Author's Note: Hey everybody! Thank you, as always, for the support and reviews. I love seeing them! So, this chapter has some really drastic timeline changes. I know I've been doing that all along to a certain extent, but you'll notice right from the beginning of this chapter that I skipped a lot more than I have been in the past. The really important stuff still made it in, but there are a couple of parts where it might seem like I made huge, blatant, glaring mistakes. Stick with me through them. I promise they're not necessarily mistakes, just my attempt at accelerating things because I have some interesting plans coming up. I hope it doesn't feel too rushed. Hope y'all enjoy this chapter anyway!
"Dean. I need you, your brother, and Jess to get to Nebraska. A place called Harvelle's Roadhouse. The owner is a woman named Ellen. She says she has some information on the yellow-eyed demon that could help. I'll meet you there in two days."
Dean cursed as the voicemail ended. The obedient to a fault part of him wanted to immediately jump in the Impala and tear straight for Nebraska. But another, even bigger, part of him was still trying to come to terms with what Sam had revealed to him about Dad just a few days ago. He was still cursing a blue streak under his breath as he stormed back into Jack and Grace's house.
"Dean Eric Winchester if you wake this baby..." Jess let the threat hang in the air as she rocked her brand new baby niece.
"Jess is going to be the least of your worries if you wake Jenna," Sam warned, laughing at his brother with just his eyes. He'd been similarly threatened just a few minutes ago. "Grace will have your ass herself. I think this is the first time the poor woman has gotten more than five minutes of sleep all at one time."
"And you two actually want one of these?" Dean wondered, peering at the little bundle that was sleeping quietly for pretty much the first time since she'd been born.
"Jenna is not a 'one of these', Dean," Jess scolded in a whisper. "And yes, someday I do want to have kids."
Sam went slightly pale at the thought of a baby, but wisely stayed silent on the topic. It wasn't that he was against the idea of having kids at some point, but said idea terrified the hell out of him. It wasn't like he'd ever had the best example of what a functional family looked like. At least Dean had gotten four years with Mom and Dad and a normal life. He didn't even have that much. What if he made a horrible father? What if he couldn't keep a kid safe? See, that's where this line of thinking was apt to take him. No thank you. It could wait.
"What's got you all riled up anyway?" Sam changed the subject.
"Dad," Dean snarled, waving his phone around. "Forgot this out in the car and when I went to get it, I had a voicemail from him. He wants us to get to Nebraska to meet him at some place called Harvelle's Roadhouse. The owner lady supposedly has some information for us on the yellow-eyed demon."
"Okay. Still not understanding why you're pissed off," Sam grunted as Orion dropped into his lap. He paused for a second and to take stock and realized that Ri wasn't trying to tell him he had a vision coming on. He was just being the overgrown lapdog he thought he was. "I thought you'd be happy to have a lead on the demon."
"Well...I mean, yeah I am sort of," Dean paced back and forth. "Things are just kind of complicated right now."
He glanced meaningfully over in Jess's direction. Sam had made him swear to keep what had happened in the past between just the two of them. He didn't want Jess to have yet another thing to worry about that had to do with him and his past. There was more than enough to worry about right here in the present.
"You would think after so many years you two would be better liars," Jess sighed. "Or at least more subtle. Sam, do you mind packing my things up so I can bring Jenna back in by Grace? Hopefully she'll stay asleep for a little while longer."
"It's only about a day's drive from here to Nebraska and Dad said to meet him in two," Dean said. "We can wait another few hours to get on the road so Grace can sleep for a while."
He stormed up the stairs and Jess looked at Sam in confusion. This kind of reaction to one of their Dad's orders was more Sam's style than Dean's. But Dean had been acting really weird since the whole thing with Max. It was like a never-ending cycle between the two brothers. Just a few days ago she and Dean had been worried about Sam. Now she and Sam were worried about Dean. Good lord she needed a vacation.
"He's okay," Sam finally said, gently pushing Orion off of his lap and standing. "He's just being crabby. I'm gonna go get our stuff together and see if I can knock some sense into him. No way do I want to spend a whole day in the car with him all miserable like this."
"Or you could, y'know, tell me what's going on so you two don't have to hide it anymore," Jess suggested.
"We're not hiding anything, babe," Sam gave her a little half-smile and kissed her temple, then darted up the stairs before she could call him on the blatant lie.
Dean was muttering to himself, balling his things up, and sloppily jamming them into his duffel when Sam walked into his room without knocking. He stood quietly in the doorway and listened for a minute.
"I hope this Ellen lady is okay with blood on her floors because I swear to god the first thing I'm gonna do is break his nose as soon as we get there," Dean said to himself. "He's lucky that we probably need him otherwise I'd shoot his ass. Maybe once we get done with the job I still will."
"You're not gonna shoot him, so stop," Sam finally spoke up.
Dean jumped guiltily. Partially because he hadn't meant for anyone to hear what he was saying, Sam least of all. And partially because, trained hunter that he was, he should've noticed Sam standing there.
"What're you doing sneaking around?" he snapped.
"Came to see if you're okay," Sam perched on the edge of the bed and watched his brother, who couldn't seem to stop fidgeting and moving around.
"I'm fine, Sam," Dean turned back to his haphazard method of packing. "I'm the one who should be asking you that, not the other way around."
"Dude, I told you already," Sam sighed. "I forgave Dad a long time ago. I get that I've had a lot more time to come to terms with it, but if I've forgiven him don't you think you should too?"
"Whether or not you've forgiven him has nothing to do with it!" Dean tossed the last of his clothes into the bag and closed it up angrily. "My entire life he's always drilled it into me that watching out for you was my number one priority. But the whole time he was going around undermining that by hitting you and making sure I wouldn't find out. So did he want me watching out for you or not? It doesn't make sense!"
"Dude," Sam combed his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. "I'm not necessarily saying that you shouldn't be pissed at the man. God knows I've spent half of my life pissed at him. All I'm saying is don't blow this out of proportion. It was nowhere near as bad as you're making it out to be."
"Every time, Sam," Dean snapped. "Every time I would leave you alone with him, I'd come back and you'd have a new bruise, or you'd be bleeding."
"Not all of those were from him!" Sam was frustrated at Dean's obstinate refusal to see that, but at the same time he was glad they were finally having this conversation. The last few days had been tense, with both of them dancing around this and Dean being even more overprotective than usual. Hopefully this would clear the air a bit. "It's not like you didn't get your own share of cuts and bruises and concussions from training sessions that got a little out of hand."
"Yeah, but he never did it to me on purpose as far as I know," Dean argued. "Big difference there."
"Oh my god, Dean," Sam rolled his eyes. "Listen, I'm not defending what Dad did, but the man wasn't perfect. He had...okay, still has, a temper. He made mistakes. But you know I wasn't perfect, either. I was a bratty kid, a mouthy teenager, and an obnoxiously opinionated young adult. It's a wonder Dad didn't beat my head in more often."
"Keep talking like that and I'll beat your head in," Dean warned. "I gotta say, I never thought I'd hear you coming to Dad's defense. Even before I knew about all of this."
"Don't expect it to last," Sam smirked. "I'm sure that within an hour of meeting up with Dad out there in Nebraska the two of us will be at each others' throats, just like usual. You good with this now?"
"No," Dean answered honestly. "I'll probably never be good with it. I might be able to restrain myself, though."
Sam groaned. Whatever the intel was that this Ellen lady had, he hoped it was something they'd have to split up for so that Dean and Dad didn't have to be in close proximity to one another. It was probably safer that way.
A day and a half later, Dean pulled the Impala up in front of a rough-looking building with a sign that proclaimed it to be the roadhouse they were looking for. Jess was passed out in the backseat with her head pillowed on Orion. She was still trying to catch up on the sleep she'd missed while she'd been helping Jack and Grace with the new baby. Sam almost felt bad shaking her shoulder to wake her up, but the sleepy blue eyes blinking up into his own hazel ones made him smile.
"We're here," he tucked a piece of hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear. He motioned to the other two vehicles parked in front of the roadhouse. "Looks like Bobby's here, too."
As if on cue the surly, bearded man walked out into the parking lot, ever-present ball cap on his head. Jess's face lit up and she shot out of the car towards the older man.
"Bobby!" she threw her arms around him happily.
"How's my girl?" Bobby asked, returning the hug.
"Hey! What about us?" Dean tried to sound offended.
"You two idjits always manage to be fine," Bobby waved him away and then caught sight of Orion following Sam out of the car. His eyes glinted with barely contained laughter.
"Don't say it," Dean warned. "I know. I got guilted into it, so just..."
"How are you Bobby?" Sam greeted him. "Don't let Dean fool you. He secretly likes Ri, he just won't let on."
"I do not like that mutt!" Dean claimed. "I put up with him because he's useful. Sometimes. He's pretty good at knowing when one of Sam's visions is coming on, too."
"Those still an issue?" Bobby asked. When all three younger hunters nodded he added, "Keep that quiet around here, understand? This is a hunter bar and there's enough hunters out there who don't see shades of gray when it comes to what's supernatural and what ain't. Get my meaning?"
"Yessir," they answered.
"Good. Your Daddy's inside, so go on in," Bobby ordered. "He's bustin' to know what Ellen's news is, but she wouldn't say until you boys were here. She don't fancy repeatin' herself."
To Dean's credit, he tried. He really, really tried to rein in his temper the minute he walked through the door and saw his father sitting at the bar. Too bad trying wasn't quite enough.
"Dean," Sam had a split second to see what was going to happen, but he was too slow to grab his brother.
John turned at the sound of the door opening and at Sam's soft mutter of Dean's name. He had just enough time to see Dean coming towards him and started to stand to greet his oldest when Dean let loose with a punch and made good on his promise to break his father's nose the next time he saw him.
"We don't take kindly to bar fights around here, so how about you get out?" Dean heard the sound of a shotgun being racked and felt the barrel of it poke into his back.
"Hang on Jo," John grabbed a clean rag from behind the bar and pressed it to his nose. "I'd like to have a word with my son about his reasoning behind this before I let you shoot him."
"Son?" the barrel of the shotgun was still pressed against Dean's back, but he felt it waver just a little. He took advantage of that and whipped around, taking it from the girl his Dad had called Jo in one quick move. Feisty thing that she was, she took a swing at him and he had to stumble back to avoid getting a broken nose of his own.
"Enough!" a woman's voice cracked across the room. "Joanna Beth, you get away and let John work out what needs to be worked out with his boys."
"Thanks Ellen," John winced at the pain in his nose. "Mind getting me some ice?"
"Goddamn it, Dean," Sam grabbed him by the back of his jacket and threw him towards the door. "Go cool off for a few minutes."
"I'll go with him," Jess offered. "I could use a walk after being stuck in the car for such a long time."
"Thought you said you hadn't seen your boys in a while, Johnny," the woman, Ellen, commented as she dropped a handful of ice into a clean towel and pressed that to John's nose in place of the blood-stained towel he was already holding.
"I haven't. Not for any extended amount of time anyway," he amended. "Sam?"
"Better if we talk in private," Sam glanced at Ellen. "No offense ma'am. Just a family thing."
"Trust me, I know all about Winchester's and their 'family things'," Ellen looked meaningfully at John. "Jo and I have to start setting up out here for tonight, so you boys'll have the back to yourselves for a few minutes."
"Thanks Ellen," John said.
He motioned further into the roadhouse and for once in his life Sam obediently followed directions. They passed a closed door with loud music blaring behind it and a sign that claimed a Dr. Badass was in. Sam spared it a curiously amused glance, but let his Dad lead him further down the hall.
"So?" John asked once they were alone.
"Dean found out," Sam answered. He didn't need to elaborate, John knew exactly what his youngest was talking about. "We were on a hunt and it just sort of came out. I didn't have much choice but to tell him. He's blowing it out of proportion, though."
"I'm not so sure that he is," John flinched. "Honestly, I think I'm surprised he didn't try to shoot me instead."
"That was on the table until I talked him out of it," Sam admitted. "`Course I thought I talked him out of breaking your nose too, and we see how that worked out."
"Maybe I should confiscate his guns," John mused.
"Dad, this is really serious," Sam frowned at his father's attempt at a joke. "Dean's a lot more pissed than I've seen him in a long time. More pissed than I've ever seen him at you. He's not just gonna come back from this walk and suddenly be okay."
"What about your girlfriend?" John asked. "Jess didn't seem to have much of an opinion of me last time I saw her, but she seems like the type to be able to settle a situation."
"She might if she knew. And she's not my girlfriend anymore. She's my fiancee now," Sam corrected.
"Is that such a good idea?" it was John's turn to frown and Sam felt the old, familiar frustration at his father creeping back in.
"What do you mean?"
"I like Jess, don't get me wrong. She's a good girl and seems to be a fairly decent hunter for an amateur. I was just under the impression that once we get rid of the demon she was going back to school," John clarified.
"She is," Sam insisted. "What does that have to do with anything? Jess and I can still finish college as a married couple. Wait...seriously?! You thought that just because Dean dragged me back into this that I wasn't going to go back to school?"
"I thought you might have a better sense of duty than that now that you're older, yes," John spat back.
"Well newsflash for you Dad, the only reason I'm hunting is because I want to find the thing that killed Mom and went after Jess," frustration had turned into anger now. "I agreed to one hunt with Dean because he was looking for your sorry ass and he thought you might've been hurt in Jericho. After that I was planning to be done, it just didn't work that way because of Jess. Once the demon's take care of I'm out. I got out once, I'm doing it again."
"That's a selfish way to be Sam," John accused. "There are people dying out there every day because there aren't nearly enough hunters in the world."
"What's selfish is forcing your sons to be something you want them to be instead of letting them live their own lives!" Sam argued. "I lived my entire life doing what you wanted me to do and being who you wanted me to be. That wasn't me, though. It's not what I want. If I can do something, help from the outside, then I will. I even want to. But as soon as this demon is taken care of I'm done with the actual hunting part. For good."
"So that's it. You're planning to just go off, back to your own little world back at school again, huh?" John shook his head. "Just gonna walk out on your family again."
"Don't you dare," Sam warned. "Dad, you were the one who told me that if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. I was happy where I was, but I jumped back into this to help look for you. If Dean and I hadn't gotten back when we did that night Jess would be dead right now!"
"I told you that if you were going you should stay gone because I didn't think you'd actually turn your back on your family, Sam!"
They were both yelling by that point, so neither of them noticed the sharp knock on the door.
"I was just going to college!" Sam shouted. "I got an almost perfect score on my SAT's and got a full ride to a really great college. Most parents are proud when that happens. But not you. Instead you looked at me like I was some freak and all but disowned me. After what you put me through, can you really blame me for wanting to get away, anyway?"
"Dammit, you know that was a mistake!" John slammed his fist against the wall.
No sooner did his fist connect with the wall with a loud bang, when the door burst open. John and Sam both turned to see Dean just barely being held back by Jess. She apparently hadn't been able to stop him from kicking in the door, but right now she was the only thing standing between John and another broken bone. All the noise brought Bobby running, too. He took in the scene in front of him and sighed.
"Enough out of all you idjits," he ordered. "Git your asses out front so Ellen can fill us in on what's goin' on."
John was the first to stalk out of the room while Sam waited so there would be a little space between them. Dean rushed towards him and looked him over critically, prodding at him just in case.
"You okay, Sammy?" he finally asked.
"It's Sam, and I'm fine," Sam pushed Dean's hand away. "He's just being an ass, like usual. I told you we'd be at each others' throats within an hour."
"Well can it for now," Bobby glared, pushing Sam and Dean out towards the front of the roadhouse again and motioning for Jess to follow. "Ellen wouldn't have got us all out here if she didn't have something big."
"More like Ash has something big," Ellen corrected, motioning towards a new person sitting at the bar with a laptop in front of him.
"Damn right I do," Ash tapped at his keyboard for a second and pulled up some sort of program that meant absolutely nothing to any of the hunters in the room.
"Yeah, yeah, we all know you're a genius," Jo rolled her eyes. "Now will you quit showing off?"
"Fine," Ash huffed. "For those of you who don't know, John gave me copies of the research he did on the demon. It took me a while, but I compiled that research and created a computer program to track it's signs. Now, there's nothing yet but the second that yellow-eyed son of a bitch pops its head up, we'll have him."
"Ash, you better not have dragged us all here just to tell us that you have nothing," John growled.
"Nope," Ash clapped his hands together. "I was also working on that other thing you asked me about. Tracking down the Colt. Now, I had to go way back, find the earliest records I could find of it, and trace it from there. It wasn't easy. Most people think the last time it was seen was with the hunter Samuel Colt made it for, but I managed to find some vague mention of it after that."
"Wait a second. What Colt?" Sam wondered. He perched on one of the bar stools and pulled Jess back to lean against him.
"Keep going," John ignored Sam and spoke directly to Ash. "Did you find out where it ended up?"
"Dad..." Sam's arms tightened around Jess in an attempt to keep his temper.
"Not now, Sam," John ordered. "Ash?"
"Uh, yeah," Ash was looking nervously from John to Sam. "I don't have an exact location, but I know it's somewhere in Colorado. Best guess would be that a hunter has it."
"At least we have a place to start," John said. "The boys and I will start heading in that direction. Bobby, Ellen, I need you two to put together lists of hunters you know in Colorado and text them to us."
"Are you at least going to tell us what the deal is with this gun?" Dean asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the bar in a clear indication that he wasn't going anywhere.
"I expect this kind of thing from your brother, Dean. Not you," John scolded. "Load up boys. We're leaving in five."
"Dammit, John!" Bobby tossed his hat angrily onto a table. "Would it kill you to treat these three like the adults they are? I've held my tongue for two days now listenin' to you, and I won't do it anymore."
"There's a time and a place for sitting around and explaining things," John claimed. "This isn't it. We need to move on this while the demon's out of the picture."
"Back in 1835, Samuel Colt made a special gun and thirteen bullets to go along with it for a hunter," Bobby explained, ignoring John. "Rumor has it that the hunter used six of them bullets and that the gun could kill about damn near anything with `em."
"So, like supernatural anything?" Jo asked. It was the first time she was hearing any of this, too.
"Like the demon," Jess whispered in awe.
"Oh, I'm so there," Jo jumped out of her seat. "I'm coming to Colorado with you."
"No you're not," three voices all spoke up at the same time. Bobby, John, and Ellen all looked at each other.
"You're not going anywhere Joanna Beth," Ellen ordered. "You'll leave this one to the trained hunters, you hear me?"
"Mom, I'm not a kid!" Jo yelled.
"We're just going to see if we can get a gun," Dean pointed out hopefully.
Hey, Jo was hot. He'd gladly stuff his oversized brother into the backseat with Jess and the dog if it meant he could get the little blonde woman in front of him to ride along with them. At least that's what he was thinking until he saw the look Ellen shot him. He squirmed under her glare and mumbled some sort of excuse about needing to check on the car before the drive to Colorado before darting out of the room.
"You're not going and that's final," Ellen decided. "Bobby, c'mon over here and we'll work on those lists together so that we're not doubling up on names."
"Yes ma'am," Bobby answered wisely. "Sam, you take care of that girl of yours. I expect a weddin' invitation sometime soon. I might even consider not wearing a ball cap to it."
"I'd be insulted if you didn't," Jess leaned over to kiss Bobby on one bearded cheek.
"I'll say goodbye, but I'm not kissing you!" Sam joked to cover up his feelings. His own father had criticized him for wanting to get married, but Bobby was supportive just like always. That caused all sorts of mixed feelings.
"Get out of here," Bobby swatted the back of Sam's head.
John made it out the door first and stopped dead when he saw Orion sitting calmly next to Dean, who was digging around aimlessly in the trunk. The big dog perked up and barked once when he caught sight of Sam and Jess.
"Thought we had rules about animals in the car," John growled. "Jesus Dean. I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to let it go to hell like this."
"That's funny, considering it's the cleanest looking vehicle in the lot right now," Jess commented, offhand. She ignored the look that John gave her and sighed when she contemplated getting back on the road. It felt like she'd literally just gotten out of the car five minutes ago and now she was getting back in. At least she could catch up on a bit more sleep.
"Dad says we're pulling off at the next exit," Dean hung up his phone and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. "There's a hunter a few towns over in Manning, some guy named Daniel Elkins, who Dad thinks might know something about the Colt."
"Wow, he actually said all of that in one conversation?" Sam snapped as he shifted in his seat and tried to work the kinks out of his back. Almost two straight days in the car wasn't doing him any favors. "You think it hurt for him to give you all of that information all at once?"
"Baby..." Jess leaned forward in her seat and started to put her arms around Sam.
"Stop," he jerked forward. "I'm sorry. I know I'm being an ass here, but I just...my back hurts, my head hurts, I'm starving, and being around my Dad for long periods of time always has this effect on me. Hell, being around him for short periods of time has this effect on me, too."
"That doesn't mean you need to take it out on me," Jess was cranky from too much time on the road, too. Orion whined and set his head on the back of the front seat next to Sam's shoulder.
"I didn't say that it did!" Sam insisted.
"Well it sure sounded like you were!" Jess snapped.
"I said I was sorry. You're the one keeping this going now," Sam muttered.
"Oh, that's nice," Jess sat back in her seat with a huff.
"Would you two quit with the lovers' quarrel here?" Dean asked. "Jeez, it's enough to make me never want a real relationship."
"Like you have a chance at one anyway," Sam said before he could stop himself. "Christ, I can't shut myself up today."
"Too bad," Jess mumbled under her breath.
"Enough!" Dean growled. "Seriously you're like an old married couple already and you're not even married yet!"
"I need to get out of this damn hunk of metal and stretch my legs," Sam pushed against the dashboard crankily.
"Excuse me? Hunk of metal?" now Dean's temper was up. "My baby didn't do anything to you to deserve that!"
"It's a car, Dean," Sam reminded him.
"It's more than that to him and you know it," Jess argued. "God, why are you being so argumentative right now?"
"STOP!" Dean yelled, following John's truck off the highway and into the parking lot of a small diner. "The both of you! Jesus Christ!"
"Everything okay back here?" John asked as they all piled out of the vehicles.
Sam ignored his father and stormed ahead into the diner while Jess muttered something about taking Orion for a walk. The big dog hesitated and trotted a few steps towards Sam until Jess called to him sharply and brought him in the opposite direction. Which left John and Dean standing awkwardly next to each other.
"Dean, I..." John started.
"Don't," Dean cut him off. "Dad, I don't want to hear what possible reasoning you might have had for what happened. I'll forgive you. For Sam's sake, because he asked me to. My entire life you made sure that looking out for Sammy and protecting him from anything that wanted to hurt him was my number one priority, though. Just a reminder."
"Noted," John nodded. "Let's get something to eat and get back on the road. Elkins and I didn't exactly leave things on the best of terms and it might take some...where's your brother?"
"What? He went in already," Dean pointed towards the diner. He looked closer and realized that he couldn't see Sam through any of the windows. A second look made him realize he couldn't see anyone through any of the windows. "What the hell? Jess!"
Jess hadn't gone far, and she and Orion came running back as soon as Dean shouted.
"Something's wrong," Dean said, already pulling the gun from his waistband and racing for the diner. John and Jess were right on his heels.
The three hunters slammed into the diner and immediately skidded to a stop. Every last person there was dead, their throats slit. They all looked frantically around for a second.
"I don't see Sam," Jess finally said in a small voice.
"Neither do I, but if he's not here then where the hell is he?" Dean wondered.
"Dean. Jess," John had walked across the diner to the back door. He held up a hand to show them something stuck to his fingers. "Sulfur. A demon was here."
"Had to have been a pretty powerful one to get in and out this fast," Dean commented. He didn't want to think about what that must mean.
"We need to leave. Now," John ordered. "Back to the vehicles you two."
"Not without Sam," Jess argued. "We need to stay and look for him!"
"If it didn't kill him here, it most likely isn't going to just yet," John explained. "But it wouldn't have gone to the trouble to kill everyone and abduct him if it was going to keep him close by, either. We need to keep on with our mission to find the Colt."
"The Colt?" Jess snapped. "Sam is missing and you're worried about a damn gun?!"
"Once we have the Colt we have leverage," John sighed. Jess couldn't have sounded more like Sam right there if she'd been trying. "Once we have leverage, we can force the demon to tell us where Sam is."
"If we can even find the demon," Dean pointed out. "Dad, the trail's going to go cold if we wait too long."
"There is no trail," John argued. "The demon doesn't leave one. Wherever Sam is we're going to have to trust him to be able to either get word to us or get himself out of it. Either way the best thing we can do is find the gun so we're prepared for either contingency."
The last thing Dean wanted to do was leave and let Sam fend for himself. He knew his Dad was right, though. He put a hand gently on Jess's shoulder.
"I'll call Ash," he offered. "See if his fancy, genius computer program can give us any ideas."
"You two go then," Jess pushed Dean's hand off of her. "I'll stay here with Ri and we'll see what we can find."
"You're not staying here on your own," John frowned at her.
"You may be able to order Sam and Dean around, but I'm not one of your children," Jess snapped. "I don't have that same loyalty to you that they do, which means I'm not willing to drop everything to do as you say. My focus is Sam."
"Jess," Dean said gently. "We're gonna find him. You know he would kill us if we left you back here by yourself, though."
"You don't understand, I need to find him," Jess emphasized.
"I'm probably one of the only people in the world who actually does understand," Dean reminded her. "He's my brother. We don't know that the demon's done here, though. Plus it's already come after you once. If we leave you alone, what's stopping it from coming back and finishing the job? I won't lose the both of you in the same hour, you understand me?"
"No, you don't get it," Jess tried to turn her back on Dean. "I picked a fight with him! If it hadn't been for that fight he wouldn't have gone into the diner on his own. Now he's missing and the last thing I did was argue with him!"
"Stop," Dean forced her to turn back around and pulled her in close. Jess buried her head in his chest. "All three of us were fighting over nothing. We've spent most of the last few days on the road and we were all feeling it. I'm no expert on relationships, but I do know my brother. He wouldn't let one argument get between you two. He knows that you love him. Wherever he is, he's probably more worried about you than you are about him, y'know?"
"Not possible," Jess sniffled. "Fine. I'll come with you guys to get the Colt. I can't help still feeling guilty, though. If I hadn't been so focused on fighting with him we all might've noticed that Orion was acting like he does right before one of Sam's visions. Getting whiny, trying to stay close to Sam, that kind of thing."
Dean hung his head. Jess was right about that. He'd completely ignored all the signs too.
"Visions?" John had almost made it back to his truck when he heard that. He whipped around and fixed Dean with a glare. "What the hell is this about visions?"
"You said yourself, we need to go find the gun," Dean avoided the subject. "So let's go."
"This conversation is not over," John warned.
Jess bit her tongue to keep a sharp retort back. It wasn't the time to get into yet another argument for the day. The second it was though...well, John was going to be hearing exactly what she thought of his attitude towards his children. Dean recognized Jess's "I want to tell someone off" look and smirked. His Dad was definitely going to be getting an earful and Jess might just be the one person who could take him down a couple of pegs.
"Here goes nothing," John took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the cabin tucked back in the woods.
An old man answered the door, scowled, and immediately slammed it back closed.
"That went well," Dean muttered sarcastically.
"Open the door, Daniel," John pounded on the door again.
The door flew open a second time, and this time John, Dean, and Jess found themselves staring into the barrel of a shotgun. Dean sighed. Two shotguns pulled on him in the same day. Yep, a clear sign he was working with John Winchester.
"Mr. Elkins? Sir?" Jess stepped slightly in front of Dean and John. She loved Dean, but the look on his face was an obvious indication that he wasn't going to put up with this for long. If anyone had the chance of getting them all out of this without anyone being shot, it was going to have to be her.
"Yeah," Elkins snapped. The shotgun wavered a little. Pointing a gun at John or the guy standing next to him was one thing. Judging by the size of the kid, he assumed it was one of John's boys anyway. Pointing one at some girl he'd never seen before in his life was another, though. She was starting to get the look of a hunter, but she wasn't all the way there yet.
"I'm Jess," she introduced herself. "I'm engaged to John's son, Sam."
"Let me give you some advice then," Elkins warned. "Get far, far away while you can. You look like a good girl, but you spend much time with the Winchester's and that changes in a hurry."
"Can we come in?" Jess ignored the old man's comment. She was well past the point of being able to get away, even if she'd wanted to. Which she didn't. "Please? We just have a few questions and we think you might be able to help us."
There was a minute of hesitation where Dean wasn't sure he even breathed. Finally Elkins lowered his shotgun and jerkily motioned for them to come in.
"Damn," John whispered under his breath. He'd underestimated his son's fiancee. Jess was impressive.
"Talk fast," Elkins sat down in an armchair and laid the shotgun across his lap, not willing to set it down yet with John in the house.
Jess and John sat across from him on a small couch while Dean paced the room like an antsy tiger. Jess knew better than to try to stop him. He was hiding it well, but he was scared to death for Sam. She reached out to brush his hand the next time he paced past her, which comforted them both just slightly.
"My son was kidnapped by a demon a couple miles back," John jumped right in.
"He's dead then," Elkins said bluntly. "Or possessed. Or both. None of that explains why you're here, Winchester."
"We don't think so," Jess tried not to flinch at Daniel's words. "The demon that we're pretty sure kidnapped him, it seems like it's been trying to get close to him for a long time. It killed his mother in his nursery. It came after me in our bedroom. It killed everyone but him in the diner when it kidnapped him. It seems like it's never attacked him directly though."
"That's even more worrisome than believing he's dead or possessed then," Elkins pointed out. "If it wants him that bad, you can bet it's not for anything good."
"That's exactly why we're here," Jess continued. "We heard rumor of a gun, a Colt, that can supposedly kill any supernatural thing. Last we heard, it was somewhere in Colorado, but we don't know where. We were hoping that maybe you've heard of it, or that you might know where it is?"
"I may have an idea," Elkins answered vaguely. "Why?"
"What do you mean, 'why'?" Dean stopped mid-pace. "She just told you. Sam's missing. The demon has him. The Colt can kill it. End of story. What's not to get?"
"I mean why should I tell you where it is?" Elkins asked.
Dean's hands tightened down into fists. They itched to go for his gun, but with Elkins still holding that shotgun on them, he might as well just sign all their death certificates if he did that.
"Are you really willing to let a twenty-two year old kid die just because of a falling out you and I had almost ten years ago?" John's voice was low and dangerous. "My son is missing, Daniel. He's god knows where and he could be fighting for his life right now for all we know. So why don't you stop talking in riddles and explain why you won't give us the gun? Yeah, I know you have it. That much is pretty obvious."
"Alright, yeah, I do have it," Elkins replied. "And honestly, even considering that fight you and I had, I have things set up so that if something happens to me the gun goes to you. I need to know that you understand the Colt is more important than just for revenge, though. There are only five things that it can't kill, and only a few bullets left for it."
"You know I don't have plans to waste them," John said. "One shot, one kill, one less demon in the world."
"But it's just a demon," Daniel argued. "Get it in a trap and exorcise it. You don't need the gun for that."
"It's not just a demon," Jess looked over to Dean, who nodded.
"It's not?" both John and Daniel looked at the two younger hunters.
"It is a demon, but not just a normal causing evil for evil's sake type of demon," Dean explained. "It's got some sort of plan. Our last hunt a couple of days ago had to do with another family that the demon went after. It seems like right around twenty-two, twenty-three years ago, the demon was attacking families, targeting a baby, and killing the mothers."
"Sam did some research right after that and found at least two more," Jess spoke up. "Exact same thing. There could possibly be more out there, but that's all he managed to find for now."
"So this is bigger than just revenge," Dean continued. "And it's bigger than 'just a demon'. If it went to that much trouble, and then waited twenty-plus years, I'm willing to bet that it's planning something big."
"Is Sam the only one of these kids that went missing?" Elkins asked.
Dean and Jess looked sheepishly at each other. Neither of them had even considered the thought of calling Max to see if he was still alright. Dean quickly fumbled his phone out of his pocket and moved to a corner of the room to make the call. Meanwhile, Daniel finally set his shotgun down and left the room. He came back with a wooden box, holding it reverently.
"Is that...?" John reached out for it.
"The Colt," Elkins opened the box and showed them. He pulled it slightly back before John could touch it. "I'm trusting you here, John. You didn't give me a hell of a lot of reason to back then, but I'm giving you a second chance anyway. I want it to come back here after you get rid of this demon. It was trusted to me, and I plan to make sure it's used right."
"Deal," John agreed.
Elkins snapped the lid back closed and handed the entire box to John. A minute later Dean hung up and made his way back over to them with a concerned look on his face.
"I couldn't get ahold of Max, but I got Alice," he said. "Max was in a counseling session with his therapist a couple of hours ago. The therapist was found dead just about an hour ago, throat slit, and Max is missing. Cops think Max did it, but Alice says she smelled sulfur in the office when she went to meet up with him after the session."
"We need to move on this," John stood. He nodded to Elkins. "Thank you, Daniel."
"Go figure out what this demon wants," Daniel said.
John, Dean, and Jess made their way back out to the vehicles. It was all well and good to say that they needed to move on this, but none of them had any idea where to start. John called Bobby to see if he had any ideas, while Jess and Dean sat on the hood of the Impala. Concerned as they were for Sam, neither of them could help but smile when Bobby's voice carried through the phone loud and clear, cursing John up and down for not calling him sooner.
"Better him than me," Dean whispered.
"Got that right," Jess agreed.
"Like Bobby would ever talk to you like that. He likes you way too..." Dean broke off as a blinding pain shot through his head. Orion was suddenly on alert and jumped up to put his front paws on Dean's legs and his nose in his face.
"What the hell was that?" Jess shot to her feet and put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Dean?"
"I don't know," Dean blinked hard and pushed the big dog off of him. "Headache, maybe?"
"Ri doesn't act like that for just a headache," Jess pointed out. She'd ignored the signs last time and it had gotten Sam kidnapped. She wouldn't make that mistake again.
"I'm not Sam, I don't get visi...God!" Dean just about doubled over, clamping his hands to the sides of his head. This time John noticed too.
"What's going on, Jess?" he asked. Bobby's voice cracked across the line again and he snarled into his phone. "Would you hold on, Bobby? I don't know yet! I'm trying to find out now."
"I saw Sam," Dean gasped, still doubled over. "Just for a second. He's alive."
"What else?" John demanded.
"Nothing, all I saw was..." the worst pain so far hit Dean and this time he slid off of the front of the Impala and landed in the dirt. His eyes glazed over in a way that Jess was used to seeing Sam's do by this point.
"Give him a second," she knelt next to Dean, but pushed John's hand away as he reached out for his son. "He'll come out of it. Sam always does."
"Is this a vision, like he mentioned Sam having?" John asked.
"I think so, but this is the first time Dean's ever had one," Jess frowned.
Dean came to with a groan of pain, but a triumphant look in his eyes. He wiped at his nose, which was bleeding, and let Jess and his Dad help him to his feet.
"I saw Sam again," he batted Jess's hands away from his bleeding nose. "And some bell. An old bell with a tree engraved on it. That was it, but it means we have something to go on to look for Sam."
"What Bobby?" John had almost forgotten about his friend. "You do? We're on our way."
"What?" Dean asked.
"Bobby knows where Sam is," John's eyes were lit up with a mixture of hope and revenge. "Cold Oak, South Dakota."
"Cold Oak?" Dean frowned and had to think for a second before it came to him. "Wait, isn't that the town that was so haunted that every last person abandoned it?"
"That's the one," John strode towards his truck. "It's almost eight hours from here to there. Let's make it half that."
"Yes sir," both Dean and Jess answered at the same time.
They knew where Sam was and they had the Colt. As far as they were concerned that was enough for now and god help anyone who got in their way.
Additional Note: So I know I skipped and changed a lot in this chapter. I debated pushing Sam getting kidnapped to Cold Oak to a later chapter, but I got tired of waiting. Lol. Beginning of next chapter will go back and focus on Sam's POV after getting kidnapped and build from there. I have it partially written already and thanks to an awesome suggestion from Mbavrocks12, I have a really cool twist on something that happens while he's there. I have some big plans for the next few chapters, so the story should get a lot more exciting again after this. Hope you all liked this chapter, even though everything got really rushed!