try this again. We know you have the gun, John. Word travels fast. So, as far as we're concerned, you just declared war—and this is what war looks like. It has causalities."
John angrily clenched his jaw. "I'm gonna kill you, you know that?"
"Oh, John, please. Mind your blood pressure," Meg scolded him mockingly. "So, this is the thing. We're going to keep doing what we're doing. And your friends, anyone who has ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you've ever loved? They'll all die unless you give us that gun. Next on the list is Luke Alexander, so I'd think hard."
Julia gasped softly at the mention of her father. She had no idea where he was and now demons were going to be on his ass unless John gave them the Colt. While Dean clenched her hand tightly, John gave her an assuring look. She relaxed as much as she could; John wouldn't let her dad get killed.
"I'm waiting, Johnny. You better answer before the buzzer."
"Okay," John agreed quietly.
"Sorry? I didn't quite get that."
"I said okay," his voice hardened, a murderous glint in his brown eyes. "I'll bring you the Colt."
"There's a warehouse in Lincoln on the corner of Wabash and Lake," Meg informed him. "You're gonna meet me there."
"It's gonna take me about a day's drive to get there."
"Meet me there at midnight tonight."
"That's impossible," John scoffed. "I can't get there in time and I can't just carry a gun on a plane."
"Oh," Meg clicked her tongue. "Well, I guess your friends die, don't they? If you do decide to make it, come alone."
She ended the call, then. John flipped the phone shut and tossed it back to Sam. Julia sighed and let of Dean's hand, though he still hovered behind her worriedly.
"I'm just gonna say it," she spoke up, her eyes nervously flickering over John. "I think Meg's a demon."
"Really?" Sam gave her a surprised look.
John agreed with her. "Either that or she's possessed by one—"
Julia mentally disagreed. Every demon had to possess a body. Otherwise they wouldn't be anything over than a cloud of black smoke. She certainly wasn't going to correct John, though; she was way smarter than that.
"—it doesn't really matter."
"So, what do we do?" Dean wondered.
A determined expression fell over John's face. "I'm going to Lincoln?"
"What?" Sam, Dean, and Julia spoke in unison.
"It doesn't look like we have a choice," John stated firmly. "If I don't go, a lot of people die. Luke will die and so many of our other friends."
"Dad, the demon is coming tonight. For Monica and her family," Sam reminded him, a conflicted look on his face. "That gun is all we have. You can't just hand it over."
"Who said anything about handing it over?" Dean, Julia, and Sam gave John confused looks. "Look, besides us, Luke, and a couple of vampires, no one's really seen the gun. No one knows what it looks like."
"So what, you're just going to pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?" Dean raised his eyebrows.
"An antique store," John corrected him.
"You're going to hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"
"Look," John sighed. "as long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference."
"But for how long?" Julia spoke up. "What happens when she does figure it out?"
"I just—" John paused before continuing. "I just need to buy a few hours, that's all."
Sam gave him a knowing look. "You mean for us," he stated. "You want us to stay here and kill this demon by ourselves?"
"No, Sam, I want to stop losing the people we love," John declared. "I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home. I want…I want Mary alive. It's just—I just want this to be over."
Julia tightened her grip on her rosary, blessing the jug of water for John. He had confessed that Luke was usually the one that made holy water, so she had volunteered to bless the water for his trip to Lincoln. She had also written the blessing down for him, so he could make more for himself if he needed it.
Sam and John stood in front of the mechanical weapon stash, making sure everything was prepped and waiting to go. They were talking about something but it was too quiet and she was too concentrated to eavesdrop on their conversation. The three of them were waiting for Dean to come back from an antique store from the next town over with a gun that resembled the Colt.
She finished blessing the water, finishing her prayer, and brought the jug back over to John. He gave her a thankful smile and wordlessly put it in the stash after filling up his flask.
"Sam, do you mind if I speak to Julia alone?"
Shit, Julia panicked to herself, did I do something wrong?
Sam simply nodded; John led Julia around a hundred feet away from his youngest son so he couldn't overhear what they were going to talk about.
"Did I do something wrong?" she blurted out nervously.
John had always made her nervous. She didn't know why, though; he had never been rude to her or did anything to hurt her. In fact, he was nicer to her than he was his sons, but she chalked that up to the fact that she wasn't a Winchester and he didn't have to father her like he did Sam and Dean.
"No, of course not," John shook his head. "I just wanted to tell you that you can back out of this, if you want to. This isn't your fight."
Julia's mind raced. She wasn't going to walk away from Sam and Dean; they were her best friend and lover, respectively, and she loved them to death. They had been part of her family since before she was even born. You can't walk away from family and she wanted to help the Winchester finish what that demon started twenty-two years before when it killed Mary.
And, this was a little selfish, but she wanted Meg to die, too. She could hardly stomach the fact that Meg was still around but Levi wasn't. Abby and Beth weren't there so they couldn't do anything about it, but Julia was. She owed it to herself, her family, and—most importantly—Levi to make sure that Meg was sent straight back to Hell.
"I'm not walking away," she told John firmly. "You guys are my family, too, and Meg killed my brother. This isn't something that I can just ignore while leaving you guys in danger. If I can help, then I will. I'm not leaving."
John sighed and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "You're a good person, Julia," he smiled softly; Julia turned away, embarrassed. "And you're good for my boys. Especially Dean…"
Julia quickly looked back at him, shocked. "How do you—how do you…?"
"How do I know that you and Dean are together?" John supplied when she trailed off. "It's hard to miss it. You two are like magnets or something. Either way, it's good. You guys have always been close. Do you love him?"
"I don't—I don't know," Julia stammered, flushing. "I'm certainly heading that way, though."
"Be patient with him," he advised.
"I will," she promised him and then joked, "This is one of the things I can be patient about."
John shook his head with a small grin. "Just make sure to look after my boys, all right?"
"Of course."
"Let's get back over to Sam. I'm sure Dean will be back any minute now."
John was right; only a minute after they rejoined Sam, Dean showed up. He parked the Impala only a few feet away from the truck and got out, carrying a wrinkled paper bag that was conformed into an outline of a gun.
"Did you get it?" John asked him.
Dean gave him the bag without a word; John pulled the gun out. It was nearly identical to the Colt but it was easy to tell the difference since they knew what the actual Colt looked like.
"You know this is a trap, don't you?" Dean told him. "That's why Meg wants you to come alone."
"I can handle her," John assured him. "I got a whole arsenal loaded; holy water, Mandaic, amulets—"
"Dad."
"What?"
"Promise me something."
"What's that?" John blinked at him.
"If this thing goes South, just…get the hell out," Dean shoved his hands into his jacket, voice shaking slightly. "Don't get yourself killed, all right? You're no good to use dead."
Julia grabbed Sam's hand and they both squeezed each other tightly. If things went wrong, and Meg found out that the gun wasn't the Colt, this might be the last time they see John. It was nerve-wracking and John wasn't even her dad; she couldn't imagine how Sam and Dean felt.
"Same goes for you," John turned so he could see Sam, Dean, and Julia all at once and pulled the Colt from his jacket. "All right, listen to me. They made the bullets special for this Colt. There's only four of them left. Without them, this gun is useless. You make every shot count."
"Yes, sir," Julia and Sam spoke in unison while Dean nodded.
"I've been waiting a long time for this fight," John sighed. "Now it's here and I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you three now. It's your fight, you finish this. You finish what I started. Understand?"
Sam, Dean, and Julia all nodded at once; John handed the Colt over to Dean, who took it without a word.
"We'll see you soon, Dad," Sam promised his father, trying to stay optimistic.
"Be careful," Julia added, glancing at Dean worriedly. He hadn't spoken much since he got back and she could tell that he was having a hard time with what was going on. He had already lost his mother to this demon and now he may lose his father, too.
John nodded at them. "I'll see you later."
He clapped Sam on the shoulder and gave Dean a serious but fond look before closing the back of his truck and getting in. The truck rumbled as he drove away, mud squelching each time the tires rotated.
Julia sighed sadly and reaching over with her free hand, taking Dean's. She held onto her boys as the truck disappeared down the road, leaving them to finish the fight by themselves.
It was past nine o'clock and they were still watching Monica Holden's house, waiting for the demon to show up. Throughout the three hours they had been parked on the other side of the street, they tossed around ideas that could work in getting the young family out of their house. So far, they had come up with nothing.
Halfway through their stakeout, Julia was antsy and—admittedly—a little bored. Ignoring Dean's protests, she had climbed into the front seat and settled herself in the middle of Sam and Dean. It wasn't anymore exciting in the front but this way, she was able to carry on conversation better than when she had to lean forward to get a hint of what the brothers spoke about.
"Maybe we could tell them that there's a gas leak," Sam suggested after a silent five minutes. "It might get them out of the house for a few hours."
Dean scoffed and looked over Julia's head at him. "Yeah and how many times has that actually worked for us?"
"And we already spoke to Monica outside of her house," Julia added. "It'll be suspicious if we randomly show up at night to tell her to get out of her house."
"Yeah, you're right," he gave in and paused for a few seconds. "We could always tell them the truth."
Julia turned to Sam this time, an eyebrow raised; it amused Sam to see Dean pulling the same face at him.
"Nah," the three of them chorused.
"I know, I know," Sam sighed. "I just—with what's coming for these folks…"
"Sam, we only got one move and you know it, all right?" Dean stated. "We gotta wait for that demon to show itself and then we get to it before it gets them."
Sam nodded in agreement and looked back at the Holden's house.
"I wonder how Dad's doing."
"I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up," Dean muttered.
"I'd feel a lot better if he was here, backing us up."
The three of them continued watching the house for another half-hour when Sam spoke up again. "This is weird."
Julia gave him a curious look. "What?"
"After all these years, we're finally here," Sam told her and Dean. "It doesn't seem real."
"We just gotta keep our heads and do our job like always," Dean advised his little brother.
"Yeah, but this isn't like always."
Dean cocked his head and agreed. "True."
"…Dean, Julia," Sam said hesitantly. "Uh, I just wanna thank you guys."
Julia's eyes darted back to her best friend. "For what?"
"For everything. You've always had my back, you know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone, I could always count on you guys. And, uh, I don't know…I just wanted to let you know. Just in case."
Julia's eyes stung and she bowed her head. She was grateful for what Sam said but they weren't needed. She didn't love Sam because it felt like she owed him or that she had to be by his side all these years. She loved Sam because he was her brother and best friend rolled into one. She looked after him for the same reason as Dean—even though she was two-and-a-half years younger than him.
And she didn't like the way he was talking. It was like he didn't expect to make it out of the fight and was already saying his goodbyes.
"Woah, woah, woah," Dean objected, looking at his brother in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"
"What?"
"Don't say just in case something happens to you," Dean shook his head firmly, irritated. "I don't wanna hear that fucking speech, man. Nobody's dying tonight. Not us, not that family, nobody. Except that demon—that evil son of a bitch ain't getting any older than tonight, you understand me?"
Sam reluctantly nodded; satisfied, Dean turned to Julia.
"Julia?"
"I know, Dean," she whispered, wiping her wet eyes.
An hour later, Dean started calling John. He called three times, each time getting John's voicemail.
Frustrated, Dean harshly closed his phone. "Dad's not answering."
"Meg might be late," Julia offered, trying to stay positive. "Maybe he doesn't have cell reception."
"Yeah, well—"
Out of nowhere, cutting Dean off, the radio started making noise. It was staticky, like they weren't tuned into the nearest radio tower. Julia reached in front of her, turning the knob so the volume was higher.
Around them, the wind started blowing harder, jostling some of the thinner trees. The lights in the Holden's house flickered on and off. The staticky radio, the wind, the flickering lights…they were all omens.
"It's coming," Sam breathed in realization.
The scrambled out of the Impala at once, drawing their guns—and in Sam's case, the Colt—and entering the house after Julia picked the lock. It was quiet on the first level but suddenly, there was chaos.
A man—Julia assumed it was Charlie Holden—popped up out of nowhere and swung a bat at Dean. Dean quickly ducked, missing the blow, but a lamp was trashed in the process.
"Get out of my house!" Charlie roared at them; Dean quickly grabbed the man and pressed him against the wall, hardly effected by his struggles.
"Please, Mr. Holden, please," Julia pleaded. "Please be quiet."
Charlie continued to struggle but Dean locked him up. "Be quiet and listen to me. Be quiet and listen," Dean said sharply. "We're trying to help you."
"Charlie, is everything okay down there?" they heard Monica call from upstairs.
"Monica, get the baby!".
"No, don't go into the nursery!" Sam shouted at the same time as Charlie called, "You stay away from her!"
He was struggling against Dean's grip again but the oldest Winchester had no more patience. He backhanded Charlie so hard that he fell unconscious, slumping to the ground. Dean quickly picked him up, heaving him over his shoulder.
"You guys go," he told Julia and Sam. "Get Monica and Rosie."
Julia and Sam took off, up the stairs. It was easy to find Rosie's nursery, considering that Monica was crying and screaming desperately for help. When they entered the room, she was pinned against the top half of the wall by the door and there was a dark figure with yellow eyes standing next to Rosie's crib.
"ROSIE!"
Sam quickly held up the Colt and aimed it at the demon. He pulled the trigger but it disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Monica fell to the floor now that the demon was gone.
"Where the hell did it go?" Sam asked frantically.
Monica didn't care; all she could focus on was Rosie.
"My baby!" she exclaimed, lunging forward; Sam quickly caught her, helping her stand up. "My baby!"
"Get her out of here," Julia told Sam, hurrying over to Rosie's crib. "I got her."
"Rosie!"
Sam tried to pull Monica out of the room but she was fighting him. "My baby!"
"Julia's got her."
Julia quickly picked up Rosie, including her warm blanket, and flinched away as the crib shot up in flames. Making sure that she held Rosie properly, she raced out of the nursery and down the stairs, following Sam and Monica out of the house.
"You get away from my family!" Charlie shouted at Julia and Sam as he was held back by Dean.
"No, Charlie, don't. They saved us," Monica cried, turning to take Rosie out of Julia's arms; she wordlessly passed the baby, giving Monica a sad smile. "They saved us."
Dean let go of Charlie and he immediately went to Monica and Rosie, wrapping his arms around them.
"Thank you," Monica looked at Julia, Sam, and Dean gratefully.
Julia nodded and smiled softly. She was so glad that the Holdens were safe from whatever the demon had wanted to do to them. It was nice to see the love that the three of them shared. She envied that.
"It's still in there!" Sam shouted, his gaze locked on the nursery window where the same figure they had seen earlier was standing.
Dean immediately grabbed Sam before he could run back into the house; Julia joined him in holding the youngest Winchester, who was fighting hysterically.
"Sam, Sam, no," Dean grunted.
"Let me go! It's still in there!"
"No!" Dean raised his voice. "It's burning to the ground. It's suicide."
"I don't care!"
"Well, we do," Julia helped Dean continue to pull Sam away from the house.
The three of them looked back at the nursery window; the demon was gone.
Dean paced back and forth in their motel room, his phone up to his ear as he tried calling John again. He had already tried four times and his dad had yet to answer. "Come on, Dad. Answer your phone, dammit," there was still no answer; Dean shut his phone and tossed it on his bed before turning to Sam and Julia, who were sitting side-by-side. "Something's wrong."
Julia nodded in agreement while Sam stared blankly at the wall behind the television.
"You hear me?" Dean asked his brother, frustrated. "Something's happened."
Sam didn't react the way that Dean wanted him to. "If you guys had just let me go in there, I could have ended all of this."
Julia sighed in frustration, tired of his pity party. She and Dean saved his life; he was willing to kill himself because of his rage but he didn't even care. "Sam, you would have died," she said firmly. "All you would have ended was your life."
"You don't know that," Sam protested feebly.
Dean walked over to their bed, standing in front of Sam with his arms crossed over his chest. "So, what, you're just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it?"
Sam abruptly stood up, towering over Dean. Julie got to her feet, too, ready to intervene if things got more heated between the bothers.
"Yeah, you're damn right I am."
"Well, that's not going to happen," Dean raised his voice. "Not as long as me and Julia are around."
"What the fuck are you talking about, Dean?" Sam matched his volume. "We've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only thing we've ever cared about."
"Sam, I wanna waste it. I do, okay?" Dean tried to placate him. "But it's not worth dying over."
Sam reared back like he had been struck. "What?"
"I mean it," Dean insisted while Julia nervously shifted from foot to foot. "If hunting this demon means getting yourself killed then I hope we never find the damn thing."
"That thing killed Jess," Sam reminded him lowly. "That thing killed Mom."
"You said it yourself once," Dean stated. "That no matter what we do, they're gone and they're never coming back."
Sam clenched his jaw and grabbed Dean's shoulders, roughly pushing him against the wall. "Don't you say that, not you!" his eyes glistened with tears. "Not after all this. Don't you say that."
"Sam!" Julia rushed toward the brothers, tightly grabbing Sam's arm to pull him away from Dean. "Get off of him!"
Surprisingly—because Sam was much stronger than her—she managed to pull Sam away from Dean. It must have been because he was more sad than angry and he truly didn't want to hurt his brother.
Once Sam released him, Dean said softly, "Sam, look," he gave Sam a pleading look. "The four of us, that's all we have. It's all I have. Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together, man. Without you and Jules or Dad…"
He trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence. Sam exhaled shakily and walked back to the bed he shared with Julia while Julia gave Dean a small smile and reached for his hand.
"Dad," Sam said quietly, tears still in his eyes. "He should have called by now."
"You should try him again," Julia suggested.
Dean nodded and grabbed his cellphone, calling his dad once again. Dean looked surprised when John took his call, but it wasn't the eldest Winchester who was answering.
"You three really screwed up this time," Julia, Sam, and Dean heard Meg's angry voice.
While Julia and Sam stiffened, Dean angrily clenched his jaw. "Where is he?"
When Meg spoke again, they could practically hear her devious smirk. "You're never going to see your father again."