A/N: Forgive my blatant theft of dialog once again in this chapter. Not a lot but a few lines that were important. Again, no copyright infringement intended, just wanted to stay true to the episode and the information presented.
They had a plan. They would wait for Jake to arrive and then grab him. Seemed like a good plan, there were five of them and only one of him after all. Unfortunately, like all things that pertain to the Winchesters, the plan didn't quite go as they had hoped.
They were all hidden by the cowboy's crypt in the middle of the cemetery when Jake arrived. At the appointed signal they each stepped out, guns drawn on the young man. Everything seemed to be going as planned. Jake was surprised to see them but more than that, he was surprised to see Sam.
"You were dead. I killed you." Jake looked as if he wanted to reach out and touch Sam to verify what his eyes were telling him.
She could see the quick look of shock and confusion run over Sam's face before he replaced it with a determined look. It was hard to catch if you weren't looking for it. But, she knew all of Sam's looks, almost as well as Dean. There was no denying that Jake's statement had thrown him. "Yeah, well, next time finish the job." Sam attempted to cover his emotions with bravado.
"I did. I cut clean through your spinal cord man. You can't be alive. You can't be." Jake looked from Sam to Dean and back. She could tell that Dean was barely controlling his rage towards the man who had taken his brother from him. If she didn't do something soon all hell was going to break loose.
"Jake, we don't want to hurt you. Calm down and talk to us." She wasn't sure Jake had even registered her presence until his eyes shifted to her. Looking into those eyes she knew they were not going to come out of this without bloodshed. Jake was obviously walking a tight wire and nothing they could say was going to stop him.
"And what if I don't?" The smile that accompanied his reply froze her blood.
"Wait and see." Sam was angry now. His gun was trained on Jake's forehead and she had never seen that look in his eyes before. On anyone else she would have said it was pure hatred but she couldn't imagine Sam having the capacity for that much hatred.
Jake shifted his attention back to Sam, the smile never leaving his face. "What? You a tough guy all of a sudden? What are you going to do? Kill me?" He laughed as if the idea brought to mind some personal joke.
She could see the subtle shaking of Sam's gun as he replied, "It's a thought." Her eyes darted to Dean. She wondered if he was thinking the same things as she was. This wasn't Sam. Sam wasn't the cut throat killer. He could do it if he was forced to but he never took pleasure in taking a life, any life. She could see her own concern mirrored in Dean's eyes.
"You had your chance. You couldn't do it." Jake's reply only seemed to enrage Sam more.
"I won't make that mistake twice." The intensity in Sam's voice made her cringe. He took a step towards Jake and each of them steadied their guns. Strangely, Jake didn't seem concerned by all of the hardware aimed at him. His gaze went from person to person and returned to Sam. The laugh he let out at his situation was unexpected and chilling.
Dean had had enough. She could see it in his eyes. He took a step forward, probably thinking to put himself between Jake and his brother. He would try to draw attention away from Sam; it was his instinct to protect his brother, even if it was obvious that he didn't want protecting. "What you smilin' at you little bitch?"
She had seen bigger threats than Jake involuntarily step back from the sheer aggression that was pouring off of Dean in waves. Jake, however, seemed oblivious to Dean's presence. Instead he turned to Ellen, the smile never leaving his face. She knew before he even started speaking that they were in trouble, big trouble. There was something going on here that they weren't prepared for. No one stayed that calm with five guns in their faces.
"Hey lady. Do me a favor. Put that gun to your head." Jake's eyes never left Ellen as he calmly made the request.
They could all see the pain in Ellen's eyes as she tried to fight the power in the command. She struggled against the compulsion but the gun moved steadily to her temple.
Jake didn't even try to hide how pleased he was at his new found abilities. "See that Ava girl was right. Once you give in to it there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."
The brothers shared a silent look and she could see the helplessness and question that passed between them. Sam started to take a step towards Jake but froze when Jake turned to him. "You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off. Everybody put your guns down." He smiled at Ellen, "Except for you sweetheart."
They were trapped. None of them would risk Ellen's life. They would have to do as he asked and bide their time. He was sure to slip up at some point and give one of them an opening. Each of them slowly lowered their guns, dropping them to the ground at their feet. She could see the strain on Dean's face and knew he was trying to see a way out of this.
Jake smiled triumphantly and took a revolver from the inside of his jacket. "Ok. Thank you." He lifted the gun and looked from it to Sam. She couldn't believe it. He was holding the Colt. How had he gotten his hands on that gun? Before she could form another question in her mind Jake lunged towards the crypt, sliding the Colt into an opening that she hadn't even noticed in the middle of the door.
Everything seemed to happen at once. She saw Dean and Bobby lunge for Ellen as Sam grabbed his gun from the ground in front of him. She heard Ellen's gun go off once as Sam fired his, four times in succession, into Jake's back. She turned to see that they had managed to get Ellen's gun away before the shot rang out. As she turned back to Sam she saw him put three more rounds into the fallen man. There was no emotion on his face. For a moment she was frozen in shock at the sight.
She shook herself out of it as she heard her father yell out, "Take cover! Now!" Years of training had her diving behind a headstone before she even thought to wonder what she was hiding from. She heard the explosion and silently thanked her father for his quick warning. The noise was deafening and when she peeked around the headstone she was at first confused by what she was seeing.
From within the crypt black smoke was pouring into the cemetery. It took a moment for her brain to register…Demons…and lots of them. She heard Ellen yell, "Come on! We gotta shut that gate." She ran to the crypt and took hold of one of the doors. As she began trying to push it closed she was joined by her father. On the other side of the crypt she could see Ellen and Sam attempting to force the other door closed.
She kept in shape and knew that her father was more than capable of kicking some ass if the need arose and yet it felt as if they were making no progress at all. When she heard Sam call out his brother's name her heart skipped a beat. She took a second to follow him with her eyes as he ran back into the cemetery. She was torn. She could see Dean, on the ground, the yellow eyed demon standing over him. She could see Sam slumped against a tree several feet away. She wanted to run to Dean but she knew if she let go of the door her father would never get it closed.
Fighting against every instinct in her body she continued to push the door closed. She could see that Ellen was struggling on the other side but that she had gotten the door a quarter of the way closed. Each second that the crypt remained open floods of demons were escaping into the graveyard. They had to get this thing closed as quickly as possible.
She spared a second to check on Dean and saw that he was still on the ground, not good. The demon seemed to be talking to him, by the look on his face, taunting him. She wished she could at least hear what he was saying but the sound of the rushing wind and escaping demons was too loud. Putting all of her effort into it she continued to push the door closed, all the while silently praying that they could get it closed in time to help the boys.
She thought that she heard a gun go off as the doors finally shut and the seal on the crypt spun locked. She was panting from the effort and wasn't surprised to see that Bobby and Ellen were in no better shape. She turned back to the graveyard terrified at the thought of what she might find yet knowing that she had a promise to keep, if it wasn't too late.
They were all stunned to see what appeared to be the spirit of John Winchester standing, hand on Dean's shoulder, smiling quietly. In that moment she was able to take in the full scene. The demon was on the ground and didn't seem to be moving. Sam was standing, a look of awe and surprise on his face. John seemed hesitant to break eye contact with his eldest son. Slowly he tore his gaze away and turned to Sam. A tear slipped from his eye as he smiled serenely at Sam.
She felt her heart flutter as she recognized the look of pride that John bestowed upon both of his boys. She realized that her own tears were trailing down her face as she watched John's spirit step away from Dean, take one last look at each of his boys, then dissolve into a beautiful bright light. As she saw Sam walk over to his brother she turned to her father.
She could see the tears in his eyes as he stared at the spot where his best friend had just been. John wasn't just his best friend, he was family, the brother Bobby had never had. She could hear the boys speaking quietly over the body of the dead demon but she couldn't tear her eyes away from her father.
Ever since her mother had died his life had revolved around two things, the hunt and Tessa. He didn't make friends easily. After being forced to kill the only woman he had ever loved it was hard to let anyone else in. There were acquaintances, sure, and she was not naïve enough to believe her father had stayed celibate for all these years but very few people had ever managed to break into his heart.
They hadn't had a bad life. Ok, it may not have been exactly normal but normal is overrated. There was always one person in her life she could count on. Sam and Dean had each other, she had Bobby. He had tried to keep her separate from this life. For awhile he had tried to keep her in school, let her have friends, be a kid. But she was a precocious child and trying to make up excuses about the hunters who stopped by, the weapons, the sigils and all of the various protections in the house got to be too much.
When she was nine years old he gave in. He removed her from school and arranged for her to be home schooled. She sometimes thought that if the school board had ever gotten wind of the education she was getting they would have found the curriculum unique, to say the least. He made sure she got the basics, English, Math, Geography and History. In addition she received training in hand to hand combat, weapons, lore, tactical planning and various ancient languages. She felt it was a pretty rounded education.
Now, as she looked up at him she could see the lines that etched his still handsome face. She knew that she was responsible for more than one of those lines. They had never been a terribly sentimental family, hell she had been calling him Bobby since she was thirteen. But in that moment, he looked down at her and she could see the pure love that he held in his heart for her. She thought about how hard it had been for the boys, always striving to earn the love and respect of their father and she realized just how lucky she was to have never felt anything but the safety of her father's love.
She slipped her arms around her father's neck pulling his head down to her. She placed a kiss on his lips, hugged him and whispered into his ear, "I love you Daddy." She felt fresh tears slide down her cheek as he hugged her back and she heard something she hadn't heard since she was little, "I love you too, Baby Girl."
A/N: Thanks again to all my readers! I love you guys! And remember: Reviews keep my creative juices flowing so please take a moment and leave a comment/review!
