John slid the U-haul open and wrinkled his nose. The several hours he'd been gone hadn't done any good for the decomposing human body. The demon he'd left in there blinked her eyes in the sudden light. He'd almost have felt sorry for her if she wasn't a demon.

"I think we need one of those pine tree car deodorizers in here," she said.

"Oh thought this might smell nice and homey." He replied, taking a breath through his mouth. "That is truly foul."

She walked to the edge of the trap. "Why are you here? Thought I'd seen the last of you."

"Came back to tie up loose ends." He replied. "Had to make sure there were only a few of you. Had to make sure my boys were safe. When you get back down there, you tell Yellow-Eyes that I know who he is and that John Winchester is coming for him."

She hesitated. "When I get back there?"

He nodded.

"You promised!" She yelled. "You promised!"

"I lied. I don't make pacts with demons."

"You bastard!" She screamed. "You fucking lying bastard! He's not even in Hell anyway! He's among you! He escaped the Devil's Gate. He walks with you!"

John nodded calmly. Took note of her talk of a Devil's Gate. Figured he'd investigate it further. "Then I guess I'll get to tell him first."

John began the Latin incantation amidst her screams and pleas until she exited the meat suit in a cloud of black smoke. He rushed over to the woman lying on the floor and checked for a pulse. She was alive. He sighed and pulled her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, hurried her to the truck and dumped her inside.

John did a quick triage, checking her vitals and assessing damage, making sure she was stable before he hurried back to the U-haul and wiped his prints off of it. He left the markings on the floor and figured he'd let the cops draw the conclusion that a bunch of Satan worshipers had killed the poor man in the trailer.

Satisfied he'd covered his tracks in the cab and the trailer, John used the old rag he was wiping prints with to reach up and close the back. It slid shut with a loud grating squeal.

John slid into the driver's seat with the unconscious woman. "Hang in there, honey." He said, giving her hair a quick stroke. He jammed his key into the ignition and started his truck up.

The black GMC roared away.

Later, John would leave an anonymous tip to the police.

. Several Days Later.

"Okay Ellis, Dean and I have warded and trapped and fixed everything we could think of," Sam said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He gave her a shy smile. His color was back to normal, the pallor of exhaustion having left him. He'd been eating well. More than well, actually, as if his body was trying to make up for all the calories it'd lost through his haze of exhaustion and pain.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Ellis said.

Sam's mouth quirked up into a smile again. He shifted underneath her gaze, she could hear the slight rustle of the fabric of his tan canvas jacket.

Ellis took his arm, gave it a little squeeze. "You take care of yourself."

"I will." Sam said easily.

Ellis's hold tightened. "Really. You boys take care of each other. And make sure you call me if you find your Dad. And I'll give you a heads up on the off chance he stops here. I know that's not going to happen. But I can hope."

Sam nodded, leaned down and gave her a long embrace. She held him tightly. Thought of him on his knees in the mud and hugged him tighter.

"Hey." Sam said. "We'll be okay."

Ellis nodded, stood on her tiptoes and kissed his clean shaven cheek. "Goodbye, Sam."

"Bye," he said cheerfully, stepping outside. He crossed Dean's path as he headed in. "I finished putting some warding on your car as well." He told her. "And you were like 10,000 miles overdue for an oil change. So I did that. I should have put some warding on the car to protect it from you."

She nodded. "Probably."

"Seriously. Take care of the car. It's a piece of crap anyway. You won't need demons to kill you if the engine drops on you on the highway."

She smiled at the lecture. "Okay, Dean." She tilted her head flirtatiously.

He kept up his authoritative mode for another minute, seeming much like John just then. "Be careful. Sam and I aren't going to be around if you run into trouble...Ellis, I'm being serious." He said to her barely suppressed smirk.

"Yes sir," she replied.

He took a little umbrage at her tone. "Don't yes sir me."

"Yes sir. Wouldn't dream of it, sir."

He finally responded to the tease with his usual banter, biting his lip a little flirtatiously. "You that obedient in bed?"

"You'll never know," she teased.

She saw the thought cross Dean's mind: yeah, but Dad does. His eyes went a little distant, the wind out of his sails. "Yeah."

"Dean," she stepped over to him and took both of his hands in hers. They were twice her size." She gave him a squeeze. "You take care of yourself, okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

There was a weighted pause. "Do you still see Sam..." he asked in a hushed whisper, his voice trailed off as if he couldn't bear to finish the thought.

She knew what he meant. She hesitated, wasn't sure if she should reveal anything at all. "I haven't seen that vision again at all."

He looked relieved, like a palpable weight had been lifted from him.

"Good." His smile was radiant. Ellis thought of how fucking handsome he was. So beautiful. She thought of him broken and weary and defeated. Tried to push the image away by putting her arms around him and burying his nose in her chest. He even smelled good. Like leather and car and fresh air. His arm went around her shoulders.

"You take care." She had a death grip on him.

"Hey." He said gently. "Sweetheart, we'll find Dad. He'll be okay."

She didn't answer for a minute. "Be a good boy. And keep in touch."

"Okay." He assured. He kissed the soft blonde hair on the top of her head. "Thanks for taking care of Sammy." His voice rumbled under her ear along with the steady rhythm of his heart.

"Any time, baby. I love you."

She pulled away.

Dean didn't answer but he smiled approvingly. "I'm awesome. How could you not?"

She shook her head but her words disagreed. "You are."

"You are too," he said with a broad smile that lit up the room. It made her heart ache. So much radiance in him hidden under the darkness.

"Okay," he said, jerking his thumb toward the car. "I'm leavin'.'"

He opened the door, Sam was on the porch with Taco in his arms, scratching the cat's ear with a gentleness that belied his strength.

Taco had his eyes half-closed lazily, buzzing his contentment.

Sam handed him to Ellis and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You take care."

"I will."

He looked at her like he wanted to say something else.

"What?" She prompted.

Whatever it was, he lost the courage to vocalize it. She saw the fond look he gave her. "What sweetheart?"

He huffed. "No one's ever called me sweetheart before. I kinda like it."

She furrowed her brow. "But why not? You are one?"

He shrugged, his loose jacket hanging off his tall frame. "Guess growing up with all guys, you just don't hear that much, you know...but it's nice." He flashed her his radiant smile and gave a careless wave. "Take care of Taco."

He turned and walked over to Baby, ducked inside. For the second time that week, Ellis watched those sweet faces pull out of her driveway and leave her life.

.Epilogue...and Last.

Ellis stepped outside to fetch the mail. It had been months since the boys left. She'd heard no trace of John. She'd spoken to Dean once on the phone. They did their usual flirtatious verbal dance and life had gone back to normal for her.

Except where it hadn't.

Except when she jumped at sounds in the night, like Taco knocking books off the nightstand. Or the creaking whine of the old steam pipes. Or the ache in her heart when she thought of John Winchester. And the ache in her body when she thought of him next to her.

She'd called several times with the same result as the boys-everything went straight to voicemail. Sometimes she left him messages, rambling voicemails that meant nothing. Sometimes she left him snippy thoughts about how he shouldn't drop off the face of the earth and abandon his boys. Sometimes she told him she loved him. And most of the time, she just hung up.

She knew John would listen to her voice when he got a chance- could picture his handsome face in the darkness of his truck, features illuminated by the screen of his flip phone. Sometimes amused, sometimes annoyed, sometimes, just sometimes, she hoped he missed her half as much as she missed him.

Two days ago, a strange man followed her too closely on her walk home from her second job answering phones at a veterinarian's office. She called John, left a rambling voicemail saying she was frightened and that she saw demons lurking on every corner. When John didn't answer, she rang Dean's cell and talked to a very patient Sam for a half hour. He told her he understood, that it happened to everyone touched by the supernatural. That he used to have nightmares. That she'd be fine.

Later when Sam was correct and nothing happened, she'd called John's phone and left a message saying never mind, it was her imagination. She was a neurotic freak, but he already knew that.

Taco marched along at her heels like a loyal dog as she walked the length of the driveway. She'd reconsidered her policy of letting him out and oddly, once she did, he had much less interest in escaping. He stayed inside with her most days and took his forays when she did, trotting around the neighborhood with her on her walks.

Ellis reached in the dented blue mailbox and pulled out her usual assortment of fliers and bills. "Oh look Taco," she said, glancing at the political junk mail she'd received. "If we elect Harvey he's going to eat our children and raise property taxes. That would be unfortunate."

Taco scented the mail box with his chin.

Ellis glanced in to make sure she didn't miss anything and sure enough as she closed the tin lid, she heard a clang. She looked and there hanging from the top latch was a pendant. She pulled it off, held it in her hand. It only took her a moment to recognize both it and the protection symbol hand-etched into the front.

Her heart gave a small cry of pain and she wrapped her fingers around it and closed her eyes. John.

She opened them again and looked around her.

She saw nothing, craned her head hoping, praying. Tears escaped her eyes a moment as she looked around and then slipped the leather thong around her neck. The pendant settled between her breasts, cool against the skin there. She could feel John on it in that strange way she could feel what was happening from visions. He'd been touching this recently. Frequently enough to leave the subtle energy imprint of John Winchester.

She looked around again, saw nothing. Nothing but quiet suburban orderliness. Ellis headed back down the driveway, the rest of the mail forgotten in the mailbox. The political flier on the ground where she'd dropped it. She heard a noise, the growl of an engine and snapped her head up. Way down the street, almost too far for her to see clearly, a black GMC Sierra truck pulled out of somebody's driveway and headed up the road. As it turned, she caught a glimpse of dark hair and salt and pepper beard and the next second it was gone from view.

The end.

Thanks for following me, you guys! Especially those of you who have followed me and regularly reviewed. You are awesome. If you happen upon this story even months or years after I've posted, always feel free to drop me a review. It's always nice to hear feedback on one of my babies, even a long finished one.

Up next, I have a tale of Sam at Stanford.

I've also been contemplating another story with Ellis if people are interested, but this time I wanted to whump Dean. If you have any cool ideas for Dean whump, shoot me a message. I have other stories, feel free to check them out. And if you want to get updates when I've posted something new, don't forget to subscribe to celinenaville.

Also is an account that contains co-written stories with my pal, Mariamo. It's pure hurt/comfort crack. Feel free to take a look. :)