Hi guys! A very merry Christmas eve to you all! I hope you're all having a great time this holiday season surrounded by the people you love and care about the most. Here is part four of Crossroads, I hope you enjoy this part as it is a little shorter than usual. Please read, follow, fav and review, (I would always love more reviews) and I wish you a very merry Christmas! Cheers! D.S x

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or The Walking Dean. The OC's are mine though.

Crossroads

Part Four

Dean shook Kid awake as soon as he was sure that most of the people in the hospital had gone to sleep. They'd had some food sent to them, in the form of an elderly woman with a tray, during the day. Dean had smiled at her, trying to get her to relax, but the old woman couldn't have gotten out of there fast enough. Dean had woken Kid to eat, but the boy had soon fallen back asleep. They'd had no other visitors, a couple of cops had peered through the small glass window, but one hard look from Dean had been enough to send them scurrying. Licari had hung around a little, giving Dean harsh glares through the glass, when the hunter had peered through, but Dean had just smirked, infuriating the officer. "Oi," Dean muttered, "come on Kid, get up." The boy stirred, stretching as he blinked his eyes back into focus.

"Dean?"

"Shh," Dean whispered, placing a finger in front of his mouth in the universal gesture. Kid instantly quietened, nodding his head and the hunter moved away. Dean had gathered the rest of his stashed weapons earlier, the demon knife, along with the silver knife, ammo and gun. As the boy came up behind him Dean handed over the ammo and gun, but made sure to shake his head, a clear indication, he hoped, to not fire the thing. Kid took the gun, stashing it in a pocket, along with the ammo, raising an eyebrow as the hunter took out the little silver knife and crossed to the door. After a quick check through the glass window, Dean crouched down, inserting the tip of the knife into to lock on the door. With a few twists and shoves, the door eventually cracked open, letting out a small squeak as the hinges protested. Dean tensed, but could hear nothing. Standing, he passed the knife back to Kid, then grabbed the door, putting pressure on it so that the hinges wouldn't make another noise. Pushing it open, Dean leaned out, looking up and down the corridor. Nothing. Dean looked back at Kid, jerking his head before stepping out into the dark. There were no lights on, Dean guessed that they didn't want to waste what gas or electricity that they had with the generators they likely used to power the pace to bother with them. The pair sneaked down the corridor, most of the doors were shut, which Dean was thankful for. They finally reached the door that led to the stairs, Dean gave the signal for Kid to pause. Walking forward Dean opened the door and checked up them. No one. Looking back, Dean gave the go ahead to Kid and together they ascended. It was only two flites, but it felt like much longer to Dean. Every creak was enough to set him on edge, the small noises were amplified that they had the hunter twitching nervously. A second door greeted them when they reached the top. Dean slunk near the wall, gesturing for Kid to come up close to him. "I go first," he whispered. "You follow."

"We going for the office?" Dean nodded but Kid frowned. "Supplies?"

"We grab what we can, if not we scavenge on the run. I'm not staying here longer than we have to." Not bothering to let Kid answer, the hunter moved towards the door, cracking it open so that he could look beyond. There was another corridor, it looked just the same as the one they had been staying on, the doors, again, all shut. Dean looked up and down it, no lights or movement, he let out a breath. Waving a hand to Kid the two stepped out into the open, moving down one wall in the direction Doc had mentioned, when they had spoken to him. The corner office, down from the stairs. It was the only room that had another window, though it was covered by blinds so Dean couldn't see inside. They got closer, Dean looked behind to see Kid following in his shadow. The boy had done good, not disobeying his orders and keeping out of Dean's way, the hunter didn't know why but he felt a surge of pride. Suddenly a noise cut through the silence. Dean stilled, Kid copying. There were sounds coming from the office. Frantically Dean searched for a way to get out of sight, but there were only shut doors and walls on either side of him. A whistle came from behind, he turned to see Kid, a door open and him gesturing inside. Dean held in a growl, what the hell did the boy think he was doing, opening a random door? He would have to scold him later, but for now he darted forward, slipping in behind Kid, shoving the small body out of the way as he pulled the door closed, though he didn't shut it all the way. The room they were in was small, definitely not a hospital room, probably a storage room of some sort. Dean could feel Kid moving around behind him, but he was to focused on the small gap, in which he could see outside. Movement stirred the blinds behind the office window, then the door opened allowing Shepherd and Licari to emerge.

"You know it won't get any better, Amanda," Licari was saying.

"You don't know that."

"It has to be one of the workers, it's only officers that are being targeted, you can't ignore that," Licari was insisting, but Shepherd only hung her head and sighed. "There's already been talk. You think they won't deal with you? You're not Dawn, Amanda."

"Licari," the woman snapped, sending a dangerous look the man's way. It shut him up, but didn't wipe the smug look from his face. Dean watched as they shut the office door, Shepherd not even bothering to lock it. Probably thought no one would dare go into her office, then walked up towards Dean's location. The hunter pulled the door a little closer, gripping the door knob tight, just in case they reached for it. But he needn't have worried as they breezed straight on by. Even when he couldn't hear their footsteps Dean didn't move, he didn't want to risk that one of them would come back for anything, better to wait a while. A tap on his shoulder had he glancing behind. Kid was stood there, a grin on his face as he held up a battered looking shoulder bag. Dean raised an eyebrow which earned him a quiet scoff and the flap on the bag being lifted up. The bag was full on cans, beans, corn, potted meat. Dean frowned, then shifted his eyes further into the small room they were hiding in. There was shelves covering most of the walls, stuffed with cans and other things, such as medical supplies. Dean didn't let his surprise show on his face, but he did smirk and lean in close to Kid.

"Get some medicines." Kid nodded, turning to carefully pick among the shelves once more. Dean watched, until finally the bag could hold no more. He waved at Kid to get his attention, gesturing to him to stay behind him, then Dean pushed the door to the corridor back open and looked out. All was quiet. Dean proceeded out, making a bee line for the office, opening the door as silently as possible and stepping inside. It was a big space, with a desk, chair, even an exercise bike in one corner, but it was the two cabinets that had Dean's attention. Once Kid was inside and the door was once again shut, Dean spoke. "Check the desk."

"What should I look for?" Kid asked, even as he moved behind the desk. The bag awkwardly cast over his good shoulder. Dean reached out and took it, securing it around himself with ease, Kid offering him a grateful smile.

"Anything that could belong to a girl. It will probably be something significant, but grab everything. Hopefully they'll have all the stuff together though." Kid nodded and set to work on opening the desk draws. Dean turned his attention to the cabinets, both were padlocked, but that didn't poise a problem to the hunter. "Got any clips on that desk?" he asked. Kid looked startled by the question, but cast a quick eye over the surface of the desk.

"Yeah," he muttered, small hands quick to grab something from a pot on the left side, tossing them at Dean. He caught them, two small paper clips, smiling the hunter deftly straightened them out, then was down in front of the padlock, make shift lock pickers inserted and twisting. It was a testament to how many times Dean had done this in his life that he was quick to get the lock off. Pocketing it, along with his clips, Dean checked out what was inside. Files took up the top part of the space, all packed together tightly that Dean was surprised that they were even able to pull one out. Some were even in folders, with neat writing on the outside covers, letting Dean know exactly what was inside. He read a few. Maps, building plans, worker lists, medical supply lists, but there was one that caught his eye. It looked new and instead of stuffed in with the others it was lain over the top. Dean grabbed it, flicking open the file to read the had written words. It was a list of names, some with a black line through them and a number beside it. Dean studied it a moment, his eyes finding a shadow of something written on the back. Turning it over Dean's mouth thinned into a tight line as he read the words. Death List.

"What's that?" Kid's question brought Dean out of his thoughts. He slammed the folder shut and placed it back in the cabinet.

"Nothing. You find anything?"

"Only some bits and pieces," Kid nodded to the small pile on the desk, a collection a female things, or what an eight year old would consider female things. Dean nodded, returning his attention to the open cabinet. There was nothing on the lower part, a box with odds and ends in, and a pair of shoes. Shutting it up Dean moved on to the second one, once open Dean let out a triumphant grunt.

"Bingo," the hunter said as he reached out to pull one of the many boxes free that were piled high in the cabinet. The shelves had been taken out to make room for the boxes, stacked one on top of the other until they almost touched the top. Dean noticed most had names on, scrawled in one corner like an after thought. The hunter wondered for a moment if his and Kid's belongings would have ended up in one of the boxes, but quickly shook it away to concentrate on what was in front of him. It took getting half way down but finally Dean found what he was looking for. "Score," he muttered, dragging two boxes out, one with Beth and the other with Dawn penned into the cardboard. "Hey Kid, get ..." Dean's words cut sort however as the temperature dropped. On his outward exhale his breath fogged up and the lights that seemed to be permanently off gave a flicker.

"D...Dean," Kid's hesitant voice had the hunter turning to him. The boy was staring at the door, and when Dean followed his gaze he found a spirit standing there. It wasn't Beth, this woman was older, dressed in a police uniform, but she still had a bullet hole through her head. "Whose that?" Kid asked.

"Pretty sure that would be Dawn," Dean said, one hand moving to the salt he had in his pocket. "Get over here." Kid did as asked, coming up beside the hunter. "Grab the bludgeon, if she goes for you, swing it at her. Spirits hate iron," Dean explained as fingers pulled free his make shift weapon from his back. But Dean only had eyes for Dawn. She wasn't moving, but she was staring right at them. Her hard eyes narrowed and a snarl stretched across her face, without missing a beat she started to come right at them. Kid, much to Dean's pleasure reacted instantly, stepping forward and with a determined swing, dispelled the spirit. "Nice job," Dean smirked and Kid offered his own smile, but it was sort lived as the boy was suddenly thrown off his feet by an invisible force. "Kid!" Dean called as the boy smacked into a wall, but Dawn was already on the hunter, ice cold hands coming around his throat, trying to pull him down from behind.

"Traitors, traitors," was the whispered words that came from the spirits lips, ghosting over Dean's ear as he fought to get the spirit off him. His hands instantly came up to try and pry the dead fingers from his throat. Dean gasped, desperately reaching for his pocket, hoping to pull out the salt. Suddenly the grip was gone and Dean could breath, the hunter jerked forward, but managed to keep his feet. Turning he saw Kid, bludgeon raised high as though waiting for the spirit to come again.

"You alright?" the boy asked, but all Dean could do was nod as his throat felt to raw to speak. "Where did she go?"

"Not far," Dean rasped back as he turned back to the boxes, one hand finally pulling free the salt. He marched to the boxes, scattering what he could over them before replacing it with the matches. Without pausing he struck one and dropped the flaming stick down on to the boxes, where they lit up instantly.

"Is that it?" Kid asked and Dean shot the boy a look.

"Well if there's nothing left here for them to haunt, that ..." the hunter's words were cut off as the glass of the window suddenly smashed in. Kid screamed, as Dean pulled up a hand to try and ward off as much glass as he could. "Shit," Dean cursed, as the lights flickered, he followed them turning towards the door where he could hear the sound of alarmed voices coming from out of the dark corridors.

"D...Dean," the chocked sound of Kid's voice had Dean spinning back to the boy, where Dawn was stood behind him, a hand around his throat while another held a gun to his head.

"Kid!" Dean reached for the salt.

"Traitors, all traitors. They set me up," were Dawn's whispered words as fingers tightened around Kid's throat.

"What's happening?" A voice called from beyond the office. "Why are the lights flickering?"

"The office!"

"Someone's in there!"

"Dawn. Hey Dawn, you don't want to hurt him," Dean spoke to the spirit. It was a long shot, vengeful spirits rarely listened to reason, but Dean was wiling to try anything if it would distract the spirit. A bang came from behind the door, as a foot kicked it in, allowing Shepherd and her fellow cops into the room.

"Winchester!"

"Get back!" Dean called, but the officers didn't listen to him, only continued to swarm into the room.

"It's over, put your hands up and ..."

"Dawn?" it was Licari who had spoken, face going slack as his eyes took in the spirit that still had Kid trapped. "Jesus Christ, Dawn?"

"Dawn?" Shepherd repeated, her gaze following her partner, as well as the other officers, all turning to stare at the spirit.

"Shepherd, Licari," Dawn spoke, as she tilted her head to stare at the police offices.

"Oh my god, Dawn," Shepherd lowered her gun slightly, taking a step forward, almost against her will. "You're ..." her eyes flicked to the bullet hole in her forehead and she gasped. "Your dead."

"Dead. Yes, dead," Dawn agreed, Dean saw her tightening her grip, causing Kid to choke, though her gun never wavered.

"How ...?"

"Amanda, get away from her," Licari said.

"But she ..."

"Traitors, all traitors," Dawn mumbled, taking the attention back to herself. "Your fault, it's your fault." Dawn's eyes narrowed in rage.

"Dawn," Shepherd tried to speak but the lights flickered and one burst.

"It's your fault I'm trapped," the gun that had been pointed at Kid's head moved and a shot was fired. Shepherd jerked, almost curling in on herself, she gasped, blood coming up from her mouth, as a hole appeared in her forehead.

"Amanda!" Licari yelled as the woman fell, lifting his gun to shoot at the spirit.

"Wait, don't!" Dean yelled, but he was ignored. As the officers open fired Kid twisted, swinging the bludgeon wildly, but managing to catch Dawn, dispelling some of her. Kid ducked aside as the bullets flew, crawling along the floor, to the side by the wall. Dean cursed running over to Kid and pulling him to his feet. Without looking back he rushed the pair of them to the smashed in window, throwing Kid through before jumping over himself. "Come on!"

"What happened?" Kid asked as the two ran down the corridor, the lights still flickering as they tried to get away. Shadows of people emerging from rooms filled the once empty space, but the pair just shouldered passed them, booking it to the staircase, bashing open the door. "I thought she would be gone once we burned her stuff."

"She's obviously not haunting something that was in them," Dean growled. "There must be something else."

"But what?" Kid said. "The doctor said they gathered all her stuff. It had to have been in there."

"I know, I ..." Dean cut his own words off as a figure emerged from the shadows. He stopped on the staircase, not caring when Kid protested as he smacked into the back of him. "Beth," Dean spoke softly, as the blonde spirit stepped further into the open. The girl smiled, a sad smile as she stared at the two of them. Dean scrutinised the spirit, things coming together in his mind. "Ah, shit."

"What, Dean?" Kid asked.

"You're not a vengeful spirit, are you?" Dean addressed Beth, who slowly shook her head. "God damnit!"

"What do you mean Dean?" Kid's insistent voice asked again, as he peered around the hunter to look at Beth, whose dead eyes seemed to light up at the sight of him.

"She's a death omen. She was trying to warn us."

"Warn us of what?"

"My guess would be Dawn?" he addressed Beth, who nodded, then shook her head. "What do you mean no?" Beth shrugged, then pointed at herself, then up the stairs where the shouts were still coming, finally she held up her hands to show her fingers, which she wiggled slowly. Dean frowned, "what are you talking ...?"

"Twelve?" Kid said breathlessly. Dean glanced behind him to see Kid, who was frowning in thought.

"Kid?" Dean asked, in way of an explanation.

"She pointed at herself, then Dawn, then held up ten fingers, so twelve," Kid said, looking to Dean.

"Twelve," the hunter repeated, realisation dawning. "Twelve spirits," Beth nodded and Dean growled.

"Son of a bitch."

"Dean?" the hunter tensed at the new voice, pushing Kid further behind him as he turned to the door leading back to the lower corridor.

"Doc?"

"What are you still doing here?" Doc asked, coming further into the corridor, eyes glancing above as the shouts continued. "I thought you were dealing with ... with Dawn and Beth, then leaving."

"Having a bit of a problem with that, Doc," Dean snorted. As Doc came closer, Dean caught the man glancing around, his eyes landing on Beth where his breath hitched.

"Beth."

"It's alright, she's a death omen," Dean said. "She won't hurt you. Dawn however ..."

"Why haven't you moved on?" Doc asked Beth. "You don't deserve to still be here."

"She's trapped here," Dean said. "Most likely because of the other spirits."

"Other ..." the banging of a door above them startled the trio. Dean glanced up, in time to see a shadow moving down the stairs, voices hot on their heels. "Come on," Dean hustled Kid further on, rushing to Doc, who moved with them, pushing open the door that led to the lower corridor.

"This way," Doc led them quickly down the corridor, which was empty.

"Where is everyone?" Kid asked.

"When we heard the gun shots I had everyone evacuate," Doc explained as he pushed open another office door, that had his own name on it. "In here," the three walked in and Doc locked the door once it was shut. "Now what did you mean other spirits."

"I think the whole building is haunted," was the hunters blunt reply.

"But how is that possible?" Doc asked.

"Quiet easily really," Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair. He pulled the salt from his pocket and frowned, he didn't have much left. "This place is a hospital, it's been exposed to death a lot, even before things went to shit. Now with all the crap that's gone down here," Dean shook his head. "It's a home for every mad as hell spirit that kicks the bucket." Dean trailed off, letting his words sink in. Kid cursed, sounding so much like himself that Dean couldn't help but smile.

"How are we supposed to stop them?" Doc asked and Dean sighed.

"Well really, we can't."

"What?"

"Dean?"

"This kind of haunting needs more than just salting and burning," Dean explained. "We'd need some kind of Physic, someone who could tell us what we are dealing with and possibly even trap the spirits in the building." Dean shook his head. "Really, we're screwed."

"So that's it?" Kid asked in indignation. " We just give up? What happened to not turning our backs on a hunt?"

"This is different now, Kid," Dean said, though the words were heavy on his tongue. "We can't handle this now. The best we can do is get out of here, along with as many people as possible. If no one is here, the spirits could settle ..."

"But what if some survivors came here? Wouldn't it just act up again?" Kid said and Dean didn't want to answer, because he knew what the answer was.

"Couldn't we salt and burn the building?" Kid asked, sounding even more desperate as he searched for an answer to their problem. "Surely if we got rid of the building the spirits wouldn't have anywhere to haunt."

"Kid, I've never done anything like that before, there's no guarantee that it would work," Dean said though his mind was mulling over Kid's words. To be honest it wasn't a bad idea. Dean had never once considered salting and burning a building in his own reality, mostly because it would have got him arrested. But here, who would care if one building was gone? No one would notice, but would that even work?

"Dean's right, lad," Doc's voice cut through Dean's musings. "You two should get out of here."

"But Doc," Kid protested but the man shook his head. "I'll gather what survivors I can. You just think about getting out." Dean shot a glance at the doctor, the man was smiling a reassuring look for the boy, but Dean was used to people trying to bullshit him. His Dad had been a master at it when he'd been young, but Dean had long since learned to read the signs. The smile didn't quiet reach Doc's eyes, they were distant and already thinking other things through, more than likely how to burn down a building. Kid was to busy protesting to notice any of this and Dean was quiet grateful that the eight year old hadn't learnt that particular skill yet.

"Kid, drop it," Dean ordered, that earned him a glare but with a sharp look of his own Kid lowered his eyes and grunted. Doc laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a shove towards Dean.

"Don't feel bad about anything," Doc said, that fake smile still on his face. "You did the best you could." Kid said nothing, just hung his head in sullen silence. Doc turned to Dean. "You shouldn't stick around."

"We won't, we ..."

"I don't want to know," Doc waved a hand. "You leave first. There's another set of stairs, they'll take you to the front of the hospital, the others should have gone out the emergency exit."

"Right," Dean nodded as he gripped Kid's shoulder. "Thanks Doc." Doc smiled and Dean turned away. "Come on, Kid." Dean ignored the boy's struggles, manhandling out of the door, not once letting go of his coat as he dragged him down the hall. Dean paused as they neared a bend, peering around in case anyone was there.

"Dean, we can't just leave him," Kid said, as he pulled on the grip the hunter had on him.

"We've no choice Kid."

"But the spirits ..."

"I don't want to hear no more," Dean cut Kid off with a harsh shake. He didn't need to hear what he was trying to push out of his mind, it was bad enough that it was probably going to haunt him in his nightmares. The way was clear, so Dean pulled Kid out and down the second hall. The sound of voices above had dimmed, Dean didn't want to know if anyone was still alive up there. Probably not with the way Dawn was behaving towards her former officers, and if Beth was right and more spirits were here. "This way," Dean shoved open a door that led to another set of stairs. He pushed Kid down first, who gave him a glare but went anyway. Dean followed close behind, his rush making Kid go faster. Soon the pair were in familiar surroundings, the front entrance that they had come through with the Bello and her partner only two days ago. "Check the outside before stepping out," Dean said as he pulled free his hammer. "There could be Walkers," Kid scowled but clutched Dean's bludgeon tighter. As the two made there way to the doors that led to freedom a cold chill surged passed them. "Beth," Dean said as the death omen appeared in front of the pair. For once she wasn't smiling, her eyes were narrowed as she glared at the two of them. "There's nothing we can do Beth." The girl lifted a hand and pointed back over Dean's shoulder. "We can't get rid of the spirits, there's to many and they're haunting the building." Beth just frowned all the more, jerking her pointed finger behind again. "For gods sake Beth ...!" Dean didn't get anymore out as Kid stepped forward and swiped the bludgeon through the spirit. "Kid."

"We need to get out of here, don't we?" Kid spat back at Dean. The hunter stiffened but held back in the retort, there was no use taking his frustration out on the boy. Together they headed outside. It was dark, which set Dean right on edge, he didn't really want to be moving around at night, but he had no choice if he wanted to get out of the area. They worked as a neat team, Dean taking point as they moved through the Atlanta streets. Once they were far enough away for Dean's liking, Dean whistled, signalling Kid to stop. Dean moved over to an abandoned car, jerking his head to Kid. Dean checked the door, thankful that it was open, he pushed Kid inside, who climbed into the back, while Dean took the front passenger seat. "What are we doing?" Kid asked.

"We can't move around at night," Dean said, shutting the car door as quietly as possible. He took the bag from over his head and tossed it into the drivers seat, glad to be rid of the weight. "Better to hunker down."

"We could have took a building."

"To risky, there could be Walkers. Get some sleep," Dean scrunched down in his seat, making sure that he couldn't be seen through the window. He watched the dark shadow of Kid out of the corner of his eye, waiting until the boy was laid down, out of sight. Even when Kid's breathing evened out Dean didn't fall asleep. No, the hunter couldn't sleep, he was waiting, waiting to see if the Doc would really do what he thought he would. Dean didn't know what time it was when he heard the explosion, though it was still dark outside. Dean held in his flinch, but Kid jumped awake, turning in the car to look frantically around. "Calm down, Kid."

"What was that?" Dean sat up slowly, looing out of the rear window as a mushroom of light and smoke filled the sky, followed by the booming sound of rock and stone hitting the ground with force. "What is ...?"

"The hospital, Kid. It was the hospital," the air around the car became full of smoke, drifting from where once a building had stood. Kid turned to stare at Dean, his face partly lit from the explosion that was still going on away from them.

"The hospital, but how?"

"Probably the generators they were using," Dean said. "Mess with them and they could take out the place."

Kid gaped, turning to look back outside, then back to Dean. "You said that it wouldn't work."

"I'd said I'd never done it," Dean clarified, facing Kid's anger head on. "There's a difference."

"But who ..."

"Who do you think?" Dean said and Kid gasped.

"Doc, but why would he ...?"

"Because he had to," Dean said as Kid scoffed. "The spirits were his people Kid. He felt responsible for them."

"But we offered to help him."

"No, we took a hunt and we reached a point where it would be dangerous to continue. I told you Kid, salting and burning the building was no guarantee. If we had had access to a Physic I would have been leading the charge. But in this situation, more lives would have been risked and in this world, we can't afford to do that."

"But ..."

"Kid," Dean leaned forward, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, who flinched, Dean ignored the guilt that welled in his chest at the action. "It's done, there's no use feeling guilt or shame," though it didn't stop the emotions from presenting themselves anyway. "We're hunters, we need to carry on," as the words passed his mouth Dean wondered if his old man had felt the same gut wrenching shame that he did right now. When he said those words to him and Sammy when they were boys. When a hunt had gone wrong and they had barely made it out alive. When they'd lost people, innocent people. Kid stared at him, eyes blinking back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Hunters?"

"Yeah, your a hunter Kid," Dean squeezed his shoulder and the shame increased tenfold as the boy's lips twitched into a smile.

"I'm a hunter," Dean watched as the boy straightened, quickly wiping away the tears that had once threatened to fall. Dean allowed Kid to pull himself back together, and the knotted feeling in his stomach lessened slightly at the sight. He didn't want the boy to fall apart, not if he could help it. "It wasn't exactly a great first hunt," Kid mumbled.

"Ah, you should have been around to see mine," Dean said with a forced smile of his own.

"What happened?" Kid asked, but Dean shoved the boy away playfully.

"You'll never know. Now get some sleep, we're out of here tomorrow," Kid flopped down out of sight. The dust and ash already obscuring most of the view from the windows. Again Dean listened until Kid had settled once more, finally shutting his own eyes and allowing his exhaustion to take him to sleep.

Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Dean groaned as the noise continued, followed by the occasional snarl. Dean mumbled, turning over to try and block the noise.

"Dean," the hunter grunted at the voice, couldn't they tell he was sleeping? "Oi, Dean," small hands came up to shake his shoulder and Dean swatted at them. "Hey."

"I'm sleeping,?" Dean muttered.

"But there's a Walker outside. Dean! Fine, I'll get it," the hunter barely heard the words but the sound of a door opening and the snarls becoming louder finally got through his sleepy brain. The hunter sat up, his neck protesting the quick movement from the bad position he had been in all night.

"Kid," Dean scowled as he could only watch the boy engage the Walker that had been skulking around the front car window, coming up to it and kicking the thing down until Kid could finish it off with the knife. Scowling, Dean grabbed the bag from the front driver seat, pushing open his own door to step outside. "What the hell?"

"You wouldn't wake up," was all Kid said, aiming a smirk at the hunter.

"Didn't mean you should take out the Walker by yourself, what if there had been more?" Kid shrugged and Dean growled in frustration. "Think about that," Dean said as he turned to take in the surroundings. A smog was heavy in the air, casting the buildings into shadow, Dean squinted to where the hospital once was, the smoke was drifting from that direction, along with a heated breeze. "Damn Doc, you went all out."

"Dean?"

"We need to get out of the city, who knows how many Walkers the building going down attracted."

"What about supplies?"

"We have enough for now," Dean indicated the bag, which he tossed over his head so it hung near his hip. "Better we just get out of here." The two set out into the city, Dean was hoping they would be able to make it back to the Impala, if it was still there. The smog made it difficult for them to move, so progress was slow, but soon they made their way back to familiar ground and Dean had to smile when he caught a glimpse of his replacement baby. "Thank god." Dean took the lead, wanting to reach the car, but suddenly a shot filled the air and Dean was forced to duck down.

"Dean!" Kid called but Dean couldn't answer, something had thrown itself at the hunter, tackling him to the ground.

"Bastard! You killed us, you tried to kill us!"

"Licari!" Dean shouted, desperately avoiding the punches the cop was raining down on him. The man looked a little worse for wear, he was scratched and bloodied, his uniform ripped and beaten, but he had a gun. Dean reached up, gripping the mans wrist twisting it to try and dislodge the gun. But the man was cop and wasn't falling for such a simple move. He finally managed to get a hit to Dean's face, stunning the hunter enough for him to get the gun pointed down on him, while his body pinned him to the hard ground. "Licari, just calm down."

"You tried to kill us. You blew up the hospital, it was you, it had to be you."

"It wasn't me Licari," Dean spoke softly, trying his best to calm the man down. His eyes were wide and full of terror and confusion. Dean wondered how the man had managed to escape from Dawn. When he and Kid had fled from Shepherds office he didn't think any of the cops that had been in there could have gotten away. Dean couldn't help but feel a slight bit of admiration for the man. "Licari."

"Dawn, Dawn was there. How the hell was she there? She's dead, I know she's dead," Licari spoke really to himself, his eyes kept sliding in and out of focus and the gun trembled.

"She was a spirit," Dean said, slowly trying to lift a hand to see if he could grab the gun. "She was haunting the hospital."

"That's impossible, spirits don't exist."

"But you saw her."

"She killed them, all of them. Amanda, Tanaka, Bello they're all dead. Then others came, those girls I ... they chased me, I had to run, I had to, they would have killed me to."

"Yeah, Licari. You had to run, just like Doc Edwards had to destroy the hospital." That was the wrong thing to say as the cop flinched and anger returned to his face.

"Lie, you're lying!" Licari spat and the gun was back in his face. "It was you, this was all your fault, everything was fine until they brought you here." Licari's fingers flexed and Dean tried one last time at reason.

"Licari, listen ..."

"This is your fault!" Licari cried and his finger went for the trigger. Dean gasped as a shot was fired, however it didn't come from Licari's gun. Licari's face slackened, eyes instantly going glassy from the bullet that had entered his brain from behind. The gun that had been pointing at Dean fell from dead fingers as the cop went forward, dead weight coming down on Dean.

"D...Dean?"

"Kid," Dean saw the boy, stood behind where Licari had been, gun up and shaking in his hands, from where it had been fired the bullet going right into Licari's head. Kid's eyes were wide, his face pale as he stared at Dean with a dead Licari on top of him.

"Dean," the hunter could hear the sob in the child's voice and that had Dean moving. He shoved the dead cop from him, scrambling to his feet and dashing to Kid, whose legs had finally given out and collapsed to the ground. Dean caught him before he bashed his head in, cradling the small body to him, letting the gun fall from slack fingers to crack against the ground. "I ... I killed him Dean. I killed someone," the tears were fully flowing down Kid's face and he buried his head into Dean's coat.

"Shh, I know Kid, I know."

"I ... I don't feel good. Killing someone is wrong Dean, it's wrong. I'm a killer."

"No," Dean snapped, pulling Kid away from him to look him in the eye, through the tears and snot that were streaming down his face. "You're not a killer, you hear me, you're not. You save my life Kid," Dean said gently , a hand coming to run through dirty blonde hair. Kid stared, his face twisting with despair, hope and fear.

"I did?" Dean nodded. "I save you? Dose that mean I'm not a bad person?"

"Of course you're not a bad person," Dean said, pulling the boy back towards him in a fierce hug. "You did nothing wrong. It was Licari that was wrong. He was going to hurt us, kill us," Dean didn't mention that the man had probably hurt more than just the two of them, but he didn't want to over whelm the boy. "You did what you had to do, the only thing you could. This isn't your fault, Kid." The boy sobbed, fingers clutching at Dean's coat as he let loose a wail. Dean just sat there and held him, allowing the child to cry out his anger, sorrow and fear. Dean would be there for him when he needed to be put back together. The young hunters mind went back to times when he had been out with his Dad, after his own early hunts, when he didn't understand how to express what he was feeling, hoping his Dad could guide him, only to be left out in the cold or told to suck it up and look after Sammy. Dean looked down at Kid, whose eyes were starting to droop as exhaustion overtook him. It was in that moment that Dean made a decision. He would be there for Kid, he would be his guide, protector and teacher if he had to be. He would be there for him in a way his old man never was for him. And so Dean sat there and held him, not knowing that this was the first step on a new unknown road.

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