"Why are we heading home?"
Cadie frowned. Sam had directed Dean towards the sightseeing tower they suspected to be the Griffin's lair. Mary even found a green and blue feather not far from where they parked the Impala at a roadsign stating the tower was another five miles to go, to scope out the area. When they had returned to the car, Cadie had thought it was to drive the last miles to the tower. They had the weapon, they had the location. What the heck was the hold-up?
"I thought we were going to catch ourselves a bird."
Sam and Dean exchanged a glance while Mary tried to stifle a laugh. Cadie frowned, knowing she would probably be dropped off by Reese for safekeeping and she didn't like that idea very much.
"Well, sweetheart, I love this car and I'm not going to risk her being sliced open like a fish can," Dean replied. "Besides, you saw the terrain... dirty roads, maybe even a plain dirt road. Now, that Baby can handle, but we will need to be more flexible than she can be around that tower. So, we're going to have to come up with some decent planning."
"And we need to come up with some tactics. Griffins are known to be very hard to deceive and kill," Sam added.
"Oh," Cadie nodded. "I almost thought you were going to ditch me at Reese's."
"We would, Cadie. You're a kid. But I know you'd follow us anyways and I'd rather have my eyes on you." Dean explained, a serious look on his face. Cadie glared at him briefly. Not because he said he would watch her, but because he had figured her out accurately.
"Now, what are you looking for, then? An ATV?" Cadie looked around and her eyes met Mary's.
"Something that can accommodate at least five people," Sam thought out loud. "All terrain tyres would be ace, same as a sun roof or thereabouts."
"A sun roof?" Cadie laughed. "You wanna catch a tan, Hulk?" Sam bit his tongue and rolled his eyes, making his mother stifle a laugh.
"No, little Miss Nosey," Dean drawled without taking his eyes off the road. "We need combat space for the spear. Still wanna come?"
Cadie's eyes grew wide for a moment. Then she nodded quietly and pulled up her nose, thinking.
"The McIntosh's across the road got a CJ-7, would that do? They're on vacation in L.A. right now, so it wouldn't be missed."
Dean looked at Sam, then caught a glance from Mary. A slight smile tugged on his lips and his eyes twinkled when both Sam and Mary nodded at him.
"As long as it isn't pink, I think it'll be aces." He winked at Cadie and she laughed out loud.
"Actually, it's orange," she explained. Dean's eyes imitated flying saucers and Cadie broke out in a full blown laughing fit. Once she calmed down again, all three sets of eyes on her, she shrugged innocently. "What?"
"Orange?" Dean asked, slightly incredulous.
"Like, orange orange?" Sam added, drawing the shape of the fruit in the air with his finger. Cadie grinned on.
"Well, more like camouflage orange," she stated. "Orange is the new black." Cadie grinned and Mary chuckled.
"Boys, she's playing you both."
Dean drew his eyebrows together, looking stern. "What color, Cadie?" The girl sighed.
"Normal military camouflage green. Happy?"
"Yeah," Dean grunted along with Sam. "Very."
The next minutes passed in silence until Dean pulled the black Chevy into the Robinson's driveway. He still couldn't believe he had fallen for Cadie's joke. Taking a deep breath as he cut the engine, he glanced over at Sam and winked.
"Okay, let's get inside and plan out the battle, warriors."
***spn***
The chirping of some birds were the only thing Cassie could hear for a good while. She had no idea how often she had drifted off to sleep. Now she was awake, painfully aware of all sorts of discomfort. Her limbs ached to be moved, stretched and flexed, or better yet, freed. Her bladder started to remind her it needed emptying some time soon and at the same time she felt thirsty.
A noise to her left made her turn her head as far as possible. A few feet from her, she made out another person, trussed up just like herself, grunting and moaning through the gag around his mouth. Cassie remembered the people taken before her. How long was she here already? How long were they?
Cadie popped into her mind. She hoped her girl wasn't too scared and had sought support by her friend's family. Cassie wasn't fond of the idea of Cadie being alone and scared, but she knew her girl would find a way to keep herself safe.
Suddenly, all the chirping around Cassie ceased. The silence was eerie, but short cut. The rushing of air and a noise like a giant sail flapping in the wind sent chills down her spine. A dark shadow blocked her view of the sky and when her eyes adapted, she could make out the gigantic shape of a bird-like creature.
It was easily the size of a horse, but even much more muscular. The head resembled a bird of prey including a beak that let the bald eagle one's look tiny. Blue and green feathered wings sprouted from the furry torso, solidly muscled like a predatory cat. The claws at the end of each strong arm or leg reminded Cassie of daggers. They were black and shiny, looking sharp and hard as a diamond. Piercing orange eyes regarded her with interest for a few moments, before the beast cocked its head and then looked at what Cassie assumed was her fellow prisoner.
The man must have noticed the attention of the monster on him and started whimpering 'please' and 'no'. A deep growl rose from within the beast, ending in a shrill cry. Then the massive wings stretched and the creature grabbed the man with the dagger blades on its feet and flew off, carrying the man as if he were a doll.
Cassie's heart was pounding like mad while the victim's cries of pain faded in the distance. She had to get free. She had to get out of there before she ended up being bird food. The fear of not seeing Cadie ever again spurred on her efforts to get loose.
***spn***
Dean pulled the Jeep off the road and hit the brakes, stirring up a small dust cloud. He let the engine idle as he put the car in park. Then his forehead creased as he stared at the quite busy sightseeing tower some two hundred yards away. Cars were parked in front of it. Not many, about a dozen. People could be seen on top and on the ground, walking around, using binoculars and what not to take in the surrounding landscape.
"Abandoned my ass," Dean growled, sending a reproachful look at his brother. Sam looked confused and dug out an old map he'd found to figure where he'd gone wrong.
"I'm sure the internet said abandoned," he replied. "I wouldn't have considered it otherwise."
"It's the wrong tower," Cadie supplied from the back seat. Immediately the three Winchesters had their eyes on her. "This one they only opened last year. They built it because the old tower had been damaged by an earthquake. I heard it wasn't stable enough anymore and fixing it would have been to pricy. So they built this new one. They call it 'The Needle'. Maybe that's why it didn't come up on the net. You searched 'towers', right?"
"Err, yeah," Sam confirmed.
"The old tower is two miles in that direction," Cadie pointed her arm towards the passenger side. "But the road is crap. The quake destroyed it, too."
"Ah, but we have these offroad wheels. We'll be fine." Dean grinned, throwing the gear into drive, pulling off. He didn't get far. Only a couple of seconds in, a tremendous shadow crossed their path, headed towards the Needle. Four heads in the Jeep looked up, staring at the creature in the sky. It uttered a piercing cry, and even from where the boys were, they heard people shouting in fear.
Mind made up, Dean glanced at the golden spear in Sam's hands before flooring the accelerator, speeding towards the tower. Braking again in a similar manner, the older Winchester jumped from the car the moment it came to a stand still and ran up to the beast. The Griffin had landed on top of a blue sedan, claws digging through the roof as the driver frantically tried to get away.
Not hesitating a second, Dean drew his gun, sending a few bullets at the monster. He knew he couldn't really harm the Griffin like that, but maybe he could distract it. An angry hiss escaped the supernatural creature as the bullets hit home and it let off the blue car, redirecting its attention at Dean. Being about twenty steps away, it didn't take the monster long to close the gap, walking on its hind legs.
A man on a motorbike whisked past them, almost clipping the Griffin as he squeezed through the closing gap between the creature and Dean. Immediately, the predator pounced. The hunter forgotten, the Griffin showed off its flexibility as it grabbed the man right off the bike with a well timed swing of its claw and instantly it was airborne, its victim dangling in its grip.
Dean stared for a brief moment, then grabbed the still running bike and swung on, giving chase across the uneven terrain. Sam, who had been watching the scene unfold, thrust the spear into Mary's hands and scooted over, following his brother with the ATV.
When they caught up with them, the Griffin had landed on top of the ruined tower and Dean was about to find access to it.
"Dean, wait!" Sam cried as he cut the engine. For once his brother listened and stopped, turning towards them. Soon, three Winchesters and a Robinson were forging plans in the heat of the moment.
"We can't take Cadie with to the top," Sam argued. "Too dangerous."
"Well we can't leave her here, either," Dean countered.
"Why?"
"Cos the Griffin could swoop down and snatch her," Mary tossed in, one hand gripping the spear, the other one resting on Cadie's shoulder.
"What she said," deadpanned Dean, turning to shoulder barge the fragile door.
"Right, okay, but Dean, we can't just rush up there. We have no idea what we'll find there." Sam tried to reason with his brother.
"When do we ever?" Dean countered. He was on a mission and he wasn't going to let himself be stopped.
Sam sighed and thrust an angel blade into Cadie's hands. "If push comes to shove, use it. You know how to?"
Cadie stared at the blade and then nodded.
"Good."
Just then the door splintered under Dean's pressure. The older hunter turned to look at Sam, Mary and Cadie.
"Trust me, I have a plan. Let's go!"
TBC... let's hope Dean really has a plan ;) Reviews? :)