Disclaimer: I own the characters that you've never heard of before and the idea behind this story. That's it.

The demon stood in front of us pacing back and forth in the Key, waiting for us to do something. For John to say something. "What are you talking about?" John finally asked.

"I'm guessing that you're here because you got the message we sent. Vicariously through your son, I must add. Ingenious don't you think?" he scoffed.

I stood there watching the boy with a demon inside of him cockily continue to pace in front of us in the Key. "You son of a bitch!" John yelled. He stopped outside of the Key. I knew that it took everything in him to keep him from lunging at the demon. He settled for holding a gun to the demon's head. "Using my son to get to me."

"Back off, John boy," the demon laughed. John put the gun away, stepped into the Key and pushed the demon against the invisible wall of it. "You don't want to hurt one of Dean's friends, do you?" John's arms dropped to his side and he stepped back out. The demon dusted his shoulders and smiled. "And using your son? No. Your son was the target. You obviously can't see how important he is."

Important? How is Dean important to the side of evil? I thought that Sam was the one that the demons were after. "What do you want with Dean?" I asked.

The demon turned to me, smiling a smile I just wanted to rip off his face. "You'll see. In time, in time."

"You aren't coming after my son again," John growled, and I couldn't help but think the same thing.

"You can't protect them both," the demon laughed.

"Of course, I can. I'm their father. That's my job." And he had me to help him.

"You obviously didn't do a very good job with the older one. He's strong-willed. I'll give you that. Didn't scream once. But I guarantee you that if we had him just a day longer, we would've broken him."

I shook where I stood as I listened to him talk about Dean. I took a few deep breaths to regain my composure. "If he was the target, why is he still alive?" I asked.

"The order wasn't to kill him. Just use him. Send a message. Break him. Make his heart stop being so selfless," the demon said. "I mean, has the kid ever thought about himself before anyone else?" No. "Breaking a heart that good shakes the scale. Not tips it. Just shakes it. We'll get it to tip eventually. But oh, when we finally tip the scale."

"And the cutting him was just for sport?" I asked.

"No," the leader answered. "One of these lower level demons was looking for some wings. Being that good and all that stuff just always comes with the assumption that we're dealing with an angel. He's not one of the smarter demons in the pit. But that Dean, he is an angel, isn't he? I mean, in every sense except the angel and halo and whole being dead thing."

"You could've killed him," John yelled.

"Like I said, John, that wasn't the order. And we're not going to go against a direct order."

"A demon with loyalty to someone other himself?" I asked.

The other demons in the room laughed. It was the first time any of them had made a sound since we trapped them. "As much as we like the chaos and disorder, there are some things that even we are afraid of. And it's easier to take orders than to make the decisions ourselves."

"So, there is a stronger demon than you boneheads that wants Dean dead?" John hissed.

"Eventually. Not now. I mean, where is the fun in that? Trying to break a Winchester, break him, brings me so much more enjoyment. It's the entertainment of the Underworld."

I had to keep reminding myself that any damage I wanted to do to the demon, I couldn't. He still possessed a kid and I had to show a lot of restraint. "You clearly didn't have any fun since you couldn't break him. You don't know my son. He's strong. It would take a lot more than a week of torture to break him."

"But what about the threat of us going after his family?" The demons sure did their research on their target. "He knew that we could've gone after you guys any chance we got. You, Sam along with everyone he cares about would get hurt and he wouldn't have been able to do anything about it because he was tied to a chair. He would've felt so much guilt. It's so angsty, it makes me grin. But, as much fun as the angst would've been, we needed the network."

"Is that why you went after him?"

"One, but not the only reason. Orders John. More than one."

"What are the other reasons?" I needed to know.

"You don't get to know, Bobby Singer." He stared at me as if his eyes were digging into my soul. "It's a little too early for that in the conversation. And it isn't your business."

"That is my son you're messing with," John yelled.

The demon turned back to John. "Then you should know how to protect him!" he yelled back. The demon squinted in John's direction, looking for a reaction. "I don't need to tell you how important he is to the fight for the side of good."

What the hell was this demon trying to say? "He's a hunter. Of course, he's important to this fight," John said. But there was something in his voice that sounded different. I just couldn't point it out. His tone was guarded.

"He's more than that. But you already knew that," the demon said. The demon smiled. "You know."

That statement made me want to divert my anger from the demons to John. He knew something about Dean and he was keeping from me. "I didn't think it was real."

"Of course it's real. How the hell do you think that good is surviving on this plane and evil isn't? So, now the real question is," the demon started, "now that you know how important your oldest son is, along with the importance of your youngest, which do you protect?" he asked John. Like he would ever choose between his two sons. "The one that our side wants alive or the one that our side wants dead?"

Dead? They wanted Dean dead. And John knew about it and didn't tell me. "Why wouldn't I be able to protect both of them?" John asked.

"Because you don't get o be the winner in all of this, Johnnie boy. You of all people should know that you can't save everyone."

"My sons aren't just anyone," John spat. Those words were so loaded now.

"You know that. And I know that. So, what makes you think that everyone else in this never-ending fight doesn't know that? Those higher ups sitting in their clouds just watching us make our move. Sending one being to be his protector. One being. Like that's enough." The demons began to laugh hysterically. "You really need to stop leaving your son alone. Bad things happened to him when you do."

"You won't be able to go after my son."

"You think so?" the demon challenged. "The day that you let your guard down, we'll be there. Papa Winchester isn't going to be able to protect his kids. And that brings us to the second reason of why we're actually here. To warn you."

"Warn me? What kind of demon gives warnings?"

"Our side wants a challenge so we actually want you to watch over your oldest. Because this, right here," he said, pointing around him, "was too damn easy."

"Easy?"

"You didn't catch on fast enough, did you?" the demon raised an eyebrow to John.

"No," John replied remorsefully. He knew that if he caught on sooner, then this would've never happened. Dean would be all right.

"We could've easily beat up Dean then left and let you guys keep thinking we were just after the network. We could've and you wouldn't have ever known," the demon said. "But your son did. He knew something was going on. So, we had to speed up our plan and get to him before he got to us. Not that he could've done anything."

"He got away from you, didn't he?" I challenged.

"With help. But the next time you leave him, we'll get him again. And you won't be able to help him."

"That day won't come." John stepped to the edge of the Key.

"You think you can stop us?" The demon did the same, his and John's face a little more than an inch apart.

"I can damn well try!" John yelled.

"You're a hunter. Just one hunter."

"I have help."

The demon looked to me, dark, cold, and calculating. He took a step back. "Right, because Robert Singer, in his ripe old age, can do some real damage reading his damn books. There aren't enough hunters on the planet to be able to fight against what's coming. He doesn't even know the truth about the middle Winchester. Tell me, Robert Singer, what has your books told you about a Pu—"

"I'm tired of listening to you speak," John interrupted

John sounded like he was trying to hide something. "Well, what are you going to do about it?" the demon yelled. "Send us back to hell one by one?"

"Signal Caleb now," John told me.

I nodded and took a few steps to the fire alarm. I held a lighter to a sprinkler and Holy Water rained down from it. The demons' eyes widened when they felt their suits hissing with the water touched it. They became more panicked when they realized they were trapped in the Keys and the salt line. "You son of a bitch!" the head demon yelled.

Then static came up on the intercom. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas…" Caleb read over the loud speaker.

"I'll be back," the demon threatened. "We'll all be back."

"I'll be waiting!" John hissed.

"And we're going straight for your son. I'll personally carve out his heart! I'll be the one to end the war and start our reign. Say goodbye to your oldest!"

"I'll just say goodbye to you," John spat. "Bye," he said as Caleb finished the prayer.

All seven demons screamed as they left the body they were using. The water stopped falling and I knew that Caleb had something to do with it. The bodies fell to the ground as the last drops of water fell.

I ran to the closest person and checked for a pulse. When I felt one, I moved onto the next, and the next, watching as John did the same. "Are they all right?" I asked.

"Yeah. All have strong pulses. They should be waking up soon." John said. He sighed and ran his hand down his face wiping off the drops of Holy Water. A great weight should've been lifted off his shoulders, but it looked like the opposite. He walked over to the football team captain and started patting him on the cheek. "Seth, wake up," John said. "Come on, it's time to get off the floor."

I walked over and heard him groan as he slowly opened his eyes. "Mr. Winchester?" Seth asked.

"How are you feeling?" John asked.

"I don't know," the teen replied, trying to sit up. I helped him and John put a hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. "What happened?" he asked us. "I feel like I've been sleeping for weeks."

"It's okay," I replied.

The expression on his face looked like he suddenly remembered something. "And Dean!" Seth yelled. "What did I do to him?"

"You didn't do anything," John said, reassuringly.

"But I remember some of it," Seth said. "We tied him to a chair. And there was so much blood. I think I'm going to be sick." He quickly stood up and ran to the nearest trashcan. I walked over to him and patted him on his back. "Is he all right?" he asked when he calmed his breathing. I helped him to the sink and he washed out his mouth.

"He's fine, Seth," John replied. "I'll tell him to call you when I see him."

"But he's okay, right, Mr. Winchester?"

"He's fine, Seth," I assured.

Seth looked at me, scared. "Who are you?"

"Dean's uncle," John and I replied simultaneously.

"Seth," John started, "you want to help us start waking up your teammates?"

"Yeah, yeah. I can do that."

Seth went over to his nearest teammate and woke him up. A few them were doing so on their own. By the time the last one had woken up, Caleb came barreling into the room. "Hey, is everyone all right?" he asked.

"Just fine, Caleb," I replied.

"You boys get out of here," John said to the players. They were more than willing to leave the room and just forget about what happened. Except one. "You too, Seth."

"Mr. Winchester," he whispered. "What really happened?"

"I wish I knew, Seth."

"You do know. I know that you know. Mr. Winchester, Dean is a friend of mine, and if I did something to him, I want to know."

"You didn't do anything to Dean," I replied.

"Then why doesn't it feel like it? I just want to know the truth."

"I don't think you'll be able to handle what we tell you, Seth," I said.

"Is it the reason that Dean always comes to school with those messed up injuries?" the teen asked.

And the three of us hunters froze.

John was the first to break out of his temporary paralysis. None of us could believe that the teen was pressing for answers. But the hard part was what were we supposed to tell him. He wanted the truth, but at what cost? "What are you talking about, Seth?" John asked.

"Mr. Winchester, I'm not stupid," Seth replied. "I've asked Dean about the injuries and he said that I wouldn't understand. I don't understand any of this right now. All of us here care about Dean even though for some reason he doesn't want us to. But we see him limping to class or taking loads of pain pills. And people talk, and we know that you aren't doing it to him."

"Seth, I don't think—"

"If you're going to say that you can't tell me because it would put my life in danger or some bull like that, you're a little too late." He was right. What a way to get thrown into this lifestyle.

"Seth," I started. "We can't tell you what goes on in Dean's life, only he can. Our lives are very private. But you want to know. We'll tell Dean that if he wants to tell you the truth, then he can. As long as you can handle it."

"I can," Seth replied to me without a hint of fear in his voice.

And I could see why Dean and this boy were friends. Both were brave and stubborn to a fault. "I believe you," I replied.

"I'll tell Dean to give you a call when we see him."

"Tell him I'm sorry," Seth apologized. "Even though he probably doesn't blame me."

"I will," John said. "Now you get out of here."

"Okay," he replied. He walked toward the exit of the locker room. Before he was completely out of our sight, he turned around. "And Mr. Winchester, thanks. For doing whatever you did. I'm pretty sure you saved my life. All of our lives. Thanks."

"You're welcome," John said.

"You guys, too," he said to Caleb and me.

I tipped my hat to him, and Caleb gave him a salute. John let out a long sigh before he turned back to the Caleb and me. "Let's get out of here."

And I couldn't agree more with John. High school sure had gotten more complicated since I'd been it.

Here is the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who has been so patient and waiting for my updates. I've been working on a one-shot. Lighter than this story. I'll post it when this is through because it has a small link between it. I hope that this turned out all right. Thanks for reading. Please review. Lil-Rock