Manhunt (PG-13)
We've got a twofer for y'all tonight, folks. This story immediately follows The First Five Holidays at John's House; the other will be posted shortly.
Summary: Cazadore once stood ready to protect Sam from John. Now someone else is coming after Sam, and John's tied down. Can he count on his new friendships to help him save his son?
Manhunt
By Enola Jones and San Antonio Rose
May 29, 2006
John narrowly resisted the urge to throw his cell phone across the room after he hung up. He’d been as evasive as possible, but knowing Walker, he’d show up in Cazadore sooner than later if Jim and Bobby couldn’t keep somebody in his way. And John was on lockdown... sure, he had more freedom than most people under house arrest, but even that had limits.
There was only one thing for it. He picked up the landline and dialed a number he’d seldom used except for party planning.
“Cooper. John Winchester.” He swallowed hard. “I need your help.”
“Hang up.” John had barely done so when Cooper appeared in his living room. “What is it?”
“I just got a call from Gordon Walker. Dunno if you know the name.”
Cooper’s face suddenly darkened.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” John sighed. “Demon mouthed off about Sammy. Apparently it just confirmed whatever suspicions he already had-and how the hell he even knows Sam’s name still puzzles me. Anyway, he’s looking for Sam.”
“Let me talk to Bobby. I’ll be back.” And Cooper vanished.
John blew the air out of cheeks and alternately paced and sat in the recliner with his face in his hands and his elbows on his knees.
Cooper reappeared ten minutes later. “I forgot - he doesn’t know what I am.”
John arched an eyebrow. “You get a faceful of rock salt?”
“No, I got my ears boxed by that damned loud dog of his. Popped out before he saw me.”
John snorted. “You call him, then?”
“Need to borrow your phone.”
John waved him toward it. Cooper dialed Bobby’s number and waited.
“Singer.”
“Cooper.”
“What’s goin’ on, Bill?”
“Gordon Walker just paid John a little house call by phone.”
Bobby swore bitterly.
“How soon can you get here?”
There was a squeal of brakes. “I’m just about to the outskirts of Lufkin-I’ll be back in a little less than two hours.”
Cooper’s eyes closed. “We’ll be here.” He hung up. “He’s still in Texas. No wonder the cur reacted like he did.”
John couldn’t help laughing.
“Yeah, yeah. Not all-powerful or omniscient, here...”
“Bill, he was at the damn barbeque. How’d you figure he got clear to Sioux Falls already?”
“Like I said... I’m more human than I used to be.”
John studied him for a moment. “Huh. Wouldn’t have thought that would be possible.”
“Your sons are a bad influence.”
John chuckled.
“On me and my brother,” he groused.
“You have a brother?”
“Yeah, a little one. Taller than me, though, the little shit.”
John laughed again-Cooper had sounded exactly like Dean.
He threw his hands in the air. “See? Bad influence!”
“Have the boys met him?”
“Not yet. He tends to pop in and out at weird times.”
John nodded. Then he sighed, his amusement at Cooper’s antics fading fast under the weight of his worry about Sam.
“Hey. He won’t succeed.”
“Damn straight he won’t. It’s just... I promised Sam that if anybody tried to hunt him, they’d have me to deal with. But that was before the whole house arrest deal. I can’t protect him if I go to prison, but I can’t do much from here, either.”
“You can use a computer, right?”
“... Sort of.”
Cooper growled and placed the palm of his hand on John’s head.
John gasped and swayed as he felt power surge through him-a wholly different sensation from when Cooper had put the runes on his ribs. For one dizzying moment, he felt sure he was about to black out, but he didn’t. “Wha... what did...”
“Now you can use a computer. You’re our research hub, Johnny.”
John panted and spluttered half-questions until he finally managed, “Why the hell am I the research hub?!”
“Like you said. You’re under house arrest. It’s the one hunting-relating thing you can do from home.”
John leaned back in the recliner until he caught his breath and the lightheadedness passed. “Bill... don’t get me wrong; I do appreciate this... but I’m not a bookworm like Sammy. I need to do something, point my gun at something.”
“And it rankles like hell that you’re stuck here while others save your son.”
John’s jaw twitched. It was true, and yet... how many times had they been in danger and he hadn’t even known it because others had stood in the gap?
“If it helps, you can point your gun at me.”
John snorted. “No, thanks. I try not to shoot at live targets that I know won’t go down that way.”
Cooper smiled.
It was a tense couple of hours until Bobby returned with Rufus in tow.
“Turner, you son-of-a-bitch,” John greeted him.
“Winchester,” Rufus nodded. “Hear you got a call from Gordon Walker. What’s he up to?”
“He’s heading here. Threatened Sammy.”
Rufus cursed quietly. “Guess he did hear too much in Colorado.”
“What happened in Colorado?”
“You remember that vamp nest up near Vail?”
John sat down. “Yeah.”
“The kids were up there on vacation, made the first assault with our help. That was when we found out about the speed and strength the demon blood left behind. Bob and I tried to be careful what we said when other hunters were in earshot, but Walker’d been skulking behind some trees. Couldn’t tell what he’d heard.”
John closed his eyes. “If he heard that, that makes sense with what he was telling me.”
“What did he tell you, John?” Bobby asked.
“That he’s the Antichrist, half-demon.”
“That damned idjit. How the hell did he figure that one?”
John shook his head.
Bobby sighed. “All right. First thing we gotta do is figure out where he is. That’ll tell us the soonest he’d try to show up here.”
“The call was from the road. I could hear the cars going by.”
“You got his number?”
“I do.” He handed his cell over.
“All right. We track him through GPS.”
“I can do that.” John fired the computer up.
Bobby frowned. “You been takin’ lessons from Dean?”
John smiled at him. After a moment he said, “Got him! He’s in Little Rock, heading this way.”
Bobby cursed quietly. “Means he’ll be here by morning.”
“Don’t give us much time,” Rufus said. Then he blinked at Cooper. “I know you.”
Cooper frowned. “Of course you do.”
“No, I-I know you know you! Like somewhere other than Cazadore.”
Cooper’s frown deepened. “Remind me.”
“Cleveland. About ten years back.”
“And... what was I doing in Cleveland?”
“Not sure. It was a Trickster case, wasn’t it, Bob?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah. Never did catch the sucker, did we?”
“Nope, he got clean away.”
Cooper shrugged. “I don’t remember being in Cleveland that year, but you know what they say. Everybody’s got a double.”
“Yeah, that must be it.” But Rufus was looking at him strangely now.
John had no clue why he felt compelled to protect the damn Trickster, but he said, “All right, all right, matters at hand. Tricia’s going to be at the motel tomorrow. If Walker has any idea at all that she means anything to Sam, my guess is he’ll try something, use her as bait if he can get his hands on her.”
Cooper looked at Bobby. “Did he see the girls with them?”
Bobby shook his head. “No, he didn’t see the kids at all that we know of. Not sure if he heard anything about them having girlfriends.”
“Well, we can’t assume Tricia’s safe,’ John said. “Sooner or later, he’s gonna show up at their house and realize she’s his wife.”
“Same thing with Daphne and Dean.” Bobby sighed. “All right, I think we’re gonna have to call out the big guns. Bill, you call the superintendent. John, you call Frank. I’ll call Robichaux.”
John nodded and dialed his phone.
The alert spread like wildfire. No one assumed that anyone was safe from possibly becoming Walker’s bait. By the time the sun rose Tuesday morning, a casual observer might not have noticed anything different about Cazadore, but the appearance of normalcy was deceptive. Everyone who could be armed was armed, and every eye was watching warily.
When the truck with Illinois license plates drove into town, word began being passed.
And when Gordon Walker walked into Maggie’s Diner, he was startled to be greeted by a cheerful young waitress who was openly wearing an anti-possession charm. “Good morning, sir,” she chirped. “Booth, table, or counter?”
“Booth,” he said warily. “Corner if you have one.”
“Right this way,” replied the waitress-Garnet, her nametag read.
As she led him to a booth in one of the back corners, they passed a table with a blonde woman who raised a hand to get Garnet’s attention. Garnet nodded in acknowledgement and made some kind of gesture, and the blonde nodded back.
Gordon’s eyebrow cocked at that.
“Here you are, sir,” Garnet said as she set the menu on his table and moved back to let him take a seat. “Would you like to try our hunter’s special today?”
His eyebrows rose. “... your....”
“Short stack of buckwheat pancakes, three eggs, four strips of bacon, and your choice of toast or hash browns, for $5.99. And free refills on your coffee.”
“Sounds good.”
Garnet nodded. “I’ll have that right out for you.”
“Hash browns, please.”
She nodded again and headed back to the kitchen. A minute or two later, she returned with his coffee and creamer and then took the coffee pot to refill the blonde’s mug.
He watched her, intrigued.
The blonde looked up from the text message she was sending and gestured to Garnet, who gestured back. Then Garnet smiled and patted the other woman’s shoulder before moving away.
A moment later, Garnet was back with an apologetic laugh. “Sorry, I forgot to ask-how would you like your eggs?”
“Scrambled.”
“Got it.”
Ten minutes or so after that, she returned with a tray loaded with Gordon’s food. The pancakes might have been a short stack, but they still filled a good-sized dinner plate, and the hash browns took up half of the oblong plate that also held the bacon and the eggs. She also put a carafe of coffee down.
“There you are, sir. Anything else I can do for you?”
“Do you know the Winchesters?”
“Frank and Mike?”
Gordon frowned. “No... Sam and Dean.”
Garnet tilted her head, frowning a little. “Sam and Dean... sounds... vaguely familiar. Why?”
“I’ve got business with them.”
“Oh. What makes you think I might know them?”
“Word has it they live here.”
“Huh. Sorry, can’t help you.” And she walked away.
Gordon growled softly and tucked in.
After breakfast, Gordon drove over to the Starlight Motel to get a room. The desk clerk, Calvin, looked like he could play tackle for the Texans, even though his hair was greying. He, too, openly wore an anti-possession charm.
Gordon’s eyebrows rose at that. “I’d like a room, please.”
“Certainly, sir. Queen or king?”
“Queen.”
“Lessee here...” Calvin looked at the computer and thought for a moment, absently touching the middle finger of each hand to the center of the opposite palm.
Gordon decided at that point that this whole town was a little bit insane.
“Yeah, here we go. Room 213.” Calvin quickly got Gordon signed in and handed over the room key. “Hope you enjoy your stay in Cazadore, sir.”
“Thanks,” he said brusquely, heading to his room and locking himself in.
Meanwhile, Calvin dialed the number for the police dispatcher. “Room 213,” he reported quietly.
“Thank you, Calvin,” the dispatcher said with a smile.
The dispatchers had worked through the night collecting information on Walker’s outstanding warrants. One of them called Frank and gave him the information.
Frank, who was at John’s house with the other hunters, thanked the dispatcher and hung up. “He’s at the Starlight, Room 213.”
Bobby nodded. “Good thing we told Tricia to stay home.”
“Kids are probably going stir crazy already,” John growled.
“Better than dead,” Rufus put in.
“So should we get the drop on him now or give him enough leeway to have probable cause for arresting him?” Frank asked.
At that, the hunters split. John and Bobby were all for taking him out then and there; Rufus and Cooper argued that somebody was sure to push Walker’s buttons just by adhering to Cazadore’s definition of normal.
Finally John literally threw up his hands. “Fine!”
Frank looked solemnly at him. “We won’t let him get close, John. You know we won’t.”
“I just want to be there.”
Cooper suddenly brightened. “Hey, if Mohammed can’t go to the mountain...”
All eyes were on him.
“We bring the mountain to Mohammed. Set up a gauntlet that leads him straight here.”
“An ambush?” John began to grin.
“Of a sort.” Cooper grinned back mischievously.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Oh, nothing too special. Let him wander around town a little, run into enough ‘Oh, you might ask so and so’ stonewalls until he corners someone, say, like me, who’s willing to be talked into saying ‘Oh, you mean John?’ which would lead him here just like that.” And he snapped his fingers.
John’s grin turned wolfish.
And across town, the radio in Gordon’s room suddenly started playing “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
Gordon frowned. “I didn’t set the alarm.” He turned it off.
He got five steps away before it turned back on.
He turned it off again. It turned on again.
“... the hell?”
The volume turned up of its own accord. Gordon swore and turned it off. It turned back on in the middle of another song: “I got a story ain’t got no moral, / Let the bad guy win every once in a while....”
Gritting his teeth, Gordon slammed it off. But all that did was change the station again-to the Dixie Chicks singing “Goodbye, Earl”!
Unknowingly acting like John had a few years earlier, Gordon shot the radio. But even that didn’t shut it up. Gordon fired at the wall and radio, shredding both.
Calvin immediately got on the phone. “Shots fired, room 213!”
When the call came over the radio, Frank’s eyebrows shot up. “That was fast.”
Cooper smirked and popped a lemon drop.
Ghostly laughter echoed through Gordon’s room. He checked the salt line; nothing was disturbed. And there really wasn’t anything he could do if he’d trapped a ghost in the room with him, since he hadn’t brought ghost-fighting tools in with him. So he did the only other sensible thing: he fled.
By the time officers arrived at the motel, Gordon was at the feed store trying to buy salt. The clerk was doing his best to sell Gordon on the salt-filled shotgun rounds.
He was refusing - until he saw the box. “Winchester Salt Rounds?”
“That’s the brand name.”
“The brand name. Right.”
“Honest, mister.”
“One box.”
The clerk nodded and rang them up for him. “I’m sure these’ll be exactly what you need.”
“Somehow... I doubt it.”
“Sorry?”
He shook his head.
“Anything else I can do for you today?”
“You can tell me where I can find the Winchesters.”
“Oh, we don’t sell guns here. You’ll have to try Laurel-her shop’s on the square.”
Gordon’s jaw twitched. He slammed out of that store.
The blonde at the gun shop was no more helpful than Garnet had been. And Gordon had had it. He drew his gun and pointed it at her head. “Dammit, I’m sick of the runaround!”
Without taking her eyes off him, Laurel reached under the counter and pulled out her own gun-a .30-06 rifle. “I believe this is known as a Mexican standoff, and I daresay I’m a faster shot than you.”
A cold smirk twisted his face. “You really wanna test that, little girl?”
Just then an unassuming fellow with slicked-back light brown hair walked in and startled when he saw the guns. “Hey, whoa! What’s going on here?”
“Nothin’ you need to worry about,” Gordon growled. “Turn around and walk out.”
“Not until you tell me why you’re pointing a gun at my girlfriend.”
“Brave guy, huh?” Gordon’s other hand drew a second gun and pointed it at him. “Shut up.”
The little man gulped and raised his hands in surrender. “Laurel?”
“Bill,” she said, her voice cold. “You need to get out of here.”
“I j-just wanna know what’s going on.”
“He’s insane, that’s what’s going on.”
“But what the hell does he want?”
“The Winchesters,” Gordon spat. “I want Sam Winchester!”
Bill shook his head frantically. “I don’t know where he is. Honest. Ask John.”
Gordon’s head snapped around. “... John?”
Bill paled and gulped again.
“John Winchester?”
Bill said nothing, his light brown eyes wide with fear.
Gordon cocked the gun pointed at him.
“Let her go,” Bill croaked. “Please, just... let Laurel go.”
“I don’t think so, boy,” Gordon growled. “You answer my question.”
After a few panicked breaths, Bill nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I know John Winchester.”
“Where is he?”
“Will you let Laurel go?”
Gordon cocked the gun trained on her.
“Nonono, please, he’s... he’s at my house.”
“And your house is-?”
“I’ll take you.”
“Fine.” He lowered the gun and abruptly shot Laurel in the shoulder.
Laurel yelped and dropped the rifle.
“PLEASE!” Bill pleaded. “I’ll take you, I swear!”
“You better,” he said, moving toward him. “Or I’ll come back and finish the job.”
Bill nodded and edged back toward the door. “My car’s out here.”
Gordon followed. There were sirens in the distance when they got to Bill’s car.
“Drive.”
Bill nodded. As soon as Gordon’s door was closed, he started the car and peeled out.
As they sped through the quiet town, Bill’s cell phone rang.
“Ignore it,” Gordon ordered.
“But-”
“Ignore the damn phone!”
“Okay.”
Gordon watched the road. Eventually, Bill slowed down and even stopped at a stop sign.
“Keep. Driving!”
“My house is on this block. If you don’t want John to know something’s wrong....”
Gordon nodded.
“Okay, then.” He drove cautiously the rest of the way until he turned into his driveway.
Sure enough, John’s truck was parked in the garage. Bill pulled up behind it and shut the car off. He got out first, and Gordon followed, pressing his gun against Bill’s spine as he paused at the door.
Bill looked up at Gordon nervously, then cleared his throat and called, “Hey, John, you decent?”
“Yeah!” John Winchester’s distinctive voice called back. “You’re home early! You and Laurel change your mind?”
“Something came up.”
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s a long story-and I think I grabbed the wrong set of keys. You mind letting me in?”
“Sure. Hang on!” A moment later, the door opened.
Gordon smirked. “Hello, Winchester.”
Bill started babbling. “I’m so sorry, John, he had a gun on me and he shot Laurel and I didn’t know what else to do....”
“Whoa, wait - he shot Laurel?”
Bill nodded. “Shoulder.”
“Walker, what the hell?”
“She’ll live,” Gordon replied. “But I want answers, Winchester. And I am not gonna let this crazy town stand in my way.” Clamping a hand across the back of Bill’s neck, he shifted the gun to point it at John. “Where. Is. Sam?”
John shook his head. “No.”
“Wrong answer.” Gordon pushed Bill into the house ahead of him.
“You don’t have kids, Walker. You don’t understand how it is.”
“Oh, I understand, all right. You can’t believe your precious little Sammy could be King of Hell. But that’s all I hear these days.”
“From who? Demons? Demons lie, Walker!”
“Yeah, maybe, but even Turner and Singer think he’s demon-touched. And I’ve heard stories... stories of that boy doing things that aren’t human, seeing things he shouldn’t be able to see, knowing things he shouldn’t know. He is the Antichrist.”
John scoffed in a way that anyone who knew Sam would instantly be able to tell that he’d inherited it from his dad. “Right,” he growled. “The Antichrist. He’s a psychic, Walker. A psychic. That’s hardly Omen material.”
“Not what the vampires say. Caught up with one from that nest in Vail a year or two ago; seems he took out seven of ’em without even breaking a sweat.”
“And Dean took out five. And Bob took out four!”
Gordon shook his head. “You’re as blind as they are. I’ve got a problem with psychics anyway, but knowing where Sam got his powers? He’s a monster, even if he really is your son.”
John’s shoulders straightened and Bill could see he was genuinely starting to lose his temper. “‘Really is’ my son?”
“He’s one of Azazel’s children. Some of my sources think that’s literal.”
“Your sources are full of bullshit. He didn’t get his hands on Sammy until he was six months old.”
“As far as you know.”
“And I know that Sammy doesn’t have his taint any more.”
Gordon scoffed. “That isn’t something that can be undone, Winchester, any more than a vampire can be turned back. He is what he is-and he’s a threat. You can’t take him out because you’re too soft. But I can. Now quit stalling. Where is he?”
“It’s undone - and it’s over. And I’m not telling you where he is, even if I knew.”
“Even if you knew? What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t know where he is.”
“How can you not know where he is?”
“Why are you in my house threatening my son? I told you, you’re wasting your time!”
Gordon blinked. “... your house?”
John realized then he’d made a mistake.
Gordon gave Bill a vicious shake. “You told me this was your house! What the hell’s going on here?!”
John’s eyes cut to Bill. He’d screwed the plan all to hell and now didn’t know what to do.
Fortunately for all concerned, Josh had taken the day off and was helping Frank tape the conversation from the bedroom. As soon as Bill had sensed that the conversation was heading into dangerous territory, he’d shot a mental Get in here signal to Josh, who’d carefully edged down the stairs at an angle that would keep him hidden from Walker’s line of sight. Now he leapt out into the living room, gun trained on Walker’s head. “Cazadore Police! Hands in the air!”
Instead, Gordon shoved Bill away and spun, squeezing a shot off.
Josh dodged, and Bill grabbed Gordon’s wrist and used his own momentum to pull Gordon off balance. Gordon hit the ground and rolled, coming up with a knife in his hand - and going down with John’s boot heel slamming into his jaw. Roaring, he staggered to his feet again, only to be caught from behind and spun to face a furious Rufus Turner, who punched him in the face again.
He swung the knife, making Rufus swear. “Too close, man!”
He slashed at Rufus again, but this time John caught his arm and twisted it behind his back with a thumb on a pressure point that made him drop the knife.
“This is a mistake!” he roared. “You’ll pay for this betrayal, Winchester! You and that thrice-damned son of yours!”
“You go right ahead and think that,” John snarled, catching the handcuffs Josh tossed to him and slapping them on Walker. “Meanwhile, I think there are some people up in Indiana who want to have a chat with you. Josh, you want to do the honors?”
“You have the right to remain silent,” Josh began the Miranda rights, sealing it that Gordon was being arrested.
John and Rufus wrestled Gordon outside to Josh’s patrol car, which was parked behind the house, while Josh followed and continued the Miranda warning. Gordon swore. He spat. He struggled. But John and Rufus were more than a match for him.
After they stuffed him in the back seat of the patrol car, John bent down to look in the window. “Oh, and Walker? If you somehow manage to get out of prison before you’re 90, do not show your face in Cazadore again. ’Cause if you come after Sam, if I don’t kill you, someone else will.”
Walker spat in his face.
John glared and wiped his face with his handkerchief as he walked back to the house.
“Well,” Rufus chuckled. “Glad that’s over.”
“Yeah, for now. I’m not relaxing until he’s in a maximum security unit somewhere.”
On the way inside, they passed Frank, who’d gathered up what he safely could of the surveillance equipment and said he’d be back later to pick up the rest. When John walked in the back door, Cooper was on the phone. ER, he signed.
John nodded and waited.
“You’re sure?” Cooper asked the person on the other end. “That’s a relief. Thanks. Would you tell her one of us will probably be by later? ... Great. Thanks, Meredith.” He hung up.
“How is she?”
“She’s okay. Bullet went through clean and managed to miss lung, bone, and rotator cuff. She’ll have to wear a sling for a few weeks, but she won’t need surgery.”
John sagged in relief. Laurel had been one of his first friends in town.
“I’ll go by and check on her later on... want me to take her anything?”
“Yeah.” He went to the closet and brought out a bag. Undoing it, he handed Cooper a single silver bullet, engraved with an X. “She took one for a fellow Hunter. She’s one of us now.”
Cooper nodded. “She’ll appreciate that.”
“And tell her I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. So am I.”
John looked away as he put the case back.
“You want me to have the kids come over?”
“Yeah.”
Cooper nodded. “I’ll have my brother keep an eye on things at the PD, call us if anything goes sideways.”
John nodded and walked into the bathroom, effectively ending the conversation.
By the time he came back out, Bobby and Rufus had gone to help Calvin with cleanup at the motel, but Cooper was still hanging around.
“Thought you were goin’ to the hospital.”
“Will be in a minute. Wanted to wait until the kids get here.” Cooper paused, then sighed. “And I’m... trying to figure out how to apologize for letting her get shot.”
“Bill, you couldn’t have stopped it and kept your cover.”
“I know, I know... I just... hated pretending to be weak. It’s not even about hiding my powers-although taking the bullet myself might have been too much of a giveaway. But I was trying to protect her.”
John nodded. “I can understand.”
Cooper looked at him for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you can.”
John nodded again.
Neither said anything else until they heard footsteps on the porch, two knocks, a pause, and two more knocks. But Dean didn’t wait for John to come to the door; he just barged in, hands flying, the other three hard on his heels. Dad, you okay? What happened?
John’s reaction was so out of character it startled Dean. He grabbed him and hugged his boy close for the space of ten heartbeats. Then he released him and did the same to Sam.
But Sam, though he was equally startled, suddenly melted into his father’s embrace, letting out a muffled sob into John’s shoulder.
John’s eyes went huge.
You did, Sam signed against John’s back. You hunted Gordon. For me.
“Sam. Sammy. I don’t know what you said.”
Sam shook his head; he couldn’t speak.
John took his hands. “Sign it to me where I can see it, okay, son?” He released him.
Sam sniffled, and the tears kept pouring down his cheeks. For so long, I scared you hunt me. But you hunted Gordon for me.
John frowned, visibly confused. “Of course I did. You’re my baby boy! I was a horrible father to you, used you as bait once or twice, believed demons over my own family.... But I see now and I understand now. What Azazel did to you was horrible - but it’s over. You’re demon-touched, yes - but you’re still my Sammy and I will always love you.”
Nearly word for word what Dean had told him during one of his freakouts over his new abilities.
Sam sobbed again and hugged John like his life depended on it.
John hugged him back. He knew Dean was watching with tears and a proud grin.
Cooper caught his eye, nodded and smiled, and left.
John buried his face in Sam’s shoulder and just held on. And soon Dean, Daphne, and Tricia were hugging both of them.
The dangers might not all be over, but the Winchesters, all five of them, would face them together-a solid family again at last.
November 17, 2007
Josh woke with a gasp and sat bolt upright, the sense of approaching evil making his heart hammer and leaving him drenched in a cold sweat. He reached for the phone, only to have it ring the second he touched it. “Robichaux,” he answered.
“Josh. Bill Cooper.”
“I was just about to call you.”
“Then you sensed....”
“Gordon Walker. I heard he’d escaped from prison, but... something’s wrong, Coop.”
Tiffany stirred beside Josh and raised up on one elbow, frowning sleepily.
“Something’s wrong, all right,” Cooper growled. “Walker’s been turned. And there’s only one reason he would be headed back to Cazadore.”
“He’s after Sam.” Josh cursed under his breath. “We can’t let him get close.”
“We won’t. Meet me at the parking lot at Maggie’s as soon as you can.”
“Will do.” Josh hung up and cursed again, then threw off the covers and headed for the closet.
“What about Gordon Walker?” Tiffany asked.
“He’s back. And the Coop says he’s been turned.”
“Dangit.” Tiffany pushed back the covers on her side of the bed and hauled herself out of bed.
“Tiff, you’re beat.”
“And you’re not as good with a machete as I am.”
“It’s not like that melee the guys got into in Colorado. It’s one vamp. And I’ll have the Coop for backup.” He sighed. “Besides, somebody’s gotta stay with Sammi.”
As if to prove his point, 11-month-old Samantha Dena started fussing lightly through the baby monitor.
Tiffany sighed in turn. “You’re right. Just... be careful, okay?”
“Promise. A cop’s #1 job is to come home at the end of the shift.”
She kissed him, then headed for the nursery, leaving Josh to finish getting dressed and call the police dispatcher.
Ten minutes later, Josh pulled his patrol car into the diner’s parking lot beside Cooper’s car. No sooner had he stopped than Cooper slid into the passenger seat and handed Josh a Styrofoam cup filled with steaming coffee. Josh took it and sipped gratefully.
“He’s headed to the Martinez place,” Cooper said without preamble as he pulled on his seatbelt. “My brother’s watching Sam’s house just in case.”
Josh nodded and took another drink of coffee. “Okay.” One more drink and he put the car in reverse while reaching for his radio to alert the dispatcher that he’d be traveling with a passenger to make a close patrol of the Martinez place.
Ever since his possession, Josh had known that Cooper wasn’t human. He suspected that Cooper knew he knew, though they’d never talked about it. There was no need, in Josh’s mind. He didn’t know exactly what Cooper was, but it didn’t matter. Coop was a friend, a powerful being on the side of good, and that was all Josh needed to know. And he could keep that secret just like he’d kept mum about the angel he’d seen.
“Walker’s got followers,” Cooper continued as they pulled back onto the street. “Not many, but enough to be dangerous. He’s got ’em convinced that he’s on a mission from God and Sam’s the Antichrist.”
“Which is absurd. Not only because we know what’s really up with Sam, but also because there are many antichrists, according to 1 John.”
“And it takes more than demon blood to make someone an antichrist. But these hunters never did fire on all eight cylinders, and they’re hardly New Testament scholars.”
“Do you know any names? We can put out a local BOLO.”
“I’ll talk to Frank on Monday.”
Josh nodded, and conversation ceased until they reached the old Martinez farm. Most of the family had moved away long ago, and the house and barn had been largely abandoned after the patriarch, Angel, had died that spring; Angel’s son Rafael was still trying to sell the place, but no one was living in the house now. Josh didn’t expect Walker to know that, though, so he pulled around to the barn, the most likely place Walker would try to hide. As quiet as his car was, though, the sound of the tires on the dirt drive sounded loud to him in the clear, cold night.
“Mars in Gemini,” Cooper murmured as they stopped, looking up through the windshield. “Could get interesting.”
Josh shut off the engine and closed his eyes, trying to focus on where Gordon might be. “I don’t think he’s here yet,” he finally reported.
“No, we’ve got a minute or two yet.” Cooper studied the layout of the area and drummed on the dash as he thought. “Okay, look, you wait out here by the car; I’ll wait just inside the barn. One way or another, he’s not leaving here alive.”
Josh nodded. “We need signals?”
Cooper grinned. “I think we’ll know.”
Josh grinned back and started the car’s camera system, and they both got out. By the time Josh had gotten his machete out of the trunk, Cooper had disappeared into the barn. He felt a brief nervous flutter in his stomach before a strong sense of peace and protection washed over him. Closing his eyes once more, he inhaled deeply and breathed a quick prayer on the exhale.
And then it was show time.
“Mr. Walker,” he said as he opened his eyes without turning around.
“Officer Robichaux,” Walker returned, faintly surprised. “Didn’t expect anyone to be out here at this time of night.”
Josh did turn around then. “You’ve been told to stay away from Cazadore.”
“It’s a free country.”
“You made terroristic threats and attempted murder. And not just here. You escaped once; you won’t escape again. You’re under arrest.”
“You think you can stop me?” Walker scoffed. “Way I hear it, you used to be good-real good. But you’re making one major mistake.”
“Sam’s clean, Walker. He’s a man of God.”
“How can you say that? You know what he is!”
“I know what you are. Poetic, isn’t it?” Josh chose his words carefully, knowing that the video might be needed by an agency other than Cazadore PD.
“It’s going to be worth it,” said Walker. “I will finally kill the most dangerous thing I ever hunted.”
Josh smirked. “No, you won’t. You see, Walker, I know something about that man and about this town that you could never allow yourself to believe is true.”
Walker snarled and lunged toward Josh, but Josh felt power surge through and around him as he swung his machete in an arc that sent Walker’s head flying. It took a moment for Josh to realize that the fight was already over, but when he did, he went back to the front of the car to switch off the cameras.
“Nice,” said Cooper, emerging from the barn.
“Thanks,” replied Josh, meaning it on multiple levels. Then he radioed the dispatcher to report the incident as a case of self-defense while Walker was resisting arrest.
Summary: Cazadore once stood ready to protect Sam from John. Now someone else is coming after Sam, and John's tied down. Can he count on his new friendships to help him save his son?
Manhunt
By Enola Jones and San Antonio Rose
May 29, 2006
John narrowly resisted the urge to throw his cell phone across the room after he hung up. He’d been as evasive as possible, but knowing Walker, he’d show up in Cazadore sooner than later if Jim and Bobby couldn’t keep somebody in his way. And John was on lockdown... sure, he had more freedom than most people under house arrest, but even that had limits.
There was only one thing for it. He picked up the landline and dialed a number he’d seldom used except for party planning.
“Cooper. John Winchester.” He swallowed hard. “I need your help.”
“Hang up.” John had barely done so when Cooper appeared in his living room. “What is it?”
“I just got a call from Gordon Walker. Dunno if you know the name.”
Cooper’s face suddenly darkened.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” John sighed. “Demon mouthed off about Sammy. Apparently it just confirmed whatever suspicions he already had-and how the hell he even knows Sam’s name still puzzles me. Anyway, he’s looking for Sam.”
“Let me talk to Bobby. I’ll be back.” And Cooper vanished.
John blew the air out of cheeks and alternately paced and sat in the recliner with his face in his hands and his elbows on his knees.
Cooper reappeared ten minutes later. “I forgot - he doesn’t know what I am.”
John arched an eyebrow. “You get a faceful of rock salt?”
“No, I got my ears boxed by that damned loud dog of his. Popped out before he saw me.”
John snorted. “You call him, then?”
“Need to borrow your phone.”
John waved him toward it. Cooper dialed Bobby’s number and waited.
“Singer.”
“Cooper.”
“What’s goin’ on, Bill?”
“Gordon Walker just paid John a little house call by phone.”
Bobby swore bitterly.
“How soon can you get here?”
There was a squeal of brakes. “I’m just about to the outskirts of Lufkin-I’ll be back in a little less than two hours.”
Cooper’s eyes closed. “We’ll be here.” He hung up. “He’s still in Texas. No wonder the cur reacted like he did.”
John couldn’t help laughing.
“Yeah, yeah. Not all-powerful or omniscient, here...”
“Bill, he was at the damn barbeque. How’d you figure he got clear to Sioux Falls already?”
“Like I said... I’m more human than I used to be.”
John studied him for a moment. “Huh. Wouldn’t have thought that would be possible.”
“Your sons are a bad influence.”
John chuckled.
“On me and my brother,” he groused.
“You have a brother?”
“Yeah, a little one. Taller than me, though, the little shit.”
John laughed again-Cooper had sounded exactly like Dean.
He threw his hands in the air. “See? Bad influence!”
“Have the boys met him?”
“Not yet. He tends to pop in and out at weird times.”
John nodded. Then he sighed, his amusement at Cooper’s antics fading fast under the weight of his worry about Sam.
“Hey. He won’t succeed.”
“Damn straight he won’t. It’s just... I promised Sam that if anybody tried to hunt him, they’d have me to deal with. But that was before the whole house arrest deal. I can’t protect him if I go to prison, but I can’t do much from here, either.”
“You can use a computer, right?”
“... Sort of.”
Cooper growled and placed the palm of his hand on John’s head.
John gasped and swayed as he felt power surge through him-a wholly different sensation from when Cooper had put the runes on his ribs. For one dizzying moment, he felt sure he was about to black out, but he didn’t. “Wha... what did...”
“Now you can use a computer. You’re our research hub, Johnny.”
John panted and spluttered half-questions until he finally managed, “Why the hell am I the research hub?!”
“Like you said. You’re under house arrest. It’s the one hunting-relating thing you can do from home.”
John leaned back in the recliner until he caught his breath and the lightheadedness passed. “Bill... don’t get me wrong; I do appreciate this... but I’m not a bookworm like Sammy. I need to do something, point my gun at something.”
“And it rankles like hell that you’re stuck here while others save your son.”
John’s jaw twitched. It was true, and yet... how many times had they been in danger and he hadn’t even known it because others had stood in the gap?
“If it helps, you can point your gun at me.”
John snorted. “No, thanks. I try not to shoot at live targets that I know won’t go down that way.”
Cooper smiled.
It was a tense couple of hours until Bobby returned with Rufus in tow.
“Turner, you son-of-a-bitch,” John greeted him.
“Winchester,” Rufus nodded. “Hear you got a call from Gordon Walker. What’s he up to?”
“He’s heading here. Threatened Sammy.”
Rufus cursed quietly. “Guess he did hear too much in Colorado.”
“What happened in Colorado?”
“You remember that vamp nest up near Vail?”
John sat down. “Yeah.”
“The kids were up there on vacation, made the first assault with our help. That was when we found out about the speed and strength the demon blood left behind. Bob and I tried to be careful what we said when other hunters were in earshot, but Walker’d been skulking behind some trees. Couldn’t tell what he’d heard.”
John closed his eyes. “If he heard that, that makes sense with what he was telling me.”
“What did he tell you, John?” Bobby asked.
“That he’s the Antichrist, half-demon.”
“That damned idjit. How the hell did he figure that one?”
John shook his head.
Bobby sighed. “All right. First thing we gotta do is figure out where he is. That’ll tell us the soonest he’d try to show up here.”
“The call was from the road. I could hear the cars going by.”
“You got his number?”
“I do.” He handed his cell over.
“All right. We track him through GPS.”
“I can do that.” John fired the computer up.
Bobby frowned. “You been takin’ lessons from Dean?”
John smiled at him. After a moment he said, “Got him! He’s in Little Rock, heading this way.”
Bobby cursed quietly. “Means he’ll be here by morning.”
“Don’t give us much time,” Rufus said. Then he blinked at Cooper. “I know you.”
Cooper frowned. “Of course you do.”
“No, I-I know you know you! Like somewhere other than Cazadore.”
Cooper’s frown deepened. “Remind me.”
“Cleveland. About ten years back.”
“And... what was I doing in Cleveland?”
“Not sure. It was a Trickster case, wasn’t it, Bob?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah. Never did catch the sucker, did we?”
“Nope, he got clean away.”
Cooper shrugged. “I don’t remember being in Cleveland that year, but you know what they say. Everybody’s got a double.”
“Yeah, that must be it.” But Rufus was looking at him strangely now.
John had no clue why he felt compelled to protect the damn Trickster, but he said, “All right, all right, matters at hand. Tricia’s going to be at the motel tomorrow. If Walker has any idea at all that she means anything to Sam, my guess is he’ll try something, use her as bait if he can get his hands on her.”
Cooper looked at Bobby. “Did he see the girls with them?”
Bobby shook his head. “No, he didn’t see the kids at all that we know of. Not sure if he heard anything about them having girlfriends.”
“Well, we can’t assume Tricia’s safe,’ John said. “Sooner or later, he’s gonna show up at their house and realize she’s his wife.”
“Same thing with Daphne and Dean.” Bobby sighed. “All right, I think we’re gonna have to call out the big guns. Bill, you call the superintendent. John, you call Frank. I’ll call Robichaux.”
John nodded and dialed his phone.
The alert spread like wildfire. No one assumed that anyone was safe from possibly becoming Walker’s bait. By the time the sun rose Tuesday morning, a casual observer might not have noticed anything different about Cazadore, but the appearance of normalcy was deceptive. Everyone who could be armed was armed, and every eye was watching warily.
When the truck with Illinois license plates drove into town, word began being passed.
And when Gordon Walker walked into Maggie’s Diner, he was startled to be greeted by a cheerful young waitress who was openly wearing an anti-possession charm. “Good morning, sir,” she chirped. “Booth, table, or counter?”
“Booth,” he said warily. “Corner if you have one.”
“Right this way,” replied the waitress-Garnet, her nametag read.
As she led him to a booth in one of the back corners, they passed a table with a blonde woman who raised a hand to get Garnet’s attention. Garnet nodded in acknowledgement and made some kind of gesture, and the blonde nodded back.
Gordon’s eyebrow cocked at that.
“Here you are, sir,” Garnet said as she set the menu on his table and moved back to let him take a seat. “Would you like to try our hunter’s special today?”
His eyebrows rose. “... your....”
“Short stack of buckwheat pancakes, three eggs, four strips of bacon, and your choice of toast or hash browns, for $5.99. And free refills on your coffee.”
“Sounds good.”
Garnet nodded. “I’ll have that right out for you.”
“Hash browns, please.”
She nodded again and headed back to the kitchen. A minute or two later, she returned with his coffee and creamer and then took the coffee pot to refill the blonde’s mug.
He watched her, intrigued.
The blonde looked up from the text message she was sending and gestured to Garnet, who gestured back. Then Garnet smiled and patted the other woman’s shoulder before moving away.
A moment later, Garnet was back with an apologetic laugh. “Sorry, I forgot to ask-how would you like your eggs?”
“Scrambled.”
“Got it.”
Ten minutes or so after that, she returned with a tray loaded with Gordon’s food. The pancakes might have been a short stack, but they still filled a good-sized dinner plate, and the hash browns took up half of the oblong plate that also held the bacon and the eggs. She also put a carafe of coffee down.
“There you are, sir. Anything else I can do for you?”
“Do you know the Winchesters?”
“Frank and Mike?”
Gordon frowned. “No... Sam and Dean.”
Garnet tilted her head, frowning a little. “Sam and Dean... sounds... vaguely familiar. Why?”
“I’ve got business with them.”
“Oh. What makes you think I might know them?”
“Word has it they live here.”
“Huh. Sorry, can’t help you.” And she walked away.
Gordon growled softly and tucked in.
After breakfast, Gordon drove over to the Starlight Motel to get a room. The desk clerk, Calvin, looked like he could play tackle for the Texans, even though his hair was greying. He, too, openly wore an anti-possession charm.
Gordon’s eyebrows rose at that. “I’d like a room, please.”
“Certainly, sir. Queen or king?”
“Queen.”
“Lessee here...” Calvin looked at the computer and thought for a moment, absently touching the middle finger of each hand to the center of the opposite palm.
Gordon decided at that point that this whole town was a little bit insane.
“Yeah, here we go. Room 213.” Calvin quickly got Gordon signed in and handed over the room key. “Hope you enjoy your stay in Cazadore, sir.”
“Thanks,” he said brusquely, heading to his room and locking himself in.
Meanwhile, Calvin dialed the number for the police dispatcher. “Room 213,” he reported quietly.
“Thank you, Calvin,” the dispatcher said with a smile.
The dispatchers had worked through the night collecting information on Walker’s outstanding warrants. One of them called Frank and gave him the information.
Frank, who was at John’s house with the other hunters, thanked the dispatcher and hung up. “He’s at the Starlight, Room 213.”
Bobby nodded. “Good thing we told Tricia to stay home.”
“Kids are probably going stir crazy already,” John growled.
“Better than dead,” Rufus put in.
“So should we get the drop on him now or give him enough leeway to have probable cause for arresting him?” Frank asked.
At that, the hunters split. John and Bobby were all for taking him out then and there; Rufus and Cooper argued that somebody was sure to push Walker’s buttons just by adhering to Cazadore’s definition of normal.
Finally John literally threw up his hands. “Fine!”
Frank looked solemnly at him. “We won’t let him get close, John. You know we won’t.”
“I just want to be there.”
Cooper suddenly brightened. “Hey, if Mohammed can’t go to the mountain...”
All eyes were on him.
“We bring the mountain to Mohammed. Set up a gauntlet that leads him straight here.”
“An ambush?” John began to grin.
“Of a sort.” Cooper grinned back mischievously.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Oh, nothing too special. Let him wander around town a little, run into enough ‘Oh, you might ask so and so’ stonewalls until he corners someone, say, like me, who’s willing to be talked into saying ‘Oh, you mean John?’ which would lead him here just like that.” And he snapped his fingers.
John’s grin turned wolfish.
And across town, the radio in Gordon’s room suddenly started playing “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
Gordon frowned. “I didn’t set the alarm.” He turned it off.
He got five steps away before it turned back on.
He turned it off again. It turned on again.
“... the hell?”
The volume turned up of its own accord. Gordon swore and turned it off. It turned back on in the middle of another song: “I got a story ain’t got no moral, / Let the bad guy win every once in a while....”
Gritting his teeth, Gordon slammed it off. But all that did was change the station again-to the Dixie Chicks singing “Goodbye, Earl”!
Unknowingly acting like John had a few years earlier, Gordon shot the radio. But even that didn’t shut it up. Gordon fired at the wall and radio, shredding both.
Calvin immediately got on the phone. “Shots fired, room 213!”
When the call came over the radio, Frank’s eyebrows shot up. “That was fast.”
Cooper smirked and popped a lemon drop.
Ghostly laughter echoed through Gordon’s room. He checked the salt line; nothing was disturbed. And there really wasn’t anything he could do if he’d trapped a ghost in the room with him, since he hadn’t brought ghost-fighting tools in with him. So he did the only other sensible thing: he fled.
By the time officers arrived at the motel, Gordon was at the feed store trying to buy salt. The clerk was doing his best to sell Gordon on the salt-filled shotgun rounds.
He was refusing - until he saw the box. “Winchester Salt Rounds?”
“That’s the brand name.”
“The brand name. Right.”
“Honest, mister.”
“One box.”
The clerk nodded and rang them up for him. “I’m sure these’ll be exactly what you need.”
“Somehow... I doubt it.”
“Sorry?”
He shook his head.
“Anything else I can do for you today?”
“You can tell me where I can find the Winchesters.”
“Oh, we don’t sell guns here. You’ll have to try Laurel-her shop’s on the square.”
Gordon’s jaw twitched. He slammed out of that store.
The blonde at the gun shop was no more helpful than Garnet had been. And Gordon had had it. He drew his gun and pointed it at her head. “Dammit, I’m sick of the runaround!”
Without taking her eyes off him, Laurel reached under the counter and pulled out her own gun-a .30-06 rifle. “I believe this is known as a Mexican standoff, and I daresay I’m a faster shot than you.”
A cold smirk twisted his face. “You really wanna test that, little girl?”
Just then an unassuming fellow with slicked-back light brown hair walked in and startled when he saw the guns. “Hey, whoa! What’s going on here?”
“Nothin’ you need to worry about,” Gordon growled. “Turn around and walk out.”
“Not until you tell me why you’re pointing a gun at my girlfriend.”
“Brave guy, huh?” Gordon’s other hand drew a second gun and pointed it at him. “Shut up.”
The little man gulped and raised his hands in surrender. “Laurel?”
“Bill,” she said, her voice cold. “You need to get out of here.”
“I j-just wanna know what’s going on.”
“He’s insane, that’s what’s going on.”
“But what the hell does he want?”
“The Winchesters,” Gordon spat. “I want Sam Winchester!”
Bill shook his head frantically. “I don’t know where he is. Honest. Ask John.”
Gordon’s head snapped around. “... John?”
Bill paled and gulped again.
“John Winchester?”
Bill said nothing, his light brown eyes wide with fear.
Gordon cocked the gun pointed at him.
“Let her go,” Bill croaked. “Please, just... let Laurel go.”
“I don’t think so, boy,” Gordon growled. “You answer my question.”
After a few panicked breaths, Bill nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I know John Winchester.”
“Where is he?”
“Will you let Laurel go?”
Gordon cocked the gun trained on her.
“Nonono, please, he’s... he’s at my house.”
“And your house is-?”
“I’ll take you.”
“Fine.” He lowered the gun and abruptly shot Laurel in the shoulder.
Laurel yelped and dropped the rifle.
“PLEASE!” Bill pleaded. “I’ll take you, I swear!”
“You better,” he said, moving toward him. “Or I’ll come back and finish the job.”
Bill nodded and edged back toward the door. “My car’s out here.”
Gordon followed. There were sirens in the distance when they got to Bill’s car.
“Drive.”
Bill nodded. As soon as Gordon’s door was closed, he started the car and peeled out.
As they sped through the quiet town, Bill’s cell phone rang.
“Ignore it,” Gordon ordered.
“But-”
“Ignore the damn phone!”
“Okay.”
Gordon watched the road. Eventually, Bill slowed down and even stopped at a stop sign.
“Keep. Driving!”
“My house is on this block. If you don’t want John to know something’s wrong....”
Gordon nodded.
“Okay, then.” He drove cautiously the rest of the way until he turned into his driveway.
Sure enough, John’s truck was parked in the garage. Bill pulled up behind it and shut the car off. He got out first, and Gordon followed, pressing his gun against Bill’s spine as he paused at the door.
Bill looked up at Gordon nervously, then cleared his throat and called, “Hey, John, you decent?”
“Yeah!” John Winchester’s distinctive voice called back. “You’re home early! You and Laurel change your mind?”
“Something came up.”
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s a long story-and I think I grabbed the wrong set of keys. You mind letting me in?”
“Sure. Hang on!” A moment later, the door opened.
Gordon smirked. “Hello, Winchester.”
Bill started babbling. “I’m so sorry, John, he had a gun on me and he shot Laurel and I didn’t know what else to do....”
“Whoa, wait - he shot Laurel?”
Bill nodded. “Shoulder.”
“Walker, what the hell?”
“She’ll live,” Gordon replied. “But I want answers, Winchester. And I am not gonna let this crazy town stand in my way.” Clamping a hand across the back of Bill’s neck, he shifted the gun to point it at John. “Where. Is. Sam?”
John shook his head. “No.”
“Wrong answer.” Gordon pushed Bill into the house ahead of him.
“You don’t have kids, Walker. You don’t understand how it is.”
“Oh, I understand, all right. You can’t believe your precious little Sammy could be King of Hell. But that’s all I hear these days.”
“From who? Demons? Demons lie, Walker!”
“Yeah, maybe, but even Turner and Singer think he’s demon-touched. And I’ve heard stories... stories of that boy doing things that aren’t human, seeing things he shouldn’t be able to see, knowing things he shouldn’t know. He is the Antichrist.”
John scoffed in a way that anyone who knew Sam would instantly be able to tell that he’d inherited it from his dad. “Right,” he growled. “The Antichrist. He’s a psychic, Walker. A psychic. That’s hardly Omen material.”
“Not what the vampires say. Caught up with one from that nest in Vail a year or two ago; seems he took out seven of ’em without even breaking a sweat.”
“And Dean took out five. And Bob took out four!”
Gordon shook his head. “You’re as blind as they are. I’ve got a problem with psychics anyway, but knowing where Sam got his powers? He’s a monster, even if he really is your son.”
John’s shoulders straightened and Bill could see he was genuinely starting to lose his temper. “‘Really is’ my son?”
“He’s one of Azazel’s children. Some of my sources think that’s literal.”
“Your sources are full of bullshit. He didn’t get his hands on Sammy until he was six months old.”
“As far as you know.”
“And I know that Sammy doesn’t have his taint any more.”
Gordon scoffed. “That isn’t something that can be undone, Winchester, any more than a vampire can be turned back. He is what he is-and he’s a threat. You can’t take him out because you’re too soft. But I can. Now quit stalling. Where is he?”
“It’s undone - and it’s over. And I’m not telling you where he is, even if I knew.”
“Even if you knew? What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t know where he is.”
“How can you not know where he is?”
“Why are you in my house threatening my son? I told you, you’re wasting your time!”
Gordon blinked. “... your house?”
John realized then he’d made a mistake.
Gordon gave Bill a vicious shake. “You told me this was your house! What the hell’s going on here?!”
John’s eyes cut to Bill. He’d screwed the plan all to hell and now didn’t know what to do.
Fortunately for all concerned, Josh had taken the day off and was helping Frank tape the conversation from the bedroom. As soon as Bill had sensed that the conversation was heading into dangerous territory, he’d shot a mental Get in here signal to Josh, who’d carefully edged down the stairs at an angle that would keep him hidden from Walker’s line of sight. Now he leapt out into the living room, gun trained on Walker’s head. “Cazadore Police! Hands in the air!”
Instead, Gordon shoved Bill away and spun, squeezing a shot off.
Josh dodged, and Bill grabbed Gordon’s wrist and used his own momentum to pull Gordon off balance. Gordon hit the ground and rolled, coming up with a knife in his hand - and going down with John’s boot heel slamming into his jaw. Roaring, he staggered to his feet again, only to be caught from behind and spun to face a furious Rufus Turner, who punched him in the face again.
He swung the knife, making Rufus swear. “Too close, man!”
He slashed at Rufus again, but this time John caught his arm and twisted it behind his back with a thumb on a pressure point that made him drop the knife.
“This is a mistake!” he roared. “You’ll pay for this betrayal, Winchester! You and that thrice-damned son of yours!”
“You go right ahead and think that,” John snarled, catching the handcuffs Josh tossed to him and slapping them on Walker. “Meanwhile, I think there are some people up in Indiana who want to have a chat with you. Josh, you want to do the honors?”
“You have the right to remain silent,” Josh began the Miranda rights, sealing it that Gordon was being arrested.
John and Rufus wrestled Gordon outside to Josh’s patrol car, which was parked behind the house, while Josh followed and continued the Miranda warning. Gordon swore. He spat. He struggled. But John and Rufus were more than a match for him.
After they stuffed him in the back seat of the patrol car, John bent down to look in the window. “Oh, and Walker? If you somehow manage to get out of prison before you’re 90, do not show your face in Cazadore again. ’Cause if you come after Sam, if I don’t kill you, someone else will.”
Walker spat in his face.
John glared and wiped his face with his handkerchief as he walked back to the house.
“Well,” Rufus chuckled. “Glad that’s over.”
“Yeah, for now. I’m not relaxing until he’s in a maximum security unit somewhere.”
On the way inside, they passed Frank, who’d gathered up what he safely could of the surveillance equipment and said he’d be back later to pick up the rest. When John walked in the back door, Cooper was on the phone. ER, he signed.
John nodded and waited.
“You’re sure?” Cooper asked the person on the other end. “That’s a relief. Thanks. Would you tell her one of us will probably be by later? ... Great. Thanks, Meredith.” He hung up.
“How is she?”
“She’s okay. Bullet went through clean and managed to miss lung, bone, and rotator cuff. She’ll have to wear a sling for a few weeks, but she won’t need surgery.”
John sagged in relief. Laurel had been one of his first friends in town.
“I’ll go by and check on her later on... want me to take her anything?”
“Yeah.” He went to the closet and brought out a bag. Undoing it, he handed Cooper a single silver bullet, engraved with an X. “She took one for a fellow Hunter. She’s one of us now.”
Cooper nodded. “She’ll appreciate that.”
“And tell her I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. So am I.”
John looked away as he put the case back.
“You want me to have the kids come over?”
“Yeah.”
Cooper nodded. “I’ll have my brother keep an eye on things at the PD, call us if anything goes sideways.”
John nodded and walked into the bathroom, effectively ending the conversation.
By the time he came back out, Bobby and Rufus had gone to help Calvin with cleanup at the motel, but Cooper was still hanging around.
“Thought you were goin’ to the hospital.”
“Will be in a minute. Wanted to wait until the kids get here.” Cooper paused, then sighed. “And I’m... trying to figure out how to apologize for letting her get shot.”
“Bill, you couldn’t have stopped it and kept your cover.”
“I know, I know... I just... hated pretending to be weak. It’s not even about hiding my powers-although taking the bullet myself might have been too much of a giveaway. But I was trying to protect her.”
John nodded. “I can understand.”
Cooper looked at him for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you can.”
John nodded again.
Neither said anything else until they heard footsteps on the porch, two knocks, a pause, and two more knocks. But Dean didn’t wait for John to come to the door; he just barged in, hands flying, the other three hard on his heels. Dad, you okay? What happened?
John’s reaction was so out of character it startled Dean. He grabbed him and hugged his boy close for the space of ten heartbeats. Then he released him and did the same to Sam.
But Sam, though he was equally startled, suddenly melted into his father’s embrace, letting out a muffled sob into John’s shoulder.
John’s eyes went huge.
You did, Sam signed against John’s back. You hunted Gordon. For me.
“Sam. Sammy. I don’t know what you said.”
Sam shook his head; he couldn’t speak.
John took his hands. “Sign it to me where I can see it, okay, son?” He released him.
Sam sniffled, and the tears kept pouring down his cheeks. For so long, I scared you hunt me. But you hunted Gordon for me.
John frowned, visibly confused. “Of course I did. You’re my baby boy! I was a horrible father to you, used you as bait once or twice, believed demons over my own family.... But I see now and I understand now. What Azazel did to you was horrible - but it’s over. You’re demon-touched, yes - but you’re still my Sammy and I will always love you.”
Nearly word for word what Dean had told him during one of his freakouts over his new abilities.
Sam sobbed again and hugged John like his life depended on it.
John hugged him back. He knew Dean was watching with tears and a proud grin.
Cooper caught his eye, nodded and smiled, and left.
John buried his face in Sam’s shoulder and just held on. And soon Dean, Daphne, and Tricia were hugging both of them.
The dangers might not all be over, but the Winchesters, all five of them, would face them together-a solid family again at last.
November 17, 2007
Josh woke with a gasp and sat bolt upright, the sense of approaching evil making his heart hammer and leaving him drenched in a cold sweat. He reached for the phone, only to have it ring the second he touched it. “Robichaux,” he answered.
“Josh. Bill Cooper.”
“I was just about to call you.”
“Then you sensed....”
“Gordon Walker. I heard he’d escaped from prison, but... something’s wrong, Coop.”
Tiffany stirred beside Josh and raised up on one elbow, frowning sleepily.
“Something’s wrong, all right,” Cooper growled. “Walker’s been turned. And there’s only one reason he would be headed back to Cazadore.”
“He’s after Sam.” Josh cursed under his breath. “We can’t let him get close.”
“We won’t. Meet me at the parking lot at Maggie’s as soon as you can.”
“Will do.” Josh hung up and cursed again, then threw off the covers and headed for the closet.
“What about Gordon Walker?” Tiffany asked.
“He’s back. And the Coop says he’s been turned.”
“Dangit.” Tiffany pushed back the covers on her side of the bed and hauled herself out of bed.
“Tiff, you’re beat.”
“And you’re not as good with a machete as I am.”
“It’s not like that melee the guys got into in Colorado. It’s one vamp. And I’ll have the Coop for backup.” He sighed. “Besides, somebody’s gotta stay with Sammi.”
As if to prove his point, 11-month-old Samantha Dena started fussing lightly through the baby monitor.
Tiffany sighed in turn. “You’re right. Just... be careful, okay?”
“Promise. A cop’s #1 job is to come home at the end of the shift.”
She kissed him, then headed for the nursery, leaving Josh to finish getting dressed and call the police dispatcher.
Ten minutes later, Josh pulled his patrol car into the diner’s parking lot beside Cooper’s car. No sooner had he stopped than Cooper slid into the passenger seat and handed Josh a Styrofoam cup filled with steaming coffee. Josh took it and sipped gratefully.
“He’s headed to the Martinez place,” Cooper said without preamble as he pulled on his seatbelt. “My brother’s watching Sam’s house just in case.”
Josh nodded and took another drink of coffee. “Okay.” One more drink and he put the car in reverse while reaching for his radio to alert the dispatcher that he’d be traveling with a passenger to make a close patrol of the Martinez place.
Ever since his possession, Josh had known that Cooper wasn’t human. He suspected that Cooper knew he knew, though they’d never talked about it. There was no need, in Josh’s mind. He didn’t know exactly what Cooper was, but it didn’t matter. Coop was a friend, a powerful being on the side of good, and that was all Josh needed to know. And he could keep that secret just like he’d kept mum about the angel he’d seen.
“Walker’s got followers,” Cooper continued as they pulled back onto the street. “Not many, but enough to be dangerous. He’s got ’em convinced that he’s on a mission from God and Sam’s the Antichrist.”
“Which is absurd. Not only because we know what’s really up with Sam, but also because there are many antichrists, according to 1 John.”
“And it takes more than demon blood to make someone an antichrist. But these hunters never did fire on all eight cylinders, and they’re hardly New Testament scholars.”
“Do you know any names? We can put out a local BOLO.”
“I’ll talk to Frank on Monday.”
Josh nodded, and conversation ceased until they reached the old Martinez farm. Most of the family had moved away long ago, and the house and barn had been largely abandoned after the patriarch, Angel, had died that spring; Angel’s son Rafael was still trying to sell the place, but no one was living in the house now. Josh didn’t expect Walker to know that, though, so he pulled around to the barn, the most likely place Walker would try to hide. As quiet as his car was, though, the sound of the tires on the dirt drive sounded loud to him in the clear, cold night.
“Mars in Gemini,” Cooper murmured as they stopped, looking up through the windshield. “Could get interesting.”
Josh shut off the engine and closed his eyes, trying to focus on where Gordon might be. “I don’t think he’s here yet,” he finally reported.
“No, we’ve got a minute or two yet.” Cooper studied the layout of the area and drummed on the dash as he thought. “Okay, look, you wait out here by the car; I’ll wait just inside the barn. One way or another, he’s not leaving here alive.”
Josh nodded. “We need signals?”
Cooper grinned. “I think we’ll know.”
Josh grinned back and started the car’s camera system, and they both got out. By the time Josh had gotten his machete out of the trunk, Cooper had disappeared into the barn. He felt a brief nervous flutter in his stomach before a strong sense of peace and protection washed over him. Closing his eyes once more, he inhaled deeply and breathed a quick prayer on the exhale.
And then it was show time.
“Mr. Walker,” he said as he opened his eyes without turning around.
“Officer Robichaux,” Walker returned, faintly surprised. “Didn’t expect anyone to be out here at this time of night.”
Josh did turn around then. “You’ve been told to stay away from Cazadore.”
“It’s a free country.”
“You made terroristic threats and attempted murder. And not just here. You escaped once; you won’t escape again. You’re under arrest.”
“You think you can stop me?” Walker scoffed. “Way I hear it, you used to be good-real good. But you’re making one major mistake.”
“Sam’s clean, Walker. He’s a man of God.”
“How can you say that? You know what he is!”
“I know what you are. Poetic, isn’t it?” Josh chose his words carefully, knowing that the video might be needed by an agency other than Cazadore PD.
“It’s going to be worth it,” said Walker. “I will finally kill the most dangerous thing I ever hunted.”
Josh smirked. “No, you won’t. You see, Walker, I know something about that man and about this town that you could never allow yourself to believe is true.”
Walker snarled and lunged toward Josh, but Josh felt power surge through and around him as he swung his machete in an arc that sent Walker’s head flying. It took a moment for Josh to realize that the fight was already over, but when he did, he went back to the front of the car to switch off the cameras.
“Nice,” said Cooper, emerging from the barn.
“Thanks,” replied Josh, meaning it on multiple levels. Then he radioed the dispatcher to report the incident as a case of self-defense while Walker was resisting arrest.