Chapter Seven:

Deanna pulled out her cell phone, and leaned against her bike, running fingers through her hair. While Deanna had gone to talk to some of the parents whose children had gone missing, Dean and Sam had taken the Impala and gone to look at possible hiding places for the rawhead.

And Deanna thought she knew where that was.

Listening to the ringing on the other side, Deanna shook her head, a soft smile on her face. If ten years ago, someone had said that one day she would be hunting supernatural creatures with her missing brothers, she would have laughed at them. If they'd said that three weeks ago, she would have laughed. Now, the three of them were working together to find a couple of missing kids.

"Tell me you have something." Dean's voice came over the line, obviously frustrated.

Deanna rolled her eyes. "I think I have something."

Deanna could imagine the surprise on Dean's face. "Tell me."

"There's an old abandoned farmhouse on the outside of town. Been abandoned for years. Local legend is that there was a crazy guy who killed his kids in the basement. Every kid I've talked to today is convinced he's still there." Deanna said, digging through her pockets for her keys.

"You got an address?" Dean asked. Deanna could see the grin in his voice.

"3455 Willow St." She said, swinging her keys around her fingers. "But that's not all."

"What?"

"Just talked to the Smith family on Second St. Their neighbor's two little kids, boy and girl, went missing four hours ago."

Dean cursed creatively, and Deanna could hear the Impala's tires squealing in the background. "How far out are you?"

"Almost an hour. I'm heading there now."

"Meet us there. Sam and I passed Willow St. a few minutes back. We're going to see if we can find those kids."

"Got it."

"Be safe, Annie."

"Yeah. You too."

O~O~O

Dean pulled up outside the old farmhouse, exactly where Deanna had said it was, only five minutes after hanging up on her. He'd thought about waiting for her, but like Sam had said, two kids were involved now. They didn't have the time to wait.

Dean followed Sam around to the trunk, excited, even considering the situation they were walking into. The only way to kill a rawhead was by flooding it's system with electricity.

And Dean had been dying to test out the tasers that he'd picked up in Atlanta a few months ago.

"What do you have those amped up to?" Sam asked as Dean handed him a taser.

"I modified them to a hundred thousand volts." Dean said, grabbing one for himself.

"Damn." Sam whispered.

"Yeah." Dean said, closing the trunk lid. "I want this rawhead, extra freakin' crispy. And remember, you only get one shot with this. So make it count."

Sam nodded his agreement, and the two of them approached the house in tandem. No matter how guilty Dean felt about taking Sam away from normal, he had missed this. Sam was almost like an extension of himself, and when he was gone, it felt like Dean had lost his right arm, little brother and best friend.

He didn't miss how, during the last two days of living in close quarters with Deanna, it'd become almost as easy to sense her, as it was to sense Sam.

After a quick, cursory check of the house, just to make sure the kids weren't upstairs somewhere, they made their way down to the basement, keeping their senses open for anything out of the ordinary. The two of them turned to the right, tasers at the ready, before a small noise to their left made them both freeze.

Dean tilted his head, and Sam nodded, a complete conversation in complete silence. Together, they both moved back the way they came.

An old cupboard rattled slightly. Sam and Dean exchanged a look, and then each chose a side. Dean took hold of one of the knobs, and then glanced at Sam. Getting a nod, showing he was ready, Sam aimed the taser at the door.

"On three." Dean whispered, almost silently. "One...two...three!"

On the count of three, Dean opened the cupboard door and then quickly planted himself in front of Sam and any possible threats.

Two dirty faced and frightened children stared back up at them.

Sam quickly stepped around his brother, and crouched down close to the ground, making himself as least intimidating as possible. "Is it still here?" he asked softly.

Both kids nodded, a boy and a girl, just like Deanna had said.

Dean made his decision then. He looked at the little boy, and reached a hand out, about the same time Sam reached for the little girl. "Okay. Grab your sister's hand. We gotta get you two out of here. Let's go."

The kids came out of the cupboard willingly, clinging close to the boys. Sam lead the way this time, tugging gently on the little girl, Dean and the little boy following close behind. A few steps up the stairs, and a gnarled, wrinkled hand reached out and grabbed Sam's ankle, pulling him down the stairs.

"Sam!" Dean yelled over the sound of the kids screaming. He let go of the little boy and raced around the side of the banister, took careful aim, and fired a shot at the rawhead.

And growled when he missed.

Sam had regained his feet by this time, and was reaching back for the kids again. Dean felt a swell of pride at his little brother's priorities. "Sam! Get 'em out of here!"

Sam turned slightly, and tossed his taser at Dean. "Take it!" He called, before reaching down and bundling both kids up in his arms, and racing up the stairs and out the front door. He kept a firm grip on both kids and didn't let go until they were standing next to the Impala. He quickly opened the doors and herded both of them inside, grabbing a blanket off the ground and and wrapping it around them.

"You two stay here, okay?" They nodded. "Don't open this door for anyone, unless it's me or my brother, got it?"

Both nodded again, and Sam shut the door, making sure he locked them in before turning to the house. Something was wrong. Dean should have followed right behind. After waiting a beat, Sam raced back to the house.

Running to the basement, the first thing he noticed before he even opened the basement door that had slammed shut behind him, was the smell of burnt flesh. The feeling that something was wrong only intensified. He gently pushed open the door, carefully making his way down the stairs.

The first thing he saw, was the rawhead, still smoking slightly and obviously dead, laying a few feet away, the lines of the taser still stuck in it's chest. Sam nodded at it satisfactorily before looking around for his brother.

When he located him, Sam felt his heart drop down through his stomach.

Dean was laying on the ground in a puddle of water, not moving.

"Dean!" Sam called, running down the rest of the stairs and stomping through the water. He shook Dean's shoulder hard, and started to panic when he got zero response.

"Dean. Hey. Hey. Don't do this." Sam said, searching for a pulse. When he didn't find any, he immediately pulled out his cell and called 911. After giving quick directions to the perky voice on the other end, Sam tossed his phone and began CPR.

Two agonizing minutes passed without any response from Dean, and Sam knew because he counted, when finally, Dean jerked, rolled to the side and started coughing. After he stopped, he laid back on the ground, breaths weak and uneven.

"Dean?" Sam whispered quietly, placing a hand on his chest, just over Dean's heart. It was beating, but it was uneven and stuttering slightly.

Dean opened his eyes to slits and sought his brother. Sam had pulled him close, and was looking at him expectantly. "S'm?" he gasped out.

"Yeah, Dean. It's me. You're gonna be okay."

Even though it looked like it hurt, Dean forced himself to stay conscious. "Kids 'kay?" he whispered.

Sam just about kicked himself. He of all people knew Dean's priorities. "I'm safe and so are the kids. You killed it, Dean."

Dean stared at him for a moment more, before letting his eyes slide shut. Sam kept on hand on his heart, and the other on his pulse until the paramedics came and moved him out of the way.

O~O~O

With Sam and the kids out of harms way, Dean allowed himself to focus on the hunt, and the supernatural creature that right now posed a threat to the two small children, and the one over-sized one. As much as he would have liked to have had Sam, or even Deanna, as inexperienced as she was at his back, he was glad neither of them were there.

"Come on." He muttered to himself, shining his flashlight into the dark corners, keeping his eyes peeled for the rawhead. Still, he wasn't expecting it when the rawhead jumped out of a dark corner and threw him into a wall. Crashing through a puddle of standing water, Dean recovered quickly and then took aim and the approaching creature, not noticing until it was too late, that they were both standing in the same puddle.

Dean's aim was true, and then leads hit the rawhead in the middle of the chest. However, Dean watched in horror as blue lines of electricity traveled down the rawhead's body, into the water and headed straight towards Dean. He felt pain, unlike anything he had ever felt before travel up his legs and into his chest. He fell backwards against the wall, and the world went black.

O~O~O

Deanna was speeding down the highway, headed towards her brothers when she felt it. A painful shock in her chest, so sudden and painful that she almost crashed her bike into a fence. She skidded to a stop, pulled off her helmet and leaned over the handle bars, trying to catch her breath.

She shook her head, trying to pull herself together. After that first initial shock, and then the feeling like something was very wrong with her world, everything faded out. Aside from being out of breath, she felt fine. Her heart was still beating too fast, but other than that...

Deanna glanced at her watch, surprised to find she'd been sitting there for almost fifteen minutes, and then gingerly put her helmet back on. She turned her bike around and then headed back in the same direction she'd been heading before.

Just before she turned down the road that should take her to the farmhouse, an ambulance raced past her, coming from the opposite direction. The feeling that something was very wrong overcame her again, and she had to force herself to continue down the road.

She didn't even make it to the farmhouse. A police cruiser was parked in the middle of the road, and a young cop leaned against it.

Deanna pulled up in front of him, and pulled of her helmet, shaking her hair out.

"What's going on?" she asked calmly, getting off the bike and sauntering towards him.

The cop looked her up and down appreciatively and then smiled at her. "A crime scene in progress, Miss. Nothing we can't handle."

"Huh. A crime scene? What happened?" She asked, unzipping her coat slightly and smiling up at him seductively.

The young cop seemed to be eating up her act. "Some sicko had been kidnapping young kids for the last few months. A couple of good Samaritans accidentally found them tonight."

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Couple a guys about my age?"

"Yeah." he said. "Why? You know them?"

Deanna nodded towards the shiny, classic black car she could see sitting outside the farmhouse. "That's my brother's car."

The cop's face fell, and Deanna felt something clench, deep in her chest. "Oh..."

"What?"

He looked up at her, and then let his gaze shift to his boots. "One of the guys...I don't know what all happened, but they wheeled him out of here on a stretcher. There was a really tall guy that followed."

Deanna just blinked at him in shock for a moment, not even able to speak. The cop just looked at her nervously.

Finally, Deanna found her voice, cracked and worried as it was. "Where are they taking them?"

"Mercy Hospital." The cop said, scuffing his feet in the gravel. "It's about ten minutes up the road. You can't miss it." He said, pointing in the right direction.

Deanna nodded, and then raced back for her bike. She quickly drove around the cop, ignoring his protests and parked next to the car. She jumped out, and got in, putting it in gear and driving to the hospital. They could always come back for her bike later.

As she drove, her mind set on a continuous loop of 'Please let them be okay.'

Deanna couldn't imagine losing either one of her brothers now. Not when they were just starting be a family.

She vowed to herself that she wouldn't lose them as she raced down the road, the loud bass of some rock band Deanna didn't know, filling up the silence.

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your support. I appreciate it more than I can even say. My inbox is filled with e-mails showing alerts and reviews! Thank you all!