AN: Yes, I am alive. Sorry for the delayed update. I went through a rough patch for a while, but I'm okay now and will be updating regularly. Enjoy.

Chapter 8

"Hey Jimmy," Dorian said, hopping onto the stool banging her knee into the counter. She cursed and grabbed hold of it. Dean chuckled and took the seat next to her.

It had been decided that she and Dean would go and talk to Jimmy while Sam and John did some research on the ritual that was going to take place. Plus Dean hoped that by sticking the two of them together they might hash out some of their problems.

He gave her a bright smile and walked over to her. "Hey guys! You had your friends real worried last night, Dorian. Everything okay?"

She gave him a small smile. "No, but hopefully it will be."

Jimmy leaned on the counter so that they were face to face. "What's going on little one?"

Dorian looked around. The diner was pretty full. She turned back to Jimmy. "Maybe we should go back in your office."

Jimmy looked at her curiously. "All right. Come on."

The trio walked back to Jimmy's office. It was small, white walls, a desk with a computer on it, and a safe. Jimmy gestured them in and shut the door behind them. Dorian hopped up on the desk and Dean stood next to her. Jimmy leaned against the door. "Now, what's all this about?"

"About the missing people," Dean told him bluntly.

Jimmy crossed his arms over his chest. "Uh huh, and why are you asking questions about that exactly."

Dean and Dorian exchanged a glance. Dorian wanted to tell Jimmy the truth about everything, and Dean thought they should make a cover story. He glared at her and Dorian glared back.

"The people that were taken..."

"We think that whoever is doing it is going to grab someone else," Dean said cutting her off.

"Dean!"

"Dorian?"

Jimmy laughed. "Okay, down you two. Why are the missing people any of your concern?"

She looked over at him. "Because Jimmy, Cochran's never going to find who took them. Even if he did it'd just kill him too."

"It?"

"She means whoever is..."

"Jimmy, a demon took them."

"Dorian!"

"Dean?"

"Come again," Jimmy asked, drawing her attention towards him.

Dorian sighed. Her moment of victory with Dean was over. It was time to get down to business. "Look, Jimmy you know why the town murdered my mom."

His features went tight. "Unfortunately yes, they thought she was a witch. I hate to say small town superstition," He shrugged. "But it's true. I never would have thought they had it in them."

"Yeah, about that, why exactly didn't you get outside help," Dean asked, suddenly. "I mean why have the state police never been called in on any of this?"

Jimmy sighed and scratched his head. "I did, actually. Call the state police I mean. When they tried to kill Alexus. Unfortunately it wasn't a planned thing. They dragged her off the street one day, shoved her into a house and burned it down." He shrugged. "By the time they got here, all that was left was ashes."

"Didn't they investigate?"

"Asked a few questions, but that's as far as they took it."

Dorian really didn't want to get into this right now. "Okay, we're getting off track. The point is the town was right. My mom was a witch." Jimmy raised his eyebrows. "Of the good variety and so am I. The supernatural stuff, it does exist Jimmy."

He smirked. "All right, I get it. You're trying to pull the wool over old Jimmy's eyes right?"

"I told you to go with the cover story," Dean told her.

"Shut up," She snapped. "Jimmy I'm serious. Those people who were taken, they were sacrificed! The demon needs one more to finish the ritual and we're trying to stop him!"

He chuckled. "You always did have an imagination."

Dorian sighed. She held out her hand and formed an energy ball. Jimmy's eyes widened and the smile fell from his face. "See?" She fizzled the ball out. She hopped off the desk and took the two steps to reach him. "The demon needs one more sacrifice, Jimmy and from what we gather, you're it."

"Me? What...Dorian...I don't understand any of this."

"Well we only have it part way," Dean told him. "All we know is that everyone taken was part of the mob that killed Dorian's mom. Now, seeing as how you weren't part of that, we figure that they have to have some other connection."

Laughing almost hysterically Jimmy ran a hand through his hair. "Ruddington is a small town! Everyone knows everyone and has a lot of common ground! It could be anything!"

"Okay, Jimmy just calm down," Dorian said holding up her hands. "We need you to think. You know everyone in this town. What was the common point in the four victims?"

He sighed. "All right, all right!" He walked over and sat in his chair.

"Did they all go hunting together, maybe," Dean asked. "Hang out together."

He shook his head. "No, I mean they knew each other. They were all in church on Sundays, but so were a lot of other people."

Dorian sighed. She leaned forward resting her hands on the desk. "Okay, they're has to be something, otherwise this guys just changing the pattern for the hell of it!"

"Guy," Jimmy questioned. "I thought you said it was a demon?"

"It is," Dorian said tiredly.

"Yeah, it just happens to be demon working with someone," Dean explained.

"Someone in Ruddington?"

She nodded. Then she looked up at Dean. "I think we may have been right before."

"Huh?"

"Okay, think about it, we thought that the victim's had been the one's who killed my mom right?"

Dean nodded. "But we've already..."

She held up a hand to silence him. "Maybe the one's being picked are the one's who wronged me. I mean the victims were all at my burning too."

"That doesn't make any sense," Dean told her. "I mean then the person at the top of the list should be Cochran, not Jimmy if that were the case."

"Maybe not," Dorian said. "I mean, Jimmy never wronged me, not directly. He sheltered me when I needed it, but otherwise, he didn't do anything to help me."

"Dorian, I..."

"Don't worry about it Jimmy," Dorian said quickly. "I don't blame you for any of this." She smiled at him. "Never have, never will. You did what you could and that's enough for me." He gave her a small smile in return. "The point is just because I know Jimmy helped me, doesn't mean that whoever is doing this does."

"Dorian the only person in this town that gives a damn about what happened to you is us," Dean told her. "And Jimmy sure as hell didn't slit his own throat in Sam's vision!"

Jimmy's hand instinctively went to his throat. "Slit my throat?"

"We're not going to let it happen, Jimmy," She told him. She looked back at Dean. "There may be one more."

Dean nodded in understanding. "Rodney."

"You're Uncle?" Jimmy questioned.

"Yeah," Dorian said. "Which means he's been playing me from the beginning. He knew about my mother, and me. He doesn't know that Jimmy sheltered me, or maybe Rodney does and thinks Jimmy should have done more. Either way he was trying to lure me in by playing the innocent bystander." She looked at Dean. "Could be why the demon wanted me to join him in Sam's vision."

"We need to find him," Dean told her. He pulled out his cell phone.

"Someone has to stay with Jimmy," Dorian said. "Rodney's going to come looking for him."

"I know," Dean said, waiting for Sam to pick up. "You and Sam will guard him while dad and I..."

"No," Dorian snapped, standing up straight.

"Dorian, we don't have time to argue about this. Yeah, Sam, we're at the diner. We think Rodney's the guy."

Dorian grabbed the cell phone from Dean's hand and hung up on Sam.

"What the hell!"

"I'm going after Rodney," She said calmly.

"Dorian..."

"I'm sick of you ignoring what I have to say, damn it! He's my family and he's doing this because of what these people did to me! I'm going and if I have to knock your sorry ass out with an energy blast I will!" The phone rang again. Dorian growled and picked it up. "He'll call you back, Sam!" She hung up the phone again.

Dean stared at her slack jawed for a minute. The anger in her eyes was fierce. He fed into it, letting her anger fuel his. "What you want to go after him so you can wind up tied up in the cellar like in Sam's vision?"

"Oh keep the scare tactics, Dean," She snapped. "They won't work on me, not anymore!" She took a deep breath and plopped her hands on her hips. "Look, the full moon isn't until tomorrow night. We get Jimmy out of town now."

"If we do that, Rodney will just grab someone else," He pointed out.

"Not if we get Rodney first," Dorian said. "After we get Jimmy out of town, we go straight for Rodney."

Dean shook his head. "If Jimmy leaves town he'll know somethings up." He sighed. In a calmer voice he said, "Dorian, look the best way is to keep him under guard. Now we've all seen what happens when you get pissed off enough. I know you want to face Rodney head on, but the truth is Jimmy is safest with you!"

She laughed. "Now it's reverse psychology?"

"No," He snapped. "It's the truth."

Dorian paced in the small amount of space she had. She pointed a finger at him. "No, this is about you being overprotective again! Damn it, Dean!"

He grabbed Dorian by the shoulders, making her stop. "If this was about me being overprotective I'd tell you to get the hell out of this town!" He sighed and looked down still holding on to her. He took a deep breath and looked back up at her. "Jimmy is the target. Okay, our main job is to make sure that Rodney doesn't get him."

She glared at him. "I thought the main objective was to kill the demon."

"Damn it, Dorian," Dean snapped. "Why do you have to be so stubborn? Yeah we want the demon dead, but not at the price of innocent people! You and Sam can keep Jimmy safe, buying me and dad the time to get to Rodney!"

"Why can't Sam watch him," She asked. "Why can't I go?"

"Because," He said, letting go of her. "If the demon gets passed us, Jimmy's still in trouble and I know that you can keep him safe. You were uh..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Right before when you said that you had an advantage my mother didn't. You can handle yourself and I think if you went up against the demon, well you wouldn't win, but you'd give him a hell of a fight. Enough time for Jimmy to get away."

"I wouldn't leave her to die," Jimmy said.

Dorian glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I wouldn't die, Jimmy. Dean knows that or else he wouldn't let me do this."

He nodded. "You're right. You can draw up a protective circle like you did before, keeping the demon inside of it until you guys get away."

Sighing she sat on the edge of Jimmy's desk. "Fine, but I'm not going to protect him here." She looked around. "Too small, and too easy to find. If Rodney came here I wouldn't have enough room to do anything. Oh yeah and let's not forget about the not so innocent bystanders."

Dean smirked. "Hotel room. Safest place probably."

Dorian raised her hand. "Yeah sort of remember that being not so safe."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Long time ago, no powers, and no one there to help you."

She pointed at him. "True. All right," She turned to Jimmy. "Let's go."