AN: A big Thank You to all reviewers. Your opinion matters and is much appreciated. Now, are you ready for the hunt? :)
***SPN***
Dean raced up the corkscrew stairs, his gun clutched tightly in his hand, Mary and the spear right on his heels, while Sam ushered Cadie up ahead of him. It was dark, but for the dancing beams of the flashlights the Winchesters carried, and Cadie stumbled once, almost dropping the angel blade. Sam's giant hands caught her before she hit the ground and set her on her way again.
Reaching the top, Dean slowed down, controlling his breathing. The door leading onto the platform was missing a few beams and sunlight swarmed the landing, providing the hunters with ample orientation. Dean huddled against the wall next to the door, motioning to his brother to take the other side.
"Cadie," he hissed. "You stay in here, you hear me? Don't come out unless we tell you to. You're safe in here."
Cadie frowned. She didn't like the idea, but she caught the urgency in Dean's words. She wasn't stupid, so she nodded once and gripped the blade tighter.
"See anything?" Dean whispered towards his brother. Sam swayed his head.
"Some feet. Human feet. You?"
"Feathers. Fugly is on your side. Mary, you ready?" Dean glanced at his mother who was brandishing the golden lance, ready for battle.
"Born ready," she replied. Dean grinned briefly and then looked at Sam.
"One. Two..."
The brothers burst through the brittle door, splintered wood flying everywhere. The bundle to Dean's left shrieked briefly, causing the hunter to glance down. Tied up feet led to trussed up arms and finally a set of panicked, brown eyes looking back at Dean. Eyes, that grew wide upon recognizing him.
Not really having time, Dean blinked and nodded at Cassie. The next moment his undivided attention was on the Griffin. Sam was wrapping his long frame around the wall when Dean fired another two rounds, effectively drawing the gigantic bird-lion-like creature's attention on him. Behind the mighty animal, the snatched biker lay in a heap on the ground, obviously unconscious.
The Griffin screeched as Dean's bullets made holes in its hide, rising up on its hind legs, wings spread wide, winding up to swipe at the pesky human in front of him. Sam, not idle, emptied some more rounds into its body, moving along the wall away from Dean, to sway the Griffin's focus. Not being a dumb creature, the Griffin backed up, inevitably providing a gap for Mary and the spear.
Mary stepped up, the spear ready to stab at the bird, but when she got close enough to aim, the Griffin took off. Its mighty wings whirled up the dust on the platform, leaving behind a few blue and green feathers. With another screech, it flew off.
"Damn," Dean swore, never liking the idea of letting a monster get away. A moan from behind him washed away the regret as he fell to his knees next to Cassie, pulling down the gag. "Cassie, you okay?" Dean's fingers were already busy sawing through the bonds around her wrists. Cassie nodded between deep breaths.
Mary had dropped the spear next to her and worked on the ropes around Cassie's feet, while Sam was checking on the downed biker before moving next to his brother.
"He's out, but alive," he mumbled, one hand on Dean's shoulder. "What are we going to do now?" Before Dean could reply, there was a gasp from the empty door frame.
"Mommy!" Cadie rushed out in the open to her mother. The very same moment a now familiar screech pierced the air and Sam looked up to see the Griffin sweep down, claws extended, ready to snatch Cadie.
"No!" Sam exclaimed, gun hand lifting up to shoot again. He was beaten though by Dean, who dropped the knife he was working on Cassie's bonds with and flung himself at Cadie, tackling her to the ground and out of the Griffin's path. The tower shook when the powerful claws hit the platform, an angry hiss coming from the monster's razor sharp beak. Dean was using his own body to shelter Cadie. She was out of reach. The unconscious biker, however, was not.
Changing plans, the Griffin sunk it's dagger-like claws into the prone body. The same moment Sam's bullets hit home. Enraged, the monster let go of its victim and took off again. Dean unwrapped himself from the protective hold on Cadie and grabbed the golden spear, which was still laying next to Mary.
"Get her free and out of here, I'll distract that sucker," he yelled and dashed through the door, heading down the stairs.
"Dean!" Sam hollered, but he knew it was futile. Quickly, he picked up Dean's knife and finished freeing Cassie's hands. Lifting his eyes he saw Mary had cut the leg bindings, so he helped Cassie sit up. Immediately, Cadie wrapped her arms around her mother, burying her head in her hair. Sam exchanged a glance with Mary. When she nodded, he moved to check on the biker, doing his best to slow his bleeding.
***spn***
Dean burst through the door at the bottom and headed to the closest means of transport - the bike. It wasn't easy to grab the handlebars without dropping the spear, but Dean wasn't used to easy anyways. He turned on the engine and sped off across the bumpy, ragged landscape, away from the tower. A distant screech told him, the Griffin had noticed him. Dean made sure the golden spear was hit by sunlight to let its gleam lure the monster away from the tower.
When a large, dark shadow crossed over him, he knew his plan worked. But Dean was damned if it didn't amaze him how fast the monster moved when airborn. He had hoped to get further away before having to face the beak and claws.
Gripping the spear even tighter, Dean put his left knee out and leaned over abruptly, taking a sharp turn on the uneven terrain that rattled his teeth. The shadow disappeard and the older Winchester straightened the bike and chanced a glance at the shape in the sky not too far away. The Griffin was changing direction to pursue him and Dean accelerated away.
***spn***
"Mommy, are you alright?" Cadie whispered into her mother's ear, hidden behind the long, bouncy curls.
"I am now, baby. I am now," Cassie sighed, voice trembling slightly, arms wrapped tightly around her girl. She had recognized Dean and known immediately that Cadie had called him. Now Dean was up and about, tangling with that thing that took her. She was scared. Scared that Dean had come to save her at the risk of his own life - again. Her eyes locked with Sam's.
"He'll be okay," Sam rasped reassuringly. He has to be okay, he thought. Mary had joined him trying to help with the limp, bleeding man. They were tearing up his shredded shirt to fashion bandages for the worst wounds.
Cadie unwrapped herself from her mother's grip and held on to the rusty guard railing, her eyes searching for Dean and the monster. She could make them out a good distance away, watched as Dean performed some daring turns, trying to lose the ever closing in shape of the Griffin. Once he almost toppled over, kicking up so much dust that Cadie couldn't see him for a few moments, only to emerge from the dust, having gained a better distance between himself and the attacking bird.
"Come on, Dean," Cadie mumbled, watching on. "You can do it. I know you can."
***spn***
Dean shook off the dust and raced on. This latest zig-zag slide of his had created quite a dust cloud and although he couldn't really see the Griffin, he knew it wouldn't see him either. He floored it, speeding away in whichever direction he'd managed to turn the bike. When the dust cleared he realized he was headed back to the tower.
Knowing he couldn't really lead the man-snatching creature back to his friends, Dean made up his mind. The Griffin had yet to lay eyes on him again, so Dean hit the brakes, doing a 180 and came to a stand still facing the clearing dust cloud. The engine was still idling. Dean intended to keep it that way and set his feet on the ground. Keeping his left hand on the handlebar, he lifted the lance with his right, having it tip upwards to where he expected the Griffin to swoop down.
Dean took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing pulse. He really only had the one chance and he intended to make it count. If he missed the monster's heart, he'd be shredded to strips by the massive claws. Dean blinked and then quickly wiped across his dusty, sweaty face with his sleeve. When his arm with the lance was back in position the dust had cleared enough to show the hovering Griffin, not too far away.
Orange eyes focused on the smaller shape with the sparkling golden tip directed at it. The Griffin knew this human was armed with a fatal weapon, but wounded and enraged all it was capable of thinking was to eliminate the threat. Squinting, it lowered its head, extending the claws and darted down ready to strike.
Dean saw the Griffin charge him, still amazed at the speed it could achieve. Focused, he never even blinked when the shape grew bigger and the features grew clearer, scarier. His concentration was on hitting the target of a fast moving object and for a moment, time seemed to slow down. Eyes set on where he knew the heart had to be, he waited until the shadow swallowed him before bringing up the lance with all his might. There was a scream in the distance, a rush of blue and green along with a bone jarring impact. Dean felt the lance enter the Griffin's body, heard it's unearthly cry and then blue and green turned to black. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't hear, he couldn't feel. And then the blackness claimed him.
AN2: I know... bad cliffhangers. I hate to read them but sometimes in writing it's neccessary. Next chapter is waiting already so i won't let you bite your nails too long. Speed me up with a review :)))