~*****~

"So, now you're saying that there are no demons, and that war is a guy." Austin mentions.

"You believed crazy before," Dean comments.

The door rattles with a series of knocks. "Open up! Let me in!" A man shouts desperately. "It's Roger! It's me!" Austin peers through the hole and pops the door open. He runs in, panting loudly. "I saw them-- the demons. They know we're trying to leave. They said they're gonna pick us off one by one."

"Wait, wait, wait. What?" I say loudly.

"I thought you said there were no demons," Austin snapped.

"There's not! Where did you go?" I snap at Roger.

"I thought someone should go out and see what's going on!" Roger shouts back.

"You watch your tone when you speak to her," Dean snapped right back. "Where did you see the demons, and what did they say exactly?"

"We just sit here, we're gonna be dead." Austin says.

"No, we're not!" Dean says firmly.

"They're gonna kill us-- unless we kill them first," Roger explains.

"Okay, hold on. Hold on." Dean says quickly.

"No, man, we got people to protect," Austin retorts. "All right, the able-bodied go, hunt some demons."

"Slow your roll, Austin," I say firmly. "This is not a demon thing!"

I glance at Roger, and furrow my brows as he winks at me, and adjusts his ring. "Look at their eyes!" He shouts. "They're demons!"

There's an instant panic. "Go, go, go--" Dean shouts at Ellen and I. I bolt from the room with Ellen hot on my tail.

~*****~

"Dean, I'm positive, it's Roger, he's War." I explain urgently.

Dean nods as he tosses me a gun. "I know, pretty damn convenient that we have black eyes as soon as he shows up. First things first, we need to get Sam."

"And Jo!" Ellen butts in.

"And Rufus," I sigh. "This is gonna be a son of a bitch." I mention irritably as we approach the house. "The bastards probably lined the windows with pipe bombs, you know that, right?"

Ellen snorts. "Salty old fart is always too damn cautious."

"Is there such a thing?" I ask as I jostle the window with a wooden board and set it off. Ellen rounds into the house without being seen.

Dean pulls Rufus out the window as he peers out to check who got caught in it. "Easy, Rufus--" I snap irritably as I wrestle him to the ground, my legs pinning his arms to the floor. "We are not demons! C'mon, think, man! Those omens, what the hell does it mean!"

"You go to hell!" Rufus snaps and bucks me off. Dean leaps onto him and pins him down again.

"Rufus! The polluted water, the shooting star, the red mustang-- It's War!" I shout at him. "I'm telling you, it's War!"

"You're damn right it is," Rufus growls as he sucker punches Dean. They go for the gun. I groan loudly and grasp them both by the jackets and sling them backwards. I pick up the gun and aim it at Rufus.

"Now listen, you salty son of a bitch!" I say angrily. "The Horseman of War!"

"Horseman?" Rufus echoes.

"Yes, dammit! He's turning us against each other, you're hallucinating!" I shout at him and unload the gun before tossing it to the ground. "Look at me, Rufus, with all the protective charms on my body, you really think some low-level demon is slippin' in me anytime soon?"

Rufus glances between the two of us nervously until clarity dawns on him. "War." He says softly. "The horseman."

Dean rubs at his face. "Yes," He says roughly.

"Did you figure this out all by yourself, genius?" Rufus asks.

I roll my eyes. "You're still a salty bitch, you're lucky we got a shit storm comin' our way, otherwise I'd lay you on your ass, Rufus."

We burst into the house, where Ellen points her gun at us. "We all on the same page?" She asks.

"Good." Dean huffs out. "Hi, Jo."

Jo nods at him. "Hey."

"Pleasantries out of the way?" I ask irritably. "We got to find War. Before everyone in this town kills each other--" I'm cut off by a bullet shooting through my shoulder and into the wall. "Son of a bitch--" I shout as I hit the ground, my palm closing over the wound to heal it. "Where's Sam?"

"Upstairs." Rufus says.

Ellen hands Jo the shot gun. "Get Sam, go--" I say to Dean. He nods, his eyes trained on the wound on my shoulder. "I'll be fine, just go!" I groan and accept the hand Jo holds out for me. "You two-- help stop the fire fight. I'm going after Roger--" I snap and run towards the back.

I find him approaching his red mustang, and I tackle him to the hood. "Whoa-- a little kinky to be pinning me down, isn't it?" War mentions through his laughter. "C'mon, even Christ can't kill war~"

"I know," I mention as I grasp the back of his head, slam it into the hood and grasp his hand as it flails. I rip the ring off of his finger, leaving bloody streaks along the flesh before it's in my grasp. Roger disappears, along with the cherry red mustang. I pant lightly and gaze at the ring in my palm.

"Lottie--" I hear Dean shout. I turn and hold up the golden ring for him to see.

"You were taking too long," I mention. "You good, Sam?"

He nods and leans over, taking a deep breath and bracing his hands on top of his head.

~*****~

"So, pit stop on mount doom?" Dean asks as he gazes at the golden ring from War.

"You're such a nerd." I mention lightly as I lean against my arms.

Dean chuckles. "Ah, but that didn't stop you from binge watching with me." Dean comments.

Sam remains silent for a moment. "Guys--"

"Sam, let's not." Dean says hurriedly.

"No, listen, this is important." Sam retorts calmly. "I know you don't trust me. Just... now I realize something." I sit up straight and stare at Sam. "I don't trust me either. From the minute I saw that blood, only thought in my head... And I tell myself it's for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it-- it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath... I just miss the feeling. I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am. Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood-- not really. I mean, what I did, I can't blame the blood or Ruby, or... anything. The problem's me. How far I'll go. There's something in me that... scares the hell out of me, guys. And the last couple of days, I caught another glimpse."

"So, what are you saying?" Dean asks softly.

Sam sucks in a soft breath. "I'm in no shape to be hunting. I need to step back, 'cause I'm dangerous. Maybe it's best we just... go our separate ways."

Dean's silent for a moment before nodding. "Well, I think you're right."

Sam looks rightfully hurt. And I hated to admit that I was with Dean on this one. "I was expecting a fight." Sam commented softly.

"Truth is, I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right. And I just-- I can't afford that, you know? Not now."

Sam nods. "I'm sorry, Dean."

"We know you are, Sam." I say softly as I reach forward and grasp his hand, my thumb rubbing his knuckles tenderly.

Sam nods, pats my hand and moves to leave. "Hey, uh... you want to take the Impala?" Dean asks.

Sam shakes his head after a moment. "That's okay." He says softly. He turns back to us after a couple of steps. "You guys take care of yourselves." Sam mentions.

"You too, Sammy," Dean nods.

Sam walks off, leaving Dean and I at the park table in silence. We watch as he hitches a ride with a man with a camper before Dean says anything.

"Are you gonna yell at me?" He asks softly.

I shake my head. "No. Sam needs this. Some time off will help him better than riding around, doing jobs with us. He needs to find himself again." I explain. "Dean, you love your brother, but right now, letting him go was the right thing to do." I curl my hand over his neck tenderly. "How about we go home."

Dean glances at me, then glances back down at his beer before nodding. "I love you. You do know that, don't you?"

I smile softly and kiss his head. "I know. I love you, too."