Protect Her ~ supernatural / sam winchester

Eighteen

Sam stared at the back of her brown head, eyes wide, as she wiped a cocktail of blood and sweat from her red face with the back of her hand, clutching an angel blade.

"Do you know who I am?"

The demon smirked, saying nothing.

She scoffed. "Who am I kidding, of course you do. Right?" It still did not answer.

"I'm not afraid of you," is all it said.

"You damn well should be," she laughed.

"Why?" It cocked its head. "Because you're 'dangerous'?" It spat. "Please, you're just like me." Her face did not change. The demon glanced back up at the devils trap spray painted on the ceiling. "Why would you lock up one of your own kind?"

"You are not my kind," she declared, voice a little too harsh.

"Hm." It looked behind the girl to the Winchesters and winked. "Hey, boys." They straightened, tightening their grips on their weapons. "Glad to see you haven't changed a bit. Still hypocrites and crybabies."

Dean Winchester rolled his eyes. "Please," he muttered. The demon's eyes flashed hungrily as it looked back to the girl.

"What do you want?" it droned.

"To find the first one."

It blinked. "The first what?"

"The first one of my family." She took a step closer. "The demon that started this whole mess, the reason I'm--"

"Like me?" She pressed her lips together, bending forward the slightest bit. The demon laughed. "Even if I knew, why would I tell you?" She opened her mouth, but it spoke for her. "Because you can hurt me?" It snorted.

Dean looked down his nose at it in distaste. "I suggest you do what she says." It was the first either of the boys had spoken to it.

It snarled at him. "I don't know, okay? I'm just a crossroads demon, info like that comes from higher up the food chain."

Jordan spun the blade in her hand, eyes alight with fire. "Then tell me how to find someone who does know." She came even closer, the metal buttons on her coat gleaming in the moonlight.

******

Dani popped the cap off the bottle of the beer and took a swig, leaning against the motel counter. Sam and Dean watched her from where they sat at the wobbly wooden table.

"Well," Dean sighed. "That was... something!"

Dani did not respond, just glanced at him with the bottle still pressed to her mouth.

"Dani," Sam began, staring up at her dark, clouded eyes. "We've been doing this for a while and, I mean, we haven't found anything--"

"We will," she insisted.

His mouth worked. "Yeah, but, we-- I was wondering if, maybe, you would be okay with another case?" She simply looked at him, which he took as a sign to continue. "It's good to take a step back, especially when the trail runs as cold as this, and it isn't like there aren't other cases out there--"

"You can go." She put her beer down and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you're sick of it. I get it."

"The point is that you come," Dean muttered.

Dani shrugged. "Why would I need to?"

"Because we obviously aren't going anywhere. So, might as well do something productive on a hunt." He clenched his jaw as they stared one another down. Sam seemed visibly uncomfortable with his brother's straight-forward approach, who did not seem to care.