Dean cleared his throat, hands on the wheel, eyes staring at the road in front of him. The car was eerily silent, the three passengers all deep in thought. "So," he finally attempted, glancing at Ellen, "this brings back memories, huh?"
"You talking about the time you almost got Jo killed?"
"I prefer to think of it as the dear girl's first hunt."
"It was almost her last."
Dean cleared his throat again, letting the space fill with that uncomfortable silence, the rumbling of the Impala's old engine the only noise penetrating the darkening surroundings.
Jaydin leaned forward from the backseat. "So, this town we're headed to, what's going on there?"
"Electrical storms," her father replied quickly, happy to fill the void that silence left, "cattle mutilations, and probably a big swirly cloud of black smoke with bright yellow eyes."
The girl nodded. "And how many more hours is it gonna take to get there?"
"Only a couple." They'd been driving for nearly seven straight hours, only stopping for gas and food. The majority of the ride had been quiet and strained, with no one really knowing what to say.
"You try calling uncle Sam and seeing if he's already there?"
Dean nodded. "Either his phone's off, or it's dead."
The girl nodded back as she caught the subtle way his voice cracked, saw the pain hidden in his eyes. He was scared. It was possible that the phone wasn't the only dead thing in the equation, and he was scared. "What are we gonna do once we get there?"
He glanced back at her and smiled. "You're going to stay in the car. Your mom and I are gonna go check out the house that Ash pointed out as the possible target. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," she sighed, sinking back into the seat and folding her arms over her chest.
Another awkward silence filled the car, surrounding the three passengers, adding to the level of discomfort that came from being gathered together in a tiny space after more than thirteen years apart.
"So," Ellen finally said, turning to Dean, "why'd Sam leave again?"
"Well," Dean began slowly, "he got restless. Heard some news about some killings going on in Palo Alto when Jaye was about five and he went to check it out. He came back to tell me he wasn't coming back, which makes about as much sense as him actually wanting to start hunting again. I stayed in suburbia, and he bought himself a nice car and headed out for who-knows-where."
"He calls a lot, though," Jaye offered, leaning forward again, "and he stops by for holidays. Remember that time he brought us a tree for Arbor Day?"
"It's just such a big event in Nebraska," Dean nodded, smiling at the memory, "he couldn't not help us celebrate."
"And now he's on the trail of the thing that killed your mom," Ellen observed, "only he forgot to mention it."
"Well, it's a very forgettable creature. Besides, can you blame him for leaving us out of the loop on this one? Just exorcising the damn thing nearly got us killed."
"Nearly got Jaye killed, you mean."
He shrugged, glancing in the rearview to see his daughter staring back at him. "I wasn't gonna let it hurt her."
"Dad almost broke his arm trying to save me," the girl said, "thing threw him across a room."
Ellen turned to stare at Dean. "You actually told her she almost got killed?"
"What was he supposed to do?" Jaye asked indignantly, "let me live my live in ignorance? This thing coming back has always been a possibility. Besides, it's not like he fed me arsenic. He told me the truth, which is more than most parents do for their kids."
"But to know that kind of thing-"
"What? That he saved me? You're right, that's horrible." She sank back into the seat and let silence penetrate the car again.
"It's just not the choice I would have made," Ellen finally whispered.
"I guess we're lucky I was the one making the choices, then," Dean hissed.
o0o0o0o0o
Crickets chirped in the darkness, their song echoing through the still air of a Texan summer night. The Impala's doors creaked as they were opened and groaned as they were slammed shut. Three sets of shoes sank in shallow mud as the car's passengers stepped out into the brisk air to get a good look at the house in question.
"What time is it?" Ellen asked, growing nervous as the chorus of insects suddenly stopped.
Dean pushed up the sleeve of his jacket to look at his watch. The second hand wasn't moving. "It's dead," he reported, turning to the older hunter.
Jaydin moved around from the side of the car. "I told you you should have gone digital," she sighed, pulling a cell phone out of her pocket and looking at the screen. She frowned, flipping the phone open and finding it dark. "What the fu-" she glanced at her father, who was looking at her expectantly, "Friday. It's, uh, it's Friday. We missed 'Grey's' reruns. Yeah."
"Nice save," Dean said, winking, "and didn't I tell you to stay in the car?"
Jaye shrugged. "It's not like anything's happening."
As if on cue, every light in the house across the street began to flicker. Dean looked pointedly at his daughter, who began to slink back toward the safety of the car. Her reluctant retreat was stopped, however, by sounds of shouting coming from the house.
Two pajama-clad figures darted across the street, both with looks of panic on their faces. The man and woman, both looking to be in their thirties, slid to a stop in the mud.
"You have to help us," the woman gasped, clutching at her chest as she struggled for breath, "please. Our baby… he's still inside, and that man-"
"What man?" Dean demanded, stepping up to the woman and towering over her.
"The one," she choked out, "the one with the yellow eyes."
"He has your baby?"
She shook her head. "No. The other one, the one that told us to run. I think he has him."
Dean reached out and grabbed her shoulders, eliciting a growl from her shaking husband. "What did he look like?"
"I-I don't know. It all happened so fast. Please, can you go see if my baby is ok?"
With a nod, the hunter set off toward the house. He was barely halfway to the front yard of the modest two-storey before he could see flames licking at the drapes in one of the rooms. Knowing from experience what would happen next, Dean turned on his heels and ran back to the muddy lot.
Jaye stepped from her place beside the car to see what had her father running scared, but was scooped into his arms before she could even ask him what was up. Heat rolled across the area as every window in the house exploded, shooting flames from the wooden structure.
The girl pulled herself from her father's protective grip in time to see the house become consumed by the fire. The dancing flames reflected in her eyes as she gazed at the inferno that sat across the street. "Uncle Sammy?"
"It probably wasn't him," Dean said, resting a hand on her shoulder and trying on a false smile, "he's probably miles away from here in some run-down motel room right now."
"Who else would have tried to save their baby?"
"There are lots of hunters out there," he reasoned, feeling dread building up within him, "Ash probably called one of them."
"If you don't believe that, how am I supposed to?" she challenged, still watching the house as smoke swirled up into the sky.
Dean opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a shrill scream from the panicked homeowner. It didn't take long for his wife to start shouting and pointing toward the blazing house, too.
The hunter turned to follow their gaze and saw a large figure silhouetted before the flames. The person was tall, well built, and holding some kind of squirming mass in its arms as it crossed the street to the mucky lot.
"No way," Dean muttered as the figure drew close enough to be seen.
"Way," Sam grinned, handing the whimpering infant off to his parents and wiping a grimy hand over his equally grimy face.
"But Ash said-"
Sam shrugged. "You think he's the only one that can track signs? I found out about the mutilations in town and checked on all the other stuff. Good thing I did, too, 'cause you guys were late. Hey, Ellen."
Ellen nodded. "Sam."
The young hunter sniffed and glanced back at the house. "Got away from me," he reported, "again. I was so close, too. I almost had-" he stopped and looked down at the thin arms that had wrapped around his waist. "Hey, Jaydin."
The girl grinned up at him. "You could have told us it was back. We could have helped."
"I could have helped," her father corrected, "and you could have stayed with one of your friends."
"Well, you're both here now," Sam interrupted, stopping the coming argument before it could start, "so it doesn't matter. Besides, I'm on it, so you can head back home."
"No way," Jaye argued, "like you said, we're here now, so why leave? Obviously, this thing needs to be stopped."
"It needs to be stopped by someone with experience," her uncle pointed out, "I've got it."
"And just how were you planning killing it?" Ellen asked, finally deciding to join the conversation, "did you find the gun?"
"Well, not exactly-"
"Some other way, then?"
"I'm kind of working on that-"
"So, you go barreling in there in the middle of the night with no way to kill the demon. That's great, Sam. When were you planning on telling your family about this master plan of yours?"
"I didn't want to worry anyone."
"Well," Dean grinned, "we're worried now. Good job, Geekboy."
Sam turned to him, opening his mouth to reply, but stopped as he caught sight of the couple and their baby, watching as their house burnt to the ground. "Look, can we do this somewhere else? There's a motel a couple of miles outside of town. We can get a couple of rooms, get some sleep, and talk about things in the morning, all right?"
Dean shrugged. "Lead the way."