Chapter Three

Sage shook the two sleeping hunters awake. She was almost violent in her attempt to wake them. Sam jumped when he opened his eyes, fore there was a little hairless alien on his chest. Athena collected the cat with a laugh. Sage rolled her eyes.

"Athena toss Fluffy outside and get your keys." the older woman instructed giving Sam an extra smack upside the head. "You, you're John's youngest aren't you?" Sam nodded getting up to follow Athena. "I thought so. The moment I saw ya I figured that was who you were. Good man, too bad he's hell bent on revenge. Much more to life than all that."

Sam took the wheel Athena in the passenger seat giving him directions. It was just past midnight, now. Sage kept a constant flow of questions so neither of them drifted back to sleep. Athena had to push past tears a few times, and every time she did Sam found his hand reaching for hers. Sage was a harsh, just the facts, woman. She didn't seem to let silly little things like emotions hold any rule over her.

"Shouldn't they have called by now?" Dean asked. John shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Yes, but if something happened I'm sure they're fine." he tried to ease his son's suffering. But that was difficult to do with Autumn laying suspended between life and death in the same room.

The pair had been exchanging war stories for hours now and becoming restless. Nurses stopped periodically to check Autumn's vitals and urge them to find someplace to sleep. A few times he'd caught one of the younger girls standing outside the door listening. She must have thought they'd gone hatter the way they'd been going on about vampires and ghosts.

"Do you remember how we met the Daemons?" John asked in effort to fill the silence. Dean shook his head.

"No, they mentioned something about Indian spirits but never went into the details." John was glad. That gave him another story to tell.

"I had heard of hunters being terrorized by an unknown creature in a wooded area of Ohio, so I loaded you and Sam up then headed out."

Flash back

John pulled into 6792 McMicken Street. There was nothing to see except trees, fields, barns, and pastures dotted with cattle or horses. This was the residency of the man who had the honor of being the first victim. Denis Daemon, had been survived by a wife, Paula, a brother, sister in-law, and two nieces. All of which shared the same property. Though, he quickly realized the nearest barn had been converted into a house. He climbed up on the wrap around porch and knocked on the door. It was only a matter of seconds before a green eyed, blonde girl answered the door. John squatted down to her height.

"Is your mommy or daddy home, little one?" he asked.

"Nope. Mommy is at the church bake sale and Daddy is in fields with Joshy. I'm Athena." the little girl volunteered.

"Then whose watching you?" he asked her.

"My sister. She's watching me and Aunt Paula. She's a big girl so Mommy says its okay as long as we don't go in the woods."

"Can I talk to your sister?" Athena shut the door and he could hear her yelling behind it.

" Autty! Man at the door for you!…… No I don't' know who he is….. He's old…. But he's nice and has a really cool car!….. Just come talk to him….. I'll scream!" The door was jerked open and wiping her hands on an apron tied around her waist was a girl about ten maybe even twelve. John had decided long ago he wasn't a very good judge of age, especially when they got to this point where the kids were starting to hit puberty and could look several years older than they really were without causing any worry.

"Hello, sir." The girl pushed her hair back off her shoulders. She didn't look much like her sister. Athena had a sweet round face of a small child, Autty's face had already lost its child-ish appeal. Instead of long blonde locks carefully pulled back in a braid Autty's hair was the color of a new penny and hung lose framing her face.

"Hi. I'm John Winchester." the girl cut him off.

"Get to the point. What are you selling? If it's a religion I go to church every Sunday and so does the rest of the household so you should just sell elsewhere." John looked down at Athena and when the older girl caught this she swept her sister behind her. "Get on with it before I fetch the gun."

"You're uncle he died in the woods. I'm a hunter myself I was looking to see if you knew what had killed him so I would know what to kill." Autty folded her arms across her chest.

"You and every other half wit with a gun and free weekend." she remarked.

"It was the Indian ghosties." Athena said pushing her sister out of the way.

"Really? Did you see them?"

"Yep! Autumn and I were in the woods when it happened. So was Daddy."

"Athena!" the older girl scolded grabbing her sister by the shoulder and spinning her around. "I've told you before we don't tell strangers about how our uncle died."

"But you said to always tell the truth. No matter how bad or strange it is." the younger girl argued.

'"I also told you to take a bath last night but you didn't listen to that. Go draw Paula a picture. Maybe it'll cheer her up." Autumn gave her sister a shove deeper into the house. "I'm sorry about her. You know how little kids can be with their stories." John nodded stepping to the side so the penny haired girl could see his sons in the car.

"I know exactly how they can be. But she doesn't seem to believe this is just a story." Autumn shrugged.

"The other hunters are after a deer. The papers are all saying that a large buck attacked my family and that my uncle died trying to buy my sister and I time. If you want a hunt go bag a deer. But sir, with all due respect, you'll never be able to kill the truth."

"What is the truth?" Autumn stepped out on to the porch shutting the door behind her.

"The truth is my uncle and father are idiots. They were building Athena and I a club house out in the woods. Because the second Josh shows interest in a tree fort they just must start construction while they had two kids begging for one for years. But that's not what killed him. They were digging around out there, God only knows why, and stumbled upon an unmarked grave. I looked it up. The clothes suggest that it was one of the local tribes of Indians. But who listens to a girl? Instead of calling in the officials or reburying the poor thing they scooped it into a garbage bag and tossed it in the pond. Then they take Squirt and I out there. Low and behold a couple see through Indians are standing out there on their 'construction site'. The ingenious men try and scare them off and one of the ghost's lets lose an arrow. Dad told me to get Athena and get back to the house, so I grabbed her and ran. When he came back out my uncle was over his shoulder. He made me dig out the arrow; Denis was already dead. By the time we were done it looked like he had been gored." Autumn closed her eyes and leaned over the railing. "Now would you like the grown-up's version? Because I won't tell you that one."

"No, but can I talk to your dad?" Autumn sighed and produced a walkie-talkie from her pocket, holding down the button she started her transmission.

"Hey, Dad there's a guy here for you."

"Your dad's under the John right now what do you need, Sunshine?" came a boy's voice back.

"Ha ha, Joshy. So very funny, remind me to hit you for that later."

"Fine, I won't call you Sunshine any more. It's just you have such a sunny personality." Autumn rolled her eyes at the device in her hand. "I see why you're beating boys off with sticks and all. I mean every boy wants a girl who can't keep her nose out of a book."

"Josh, I swear if you don't put my father on here right now I'm going to tie you up like I do the calves and castrate you." John grinned. The girl had a lot of fight in her, he could only imagine what she'd do to Dean.

"Like I said Daddy's under the John Deere, stupid thing broke down again. What's going on anyway?" Josh asked.

"There is a man here. He wants to talk to Dad."

"Where is here?" John heard worry spike the boys voice causing it to squeak.

"The house dummy."

"Good Lord! Autumn, someone needs to take you out behind the shed! You let a man in the house? Mr. Daemon" the transmission was cut short then a man's voice came on. "I'm on my way in, babe."

"Thanks." John said looking towards his car. Sammy had his nose pressed against the glass, watching the cattle in the pasture that ran the length of the drive. Dean on the other hand had his eyes glued on his father and the girl. Mentally noting every movement as if it would be on a quiz in the future.

"Don't mention it. Don't worry either. I'll cool him down before he starts swingin' . That's the problem with hiring your daughter's friends to work for you. They over react to every minor infraction. You only have the two boys?" Autumn nodded to the car.

"Yea, the little one is Sammy, the other is Dean." Autumn jumped up on the railing as if mounting a horse.

"Sammy's cute. I like the name Dean, though. Don't hear about a lot of Dean's around here. Well, that's a lie. Jimmy Dean. Old man Recker is always going on about how he's losing money because folks can buy sausages in the store now. But, honestly they're not as good as his. If you're in town a while you'll have to get some. How old is Sammy?" John had always wanted a daughter. Something cute and frilly that would always need him and call him 'Daddy' but talking to this girl was quickly ebbing away at that old dream.

"He's six."

"Same as Athena. Just a hunch but Dean's what, four years older?"

"How'd you know?"

"Because I am too."

"Papa Bear just went over the ridge, you better hide Naughty Autty." Josh's voice came back over the walkie-talkie.

"He'll be here by the time you count to one hundred. Just watch." In his head John started counting to a hundred and sure enough as he got to 99 the girl's father appeared around the corner. "Told ya." the girl grinned. "Hey Daddy!"

"Autumn, get in the house." her father ordered. John took in the man, his arms were thick and muscled, and his body soaked in sweat.

"Joshy was over reacting. I didn't let Mr. Winchester in. I just talked to him here on the porch."

"I don't care. Which ever one of you answered the door needs to get a switch and get out back." John watched Autumn ready to see her sell her sister down the river. The girl jumped off the porch, and ran to the nearest tree braid swinging wildly she stopped at his car though.

"Nice wheels Mr. Winchester." she smiled sending him a wink. They both knew she was going to take a switching for her sister. Autumn turned her attention to the boys with in the car waving at them before monkey climbing her way into the tree.

"Good girl you have there." John tried to smooth down ruffled feathers.

"I know. What do you want?" the man was relentless.

"Permission to hunt in your woods." John heard Autumn hit the ground and take off running and from the corner of his eye he saw her pull up her sundress to get better speed.

"You and every other hunter. Leave the damn deer alone."

"I'm not after a deer, sir. I'm after what killed your brother." The man froze and John knew he'd hit a cord.

end flashback

"After that we just talked for a while until he invited us in for dinner." John finished. Dean was fighting sleep slouched down in his chair. The entire time he'd kept one hand on Autumn. John had to wrestle thoughts about Mary from his head. Now wasn't the time or the place. His kids needed him, all four of them. "I'm going to go take a piss. You need anything?"

"Like what a urinal cake?" Dean shot half hearted.

"Get some sleep, son." Dean just nodded and watched his father leave.

"You said she had nasty burns you didn't say she was a nasty burn." Sage scolded Athena as she examined Autumn. The Winchester men had all dropped back to chairs in the corner. Out of sight, out of the line of fire. But Athena stood right next to the woman, answering any and every question and taking every insult in stride.

"Well, there are areas that didn't get burned." Athena offered.

"Yea, private areas. I can't believe she walked out." Athena beamed with pride while Sage shook her head.

"She had good reasons."

"Yea, she should never have been in there. I would have killed the boy the first time he hit me. Not try to marry him then when things go south leave him to marry my friend." Sage turned and started rummaging through her carpet bag.

"This isn't Billy-Jack's fault."

"My ass! Was it or was it not his wife and his kids she went into save. Hell, bet she even went after him didn't she?"

"She pulled him out of his shock, yes." Athena allowed. "But she couldn't just leave him. He's got a family."

"And when she was his family what did he do to her?" Sage pressed.

"We still are his family. Meaning he is our family. Which means we can't in our right minds leave him to die in a burning house."

"But you can leave your sister?" Athena's jaw dropped. Sam thought she was going to hit Sage for a split second, just before the storm in her eyes dispersed.

"I was getting the children out. I was doing what she told me. She knew the sacrifice she may or may not of been making and she made it. So don't you dare put this on me."

"You've come along way since Will." Sage smirked.

"I had to. You either learn to live with all of life or bury yourself in a two room shack in the middle of no where and shit in a wood box over a hole." Athena zinged the older woman.

"I've done what I see fit. I don't have to justify that to you." she came out of her bag with a container of salve. "Now this should work."

Sage set immediately to applying the ointment. It seemed to take years for her to smother all the burns and re-wrap them. John and Sam went out to get a motel room for the five of them. Dean wasn't supposed to have been released but had been on the agreement he'd stay in the hospital. When Sage finished her treatment she sat by Autumn's bedside holding her hand and working over the rosary.

"Miss Daemon, you've got a call. You can take it right there." a nurse said poking her head in the room.

"Who is it?" Athena asked.

"Billy-Jack Morton."

"Oh okay." Athena walked over to the wall next to Autumn's bed and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Athena, hey. How is she?" he sounded so small and nervous it would have been hard to imagine his temper if she didn't know it so well.

"Stable. But no change." she answered. He sighed.

"The kids are wrecked. They want to see her."

"Don't bring them. Not until she wakes up. They don't need to see her like this."

"How bad is it?" Athena closed her eyes and tried to remember her sister with skin and hair and happy.

"Its not good. She got third degree burns to her arms, hands, and face. Some second degree on her stomach and lower back. Her legs look awful where she was walking through the fire. No one can believe she just walked out." Athena sank into the nearest chair.

"Yea, I still can't believe any of it happened. I had to spend the day planning a funeral for my wife and son. Her parents won't come up said she got herself into this mess she can get herself out. Athena, they're so real." he was starting to sound lost and distant.

"Whose so real?" she asked.

"My daughters. I have three little girls. Three little lives that depend on me for… for everything. It's, I don't know, it's terrifying but at the same time such a rush." Athena smiled.

"Yea, and you've missed that for five years. You had a son and wife too, but you missed out on them. You had Autumn but you really messed that up." Dean threw her a look only having caught half the conversation.

"Call me when she wakes up. I've got a lot to make up for. I've got six years. Did you know we were just two days from saying 'I do' when I put her through a wall? How could I do that?" he wasn't quiet there and Athena knew it.

"You did worse with less reason."

"Oh God, why didn't anyone stop me?" he was breaking down in tears now. Athena heard someone come in the room then the phone went dead.

"Well, I've seen some strange things in my day but that takes the cake." Athena hung up the phone.

"What did he want?" Dean didn't try to hide the contempt in his voice.

"To check on Autumn." she shrugged. "A little late but, yea."

"He don't deserve to know."

Dean didn't leave Autumn's side that night. John just managed to convince Athena to leave her side by promising he'd stay. That was when Dean volunteered to stay. Sage applied her salve three times a day and spent a lot of time praying. Whenever possible John would drag them all back to the motel but that didn't happen often. Sleeping and eating became over rated affairs. The first 48 hours passed by quickly and then the doctors really started paying attention to Autumn. Athena and Sam were asleep on the floor by Autumn's bed and Sage had wandered off again when Dean looked up.

"So did we get along that first trip?"

"Yea, I thought you did. But when Autumn told it, it sounded a little different. I guess you hit it off from the start."

FLASHBACK

"No, Athena. You're doing that backward here." Autumn leaned over her sister and moved the silverware to the proper position.

"Why does it matter?" Sammy asked. Autumn turned around to look at the little boy.

"I'm not sure exactly. But my mother says if you can't set a proper table you'll never get a proper husband. Teenie, why do we need a proper husband?" Autumn asked moving out from between the two younger children.

"Because we are girls and Mommy and Daddy can't have more kids. It is our duty to up hold the morals and standards of our family and to secure the farm, that has nourished and protected us, for later generations." the younger girl sighed.

"You've brainwashed your sister?" Dean asked leaning his chair back on two legs.

"Four on the floor, Mr. Winchester. And for the record I didn't do the brainwashing. That's just one of those things that has been passed down since some great, great something grandfather immigrated and bought the farm."

"It's Dean." Autumn shrugged.

"So?"

"So, don't call me Mr. Winchester. I'm not old." Dean protested.

"Athena, I'll finish the table why don't you go get washed up?" Autumn looked away from the rude little boy ruining her mother's chair to her sister.

"Why? I don't want to." Athena whined.

"Because you need to." Autumn took a motherly tone.

"But."

"Yes, butt that's what I'm going to beat if you don't get out of here." she took an exaggerated step toward her sister who giggled and ran off.

"Do I need to wash my hands too?" Sammy asked shoving his hands in his brother's face.

"Yea, Sam go follow the midget." Sam grinned and took off after Athena.

"You've got yours trained well." Autumn teased.

"He's not a dog." Dean defended his brother.

"No, you're a dog. He's cute, more like a puppy." Autumn danced out of the dining room into the kitchen. Dean followed protesting all the way. She enlisted his help to bring the pots and platters to the table. She pulled a loaf of bread out of the oven and slid a batch of cookies in.

"Chocolate chip?" he asked watching her.

"The little ones should be cleaned up by now. I'm going to go check them. Might as well show you where the bathroom is while I'm at it. So you hunt with your dad?"

"Yea, a little." John hadn't started letting his son hunt much of the bigger stuff just sit in on a few minor ghost hunts.

"I've got a shooting range out back. Maybe after dinner we can go out and you can show me how well you shoot." Autumn suggest batting her lashes at him.

"You have a range?"

"Yea, it was my project last summer. Me and a couple of my friends built it out of spare wood around our farms. I had Mr. Morton drag a round bale out and as soon as Dad shows me, I'll be able to shoot bows."

"But you're a girl." Autumn nodded.

"I thought that much was obvious. Hey! Come on I'll show you my gun!" she grabbed his wrist and drug him up the stairs at the front door. There were only three ways to go left into a bedroom, right into a bedroom, or straight ahead into what looked like a little storage room. Autumn jerked him left and he was suddenly standing in horse heaven. There were horses, cowboys, and Indians all over the walls and stuffed animals and dolls smothered the bed. Autumn released him and crawled under her bed she came out with a forest green case. Unzipping it she produced a rifle four foot long. "Dean Winchester, meet Annie Oakley."

"You named your gun Annie Oakley?" Autumn nodded carefully handing over the gun. "She's nice. How's she shoot?"

" I didn't name her Annie for nothing." Dean ran his fingers over the barrel.

"She's nice. Where's your range?" Dean asked handing back her gun.

"Down back behind the barns. We'll have to cross the creak and streak through the little field but not too far. You can see if from the loft." She replaced the gun in its case then shoved the case under her bed. "But the guys will freak if I bring someone, so if your dad says you can go I'll call and tell them not to come over."

She pushed him out of her room and led him to the bathroom the door was open and they could easily see the younger two before they could even see them. Athena was trying to shut the water off in the bathtub, that was overflowing, while Sam stood on the toilet lid singing "Row Row Row Your Boat". Water poured over the edge of the bathtub and soaked the floor. The older two exchanged looks of horror.

"Athena what are you doing!?!" Autumn rushed in shutting off the water.

"You said to get cleaned up." both of the younger kids announced.

"Yes, wash your hands." Dean picked his brother up and sat him in the hall.

"Dean sit Athena out too please. Then there are towels in the closet behind you." Athena reached her arms out to Dean who swung her out then where she hugged Sam.

"I thought we were going to drown!" she giggled. Dean pulled towels out of the closet and threw them at Autumn who quickly started sopping up the water.

"Kids, go downstairs dinner is ready. Tell Mom and Dad and Mr. Winchester we'll be down in a minute. That I took Dean up to see my gun." Athena nodded.

"Race ya!" She shouted just before she and Sam took off like a shot.

"Well, they're happy at least." Dean sighed reaching for a towel to soak up water around the sink. Autumn laughed and sat up to release the water in the bathtub. "Seriously, we move a lot Sam don't make a lot of friends."

"Most the people around here had kids at the same time. Not many little ones. Beside that she usually would rather play copy cat." they wrung out their towels and Autumn stuck them in the washer as the passed the laundry room. She put a finger to her lips. "Shhhh No one will ever know." she said.

FLASHBACK ENDS HERE

When his dad started talking about the four begging to go out back and shoot Dean started remembering things. He hadn't been able to remember much of what had gone on the first time he met the girls. A vague idea of everything, put him in an awkward place when Autumn and Athena jumped into some tale of their youths' meeting. Dean leaned back in his chair. It was good to know how they really met and that even back then they'd gotten along. Though he'd doubted if they hadn't gotten long Autumn and Athena would have been so pleased with the idea of working together.

Sage returned and unwrapped Autumn to smother her in salve. Dean watched amazed as Autumn's skin hungrily soaked up the salve leaving nothing on its surface except a gloss. Already her burns looked better than his. Sage's fingers worked nimbly. Not a single movement was accidental. He had to wonder what it was that made her lose her license if she was so skilled in her doctoring.

"It was a hunter." Sage said as if reading his mind. "He was impossibly stubborn, though I now think that's one of the requirements for the job, but for all the hell he put me through he was amazing. Just great." she sighed and wrapped Autumn's left arm back before gently peeling back the bandages covering the young woman's chest. "I guess I fell in love with him, which was painfully foolish. One day he comes dragging in in about a million different pieces. I quickly set to stitching him back together. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing at home. Even when the infection started. I stole materials and medications from the hospital I worked at and continued to treat him. Right up until one of my nurses caught me. I thought, I'd dealt with her. I get home the next night and the police were in the driveway and I saw squad taking my hunter out on a stretcher with a sheet over his face." she never looked up at him never really showed she knew anyone else was in the room. "By the time everything settled down I didn't have my medical license, my house, or my life. So I took what little I did have and got a little bitty shack where no one would ever find me. But leave it to Supernatural hit men to hunt me out. I started doing this for a living. Hunters come, and I either patch them up at my house or they take me to a friend who needs work. I went from using shiny, sanitary, tools and high tech machines to a needle and thread normally used to make a quilt or fix a whole in a pair of jeans, and whiskey to dull the pain."

"Can't you get your license back?" Dean asked. His father had drifted off to dreamland, his head lolling down to rest on his chest, and drool beginning to creep down his chin.

"Yes, but I'd have to go back to school. If I did that I would be able to do this, which is what I really enjoy. Even if it means I have to get a little dirty, the rewards are endless."

Dean knew the feeling. Hunting was dirty, nasty, challenging business but he wouldn't trade it for the world. Because at the end of the day when everything was said and done he'd helped someone. He'd given some kid a chance to grow up with a mommy and daddy who love him. Allowed a woman to feel safe again and just maybe saved a man's life. This was the part of firefighting that had captured his imagination as a child. You got to do something that made the blood pulse and you got to save people doing it.

A nurse came in just before third shift, came in. She changed Autumn's IV bag, and filled the line with another round of medications to dull the pain and keep her knocked out. The nurse seemed to cling to the room. There was something she wanted to say. Something that might prove helpful. Instead she hovered until the nurse in charge demanded she finish her rounds. When the next shift came in the same nurse came back, her purse hung from her shoulder and heavy winter coat was draped over her arm.

"The doctors, have been talking." she announced. Sage and Dean both watched her. Athena, Sam, and John slept on and for a long moment the only sound besides their soft snores was Autumn's heart monitor. "She's healing quickly. Faster than any patient they've ever had with this extent of injury. They want to give it another couple of days, before they tell you. But as long as she starts breathing on her own, she'll be good as new." The nurse grabbed for her chocolate ponytail, her fingers knotted nervously through the hair. "The other nurses don't really believe it, but I do. Dr. Deirks says her recovery thus far is due to the fact that she knows she's got such a great support team." she smiled then turned and left. Dean closed his eyes and drooped deeper into his chair. That was the perfect ending to a long boring day of watching Autumn do nothing.