Disclaimer: Don't own Supernatural, Dean, or Sam- no matter how many times I've closed my eyes and wished really, really hard.

A/N: Tag to 3x12 Jus in Bello. Actually, it's more like a missing scene. Just tying up some loose ends (in my mind) that I wanted explored. I took some creative license so that it ended the way I wanted it to, so it's slightly AU-ish. Takes place immediately after the scene where Sam and Dean leave and goes up to when Lilith shows up. I tried hard to get all the names right, but a couple of them, like the deputy, I ended up naming myself because I couldn't find the real ones. BTW, anyone else surprised by the spelling of Henriksen's name during the tv report of the explosion? Seriously, until now I'd always thought/seen it as Hendrickson. Not that it really matters, but it took some getting used to, so if I accidently reverted to the incorrect spelling anywhere, please take it with a grain of salt. :)

All They Will Never Know

It looked like a small hurricane had gone through the rooms. Salt lay in large piles along windows, doorways and haphazardly scattered across the floor. Symbols were drawn with orange and red spray paint in various corners and hallways. Large holes decorated walls and the ceiling was completely blackened and cracked in many places. The small police building was in complete shambles.

"What a mess." Victor Henriksen finally spoke. His voice startled both the deputy, Brett Fellimitri, and Nancy Fitzgerald who were surveying the destruction from behind him.

A moment earlier all three had watched through a half-bent door as the black Impala left the impound lot and made its way out onto the road, finally disappearing into the distance. The Winchester brothers were riding out into the sunset after saving the day.

Sam and Dean's departure seemed to silently signal that it was finally finished. The battle was over, the demons sent back to hell. And they were still standing, still alive.

Victor couldn't believe it. When he had realized the magnitude of the enemy they were facing - right around the time he watched the dense cloud-like force of demons hurling themselves at the windows and doors, literally shaking the building - he had been sure they all were goners. That thought had only been solidified by the possessed blonde woman's confident declaration that nobody was going to survive. She...it...had been very convincing, with just the right amount of creepy doomsday talk and irritation at the inconvenience their deaths would cause her.

The Winchesters had said this Ruby character was a special case, but Victor sure as hell wasn't getting anything but bad vibes off her. Her calm attitude toward cutting out Nancy's heart had been plain scary. Henriksen spent most of his days facing the worst of criminals and hardened killers but this demon was in a class of her own. And the fact she'd left them behind to die hadn't won any extra brownie points. As far as the FBI agent was concerned, if he ever saw Ruby again he wouldn't hesitate to shoot her. She was more dangerous than any human could ever be.

I'm going to need rock salt. He thought, making a mental note. Actually, Henriksen was going to be needing a whole lot of things. His hand unconsciously reached around his neck to grip the necklace dangling from it. Dean said it warded off possession and that was one thing he never wanted to happen again. In fact he was seriously considering the benefits of the tattoo's Dean and Sam had been sporting. Victor tucked the charm down into his shirt so that it was no longer visible. He didn't want to lose the protection it offered.

"What do we do now?" Nancy asked, breaking the uneasy silence in the room. Her question had no easy answer. He'd spent the last hour working on the best way to handle the mess left behind by the demons. Despite how it sounded, the cleanup would be almost as difficult as the siege they'd just survived.

He'd already called into FBI headquarters and given a brief report to his immediate superior. Lynn, to say the least, hadn't been happy. More along the lines of incredulous and seriously pissed. He was already predicting heads, specifically Henriksen's, would be rolling over this fiasco. The conversation had ended with the promise/threat that the FBI Director himself would most likely be calling soon for answers.

"Now," Victor said, "We clean up. The salt and those symbols Sam drew need to go before anyone else sees them. The last thing we want are questions that we can't afford to be answering. I give it an hour, maybe two before we have police and FBI agents all over the place."

There was going to be an onslaught of investigations and inquires over the destroyed chopper and the multiple casualties Henriksen had on his hands. The demon force had taken out the entire Monument PD, minus Brett and Nancy, and all the FBI agents other than himself. Not to mention the loss of the two Winchester brothers, one of which was on the America's Most Wanted list. He could only hope his story, thin as it was, would hold up against the intense examination he knew was coming.

"What about Sheriff Dodd and the Deputy Director," Brett asked, a small catch in his voice. All eyes unconsciously drifted toward the cells down the hall, where Henriksen knew the two bodies were. The rest, he internally winced, were strewn across the ground outside the police station. He didn't look forward to going out there and having to see the level of destruction the demons had done.

"As far as anyone else is concerned Deputy Director Groves died in the helicopter explosion, along with Agent Reidy. It also killed most of the MPD's officers." His voice was grim, hating that he was going to cover up the truth of those men's deaths, "Your sheriff was shot during an escape attempt by the Winchesters."

The other two nodded, faces also solemn. The young woman's eyes were tearing up a bit, the reality of the death's, many of whom were most likely friends, was probably only hitting her now. Neither Brett nor Nancy had placed any blame on him for Sheriff Melvin Dodd's death. Maybe because they literally saw Victor being exorcized, which had made it undeniably clear he hadn't been in control of his actions. That didn't make him feel any better, though.

"This is horrible." Nancy said miserably, "They all died and now we're going to lie to everyone about how it happened," She was silent for a moment before quietly remarking, "But I guess they wouldn't believe the truth anyway, would they?"

"No, probably not. I know for sure that I wouldn't. " he gave her a tight smile, " Hell, I didn't, not until I saw it with my own eyes. Spent a whole year looking for the Winchester, listening to all their 'crazy' talk of demons and ghosts and never even considered for a moment it could be true."

And that was a real kick in the teeth, he thought. If anyone should have figured out the Winchester's weren't lying, realized that there really were supernatural forces at work, it should have been him. After all the time and effort he'd spent looking into their lives, profiling them, questioning witnesses, chasing them all over the whole freakin States, Henriksen couldn't believe he'd been so oblivious to what had been staring him the face the whole time.

He'd read case file after case file of mysterious deaths that the Winchester brothers somehow were involved in, questioned the witnesses, survivors, all the people that had encountered them over the years. The flimsy stories created to cover murders had especially galled him. Wild animal attacks, freak accidents, unexplainable incidents were most often blamed on those that didn't survive. Witnesses to the events didn't give details and refused to point the finger at the Winchesters. How many times had the same basic conversation repeated itself?

'They aren't killers'. Police Officer Diana Ballard, after their suspicious- in his mind- escape from her custody.

'Sam was only trying to help me.' Rebecca Warren defended both brothers, even Dean, despite her being the lone living victim of the St. Louis murders.

'Dean saved us.' Survivors of the Milwaukee Bank hostage were adamant that Dean had kept them alive, though from what threat they were always unclear.

Every. Freakin. One. of them said the same thing. 'The Winchester's aren't the bad guys'. It had become an almost never-ceasing catch phrase.

Nobody could tell Henriksen how or why, just that the Winchester brothers weren't guilty of doing anything wrong. Many went so far as to name them heroes. At the time Victor had listened to them, silently seething on the inside. He had felt nothing but cold fury over the fact that Dean and Sam were somehow fooling all these people into believing they were the good guys. And he couldn't understand how they managed convinced everyone to lie for them.

Now, of course, he understood. Now he was doing the covering up and lying for the Winchesters. How was that for a role reversal? FBI Agent Henriksen, the one who just hours earlier was ready to lock them up and throw away the keys, had helped the wanted fugitives escape. And he didn't feel the slightest guilt over it, in fact, the exact opposite. He thought it might be one of the few things he'd done right in the last year.

Shaking off the morose road his thought had taken, Victor spurred himself into action. They were working under a time constraint after all. "Putting it off isn't going to make this any easier. The demons did their damnest to tear this place apart, were pretty frickin close to succeeding. Brett, why don't you start on those symbols...what did they call them?"

"Devil's Trap?" The deputy supplied helpfully. The young man had watched Sam with rapt attention as the youngest Winchester had drawn them.

"Right. Those things." He agreed, thinking of the diagram in his pocket, the one he'd copied onto a piece of paper for himself. The Devil's Trap had power, kept a demon inside of it unless the symbol was broken. He wasn't entirely sure yet why, but he wanted to learn everything he could about fighting these demon bastards. Victor also had the exorcism tape Sam had made, planning to transcribe it onto paper as well. "You'll probably need some cleaning supplies to get that spray paint off."

Brett agreed and disappeared down the hall toward the offices and supply closet. Nancy's eyes followed the deputy with something Victor couldn't decipher. She spoke quickly before he could give her an assignment.

"I'll get a broom for the salt," Nancy volunteered. The young secretary nearly scampered out of the room, heading for the supply closet. He watched her go with curiosity, but shrugged it off.

From what he'd seen Nancy was a sweet girl. Victor truly admired her for how she'd been willing to sacrifice herself earlier to save everyone. Not that he would have let her, and neither, apparently, would have Dean. His decision that Dean Winchester was not what Henriksen - and most every law enforcement agency in the US - thought had been sealed by the other man's refusal to let Ruby cut the young woman's heart out.

It had shown a completely different side of Winchester, one he never would have imagined finding only hours earlier. In his mind, Dean had been a monster, someone too dangerous to live in society. What was it he had told the sheriff? Hannibal's little brother. Ouch, that had been so off the mark it wasn't even funny...

In truth, Dean Winchester was the one who fought the monsters, real ones. And didn't it figure that the man Victor had thought to be a killer, a criminal who cared for nobody except perhaps his equally dangerous brother, was in actuality an honest to goodness hero type who slew dragons and rescued damsels in distress. It was hard for Victor to reconcile such completely opposite images.

Looking around the room for something to do, Henriksen started gathering up the loose papers scattered across the floor. Most ended up being unsalvageable, many torn or ripped into pieces or bloodstained. The demons must love paperwork just as much as I do.

Five minutes into working, he realized neither Nancy nor Brett had come back. Victor frowned and pulled out the Glock from it's holster. It would be useless against demons, according to the hunters, but it made him feel better to have a weapon in hand. He walked down the hall, watching for anything unusual.

When he reached the sheriffs office he noticed that the shades had been pulled down and the door was closed. Worried he pressed his ear against the door for a moment before, listening. A moment later Henriksen put the gun away and with an amused shake of his head began walking again.

After facing a demon prepared to rip her heart out, he couldn't blame Nancy for changing her virgin status A.S.A.P.

As soon as he reached the police center again the phone on the desk he'd temporarily taken over began to ring. Henriksen picked it up, he had been expecting this call.

"Agent Henrikson."

As he had guessed it was FBI Director Tom Cattrell. And also as expected the director was in no mood for pleasantries.

"Agent Henriksen, I hope you can give a damn good explanation for what happened down there. I just got off the phone with the head of your division. An explosion, a fucking explosion that killed not only my deputy director but the Winchesters! And now I'm hearing that the sheriff of the little Mayberry town and almost his entire police force died as well. Talk to me, Henriksen, because I can't believe what I'm being told."

He inwardly flinched at the mention of the sheriff, because even if he'd been possessed at the time Victor couldn't shake the memory of watching himself pull the trigger. But he forced the image away for the moment and gave Cattrell the explanation he expected. In essence, Henriksen lied his ass off. It went against every code of honor he'd believed in but it was necessary. It was the only way to keep Dean and Sam free and fighting in the war against demons, one that Victor could hardly conceive was real but had been unquestionably witness too.

Once he'd finished the FBI director was silent for a moment, obviously taking in the cover story he'd been devising since he realized that the truth was just not going to fly. The FBI was not going to be sympathetic toward 'the truth is out there' or 'the demon made me do it'. Finally Cattrell spoke.

"Henriksen, this not going to look good for our image. Someone is going to be blamed for this disaster, and to be honest you're the only FBI personnel there left alive. You were put in charge of bringing the Winchesters in."

"I understand sir." And he did. Victor had been with the Bureau long enough to know how the politics worked. You screw up and your career suffers. He'd already been expecting this. But it didn't matter anymore, not with his most recent decision. "I've thought about this and..." He took a calming breath, "...I'd like you to consider this my official request to resign."

Whatever Director Cattrell had been expecting, this was obviously not it. After a moment of shocked silence he spoke, "Victor you've been an agent for fifteen years, and you're damn good. You can't let this ruin your career. A year or two and this will all blow over and you'll be back at the top again."

Victor hesitated a few more seconds, inwardly debating what he was considering doing. Could he really do this, give up fifteen years of working so hard to get where he was? His minder wandered back to his conversation with Dean.

Yes he'd spent fifteen years and what did he have to show for it. A handful of criminals apprehended, a few dozen victims and potential victims save? Stacked up against what the Winchester brothers had accomplished, twenty-some years killing demons and ghosts on a weekly basis and saving god knew how many innocent people, Victor had a feeling he didn't come even close to measuring up.

"I'm sorry, Director Cattrell, but my mind is made up. As soon as this is all over I will be handing in my written request." As much as he wanted to cut loose immediately, Victor owed all the men that had died today to stay until everything was finished.

The FBI director's tone was somber, "Agent Henriksen, I am going to excuse this as shock over today's events. I think after this is done with, you just need to take a little time off. A vacation to clear your mind, a chance think all this through."

"No disrespect, sir, but I'm dead serious."

And he was. While Dean had gathering the last of their supplies before they left, Henrikson had asked one final question:

"Is it worth it, what you do? Spending a life fighting demons and whatnot and nobody ever knowing how much you sacrifice."

Dean took a moment to think before he replied seriously, "Yes, it is."

Henriksen gave a half-smile, "That's good enough for me."

Victor wanted that- to be able to look back at his life and say without a shadow of a doubt that it had all been worth it, no matter the pain and trouble along the way. Working for the Bureau hadn't given him that, only frustration.

Seeming to decide arguing with Victor at the moment was a lost cause, Cattrell reiterated that he hoped he would reconsider and then veered off into a discussion on the imminent arrival of an FBI team. Information was quickly exchanged and five minutes later the conversation was finished.

Henriksen hung the phone up with relief. He turned around just in time to see a blushing Nancy and flushed deputy come into the room, still righting disheveled clothing. They had obviously been very busy.

"Did you forget the broom?" he asked the secretary mildly, raising an eyebrow and watching with amusement when she turned a bright scarlet and ran back out of the room, assumably to get the sweeper.

He turned to Brett who was trying to appear nonchalant- and failing miserably, "Got a bit of lipstick there on your shirt. Might want to get rid of that." The deputy's hand quickly came up to cover the small stain.

Nancy returned, broom in hand and still a cute cherry color. Henrikson got a kick out watching the two try their best to not look at each other. They had puppy love written all over them. After what they went through tonight, he wished them both the best.

For the next hour the three survivors of the demon siege worked together to clean up the mess the best they could. The Devil's Traps' ended up being the biggest pain in the ass. It took all three of them scrubbing until their fingers hurt to get most of it up. Near the end, Henrikson was half-tempted to throw a bucket of paint over the last two to disguise them. Guess he'd be thinking twice before putting these on his apartment floor

Finally everything was finished but the sweeping.

Victor was going through the paperwork that had survived mutilations, waiting on the FBI team's arrival. He half-listened as Nancy and Brett talked while they worked.

"...you think the stories about the Trenton house could be real? They say the place is haunted."

"My friend Rachelle said that she heard that it's the spirit of Jos..."

The sound of a door opening cut the conversation mid-sentence. Nancy greeted the new arrival with a smile. "Well, hey there."

Letting go of the hand of her older companion, the young girl stepped up, "Excuse me, I'm looking for two boys. They're brothers." That got Henriksen's attention, he turned around and stared. Warning bells were going off in his head. Something wasn't right. "One's really tall, and one's really cute."

By Nancy's laugh, she probably agreed with the description, "What's your name sweetie?"

"Lilith."

The moment the little girl's eyes turned white, Victor jumped into action. His arms automatically stretched out, reaching for the gun loaded with the leftover rock salt that sat on the desk. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Brett also reacting to the demon threat. The young deputy was valiantly moving to pull Nancy away from the small figure.

It was too late. He could see it the cold milky eyes. The stark whiteness was terrifying. Inhuman.

The childlike innocence she'd exhibited before was gone. Her mouth was turned up in a chilling smirk, confident in her victory. Her eyes had turned from Nancy's and locked onto his own. It felt like they were trying to pierce his soul.

I am Lilith.

The voice resounded in his head, commanding and cruel.

Victor looked back, defiantly. He might have only just discovered this war between earth and hell; not just the spiritual battle of good and evil his mama had raised him with, but a real physical battle between demons and humans. He might be new to this, but he had already taken a stand earlier and damn if he would go down now without another fight.

Lilith's head tilted a bit, staring at him curiously, like he was a pinned insect.

None can stand against me.

I will, and so will the Winchesters, he thought, and felt his fingers close around the barrel of the gun. Victor was mid-motion, pulling the weapon toward him when he mentally heard her scream with fury and then Lilith raised her hand.

No one would know that for those last few minutes he lived, Victor was no longer an FBI agent. He had chosen a new kind of career path. And even though he never would have another chance to learn more about the supernatural world, he had already made the choice. Everyone became a Hunter somehow, and today was Victor Henriksen's turn. And it felt damn good.

I could really go for that surf-n-turf right about now.

Just before the light blinded him, he felt his lips tug up into a little smile. Those Winchester brothers better kill this white-eyed bitch...or he was so going to haunt their asses for the rest of their lives.

- - The End - -

Wow, this turned out waaaaay longer than I expected. Like 3,000 words longer. Yeesh, sorry about that, I hope I didn't bore anyone to death.

I was so shocked to find that by the end of the episode I liked Henriksen. After more than a year of thinking of creative ways to off him in my imagination for causing the brothers so much trouble I actually was upset that he was killed. Go figure. Anyway, since I turned such a big 180 on my personal view of him I figured I owed him a small tribute. I thought that the entire episode practically led up to Henriksen becoming a hunter, so I had to create my own version where he did, even if it was for a few minutes. And of course it would also be completely unfair to let Nancy die a virgin after all she went through. :P

So any thoughts, comments...praise and adoration? All are loved and treasured. :)

Your suddenly-Hedrickson-loving writer,

Kerri B.

Oh, and this will change nothing in how I'm writing Victor's character in my story Doppelganger. He's still going to come across as a meanie. :)