"Okay, guys. Next question!" I grinned, looking into the pouring rain for a moment while I was thinking. "Who would win a fight, Liam or Ash?"

"Easy," Sam puffed. "Liam." 

"Don't let appearances fool you, Sammy," I laughed. 

"You're kidding, right?" Dean mused. "Ash is a twig. Liam would snap him in two."

"What if I told you they have fought once and that Ash won?"

"No," Sam said, leaning over the bench seat to look at me. "That can't be true."

"Are you calling me a liar?" I asked, raising a brow at him. I stared into his eyes with amusement once he realized I was serious. "Ash took him down like a tree. It was hilarious. I would pay good money to see it again." 

Sam barked out laughter, trying to imagine it, and I took my opportunity to mess with his hair. He immediately retreated to the back seat, pulling a hand through his hair. Dean just chuckled. 

"Okay," Sam continued after a moment. "Who would win a fight between a... werewolf and vampire."

"Oh, so we're following the topic of mortal enemies?" I mused. I thought about the question for a moment. "Warewolf," I declared. "There is something about the raw animal instinct that I feel would overpower the walking dead.

"I'm with Will on this one," Dean nodded in agreement, flashing me a grin. We passed a sign telling us there was a roadside diner up ahead. "I'm starving; you guys want anything to eat?" 

"I can eat," I declared, and Sam nodded his agreement. 

"We should get it to go, though; I wanna find a motel before dawn." 

"Oh, too bad I can't get my new shoes wet," I said, smirking back to the back seat. 

Sam rolled his eyes at me, knowing I was lying. "I'll go get it. The usual?"

"Yeah," Dean and I said in chorus. Dean turned the music up as we drove the last kilometer.

When we pulled up to the 'Sunnyside diner's parking lot, Boston was playing on the radio, and I hummed along from the passenger seat—enjoying how easy everything felt. The drumming of the rain against the car, the light tapping of Dean's thumb against the steering wheel, the car games we had played all day.

"Hey, don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?" Dean turned to tell Sam and handed him a few bills for our food. 

"Dude, I'm the one who's gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions," Sam complained from the backseat but opened the door with a sigh when Dean flashed him a smile. 

Just as Sam was going to shut the door, Dean remembered something and turned back to tell him out the open door. "Hey, see if they've got any pie." I rolled my eyes. Sam bent down to look at his brother and gave him a look that could be described somewhere between an eye roll and a bitcheye. "Bring me some pie!" Dean called out again, even though Sam had already shut the door. The older hunter then turned his attention back to me. I looked at him with a raised brow as he cranked the volume up. "I love me some pie," he mumbled and pulled me closer. 

I giggled when his lips met mine and cast a quick look into the cafe to make sure Sam wasn't coming back out yet. I turned back to Dean's hungry lips and let him engulf me in the kiss. His hand found the back of my neck. He tasted sweet, probably from the candy we had shared a while earlier. His other hand found my waist and I tilted my head to the side to give him access to my jaw and neck. He didn't waste any time and began to prop kisses wherever he could reach. 

"Tonight, you and I get a room of our own," he told me. I didn't mind and couldn't fight the smile that broke out when he pulled back and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Are you okay?" He asked, and his deep, green eyes looked into mine, filled with worry. "I know we haven't had that much time to talk since the Djinn..."

"I'm fine," I interrupted. "I don't wanna talk about it." 

"You're the reason I fought so hard to get out, you know. You and Sammy."

"Lier, you said you couldn't stand the thought of all the people you saved being dead," I countered.

"Yeah, that too..." He trailed off and leaned back into the seat. "I couldn't find you. But I kept seeing visions of you. I thought you were a ghost."

"I said I don't want to talk about it."

"You were the one person I missed. Had you been there, I wouldn't have left," he confessed, ignoring my plea. It was a scary thought, never having Dean back.

"I love you," I whispered, moving closer. 

"I love you. So freaking much. I..." I shut him up by placing my lips on his again.

Suddenly the music in the car shifted to static. Dean began to tap it to make it work again, but then it turned off completely. We met each other's eyes, and while I turned to look over my shoulder, Dean looked into the diner.

"Will!" He hurried out of the car, and once I noticed that the diner seemed completely empty, I followed him. 

Stepping inside the diner, I first noticed the man with his face down on the table, surrounded by blood. He was obviously dead, and a chilling fear spread through me as Dean and I made out way further in.

We drew our guns in a silent understanding.

"Sam?" Dean called, but there was no answer. The only sound was the music playing from the speakers and that of something burning on the grill.

I glanced around the counter and noticed the waiter and chef lying on the ground with their throats slit. 

"Shit." Blood still leaked out on the floor around them.

We went around back, but there was no one else in the building. 

"Sam?!" Dean called out through the back door. Thunder and pouring rain was his only answer. Dean went to close the door again but halted mid-movement. 

"What?" I asked, watching as he examined something on his fingertips.

"Sulfur." Realization hit us both simultaneously, and we raced back out of the building as a new terror gripped my sanity.

"Sam!" I called out into the night. 

"Sam! Sammy!" Dean yelled, looking around for his little brother. "Sam? Sammy!" We passed the car, looking out into the darkness, searching for the long-haired, twenty-three-year-old hunter. "SAAAAM!" 

"Dean, he's not here." I placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but I felt my own panic rise. "If demons took him, he is long gone. He has his anti-possession amulet, right?"

Dean turned, hands in his hair. "Yeah. Yeah. We gotta move. We need to find him." 

"We'll start placing calls. Call everyone you know, and ask if they know anything. If they came to get Sam... Something is starting." I looked at the dark sky just as a lightning strike illuminated the sky. 

"What?"

"Electrical storm." Dean's eyes snapped to mine in a silent understanding.

---

"This is it. All demonic signs and omens over the past month," Bobby told us as he spread a map out over the impala. Both men stood bent over it, looking at it. I already knew it was empty; I'd kept tabs on the omens and knew it had been quiet.

"Are you joking? There's nothing here," Dean pointed out. 

"Exactly," the older hunter confirmed, and I had to hold back an 'I told you so'. We had driven all night to meet up with Bobby halfway to his home in South Dakota so that he could help us.

"Well, come on, there's gotta be something. What about the, the, the normal, low-level stuff? You know, exorcisms, that kind of thing," Dean pressed.

"That's what I'm telling you: there's nothing. It's completely quiet," Bobby said ominously.

"Well, how are we supposed to look for Sam? What, do we just close our eyes and point?" 

I ran a hand over my hair and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but I knew I failed when my hands still didn't stop shaking.

My phone rang, and I flipped it open before the first ring. "Talk to me, Ash."

"Okay, listen, it's a big negatory on Sam—"

"You've got to give me something. Were searching blindly here!" I snapped, my stress getting the better of me.

"Listen, Will. I did find something," Ash told me.

"What?"

"I can't talk over this line, Will. You know how it is."

"This is the one time I don't care. We don't have the time," I hissed.

"Make time, okay? Because this –" He became silent for a second before saying something to a customer at the roadhouse. "Not only does this almost definitely help you find Sam, this is, ah, it's huge. So get here. Now."

I snapped the phone shut and turned to the hunters beside me. "We need to get to the roadhouse. Ash said he got information for us."

Bobby had taken his own car to meet us and old Pic up that he'd parked at the side of the road, but now we all piled into the Impala. I took the backseat, keeping my laptop on and searching for anything I could that might help. The only problem was that it was the same things I had been searching for since I discovered everything with Sam, and I still had nothing. 

We drove for what felt like an eternity, but it was only a couple of hours. I rubbed a hand over my face once I recognized the surroundings. We'd soon be there. 

When we pulled up to where the roadhouse was supposed to stand, I blinked, not comprehending the sight in front of me. This can't be happening.

"What the hell?" Dean mumbled, and I was out of the car before it had come to a stop. 

"Ash!" I called, running into the remains of the building. It had burned down. There was almost nothing left. "Ash!"

The wood must have burned hard and fast because there was no roof left, barely any walls. All I could see when I stepped inside was debris and charred bodies. The smell of smoke stung my nose, and the smoldering wood was still hot.

"Oh, my God," Bobby said behind me.

"You see Ellen?" Dean asked. I continued inside to where Ash's room used to be, but that part of the building was completely gone.

"No. No Ash, either," Bobby answered. 

Then I saw it—Ash's watch. Sinking down on my knees by the black burned arm, I was suddenly glad the rest of the body was covered by the remains of the roof. 

"Oh, Ash, damn it!" Dean swore behind me. 

"I gave him that watch," I told him, not taking my eyes off the coal that used to be my best friend. "He never took it off." 

"Will," Dean's voice was soft. "I'm so sorry." 

"At least he doesn't need a hunter's funeral." I stood up again, trying to seem unaffected. Something inside of me had broken. I felt it. Ash had taken care of me while I was at my worst. He had seen me at my best. He had been a constant in my life. And now he was gone. 

Carefully I reached down and removed the watch from the arm, snapping it on my own wrist. It was a promise. "I'm so sorry," I whispered to the wind before allowing Dean to steer me back out to the car. Away from death and destruction. I angrily wiped away a stray tear with the back of my hand. Now was not the time to break apart. I was going to find Sam first. Sammy needed me to keep it together. It was the only thing that made me put one foot in front of the other. 

"This is... " Bobby trailed off as he reached us. There were no words.

"What the hell did Ash know? We've got no way of knowing where Ellen is. Or if she's even alive. We've got no clue what Ash was gonna tell us. Now, how the hell are we gonna find Sam?" Dean rambled anxiously. 

"We'll find him," Bobby said decisively. 

Dean placed a hand on his forehead, and it took me a second to realize that it was because he was in pain.

"Dean?" I asked, stepping closer. 

His whole body tensed, and his knees looked like they were about to give out.

"Dean?" Bobby called.

"No," Dean mumbled in pain, shaking his head as if ridding himself of the pain. Instead, he doubled over, but it was over as fast as it had started.

"What was that?" Bobby demanded to know.

"I don't know. A headache?" Dean answered with furrowed brows.

"You get headaches like that a lot?"

"No. Must be the stress," Dean claimed, trying to chalk it up to nothing. "I could have sworn I saw something." He ran a hand over his face. I gave Bobby a knowing look, and we had a silent understanding.

"Do you mean like a vision?" I asked tentatively.

"What? No!"

"Sounds like it," I pressed.

"Come on, I'm not some psychic."

Suddenly he fell against the car, clutching his head again. I was by his side in a heartbeat, but I knew there was nothing I could do but wait until it passed. As I felt utterly useless, Dean groaned in pain. I stroked his back and clutched his shoulder in support, cursing under my breath.

"Dean? Dean! Are you with us?" Bobby asked with concern. 

"Yeah, I think so. I saw Sam. I saw him, Bobby," Dean finally said, resting his head against the hood of his car before slowly getting back up.

"It was a vision," Bobby surmised. I nodded, locking eyes with the blue-eyed man. This happened to Sam when he had visions as well.

"Yeah," Dean grunted. "I don't know how, but yeah. Whew." His eyes locked on mine, and I saw the toll the vision had taken on him. He was pale and sweaty and looked like he needed two days of sleep. But the last part could be because Sam was missing. "That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels," he drawled.

"Get to the point, Dean," I begged. "What did you see?"

"Uh... there was a bell," Dean began to tell us, cutting off my line of thought.

"What kind of bell?" Bobby pressed.

"Like a big bell with some kind of engraving on it, I don't know."

"Engraving?" Bobby narrowed his eyes. My brain raced with thoughts and possibilities.

"Yeah."

"Do you mean like an oak tree?" I asked, landing on a possible answer. Both men's eyes locked on me.

"Yeah, exactly." Dean looked me up and down, and I nodded, already making my way to the driverside of the car.

"Cold Oak, South Dakota, the most haunted town in America," I spat out and got into the car. "Hurry up!"

To my surprise, Dean didn't argue when I slipped in behind the wheel. Even Bobby gave him a surprised look, but they both kept quiet, and I stepped on the gas. 

"I know you've taken it easy on my baby the other times you've been behind the wheel, Will. But please don't hold back this time," Dean ordered.

I didn't smile, didn't talk, but I heard him, and I drove like the car was on fire. I could hear Bobby curse from the back seat in every turn I took. Both he and Dean had to hold on so they didn't get flung around in the car, and suddenly, I was pushing the limit of what the car could take. Darkness fell, but I didn't slow down. Instead, I pressed the car a little further.

"This is taking too long," I grumbled.

---

I missed the exit I was supposed to take and swerved around, feeling the car do a 180 before I turned down the dirt road leading to the old abandoned town of Cold Oak. I slowed down and came to a stop right in front of a tree that had fallen over the road. 

"Fuck!" I yelled, slapping the wheel. 

We all got out of the car, and while Dean and Bobby looked at the tree and declared that we had to go the rest of the way on foot, I opened up the weapons compartment and geared up. Shotguns filled with salt, my gun in my waistline, iron knives. 

Dean and Bobby grabbed their guns as well, and then we were off with a "Let's go" from Dean.

We made out way through the woods. It was dark, and the rain had already soaked us, but the second we reached the buildings that made up the small town of Cold Oak, we began to call out for the youngest Winchester.

"Sam!" Dean bellowed as loud as he could. We had slowed our sprint as we reached the end of the woods when we saw him.

Sam began to make his way toward us. He was clutching his arm and staggering as if he was hurt. 

"Dean!" He called back in relief as if he had been waiting for us. He walked towards us, exhausted, and I wondered what the hell had happened to him.

A movement behind him made me look past him, and what I saw made my blood chill. A man I didn't know moved towards Sam, and even in the dark, I could see the dirty knife in his grasp. 

"Sam, look out!" Dean warned, but I was already sprinting towards them. Had Sam not been in the way, I would have picked up my gun and shot the dark shadow racing towards him, but it was too much of a risk.

The man was upon Sam before he had the time to react, and I saw as he plunged the knife into Sam Winchester's back. The hunter writhed in pain, scrunching his face together as his knees gave out. 

"Noooo!" Dean screamed in the most heartbreaking growl I'd ever heard. I could feel my vision darken around the edges as my panic reached its peak. 

The man pulled the knife from Sam's back and took off running as Sam fell to his knees. I reached Sam at the same time as Dean, and while Dean slumped down to take care of his brother, I pulled out my gun and fired after the man who plunged a knife into Sam Winchester's back. 

None of my bullets hit him, and Bobby soon raced past me to take up the hunt.

"No, Sam!" Dean gripped his brother's shirt to try and keep him up, but Sam just slumped against him, moaning in pain.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sam. Sam! Hey! Hey, hey. Come here. Let me look at you." I fell to my knees beside them and watched as Dean placed his hand over the wound on Sam's back, drawing it back covered in blood. 

I stared at the placement of the wound, the amount of blood already discoloring his jacked, and I knew. 

"No. No, no, no," I whispered quietly to myself, unable to do anything but stare at the scene in front of me in shock. I had failed. I had failed. I fell back to sit on my butt, my hands gripping my hair so tightly I wondered if I would pull it out.

"Hey, look at me. It's not even that bad," Dean told Sam, but I knew he was just trying to convince himself. He didn't get a response. "It's not even that bad, all right? Sammy? Sam!" Dean held Sam up so he could look at him, but his little brother couldn't keep his head up anymore. His eyes just rolled around, unable to focus. "Hey, listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay? You'll be good as new. Huh? I'm gonna take care of you," Dean continued. "I'm gonna take care of you. I've got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother?" He touched Sam's face, almost smiling, but it came out as a grimace. "Sam? Sam! Sam! Sammy!"

Sam's eyes slid shut, and his body went completely slack.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no," Dean repeated. Over and over as realization hit. "Oh, God." He caught Sammy in a hug, placing his hand on the back of his brother's head, but it was already too late. "Oh, God." He began to rock him back and forth, and tears slid down his face as Sam slowly faded. He gripped him tightly, not knowing where to hold him—not knowing how to make anything better. He couldn't. 

And I just sat there next to them. Utterly useless. 

Sam was dead. 

And I was useless.

And Dean was broken.

And Sam was dead.

"SAM!"