SPN: Favourite Son 3/3 (Aspie!Dean AU)

[jennytork]

Four days later, the Impala rolled into a small town near Blackwater Ridge, Colorado. The plan was to check in, lay low, and do some legwork that would make their father think they still had no idea what was going on while they waited for Bobby to get there.

Sure enough, when they pulled up outside the office, there was their father's truck parked at the opposite end of the lot. Dean shut off the car, and Sam turned to look at him. "You sure about this?"

"No," Dean answered. "But we need to keep him unguarded until Bobby gets here tonight. Not let him know that we know - and if he's goaded into lecturing us...."

Sam nodded grimly. "Let's do this, then." They got out of the car and Sam went inside while Dean unloaded their duffels.

Sam got a room and paid with a credit card, signing the register with the same name as on the card.

Dean Winchester.

It was a fake card - the middle initial was 'J', not Dean's 'M'. But the name on the register would definitely get their father's attention.

Sam felt his lips quirk when he saw 'Jay Hawke' on the register. Sometimes John's aliases took a hard left turn into Pun Territory. He returned to Dean and handed him a key. "It's him, all right."

Dean nodded, face blank. "Let's go set up shop, then."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Some hours later, a coded knock sounded on their door. Dean made sure the salt line was scuffed - just in case they were correct about him being possessed, they didn't want to tip their hand too soon - and then opened the door.

John walked boldly in, anger radiating from him. "Your real name?" he snarled at Dean. "I thought I taught you better than that!"

Dean's eyes skittered off his father's. "Sorry, sir. Wasn't thinking."

John huffed. "So, here's the plan. We wait till dark, then we go check for the Wendigo. I think I know where it may be, but---"

"Yes, sir," Sam said as he walked out of the bathroom. "So do we."

John froze. "....Sam...." He pulled him into a back-thumping hug.

Sam's eyes met Dean's, then he patted John's shoulder.

Dean's lips thinned. This was so far off normal for his dad that this might as well have been a different person altogether.

Possessed was looking more and more logical. And Dean didn't like it one bit.

Sam broke the hug and even mustered up a small smile. "So....say ten? Eleven?"

John nodded. "See you then, Sam." He didn't even glance at Dean as he left the room.

As Sam reset the salt line, he growled, "That was unusual."

"Very," Dean sighed. "I've always been --- difficult - for Dad to understand, but he's never shown that blatant....." His fists clenched as words failed him. "Suddenly you're the favourite son and I'm something to be scraped off his shoe."

"Dean," Sam sighed.

"He's completely different, Sammy. That's not our dad. And our dad wouldn't have just pulled up stakes and left like he did in Jericho."

Sam opened his mouth to answer that, but then what Dean seemed to be saying hit him between the eyes and he slowly closed it as he blinked. ".....Dean.....are you telling me that you think Dad was possessed in Jericho?"

"Think about it - once you left, he stayed just long enough to make sure I could take care of myself and then he struck out on his own. For three years, he contacts me periodically to touch base. We meet up every few weeks. Then suddenly - I hear nothing. Even when I get hit by the car, he doesn't answer his phone or show up. He abandons me - he abandons his children. That's not Dad." He then frowned as he glanced at the clock. "Where's Bobby? He should have been here by now."

Sam texted him to find out and got the reply back moments later: Go on the hunt. Keep me abreast of location. Will be there later than expected - had to make a detour.

A second text arrived moments after that. Tell Dean to stop timekeeping me.

Dean rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An hour later, the brothers went to "Jay Hawke"'s room for a strategy session. The door was opened by a familiar face.

"Jess," Sam breathed.

She smiled and went into his arms, holding him tight. "Sam." She looked into his eyes. "I knew you'd come back."

"I'm not back to you," Sam informed her coldly. "That ship's sailed."

"It'll come back," she smiled as she let them in. "Especially now."

"What's now?" Dean asked as he sat down on the bed, ignoring the thing sitting at the desk wearing his father's face.

Sam studied his ex-girlfriend closely. "......Jess, you've put on weight...."

John chuckled. "Being pregnant will do that to a lady, Sam."

Both brothers' eyes widened and snapped to a smiling Jess. "......what?" they yelped in unison.

"I was going to tell you," she explained. "But you left me by the side of the road before I could." She smiled and stepped forward again, arms raising to hug him. "But now we can be together again and--"

"Jessica," John said. "Save the relationship details for after the hunt."

Her arms lowered and her smile faded. "Yes, Mister Winchester." She returned to the bed she had been sitting on and picked up her book.

"So," Dean asked in the awkward silence that seemed to have fallen with an audible "thunk". "This Wendigo hasn't been active in several decades. It's probably hibernating."

"So we just need to find it," Sam nodded. "But how?"

John smiled. "Way ahead of you." He produced topographic maps of the are. "Wendigos tend to go underground to hibernate. There is a network of mines that criss-cross this area. Two of them - this one and this one - are large enough for a Wendigo to nest in."

Sam nodded. He didn't see fit to inform this version of his father that Dean had figured that out before they came over. The Wendigo - if it woke up - was the immediate threat. Their altered father could wait till this hunt was finished. "So if we destroy it before it wakes up...."

"Right," John nodded. "So, I propose we split up. You and I check out this one--" He lay his finger on one of the two 'X's he'd drawn on the map. "-and Dean checks out this one."

"No," Sam said.

"Sam," John began, his voice a dangerous snarl.

"I said no," Sam said, his voice calm but firm. "Dean and I are a team. We will not be split up."

John's eyes narrowed. "I need you to back me up!"

"Then come with us," Dean said.

When Sam nodded, John sighed. "Fine," he snarled. "We'll do it your way."

"Thank you," Sam ground out. He looked at Dean. "Which one first?"

Dean had been studying the map. He put his finger on the larger of the two cave systems. "This one. The Wendigo would use a bigger lair. Easier to fill with prey."

Sam nodded. "We'll set out at midnight."

Before either John or Jess could react, Sam and Dean walked out of the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~

At midnight, the Winchesters left Jess in the room and made the journey to the mines. Sam texted precise co-ordinates to Bobby before he got out of the car. Dean and John were gathering weaponry and didn't notice.

Together, the trio entered the mine. They walked deep into it and emerged into a subterranean cavern.

A dark shape was visible in the centre. Sam shone his flashlight on it, and a startled Wendigo raised its head. Blinking sluggishly, it growled a sleepy query.

Before John could issue any kind of order, Dean had fired a flare gun. The Wendigo writhed and wailed as it was immolated.

Dean fired twice more, and the dried-out remains of the Wendigo's last feeding cycle's victims burned.

Without a word, the brothers walked out of the mine, leaving their frustrated father to follow them.

When they were nearly back to the car, frustration had turned to rage. "What in the hell were you playing at down there?"

Dean shook his head. "We weren't playing at anything, Dad. We were doing our jobs - killing the Wendigo that you sent us the co-ordinates to find and to destroy before it woke up and fed again. Wasn't that what you wanted?"

John opened his mouth to answer, but Sam's soft voice stopped him.

"No - it wasn't." Sam took a step toward their father, putting his slightly taller body between Dean and John. "The plan was for us to go in blind, with only a half-formed theory. Then, when that fell through, the plan was for you to go in alone, have a debilitating sensory spike in the close darkness, and have the woke-up Wendigo kill you!"

"What?" John yelped. "No! I would never--"

"You're right," Sam said. "Our father would never knowingly put us in a situation where we would be killed. But then again - you aren't our father."

"Sam-"

Sam's voice cut over John's again. "You've been riding him for months, haven't you? Torturing him, trying to kill us...."

His voice trailed off, and into the sudden quiet came a truly terrible sound.

John was chuckling, but it wasn't his laugh. It was a dark, nasty one. He lowered his head, and when he raised it, his eyes were a sickly yellow. "I'm impressed," he laughed softly, slashing a hand through the air.

Sam and Dean flew in nearly opposite directions, each one coming to rest pinned a few feet off the ground, with their spines being forcibly pressed into tree trunks.

"How did you figure it out?" he challenged the brothers.

"You weren't right," Dean growled.

"Just like you," the demon laughed.

"Hey!" Sam yelled. "It was you, wasn't it? Why'd you kill our mother?"

"She interrupted me," the demon shrugged. "If she'd have just stayed in bed, she would have lived."

Sam frowned. "Interrupted you?"

Dean struggled against the force holding them. "He was in your nursery.....Mom came in...."

"Interrupted him...." Sam's eyes narrowed as things slotted into place. "What did you do to me?"

"Made you blood of my blood," the creature laughed. "Better than mother's milk. My blood flows in your veins, Sam. It will make you powerful."

"What?" the brothers roared.

"Always were my favourite," the demon purred, yellow eyes locked onto Sam's as it twisted their father's face into a sick leer. "Always the one I could make the most powerful with just...the right....." He turned and Dean's back arched against the tree he was pinned to as he screamed. "....push...."

"Leave him alone, you son of a bitch!" Sam roared. "Leave him alone!"

"He's nothing," the demon growled. "Nothing at all. An autistic burden around your neck! Not even worth my time!" He twisted his wrist and Dean groaned, head falling forward. "Better I just kill him and get it over with. Then you're mine, Sammy."

"Dad!" Dean snarled through clenched teeth. "Daddy, don't you let him kill me!"

The yellow flickered to brown briefly and John's body trembled. Dean gasped as the pressure was released, though he was still pinned to the tree. "No...." John whispered.

Then his eyes flared yellow again. "Yes!" the demon roared. "You're stronger than I thought, Winchester - but yes! You're all mine, now! All of you - for me to do with what I ---"

There was the sound of a gunshot and his left leg erupted in blood and tissue and lightning. Suddenly unable to stand, John's body crumpled to the ground.

Sam and Dean landed on their knees on the forest floor seconds later. "Dean!" Sam crawled over to his brother. "Dean! DEAN!"

Dean nodded at him, breathing hard. "....didn't do more.....than squeeze my ribs.....m'bruised....but m'okay.....Dad stopped him...."

Sam caught him in a huge hug and then they stood, together, moving to stand over their father's body.

Brown eyes suddenly snapped open. "It's still in me," he gasped. "I can feel it...."

"John, I'm sorry," a welcome voice called and Bobby walked into the clearing, "Boys, I'm sorry. We can't let it get away."

Dean's eyes went huge. "But that means...."

"I'm sorry," Bobby repeated and his hand rose. In it was an antique Colt revolver and the barrel was smoking. "I was late cause I had to get this."

"Elkins," John gulped, struggling with the force of holding back the demon. "I know....what you gotta do.....I want you to....end this."

"Dad," his boys chorused.

John's eyes rolled to Dean's. "....since before Jericho, Dean.....Jumped me....haven't been in control....of my own body....since Jericho....I....I love you.....I'm sorry.....If I'd have been myself...when you were hit...."

Dean nodded. "I knew something was wrong. You'd have been there."

"Forgive me....I have to ...."

He nodded, tears in his eyes. "I don't like it. But I know. L.... Love you too, Dad."

"Sammy..."

"Don't," Sam said, shaking his head. "I know. It's okay."

He nodded and then said, "Dean, don't want you ....watching."

Dean nodded and followed his dad's orders, turning his face into Sam's shoulder.

"Take...care....each other...." He looked at Bobby and nodded.

Then his eyes flared yellow and he roared wordlessly as Bobby fired one shot.

When the light show died, the demon with yellow eyes was forever gone and John Winchester's body lay crumpled on a nondescript forest floor in Colorado with a Colt's bullet lodged in his heart.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With the smoke from his father's funeral pyre clinging to his clothing and hair, Sam knocked briskly on Jess's door. She opened it and smiled, but her smile faded as she saw his expression. ".....Sam?"

"We are going to the hospital when I wake up," Sam informed her. "If you try to leave before then, I will track you down. I am my father's son, and you know I can do it."

With that, he spun on his heel and started to walk away.

"Sam! Wait! Your father....."

"Dead," Sam said, barely looking over his shoulder. "A casualty of the hunt." He ignored her screaming his name and walked to his room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Five hours later, the brothers and Bobby showed up at Jess's room. They said goodbye to Bobby, who had arranged for a tow of John's truck. They would comb over it at the Salvage Yard.

Jess was there, packed and waiting to go. She clearly had not been sleeping and had been crying. They drove her to the hospital, where they had made an ultrasound appointment to see when she was due and what gender she was bearing.

The technician made Jess comfortable and spread gel over her slightly swollen abdomen. She turned on the machine and smiled. "Okay, little miss, let's see what you've got here." She pressed the wand to the gel and began the exam.

Less than one minute in, she froze. Her smile faded.

Sam noticed her expression. "What?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Did your wife--"

"We're not married."

She nodded. "Did she have a positive pregnancy test?"

Sam looked at Jess, who nodded, eyes huge and frightened.

The tech looked at the screen and turned it so Sam could see. "Here is her uterus," she said, pointing.

Dean frowned. "Where's the baby?"

"That's just it," the tech said slowly. "Her womb is empty."

"No baby," Sam whispered, looking at Jess. "You're not pregnant."

"I am!" she yelped. "I am, I am, I am!"

The tech turned off the machine and, while Jess was yelling, called for a doctor. The doctor arrived less than a minute later, and the tech told her the issue.

Nodding, the doctor took Jess's chart in hand and examined it. "So....every symptom lines up. Positive pregnancy test reported....but no child in the womb." She sighed and closed the chart. "I've only seen this twice before."

"What is this?" the brothers chorused.

"It's a false pregnancy," the doctor said. "In a nutshell, her brain has convinced her body that there is a baby there. She believes with everything she is that she is pregnant - but she is not."

"I'm carrying your child, Sam!" she sobbed, reaching for him. "Please, please, help me raise this baby!"

Sam shook his head and stood up. He took the clipboard from the doctor's hand and wrote a number on it. "This is her mother," he informed her. "Call her and keep Jess safe until she gets here."

The doctor nodded. "I take it you are absolving yourself of responsibility for her?"

"There's no child," he said, his eyes snapping with anger. "She created this to force me to return to a relationship with her. I want nothing to do with her." He turned and walked out of the room.

Dean couldn't resist the smile. To Jess, he said brightly, "This isn't my fault, this time." And he took off after his brother.

Jess lay on the table, stunned, as her world collapsed with the closing of the exam room door. She didn't even hear the doctor dialing the number and talking quietly.

"Mrs. Moore? Yes, your daughter Jessica is here in the hospital.... Our Lady of Mercy, in Blackwater Ridge, Colorado.... Yes, she has presented with a false pregnancy.... Well, ma'am, we're not ready to declare her insane at this point...."

As they walked to the Impala, Dean lay a hand on Sam's forearm. "You okay?"

"I'm furious," he growled. "But I'll be okay. Are you?"

"I have to be," he said. "We can't bring Dad back and I'm not sure you want Jess back---" He couldn't help but smile at Sam's soft snort. "So, yeah. I'm okay, too." He frowned. "Except for the fact that we're homeless...."

"Well, we have Bobby's. What do you say we go there and figure out our next move?"

"Sounds good to me. You driving?"

"No, you are. I need a nap."

Dean nodded and changed direction, heading to the driver's side and pulling the door open with a satisfying creak.

The future was a little uncertain now, but they were all right and their parents were avenged.

The rest, they would figure out together.

EPILOGUE

"Well done. Very well done!"

"So," the smaller man asked, rocking back on his booted heels and stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. "Why did you have me shove things to take place like this?"

"This was not Father's plan. This entire usurption of a family - all of that - it was not Father's plan."

"And you know this - why?"

"It has always bothered me," the older man said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Why should I battle my brother in one-on-one combat? Why should this world be cleansed of humans and made into an angelic paradise?"

"That's what the prophecy says--"

"Is it?" White-blue eyes bored into golden ones. "Father has always cared for humans over angels. Why, now, would He suddenly sacrifice humans to create paradise - not for His humans, but for angels?"

A frown darkened the shorter man's features. ".......He doesn't change that radically.....so that would mean that that prophecy---"

"Is a false one," the older man nodded. "And as such, it can be altered and stopped altogether. Which is why I had you do this - to use the skills you developed as a Trickster to change this and save perhaps millions of human lives, and who knows how many angelic ones."

The younger man blew the air out of his cheeks. "So....now what?"

"Two things remain," came the answer. "Samuel Winchester must be cleansed of the taint - and they must follow their true destiny -- to save lives and destroy creatures."

He nodded. "So how do we start?" When the older man smiled, he blinked. "I get nervous when you smile, Michael."

"Follow me, Gabriel. We have work to do, still."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In a darkened bedroom in Lawrence, Kansas, a pair of dark eyes snapped open and a woman was propelled out of bed. She gasped, a hand pressed to her pounding heart as light flooded her bedroom. "....Lord a'mercy, what---"

A slender man in jeans and a light-coloured jacket shimmered into view in her doorway. He smiled and spread his hands. "Missouri Mosely."

She nodded. "You're an angel...."

"Mmm..." He looked at her and his smile turned impish. "Sometimes. Right now, I'm here to deliver a message."

She nodded slowly. "I'm listenin'...."

"Brace yourself, Prophetess. You have an interesting ride ahead of you."

END