Chapter 12
The second task was starting.
Theoretically it would be fine. Theoretically. It didn’t change the fact that his best friend, and maybe something more -hopefully- was one-hundred meters bellow water and- also- you know- being guarded by an army of merpeople.
Looking to the right showed both a sharked-out Viktor and Bubble-head charmed Fleur, cool as cucumbers, left showed Harry with his own Bubble-Head charm and wearing now trademarked determined face. God, he doesn’t think he’s ever cared about something as much as Harry had putting on his shoes. That’s not to say he’s apathetic! Harry’s just has a freaky amount of conviction
“Begin!”
With a jerk of surprise, he realized he had been left alone on the soggy deck and leapt to catch up.
_____
“Dean, give me your Jacket.”
It was getting to the end of the day, maybe an hour or two of light left, meaning that they would arrive just after the sun set. Perfect for breaking into whatever building they needed to. The car below him rumbled, the light shining behind him, he could almost forget they were going to save his dad.
Dean gave him an incredulous backwards glance before returning his gaze to the street.
“Why?”
I’m going to sew a pocket into it that’s lined with salt-” He raised the tough fabric he had taken from one of the worser for wear flannels his brothers seemed to adore, “So you can carry the Colt without losing it.”
“Smart. Just be careful, ok? That jackets in pristine condition.”
Harry heard what he really meant, ‘I care about that jacket, I trust you to not ruin it.’
“Got it.”
-----
The Sunrise hotel.
Sam caught himself thinking Meg, the real Meg, could have been a little more clear in what she meant. He stopped himself, it was her dying breaths after all.
The second he stepped out of the car, something his blood told him that this was it. Somewhere in this building the Demon with Yellow Eyes was waiting.
“What are you doing?”
Turning back showed him Dean right behind him and Harry crawling out of the car.
“I’m not sitting out on this one.”
“The hell you’re not?”
“The only reason I stayed in the car the last time was because I thought we had it in the bag, Sam knew exactly what would happen, and even then, I was ready to jump out and follow you. This one, this one there’s a good chance that you, both of you, will be not make it out.”
“Sounds like your just giving me more reasons why you should stay in the car.”
“I’m not letting the only good part of my family die when I could have stopped it.” There was a conviction there, one that he could read so easily on Dean’s face, and maybe with another few years he would be able to do the Sam with Harry, that said he wasn’t going to take a compromise.
“Fine, stay behind us.”
Dean gave him an incredulous look, and Sam almost wanted to match it. Was he really going to let this happen? Harry stalking forward while double checking that his guns were in place, the ones that he must have been carrying since they left Bobby’s, made it clear he never really had the choice.
-----
Dean carefully picked the lock on the back door of the hotel. Harry really needed to learn how to do that.
He reminded himself before the excitement of finally going hunting with his brothers could set in that his dad was in there. His, real life, kind of an asshole dad was in that building, and he could be already dead for all he knew.
He crept inside, almost bumping into Sam when John abruptly stopped and turned, opening a door as quietly a possible revealing a staircase that spiraled up all eight floors, and down one into the basement.
Thankfully, Dean seemed to think that the demons were probably downstairs, saving them from having to make that long journey.
It was cold, their steps echoing as the made their way down no matter how much they tried to be silent.
Opening the door to the basement reveal only one figure, tall and wide, a man stood there. He must have been staring at the door they entered through for a while before they even got there.
Dean didn’t hesitate, pulling out, aiming and firing his gun all in less then a second.
The man didn’t even seem to register it, lunging forward with an impossible speed towards them. His brothers jumped to the side in sync and Harry just managed to dodge the monster as he followed their lead.
He heard the creak of the metal stairs bending behind him. Thank God that wasn’t him.
Oh shit! That would be him the second the guy recovers.
He bolted upwards, and slammed the door closed, maybe blocking him off would buy them some time. An idea came to mind.
“That guy a demon?”
“Pretty sure.” Came Deans voice, much closer then he had expected him to be from where he had fallen.
He reached into his front jean pocket, pulling out a handful of the salt he had grabbed from Bobby’s, rushing to form a line in front of the door.
The second he’d finished, he heard the metal of the door creak and warp, as if it should have been torn apart. Looking up, he could see distinct hand marks having been pushed into it.
“Merlin.”
A hand patted his back, shocking him back into focus.
“Good job.”
Sam was looking down at him, smiling.
“We’ll find another way on the way out.” Dean promised, then stalked off.
The room was a good size, boxes and boxes of all materials, cardboard through metal, thrown about. The floor seemed to have originally been organized into grids, toiletries in one place, kitchen ware in another, but that had quickly gone away when it became easier to just shove things in and forget about it.
Pushing himself up, he followed his brother’s lead and started searching.
It didn’t take long until he heard a groan come from one of the larger boxes.