ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: "Oh I'm sorry sweetheart, did that hurt?"
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"SO THEY'RE REALLY NOT AFRAID OF THE SUN?"

Venus looked over at Dean from where she was crouched beside him and the others behind some bushes. Watching him learn all this vampire lore in real time was like watching a toddler take their first steps, it was cute.

"No, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn," his father informed him, "The only way to kill them is by beheading."

"And yeah, they sleep in the day. Doesn't mean they won't wake up," Arturo added.

All five hunters had their gazes locked on the abandoned barn where the vampires were residing, watching as one pulled up in a beat-up Mustang and hurried in.

"So, I guess walking right in's not our best option," Dean sighed.

John smirked. "Actually, that's the plan."

Venus and Arturo exchanged a glance. It was a risky plan, but it was all they had.

So they made their way back to their vehicles, prepping for the task ahead.

John pressed a button on the back of his trunk that unveiled an automatic arsenal containing his and Arturo's shared collection of weapons. While Venus, Dean, and Sam dug through the Impala's messy trunk to gather what they needed.

She had to admit that John's arsenal was pretty badass. But of course, she'd never say it out loud.

"Dad, I got an extra machete if you need one," Dean said, holding the blade in his father's direction.

But John pulled out his own blade, "Think I'm okay, thanks."

"Wow," Dean mused at the sight of it.

John turned to where Venus was strapping her machete sheath onto her back. "What about you, V? Still got Cynthia on hand?"

Venus narrowed her eyes at him and reached back to pull her blade out for him to see, "Her name is Sylvia. And of course I do, I can't leave home without my best girl," she sent him a small smile that he returned.

Arturo chuckled at his niece's words, strapping his own machete onto his hip. He remembered buying her that blade for her sixteenth birthday like it was yesterday.

John took a deep breath, eyeing the woods around them in deep thought. "So," he eventually spoke, "You kids really wanna know about this colt?"

Venus glanced up with slightly widened eyes. John Winchester was no longer withholding information for his own good. Hell must be freezing over.

"Yes, sir," Sam responded for them.

John looked at Arturo before he spoke, the younger man silently urging him to continue. "It's just a story, a legend really. Well, I thought it was. Never believed it until I read Daniel's letter."

The younger hunters each stepped closer, listening intently.

"Back in 1835, when Halley's comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo. They say Samuel Colt made a gun, a special gun. He made it for a hunter, a man like us, only on horseback. The story goes, he made thirteen bullets. This hunter, used the gun a half dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Somehow, Daniel got his hands on it. They say...they say this gun can kill anything."

"Kill anything, like 'supernatural' anything?" wondered Dean.

Venus' eyes widened. It all made sense now. "Like the demon," she corrected.

"Yeah, the demon," John confirmed, "Ever since I picked up its trail, I've been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun, we may have it."

The stakes had never been higher. This was it. They would have all they needed to kill the demon and avenge Mary and Jess.

They just needed to sneak in and out of the dusty old barn while somehow managing to not wake a nest of sleeping vampires.

Easy-fuckin-peasy.

-ˋˏ [  ] ˎˊ-

It took five minutes for the vampires to wake up.

Venus ditched her attempts at opening the cage full of human captives and hauled ass out of the barn with the Winchester boys and her uncle behind. She didn't even have time to draw her machete.

They seemed to lose the vampires once they made it outside but kept running until they got to their vehicles.

"Dad?" Dean eventually called out, realizing that the older man wasn't behind them.

John ran through the trees some time later, his hands empty and chest heaving.

Venus sighed to herself. He didn't get the gun in time and now they had vampires on their asses for eternity. 

Dean and Sam moved to keep running but stopped once they realized that Venus, Arturo, and John were no longer in a hurry.

"They won't follow, they'll wait till tonight," John told them, "Once a vampire gets your scent it's for life."

"What the hell do we do now?" Dean questioned. 

"You gotta find the nearest funeral home, that's what."

Venus, Arturo, and Dean returned to the motel hours later carrying a bottle of dead man's blood.

They walked into the room to see Sam and John smiling at each other, all silently realizing that the two managed to make up while they were gone. The thought filled Venus with relief. The last thing they needed now was more fighting.

"Whoo!" Dean exclaimed, "Man, there's some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys."

John ignored his joke, "Did you get it?" he asked expectantly.

Dean pointed to where Arturo was pulling out a paper bag from his coat pocket, containing what they needed

John took the bottle from him and smiled, "You know what to do," he eyed each of them.

-ˋˏ [   ] ˎˊ-

Sam stood beside Venus in hiding with John and Arturo, each holding either crossbows or syringes of dead man's blood. The youngest hunter swore that he could hear Venus' teeth grinding from where he stood. Her eyes were fiercely locked onto where a female vampire was lip-locked with Dean.

Venus checked her crossbow and ran out from behind the trees, not wanting to watch some random chick get her rocks off on Dean's mouth any longer. 

In fluid succession, she shot two arrows into the larger male vampire before he could hear her coming and grabbed his mouth from behind, silencing his screams. Once she was sure that he was unconscious, she took an arrow straight from the crossbow barrel and jammed it into the female vampire's back, causing her to instantly release Dean and stumble back into her arms.

"Oh I'm sorry sweetheart, did that hurt?" Venus taunted her, tossing aside her crossbow and getting a strong grip on her neck and arms.

The others emerged from the trees seconds later.

"What happened to the plan, Venus?" Arturo scolded.

Venus used her hold on the woman to slam her head against the hood of the Impala then dropped her body and stepped back, "You were taking too long," she answered with an innocent shrug.

"It barely even stings, y'know," the woman called out, stumbling to her feet.

Venus turned to look at her, her brown eyes narrowed to vicious slits, "Give it time. Dead man's blood hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?"

The vampire's face fell and she soon passed out into Dean's awaiting arms.

"Load her up," John nodded.

Venus followed Dean to John's truck across the street, opening the door for him to toss the woman's unconscious body in. Once they tied her up and closed the door, Dean looked over at Venus with a smirk on his face.

Venus felt his stare without even looking up. "What?"

"You were jealous, weren't you?"

No shit.

"No, I wasn't," Venus scoffed, walking away before Dean could tell she was lying.

"Don't gotta lie to me, princess," Dean called out to her retreating figure.

Venus stopped walking and turned to face him in the middle of the street, "Now how can I be jealous when you're not mine, Dean?" she bitterly replied, not a hint of humor in her words.

Dean's jaw clenched at her words.

"Exactly," Venus continued, a joyless smile on her lips as she returned to where the others were waiting.

The hunters quickly disposed of the other vampire's body and took their new catch to a secluded area further in the woods. She was now tied to a tree while the hunters surrounded a burning fire.

"Saffron, skunks, cabbage, trillium—It'll block our scent and hers until we're ready," John explained, tossing the small pouch in the fire.

"Stuff stinks," Dean grimaced.

"Well, that's the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes and you'll stand a chance of not being detected."

Venus nodded in understanding before feeling her uncle tap her shoulder. She turned to see him gesture for them to move to a more private corner behind some trees. "We need to talk, mija."

Venus glanced back at where John and the others were engaged in their own conversation then followed. 

"After you and the boys clean out that nest and free those hostages, I want you to hightail it out of Colorado."

Venus recoiled at her uncle's words. "So you and John are just gonna get the gun and take off again," she said, already knowing it was going to happen from the moment they mentioned the weapon.

"Yeah, you said it yourself, we're stronger without you kids around," Arturo replied, "We can't kill this demon if we're constantly looking behind us, worrying about you guys."

Venus looked down at her feet, sighing. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the only way to kill this thing is together."

"No," Arturo shook his head adamantly, "I'm already playing with my life by going after this thing. I'm not playing with yours."

"I'm not a kid anymore, tío. If I wanna risk my life to kill the thing that killed my best friend then it should be my decision, not yours," Venus argued.

"No," Arturo repeated more harshly this time, "I'm doing this para ti. I'm doing this so you don't have to, chiquita. 'Cause if something happens to you and I could've stopped it? I would never forgive myself. Your mother would never forgive me."

"And I'm just supposed to forgive myself for letting you go get yourself killed?" Venus' voice broke.

Arturo sent her a sad smile. "Who said I'm gonna die, huh? No faith left in your tío?"

Venus closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

Arturo pulled something out of his pocket, placing it in her hands. She looked down to see a bundle of keys. "If I don't come back, I want you to take these keys to the Red Box storage place in downtown Santa Fe."

Venus' brows furrowed, "You have a storage unit in our hometown? Why? I thought we could never go back there?"

"Exactly. That makes it the best hiding place," Arturo shrugged. His face suddenly took on a serious glint,  "When you get there, there's a box with a letter and some money by the door. Open the box lid twice before you do anything else and it'll disarm the traps I have set up there."

Venus wanted to laugh. "Okay, international super spy."

Arturo deadpanned, not finding her joke funny. He silently hoped that he'd make it out of this alive so that she would never have to read the contents of that letter. And if she does, he's happy he'll be too dead to face her wrath. The older man pulled her in for a hug, kissing the side of her head as he did so, "I love you, mija."

Venus welcomed what she hoped wouldn't be their last hug with a smile. "I love you too, tío."

Arturo held onto her for some time, regret briefly crossing his features.

"Can't breathe—"

The older man instantly released her, throwing a smile back on his face. He stepped back and held her face in his hands, squishing her cheeks together and laughing at the glare she sent him.

" 'Turo, you coming?" John called from where he stood with his boys, just finishing a nearly identical conversation with them. 

Arturo nodded at the older man but turned to his niece once again. He quickly pulled out a worn baseball cap from the inside of his coat and handed it to her.

Venus took it, running her fingers over the red fabric, "You should keep this one, I already have your Yankees cap."

"Which you stole by the way," Arturo added, chuckling, "But I want you to keep this one too. Wear it to my funeral or something."

Venus took the cap and harshly smacked him on the shoulder a few times. "¡Oye, eso no es gracioso! "

Arturo lifted a hand to protect himself from her continuous hits, muttering Spanish curses and slowly backing away. He eventually sent her one more smile and turned to where John was waiting.

Venus walked over to join the boys, all three watching their guardians leave with uneasy expressions.

"So we're definitely rescuing their asses once we're done, right?"

"Hell yeah," Dean agreed without hesitation.

-ˋˏ [  ] ˎˊ-

In the barn sat one vampire, the man being tasked with watching his pack's hostages while the others rescued their leader's female companion

He turned a bottle of whiskey to his head, letting the harsh liquor soothe his grief for his deceased packmate.

But then he heard footsteps outside the barn door.

The man stood to his feet and took slow steps towards the noise, relief flaring through him once he realized there was nothing to be found.

So he spun around to return to his chair, only to be met with the sight of Venus Castillo leaning against a pillar nearby, her machete slung across her shoulder and a grin on her face. "Howdy."

Before the vampire could react she swung her blade with dangerous precision, killing him in one clean swoop.

Dean appeared behind her, looking down at the dead vampire. "Come on," he nodded to the cage on the other side of the room.

Venus followed him, watching him pull a mini crowbar from his pocket, "I told you I'd come back," he said to the captives, a small smile on his face.

All of the people inside were duck-taped and rope-bound with blood trickling down their necks, some awake and some unconscious from the blood loss.

Sam rushed into the barn shortly after. "I called the ambulance."

Dean and Venus ducked into the cage, each bringing out the hostages and freeing them one by one.

Broken sobs of gratitude and loud thanks met their ears, each hunter swelling with pride at the fact that they at least managed to save some people that day.

Once they ensured that the hostages were awake and not suffering from any immediately life-threatening injuries, Venus, Dean, and Sam left the barn, running over to their parked cars.

"Let's go save those stubborn bastards," Dean announced, punctuating his words with a rev of the Impala's engine.

Finding John and Arturo wasn't hard. They already knew that John planned to drive across the highway by the barn and drag the vampires as far away as possible.  

So once they saw the back of John's truck up ahead, the hunters drove off-road and parked their vehicles in the trees.

John and Arturo had just been knocked unconscious when two arrows flew through the air and landed in two of the vampires' chests.

Venus came barreling out of the woods first, her machete in hand as she grabbed the nearest vampire and swung her blade.

Dean shot two more vampires while Sam tried to tackle the leader.

Venus had just wiped her blade clean in her sleeve when she heard Sam's pained grunts.

She twirled her machete at the same time Dean picked up Sam's discarded blade, both turning to where the leader had Sam in a chokehold. "Don't! I'll break his neck."

Venus' jaw clenched, watching Sam fight the man's hold, the youngest hunter obviously struggling to breathe.

"Put the blades down."

But neither of them budged, both glaring at the vampire with their blades in the air.

So he tightened his hold on Sam's neck.

"Alright," Venus relented once Sam's face turned an alarming shade of pink. The brunette dropped the blade, watching Dean do the same.

"You people," the vampire sneered, "Why can't you just leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do."

"I don't think so," a familiar deep voice met their ears, instantly gaining the creature's attention.

All eyes turned to see John standing with the colt in his hand, his finger on the trigger within a millisecond.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. A bullet planted itself in the vampire's head, freeing Sam from his hold. The point of entry crackled and turned grey and, for a moment, it seemed as if the bullet wound started smoking.

Finally, the vampire fell to his knees, his eyes sliding closed.

"Luther!" his mate screamed, watching his soul quite literally leave his body.

The hunters watched with widened eyes, witnessing the true capabilities of the gun.

The female vampire rushed forward, intent on attacking John and a newly awakened Arturo. But Venus grabbed her blade and stepped in her path. Another surviving vampire grabbed her before she could move any further and pulled her back to their car. "Kate, don't!"

The vampires sped away from the scene while they still could.

-ˋˏ [ ] ˎˊ-

"So, you three ignored a direct order back there."

Venus turned to face John and her uncle, pausing her packing and moving to stand beside the boys. She folded her arms across her chest, glaring at John in preparation for the earful they were about to receive.

"Yes, sir," Sam swallowed harshly.

"But we saved your asses," Dean and Venus chorused, sending each other a look after they spoke.

John gave them both a once over, his face impassive before he filled the silence. "You're right."

Venus' eyes nearly bulged out of her head. 

"I am?" Dean asked, his brows raising slightly.

Arturo chuckled from beside the older man, "It scares the hell out of him," he leaned forward and told them, his tone lighthearted.

John rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Listen, you three and this guy," he paused and pointed to Arturo, "You're all I got. But I guess we are stronger as a family."

Venus smiled, a genuine one that John hadn't been gifted in a long time. Maybe twenty years was long enough to get the old man to finally see reason.

"So," John continued, "We go after this damn thing. Together."

"Yes, sir," Dean and Sam answered together, nodding in understanding.

Venus felt all eyes on her and raised a brow. "I haven't called you sir in the two decades we've known each other, why the hell would I start now?" she scoffed.

John simply chuckled, shaking his head at the young girl.

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A/N: Venus and Arturo's relationship is actually everything to me.

Also, currently finishing up the chapters covering the first couple
of episodes of season two and it's so FUN
I love Jo and Ellen so much

Don't forget to drop a vote and a comment...or five :)

Translations:
Para ti - For you
¡Oye, eso no es gracioso! - Hey, that's not funny!

Lovely GIF banner up above made by the incredibly talented prodigybitxhhh 

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