A Long Hunt

The King With Wings

The Impala sped over the hill and finally the full view of the warehouse came into sight.

Dean's jaw went slack as he saw the sea of black waiting for them. There were at least twenty demons outside guarding the warehouse and they all seemed to be just anticipating a fight the same. Some of them had guns, some knifes, and others had weapons that resembled medieval torture devices.

"Oh fuck." Dean breathed as he pulled over by the side of the road. There was no way that they could all make it out of this alive could they?

“Oh my god…. All of them are demons…” Heather gasped in shock. “Why are there so many of them topside? They’re hideous!”

“I have no fucking clue…” Dean said before taking in a deep breath and putting baby into park.

"We're fucked." Gabriel said making the atmosphere increasingly grim.

“No shit Gabe.” Sam said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Well…. we have two options...." Dean said as plans began swimming through his head. "We can either ride baby into the lot guns blazing, or we can snipe them off one by one."

The car was quiet as the considered their options.

"Or we could just leave and not come back!" Heather said as her voice squeaked in fright. "That's always an option too."

"We can't." Sam said with his eyes fixed on the sight ahead of them. "We have to fight them. Crowley will never leave us alone if we don't stop him here and now."

Dean’s knew Sam was right but his stomach suddenly twisted in pain as a sick thought crossed his mind. They were all more than likely going to die on this trip and they were dragging a 16 year old girl down this Godforsaken path with them. It wasn’t right. Even though she didn’t have any family to go back to she still had so many opportunities. Dean remembered all the drawings on the walls of the insane asylum; she could make a career for herself out of that.

He didn’t want to be like John by just dragging an innocent kid along with them on countless dangerous missions.

Dean looked in the rear mirror and saw the fear and uncertainty clearly plastered across her face. He pursed his lips and sighed lightly before saying, “Heather, you don’t have to do this.”

“Dean!” Sam’s voice punctured the air as he tried to understand what his brother was doing.

 Dean gave Sam a look that made him shut up instantly as he continued to speak, “We shouldn’t have dragged you into this in the first place. This is our fight. You’ve got so much to live for. I will let you off right here, right now. I’ll give you enough cash to rent a place for a while. Then you go get a job, go to school, make friends, and eventually start a family.” He paused before adding, “Your worth so much more alive than dead.”

The car fell into an eerie silence as Dean’s words hung in the air like syrup. It was almost enough to send a shiver down Dean’s spine as he let the silence carry on. He knew that they needed her on this hunt, but they could find a way without her. Dean was tired of letting others be sacrificed for their own safety. That had happened far too many times. He though their motto was ‘Saving people’ not ‘Sacrificing good people so the Winchesters can survive’.

He knew that Sam was shooting daggers into the side of his head but he also knew that Sam realized this was the right thing to do. None of them wanted to lose her after pulling her in so far. They didn’t want to give up now but Dean didn’t care. He wanted to give Heather the choice that him and Sammy never had the luxury of making.