~*~
Dean pulled up to the church, parking before he shut the engine off. He quietly made his way in through the doors, his pistol at the ready as he turned on his flashlight. He scoped the light around the church, stepping further inside cautiously, slowly making his way to the front. Finding a locked door, he picked the lock quickly and entered. His flashlight scanned the room before landing on an old leather book with a pawprint on the front cover.
He strutted over and quickly flipped through the pages, stopping once he saw the word 'Ragnarok'.
Dean stepped over to the desktop, unlocking it to see the wallpaper was of Jim, Joy, Bess and Garth all bundled together in a family photo. "Seriously?" He grumbled before opening the browser, typing 'Ragnarok' into the search engine before clicking enter.
~*~
Sam and Ashleigh walked through a long hallway at Garth and Bess' apartment, stopping at room '24'. The two quietly entered, looking around. The place was a wreck. Knocked over lamps and chairs.
"Garth?" Sam called out, stepping further inside as Ashleigh peeked into the next room, her instincts on high alert. The two split up searching.
~*~
As Dean pulled up the different articles, his phone began ringing, to which he quickly answered "Hey, did you find the lovebirds?"
"No. Place is a wreck. No Garth, no Bess" Sam looked to Ashleigh for confirmation as she exited the bedroom, shaking her head quietly.
"Wait, they were taken?" Dean asked in shock. "Well, that's fan-friggin'-tastic" he groans.
"Tell me you got something." Sam says as he walks around the room, Ashleigh looking for anything to tell them where they could have gone.
"Well, this uh.., Ragnarok, end-of-days crap. Star of the story is a wolf named Fenris, who kills the god Odin before the world ends."
"Okay..and that helps us how?"
"There are cults that consider Fenris a wolf deity and worship him. They call themselves the Maw of Fenris."
"A cult of werewolves? What do they want?"
"Well, Ragnarok is not just a bible story to these nutjobs. It's an action plan... Human extinction, total and complete werewolf domination."
"And...what? This is the...the ground zero for their movement?"
"Freakin' Wisconsin, man. Well, time for Reverend Jim to go down."
"Yeah.. Need any help?"
"No, no, no, I got it. You two just uh, you find Garth."
"Alright" After Sam hangs up the phone, both him and Ashleigh step out of the room, only to be met by the two cousins, Russ and Joba, from before. Sam is immediately knocked out by a metal rod. The cousins turn their attention towards the woman with smirks. She quickly goes to grab her silver knife but before she can take a swing, the bearded man slams her head against the wall, effectivly knocking her unconscious as well.
~*~
Dean lifts his head as a car door closing his heard.
The Reverend Jim enters the church door quietly less than a minute later. His calm look disappears as he sniffs. "Its no use Dean. I can hear your heartbeat. You must've done this countless times, yet you still get nervous."
Dean slowly makes his way around, his gun still pointed at the elder man. "Nothing wrong with a little fear. Its what makes us human." The Reverend turns to face the hunter "Fear is not a purely human instinct. Even monsters know fear. I came to work on my sermon."
"Well why don't you start by preaching to me about the Maw of Fenris?" He says, lowering his gun slightly as Jim looked at him shocked.
"Yeah, that's right. I know all about you and your pack's little plan."
"I assure you, we are planning nothing."
"No? Well, then, why did I read about it in your good book?"
The Reverend sighs, nodding his head to the side "Because generations ago, that hate and misplaced anger was part of our beliefs. But ever since I took over here, I have eradicated it from our congregation."
"Yeah. Well, apparently some of them didn't get the word." Dean yelled. His voice echoing in the church walls "Like the good sheriff, who just tried to off me, Ashleigh and my brother."
"Sheriff Pat?" Reverend Jim's eyes widened.
"Let me see your bullet." Dean demanded, waving his gun in his direction. He steps closer to the elder man, reaching out and grabbing onto his necklace to check for the engraving but it was clean. "Where is it?"
"Where's what?"
"Ragnarok"
"What?!" Jim yells in a whisper.
"It was etched into the Sheriff's bullet." Dean explains.
"Thats impossible. The Maw is dead."
"Yeah well, tell that to Garth and your daughter, who are missing."
Jim looks away for a moment, his eyes widening as if he were coming to a realization. "No..."
~*~
Garth began to stir awake, chained up to a pillar in the barn "Bess." He looked forward towards his wife who was already awake, tugging on her chains with fear in her eyes. The door slowly creaked open as Russ and Joba dragged Sam into the barn, Joba holding Ashleigh over his shoulders. "Sam.. Ash.." Garth mutters fearfully.
The two men drop the hunters against the nearby tractor, chaining them up a few feet from one another. "What are you two doing? Russ? Joba?!" Bess called out frantically. The two continue chaining up the unconscious hunters as Joy slowly walks into the middle of the group.
"Mom?" Bess whimpers, catching Joy's attention. "What is going on?"
Joy smirks and smacks her across the face, causing Garth to yell out "Hey!"
"First off, I'm not your mother." Joy leans in close to Bess, staring into her eyes.
"You leave her alone! You hear me!" Garth yells out, pulling on his chains angrily. "You want to hurt somebody, you hurt me!"
Joy laughs softly, gripping onto the pistol in her hands "Oh, that is so sweet. But I am going to hurt her. And those two." She said, turning towards Sam and Ashleigh, then walking towards Garth "but especially you, for bringing these hunters here. I'm gonna hurt all of you." She giggles calmly.
Garth looks down at Bess with tears in his eyes, his voice breaking "I'm sorry..."
~*~
Dean raced out of the church, calling Sam's phone "Sam, come on, pick up damn it!" He ran to the impala, dialing Ashleigh's phone but there was no answer. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled, climbing into the drivers seat.
He pulled away from the church and raced down the road, tires squealing.
~*~
Joy backhanded Garth across the cheek, earning a grunt from the skinny man before she punched him in the jaw, blood forming at his lips. "Please... Don't do this. Not to Bess, she's your daughter-" he was cut off when another punch hit him in the jaw.
"How many times do I have to say this?" Joy growled in frustration "stepdaughter! I'm the last of my bloodline, thanks to you and your kind out there."
Sam slowly began to stir and Ashleigh's head lolled to the side as she groaned. Russ mumbled just loud enough for Joy to hear "They're awake."
Joy turned towards the hunters as they both began to wake themselves up, groaning in pain. Joy stepped towards Ashleigh as Sam fought against his chains. She leaned down and grabbed Ashleigh's cheeks in her hand "Well, don't you just look good enough to eat."
Ashleigh growled, glaring at the woman "Bite me..."
"Oh, I will sweetie." Joy smirks before standing as Sam looks up at her "Don't hurt her."
"Oh, I'm going to hurt all of you. Just wait your turn." Joy smiles lightly, toying with the gun in her hand.
"Why are you doing this? I mean, me and Ashleigh, I can understand.. But these people are your family. Your pack."
Joy smirked lightly, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth before motioning Russ and Joba, the two leaving the barn to keep watch.
"Last winter, my little brother, Charlie," she spoke as she loaded up the pistol with silver bullets "was killed by a hunter." She flinches at the silver, cocking the gun "my husband counseled patience, restraint. Just as when he took over our beloved church, he preached a new direction.... Lycanthropes and man would co-exist. Peace was more important than dominance." Sam tugged on his chains as Ashleigh tried reaching in her pocket for her silver knife, hoping it could buy them some time, but it wasn't there. This goons must have taken it from her at the apartment.
At this point, she was honestly unsure if Dean would even try to show up. In this line of work, you can't always depend on others to get you out of a sticky situation."I tried so hard to make his way work..." Joy continued "to be a preacher's wife. But then... Charlie was murdered. And I couldn't help remembering my daddy's sermons. And by golly, turns out he was right. As long as there is man, there can be no peace." She turns towards Sam and Ashleigh, glaring at the two angrily "because man destroys." She leans down, face to face with Sam "and I for one, am sick of it." She smiles as she slowly stands back up, glancing between the two hunters calmly.
~*~
Russ walks around the yard, his fangs and claws out as he keeps watch. He catches on to Dean's scent and races towards the large bushes only to find Dean's jacket laying against the fence.
Dean quickly comes up behind him, plunging the silver blade into his back, piercing his heart. Russ drops to the ground with a grunt.
~*~
"I get it now." Sam scoffs "why co-exist when you can rule?" He glances at Ashleigh who had a nice sized bruise forming on her forehead.
"Bingo." Joy smiles "but my husband doesn't see it that way. See, he was bitten, not born into it like I was. He still holds on to his humanity. Which is why I am so pleased it will be his claws that start Ragnarok, not mine." She tilts her head "You and your brother coming here and bringing this poor woman was a blessing from Fenris above."
She steps back, pointing towards Garth "You and your brother cornered Garth here, and then when Bess came running in to see what the fuss was about..." She gasps mockingly "Ashleigh killed her."
Garth yelled out "No!"
Joy points the gun towards Bess "Here.. Silver to the heart." Garth growls as his fangs and claws come out, finally having been pushed over the edge.
"You're gonna frame their murders on us." Ashleigh breathes.
"My husband turned his cheek once. I don't think he can do it again." She stepped closer to Bess, kneeling down to her level.
"Hey! Get away from her!" Garth yelled with panic in his eyes.
"Killing you gives me no joy, but Ragnarok... It's bigger than all of us."
"You're sick.." Bess grumbled as Ashleigh pulled against her chains, her and Bess had grown to become fairly good friends in a short amount of time. "Stop it! Don't touch her, please!" She screamed frantically as Joy slowly stood, pointing the gun at Bess' chest, before she could fire, Sam kicked his leg up, knocking the gun from her hand.
Joy gasped as Ashleigh breathed heavily, glaring up at the woman, maneuvering her foot to pull the gun to her. Joy growled, stomping her foot down onto Ashleigh's ankle, causing the brunette to let out a scream. Joy's claws slowly began to grow as she lifted her hand "You're both just dying for me to get my claws dirty, aren't you?"
Dean stepped into the barn with his gun aimed at the woman before Joba leaped onto him, knocking him to the ground. Joy glanced towards the fight with wide eyes and a low growl before Dean stabbed the silver blade into Joba's heart, making the man fall limp on top of him.
He quickly pushed the man off and stood up eyeing the woman carefully as she growled "Wearing Russ' coat to hide your scent... Smart."
"Oh, I'm full of surprises." Dean grumbled.
"As am I." Joy said lowly before jumping down, grabbing hold of her gun as Dean did the same. They both aimed their guns at one another but Dean fired first, hitting her right in the chest. She gasped, her eyes widening before she fell backwards, dead as a doorknob.
~*~
Sam stepped up towards Garth, everyone saying their goodbyes "be good. Hear me?"
"I will. Thanks Sam." Garth pulls the giant into a hug.
Ashleigh hugged Bess softly before hesitantly pulling away "Don't ever hesitate to call, okay?" Bess nods with a smile "of course, you either. Maybe after your ankle heals we can go shopping sometime." Ashleigh nods, smiling lightly "I'd enjoy that." She takes a step back before heading outside to wait on Dean, Sam following her out.
Dean pulled his hands from his pockets as Garth walks over "How's he doing?"
"He's taking it pretty hard. He feels like he should have seen the signs earlier."
~*~
Sam cleared his throat as Ashleigh leaned against the hood of the impala with her eyes closed. She slowly opened her eyes, looking up at him, but when he didn't say anything, she spoke "What?"
"I uh.. Was just wondering how you were doing. That looked like it hurt and you wouldn't let anyone take a look at it." Sam said, motioning towards her ankle.
She sighed softly, looking up towards the sky "Its just bruised, not broken or anything, I'm fine."
The tall man eyed her carefully before speaking again "Listen... I'm sorry you got dragged into all of this"
She held up her hand to stop him "Don't worry about it Sammy. I'm like your mean older sister right? I gotta take care of you dummy?" She smirked, causing Sam to smile with a quiet sigh "Pushy maybe, but not mean. And you're only three and a half years older than me." She leaned her head back staring up at the sky "Yeah.." The two quieted down as Dean stepped outside, heading towards the two of them.
~*~
The impala pulled up to the apartments where Sam had parked his car the night before. Dean put the Chevy in park, shutting off the engine. No one moved for a few seconds, but Sam was the first to climb out of the passenger side. "Come on Ash." Ashleigh sighed quietly before hesitamtly climbing out of the backseat.
Sam glanced back at Dean "We'll send you that postcard."
"Yeah." Dean dismissed quickly. Sam began walking towards his car, grabbing his keys from his pocket. Ashleigh lingered for a moment, staring down at the pavement before turning her head in Dean's direction. A shaky smile graced her lips, tears brimming her eyes before she quickly turned away and headed towards Sam's passenger side door.
Dean stared at the two quietly but soon hopped out of the impala "Hey" he called out, making the two hunters stop and look in his direction as he walked over towards them. "Uh, listen.. That night that uh.. You know, we went our separate ways.." He cleared his throat, his eyes lingering on Ashleigh's hazel ones for a second longer than necessary.
"You mean the night you split?" Sam questioned.
Dean nodded his head to the side with a sigh "Fair enough. I was messed up man. Kevin was dead and I... I don't know what was."
Ashleigh stared up at the green eyed hunter, her eyes softening as Sam spoke. "Okay."
"Hell, maybe I still don't. But uh.. I know I took a piece of you in the process, both of you.. And for that...." He breathes, looking between his brother and the woman "Somebody changed the playbook man, you know? Its like what's right is wrong and what's wrong is more wrong, and..." He sighs, placing his hands into his pockets "I just know that when ... When we rode together..." He shrugs.
"We split the crappiness." Sam finished.
"Yeah." Dean nodded as Ashleigh smiled "So.... Does this mean the gang's back together?" She asked in a sing-song voice, causing the men to chuckle lightly.
"Okay." Sam spoke up, looking at his brother.
"Okay." Dean replied.
"But.." Sam began, making Ashleigh groan and mumble to herself "so close..."
"Something's broken here Dean. And not just between us, but with Ashleigh too. You weren't there to see what she, what any of us went through while you were gone."
"I'm not saying that it's not. I...I just think maybe we need to put a couple W's on the board and we get past all this."
"I don't think so."
"Sam, I swear to God..." Ashleigh grumbles softly but Sam chose to ignore her.
"No, I wish, but... We don't see things the same way anymore.. Our roles in this whole thing."
Ashleigh pinched the bridge of her nose as she quietly listened on.
"Back in that church, talking me out of boarding up Hell? Or... Or tricking me into letting Gadreel possess me? I can't trust you... Not the way I thought I could, not the way I should be able to."
The three became silent before Sam continued "And hell, do you even understand what you did to Ash that night? She searched for you all night, she's been a wreck since you left. And she acts like everything is okay because she's afraid you'll leave again." Ashleigh remained silent, averting her gaze from both men.
"Okay, look." Dean shakes his head "whatever happened... We are family, okay?" He said, directing it towards Sam.
"You say that like it's some sort of cure-all, like it can change the fact that everything that has ever gone wrong between us has been because we're family." Sam countered quickly.
"So what.... We're not family now?"
"I'm saying, you want to work? Great, lets work. But if you want to be brothers...." The two became quiet as they stared at one another before Sam finally finished "well, those are my terms." Dean nodded his head slightly as Sam walked back to the impala, climbing into the passenger seat. Dean stared towards Ashleigh, seeing tears in her eyes. She stared up at him quietly before she headed to the impala, climbing into the backseat silently. Dean soon followed suit, sitting in the drivers seat, starting up the engine and speeding off.
~*~
A/N: Phew! Finally finished with that episode, word count for this chapter got up to 3,100! Hope you guys are enjoying it so far. Love y'all~