"I'll get us rooms at the nearest motel," John said through the phone, just one car ahead of Dean as they entered Dubuque. "You and your mother see if you can find anything out, I'll catch up with you once I've got the rooms."
"Alright," Dean nodded to himself, pulling into the right lane, "we'll park somewhere and walk along the river. I want to see if we can find the spot where Sam was at, look around for clues about where they could have gone or who the lady is."
"Sounds good." The call ended with a click, John's usual goodbye. Dean had gotten used to it in the months they'd been traveling together, but it was definitely an adjustment.
Tossing his phone on the dash, Dean glanced out the car's window as he drove over the Julien Dubuque Bridge, spotting a boat speed through the dark water of the Mississippi River. The city of Dubuque on the other side of the bridge looked nice, like the type of place that Sam would enjoy. Dean was sure that if he had been in the car with him, Sam would have spouted off some facts about the history of the town and the bridge and even some lore of the Mississippi River. There were signs for museums and historic places for the last thirty miles, things that Sam would have loved. Dean hoped that even while he was on the run, Sam got to visit some sights.
He followed his dad's Impala down an exit from the highway before turning off on a small street that would (hopefully) lead to a parking lot they could pull into. Their arrival in Dubuque was a few hours later than expected thanks to traffic on the interstate, so all the respectable businesses were closed, and it was doubtful that Sam would hang around a bar on his own… The woman he saved might, and even the man/creature that seemed to still be helping Sam, but without a description of either, they couldn't hit up any bars. So they would wander around to look for any demons or other monsters that could prove useful for information.
If Ethan's informant was still in the area as well, they could give Dean and his parents a first-hand account of what happened. Dean cursed himself for not thinking to get more information about that… But his dad seemed to know Ethan well enough to be warned of the hunter hitlist, so maybe he knew how to get in contact with Ethan's informants as well.
A part of Dean shuddered at the meaning of that, of the idea that monsters were out there right now, that knew hunters and yet were being allowed to live. Did Ethan let them get away with hurting people? Or were the monsters going against their instincts to be good?
This whole case had Dean questioning his worldview. If all monsters were evil, then why was the one helping Sam… helping Sam? Did it have ulterior motives or was it teaching Sam to control his powers just out of the goodness of its inhuman heart?
Or…
Was it human? Could the person Sam was with be a human that had powers like Sam? The informant saw Sam pull a demon out of someone; if Sam was that powerful after just a few months of training, then how much more powerful could someone with training be? Enough to turn demons to ash? Enough to hurt a high-level demon like Yellow-Eyes and send him packing back to the fiery pit? He had sounded normal in the background of Sam's call, and the informant just called him a man, a strange one but still a man. Wouldn't one monster be able to recognize another?
Thoughts spinning, Dean pulled into a parking lot not too far from the river. There were a few people still out, mostly elderly couples or families of four with small children, leisurely walking along the riverwalk. Dean couldn't help but smile at them. Once they got Sam back, they would all need to take a vacation and do something as a family of four as well. Maybe to the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone, somewhere scenic and quiet so that they could all learn to just be a family again.
Walking towards the riverwalk, Dean glanced at his mom as she walked beside him. She had been unusually quiet for most of the trip, lost in her thoughts with no signs of resurfacing. If he had to guess, he'd say she was worried about the hunter hit put on Sam. She knew just how dangerous it would be for Sam if the whole community was after him… And how hard it would be for him once he was back with them again.
"There's still a few people here," Mary commented, breaking the silence and startling Dean. "I don't know think we'll be able to get off the path to look for clues with them all here."
Dean chuckled, shrugging a shoulder. "That's easy. We'll play tourist, don't have to listen to the 'stay on the walkway' signs that way."
She looked at him, giving a faint smile and nod. "Everyone hates tourists."
The two of them walked down the river towards the Julien Bridge, looking for any spots along the water where Sam might have performed an exorcism. The boardwalk's shoreline was dotted with large rocks, too unstable to walk along much less threaten demons on; but as they neared the bridge, they could see the ground evening out into grass and sand. A bay separated the bridge from the boardwalk, and under the cover of night, it would most likely offer a good hiding place unless someone was actively searching for them.
Dean turned to Mary, about to voice his thoughts, when two men behind them caught his attention. They were facing out towards the river, but it was obvious that their eyes were watching them. Furthermore, the men were in worn-down jeans and two layers of flannel shirts.
Hunters.
Ethan's words echoed in Dean's mind about the hunter hit placed on Sam and how hunters were going to be looking for them, hoping they led the way to Sam. They really thought that they could get away with following Dean and his family around so they could hurt his brother… Dean almost wanted to laugh at the stupidity of it all – would have if he wasn't so angry.
Dean's fists clenched at his side, his jaw locking as he turned towards the hunters.
"Dean?" His mom asked, noticing the change in him. But he ignored her as he started walking back down the boardwalk, his hand twitching towards the gun hidden under his jacket. The two men straightened up, noticing they were spotted, and turned to face him as well. Dean could see their hands moving, no doubt towards where they had their weapons hidden. It made his anger rise higher… These men wanted to hurt his brother and brought weapons to do just that. After everything that Dean went through to be with Sam again – the years of no contact, of constant worrying, of gaining Sam's trust at the Roadhouse, of dealing with Yellow Eye's attack, the new worry of what Hell wanted with Sam, and every little thing after that – these men wanted to permanently take him away.
Dean saw red.
His shoulders rolled back as he marched right up to the men, not giving them a moment to even speak before his fist went flying into the face of the closest one in a dirty trucker cap.
Faintly he could hear his mother yelling at him, but it was drowned out by the shout the second man in a faded green flannel gave as he started to react, but Dean turned on his heel and laid into him as well. He fell hard on his back, blood already pooling out of his broken nose. Strong arms wrapped around Dean from behind, locking his arms to his sides; but Dean knew better than to struggle fruitlessly and instead slammed his head back as far as he could into the face of the first man. The arms loosened enough for Dean to break free, turning around and planting a good kick onto the man's stomach to launch him down to the ground.
The cap flew off his head, revealing a balding spot that Dean definitely would have teased him over had this been a normal fight. Instead, Dean reached down and grabbed the second man by his flannel collar and yanked him up to his face.
"You think you can just follow us around like this? Huh? That you can use us to find Sam? Over my dead body! I won't let you assholes lay a single finger on him!"
"Dean," Mary called, her voice strained. Dean ignored her.
"Nobody is going to threaten my brother and get away with it! When we get him back, if I ever see you around him, I'll kill you with my own hands!"
"Dean…"
"Do I make myself clear? Or am I going to have to beat it into your thick skulls some more?"
"Dean!"
"What?" Dean's head snapped up to look at his mother, then froze when he spotted the unfamiliar man in a fancy suit with his arm over her shoulder. "Who the hell are you?"
The man gave an easygoing smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You could call me an interested party. As I'm sure you figured out, we have some questions for you about your brother and I'd appreciate it if you would stop hitting my monkeys."
Dean looked over the way the man hung off his mom, one arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders while the other was behind her back; the uncomfortable look on her face as she glared at him from the corner of her eyes; the grit of her teeth as she tried to move her torso away from him… He had some kind of weapon held against her, Dean realized with a sudden chill down his spine.
Sending a glare of his own, he let go of the man in the green flannel and stood back to his full height. Around them, a few people were watching with worried looks and Dean knew that it wouldn't be long before police arrived.
"Very good, Deano," The man praised, smiling wider. "Now, nice and quietly, you're going to come with us to our van that's right over this hill." He nodded his head toward a nearby bar that sat on top of a hill. "If you make any sudden moves, mommy dearest won't have a good time."
Dean gave a reluctant nod, keeping his glare leveled at the man who seemed to be in charge. He left his hands by his side, slowly walking ahead of where the man directed. He risked a glance around the crowd, hoping to see a familiar face. His dad should have finished getting their rooms by now, if John could see them getting taken, he would be able to come up with some plan to get them out of this mess.
But there was no one there.
Whenever John finally arrived, he wouldn't know what happened. All that would give him a hint was the police who were no doubt on their way. He wouldn't know where they were taken, he wouldn't know who took them, he wouldn't even know where to begin looking. Dean drew in a breath as he realized that, while his dad might have been one of the best trackers, there was no way he would be able to help them.
The man in the green flannel hurried ahead to a nondescript white van, unlocking the back door, and motioning them inside with a jerk of his head. Dean's shoulder was shoved towards the van, to which he turned around to glare at the one in the cap. The man with his arm still around his mom caught his eye though, and a small smile was on his face. Dean, reluctantly, settled down and climbed into the van.
The cap guy got in next, closely followed by his mom and the leader of the group, while the one in the green went around to drive. Out of the public eye, the supposed leader laid the large triple-edged dagger against his leg for them to see. It looked foreign with the silver handle that was the same color as the blade.
The man saw Dean looking at the knife, smiling warmly but in a way that didn't reach his eyes. He lifted the blade, turning it around for Dean to see. "Beautiful, isn't it? It's a special blade, designed just for me. My siblings all have one as well, but this one was crafted by our father with me specifically in mind."
Dean nodded slowly, rolling his eyes as he looked away. "Mm… Cool knife, man, but I didn't ask."
"Oh?" To Dean's dismay, the man didn't seem put off in the slightest. "I feel like you should be more interested in this knife though. After all, it's what I'm going to use to carve out your brother's heart.
Dean sucked in a sharp breath, his mother gasping beside him. "You leave my brother alone…!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Sam has betrayed humanity with his actions, he's a devil's spawn now. And demon hunting is my specialty." He shrugged as if they were disagreeing about who was the best character in a dumb movie. "I'm sorry it has to be like this, Dean, I really am. But I've dealt with other kids like him before. Kids tainted by Hell… They all end up turning. It doesn't matter what their family life is like, how much they're loved, crap like that… They all turn in the end."
"Not Sam-"
"Yes, Sam!" He snapped, dagger clenched in his fist, and held out to them. "That abomination is the worst of them all! He is the king of Hell's favorite, that doesn't speak a lot in his defense! And if he was truly innocent, then where is he now? Where is he to prove his innocence? He's out there, with them! Being taught how to use those demon powers of his so that he can help the demons take over your world!"
"That's a lie!"
"And you're too blinded by your emotions to see it! Sam Winchester is a force to be feared, a monster to be put down like the rest!"
Dean started to move forward, but the man in the cap pulled out a gun and aimed it at his mother. Dean's teeth grit together, rage reaching an all new high in him. The moment he got the chance, he was going to show them that they were worried about the wrong Winchester brother.
"You seem to know a lot about these things," Mary started, placing a hand on Dean's arm to try to calm him. "Who's your source? We've only learned about this from Sam, your so-called 'demon spawn,' so you must have a better informant than us."
The man grinned, but it wasn't with the fake warmth like the others. No, it was evil, reaching his eyes with pure malice in them. It sent chills down Dean's spine in a way that he hadn't felt since he faced the monster on his first-ever hunt.
"You'll see. Our informant actually isn't that much different than yours."
They rode in silence after that, the air uncomfortable and thick between them. From what Dean was able to tell, they had gone back over the Julien Bridge and quite far out of town before the van started to slow. He saw Dirty Cap Guy shifting restlessly in his seat, staring at the van door as if he couldn't wait to get out. Not a minute after that the van slowed to a stop and the man jumped up to open the door.
Green Flannel Guy was also waiting outside when Dean climbed out, a bag of zip ties in his hand. He motioned for Dean to turn around, pulling one of the ties out of the bag. And while Dean kept a level glare at them, he turned and held his hands behind his back. The force that the zip tie was closed around his wrists told him that their little scuffle was not forgotten nor forgiven just yet… Dean smirked to himself at the thought as he was led inside an old warehouse.
It was musty inside, grass growing through cracks in the floor and ivy climbing the walls. Some of the windows were broken and let sunbeams in to highlight the dust particles floating through the air. Old crates and machines were stacked in haphazard piles at random spots, looking like they would fall at any time and cause someone serious harm…
Against the far wall were a few chairs facing what looked like a very poor conspirator's map. Newspaper clippings, blurry photos, and book pages were pinned to the wall, all accompanied by little notes in messy handwriting. Getting closer, it didn't take Dean long to realize that it was a hunter's map of everywhere Sam had been. There was a picture of the Roadhouse with very poor-quality pictures of Ellen and Jo, most likely from someone hiding and taking pictures without them knowing. The note attached to their section was titled "Possible Allys." There was another picture of Pastor Jim's church with him standing outside of it, and another of Uncle Bobby's Junkyard sign.
There was another part of the wall titled "Victims" that had police reports and local maps and pictures of people that Dean had never seen before. He leaned in closer, trying to get a look at what one of the reports said, but Green Flannel Guy grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back towards one of the industrial chairs.
"Don't even think of messing with that…!" He growled, brown eyes narrowed at Dean in a way that he assumed was supposed to be threatening.
"Now, now, Hartley," The leader said calmingly, walking to stand next to the wall as Mary was pushed to sit in a chair. "Dean is just finding out about most of this stuff, I'm sure. It's fine to let him look." He turned back to the wall, pointing to one of the police reports. "Like this one here; a woman with an internally ruptured carotid artery, no signs of outward abuse. Her neighbors heard a disturbance in her apartment and called the police, but it was too late by the time they got there. However, the security cameras around the apartment complex caught videos of a teenage boy and an adult man breaking into her apartment just before she got home, and then both of them fleeing the scene covered in blood. The M.E. can't explain why the artery ruptured, just said it was very strange and unnatural…"
Dean stared with wide eyes at the clippings the man was referring to, stared at the grainy security picture of who was definitely Sam leaving the building with blood splattered over his clothing. Sam wouldn't… There had to be a reason, Sam wouldn't kill someone without a reason.
"Poor girl, too…" The man continued, "She was going to be married to her childhood sweetheart in a few weeks, before this senseless murder. Her fiancé is offering a ten-thousand-dollar reward for anyone who has any information about her death."
"Sam wouldn't do that… It must have been, been a demon or… something. Sam doesn't hurt people."
"He would if he's being influenced by an outside source. How much do you know about the man that he's traveling with?"
"He saved Sam," Mary said, her voice confidant in a way that Dean wished he could feel. "He's protecting Sam and keeping him safe from the demons that want to use him."
The hunters behind them laughed as if she had just told the funniest joke they'd ever heard. Both he and his mom shot a glare at them but didn't rise to the bait they were obviously laying.
"A mother's love… so trusting, so understanding." The leader smiled fondly at her, as if he could relate to what he said. "Is he really protecting Sam though? I mean, how many creatures do you know that can actually kill demons? Who ever heard of demons turning into piles of ashes?"
Dean swallowed thickly, struggling to shove down his doubts. It wasn't the first time he had questioned the ash piles they had found in the school… Sam had told them that there were more powerful beings than demons that he angered, but he never told them what they were. Could this man traveling with Sam just be a demon in disguise? Could he be leading Sam astray, teaching Sam demon magic instead of how to use his psychic abilities?
Or-
No…
No.
Dean refused to believe that Sam's powers were evil. They were not demonic – he was not demonic. After everything that Sam went through, everything he fought against, there was no way he could be one of them. Sam was just a normal, ordinary psychic. There was no demonic influence to his powers at all. Dean had nearly bitten Pastor Jim's head off for even implying there was more to Sam's powers, all those months ago. Dean was not going to fall into the same trap.
But when he looked at his mother, she didn't seem as resolute as him. She was trying to hide it, but her skin was a shade paler, and her eyes looked unfocused – as if she was remembering something from long ago. It unnerved him… She had been almost just as adamant as him when it came to Sam. Something about what this man said shook her enough to question Sam's abilities, more than Dean's little lapse of judgment.
"Oh…!" The man suddenly straightened, eyes widening as he looked at Dean and Mary, drawing their attention back to him. "I don't think we introduced ourselves earlier, preoccupied as we were. I'm Nathaniel, and these are my underlings, Hartley," He gestured to the man in the green flannel, then to the one with the trucker cap. "And George."
"We really don't care what your names are, Nate."
"And then there's one more…" Nathaniel continued as if he hadn't heard Dean, looking around the building. "Hartley, would you go find little Ava? I think I left her in the storage room before we left."
That sent an alarm through Dean. Why would they leave a girl in a storage room? Was she kidnapped too? If so, then what was her connection to them? Why would Nathaniel want to introduce them? Could it have been the girl that Sam saved by the river? Dean sat up straighter in his chair, straining his neck to watch where Hartley went, but it didn't take long before he was out of Dean's eyesight.
"Who's Ava?" Mary asked, her resolve building back up again as she locked eyes with Nathaniel. "Is she your informant?"
Dean's eyes flickered to his mother for a moment, then to Nathaniel. He had forgotten about their informant… The one who was telling them all about Sam and the other special children. He wondered who she was to have all the same information that Sam did. Could she be like Ethan's informant? Some kind of monster they had under control?
Nathaniel only smirked as he looked across the room behind them as two sets of footsteps made their way over. Dean looked over again as Hartley pushed someone in front of them, causing her to trip and land hard against the floor. A sharp cry of pain came from the small body of a girl with a bag over her head, her whole form trembling against the floor. Hartley reached down and yanked the bag off, showing the wet and puffy face of a girl that couldn't be more than fifteen… She looked around her with wide and scared eyes, stopping at Dean as her breathing increased rapidly.
"She's…" Mary started, "She's a child."
"She's a demon spawn."
Dean stared back at her, horror settling in him as he started to understand what she was… She was like Sam, one of the special kids who had been captured by these psychos. She probably had visions like Sam as well that gave these men all the information they needed. And by the fear on her face, she was there against her will.
If Sam hadn't been saved by whatever it was, and if the Demon hadn't been gunning for him so adamantly, could this have been his fate? Could Sam have been kidnapped and forced to use his powers against his will?
"She's human!" Mary yelled, her mother bear instincts building in her in a way that Dean knew personally would be deadly to these men. "This is a human child!"
"She's been tainted by Hell, just like Sam. She's no longer human, but she's making up for her betrayal by helping us catch other little monsters. Thanks to her visions, we've killed two so far."
Dean was going to throw up… What these men were doing… They were worse than any monster Dean had faced before. Monsters had a reason they killed; they had a reason that they hurt people – sure, some of them had bloodthirsty natures that enjoyed killing, but they always started out with no choice but to kill. But these men were killing human children. Children that didn't ask to be 'tainted' or whatever! And if they were like the kids that Sam saw, then the Demon must not have taken them yet. He wouldn't have trained them to be evil like he did to the others. Yellow Eyes kept the children he trained somewhere protected; Sam had said before they left Pastor Jim's, adamant that no human would be able to get to them there. If these men were able to get to those kids, that meant that they hadn't been visited by the Demon and taken to that protected place. They were innocent.
This girl, staring at them with wide and fearful eyes, was innocent. She probably had a home she was taken from, a loving family that was panicking without her. Did she even know what was happening? What her powers were? Sam had the benefit of knowing about the supernatural when his powers came in and it still scared him. This girl probably had no idea what was happening to her… Not to mention how long she had been with the kidnappers. Did they grab her just when her powers were starting to show, or was she still scared of her powers when they found her? The things they must have told her as well…
Looking at her, Dean could see Sam in her eyes; fourteen-year-old Sam at the Roadhouse when he had a vision in front of them, the fear in his eyes at the thought of someone finding out what he could do… Dean couldn't understand Sam's fear before. Who in their right mind would want to hurt Dean's little brother? But now he understood. Now he saw the reality of Hunters. They weren't all like Dean's family.
Slowly, Dean looked up at the three men. He searched their eyes for any kind of remorse for what they did. They were still arguing with his mom about their actions, but Dean couldn't hear them. They weren't sorry. They thought they were in the right.
Dean's hands clenched behind his back, straining against the zip ties, testing the strength of the plastic. With a wicked smirk, he jerked his wrists apart and snapped the cheap plastic at the same time that he lunged forward and tackled Hartley to the ground.
There was yelling, cursing, and shuffling from the people around them. Dean tried to ignore the others though, he had one shot at this and it all came down to Hartley's gun strapped to his belt. The time was ticking down before one of the other men pulled out their own guns to shoot either him or his mom, and the elbow to the face did not help Dean's speed.
Hartley's mistake though, was rolling over to try to pin Dean beneath him. A few months ago, that move probably would have worked; Dean was pretty inexperienced with human combat. Mary had taught him what she knew, but Dean had always been worried of hurting his mother and held back. But since he had begun traveling with his dad, he now had someone he could go all out against. And getting out of a body pin had been one of the first things that John had taught him.
Dean locked his legs around Hartley's ankle, spinning his body around under the larger man, and flipping them over. Dean pressed his forearm against Hartley's neck and grabbed the gun with his free hand. The click of the safety signaled the end of the fight and caused silence to fall over the room.
"If you don't want Harvey's brain painted on the concrete," Dean said lowly, not looking away from Hartley. "I suggest you all back off. Now."
From the corner of his eye, he could see as Nathaniel and George took two steps backward, their hands up in caution.
Beneath him, Hartley grunted at the pressure to his throat. "It's… It's 'Hartley'."
Dean's head tilted slightly, a smirk playing on his face. "Really, Harvey? Is that what you want your last words to be?"
Slowly, silently, Hartley shook his head, struggling to swallow thickly with Dean's arm still pressed against his throat. "N-No…"
"Good man. Now shut up and listen closely. I'm going to let you get up, nice and slow, and you're going to join your friends over there. And I want every one of you to remember that I've been kidnapped and am very shaken about it. So my finger might be gripping this trigger a little tighter than normal. Any sudden moves might startle me into squeezing it more. You understand?"
Hartley nodded as Dean lifted his arm off of his throat, letting him get up while keeping the gun trained on him. He watched as the three bastards stood together, Hartley and George seemingly very concerned about their wellbeing. Nathaniel didn't seem worried though. There was something off about him that didn't sit right with Dean, and not just the fact that he was a child murderer. It was his whole demeanor that screamed 'wrong'. He was dangerous.
And Dean couldn't let him go when he was actively hunting Sam.
Just then, Nathaniel smiled in a way that made Dean's skin crawl. Something was wrong-
"Dean…!"
Dean turned to look at his mother, but was instead met with a steel chair slamming against his chest. He went flying with a grunt, the gun clattering to the ground and out of his reach. His head bounced against the concrete and the chair landed on top of him, forcing the air from his lungs and pinning him against the floor. For a solid two minutes, the world swam in blurring colors and sounds. Dean knew that he had to get up, he knew that he needed to hurry, but his body wasn't responding correctly. He just needed one moment to collect himself…
A figure appeared over him, then another, then two more. Dean wouldn't be able to fight them all off if they attacked, his head was still spinning too much for him to make any sudden moves. Not to mention how badly his chest hurt – he was almost positive that he had a cracked rib, which would make fighting the men off even harder.
And Ava. She had thrown the chair at him. Dean had assumed that just because she was crying, just because she was a psychic like Sam, that she was a good kid. Had he been wrong though? Was it all an act? Was she really helping these men kill kids like her without them forcing her to? Dean couldn't understand how someone could turn so easily against their own kind… But then he remembered what Sam told him about Max Miller and why he joined Yellow-Eyes; how he never had anyone praise him before, no one to offer him support, until the Demon showed up. That little moment of encouragement was all it took for Max to sign himself over to Hell. Could it be the same way for Ava? Could these men have offered her something she never had in exchange for her compliance?
If so, then why did they keep her with a bag over her head?
"Valante effort, Deano, but like I said," Nathaniel smirked down at him, "She's a demon spawn. You can't trust her." He turned away from Dean, waving his hand dismissively. "Get him up."
The chair was lifted off of him, giving Dean a moment to inhale before he was roughly grabbed by his arms and hauled upward. An unbidden groan left him as the movement jostled his ribs, a sharp pain lacing through his chest. He muttered a curse, glaring through pain-filled eyes at George.
"Unfortunately, there is a problem now…" Nathaniel sighed, his back facing Dean. "You've just proven how capable you are, Dean. I believe that if I were to tie you up again, even with those two cracked ribs and concussion, you'll find a way to get out of it again."
Dread started crawling up Dean's spine as he realized what Nathaniel was leading to. He let out a shuddering laugh, his chest aching sharply and causing him to lean more into George's hold. "Come on, even with Ava here, I'm still threatening to you? You flatter me, Nate."
"Ava will not always be around. I have bigger plans for her than to be your babysitter."
"Like forcing her to hunt down children so you can kill them?" Mary glared from her seat. Nathaniel sent her a relaxed smile.
"Even bigger than that. Too bad none of you will be able to witness what I have planned."
Dean's eyes flashed over to his mother, his worry reflecting in her eyes. They had to think of a way out, something that Ava wouldn't be able to interfere with, fast. They were on borrowed time since the moment they got into the white van, and Dean's stunt sped the timer up.
But what could they do? If Dean tried another attack, Ava could just throw another chair at him. His mother was still stuck in her chair, though he could tell that she was working on getting out. And even if Dean had it in him to attack again, Nathaniel's minions were holding him tightly in place. Maybe if Mary got free, she could grab the gun that slid close to her chair when it fell, and she could take out Nathaniel. Without him to call the shots, maybe Ava and the minions wouldn't know what to do and they could escape.
His heart tugged at the idea of leaving Ava behind with Hartley and George though… He couldn't get the image of her tear-stained face and fearful eyes when they first pulled the bag off of her head. If he could just talk with her… find out her side of the story, if she was really as evil as they said.
The click of a gun's safety being taken off brought Dean out of his head, noticing George aiming his gun at Dean's head.
"No hard feelings, Deano." Nathaniel smiled and shrugged as if he was disagreeing about what was the best season. "You're just too capable to be left alive. You could really screw things up for us. Your death would speed a few things up along the chain of events, but the big guys can get over themselves. Doesn't really matter when it happens so long as it does, right?"
Nathaniel nodded to George before Dean could even begin to understand what he said. Dean's eyes closed tightly, swallowing thickly as he braced for the pain.
A gunshot echoed in the warehouse.
Mary screamed.
Dean flinched.
Something hit the floor.
Slowly, carefully, his brain trying to process what happened and failing horribly, Dean opened his eyes. George lay on the ground, a hole in his head that was pouring blood onto the ground.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Hartley dive for his gun before another shot rang out and he was dead too.
Suddenly, violently, there was no air in Dean's lungs; his chest refusing to expand to allow air inside. Dean tried to gasp, but no sound came out as he dropped to his knees – causing a slew of panicked questions from his mom – and pawed at his chest in a futile attempt to get it to start working again.
"Come out," He heard Nathaniel call. "If you kill me, Dean dies as well."
Everything was quiet for a moment before footsteps were heard. Dean turned to look, catching the terrified look on Ava's face as she stared at him before his shoulders slacked as he saw the person walking to them.
John Winchester had his rifle trained on Nathaniel as he came closer, years of hard-earned distrust in his eyes.
"Let my boy go."
"Put down your gun."
As they reached an impasse, spots started to dance across Dean's vision. He felt as his body started to falter, threatening to send him face-planting into the ground. His mother called for him again, and Dean was barely able to keep his eyes focused enough to see as his dad lowered his gun.
"Happy? Let him go."
The force holding his chest still disappeared, allowing Dean to gasp in the much-needed air. He leaned forward, bracing his hands against the ground and just savored the ability to breathe again. He could hear his dad and Nathaniel talking but ignored them; Dean never appreciated how amazing breathing was until he wasn't able to do it…
It took him a minute, but when he was finally rested enough to process what was happening, Dean pushed himself back up. No one had moved or made any attempt to attack, but Nathaniel was smiling in a way that Dean felt wasn't normal… Like the man knew something they didn't.
"John Winchester, in the flesh. I've heard a lot about you. Some even call you a 'Righteous Man'."
"I don't care what they call me. I'm just here to get my family. So let them go."
If asked in the future, Dean would deny to his dying day the warmth that spread through his chest at hearing his dad call him family. How long had he waited to hear that as a kid…? How much anger had built within him at the idea that his dad didn't care for him? He could practically feel the remaining abandonment issues that weren't fixed during Sam's stay in the hospital the previous year were healed.
"I would," Nathaniel responded, taking Dean out of his head. "That was even the original plan. We were never going to kill them, we only wanted them to know what we did about Samuel. But…" That off-putting smile grew, dull green eyes looking to Dean. "Your son here annoys me, more than the abomination. I've decided that I don't want to let him go anymore."
Dean shoved his nerves down and held his chin up, giving a smirk of his own. "What? Are you upset I didn't like your fancy knife?"
Nathaniel shrugged, chuckling. "Well… yes. I'm very petty like that."
Once again, just as suddenly as before, Dean felt the weight on his chest that stopped his breathing. It was stronger this time, the pain that accompanied it was almost blinding. He dropped to his knees, grabbing at his chest, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he tried to stop the pressure on his lungs. It felt like there was a hand around each lung, gripping them as tight as possible. He could hear his mother yelling, demanding that he be let go, shouting threats that would definitely be carried out.
The pain built up and forced Dean to try to let out a cry of pain, try to find some way to help relieve what was happening to him, but it only came out as a whisper and let out the last of the air he had left.
Tears blurred his vision as his chest burned with the need for oxygen. He wouldn't last for much longer at the rate he was going; Dean could already feel his body starting to slow down. With his remaining strength, he lifted his spinning head to look at his dad. His dad would know how to stop this. His dad would find a way to fix this-
"Take me in his place."
Dean blinked through the tears, his eyebrows pushing forward as he tried to make sense of the words he heard through the sludge of his mind. He couldn't have heard that right, the lack of air was playing tricks on his mind. His dad was smart-
The pressure on Dean's lungs disappeared, air flowing into him rapidly and nearly having him collapse face-first onto the ground. Unlike before, Dean didn't take a moment to relax, he forced his mind to clear so that he could understand what was happening. Surely, he had misheard what John had said…
"You think Dean's annoying? Ask anyone and they'll tell you that he got it from me. If he insulted you, trust me when I say it's mild compared to anything I would come up with. So, if you want to kill someone for your own justice, then kill me. Just let them go. He's my son, I'll take responsibility for his actions."
Dean… had no words. What could he even say to that? In all the months they'd been traveling together since Sam's disappearance, while experiencing the rare softness that was kept hidden away, Dean had never witnessed his dad so… so… Whatever this was. If he didn't know better, Dean would even say that his dad seemed desperate. There was a pleading look in his eyes that had never been there before, and his voice was pitched just slightly higher.
Was he desperate?
Did John Winchester even get desperate?
But… No… This wasn't right. John was the smart one. He strategized, he planned every little thing, he saw every outcome and adjusted for each one, he was the perfect hunter…! John Winchester didn't make the sacrifice move! He never had to! Sam was the one who did the sacrificing because he was still learning, not John-
Everything seemed to click at that moment. Sam had to have learned the self-sacrifice from somewhere… He had spent almost his whole life living with their dad, whereas Dean only had a few months. It made sense if Dean had yet to see every side of his dad. Had there been times when a plan had gone off the rails and Sam was caught? Had John had to make a choice, his youngest son or a monster, then add in a third option of himself?
Maybe Sam's self-sacrificing came from their dad, after all… When given no other option, maybe the two of them did the only thing they could do.
"That's a very tempting offer…" Nathaniel started, eying John. "I know a few people who would be very happy with that idea."
John stuck his hand out, impatient as always. "Do we have a deal or not?"
Dean stiffened at the wording, looking back to Nathaniel. Could he have been a demon this whole time? It would explain the unnerving feeling to him, and why he was able to control Ava despite her fear. A young girl getting thrown into the world of the supernatural would be pretty compliant if her first monster was a demon that held her hostage. He glanced at her in her new hiding place behind his mom. She was watching Nathaniel with terror. Maybe one of her powers allowed her to see what his true form was? A part of him went back to Yellow-Eyes' first appearance at the Roadhouse, how he was able to stop Dean from breathing as well. But… It felt different somehow. Yellow-Eyes had made it feel as if there was no oxygen in the room for him, whereas Nathaniel forcibly stopped Dean's lungs from moving. Could he really be a demon?
But if he was a demon, then his dad was going to make a deal and be dragged down to Hell… His soul would be owned by monsters. Dean couldn't allow that, not for him. Not for anyone.
Dean opened his mouth to protest, but his dad caught his eye. He was still facing Nathaniel, hand still outstretched, but he was watching Dean from the corner of his eye. There was something in his expression that made Dean pause… He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it reminded him of the look in Sam's eyes when they were at the Roadhouse. The 'I have a plan, trust me' look right before he pulled the stupidest move. And here his dad was, looking at Dean with those same eyes, while offering his soul to a demon. This couldn't have been any more ridiculous if they tried…
But this was John Winchester. He was a master strategizer. If he had a plan then Dean would just have to trust him.
Slowly, subtly, Dean nodded. John turned his full attention back to Nathaniel and took another step to him. "I won't wait all day."
"John…" A soft voice whispered. Dean looked over to his mom, still stuck in her chair. Dean had to wonder if Nathaniel was doing something to make her stay there, where she would normally be free and kicking ass almost as soon as she was tied up. Her expression was pained, her eyes wet as she watched John get closer to Nathaniel. She looked like she wanted to argue, wanted to tell him not to do it. They had been getting a lot closer recently, almost acting like the married couple they still were sometimes. But Dean knew that she wouldn't stop John, not if the alternative was Dean. She had never put anyone in front of him before, and he knew that even though her love for John was growing, it wouldn't change anything.
Nathaniel's attention was drawn to Mary as well, a smile spreading across his face as he watched a tear roll down her cheek. "Hm… As tempting an offer as that is…" He looked back to John, "You didn't raise, Dean, did you? You got the Abomination, while Mommy-Dearest got Deano. So really… It would be her fault that he turned out such a rude person."
"No!" Dean shouted, pushing himself to stand back up.
"Don't even think about touching her…!" John growled out, going for another step closer but freezing as Nathaniel stretched a hand out towards Mary. The two men watched in horror as her eyes widened, her mouth opening as she tried to gasp for air.
"Mom!" Dean ran to her, dropping to his knees in front of her chair and holding her face. "It'll be okay, you'll be fine! You'll be fine…!" He looked at Ava behind Mary's chair, staring at his mom with wide eyes. "Help her, please…! You could help her!"
Nathaniel laughed, his voice indicating just how funny he thought of the situation. "Ava wouldn't dare bite the hand that keeps her alive. Nice try, but she's mine."
Dean turned his head to shoot a glare at him, but his eyes drifted past to see his dad standing behind Nathaniel with a bottle that was-
Was that a molotov?
"You should have taken my deal, Nate." His dad said, lifting the burning bottle above his head and letting it fly just as Nathaniel turned around. Dean could see as his body tensed the moment before impact, the bottle shattering against his shoulder and the flames almost immediately raging, hotter and brighter than a normal fire would.
Nathaniel screamed, his head tilting back and arms spreading at his sides, the fire growing brighter by the second. It was almost too bright to look at, making him question just what his dad but in the cocktail.
"Close your eyes!" Ava screamed, her shaky voice straining to be louder than Nathaniel's. "Don't look at him! Quickly!"
Dean didn't question her, turning back to his mom and shielding her with his body. He saw Ava still standing behind her, covering her face with her dirty hands. Without thinking, he reached out and pulled her head into his shoulder, blocking her from the light as well.
The heat from the fire was intense, building higher until Dean was sure that he must have caught fire as well. The brightness hurt his eyes even with them closed; and with Nathaniel's screams rising higher, Dean dared not even try to open his eyes to see what was happening.
Some sort of blast washed heat over him, his hair blowing from the wind. Silence followed it, and there was no light against his lids. Slowly, Dean opened his eyes and looked around. His mom and Ava were moving as well, both seemed to be okay if just a little wary. Dean turned to check on his dad, hoping that he heard Ava's warning in time.
He drew in a sharp breath as he looked behind him, eyes widening.
Nathaniel was no longer there; no body, not even ash left behind. On the center of the floor was a blast mark that reached out almost to where Dean stood.
Burnt into the ground just outside the blast mark were two wings.
On the other side of the strange burns, John was standing and analyzing them as well. His face was unreadable, eyes narrowed and brows pushed together. He was uneasy about this as much as Dean was.
John looked up to him, then his face softened. He hurried over to Dean, one hand going to his shoulder and the other to his neck.
"Are you okay?" He asked, checking Dean over. "Can you breathe?"
Dean felt his throat closing with emotions he wasn't prepared to deal with, swallowing thickly and nodding. "Y-yeah, yeah, I'm fine."
John searched his eyes for a moment, making sure that there was no hidden pain, before nodding and looking over his shoulder to Mary. He left one hand on Dean's shoulder and moved the other to Mary's cheek. There was an unspoken question in his eyes, to which she smiled and nodded, leaning into his hand slightly. It seemed like such an intimate moment, a family moment. Dean imagined from an outsider's point of view that they would look like the perfect loving family…
With the reminder of an outsider, Dean looked behind his mom to Ava. Her hands were lowered from her face, but her head was down and eyes locked on her feet. Dean moved away from his parents and knelt in front of her.
"Are you alright, Ava?"
Her eyes flickered to him before looking back at her feet. She nodded slightly, swallowing hard. From the corner of his eye, he could see his parents exchanging a look before John pulled out his pocket knife and went to cut Mary free.
"Do you know where your parents are? We can take you home to them."
Her face flushed red as tears sprung to her eyes, her chin wobbling. "He… He killed them. He said it was their p-punishment for birthing a monster…"
He wasn't quite sure what about her reminded him of Sam, but there was something there in her eyes that called to his older brother instincts. Dean pulled her into a gentle hug, rubbing her back softly like how his mom used to do to him when he had a nightmare as a child. "You're not. He was the monster, Ava, not you. He did nothing but cause pain for others, he's as low of a monster there is."
He heard her sniffle, felt her shoulders begin to shake and his shirt start to dampen. He didn't stop her though, let her cry her emotions out. She had been through a trauma that she probably never had time to process before, and now that she was finally free from her captor her emotions were probably running wild.
It took more than a few minutes for her to finally calm down. During the second minute of her crying, his mom had knelt with them as well and started brushing a hand through her hair and whispering comforting words. When she did finally pull away from him, wiping her face with her sleeve, she gave a bashful smile.
"Thank you… I… I don't know what else to say but thank you."
"You don't have to thank us, sweetheart." Mary smiled, using her thumb to wipe off the last tear from Ava's cheek.
"Then let me apologize," She looked at Dean from under her wet eyelashes, tears starting to well in her eyes once again. "I'm sorry about the chair… Nathaniel told me to do it or that he would kill you. He wanted me to hit you in the head, but that would have hurt you even more. So I tried to make it seem like I didn't have full use of my powers and missed."
Dean's eyebrows pushed together in confusion. "He told you to do that? Did he know that I was going to fight back like that?"
"No," She shook her head. "He spoke to my mind when you got free. His voice was different in my head, it was louder and hurt… When he got angry and yelled into my mind, I always thought I would explode."
Dean glanced at his mom then looked up at his dad. As far as he knew, demons couldn't use telepathy… And he had never heard of them dying with wings burnt into the ground. He had never heard of anything dying with wings burnt into the ground for that matter.
"Well," Dean nodded to himself as he stood up, "we can file that away under 'to figure out later while we can't sleep.' What I want to know right now though is what the hell was in that molotov? I've never seen that kind of reaction from a monster before."
All eyes went to John as he looked back at the burn marks on the floor. "I'm not too sure myself…"
"You don't know?"
John looked back at Mary and shook his head. "No. I got to the boardwalk after you two had been grabbed already; police were all over the place and I knew something happened. When I was going back to the car though, a man was waiting there. He told me the address of this place, then handed me the bottle. I didn't want to take it at first, but he insisted. Said I would need it soon. He wouldn't take no for an answer. I honestly thought it was Ethan's informant at first, but…" His eyes shifted in front of him in thought. "I don't see how a shifter could make something like this."
Dean felt a chill go down his spine. Things were getting more intense now… More powerful monsters, all-knowing people that make molotov cocktails that could incinerate a person, wings burned into floors… Sam said that he thought of a way to end things, but even with his powers, Dean couldn't understand how he thought he could go up against these guys by himself.
He glanced back at the wings, a feeling of dread starting to fill the pit of his stomach.
"What's that?" John asked suddenly, nodding towards the hunter map of Sam against the wall. It took Dean out of his head, walking alongside his dad to get a closer look.
"Those men were tracking Sam," Mary said, walking over to the wall as well, Ava at her side. "This is everything they had on him. Security footage, police reports…All sorts of things."
John's eyes were zeroed in on the picture of Sam and the man leaving the apartment of the dead girl, slowly pulling it down from the wall so he could get a closer look. Mary must have recognized something on his face because she quickly became concerned. "What's wrong, John?"
His dad stared at the picture for a long moment before looking back at them. "This is the man that told me to come here."
Dean blinked once, twice, a third before his eyebrows pushed in and he looked down at the picture in his dad's hand. It took a moment for the words to fully sink in, the meaning behind them struggling to settle in his mind. "You mean… The thing that saved Sam, the thing that's been traveling with him around the country… is the same person that gave you a molotov that incinerated someone in seconds?"
"I think," John started, looking back up at the wall of information on Sam then turned to look at the burn marks on the floor, "we just met one of those 'more powerful beings' that Sam warned us about. I don't think any of our weapons would have been able to stop him, without that molotov we all would have died. He wouldn't have let us go. And Sam's protector knew that, knew we would be in trouble without outside help. I don't think he's just looking out for Sam, but the rest of us too."
A part of Dean felt weak in the knees at the idea that he was facing down a monster that was more powerful than a demon. The few demons he had encountered before were more than strong enough to make Dean never want to face one again; then he learned about Yellow-Eyes and thought there was no one stronger than him. But after having been suffocated by both Yellow-Eyes and Nathaniel, Dean knew that Nathaniel was stronger… There was also a part of him that wasn't surprised about Nathaniel not being a demon. The unsettling feeling that he gave off was different from the terrifying chill of a demon.
Looking back at the wings on the floor, Dean swallowed hard. It gave him an idea of what Nathaniel could possibly be, but… it couldn't be right. If Nathaniel was what Dean thought, then he was supposed to be a good guy. But what did that mean if the good guys thought Sam was evil? He even called Sam an abomination… They even had some kind of rule about Sam having to be dragged to Hell by Yellow-Eyes.
No, Dean wouldn't believe it. Nathaniel couldn't have been an angel. There had to be something else that had wings. Sam was a good person, a good kid. Sam was just a child and didn't deserve what they said he did. And that gave Dean the strength to push down his fear of Nathaniel's kind, just like he had with Yellow-Eyes, and fight for Sammy.
But, that also brought up the question once again, just what was Sam's protector? How was he able to tell that Nathaniel had taken Dean and Mary? How had he been able to make something to kill a creature more powerful than a demon? Could Sam's protector be the same kind of creature that just took pity on him? Or was he something even stronger? It was so much to take in…
"We should take all this with us," His mom said, reaching for a newspaper clipping from the wall. "It'll help us track Sam; learn how to spot him in the news."
John nodded, glancing over the wall again before starting to head to the door. "I think I have a box in the car we can put it all in."
Dean watched him go, smiling slightly to himself. While he might have just had one of the worst encounters of his hunting career, he felt that he also learned a lot about his dad from it. It was a nice feeling, a warmth spreading across his chest at the idea that his dad really did care for him.
Behind him, his mom had already started taking papers off the wall, folding them gently to set on the ground. Dean was about to go help her when Ava caught his eye, standing somewhat awkwardly watching the ground. She was probably unsure about what would happen to her now that Nathaniel no longer had his claws in her, and Dean honestly wondered the same thing. They were still looking for Sam and Yellow-Eyes, and depending on who they ran into first… it could end badly for her.
Regardless, he would make sure she was safe. He offered her a smile and nodded to the wall. "Ava, do you want to help us?"
She looked up at him, her eyes flickering between him and the wall before giving a small smile of her own and nodding. "Yeah. I can help."
Dean's smile widened as they went to help his mom, who also smiled at Ava. His dad returned not long after, and with them all there, Ava slowly started opening up and telling them the real stories behind the pictures from the visions she'd seen. She told them the things that the newspapers and police reports couldn't know about (like the woman who was found dead in her apartment after Sam went there was indeed possessed and Sam tried to help her). It was nice, hearing about Sam, knowing that he was okay. Before, the creature that had saved him was a mystery. Something that could possibly turn on Sam at any moment. While Ava couldn't see the person in her visions, Dean had a feeling that Sam was in good hands.
XxX
From the rusted balcony of the warehouse, golden eyes watched the family clean off the wall that held Sam and his adventures.
It had been a close call while they were facing off with Nathaniel, he almost had to intervene. But John found his opening and took the chance to kill the angel. Sam would be worried when he heard what happened, probably even blame himself for them getting involved. But even he was starting to see that the final battle was coming sooner rather than later, and the Winchester family would not be left out of it - whether by their own choice or the will of Heaven and Hell had yet to be decided.
Pulling a sucker out of his pocket, a smirk pulled half up his mouth upward. The Winchesters were strong, even for humans. They would be fine.
He let his gaze linger just a little longer on them before he left in a fluttering of golden wings.
A/N: This was supposed to be out so long ago. I never meant for it to take months to upload this chapter. I had to take a hiatus when I was halfway through this chapter because one of my dogs had a very traumatic death thanks to a panther that showed up in our neighborhood. I was very much not okay after witnessing that happy little dog suffer through a punctured lung. If you want all the tragic details, it's in the vent story I wrote, An Atheist's Prayer. Injured Same and protective Dean is my therapy.
Some good news though, we are getting to the end of this series! The final showdown is coming soon! I hope you all missed Sam as much as I have!
This story was also just supposed to be a filler, there wasn't supposed to be any plot except to tie in the idea that Sam gets his self-sacrificing tendencies from his dad. But then the plot wormed its way into the story against my will... But it helped to make the chapter extra long!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this story and look forward to the next one!