(A week ago)

Desiree Carmicheal left her husband and three children at their rental home so that she could look into two leads that she had stumbled upon. She packed light, not intending to be gone long. Most of the hunting was designated to James, her husband. However, sometimes, she went instead of him. The first night that she was gone, she called to check on James and the children. She listened as Ben tried to tell her a story and smiled as she tried to understand his jumbled language. She talked to the twins as well and told them all that she would be back soon. On the second day, she met up with two other hunters. They traveled that day, checking in again that night. On the third day, they discussed the upcoming hunt and formed a good plan before driving to a suspicious area to hunt down a creature. The forest was thick. She and the other two hunters stayed in each other's sight as they walked through the trees. They picked up a trail and tracked the creature deeper into the woods. As night threatened to fall, she pulled her phone out to update James. "We found a trail."

James sent a message back, telling her to be safe.

"I'll call tonight," Desiree responded before shoving her phone back into her pocket.

James never got that phone call. He anxiously waited for the morning to come. Sometimes, things got hairy or hunters needed to be quiet. Calling a house full of kids was not quiet. The fourth day slipped by without a call and his own calls would not go through. Something was wrong. He called the Roadhouse in a panic. Ellen told him to call John. John told him to call Jess. That is what sent him on an express trip to Stanford California to leave his kids with two people who were still kids themselves. Maybe he was jumping the gun. They had rules though. They always checked in. No one could reach the other two hunters. With the kids safe, he broke all forms of speed laws getting to the area where he had last heard from Desiree. He found the car at the opening to a wooded area. His heart sank to his feet. He saw another vehicle. It had to belong to the other hunters. They had been there for a little while. There was a thin layer of pollen covering both vehicles, proving that it had been at least a day. He called Sam to let him know what he found.

Sam frowned and ran his fingers through his hair. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing good. I don't know how far they hiked into these woods. I can't imagine there is a cell signal." James said, convincing himself more than Sam.

"What do you want us to do with the kids?" Sam asked.

"I'm moving this to a level two," James said as he walked into the woods.

Sam opened a folder that had been given to him, one that the kids didn't know about. Level two meant that James didn't know when he would be back. "I'll send you updates. Don't worry about them."

James swallowed hard. "Tell them I'll be back as soon as I can."

Sam felt bad for James. "If you need help, I know some good hunters."

James sighed. "Your dad is on the other side of the US."

"Planes tend to move pretty fast," Sam said. In that case, John and Dean could both be teleported in to help. James didn't know that though. "Take care of yourself."

James bit his lip. "I will try."

(Fast forward)

Dean was finishing up his drive back to John when his phone buzzed. "Joe's Bar and Grill, how can I help you?"

Sam snorted. "Dumbass."

"Bitch." Dean shot back.

"Where are you?" Sam asked.

"In the car, driving to meet dad." He slowed down. "Why? What is wrong?"

"Oh, James Carmicheal. Jess and I had his kids for two days but they are going with Marie and Rod. Did dad fill you in?" Sam asked.

"Uh, he said the wife went missing and James is looking for her," Dean said.

"Yeah. I've got a bad feeling on this one. I was thinking you and dad could help him out after you get done with your hunt." Sam said.

"Sure," Dean said. "I'll talk to dad about it."

Jess, after the kids left, started diving into organizing the system that she had been helping with. Sam had told her about the situation moving to a 'level two'. That boggled her mind and gave her something to work on. She didn't sleep the night before and was caught between obsession and outright silliness. "Kate can track them."

Sam put his hand over his phone. "This is a different situation."

Dean heard Jess in the background, prattling on about something, her voice getting increasingly higher. "What is she going on about?"

"She is determined to save all of the children and is launching crazy ideas at me," Sam said.

Jess rolled her eyes. "A search party isn't crazy."

"James is already on that," Sam said.

"You and I could go," Jess said.

"Well, that is a terrible idea," Dean commented.

Jess sat down on Sam's leg and put an arm around him. She stole a sip of his soda and propped her feet on another chair. "Blood spell. Oh, no, I don't know any of those. A locator spell! I could summon a demon and make him find them." She grinned as Sam's face changed.

"Those are all horrible ideas," Sam said, grabbing her thigh as he knew it was a weak spot for how ticklish she was.

Jess abandoned reasonable solutions and decided to just torment Sam and Dean. "Kate gets things done. I can just ask for her help. I bet she knows some spells."

Dean rolled his eyes and smirked, knowing just how to mess with Sam. "You know Sam, now may be a good time to show her what getting her butt busted feels like since she asked so nicely last time."

Jess giggled. "Oh, Dean. I already know and that isn't the threat that you think it is."

"God damn," Dean said as he laughed.

"That is not... no... ah dammit," Sam said, a redness moving from his cheeks to the tops of his ears.

Jess kissed his cheek.

Dean snapped his fingers. "Is this anything like being restrained? Dad told me about that. I'd like to know more."

Jess giggled. She started to open her mouth but Sam dug his fingers into her thigh, eliciting a screech from her and more giggling.

"That is out of context," Sam said. "You two are not allowed to talk to each other anymore."

Jess laughed again. Sam wasn't a prude but he was pretty easily embarrassed.

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation over here and you are both children," Sam said.

"That is on you for dating the female version of your brother," Jess said, tapping his nose with her finger.

"See, I knew there was a reason I liked her!" Dean said.

Sam groaned. He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. "I'm just going to hang up now."

Jess started to say something but Sam hung up too quickly. She swung her leg around so that she had her legs on either side of his. "Sammy, you know we love you."

Sam kissed her. "You are not the female version of Dean."

Jess played with a button on Sam's shirt. "Oh really? Adventurous, hilarious, outspoken, confident, sexually expressive. See, you don't even know which one of us I'm describing."

Sam ran his hand up her back and let it settle on the back of her neck. "You seem tense."

Jess shrugged her shoulders to her ears and froze. "Don't do it."

Sam moved his fingers.

Jess folded, losing her balance. "I don't tickle you, mister."

Sam blushed slightly. Jess had caught him off guard one time and grabbed his sides, sending his elbow back into her face. He felt truly awful about it and apologized several times. "We have established that is dangerous."

"I'll just hit you next time you tickle me," Jess said, scrunching her nose.

"It was an accident," Sam said.

Jess smiled. "Uh-huh, it will be an accident when I do it too."

(The kids)

Taylor was ready to get back home. He didn't want to miss the first day of practice. He said hi to Ian and Andy who were awake by the time that they got there. He sent a message to Nate and marked a few days off of his calendar.

Kate dropped her stuff in her room. She felt tired and thought about going to bed early.

Andy waited patiently inside the house until he saw Karen's car. "My mom is back!"

"Let her come inside first," Bobby said.

April opened the door. She hugged Andy and told him to get his stuff. "Karen, are you sure you don't want me to take Ian?"

"He is having fun," Karen said.

A moment later, Caleb pulled into the driveway and moved the bags from Karen's car to his truck. He went inside to say hi and collect Andy and April.

Andy ran out to the truck as soon as he was allowed. He buckled his seat belt and looked out the window, willing his parents to walk faster.

Caleb started the truck and left Bobby's house for the lot that the van was in. "Andy, your mom told me what happened."

Andy's face fell. "I was disrespectful."

"You were," Caleb said.

"I was grumpy and I'm really sorry," Andy added.

"I know she talked to you about it. I want to talk to you too, just talk."

Andy frowned.

"How much sleep did you get last night?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know. Ian woke up to play." Andy said. He sighed. "I had a hard time going back to sleep because I was afraid Jimmy was going to come back."

April turned so she could look over the seat. "Jimmy is only a kid."

Andy studied his hands. "It makes me really mad that he is so mean. I tried to be his friend. What if he burned our house down?"

"I talked to Jody about the situation. She is going to get involved." Caleb said. "He is a little kid, like you. Having a police officer talk to you would probably scare you straight."

"Ms. Jody is nice. She isn't scary." Andy said.

"Maybe not to you. Let the adults worry about Jimmy. If you can't sleep, please let one of us know. If Ian wakes you up, let one of us know." Caleb said.

"I will. I tried to get Ian to go back to bed." Andy said.

"Would you like for him to sleep in our room for a few nights?"

"It's okay, Dad," Andy said. "If it happens again I'll come to get you sooner." He looked out the window and saw a row of shiny cars. "We could get one of those."

"You'd be really squished between car seats," April said.

Caleb pointed to the van that they were going to look at.

Andy rolled down his window. "It doesn't look bad." He really hoped it had DVD players.

A quick look at the van is all it took for them to decide that it would be perfect for their needs.

Andy was thrilled that it did have DVD players. He climbed into the third row and sat down. "Look how far away I am."

Caleb tapped the window. "Who is ready to go eat?"

Andy shot out of the seat. "I am." He got one on one time with each parent but rarely with both. He was excited.

April reached over to hold Caleb's hand. She was glad that Andy was his usual chipper self. Sometimes, he seemed far older than his young age. On other days, he was still the baby boy that she ran away with when she was 15. She could slow down and think about those moments since she was no longer in survival mode. She had always been the little sister. Her knowledge of babies started and ended with helping Elizabeth babysit neighborhood kids. She learned though. He was her first baby, her practice baby. Maybe that is why she doubted herself so often. She turned to look at him and saw him bouncing a toy army man, imagining that it was jumping over obstacles as the truck drove along. "Hey, bud."

"Yes, mama?" Andy asked.

"I love you."

Andy grinned. "I love you too."

(Marie and Rod)

They tried to make the trip as fun as possible without overwhelming the children. Marie found Ben's energy to be adorable and the girls were pleasant. When they stopped at the hotel, all three kids needed to burn some energy. The water park at the hotel was like a large pool with a couple of slides and sprinklers. It was perfect since they needed to watch all three kids.

Ben loved the slides. He ran up the stairs and slid down the slides over and over until his little legs couldn't handle it anymore. He settled for Rod carrying him up the stairs, not minding that Rod was new to him.

Marie stayed with the girls, both of whom enjoyed the pool and lazy river. That was more her speed anyway.

When the kids hit their limit for activities, they drove over to a restaurant that had Italian style food.

Ben ate a ton of noodles and fell asleep at the table. When they were done, Rod carried him back to the car and then carried him into the hotel room.

Caitlyn laid down beside Ben and closed her eyes.

Marie offered to help her wash the pool water out of her hair but the girl was far too tired. "That's okay, you can sleep now and wash off in the morning."

Caroline laid on the other side of Ben and put an arm over him. "Today was fun. Thank you."

Marie smiled and covered them with the blankets. She knew they were going to be okay. They just needed to keep them busy.

Rod was just about as tired as the kids but waited for Marie to be ready for bed before he turned out the lights. Climbing all of those stairs with Ben reminded him of how sick he had gotten. It started with muscle fatigue and dizziness. Then, his organs started to fail. It was a blur after that. Then, one day his grandson visited, and his health was restored. Of course, he now knew how that happened but it wasn't lost on him. He wanted to stay in good health. He owed Taylor that much.

(Dean)

Dean met up with John and slept for a few hours before getting up for the day. The motel room was depressingly similar to every other motel room and it made him miss the beds at the bunker. He tossed his duffle on his bed and sat down. "What are we doing?"

John tossed him a map. "We are going to drive down there."

Dean saw a large circle and furrowed his brows. "This is a lot of ground."

"I'm assuming you'll be able to walk that far," John said, taking the map back.

Dean downed a cheap cup of coffee. "I've got just about everything in here." He nudged his duffle.

"Good, we will need it."

Dean followed John out to an abandoned area. It looked like it had once been a small town but the factory or coal mine or train station shut down, driving everyone out of town. "What did this place used to be?"

"Coal town."

"Knew it," Dean said, rolling a rock with his shoe. "It would be nice if a creature took up residence in a nice neighborhood"

John snorted. "You don't think the neighborhood watch would say something?"

"I don't think monsters care about the homeowners association," Dean said. He looked at the map again. "Of course, let's go into the creepy coal mine."

John turned on a flashlight and led the way. He and Dean were both silent as they walked, waiting to hear anything that could be considered a sign of life. The mine split into two shafts with no discernable difference between the two. John looked at the map again, trying to decide which way to go.

"Should we split up?" Dean asked in the quietest whisper he could manage.

"No, we don't know what we are dealing with," John said. He crouched down and looked at the dirt underneath their feet. He chewed his cheek and stood up. "This way." They walked down the long mine shaft, not seeing anything out of order. John suddenly stopped, holding a hand out to signal for Dean to stop.

Dean could barely see John's face from the glow of the flashlight. He saw a subtle twitch of John's upper lip and nodded to confirm that he was following. There was an odd smell. Hunting things of the living and undead variety meant that they encountered a lot of smells. This was new. It was unique in the way that snakes and dead rats had a unique smell. A flick of John's hand told him to be on high alert and be ready to fight.

John slowed his pace, scanning the mine shaft with his flashlight, careful not to let it settle on one wall for too long. He didn't want to miss a creature poised above their heads or hiding in a crevice, just out of the light's reach.

Dean scrunched his nose as the smell got stronger. Was it a combination of things? Was it from the creature?

A shrill screech sent a chill down their spines. It echoed off the walls of the mineshaft, making their ears ring. Following the screech, they could hear movement ahead of them. John pressed on, stealthily. The mine shaft split again. One path had rocks that had fallen, completely blocking their way. John chose to take the other path.

The sound of wings filled the tunnel. A soft breeze tickled the hair on Dean's arms and made him pause. The smell was stronger. He didn't know what kind of creature had wings big enough to create a gust of wind that would travel down a mine shaft. He rolled his eyes. If it was a dragon, he was going to be pissed. Dragons weren't real. Not only that, he didn't like being wrong. Kate would gloat. He couldn't have that.

John continued down the tunnel, needing to see what was up ahead. He turned a corner and saw flames bursting from a pit in the ground.

Dean touched John's left side, alerting him that something was moving to their left. He couldn't shoot in such a tight spot. He readied his knife instead.

John didn't recognize the creature that was looking at them. It was deformed but humanoid. It wasn't quite like the freaks as it wore clothes and had hair but the face was horribly disfigured. There was more than one of them. He stepped back, they needed to draw them into the daylight so they had a fighting chance. "Go."

Dean didn't turn around but backed away quickly. The trip out of the mine was much faster than the trip into the mine. He heard the wings again and ducked behind a wooden pallet.

John crouched beside Dean. He heard one of the creatures running from the tunnel and shot it as soon as it showed its face. The creature merely screeched and charged them.

Dean grabbed his big knife and beheaded the creature before it got to John. He raised his eyebrows. "That works." He groaned as he heard a growling noise come from the head that was still separated from the body. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." He kicked the head like a soccer ball, sending it rolling far away from the body, just in case the two decided to rejoin.

The fight continued on, much as it had with the first creature. However, the creatures refused to die. They could slow them down but nothing seemed to get rid of the creatures for good.

Dean hit the ground as an invisible force knocked him off his feet. He rolled to his back and scrambled to get back onto his feet. He saw a strange man in a suit. His face was worn and he looked ancient. He held up his knife, having lost his gun when he hit the ground.

John ran to his son's side. "What is it?"

"You don't see it?" Dean asked. He blinked and the man was gone. He picked his gun up. "What the hell?"

Another sound came from the mine. John aimed his gun at the opening and shot the creature in the head. The creature sputtered and stopped moving.

"Did we stumble into a monster party?" Dean asked.

John whirled around and saw the man that Dean had. Dean's back was to the man and he didn't see him coming. "Get down!"

Dean ducked as a bullet sailed over his head. He spun and saw the suited man, unphased by the bullet. He choked as the man touched his head, feeling like his life force was leaving him.

John couldn't move his feet. "Dean!"

The man paused, "Dean?"

Dean's voice was hoarse.

"Winchester?" The man asked. He moved his hand but kept John from approaching.

Dean coughed and held his aching head. "Yeah?"

The man nodded. "We have a mutual acquaintance."

Dean stared at the man. "Yeah, I don't have your kind of friends."

"I need your assistance." The man said, cooly.

Dean was going to fire off one of his signature insults but his mouth was sealed.

"I have very little patience. Do not burn through it so quickly." The man said. "I am bound here. Unbind me."

Dean regained the ability to talk. "How?"

The man explained.

Dean glanced at John and then back to the man. "Why should I help you? Why should I trust you?"

"Tessa speaks highly of you." The man said.

Dean blinked rapidly. "Don't fear the reaper." He glanced back at John and back to the reaper. "That's what you are."

"Yes." The man said. "Now, come with me. Unbind me and I'll do away with this abomination."

John was dumbfounded as Dean walked away with the man. Was he compelled? Was he under a spell?

Dean took a slip of paper from the man and returned to talk to John. "Don't bother shooting him. It won't phase him."

John cleared his throat. "What the hell is going on?"

"He's a reaper. Whatever this creature is, has him bound. If we unbind him, he gets rid of the creature." Dean said.

"We don't work with creatures, Dean. We kill creatures." John said.

"Dad, you've got to trust me on this one." Dean pleaded.

"He could be leading you into a trap," John said.

"He isn't," Dean said as he turned to go back into the mine.

Something in Dean's tone told John that he shouldn't tell him to stand down. He did keep a close eye on his surroundings, daring something to lunge at his son. Behind the pit of fire, there was an alter. It was unique and not something John had seen before.

Dean skirted around the edges of the fire and found the alter.

A large creature walked through the fire, grabbing at Dean's leg to pull him into the pit.

John swung a machete at the hand, causing the creature to let go long enough for Dean to move out of the way. He and Dean took either side of the altar and threw it into the pit. Flames lapped at their clothes and singed the hair on their arms as they covered their faces. As the flames died out, the creature lunged again.

Dean fell back as the large body made contact with his own. His breath was knocked from his lungs and the immense weight of the creature pinned him to the ground. He groaned and felt something seeping through his shirt. Was he bleeding? He couldn't see anything. Was he dead? He felt the creature starting to move but couldn't fight against it. He swallowed hard, trying to find the strength to get the upper hand.

John saw the creature fall. He heard Dean groan and started trying to move the creature off of Dean, hoping that Dean was okay. He had to use all of his strength to get the creature to budge. "Dean, push."

Dean heard John's voice and calmed down. If John was calm, he'd be okay. The creature rolled off of him and fell back into the pit with a sickening thud. Air filled his lungs as he got a good breath and tried to sit up. "Son of a bitch."

John looked him over. "Are you okay?"

Dean rubbed his side. "What happened?"

John flicked the light to the creature's body, showing a large wound on its chest. "The reaper."

Dean looked across the pit. The reaper was still there. "Now what?"

The reaper grabbed a necklace from the smoldering pit so that no one else could bind him. "I'll take my leave."

Dean covered his eyes as dirt flew into his face. He coughed and pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose. The sound of wings faded as the reaper left. "I knew it wasn't a damn dragon!"

John put a hand on his back. "No one said it was."

"Reapers are a kind of angel, right?" Dean asked out loud. "Yeah, that explains the wings. Not a dragon." He looked around. "What is all of this?"

John helped Dean up, grateful that Dean was just sore and not injured. The creature in the pit looked like some type of minotaur. "I do not know." The mine was silent aside from the crackling embers.

Dean followed John as they walked around that part of the mineshaft. There were human remains, likely belonging to the missing people in town. They were missing organs like the ones that had been found in other places.

John tried to piece it all together. A reaper, the thing in the pit, the creatures outside, and the one at the mouth of the cave were all different. To his knowledge, monsters usually didn't work together. Of course, the reaper had claimed to be bound. What about the others?

Dean found a chest with coins and jewelry. "Oh look, shiny things."

John got a closer look. "I bet most of it belongs to the victims."

Dean held up a tattered coin. "This looks pretty old."

John couldn't' tell what it was with so little light. "Could be greek or roman."

Dean flashed his light back to the pit. "Was that a god?"

"I don't know. I am stumped." John said. They checked the rest of the mine to make sure there were no more creatures. They moved the bodies of the creatures to the pit and different items from the remains to the front of the mine. They needed to dispose of the bodies but also wanted the human families to have closure.

John got something out of his truck and walked back into the mine shaft.

Dean eyed him curiously.

John returned with the end of a string. "Do you want to light it?"

Dean's eyes widened. "Are we blowing it up?"

"Do you have a better idea?" John asked.

Dean tried to contain his excitement but the prospect of blowing up a mine was too much. "Hell yeah!"

John snorted. He stepped back and placed the end of the wick on the ground. "Light and run."

Dean did just that, following John far enough away from the opening of the mine that the blast wouldn't harm them. He held his breath as the flames ran down the wick, deeper into the tunnels. A loud explosion shook the ground and small debris flew out from the pressure within the cave. Dean felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and turned to run to his car to flee the scene before cops arrived.

Back at the hotel, John pointed out the blood covering Dean's shirt. "You might want to wash up."

Dean pulled the shirt off and threw it into the bathtub so that he could wash the blood off. He was achy but the damage was minimal. When he got out, John was sitting in one of the chairs, eyeing him. "What's wrong?"

"So, why did you trust that Reaper?" John asked.

Dean blushed slightly. "Older Kate visited and when she left, she turned the radio on, and the song 'Don't Fear the Reaper' was playing."

John nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

Dean sat down as well. "Are you sure? You weren't keen on me doing it."

John chewed his cheek. "It makes sense."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows.

"I know how you feel about reapers but he didn't look to be your type," John said, a smirk forming.

Dean blinked, caught off guard by the comment. "I don't have a thing for reapers. It was one time. She tricked me!"

John held up his hands. "See, when you trusted that one, I didn't know for sure."

Dean cracked open a beer "You're not even mad I trusted him based on a song?"

John leaned back in his chair. "I'm just glad you didn't sleep with him."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "It was one time."

John got up and clapped Dean on the back. "I'm going to get some food."

Dean rolled his shoulder. "Don't forget the pie!"