The Hunter, Sequel to the Seeker

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Picking up from where the last story ended, Dean and Jess attempt to stop Sam as he goes around killing the other Special Kids

Chapter One

Jess refused to leave Dean’s bedside. She felt safe next to him even though he was unconscious and despite the numerous attempts of the hospital staff she bluntly refused to leave him. She wanted to be there when he woke up.

She was curled up in the chair next to his bed; her broken arm in a sling at her chest, silently watching his chest move up and down. She rarely spoke, she mostly cried but she always sat there, waiting.

Jess’ injuries had been far less severe than Dean’s. Apart from a broken arm and a slight concussion she was none the worse for wear. Dean; however was a different matter. He had received multiple stab wounds, one in the arm and several in the torso. He had lost a lot of blood and received several broken ribs from the vicious beating Sam had given him.

The doctors said there was no physical reason for him not to be awake; the injuries he had sustained from Sam’s torture were starting to heal but for the past two days since he had been brought in Dean had remained unconscious. So Jess waited. She knew why he didn’t want to wake up; his brother had turned evil and Meg had brutally murdered his father right in front of them. The trauma was too much for him to handle so he just didn’t cope. Unconsciousness was better than facing what had happened.

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Dean was back in the motel room; tied to the bed and watching Meg shoot his father once in the heart. He wanted desperately to reach his father and kill the bitch that murdered him but he was tied up too tightly. He couldn’t believe that Sam had just let her kill him; he just couldn’t get his head around it.

He replayed that scene in his head constantly, over and over in a continuous loop until he thought he was going to go mad. He wanted to know what he had done wrong to lead him to this place. Had he been a bad son and brother? Was there something he could have or should have done differently so this wouldn’t happen? He just wanted answers.

“It’s not your fault,” he heard a soft and beautiful voice say. It filled his heart with warmth just to hear it. It was his mother. “You shouldn’t blame yourself,” she said as she untied him and helped him to sit up.

“Mom?” Was all he could say.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Is that really you?”

“I’m as real as you need me to be,” she whispered softly and pulled him into a gentle hug and let him cry on her shoulder.

“Where am I?” He eventually asked, his voice cracked and his breath hitching from crying so much.

“You’ve retreated into your head. You are forcing yourself to relive this event over and over again and it’s not good for you.”

“But it’s my fault,” he whimpered.

“How is your fault?”

“I should have stopped it.”

“But you couldn’t have stopped it. You didn’t make Sam the way he is, the demons did. Your father is right, they are using him but he just can’t see it yet.”

“I should have found him before they got to him. I should’ve tried harder.”

“Dean, you did the best you could and you should stop blaming yourself for something you couldn’t have stopped. Sweetheart, you have to wake up.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I do then it’s real and not just a dream.”

“But Jess needs you.”

“No she doesn’t, she’d be better off if I wasn’t there. She should never have come with me. I managed to ruin her entire life.”

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The police insisted on talking to Jess once again, even though she had refused to tell them anything on the previous occasions they tried.

“Miss Moore, it’s very important that you tell us who did this,” The younger policeman; who had found them, told her. She didn’t want to talk; she just wanted to sit here until Dean woke up. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to lie to them as well as he could and despite everything that had happened she didn’t want them to know it was Sam.

“I don’t want to talk about this right now. I just want to sit here and wait for Dean to wake up.”

“Miss Moore, if you don’t tell us who did this then they could do it again to someone else, you don’t want that do you?”

“No,” she said quietly.

“Then tell us who attacked you? Who shot Mr. Winchester?”

“Her name’s Meg,” she admitted to him. “We met her about a year ago.”

“How did you meet?”

“We were looking for my boyfriend, he disappeared and we didn’t know where he was,” it was all beginning to spill out now even though she didn’t want to tell him. “She said she had slept with him.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“Angry, but I never thought we’d see her again.”

“And she shot Mr. Winchester?”

“Yes.”

“She had an accomplice, you said. A male. Who is he?”

“I don’t know,” she lied. “I didn’t recognise him. Now can you please leave me alone? I don’t want to talk anymore.”

“Okay, we’ll be back when you’re feeling more up to it. Is that all right?” Jess only nodded and they left her alone in her misery.

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“Why would you think you ruined her entire life?” Mary asked her distraught son.

“Because if I hadn’t of appeared then she would never have got involved.”

“Dean, if you hadn’t appeared then Jess would be dead. You saved her life and she saved yours.”

“But she would be better off if I were dead.”

“No she wouldn’t. She loves you so much and you love her.”

“How do you know?” Dean asked her, a look of shock etched on his face.

“Because I can feel it in your heart,” Mary gently laughed. “You should tell her how you feel.”

“I’m not going to tell her.”

“Why not?”

“Look at what happened, Sam thought we were together so he tried to kill us. I almost gave into my feelings and we very nearly died.”

“Sam was played into believing you two were a couple.”

“Exactly. If we were actually together it probably would have been a lot worse.”

“Dean, you can’t hide your feelings forever. Maybe you need to put yourself first for once instead of worrying about other people.”

“I can’t. If I put myself first them people will get hurt,” Mary shook her head and drew Dean into a hug. He buried his head in her neck and tried his hardest not to cry.

“Sweetheart, that won’t happen. Stop hiding behind those excuses and just let her in. What’s going to happen next is going to be hard for the both of you so you need to stick together.”

“What’s going to happen?”

“I can’t tell you but it’s going to be tough for you. It’ll be a lot easier if you just let her in,” she stroked his hair gently and he couldn’t meet his mother’s gaze.

“I don’t know if I can,” he quietly admitted.

“Yes, you can. You just need to let go of all the pain and all the guilt and just wake up.”

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“Dean,” Jess quietly said to him as she held his hand. “Please wake up. I can’t do this without you. You’re all I have and I need you. We need to find Sam and stop them doing whatever they’re planning,” she stopped as tears started to run down her cheeks. She let out a sob before composing herself and continuing.

“We need to find these people Sam mentioned and find out what’s going to happen. I know that things are looking pretty bad at the moment but we can get through this together. Please just wake up. I need you. Besides if you don’t wake up I’m gonna miss you. We make a good team, don’t you think? I’ve spent far too much time with you because I can’t go back to my old life. I can’t give up this life but I know I can’t do it without you so please just wake up,” she wiped more tears from her face. “I promise I won’t make fun of your taste in music anymore or how many women you choose to flirt with; even though you never look at me that way. I won’t even complain about how much junk food you make me eat but you have to wake up. I just want you back.”

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“Is what’s going to happen because of Sam?” Dean asked his mother.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “You need to save him.”

“But I don’t think I can save him.”

“You have to, you’re his only hope. You need to get to the demon; the one with the yellow eyes. If you can stop him you can save Sam. Kill the demon and it’ll all be over.”

“How do I kill the demon?”

“You need the Colt.”

“But they have it. I can’t get it.”

“You will get your chance and when you do don’t waste it. Sam is under the demon’s spell. Once the demon is dead the spell will be broken. You just have to control the damage until you find your chance.”

“But what if I can’t save him?”

“Then you’ll have to kill him.”

“I don’t think I can kill him, I don’t know if I have it in me.”

“Then don’t let it come to that. Fight it with every inch of your being.”

“I think I want to wake up now,” he said quietly. “I have to save Sam.”

“Just look for the special children and keep them safe.”

“I’ll do my best, I promise.”

“Just open your eyes.”

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“Just open your eyes,” Dean heard as he began to stir. It was Jess, he recognised her voice. She was also crying. He wanted to reach out and touch her but he hurt too much. He settled for letting her know he was awake.

“Jess,” he quietly slurred.

“Dean!” She exclaimed happily. “You’re awake.”

“Hey,” his brain did not seem capable of thinking up anything other than one word answers.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” his mind felt foggy and heavy and he just wanted to close his eyes again.”

“I’m just going to get the doctor,” she informed him before leaving the room.

Dean closed his eyes again. He only intended to close them for a minute, just to rest them but when he opened them again; it was morning and Jess was still sat on the chair next to him, smiling. The doctor was also stood there.

“Is it morning?” He asked them.

“Yes it is, how do you feel?” The doctor asked.

“Peachy,” he replied. “Never felt better.”

“You had us worried for a while.”

“Don’t worry, just needed to sleep. When can I leave?”

“When you’re feeling better.”

“I feel fine, I just wanna go.”

“And you will be able to, in a few days.”

“Can you leave me alone please?” Dean asked without trying to sound annoyed. It didn’t work.

“I’ll come back in a while when you’re feeling better,” the doctor said and left, leaving him and Jess alone.

“Now, how are you really feeling?” Jess asked, giving him a look that inferred he’d better not lie.

“Not good,” he admitted. “What happened to dad?”

“The cops took his body. They’re looking for Meg.”

“What about Sam?”

“I didn’t tell them about him.”

“Good, we have to find him.”

“We will, when you’re feeling better.”

“I wish dad was here.”

“I do too. I was so scared that you wouldn’t wake up.”

“Me too,” he said quietly. “I’m going to sleep now,” he told her because he didn’t want to talk anymore.

“Okay, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

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Sam was still annoyed that Meg had made them leave despite her protestations that they needed to go before the police arrived.

“Don’t say you’re still mad at me,” she complained.

“You should have let me finish the job.”

“And risk coming into contact with the cops?”

“We could have taken them easily.”

“Yes, but we have a job to do and we can’t do that if we’re on the run.”

“Fine,” he reluctantly agreed.

“Anyway there is someone who would like to meet you,” she gestured to the man who had just appeared in the doorway.

“Who is he?” Sam asked.

“The man who is going to help you achieve your destiny.”

[hobbleit]

Here is chapter Two

Chapter Two

Dean wasn’t handling his father’s death well, Jess could plainly see that. After he had been released from the hospital, they had been staying at Bobby’s to give him a chance to recover properly but he spent his days moping around and barely speaking to anyone. Jess was worried about him but he was refusing to open up to her. He mostly just sat there, staring into space like he was contemplating something but he wouldn’t tell Jess. He hadn’t spoken to her about when he was unconscious in hospital no matter how many times Jess pushed and it was making her angry. She just wanted him to talk to her.

“Dean,” she gently said as she sat down next to him, Can we talk?”

“Talk about what?” He replied quietly.

“About the fact that you’re not coping with your dad’s death and you won’t talk to me about it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” his voice cracked as he said that betraying the emotions he was so desperately trying to keep hidden. He paused for a moment, breathing heavily to regain his composure before continuing. “I’m absolutely fine; everything is absolutely peachy and there is nothing wrong so stop going on about it.”

“And if you keep saying it maybe one day you’ll start to believe it. Dean, will you please just talk to me and tell me what is going on inside your head? You don’t have to go through this alone. I am here for you if you’d only just open up and let me in.”

“Jess,” he spoke quietly but there was anger in his voice. “How many more times do I have to tell you there is nothing wrong,” his voice began to rise. “I’M FINE,” he yelled. “So can you just leave me alone?”

Jess was shocked at his outburst. She had not expected it and he had never lost it and yelled at her this way before. Trying to keep her cool, she stood up and started to walk away but she then decided she wasn’t going to put up with this crap and shouted back at him.

“You know, I’ve had it up to here with you,” she angrily told him. “I have been patient with you; giving you space to grieve and hoping that maybe you could just once open up to me and tell me what’s wrong so maybe I could help. But you can’t even do that, can you?” She turned her back to him when he didn’t say anything so he could not see the tears that had started to form in her eyes. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” She asked, her voice shaking.

“Is there anything to say?” His voice was flat and emotionless.

“Then I guess I’ll just leave you to wallow in your misery then,” she said as she left the room, not looking back at Dean; who just sat there with his head in his hands and feeling guilty about what had just happened.

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Jess didn’t know what to do. She knew that she didn’t want to leave Dean but she also knew that if he carried on like this then she wouldn’t be able to stay with him. She knew what he was doing to her; he was trying to push her away so if or when something happened to her it wouldn’t hurt so much. She really wanted to go back in there and knock some sense into him but she knew it wouldn’t do any good. He was just too stubborn.

“You okay?” A voice said as someone came up and stood next to her. It was Bobby.

“I’m just fine,” she said sadly, her voice hitching.

“I heard everything, you know, you don’t have to lie.”

“I want to punch him,” she admitted.

“He has that effect on most people,” Bobby grinned. “Just like his father.”

Jess gave a smile. “I just wish he’d tell me what’s wrong.”

“He will. You just gotta give him time.”

“And what if he doesn’t? I don’t know how much longer I can carry on with this. I don’t want to leave him but if he keeps this up then I don’t think I have much choice.”

“Well if he continues acting the way he is then all you have to do is kick his ass,” was Bobby’s reply. Jess laughed again.

“Thank you Bobby.”

“You really like him, don’t you?”

“Probably more than he deserves.”

“He likes you too,” Bobby said matter of factly.

“I wish he would show it.”

“He will, just have to give him some time. He’ll tell you once he gets over it all. How about I have a word with him?”

“Will you kick his ass?” It was Bobby’s turn to laugh.

“Maybe.”

“Thanks.”

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Bobby found Dean in the same position he had been in when he’d yelled at Jess; sitting in the chair with his head in his hands but now he looked even more depressed. He didn’t even acknowledge that he’d walked into the room.

“Dean,” Bobby said. He got no response. He tried again, “Dean,” he said with more force this time. Still nothing. “Dean Winchester if you do not answer me I will kick your ass, now look at me,” he ordered. It seemed to work because Dean reluctantly raised his head and looked the older hunter in the eyes. “That’s better, now you gonna tell me why you’re makin’ Jess cry?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he lied sullenly.

“Don’t lie to me,” Bobby said menacingly. “What the hell is the matter with you?” Dean sat there silently for a moment; thinking very carefully about what to say next. “You miss him,” Bobby said. It wasn’t a question.

“I miss him,” Dean sadly affirmed. “I miss him so much it hurts and I have no idea what to do now,” he opened up.

“What you do is you pick yourself up and get on with it.”

“But what if I can’t?” Dean paused for a second. “Bobby, when I was unconscious I had this dream about my mom.”

“What happened?”

“We were talking. She told me that I had to kill the demon to save Sam and if I couldn’t then I had to kill him.”

“And you don’t think it’s just a dream?”

“No I don’t.”

“You know, you really need to be talking to Jess about this.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes you can,” Bobby said softly. “You’re hurting her by pushing her away. I know you don’t mean to push her away; it’s what you do best but you’re gonna have to talk to her before she leaves your sorry ass behind.”

“I know. I don’t mean to but I don’t think I can talk to her.”

“Yes you can. Go. And. Talk. To. Her,” Bobby emphasised each and word. Dean sighed heavily. “You really like her, don’tcha?”

“It’s that obvious?” Bobby smiled and nodded. “Even my dead mother’s telling me that I like her.”

“Maybe your dead mother is right.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s outside.”

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Dean found Jess outside leaning against the bonnet of the Impala. He could see how sad she looked and it hurt to know that he was the cause of that pain. Without saying a word he settled next to her and they stayed like that for several minutes; just sitting in a comfortable silence. It took him a while to find the courage to speak.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“You should be,” she replied coldly.

“I deserve that. I’ve been an ass,” he admitted.

“Well we agree on something.”

“I shouldn’t have pushed you away like I did. I should have told you what I’ve been going through.”

“Yes you should have,” she still wasn’t looking at him in the eye. They sat there once again in silence for several more minutes before Dean spoke again.

“I miss him,” he admitted to her. “I miss him so much and it hurts so bad,” the tears started form in his eyes. Jess shuffled closer to him. “I don’t know what to do now. I always thought he would be there, you know? But now he isn’t and I feel lost and scared.”

“You could have just told me this.”

“Yeah, but as I said before, I’m an ass. I’m not good at talking about my feelings.”

“I’m stunned,” she said sarcastically. Dean gave her a small laugh. “Seriously, you can always come to me about anything. When things are getting too much for you then just talk to me.”

“Thanks. I think I really needed to hear you say that,” he paused and sighed. “I had a dream, when I was unconscious and it’s really shaken me.”

“What was your dream about?”

“I dreamt about mom and she told me some things.”

“What did she tell you?”

“She said I had to save Sam. She told me to get the Colt and kill the yellow eyed demon because then Sam would be Sam again. But I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t know if I have the strength to do this anymore.”

“You can do this, Dean and I promise you that I will be with you whatever happens,” she said as she grasped Dean’s hand in hers. He felt glad of the contact between them.

“Thank you,” he sadly told her. “It means a lot.”

“Anytime,” she smiled.

“How’s your arm?” He asked her.

“It itches,” she admitted to him. He smiled at her and pulled her into a hug; kissing her temple.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Me neither but it wouldn’t be pretty.”

“Then let’s not find out, huh?”

“Let’s not.”

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Several weeks later

Sam had been waiting for this moment for his whole life it seemed. Meg and ol’ yellow eyes had finally let him go after one of the other children and he couldn’t wait to have his fun. He had been having visions for months about this guy, he had seen him kill each and every member of his family and he couldn’t wait to end his life as easily as Max had ended theirs.

Max Miller had been committed to a psychiatric institution for murdering his entire family. He would have got away with it if it had not been for a neighbour who had seen him enter the house shortly before his step-mother died. He had snapped after years of abuse at the hands of his father and uncle and used his newly discovered telekinetic powers to kill them all. The courts hadn’t believed him; they blamed it all on the abuse he had suffered and committed him to an asylum. It wasn’t hard to find him; it wasn’t hard to break into the facility. It wasn’t even hard to sneak into his room. Sam had been practicing using his powers and other than the premonitions, he had learned to use several others. He had used mind control to get past the security guards so they didn’t even bother him. He even told them to turn off the security cameras so no-one could see that he had ever been there.

“Max Miller,” Sam said as the young man sat up on his bed and stared at him.

“Who are you?” He snivelled.

“I’m here to help you.”

“How can you help me? No-one can help me.”

“Shh, it will all be over soon,” Sam’s voice was cold and full of menace. Max panicked and threw himself into the corner of the room and curled up tightly into a ball. Sam just laughed. “You think that’s going to stop me?”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“I’m going to kill you, nice and slow.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a freak,” Sam laughed. “And a freak like you deserves to die. I know what you did to your family,” Sam whispered as he picked Max up and shoved him against the wall. He leaned in close. “I know that you killed them because of what they did to you and you thought you would get away with it. But you won’t.”

“Please just let me go.”

“No I won’t,” Sam laughed again. “You have to die,” he pulled a knife from his jacket and held it to Max’s throat. “Night night,” he said as he drew the knife across the man’s throat. He gave a malicious smile as blood oozed from the wound and dripped down his throat; staining his shirt. Sam let the body drop to the ground and walked away without ever looking back.

[hobbleit]

Chapter Three

Dean seemed happier after their talk. Well maybe not happy; since his father had just died, but he didn’t hide his feelings like he had done before. They left Bobby’s shortly after and started their search for Sam and Meg. They knew if they could find them then they would lead them to the demon.

Dean could feel himself becoming closer to Jess with each passing day. Most nights they spent curled up on a bed together just talking. Most of the time it was about nothing, just him telling her stories from when he was a kid but occasionally he told her about how he was feeling after John’s death. He still felt guilty about yelling at her at Bobby’s and didn’t want it to happen ever again. She was just too important for him to lose.

It took a while to find anything out about Sam’s movements and what he was up to. Dean could tell he was laying low for the time being and they didn’t want any attention drawing to themselves. But he eventually emerged from the woodwork and started killing. They heard of the murder of Max Miller in an asylum. They also heard the reason why he was in an asylum in the first place.

“He murdered his family?” Jess asked, surprised.

“Yeah, apparently he wanted revenge because he was abused,” Dean told her. “But that’s not the weird thing.”

“What is the weird thing?”

“He said he killed them with the power of his mind.”

“He’s telekinetic,” she said.

“It would seem so but they just thought he was crazy and locked him up.”

“So, you’re thinking he’s one of these special kids, like Sam is?”

“I do.”

“So what is the plan?”

“We investigate, talk to Max’s doctors and see what they know. Then we try and find Sam.”

“You think he killed Max don’t you?”

“Who else could it have been? What I don’t understand though is if these kids are central to the demon’s plans, then why is Sam killing them?”

“I don’t know,” Jess sighed and leaned back against the seat of the car. “How long until we get there?”

“Another couple of hours.”

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“So, what can you tell me about Max Miller,” Dean asked the doctor.

“I don’t understand,” she replied, “I’ve already spoken to the police about this.”

“This is just a follow up to check some facts.”

“Oh, okay. Max Miller was admitted several months ago after he brutally murdered his family. He was traumatised after years of abuse and he was also severely delusional. He claimed he could kill a person with his mind.”

“He was claiming to have the power of telekinesis?”

“That is correct. He claimed he had gained these powers several months prior and used them in order to exact revenge on his family. He also claims he was encouraged by a man with yellow eyes; who said if he killed his family it would help him achieve his destiny. We were working with him to end these delusional episodes when someone broke into his room and killed him.”

“Do you have a description of this man?”

“None at all; no-one saw him enter and no-one saw him leave. The security cameras around the facility didn’t pick anything up; in fact they stopped working for several hours before and after Max’s murder. Is there anything else you need to know?”

“No, I think that’s all I need for now. Thank you very much for your time,” Dean said to her before leaving and making his way back to the motel to meet up with Jess.

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“What did you find out?” She asked as Dean entered the room.

“He is one of the special kids,” Dean told her as he removed his tie and threw it in his bag.

“You sure?”

“Yep, before he was murdered Max Miller told the doctors he was being visited by a man with yellow eyes who was encouraging him to achieve his destiny.”

“The yellow eyed man is the demon that Sam is working for.”

“I’m guessing it is. For some reason he is using Sam to kill the other special kids; I just wish I knew why.”

“Poor guy,” Jess said.

“Poor guy? Jess, Max Miller killed his family,” Dean told her; feeling no sympathy for the deceased man. “He’s a murderer so why should we feel sympathy for him.”

“Because he was pushed into it. He only killed them because he felt he had no other option; he just wanted to be free of the abuse. He felt he had no other choice but to kill them. And he was being manipulated by the yellow eyed demon; he’s just a tragic product of his own life.”

“But that doesn’t mean I have to feel sorry for him,” Dean said feeling angry.

“You can’t see it in black and white, Dean.”

“But what if he would have become a murderer even if he hadn’t been abused?”

“You mean like Sam? Is that what this is all about, you think that they’re all going to become murderers?”

“Why not? Sam already is,” he explained sadly.

“So, you are projecting your anger onto Max Miller because Sam is a killer.”

“What if I can’t save him?” He said quietly in an almost childlike tone.

“You can save him, you just gotta have faith.”

“I don’t have a lot of that at the moment.”

“Then I’ll just have to have enough faith for the both of us. Everything is going to be fine,” she told him but he didn’t look convinced. “Everything is going to be fine, repeat after me.”

“Everything is going to be fine,” he slowly repeated.

“Good, now do we know if Sam is still here?”

“I don’t know,” Dean said as he sat down and rubbed his hand across his face. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Are you okay?” Jess asked as she sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“I noticed you haven’t. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, I just want to sleep.”

“Well, you go to sleep and I’ll go and find us some food. Does that sound okay?”

“That sounds perfect,” he said as he lay down and closed his eyes. He heard the door close as Jess left and he allowed himself to fall asleep.

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Dean dreamt he was in the asylum; only this time he was a patient. He found himself lying on the floor trapped in a straitjacket. He struggled to free himself but it was no use; he was held tight. He used his legs to shuffle towards the wall furthest from the door as it started to open. Sam walked through the door and closed it behind him.

“Look at you,” he sneered. “You’re pathetic. You can’t even save me.”

“Sammy…”

“Don’t call me Sammy. Sammy is a name for a child, not someone who is as powerful as me. You’re going to end up just like Max.”

“Sam, please don’t do this to me. You have to fight this; there’s some good left in you I know there is.”

“It’s not about good or evil Dean, it’s about power. And I have the power. You picked the wrong side Dean. Our side holds all the cards; we have the Colt, we know where all the others are and what do you have? You have nothing.”

“I have Jess.”

“Until she finally realises what a loser you are and decides she’s better off without you. I can’t wait to see that day. Now I’m going to kill you,” Sam told him as he pulled out a knife and held it up against Dean’s throat. “Goodbye Dean.”

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Dean awoke with a start to find himself in the motel room with Jess leaning over him looking extremely anxious. He quickly sat up and looked Jess in the eye.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, it was just a nightmare. How long was I asleep?”

“A couple of hours. What was the nightmare about?”

“Oh you know, the usual,” he tried to lighten the tension even though he felt terrified.

“Now tell me the truth.”

“I dreamt I was in the asylum and Sam was there. He was going to kill me like he killed Max.”

“Don’t worry,” Jess said as she drew him into a hug, “it was just a dream.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” he replied as he held her tight; not wanting to let her go. “It just felt so real.”

“But it wasn’t real so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“What for?”

“For just being here. I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere so you don’t have to worry about that. What do we do now?”

“We keep looking,” he told her. “We find Sam and the Colt, and then we kill that yellow eyed son of a bitch.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Jess gave a huge smile and Dean couldn’t help but smile back.

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“I have to say that was so much fun,” Sam told Meg. He was hyped after his trip to Michigan to kill Max Miller and he couldn’t wait to find the next unlucky victim so he could kill them too.

“It is so much fun killing someone, especially when they are so helpless. He didn’t even put up a fight did he?”

“No, he didn’t, he didn’t even try. I was rather disappointed that he didn’t use his telekinesis to even attempt to get away from me.”

“Well some people don’t have the grasp of their powers the way you do. Besides; they don’t have what you have.”

“And what would that be?”

“Me. I can help you in so many ways, in even more ways than you can possibly imagine,” Meg whispered in his ear. “We make such a great team.”

“I can’t argue with you there. You have shown me my true path in life and I’m not going to stop until they are all dead and we’ve unleashed hell on earth,” he placed his hands on either side of Meg’s head and pulled her in for a kiss. Meg gave a large smile as she accepted the kiss.

Sam hadn’t expected to enjoy the kiss as much as he did but he had to admit he really liked it. The kiss lasted for several minutes before they were interrupted.

“Don’t mind me.”

“Father,” Meg said as she suddenly broke the kiss. “I didn’t see you there.”

“I’m not surprised, you were thinking about other things.”

“Sorry,” she told him.”

“Don’t be, I think you both make a lovely couple. Can I speak to you in private, Meg?”

“Yes sir,” Meg said and gestured for Sam to leave.

“I’ll just be elsewhere,” he said quickly as he excused himself leaving Meg and her father alone.

“What do you want to speak to me about father?”

“Your relationship with Sam.”

“What about it?”

“I think it would be a good idea if it were to continue.”

“Really and why would that be?”

“He’ll be easier to control if he happened to be in a relationship with a beautiful young demon.”

“So you want me to continue this relationship so I can influence him and stop him from realising that we’ve been playing him from the second we met?”

“Exactly. We wouldn’t want him to figure out he’s our pawn and go running back to his brother. He’s the one I want to lead my demon army when the time comes and I’m not leaving anything to chance. Keep him happy and keep him on side.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are a genius?”

“Many people.”

“They must have been very smart. Now I’m off to seduce Sam,” she grinned and went to find Sam. She found him in his room.

“What did your father want?”

“He wanted to tell me that he likes you,” she said as she sat him down on the bed and straddled him.

“If he likes me so much, shouldn’t he be the one on top of me right now?”

“You’re funny,” she told him as she pressed her lips against his.

“So I’ve been told.”

“Why don’t we stop the talking and have us a little fun?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” he grinned as she pulled off his shirt and pushed him down on the bed.

[hobbleit]

Chapter Four

Sam had been sent to kill another one of the special kids. He didn’t know his name and he didn’t care; all he knew was that he had the power to make people do whatever he wanted with just a word. He also knew he had a twin, but he would be dealt with later. Azazel had been influencing him for a while now, telling him that he had a twin so he would look for him. The guy had been killing people because they had separated him and his brother. He had used his power to convince his mother and the doctor that had overseen the adoption of the two boys to kill themselves. All Sam had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity to strike and kill them both. He had been the easiest to hunt down as he didn’t have as many ties or friends as the other twin. Sam was pretty sure that no-one would even miss him when he was gone.

Killing him was too easy. His mind control didn’t work on Sam so when he told him to stop it had no effect. Sam was far stronger than him, due to the many years he had been trained as a fighter so he didn’t pose much of a threat. He easily subdued him and slit his throat. He was almost disappointed at how easy it had been. He sometimes wished that his opponents were as god as him at fighting and using their abilities because they never put up too much of a fight against him. He let the guy drop to the floor before cleaning his knife methodically and hiding it in the inside pocket of his jacket. Then he took out his mobile phone and dialled a number.

“One down,” was all he said to the person on the other end before hanging up and leaving, not even bothering to look back at the man he had just murdered.

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“Here, check this out,” Dean handed Jess a copy of the morning newspaper and pointed at an article about another death. The headline read: Third death rocks local town. Jess read the article before handing the paper back to Dean.

“Sam,” was all she said.

“He definitely killed the guy,” Dean agreed. “It fits his MO. I don’t think he has anything to do with the other deaths, though they are worthy of looking into.

“How so?”

“A local and highly respected doctor walks into a gun shop and shoots the owner and then himself and a woman walks into a gas station and sets fire to herself.”

“Could just be suicide.”

“Since when has it ever been just suicide? Let’s go, we need to do some digging on this guy; find out more about him.”

“Yeah,” she agreed quietly. The last couple of months had begun to take their toll on the both of them. They spent every waking moment on the hunt for Sam and Jess didn’t know how long either of them could carry on before they both burned out. Dean was the worst. He had made it his life’s mission to save Sam and would stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Sleep had even become optional for him as he never slept more than a couple of hours a night. His nightmares were getting worse too, Jess had been woken several times in the last week by Dean’s screaming but when he woke up he claimed not to remember them. She was pretty sure he was lying but she didn’t push him; she knew how stubborn he could get when he didn’t want to talk about something.

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“I think I’ve found something,” Dean told Jess as he came through the motel room door. She looked up from the computer.

“What?” She asked tiredly

“It turns out that this guy was adopted.”

“How did you find that out?”

“I have my ways,” he smiled. Jess just stared. “Okay, I called Bobby who called someone who did some digging.”

“Well whoever they are, they’re very quick.”

“Anyway, the woman who set fire to herself was his mother and the doctor oversaw the adoption of him and his twin brother.”

“He has a twin?”

“Yeah, a guy called Andrew Gallagher.”

“Do you think he is one of the psychics?”

“If Sam has gone after his twin brother then he probably has some sort of power too. I think we should go and talk to this guy, see if he knows anything.”

“Okay, where does he live?”

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Guthrie Oklahoma

Sam had been stalking Andy for days; watching his every move before he decided it was time to reveal himself and befriend the unlucky man. He wasn’t too hard too find; Sam just had to look for the van with the Barbarian Queen riding a polar bear.

“Hey,” Sam greeted Andy, putting on a fake cheerfulness which actually sickened him.

“Hi,” Andy replied, a little confused as to why a strange man was greeting him like an old friend. “What can I do for you?”

“My name’s Sam Winchester and I wanted to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“I’m looking for people who are like me.”

“Well, I don’t think we’re very alike so you can just leave me alone.” Sam didn’t budge.

“It doesn’t work on me Andy.”

“What doesn’t?”

“Your ability. I know that you can influence people with just a word but it won’t work on me.”

“Why not?” Andy asked feeling very confused.

“Because I’m just like you,” Sam explained. “I have abilities too; I have visions. I can see when people are in danger and I can help them.”

“Why are you telling me about this?”

“Because I had a premonition about you and I think you’re in danger,” he told him. “There’s a man looking for you and I think he’s going to kill you.”

“Who is he,” Andy was beginning to feel rather scared at what Sam was telling him.

“His name is Dean; he’s about 6’1” tall, green eyes, he wears a brown leather jacket and drives a ’67 Chevy Impala. I saw him kill you, he is very dangerous. You have to believe me.”

“How? Why? I’m sorry I just don’t understand.”

Sam was annoyed now, “What’s not to understand? He is going to kill you. I think you should stick with me until I can stop him.”

“Okay,” Andy nervously nodded. “Okay, I’ll come with you. Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go into hiding. We’ll get you a motel room and you will stay there until I’ve sorted him out. I promise you he won’t hurt you.”

Sam smiled maliciously as Andy grabbed his things and followed Sam to a nearby motel. As Andy settled in, Sam glanced out of the window and saw the familiar sight of the Impala drive into town.

This was going to be fun.

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“Any sign of Andy?” Jess asked as she met up with Dean. They had spilt up to cover more ground in their search for Andy Gallagher.

“None whatsoever. I checked around and no-one has seen him. It’s like he’s disappeared off the face of the earth in the last few hours.”

“You don’t think Sam’s got to him first, do you?”

“No I don’t think so. Sam likes people to know when he’s killed even though they don’t know it’s him. If he had they would have found Andy’s body by now.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Keep our eyes open for any sign of Sam. If he shows up then we stop him.”

“How can we stop him if we can’t find Andy?”

“Are you okay?” He asked, feeling immensely concerned for her. “You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine,” she sighed, “I’m just tired.”

“Me too,” he admitted.

“You haven’t been sleeping well,” she told him.

“No, those nightmares are getting worse.”

“Are you still dreaming that Sam kills you?” She said as she sat down next to him and held his hand.

“Yeah,” he told her as he gently gave her hand a squeeze. “Every night I dream that he kills me. The places change but it’s always the same. He taunts me, tells me I’m not good enough and that I’ll never save him. He tells me that I don’t have the guts to kill him and then he puts a knife to my throat before I wake up,” he paused and took a deep sigh before continuing. “They scare me.”

“It’s okay,” Jess soothed. “It’s not real, they are only dreams.”

“But they feel so real.”

“They’re not though; just remember that they’re just dreams. You can talk to me about this you know.”

“I know. It’s just hard because I’m not used to opening up to people. If it was anyone but you then I don’t think I would have told them about the dreams.”

“You can always tell me anything,” she said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I’m glad I have you,” he admitted.

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“Can I leave yet?” Andy asked feeling bored and claustrophobic. He felt he had been holed up in this grotty little room for days when in actual fact it had only been about twenty four hours.

“No,” Sam replied feeling increasingly annoyed at Andy’s whiny voice. Pretending to be a nice guy was really starting to grate on Sam and he wanted nothing more than to slit his throat. He was beginning to see what Meg saw in being so evil. At least he wouldn’t have to pretend to care.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s out there. I can see him and until I’ve stopped him it’s too dangerous for you to leave.”

“He… he’s here? Why didn’t you tell me? Oh God, oh God what are we going to do?”

“We are not going to do anything. I will sort it out, so stop panicking and be QUIET!” He yelled and threw a punch at Andy who crashed into the wall and fell to the floor, unconscious. “Oh thank god,” he sighed before searching for his phone.

Dean answered the phone on the first ring, “hello?”

“Hi there Dean, how are you?” Sam asked teasingly.

“Sam?”

“I see you’re looking for my dear friend Andy.”

“Where is he?”

“Oh, he’s resting at the moment,” Sam said as he looked down at Andy’s unconscious form. “But I’m going to give you a chance to save him. You’re going to meet me and we’re going to talk.”

“When should I be there?”

“In an hour and don’t forget to bring your pretty little girlfriend,” he told Dean before hanging up. Jess stood up and folded her arms.

“What did he want?”

“He’s got Andy. He wants us to meet him in an hour.”

“Are we going?”

“It’s the only chance we have to stop him from killing Andy so we go in. But we don’t trust a single word he says.

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Andy’s head pounded as he began to wake. He tried to move his arms but he found that they were tied behind his back.

“What the hell?” He groaned.

“Andy, nice to see you’re awake,” he heard Sam say cheerfully. “You don’t want to miss all the fun.”

“What’s going on?”

“It seems that you are coming to the end of your life and we’re waiting for some people I want to witness this grand event.” There was a knock on the door. “Guess they’re here,” he laughed as he opened the door and allowed a cautious looking Dean and Jess to enter. “Welcome,” he gave a sarcastic smile. Dean just glowered at him. “Now, now, no need for those kinds of looks. I come in peace.”

“When do you ever come in peace, Sammy?” Sam shuddered at the use of his childhood name. “I’m not going to let you kill him.”

“Dean, Dean, Dean,” Sam laughed a she shook his head. “You don’t have a choice in the matter. The only reason I invited the two of you here is so you could witness your failure. You’re both going to watch him die.”

Dean didn’t take this news well and he threw himself at his younger brother and shoved him against the wall. However, Dean underestimated Sam and the strength of his psychic abilities. He easily threw Dean off him with his telekinetic power and after crashing into the opposite wall; he collapsed in a heap on the floor. He struggled to stand back up but Sam wouldn’t let him.

“Stay down,” he instructed and he found himself unable to move. “Now for you,” he turned his attention to Jess before pushing her against the wall. “Are we sitting comfortably? Good,” he grinned as he picked up Andy by his collar. “Good night,” he said before snapping his neck and dropping his body to the floor. Dean and Jess could only stare in shock and horror as Sam turned to them, said; “well, it’s been fun,” and left without another word.

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Dean hadn’t spoken a word since they had left. He just sat on the edge of the bed staring into space. Jess didn’t know what to say to him, she knew that he was taking this personally and felt a failure for not being able to save Andy. For not being able to save Sam.

“Here,” she said handing him a glass of whiskey. “You need it,” he took the glass and downed the contents in one go; grimacing at how strong it was. “How are you feeling?” Dean didn’t answer, he couldn’t answer and he didn’t know what to say. “It’s okay,” she said pulling him into a tight hug; allowing them both to gain comfort from each other. Tears fell from her eyes and she heard Dean give a loud sob into her neck.

“Shh,” she soothed, “its okay,” she leaned in and kissed him on the forehead before placing kisses on various parts of his face. She placed gentle kisses on his cheeks, the tip of his nose and along his jaw before moving to his lips.

“Jess,” Dean hoarsely whispered her name and moved his hands to cup her face. “This isn’t a good idea.”

“I don’t care,” she whispered back. “I need this and so do you,” she told him before placing her lips onto his. She almost panicked when he hesitated but she soon relaxed when she felt his lips move against hers. She didn’t stop him when he pulled her down onto the bed.

[hobbleit]

I was going to wait until Monday to post this but what the hell! I'll do it now

Chapter Five

Last night must have been a dream, Jess thought as she woke up and found herself alone in bed. After a moment she realised that she was not in her own bed but in Dean’s and then it all came flooding back to her. She had slept with Dean. She felt herself turn red as she remembered the previous night and then she wondered where Dean was. She sat up in bed and looked around the room. It was empty but the she heard the shower running so she relaxed a little. She climbed out of bed and began to root around for some clothes to wear.

Dean left the bathroom as she was getting dressed. She didn’t notice him straight away so he took a moment to stop and allow himself to look at her. He thought she looked so beautiful but he blushed when she turned around and noticed him staring.

“Hey,” he gave a shy smile but didn’t look at her in the eye.

“Morning,” she returned the smile. She felt awkward ad she didn’t know why. She had never felt this self-conscious around Sam when they had been together so why should she feel like that around Dean?

“So, about last night,” he said, looking up, finally meeting her eyes.

“Yeah, last night,” she knew exactly what he was going to say next; she had heard him say it to countless other women so she mentally prepared herself for his next words.

“It was fun but I don’t think it should happen again,” Jess closed her eyes and took a deep breath willing herself not to cry. She had expected it but it still hurt.

“You’re right,” she eventually managed to say. “It was just a one time thing and it shouldn’t happen again. We both needed a little comfort last night but that’s all it was, comfort. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go and take a shower,” she told him before making a quick exit into the bathroom. She was amazed that she had been able to hold it together that long without embarrassing herself by breaking down in front of him. But in the privacy of the bathroom she could let her feelings out. Turning on the shower, she stripped, climbed in and broke down under the hot spray.

Dean gave an audible sigh as soon as Jess closed the door before collapsing on the bed and holding his head in his hands. He hated that he had to do that to her but he knew it was for the best. No matter how much he liked her, he couldn’t let his feelings for her get in the way of hunting. If he did he knew it would get one or both of them killed. He couldn’t deny that this completely sucked, though. If only his life was simpler then none of this would be a problem. He could ask her out and be romantic but it couldn’t be that way. And it killed him a little.

Jess eventually managed to calm herself down enough to be able to leave the bathroom. She didn’t understand why he had to be like this. She liked him and she knew that he liked her too so why couldn’t they make this work? Steeling herself, she prepared to face Dean.

He was on the phone to Bobby when she left the bathroom. She could only hear Dean’s side of the conversation but she knew it was concerning a hunt. She waited for Dean to hang up before asking,

“What is it?”

“Bobby told me about a suspected demonic possession. He wants us to meet him so we can check it out.”

“Okay, when do we leave?”

“Right now.”

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The drive was tense and not even Dean’s loud music could penetrate the thick tension that had settled in the car. Jess didn’t say a single word on the journey, choosing instead to sit in silence and stare vacantly out the passenger window. Dean didn’t bother to even try and attempt to talk to her. Even though she said she was fine with their arrangement, he could tell she was hurt and he didn’t want to do anything that would make it worse.

“We’re here,” he said quietly as he stopped the car. Jess silently stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. Dean gave an inward wince, she was angrier than he thought.

“Are you coming?” She asked coldly, leaving him behind as she stormed off towards Bobby; who was waiting by his car. Dean gave a deep sigh and shook his head before joining the pair.

“What’s up Bobby?” He asked as he approached the older hunter.

“Possible demonic possession,” he told Dean. “Been doing some recon and I think I know who it is.”

“Who is it?”

“This guy,” he held up a newspaper clipping about a murder. A man, Sean Noble was wanted for questioning in connection with a murder of a young woman. “A witness saw him kill the woman by throwing her against a wall without touching her. The surviving woman said she looked into his eyes and saw nothing but black.”

“Okay, so where do we find him?”

“That’s the hard part,” Bobby told him. “The guy vanished a couple of days ago when the cops started looking for him. He’s gone into hiding.”

“I’ll go and have a look around,” Jess said, anxious to be as far away from Dean as possible at the moment.

“You shouldn’t be going on your own,” Bobby argued, “this is getting very dangerous and the number of demonic possessions has increased significantly over the last coupla months. It could be a trap.”

“Then, I’ll risk it,” she said quietly before turning around and walking away, leaving Dean and Bobby standing there.

“You slept with her didn’t ya?”

“What?” Dean tried to sound bewildered.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t understand what I just said, you know perfectly well. You slept with her,” it was a statement this time, not a question.

“Yeah,” he admitted glumly.

“And you gave her the brush off afterwards.”

“Yeah,” he said, collapsing against Bobby’s car. “I messed up,” he rubbed his face with his hands.

“Ya think?” Bobby told him as he leaned next to him. “Tell me what happened.”

“Sam happened. We were trying to save one of the other psychics but he got there first. I couldn’t save him,” Dean’s voice cracked.

“Couldn’t save the psychic or couldn’t save Sam?”

“Both,” he said sadly. “I tried so hard, Bobby but it wasn’t enough. I’m a failure.”

“Dean, you can’t think like that,” Bobby placed his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “You are not a failure, you hear me?”

“Yes I am. I should have tried harder; I shouldn’t have let him do that.”

“Dean, you couldn’t have stopped him; Sam is on a mission and he won’t let anyone get in his way.”

“He wants to punish me, make me hurt. He made me watch as he snapped the poor guy’s neck and I can’t get that image out of my head. I needed something to hang onto, someone to make all the pain go away.”

“So you slept with Jess.”

“Yeah. The funny thing is I have wanted this for so long and when it finally does happen I push her away. I’m such an idiot.”

“You have to talk to her,” he told him.

“I know. I’m gonna have to find her first though.”

“Come on, we’d better find her before she gets into trouble,” Bobby gave him an encouraging smile. Dean had to smile back.

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They found Jess sat in a diner nursing a cold cup of coffee. She looked up as they approached but she could only look Bobby in the eye.

“You find anything out?” He asked as they sat opposite her.

“Erm… yeah I did,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I heard some guys talking about him. They say he’s gone into hiding in a cabin up in the mountains until the heat’s off. It didn’t look as if they knew he was possessed.

“That’s good, I’ll go and start searching for potential places,” Bobby said, standing up. “I think you two need to have a nice long talk,” he hinted to them before leaving.

They both sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity before either of them spoke.

“So,” Dean said at the same time as Jess said “Okay.” They both gave a nervous laugh.

“You go first,” Dean told Jess.

“This is awkward,” she self-consciously told him. “I can’t remember the last time I felt like this around someone I had sex with.”

“Yeah.”

“You hurt me, Dean.”

“I know I did and I’m sorry.”

“That’s not good enough. You treated me like one of those cheap sluts you like to pick up in bars. You used me and then you brushed me aside.”

“Jess, please, I need to explain.”

“I’m not interested in any explanation you might have,” she angrily told him. “I don’t give the slightest bit of a damn, I just want you to leave me alone,” she stood up and stormed out of the diner leaving Dean feeling desolate and forlorn.

He was still there when Bobby returned. He just shook his despair and sat down at the table.

“I take it that it didn’t go very well then?”

“Nope,” he said looking fascinated at the salt shaker. “I don’t think she’s ever going to talk to me again.”

“You just gotta give her some time,” he paused. “I found out where he’s hiding.”

“You have?”

“Yep, so let’s get Jess and go and exorcise the demonic son of a bitch.”

“Okay,” Dean sullenly replied, not even the prospect of an exorcism could cheer him up.

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“We’re here so could you two put your differences aside until this is all over, then you can argue all you want,” Bobby told the pair of them. “Can you do that?”

“Yes,” they simultaneously replied but neither of them managed to look at each other as they spoke

“Good, now come on.”

Dean knocked on the door of the cabin and waited for Sean to reply.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Sean asked irritably.

“Oh don’t be like that Sean-y boy, we just want to talk,” Dean grinned and doused the man with holy water. He gave a loud scream as it burned his skin and Dean used the opportunity to gain the upper hand and knock him unconscious. Dean secured the possessed man while Bobby busied himself drawing a devil’s trap on the ceiling.

When the demon regained consciousness he found himself tied tightly to a chair and trapped. “Damn it,” he growled.

“Welcome back,” Dean grinned. “We were beginning to think you weren’t going to wake up.”

“I wouldn’t worry about me, if I was you. I would be more concerned about yourselves.”

“What, are you going to kill us?” He mocked.

“Eventually, I’d like to have myself a little pleasure first though. Your little girlfriend looks more than enough fun,” Dean got angry and punched him in the face.

“Shut your mouth,” he yelled angrily.

“Why? It’s so much fun,” the demon laughed.

“Let’s see if this is as much fun,” he gave a malicious grin, “Bobby, start the exorcism.”

Dean took a step back as Bobby began to recite the exorcism incantation and stood next to Jess.

“Don’t talk to me,” she said quietly; her voice filled with anger.

“Jess, please I need to explain.”

“I said I wasn’t interested in your excuses,” she paused and sighed. “After this is over I think I should go.”

“That’s not a good idea and you know it.”

“Why not? It’s not like you ever wanted me here in the first place. I think it would be best for everyone if we just went our separate ways.”

“I don’t want that, Jess.”

“Neither do I but I’m not going to stick around and be one of your many conquests. I have my pride.”

“Fine, then go,” he lied through his teeth, “I don’t care.”

“I hate to interrupt your argument but it isn’t working,” Bobby called out to them.

“What?” Dean asked as he walked over to the older hunter.

“The ritual isn’t working; the demon has locked itself into him.”

“You’re quick, aren’t you?” The demon mocked. “I think it’s time I blew this joint,” he used his demonic powers to make a crack in the ceiling, breaking the devil’s trap and he released himself from his bonds. “This body has been fun but I think I need a change,” he grinned and left Sean’s body. He collapsed to the floor and Jess ran over to see if he was okay. The black smoke floated around in the air for a moment before choosing its next victim. Then it flew towards Bobby, entering him and knocking him to the floor.

“Bobby,” Dean cried out and moved towards his friend but it was too late. Bobby stood up, his eyes black as night and threw Dean against the wall; who collapsed in a heap on the floor.

“Good night,” he said to Jess as he walked out of the cabin.

[hobbleit]

Chapter Six

“Dean, are you okay?” Jess cried out as she ran over to him to check on him.

“Ow, yeah I’m fine,” he told her as he struggled to sit up. “What the hell happened?”

“The demon possessed Bobby and it took off,” she explained.

“How’s the guy?”

“He’ll live,” she helped Dean to his feet. “What do we do now?”

“We need to find Bobby,” Dean sighed. “We need to find him and exorcise the demon,” he spoke quietly, his voice and full of guilt.

“Are you okay?” Jess asked; her voice full of concern.

“Not really,” he admitted. “Things are getting pretty screwed up and it’s all my fault. I let my feelings get in the way, the one thing I tried not to do, and Bobby pays the price.”

“It’s not just your fault, it’s mine too. I was mad at you when I should have been concentrating on the job.”

Dean gave a laugh. “I guess we’re both to blame then.”

“Yeah,” Jess smiled back. “We need to talk about this, don’t we?”

“Yeah but we need to find Bobby first.”

“Where do you think he’d head to?”

“I don’t know, I don’t even know where to start,” Dean kicked the chair in anger and frustration. “God, I hate this.”

“I know, I hate it too but we need to figure this out. We need to think things through and figure out where the demon would have gone.”

“The way this demon operates we’ll probably just have to follow the trail of bodies.”

“It’s good to know that Dean Winchester hasn’t lost his sense of humour in a crisis,” Jess smiled, “but we need to be serious.”

“I was being serious. I’m going to call around, see if anyone has heard anything, you go into town and ask around, and see if anyone has seen Bobby.”

“Okay, I’ll be as quick as I can,” she gave him a small smile and hurried out of the cabin. Dean pulled out his phone and began dialling.

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“Excuse me,” Jess said as she ran into the bar, “but I was wondering if you’d seen a guy.”

“What did he look like sweetheart?”

“He was about this tall,” she gestured, “with a beard and a trucker cap. Has he been this way?”

“I think so, I saw a guy fitting that description about an hour ago,” the barmaid told her. “He talked to some of the locals and they all took off together in a car. I don’t know where they went after that.”

“What type of car were they driving? Please tell me, it’s very important.”

“An old car, a Mustang or something like that, I’m sorry I can’t be more help.”

“That’s okay, thanks for telling me.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you looking for him?”

“He’s a friend and I’m worried about him. He’s not been acting like himself.”

“Well I hope you find him, sweetie.”

“Thanks, I hope so too,” she said as she turned around and walked out of the bar. She picked up her phone from her bag and dialled Dean’s number. “Hey,” she greeted.

“Hey, you find anything?”

“Yeah, I was talking to the barmaid in the bar and she said she saw a guy fitting Bobby’s description meeting up with some guys before driving off. The barmaid wasn’t too sure but she said she thought it was a Mustang they drove off in. Did you find anything out?”

“Not yet, but I’m gonna keep trying. He can’t have got far, he’s only been gone a couple of hours.”

“Yeah, I’m going to ask around some more. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Okay, great, I’ll see you.”

“Now, hang up the phone,” a deep and very recognisable voice came from the other end of the cabin. Dean did so before saying,

“You came back, I’m surprised.”

“Well, I’m under orders. You’ve pissed a lot of people off and they really want to see you dead,” the demon possessed Bobby pulled a gun on Dean, who immediately raised his hands in surrender.

“By people do you mean demons?”

“Yes,” he confirmed as he patted Dean down to find any weapons on his person. He pulled a gun out of his waistband. “Can’t be too careful,” he said as he threw the gun across the room. “Now, sit down; I think you and I need to have a little chat.”

“Okay,” Dean said as he sat down; the demon never lowering the gun, “what about?”

“Oh, I think we could spend hours chatting about everything under the sun but what I really want to talk about is you.”

“As much as I love talking about myself, why can’t we talk about something else? Say, hasn’t the weather been nice recently.”

“You have a real smart mouth you know that?”

“I’ve been told.”

“But it’s really just a mask you put up so people don’t get too close.”

“I’ve been told that too. Are you going to tell me something I don’t already know?”

“Watch it or I’ll kill your friend faster than you can breathe.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Dean growled.

“If it’ll cause you any pain I won’t even hesitate to do it. I know how much care for him, you think of him as a father figure; which I think is rather sweet.”

“Go to hell,” Deans aid through clenched teeth. The demon was beginning to get to him and he was trying not to let it show but he was rapidly losing his temper. He knew that if he did though Bobby would be dead in an instant.

“I’ve already been to hell,” the demon laughed, “and I’ve gotta say I prefer it here. It’s so much nicer here, the people, the weather, and the girls? That’s the best part of all. I have to say that girlfriend of yours is amazing. Maybe once you’re dead I’ll have a go with her. Not in this body though.”

“You even so much as breathe near her, never mind touch her and I will make sure you never leave hell again, understand?”

“I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t care. You’re nothing to me, you’re lower than the crap I scrape off the bottom of my shoe, but they want you dead so I’m more than happy to oblige. It’ll be great to see the light go out of the great Dean Winchester’s eyes.”

“It’s such a pity that you won’t,” Dean growled.

“Okay, this macho showdown is really beginning to grate on me,” the demon brushed Dean’s comments aside, stood up and walked to the window. He glanced out and smiled to himself. “I can’t wait until all this has been destroyed.”

“Really,” Dean replied, sounding rather bored.

“Yes, when the war is won all this will be ours.” Dean was about to give another retort to this when his phone rang. “Aren’t you going to answer that?” The demon asked, not feeling in the slightest bit threatened by Dean.

“Hello?” Dean answered the phone.

“Dean, where are you?” It was Jess.

“I’m still at the cabin.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Oh, I found plenty,” he stared at the demon.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really. You need to leave,” he anxiously told her.

“What?”

“You need to go, now.”

“I agree,” the demon said as he grabbed Dean’s phone and spoke down it. “I think you’d better run as fast as your legs will carry you and get the hell out of town. You don’t actually want to see Dean die, do you?”

“Let him go,” she demanded.

“Let me think about that for just one moment… No, I won’t. Goodbye,” he said as he hung up the phone and smiled maliciously at Dean. “It’s Showtime.”

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Jess panicked when the possessed Bobby hung up the phone. She knew she had to rescue Dean but everything she needed to perform an exorcism were back with Dean at the cabin. Taking a moment to calm herself down before thinking about what she was going to do next. Then she headed to the nearest church.

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Dean gave a yell as the demon threw him into the wall and he fell to the ground, wincing in pain.

“You know, you aren’t as tough as everyone likes to make out. I’m having no problems causing you pain.”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t believe everything you hear,” Dean groaned. “Never lives up to the hype.”

“I have to say that in your case it’s true. You’re not going to last much longer,” he laughed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” a voice came from behind him before he felt the burning as holy water doused his body. The demon screamed in pain and Jess took the opportunity to overpower the demon and helped Dean to his feet.

Dean ran over to his bag and pulled out a book. He threw it to Jess who started the exorcism ritual while Dean held off Bobby. The demon was pissed and launched himself at Dean.

“I’m going to kill you, you son of a bitch,” The demon screamed.

“No, you’re going back to hell,” Dean quipped as Jess finished the ritual. “You should have locked yourself in,” he smiled as a cloud of black smoke left his friend who fell to the ground.

Dean breathed a heavy sigh of relief and knelt down beside Bobby. “You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he groaned as Dean helped him to his feet. “How about you?”

“I’ll live. Come on, we really need to get out of here,” he said as Jess handed him his bag and they all made their way out.

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Dean once again found Jess leaning against the Impala, looking quiet and thoughtful. They had taken Bobby back to his house and were staying with him until morning.

“Hey,” he greeted her.

“Hey, how’s Bobby?”

“He’s gonna be fine,” he told her as he sat next to her. “He’s just a little shaken.”

“Good,” she smiled slightly. “Not like we were completely blameless in this.”

“Yeah, we really need to talk about that, don’t we?”

“You mean you need to explain why you decided to do that to me. It had better be a good reason,” she hardened her voice, demanding an answer.

“I don’t really know where to start.”

“I don’t care where you start, I just want an answer.”

“I did it to protect you.”

“Well you did a bang up job with that, then.”

“I thought that if I pushed you away then it would be less dangerous because I thought if I let my feelings get in the way of hunting then it would get one of us killed.”

“Your logic is completely crap, you do know that?”

“Yeah it is and I realise that now,” he gave a mirthless laugh. “I shouldn’t have done that to you and ever since I said it it’s been killing me. I like you and I’m not used to that. I usually just spend one night with a woman and that’s it but with you it’s different.” He reached over and held Jess’ hand. “I don’t know what to do,” he admitted.

“Then let’s just see how things go. Let’s not make any plans or put any pressure on each other, just see where it takes us,” she leaned in and gave him a small kiss.

“Okay,” he agreed and smiled as he returned the kiss.

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Azazel was mad. Not just slightly mad but completely and totally hacked off with how things were going. Another demon had been sent back to hell by Dean and Jess and he was seriously beginning to be pissed off by the two of them. They always managed to get out of it somehow and he was beginning to realise that something drastic had to be done. They had sent a shapeshifter, it had failed. They had sent countless demons, they all failed. Even Sam and Meg had been unable to kill them. He really needed them both to be out of the way before he completed his plans so there would be no way they could interfere and stop him before he was ready. It was time to bring out the big guns. It was time he took care of things himself.

[hobbleit]

Chapter Seven

Sam was actually glad he didn’t have this guy’s power; especially if he couldn’t control it. The guy could electrocute anything just by touching it and had only discovered it when he fried the neighbour’s cat. Having death visions and mind control was one thing but electrocution was just weird. But it was fun to torture him before he killed him.

Meg kept telling him she was amazed at how good he had become at torturing and he would be the first to admit how much fun he had found it. He never thought he would, before he had embraced his dark side he had been caring and kind but now those days were gone. And he was glad about that. There were no pesky feelings of guilt or remorse, just an immense rush of power and a thrill that was incomparable to anything else he had ever felt.

The man had screamed and pleaded; Sam had liked to hear him plead and beg for his life, it heightened the feeling of power. He hollered in pain as Sam cut on his skin with a sharp knife, he cried, tears rolling down his face as Sam beat him black and blue. The man was filled with pain and anguish but Sam was so cold inside he did not feel any sympathy for the man. Just the feeling of power.

He didn’t survive long after. He just sat there, tied to the chair just as he had done but with the light gone from his eyes. He now sported a blank stare that Sam had seen so many times before. He had lost all hope before he died, Sam could see that just by looking at him. Once upon a time he would have cared. But now he no longer can.

Sam was wiping his blade clean of the blood when Meg walked in. He gave her a smile as she walked up to him and embraced him before kissing him passionately.

“Did you have fun?” She asked as she finally broke the kiss.

“I had lots of fun,” Sam told her, his voice never quite managing to change in tone, giving it a monotonous quality that he had never had before becoming evil. “He begged for his life.”

“I bet you loved that,” she smiled. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to hear their victims pleading to spare their miserable and worthless little lives.”

“I always enjoy it when they beg. I get an immense rush of power. I’m completely in control over whether these people live or die and it makes me feel so good.”

“I know the feeling well,” Meg gave him another kiss before taking him by the hand. “You are quite the natural at torturing people. You have it down to an art.”

“Well, I learned from the best,” he grinned as he kissed her again, allowing it to last longer this time, entwining her tongue with his.

“Thank you,” she smiled sweetly, looking as innocent as a demon could. “There are only a couple more psychics left to kill and then father’s plan can be put into action. Very soon we’ll be in a war that the humans cannot possibly win. I can’t wait. But in the meantime I’m sure we can find other ways to amuse ourselves.”

Sam gave a laugh, “I’m sure we can,” he said as he pulled her towards their bedroom.

Later, Meg left Sam quietly sleeping in bed. She found her clothes and went to find Azazel. She found him sitting outside watching the sunset. To the ordinary observer he looked just like an ordinary middle aged man watching the glowing orange ball sink lower and lower into the sky until it disappeared completely. She silently walked up behind him and he never even noticed she was there.

“Getting slow in your old age I see,” she joked. “You should have known I was coming up behind you.”

“Who says I didn’t? I might have just chosen to ignore you.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” she told him as she sat down next to him and made herself comfortable.

“Where’s Sam?”

“He’s sleeping. I’ve been keeping him occupied.”

“That’s good. How did the killing go?”

“It went well,” Meg told him as she played with her hair, feeling slightly bored. “He killed him without any trouble. He just tied him up and tortured the guy until he dropped dead. He even enjoyed it.”

“Good, I’m glad he did,” Azazel smiled. “Since your relationship with him has progressed he’s becoming so much easier to control, don’t you think?”

“Yes he is. But then again he thinks he’s in love. That’s one of the sweet things about him, no matter how much of the humanity we draw out of him he still manages to retain a small part of it.”

“You almost sound as if you care,” Azazel told her and she gave a small laugh.

“He’s cute in a puppy way. The right kind of girl could drown in those big brown eyes and his ability to torture a person is a massive turn on. But I know that he’s just a pawn and I know that all this is just a way to keep him under control but I can’t deny that it isn’t fun.

“Just make sure that it stays that way,” he ordered her. “We can’t jeopardise all that we’ve worked for because you can’t control your host body’s feelings.”

“She does like him, I can’t deny that. It’s such a shame that if I ever left her then she would die, they would make such a cute couple.”

“You can feel her emotions?”

“I can occasionally. She’s always disgusted when I kill a person, it makes me feel sick.”

“Then you just have to ignore it,” he told her. “How many more are there left to kill?” He changed the subject.

“Just a couple,” she replied. “One is abroad in the army; we’ll have to bring him home to have Sam kill him. I just can’t believe that we’re so close and once they’re all dead and Sam is leading our army then we can just sit back and watch this world fall.”

“We still have some problems to get rid of before we can relax. His brother is annoying me once again. He just refuses to roll over and die.”

“Does he know what we’re planning?”

“I don’t think he does but he knows he has to kill me. We just have to make sure we kill him and that girlfriend of his before they kill us.”

“You have a plan,” she said with a tone of slight amusement in her voice. “Do tell me,” she asked.

“All in good time but it is a good plan. We’ll need Sam though.”

“But shouldn’t we be leaving him to kill the other psychics? We need him to complete that before he finds out how much he’s been played by us. Once he open’s the gate and unleashes the army we can afford to lose him but until then we need him on side.”

“I’m sure he would relish the opportunity to finally end the lives of the two people that have caused him so much pain. Just remember, they were the ones that finally convinced him to turn not us. He doesn’t have the slightest clue that we’re using him and he never will,” he gave a pause. “We need this plan to go without a hitch and the biggest potential hitch is Dean. He’s always talking about how much he wants to kill him so I think we should give him another chance.”

“You always have the best plans. I’ll go and tell him,” she stood up and made her way back to find Sam.

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Sam had woken to find the bed empty. Meg was one and he didn’t know where. Pulling himself from the warmth of the bed, found his clothes and went looking for her. She was nowhere to be found in the house so he made his way outside. He saw her sitting next to Azazel and they were deep in conversation. They didn’t even notice him and he heard everything they said.

He heard that Meg thought he was puppy cute and it made him mad. He had gone out of his way to prove to both of them that he was capable of being an effective killer but they both still believed he was the same Sam Winchester that they had abducted and held against his will for months. He heard that they were both using him to meet their own ends that they had only spent so much time and effort turning him so they could use him in their plans. He thought they had been equals in this, working together to unleash hell on earth but in reality they were playing him. In that moment he would have happily killed them both and not felt anything.

He made his way back inside the house and sneaked into Azazel’s private room. He used a paperclip to open the locked desk drawer and pulled out the Colt. He held it in his hands and liked the way it felt. He could cause a lot of damage with this thing, just pull the trigger twice and both his current problems would disappear forever.

“There you are,” a voice came from behind him. His body tensed when he realised it was Meg. “I’ve been looking for you all over,” she told him. “When did you wake up?”

“A little while ago,” he said coldly.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Have you really?” He asked sarcastically. “I feel so special.”

“What is the matter with you?” There was a disgusted tone in her voice. “What have you got there?” Sam didn’t turn around and he didn’t answer her, he just stood there staring at the Colt. “Are you going to answer me?” She demanded and it was then that he turned around, cocked the gun and pointed it at her head.

“Why don’t you answer me something? Why don’t you tell me why the two of you have been using me to carry out your plans?”

“Sam… I… We…” Meg stammered, struggling to come up with a reply.

“Don’t lie to me I heard everything the two of you just said. Give me an answer or I will make sure you never cause any trouble ever again.”

“Please Sam we can talk about this, just put the gun down.”

“You know, I’m beginning to think that Dean was right about you all along. You’ve been playing me from the start haven’t you? I bet that Dean and Jess were never together and you just told me that to get me on side.”

“Fine, Dean was right; they were not together and that photo was of a shapeshifter,” Meg moved closer to Sam holding out her hand. “Just hand over the gun.”

“No, I can’t believe you did this to me,” he yelled. “I trusted you over my own brother, how stupid does that make me look? I should have gone with my instincts and never believed a word you had to say. I’m leaving, I’m going to find my brother and I’m gonna make you pay for what you’ve done to me.”

“Sam, I’m sorry, we should have been totally upfront with you and told you the truth from the start. But we’re good together and you don’t want to mess all that up. I promise we won’t play you anymore. You could be our equal. We could all work together to achieve everything we have been working towards for the last two years. Don’t you want that? Don’t you want to accomplish this?”

“Meg, I can’t trust you anymore. Why should I believe anything your lying demon mouth has to say?”

“Because I’m telling you the truth now, I promise,” she exclaimed, desperately trying to keep him from leaving. “We need you, Sam, we can’t do this without you,” she begged before she decided on a different viewpoint. “Besides,” she continued, “If you go back to your brother then we’ll just get another psychic to do your job. Only one can lead this army so if you choose to go then you’re gonna die. You just have to decide what you want more, a life with us; leading a demon army to victory or go back to your brother and face your inevitable death.”

Sam dropped the gun slightly and thought about what she was saying. “I know you will make the right choice,” she whispered seductively in his ear before kissing him and leaving the room.

Sam had a difficult choice to make.

[hobbleit]

Chapter Eight

Aw crap, Dean thought as he heard his phone ringing. A few minutes before he had been happily curled up next to Jess, fast asleep but now he was being woken by the continuous ringing of his phone. He was going to start turning the damned thing off at night so it didn’t bother him as much.

Untangling himself from Jess and the covers he reached over and grabbed his phone. “Hello?” He asked, unable to keep the sleepy tone out of his voice.

“Dean?” The voice immediately woke him up and sent his blood running cold.

“What do you want Sam?” He coldly replied.

“Dean, I really need to talk to you. It’s important.”

“Why, do you want to kill me again?” He asked sarcastically as he heard Jess stir next to him.

“What is it Dean?” She asked tiredly.

“I’m not going to kill you Dean but I need to see you,” Sam said with a begging tone in his voice. “I need to explain everything to you. I need your forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness?” Dean exclaimed, not quite believing what he was hearing. “You need forgiveness, why should I give that to you, Sam? Do you remember when you tried to kill me? Or when you murdered that poor guy right in front of us? Give me one reason why you deserve to be forgiven.”

“If you’ll just meet up with me then I can explain everything. Please Dean, I’m begging you.”

“You know what Sam? I think I will meet you and hear your empty words because then I can stop you.”

“You do that if you believe you need to,” Sam sounded sincere enough. “Just meet me tomorrow and you can tell me whatever you want to.”

“I’ll do that. Where will you be?”

“In that bar down the road from where you’re staying. I’ll be there at eight,” he said and immediately hung up. Dean put his phone down and turned to Jess.

“What did he want?” She asked with more than a hint of anger in her voice.

“He wants to see us tomorrow. He says he has some things he needs to explain.”

“Don’t you think that it’s just another trap for us?”

“I do so we’re going in prepared. But he wants to meet us in a public place so I don’t think he’s going to try anything. I think we should meet him but be cautious; don’t trust anything he says and don’t give him the benefit of any doubt. The first time he tries something we get the hell out of there.”

“Okay, that sounds fair. What do you think he’s up to?”

“I don’t know. I wish I could figure out what was going on in his head but I just can’t. He’s too unpredictable,” he said as Jess wrapped her arms around him and drew him into a tight hug.

“Then we just do what you suggested and not trust anything he says or does. It’s going to be okay,” she tried to reassure but Dean wasn’t really comforted by it.

“If it’s going to be okay then why do I have feeling that something bad is gonna happen?”

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They arrived at the bar far earlier than Sam had told them to but they wanted to be prepared. They checked all the exits to make sure they could make a quick escape if they needed to and then they sat and waited.

Sam arrived at eight 0’clock exactly and sat down in the seat opposite. Dean immediately noticed how tired Sam looked. He was pale, drawn and had dark circles under his eyes. He had lost a lot of weight and his clothes were hanging off his body. They all sat in silence for several minutes before anyone spoke.

“Do you want a drink?” Dean asked in an attempt to be courteous.

Sam shook his head, “no, I’m good.” He was nervous and every so often he would look around the bar as if he was looking for someone.

“So, what do you want to tell us?” Dean asked, cutting right to the chase. He was in no mood for waiting.

“I can’t do it anymore,” he said quietly.

“Can’t do what?”

“What he wants me to do. I was so caught up in everything that I never really stopped to think about it and when I did I realised how bad it had all gotten.”

“You think?” Dean said sarcastically.

“I never wanted this to happen,” Sam ignored him and continued, “I tried so hard to resist them but they got to me and I hate myself for letting them do that. I should never have reacted the way I did and I’m sorry,” Dean didn’t know what to say, he was completely speechless. Jess on the other hand had a lot to say.

“Why should we believe you?” She whispered harshly. “You tried to kill us. You tortured us and allowed that demon bitch to murder your father. You have done nothing but cause us so much grief for two years and there is nothing you can say that will make me want to forgive you.”

“Jess, please…” Sam begged but Jess cut him off.

“No Sam, I do not want to hear it. I don’t want to hear about how sorry you are for hurting us or how you never wanted this to happen because you let it happen. You could have resisted them if you wanted to but you were too filled with jealousy about me and Dean that you didn’t have to worry about,” she paused for breath. “While we were looking for you I never slept with him but you let yourself be persuaded by a demon. You killed people Sam, how can I forgive you for that?”

“You can’t and I understand that, I do but I still need to ask you for forgiveness. I need to make things right.”

“Well you can’t ever make things right so why don’t you crawl back under the rock you came from,” she stood up and grabbed her jacket. “I’m going back to the motel,” she said to Dean and she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

“Okay, I’ll be back soon, I promise,” he told her before she walked out of the bar leaving and uncomfortable looking Sam sitting opposite Dean.

“So…” Sam started but couldn’t quite think of what to say next.

“Yeah,” Dean said also not knowing what to say. The silence that filled the air was tense and uncomfortable.

“You and Jess are together now,” there was no anger in his voice, no pain or hurt; it was just said matter of factly. Dean looked down at the table.

“Yeah we are,” he quietly told him. He looked up and Sam just nodded.

“How long?”

“Since the whole thing with Andy Gallagher. We were both feeling bad and it just happened.”

“Oh,” Sam said quietly remembering that night. “I killed him,” he cried out, “Oh God I actually killed him,” his voice was filled with remorse. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not me you need to be apologising to for that,” Dean told him, trying to keep his voice emotionless but failing miserably.

“No I need to be apologising for the trying to kill you for something you never actually did. I should have believed you when you said it was a shapeshifter and not Meg. She really screwed me over.”

“So you know the truth then?”

“Yeah, she admitted it eventually. After I overheard her and Azazel talking about how they were just using me for their plans. I am such an idiot.”

“Who’s Azazel?” Dean asked confused.

“Her father,” Sam explained. “The demon that killed mom. He needs a leader for his demon army so he had me kill all the other psychics he created, like a survival of the fittest kind of thing.”

“And then you found out the truth. What did you do next?”

“Meg told me I needed to decide where my priorities were. She told me I could either stay with them and lead the army or I could go and find you but then I would end up dead. She said that only one psychic could survive and if I went back to you then they wouldn’t protect me anymore.”

“Is that why you’re acting so skittish? You keep looking around for some reason.”

“Yeah, I think they’re going to try to kill me and I don’t know how to stop them.”

“What about the Colt?”

“Azazel has it and he’s not letting it out of his sight. It’s the only thing that can kill him and we can’t get anywhere near him to attempt it,” he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I need your help.”

“I don’t know if I can give it to you, Sam,” Dean admitted. “I want to believe that you’re telling me the truth and that you’re being sincere but I’m not entirely sure that I can bring myself to trust you. There’s just too much water under the bridge between us.”

“Okay, I understand but I really have changed. I just need to be given a chance to prove that I’m not going to turn on you again.”

“I’m going to talk to Jess and if she agrees then we will help you but if she doesn’t then you have to go and never speak to us again.”

“That sounds fair. I’ll stay here and wait for you to come back and tell me what you both have decided.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

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Jess was still seething when Dean walked through the door. She was angry that Sam could even dare to ask that of them but she was also upset at seeing him again. Seeing him had pushed certain feelings to the surface that she had spent a long time trying to keep buried. She had wanted to cry but she managed to hold it in until Dean came back; then all of the long buried feelings rose to the surface and the tears slipped down her face.

“Hey,” he greeted and she stood up, walked over to him and pulled him into a hug.

“Hey,” she cried and buried her face into his neck. He wrapped his big strong arms around her and pulled her in close to him. She sobbed for several minutes until the steady beat of Dean’s heart managed to calm her down.

“What’s wrong?” He finally asked.

“I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. I have all these feelings inside me and they’re all coming to the surface at once. I feel like a complete girl.”

“You are a girl,” he said as he kissed her forehead. “And believe it or not but that’s one of the reasons why I like you,” she gave a small laugh before pulling away and wiping the tears from her face.

“Where’s Sam?” She asked.

“He’s still at the bar. I said I needed to talk to me so he said he’d wait. We need to talk about what we’re going to do.”

“I don’t know. I know he’s your brother but I can’t just turn how I feel off. I don’t trust him and I don’t think you should either.”

“I’m not talking about trusting him; I’m talking about saving him. If we get him away from the influence of the demons then we can keep him from becoming completely evil.”

“But he’s already killed people, how can you be sure that he can still be saved?”

“I have to believe that because it keeps me going,” he explained. “The only reason I haven’t completely given up hunting is the hope that I can save him. I need to believe that and I need you to believe that too.”

“Okay, I’ll stand by your decision but I’m not going to trust him. The first time he screws up he has to leave. If he doesn’t then I will leave. Is that okay with you?”

“That’s fine by me. I’ll go and tell Sam.”

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“We’ll help you as long as you promise not to double cross us,” Dean told Sam on his return to the bar. “You have one chance and if you crew that up in any way we will leave your ass behind and you can deal with this on your own, understood?”

“I understand. Thank you Dean, I won’t let you down I promise.”

“Okay, we’ll get you a room at the motel and figure out the rest of the details tomorrow.”

“You won’t regret this,” Sam smiled.

Sam sounded sincere enough so why did Dean have his doubts?

[hobbleit]

Chapter Nine

It was two months later and Dean and Jess were still protecting Sam from the Yellow Eyed Demon. Azazel had been sending a constant stream of demons, spirits and other evil creatures to kill Sam but they had so far managed to fight them all off. They were constantly on the move, never staying in one place long enough to be spotted by Azazel’s minions and it was beginning to wear them all out. There were some days when all Dean wanted to do was crawl into a bed, fall asleep and never wake up again but he knew that was not possible. Until they were able to get their hands on the Colt and kill Azazel they had to keep moving.

He glanced over at Jess who was fast asleep. She always looked tired now and it was apparent that she had lost weight. She was pale and drawn but she never ever complained. He admired her for her ability to keep going even though he knew she wanted to stop too.

He looked in the rear view mirror at Sam in the backseat, who was staring blankly out of the window, not really paying attention to the passing surroundings. Dean never would have thought it but he was really glad to have Sam back. He hadn’t realised how much he had missed his little brother until now and it felt good to be hunting with him once more.

For the most part Sam had been quiet. He wouldn’t talk about what had happened over the last two years with The Yellow Eyed Demon and killing all the psychics and for that Dean was a little glad. He was slowly beginning to let Sam back in his life and starting to trust him again and if he was honest with himself he would take that over knowing the truth any day.

It was harder for Jess, Dean knew that. He could start to forgive Sam because he was his brother and he would forgive him for anything but Jess had been in love with him. She had given him her heart and he had broken it into tiny pieces. She hadn’t even looked at him for the first week and refused to speak to him for several weeks more after that but now they had a tense understanding, they only spoke about business and anything else was buried deep and never to be spoken of. It meant there were a lot of uncomfortable silences between them with Dean trying his hardest to bridge the immense canyon that had developed. It wasn’t the most ideal situation but it was the only one that seemed to work.

“You okay?” He called back to ask Sam.

“Huh, what?” Was the reply.

“Are you okay?” He repeated.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired,” he explained. “All this is really starting to wear me out.”

“I know what you mean. I think we all need to stop and rest for a while but we can’t until you’re safe.”

“I know,” he said. “I wish this was all over. I wish I had never listened to them and escaped when I had the chance. I wish I had never left that night,” he stopped and sighed. “But wishing wont change anything will it? I can’t ever go back and change all the bad things I’ve done so I have to try and make up for them.”

Dean didn’t know what to say so he changed the subject. “There’s a motel coming up, maybe we should stop for the night.”

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Dean gently shook Jess awake once he had checked them all in and they made their way into the room. In order to keep Sam safe, they all shared one room which made things very difficult. Firstly, space became an issue when three people attempted to stay in one room and secondly, Jess’ refusal to speak to Sam made the air very thick with tension. Jess immediately shut herself in the bathroom; just as she did every night, leaving Dean and Sam in the main room.

“She’s never going to talk to me again, is she?” Sam sadly asked.

“I think you just gotta give her some time. She needs to readjust to you being here again. You did break her heart.”

“I know and I am truly sorry for that but I don’t know what I can do to make it right.”

“Maybe I should talk to her,” Dean offered. Sam gave a small nod and Dean crossed the room and knocked on the door. “Jess; it’s Dean, can I come in?” He waited for a minute before he heard the lock turn. He opened the door, walked in and closed the door behind him. He pulled her into a hug and said, “Hey, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she told him, not really convincing him. “Really, I’m fine.”

“That’s why you locked yourself in the bathroom?”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m just having a hard time with Sam here.”

“I know it’s hard for you but you two need to get along for now. It’s hard enough fighting all these demons to protect Sam without you two at each other’s throats all the time.”

“I’m sorry,” Jess sighed. “I really am but I just don’t trust him.”

“I’m not asking you to, I’m just asking you to be civil to him. Can you do that?”

“Yeah, sure I can,” she smiled and gave him a gentle kiss.

“Good, now I’m going to go and get some food, you stay here and look after Sam.”

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Jess stayed in the bathroom for a little while longer before leaving to face Sam. She found him sitting on the bed flicking through the television channels but not really paying attention to what was on. He glanced up when he heard her close the bathroom door.

“Hey,” he gave a soft smile. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, a little harsher than she intended and immediately regretted the tone.

“Jess we really need to talk about this. I can’t stand the way you’ve been treating me.”

“Well you should have thought about that before,” she retorted angrily.

“I’m so sorry for the way I’ve treated you,” Sam explained. “I hate thinking about the way I hurt you and I hate that you hate me.”

Jess was taken aback by this. “Sam, I don’t hate you,” she quietly told him.

“What?”

“I don’t hate you,” she said louder this time. “I never hated you; I wish I did because that would be easier to deal with. I love you and I always will love you, that’s why this hurts so much. You broke my heart,” she confessed as tears began to fall down her face. “The whole time me and Dean were looking for you all I wanted was for you to show up and tell me that everything was going to be okay but you never did.”

“I am so sorry Jess I really am.”

“Dean thinks that everything can go back to the way things were between you,” she continued, “He believes that he can trust you and you won’t double cross us but I don’t.”

“Do you love Dean?” Sam had to ask, it was a question that had been burning inside him ever since they had found him.

“Honestly? I don’t know,” she answered. “I don’t think I could ever love him the way I loved you but maybe that’s not such a bad thing because look where that got me. Maybe one day I will love him but at the moment things are just too complicated. Are you mad that we’re together?” She asked.

“I’m not mad, I have no right to be but that’s not the reason. I just want to be happy and if Dean makes you happy then that’s okay.”

“He does make me happy,” she told him. “And after all the pain you caused me it feels good.”

“I understand,” Sam smiled shyly. “It’s all my fault,” he admitted.

“No it’s not all your fault,” she managed to smile back. “Just most of it is. Besides if you hadn’t of gone missing then I never would have met Dean so I guess it isn’t all bad.”

“Hey, I miss anything good?” Dean asked as he opened the door carrying food and wearing a strained smile.

“No,” Jess hurried over and helped him. “We’ve just been talking.”

“Not about me I hope.”

“Maybe a little,” she squeezed his hand. “I promise I’ll be civil around Sam,” she hesitantly told him.

“Thank you.”

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Several more days passed before they found any more leads on Azazel’s presence. Everything had been quiet which unnerved Dean to no end. At least when demons were attacking he knew what to expect, this just had him on edge and it was beginning to drive him crazy.

“I know where he is,” Sam announced suddenly one morning, hurrying from the bathroom. He seemed agitated and panicked.

“What?” Dean asked, confused.

“I know where he is,” Sam repeated.

“How do you know?”

“I had a vision. I saw him; he’s planning something. We have to go now.”

“Okay, just calm down for a second.”

“Calm down? Didn’t you hear me? We have to go and stop him.”

“We need a plan first, we can’t just go barging in there without one, it’ll be suicide.”

“But we can’t just stay here, we need to act now, kill him and then it will all be over.”

“But he has the Colt, Sam,” Dean argued. “He holds all the cards and if we just show up there he will kill us as soon as look at us.”

“Fine,” Sam sulked. “What do you suggest we do?”

“Talk this through calmly and rationally, come up with a plan and then go hunt the son of a bitch down.”

“When did you become less gung-ho about hunting?” Sam said; the anger he felt at Dean insisting on waiting dissipating rapidly and he managed a smile. “You were always shoot first and ask questions later.”

“Maybe I’m getting wise in my old age,” Dean smiled back.

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The plan wasn’t perfect but it would have to do. Sam had volunteered himself as bait; he was going to distract Azazel while Dean and Jess hunted for the Colt. None of them thought it was a particularly good plan but it was the only one they could think of that didn’t get them all immediately killed.

Sam left Dean and Jess sitting on the car as he went to confront Azazel. Neither of them felt like speaking at all and Dean had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He just knew something was going to go wrong.

“Are you okay?” Jess asked quietly. She looked how he felt. She was pale, fidgety and she couldn’t stop shaking. Her breathing was very shallow.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I said I was fine would you?” Jess shook her head. “I’m not okay. I feel like this is all going to go wrong.”

“Me too,” she confessed as she scooted up the seat and leaned into him; enjoying the feeling of his arms around her. “I wish this was over.”

“I do too. I just want to sleep without being in fear for my life. I could sleep forever.”

“I don’t even remember what a good night’s sleep feels like.”

Dean looked out of the car window and saw a flashing light. It was Sam’s signal. “You ready for this?” He asked Jess.

“No,” she replied.

“Me neither. Come on,” he gave her an encouraging smile as they made their way to the house.

Dean was seriously unnerved at how quiet it was. There was no sound at all and it was deafening. Neither of them spoke as the searched around the house for the Colt but there was no sign of it. Dean had the feeling that Azazel had it in his possession then it would be up to Sam to get it. They certainly weren’t.

“Well, what do we have here?” A voice came from behind Dean and he immediately recognised it. It was Meg.

“Damn it,” he replied before slowly turned around. He saw Jess do the same.

“We’ve been expecting you two,” She smiled, her eyes never leaving the pair of them. “Don’t worry; they will be here in just a minute. They’re just finalising the details.”

“They?”

“Yes ‘they’,” A middle aged man walked into the room Dean assumed was Azazel followed by Sam. He had a malicious grin spread across his face, Dean was disgusted.

“This was a trap,” he said.

“Of course it was. Do you really think that Sam was going to go back to you? After all we’ve done for him.”

“They helped me realise my true potential,” Sam grinned.

“You son of a bitch,” Jess yelled. “I’m going to kill you,” she launched herself at Sam but he easily grabbed hold of her arms and held her tight no matter how much she struggled against him. “Let go of me,” she demanded.

“No,” he said nuzzling her neck. “I forgot how much I enjoyed holding you.”

“Let her go,” Dean begged.

“Tie them both up,” Azazel instructed. “You still have one more psychic to kill and he’ll be here soon. Then you can kill them both.”

[hobbleit]

Chapter Ten

Sam had a difficult choice to make. Should he stay with the same people who had lied to him or go back to the people who had always loved him? He agonised over the decision for many hours before he came to a decision.

“Well, what have you decided to do?” Azazel asked him

“I don’t want to die,” he told him.

“So you’ve decided to stay with us then.”

“Yes, but let’s get one thing straight, you are not using me in any way, shape or form. If you do then I will not hesitate to kill you.”

“That sounds fair. Now what are we going to do about that brother of yours?”

“I have a plan.”

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“I never should have trusted you again, Sam,” Dean growled as Sam tied him arms behind his back. “I should have just shot you dead.”

“But you could have never done that,” Sam laughed. “We all know that you’re incapable of killing me, it just isn’t in your bones. Now be quiet before I’m forced to gag you as well,” he said as he started on Jess’ bonds.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I want to live,” he bluntly explained. “I was a dead man if I left so I made a deal.”

“Didn’t you ever learn not to make deals with demons? It’ll come back to haunt you.”

“I’m not that concerned,” he brushed Dean’s remarks off with a shrug.

“There never was a vision was there?”

“No, I just called him and asked him where they were. Now if you excuse me I have some catching up to do with Meg, if you know what I mean,” he told them before leaving the room and locking it behind him.

“I don’t believe it,” Dean said to Jess, his voice shaking. “I honestly thought he had changed,” his voice was quiet but filled with hurt and pain.

“I know I wanted to believe it too. I guess the pull of evil was too strong for him to resist.

“Yes it certainly was,” Azazel interrupted them as he walked into the room. “How are my two favourite hostages?”

“Go to hell,” Dean snarled at him.

“Yes Dean, you are very threatening,” he said sarcastically. “But it’s not going to do you any good. You’re both going to be dead soon and I for one cannot wait to see that happen. You have both been major pains in my ass and your deaths cannot come too soon.”

“Why don’t you just kill us now and save us from having to listen to your babbling,” Dean told him not even trying to hide the sarcasm and anger in his voice.

“I’m not going to kill you, Sam is. I wonder how he will do it. Maybe he’ll slit your throats or snap your necks or maybe he’ll shoot you. To be honest I don’t care, all I want is for it to be painful.”

“I can’t wait to kill you, you son of a bitch.”

“You are never going to see me dead never mind actually kill me, son.

“We’ll see about that.”

“Oh, I have no doubt we will,” he said as he moved to the door. “Whatever the conclusion, this will all be over very soon.”

“I hate him,” Dean told Jess once Azazel had left and he sat trying to free himself.

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Jess smiled.

“Yeah, it is. I can’t believe Sam could do this to us. I really thought he’d changed, that he was Sam again but I guess I was wrong.”

“You wanted to believe the best about him,” Jess consoled him. “You needed to believe you had your brother back.”

“More fool me then,” he gave a bittersweet smile.

“It’s not your fault, Dean. You didn’t make him the way he is, they did.”

“Then I guess they mean more to him than I do,” he spoke quietly with a hint of sadness and bitterness in his voice. He really had believed Sam had changed and it hurt more than he would ever let on that Sam could just betray them like that. “We’re not going to get out of this, are we?”

“You can’t think like that.”

“Why not, I feel like that. I can’t do this anymore, Jess. I don’t have the energy to fight anymore. I just want it to end.”

“Shh,” she comforted him as she shuffled over to him and placed her head on his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No it isn’t,” he sighed wearily. “No matter what happens it is not going to be okay.”

“You can’t think like that, you have to have some hope.”

“I don’t, Jess. I tried to have hope; Hell, these last two years I have had nothing but hope and it got me nowhere. I hoped that Sam would see the light and be himself again but it didn’t happen. I’m too tired to hope anymore. I just want it to be over.”

“You can’t think that way.”

“But before it is I just want you to know how thankful I am that I had you. You kept me going when I thought I couldn’t go on anymore and for that I am eternally grateful. I wish things could have turned out different. I wish you had never been dragged into my freaky world, maybe then you could’ve been happy.”

“Dean, you make me happy, you make me feel safe.”

“How can you feel happy around me? All I have ever done is bring you pain.”

“That’s not true and you know it, don’t put yourself down,” she vehemently told him. “You make me happy and nothing you can say will ever change that. You might have introduced me to this crazy world but you also protected me from it and whatever happens I just want you to know that I wouldn’t change a single moment of the last two years.”

“Really?” Dean sounded surprised.

“Really,” she paused. “Well, maybe not the near death stuff but everything else was good,” they both laughed.

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Sam had spent some time getting reacquainted with Meg. She had been happy to see him and was eager to have him kill Jake so they could move onto the next part of the plan but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun first. As she slept Sam quietly dressed as silently left the room. He had something he needed to do and he didn’t want to be interrupted. This task was of the utmost importance and if he couldn’t manage to carry it out then everything he had planned and worked towards was going to go to Hell.

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Sam re-entered the room a little while later and immediately went over to Jess. He picked her up by the waist.

“Hey, put me the hell down,” she screamed as he carried her out of the room. Dean immediately started struggling against his ropes, trying desperately to free himself but it was no use. He could hear Jess’ screams of protest until they were muffled. Sam reappeared soon after.

“She really does scream awfully loud, doesn’t she?”

“What have you done to her,” he yelled angrily.

“Nothing, I just moved her to another room and gagged her. We need to have a little chat.”

“No we don’t. We have nothing to talk about.”

“Yes we do,” he said as he leaned over his brother and cut his ropes. Dean looked shocked as he rubbed his sore wrists.

“Why did you do that?” He asked.

“I need you to do something for me,” Sam replied with no emotion in his voice. His eyes were a different matter; they shone with hope and pain.

“What would that be?” Dean stood up but kept his distance from his brother.

“I need you to take this and get the hell out of here,” Sam handed him a gun. It was the Colt.

“Sam, I don’t understand.”

“I’m going to leave the door unlocked for you then you can untie Jessica and leave. Please, you have to do this. Make sure he doesn’t get the Colt.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Azazel needs the Colt to open the Devil’s gate. Once he does that a demon army is going to be unleashed upon the world. If he doesn’t have the gun then he can’t do it.”

“No, I meant why are you setting us free?”

“Because I’m in too deep to stop now,” he explained. “If I kill Jake and Azazel unleashes the demon army then I will lead it, but if you stop him before he can then everything will be okay. You need to take the gun and hide until you get the opportunity to use it.”

“Okay,” Dean’s voice cracked. “Why do I get the feeling this is going to be the last time I ever see you.”

“Because it probably will be. Dean I need to tell you I’m sorry. I should never have brought you here but it was the only way I knew to get everyone in the same place.”

“I thought you were double crossing us but you were double crossing him.”

“I decided that I couldn’t trust him so I convinced him the only way to lure you here was if I went out there and brought you myself. I just wanted to see you both so desperately and tell you I was sorry. He believed me and let me go to you.”

“So you really meant it when you said you were sorry?”

“Yes, I’m sorry that I did this to you but I had to make him believe I was still on his side. I hope you can forgive me and not hate me too much.”

“Sam, I could never hate you, you’re my little brother and I would forgive you for anything,” Dean was a little surprised when Sam pulled him into a hug but he returned it as he felt tears trickle down his cheek.

“I can’t believe this is the end,” Dean said as he pulled away and wiped his eyes dry only for them to be replaced by more. He didn’t want to think this was the last time he would see Sam even though he had said so himself.

“Goodbye Dean, I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too,” he gave a small sob.

“You gotta promise me one thing though,” Sam said.

“What?”

“You gotta look after Jess. She’s an amazing girl and you have to be good to her.”

“I promise I will. I’ll make sure she’s happy.”

“Thank you,” Sam smiled. “Now you gotta go before he realises something’s wrong. Hurry.”

Sam left and Dean followed shortly after. He found Jess bound and gagged in a nearby room and he untied her before they quietly made their way out. Hearing something Dean pulled her into another room and they hid.

“What happened?” She whispered.

“Sam let me go.”

“What? Why?”

“It turns out he’s been plotting this all along. He brought us here to make Azazel think he was on his side but he really did so he could give us the Colt so we could take it,” Jess noticed the sadness in his voice as he spoke.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re never going to see him again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sam’s fairly convinced that this is the end,” he paused and resolved not to dwell on this. “Come on, we need to go,” he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.

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It turned out that Jake had been gifted with super strength and that was bad news for Sam. He threw him about like a rag doll and no amount of weapons would change the fact that Jake was just too strong. Sam knew he could never win but he did know he could keep all eyes on him to give Dean and Jess enough time to escape.

They both could hear Sam’s cries of pain and it caused them so much anguish. The house was like a maze but Dean could see the door to freedom. He pulled it open and they both ran to the car.

“Dean! RUN!” He heard Sam scream before he saw him. His little brother was beaten and bloody and running towards them.

“SAMMY!” Dean cried as he saw a man come up behind him. Sam just had time to turn around before the man pulled out a knife and slid it effortlessly into Sam’s stomach. “NO!” Dean yelled as Sam fell to the ground with a lifeless thud. He just lay there and didn’t move. Dean knew he was dead but he didn’t want to believe it. “SAMMY!”

[hobbleit]

Chapter Eleven

“SAMMY!” Dean cried and tried to run over to his brother’s lifeless form but he was stopped by Jess grabbing hold of his arm.

“Dean,” she pleaded. “We have to go before they catch us.” Dean made no attempt to move so Jess had to use all her strength to drag him to the Impala. She helped him into the passenger seat before speeding off as quickly as she could.

Jess decided that going to Bobby’s house was the best idea, he could help them figure out what to do. Dean didn’t speak for the entire journey; he just sat there completely in shock. He had just witnessed the death of his baby brother and his brain couldn’t quite process it. Jess didn’t try to make him talk she just let him sit there. She wanted to cry so badly but she had to hold it together for Dean, breaking down wouldn’t help him in anyway so she resolved to stay strong. For him.

“Hey Dean we’re here,” she said softly once they reached Bobby’s house. He didn’t react to anything she said. Knowing she didn’t have the energy to carry him to the house, she went to fetch Bobby.

Bobby heard the incessant knocking on the door and went to see who it was. When he opened the door he was confronted by a very distressed looking Jess.

“Jess, what’s goin’ on?”

“I need your help,” she let herself cry. “Sam’s dead and Dean won’t talk. I don’t know what to do.”

“Where is Dean?”

“He’s in the car. I drove all night to get here.”

“You go inside, I’ll go and get Dean,” he told her. She nodded and went inside to wait for Bobby to return. He did a few minutes later carrying a limp and motionless Dean. He gently dropped him into a chair and turned to Jess for an explanation. Dean did not respond at all the entire time Jess was explaining what had happened to Bobby.

When she had finished Bobby lowered himself into a chair, not trusting himself to be able to stand any longer. He couldn’t believe what Jess was telling him. Sam was dead.

“What do we do now, Bobby?” Jess asked; her voice small and childlike. She was lost and she had no idea what to do next. In situations like this she would turn to Dean for help and advice but he was unable to do anything right now.

“We need to prepare to fight,” Bobby told her; burying his grief and pain and took charge of the situation. “They’ll know by now that you have the Colt and they’ll be coming to take it back. We need to make sure they don’t.”

“I don’t know if I have the strength to fight anymore,” she admitted. “I’m so tired.”

“I know you are but you just have to hold on just a little longer.”

“Ok,” she stood up and moved towards Dean, kneeling down and staring him in the eyes. “Dean,” she whispered. “Can you hear me?” Dean lifted his head slightly and met her eyes. “How are you?”

“Jess?” He croaked. It was the first time he had spoken since he had witnessed the death of his brother.

“Yes, it’s me,” she told him. “Dean we need to get ready.”

“Ready for what?” He asked his voice hesitant and uncertain.

“We need to get ready to fight. They’ll be here soon and we need to stop them from taking the Colt.”

“No,” he disagreed. “We can’t fight, we can’t win,” tears began to flow down his face. “They killed Sam,” the tone of his voice broke Jess’ heart; he sounded so broken she didn’t know if he could ever get over this.

“I know,” she soothed, pulling him into a hug. He buried his face into her neck and sobbed his heart out. “But we need to fight. Sam told you to make sure they didn’t get their hands on the Colt and we need to honour that.”

“I can’t,” he sobbed. “I can’t fight anymore.”

“You have to. Just one more time. All you have to do is hold on for a little longer. Once it’s over then we can stop hunting, we can give this all up but you need to fight first. Can you do that?” Dean thought about it for a moment before nodding his head.

“Just this once,” he whispered.

“Okay, let’s get ready to fight then,” Bobby interrupted. “Jess, salt the doors and windows, Dean you can help me with the devil’s traps.”

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“How are you doing?” Bobby asked Dean as he painted yet another devil’s trap. Dean had been quiet, concentrating far too much on what he was doing and not talking.

“Hmm?” Dean responded, not really paying Bobby any attention.

“I said how are you doing?” The older hunter repeated.

“I’m all right,” Dean tried to sound convincing with this statement but he failed miserably.

“Don’t lie to me, boy. I know you’re not doin’ so good so don’t even try to hide it.”

“Okay, I’m not all right. I’m not okay in the slightest. I couldn’t save him Bobby.”

“Dean, you did save him,” Bobby told him, resting his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “He wasn’t evil when he died; he tried his hardest to help you.”

“But he still died,” Dean’s voice cracked but he was trying his hardest to keep his emotions in check. It wasn’t the time to break down, even though that was all he wanted to do.

“That wasn't your fault and you know it. You have to stop them from taking the Colt, it’s what Sam wanted.”

“I know,” Dean sighed and went back to his painting.

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They arrived as night descended. Azazel and the man who had stabbed Sam stood outside Bobby’s house, waiting.

“What are they waiting for?” Jess asked.

“I don’t know, maybe they’re trying to unnerve us,” Dean replied.

“Well it’s working,” Dean turned to Jess and gave her a reassuring smile. She returned it with a nervous one.

“Don’t worry,” he told her, taking hold of her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“They’re movin’ in,” Bobby said and they prepared to fight. They knew that the salt would not stop them; Jake was human and therefore not affected by the salt so once he broke the salt line Azazel was able to move into the house freely.

Jess heard Dean cock his gun and she did the same. They all lifted their guns and pointed them at Jake.

“Well, well, isn’t this a welcome,” Azazel laughed, he wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of them. “I have to say I’m disappointed you didn’t put a little more effort into it,” he raised his arm and cracking the ceiling, breaking the devil’s trap. “It’s pathetic really.”

“You won’t be saying that when you’re dead,” Dean said with more conviction than he actually felt at that moment.

“Oh please, like you’re actually going to kill me. Pretty soon you’ll be joining your brother.”

“Shut up,” Dean growled through gritted teeth.

“Did I hit a nerve? Looks like Sammy wasn't strong enough to win,” he teased. “I think Jake should finish you all off.”

“I think Jake should die,” Dean said as he pointed the gun at the young man.

“You won’t kill him, you don’t have the nerve.”

“Do you really want to bet on that?”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Azazel laughed as he stepped up behind Jake and snapped his neck. “I don’t need him anymore.” Dean, Jess and Bobby stood there shocked at what they had just seen. They had thought he needed Jake to open the Devil’s Gate but for some reason he had decided that it wasn’t the case anymore. “Now, I don’t know how you got a hold of the Colt but I want it back. Now.”

“You don’t know?” Dean said, with a hint of a laugh. He didn’t know that it was Sam who had given them the Colt and Dean was glad. Azazel still believed that Sam had been on their side when he had been killed.

“No and to be perfectly honest I don’t really care. I just want it back.”

“Well that ain’t gonna happen,” Bobby told him.

“I’m going to kill you first,” Azazel pointed at Bobby. “Then you,” he pointed at Jess. “I want Dean to watch you both die before I end his pathetic and miserable life.”

Dean grew very angry at that point and abandoning all pretence of calm, he launched himself at Azazel; who easily swatted him off and into the wall.

“Or maybe I should just kill you first and save me a lot of time and trouble,” he laughed as he picked Dean up and pinned him to the wall.

“Go to hell,” Dean snarled as he struggled to free himself from Azazel’s grasp.

“You first,” he threw Dean across the room again and he landed in a heap on the floor. “You really are a pathetic excuse for a human, you know that?” He said as he punched Dean in the gut. Bobby attempted to pull him off but Azazel easily stopped him and pinned him to the wall. “You’re all pathetic, now give me the Colt.”

“Why don’t you get it yourself,” he heard a voice come from behind him. Jess was stood over him pointing the Colt right at his head. Azazel stood up and laughed.

“Do you really think you are going to kill me?”

“I think I don’t have to.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Azazel did not realise that Jess was just distracting him to give Dean a chance to stand up.

“I mean this,” she said as she threw the Colt to Dean who caught it, pointed it at Azazel and before he had a chance to react; Dean had fired the gun, the bullet hitting Azazel right in the chest. He looked shocked before he dropped to the floor dead. Bobby crashed to the ground with a thud as he was released from the Yellow Eyed Demon’s hold. Dean lowered himself into a chair, placing the Colt on the table and lowering his head next to it.

“It’s over,” he whispered.

“Yes it is,” Jess replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dean was exhausted. He couldn’t remember the last time he had managed to sleep and the last few days had really taken their toll on him. Bobby suggested they stay for a couple of days to recuperate and Dean wasn’t going to argue with him. While Bobby disposed of the two corpses, Dean and Jess attempted to sleep but it wouldn’t come. Jess was curled up in Dean’s arms and she could feel how tense he was. He was barely holding it together.

“What do you think he meant?” She asked.

“What?” Dean replied, confused at what she meant.

“What do you think he meant when he said he didn’t need Jake anymore? I thought he needed him to open the Devil’s Gate so why would he kill him?”

“I don’t know what he meant,” Dean answered honestly. “To be honest I don’t care anymore. He’s dead so it really isn’t our problem.”

“You’re right, I was just wondering.” She paused and sighed before asking, “How are you holding up?”

“Not so good,” Dean knew that trying to lie to Jess was completely futile so he answered her honestly. “I still can’t believe he’s actually gone. When he was evil I could imagine being able to save him and he would still be alive, but he’s dead so I don’t even have that small comfort anymore.”

‘I’m here for you,” she told him but he already knew that.

“I know you are and I’m thankful for that. I don’t think I could do it on my own.” Dean had the overwhelming urge to break down in tears but he held them in. He wasn’t one for showing his emotions and instead chose to bury them deep inside him.

“I’m always going to be here for you, no matter what.”

“Thank you, I really needed to hear that. I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”

“Do what anymore?” It was Jess’ turn to be confused.

“I don’t think I can hunt anymore. I’ve been feeling like this since dad died but now that Sam is dead too my heart just isn’t in it.”

“Then what do you want to do instead?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really known anything other than this life but I know that I can’t do it anymore.”

“Whatever you decide I’m here for you,” she said cuddling closer to him and he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I’ll stand by you whatever.”

“Thank you.”

“You can cry you know. I won’t think any less of you. He was your brother and you need to grieve for him.” Dean lay quiet for a moment before he let everything go. All the pain and anger at his brother’s death came flowing out of him as he finally embraced his grief and cried his heart out. Jess just hugged him and comforted him until he quieted and finally accepted the pull of sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They went back to the house to find Sam’s body but it was gone. They thought that the demons must have disposed of it after they had run off but neither one of them said it out loud.

“Do you know what you want to do now?” Jess asked Dean, her hand entwined with his.

“Find the nearest bar and get very drunk,” Dean said with mock seriousness.

“That sounds fun, but seriously what’s the plan?”

“I don’t know. My whole life all I ever had to hold onto was killing that Yellow Eyed son of a bitch and now he’s gone I don’t have that. For the first time ever I don’t have a plan and it feels good.”

“Well, you just let me know when you decide.”

“I will.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meg watched them leave with a look of disgust on her face. She was angry that they had managed to steal the Colt and kill her father. She was determined to have her revenge against them, but she would have to be patient and wait.

The time would come and she would be triumphant. She would make sure of that and she had the perfect plan for carrying it out. All she needed was one man and he would be ready soon enough.

[cooldudet]

omg I just read this one and the previously one the seeker
and omg
I freaking cried

[hobbleit]

thanks. I cried when I wrote this too

[supernaturalfreak8]

I just got through reading the Seeker, followed by this one and I gotta say, they're just plain out awesome! I love the fact that Dean and Jess are together in these fics. I feel so bad for Dean in this one though, losing both John and Sammy.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next chapter

[hobbleit]

Thank

I have been writing more but I still haven't got it done (one of the problems of writing more than one fic at once) but I will get the next installment posted soon.

It even has a title now. It's called the Stealer (My tradition of stealing titlfrom rock songs continues )