Chapter Three- Safe and Sound

John Winchester was sitting at a small table, still trapped with the two 'angels' that were searching for some hellish object and his daughters. He hadn't told them anything yet, but he was starting to think the two might be on his side. He wasn't risking Deanna and Samantha on a maybe, though. John picked at the food before him, a couple of burgers and large order of fries from the nearest Burger King. He'd hoped they'd pick something more obscure so he could get some sense of what part of the U.S. he was in, but not luck on that attempt.

"Castiel?" John looked at the man, standing post yet again in the window. He was there almost every time Balthazar was out looking.

"Hmm?" He didn't bother to turn around and look at the Winchester.

John grimaced, annoyed with the dismissive gesture, but continued. "You know I'm not going to give up the girls unless I know more about what you want with them, what you want with me, and that object."

This time the angel did turn, a frown stamped on his neat features. Castiel walked over slowly, letting his arms fall from their crossed position over his chest as he took a seat across from John. "It is not my place to say."

"Who's place is it?" John popped a French fry in his mouth to keep from reaching out and strangling the man.

"God's." Castiel's voice held a tone of surprise, as if John should have known that answer.

Shooting him a confused look, John leaned forward. "Pardon me, God?"

"Where else would an angel get his orders?" Castiel leaned forward as well, taking some unspoken cue that some closeness was needed for this conversation.

If he hadn't been stolen by these men, John would find Castiel's lack of social graces amusing but right now it was grating on his last nerve. John sat back again and folded his arms over his chest. "Alright, what's a Hellfyre?"

Castiel stayed where he was and gave that hard stare at John. It was as if Castiel could see something more than what was on the surface of John's expressions. Sometimes, John felt like the angel was delving into his brain and he tried to shut down his thoughts whenever that happened.

"Alright, it's a weapon. It'll be used to stop the apocalypse."

"What kind of a weapon?"

Castiel gave the slightest shrug. "We're not sure. It's an ancient weapon, which hasn't been seen in millennia. It hasn't been needed."

Silence fell between them, and they took to studying each other again. John could almost see a human behind that mask that Castiel placed over his vessel's features. He was a soldier. Castiel reminded John a lot of Deanna, were she a man.

"We want what you want, John Winchester. The safety of your girls is paramount to our plans."

"Right, you want them safe long enough to throw them under the wheels of an apocalypse." John hadn't finished the food, but he had eaten all he was going to for now. It lay forgotten between their conversation. "If it's a Winchester you need, you already have me."

"It has to be the girls." Castiel's voice deepened, if that were possible. His tone was edging on annoyance, more than likely at John's lack of understanding in this heavenly matter.

Waving a dismissive hand, John moved from the bench, back over to his cot. Instead of lying down, he paced the room. There wasn't a lot of space to move about, and he was feeling his old body starting to cramp in the tight conditions. He needed to stretch, to fight something. He wouldn't be any good to the girls if he couldn't keep in practice. He watched Castiel retake the sentinel stance at the window and briefly regarded the thought of attacking the man now that his back was turned. Last time, that hadn't well for John though. He brushed that thought away and gritted his teeth. He wasn't getting anymore about the girls from the angel tonight, that was pretty certain.

"How does Balthazar know how to find the Hellfyre, then?"

Castiel didn't bother turning about to answer him. "Balthazar was the weapons master in Heaven. He knows how to locate the items, even ones that have been locked away for years."

"Uh, wouldn't that be in Heaven, under his lock and key?"

The look that Castiel turned on John had him second guessing speaking up. "Things went missing with Lucifer's fall, things were created at Lucifer's fall. The Hellfyre, a weapon created to fight against him, went missing." Everything was stated in a flat, just-so tone that almost felt out of character even for the gruff angel.

John guessed that was a touchy subject and filed it away as something to use against him later.

By the time Balthazar made it back, John was feigning sleep on the cot once more. He had hoped he was timing this well, considering it was dark and there wasn't a clock about the place. His patience paid off. John listened as the angels moved across the room, beyond the table. He could hear every word as it carried easily in the quiet of the small space.

"Someone doesn't want this thing found. We're going to have to call on some people we don't normally like dealing with." Balthazar's voice was whispered, but it was too strong to keep unheard.

Castiel, of course, had such a deep voice it carried naturally. "We can't-"

"What exactly were you told, Castiel? I need to know if I'm going to come up with how to find this thing. These limitations that keep popping up aren't helping." Balthazar sounded frustrated.

John was nearly holding his breath now. If they were arguing, if one had asked the other what was said, perhaps John would soon know, too. He tried to shift ever so subtly closer, rolling his shoulder and keeping his eyes closed. He picked up breathing again in case they glanced over, attempting to keep that even.

He could hear Castiel let out a frustrated sounding sigh, then stated in a tone of voice that sounded rehearsed, "My world will fall in flames, engulfed by ancients, and the blood of Angels shall be shed. All my precious children will lie in ruin and waste. Those Fallen shall rise once more. This cannot come to pass. Remember well this name, Winchester, and seek them out. One of light, and one of dark though unknown to either which shall bear each cross. Guard the daughters of John Winchester with your life, and their paths shall be walked at the appointed time. Seek to keep them from the hands of the Demons, and keep them from the heartache they shall bring onto one another. All shall unfold in it's time. All shall be well, this time."

"This time?" Balthazar mused, a little louder than he probably meant to. His voice fell down to a whisper once more, "He was vague enough, wasn't he?"

"That's what I've been trying to explain. I don't know what's to come of it all, but those girls must be kept safe from all harm, at any cost. If we cannot get John Winchester to bring them to us, we may have to retrieve them."

The sound of pacing could be heard, and with the frustrated sight that came with it, John could tell Balthazar was the one moving about. "How're we supposed to do that? We can't find the Hellfyre, and we're only the trail of that because of what a Demon said... now we have three things to locate and keep safe and have no idea where to start looking for any of them."

John shifted on the cot, away from them now. He'd heard enough for now and had some processing to do. It almost sounded like it was in his benefit to have the Angels find his daughters. They sounded like they truly wanted to protect them, and having something as powerful as these two watching over Deanna and Samantha could be a good thing.

If John knew Deanna, which he really did, he figured she'd have picked up Sammy by now. It was just a matter of whether or not Sammy would go along with her older sister. It was a fifty-fifty guess on John's part on which it would be. He hoped they were together, especially if the demons were coming after the two of them. Together, they stood a chance.

Falling into sleep, John let his subconscious ponder more of his situation.

Dean watched as Sammy took point on their next interview. They were with the second man's sister. The man who disappeared was a big time veterinarian with a large animal facility behind his house and an expensive looking office in town. They were currently sitting in that expensive office while the sister explained the daily routines of her brother and was at a loss because he didn't do anything out of the ordinary, aside from disappearing one day.

"He left from here?" Sammy leaned forward, her longer hair falling around her delicately.

Dean watched for a second, then turned about, scoping the place out as she listened. Nothing looked odd here, and there wasn't any sign of sulphur around, but then again, it had been a while since the event took place.

"Yeah, just walked out of his office and left without a word."

Something caught Dean's eye, something outside that had a good view of the street out front. "Hey, those camera's, they watch who comes in and out of here?"

The sister turned to look as well, sniffled a little, and nodded. "Yeah, and we have some on our building watching the other office. It's something my brother and the owner of that office set up."

"I think we'll need the footage from both, if you don't mind." Dean smiled that grin she gave when she'd proudly found something to break the case.

Nodding, the sister got up and hurried off to get them the footage Dean asked for.

"This could be a break. We'll be able to see if he was possessed." Sammy looked at Dean with bright eyes, expectant of a lead that would get them further than they'd gotten since leaving Stanford. She shifted her stance and glanced back out of the windows. "His eyes could show up on the film, and maybe we'll get an idea of where he was headed."

Dean smiled at her younger sister and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hope so, Sammy."

They found themselves back at the hotel, speeding through boring reels of security footage until Sammy scrolled to where the missing man showed up first. Sammy was up against the headboard, with the laptop perched carefully on her crossed legs. Her high heels were tossed off to the side of the door. Dean was on the other side, one leg crossed under her and the other dangling off of the bed. Her boots were still on and she was sitting forward, off the headboard, and leaning close to her sister. Sammy glanced over and hit play. They both looked back at the screen and watched, wide eyed.

Through the footage from across the street, they could see the man was walking out of the door and he happened to look right at the camera, with a frown. He was shorter, a little thick. His hair was dark, just starting to thin, and he had a five o'clock shadow just starting to come in. He was dressed in a black suit with a white undershirt. Despite his coming on in years, he was actually rather attractive. Until you got to his eyes. They were black, black as any demons, and cruel looking beyond what a human could display.

The girls watched him walk out of the door and onto the street. As he turned right and actually sauntered down the sidewalk they lost sight of him.

"The vet's camera may have an angle we could see him on." Dean was reaching for the next disc, then looked at Sammy with hope in her eyes. Funny, her sister's emotions could be rather contagious.

Putting it in, they hit the jackpot.

"Holy crap, Dean, that's all three of them!"

They watched as a woman, shorter with a pretty round face and a petite frame walked up next to their vet. She had on a leather jacket and beautiful curly brown hair fell around it. Her eyes were also black and the two demons looked at one another with a smile. Then the third man entered. He could really only be described as rugged. His face had the lines of age, especially when he smiled a sadistic grin. Then the girls both gasped and Sammy pulled the laptop closer. He turned enough towards the camera that the flash of swirled yellow eyes gleamed back at them.

"Fuck me, it's him!" Dean yanked the laptop from her sister and hit pause, a good shot of all three demons. "That's the fucking demon, Sammy. We found him!"

Dean watched as the smile Sammy originally had from this revelation slid from her face, turning to a grim, serious determination. Dean let her own smile fade and they hit play again. The three climbed into a deep blue 1968 Chevy Camaro SS 396, the woman crawling behind the seats of the two-door ragtop.

"I can get that license plate number, there as they're pulling out." Sam paused it, took a screen shot and saved it onto her laptop.

"They're heading out...west? We'll have to see what major roadways are west of the vet's."

"Hopefully a main highway. If we can get after them, Deanna..."

Letting a smile touch the corner of her lips, Dean tried to keep that positive attitude for Sammy's sake. She was feeling as though hope was too much. Even if they did follow after the demons, they weren't any closer to finding John and Dean was worried that there wouldn't be reason to look if he stayed missing much longer. Of course, she'd never share that particular thought with Sammy.

Dean shifted up off of the bed and grabbed her cell phone. "Give me that plate number, I'll have Bobby check it out. And can you find out what roads are west of the vet's?"

"Sure," Sammy read off the numbers and went to typing away on the computer again.

Dean rang Bobby Singer's number, hoping he'd be around and not lost in the junkyard somewhere. Bobby picked up on the third ring, and Dean smiled. She had her hip perched against the small table in the motel. "Hey, it's me."

"Deanna? You have Sammy with you? I've been trying to get a hold of John, where is he?"

"Yes, yes, and we're not sure. I need you to run a plate, see if you can work some magic and get some sightings from this thing."

Bobby took a second to respond, probably trying to make some sense of Dean's quick answer. "Uh, yeah sure. This some lead to get yer father?"

"Hope so." Dean didn't want to let on that they would be follow the Yellow Eyed Demon in case Bobby suddenly felt the need to be protective.

"I'll call you back with whatever I find out. How's Sammy?"

Dean glanced over, seeing her sister enveloped in the computer she spoke softly. "She's okay. You know, it hasn't been long since..."

The gruff grunt was response enough. They didn't need to speak much to understand each other. None of the hunters did. They hung up and Dean turned to watch Sammy do her thing.

Sammy shut the laptop cover and swung her legs over the bed. "I want him dead, Dean."

"Yellow Eyes? I know." Dean swallowed at the intensity of her stare.

"More than that, though. I had... everything was perfect and he took it all away."

Dean tried not to grimace. It hadn't been perfect to Dean. She hadn't had her sister, had lost some of the direction in her life not being able to look out for Sammy. Although Dean was sad for what Sammy lost, there was s selfish part, a small voice in the back of her head that recognized the selfish side, that was happy Sammy was hunting with her again.

"We'll rip him apart, I promise." It was all Dean trusted herself to say.

Sammy moved over to the table with Dean, leaning across it. "Look, I'm sorry that I left you but I-"

"Oh come on, let's not get all sappy."

The flat look Sam gave with the slight tilt of her head, drawing her lips in a slash had Dean stop talking. "We're having a chick-moment whether you want to or not because I want to say something to you."

Deanna grimaced very visually this time, making sure to twist her lips and nose in an unattractive manner. "Fine..."

Sammy chuckled at the look at little and Dean felt a small amount of accomplishment. "I'm sorry that I left because I miss you, I miss us. But this wasn't the life I wanted, and you know that. I've been fighting it since I first learned about what was out there. That night in the motel when I found dad's journal... you tried to keep me from this life, too."

"Yeah, I did when I wanted you to be a kid. Now I just..." Dean shook her head, not willing to give this much of herself yet.

"Just what?"

"You know what, it's just us against everything and you're not here." It was more than that, so much more and Sammy would understand if she explained, but Dean didn't want to. She wanted it to be something Sammy could conclude, could want, herself. Having to say it did two things, one it was uncomfortable because Dean hated talking about this shit, and two, it ruined the meaning behind the two of them. Both against the world? It wasn't that way if one wasn't in it.