"Three days, Dean," Sam called after him as Ayden revved her engine, both of them wincing at how very unwell her poor '71 Impala sounded. And yes, it rattled as they pulled away, out of sight long before they were out of earshot. Now there was a reason for Dean to come back safely - who else was going to rescue Ayden's car from becoming salvage before its time"

Dean didn't wait for them to pull away. He had the engine started almost immediately and was pulling out onto the road, screeching the tires as he headed back in the direction of the hunting cabin they'd "borrowed" for a few days. Three days had been a guess. He knew as well as Sam did that if he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be, but he figured he wouldn't need much more time than that. He shook his head a little as he heard Ayden's engine rattle behind him, hoping the two of them got back safely and wondering if he'd have time to get a peek under the hood, like he'd promised. Time would tell, but time was the one thing they were running out of.

But at least he wasn't stuck having that conversation in Ayden's bright red Impala as it screeched its way along the roads back toward Sioux Falls and the relative safety of B&E's Salvage Yard. There wasn't so very much to say, really, but the silence inside the little car was painfully heavy for the first half hour of the journey. Sam didn't know how to break it, and to be honest, he was more than a little lost in his own thoughts, worrying over Dean's sudden decision to head out on his own. That, of course, was only the uppermost level of worry that pervaded his being - Lucifer's oft-repeated assurance that Sam was going to give in was beginning to wear badly.

And then there was Ayden. She'd settled into silence once again, but Sam had noticed a distinct difference between the silences of his siblings - Dean clammed up and dared you to even consider making him talk; Ayden seemed to exude an invitation to draw her out of herself, if you could find the right words. As it turned out, he didn't need to find those words. She broke the silence herself.

"Did he mean it?" she asked suddenly, startling her brother with even that quiet cadence of sound. "Zachariah. He asked me if I wanted my mom back. Did he mean it, is that something he can do?" She turned her worried eyes onto Sam for a moment, needing an honest answer, however painful it was to hear.

"Uh ..." Sam hesitated, not entirely sure this was something he wanted to go into. He agreed with Ellen that no one should drop everything on Ayden at once, but if he was brutally honest, he had to admit that he didn't really want his sister to know anything at all. If she knew the whole truth, she'd stop looking up to him, he was certain of it. After all, how many people would look up to someone who had apparently been born to be the Devil on Earth at the end of days"

"He can do it," he said finally, shaking his head. "I've seen angels raise people. I just don't think he will, even if you do what he wants. Seems more like something Cas would do."

Ayden nodded slowly, gently easing her car into a higher gear as they settled onto two-lane asphalt heading westward. She'd given that suggestion a lot of thought overnight, in between bouts of guilt for being so brutally open with Dean when all he'd been trying to do was reassure her. She hadn't really thought Zachariah would do anything he seemed to promise, and to be honest, she had no reason to trust the being that had killed her mother. She trusted Sam over an angel, any day. "That's what I thought," she assured her brother. "And what he keeps trying to get me to do, that's all to do with the big something that you and Ellen don't want me to know about, right?"

He winced, looking out through the window at the landscape passing by at speed. "It's ....complicated," he admitted awkwardly. "I don't want you to know at all. You shouldn't have to know this stuff, you've got a normal life. Dean's right about Dad - he wanted you out of this life, and I agree with him. But Ellen and Bobby are right, too. You need to know, I just ....I don't wanna be the one to tell you." His eyes turned to study her as he spoke. "I guess I'm enjoying being a big brother too much to want to spoil it."

For the first time since they'd arrived in Windom the day before last, a small smile lit up Ayden's face, touched by the admission. "Dean's kinda got the big brother thing down pat, doesn't he?" she asked with no small amount of amusement. "Must be hard, still being the little one in the family."

Sam snorted with laughter, shaking his head. "Dean's difficult to describe," he told her. "He's my - our - brother, he's always gonna look out for us. I mean, he's been looking after me pretty much my whole life. Dad dragged us all around the country on hunts, but it was Dean who was always there for me. He's ....he just can't turn it off, I guess."

There was a lot more to the eldest Winchester than just that, but Sam was at a bit of a loss. How did he describe their big brother to the little sister who seemed absolutely certain she'd burned her bridges with one outburst' "You know," he tried again, drumming his fingertips on the dash, "we've been through some serious stuff the last few years. I'm not even going to start explaining it all, but ....you don't need to worry about one little fight. I've done worse - far worse - and we're still talking."

"But I didn't even mean most of what I said," Ayden protested quietly, and for a moment she found herself wondering how Sam had managed to turn the conversation away from Dean and onto her so skillfully. "I just got angry and upset and I blurted out the first thing that came into my head. I blamed him for the fact that I'm a complete mess, and then he told me to blame him for mom's death. Like it was his fault! And now ....he's just taken off, and, and you don't know where he's going, right?"

"I can make a guess," Sam assured her. "Trust me, Ayden, Dean's just taking a few days. There's been a lot happening the last couple of months, and you're just a small part of it. Maybe the fight tipped him into making that decision a little sooner than he might have done, but it's not your fault. None of this is your fault."

"But me being around doesn't make it any easier on you guys," she said sadly. Sam felt a surge of compassion for her. She was lost and confused, and she'd taken what little comfort they'd offered with an open heart. He just wasn't sure that they were the best people for her to be relying on in the wake of her mother's death. Chaos and unhappiness followed the Winchesters wherever they went, like a family curse. But there were good parts to being a Winchester too ....like the family bond that kept them together, no matter how far they strayed.

"Trust me," he heard himself say, reaching over to squeeze his little sister's shoulder gently, "you being around has made things a whole lot clearer. For both of us."

Because no matter how many arguments Dean and Sam got into, no matter how little they trusted one another to do the right thing, no matter how bad things were going to get, the brothers were both very clear on one point. The whole world might be going down the pan, but Ayden had reminded them of what they were really fighting for. Family. Not just theirs, but every family the world over. If they had to sacrifice themselves to keep just one heart still beating, one life still living, then that's what they would do. For their little sister, their friends, for the world their parents had died to preserve. They could do no less.

But they were sure as Heaven and Hell going to take Michael and Lucifer down with them.

((Thanks to Dean's player for helping me out with the beginning of this scene!))