Diary of a Hunter

"Dean, take Sam and Meredith and go to the memorial graves. Burn them all. I can already see that Calhoun won't be there alone. He'll have others as ghosts," John ordered.

"But you can't go alone, Dad," Dean argued.

"Yes, I can. All that matters is that you guys are safe. You can join me afterwards but for right now, I'm doing this on my own," John said.

"But Dad-," Dean protested.

"Dean, just go," John ordered, sternly.

"Yes, sir," Dean replied. I had barely seen him like that. I had never seen Dean so obedient and right then I could really see how much Dean loved his father. So much that he'd do whatever he told him to.

Dean and I got into the car, Sammy in the back, and we took off for the memorial graves. To be honest, I was nervous about John Winchester being there all alone too but I knew that he could handle it.

"You okay?" I asked Dean, the minute we were gone.

"I'm fine," he muttered. I could tell he didn't want to talk so I got comfortable in my seat and just kept to myself. The memorial graves weren't that far away from the reservation. They were only about ten minutes out.

"Alright guys, let's start digging," Dean ordered, handing us all shovels. Here we go…

Sam, Dean and I drove straight to the grave and got to digging up the graves right away. We were feverish and eager to get back to John. I knew that Dean was especially worried about his father and I didn't want him to worry.

"You've got a little dirt on your face," Dean said, chuckled, seeing me. I giggled a little and tried to wipe it off my face. The flames were beginning to die down and we got back into the car.

"No, here, I got it," Dean said, leaning over in the seat and brushing my cheek with his thumb. The two of us locked eyes and smiled at each other. Dean held my chin between his thumb and index finger and gave me a small kiss.

"Sorry, uh, guys. Shouldn't we get going?" Sam coughed, interrupting us.

"Sorry," I apologized looking back at him.

"It's fine…" he trailed off, sighing. We all buckled up and Dean drove the Impala back to the reservation and I was horrified to see that havoc had already been wreaked upon it. I practically sprang out of the car and ran.

"What're you doing here?" Tayo Park asked, as soon as he saw me.

"We're here to help," I said, a calm and determination washing over me.

"Find Dad, Sam," Dean ordered. There was yelling and people running everywhere.

"I thought you were school-," Tayo started.

"Well, we're not. What's going on?" I asked him.

"The evil spirits have attacked. They've already killed some. Some of the spirits are gone… except for one. He's taken human form," Mr. Park explained. He went inside his house and then came out with a knife. "And look out for the girls. They're still in the tent." Tayo pointed at the large teepee.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Part of the ritual, the coming out ritual, is to dance for ten hours. They're committed and they haven't come out yet," Tayo said. I nodded.

Suddenly, I spotted John fighting what looked like James Calhoun. They were literally fighting each other, bare handed and John's gun was far away from him.

"Dean, how is this possible that there are still spirits? I thought we burned them all," I said, trying to panic.

"I… the ground over there is uneven… do you think some were buried there?" Dean asked.

"It's worth a shot. Let's go," I said. Dean nodded and the two of us grabbed shovels out of his car before furiously digging up the ground in search for more bodies.

"Hah, there," I said. And just then, a ghost flew by my head. I ducked and Dean swung the shovel at the ghost, making it dematerialize. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said. "I think I found something," Dean said. And sure enough, there were more bones.

"Salt!" I exclaimed. Just then, there was another ghost. They were trying to stop us from burning the bones. Dean grabbed the salt and poured it all over the empty graves. I fought off the ghosts but they just kept coming back. I screamed once I felt something sharp drag across my calf muscle.

"Meredith!" Dean exclaimed.

"Don't worry about me, just burn the graves," I yelled. I toughed it out and kept trying to protect Dean from the incoming ghosts. All of a sudden, the ghosts went into flames and disappeared as the flames in the grave grew.

"No!" Dean yelled.

"What?" I asked, my eyes wide.

The two of us turned to the teepee and it was as if our worst nightmare had come true. The teepee was on fire and Calhoun was standing right there. John, from behind came at him with a knife, stabbing Calhoun. Calhoun fell to the ground as the teepee continued to go up into flames. I spotted tons of buckets of water around what was supposed to be the giant bonfire. I swallowed hard and ran.

"Meredith, where are you going?" Dean asked, chasing after me.

"The water. And find someone to get a fire extinguisher," I ordered.

"Meredith, what the hell are you doing?" Dean asked, beginning to panic.

"Help me bring these buckets over here," I said, not bothering to answer the question. If I answered his question than he'd stop me. "Hi, can you bring as many fire extinguishers as you can?" The man that I had asked the question nodded and ran inside to get fire extinguishers.

"Wait, Mer, slow down. What is going on?" Dean asked. I swallowed hard before grabbing a bucket full of water and pouring it over my body. I shivered at the cold water. The other bucket I took in my arms.

"If I told you, you wouldn't let me go through with it," I said, before climbing into the teepee with the rest of the girls before he could even say anything.

"Meredith!" Dean called after me.

The girls shrieked at the sight of me and all huddled in a clump.

"You're not going to hurt us are you?" they asked. But as soon as they saw my dark hair and my dark eyes their faces softened. I wasn't Native American but they recognized the same features that we shared. They do say that we all ascend from similar DNA trails.

"Let's get you girls out of here. I'm so sorry that your coming out ceremony got crashed," I said. I cleared a path to the entrance by pouring the bucket of water and letting some of the girls out. Some of them ran out and some of the others were having trouble. "Are you okay?"

"She fell and broke her leg," one of the girls said.

"Alright, come here," I said. I picked her up in my arms and held her. Some of the other girls were hurt too. Just then, Dean came through, with the fire extinguisher. I carried the little girl out and Dean pulled me into his arms.

"Jesus, Meredith. You're damn right I wouldn't have let you do that," Dean warned, then held me close to him. I wriggled in his arms.

"There are still girls in there!" I screamed, running back.

"Meredith, don't go back there! It's still caught fire!" Dean exclaimed. But I ran and ran and ran.

"Help us!" the girls yelled.

"Dean, don't!" I heard someone yell but second later, Dean was in the flaming teepee with me.

"I'll take her. You take the other one," Dean said. I nodded and one of the girls jumped into his arms. He carried her out and I followed him with the last girl. I started coughing from all the smoke and tried to just ignore it. The whole town was crowded around and the families of the girls were reuniting with their children. They were all hugging and rejoicing. It brought a little smile on my face.

"Is it over?" the little girl asked, looking up at me. I looked up at John Winchester who was in the crowd and he nodded.

"Yes, sweetie, it's over," I assured her as she pressed against me in search of comfort or protection. I stroked her hair comfortingly. "Shhh, yeah, it's all okay. It's all going to be okay."

She wrapped her arms around my neck, "Thank you."

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~3rd Person POV~

The four returned to Bobby's salvage yard and home the day after the hunt was over. Meredith had gone straight to bed and wasn't going to school that Tuesday. She'd just go back on Wednesday. It was Wednesday and Meredith still hadn't woken up yet. Dean had come downstairs to find his dad eating a bowl of cereal.

"Dean," John started.

"Yeah?" Dean asked back.

"What Meredith did… was reckless," John paused. Dean didn't know what to say. Why was his father telling him this? Did he want him to break up with Meredith? Was he going to tell at him? Dean waited in anticipation before his father finally said something else. "It was something I'd do. She has good instincts. She has the potential to be really good."

"Why aren't you telling her this?" Dean asked, looking at his dad. Dean was thrown off my his father's response but decided to just roll with the punches.

"Because I'm just hoping that the two of you will learn from your-, my mistakes," John said.

"What're you talking about?" Dean asked, eyeing his father.

"She let her feelings get involved with the hunt. She should've never gone back into the tent to save the kids. You can't save everyone," John replied.

"But you just said it's something you would've done!" Dean protested.

"I know and it's going to kill me one day. I'm reckless and I let my feelings get involved. You can't do that as a hunter and you did. You should've never gone after her, Dean," John warned.

"You would've done it for Mom!" Dean snapped.

"I know. That's why this… relationship worries me. You went after her even though you knew it wasn't a good idea. You let your feelings get in the way," John defended.

"There were kids in there that could've died," Dean argued. "Isn't it our job to save them?"

John sighed, "You're in love with her, aren't you?" Dean was especially caught off guard from this one. He never would've expected his dad to call him out on this but he knew it was true. So this was what it was. Dean had been experiencing all of these feelings beforehand and during the hunt. When Meredith had run into that tent, all Dean could thinking about was her – saving her. But he knew Meredith didn't need saving; he was just… loved her. Shit, he swore to himself that he'd never fall in love yet here he was.

"What?" Dean asked softly, caught off guard.

His father looked at him, "Be careful and don't let her get hurt. Take care of Meredith, Dean. This is not the kind of business where we have the luxury for relationships but if you love her… you have to be willing to fight for her."

~End 3rd Person POV