No Regrets ~ Dean Winchester

VI

A few days later, Alex and the Winchesters pulled up to a cafe in the middle of nowhere, while it was dark and raining. “Hey, don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?” Dean told Sam, handing him a twenty. 

“Dude, I'm the one who's gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions.” 

Alex popped her head between the boys, “You're not the only one, Sammy. Get me a cheeseburger.” Dean just grinned as Sam sighed and opened the door.

“Hey, see if they got any pie.” Dean said as Sam stepped out, his younger brother glaring at him before slamming the door. “Bring me some pie! Love me some pie.”

“You and your pie… can I have some?”

“No you should've ordered your own friggin’ pie.” Alex slouched back with a pout. Dean turned up the radio, the song blaring through the speaker, as he watched Sam go into the dinner. A moment later, the radio turned staticy, making Alex sit up as Dean fiddled with it until it turned off completely. They both glanced up at the dinner to see it empty. Dean and Alex quickly climbed out of the car and ran into the dinner, drawing their guns when they saw a man slumped over in a pool of blood. 

“Sam?” Dean called out, creeping through the dinner with Alex following behind him, her senses on high alert. They walked around the counter to find the employees with their throats slit and laying on the floor; they continued to the back door, Dean pushing it open and calling out for Sam. When he closed the door, he noticed a residue on the sill.

“Sulfur,” he whispered, giving Alex a worried look. They ran back out to the car, calling for Sam, but there was no sight of the tall Winchester.

“I’m calling Bobby.” Alex said, fishing her phone out of her pocket and hitting speed dial one. “Bobby,” she said as soon as the line picked up, “We lost Sam."

"You lost Sam?"

"Yeah, Dean and I think Demons took him."

"Are you sure?"

"There’s sulfur in the diner we’re at. Can you meet us by the motel on route sixty-five?"

"Yeah, I'll leave now."

"Great, see you soon.” She hung up and looked over to Dean, “Bobby’s on his way.”

“Good. I called Ash to see what he can find.” Dean replied, walking over to the driver’s door, climbing in. Alex got in the passenger side, slamming the door closed just as Dean took off down the road. It was daylight when they met Bobby on the side of the highway. The three of them were looking over a map that Bobby brought with him. 

“This is it. All demonic signs and omens over the past month.” Bobby said, pointing to the map, but there was nothing to show.

“Are you joking? There’s nothing here.” Dean said, Alex could tell he was panicking.

“Exactly.”

“Well, come on, there’s gotta be something. What about the normal, low-level stuff? You know, exorcisms, that kind of thing.”

“That’s what I’m telling you--there’s nothing. It’s completely quiet.”

“Well, how are we supposed to look for Sam? What, do we just close our eyes and point?” Dean’s phone started ringing; he fished it out, answering it, “Ash, what do you got?... oh, come on man! You’ve gotta give us something here… well, what?... Come on, I don’t have time for this!” Ash says something more before Dean hung up, “I guess we’re going to the Roadhouse. Come on.” He got behind the wheel while Bobby took shotgun, and Alex climbed in the back. Dean sped off down the road as soon as Alex was in, leaving Bobby’s truck behind.

When they turned the corner to the Roadhouse, the three stared in shock at the burnt down building. “What the hell?” Dean voiced everyone’s thoughts. They got out of the car and began walking through the debris.

“Oh my god.” Bobby breathed out in shock.

“You see Ellen?” Dean asked as he walked a different direction from Bobby and Alex.

“No. No Ash, either.” Bobby replied. Alex looked around at the wreckage, emotions bubbling up in her chest. She always loved the Roadhouse; Ellen, Jo, and Ash had become her family after the few times she stayed there as a kid while Bobby went on hunts and she would stop in while on a job.

“Oh, Ash, damn it!” Dean said as soon as he saw Ash’s watch attached to his burnt corpse. They walked back out to the Impala. 

“This is…” Bobby trailed off at a loss for 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. His panic was making Alex panic as well; she was worried for her favorite giant.

“We’ll find him.” Alex assured, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, Dean clutched his head in pain, groaning, “Dean?” he doubled over the hood of the Impala, then stood up again.

“What was that?” Bobby asked.

“I don’t know. A headache?”

“You get headaches like that a lot?”

“No. Must be the stress,” Dean chuckled, “I could have sworn I saw something.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“Like a vision? Like what Sam gets?” Bobby questioned.

“What? No!”

“I’m just saying.”

“Come on, I’m not a psychic.” Dean fell against the car in pain again as he clutched his head.

“Dean? Dean!” Alex yelled, panicked.

“You with us?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” Dean assured, “I saw Sam. I saw him.”

“It was a vision.” 

“Yeah. I don’t know how, but yeah. Whew. That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels.”

“What else did you see?”

“Uh… there was a bell.”

“What kind of bell?”

“Like a big bell with some kind of engraving on it. I don’t know.”

“Engraving?”

“Yeah.”

“Was it a tree? Like an oak tree?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“I know where Sam is.” They all piled back into the car; Sam was in Cold Oak, South Dakota. Alex was pretty sure that Dean was breaking every single traffic law, but she didn’t care. They needed to save Sammy. It had gotten dark by the time they pulled up near the town on the edge of the woods.

“Looks like the rest of the way’s on foot.” Bobby commented as they all climbed out and went to the trunk, grabbing weapons and then trekked off into the woods.

It wasn’t long before they made it to the main street of the ghost town, Dean calling out for his brother every few seconds. “Sam!” He called out again when they saw a tall figure standing over someone on the ground.

“Dean!” It was Sam. They move faster toward each other.

“Sam, behind you!”

“Sam look out!” Alex and Dean warned in unison when they saw the man on the ground move toward Sam with a knife. But they were too late; the man drove the knife into Sam’s back.

“No!” Dean’s heart-wrenching yell pierced through the air as he, Bobby, and Alex raced toward Sam, who fell to his knees. Dean slid to the ground, catching Sam in his arms, while Bobby chased after the attacker and Alex stopped next to Dean. She stared down at the brothers, her vision becoming blurry with tears, as her heart was slowly breaking. She couldn’t hear what Dean was saying over her own sobs that she tried to cover up with her hand. Her favorite giant was gone. Another person she cared about was gone.