A/N: The chapter you've all been waiting for.
Chapter 11
The kitchen was full as everyone milled about, finalizing their attack plans. Dean, Donna, and Claire were checking the weapons and loading up on ammunition, the cocking of shotguns loud in the background. Jody was on the phone with Alex, and Charlie was checking their route on her laptop after she'd narrowed down the base's location based on Sam and Dean's description of what they remembered of the old factory when they'd escaped. Plus, they'd had a little extra help on reconnaissance.
A floor plan of the compound lay spread across the table, courtesy of Crowley. He'd sent one of his demons to possess one of the British operatives in order to get the information.
Sam couldn't even bring himself to muster any distaste for the method.
Jody hung up her phone. "Alex and a few other hunters will meet us on the road outside the compound," she reported.
"How many does that make our number?" Cas asked.
She swept her gaze over everyone. "Six here, four more when we get there."
Cas's brow furrowed. "You didn't count me."
"'Cause you're staying here with Ryn and Amy," Dean put in, stuffing a loaded shotgun into his duffel.
Cas visibly bristled. "This is my fight too."
Dean turned to face him, expression serious. "Yeah, it is. And we're fighting for you, Cas. For you, and Ryn, and Amy. For Garth, and Benny, and Lenore, and every person who's tried to live a decent life."
Cas gazed back at him tensely, looking ready to argue.
"Cas," Sam interjected. "Stay with your family. They need you. And let the rest of your family protect you for a change."
The angel's jaw worked, but he didn't say anything, just gave a clipped nod.
Dean picked up one of the duffel bags and slung it over his shoulder. "Good, let's get going. And so we're clear: it's us or them."
They all shared grim nods of agreement and gathered up the rest of their gear before heading out. Dean climbed into Jody's truck with Claire while Sam joined Charlie with Donna. As they pulled away from the lake house, Sam turned around toward where Cas and Amy were standing on the porch together, watching them leave. It was a somber procession, like they were heading off to war.
Which, they were.
Despite the gravity of their intentions and destination, Donna was as chipper as ever, talking animatedly with Charlie about LARPing. Sam mostly tried to stew in his own tempestuous thoughts in the backseat, but then Charlie started regaling Donna with the time the Winchesters actually participated in a LARPing skirmish, and at that point Sam's mortification overcame anything else he'd been feeling.
He wondered what was going on in the other car. Maybe arguments about old movies with Claire. Maybe Dean had convinced Jody to blare some rock music as they barreled their way to the big battle. Or maybe she had other music tastes. Driver picks the music and shotgun shuts his cakehole.
A few hours later, they finally arrived in Iowa and pulled off the highway to where Alex and three other hunters were waiting. Even though Jody had said a few had chosen to side with them, Sam was still surprised to see the support.
They all got out of their vehicles, gathering together in a large huddle to go over the plan one more time. Which wasn't much of a plan. They were basically going in guns blazing and mowing down anyone who tried to get in their way.
Sam pulled out the map of the compound and showed it to Alex and the other hunters, explaining which way the two teams would go once they breached the building. He gave them a few moments to familiarize themselves with the layout, since it was quite a maze. And then they took pictures of the floor plan with their phones to use once inside.
"Any questions?" Sam asked.
No one said anything.
Dean gave a resolute nod. "Then let's hit it."
They unpacked their weapons to have at the ready before climbing back into their vehicles and resuming the drive down the highway toward the old factory. When the perimeter gate came into view, Donna rammed the gas pedal, revving the engine with a roar. It was no Impala, but her truck was a stallion in its own right.
They crashed right through the flimsy gate in a mirror move to Sam's own driving the last time he'd been here. There'd been a hail of bullets trying to stop them from escaping; this time he and the others were armed and gunning for a fight.
Rapid fire peppered the air, and Sam caught sight of two guards going down before he'd even gotten out of the vehicle. He hopped out, shotgun braced against his shoulder as he swept his gaze around for more threats. But just like before, the exterior was only minimally guarded. These guys didn't expect a raid on their own base, just like they hadn't expected a jailbreak.
Their mistake.
Sam sprinted to one of the fallen guards and ripped his key card from his vest, which he then used to open the second security gate. The other guard was inside and shot dead. There was a palm scanner near the lock. Dean moved in to heft the guy's arm up and slap his hand on the scanner. There was a beep and click, and Sam yanked the door open.
Their group filed inside and immediately split up. Sam, Jody, Donna, Alex, and one of the other hunters—Wally, Sam thought his name was—went left while the others went right. They were going to systematically sweep the place, taking out anyone who tried to take them out first.
Which didn't take long.
As they rounded the second corner, gunfire erupted in the narrow corridor, and Sam jerked backward to find cover. Bullets ricocheted off the metal walls, making it difficult to lean out far enough to return fire. He ducked low and managed to get one shot off before the rain of bullets forced him back behind the wall again.
Jody angled her arm around the corner to shoot blindly while instinctively shielding Alex with her other. Maybe Wally thought that was enough cover, because he jumped out to shoot his handgun wildly. He almost emptied his magazine before his body jolted and he dropped like a sack. Sam flinched at the abruptness, the hunter's wide eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling.
There was a brief lull in the shooting, though, and maybe Wally had hit some of them in his foolish but brave stand.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Sam whipped around the corner with his shotgun and fired. First shot went down the center, just to buy time to take in positions. The second he aimed at the guard kneeling in the aisle, and with a cry, the guy went down. One was already sprawled on the floor. Sam heard retreating footsteps pounding down the corridor.
He leaped to his feet and charged down the hallway, the others following behind. The last guard turned to shoot at them again, but too late, and he went down before he could squeeze the trigger.
There was a wide opening in the section up ahead, and Sam led the way toward it. Sweeping around the edge of the wall, he instantly recognized the conference room where he and Dean had been interrogated. Toni Bevell was there, talking frantically on a landline.
Sam raised his shotgun and blew the phone's cradle to pieces.
Toni jumped back with a yelp, dropping the phone. She turned wide eyes on them as they surrounded her, but quickly schooled her expression. She rolled her neck. "So, the barbaric hunters have come for revenge. What a surprise."
Sam took a menacing step forward. "You're the one who tortured my brother. For hours. And you have the gall to say we're barbaric?"
Toni lifted her chin haughtily. "You're bad for this world, Sam. You and your brother."
"Hey, watch it, Barbie," Donna snipped. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for those two."
"Me neither," Alex spoke up.
Toni angled a disdainful look over them. "I didn't realize you had a harem, Sam. Do they know all the damage you've caused?"
"We know the good they've done," Donna retorted.
"At what price?" she countered.
"A lot cheaper than what you're selling," Alex answered.
Toni's lips curled upward in a sneer. "You think you're better than everyone. You think you get to decide what happens to people, which lives are worth saving."
Sam gritted his teeth against seething fury. "No, that's you."
"We will rid the world of monsters one day," Toni continued. "And if you choose to stand in our way, then you will be—"
A gunshot cracked the air and Toni's head jerked backward as a bullet ripped straight through it. Her body crumpled to the floor.
Sam whirled around to find Jody standing there calmly, the barrel of her gun oozing a tendril of smoke.
"Jodes!" Donna gasped in surprise.
Jody just gave them a bland look. "She hurt my boys."
Sam gaped for another moment before he overcame his stupor, and his expression eased as he exchanged a look of understanding with her.
Alex cleared her throat. "We should finish up here."
Sam nodded.
Yes, they should.
Dean and his group stormed through the compound, mowing down any guards who stupidly came running at them. Mick was right; they'd called in reinforcements, but none of these asshats were a match for the torrential fury raining down righteous retribution on their unsuspecting heads.
Halfway into their incursion, one of the other hunters took a bullet in the leg. Claire quickly shot the guard who'd fired, felling him and giving them a brief lull in the assault.
Dean gave the wounded hunter a quick once-over as the guy clutched tightly at his bleeding thigh. He wouldn't be able to continue like that.
"Get him out of here," Dean ordered the other hunter. He, Claire, and Charlie would go on ahead.
The other hunter passed Dean her backpack of explosives and then hefted the injured guy's arm over her shoulder. Dean and the others waited, providing cover, while those two hobbled back the way they'd come, and then they set off again.
The next turn brought them to an aisle of cells with glass doors. Dean hadn't realized it when they'd broken Ryn out, but there were occupants in some of the others further down the corridor. Non-human occupants.
Dean paused in front of one cell where a vampire was sitting in a corner, coughing up blood. Next door, a rugaru was curled in the fetal position and whimpering. Dried blood tracks left thin trails coming out of its ears. More of the British Men of Letters' science projects, Dean guessed. And while part of him felt that he shouldn't care about a bloodthirsty vampire or rabid rugaru, another part of him imagined Benny or Garth in those cells instead. And it didn't matter whether these were 'monsters.' It was one thing to kill vicious predators; it was another thing entirely to use them as lab rats. To keep them alive in abject misery and pain for experimentation.
And Dean was putting an end to it.
"Over here," Charlie called, drawing his attention away for a moment. She was standing down the hall and cocking her head toward a set of open doors.
Dean and Claire headed over and looked into what appeared to be a lab. There was equipment and machinery along the walls, and long metal tables lined with objects and devices from what looked like ray guns to artifacts.
"These are the weapons the British Men of Letters have been developing," Charlie said. She went over and picked up one of the weird guns with a wide barrel that looked more like a hair dryer than for shooting bullets. There was a file folder next to it, which she opened and scanned. Her brows rose sharply.
"Oh, wow. They're, um, developing a weapon to melt rugaru brains." She threw a quick glance over her shoulder back toward where the cells were, and Dean could easily see the tortured rugaru in his mind's eye. "They must still be testing it…" Charlie said.
Dean swept his gaze over the collection. There were dozens of objects in here, and for a brief moment he wondered if there was anything useful among them. But then he remembered how they were developed, and he decided it didn't matter.
"Destroy it all," he said.
"You sure?" Claire asked, not sounding reluctant, just checking.
He nodded, and unslung the backpack with the explosives from his shoulder. Charlie reached for a package and started setting it in the center of the lab.
Dean roved his gaze around the items, wondering if any of them were spelled to withstand an explosion, and paused when his eyes caught sight of a familiar barrel and wood handle. The Colt.
Okay, that he was taking back.
Dean snatched it up and checked the chamber. The bullet was still in there. The Brits probably would have loved to know how to make more, but that was once piece of information he was fairly sure hadn't come up in his interrogation. He stuffed the gun in the back of his waistband and grabbed a piece of explosive, which he took out into the hall and affixed to the wall between the vampire's and rugaru's cells. A quick death was the only thing Dean could do for them.
He'd just finished setting it up for remote detonation when something hard and heavy slammed into the back of his shoulders, shoving him against the wall. He instinctively ducked and spun around, but not fast enough to avoid a punch to the jaw that snapped his head to the side. Another undercut into his stomach drove the oxygen from him with an 'oomph.' Dean twisted away and scrambled back several steps, trying to regain his balance. He looked up at Arthur Ketch, dressed in black combat gear this time instead of the suit.
Dean smirked and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. Oh, this was perfect. "You're the one who shot Cas."
Ketch's eyes were like flint, though his tone was flippant. "Is that the angel? I take it the halo made its way back to you, then. I must admit I underestimated its mother bear capacity. A mistake I won't make next time."
Dean's expression darkened. "You're never getting near them again," he growled.
Ketch scoffed and spread his arms. "What are you hoping to accomplish here today? By attacking us you've only ensured your own destruction. The British Men of Letters will not tolerate this blatant act of war."
"You still don't get it, do you?"
Ketch arched a brow.
Dean drew the Colt and pointed it at him. "No one threatens my family."
"You're not going to shoot me with the Colt," he said dismissively. "That would be a waste of a very rare and powerful supernatural bullet."
Dean cocked his head toward the gun, then narrowed his gaze on Ketch. "No," he said. "This thing is meant to kill monsters." He squeezed the trigger.
The report cracked the air, and Ketch pitched backward as the bullet struck right between his eyes.
Claire and Charlie came running out of the lab down the hall, weapons raised. They faltered at the sight of Ketch's body on the floor.
"You finished?" Dean asked, tucking the Colt back in his waistband.
"Uh, yeah," Charlie said, and ducked back into the lab. She emerged a second later with the backpack and remote detonator in hand.
Since the lab was more or less at the center of the compound, they decided to start heading back, setting more charges as they went, just to be thorough. They met up with Sam and the others outside just as Jody and Donna were lifting the body of the third hunter into the back of one of their trucks. Alex was helping the injured hunter into her car and tying a tourniquet with her jacket.
Dean walked up to his brother. "We good?"
Sam's expression was grim, but he nodded. "We're good."
With that, they all climbed into their vehicles and started driving away. Dean turned in his seat as Charlie pushed the remote detonator, and he watched the compound behind them go up in an explosive mushroom of smoke and flames.