Dean's POV

As much as I hated to admit it, I knew exactly what Maggie was feeling. Her words reminded me of a conversation I'd had with my brother years ago, after a hunt with a Wendigo. Maggie was young and had her whole life ahead of her. While she may be gripped by grief and anger now, the desire for revenge never led to anywhere good. She would cope. She would overcome this. I can't let her throw herself into this life because she's feeling bad right now.

Before I could say anything, Sam spoke up.

"Maggie, there's probably not many other people on this Earth other than me and Dean who can actually understand what you're going through. We've been hunting our entire lives. We were raised in this and don't know anything different. But Dean's right. You're angry now and that's perfectly ok, but becoming a hunter isn't the answer."

A surge of pride swelled in my chest at my brother's words. He always had a way of communicating that seemed to put people at ease. I didn't have that gift. I was too angry, too frustrated. Sam was patient. But, proud as I was, I had a sinking feeling that his words wouldn't be enough.

I glanced in the rear view mirror, Maggie still clearly avoiding my gaze.

Rolling her injured shoulder slowly within the confines of her sling, she huffed out a breath of air, clearly frustrated.

I couldn't help but think about dad. Dad became obsessed with hunting down the demon that killed our mom. He hated hunting before she died yet, he wouldn't rest until he found that demon and killed it. His need for revenge outweighed any concern he would've had before about dragging me and Sam into this life. We were raised as warriors. That was a price he was willing to pay. Now he's gone, too. I would give anything to have the two of them back. If Maggie is feeling even a fraction of what Dad felt or even what I have felt my whole life, nothing was going to hold her back from this.

I thought of other people that Sam and I had saved over the years. Many of the survivors we met just wanted to move on with their lives and forget they ever met us. Every now and then, we would meet someone who wanted to fight back. Most of the time, once we killed the thing that hurt them or their loved ones, they would move on, too. I scrubbed a hand down my face. If we pushed her too much, she'd leave. She'd leave angry and hell bent on proving herself and she'd march into a fight with a demon and she'd be dead. Her blood would be on my hands because I was too stubborn to help her.

"Listen, kid, you just got out of the hospital. Like you've said, you've lost… nearly everyone you care about. All we're saying is, maybe now isn't the best time to be making any big decisions right now. Besides, you're not going to be doing any hunting with that shoulder anytime soon."

As I spoke, Maggie's eyes met mine in the mirror, a glimmer of something there that wasn't there a moment ago. Maybe it was hope?

"We're staying at that run-down motel at the other end of town. It ain't much, but there's a couch. You can crash with us until we figure out what the next steps are with this thing."

I saw Maggie's eyebrows shoot up through the mirror, clearly surprised at my change of heart.

Looking at Sam, I noticed his furrowed brow, eyes filled with questions. We could talk later.

"I…I'd really appreciate that." Maggie said from the backseat.

I turned the key in the ignition of the Impala and cranked Metallica through the speakers.

Throwing the car into drive, we made our way to the "Rite Spot Motel".

"What made you change your mind about Maggie?" Sam asked, taking a swig of beer.

We were seated on the hood of the Impala, watching the sunset. Maggie had fallen asleep shortly after she got settled into the motel, so Sam and I had grabbed a few beers and moved outside, giving her some peace and privacy.

I shook my head, considering Sam's question.

"We've been where she's been, man. If we didn't help her, I just had this feeling we were going to regret it later." I finished off the dregs of my beer.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she was going to try and find that demon herself and she would've died doing it."

Neither of us spoke for a few minutes. I cracked open a fresh bottle of beer and took a long drink from it. There was an audible hum from the cicadas and other bugs and creatures that were coming to life as the sun set.

"So, what are we thinking? Do you think her parents made some sort of deal with a crossroads demon? I mean, after checking out their bodies at the morgue, those slashes could have definitely been inflicted by a hellhound."

I shut my eyes as a shudder ran through my body, memories of being ripped up by a hellhound surfacing. I realized my mouth was incredibly dry all of a sudden as I tried to swallow.

Rubbing my neck, I opened my eyes and took another long drink of beer.

"Could be. Could just be a bitch-ass demon, killing people for kicks."

"If that were the case, wouldn't it have killed Maggie, too?"

Sam was right. It was more likely that we were dealing with a crossroads demon.

"Yeah. So, assuming this was a standard demon deal, we have to look at what changed in Maggie's parents' lives ten years ago."

"I don't know, Dean. I mean, these people had some pretty shit luck. Didn't we read that Maggie's brother died like, four months ago? And then her grandfather's funeral was just this past week - you saw the obituary in the local newspaper. Now her parents? All within the span of four months…." Sam's voice ran off, thinking to himself.

"You think that this thing's hunting this specific family? Why would it do that?"

A moment passed in silence as we both considered the question.

Sam piped up with an idea. "What if it wasn't the demon that was hunting the family?"

I furrowed my brows, confusion knit in the wrinkles that appeared on my forehead.

"Crossroads demons grant people's wishes, right? The demon buys the person's soul through these deals. What if someone sold their soul in exchange for the demon killing Maggie's family?"

My eyes widened at the suggestion. Mostly, crossroads demons granted abilities - artistic, musical, architectural - or they made people fall in love. But up until this point, we have not encountered someone who used a demon to do their dirty work. It was sneaky. If someone were to make a deal like that, it would practically ensure that they would never be suspected for the crime. They could live happily for a decade before succumbing to the fate of the hellhounds. If that was true, Maggie would still be in danger. The demon was being creative, too. A drug overdose? Dementia? Hellhounds? There was no telling what could be coming for Maggie. Illness, addiction, violence… anything seemed possible.

"It doesn't make sense though," I said. "Why use hellhounds to kill her parents but kill the brother and grandfather in other ways? I mean, why not just kill them all with hellhounds and be done with it?"

Sam considered my words, biting his lip as he worked through it.

"Maybe the person who summoned the crossroads demon wasn't trying to target her family. Maybe, whoever it is, is targeting Maggie. You heard her yourself, Dean, she's lost everyone she was close to - and not just in one horrific accident. This has been prolonged trauma. I mean, even one of these deaths would've been enough trauma but she's gone through it all in a concentrated period of time."

I bent over for a moment to put my beer on the ground and began slowly pacing, mulling over Sam's suggestion.

"So, whoever's doing this is trying to make Maggie suffer. Why in the hell would they want to do that to her? The girl can't even be twenty-five yet and she's got an enemy so hell-bent on making her suffer they sold their soul to a freakin' demon?! That is a serious grudge someone is holding against her."

"Well. Dean," Sam said, bending over to put his, now empty beer bottle on the ground. "We're not that much older than her and we've had all sorts of enemies ready to do some pretty messed up stuff in order to hurt us."

"Yeah, but we're hunters, Sam. We're supposed to get into that kind of trouble because we practically go looking for it every day!"

"You're right. All we can do now is try to do some research. Hopefully, Maggie will be able to shed some light onto this once she wakes up."