Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell Part 1

Lebanon, Kansas

Sam and Dean walked into the bunker's library, having just got home from back-to-back hunts. Grace ran into the library and Angela followed behind her daughter, having decided to stay home.

"Hoo-hoo!" Dean laughed as Sam groaned. "Back to back to back. That was one for the books."

"Yeah," Sam scoffed.

"Daddy! Unca Dean!" Grace exclaimed happily.

"Hey babe," Angela leaned up to peck Sam on the lips.

"Unca Dean, you're stinky." Grace wrinkled her nose.

"Hey, you don't smell great all the time either, Princess." Dean teased. "Man," he held up a bloodied barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat. "Dad would have loved this thing." He dropped the bat to the table.

"Dude, on the—on the—

Dean, covered in blood and gore, sat down at the table and sighed heavily.

"No, don't, don't, don't, don't! Don't s—

"Dean, I just cleaned up in here!" Angela complained.

"Yeah, mommy and I did chores." Grace smiled sweetly.

"Dean, you're covered in ghoul, man, and—and—and wraith." Sam scoffed in disgust. "You… you have a piece of siren in your hair."

Dean pulled the bit of siren out of his hair and made a disgusted noise before he laughed while examining it. "Gross." He flicked the bit of siren across the room.

"Dean, what did I just say?" Angela demanded.

"Sorry, Angie," Dean mumbled.

"Dude, why don't you take a shower and change your clothes," Sam suggested. "You've been wearing the same pair of boxers for four days."

"Okay, one, weird that you know how much underwear I packed."

"That's what's weird about this?" Sam muttered.

"And B, it's two and two. Doesn't count if you flip 'em inside out." Dean winked and clicked his tongue.

Suddenly, Sam's cell phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket to check the message. "Got another case."

"Really?" Angela's brows rose.

"Already? How'd you do that?" Dean asked.

"Same as the others. I-I made a computer algorithm that scrapes the data from police scanners, emergency calls, uh, local news sites, and then it puts everything through a h—

Dean just stared blankly at Sam.

"The computer told me." Sam cleared his throat.

"Computers," Dean chuckled. "Monsters, porn. Is there anything they can't do? All right." He hit the tabletop. "Well, let's get to it, then."

"Yeah, that's fine. And, dude, um… after you get cleaned up."

"I got baby wipes in the car."

"Dude," Sam scoffed.

"Dean, you smell like roadkill." Angela deadpanned.

"That's 'cause I do all the heavy lifting," Dean smirked.

"You—alright." Sam huffed.

Dean got up and started walking out of the library. "I'm using that fancy shampoo you keep hidden from me."

~/~\~

Sheridan County, Nebraska

The Impala pulled up to the crime scene. Sam was one the phone with Mary and Dean was on the phone with Castiel, and Grace was in the back seat playing with her dolls.

"Oh, really?" Dean asked.

"Oh, that's great, Mom. Oh. No, we're—we're fine. We, uh…"

"It sounds like somethin'," Dean told Castiel.

"Yeah. Love you, too." Sam said.

"All right, Cas. Let us know."

The brothers hung up and they all got out of the car. Sam took Grace out of her car seat and held her on his hip.

"You first." Dean looked at Sam.

"Mom and Robert just finished working a haunting in Akron."

"The Brits?" Angela asked.

"Yeah."

"Great." Dean scoffed. "Who you gonna call? Douchebusters."

"What about you?"

"That was Cas. He's in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Someone's killing angels. Again."

~/~\~

Sam, Dean, and Angela were led to the crime scene by the sheriff.

"You ask me," the sheriff started. "A bear got him. Maybe a cougar. Found a fair amount of blood over here and some there, but no body. Figure whatever did this dragged him off. So, unless you guys are lookin' to make a federal case on some critters…"

"Sir, you said there was a survivor," Angela commented.

"Yeah, Gwen Hernandez. Uh, but she's pretty shaken up, saying all sorts of strange things."

"Like what?" Angela inquired.

"Like that they were attacked by a wolf—an invisible wolf." The sheriff chuckled. "Girl says that, you know, it came outta nowhere and that it's coming after her next."

"Right." Dean nodded as the sheriff laughed. "Sheriff, thank you."

Sam, Dean, and Angela walked the scene and conferred.

"Invisible dog, huh?" Dean muttered. "Sounds like a hellhound to me."

~/~\~

The Impala pulled up to Gwen's house and the three hunters got out. Angela took Grace out of her car seat and held her hand as they walked.

"This is dumb." Dean scoffed. "It's a dumb idea."

"Listen, Gwen saw something kill her boyfriend, and she thinks it's coming for her next," Sam explained. "We just gotta tell her—

"Tell her what?" Dean interrupted. "No, seriously, Sam, what are you gonna say? 'Hi, my name is Sam Winchester. This is my wife Angie and my much handsomer brother Dean. We hunt monsters. Oh, and that guy you were banging? We're pretty sure he made a deal with a demon, so a hellhound came and dragged his soul to Hell. But you? You're cool. And since there's nothing around for us to kill, peace out.'"

"You done?" Sam asked. "Yeah, we don't say that. We'll say something that'll give her peace. You know, help her sleep at night."

"Oh, so we lie?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. A lot." Sam replied as he rang the doorbell.

"Daddy, lying is bad." Grace frowned.

Sam pursed his lips. "You're right, Peanut. You shouldn't lie."

Gwen opened the door, and unbeknownst to everyone, the hellhound stood behind the hunters.

"Gwen Hernandez?" Angela asked. "Uh, Agents D'Amico, Baker, and Clapton. FBI. May we come in?"

"I… I don't want any…"

"We just wanna talk. That's all. About Marcus." Sam replied gently.

Gwen hesitantly let them in, and the hellhound followed behind them.

"Uh, you can have a seat."

"Grace, why don't you sit down and play with your dolls?" Angela suggested.

"'Kay mommy."

"Right. Gwen," Sam started as they all sat down. "Uh, we're here today because we, uh, we know what you told the police, that you feel like something… supernatural is after you. But we've concluded our investigation, and the thing that killed your boyfriend—

"Was a bear." Dean interrupted.

"Was a bear." Sam nodded. "Now, we found it and put it down. So, you're no longer in any kind of danger, okay?"

Gwen frowned deeply. "I don't… I-I know what I saw."

"Gwen, when you go through a traumatic experience, sometimes your mind can make things up," Angela explained.

"Get out."

"Sorry?" Angela frowned.

"Get out of my house," Gwen demanded.

"Okay, calm down We're just trying to help," Dean assured.

"I don't need your help! I know what I saw."

"Gwen—

Gwen stood up angrily. "Get out!"

"Okay." Dean nodded.

~/~\~

Sam, Dean, Angela, and Grace left the house.

"Oh, yeah. She's gonna sleep like a baby." Dean sassed.

Gwen watched through the window as they all got in the Impala, and the hellhound watched her, growling.

~/~\~

Gwen watched the invisible claws gouge the floor, and screamed as the hellhound barked and snarled at her, chasing her from the room. She attempted to barricade herself in another room but the hellhound barged in and pinned her to the floor, clawing beside her head as she screamed. Sam, Dean, and Angela heard her screams and entered, shooting at the invisible hellhound. Dean hit it and it yelped in pain before it jumped through the window.

"Hey, hey," Angela helped Gwen up. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay. All right?"

~/~\~

Angela brought Grace in from the Impala and sat down next to Sam at Gwen's table.

"Gwen, that, um, that thing was a hellhound," Sam explained.

"A… what?"

"Hellhound. Kind of hard to explain. Uh, basically, giant, invisible hounds from Hell. Huh. Wasn't hard at all." Dean chuckled.

"So, you guys are not cops, are you?" Gwen asked.

"No, not exactly. Um… my name is Sam," he introduced. "This is my wife Angie and that's my brother Dean. And we hunt monsters."

"And we've tangled with hellhounds in the past," Dean added. "Goofer dust'll keep 'em out. A demon knife or an angel blade, that'll kill 'em."

"Uh… wait, why did you tell me that Marcus got killed by a bear?"

"Make you feel better." Dean replied, pointing at Sam. "It was his idea."

"Dean," Angela warned using her 'mom voice.'

"Listen," Sam started. "I know this sounds insane—

"It does." Gwen nodded. "But… like I said, I know what I saw. And what I saw was insane."

"Right." Sam nodded. "Now this is awkward, but, um… hellhounds only come after people who sold their souls… to a demon."

"So, about 10 years ago, did you really want something?" Dean asked. "Like… I don't know, a Hello Kitty backpack or the death of an enemy?"

"No."

"What about Marcus?" Angela asked. "Did he… would he—

"No," Gwen repeated.

"Hmm." Dean hummed. "Great. So, what the hell?"

"Don't know," Angela muttered. "But I do know who we can ask."

~/~\~

Angela had her phone on speaker and waited for Crowley to pick up.

"Bambi," Crowley greeted. "What do you want?"

"Crowley, I understand that you might still be upset about the whole, uh…"

"Upset?" Crowley scoffed. "No. I'm totally over how you and your little band of misfits sent my son back in time… to die!"

Angela took Crowley off speaker, because the conversation seemed to be weirding out Gwen.

"Okay, look, that was totally Gavin's call. All right? You know what? We have a situation here."

"Oh, well, in that case… Bye." Crowley replied.

"Hellhounds, Crowley," Angela stressed. "One of your mutts is going after folks who didn't sell their souls."

"Not possible."

"You sure about that?" Angela asked.

"My hounds… You have anything to tell me?" Crowley could be heard asking his demons.

"Well… we didn't want to bother you… It was Ramsey. She got out, my lord."

"Have the kennel guards killed. Painfully." Crowley instructed before returning to the call. "I'll be right…"

Suddenly, Crowley appeared in Gwen's living room.

"Here." He smirked.

"Mm." Sam rolled his eyes.

"You miss me?" Crowley asked.

"Hi Mr. Crowley." Grace waved innocently.

~/~\~

"You have to understand, this isn't just a hellhound, this is the hellhound."

"That means what?" Sam asked.

"Right after God said, 'Let there be light,' he—he made a whole bunch of things—posies, koalas, hellhounds," Crowley explained. "He wanted The Creator's best friend, but the hounds were too vicious. So, he planned on having them all put down, until along came our favorite fallen angel. He rescued one of the hounds—a pregnant bitch named Ramsey."

"Why don't you just tell her to heel?" Dean questioned.

"I can't control her. No one can. She's loyal only to Lucifer."

"Wait, like the Devil?" Gwen scoffed in disbelief.

"Yeah, but he's locked in a cage," Dean replied nonchalantly.

"Oh. Good."

"Yeah. All right, so where is Fido now?"

"Well, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say huddled up in some nice, warm den." Crowley shrugged.

"Well, why is she after Gwen?" Angela asked.

"Ask her." Crowley gestured at Gwen.

"I… I don't… um… When it attacked us, I did hit it. With an ax."

"Well, there you go. The bitch does tend to hold a grudge. So, we either kill Ramsey, or the hound eats her." Crowley clapped his hands together. "Fun."

"Wait a second," Sam frowned. "We?"

"Pup like that out and about is not good for business. Makes it look like I'm not in control. But that mutt's head mounted on my wall? Good for the brand. So, yes, Moose. For now, 'we.'"

"Great." Dean scoffed. "So, we have a hellhound who's gunning for revenge, and it's personal. Ah. Just when I thought this gig couldn't get any weirder…"

Crowley chuckled. "Oh. It can always get weirder."

A/N: Hey, y'all, I hope you liked this chapter! Be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews! Love y'all, xoxo :)

~Emily