Okay guys, most of you know what happened and that the rest of Hard Road was lost, save for this small bit that I had emailed to harmonyhelms. I am going to post it, so you can read it, though it is short. I would really like to finish this story, and am getting a lot of support so I very well may, it's just a little daunting to rewrite close to 15k words when I had it JUST THE WAY I wanted it. But... I'm going to try. It may be a bit before anything else goes up. ALL OF MY WRITING is gone, so it really may be awhile before ANYTHING else is posted, so... enjoy this now!

Hard Road

Part Five A

Dean glanced over at Cas's back as the angel perused the old book in front of him. Their mid-afternoon romp had been enjoyable, but had set them back a bit in the research and that really wasn't going to cut it. He was not going to have to explain to Sam why he didn't have an answer to their goddess problem, that would just be too damn akward, even for their relationship. Nope, not happening.

"Dean! I think I found something!" Cas called out, interrupting his musings.

"Really?" Dean asked, surprised but pleased.

"Yes. I believe she can be destroyed with a birch stake, anointed in the blood of one who is righteous," Cas declared.

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Um, okay. Kind of... random." Cas rolled his eyes at Dean (that was getting old fast) and motioned him over to the table. He showed the hunter the open book and pointed at the relevant passage. Dean read over it and sure enough, it seemed like it would be that simple.

"Okay. Birch. We can do that. But... 'anointed in the blood of one who is righteous'? Where are we gonna get that?"

Cas gave him an odd look. Dean was lost.

"Dean. You do remember who you are, don't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Cas sighed.

"You are the Righteous Man. I believe your blood should suffice," Castiel explained.

"Oh," and didn't that just feel odd. "Well, I guess we should call Sam."

"That is probably a good idea."

Dean flipped open his phone and hit the number one, allowing the speed dial to quickly connect him to his brother. Sam answered after a handful of rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sam. I think we've got a lead," Dean started in without fanfare.

"Really? Great, because I've got nothing here. Want me to come on over?"

"Yeah, that'd be great, Sammy. See ya in a few."

Dean closed his phone and tossed it down on the bed. The very rumpled bed. Oh well, Sam could deal with it.

"Is it really that easy?" he blurted out. He knew how their lives went, nothing was ever this easy. Ever.

Cas stood up from the table and walked over to where Dean was standing at the foot of the bed. He reached out and laid a hand on Dean's hip, squeezing gently.

"I would hardly call this case easy. And while the means of her demise are rather straightforward, I do believe that the actual act itself will be rather difficult. We still have her guard dogs to worry about."

"Right. Like I said, nothing in this job is ever easy."

Cas leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Dean's lips then pulled back, looking unsure, as if he wasn't entirely comfortable with taking a liberty like that. Dean offered him a reassuring smile and kissed him back.

Dean pulled back when a knocking sound broke the silence of the small cabin.

"Sammy," he announced, though he really didn't need to. Cas had to know it was his brother. Dean moved over to the door and opened it, letting Sam in.

"Hey. So, jack pot?" Sam asked, quickly moving into the room.

"We think so. Show him the book, Cas."

Castiel went over to the table and picked up the book, bringing it back to Sam.

"A birch stake, anointed in blood. Pretty simple, huh?" Dean summarized while Sam read over the passage. His brother glanced up once he'd finished and gave a snort.

"Dean, it's never that simple."

"Yeah, that's what I said, but... it looks like it is here. Of course, then we've got the wanna-be hell hounds and we have to figure out where she actually is, how to get to her or bring her to us, not so simple," Dean told him.

"Well, first things first. The stake. There are birch trees in the woods. Want me to cut some?" Sam asked, glancing back down at the book.

"Yeah, that'd be best. Uh, Cas? Exactly how much blood do you need?" Dean asked.

"And where do you plan to get it?" Sam interjected.

"We won't need much blood, and Dean will provide the blood."

Sam furrowed his brow, glanced a Dean then muttered a soft, "oh."

"Yeah, 'oh,'" Dean said, rolling his eyes. "So, problem number two: how do we find her?"

"My best guess would be to start at that cave. That's where we found her guard dogs," Sam offered.

"I agree with Sam. The sigils there were very concentrated as well," Cas told them.

"And she's what? Just hanging out there? Do we need some way to summon her?"

"The summoning ritual requires the blood of a virgin," Cas informed them.

"Oh."

"It's almost the full moon," Sam pointed out. "Can we assume she'll be there for the ritual and attack then?"

Cas canted his head to the side.

"I believe that may work best. It is the one time we know exactly when and where she will be."

"That's cutting it awfully close and putting some innocent people in danger," Dean said, looking from his brother to his angel.

"Unless she's planning on using you and Cas," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, but what if she's not?"

"Okay, then, do you know a virgin? Or how to get virgin blood?" Sam asked.

"No." Dean answered in a clipped tone.

"Then what else are we going to do, Dean?"

"I don't know, Sam!" Dean snapped.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Cas spoke up, stopping the brothers before a real fight could break out.

Dean took a deep breath.

"Okay. Alright, so... we wait? Tonight's not the full moon, right?"

"Right. And, you should probably use the time we have until the full moon to convince Hannah that she needs to sacrifice you and Cas. It'll take all the innocent bystanders out of the equation," Sam suggested.

"Worth a shot. You up for it?" Dean asked, glancing towards his angel.

Cas nodded.

"Okay. Then, I'm off to cut a birch branch. I'll drop it by later tonight, sound good?"

"Great. Thanks, Sammy."

"Dean-"

"Yeah, I know, don't call you Sammy."

Sam huffed a sigh and shook his head.

"I don't know how you put up with him," Sam said, glancing over at Cas with a smile.

"Ropes... and gags," Cas deadpanned.

Dean nearly chocked as Sam burst out laughing.

"Dude! TMI!"

Cas looked a little confused.

Sam waved and left the cabin as Dean turned towards Cas.

"What the hell?" he asked with a smile.

Cas shrugged.

"I am allowed to joke, am I not?" Cas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hell, yeah, just... uh, not about sex... at least with Sam."

"Oh."

Dean laughed.

"Oh, forget it, the look on his face was too good. Way to go, Cas."

Cas smiled.

"We should probably show up at dinner, then, if we want Hannah to think we'd be the perfect baby making pair."

"I agree. Shall we?" Cas motioned towards the door.