Dean and Sam received word that a Hunter friend of theirs had been captured by Lilith's men and was being held captive. Of course, they thought it was a trap but after the case in Rock Ridge, Colorado, Abigael just disappeared. It made sense, and they felt bad. So of course they felt obliged to help. The boys stalked through one of the corridors in the abandoned warehouse, their guns cocked and ready for action, and Sam had Ruby's knife with him.

"Dude, I swear if this a trap-"

"Come on Dean," Sam cuts his older brother off. "She vanished on our watch and we judged her like she skipped out. But for months she's probably been held by Demons," Sam whisper-yells to Dean, knowing that they jumped to conclusion far too quickly and passed unnecessary judgment on her.

"I ain't bitchin', I'm just saying. These are the types of traps we fall for," he replies, though they don't know very much about 'Martha' other than she's a hunter. She did save their lives, and told Sam what made Dean ill. So they owed her this at least. They continued to stalk their way through the warehouse, hoping to find Martha in one piece and not dead...

Martha sat in the center of an abandoned warehouse, she was beaten, fresh blood dripped from her nose, cuts were on her cheeks, new bruises forming on old ones, and she had a busted lip. She was tied tightly to a wooden chair, only wearing a silky light pink dressing gown, which was stained with droplets of crimson blood. Her wrists red raw due to how tight the restraints were, and her struggle to get free. She managed to flutter her eyes open, though she was weak, she could see two demons standing in front, staring at her bloody complexion.

"Well, well, guess who's awake," the male demon spoke, before gripping at the back of Martha's hair and ragged her head up to face him directly. "Now I'll ask again what are the Winchesters planning?!" His voice raised and echoed through the empty warehouse. But Martha kept her mouth shut, not wanting to give the demons anything. This just angered the demon, and he strikes her across the face, but she couldn't go with the strike as he held her hair and kept her head still.

"Not the answer we want," the other male demon spoke. The demon that had a grip on her hair, used his other hand and grabbed her cheeks, pushing them together making her lips squish.

"You either tell us what we need to know or you die. Slowly," he smirks at the end of his sentence, finding the fun in hurting her.

Dean and Sam had killed some other demons in the hallway, but they were quiet in doing so. They crept into the main room of the warehouse. It was a giant open space, and in the middle was Martha and the demons. The demon that held Martha let her go, but he reclined his hand, and made a fist and struck her across the face, allowing her head to go in the direction. Blood foamed at her mouth, her teeth stained with the color of red.

"Tell us!" He yells, his voice echoing throughout the warehouse. But Martha laughs, a deep chuckle for a moment, before spitting out the large amount of blood. She turns her head slowly back around, to meet the eyes of the demon.

"Go. To. Hell," was the only three words Martha spoke, smirking at the male, as she wasn't going to tell them jack, and they knew that. To her surprise, she could see the Winchesters, sneaking up from behind. The demons in front were obvious, but she refocused her gaze back onto the demon, not wanting to alert them to their presence. "You will be dead soon," she spoke through gritted teeth, making them both laugh at her statement, knowing she wasn't in the position to make threats.

"And how do you figure that's going to happen?" he mocks her.

"Because..." she paused for a moment, as the Winchesters' got into position, ready to strike. "The Winchesters are behind you," she was smug in her reply, making the demon frown for a moment. It lasted a second, as Ruby's knife was driven into the back of the demon that had beaten Martha up; his skin lights up an orange-red color and flashes for a moment, as he exhales his last breath. The second one had holy water thrown onto him - making him scream in agony.

"Sam!" Dean states, throwing the knife to his left, allowing Sam to catch it in his grip and with a quick stab in the heart, the demon drops backwards as he pulls free the knife. The boys were already battered and held a few bruises, and cuts on their pretty faces. After a heavy breathing session, the Winchesters wandered over to Martha.

"Martha?!" Sam states with worry in his voice. Martha smiled softly to the boys, half her hair covered the bruises and the cuts. Sam was in front of her quick as a flash, and knelt down, his six-foot frame seemed to tower over her, even when she sat. He gently gripped the side of her head, and stabilized her, shifting a few strands of hair from her face, revealing the bruises and cuts. Sam's eyes widened in shock, seeing the bloody state she was in. Dean was working on her restraints, cutting them with the knife he held.

"I-I still look good all things considered," her voice was harsh and dry, but she managed to speak a full sentence. Sam couldn't help but chuckle at her remark. Once Dean finished working on her restraints, Sam grabbed her under her arms and lifted her up, but Dean wanted to take responsibility too, so he grabbed her left arm, slinging it around his shoulder and supported her.

"I knew you both would come," Martha spoke, choking on the words, tears pricking her eyes.

"You went missing while helping us. So, it's only right for us to help you," Dean surprisingly said, Martha didn't know he cared. However, they continued to walk from the warehouse, maneuvering around the dead bodies. There were a few and Martha was impressed with the boys, they fought their way through to get to her. Out of nowhere, rushed footsteps could be heard from down the corridor, it sounded like a few demons at least. It made them all come to a halt.

"Now what?" Dean states, cocking his gaze over to his brother, as they hoped that there were no more demons to come after them.

"We fight," Sam was headstrong in his statement, ready to fight if need be.

"Ther-there's a side exit. They brought me through," Martha was strong enough to speak, knowing that they couldn't fight if they had to worry about her. There was a left hand turn that would take them away from the main corridor. Without a second thought, all three of them rushed down the hallway as fast as they could. Martha guided them to get out of the warehouse. With luck they found the exit, and came out into the cold night air. There was nothing around for miles, just trees. They saw the impala in the distance, but the impending demons on their tails. They needed to run, but Martha was too weak.

"Start the car," Dean instructed Sam, but he was about to speak, Dean just gave him a firm look, they didn't have time to debate who's going to be the hero here. Sam removed Martha from his support and ran off towards the Impala. "Ok, here goes," Dean swoops Martha off her feet, and carries her bridal style. It was much easier and faster, as he sprinted towards the Impala. But with weakness taking over, Martha fell under, leaving Dean alone for a few seconds. However, he manages to open the car door and gently place her in. He slams the door shut, and opens the driver's side door, Sam scoots over to his passenger side and Dean gets in. He slams his door shut and begins to drive away from the warehouse, and all the bad it holds. Sam cocks his gaze to Martha who was beaten badly, he couldn't believe it but he knew she was brave, and didn't cave in.

.......................

Two days passed, since the Winchesters had retrieved Martha, and patched her up the best they could; cleaned her wounds, and kept a very close eye on her. Luckily, her wounds would heal, and she would return to herself in no time. Martha fluttered her eyes open, the blur in her vision was there for a moment as she was staring at a bland ceiling. She blinked a few times, hearing soft whispers around her. She shifts in her position, she's under the covers, still wearing her nightgown. This alerted the Winchesters to her movement, making Sam wander over to the bed, and sit on the edge of the opposite one, staring at her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" His voice was soft, and fragile with the words he spoke, but he was also concerned for her well-being. His eyes wandered her body, but focused on her face as it was where the bruising, and cuts were.

"Sore, but I'll live," she replies softly, groaning slightly as she shifts herself up in the bed, leaning against the headboard. "How did you find me?" She asks Sam, noticing Dean in the small kitchen, sipping on a beer, looking kind of sour.

"It wasn't easy, but we used what we had, and had some help from Bobby," Sam states, giving Bobby some credit. "All that matters is your safe now," Sam didn't want to go into details on how they figured it all out.

"Am I?" Martha retorted, eyeing up Sam for a moment. "I save people day in and day out, and when I work with you two, it seems that I have a massive target on my back," she was visibly angry at the men, because it was their fault, she was taken and beaten for information about them.

"Hey, don't blame this on us!" Dean snaps, rising from the chair, and coming to the end of the bed. Martha and Dean's relationship was rocky, they weren't on the best terms.

"They wanted information on you!" Martha raises her voice to Dean. "And I had to suffer for just knowing you both. How is that fair?" She shot a low blow to them, cocking her gaze between both brothers. She knew, and so did they, that everyone around them ends up suffering or worse, dead.

"No one asks you to stick around or play hero," Dean raised his own voice back to Martha. "Why did you stick around and help? Hm?!" Dean wasn't going to let up now, he wanted answers and he wanted them now. Martha remained silent, but his piercing gaze wouldn't let up, and Sam just sat there watching the interaction from both of them.

"In this line of work you see others - Hunters die. A few years ago, I worked on this case with another Hunter. He was brilliant, smart, and kind. He took me under his wing, and taught me what I know today," Martha began to tell her story, a story that defines her in this Hunter life. "This case was routine, a vamp-nest, straight in and straight out. But it wasn't that simple," tears threatened the eyes of Martha, knowing that the next part was going to be sad. "There were a whole lot more than a few vamps than we thought, we got ambushed. He-he..." Martha choked up on the words, finding it difficult to speak about what had occurred. "He got turned, but his will was strong and he fought the blood-lust, and killed the vamps. And then I had to kill him, I had to take the machete and cut his head off," the waterworks finally flew, allowing tears to stain her cheeks. "I help because I don't want that same mistake to happen," Dean was clearly shocked, but he didn't let it show. Sam, on the other hand, was letting it all show on his face.

"Martha, that's - that's horrible," Sam announces, feeling sorry for the woman. What she had to go through, how brave she had to be to do the task.

"I can't repay what you both did for me, I'm grateful for that," Martha ignored the comment Sam states, not wanting to think about it any longer. "But I need some time alone. Heal, and think of my choices," Martha spoke the truth, she didn't want to be around them at this moment in time.

"We understand," Sam replies for himself and Dean. "The rooms' paid for until the end of the week. You can use it until then," Sam offered a thin smile. before standing to his feet. Martha just nodded, before sliding further down, back to her original position, and re-closing her eyes for sleep to take over...

Dean and Sam packed their bags, and removed every trace of themselves from the room. Martha was asleep, oblivious to them leaving. Dean stood at the motel door, cocking his head back over to the sleeping Martha. His eyes were soft, and many thoughts were running through his mind. One thing he knew about her, was that she was tough, and could take care of herself, this just confirmed what he already knew. With one last lingering look, Dean cast his eyes away from her and into the parking lot of the motel. Where his brother is already in the Impala ready to leave.

Back in the room, Martha hears the door close, and senses no other presence within. She waited for a moment, hearing the roar of the Impala and its engine leaving the parking lot of the motel, and back on the road for the boy's next adventure.

"Suckers," she spoke to herself, throwing the covers off of her, and standing perfectly fine and walking on over to the bathroom, noticing the mirror held her reflection. "Should have become an actress," she laughs at the end of her sentence, a wicked smile crossing her face. Abigael snapped her fingers together, and the cuts, the bruises, all vanished into the air, as if they were painted on for show, and became dust. Within milliseconds, her skin was back to flawless perfection, even her wrists were 'painted' for show.

This was her master plan, luring the Winchesters to the warehouse, Demons standing guard, and two beating her for information, her being missing since Rock Ridge. It made the Winchesters' feel guilty, and responsible for her, and it worked like a charm. How could they not resist a damsel in distress, it was in their nature. That was never going to change for them. Abigael was doing this for her own survival, and needed to be back on their good side. After all this, how could they not trust her?

After all, they got her into this mess...

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