Continued...

"Okay," Kathleen, the deputy, said as she pointed to a surveillance camera out of the car window. "The next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn't pass that one, so…."

"So, it must've pulled off somewhere," Dean said. "I didn't see any other roads here."

"Well, a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads," Kathleen replied.

"Great," Dean said, clearly annoyed.

"So, Gregory," she said. Dean turned to look at her, the use of his fake name keeping him on edge.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I ran your badge number. It's routine when we're working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you," the deputy said. Dean nodded, wondering where this was going. "And, uh, they just got back to me." She pulled over abruptly on the side of the road. "It says here your badge was stolen. And there's a picture of you." Slowly, she turned her computer screen around so Dean could see the picture on it. His bit his lip at the sight of slightly overweight African-American man that clearly wasn't him.

"I lost some weight," Dean said with a nervous chuckle. "And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease."

"Okay, would you step out of the car, please?" she said authoritatively as she took off her seat belt.

"Look, look, look," Dean said, trying to get her to stop. "If you wanna arrest me, that's fine. I'll cooperate, I swear. But, first, please—let me find Sam."

"I don't even know who you are. Or if this Sam person is missing," she said. "For all I know, you abducted that kid!"

"Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this," Dean said seriously.

"Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer," Kathleen said.

"Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe.," Dean said, feeling the need to find and protect his brother. "I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast—please." He paused, thinking back to his promise he had made to his father to look out for his brother. "He's my family."

"I'm sorry. You've given me no choice. I have to take you in," Kathleen said. Suddenly, Dean saw something change in her eyes as she glanced at the sun visor. She sighed deeply, as if she knew she was going to regret her decision. "After we find Sam Winchester." She fastened her seatbelt, Dean looking oddly at her with a confused, but most of all, relieved expression.

Ali rode along the dusty road, the bikes engine groaning and rattling beneath her. Up ahead, she spotted an old truck pulling out of a semi hidden drive, the engine whining more than the bike's. She pulled over, letting the bike fall to the ground as she made herself disappear into the thick trees as she watched two men emerge from the truck.

Her breath caught in her throat at the site of them. They were both large and Ali guessed that they would be able to break her in half if they managed to get their hands on her. She moved further into the trees, trying to make her foot falls as light as possible so as not to draw any attention to herself.

To her horror, she came across a police car, causing her heart to race. It didn't look old and muddy and Ali guessed it was the one Dean and the deputy had come here in. It was abandoned. There was no sign of Dean or the deputy anymore. She heard laughter through the trees – a sickening laughter that told her whoever it belonged to was certainly crazy. The sound was deranged and hateful. It made her stomach churn. She pressed forward through the wood, soon coming across a run-down house. The wood looked splintered and dark. It was the kind of house that screamed, 'only an idiot would enter this voluntarily.'

She moved around the back of it, spotting an entrance. She took a deep breath, pulling out her knife and holding it tightly in her hand. She was gripping it so tightly that she bet her knuckles would have been deathly white. She realised then that she was afraid, no, terrified. Not just at the idea that there was someone, or something, here that may kill her but the fact that she was certain it had already got Sam and Dean.

But she pushed it down, realising she had to if she was going to be able to gather the courage to enter the house. She took another breath, held her knife up in front of her, and slowly pushed the door open.

The room was dark when she entered it, the only light entering from the open door before it creaked shut. It was jammed full of things – shelves piled high along with unorganised stacks littering the floor. In that moment, she wished she had brought a flash light so she could see more easily, although after examining a jam jar she realised was filled with finger bones, she decided not being able to see everything was a good thing.

Suddenly, she heard a creak from behind her, a creak not caused by her. She whipped around, expecting to see one of the men she had seen earlier standing there with a knife, but all she saw was the empty room. She sighed, holding a hand to her chest to feel her racing heart.

But she panicked again when a hand grabbed around her wrist, another clamping over her mouth as she tried to scream. She thrashed around, trying to get free before she caught sight of who it was: a livid Dean.

She relaxed instantly, though she wasn't sure that he wouldn't kill her for leaving the motel room. "Ali?" he whispered harshly. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she whispered back angrily, her heart pounding in her chest once again.

"Are you?!" he asked. Ali shrugged, it was a fair enough comment. "I told you to stay in the motel. How'd you even get here?"

"A girl's gotta have a few secrets," she quipped back. Dean shot her a warning glare. "Have you seen Sam?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's fine," Dean said with a sigh. Ali released a relieved breath.

"So what was it?" she asked. "What took him?"

"You mean who," Dean said grimly. "They're just people." Ali's stomach twisted, an image of the jar of fingers flashing through her mind. "Which is why you've gotta get outta here."

Ali wanted to protest but seeing how worried Dean looked and the seriousness of his tone, she refrained. "I want you to head out the back and follow the road," he instructed her. "You'll find a barn. Sam's in it." She nodded once, backing away from the eldest Winchester to the door. "And Ali?" Dean said, calling her back. "Be careful."

Ali followed Dean's instructions exactly, coming across the barn soon enough. She pushed the door open slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. She could hear shuffling further inside the building and she almost ran out again, the fear crawling up inside her.

"Sam," she whispered, seeing if he was there.

"Ali?" She heard her name a moment later, the familiar voice relieving. She made her way further in, spotting Sam in the cage on the floor. She ran to it, her hands clasping around the metal bars.

"Sam, are you okay?" she asked quickly, trying to find a way to get him out.

"Ali, what are you doing here?" he asked in the same tone as Dean, only less pissed.

"Saving your ass," she answered back with smirk. She looked to her right, spotting the deputy from earlier in the cage next to Sam. She stared back at her with a worried expression.

Suddenly, she heard the rustle of footsteps outside the barn, causing panic to arise inside her. She hoped it was Dean with a way of getting the cages open, but something inside her told her it wasn't. Something made her terrified.

"Shit," she managed to gasp out through her shallow breaths.

"Ali, hide," Sam instructed quickly. She turned around, looking for a spot she could conceal herself in. Finding one, she tucked herself behind a wooden pillar, trying to calm her breathing.

She heard the barn door open, heavy footsteps entering. They walked straight over to her and Ali wondered if he was going to kill her. But he stopped on the other side of the pillar, taking out a key and inserting it into some sort of a control panel.

"What are you doing?" she heard Sam asked. Ali had to think fast. This guy was going to kill Sam. She looked around for a weapon that would be better than her tiny knife, an old wooden rake the only thing she thought might work. She held it up as she heard the cage door open, her fingers gripping the wooden shaft for dear life.

She watched as the man raised a gun aimed at Sam. She needed to act quickly, so she arranged her options in her head. She could go for the head – she would probably be able to knock him out. But what if he managed to take a shot before? Maybe she should go for his outstretched hand – knock the gun clean out of it. But then she'd be left with a pissed off angry guy with a broken hand who could probably still kill her. Maybe she should whack him in the stomach – wind him or something. All these thoughts swirled around her mind in a matter of seconds before she heard the deputy shout, "hey!" distracting him and giving her a chance to act.

She didn't have a chance to decide what she would do, going with her instincts as she ran at him, wielding the rake like a baseball bat as she smacked it across the back of his head. She screamed as she did it, a high-pitched scream that was more of an anxious squeak than a war cry. Even so, it did the job and the guy went down.

Sam sprinted from the cage, prising the gun from the man's hands once he was on the floor. All of a sudden, the man sat up, grabbing at Sam. The blow hadn't knocked him out, though he did look a little delirious.

Sam was on top of him now, having got the gun once again. He used the butt of it to hit the guy in the face. Then again and again. Finally, he collapsed to the floor and Sam stood up, trying to fire the gun.

"Damn," he said when it wouldn't work. "Kathleen, you alright?" he called, the deputy shouting back that she was fine. "Ali?" he called, turning his head to look at the girl who was still gripping tightly to the rake, her eyes glued to the unconscious man. She looked up at Sam, seeing his expectant eyes.

"Yeah," she said, nodding multiple times. "I'm fine."

"Nice job," Sam commented as he fiddled with the key in the control panel, trying to get Kathleen's cage open. He finally managed it, the deputy scrambling out as fast as she could. Ali sent her a small smile which she returned with a worried one.

Sam dragged the man's unconscious body into one of the cages, slamming the door shut behind him. He went over to the control panel again. Ali couldn't see what exactly he was doing but within a few minutes, there was a pop and the lights flickered out. Suddenly, the three heard footsteps outside again. They quickly hid themselves, Ali slipping behind a haybale across from Sam.

"Lee! Where are ya?" Ali heard a gravelly voice say from behind the barn door. "Lee!" She looked over to Sam who held a finger to his lips, telling her to remain quiet. The footsteps entered the barn, Ali hearing one pair walk right past her. She held a hand over her mouth to quiet her breathing.

"Damn it, Jared, get the lights!" the voice said again, clearly having discovered the man that must have been Lee in the cage. Ali heard a click, but nothing happened.

"They must have blown the fuses," a second voice said. Ali heard another click, probably one of them trying the control panel. Nothing happened. She then heard a noise from above her and thought it must have been Kathleen.

"Jared," the first voice said. "Go see what that is." A pair of footsteps shuffled away as one came closer. By this point, Ali was trembling, her fingers shaking around the small knife she clutched. She caught Sam's eye who nodded to her once before suddenly jumping out of his hiding spot, kicking the man in the stomach. Ali jumped up too, though she was finding it hard to move, her muscles frozen in fear.

Seeing Sam get whacked across the face with the end of a rifle snapped her out of her terror and she ran to him, helping him off the floor before the man could get in another blow. Once they were up, Ali dragged him away from the man who was now aiming his gun at them. He fired the rifle at them, but Sam pushed Ali away, both of them falling to the ground as another shot rang though their ears.

"Go, go!" Sam shouted, pushing Ali up as the two of them ran into another room, the man not far behind them. As they entered the room, they could see Kathleen on the floor, the other man, Jared, standing over her, gun pointed right at her.

"Hey!" Sam shouted. Jared turned around, spotting the two at the door. He moved his aim, but Ali and Sam managed to duck out of the way before he fired, the bullet narrowly missing them and hitting the man behind them. The bullet buried itself in his leg and he fell to the ground as he groaned in pain. Sam ran to Jared, grabbing the gun out of his hand and hitting him with it several times in the face. His unconscious body fell to the ground with a thump.

Ali watched as Sam dragged Jared's form into the other cage, closing the door and locking him inside. Then, he walked over to where Ali was standing next to Kathleen, her eyes trained on the older man lying on the floor with a bullet wound in his leg.

"I'll watch this one," she said, the rifle in her hands pointed to the man on the floor. "You go ahead." Sam stared at her without speaking, a concerned look in his eye. "Go ahead." Sam made to leave but turned back when he noticed Ali following him.

"Stay here, okay?" he told her. "I'm gonna go find Dean." Ali nodded reluctantly and watched as Sam left the barn. She turned around, trying not to catch the eye of the man on the ground.

"You should wait outside," Kathleen told her, her eyes glued to the man.

"But Sam said-."

"Wait outside, kid," she repeated in a harsher tone. She had looked up from the man on the floor, her eyes serious and grief stricken. Ali wasn't going to argue with her. She walked outside the barn, leaning against the shabby wood whilst she waited.

"You hurt my family," she heard the man say from inside. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help it. "I'm gonna bleed you, bitch."

"You killed my brother," she heard Kathleen say weakly, as if she was on the verge of tears. At the mention of her brother, something inside Ali pulled and she gasped for air.

"Your brother?" the man said, beginning to laugh manically. "Now I see."

"Just tell me why," Kathleen said. Her voice was filled with the same desperation Ali felt every time she thought of her brother. What had happened to him? Why had it happened?

"Because it's fun," she heard the man say, his cackle causing bile to rise in her throat. There was a pause, a long drawn out pause that made Ali want to scream. The silence was too much. But then, there was a piercing sound of a single gunshot, and Ali couldn't help but bend over and throw up.

Ali and Kathleen walked in silence away from the barn, neither of them wanting to discuss what had just happened. It was clear the deputy knew Ali had heard everything, but she didn't want to mention it.

Ali spotted Sam and Dean up ahead, a relieved smile tugging at her lips at the sight of them alive.
"Where's the girl?" Kathleen asked as they approached them.

"Locked her in a closet," he replied. "What about the dad?" There was a pause, and Ali shuffled uncomfortably on her feet.

"Shot," the deputy said. "Trying to escape." Ali looked up, exchanging a look with Sam and Dean. Nothing else needed to be said.

They carried on walking down the drive to the main road, Ali feeling like they couldn't get away from that place fast enough.

"I think the car's at the police station," Dean said. He turned to Kathleen who was listening to someone on her radio.

"Backup unit en route to your location," the woman said. Kathleen approached the three of them, an apprehensive as well as an appreciative look on her face.

"So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They're gonna wanna talk to you," she said, eyeing the three of them. "I suggest that you're long gone by then." Her gaze lingered on Ali for a second, the fact that she would be letting a teenager go with the two men not sitting well with her.

"Thanks," Dean said. "Hey, listen, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?" The deputy shot him an incredulous look.

"Start walking," she said flatly. "Duck if you see a squad car."

"Sounds great to me," Sam said. "Thanks."

"Listen, uh…" Dean started, scratching behind his ear. "I'm sorry about your brother."

"Thank you," she said, beginning to tear up. "It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth—but it isn't really." Ali held her breath, Kathleen's words causing a chill to run up her spine. "Anyway, you should go." The three of them nodded to her, turning to leave and walk down the driveway. For now, they were safe.

"Never do that again," Dean said as they walked down the side of the road.

"Do what?" Sam asked.

"Go missing like that," he replied. Sam laughed. "And you," he said, turning to Ali and sending her a stern look. "Don't ever do that again."

"Right, sorry," she replied absentmindedly. Dean raised an eyebrow at her, falling back so he was next to her and Sam was ahead.

"You alright, kiddo," he asked, nudging her shoulder with his.

"Just thinkin' about what Kathleen said," she replied, her eyes glued to her fingers as she picked her nails nervously. "You know? About what she said about it not being easier once she knew the truth?"

"Yeah," Dean said. "What about it?"

"Well I've been trying to find out what happened to Tyler for like five years," Ali said sadly. "What if when I find out, I wish I hadn't?"

"Then you're just gonna have to live with that," Dean said. Ali huffed, not finding what he said helpful at all. "Look, Ali," he said with a sigh. "You've just gotta decide what's gonna cause you the most grief: the pain of finding out something horrible, or the pain of not knowing."

Ali didn't reply. She already knew the answer to his question, and Dean knew it too. She was stubborn, just like he was. And just like Bobby.

She had to know, whether the truth was too horrible or not.

AN: Hope you liked this chapter and let me know what you thought! Much love x