November, 23th 2013

I don't own any of the characters, CW and Eric Kripke do!

Beta for this Chapter: Ashqtara

A/N: Hey there my loyal readers :)

Oh wow, one review? Why thanks. Hadn't counted on that..overwhelming reaction. Sorry. I know. Roll down the sarcasm ^^
Still, a little feedback would really warm my heart! :3 I'll update faster, too :D

I know this isn't the right fandom but anyway: Happy Birthday Doctor Who! To another 50 years of awesomeness :3

Now for supernatural: I hope I kept them in character...sometimes I'm in doubt. But you tell me ;P
Still encouraging to listen to the songs while or before/after reading :)

off topic: that last Season 9 episode? OMG BABY DEAN gsdflkjhdsf. I was so happy x_X Okay, shutting up.

Now please enjoy :3

Chapter 5

The truth is hiding in your eyes
And it's hanging on your tongue
Just boiling in my blood
But you think that I can't see

Lucifer flinched. The demon beside him immediately raised an eyebrow and interrupted what he'd been saying.

"My Lord, are you-"

"Fine. Shut up and leave." He snapped, holding his head. The demon had just been in the middle of a report but Lucifer had been elsewhere with part of his mind, specifically he had been with his true vessel, trying to get to him in a dream. But something had interrupted…something powerful.

The fallen angel walked over to the bathroom of the rotten motel he was staying in with his higher class demons, who were all reporting and taking off again, organizing the Apocalypse for his pleasing. He leaned on the basin and to his irritation, his hands were shaking a little. Staring at them as if willing them to stop, his gaze got furious. Who did this? Who was powerful enough to throw him out of Sam Winchester's dream like that? He had felt a tuck, a bright light and a presence he couldn't quite place.

Could it be…no, he hasn't returned to earth yet. If he'd be in his true vessel, I would know. Calm down, calm down.

He took a deep breath and stared at himself in the mirror. His temporary vessel was peeling his skin off, as if boiling him from the inside, which was actually pretty accurate. His big brother couldn't be behind this. All the spies he possessed said that he was still in heaven, controlling the forces against him but his vessel had deceived him in the green room, had fled together with his two brothers. So it couldn't be him, right? But then he didn't know who else. No angel was on the younger Winchester's side right now, that Castiel fellow was dead or close as far as he was concerned and Zachariah was done for -he should thank that bastard elder Winchester for that. Rage enflamed him again and he tried to get his mind back into Sam's, force him to listen to him. But even if he tried hard and harder, pushing with all his force, there was something that was blocking him, like a wall. Furious, his hands clenched to fists and the basin below his fingers splintered into a thousand pieces, some of them sinking into his skin that was immediately healed of the wounds. The damage spread along the tiles in the walls and the mirror, a tremble going through the room, the hotel and finally the city, like a wave of power, centering around him. His eyes furious and narrowed, the morning star turned around and yelled for his high demons. Immediately, they appeared and when they saw Lucifer's face, they simultaneously straightened.

"Sent out Pestilence to do as he pleases. Make the Croatoan go wild, I have had enough patience down in that damn cage. If Michael wants a war, he can have a damn war. Now go!" he yelled, his voice was so forceful he was blowing the glass of the windows out and making the floor underneath them shake with his rage. One of his demons dared to open its mouth.

"But, my Lord-" and he immediately exploded, blood of his vessel sprayed the walls and red sparks from the dying demon soul were running over the ground. Lucifer's furious gaze had banished him from this world.

"Am-I-understood?" he said in a low voice that drove through the very soul of every demon present (and in the perimeter of a few kilometers) and they all nodded in unison, black and red eyes shimmering with fear as they disappeared from the now wrecked motel room and the town would later speak of an earthquake no scientist had been able to foretell that had wrecked half the town's houses and cost many people's lives.

Of course, Lucifer didn't care. They would all die, anyway. This would be his planet soon and no matter who had dared to get in his way, they would definitely regret it…

~.~.~.~

Dean's fingers drummed against the stirring wheel of the Impala as he drove along the road. Sam had spoken to Bobby on the phone just a few minutes ago and the old hunter had told them that working with Adam was a real relief since the young lad could help him out in the household and with the research really well and he had taught him a thing or two about hunting, just so he would be able to defend himself in the future. Adam reassured them that it was what he wanted, after all, one of those monsters had killed his mother and he was eager to kill every little bitch that threatened other families and loved ones. Dean wasn't very fond of the thought of having another formerly innocent family member in the business but after all, Adam did fall into this situation and it was his choice, not Dean's. Still, he grumbled his protest and earned a sad smile from Sam.

Bobby also reported he had a pretty weir d hunt for them. People were turning to dust in this town, literally.

"There are reports of them getting sick and then slowly burning up to a pile of dust. Oh and the children in town are going missing. Dunno what it is but you better check that one out, boys."

He was guessing it was maybe pestilence because that sickness was completely exotic and shouldn't be turning up anywhere except maybe near that horseman. Nothing else would be that powerful to work their mojo in such big a radar, right?

The lead led them a few towns over to a guy that was supposed to have worked with their dad a few times. Dean and Sam were both a little skeptical about this, having met old working buddies of their father before. Other hunters were nothing to be easy around. Some could be very shady, meaning that they had heard the wrong things about them or didn't work well with their father, judging the two brothers by John's actions. They had been through basically all of those possibilities before.

Finally, after too many hours of driving and having Sam snoring in the passenger seat, the Impala drove her wheels onto the driveway of the house the hunter was supposedly staying in. It was in a rather normal part of a small town in Illinois and Dean frowned at the thought that a hunter might live here. With a skeptical glance that both brothers exchanged, they closed in on the front door, lifting a hand to ring the doorbell.

Strangely enough, the door was already open a gap. Having seen some doors being forced open before, both Winchesters immediately had their warning signals flare in their heads. Their guns were out faster than you would think and they were covering the walls with their backs to not make such an easy target for anybody waiting for them inside and maybe sneak up on them.

Inside the house, mostly everything was a mess. Books were torn from shelves, the telephone was unplucked, there was a mess of newspapers on the floor of the entrance hall and when you looked up the stairs, there was even more paper there, flying around in matters that looked almost intentional. As If not searching was the point but actually messing things up, maybe cover something? Dean shoved aside a pile of papers to reveal a blood stain on the floor, which made him raise his eyebrows. He looked over his shoulder to his brother and motioned for him to take the left side of the house while he went to the right. Sam nodded, his gun still in hand and ready to fire immediately.

Whatever went down here wasn't good, Dean decided. Different scenarios were playing in his head while his ears listened for something out of the ordinary. His too sharp eyes took in every detail of the mess, which extended to the kitchen he crossed and over to the living room where Sam walked in on the other end. When he spotted his brother, Sam lowered his gun, Dean did the same. The younger Winchester sighed. He looked better than he had in days, maybe even weeks. That solid sleep in the car seemed to have done him some good. Dean had silently prayed that Lucifer would stay away from Sam's dreams. Yeah, he had prayed. Screw it, he cared about his brother's sanity a lot more than about what anybody might think of him. Sam turned and peeked out a window. Since they had set a foot in the house, none of them had exchanged a word and their footsteps had been silent.

Suddenly, Dean heard something behind him. Sam didn't react but the older brother heard it clear as a bell. And before he knew, a gun was pointed to his head. The hammer was pulled and that made Sam turn and his eyes widen.

"Dean!" he warned, too late to do anything about it. The older Winchester himself was just standing there, his eyes narrowed, taking in everything as if in slow motion. He saw Sam wanting to run towards him but stop in his tracks when he saw the gun was already pointed. The older hunter reacted to the situation before he could really think. He felt himself lower his knees, whirl around, knock the person behind him to the floor with a sweeping motion of his legs and arms, plus take the gun out of the person's hands. A shot hit the ceiling about them, narrowly missing Dean's head but he didn't pay attention to it. The older Winchester then sat on top and pointed their own gun right to their forehead.

A moment of silence filled the room as Dean noticed he had his knee on a woman and his hands pointed a gun to a woman's head. He lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. Even if he wanted to, the woman beat him to it.

"Lemme guess. Dean Winchester?" she said with mocking amusement in her voice. She had dark brown hair and a pretty face but her clothing and facial expression suggested that she was tougher than the first glance suggested. Not counting that she just pointed a gun at him. Dean narrowed his eyes. Since she didn't seem much of a thread and there was nothing hiding under her skin as Dean liked to put it since the Vampires, he got up and tossed the gun into the nearest sofa after discharging it with one hand.

"Yeah. How come everybody knows my name nowadays? Did I miss a memo?" he asked, turning to his brother, who just shrugged while walking over. The woman got off the floor and brushed the dirt off her comfortably tight fitting clothes. She ignored Dean's comment completely as well as his mustering stare.

"And you must be Sam, then?" she asked, stretching out her hand to him in a fluid motion, a sly smirk on her face while she looked him up and down. She had done the same with Dean earlier though her gaze on Sam lasted longer, taking in all 6'5". Sam frowned but shook it off quickly.

"Yeah. May I ask why you're trying to shoot my brother when you know who we are?" his gaze implied a 'and who the hell are you?'-bitch face, which made Dean grin inwardly. The woman sighed, rolling her eyes as if that was a completely dumb question. Her hand at her hip, she answered in a knowing voice.

"Even though my father told me John Winchester's sons were coming, that didn't mean you actually are inside. You could've been fighting a monster (which I assumed did this mess)…or you could be one yourself." She grinned, then her grin slipped again, her expression turning ice cold.

"You can still be possessed. Or shapeshifters." with a swing, she got out a silver knife and something that looked like a normal drinking bottle but probably contained holy water. Dean cursed inwardly. Why was meeting other hunters always this complicated? He remained calm, even if he was more annoyed than calm.

"Calm down. We're the real deal. Sam, show her on yourself, I'll test her." Sam nodded, getting out his own silver knife.

~.~.~.~

"So. You live here with your father? You're a hunter yourself?" Sam asked. After the tests were done and everybody seemed to be positively human –though Dean wasn't very keen on proving it further with himself at the moment- they had begun to tidy the house and look for clues together. The woman's name was Abigail but most people called her Abby, which she insisted on once Dean started to tease her how old fashioned her name sounded and Sam having to pull her away after she tried to cut Dean's throat. Not that she would have been able to, Dean tried to convince himself. Even if she was pretty fast, the hunter had to admit. Abby now turned around, having previously concentrated on the blood that was still on the floor of the entrance hall. She looked a bit concerned but nodded at Sam.

"Yeah. Hunter in training more like it. Larry's not my real dad though, he was a family friend and took me in after-" she broke off, gazing into the distance. Both Winchesters exchanged a look and it was pretty clear to both of them that Abby had experienced something horrible and was just beginning to cope with it. Her full lips pressed together and she contained her expression by pulling her emotions in and not wearing it on her face anymore. Her composure was stiff but self-conscious.

"Doesn't matter. I'm here now and according to Larry I'm not half bad." She said and the pride in her voice was subtle but noticeable either way. Abby told them about what Larry had found out and what was going on in town. Some people seemed to blame Larry, who had a reputation to be quite strange, for some rather unfortunate and…gross illnesses that had befallen the small town.

"Why would it be his fault? What's so suspicious about illness?" Dean asked while Sam nodded in confirmation that he was about to ask the same. Abigail sighed.

"Well, that's just it. It's not just any illness, the people are turning to dust." She specified. A shudder went through her. "I saw it happen. Looks nastier than you would think. All the fire and the blood…" another shudder from her before she took a deep breath to relax herself.

"Anyway. I don't really understand the whole blaming thing but I have the feeling it's not really normal, either. Call it a woman's intuition but I think whatever we're up against is playing these people like clay characters in a Tim Burton movie." She said, her eyebrows raised in thought. Dean blinked and opened his mouth before closing it again to catch himself.

"Okay, I don't know what the hell that's supposed to mean but you could be right about the controlling thing. You know we met War, the horseman? He did something like that as well. Maybe they're working together now?" he asked, worry laced in his tone. If that was possible, they were probably screwed big time. But Sam shook his head immediately.

"No, they can't. War is powerless without his ring, Dean. And we wasted Famine too, so there's just Pestilence and Death left on the chess board. Could be one of them. Or neither…or both." He sighed, tossing aside the papers he just collected off the floor. They had been cleaning up and tried to find something –anything- useful in this mess.

"We need more information." The younger Winchester finally decided. He turned to Abigail. "Abby, where have they taken the dead people? Is there a hospital where they bring the sick? Anything?" he asked. The young woman nodded in thought.

"Yeah, of course. I can show you guys around if you want to." She offered. Just before he could answer, Dean felt something vibrate in his pocket. Puzzled, he got out the phone, frowning at the screen. Immediately, his face fell. He looked up to Sam.

"No, no you…you two go. I'll see if I can find anything else around here." He said, swallowed and then turned around. Sam looked after him worriedly but he knew that expression. Something was up that Dean wanted to be alone with. And he already had a guess what it was. Of course it was fine by him. So Abigail and Sam went into town, while Dean stayed at the house, glad that his little brother understood him without a word.

The ringing had stopped by now but Dean was staring at the screen, his finger hovering over the button that would allow him to call back.

Lisa.

The name flashed there as if this was normal, as if it was a regular thing that Lisa called him to check up on him and that thought alone made him feel al fuzzy inside. No, no scratch that. Dean Winchester did not feel fuzzy. Never. ugh...

With a deep breath, he forced his thumb down and held the flip phone to his head, staring ahead through one of the giant windows in the living room. She picked up after two rings.

"Hello?" asked her voice, soft and careful as if fearing somebody else than Dean would be on the line. Dean cursed himself. He should have called sooner…Sam had told him to but he had buried it like he did with everything. There should be an end to that, Lisa deserved better.

"Yeah, hello, Lisa. You…you called." He said and immediately felt like an idiot. Of course she called. She knew that herself. The thoughts about his meagerness were drowned when Lisa let out a sigh of relieve. A long and loud one.

"Oh thank God, you're okay. I- yeah, I was just…worried, I guess." She replied awkwardly. Dean had to smile a little. Lisa wasn't calling him out on not calling her, she wasn't pressing or anything, just checking, just making sure. Even though she couldn't see it his face went from guarded and unsure to warm and he even gave a little smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I should have called. Probably scared the living hell out of you back then." A laugh was heard from the other end and Dean again felt this …thing in his chest that was so unfamiliar but pleasant at all means. Her laugh kind of tickled.

"You did, actually. But I figured you weren't the type of man to call back so I took the initiative myself. I'm glad you're fine though. Sam seemed so panicked and he told me about this Apocalypse thing-"

"He did what? Oh, I'm so going to kill him-" Dean interrupted her. He wasn't aware that Sam had actually told her about that. How could he? No wonder she was worried like hell! Had Sam told her she knew, he would have called right after they got back from the almost-Michael experience. But now…

"No, no, it's fine. I asked, after all. Don't blame Sam for it. I just wanted to…you know, check." She paused and Dean thought he heard her take a deep breath. A side of him wondered what she was doing and where she was right now. In the living room? Was Ben there with her?

"Dean?" she asked after Dean hadn't replied in any way. Oh crap, he had completely forgotten. It had just been so good to listen to her voice somehow –even if he would never really admit that- and he was too deep in thought to even think about responding.

"Huh?" he replied, feeling awkward and out of place. Why had she the power to do that to him? That was normally pretty hard to achieve.

"I just…wanted to tell you that If you ever want to…I mean if you still want that beer, I'll be here. Ben too, you can always come over and see us. I-if you want." She ended her sentence and there was a sudden heavy silence weighting him down as well as her. Dean's brow was furrowed and he breathed in a few times to answer but just didn't manage to. Finally, he calmed himself by just closing his green eyes and sighing deeply.

"Lisa, I…" he paused, then nodded even though she couldn't see that of course. "Thanks. Thank you, really. I'll do my best to get there when this is all over, I promise." He smiled and seriously felt his eyes sting. Really, Dean? What the hell is wrong with you these days? Crying? Nope, not an option! He whipped his eyes to make the wetness go away, force them down again before they spilled. Not for something like this. This…Fairytale dream of living with Lisa and Ben for some time, maybe even the rest of his life, happy, together, a family. No demons, no angels, no Apocalypse… He would just get Sam an apartment nearby and they could maybe even quit all the hunting, all the fighting. But could he really do that? Just lay everything down? Probably not. But it sure would be nice. The part of him that still dreamed often had Lisa in it. And Ben sometimes too. That little guy always seemed to be like him in ways he couldn't quite place. Lisa had told him he wasn't his son but it had somehow felt like he was, it had felt…right to be with them in that house. But like always, he hadn't been able to stay. And he feared it would be the same if he actually went for that beer.

A thought occurred to him. Why was Lisa even calling? Shouldn't she want somebody like him out of her life? Shouldn't she run like hell in the opposite direction, dating some doctor or mechanic or whatever? Why was she calling him of all people? He really didn't deserve that, didn't deserve her. At all. So why? But he didn't ask her that, either. There was silence and finally, Lisa was the one to break it.

"That would be really nice. Just…be save, okay, Dean? Don't do anything you would regret later and…just take care, alright?" Dean nodded in response, then realized she couldn't very well see that and smiled to himself for that stupid thought.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll try. Thanks for calling, Lisa. Guess you made my day here. Hasn't been pleasant until now. I'll see you then." He said and a pleasant chuckle was heard that eased the tension a bit before the-

"See you." Was returned and the call was finished, ending with a "toot" sound echoing in Dean's right ear. He sighed and flipped the phone shut. He looked around as if the older Winchester was just awaking from a dream, realizing just where he was. Sam probably had the car.

"Great, what now?" he mumbled and whipped his face with his free hand. The hunter dialed his brother's number just to be told that Sam left Baby at the house and they had taken Abigail's car. Good, that meant he could take Baby and drive somewhere else for investigation. Sam told him he could check out the mortician who had all the remains of the vics and Dean immediately got in the car to do so.

~.~.~.~

Questioning the mortician was a pretty boring gig if Dean was honest. The guy was old and babbled on about spirits that made people turn into stone and little fairies that were crushing them. Dean tried to ignore him and not break out in a rant about there being no such thing as fairies and that spirits didn't turn people to stone. Besides, the victims looked more like dust than rubble so that was ruled out anyway. He called Sam about what he found and took a little sample of the dust with him for his brother and maybe Bobby to examine. Then he resumed his seat in the Impala again in order to make his way back to the city where he was going to work through the list of victims the mortician gave him and question the remaining relatives.

Sam on the other hand found himself with a really interesting task at hand. Not the job itself, that was like always: Strange and a giant pile of gross. No, the interesting thing was Abigail. Her methods at the hunting life were rather…alternative. Instead of lying her way through the hospital like Sam was used to by now, Abby approached the doctor with an honest statement of telling him that she wanted to find out what was happening in this town and that she wanted to help. At first the doctor wasn't really sure she could help at all, not being a specialist but Abby just raised an eyebrow at him and asked if he seriously believed anything about this illness was normal and if they seemed like the normal everyday people. They were specialists, she said and just before Sam wanted to stop her and tell her to not reveal anything more, the older, grey haired doctor actually agreed upon helping them and answering questions.

"So it started about two days ago?" Abby asked, taking notes on a little block she had brought. The doctor nodded and took a worried glance back at the patients lying in the isolated area, behind glass so they couldn't infect anybody. Well, in theory.

"Yes. Problem is, we don't know how it spreads. We have isolated all the patients and are going in with protective clothing but somehow we're still getting in more and more and it seems to be completely random who it hits, lawyer or homeless, child or elderly…It started on the west side of town but by now it seems to be traveling on." he stroked his hands through his hair in a desperate gesture, showing how stressed he was –if the deep black rings under his eyes weren't hint enough of that.

"I don't even know where to put all of them and that would be a problem, if…" he paused, coughing slightly. "Well, if they didn't die so quickly…" he seemed stressed to even say it, embarrassed by his simple and too honest thinking. Sam just nodded though. It was a little cruel, yeah, but logical. The hunter frowned and looked over to the patients. "

"How fast?" he asked. The doc looked up to him. He was about two feet smaller than him, which wasn't an unusual situation for Sam but obviously for the doctor. His expression was seriously uncomfortable whenever glancing up at him. Abigail wasn't that small, she might almost be Dean's height. Frowning himself now, the doctor seemed to think about Sam's question.

"24 hours exactly. I've never heard of any illness this accurate in fact. We can almost count the minutes down until the complete collapse happens." he explained. Abigail looked worried now, she kept glancing up to Sam as if asking a silent question. The younger Winchester lifted an eyebrow, not understanding. Abby rolled her eyes and stepped forward again, asking herself.

"Can we take a look at them, please?", she asked and then Sam was taken aback again because seriously, even though the girl oozed sass and seemed rather secure and sometimes even a little cold shouldered to Sam, she sure had a puppy-dog glance that may even overpower his own one. The intense brown in them didn't make it any easier to ignore, either. Startled, the doc immediately nodded, accompanying them to the other end of the hall they were standing in, stopping just outside the security glass.

Immediately, Sam felt like throwing up. He was normally pretty tolerant when it came to wounds and had seen some really gross things. People eating each other, Gods carving people up and separating them into parts, swarms of bugs eating people…but he thought that this, this topped them all.

There was a man right before him and he was slowly turning to dust. That wasn't the gross part though, no, the dust was the pleasant part. The worst part was that he wasn't just crumbling like a stone, this seemed to spread like some kind of infection and it went layer by layer. On some body parts there was just the skin gone, the muscle tissue underneath was still visible, other parts revealed the bones underneath and his abdomen showed the organs still in them, slowly crumbling but visible to the open. Nobody even bothered to bandage the man because there was blood everywhere anyway, it was drenching the cheats, it was coming out of his mouth and even ears, slowly turning grey before their eyes and producing dust that fell onto the floor and bed.

Abigail next to Sam had her lips pressed together tightly and forced herself to look at the patient, obviously not wanting to be here and probably much more preferably in a bath room, using the toilet for unusual purposes. She was staying strong though, biting her cheek and pressing her fingernails into her palms until the point Sam worried she might actually draw blood. The younger Winchester swallowed and took a deep breath himself.

"Okay that is…" he couldn't find a word.

"Completely impossible? Gross? Disgusting? Sad? Frightening?" the doctor suggested. He had probably heard plenty of people say things like that. Sam just nodded.

"Yeah. Take your pick." he said, even managing a small smile. Taking one last glance at the sleeping man –probably drugged to even be able to sleep even though he was most likely in so much pain-he guided Abby away from the scene by the shoulder. When they were into the hallway a few steps, the young woman quickly shook Sam's helping hand away, indicating she didn't need it but smiling her thanks at him anyway. The hunter himself turned to the doctor again, who was walking beside him.

"Hey, doc. Would you mind giving us a list of all the people you took in with this illness?"

~.~.~.~

"I got a list, Dean.", Sam explained over the phone. Abby was just driving back to her house, which they had decided to use as a temporal base after checking the securities against the supernatural that were put up by Larry anyway.

"Yeah, me too. The mortician gave me the list of the dead and the relatives still kicking. You gonna put the addresses together at the house?" Dean asked and Sam made an affirmative sound.

"Just gonna finish this interrogation here. Wife of first victim is still alive, been outta town when the attack struck. They live right next to the forest. Should probably check that out too, you two make a map of the vics until now. Call ya later." Dean said and was just about to hang up when Sam interrupted him.

"Wait." he said, a little louder than he had wanted to. There was this strange feeling about this job…something wasn't right. And something wasn't right with Dean, too. He still had the mental image of Dean taking down those vamps in his head. And Dean knowing that he had dreamed about Lucifer when really there had been nothing there to indicate that it hadn't been a run-of-the-mine nightmare. But Dean wouldn't talk, insisted on not knowing. When had it come to the point where Dean honestly didn't trust him? Was it back at the motel where he had thrown his necklace in the bin? Was it when he had risen Lucifer? But Sam had thought they were back to basics again…so what was Dean hiding? And if he wasn't hiding anything and really didn't know, then what? There was something happening and Sam Winchester didn't like it at all. So if Dean wouldn't, Sam had to figure out a way on his own. Problem was, there was a part of him that seemed to guess already, seemed to know…instead he refused it to be true. Had to be something else! But first, this plague or whatever it was needed to be solved.

"What?" Dean asked when Sam didn't immediately get out what he wanted to say. The younger Winchester sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Just…be careful, alright? Promise me." he could practically feel Dean roll his eyes on the other end, even expecting him to. But there was a serious tone that answered.

"I will." A short pause followed but he wasn't hanging up. Sam heard the grin in his voice at the next sentence.

"Everything going well with Abigail over there? She any good?" Sam didn't know why his brother asked that. He raised an eyebrow until realizing what his brother was implying and felt himself turn red in the process. Dean wasn't talking about her hunting abilities at all. Ashamed, he turned away from Abby and looked out the window.

"Dean! Get your mind outta the gutter. We have more important things to worry about right now." he whispered and hoped the female hunter-in-training couldn't hear it. The younger brother heard Dean laugh at the other end.

"Alright, alright. Just have fun you two, do your research and play prince charming, will ya? Show her just how many brain cells you have, geek girl." Sam felt his cheeks flush more deep but playful anger was now rising in his chest.

"Dean! You-" but before he could finish, his big brother just laughed and simply hung up on him. Sam stared at the phone with a death glare and flipped it shut, snorting an angry puff of breath through his pointy nose. He glanced over at Abby apologetically and smiled.

"Sorry. My brother sometimes…" he struggled for words. Even though Dean seemed strange in some situations, at least his teasing hadn't changed… Abby just chuckled but she suddenly seemed sad. Her gaze staring out at the road was full of deeply buried pain.

"I get it. Had a big sister once, she used to tease me all the time." she said, her voice thick. Since she didn't continue, Sam didn't press the topic any further. Of course, he was damn curious what happened to her family…but from personal experience he knew that pushing and pulling at the topic wouldn't help anybody. She would tell him if she felt ready for it. Or not. Either was fine by him if it was making it easier for her. But the tone alone showed that her bigger sister was probably stone dead. A shiver went and a very painful stab to the heart went through Sam just at the thought of that time when Dean was in hell, when he had thought he had lost his big brother for good. Back then he would have done anything for a little teasing, for just a fragment of his brother's voice other than his mobile announcement to leave a message, which he had played over and over, feeling empty just at the thought of not being able to hear that voice in person ever again. The voice that had read a story to him when he was little, the voice that soothed him when he was waking from nightmares, the voice that reached out to him every damn time, even if he hadn't wanted it to at that very moment. To think that he had been damn close to losing Dean again just two days ago wasn't really giving him a pep talk either. The younger Winchester just hoped that he never had to feel that emptiness again. He was pretty sure it would kill him completely.

For the rest of the trip back to the house they rode in silence, both of them deep in their own thoughts.

~.~.~.~

The interrogation had been far more useless than Dean had hoped. Stomping through the deep forest near the house he cursed whatever had caused this whole mess. On his phone he checked the picture of the city map Bobby had send him a few minutes ago. The woman had told him how she had found her husband half crumbled to dust on the floor and how she didn't want to describe it because it was so gross she still threw up at the thought. Then she had actually thrown up –right over the legs of his jeans thank you very much- and apologized, cried on about how her little daughter was gone too and she couldn't control herself but had invited Dean to tea. The hunter had refused more rudely than he had planned to but getting puked on wasn't really his favorite pass time so he considered himself forgiven for that. Then he had gotten himself some equipment from the trunk of the impala (and a pair of new jeans) and made his way into the forest behind the house, EMF meter in hand as well as his trusty shotgun.

Suddenly, he stopped. Something rustled behind him. Gun pointed, he turned around and searched for a threat. Nothing was to be seen and his superhuman vision couldn't make anything out either. Normal people would probably have already needed a flashlight but Dean was walking around without one, not needing it to see properly. Checking his surroundings again he walked on with careful steps, trying to not make a sound or step on a twig. Something was here…he could feel it. His feet took another step when he heard a fizzling sound beneath him.

"What the-" he looked down and to his astonishment, there was some kind of black line he had stepped on. He kneeled down to examine it further and it seemed to be made of dust completely. His fingers tried to pick some of it up but under his touch, the tiny pigments just lit up white for a short moment, flew upwards towards the sky and vanished after a few feet.

"What the hell…", he whispered and repeated the motion. Again, the pigments flew up. The hunter removed his foot from the line and to his utter astonishment, the thing just repaired itself again, more black dust coming out of the ground or from wherever.

Of course, he tried to find a source of the dust. He dug down into the ground under the line but it just fulfilled itself again by going down the hole and back up to connect to the rest.

"And I'll say it again: What the hell is this?!" he breathed, his green eyes blinking at the line that seemed to go on forever into the forest as far as his advanced gaze could follow. The black dust seemed infinite and Dean could now hear or rather feel something approaching in the far distance. It was still far away but in his gut, something told him that when it got here, he should be far, far gone.

So for once, Dean Winchester ran. He took some pictures of the dust line with his phone and then turned around to run back in the direction he came from, when the phone in his hand rang. Quickly picking it up to not give himself away, Dean heard his brother's voice sound through the speaker.

"Dean. Get back here. We found something and believe me, you're definitely not going to like it…" Dean laughed while running, not feeling tired by the probably really fast and noisy sprint.

"Oh I believe you alright…", he whispered back before he heard a scream from the other hand, making his blood run cold. That scream definitely belonged to Abigail.

Then, the line was cut and Dean was screaming his brother's name into the phone, ignoring that he was probably chased himself.

"Sammy? SAM! Dammit…"

~.~.~.~

How did we get here?
I used to know you so well
How did we get here?
Well, I think I know

The truth is hiding in your eyes
And it's hanging on your tongue
Just boiling in my blood
But you think that I can't see

What kind of man that you are
If you're a man at all
Well, I will figure this one out
On my own

On my own.

~ Decode (Paramore)

Dudun. Yeah I know, I love my cliffhangers. Sorry about that.

Hope you like Abby :)

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Reviews are always more than welcome, no matter how short! *hug*