Author's Note: This chapter will contain descriptions of storm damage and aftermath that is inspired by actual events. This is drawn from my own life and is in no way meant to be of disrespect to any who have had their lives touched in a similar way. If this topic is offensive to you, please skip ahead to the next chapter.

I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters found there in. Alex and the Mayfair mythology are my own.

Chapter 9

Dean had called to say they'd be there around three. Good. The school can have a chance to clear out before we go after the shifter. Alex was double checking all of her weapons. The majority would stay in the trunk until the boys arrived, but the silver blade was going to stay on her at all times. She didn't want to be caught empty handed if anything went wrong.

The closer it got to three, the darker the sky grew. It had been raining buckets all day. The hail however was new. Oh Dean's not going to be happy if this dents Baby. Driving in these conditions was not the best idea. Alex had just reached for her phone to call and make sure they were off the road when a high whining noise reached her ears.

It took her a moment to identify the sound, but when she saw a few of the parents that had arrived early sprint into the building she knew it wasn't good. Opening her door to follow them, she looked up and could just make out the dark mass of a large tornado heading towards her.

Alex sprinted to the door and quickly joined in helping to make sure that all of the kids where in a relatively safe place. If that twister was as big as it looked, there may not be much they could do. But that wasn't going to stop her from trying. She had just finished shuffling another batch of kids into the bathroom when she looked up and saw herself dragging a small girl to the opposite side of the hall.

Her blood boiled. The shifter had never been this bold before, but with all of the ciaos surrounding them, blending in would not be difficult. Alex steeled her nerves and gave chase to the monster.

She could hear the little girl crying at the other end of the corridor as the wind began to pick up outside.

"Hey, doucebag," she called. The shifter suddenly looked up at her with her own eyes. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

It gave a sinister sneer as it turned away from the child. "Come and get it."

Alex flashed a quick smile before drawing her silver blade and dashing for the creature. The walls began to shudder and shake as they fought. Rain began to pour in as part of the roof was ripped away. The little girl screamed at the sight. Alex turned her head to check on her, taking her eyes off of her foe.

The shifter slammed into her torso, taking her to the ground. Alex let out a loud groan as her back came into contact with the hard floor. Luckily, it only took her a moment to gain her bearings before landing a punch to the creatures jaw. The force gave her just enough space to flip them over. Now in the dominant position, Alex took her blade in hand and plunged the dagger into the creature's chest.

It let out a high pitched scream as the wound began to sizzle. Alex ripped the blade from its chest and stood back to observe her work. The shifter twitched once before going completely still. Alex let out a momentary sigh of relief before her surrounds began to dramatically shift.

The windows began to shatter. Alex covered her face with her arm the best she could before running to the little girl.

"You're gunna be okay. It's okay." Alex did the best to keep the panic out of her voice. There was nowhere left to run. The building was quickly falling to pieces around them. All they could do was sit tight and hope for the best. Alex sent up a quick prayer to whoever was listening to get the frightened child in her arms out of this in one piece.

No sooner had the thought left her mind than a splintered 2x4 came flying towards her. Alex threw her body over the child and prepare for the pain.

It was practically impossible to get into town. Every road Dean turned down had a cop car or a tree in the middle of it. All the boys cared about was getting to that school and making sure Alex was okay. Sam kept trying to text you. The radio had said that since so many towers were down, they wanted people to hold off on making calls so that those in need of help could call 9-1-1. So he settled for texting you. He must have sent you a dozen text messages in the last 20 minutes without any response.

Deciding that driving may not be the way to go, Dean brought her to a stop in front of a single cop car on a more or less abandoned side road leading into town. The officer got out of his patrol car and stepped out to meet the boys.

"Hold up there son. I can't let you through."

Dean walked straight up to him. "Don't worry we'll just be in and out. Tell you what. I'll even leave my baby right here," he gestured to the Impala, "and I'll be back for it in a bit."

When he went to step around the officer, he moved in front of him and put hand to his chest.

"I can't let you do that."

Sam started to panic. His only thought was of getting to that school and finding Alex. If she had been in that building when the tornado hit… he didn't want to think about what could have possibly happened to her.

"You don't understand," he said. "I have to get through. I have to find…"

"Son," the officer said, "we all need to find somebody right now. Just let the workers do their job."

Sam ran his fingers through his hair. Not knowing if Alex was alright was driving both of the boys insane. Dean suddenly had an idea. He pulled his arm back and punched the officer as hard as he could. He spun and fell against the hood of his patrol car unconscious. They quickly hopped back into the Impala and drove around the patrol car and headed for the school.

Dean had to drive slowly to avoid all of the tree limbs and twisted metal that filled the road. Eventually the school came into view, and Sam's heart stopped.

The television coverage hadn't even begun to do justice to the destruction before him. Sam felt his body begin to go numb as he looked at the leveled building. The chances of anybody inside surviving could not have been high. Terror began to fill his heart until one of the rescue workers suddenly began pulling children from the rubble.

He watched with baited breath as more and more people began to emerge from the rubble. He prayed that she had found a safe room or a place to hide from the destruction. But as the number of people coming out of the building began to decrease without seeing her, the panic returned as he started screaming her name.

Pain was the first thing that Alex's mind registered. The second was the sound of a child crying. Alex blinked slowly and let out a groan as she fought to pull herself out of the haze that had formed in her mind. Her eyes focused on the little girl she had saved from the shifter. She was shaking her furiously, begging her to wake up. Tears were streaming down her dirt spattered face. Rain had soaked her to the bone.

Alex gave her a small smile. "Hey sweetie, you okay?"

She bobbed her head up and down. "Uh huh."

"No cuts and bruises?" She shook her head. "Good." Alex brought herself into a seated position. "Let's get you outta here okay?"

The reassuring smile Alex gave the child quickly faded when she went to stand. A sharp stabbing pain shot up her leg as she put weight on what was no doubt a severely sprained ankle. The girl started to whimper.

"Hey, hey it's okay. We're both okay. What's your name sweetie?"

"Ashley," she said with a sniff.

"Ashley? That's a pretty name." She smiled. "Ashley, I'm gunna get you out of here okay. I just need you to be brave for me. Can you do that?" She nodded again.

"Okay."

"Okay." Alex started to survey her surroundings. The narrow doorway they were in had kept the majority of the collapsed walls off of them, but allowed little room to start digging themselves out. Taking a deep breath, Alex carefully started pulling away pieces of debris while making sure to keep Ashley behind her encase anything started to crumble.

More and more people began to emerge from the rubble. The boys wandered through the crowd calling for Alex and asking if anyone had seen her. Dean showed a few people a picture of her on his phone. Only one person said they had seen her in the moments before the tornado hit. She'd taken off running down a hall after what looked like her twin and a crying girl. Apart from that, he learned nothing.

Dean's jaw clenched. The shifter. Sam came up to his brother in a near panic.

"Any luck?"

Dean shook his head for a moment before turning his own fearful eyes to his brother.

"What is it?"

Dean told him what the woman had said about watching her chase someone down the hall. If it really had been as close to the impact as she made it sound, there was no way that Alex could have made it to safety if she was fighting the shifter.

Sam could feel himself starting to hyperventilate as tears started stinging his eyes. "We've got to keep looking. She's gotta be here." The frantic scanning of his eyes over the landscape stopped the moment he saw two workers pull a woman from the rubble. They placed her lifeless body on the ground before two EMTs laid a white sheet over her.

All of the air left Sam's lungs. "No." Dean followed his eyes and quickly felt himself grow cold. Moving a little closer, they could see that the woman's hair was the wrong color and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't Alex. That reprieve was short lived as they began to realize that just because this woman wasn't her, it didn't mean that the next one wouldn't be.

"Over here," they heard one of the workers yell. Others quickly started to move towards him.

As they got closer, they realized what hand drawn them to the complete opposite side of the rubble. There was a loud banging sound coming from somewhere inside. They started pulling away timbers and pieces of metal in an attempt to get to the source. Finally, they moved a piece of wood and saw a woman buried in a hole down below.

"Ma'am, we're gunna get you out."

"No," she said. "Take her first."

The boys watched as a young girl was passed through the hole. Her mother who had been walking around fitfully looking for her cried out as she came forward and took the young girl in her arms as they both began to cry.

The scene caused the corner of Sam's mouth to quirk up into a tiny smile for a moment until his thoughts once again returned to Alex. In that instant, he knew that he would hold her in much the same way if he ever saw her again.

"Alright let's get her out!"

The shout caught Sam's attention and he turned back to where they were now pulling someone else from the collapsed building. The first thing he noticed was the dirt matted auburn hair. The second was the crystal clear stormy blue of her eyes.

Alex hopped on her sore ankle for a moment when they placed her on the ground before looking up. Her eyes instantly fell on the tall, shaggy haired man and his brother standing a few yards away.

"Sam?"

His name was just a whisper on her lips, but he began to move towards her as if he heard her calling. She staggered forward on her bad ankle, desperate to assure herself that he was real. Before either of them realized it, Sam was running towards her. His body crashed into hers as he took her into her arms and spun her around.

Alex began to laugh. There had been a moment during the storm in which she thought she'd never see the light of day again. Now she was in safe in the arms of the man she loved more than life itself.

Sam pulled back slightly, his own tears running down his face, and began brushing her matted hair from her face. Her watery smile was radiant. His own mirrored hers perfectly before he pulled Alex to him and kissed her with every ounce of passion he possessed.

Thoughts?