Chapter 15 – All or Nothing

Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed had nothing on John Winchester and Will Fitzpatrick. The latter duo clearly had claim to the balls-out brawl of all time. Blow after blow, neither man was conceding, despite growing fatigue and injury. But the stakes were higher for John and he had a feeling Fitzpatrick was just in it for the joy of kicking his ass. Never mind the growing chaos happening within the compound.

Enough was enough. Time for the combo Dean as a boy had effectively named the Winchester Wallop. As Fitzpatrick attacked, John sidestepped, then pounded a right fist into the side of his opponent's head, then a left to the back of his head. On his way to the ground, John grabbed Fitz's collar and brought his knee up into the man's face, then swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing, unconscious at last, to the ground.

Or so John thought.

As he steadied himself, shook the cobwebs painfully away and went to retrieve the dropped detonator, he could not readily find it. Until he did in the worst place possible.

Fitzpatrick's hand.

The man's eyes practically swollen shot, blood spewing from his nose and mouth, Fitzpatrick still had it in him to laugh as he held the device.

Apparently not needing any stereotypical bad guy taunting of words, Fitz merely laughed and pressed the button, unleashing hell within the compound.

John, as he took off running, could still hear the hearty laugh echoing behind him.

SNSNSN

It wasn't a subtle sound. The booming of the explosives from above them made Dean and Sam stare up in awe moments before diving for cover as the ceiling rained down, the building above literally collapsing around them.

Arms up to protect themselves as much as possible, Sam and Dean made for the room they'd taken shelter in before, remembering the built-in countertops which would hopefully provide some cover. They dove into the room just as the corridor ceiling collapsed further, filling the hall with fire and debris.

Coughing and aching, Dean and Sam took stock of themselves then each other. Miraculously, neither was hurt beyond scrapes and bruises. But their escape route was cut off. They were essentially trapped in the growing inferno, and it looked like their luck had finally run out.

"Dean …"

"I know. We are so screwed."

"Maybe Dad'll find us," Sam coughed.

"Maybe," Dean coughed back.

Both watched as smoke drifted in under the door.

"We should try to plug up the bottom of the door, keep the smoke out as much as possible," Dean suggested. For all the good that'll do.

Sam responded only with increasing coughs.

The boys huddled into the corner under the countertop, waiting for the inevitable end.

At least they were together. Though Dean would wish for Sam to be anywhere but here right now, part of him was glad they were at least going out together. It seemed right, somehow.

"I'm gonna apply to college," Sam wheezed out.

"Oh yeah?" Dean wheezed back. "Wanna *cough* take your geekdom to a whole new *cough* level?"

"I do." *cough* "What do you think?"

"I *cough* think you can do anything, kiddo." Dean's eyes were burning, but he wasn't sure if the tears were from the smoke or from the fact that his little brother was telling him about impossible plans. He didn't believe for one second his father would ever let Sam go, but now wasn't the time to make such a point. Let the kid dream a little.

Dean felt Sam slump next to him. He wouldn't be conscious much longer himself, which was probably a blessing, since it was so hard to get a breath.

Just as he was about to give in to the darkness, Dean saw a beautiful woman appear before him. Damn, heaven works pretty fast, he thought.

He felt the woman take hold of his shirt and through bleary eyes saw her grab Sam's, then suddenly felt cold, clean air surrounding him. He dared to inhale, which led to a massive fit of coughing but as he continued to gasp, he found the hacking was diminishing. Blinking away, he looked up into the eyes of the still-present hallucination, who was telling him to relax and breathe slowly.

For a moment he did, until he remembered Sam. He struggled to sit up, but found he could only roll over. But the minute he saw Sam unconscious beside him, he got himself up and over to him.

"He's okay," the woman assured him. "He's just out. But he's breathing."

"Who *cough* are you?"

"Serenity."

"Angel?"

"Witch," Sera answered with a chuckle.

"Nah, *cough* too pretty."

"Flatterer."

Dean dropped down on his back again for a moment, then was suddenly back up.

"Dad!"

"Easy, easy," Sera soothed, trying to placate him. "I'm sure he's fine. Probably looking for you somewhere on the grounds."

"I gotta find him," Dean hacked as he fought to get up.

"Just lie back down. I'll find him."

And before Dean could stop her, she vanished again.

"Witch, my ass," he hacked as he lay back down, body unwilling to comply.

SNSNSN

John was having a hard time finding his way out. His best-laid plans never did seem to pan out. He could only hope that Dean and Sam had gotten out.

Working his way down another corridor, he could have sworn he heard someone calling his name. Stopping to listen, he waited.

Sure enough, he heard it again.

"John?"

It was still far off, but how far he couldn't tell. It came through only as an echo.

"John, you here?"

Closer. Clearer.

The voice sounded familiar.

"Winchester!"

Bobby?

Sure enough, John watched Bobby Singer emerge from the smoke filled corridor and run toward him.

"Bobby …"

"Bout time I found your ass. What the hell hit you?"

"Everything," John choked out. "The boys?"

"Been looking for them, but no luck yet. Let's get you outta here then I'll keep looking. Peter and Joshua are looking too."

"They're safe."

John and Bobby looked up to find Sera standing before them.

"What the …"

"It's okay, Bobby, she'd a friend," John said. "They're okay? Both of them?"

"A little worse for wear but alive and outside. Let's go."

Sera proceeded to lead them out of the burning compound and over to Dean and Sam, who were now both conscious and sitting up.

"Dad!" Dean yelled with a husky voice.

John hobbled over to his sons and embraced them both, receiving hearty hugs in return. He them pulled back to do the patented inventory of their injuries.

But Sam had other ideas. He struggled to his feet and started back toward the compound.

"Sam, what the hell are you doing?" John asked.

"There may still be others trapped inside. We gotta help them."

"Forget it Sam."

"But Dad, what about Clive and the others who helped you escape? A lot of them are innocent! We can't just leave them to burn!"

Sera couldn't believe this was a hunter saying these words. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind's eye.

"Clive is safe and so are a lot of the others," she told the men.

"But some may not be," Sam persisted.

"It's not worth risking going back in there Sam and you know it," John barked.

"But that part over there," Sam pointed. "That's not burning. There's still a chance!"

"No Sam! Let them go. That's an order!"

Sam couldn't believe how unyielding, how heartless his father was being. After the hell he'd gone through, after seeing the cruelty of what had been done to so many in the compound, then having been aided in escape by the supposed enemy. And now the man wasn't even willing to lift a finger to try and help. Sam was speechless. And angry.

Sera could sense the turmoil within the boy but said nothing. She could sense it had been a growing issue within the family and that it was likely coming to a head quickly. She just hoped they would survive it. Clearly this was a special family unit, one worth salvaging. She only hoped they would work to do so.

For now, the group sat on the hill and watch as the compound burned to the ground. Clive and some others found and joined them, but they didn't see any other creatures fleeing the scene. They guessed any that had gotten out were long gone.

Thet soon decided that it was best to be on their way as well. While the compound had been quite remote, the plume of fire was sure to have been spotted and it wouldn't be long before the authorities would arrive. All decided it would be best not to be around to try and explain what had existed here or the events that had taken place. Leave it up to others to put a story together.

John thanked Clive and the others and bid them goodbye, then trekked back to Bobby's truck and the Impala with dean, Sam and Sera following in silence behind. Sera would be on her way soon as well but decided to stay with the men for the night to tend to their injuries and make sure they were alright. She owed them that much. And now, thanks to them, there was all the time in the world.