The Winchesters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, Not me.

Hunter's Moon

Chapter 6

On the Way to Sioux Falls

"Highway to Hell"

Living easy, living free

Season ticket on a one-way ride

Asking nothing, leave me be

Taking everything in my stride

Don't need reason, don't need rhyme

Ain't nothing I would rather do

Going down, party time

My friends are gonna be there too

I'm on the highway to hell

No stop signs, speed limit

Nobody's gonna slow me down

Like a wheel, gonna spin it

Nobody's gonna mess me round

Hey Satan, paid my dues

Playing in a rocking band

Hey Momma, look at me

I'm on my way to the promised land

I'm on the highway to hell

(Don't stop me)

And I'm going down, all the way down

I'm on the highway to hell

Released in 1979 by AC/DC

Lyrics written by Angus Young

In the early morning light Sam and Dean pulled out of the Badlands National Park visitor's center and got back on Route 90, heading east toward Sioux Falls. Dean hoped that he had put a lid on Sam's wandering eyes with his 'no more diversions' fiat. That's what Sam had called it, a fiat.

"Hey, Sam," he asked. "What's the difference between an order and a fiat?"

Sam turned and smiled. "An order is given by someone in authority. A fiat is an arbitrary decree given by a person who has absolute authority to enforce the fiat, like a King. I'm letting you get away with it for now. Treasure it while you've got it because I'm planning on squashing you like a bug later, jerk."

"Oh, really? You and what army, bitch? I'm King in this car and don't you forget it." Dean blustered. He knew if Sam wanted to let the cat out his ass would be waving in the wind. He trusted his brother not to do him any harm but perhaps negotiations might be in order if something came up.

Silence reigned so Dean fished around for the box of tapes and came up with AC/DC. Now, with an elbow out the window, the wind moving through the car and the music pouring into the air, all was perfect in Dean's world. He glanced at Sam. As long as he had his brother safely beside him, nothing could destroy his peace. The Impala's wheels hummed on the asphalt and the distant horizon beckoned.

XXXXXX

Back in Spearfish, 125 miles behind the Winchesters, someone else was greeting the morning. FBI SSA Ray Ellis walked out of the diner after a good breakfast and stretched.

Pulling a folded map out of his jacket he spread it out on the hood of his rental. Running a finger down Route 90, he saw a straight shot into Sioux Falls. They might be in front of him but he thought they would have no idea that they were being followed. He had a chance, maybe a small chance, but still a chance, to catch up with them on the road.

Their 'most wanted' status had been re-activated and the FBI office in Rapid City was forwarding evidence to the FBI labs in Quantico for analysis. The skeletons of Addie and George Prescott had a good shot at being laid at the feet of the Winchesters. He would have to wait to see what the lab untangled from the mess of miscellaneous burned bones from the back seat of the Prescott's car.

There were a number of local reports about missing tourists but those incidents had happened before the arrival of the Winchesters on the scene. Why they would take the time and trouble to pile up those long dead bodies in the car before they torched it was just another Winchester mystery. Ray thought he'd ask them about it when he caught them.

XXXXXXX

Just under three hours later the Winchesters crossed the Missouri River at Chamberlain and were looking at about another three hours to Bobby's old house on the edge of Sioux Falls.

Sam had remained quiet and Dean had noticed that after leaving the South Western corner of the state, South Dakota was running a little thin on roadside entertainment. Even Sam was having trouble drumming up any enthusiasm. Everything was either already behind them, too far off Route 90 or closed for the summer. Dean wondered sometimes what kept people awake in some of these places.

Sam was restlessly moving and stretching. Dean knew that after a while Sam's long legs would start giving him hell. "Do you want to stop for a while, Sam?"

"Maybe it would be good to stop for lunch and stretch." he replied. "Might help wake me up. At this rate I'll be up all night."

They pulled off 90 and wandered down a small side road until they hit what was basically a wide spot in the road masquerading as 'The Village of Petah', according to a carefully lettered sign on a pole. The village consisted of a rural looking post office, a general store with honest to God barrels out front and 'May's Diner' along with a scattering of weather beaten houses.

May's looked like it might possibly be the social hub of Petah as it had three cars, a hay truck and a pick-up with attached horse trailer lined up in the dirt parking lot. Den pulled the Impala as far away from the miscellaneous collection of vehicles as he could get.

They got out of the car, Sam shaking his legs out as he exited. Dean looked around. Not a thing was moving and the only noise was the crickets counting out the temperature. The air was still and he felt the silence stretch out over the fields. Then he detected the lightest touch of music, coming from the diner perhaps.

Taking it as a good sign, the brothers moved toward the door. Once it was opened they were hit with a wave of cooled air and the sounds of talking and music. Thinking 'this is more like it' they walked to an open table and sat down.

The place went dead silent as the customers and the wait staff all took in the strangers in their midst. Feeling like the floor show, Dean snapped the menu off the table and looked around for someone to take their orders. Every face he looked at turned away and found something interesting to look at in the opposite direction. Conversations resumed, the waitresses moved and the cook put a plate up and rang the bell.

Sam seemed oblivious and distracted and when the waitress came over Dean touched his hand. "Sam, you know what you want to eat?"

"Dean, we need to get it to go." Sam replied.

"What? I thought you wanted to move around for a while. What's up?"

"Just get it to go, Dean. Trust me." Sam put a hand on Dean's wrist. Sam looked at the waitress. "Cheese burger and fries, to go, for both of us, please."

Now Dean was completely freaked out. "Get the food and meet me outside," Sam stood up and walked out.

Dean pulled open the driver's door and handed the food bags to Sam, balancing their drinks one handed. "The last thing I expected when we stopped for lunch was to end up eating it in the parking lot. He huffed. "What the hell got up your ass?"

"Three of those guys are planning to burn someone's house down tonight." Sam replied. "I could hear them talking about it, 'teach them not to come in to our territory' but you butted in just when I was going to get some names. Now I know what they intend to do but not when or where. I heard them arguing about whether or not they were going to let the kids out of the house. One of them said it was just kids and the other one said 'they just grow up and make more of them"

"That's just great. Welcome to the back woods of the good old US of A." Dean shoved a hand in the food bag. "Doesn't sound like gays. That leaves us with blacks, browns and yellows. Hell, it could be Democrats. What are we going to do about it now?"

"Not all the people who live out in the country are vicious mongrels." Sam replied. "The only thing I can think of is you go in and snag yourself a waitress. Find out what she knows. I'll wait out here and if they come out before you come back I'll just follow them."

"Do you mean in the car or are you going to follow them as the cat?" Dean asked.

"Probably the cat." Sam replied

"I've been meaning to talk to you about this. Look, Sam, you have got to stop dropping bodies. We are going to end up in a world of hurt if you keep it up.

"Hey, Walt and Roy deserved what they got." Sam growled. "And that hunter was a pure asshole. People worked for decades to restore those sheep to a strong breeding population and that pig was killing them for the horns. Just for money. I have no sympathy for him."

"Well, have a little sympathy for your brother then. " Dean growled back. "I'm pretty sure Walt and Roy got us put back on the 'Most Wanted' runway again. Those were real, live FBI Agents we left standing in that parking lot with their dicks in their hands."

"Humph," Sam snorted. "One of them was a lady."

"You know what I mean. Don't be a little shit. I'm also pretty sure they'll stick us with that married couple, the timing is so good. And now there is a body laying out in a field somewhere that looks like a cats' chew toy. You see what I mean?" Dean finished.

"I get it." Sam sighed. "So what do I do if I have to stop them by myself?"

"Scare 'em . Make them pee their pants, maybe their guns 'll get wet." Dean ran his hands through his hair. "Hell, I don't know. Just take your cell phone with you. Put it in that pouch thingie."

"Wonderful," Sam closed his eyes. "A Sphinx with a cell phone. I'll have to transform to use it. So then I'll be a naked man on a cell phone."

"Dammit, Sam, figure it out. Put a pair of boxers in the pouch with the cell phone! Do I have figure out everything? Wait, don't you have me on speed dial?"

"You know, you're right. I can dial that with a claw."

"See," Dean went on. "Crisis averted. No naked guy on a cell phone. Look, I got to go catch me a waitress. Try to wait for me or at least call and let me know where to meet you."

Dean got out of the car and went back in to the diner. Sitting at the counter he turned the glow up to 'stun' and waited for his prey. He turned it back down a notch when the cook started eyeing him from behind the order counter.

"What can I do for you?" Dean looked up at the same thin, blonde waitress that had come to his table. Looking around he saw there were actually three waitresses and one was a twin to the one in front of him. The other, an older dark haired woman was looking at him like he was desert.

"I forgot the coffees. Could I get two large, black coffees to go?" He looked up at her eyes and she froze just like a deer in the proverbial headlights.

"Sure, anything you want. I mean, I'll just go get those for you."

Before she scurried away he put a hand on her arm. "I'm just going to step outside and have a smoke. Could you bring them out there?"

She nodded her head yes "I'll be right out." Dean put a couple of dollars in her hand and went back out on the front porch.

XXXXXXX

Dean got everything the woman knew. He now had the names of the attackers; the Howard brothers, and he know they were going after the Garcia family, Mom, Dad and three little girls. When he got to the car, however, Sam was gone.

He knew where he was going anyway so he didn't call Sam. The last thing the Sphinx needed was the Indian Jones theme song blasting out of his pouch. Just a little surprise that Dean had set up for his brother.

As he drove up the dirt road that led to the Garcia house he was treated to the sight of a Howard brother running down the road as if his ass was on fire and there was water over the hill. "Looks like Sam is here already." Dean thought.

When he pulled up in front of the house he saw the Garcias all safely inside peering out their front window at the giant cat in their front yard. The Sphinx had the other two Howard brothers treed up a pine. Dean assumed they had sprinted up the trunk as there were no branches closer than ten feet to the ground.

When he realized just what the Sphinx was doing he was sprinting on his own.

"No, no, no,..we talked about this!" Dean took the gas can away from the Sphinx. It growled at him. You promised you wouldn't drop any more bodies."

He heard a swiftly indrawn breath come from up the tree.

He looked up at two traumatized white supremacists. "Hi, guys. You the Howards?" he asked.

"Yes, and what the hell is that thing?" was the response. Dean noticed that the gasoline was splashed not only on the trunk of the tree but it seemed to be soaked into the legs of the men's pants.

"This is just my cat. He likes white meat; I never knew he liked it bar-b-queued. "Dean walked all the way around the tree. "How does it feel to be prey?"

"Hey, call it off, man. You're a white guy. Help a brother out." The men in the tree thought this was going to get them some sympathy.

"I'm a guy who's friends with a giant cat. You guys aren't in my league. You can't join my club." Dean responded with a sneer.

"Now, why are you bothering my friends, the Garcias?" Dean asked.

There was a complete silence from the tree.

"Sorry. We didn't know they were friends of yours," was the slow response.

"You guys are aware that you're assholes, right?" Dean went on. "I would let the cat have you but we're trying to cut back on his body count."

"I know that born stupid generally means you're going to stay stupid but how about this? You are going to become best friends with the Garcias. You are going to help Mr. and Mrs. Garcia become valued members of your community. Not only that, you're going to ask them to teach you Spanish."

"If you don't, if I hear one bad thing about you or if anything happens to the Garcias, whether it's your fault or not, the cat comes back. If we have to come back, I'll let him have you."

"OK, deal." said one of the men.

"I need to hear from both of you." Dean answered.

"OK , me too," said the other one.