A/N: this chapter was super rushed to get it out today (Abby's birthday!!!) so I know there are a bunch of grammar errors, I will edit it more thoroughly soon!!

"They've got Dad."

Abby could've sworn the room's temperature dropped five degrees. Sam's hand stilled on the top of her head.

"Meg?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded, the phone still in his hand.

"What'd she say?" Sam said quickly.

Abby was drowning.

"I just told you, Sammy." Dean took a deep breath. "Okay, okay." Dean muttered, wiping his face with his hand.

Water was filling her lungs and she couldn't breathe.

Dean picked up the Colt from the motel bedside table. Abby could hear him but didn't turn her head to see him.

"What are you doing, Dean?" Sam stood up, walking around the bed to where Dean was.

"We've got to go." Dean shoved the Colt into his bag. Abby still didn't divert her eyes from the spot on the wall where Dean had been just moments before.

"Why?"

"Because the demon knows we're in Salvation. It knows we've got the Colt. It's got Dad. It's probably coming for us next." Sam and Dean sounded like they were underwater.

"Good! We've still got three bullets left. Let it come." Sam was real close to Dean now, Abby could see them from the corner of her eyeline.

"Listen, tough guy, we're not ready. Okay? We don't know how many of them are out there. We're no good to a-" he paused for a second, "anybody dead."

Dean looked at Abby. "We're leaving. Now." Abby broke her stare at the wall to look back up at him and nod.

~

Dean was driving like a madman. He was blowing past stop signs and swerving between cars like an ice skater. Abby was sitting in the backseat, her legs criss-crossed and her stuffed bear held tightly on her lap.

"I'm telling you, Dean, we could've taken him." Sam said, facing straight ahead.

"What we need is a plan. They're probably keeping Dad alive, we've just gotta figure out where. Now, they're gonna want to trade him for the gun." Dean said. Abby could only see the back of Sam's head but could see him shaking his head slightly like he didn't believe in what Dean was saying.

"Dean, if that were true, why didn't Meg mention a trade?" Dean shook his head, like he was refusing to follow Sam's line of reasoning. Abby wanted to refuse too, the sick feeling in her stomach growing at Sam paused. "Dad, he might be-"

"Don't." Dean cut him off.

"I don't want to believe it any more than you, but if he is, all the more reason to kill this damn thing." Sam's words got more and more forceful as he continued. "We still have the Colt, we can still finish the job."

"Screw the job, Sam!"

"Dean, I'm just trying to do what he would want. He would want us to keep going."

"Stop talking about him like he's dead already!" Abby interrupted. Sam looked back at her for a split second.

"Everything stops until we get him back." Dean continued Abby's sentiment, looking at her in the rearview mirror although his words were directed at Sam. "You understand me? Everything."

The car was quiet for a few moments.

"So, how do we find him?" Sam asked.

"Maybe we go to Lincoln, start at the warehouse where he was taken." Dean said.

"C'mon, Dean, you really think these demons are gonna leave a trail?"

"You're right." Sam looked at Dean, surprised. "We need help," was all Dean said.

~
It was morning by the time the Impala sped under a dingy sign reading 'Singer Auto Salvage.'

As they had been nearing the address, everything seemed familiar to Abby, but she just couldn't place it.

She knew the turns, where stop signs were, what color the houses were, and could picture what everything would look like buried under a blanket of snow. It was like reading a book she had read years ago, but had stopped because it was too complicated. She knew the words of this place, but couldn't quite remember what would happen next until it already had.

Sam and Dean were really, really quiet when they were driving up to the house. Neither said anything as they got out after Dean stopped the Impala in front of the front door, but both paused for Abby to get out before walking up. Abby trailed behind them, but when they reached the door, neither brother reached up to knock. They just stood there.

Abby looked at each of them in turn. They both had looks on their face, like they were remembering something and weren't fully in the present. Sometimes it surprised Abby how much they looked like each other. Individually, Sam and Dean had a lot of different features, but every now and again, Abby would catch them making the exact same expression, or having the same mannerisms.

Abby just wanted to get into the house which she really hoped had AC, because the Impala's wasn't very good and it was late July.

She reached a small hand up to the doorbell and pressed it. The sounds of morning birds chirping and a dog barking somewhere nearby drowned out any sounds of whoever lived here coming to the door.

A man opened the door after a few seconds. He was shorter than Sam and Dean but older. He had to be at least as old as John. He looked at Sam and Dean for a long few seconds with a look Abby couldn't read on his face.

He seemed so very familiar, but Abby just couldn't put where she knew him from. Not a familiar like someone you met once years ago, but a familiar like someone you knew well. It was almost like seeing Sam again, that was the kind of familiar he seemed, but Abby just couldn't place him.

"Sam, Dean." The man said. His voice was gruff and weirdly stiff.

"Hey, Bobby," Sam said awkwardly, shifting his weight between his feet. "Uh..." in the corner of her eye, Abby could see Sam look down at her. "This is Abby." Sam put a hand on Abby's back, as if to indicate which one of them Abby was.

Bobby looked down at Abby as if he was just noticing the girl standing between her brothers. For a second, he just stared at Abby and she looked back at him. This whole interaction is very weird, Abby thought to herself.

Bobby pressed his lips together and turned and headed back into his house. Abby, confused, looked up at Dean who was just watching the now empty doorway. Bobby hadn't closed the door behind him.

"Well, ya comin' or not?" He said from inside the house.

Abby stepped over the threshold first, remembering a, now more familiar, voice telling her it was a steep one, so to make sure she wouldn't trip.

~

The house's walls were covered with papers— research— and there were books stacked everywhere. Sam was sitting at a desk, doing research. Abby was on the floor and looking through the stack of books next to her. They were all so fascinating, on various supernatural topics and all sorts of things.

When she asked if she could look at some of the books, Bobby told her she could even take some if she wanted. He said he trusted that she'd take good care of them and then winked at her before turning back to Dean for him to continue explaining the Winchester's predicament. Abby's chest had filled with pride at his words, and now she was happier than she had been in a while, her back resting against a wall covered in notes and newspaper articles and a dusty, slightly water-logged book about the Loch Ness Monster in her lap.

Over the past hour or so, Abby had figured several things out.

Bobby knew Sam and Dean, well, but they hadn't spoken in a while, so likely hadn't seen them since Sam went to Stanford

If Bobby knew Sam and Dean, he probably at some point knew Abby. She didn't really remember him, but then again, before Sam came back she only has vague memories of him and knew what he looked like from photos

Bobby was very nice, and he seemed to like Abby. He hadn't made a single comment about her not contributing to the research or hunt and instead just sitting on the floor, reading his books.

Based on thing 3, Abby really liked Bobby. She hoped he stuck around and she got to keep reading his books. Also, even though Sam and Dean hadn't been around him in a long time, they seemed comfortable with him, like they were when it was just Sam, Dean, and Abby. Not like when Dad was around. That was different.

Abby half listened to Dean's conversation with Bobby, then full-listened when Dean said "To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if we should come."

"Nonsense, your daddy needs help." Bobby said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, yeah, but the last time we saw you-" now Abby was really listening, looking up from her book. She really wanted to know the history between her brothers, and apparently Dad, and Bobby. "You did threaten to blast him full of buckshot. You cocked the shotgun and everything." Abby's eyebrows shot up. She definitely didn't remember that.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? John just has that effect on people."

"Yeah, I guess he does." Abby wanted to protest; she didn't get why Dean was being so mean to Dad. But, she didn't know Bobby well and if he cocked a shotgun at Dad, then he might at her too, and then that would cause a whole big mess.

"None of that matters now. All that matters is that you get him back."

"Bobby, this book..." Sam piped up, "I've never seen anything like it."

"Key of Solomon? It's the real deal all right."

Abby stood up and walked over to stand at Sam's shoulder so she could see the book. On the page was a circle-pentagon-thingy sigil with a lot of words in too messy cursive than she could read.

"And these protective circles– they really work?" Sam asked.

"Hell yeah. You get a demon in one, they're trapped. They're powerless. It's like a satanic roach hotel."

Sam chuckled at Bobby and Abby smiled at him. Even though he apparently had cocked a shotgun at Dad, which wasn't cool, Abby liked him. Bobby gave Abby a half grin back.

"This man knows his stuff." Dean said, walking over with a fond look on his face.

"I'll tell you something else, too. This is some serious crap you all stepped in." Bobby's tone got really serious.

"Oh yeah? How's that?" Sam asked, genuine as ever.

"Normal year, I hear, say, three demonic possessions, maybe four, tops. This year, I heard of 27 so far. You get what I'm saying? More and more demons are walking among us– a lot more."

"Do you know why?" Sam asked.

"No." Bobby looked at Abby for a brief second. "But I know it's something big. The storms coming, and you three, your daddy- you are smack in the middle of it."

Abby could feel a chill run down her spine and suddenly the room felt very cold.

A dog barking made Abby jump.

"Rumsfeld," Bobby said, alarmed, and he turned around and walked over to the window.

Sam stood up from his seat at the table, suddenly on alert, as was Dean.

"Something's wrong." Bobby said.

The sound of wood splintering whipped Abby's head towards the front door as she felt Sam's arm go in front of her and push her behind him.

Abby's eyes went wide as the door swung open and in walked a woman with short blonde hair and a red leather jacket.

Meg.

"No more crap, okay?" Her voice always sounded like she was smirking and made Abby feel ill.

Abby pushed closer into Sam's side.

Dean walked toward Meg, unscrewing the lid of a bottle he was holding. She whipped her hand and he flew into the wall, smashing into a pile of books. Abby was focused on Dean, his eyes still not opening but no visible blood, as Sam pushed in front of Bobby as well, blocking Abby's view of Meg, or, more accurately, Meg's view of Abby.

"I want the Colt, Sam- the real Colt- right now." While Meg's attention was on Sam, Abby rushed over to Dean, kneeling by his side.

"We don't have it on us. We buried it." Sam said, on guard and moving slowly over towards Dean and Abby.

Abby shook Dean's shoulder; she could see his chest moving so he had probably just been knocked out, but still– seeing him like this made her nervous.

"Didn't I say 'no more crap'? I swear- after everything I heard about you Winchester's, I've got to tell you, I'm a little underwhelmed."

"Dean, Dean, cmon," Abby whispered, leaning over him and grabbing both his shoulders.

"First, Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun."

Dean's eyes stayed shut.

"And then he leaves the real gun with you two chuckleheads. Lackluster, men." Abby pushed her long hair out of her face, looking up at Meg with the meanest, most angry look she could make. Meg was basically out of the room already, though. Dean's eyes suddenly shot open, sitting up abruptly. Abby was about to say his name when he covered her mouth with his hand, standing up.

"Stay here." he mouthed. Abby nodded, just glad Dean was back. That meant everything was going to be okay.

"I mean, did you really think I wouldn't find you?" Meg said from the other room.

"Actually, we were counting on it." Dean rounded the corner away from Abby and toward Meg and Sam and Bobby.

The plan had worked.

While Abby had been reading, she had heard Bobby explain to Sam and Dean the sigil on the ceiling in the other room; the one Sam had been looking at in the book. That was why Sam had been backing up so much.

"Gotcha," Dean said as Abby peaked her head around him.

~

Meg was not supposed to talk to Abby. She was tied to a chair in the middle of the sigil, unable to move or use her demon powers. While Sam and Dean had been getting the supplies to tie her up, Abby was watching Meg from far back.

"Hey little girl-" Meg has started in her drawl. She didn't get far though before she got cut off.

"Hey!" Dean bellowed from the other room, suddenly appearing in font of Abby, between her and Meg.

"Talk to her and I'll cut your fucking eyes out." Dean said.

Meg laughed, but it sounded forced, like she wasn't completely sure of Dean would actually do it or not. Abby wasn't either, to be completely honest.

After that, Bobby had given her a chocolate chip cookie that was really good, even if it was definitely store bought, and told her to just let the adults handle everything. Abby wasn't so sure that was a good idea; every time she let the adults handle it, she seemed to get kidnapped or hurt. But she wanted Bobby to like her, so she had just smiled and nodded.

"I salted the windows and doors. If there are any demons out there, they ain't getting in." Bobby said to Sam and Dean, who were near Bobby's desk, positioned between Abby and Meg.

Abby watched as Dean walked towards Meg, entering the spelled circle. She could only see his back and hear his voice as he asked "Where's our father, Meg?"

"You didn't ask very nice." Meg said, a smirk ever present in her tone even when she wasn't actually smirking.

"Where's our father, bitch?" Dean said in the same monotone voice. Abby's eyebrows raised, just a little.

"Jeez, there are children here, you know?"

"You think this is a fucking game?!" Dean yelled, leaning in close to Meg."Where is he?! What did you do to him?!"

"He died screaming. I killed him myself." Abby's eyes were too trained on Dean's back and what she could see of Meg to notice Sam glance back at her. Abby's eyes got wider when Dean hit Meg, right across the face.

"That's kind of a turn-on– you hitting a girl."

"You're no girl."

"Dean." Bobby interrupted, walking out of the room and past Abby, silently telling Dean to follow him.

"You okay?" Sam asked as Dean passed him.

"She's lying, he's not dead." Dean said, firm and assured as always.

Bobby and Dean were now standing right in front of the table Abby was sitting at. "Dean, you've got to be careful with her. Don't hurt her." Bobby warned.

"Why?" Dean asked. Abby wanted to know too.

"Because she really is a girl, that's why."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"She's possessed. That's a human possessed by a demon. Can't you tell?" Bobby said like it was teh most obvious thing in the world.

Abby's mind spun a million miles a second. Was the girl Meg used to be still in there? Could they get her out? Could she see them too right now?

"Are you trying to tell me there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?" Dean said, fast and confused.

Dean paused, and looked back at Meg before facing Bobby again.

"That's actually good news."

~

Abby watched Sam start performing an exorcism on Meg, reciting the Latin Abby half-knew as Meg threatened Dean and Sam.

As Sam continued reading the Latin, Meg started to shake even more and Abby could tell she was resisting. It wasn't often Abby got to watch exorcisms; she liked reading about them more than she liked watching them happen. The Latin was pretty to read and write and say, she thought.

"He begged for his life with tears in his eyes." Meg said. Dad wouldn't do that, Abby thought to herself. She was lying, she had to be. "He begged to see his children one last time. That's when I slit his throat." Meg choked out through gritted teeth.

As Dean said "For your sake, I hope your lying," and Sam continued reciting Latin, Abby could see Dean's face only from the side, but even then she could see the hatred in his eyes, all cold and devoid of the warmth usually filling them. "'Cause if it's true, I swear to God, I will march into Hell myself, and I will slaughter each and every one of you evil sons of bitches."

Sam was now reciting what was close to the ending Latin. The pages of a book near Meg and Sam started to flip on their own, and Abby could feel Bobby standing just behind her, no longer as relaxed.

Meg was breathing hard. Sam hadn't finished, but whatever he had done was clearly affecting her.

"Where is he?" Dean asked again.

"You just won't take "Dead" for an answer, will you?"

"Where is he?" Dean yelled.

"Dead." Meg yelled back.

"No! He's not dead! He can't be!" Dean bellowed. If Abby sounded like that when she was angry, she thought people would listen to her a lot more.

"What are you looking at? Keep reading." Dean ordered Sam, who had paused when Dean started yelling, looking at him like he didn't really know how his older brother was acting.

Meg screamed, making harsh moveemnets out of her control that shifted the chair. Abby realized seconds later that it was the chair moving Meg as it flew around the circle in an indecipherable pattern.

"He will be!" Meg screamed, and Abby almost didn't hear it over Sam's recitation.

"Wait! What?!" Dean stopped Sam.

"He's not dead, but he will be after what we do to him."

"How do we know you're telling the truth." Dean angrily said.

"You don't." Meg's sneer was full of egotistical mania.

"Sam-" Sam looked down to start reading again, but before he got the chance, Meg continued.

"A building! Okay? A building in Jefferson City."

"Missouri? Where, where? An address." Dean demanded

"I don't know," Meg stressed each of her words.

"And the demon– the one we're looking for– where is it?" Sam cut in.

"I don't know. I swear." Meg was breathing easier now that Sam wasn't actively exorcising her. "That's everything. That's all I know."

Dean looked at Meg for a second with that hateful, cold look in his eyes. "Finish it."

Abby's eyes widened as far as they could go and her eyebrows practically shot off her face.
"What? I told you the truth?" Meg protested.

"I don't care." Dean said.

"You son of a bitch. You promised!"

"I lied!" Dean yelled. "Sam?" he prompted.

Dean looked up at Sam, and Abby watched too. Even from the distance, she could see the conflicted look on Sam's face.

"Read." Dean ordered.

"We can still use her, find out where the demon is." Sam said, desperate.

"She doesn't know." Dean responded.

"She lied." Sam said, confident as ever.

"Sam, there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there. We've got to help her."

Bobby finally walked over, speaking to Dean. "You're gonna kill her."

"What?" Dean turned to him.

"You said she fell from a building. That girl's body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive in that demon inside. You exorcise it, the girl is gonna die."

"Listen to me, both of you!" Dean was fed up, Abby could tell. "We are not gonna leave her like that."

"She is a human being."

"And we're gonna put her out of her misery."

Abby didn't want to hear or see what was going on anymore, so, as quickly and quietly as she could, she got up from the table, and headed over to the stairs she had seen earlier. She picked one halfway up, where she was hidden in some shadows but Sam and Dean could still find her if needed, and sat on it. Abby shut her eyes closed as small as possible and covered her ears with her hands, making sure they were pressing ahrd enough no noise could get in.

Abby wasn't sure how long she was like that. It wasn't long though.

She heard a very very loud scream from where Sam and Dean were, probably Meg.

Then she could feel and hear someone rushing through the hallway and rustling through the cabinet nearby. She wasn't sure what they got out, but based on the unfamiliar footsteps, it was definitely Bobby.

She opened her eyes and slowly, slowly crept towards where she could faintly hear Sam and Dean. They were kneeling on either side of Meg's body. Well, it wasn't Meg anymore, Abby thought. Whoever it was now had Meg's body, but her mouth was dripping blood and she seemed so much more frail.

Abby stood behind Sam as he laid Not-Meg's head on the ground, her breath forced and voice strained as she choked out "A year."

"What?" Sam breathed.

"It's been a year."

"Shh, shh, just take it easy." The soft voice Sam was using was the same one he used when Dean was dying all those months ago, and when Abby had been all messed up from the demon version of the girl in front of them.

"I've been awake... for some of it." Her voice was strained and she sounded like she was in a lot of pain.

"I couldn't move my own body. The things I did– it's a nightmare."

"Was it telling us the truth about our dad?" Dean's voice was softer than before, but still much harsher than Sam's eliciting a soft "Dean." from Sam.

"We need to know." Dean said. When he looked at Sam as he said that, he saw Abby hovering behind him. Dean pursed his lips and made eye contact with Abby for a second before turning back to the girl as she choked out "Yes. But it wants... you to know that... they want you to come for him."

"If Dad's still alive, none of that matters." Dean said.

Bobby reentered the room, handing Sam a blanket that he put under her head and Dean a glass of water he held to her lips for her to drink from.

"Where is the demon we're looking for?" Sam asked.

"Not there." Meg gasped-choked. "Other ones. Awful ones." She was dying.

The girl was dying in front of them and not a single one could save her.

"Where are they keeping our dad?" Dean asked.

"By the r-river." she choked out.

"Sunrise." she said, so quiet Abby could barely hear her as the girl looked straight into Abby's eyes. Then, the light in her eyes went out.

"Sunrise, what does that mean?" Dean asked her.

She had no response. Her stare had gone blank and her breath was gone.

~

"You better hurry up and beat it before the paramedics get here." Bobby said.

"What are you gonna tell 'em?" Dean asked.

"You think you guys invented lying to the cops? I'll figure something out." Bobby said. Abby liked his sarcasm and jokes. She really really hoped Sam and Dean would take her back here again, some time when Dad wasn't missing. "Here, take this. You might need it." Bobby handed Sam the book he had read the exorcism out of.

"Thanks." Sam said.

"Thanks...for everything." Dean said. From the look on his face, Abby guessed he was thanking Bobby for a lot more than what had happened just that day. "Be careful, alright?"

"You just go find your dad." Bobby said. "And when you do, you bring him around, would you? I won't even try to shoot him this time." Abby managed a small smile.

Bobby smiled down at her, ruffling her hair a little. Sam and Dean started near the door, grabbing their stuff as Bobby kneeled down in front of Abby.

"Keep an eye on your brothers, will ya?" Bobby asked, Abby nodded. She looked down at her shoes, biting her cheek.

"I really hope I see you again." she half whispered, looking at the toes of her pruple converse, still covered in mud and some blood.

Bobby smiled a bigger smile at that. "Alright, now don't make your brothers wait up for you." Abby nodded and followed them out the door Sam had been holding for her, stopping for a second to turn back and wave goodbye at Bobby. He waved back.

As Dean drove and the view of Bobby's house faded, Abby thought about what Bobby had said. All five of them, Bobby, Dean, Sam, Dad, and Abby, together. She liked that idea, all of them together, happy. It seemed oh-so possible, oh-so close now. They just had to save Dad, then they could all have their happy ending.

~

Abby leaned against the car as Sam and Dean prepared. Dean was loading a gun, and Sam was flipping through the book Bobby had given them. They had stopped near some tall train tracks.

"You've been quiet" Sam said. Abby looked up and saw the question wasn't directed at her, but for Dean.

"Just getting ready." was Dean's short response.

"He's gonna be find, Dean." Sam said. A train passed, its horn loud and blaring.

"Dude what are you drawing on my car?" Abby looked back at her brothers. Sam had a white pencil of some sort drawing on the hood Baby's trunk.

"It's called a devil's trap. Demons can't get through it or inside it."

"So?"

"It basically turns the trunk into a lockbox."

"So?" Dean repeated and Abby scoffed quietly. Sometimes, Dean could be a little dense.

"So... we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad."

"What are you talking about, we're bringing the Colt with us?"

"We can't, Dean. We've only hit three bullets left. We can't just use them on any demon. We've got to use them on the demon."

"No, we have to save Dad, Sam, okay?" Abby agreed with Deans counter. She thought the Colt would guarantee Dad's safety, which was the most importing thing right now. "We're gonna need all the help we can get."

"Do you know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? Dean, he wouldn't want us to bring the gun." Abby must be easily persuaded, she realized, because now Sam's argument made a lot more sense than Dean's. She didn't say any of this, though. Abby just watched like a spectator at a tennis match as her brothers went back and forth, unable to interrupt.

"I don't care, Sam!" Deans voice grew louder. "I don't care what Dad wants, okay? Since when do you care what Dad wants?" Sam was acting weird, Abby agreed.

"We want to kill this demon. You used to want that too. Hell, I mean, you're the one who came and got me at school! You're the one who dragged me back into this, Dean, I'm just trying to finish it."

"It's burning to the ground, it's suicide!"

"I don't care!"

Dean and Sam's words from last night echoed through Abby's mind.

"Even if it kills you?" Abby said.

Sam and Dean both just looked at her for a very long second. Abby fought the impulse to look down and looked straight into Sam's sad brown eyes with her own.

"Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that?" Dean said. "You both can't wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? Me and Abby, we're gonna be the ones to bury you."

Dean swallowed hard. Abby looked down at her shoes, covered in mud, and started to chew on her cheek.

"You're selfish, you know that? You don't care about anything but revenge."

"That's not true, Dean."

Dean scoffed and Abby rolled her eyes.

"I want Dad back, but they are expecting us to bring this gun. They will kill us all, even Abby." Sam took a deep breath, looking away. "That Colt is our only leverage, and you know it, Dean. We cannot bring that gun. We can't."

"Fine." Dean said non-commitedly.

"I'm serious, Dean." Sam reprimanded.

"I said 'Fine,' Sam." Dean reached into his jacket and pulled out the Colt, making a show of putting it into the trunk. They closed the trunk and locked the car.

It was a long walk from where they left the car to the edge of the city. No one said anything, except for when Dean told Abby to come get back on the sidewalk because she had been walking a little too close to the water and he "didn't know what was in it."

Then, when they turned in to head towards the center of town, Dean stopped them.

"I think I know what Meg meant by sunrise" he said, nodding towards the building ahead of them.

Abby read the name on the sign across the street 'Sunrise Apartments.' Yep, that would make sense. Outside, there were kids about Abby's age playing jumprope and a few people milling around, keeping an eye on their kids or just being people.

"Son of a bitch, that's pretty smart. I mean if these demons can possess people, they can possess almost anybody inside." Dean said.

"Yeah, and make anybody attack us." Sam said.

"Well, shit." Abby added. It felt fitting.

"Hey," Dean scolded, "Don't talk like that."

"We're about to go into an apartment building full of people who could be demons and you're worried about my language?" Abby protested.

Dean just rolled his eyes.

"And we can't kill em. A building full of human shields." Dean continued, pretending Abby had never said anything. "And they could look like anybody."

"Man, this sucks out loud." Dean said.

"Yeah, no shit." Sam said and Dean gave him a look, then motioned to Abby in a 'dude come on' way. "All right, so, how the hell are we gonna get in?" Sam chose to ignore Dean.

Dean looked at the building across the street. Abby did too, trying to figure out what he was seeing. "Pull the fire alarm, get out all the civilians." Dean said. What had he seen that she hadn;t because she had not gotten that from what the front of the building looked like.

"Okay, but then the city responds in seven minutes." Sam said.

"Seven minutes, exactly." Dean said.

So, the plan was Sam would sneak into the building and pull the first fire alarm he saw. Once the alarm was blaring, it was Abby's turn.

Abby walked close to a firefighter, trying to look as confused and scared as possible.

"Hey, are you alright?" The firefighter said to her, a concerned lok on his face.

"I just, I..." Abby made her face look like she was about to cry, forcing her bottom lip to tremble and her eyes to get really big and sad, like Dean had told her too. "I can't find my daddy. He said he would just be gone for a second but I've looked everywhere and he isn't anywhere and I don't know what to do." Abby said really fast and scared.

"Okay, okay, c'mon I'm sure he's around here somewhere." The firefighter put his hand on her back and led Abby away from the supposedly burning building, into a small crowd of people, fast growing, where it was easy to point to a vague guy and say "Look that's him" and slip away. Then, all Abby was supposed to do was a find a bench Dean had pointed out earlier and stay right there, looking as un-hunter-like as possible so no demons would attack her. And if they did, Abby was just suppsoed to run like hell and Dean or Sam would find her.

Abby swung her legs back and forth as she watched the crowd of people expand as more and more people left the building. She was too nervous to read, just watching the people. For a long time, the crowd was just full of concerned people until one person starting acting strangely.

A bald man, tall and wearing blue jacket over a gray button up, suddenly straightened and then walked through the crowd with almost mechanic movements. The firefighter tried to stop him, but as the bald man passed the firefighter, he too straightened stiffly and let the bald man pass before turning and following him with the same mechanic movements. Abby stood up and watched them disappear into the building. Oh yeah, those guys are definitely possessed Abby thought to herself. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, feeling to nervous to sit down but not sure what to do. Then, faintly, she heard Dean's voice from around the building.

More precisely, his shouts.

So, naturally, Abby raced that way, pumping her legs as fast as they could carry her. Abby rounded the corner just as Sam was reaching the bottom of a fire escape ladder, that she figured Dean had climbed down too. Dean was standing on the ground, a man leaning on him heavily. For a second, Abby couldn't figure who it was; their face was pointed to the ground and cast in shadow despite the broad daylight.

"Dad!" Abby yelled out, and just as she was about to race towards him to help, she felt a force knock her to the ground, her head hitting the concrete with a thump.

"Abby!" She heard faintly from where Sam had been a moment ago. Abby didn't notice the pressure on her shoulders, holding her down, until it was gone with a grunt that sounded a lot like Sam. Abby sat up, discombobulated and her head hurt worse than it had in a while. Looking to her right, she could see on the street just a few feet away, Sam laying on the ground like Abby had a second ago with a demon on top of him, punching him over and over.

Abby shot to her feet, as fast as she could, and after almost losing her balance was about to go try and help Sam when suddenly Deans arm wrapped around her chest.

"Go to Dad!" Dean ordered, and Abby turned on her heel and ran back to where Dad was, following orders on instinct alone. Abby had just reached Dad's side– Dean had left him slumped against the wall of the apartment building, unconscious– when she turned at Dean's yell to see him being flung into the windshield of a gray, shattering it. Abby watched with horror, kneeling by her father unsure what to do as the demon was hitting Sam again, and again, and again.

Abby wanted to scream, fight, do something, but it was like she was frozen in place, unable to move.

A gunshot went off. Abby's eyes diverted to Dean as the demon fell, dead. In Dean's hand, clearly just fired, was the Colt. The gun Dean was supposed to leave in the car.

Once Abby saw Dean go over to Sam, and saw that Sam was somewhat alright, she turned back to Dad. His eyes were closed and his chin leaned against his chest.

"Dad, Dad, c'mon" Abby said, shaking his shoulders. She wasn't stupid enough to think she could shoulder his weight on her own, or really at all.

"Abs, c'mon, we got to get out of here." Dean said when he reached Abby. She shot up and nodded. As Dean pulled Dad's unconsious form up, supporting him, Abby moved over to Sam. She wasn't tall enough to really support him, but she still wrapped her left arm around his waist, trying to hold him up as best she could. He looked like shit, with blood running on the sides of his face and from his nose, and his hair all messed up. The four walked back to the car like that, the only sound being their hard and fast breathing.

~

The car ride to the cabin had been silent. The cabin was in the middle of the woods, and it had taken a long time to get there. Enough time the sky was now pitch black and the temperature had dropped enough Abby was wearing a sweatshirt over her t-shirt and jeans.

Abby was helping Sam put salt on the windowsills and doors. When they had first turned on the lights in the house and Dean had been getting Dad into the bedroom, Abby had been surprised to see how bad Sam's injuries had turned in the last few hours. His right eye had a deep red bruise around it, and there were cuts littering his face and one of the bridge of his nose.

When Sam noticed Abby looking, he had half smiled and told her it "barely hurt."

Abby knew he was lying, though, from the way he kept pressing his lips together. Abby so badly wished she knew how to help him, but she didn't and couldn't, so she was just stuck with this pit in her stomach.

When he had asked, Abby had told him that the back of her head was fine. That was true; Sam had already checked it twice, and he said she should be fine, she just had a mild concussion.

When Dean reentered, Sam asked "How is he?"

"He just needed a little rest, that's all." Dad had barely spoken since they had saved him. On the car ride, Abby had made sure he stayed upright even as Dean sped around turns and blew past stop signs. "How are you?" Dean asked.

"I'll be fine." Sam said.

"Hey, you don't think we were followed here, do you?" Sam asked. The way he looked at Dean for that split second reminded Abby that Dean wasn't just her big brother, he was Sammy's too.

"I dont know. I don't think so. I mean, we couldn't have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up."

"Yeah," Sam let out a breath.

"Hey, uh..." Sam awkwardly shifted back and forth. "Dean, you, um..." He half-scoffed half-sighed. "You saved my life back there."

"So I guess you're glad I brought the gun, huh?" Dean smirked, just slightly.

"Man, I'm trying to thank you here."

"You're welcome." Dean said. Abby knew she shouldn't say anything– this was a moment between Sam and Dean that she was just here for.

There was a minute of silence, and Sam stopped leaning against the wall and walked over to Abby, taking the salt she had finished spreading out of her hands wordlessly and putting it on the table.

"Hey, Sam." Dean broke the silence, both Abby and Sam turning to look at him. "You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there." Abby swallowed, hard, and chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"You didn't have a choice, Dean." Sam said softly.

"I know. That's not what bothers me."

"Then what does?"

Dean swallowed. "Killing that guy, killing Meg. I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch." Dean paused, looking over at Sam and Abby. "For you, or Abby, or Dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill. It's just... it scares me sometimes." The last part Dean said so quietly, Abby had to strain, just a little, to hear what he said.

"It shouldn't." A gruff but familiar voice said. Abby turned her head to see Dad, standing and looking perfectly okay. A few hours of sleep really does to wonders, Abby thought to herself. "You did good."

"You;re not mad?" Dean's voice was soft and confused.

"For what?"

"Using a bullet." Dean was right. It seemed like something Dad would get mad over. Dad seemed too... calm.

"Mad? I'm proud of you." Abby was very, very surprised. "You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you– you watch out for this family. You always have." What Dad was saying was true, Abby knew it was. The uneasy feeling in her gut was just leftover adrenaline from earlier.

"Thanks." Dean said quietly.

The lights began to flicker and Abby could hear gusts of wind outside, whoooshing past the small cabin. Dad rushed over to the window, looking out.

"It found us. It's here."

"The demon?" Sam asked, confused.

"Sam, lines of salt in front of every window, every door." Dad ordered.

"Already did it." Sam said.

"Well, check it, okay?" Sam rushed off.

"Dean you got the gun?"

"Yep.

"Give it to me."

"Dad, Sam tried to shoot the demon in salvation and it vanished." Dean said, still getting the gun out of his waistband.

"This is me. I won't miss. Now, the gun, hurry." Dean had the gun in his hands, but he wasn't giving it to Dad. He just looked at the gun, then Dad. Abby watched, unsure of what was going on. Something was wrong, something was weird, she knew that much. What exactly, she couldn't figure out.

"Son, please." Dean slowly started to back away from Dad and towards Abby. "Give me the gun. What are you doing, Dean?"

"You'd be furious."

"What?" Dad's impatience was evident in his tone.

"That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me a new one."

Abby wasn't breathing, she didn't think, as Dean raised the gun and turned off the safety, pointing it straight at Dad.

"You're not my Dad."

Abby started backing even farther away from Dad.

"I know my dad better than anyone, and you ain't him." Dean's words came out as a half-growl.

"What the hell has gotten into you?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Stay back."

Sam walked into the room and abruptly stopped at the sight of Dean, gun pointed at Dad, and Abby backed into a corner looking as terrified as ever.

"Dean what the hell is going on?"

"Your brother's lost his mind," it said.

"He's not Dad," Dean countered.

'What?"

"I think he's possessed. I think he's been possessed since we rescued him." Abby was drowning again.

She was being pulled under wave after wave and she couldn't breathe. The only thing keeping her upright was the wall behind her, and even that felt as if it was shaking.

"Don't listen to him, Sammy," it said.

"Dean, how do you know?" Sam and Dean didn't take their eyes off John for a second, now both standing between Dad and Abby on opposite sides of the room.

"He's different." Dean said.

"You know, we don't have time for this. Sam, you want to kill this demon, you've got to trust me." Sam just looked back and forth from Dean to Dad, then back again.

"Sam?" Sam didn't say anything, just kept staring back and forth.

"Abby, c'mon." It looked at Abby.

Abby retreated farther into herself, eyes wide and back pressed against the wall. Sam slowly walked closer to Dean, standing just slightly behind him.

"Fine." It said. "You're all so sure. Go ahead. Kill me." There were tears in his eyes, which Abby felt didn't fit. Dean was right, it just wasn't Dad, she was sure of it.

But then, Abby put something together. Oh God Oh God if Dean shoots it, Dad will be dead too. That can't happen. There's another way, and Dean's going to figure everything out and then everything will be okay, Abby figured.

Dean, arm outstretched, holding the gun steady, faltered. He paused as Dad hung his head down as if he was accepting his child distrusted him enough to kill him.

Dean didn't pull the trigger.

It raised it's head back up.

"I thought so." That voice, that wasn't Dad's gruff, familiar voice. No, that was someone else's. As it looked at Dean, Abby saw its yellow eyes.

Sam rushed at it. He was thrown against the wall, grunting. Dean was also pushed against a wall. Abby felt something push her from her place to the left into the other wall. She crumpled onto the ground as the last lights in her head went out as he small body collided with the hard wall.

~

Abby slowly opened her eyes. She could barely see straight and her whole body hurt, especially her head. Dad's voice, no, it's voice filtered through her ears but sounded as if it was underwater.

"...they got in the way." It was saying.

"In the way of what?" Abby heard Sam say.

"My plans for you, Sammy– you... and all the children like you."

Abby forced her eyes open and forced them to stay open even though it was so, so hard. She was curled up in the fetal position, head head facing the middle of the room in the corner almost opposite where Sam and it was. It had its back to her, so Abby felt okay enough to look around. She didn't think much time had passed, but she couldn't be sure.

"Listen, you mind just getting this over with? 'Cause I really can't stand the monologuing." Dean cut into its monologue.

"Funny," the demon's words sounded unnatural coming out of Dad's mouth; he didn't talk like that. "But that's all aprt of your M.O., isn't it? Mask all that nasty pain. Mask all that nasty truth." Dad moved over to Dean now, looming over him.

"Oh yeah? Whats that?"

"You know, you fight, and you fight for this family, but the truth is they don't need you. Not like you need them." Abby slowly, painfully half crawled, half drug herself towards the table with the Colt laying on it.

Get the Colt to Sam

Get the Colt to Sam

She kept repeating the mantra to herself.

"Sam– he's clearly John's favorite son."

Get the Colt to Sam

Get the Colt to Sam

"Even when they fight, it's more concern than he's ever shown you."

Get the Colt to Sam

Get the Colt to Sam

"I bet you're real proud of your kids, too, huh? Oh, wait, I forgot. I wasted 'em."

Abby was so, so close to the table. She was out of it's line of vision, now, if it turned around, but still not at the table.

Something happened

Abby couldn't see but suddenly Dean screamed in pain and Sam yelled "Dean!' Abby moved faster.

"No!" Sam yelled.

Dean's grunts pierced Abby's ears like rocks in water.

Get the Colt

Get the Colt

"Dad, don't you let it kill me!"

Get the Colt

Dean screamed a horrible, painful, dying scream.

Get the Colt

"Dean!" Sam yelled.

Get the Colt

Abby could hear Dean dying.

Get the Colt

"Dad, please." Dean pleaded

Get the Colt

Dean went quiet.

Get the Colt

"Dean!" Sam bellowed.

Get the Colt

"No!" Sam yelled.

Abby's small hand closed around the gun.

"Stop." Dad's voice. Dad's voice. Stop it."

Sam was let go from the wall, for just a second, but pushed back.

It turned around as the sound of Abby cocking the gun.

It's yellow eyes stared into Abby's big brown ones.

"You kill me, you kill Daddy." Behind it was Dean, slouched over, blood spilling from his mouth and down his shirt.

Abby pulled the trigger.

Dad fell to the ground.

Dean collapsed from the wall, and Sam's feet hit the ground. Abby could hear Dean gasping, but her ears were ringing and her head was ringing and Dad was on the ground in front of her.

He was shot.

Shot by her.

Someone took the gun from her hands.

"Dean, Dean, hey. Oh, god, you lost a lot of blood." Abby stood there, facing her father's body as Sam kneeled next to Dean. She could see them in the corner of her eye and knew she should go help. But it was so, so far away. Instead, she stood there.

"Where's Dad?" Dean asked.

"He's right here. He's right here, Dean."

"Go check on him." Dean ordered.

Abby moved a little forward. Small steps.

"Dean-" Sam began to protest.

A few more steps. She was level with his feet now.

"Go check on him."

Abby heard Sam's footsteps behind her.

"Daddy?" She asked, her voice small.

"Sammy!" Dad yelled. Abby jumped back into Sam, who put a hand on her shoulder. "It's still alive, it's inside me. I can feel it." Abby's eyes went wide.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

"You shoot me! You shoot me in the heart, son!"

Sam gently pushed Abby far enough away. He cocked the gun at Dad's chest.

"Do it, now!"

"Sam, don't you do it. Don't you do it." Abby heard Dean say from behind her.

"You've got to hurry. I cant hold on to it much longer." Dad's teeth were clenches with effort and he was barely choking out his words with the effort it was taking. "You shoot me, son! Shoot me!"

Sam was hesitating. Abby didn't know what to do. Dad couldn't die. He just couldn't.

"Son, I'm begging you! We can end this here and now!"

No no no Dad can't die no no no

"Sammy, you kill me!"

No no no no

"You do this!"

No no no

"Sammy!"

No no

"Sam, sam..."

Then, suddenly, before anything could happen, a pillar of black smoke flew out of Dad's mouth. Sam stepped in front of Abby, putting a hand behind him to make sure she was there and okay-ish.

Abby peaked around Sam's side and watched as more and more smoke emerged from John, creating a cloud. Then, Dad fell back to the ground, gasping air like he hadn't breathed in years.

They had failed. The demon had escaped.

~

The Winchesters were headed to the hospital. Sam had made the call, and no one else was in a right enough state to disagree. Sam had Dad sit up front with him, then Abby behind Dad in the back on the passengers side and Dean next to her.

The bullet was still in Dad's leg. He kept sucking in air like someone in a lot of pain and eveyrtime he did, Abby's guilt grew. She had shot Dad. Abby had shot Dad.

"Look, just hold on, all right?" Sam said to Dad after he made a particularly 'I'm-in-pain-becuase-my-nine-year-old-daughter-shot-me' sound. "The hospital is only ten minutes away."

"I'm suprised at you, Sammy. Why didn't you kill it? I thought we saw eye-to-eye on this." Abby leaned her head against the window pane. It was nice and cold, contrasting with the hot July air.

"Killing this demon comes first. Before me. Before everything."

Sam looked in the rearview mirror. Dean did that a lot, Abby thought. Whenever he was talking to her on the road, he looked in the mirror so he could see her facial expressions. "No, sir, not before everything."

Abby wondered what that meant. Her head hurt too much to try and figure that out.

"Look, we've still got the Colt. We still have the one bullet left." Abby was looking at the reirview mirror still. The friendship bracelet she had given Dean, years ago, the green one was hanging on it still. "We just have to start over, all right?" There was a light reflecting off the bracelet. A very bright light. "I mean we already found," That light was much too bright. "the demon on-"

Glass shattered.

Pain.

So, so much pain.