ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: "This sucks."
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VENUS' GIGGLES AND DEAN'S LOUD SHUSHES could be distinctly heard as the pair stumbled into the motel room. In the girl's palm rested an unopened six-pack, and in the man's hands were two recently purchased beef jerky sticks.

But they immediately stopped smiling once they laid eyes on where Sam had just jolted awake, sweat lining his forehead.

"Sam?" Dean called out, worried.

Venus carefully placed the pack of beer on the nearest table. "How'd you end up on the floor, 'mano?" she asked with furrowed brows.

Both their questions went unanswered as the youngest sprung to his feet, panting. They stood glued to the floor watching him fumble for his laptop and rapidly type information into the search engine.

"What the hell's going on?" Dean whispered.

"It was another vision wasn't it?" Venus walked over and sat in the empty chair next to Sam.

He paused his typing and glanced over at her, nodding.

She shared a quick look with Dean, the older hunter standing behind Sam and peering down at his laptop screen.

"There are only two towns in the U.S. named Rivergrove," Sam finally spoke, "We need to go to the one in Oregon, now."

"How come you're so sure it's that one?"

Sam clicked over to a separate tab, showing Dean the image he pulled up there. "There was a picture. Crater Lake."

Venus was convinced. "I'll go pack," she sighed, moving to grab her toiletry pouch from the bathroom counter.

"Okay, what else?" she heard Dean ask Sam.

"I saw a dark room, some people, and a guy tied to a chair," Sam paused, taking a deep breath, "You thought there was something inside him."

Venus walked out of the bathroom and leaned against the doorway, arms folded. "Was it a demon? Was he possessed, maybe?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know."

The brunette crossed the room to where her bag rested, hurriedly packing it while the boys continued talking.

"All your weirdo visions are always tied to the yellow-eyed demon somehow," Dean said, "Was there any black smoke? Did we try to exorcise him?"

"No, nothing. You just plugged him, that's it."

Venus stopped and turned to him. "You saw Dean kill some random dude? Like actually pull the trigger, on purpose?"

Sam nodded.

"Well, I'm sure I had a good reason," Dean piped up, now moving to pack his bag.

"I sure hope so," Sam mumbled.

"What does that mean?"

Sam remained quiet. So did Venus.

Dean looked between the both of them. "I'm not gonna waste an innocent man."

Not on purpose anyway, Venus silently thought.

"I wouldn't!" Dean shouted, almost hearing their thoughts.

"I never said anything!" Venus threw her hands up in defense.

"Fine."

Venus scoffed loudly. "Fine."

"Look, we don't know what it is," Sam reasoned, standing to his feet, "But whatever it is, that guy in the chair is a part of it. So let's find him and see what's what."

"Fine," Dean sassed again.

"Fine."

-ˋˏ [     ] ˎˊ-

By the time the hunters rolled into Rivergrove, it was daylight, the streets bustling with small-town folks seemingly going about their day.

The rumble of Venus' bike seemed to disturb the peace, she noticed. It was nice. Until she remembered the real reason they were there.

Venus came to a stop by Dean's side of the Impala, both vehicles in a parking lot in the town square. All three pairs of eyes darted around the area, searching for any starting point.

Then Sam pointed at an older brown-skinned man in a utility vest, currently fine-tuning his fishing rod. "He was there," he quietly told them.

Venus dug out her fake Marshall badge and followed the boys over to talk to the man.

"Mornin'" Dean politely greeted.

"Morning," the man returned, instantly giving each of them a once over, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Dean reached into his jacket for his badge, "Billy Gibbons," he then gestured to Sam, "Frank Beard," lastly, Venus, "Dani Mitchell. U.S. Marshalls."

The man paused his task, giving the hunters his full attention. "What's this about?"

"We're looking for someone," Venus explained, putting her badge back in her jacket.

"A young man, early twenties," Sam began to describe, "He'd have a thin scar right below his hairline."

The trio watched the man's face light up in recognition, but then he tried to hide it. "What did he do?"

"Well, nothing. We're actually looking for someone else but we think this young man can help us."

"He's not in any kind of trouble or anything," Venus assured him with a small smile.

"Not yet," added Dean.

The man nodded slowly, still debating what he should disclose to them.

Dean's eyes flickered down to the tattoo on the man's forearm, instantly recognizing it. "I think maybe you know who he is, master sergeant." The man released a small smile at Dean's recognition of his marine affiliation. "My dad was in the corps, he was a corporal," Dean disclosed with a fond smile.

"What company?"

"Echo–two–one."

Venus smiled to herself. Now they had some sort of established trust with the man. Good job Dean. "So, can you help us?" she asked the man.

He hesitated for a moment, glancing at all three again. But he eventually gave in. "Duane Tanner's got a scar like that. But I know him," he quickly added, "Good kid, keeps his nose clean."

"Oh, I'm sure he does," Dean nodded, "Do you know where he lives?"

The man nodded. "With his family, up Aspen Way," he told them, pointing them in the right direction.

"Thank you," Dean turned to leave, Venus and Sam behind him.

The hunters continued to walk around the small town, seeing if they could find any more info about the man they were looking for.

Then Sam bumped into a tree.

"Dude, how did you not see the–"

Sam cut Venus off. "Hey, look," he directed her attention to the word etched into the wood. Dean came to a stop and looked as well.

Venus' eyes widened. "Croatoan."

"Yeah," Sam echoed her concern.

But Dean stood beside them looking very confused.

"Roanoke, last colony, ring a bell?" Sam tried to jog his memory.

Dean blinked.

Venus' brows furrowed. "Did you pay any attention in history class?"

"You know better than anyone that I didn't," Dean scoffed.

Venus' cheeks heated up at the memories of her and Dean in the back of their high school classes doing anything but their assigned work. Somehow she'd always end up distracted by his lame attempts at jokes, his constant mocking of their teachers, or just his shameless staring at her.

"Wait," Dean called out, "I remember. 'The shot heard around the world'? 'How bills become laws'?"

Venus and Sam were stunned to silence.

"That's not school," Sam eventually spoke, "That's schoolhouse rock."

Venus shook her head, staring up at Dean like he was an anomaly. "The way your mind works is fascinating," she said, genuinely meaning it.

"Why thank you," Dean smirked.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America, late 1500s."

"Oh yeah, I do remember that," Dean told them, "The only thing they left behind was a single word carved in a tree. Croatoan."

"Right," Venus confirmed, "There were theories—Indian raid, disease— but nobody knows what really happened. They were all just gone, wiped out overnight," she grimly explained.

Dean scoffed, glancing around the town. "You don't think that's what's going on here..."

"Well..." Venus trailed off, looking over at Sam.

"Whatever I saw in my head, it sure wasn't good," the youngest nervously admitted.

All eyes fell onto the tree again.

"What do you think could do that?" Sam wondered aloud.

"Well, I mean, like I said, all your weirdo visions are always tied to the yellow-eyed demon somehow so..." Dean shrugged after a few seconds.

Venus huffed, pulling out her phone. "We need help."

"Bobby, Ellen, maybe?" Sam said in agreement.

The brunette nodded and turned to Dean. "You call Bobby, I'll call Ellen." But when she tried to get a call out, her phone displayed a 'No reception' symbol.

"I don't have a signal," she heard Dean say behind her.

Her brows furrowed. "Yeah, I don't either."

Sam pulled out his phone to find a similar dilemma.

So they all hauled ass to a nearby payphone.

Only to find it dead.

"I'm starting to get some really intense 'first ten minutes of a horror movie' vibes here," Venus announced, her eyes darting around their surroundings, but this time a lot more suspicious.

"I'll tell you one thing," Dean said, "If I was gonna massacre a town, that'd be my first step."

-ˋˏ [   ] ˎˊ-

"That was kinda creepy right? A little too Stepford?"

The hunters had just finished questioning Duane Tanner's brother and father, leaving them all uneasy.

"Big time," Sam agreed with Dean, all three coming to a stop by the bottom of the Tanners' porch steps.

Venus looked behind them, making sure that the Tanners had closed the door and weren't watching by the window, then grabbed Dean's hand and pulled him around to the side of the property with Sam following.

They managed to find a back door to the house and bent down to peek through the white curtains covering it. Venus' jaw dropped as she watched Duane's brother approach his tied-up and beaten mother, the father also entering the room with a large knife. The younger Tanner rolled up his sleeve and held his arm above his mother's body while his father made a small incision with the knife.

From where they stood they couldn't see the blood dripping from the young man directly onto one of his mother's open wounds, but they had seen enough to urge them to pull out their guns. 

Venus softly cocked her beretta and gave the boys a nod, signaling them to enter when they were ready.

Dean took a step back and then sent his foot flying into the door, instantly opening it. Venus and Sam ran in first, both pointing their guns at the Tanners.

But then the father came barreling towards them with his knife.

"Sir, put it down!" Venus shouted, gripping her gun tighter.

The man kept running at them, however, so Dean shot him three times.

His son made a run for it and lept out of the nearest window. Sam, being the closest, ran over.

Dean and Venus appeared over his shoulder to see the Tanner boy running off into the woods unharmed, while Sam lowered his gun.

The older hunters furrowed their brows at him, both realizing the same thing.

He hesitated...on purpose.

But before they could mention it, Mrs. Tanner's pained groans sounded from behind them.

Within minutes they had untied and carried her to the Impala, driving to the community clinic in the town square soon after.

Sam ushered her in while Venus hopped off her bike from where she parked it in front of the car and ran over to help Dean lug Mr. Tanner's body out of the trunk.

"Man, why are people so much heavier when they're dead?" Venus lowly complained as she used her back to push open the clinic door, holding the man's upper body while Dean held his legs.

"You're asking the wrong nerd," Dean replied.

Venus had to take careful steps backward into the small office, looking around occasionally. "So you finally admit that you're a nerd?" she grinned despite everything.

"Eh, I'm a hot nerd, though. It cancels out," he smirked.

Venus rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on the dead body. They eventually came to a stop in the lobby of the building, coming face to face with a blonde woman in a doctor's coat.

"Is that...?"

Dean readjusted his hold, causing the man's bloody hand to fall out of the tarp they were carrying him in. "Mr. Tanner," he confirmed.

"Was he attacked too?" the woman asked them.

Venus sent her an awkward smile. "No, actually he did the attacking."

"Then he got himself shot," Dean added.

"Shot?" the doctor gaped.

"Yeah," the hunters chorused.

"And who are you?"

"U.S. Marshalls," Dean told her, "We'd show you our badges but uh..." he trailed off nodding to the body in their hands.

The doctor nodded. "Oh, sorry. Bring him back here."

"Finally," Venus muttered under her breath.

The doctor moved fast, directing them to place the body in one of the examination rooms then running over to patch up Mrs. Tanner's wounds.

Venus and Dean stood beside Sam, listening as she questioned the injured woman.

"Wait, you said Jake helped him? Your son, Jake?"

Mrs. Tanner nodded. "They beat me, tied me up," she recalled, her voice shaking.

"I don't believe it," the young nurse on duty said from where she stood.

"Pam," the doctor called out to her. She turned back to Mrs. Tanner. "Beverly, do you have any idea why they would act this way? Any history of chemical dependency?"

Beverly shook her head. "No, of course not. I don't know why," she trailed off into a sob, "One minute they were my husband and my son, and the next they had the devil in them."

Venus pursed her lips in thought, listening to the woman recounting her experience. Some things weren't making sense.

"We need to talk," Dean whispered to her and Sam, turning to leave the room.

They both followed him into a small room across the hall.

"Those guys were whacked out of their gourds," Dean said.

Sam eyed them both. "What do you think? Multiple demons, mass possession?"

Venus shrugged. "It's a possibility." Maybe not.

"If it is a possession, there could be more," Dean voiced, "God knows how many. It could be like a fucking Shriner Convention."

"Great," Sam sighed.

"Of course, that's one way to wipe out a town—you take it from the inside."

Venus shook her head. "I don't know about this though. I mean, when you shot Tanner there was no black smoke, no black eyes, none of the usual signs."

Dean shrugged. "Whatever. Something turned him into a monster."

Venus began to make her way to the exit. But Dean continued talking.

"You know, if you would've taken out the other one, there would've been one less to worry about," he said to Sam.

Venus hung her head low, closing her eyes. "I guess we're doing this now," she muttered to herself, preparing for the argument ahead. She turned and walked over to stand by Dean's side, both looking at Sam.

"I'm sorry, alright? I hesitated," the youngest bit back.

"You could've at least grazed him in the leg or something to slow him down, Sam," Venus reasoned, keeping her tone even.

"Venus, it was a kid."

"No, it was an 'it'," Dean argued, "Not the best time for a bleeding heart, Sam."

Venus opened her mouth to say something else but heard the doctor approaching. "How's the patient?" she turned to ask the blonde.

"Terrible," she spat, "What the hell happened out there?"

Dean looked away for a moment. "We don't know."

"Yeah? Well, you just killed my next-door neighbor."

"Ma'am, your next-door neighbor almost killed his wife," Venus replied, trying not to get irritated, "We didn't have a choice."

"Maybe so. But we need the county sheriff. I need the coroner."

"The phones are down," Sam informed her.

The doctor sighed, resting her hands on her hips. "I know, I tried. Tell me you've got a police radio in the car."

"Yeah we do, but it crapped out just like everything else."

"I don't understand what is happening."

"How far is it to the next town?" Dean suddenly questioned.

"It's about forty miles down to Sidewinder," the doctor answered.

Dean nodded. "Alright, I'm gonna go down there and see if I can find some help," he paused and placed each of his hands on Sam and Venus' shoulders, "My partners will stick around, keep you guys safe."

"Safe from what?" wondered the blonde doctor.

"We'll get back to you on that," Dean said after a brief pause. He turned to exit the clinic, but not before seeing Venus mouth a soft 'be careful' to which he nodded in response.

-ˋˏ [    ] ˎˊ-

An hour later found Venus, Sam, and the doctor—who they learned was named Amanda—with Beverly Tanner, explaining their recent findings to her.

"Are you saying my husband and Jake had a disease?"

Amanda nodded from where she stood, leaning on the counter. "That's what we're trying to find out. Now, during the attack, do you remember—" she slowly approached the wounded woman, "Did you have any direct contact with their blood?"

"Oh my God," Beverly exclaimed, "You don't think I've got this virus do you?"

Venus' brows furrowed slightly. Something about her tone sounded forced, ingenuine.

"Beverly, I don't know what to think," Amanda admitted truthfully, "But with your permission, we'll take a blood sample."

Venus watched an ounce of fear creep onto the older woman's face before she nodded, reaching down to touch the doctor's hand affectionately. But then she grabbed her wrist and pulled it, using her other hand to backhand Amanda so hard that Venus briefly worried that she snapped her neck.

Sam ran at Beverly first. But the screaming woman picked him up by his jacket and sent him flying into a medicine cabinet across the room.

Venus tried her luck next and grabbed an oxygen tank from the corner of the room. When Beverly lunged at her she harshly swung it at her head, hitting her right in the jaw and effectively knocking her out.

By the time Dean returned later, Venus and Sam had just finished talking the nurse out of leaving, and Beverly Tanner was bound and locked up in a utility closet.

"Did you guys get to a phone?" Venus asked Dean who was now accompanied by the older man they questioned earlier.

"Roadblock," he revealed. He then turned to the veteran. "I'm gonna have a word," he gestured to Venus and Sam, "The doc's inside."

"Alright," the old veteran marched further into the clinic, rifle in hand.

Sam peeked through the blinds of the clinic door for a moment. "What's going on out there, Dean?"

"Man, I don't know," the eldest threw up his arms, "I feel like Chuck Heston in 'The Omega Man'."

Venus scoffed. "I hope the hell not, he dies at the end of that movie."

"Sarge is the only sane person I could find," he continued, "What are we dealing with? Do you know?"

"Yeah," answered Sam, "Doc thinks it's a virus."

Dean was now pacing the small hallway. "Okay, great what do you two think?"

Venus shared a look with Sam. "We think she's right."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I think the infected are trying to infect others with blood-to-blood contact."

"Oh, and it gets better," added Sam sarcastically, "The virus leaves traces of sulfur in the blood.

Dean's eyes widened. "A demonic virus?"

"More like demonic germ warfare," countered Venus.

"At least it explains why I've been having visions," Sam said.

Dean placed his gun in his waistband, turning to glance outside. "It's like a biblical plague."

"You don't know how right you are, Dean," Sam chuckled humorlessly, "We've been pouring through Dad's journal and we found something about the Roanoke colony."

Venus chimed in. "Your dad had a theory about 'Croatoan'. He thought it was a demon's name— sometimes known as Daeva or Reshef—a demon of plague and pestilence."

"Well that's terrific," Dean replied, "Why here? Why now?"

Venus and Sam shrugged. "We have no idea," Sam answered.

Dean glanced down in thought, fiddling with his rings nervously.

"But, Dean," Sam continued, "Who knows how far this thing can spread. We've got to get out of here and warn people."

The hunters were suddenly alerted by the Sarge's voice in the lobby. "They've got one, in here."

"What do you mean?" Dean rushed in first, the others behind him.

Venus sighed, almost forgetting about Beverly. "The wife, she's infected," she told him.

"We've gotta take care of this, we can't just leave her in there," said the Sarge, "My neighbors, they were strong. The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get."

Venus and Dean locked eyes, both reaching around to grab their guns from the waist of their jeans. The brunette checked the mag in her beretta then cocked it. "This sucks," she mumbled to no one in particular.

Once they entered the doctor's office, they were stopped by the frantic nurse. "You're gonna kill Beverly Tanner?" she asked, eyeing each of their guns.

Sam stepped over to Amanda. "Doctor, could there be any treatment, some kind of cure for this?"

Venus silently hoped she'd have an answer, but the blonde woman remained silent.

Dean walked over. "Can you cure it?" he repeated.

"I don't even know what it is!" the doctor panicked.

"I told you, it's a matter of time before she breaks through," Sarge said, securing his grip on his rifle.

"Just leave her in there. You can't just shoot her like an animal!" the young nurse tried to reason.

Venus said nothing, keeping her eyes on the door that separated them from the rabid woman. She was silently weighing their other options and nothing made sense. It was either kill Beverly or be killed by Beverly.

"Sam," she gestured for the younger hunter to open the door. He quickly moved to the corner, reaching a hand out to the knob and waiting for their go-ahead. Dean came to stand beside Venus while the Sarge swapped out his rifle for a handgun, standing by Venus' other side.

They all exchanged a nod, then looked at Sam.

Within seconds the door flew open and in went Venus, Dean, and the Sarge, each pointing their guns at the infected woman with hardened expressions.

"Mark? What are you doing?" Beverly addressed the older man beside them. She was tightly tucked into the corner of the room, shaking and clutching her knees. "Mark, it's them! They locked me in here, they tried to kill me. They're infected, not me!"

Venus glanced over to see Mark with tears in his eyes, his hold on his gun wavering slightly. She felt for him, knowing that if she had to do this to someone she knew she'd be hesitant too.

"Please, Mark! You've known me all your life!" Beverly continued to beg for her life.

Venus suddenly wished that they had put a muzzle on her.

"Are you sure she's one of them?" Dean whispered to Venus.

She took a deep breath and looked up at Sam for a moment. "Positive," she confirmed.

Dean lifted his gun, walked further into the room, and fired off three shots.

Beverly's pleas and whimpers ceased immediately.

-ˋˏ [      ] ˎˊ-

Venus was in the middle of sharpening Sylvia when the sound of glass shattering reached her ears. She tightened her grip on the machete and ran to the source of the noise, the boys behind her.

They soon found the young nurse, Pam, screaming and checking her sleeves while a few glass vials of blood were shattered and spilled on the floor before her.

"Oh God! Is there any on me? Am I okay?"

Amanda ran over and settled the young woman. "You're clean. You're okay," she comforted her.

"Why are we staying here?" Pam asked her boss, her voice frantic, "Please let's just go."

"No we can't, 'cause those things are everywhere," Dean reminded her.

Venus lowered her machete and turned to the others. "Guys, she's right about one thing. We can't stay here," she started, her voice hushed, "We need to get out of here, go to the roadhouse or Bobby's or something, and let people know what's coming."

"That's a good point," agreed Dean, "Night of the Living Dead didn't exactly end pretty."

Venus grinned, keeping her eyes on Dean while holding a palm out to Sam. "This was your third horror reference of the day, by the way," she said, feeling Sam reluctantly slap a five-dollar bill in her hand. 

Dean narrowed his eyes at the both of them.

"I'm not sure we got a choice," Mark piped up, "Lots of folks up here are good with rifles. Even with all your hardware, we're easy targets. So, unless you got some explosives..."

Sam's eyes trailed up to one of the medicine cabinets in the room, an idea appearing in his head. He lightly tapped Venus' arm and nodded towards it, watching as her eyes lit up in recognition. "We could make some," she announced, walking over to the cabinet. But when she tried to reach up and grab a bottle she realized she was too short.

Dean attempted to hide his chuckles in his palm behind her, causing her to shoot him a dirty look. Sam began to walk over and help but stopped once she used the tip of her machete to nudge one of the bottles off the cabinet and send it flying down into her hands.

"Yay!" she raised the bottle triumphantly.

Their attention was soon pulled back to the lobby of the clinic, where panicked shouts and knocking came through the front door.

"Let me in, please!"

Mark got there first, looking out to see a familiar face. "It's Duane Tanner," he told the others.

Oh shit.

Duane rushed into the clinic once Mark opened the door. "Oh, thank God," he exclaimed, breathing heavily. The hunters eyed him curiously as he walked in.

"Duane, you okay?" Mark questioned, now following the young man.

Dean turned to Sam. "That's the guy that I..." he made a swiping motion at his throat with a click of his tongue.

"Yeah."

Duane stopped and looked around the room. "Who else is in here?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there, chief," Dean barreled forward and grabbed his arm from behind. He turned to where Amanda had just appeared in the doorway, "Hey, doc, give Duane a good once over, would you?" 

Dean trailed closely behind Duane while the others followed them into the doctor's office.

"Who are you?" Duane questioned, unsettled by Dean's aggression.

"Never mind who I am," Dean bit back, "Doc?" he gestured for the woman to begin examining the young man.

Amanda slipped on a pair of gloves. "Yeah, okay."

"Duane, where you been?" Mark asked.

The aforementioned man sat on the examination table. "I was on a fishing trip up by Roslyn, I came back this afternoon. I saw Roger McGill being dragged out of his house by people we know. They started cutting him with knives. I ran, I've been hiding in the woods ever since." He paused and eyed every adult in the room, "Has anyone seen my mom and dad?"

Venus pursed her lips slightly. "Who's gonna tell him?" she muttered loud enough for only the boys to hear.

Amanda suddenly bent down and grabbed Duane's leg. "You're bleeding," she noticed.

All eyes flew down to see a deep bloody gash in the young man's leg, his pants sliced open around it.

Venus reached around and secured a hand on her gun, taking a step closer. "Where'd you get that?"

"I was running, I must've tripped," Duane answered.

Venus' brows furrowed. She couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

"Tie him up, there's rope out there," Dean said to Mark, nodding to the lobby where their duffel bags were.

"Wait—"

Dean's gun interrupted Duane's plea, now pointed directly at him. "Sit down!"

"Sorry, Duane," Mark sighed, "He's right, we've got to be careful."

"Careful? About what?" Duane loudly questioned as Mark left the room to grab the rope.

Venus moved closer, looking directly into the man's eyes. "Did they bleed on you?"

"No–What the hell? No!" he insisted.

Sam turned to where Amanda and Pam stood watching anxiously. "Doc, any way to know for sure? Any test?"

"I've studied Beverly's blood backwards and forwards—"

Duane's eyes widened. "My mom!"

"...it took three hours for the virus to incubate," the doctor explained, "Sulfur didn't appear in the blood until then. So, no, there would be no way of knowing, not until after Duane...turns."

"Shit," Venus cursed, running her hands over her face in distress. If they killed Duane now and later found out that he wasn't infected, she wouldn't be able to live with herself. But if they waited, they risked being killed.

"Guys, I gotta talk to you, now," Sam whispered to Dean and Venus.

They nodded for Mark to tie the young man up then followed Sam down the hall.

"This is my vision, it's happening," Sam announced as they entered a small room.

"Yeah, I figured," replied Dean.

"You can't kill him, alright? Not yet," Sam pleaded, "We don't know if he's infected or not."

"I think we're pretty damn sure. Guy shows up out of nowhere, got a cut on his leg, his whole family is infected."

"Then we should keep him tied up, and we should wait and see."

"For what? For him to Hulk out, and infect somebody else? No thanks, I can't take that chance. What about you?" Dean paused and turned to where Venus stood nervously biting the inside of her cheek. She hadn't said a word since they walked in.

Her eyes darted between both brothers, a sigh rumbling in her chest. "I'm with Sam here. Duane's tied up right now so I say we sit there and observe him. If he even breaths too hard, we put a stop to it."

Dean shook his head and moved to leave the room, only for Sam to press a hand against his chest, halting his steps. "Look, I'm not happy about this, okay?" the oldest said, "But it's a tough job and you know that."

"It's supposed to be tough," Sam argued, "We're supposed to struggle with this, that's the whole point."

"What does that buy us?"

Venus walked over to stand by Sam, looking up at Dean. "A clear conscience, for one."

"It's too late for that," he replied, attempting to leave the room again.

Venus reached out and grabbed his arm. "Dean, wait."

"What the hell has happened to you?" Sam spat, getting his brother's attention.

Dean stopped moving. "What?"

"You might kill an innocent man and you don't even care," Sam continued, "You don't act like yourself anymore. Hell, you're acting like one of those things out there."

Venus' eyes widened slightly at Sam's words, expecting Dean to blow up at them. But he simply grabbed Sam and tossed him further into the room before taking Venus by the shoulders and shoving her into him.

By the time they regained their balance, Dean had left the room and bolted the door shut behind him.

"Dude, what the hell?" Venus rushed over and slammed her fist against the door, meeting Dean's eyes through the small glass panel. "You don't have to do this," she reasoned, sensing the uncertainty in his eyes.

"Open the damn door!" Sam shouted from behind her.

Dean's face hardened, the man now turning away from them and grabbing his gun.

Sam loudly banged his fist against the door, trying to get Dean's attention. "Don't do it, Dean!"

But the eldest hunter ignored their shouts, checking the bullets in his gun, then walking into the room where Duane Tanner was and closing the door behind him.

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A/N: Hi.

Nothing too interesting going on here but stay tuned... : )

Happy reading, pookies 🫶🏽

(also, thank you for fifty thousand reads holy shit)

Lovely GIF banner up above made by the incredibly talented prodigybitxhhh

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