A Hunters Heart

Stand Next to Fire Portal

Sam was startled by Lexi grabbing his wrist, but he was even more startled when she showed him where she had been living. A run down van was doubling as her home. For how long, the hunter had no idea, but even if it were just for a few days, that would have been too long.
But the pride in her smile as she revealed the fake wall of the van gave Sam pause. She was practically jumping up and down as she asked Sam what he thought of it. He chuckled as he saw the obviously hand-made pockets that fit the machetes perfectly. The dead man's blood that lined the floor and the boxes of ammunition that were stacked high seemed like they were put there with tetris-like precision. On the other side of the van, boxes of cereal and bottles of water were strewn about, mostly packed up against the wall. Sam tried to maintain a smile as he wondered what kind of position she was in. The Winchester brothers hadn't had a home since Sam was 6 months old, but they had never been homeless. Not like Lexi. But then, this could be her home. Sam was contemplating what Lexi's life had been like when he realized he had not acknowledged the huntress's unspoken question.
"I love it!" Sam said, and relief washed over Lexi, who had been waiting anxiously for Sam to react. "How long have you been living here?"
"For a while..." Lexi responded. It was obvious she had no desire to talk about her current living situation, so Sam backed off.
"This is awesome!" Sam said. He gestured to the van as he tried to change topics. "How did you convince Dean to let you bring it here?"
"I didn't." Lexi said, sitting down on the truck bed, "He just said that I could."
"He does have a soft spot for cars."
"I could tell. He was practically stroking that Impala!" Lexi laughed. Sam chuckled at this too, but he was cut off by his phone ringing. He picked it up and told Lexi to go inside. Lexi wasn't happy with this order and protested. She refused to leave from her now leaning position in the bed of her car.
"I have to talk to him!" Sam said. He pointed to the entrance into the bunker expecting Lexi to use it, but she only responded with a question.
"Who!?"
"Hey Kevin!" Sam quickly covered the receiver of the phone to whisper something to Lexi. He's a prophet! he mouthed/whispered. This caused her face to pale as she realized the possible significance of such a caller. She turned and left, allowing Sam to start a conversation on the phone. "Did you find anything?"
"Yeah, um...." Kevin trailed off, leaving Sam guessing.
"Kev?" Sam asked, "you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. The Tablet just got harder to read... weird. Anyway, it wasn't even in the tablets. I remember reading something about a backdoor to hell in a book."
"A book?"
"Yeah, it was in the bunker. In the Men of Letters index, it was called something like 'Stand... stand next to fire portal."
"Stand next to fire portal?" Sam said, doubt dripping from every syllable.
"I don't know! It was in latin, I don't remember!"
"Wait, was it 'Stans ad Inferna Porta'?"
"Yeah! That was it! How did you know?"
"You're not the only one who speaks latin, Kevin. Thanks so much!"
"Anytime. See ya'."
"See ya'."
Sam ran into the bunker, knowing exactly what he needed and where it was.