Title: Iron Star
Completed: 3/7/08
Genre: Action/Angst
Rating: T
Timeline: Post-Season 02. Sequel to Red X.

Summary
Sequel to Red X, though it can still stand-alone. The aftermath and its consequences.

Disclaimer
I do not own Supernatural. Supernatural is © Eric Kripke and the CW. I do 'own' some original characters.

Warnings
Original characters who get more than a little air time! For more spoiler-warnings see the end of the page.

The cemetery was deserted.

Naturally. Of course it was. It was like eleven o'clock. Who would be in a cemetery at this time of night? No one. Except a group of hunters. The old graveyard was quiet, even the crickets seemed subdued. It felt eerie. Except most cemeteries do in the middle of the night, and Cal Henry had been to enough of them to know that. Which was why he was he was so confused about why they were bothering with these maneuvers.

Coming to crouch behind a tombstone, the young man glanced to his side as he was joined by his friend and fellow hunter Rebecca MacKenzie. For a moment both held position, silent, backs against the stone. Except Cal's nerves were getting the best of him. Breaking the unspoken rule he whispered intensely.

"Why exactly are we playing Delta Force again?"

Giving him a cold glare, Bec looked off towards the large statue.

"Winchester said we might confront hostiles."

Cal had to keep himself from laughing at the term. Bec was dead serious and didn't appreciate his humor. Fortunately his anxiety made it easy to suppress a smile. Slowly he scanned the area.

"Like what? Zombies? Ghouls? Demons?"

Damn, a part of him thought. If his parents heard him right then they'd roll their eyes and think he was talking about WOW or something. The thought did a little to relieve the tension.

"Don't know," Bec answered simply.

"But Dante really trusts this guy?"

Now Bec glanced towards him, gaze critical.

"Don't you?"

It was a question Cal had yet to answer for himself. The only reason he was even here was because of Becca and Dante. The latter was the one who'd recruited them in a way. Cal had known Dante only long enough to know the guy was experienced and good at what he did. Dante had helped him out of a tight spot more than once, and for that Cal trusted him. Except at the same time, in a way he couldn't manage to describe, Cal was pretty sure that if one of them ever turned out to be some kind of double-agent or one of those stock characters it would be him. Dante was just struck him as shady.

As for not trusting Winchester there were a hundred different responses ready on his tongue, but movement caught both their attention. Falling silent both rose and approached the target, quickly ducking behind the first available cover. Cal felt his stomach sink as he saw the subject of his conversation crouch down behind the gravestone to his left.

Winchester was tall. Six foot something. Taller than Cal anyway; and intimidating. Then again he had to be in his thirties by the look of him. Tall, lean, he looked tough as nails and wasn't someone Cal wanted to mess with. The scars only added to the image. Harsh, jagged marks that crossed the man's face and neck; it looked like someone had cut him up. Someone or some thing. Cal only realized he was staring when Winchester turned to meet his gaze with sharp eyes. Reflexively Cal looked away.

Damn if this guy doesn't spook me as bad as a real ghost.In all there were four of them. Winchester, Bec, Dante, and himself. The cemetery dated back to the days of cowboys and Indians, in the middle of Wyoming. The reason they were there was the Colt. According to both Dante and Winchester the antique of a firearm could kill any demon with a single bullet. Cal hadn't seen it in action but he'd heard from those who had; and if Dante's word was enough for Bec he supposed it was enough for him. At least, usually it was.

Legs cramping, Cal switched to kneel on one knee. Twisting he slowly glanced out from behind his cover to the mausoleum. That's where the other Colts were supposed to be. Well, they might not all be guns, Winchester had warned. With the black clouds of demons that had been appearing lately, and the emergence of Lilith, it didn't really matter. They needed anything they could get their hands on. It might even be better if they weren't firearms. Bullets were hard to come by and no ordinary ones would do.

There was someone there. Lounging near the door.

"Holy shit!"

Ducking back down, Cal glanced over at their unofficial leader in alarm. Winchester was using a small mirror to get a look. Cautiously Cal took another peek.

It looked like a woman. Tall, blonde, pretty. Not threatening at all. Except that in and of itself was enough to make Cal finger the safety on his SIG. He still had scars from the succubus that had nearly killed him in Seattle.

Pocketing the mirror, Winchester spared him a glance.

"What now?"

Cal watched as their unofficially appointed leader glanced towards where Dante and Bec were probably holed up. He held up a hand and made a circling motion. Shadows moved in the distance. Winchester glanced over at him and answered.

"Cover me. She's not alone."

With that the man stepped out into the open and approached slowly, the Colt aimed and ready. Getting more comfortable, Cal took careful aim. From his position he watched the two come together. The woman seemed unperturbed by the weapon, though her face was a detached mask. At the first sign of movement she'd already drawn her own gun and aimed it at Winchester's chest. They spoke softly; Cal couldn't make out any words.

Stooped there like that, firearm trained, Cal wondered how the hell the Marines and army personnel did this for hours. His back was aching, his muscles sore. Sweat tickled his neck, trickled past his brow down the ridge of his nose to sting his eye. Blinking and squinting, the young man attempted to keep his breathing even as he strained to catch the conversation.

So focused was he that Cal didn't notice the approaching presence until it was too late. There was the sound of grass crunching under the sole of a boot, a loud click, and Cal whirled to meet the interloper. Half way around he felt something blunt poke him between the shoulder blades painfully. Abruptly he froze.

"You are one dumb kid," a familiar voice muttered.

"Knox?"

"Gun on the ground," Joshua Knox spoke coolly. "Hands in the air."

Head spinning in befuddled surprise, Cal hesitated. The muzzle of the firearm prodded his vertebrae sharply.

"I'll hurt you if I have to kid."

Slowly Cal obeyed, heart hammering in his chest.

"Hands on your head."

"What's going on, Knox?"

There was a shot in the distance. Cal jumped but didn't think to go for his weapon. Knox quickly grabbed it, pocketing the firearm. More shots followed and Cal found his face being pressed into the cold dirt, Knox frisking him for more weapons. Tilting his head the younger hunter sputtered, confused and afraid.

"What the hell?!"

"Relax," Knox pressed one knee on Cal's back.

The weight was enough to keep him pinned, and Cal didn't dare risk making a move without more information. He did intend to protest the command on principle, but more gunshots followed. From his vantage point, cheek against the grass, the hunter couldn't see a thing.

Thoughts rushed through his head. He'd come here expecting demons, maybe a ghoul, but not other hunters! What the hell was Joshua up to and who was with him?!

Silence stretched out. For a long moment Cal feared for Bec, his thoughts drifting briefly to Dante. Then Knox was off him and ordering him to his feet. Like a criminal on Cops or some detective show Cal was marched out into the open, hands still on his head. The muzzle of Knox's gun hovered near the back of his neck.

The cold night air seemed to sink into his bones. Without moving his head Cal caught what he could through his peripheral. He was shocked to see that at some point Winchester had disarmed the pretty blonde. He now had her from behind, gun aimed at her jaw. Bec was in a Mexican standoff with another hunter who looked like Chase Avery, though his features were shadowed. Dante had another woman on the ground, firearm aimed at her head. She was holding her arm but Cal couldn't see the extent of the injury. There was a body on the ground. Cal could just see the lower half lying limply. His heart jumped in his throat as he wondered if the person was dead. Because if he was that would mean one of the other three wasn't just packing rock salt. Dante had given him a real, loaded handgun but he'd thought that just for precaution!

There were others, as well. At least two in his line of vision with weapons trained on Winchester. Movement shifted out of the far right near Dante, which was probably why the other was holding still. The two Cal could see, Jefferson and another woman, spread apart slowly. It wasn't until she spoke that Cal recognized her as Ellen Harvelle.

"Sam," Ellen shouted. "Let her go!"

Cal glanced at Winchester, but the other didn't respond.

"You can't go through with this Sam."

"You're the one who gave me the idea, Ellen!"

"I know I did, Sam. I was trying to give you hope. I didn't mean-"

"I'm not leaving him down there," Winchester broke her off. His voice was different from usual; torn, upset. Betrayed.

"He knew what he was doing Sam," Jefferson bellowed. "He did it for you."

"I know that! Don't you think I know that?!"

Cal gaped. He'd never seen Winchester so violent, so desperate. Her jerked his human shield roughly, the Colt pressed tightly against her throat. The blonde gasped, digging her nails into the arm around her.

"Let her go," Jefferson commanded smoothly. "We've got you outnumbered. Let her go, turn over the Colt, and nobody gets hurt."

Winchester scoffed. His laugh was harsh and bitter. It made Cal's stomach knot with dread. He'd known something wasn't right with this guy.

"What the hell is going on," he dared to murmur.

The silence stretched out, tension thick in the air. The only sound the young hunter could pick up was his own ragged breathing and the occasional thunder clap in the distance. Even the crickets seemed to fall mute. Finally Knox spoke.

"You didn't tell them, did you Sam?"

Winchester didn't answer, face stone.

"Becky," Knox called. "He didn't tell you about the pentagram did he? Dante?"

Trying to move as minimally as possible, Cal glanced at the two. Both remained stock still, weapons ready.

"The railroads and churches make a pentagram around this place," Knox continued. "You know why?"

Frantically Cal recalled the map. Hadn't there been something strange about the area? Lately he always tried to keep an idea of where the nearest church was for safety reasons; but there had been five hadn't there? All equally distanced from the cemetery. Five points. Railroad tracks. Cal's eyes widened and he inhaled sharply.

"Holy-"

"It's a Devil's Gate, Becky," Knox finished. He sounded sympathetic.

An iron star and a Devil's Gate. A real gateway to Hell.

"Did he tell about his brother Dean," Jefferson continued Knox's lead. "A bit too much like his father. Dealt away his soul."

"Shut up!"

What?

"Is that true?"

Cal watched Bec, freezing when Knox shifted behind him. Cautiously Bec glanced at Winchester before focusing once more on Chase.

"Is it true, Sam?"

Cal watched their leader, waiting for a response.

"…It is, Becca. It's true; and you'd be doing the same thing if you were in my shoes."

"The same goes for you, Sam," Jefferson reminded.

"No! No," Winchester protested vehemently. "I would understand. I would get it if a person came to me asking for help to save a person they cared about from the bowls of Hell!"

"You do this Sam, and you'll just be releasing more demons into the world," Ellen reminded. "Do you want that? Do you, Dante?"

Dante seemed unaffected, but Bec was no longer so confident. Cal was having trouble finding his own place in this situation.

"If that's what it takes!"

"Damn it, Sam! What would Dean say?!"

"I don't care! I honestly don't care! Dean wasn't thinking of me! When he made that deal he wasn't thinking what it would do to me! Well this is what it did!"

Cal wondered what Winchester was like before. If he would've liked him better when his brother had still been around. Now he was just another jaded, tough as nails warrior who only lived for the hunt. A heart of wood, and it was rotting.

"Think of them, Sam," Ellen appealed. "Think of John and Jess."

"I am thinking of them. I'm thinking of all the people who are down there." Winchester grinned viciously, the scars on his face stretching. "Do you know where demons come from Ellen? Do you know what they were?" The smile vanished, his eyes burned with conviction. "I will not hunt my brother!"

In the distance, thunder rolled.

"That gate is not opening, Sam," Jefferson said stonily. "One way or another that Colt is coming back with us."

"Do you think you can do it, Ellen," Sam taunted. "do you think you can shoot me from here? Careful, you might hit Jo."

That's when Cal noticed Jo was moving. Reaching up and tugging at something hanging around her neck, she crushed the gem in her hand. It broke so easily it seemed to be made of glass, the clear contents splashing Winchester's hands. There was a hissing sound and steam escaped from the man's skin. Screaming in pain, Sam threw the woman to the ground and aimed. In the same instant shots rang through the air. Cal watched from where Knox shoved him to the ground. Winchester's body jerk from the impact as he stumbled back against the mausoleum's door, slumping to sit on the ground.

Ellen hurried forward and pulled her daughter away. Jo was crying, clinging to her mother. All eyes were trained on the fallen man's body.

It started shaking. Just slightly, in the shoulders. Winchester trembled with laughter. A dark, malicious sound that seemed to sink down and breath ice over Cal's heart.

Sam Winchester lifted his head. His eyes were pitch black, even the whites. His face, spattered with his own blood, twisted into some sick semblance of a grin. A voice that echoed with something dark sent a chill down their spines.

"Here they come," he said.

It was then they realized the approaching sound wasn't thunder. The sky went dark.


Author's Notes
When I first wrote Red X it was complete in my mind. I'd imagined both dying at the hands (or rather paws) of hellhounds and Dean's soul being dragged to hell. Except I was so elated over my first reviews and alerts I got to thinking about what I could possibly do for a sequel; and after watching Mystery House this popped into my head. My thought is this would occur chronologically at least a year or two following Dean's death.

There are quite a few original characters in this; though I tried to keep to the hunters briefly alluded to in prior episodes. I also tried to keep it fast-paced rather than bog it down with character back-story.

In case you're confused Iron Star takes place after a major time skip following Red X. Sam survived being mauled by the hellhounds but Dean was taken despite his efforts. The story is told from Cal's POV because when I had the idea it was from an outsider's and stranger's perspective, a greenhorn hunter. I also decided that Ellen's words in Red X about helping Sam open the Gate felt a bit rash and OOC for her.

Michael "Cal" Henry, Rebecca MacKenzie and Dante Smith are my original characters in all ways imaginable; though I can't say I'd fight for them. Jefferson is mentioned once in Asylum (1x10). Joshua is referred to in Faith (1x12), but his last name isn't given. I got Chase from 2Chase6 on the Hunter's Blog from the season 1 DVD special features.

I've had to reformat this a couple of times, so hopefully the spacing isn't off. Thoughts and opinions? Questions? What you liked/hated most? Did I completely ruin it by including OCs?

Warnings!
Up to two OMC, OFC, OC that have names mentioned in the show (or otherwise) but have no actual character. Major time skip from Red X, starting towards the 'end' of things. Evil!?Sam. Dead!Dean, who's soul is in hell and has been for a good long while.