Chapter Thirty: Hunted
"He said that he wanted me to watch out for you, to take care of you," he said. He didn't want to tell Sam what Dad had told him before he died. He didn't want to admit this to his brothers. But Alec was watching him now instead of the river, and Sam wouldn't let this go, so he had to come clean.
"He told you that a million times," Sam said.
"No, this time was different," he said. "He said that I had to save you."
"Save me from what?" Sam asked.
"He just said that I had to save you, that nothing else mattered," he said. "And that if I couldn't, I'd…" He couldn't do this. He couldn't admit this to Sam.
"You'd what, Dean?" Sam asked.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and then decided to just get it over with. "That I'd have to kill you. He said that I might have to kill you, Sammy."
"Kill me?" Sam asked, his voice rising. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He knew he shouldn't have told him.
"I don't know," he said.
"I mean, he must have had some kind of reason for saying it, right?" Sam asked before he really got going. "Did he know the demon's plans for me? Am I supposed to go Darkside or something? What else did he say, Dean?"
"Nothing, that's it, I swear," he replied honestly. Yeah, he should've asked Dad more about what he'd meant, but he'd just come out of a coma then. He wasn't thinking clearly when Dad had told him this. And Dad had acted so strange…He should've…But it wouldn't have mattered. Dad never gave him straight answers, so it wouldn't have mattered either way.
"How could you not have told me this?" Sam demanded.
"Because it was Dad, and he begged me not to," he said. It sounded like a lame excuse now, but he hadn't wanted to talk about it. He didn't even want to think about it. He would never kill his brother.
"Who cares?!" Sam yelled. "Take some responsibility for yourself, Dean! You had no right to keep this from me!"
"You think I wanted this? Huh?" he yelled back. "I wish to God he'd never opened his mouth! Then I wouldn't have to walk around with this screaming in my head all day!"
Sam turned away from him and took a few steps before he walked back. Sam took a deep breath before he continued a little calmer, "We've just got to figure out what's going on, then, what the hell all this means."
"We do?" he asked back. "I've been thinking about this, I think we should just lay low. You know? At least for a while. It'd be safer. And that way I can make sure-"
"What? That I don't turn evil?" Sam yelled, snapping right back into a rage. He cursed himself; he'd always been bad about watching his mouth. "That I don't turn into some kind of killer?!"
"I never said that," he snapped.
"Jeez, if you're not careful, you will have to waste me one day, Dean!"
"I never said that!" he yelled. "Damnit, Sam, this whole thing is spinning out of control, alright? You're immune to some weirdo demon virus, and I don't even know what the hell anymore. And you're pissed at me, I get it. That's fine, I deserve it. But we lay low until we figure out our next move, ok?"
"Forget it," Sam said.
"Sam, please, man. Hey, please," he begged. "Just give me some time. Give me some time to think, ok? I'm begging you here, please. Please."
It took a few seconds, but then Sam finally nodded.
That could have gone better.
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It had been nearly impossible to leave his brothers, but he had to figure some stuff out on his own, and he didn't want them to get hurt. He'd hated how easy it had been to get out of the motel while Dean and Alec were asleep. Any other time, Alec would've jumped awake at the slightest sound, but he'd been exhausted from the tremors, so he'd been out. And he knew what to watch out for with Dean, so he'd been able to sneak out and steal a car. He wasn't sure he would've been able to take off if either of them had woken up.
He parked his stolen car and walked into the Roadhouse. Hopefully Ellen wouldn't kick him out on his ass, but more importantly, hopefully she wouldn't tell Dean he was here. It seemed like everyone looked up when he walked in, but Ellen smiled when she spotted him.
"Sam," she greeted once he walked up.
"Hey Ellen," he replied with a hesitant smile. "You don't seem that surprised to see me…"
"Well, your brother's been calling, worried sick, looking for you," Ellen said.
"Yeah. Figured he might," he said.
"What's going on between you two?" she asked.
"So, um, how's Jo?" he asked instead, cringing at that horrible attempt to change the subject.
Ellen nodded though and said, "Well, I don't really know."
"What do you mean?" he asked. That didn't sound good. He'd had a secret hope that he could talk to her about Alec. At least then he'd have one good thing to come from leaving his brothers.
"Well, I haven't seen her in weeks. She sends a postcard now and again," Ellen said.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Well, after she worked that job with you boys, she decided she wanted to keep on hunting. I said, 'not under my roof', and she said 'fine'."
"So, I'm probably the last person you want to see right now," he guessed.
Ellen chuckled, "Oh, don't get me wrong. I wish I could blame the hell out of you boys. It'd be easier." He couldn't argue with that. "Truth is, it's not your fault, Sam. None of it is. I want you to know that I forgave your Daddy a long time ago for what happened to my Bill. I just don't think he ever forgave himself."
"I just wish Jo would talk to Alec again," he admitted. He wanted to know what had happened, but he wasn't sure Ellen would know much more than what Jo had already told them. It wasn't like the real story would change anything now. Ellen frowned, so he said, "She stopped talking to him after that hunt. Maybe…you could talk to her? I can't get him to text her, so I thought…"
"I'll do my best," Ellen said when he trailed off. "Why did you come here, sweetie?"
"I need help," he said.
Ellen had him wait until the bar started to clear out before she had him talk to Ash. "What am I looking for, Sam?" Ash asked.
"Other people," he said. "Other psychics, like me. As many as possible, and I need a nationwide search."
"But I thought there was no way to track them all down," Ellen said. "Not all of them had nursery fires like you did."
"Well, no," he admitted. "But some had to. Start there."
Ash left the bar area to go back to his 'office'. He stayed at the bar, and Ellen got him something to eat while he waited. He wished his brothers were with him, but he didn't know how to feel about what Dean had told him. He was still pissed that his brother hadn't told him before, but he wanted to know what Dad meant. Was he going to turn evil? How could he keep from turning darkside?
"Done and done," Ash said, walking over a little while later with a piece of paper.
"That was fast," he muttered.
"Well, apparently, that's my job. Make the monkey dance at the keyboard," Ash said.
"Just tell us what you got, Ash," Ellen said.
"Four folks fit the profile nationwide," Ash said. "Born in '83, mother died in a nursery fire, the whole shebang."
"Four? That's it?" he asked in surprise. Was this whole trip going to be a waste of time? How was he going to find others like him with only four hits?
"Sam Winchester from Lawrence, Kansas," Ash said. Ok…three hits. He still had three people he could look up. "Max Miller from Saginaw, Michigan." Damn. That meant he would know the third one as well, but maybe he could have hope for the last one. "Andrew Gallagher from Guthrie, Oklahoma, and, uh, another name. Scott Carey."
"You got an address?" he asked hopefully.
"Kind of," Ash hedged. "The Arbor Hill Cemetery in Lafayette, Indiana. Plot 486."
"So he's dead?" he asked just to make sure.
"Killed. About a month ago," Ash said.
"Killed how?" he asked. Maybe it was something weird. Something he could investigate to try to figure out more of what was going on.
"Stabbed. Parking lot. Fuzz don't have much. No suspects," Ash said.
"Alright. Thank you," he said as he got up.
"Where are you going?" Ellen asked.
"Indiana."
"Sam, I've gotta call Dean. I've gotta let him know where you are," Ellen said.
"Ellen, I'm trying to find answers about who I am," he explained. "And my brother means well, but he can't protect me from that. Please."
Ellen hesitated, but then finally nodded. He breathed out in relief as he left, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stay ahead of Dean forever. He needed to move fast to try to find some answers.
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He was trying not to freak out, but Sam had disappeared. He didn't know where his brother was, he didn't know if he was hurt, or if something had grabbed him. Or…he might have left on his own. Thinking Sam had just left them on his own was somehow worse than thinking something had gotten him. Sam had left them.
Alec was sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the window. His little brother hadn't said a word since he'd told him that Sam was gone. He didn't have any leads, so he was just driving around, trying to figure out what to do next.
"We'll find him," he said. He wouldn't stop until they found him.
"Why would he leave?" Alec asked.
"We don't know that he left," he said, trying to give Sam some leeway. He really hoped he hadn't left.
"We would've woken up if something broke in and tried to get him," Alec reasoned.
"What if he went out to get something and was grabbed outside?" he said.
"He left," Alec said. "And you gave up."
He looked over at his little brother and silently cursed. "Alec…"
"You gave up at the clinic. We could've tried…you shouldn't have given up," Alec said. "I get that you were carrying around this secret for John, but you shouldn't have given up."
He took a deep breath, and then nodded, "You're right. I'm sorry." Alec just looked out the window again. "We will find him. Whether he left or whatever…we'll find him." He reached over and patted Alec's shoulder to try to get him to look away from the window. "You feelin' better?"
"Fine."
"Alec," he said. He waited until his brother looked over at him, and then he said, "I'm sorry."
Alec looked at him for a few seconds before he finally nodded. He patted Alec's shoulder again; at least he wasn't alone in looking for Sam.
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He went to Mr. Carey's house to try to find out more about Scott. Even though Scott was dead, maybe he could find something useful.
"So, you say you went to high school with Scott?" Mr. Carey asked once they were both sitting in the living room.
"Uh, yes sir, I did," he said. I just heard what happened. I'm so sorry."
"Scotty was a good boy. He changed a lot since you knew him," Mr. Carey said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"It started about a year ago with these headaches. And then he got depressed, paranoid, nightmares," Mr. Carey listed.
"Nightmares?" he asked. "Um, did he ever talk to you about his nightmares? What he saw…or…"
"No, no," Mr. Carey said with a shake of his head. "He closed up with me. I tried to get him help, but nothing took. He'd just lock himself in his room for days."
"You think maybe I could see his room?" he asked. Mr. Carey gave him a funny look, and it was a weird request, but he agreed after a moment and led him to Scott's room.
The room was fairly empty. He wasn't sure he would actually find anything useful here, but he had to look. He walked over to the nightstand where several pill bottles were sitting. He looked back to make sure Mr. Carey wasn't watching him before he stuffed one of the bottles in his pocket. He walked over to the closet and opened it. He caught a glimpse of something behind the clothes hanging there, so he pushed them aside. His eyes widened in shock when he saw yellow eyes. Scott had cut out pictures from what looked like magazines and put them together in a collage and taped them to the wall. The Yellow-Eyed Demon.
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He went back to the motel he'd gotten, wishing his brothers were with him. He didn't want to be alone in this, but Dean had lied to him for so long.
He stopped once he got to the door to his room. He spun around and grabbed the woman who'd been behind him and pushed her up against the wall. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"Please!" she said, sounding scared. "You're in danger."
That wasn't what he'd been expecting. "What?" he asked.
"This sounds crazy, but I had a dream about you! About you dying!" she said.
He quickly let her into his room. She could be exactly what he'd been looking for. She paced back and forth once he'd let her in. She was clearly freaking out. "Ok, look, I know how this all sounds, but I am not insane, and I am not on drugs, ok? I am normal, and this is way, way off the map for me," she said quickly.
"Alright, alright, just calm down, ok? What's your name?" he asked.
"Ava."
"Ava?"
"Ava Wilson," she said.
"Ava, I'm Sam Winchester, alright?" he said to try to get her to calm down a little. "Now, you were telling me about these dreams of yours?"
"Uh, yeah, uh, ok," she said. "About a year ago I started having these, like, headaches, and just, nightmares, I guess. And I really didn't think much of it until I had this one dream where I saw this guy get stabbed in a parking lot."
"When was this," he asked.
"Uh, about a month ago. But, anyway, a couple of days later, I found this." She got what looked like a newspaper clipping out of her pocket and handed it to him. The headline said, 'Local Man Stabbed to Death in Parking Lot.' And there was a picture of Scott next to it. "I saw this guy die! Days before it happened. I don't know why. I don't know, it's just for some reason, my dreams are coming true! And last night, I had another one."
"Ok," he said.
"About you," Ava stressed. "I saw you die."
"How did you find me?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, you had motel stationery, and I Googled the motel, and it was real, and so I just thought that I should warn you," Ava said. She was talking really fast.
"I don't believe this," he breathed. He'd been looking for psychics and one had found him instead. This was amazing!
"Oh, oh, of course you don't," Ava said, misunderstanding him. "You think I'm a total nutjob."
"Wait, no, no, no, I mean, you must be one of us," he quickly explained.
"Sorry. One of, one of who?" she asked.
"One of the psychics. Like me," he said. "Look, Ava, I have visions too, alright? So, we're connected."
Ava laughed, "Ok, so, you're nuts. That's great."
He hid his smile since she had a vision of him dying, but thought he was crazy since he had the same thing. "Ok, ok, look," he said. "Did you mother happen to die in a house fire?"
"No, my mother lives in Palm Beach!"
"Huh…so, you don't fit the pattern either," he said. Ava just looked at him in confusion. This might take a while. "How 'bout you just tell me about the dream you had," he suggested.
"You, you were breaking into this abandoned-looking house. You had the stationery in your hand with an address written on it. I couldn't really see much, but you walked in, and then you blew up!" she said.
"And you didn't see anything else?" he asked.
"No! I woke up when you died!" Ava said. Alright, well, he had a head's up, so he wasn't that worried. "So, can you leave now?"
"Uh, no, I'm not goin' anywhere," he said as he dug the pill bottle out of his pocket.
"Why can't you just leave town? Please? Before you blow up?" she said.
"No, I can't," he said.
"Oh, God…why not?"
"Because there's something going on here, Ava. With you, with me. I mean, there are others like us out there. And we're all a part of something, and I've got to figure out what," he said.
"Ok, you know what? Screw you, buddy, ok? Because I'm a secretary from Peoria and I'm not part of anything! Ok? Do you see this?" She held up her hand where he could see an engagement ring. "I am getting married in eight weeks. I am supposed to be at home addressing invitations, which I am way behind on, by the way. But instead, I drove out here to save your weirdo ass. But if you just want to stay here and die, fine. Me? I'm due back on Planet Earth."
"Don't you want to know why this is happening?" he asked. "I mean, don't these visions scare the hell out of you? Because if you walk out that door right now, you might never know the truth. I need your help."
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"Hello?" he answered when his phone rang. They didn't have any leads on Sam and he was getting desperate.
"It's Ellen."
"Hey, have you heard from Sam?" he asked. Alec perked up next to him, trying not to look too hopeful.
"I have," Ellen replied. "But he made me promise not to tell you where he is."
"Come on, Ellen, please," he begged. "Something bad could be going on here, and I swore I'd look after that kid."
"Now Dean, they say you can't protect your loved ones forever," Ellen said. His hope was quickly dying. "Well, I say screw that. What else is family for? He's in Lafayette, Indiana."
"Thanks," he said before he hung up and pressed harder on the gas. At least they weren't far.
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It took a lot of convincing to get Ava to agree to distracting Scott's therapist so he could break-in. He really wished his brothers were with him now. He could've distracted the therapist while Alec broke in. His little brother would make this look like child's play, while he was clinging to the side of the building. He could do it, but Alec just made things look easy. And Ava was definitely spazzing out. He wasn't sure how long she could distract the therapist. He might only have a few minutes to try to find something.
He got into the guy's office and started digging around, looking for whatever he could find on Scott. He needed to know more.
He grabbed Scott's files and quickly left since he was pretty sure he didn't have a lot of time left.
He met up with Ava again once she left the office and they went back to the motel together. Ava was very quiet on the way back, and even though he'd just met her, he knew this was weird. She'd been talking nearly nonstop since she'd found him.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"Am I ok?" she asked back.
"Yeah."
"I just helped you steal some dead guy's confidential psych files," she said. Uh-oh, this was going to be bad. He just hoped she wouldn't turn him into the cops. "I'm awesome!" Ok…that was good.
He got out the file and started looking through it. He found a small voice recorder and turned it on.
"It started a little over a year ago. Migraines, at first. Then I found I could do…stuff." He was guessing that was Scott. So, he was psychic.
"What do you mean, do stuff?" the therapist asked.
"I have this ability. When I touch something, I can electrocute it if I want." His eyebrows jumped up in surprise. That was a new one.
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Dean pulled up to the motel. He breathed out in relief when he spotted Sam inside. He looked like he was ok.
"Oh, thank God you're ok," Dean breathed. Sam moved over, revealing that he wasn't alone in the motel room. "Oh, you're better than ok," Dean said with a smile. "Sam, you sly dog!"
"Any idea who that is?" he asked.
"No clue," Dean said. "They seem pretty cozy though."
"Think he knew her before?" he asked. "Like Stanford before?" Dean didn't answer, which meant he didn't know. The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood up. Something wasn't right. "Dean…"
Dean was already looking around, so he'd felt it too. Sam was in danger.
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"What else does the Yellow-Eyed man say?" the therapist asked Scott.
"He has plans for me," Scott said. "He says there's a war coming. That people like me, we're going to be the soldiers. Everything's about to change."
Of course, that was when the recording ended.
"He's not talking about us, right?" Ava asked.
"Yeah, I think he is," he said.
"But how can we turn into that?" she asked.
"I don't-"
He moved on instinct. He grabbed Ava and brought her down to the floor with him, shielding her as bullets peppered the wall above him.
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Alec ran ahead, and he was both angry that Alec never listened and grateful. Alec tackled Gordon before he could get another shot off. But Gordon must have expected them to show up because he shoved a taser against Alec's neck.
Alec shook from the electricity coursing through his body and fell to the ground. He made it just in time to see Gordon hit Alec hard with the butt of the rifle and knock him out.
He kicked Gordon to get him away from his brother and pinned him down, hitting him over and over again in the face. He was pissed. Gordon had tried to kill Sam. Gordon managed to shove him off, and then hit him just like he'd hit Alec. He went down on the first hit, but he was still slightly conscious. But then Gordon hit him again and he was out.
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He convinced Ava to follow him out of the motel room. There were bullet holes in the wall, but there hadn't been any gunfire for a while, and they couldn't stay here forever. He needed to know who had been shooting at them.
He went up to the roof of the building across the street from the motel since that was the most likely place the shooter had been.
"Wait, I don't understand. Shouldn't we be talking to the cops?" Ava asked. He was surprised she hadn't already tried to call the cops.
"Trust me, that wouldn't do us much good," he said as he crouched down. He picked up a casing and frowned. "These are .223 caliber. Subsonic rounds. The guy must have put a suppressor on the rifle."
"Dude, who are you?" Ava asked.
"Oh, I just, uh, I just watch a lot of TJ Hooker," he covered. He got his phone out since he needed his brothers to be here with him. He should've never left them. He should've just convinced them to come with him to investigate this more. If he talked to Alec, he could've gotten him on board, and Alec would've helped him convince Dean.
"Who are you calling?" Ava asked.
"My brother. I think we definitely need help," he said.
"Hello?"
"Dean!" he said, a little surprised that Dean had answered his call. But he was guessing his brother was freaking out that he'd disappeared without even a note. He felt bad for doing that now.
"Sam, I've been looking for you," Dean said.
"Yeah. Look, I'm in Indiana, uh, Lafayette," he said, hoping that calling Dean now would help at least a little bit. He didn't want his brother to be pissed at him.
"I know," Dean said.
"You do?" That was weird. Why didn't he come find him already if he knew where he was.
"Yeah, I talked to Ellen. Just got here myself," Dean said. "It's a real funky town. You ditched us, Sammy."
His heart dropped, "Yeah, I'm sorry. Look, right now there's someone after me."
"What? Who?" Dean asked.
"I don't know, that's what we need to find out. Where are you?" he asked.
"Me and Alec are staying at 5637 Monroe St. Why don't you meet us here," Dean said.
"Yeah…sure," he said, and then hung up.
This was bad. Dean and Alec were in trouble.
"What is it?" Ava asked.
"My brothers are in trouble," he said.
"What?"
"He gave me a codeword," he said. "Someone's got a gun on him." Which was really, really bad. Someone had a gun on Dean, and Alec was there. Whoever it was got the drop on Alec and Dean. His brothers were both fantastic fighters. This was bad.
"Codeword?" Ava asked.
"Yeah. Funky town," he said, and then realized Ava probably thought he was insane. "Well, he thought of it. It's kind of a…long story. I…come on."
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"Now, was that so hard?" Gordon asked, pulling the phone away from him.
"Bite me," he grumbled.
He and Alec were both tied to chairs. Gordon had forced him to talk to Sam and tell him where they were. He wasn't sure what Gordon had against Sam or why he would try to kill him. He understood the guy wanting revenge since they had screwed him over last time, but this was a bit extreme.
Gordon walked over to Alec and cocked his head to the side, like he was trying to figure him out. Alec just stared back. "You wanna tell me what you are?" Gordon asked.
Alec smirked, "I'd say I'm one handsome devil." Gordon punched Alec hard across the face.
"You'll talk," Gordon said. "One way or another."
"Gordon!" he yelled when the man got the taser out again. Alec groaned as the electricity went through him.
"What are you? And are there others?" Gordon asked, pulling the taser away. Alec spit a mouthful of blood at him. He struggled to get out of the rope keeping him tied to the chair. He needed to get to his little brother.
"Gordon, leave him alone!" he yelled. Gordon looked over at him, so he said, "Look, I know me and Sam ain't exactly your favorite people, but don't you think this is a little extreme?"
"What, you think this is revenge?" Gordon asked, walking away from Alec. His little brother slumped in his chair a little, getting a small break at least.
"Well, we did leave you tied up in your own mess for three days," he said before he laughed. "Which was awesome. Sorry, I shouldn't laugh."
"Yeah, I was definitely planning on whuppin' your ass for that," Gordon said.
"Mm-hmm," he hummed.
"But that's not what this is," Gordon said. "This isn't personal. I'm not a killer, Dean. I'm a hunter. And your brothers are fair game."
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"I don't think I should leave," Ava said as he walked her over to her small, blue VW beetle.
"I want you out of harm's way, Ava," he said.
"What about you?" Ava asked.
"Harm's way doesn't really bother me," he said.
"No, but you are walking right into my vision," Ava said. "I mean, this is how you die."
"Doesn't matter. They're my brothers," he said. He wouldn't just leave them.
"Maybe I could help!" Ava said, refusing to drop it.
"You've done all you can. Just, just go back to your fiancé," he said.
"Are you sure?" Ava asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," he said. He needed to get to the address Dean gave him. He had to help his brothers. "Go home, Ava. You'll be safe there."
Ava reluctantly got in the car. "Well, just, promise me you'll call then," she said. "I mean, when you get your brothers, just to let me know that everything's alright."
"I promise," he agreed.
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Gordon had walked outside and had set something up in the other room before he'd come back. He kept trying to get information out of Alec, but his little brother wouldn't talk. He was unconscious now, blood running down his face from a cut at his temple. His muscles were twitching from repeatedly getting tasered.
"Why're you doin' this, man?" he asked. "Alec's just a kid." He hated that he couldn't help Alec. He hated having to watch this man torture his little brother. And Gordon was trying to kill Sam.
"Your little brother is a freak of nature," Gordon said. "I haven't been able to figure out what exactly he is, but he's not human. And if there's one, there's more."
"Alec's a good kid," he said, trying again. "He-"
"He was trained by someone, and I don't think it was your old man," Gordon said. "He has some kind of military training, that much is clear."
"You're messed up," he muttered. "Whatever you're thinking, there's nothing weird about my brothers."
"That's where you're wrong, Dean," Gordon said. "See, I was doing an exorcism down in Louisiana. Teenage girl, seemed routine, some low-level demon. But between all the jabbering and the head-spinning, the damn thing muttered something. About a coming war. And I don't think it meant to, it just kind of slipped out. But it was too late. Piqued my interest. And you can really make a demon talk, you got the right tools. And I'll make your brother talk."
"And what happened to the girl it was possessing?" he asked, trying to ignore the fact that Gordon was going to keep torturing his little brother until he talked. But he knew Alec, and he knew he wouldn't say anything. Gordon was going to kill him. But if he could keep Gordon talking, then he wasn't hurting Alec.
"She didn't make it," Gordon stated. He didn't sound sorry about it either.
He shook his head, "Well, you're a son of a bitch."
Gordon glared as he walked over to him and slapped him hard across the face. "That's my momma you're talking about." He just glared back. "Anyway. This demon tells me there are soldiers to fight in this coming war. Humans, fighting on hell's side. You believe that? I mean, they're psychics, so they're not exactly pure humans, but still. What kind of worthless scumbag have you got to be to turn against your own race?" He didn't believe it. Dad had told him he would have to kill Sam if he couldn't save him, but he didn't believe it. Sammy wouldn't turn evil. "But you know the biggest kick in the ass? This demon said I knew one of them. Our very own Sammy Winchester."
It grated against his nerves to hear this guy use Sammy's nickname he had for him. But he chuckled, "Oh, this is…this is a whole new level of moronic, even for you."
"Yeah? Come on, Dean. I know. About Sam's visions. I know everything," Gordon said.
"Really? Because a demon told you?" he asked sarcastically. "Yeah, and it wasn't lying."
"Hey, Dean. I'm not some reckless yahoo, ok? I did my homework. Made damn sure it was true," Gordon said. "Look, you've got your Roadhouse connections, I got mine. It's how I found Sammy and Alec in the first place." Gordon walked back over to a chair and sat down. "About a month ago I found another one of these freaks here in town. He could deep-fry a person just by touching them."
"Yeah, did he kill anyone?" he challenged.
"Well, besides Mr. Tinkles the cat? No," Gordon said. "But he was working up to it. They're all gonna be killers, Dean. We've got to take them all out. And that means Sammy too." Gordon cocked his rifle and watched the door.
"You think Sam's stupid enough to walk through that front door?" he asked.
"No, I don't. Especially since I'm sure you found a way to warn him," Gordon said. "You really think I'm that stupid?" He smirked and shrugged as much as he could because yes, he did think Gordon was that stupid. "No. Sammy's going to scope the place first, see me covering the front door. So, he's going to take the back. And when he does, he'll hit the tripwire. Then…" Gordon leaned forward to grab a grenade from his bag. "Boom."
"Sam's not gonna fall for a freakin' tripwire," he said.
"Maybe you're right," Gordon said. "That's why I'll have a second one." His heart sank. Sam would be expecting a trap, but he wouldn't be expecting two trip wires. "Hey, look. I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to do this, I really do. But for what it's worth, it'll be quick."
"Yeah, and I'm supposed to believe that after you've tortured Alec the last couple hours," he muttered. Alec came around again, but he really didn't want Gordon to notice and start in on his questions again. "Come on, man. I know Sam, ok? Better than anyone. He's got more of a conscience than I do. I mean, the guy feels guilty surfing the Internet for porn."
"Maybe you're right. But one day he's going to be a monster," Gordon said.
"How? Huh? How's a guy like Sam become a monster?" he asked.
"Beats me, but he will," Gordon stated.
"No, you don't know that!"
"I'm surprised at you, Dean. Getting all emotional. I'd heard you were more of a professional than this," Gordon said. "Look, let's say you were cruising around in that car of yours and, uh, you had a little Hitler riding shotgun, right? Back when he was just some goofy, crappy artist. But you knew what he was going to turn into someday. You'd take him out, no questions, am I right?"
"That's not Sam," he said.
"Yes, it is. You just can't see it yet. Dean, it's his destiny. Look, I'm sympathetic. He's your brother, you love the guy. This has got to hurt like hell for you," Gordon said. "Losing both brothers at the same time…It's rough." Gordon got something out of his back pocket, and then forced the fabric into his mouth and tied it at the back of his head, gagging him. "But here's the thing. It would wreck him, but your Dad? If it really came right down to it, he would have had the stones to do the right thing here. But you're telling me you're not the man he is?"
"John wouldn't have killed Sam," Alec said, his voice rough. Gordon looked over at Alec, and he quickly shook his head to try to get his brother to just sit there and pretend to be unconscious. "You didn't even know John. He had his faults, but he loved Sam and Dean."
Alec groaned as Gordon walked over and hit him. "I had planned on torturing you until you told me all about what you are and everything about the others like you, but it looks like my plans are changing," Gordon said.
He yelled into his gag as Gordon dragged Alec's chair out of the room. His little brother's cut-off cry of pain made his heart stop. He didn't know what Gordon was doing, but he knew his little brother wouldn't survive for long. He had to get to him. He had to help him.
Gordon walked back a few seconds later, and he could still hear something from the other room, so he had to hope Alec was still alive. Gordon made himself comfortable, holding his rifle. He desperately needed to know if Alec was alive.
His heart pounded when he heard something in the opposite room from where Gordon had taken Alec. He tried to look around to see what was going on, but he couldn't move.
"Ya hear him?" Gordon whispered. He heard the door open, and then soft footsteps. Sam was going through the back, just like Gordon said he would. "Here he comes." He flinched when an explosion shook the cabin. He screamed into the gag, trying to yell at Gordon and call him every name in the book, but Gordon just ignored him. "Hold on. Not yet. Just wait and see." He shook and tried not to sob as the second grenade went off. Both of his brothers could be dead right now, and here he was just sitting here as it happened. "Sorry, Dean," Gordon said as he started into the back room.
He kept trying to get out of the ropes, but Gordon knew how to tie a knot. It was smoky in the cabin now from the two explosions and he felt like he needed to cough but he couldn't. And his eyes were watering, and he tried to blame it all on the smoke, but his brothers might both be dead.
"Put it down, now!" Sam yelled.
Sam was alive! He struggled more to try to help his brother.
"You wouldn't shoot me, would you, Sammy?" Gordon said. "Because your brother, he thinks you're some kind of saint."
"Yeah? Well, I wouldn't be so sure," Sam said. He didn't care if Sam killed Gordon. In fact, as soon as he was out of these ropes, he was going to kill Gordon if Sam didn't.
"See, that's what I said," Gordon said. He heard a struggle in the other room, and someone hit the ground hard. It was killing him to just sit here and listen to this. He couldn't help his brother from here, but he couldn't get out either. "You're no better than the filthy things you hunt." He heard another struggle, and then silence. "Do it. Do it!" Gordon yelled. "Show your brother the killer you really are, Sammy."
"It's Sam."
He didn't know what happened after that, but then finally, Sam was shuffling into the main room. He was beat up, but he was alive. Sam slowly walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder as he knelt down to untie him. He wanted to tell Sam to go find Alec, but he couldn't' say anything until Sam got the gag out of his mouth.
Sam untied one hand, so he quickly pulled the gag out of his mouth. He untied his other hand, deciding that he didn't want to send Sam to find Alec. If their little brother was dead, then he needed to be the one to find him.
"Dean…where's Alec?" Sam hesitantly asked as he worked on the rope around his ankle.
He didn't say anything, and instead ran to the room Gordon had taken Alec to as soon as he was free. Sam followed behind him, just slower.
Alec was unconscious but his body was twitching from the steady current of electricity going through him. He took a second to make sure Gordon hadn't put in another trap since he could potentially blow them all up if he just rushed over to his little brother, but thankfully, he didn't see anything.
He carefully avoided the puddle of water that Alec's feet were in and took the jumper cables away. He cut Alec free and caught him as he slumped forward. He closed his eyes in relief when he felt Alec's soft breathing against his neck.
He sat Alec back and looked him over, but he was bruised and bloody. His body was still twitching, and his breathing was labored. He looked up at Sam and clenched his jaw when he saw the bruising on Sam's face. Gordon had tried to kill his brothers.
"That son of a bitch," he growled. He started to get up, ready and willing to march into the back room and kill Gordon for doing this.
"Dean, no," Sam said.
"I let him live once. I'm not making the same mistake twice," he said.
"Trust me. Gordon's taken care of," Sam said. "C'mon, we gotta go."
He and Sam pulled Alec up, who started to come around from the movement. He stumbled along with them, and Sam wasn't walking much better. He felt a little woozy from his concussion, but it could've been way worse.
They went down the steps, but he looked back when he heard the front door open again. His eyes widened when he saw Gordon walk out with a gun in each hand, already aiming to fire at them.
He and Sam took off running, dragging Alec with them as Gordon started to shoot at them. They made it to a ditch and took cover. "You call this taken care of?" he yelled at Sam. "What the hell are we doing?"
"Just trust me on this, alright?" Sam said.
He was just about to get his gun out when three cop cars came speeding up. Cops jumped out and pointed their guns at Gordon. "Drop your weapons! Get down on your knees!"
"Do it now!"
He smiled over at Sam as Gordon dropped his gun and got down on his knees with his hands in the air.
"Put your hands on your head!" The cops cuffed Gordon and put him in the back of one of the cars, while another cop went to search Gordon's vehicle. It was still all dented from when Alec went to town on it, but it looked like he'd replaced a lot of the weapons Alec had either stolen or gotten rid of.
"Anonymous tip," Sam said.
"You're a fine upstanding citizen, Sam," he said with a smile. Gordon wasn't dead, but he wouldn't be bothering them again. And Sam hadn't killed him. There was no way his little brother was going to go darkside. "C'mon, let's get out of here. Get you and Alec patched up."
"You too," Sam pointed out.
He rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement. At least his brothers were ok.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He parked the car and got out to get some ice. He'd done a quick patch job for his brothers, but Alec needed some ice, and honestly, he and Sam could use some too. And he wanted to call Ellen and get to the bottom of how Gordon knew about Sam and Alec.
"Hey, sit back here with Alec for a few, try to keep him awake," he said to Sam once he was back at the car with a couple bags of ice from the diner. "Keep the ice on his head if he'll let you. Got one for you too."
"What are you gonna do?" Sam asked.
"I'm gonna make a call," he said.
He waited until Sam was in the backseat with Alec, and helped his brothers get situated. Alec was out of it, but he'd bounce back fast. "I've got him," Sam said when he didn't move. Sam put the makeshift ice pack on Alec's head, who grumbled a little, and even tried to move Sam's hand away, which was a good sign.
He called Ellen and pretty much chewed her out for Gordon finding Sam. Realistically, he knew it wasn't Ellen's fault, but he needed to vent.
"Gordon Walker was hunting Sam?" Ellen cut in when he took a breath.
"Yeah, he almost killed the three of us because somebody over there can't keep their freakin' mouth shut," he growled.
"And you honestly think that it was me? Or Ash? Or Jo? No way," Ellen snapped.
He knew it was true. Ellen cared about Alec like he was her own, and he knew they could go to her anytime they needed to. But he couldn't let it go. "Well, who else knows about Sam and Alec, huh?" he asked. He didn't know how much Ellen knew about Alec, but Alec opened up to people he liked. He was guessing his little brother had told her at least some of what was going on while he'd stayed with them. "I mean, you must have been talking to somebody."
"Hey, you can say a lot of things about us. But we are not disloyal. And we're not stupid. We haven't breathed a word of this," Ellen said. "I know what would happen if word got out about Alec, and I don't want to see anything hurting that boy."
"Gordon said he had Roadhouse connections, Ellen," he said, losing his anger. He was just tired now. Tired and worried. Gordon might not be the only one after his little brothers.
"And this roadhouse is full of other hunters. They're all smart. They're good trackers. Each of them with their own patterns and connections," Ellen reasoned. "Look, hell, I could name 12 of them right now that are capable of putting this together." She took a deep breath and sighed, "I am sorry about what happened, Dean. But I can't control these people. Or what they choose to believe."
"I know," he said, finally relenting. "But that just means Gordon might not be the only one after them."
"You need any help, Dean, you let me know," Ellen said.
"Thanks Ellen," he said. He felt bad for yelling at her, but he was freaked out, and he had a hard time dealing with his brothers being in danger.
He walked back to the car and spent a few minutes making sure Alec was comfortable. Sam moved back to the front seat and got his phone out, calling that chick he was with. Alec's eyes fluttered open for a second before he was out again. He decided they should get back on the road since he figured they should put some miles between them and Gordon.
"Hey, Ava, it's Sam. Again," Sam said. "Um, call me when you get this, just want to make sure you got home ok. Alright. Bye."
"Everything alright?" he asked, pulling back onto the highway.
"Yeah, I hope so," Sam muttered.
"Well, Gordon should be reaching for the soap for the next few years at least," he said. He still thought killing him would have been the better option, but he was glad Sam hadn't done it.
"Yeah. If they pin Scott Carey's murder on him. And if he doesn't bust out," Sam said.
He was quiet for a minute, but then said, "Dude, you ever take off like that again…"
"What? You'll kill me?" Sam teased.
"That is so not funny," he grumbled.
Sam laughed, "Alright, alright. So, where to next then?"
"One word: Amsterdam," he said.
"Dean!"
"Come on, man. I hear the coffeeshops don't even serve coffee," he said.
"I'm not just gonna ditch the job," Sam said.
"Screw the job," he said. Sam looked over at him in surprise. "Screw it, man, I'm sick of the job anyway. I mean, we don't get paid, we don't get thanked. The only thing we get's bad luck."
"Well, come on, dude, you're a hunter. I mean, it's what you were meant to do," Sam said.
"Ah, I wasn't meant to do anything," he muttered. "I don't believe in that destiny crap."
"You mean you don't believe in my destiny," Sam corrected.
"Yeah, whatever."
"Look, Dean, I've tried running before," Sam said. "I mean, I ran all the way to California and look what happened. You can't run from this. And you can't protect me."
He looked over at his brother, "I can try."
"Thanks for that," Sam said softly. He nodded but didn't say anything else. "Look, Dean, I'm gonna keep hunting. I mean, whatever is coming, I'm taking it head-on, so if you really want to watch my back, then I guess you're gonna have to stick around."
"Bitch," he said, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Jerk," Sam said.
He couldn't stop his smile. He had his brothers, and he wasn't ever planning on losing them. Sam frowned after a moment and picked his phone up again. "You callin' that Ava girl again? You sweet on her or something?" he asked.
"She's engaged, Dean," Sam said.
"So? What's the point in saving the world if you can't get a little nookie once in a while, huh?" he said. Sam hung up and scowled. "What?"
"Just a feeling. How far is it to Peoria?"
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Dean woke Alec up once they were at Ava's house. They weren't going to let their little brother come in with them, but Dean wanted him awake just in case something was going on. And he didn't want Alec to wake up and find them both missing. Alec was a little more aware than he had been the last time they woke him up, but he still looked like he might be sick when he sat up slightly.
He and Dean broke into Ava's house since no one had answered when he had knocked. Something had happened. She should've been home by now.
"Hello? Is anybody home?" he called out. The searched the house until they walked into the bedroom. There was a man in the bed, obviously dead. His throat was slit and there was blood everywhere. "Oh my God," he breathed.
Dean ran his finger across the windowsill, "Hey." Dean held up his finger, "Sulfur. Demon's been here."
He started to walk over but stopped when he saw something on the floor. He knelt down and picked up Ava's engagement ring. She was supposed to be married in eight weeks. Now, she was missing, and her fiancé was dead.