Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

XKaterinaNightingaleX- Thank you! Yeah, I thought that Odette gets visions too, so I decided to let her have this one!

ccgnme- Thanks! I always try and make her fit into the storyline as much as I can!

Chapter name borrowed from Margaret Becker.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE- MAY THIS JOURNEY

"I don't have a choice, Dean. If I don't go, our friends will die."

The tension in the room was almost tangible.

"Dad, the demon is coming tonight for Monica and her family. The gun is all we've got, you can't just hand it over," Sam objected.

"Who said anything about handing it over?" John scoffed. "Look, besides us and a coupla vampires, no one's really seen the gun."

"So what, you're just going to pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?" Dean demanded.

"Antique store," John corrected.

Dean was incredulous. "You're going to hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"

John sighed. "Look, as long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"Yeah, but for how long?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "What happens when she figures it out?"

"I just…" John passed a hand over his face. "I just need to buy a few hours, that's all."

Sam glared at him. "You mean for us. You want us to stay here, and kill this demon ourselves?"

John was weary. "No, Sam. I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school; I want Dean to have a home. I want….I want Mary alive."

In that moment, I could see exactly what it had cost the Winchesters to find the demon.

~Supernatural~

We sat in the Impala in front of Monica's house.

I was nervous and edgy, and I could not take my eyes away from the Colt that lay between Dean and Sam.

"Maybe we could tell 'em it was a gas leak," Sam suggested. "Might get 'em out of the house for a few hours."

"Yeah, and how many times has that actually worked for us?" Dean looked doubtful.

"Yeah."

Sam thought some more. "We could always tell 'em the truth."

They looked at each other for a long moment.

"Nah," they said in unison.

"I know, I know," Sam huffed. "I just….with what's coming for these folks…."

"Sam, we only got one move and you know it, all right? We gotta wait for that demon to show itself and then we get it before it gets them."

Dean was grim.

We looked at the house for a while.

"I wonder how Dad's doing," Sam pursed his lips.

Dean glared at the deserted street. "I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up."

Sam looked away.

"I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up."

We kept our eyes on the house.

~Supernatural~

"This is weird," Sam finally broke the long silence.

"What?" Dean swung his head around.

"After all of these years, we're finally here," Sam exhaled heavily. "It doesn't seem real."

Dean grunted. "We just gotta keep our heads and do our job, like always."

"Yeah, but this isn't like always," Sam reminded him.

"True," Dean conceded.

"Dean…" Sam hesitated. "Ah…. I wanna thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything," Sam sighed. "You've always had my back, you know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone I could always count on you. And, ah… I don't know, I just wanted to let you know, just in case-"

Uneasiness set in at once.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean cut him off abruptly. "Are you kidding me?"

"What?" Sam glanced at him quizzically.

Dean kicked the seat. "I don't wanna hear that freaking speech, man. Nobody's dying tonight. Not you, not me, not the kid, and definitely not that family. Except that demon. "

"That evil son of a bitch ain't getting any older than tonight, you understand me?"

~Supernatural~

Dean held the phone to his ear.

"Dad's not answering."

"Maybe Meg was late," Sam offered weakly. "Maybe cell reception's bad."

I don't think any of us really believed it.

The radio started chattering with static.

"Dean, wait," Sam cautioned. "Listen."

I rolled the dial on the radio, hearing more static come and go.

The wind picked up and the lights in the house flickered.

"It's coming."

We jumped out of the car.

~Supernatural~

"Get out of my house!" Holden roared, grappling with Dean furiously.

"Please, please," Sam pleaded. "Mr. Holden, please."

Dean easily took control, swinging him against the wall, holding his bat across Holden's throat.

"Be quiet and listen to me," Dean commanded sharply. "Listen. We are trying to help you."

Monica's worried voice drifted down the stairs.

"Charlie? Is everything okay?"

"Monica, get the baby!" Holden yelled.

"No!" Sam said at the same time. "Don't go in the nursery!"

"You stay away from her!" He shouted, struggling to get away.

Dean backhanded him, knocking Holden unconscious, and put him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.

I ran up the stairs, ignoring their shouts of warning, crashing inside the nursery.

It was exactly the scene of my vision.

Monica was pushed up onto the wall, and the yellow-eyed figure stared at me with it's lamp-like gaze.

I shivered.

The pure malevolence I sensed was staggering.

Sam raced in, raised the Colt and pulled the trigger.

The demon disappeared into smoke.

Monica screamed, falling to the floor.

"Where the hell did it go?" Sam spun around in the room.

Monica stood, trying to get to the cot, but was caught by Sam.

"My baby!"

"No, wait!" Sam refused to let go.

"MY BABY!" She fought Sam fiercely.

I snapped into action, running to the cot.

"Take her and go!" I told Sam.

"Rosie!"

"Come on," Sam dragged her out of the room.

I quickly wrapped the blankets around Rosie as the cot exploded into flame.

I ran out of the nursery.

~Supernatural~

The nursery window shattered outward, flames shooting out.

Monica, Sam and I tripped out of the doorway, coughing hard.

Holden staggered up from where he was lying on the grass, glaring at Dean.

"You get away from my family."

"No, Charlie, don't," Monica began to cry. "They saved us."

I held out Rosie to her, and Monica took her gratefully.

"Thank you," She told us as Holden put an arm around her.

Dean grabbed my arm.

"Don't you dare," He scowled at me. "Do that ever again."

Dean held on a little longer, then let go.

We turned to the burning house.

The demon was silhouetted in the flaming nursery, standing stock-still.

Sam started back inside. "It's still there!"

We both grabbed him.

"Sam, no!" I held on with difficulty.

He writhed in our grip. "Let me go! It's inside, it's still there!"

"No!" Dean had no trouble stopping him. "It's burning to the ground, it's suicide!"

"I don't care!" Sam yelled.

"I do!" Dean shook him hard.

We watched as the fire rose and the demon disappeared.

~Supernatural~

Dean paced the room, listening to John's phone ring.

Suddenly, I could hear someone on the line.

But it was not John who answered.

"You guys really screwed up this time," Meg's tone was sleek and satisfied.

"Where the hell is he?" Dean crushed the phone in his grip angrily.

Meg's voice was sunny and light.

"Sweetheart, you're never going to see John ever again."