They're at the motel and John is sitting at a desk covered in papers while Sam leans against the counter, Dean paces, and Evie sits on the bed. John's research is all over the walls.
"So this is it. This is everything I know. Look, our whole lives we been searching for this demon, right? Not a trace, just... nothing. Until about a year ago. For the first time I picked up a trail." John says.
"And that's when you took off." Dean says.
"Yeah, that's right. The demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation." John says.
"All right, so what's this trail you found?" Dean asks.
"It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California. Houses burned to the ground. It's going after families, just like it went after us." John informs.
"Families with infants?" Sam asks.
"Yeah, the night of the kid's 6 month birthday." John says.
"I was 6 months old that night?" Sam asks.
"Exactly 6 months." John nods.
"So basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason. The same way it came for me. So mom's death... Jessica. It's all because of me?" Sam asks.
"We don't know that, Sam." Dean says.
"Oh, really? Cause I'd say we're pretty damn sure, Dean." Sam states.
"For the last time, what happened to them was not your fault." Dean says.
"Right. It's not my fault, but it's my problem!" Sam shouts. Evie looks between the two nervously.
"No, it's not your problem, it's our problem!" Dean yells and John stands up.
"Okay. That's enough." He tells his sons. They take a few moments to calm down.
"So why's he doing it? WHat does he want?" Sam asks.
"Look, I wish I had more answers, I do. I've always been one step behind it. Look, I've never gotten there in time to save..." John trails off, looking down.
"All right, so how do we find it? Before it hits again." Dean says.
"There's signs. It took me a while to see the pattern, but it's there in the days before these fires signs crop up in the area. Cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms. And then I went back and checked... and..."
"These things happened in Lawrence." Dean says and John nods.
"A week before your mother died. And in Palo Alto... before Jessica. And these signs, they're starting again." John says.
"Where?" Sam asks.
"Salvation, Iowa."
+++
Evie is with Sam in a filing room and they're in Iowa now looking for the demon. Sam is going through files while Evie plays with her dog in the chair next to him.
A nurse walks in and hands Sam a load of files.
"Here you go, officer." The nurse says.
"Thank you." Sam politely smiles.
"You're welcome." She smiles back before leaving.
~ ~ ~
They're leave the hospital after a bit and Sam is flipping through his notebook while holding Evie. He's walking until he suddenly clutches his head as he has a vision.
"Daddy?" Evie asks, worried, seeing him in pain. Once the vision ends, Sam lets go of his head and pulls out a map. "Daddy?"
"I'm okay, pumpkin." Sam assures her, unfolding the map.
~ ~ ~
They're in a park now and Sam is checking the map. He gets another vision and it soon ends. Once he matches the house to his vision, he sees the woman from his vision walking along the sidewalk, holding an umbrella while pushing a stroller, and goes up to her.
"Hi. Here, let me hold that for you." Sam says, holding onto the handle of the stroller. "Look like you don't need that anymore." He says, referring to the umbrella.
"Oh, thanks." The woman smiles while closing the umbrella. Sam looks in the stroller and sees a sleeping baby girl.
"She's gorgeous. Is she yours?" Sam asks.
"Yeah." The woman nods.
"Oh wow, hi." He says to the sleeping baby before turning to the mom. "I'm sorry, I'm rude. I'm Sam, this is Evie. I just moved in up the block." Sam introduces.
"Hi. I'm Monica. This is Rosie." She introduces, glancing at her daughter.
"Rosie? Hi, Rosie." Sam softly talks to the baby.
"Is she yours?" Monica asks, looking at Evie.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Sam answers as Evie cuddles closer to her dad, it still being somewhat chilly out.
"Hi, Evie." Monica smiles. "You're very beautiful."
"Thank you." Evie shyly says, cuddling her dad even closer.
"So, welcome to the neighborhood." Monica tells Sam.
"Thanks. She's such a good baby." Sam says.
"I know, I mean she... she never cries. She just stares at everybody. Sometimes she looks at you and I swear, it's... it's like she's reading your mind." Monica says.
"What about you, Monica? Have you lived here long?" Sam asks.
"My husband and I, we bought our place just before Rosie was born." Monica informs.
"And how old's Rosie?" Sam asks.
"She's 6 months today. She's big, right? Growing like a weed." Monica smiles.
"Yeah. Monica..." Sam starts.
"Yeah?"
"Just, uh, just take care of yourself, okay?"
"Yeah, you too, Sam. We'll see you around." Monica turns to her house as a station wagon drives up. "There's daddy!" Monica says to her daughter.
Sam gets another vision.
+++
They're at the motel and Sam is sitting at the table with Evie on his lap, refusing to leave him while he told John about his visions. John sits on the end of the bed closer to Sam while Dean sits on the end of the other bed.
"A vision." John states flatly.
"Yes. I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling." Sam says, covering Evie's ears before he says the statement.
"And you think this is going to happen to this woman you met because..." John trails off.
"Because these things happen exactly the way I see them." Sam states, uncovering Evie's ears.
"It started out as nightmares. Then it started happening while he was awake." Dean states, getting up and going to the counter to get coffee.
"Yeah. It's like the closer I get to anything to do with the demon the stronger the visions get." Sam says.
"All right. WHen were you going to tell me about this?" John asks. Both brothers look at him while Evie rests against her father's chest sensing John is angry.
"We didn't know what it meant." Dean says.
"All right, something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone and you call me." John demands. Dean puts the coffee down and walks over to John.
"Call you? Are you kidding me? Dad, I called you from Lawrence, all right? Sam called you when I was dying. I mean, getting you on the phone? I got a better chance of winning the lottery." Dean states.
"You're right. Although I'm not crazy about this new tone of yours, you're right. I'm sorry." John says.
"Look guys, visions or no visions, fact is, we know the demon is coming tonight. And this family's gonna go through the same hell we went through." Sam states.
"No, they're not. No one is, ever again." John states and Sam's phone rings and he picks it up.
"Hello?"
"Sam?" Meg calls over the phone. Evie can barely hear the other line, being in her dad's lap.
"Who is this?" Sam asks.
"Think real hard it will come to you." Meg says.
"Meg." He realizes. Both John and Dean turn to Sam. "last time I saw you, you fell out of a window."
"Yeah, no thanks to you. That really hurt my feelings by the way." Meg says.
"Just your feelings? That was a 7 story drop." Sam states.
"Lemme speak to your dad." Meg says.
"My dad? I don't know where my dad is." Sam lies.
"It's time for the grown ups to talk, Sam, let me speak to him now." Meg demands. Sam hesitates before handing the phone to John.
"This is John."
"Howdy, John. I'm Meg. I'm a friend of your boys and Sam's little baby. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood." She says and some silence passes. "Still there John-boy?"
"I'm here."
"Well, that was yesterday. Today I'm in Lincoln. Visiting another old friend of yours. He wants to say hi." Meg puts the phone to the man's ear.
"John, whatever you do, don't give--" Meg takes the phone away.
"Caleb?" John asks. "You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go."
"We know you have the Colt, John." Meg states.
"I don't know what you're talking about." John says.
"Oh, okay. Well, listen to this." Meg slits Caleb's throat and holds the phone out so John can listen to him die.
"Caleb. Caleb!"
"You hear that? That's the sound of your friend dying. Now, let's try this again. We know you have the gun, John, word travels fast. So as far as we're concerned you just declared war. And this is what war looks like. It has casualties."
"I'm gonna kill you, you know that?"
"Oh, John, please, mind your blood pressure. So this is the thing. We're going to keep doing what we're doing. And your friends, anyone who has ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved. They'll all die unless you give us that gun." John doesn't say anything, thinking. "I'm waiting, Johnny. Better answer before the buzzer."
"Okay." John states.
"Sorry? I didn't quite get that." Meg says.
"I said okay, I'll bring you the colt." John says louder.
"Oh, there's one more thing we want." Meg tells him.
"What?" John asks through clenched teeth.
"The girl." Meg declares.
"What girl?" John asks making the brothers stare at him curiously.
"What girl you think? We want your boy's sweet, precious little girl." Meg says, smirking.
John looks at Evie making the brothers look at her and Sam tightens his grip around her. Evie looks between all of them in confusion.
"Why?" John asks.
"For fun. He wants to see how much like Sam she really is. There's a warehouse in Lincoln, on the corner of Wabash and Lake. You're gonna meet me there." Meg states.
"It's gonna take me about a days drive to get there."
"Meet me there at midnight tonight."
"That's impossible. I can't get there in time and I can't just carry a gun on the plane."
"Oh. Well, I guess your friends die, don't they? If you do decide to make it, come alone." Meg hangs up.
~ ~ ~
"So you think Meg is a demon?" Sam asks. He gave Evie headphones and a coloring book so she can't pay attention to the conversation.
"Either that or she's possessed by one. It doesn't really matter." John says.
"What do we do?" Dean asks.
"I'm going to Lincoln." John states.
"What?" Dean asks.
"It doesn't look like we have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die, our friends die." John says.
"Dad, the demon is coming tonight. For Monica and her family. That gun is all we got, you can't just hand it over." Sam says.
"Who said anything about handing it over? Look, besides us and a couple of vampires, no ones really seen the gun, no one knows what it looks like." John says.
"So what, you're just going to pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?" Dean asks.
"Antique store." John corrects.
"You're going to hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?" Dean asks.
"Look, as long it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference." John says.
"Yeah, but for how long? What happens when she figures it out?" Dean asks.
"I just... I just need to buy a few hours, that's all." John says.
"You mean for Dean and me. You want us to stay here and kill this demon by ourselves?" Sam asks.
"No, Sam. I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home. I want... I want Mary alive. It's just... I just want this to be over." John states.
They stay in silence for a bit when John looks over to the oblivious 2 year old. Sam realizes his father's gaze is fixed on something and follows it, looking at his daughter.
"What?" Sam asks, a little concerned since John didn't actually say anything about what Meg said about Evie.
"They want Evie." John informs.
"No." Sam immediately shakes his head after a moment of shock passes. "No friggin' way."
"I'm not gonna let them keep her, Sam." John says.
"What, are you nuts?" Sam asks. "I'm not passing my daughter off to some stupid demons!"
"They're not going to keep her. I will get her back. As long as you guys take care of the demon tonight, it shouldn't be a problem." John says.
"No! I lost mom and I lost Jess, I'm not losing her." Sam declares, pointing at the still oblivious child.
"It's the only way, Sam." John says.
"There's no way that's the only way. Just give 'em the fake colt and we'll deal with them from there." Sam says.
"I don't like this anymore than you do." John tells his son. "But we need to do it."
"She's 2 years old. You wanna put her in the middle of this?"
"She's already in the middle of it."
"No. It's not happening."
"Sammy--" Dean tries to speak up.
"No." The younger brother firmly states. "She's-- I-- I can't. I won't." Sam goes out the door, slamming it shut behind him.
"Is this really the only way?" Dean asks his dad.
"Look, I give them the colt, I give them Evie. I keep close tabs on them, you guys kill the demon and come meet me, we go to the demons and get Evie back." John says.
"She's his kid, dad. You'd have to kill him to get him to agree to this." Dean says.
"I know. I understand. But what else is there to do? We can't make a fake Evie." John says.
~ ~ ~
Dean found Sam at a park, sitting on a bench. Once getting closer, he saw the tear streaks on Sam's face. Dean clears his throat making his younger brother aware of his presence. Sam quickly wipes his face and turns to see Dean before looking back down at the ground.
"What do you want?" Sam asks, grumpily. Dean sits on the bench with him.
"Look... I love that kid. You know I do. And you know I'd kill anything that hurt her. So we kill this demon for mom and Jessica and then we go to dad and kill Meg and her posse. We get Evie back unharmed." Dean says.
"And what if that doesn't work? What if we don't get Evie back? What if they kill her? Or possess her?" Sam asks. "I can't risk that, Dean."
"I know. But you have to." Dean tells his brother.
"You do realize what you're asking me to do, right? I'm her dad, it's my job to protect her. Giving her to demons? That's not protecting her. That's putting her in danger. The exact opposite of good parenting."
"Sammy... hey, I promise if we don't get her back, you can kill me, alright? Hate me for the rest of our lives. Hate dad, whatever. But if we do this, I will make sure that we get her back. I won't let them keep her."
"She's only 2, Dean."
"I know... there's not much else we can do, Sammy."
+++
They're back at the motel and Sam makes Evie sit on the bed while he squats down in front of her. John and Dean are in the kitchen area, pretending they're not paying attention.
"Okay, Evie, I need you to listen to me." Sam tells her.
"Why you seem sad?" Evie asks, studying her father's expression.
"It's nothing." Sam lies. "But I need you to listen to me, honey. You're gonna go with grandpa."
"But he going to mean, scary lady." Evie pouts.
"I know. But you're going to go with him... and he's gonna leave you with her for a little while... and then we're gonna come get you." Sam tells her.
"But I don't wan' her." Evie starts to tear up.
"I know, pumpkin, I know. I don't want this either. But it's just for a little bit. And then you'll be back with daddy and Uncle Deanie, okay? I need you to be a brave girl for me, alright?"
"Is she gonna hur' me?" Evie asks.
"No... no, she shouldn't." Sam tells her.
"Is this why you crying?" Evie questions.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just... I'm just gonna miss you." Sam tells her. "But I'll be back with you later." Sam ignores every bone in his body telling him to not do what they're doing.
+++
They're on a back road and Sam and John are standing at the back of John's truck, checking weapons while Evie sits in the bed of the truck. The Impala pulls up and Dean gets out.
"You get it?" John asks his oldest. Dean pulls a brown paper bag out of his pocket and gives it to John. He pulls out an antique gun.
"You know, this is a trap, don't you? That's why Meg wants you to come alone." Dean says.
"I can handle her. I got a whole arsenal loaded. Holy water, Mandaic, amulets..." John lists.
"Dad..." Dean trails off.
"What?" John asks.
"Promise me something." Dean tells him.
"What's that?"
"This thing goes south just... get the hell out. Get Evie and go. Don't get yourself killed, all right, you're no good to us dead. And she's too young to..." Dean doesn't finish the sentence, knowing it will trigger Sam.
"Same goes for you." John tells them. "All right, listen to me. They made the bullets special for this colt. There's only four of them left. Without them this gun is useless. You make every shot count."
"Yes, sir." Sam says.
"Been waiting a long time for this fight. Now it's here, I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you boys now. It's your fight, you finish this. You finish what I started. Understand?" John gives Dean the colt.
"We'll see you soon, dad." Sam says.
"I'll see you later." John tells them.
Sam buckles Evie into the back of John's truck while John sits in the driver's seat.
"Okay, Evie, I need you to be good for grandpa, okay? And be good for the scary, mean lady. If you're good, she won't do anything." Sam tells his daughter, despite knowing that may not be true.
"Okay." Evie mumbles.
"I'll see you later, all right?" Sam tells her and she nods and Sam looks at the dog in her lap. "How about I keep the doggy with me."
"Why?" Evie asks.
"That way the lady can't hurt him. He'll be safe with me and you'll get him back then." Sam says. He knows it might comfort her, but he also knows Meg would probably destroy it somehow and he'd rather that not happen.
"Okay." Evie says, handing the dog to her dad. Sam puts the dog on the seat down for a second and cups her head in his hands making her look at him.
"Hey." He calls and she looks at his eyes seeing the tears trying so hard to not fall. "I love you." He tells her in the most serious voice he's ever told her. Dean and John can both identify the fear and love in his voice.
"I wuv you, too." Evie tells him. Sam tries to smile, but it turns into more of a grimace. Sam places a protective kiss on her forehead, lingering for a little bit before pulling away. He takes the dog and shuts the door, the two brothers watching John drive away.
Dean walks up to Sam and claps him on the shoulder.
"She'll make it." Dean tells him.
Sam doesn't say anything, just staring at the stuffed dog in his hands with tears in his eyes. He walks away from Dean, getting in the Impala.
+++
Sam and Dean are sitting in the Impala outside of Monica's house and they watch as Monica and her husband finish dinner.
"Maybe we could tell 'em it was a gas leak. Might get em out of the house for a few hours." Sam suggests.
"Yeah, and how many times has that actually worked for us?" Dean asks.
"Yeah. We could always tell them the truth." Sam suggests and Dean stares at him for a few moments.
"Nah." They both shake their head.
"I know, I know. I just... with what's coming for these folks..." Sam says.
"Sam, we only got one move and you know it, all right? We gotta wait for that demon to show itself and then we get it before it gets them." Dean says.
"I wonder how dad's doing." Sam voices some of his thoughts.
"I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up." Dean says.
"I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up." Sam says. He looks down at the stuffed dog in his hands and begins messing with it. Dean looks over after the silence continues, seeing his brother's sad, worried look.
"She'll be okay." Dean tries to comfort in a soft voice.
"I genuinely hate myself right now." Sam says.
"Dad won't let anything happen to her. Not that he can control." Dean says.
+++
John and Evie get to the warehouse and John is holding Evie's hand. Meg is standing in the middle of the room and John stops a few feet away.
"John, you made it. With the little princess. Too bad really, I was hoping to kill more of your friends." Meg says.
"Sorry to disappoint." John says.
"I can see where your boys get their good looks. Though I must admit, considering what they say about you, I thought you'd be... taller." Meg says. "Well, aren't you the chatty one. You wanna get to business? Fine. Why don't you just hand over the gun and brat."
"If I give you the gun and kid, how do I get out of here?" john asks.
"If you're as good as they say you are, I'm sure you'll figure something out." Meg says.
"Maybe I'll just shoot you." John says.
"You wanna shoot me, baby? Go ahead. There's more where I came from." Meg says. Another demon walks out of the shadows and its a guy.
"Who the hell is that?" John asks.
"He's not nearly as much fun as I am, I can tell you that. So I suggest you give us the gun and brat. Now!"
John hands Meg the gun and she takes it, looking it over.
"This is the colt?" Meg asks and John nods. "What do you think?" Meg asks the other demon, handing it to him. The demon takes it and shoots Meg in the chest.
"You shot me!" Meg yells, staggering backwards a bit. "I can't believe you just shot me!"
"It's a fake." The demon says, looking at John.
"You're dead, John. Your boys and grandkid are dead." Meg declares.
"I've never used the gun. How could I know it wouldn't work?" John asks, slowly backing away with Evie.
"I'm so not in the mood for this. I've just been shot." Meg states, walking forward.
"Well, then I guess you're lucky the gun wasn't real." John says.
"That's funny, John. We're going to strip the skin from your bones, but that was funny." Meg says.
There's a noise and John grabs Evie, running into the other room and he locks the door and goes down a hatch into an alley that's lined with pipes. John reaches the other end and turns on a tap before he takes off.
"Are we going to daddy?" Evie asks.
"Yeah." John nods.
John makes it to his truck and sees all the tires slashed.
"Damn it." He mutters, running around the side of the building. John runs down a dead end and stops, looking around while trying to catch his breath. He pulls out his phone and before he can do anything, he is flung to the wall. He loses his hold on Evie making her fall to the ground. Evie looks up to see the male demon in front of John.
+++
Sam and Dean are at the motel. Dean is pacing while trying to call John and Sam is sitting on the bed, his thoughts all over the place. Evie's dog is placed behind him.
"Come on, dad, answer your phone, damn it." Dean grumbles. He hangs up. "Something's wrong." Sam gives no reaction. "You hear me? Something's wrong."
"if you had just let me go in there, I coulda ended all this." Sam states.
"Sam, the only thing you would've ended was your life." Dean says.
"You don't know that." Sam says.
"So what, you're just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it?" Dean asks.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're damn right I am." Sam states, standing up.
"Well, that's not going to happen, not as long as I'm around." Dean states.
"What the hell are you talking about, Dean? We've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only thing we've ever cared about." Sam says.
"Sam, I wanna waste it, I do. Okay? But it's not worth dying over." Dean says.
"What?" Sam questions.
"I mean it. If hunting this demon means getting yourself killed then I hope we never find the damn thing."
"That thing killed Jess. That thing killed mom."
"You said yourself once, that no matter what we do, they're gone, and they're never coming back."
Sam loses it, grabbing Dean and shoving him against the wall.
"Don't you say that, not you! Not after all this, don't you say that." Sam tells him.
"Sam, look. The four of us... that's all we have... and it's all I have. Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together, man... and without you, Evie, and dad..." Dean trails off.
"Evie and dad." Sam says, upset, immense fear and worry overcoming him as his rage finally left his body. "Oh, God, Evie. My baby." He whispers so quietly, Dean almost doesn't hear him. Sam walks across the room, head in his hands and Dean stays where he is.
"He should have called by now. Try him again." Sam demands and Dean lifts his phone and calls him. This time, it answers.
"You boys really screwed up this time." Meg says smiling.
"Where are they?" Dean angrily asks.
"You're never going to see your father or the princess again."